#every single day I swear I realize something new about Kabru

[ropes3amthoughts]

Thinking about Kabru grabbing people’s arms to try and talk to them and getting rejected.

I’m not very smart but I feel like this has to have some deep meaning. Does where he grab them on the arm matter? He grabs Rin high up on her arm just beneath her shoulder, Mithrun low on his arm just above his wrist, and Laios right at his elbow. Does how he grab them matter? Does his reaction to being turned away matter? He grabs Rin sort of loosely and he’s still smiling when she hits his hand away. He grabs Mithrun with two hands because he’s handcuffed and he’s shocked when Mithrun tries to get away. He grabs Laios tightly by the sleeve and is in a state of total panic when Laios tries to leave. Is any of that significant somehow?

I feel like the connection between Kabru reaching out to Mithrun and Laios is more clear than when he’s reaching out to Rin. He isn’t as desperate when he’s reaching out to Rin, he’s still smiling when she hits his hand away, she turns towards him, and the contact is quickly broken. The other arm grabs both last a little longer before they try to pull away, Kabru is desperate to stop both of them, and both of the men turn their backs to him which prevents their eyes from being seen. Basically I’m much more confident that there’s a parallel between Kabru grabbing Mithrun’s arm and Kabru grabbing Laios’ arm than I am about him grabbing Rin’s arm as a parallel to either of them. I think it could still be significant, but I’m just not as sure of it. I’m not even quite sure what the arm grabbing parallels imply at all.

My best guess right now is that since Kabru doesn’t have much control over these conversations he’s trying to hold onto them so they’ll listen? Since his words are failing, maybe he thinks he needs to reach out with his hands too? Maybe this shows Kabru is trying to be vulnerable and open with them? Instead of keeping them at arm’s length he’s actively grabbing their arms? I think I remember someone saying something about the significance of hands in Dungeon Meshi, so maybe it has to do something with that too? I don’t know but this is driving me crazy. If someone does know the meaning to this or has some theories, feel free to share!