#i feel like sasaki reaching the bottom of the abyss

[zenalios]

[Warning: Long ramble ahead]

I have been thinking about Poseidon for an entire day, and not in the horny way. Much as I love to hate him, if I’m going to write about him, I need to know what makes him tick, right? There’s not much to work with if you look on the surface (seriously, I screenshotted and reread his chapters many many times, this twinky blond’s surface personality is almost as flat as an ironing board).

This all stemmed from me exploring whether or not Poseidon would have affairs. And someone else reminding me that canon Poseidon would not (again, thank you, you know who you are). The answer to this?

It depends. haha thanks law school  No, but seriously, I think I have gotten a grasp of his personality, hear me out if you have the time.

How does Poseidon actually function?

If he deems himself to be perfect, what does Poseidon actually do after all, since almost anything could be demeaning for him to do? Author has left us with a few things to work with that he won’t do or associate himself with, and instances where he acted out upon facing them:

Schemes and betrayal - Adamas schemed against Zeus (outcome: Poseidon killed him)

“The herd”/Support - The crowd cheered for Poseidon (outcome: no deaths, but he gave them a death glare and insulted them)

This could possibly extend to more, including protecting his reputation as the “perfect” being, the god of gods (”GOG”). 

But if we go along those lines… why did he even show up or participate in Ragnarok? Did Poseidon sign himself up? A tournament of this level could easily be interpreted as scheming too. That, and now he has to perform in front of the other gods, who he called a “useless bunch of bottom feeders”. Excluding the fact that the Author called him in as a champion (or Zeus, if we want to get cheeky), why did he agree to become one? He’s so perfect, he shouldn’t have to waste his time fighting humans, right? Why does he even care to attend anyways? Is it to watch their demise, which, again, they’re so trivial for a perfect being like him, so he shouldn’t give a shit about it anyways? Is he a repressed god who enjoys fighting like Thor, Zeus, and Shiva? We don’t get the impression he does, because Poseidon has never even had to try his hand at fighting someone better than him; he literally just one shot Adamas and that was it. Poseidon could have just turned down being a champion -we know he’s the most feared god, and nobody dares question him, so actually, nobody would have said anything if he decided not to. The audience didn’t even know he was fighting, so really, he didn’t stand to lose anything if he didn’t participate.

Here’s what I think. He participated because he knew he was strong, and he thought he could make a point there about how insignificant humanity is. His arrogance was further boosted by Thor’s crushing defeat of Lü Bu, and Zeus’s defeat of Adam (who was considered mankind’s trump card too). If they can do it, so can he, because he is the GOG.

What if he’s just doing things to prove a point? It’s very childish, yes. But so is the way he talks and behaves (I play a MOBA, and he sounds like all the trashtalkers I’ve ever met “ur trash uninstall game n00b” <3). He is like a teenager that has taken it upon himself to go through that “Nobody understands me” “I’m better than everyone” phase for all eternity.

Take having an affair for example. As pointed out, affairs can lead to a weakening of his divine reputation, and also, vulnerability. These are things Poseidon would be loath to fall for. So... no affairs? Not necessarily. The gods had tons of affairs. Zeus is literally depicted as a lecherous old man, so there is no way he was not having any of his own as well. With the exception of best boi Heracles, Ares, and Hermes (counting those we have seen so far), I think all of them would have had at least one, one way or another.

BUT, is being lustful contrary to being perfect? And if you successfully resist said lust, does that place you above everyone else? Yes, and yes. And how does Poseidon see himself?

Perfect. Above everyone else. The GOG I can’t not use this term, it’s so pretentious to me. On the topic of affairs, this would actually mean he deems himself impervious to lust as well. Poseidon would do it just to prove that he can, that he is fully conscious of himself, to prove that it’s just sex, just libido management to him, that he alone is capable of having an affair and emerging unscathed (this is childish, Poseidon is stupid).

WHICH NOW BRINGS ME TO THIS.

Why, for the love of the gods, is Poseidon like this?

Apart from the Author just writing him like so, I do believe there are certain underlying factors contributing to his trash personality. 

In Greek mythology, Poseidon was not always satisfied with Zeus’s rule. Though he was not overly jealous, he did attempt to overthrow him once or twice. Homer’s Iliad even mentions that Poseidon has schemed to bind Zeus, along with Hera and other fellow Olympians (think Adamas gathering everyone to do it). 

Poseidon in Ragnarok is never mentioned or shown to be jealous of Zeus; however, this does not exclude him from resenting that he did not become the king of gods. Zeus is their younger brother by order of birth (not counting the second birth), hence he should defer to the older brothers. It’s likely Poseidon thinks the same, there’s literally no evidence he is even loyal to Zeus other than him directly ending a plot that would overthrow Zeus by killing the source of dissent. All he says is that Adamas has defiled everything they stand for a bit harsh, man. Self-projection, maybe? The only difference between them would be that Adamas has chosen to take action and gathered everyone else to do it, while Poseidon just sat there and sulked about it. Then he takes it out on Adamas for bringing it up to begin with. 

