#i got the manga panels! so here's the theory!

[threeclockkeeperlovereal]

Amane knew his time was short.

its referred to as the big clock, just like the clock keeper rumor.

it's said how it's been frozen for a very long time

Hanako can't remember, but my theory is that he knew his time would be cut short. he seems very resentful and lonely, Tsukasa and him have their differences, that seem unfixable.

this may be because he knows there a demon inside or there's something more that happened. but I believe he's trying to fix the clock, to change time all together

you may change the schools time as you will if it's in your possession. but the clock isn't moving? yes, if you can make it move it's yours to command. so Amane's goal was to have it move so he can change time, or maybe he didn't even know about this? well, it's highly possible he did, Tsukasa may have told him all about the supernatural, and so Amane would know. because of the red house demon now coexisting with Tsukasa he may think this has changed him too much, I do believe that the red house demon took part of Tsukasa's heart in payment, and Amane wants to turn time back to "fix" Tsukasa, he may have forgotten because, humans forget about the supernatural gradually, Amane is already a special case, so it may be possible that this happened or it's a blocked out memory done by "God" it may also be due to trauma.

well, anyways

you need the clock keepers permission, or else it's death for you. with the current plot Natsuhiko's goal is to use the clock, it's only now because the auditorium is only ever open once a year. so the clock keepers are only accessible once a year.

so Natsuhiko will recruit Akane, to gain a clock keepers permission to touch the clock

or else he wouldn't be able to

[yuujiheart]

GUYS HEAR ME OUT!!!!!!!

WHAT IF YUUJI CURSED SUKUNA TO LIVE/NOT BE ALONE...

We can see here how yuji is trying very hard to convince sukuna to accept the deal. He first forced / threatened sukuna into accepting the deal. Which is different from what he did for Gumi, he allowed Gumi to decide for himself and didn't coerce him at all..

This is similar to what happened to yuta and rika. Yuta absolutely refused to let rika die here. He did it unintentionally since you know he was just a child..

Yuji is trying to do for sukuna what his grandpa did for him. I mean sukuna had no one to save him so Yuji wanted to be that person for him. And in my opinion sukuna was more scared of living than dying in that particular moment ig..

[lovereadandwrite]

he cooked ! he served !! HE ATE😮‍💨🥵

[smallmightsupremacy]

Izuku isn't losing his arms and here's why:

Okay so I know that we're all freaking out over that one manga panel, but we really shouldn't be.

Deku isn't going to lose his arms. It's all in his head.

Just stay with me.

First and foremost, look at the reactions from the characters when they join the battlefield. Specifically Aizawa:

What about this screams 'one of my students just lost both of his arms and may not end up having a future as a hero anymore?'

You would think that if Hori were to really go through with Izuku losing his arms, he would put more emphasis on the characters' reactions to make it more impactful, right?

To further reinforce this idea, we also need to consider the significance of Izuku's hands in Katsuki's arc. Whether you view their relationship as romantic or not, you can't deny that Izuku's hands holds significance to Katsuki. It represents the time when their relationship first fell apart, and I think in order to call their relationship fully 'healed' and complete Katsuki's growth, he's going to need to accept Izuku's hand again.

I mean, look at how foreshadowed the handhold is. There's no way they're not going to be holding hands by the end of the series. It's a necessity at this point.

And yes, you can argue that they already did hold hands, but to me that handhold didn't seem like the official one. It wasn't as impactful as it could've been. Now, while I'm not saying that the handhold didn't have any emotion to it, I feel like it's impact got a little diluted by Katsuki's revival. It wasn't the main focus. I think that the proper handhold is going to come later and be in it's own moment.

And, I mean, Izuku kind of needs his hands for that to happen.

So now you may be wondering, if Izuku hasn't lost his arms, then how do you explain what's happening to him right now?

Well, like I said earlier, it's all in his head. I think it's AFO fucking around with his mind.

I think AFO is somehow manipulating the vestige world and OFA mental connection he was with Izuku to make him hallucinate that he's lost his arms. He wants Izuku to crumble, and what better way to do that than to convince him that his dream is over and that there's nothing he can do?