I really believe this would resonate with Poseidon. If he’s that good, that perfect, the GOG, as they call him, why then was he not made the king of gods? Does it make sense for the GOG to not... become the… GOG? Underneath the entire “gods are perfect we need no one, gods don't need to scheme, gods don't need betrayal, bla bla” spiel, all I see is an entitled bastard salty geddit that he didn’t get the throne despite the fact that he never fought for it, simply because he thinks he’s so good it should have been handed to him on a golden plate instead of it going to Zeus. 

And when Sasaki pinpoints what he has not done, he gets even more tilted than a player whose match just got thrown, and winds up throwing his own match. Because even though Hermes mentioned that “the true depths of the ocean god remain a mystery even to his own kind”, someone who has lived life to the fullest like Sasaki can easily call him out on his bullshit. Which he of course becomes absolutely incensed at. Sure, he's played by these rules for eons, but if a person has been that way for so long, they would simply be confident and shake the insult off. Why then, is Poseidon so angered by Sasaki's statements? It's simple. After so long, someone has finally seen through it or dared to call it out after seeing it. The gods might not have, since they all believe they're perfect (re: Zeus, "such are the gods"), but a human certainly would.

Killing Poseidon can essentially be simplified into this:

Passion vs apathy (not empathy, again, it is 7am)

Action vs inaction

People you actually want in your life vs toxic people you don’t (I’m kidding, but seriously)

Overall,

Poseidon is a hypocrite and is so self-absorbed that in his own world, he plays judge, jury, and executioner.

“Perfect” this, “perfect” that. The whole thing is an act, ocean man is a sham. Poseidon excuses away his actions by insisting that perfect beings do not need to do such things. Then he goes and does them, but picks apart other people for it. After Adamas attacks, he becomes history erased from the books -hello, this is another scheme between yourself and Hermes, what about gods not needing to scheme? On top of that, doesn’t killing your brother count as betrayal anyways? 

Anyways, yes, he’s stiff, he’s trash, I would not wish meeting / dealing with him upon my enemies, but he is a very nice challenge as a writer to try and pick apart his character. 

[inazuma-eleven-translations]

Prince Animage - Sasaki Seiji (Kuroiwa Ryuusei) Interview

Full scans can be found here: http://inazuma.pmsinfirm.org/?p=330

This is for @sabervelvet~

I made a mistake! I thought this interview was unavailable online, but it is available! I know you asked a while back and I’m sorry it took a long time for me to get around to it, but I hope it’s what you were looking for! Kegayama’s voice actor seems so nice! And his hair is cool.

From Final Boss to Coach! Let’s Fight!

Teikoku Gakuen, Zeus Junior, Shin-Teikoku Gakuen, Team K, Orpheus – Kageyama has worked with many teams. We wonder how his current self feels about his past self?

Kuroiwa Ryuusei, Coach of Earth Eleven

Real name – Kageyama Reiji. Thanks to experimental new medicine, he’s undergone secret rehabilitation. As a result, he’s become able to see a power they can use to fight against different species living on different planets – kimono no chikara – the power of beasts.

Sasaki Seiji. Born on January 11th. Born in Saitama prefecture. Main anime roles: One Piece (Bruno), Hajime no Ippo (Shinoda Trainer), Shinryaku! Ika Musume (Haris), Game of Thrones (Roose Bolton) among others.

This man is back from the abyss of death! Going from friend to rival is a staple of Inazuma, but who would have thought the Emperor of Darkness would become such a strong ally for Tenma and the others?

How did you feel when you heard that Kageyama Reiji was still alive?

Sasaki: In any case I was surprised. At first, when I was contacted with a schedule for the new Inazuma series, I thought that this time I’d be playing a new character. Two years had passed after all. Then after two or three days I was told ‘You’ll be playing the role of Kageyama,’. I thought he’d reached the end of his life after fighting in the world tournament… Furthermore, when I heard that this time he would be a coach for the good guys I was even more surprised.

How did you feel when you saw the design for ‘Kuroiwa Ryuusei’?

Right. It happened by coincidence that I was letting for hair grow long for a stage appearance as part of my job, but I thought it was funny timing that when I reunited with him we both had the same hairstyle. I really like his design this time. Last time he wore an all-black suit with a collar, and when he was Mr K he wore a white suit, but this time something about his clothes feels different. I feel like he’s reached a cool age.

How do you feel about the dramatic events of Kageyama’s life?

He was a member of Raimon soccer club, but because of his father it seems like he had a pretty miserable childhood. Even though he really loved soccer, I think it’s terribly sad that he couldn’t be honest about his feelings and instead could only live by pretending the opposite was true. It’s because he has this feeling of loss that he wanted to exert his control over the world of middle school soccer, even if his methods weren’t pretty. Furthermore, I think his abilities as a leader are good. In reality, he’s the reason Teikoku is so strong. Even as the coach of Italy’s Orpheus his leadership was very good.

While he was the coach for Orpheus, Fideo saw through to who he really was one the inside, and was the reason he reformed himself.

Yes. The person who made Kageyama change himself wasn’t the boy he’d known for a very long time, Kidou, but Fideo – a boy he’d just met. But I thought it happened quite naturally. Kageyama’s relationship with Kidou is a little too close… I really had the feeling they were almost like a fake father and son. Their relationship couldn’t have developed any further without an outside factor.

A secretly rehabilitated Kageyama has been hiding himself for these past 10 years. What do you think he’s been doing and where?

My personal wish is that he finally took off his sunglasses, since he always uses them to hide his face. What about if he taught little kids how to play soccer or something? I’d like at least part of his life to be calm and peaceful.

Kageyama was hiding himself from the police, right? Do you think he went to another country to hide?

That could have happened. But if he did that, returning to Japan would have been awkward. He could have been prosecuted for the time he spent abroad! The police still don’t know that Kuroiwa Ryuusei is Kageyama Reiji, so I think he would have kept his movements legal.

And now he’s in space (laughs).

In other words, he can’t be prosecuted? The next time he returns to Japan he’ll definitely be caught be the police. (bitter laugh)

When Fudou called him Kageyama-san we could tell their relationship was quite close, so we wonder if he’s already reconciled with Endou and the others.

They’ve probably talked things over. Endou helped choose the new players, and Gouenji helped them come to know their new roles. Endou seems like the type of guy who can just forgive and forget. And Kidou is currently the commander of Teikoku Gakuen. Since Kidou has taken over Kageyama’s old role, Kageyama is surely happy about that. I think that he’s happy that Kidou continued to play soccer.

What kind of impression did you get of Kageyama becoming Kuroiwa and being a coach for the first time in a while?

He doesn’t really give any orders or make any strategies (laughs). All he does is say vague things like ‘they’ve finally noticed,’ or ‘that’s it,’ to Mizukawa who stands beside him.

His style before was more Spartan-style, wasn’t it?

In his time at Teikoku he was like a dictator, almost like brain-washing, and he planted his own methodology firmly in their heads. But now he’s completely the opposite – he believes in the players own abilities and doesn’t say a word. I think he wants them to realize things by themselves. He wants them to realize their true potential and individual talents, and because he has absolute faith in them he doesn’t feel the need to give them any orders. So he doesn’t do anything during matches (laughs).

He has given some advice to Minaho and Manabe before, hasn’t he?

He has… But basically he doesn’t say anything about battle strategies or tactics. He’s said to Tenma and the two others ‘look after these guys,’, but since that wasn’t an order so much as ‘I’m trusting you with this’, he leaves most of the decision making to the team. Ahh, he did help make the Black Room. It seems like the real person who made it was Oba-chan, but the idea that the steel structure would fall down was probably his idea (laughs). And he was very Kageyama-like when he told Resistance to Japan to ‘completely destroy them,’. He arranged that practice match because he wanted them to understand how terrifying soccer can be. It felt like how a lion will throw their cub into the bottom or a valley.

Do you think Kuroiwa is fond of the players?

Well… he does trust them. But he said strange things to Matatagi like ‘I don’t trust them or anything,’ so I think he’s as contrary as ever.

It hasn’t been shown yet, but who do you think he gets on well with?

When he was at Teikoku Kidou was his ‘greatest masterpiece’, which is standard to be judged against. If compared to that, the team this time has 13 people. And they aren’t two faced – they’re very straight-forward people, which is good for Kageyama. Fideo was like that too, and the reason Kageyama found the light in his dark heart. In terms of the members of the team this time, I think he’s attracted to members of the team that have something he doesn’t like Kusaka, Tetsukado, Ibuki and Tenma for example. On the contrary, the most similar person to Kageyama is Matatagi. Because he’s the most warped.

What impression do you have of the story? It’s actually a soccer tournament held throughout the Milky Way?

The story completely changed halfway through, but I think going to space is fun. The story is going to expand a lot from here. But when it was clear they were fighting for the fate of the planets, it felt like a really huge burden for middle school kids to carry. I really wanted Kageyama to step forward as an adult to help these kids who have been wrapped up in all of this…

What would you like to see happen?

I’d like Kageyama to unexpectedly show a softer, weaker side to himself, and personally I want to know more about Kageyama as a person. He’s had a lot of personal drama, so I’m waiting for him to be able to enjoy himself. The Earth Eleven will continue to fight many enemies, and I want him to watch over and looks after them as a team.