I feel like this has also been foreshadowed in a way too. Take a look at this picture:

This image already foreshadowed Ochako getting stabbed in the chest, so perhaps it's also foreshadowing Izuku's fate?

The knife is in his head, so perhaps it's hinting at him being affected psychologically?

Also, the idea that it's only those that are connected to the vestige realm that can see the illusions that AFO is planting would be a great way to get Katsuki to be a part of the final fight too.

We already know that's he's going to be involved somehow. Hori himself said that the ending for mha was going to be better than the ending for Hero's Rising (the one Kats and Izu share OFA), and what better way to improve that than have Katsuki come save him from the mind fuckery?

I also think that finally having Izuku and Katsuki fight side by side has been foreshadowed for a long time, and if that really were to happen, then there's no better time for that than the final fight.

Also, Katsuki's really the only one that can save Izuku right now if my theory were to be true. He's the only character that fits the very specific requirements that Izuku needs (being connected to the vestige realm, and also having a willingness to save/help Izuku).

Speaking of, Katsuki being connected to the vestige realm was a shock for us all, and it doesn't make sense for why Horikoshi would show us such ground-breaking information if he didn't plan on using it later. This has to be the later. There's no other case where I can see Katsuki's connection to the vestige realm being implemented into the story again other than this.

So here's the TL;DR:

Izuku is being mindfucked by AFO and Katsuki is going to be the one that brings him back to reality

[crepes-suzette-373]

There is a panel that I didn't bring up in my "Ichiji's thuggish language" analysis because I had doubts about it. But with Kizaru's dramatic speech in the newest chapter (1124), I'm feeling a bit more confident about my analysis so I'm just gonna mention this now.

(still a bit nervous about jumping the gun, but hey, my theories are just for fun)

Sanji's bros don't really talk often enough, but the impression I'm getting is that for the most part Ichiji is the only one who does not use slang/informal language.

There's two times where he says words that sounds rough/informal/not polite. One is when they all got caught in candy (see the linked analysis above), and the other one is this:

The way he says "I've got to go (to my brother's wedding)" is 行かなきゃ. This is very casual/informal. The more polite form should be 行かないと or 行かなければ (the latter is the more formal one).

Originally I had wondered if maybe I was wrong, and this means that his rough talk is not a big deal after all. But the latest chapter reminded me of the trope of "someone who has been putting on an act gets provoked into anger so strongly that it breaks the mask and their real self comes out".

I'll go back to Kizaru in a bit, but following that line of thought, then this might mean that Ichiji is genuinely so angry that his fake polite attitude dropped, just like what happened in the candy scene. In that case, he's not just intimidating the guy. He really meant it when he said that he needs to go to the wedding and this fight holding him up is upsetting him.

Following that, if being held up makes him that angry, it possibly implies that when he says this ⤵️ he wasn't being sarcastic, but he might have actually meant it too:

Why, though? That remains to be seen, but there's strong suggestion that really weird stuff is happening here. (More exhibit of weird stuff in my list, scroll down to the Germa specific stuff)

Hiding this just in case of spoilers/you're not caught up yet.

So in chapter 1124, Akainu calls up the Marines at Egghead and Kizaru picks up because everyone else are still downed by haki. Akainu accused Kizaru of slacking, and Kizaru exploded. Having to obey the higher ups' orders to get rid of Vegapunk had really hurt him.

Kizaru was using his typical casual/somewhat playful manner of talking at first. Dragging out the end of the words (imagine something like "you knooooowww") and using omae-san お前さん (informal) to say "you". But then the way he talks changes. He drops the dragging words, and switched to using temee てめェ (super rude) as "you" as he went ballistic on Akainu.

Also, the translation seems to go for a more polite term, but Kizaru calls Akainu kusogaki クソガキ. It's probably more precisely "shitty brat". He really got mad.

Anyway, Kizaru has already dropped the dragging tone a few other times when he gets serious. This gives me the impression that Kizaru's "cheery" act was fake. This laid back unserious goof act is the typical trope of someone who is actually dissatisfied with life, but adopts this personality because they see no possibility of changing, so they might as well just go with the flow. I see this pretty often in manga or games.

He was already like this when he first met Vegapunk (as shown in the flashbacks), so it's very likely that he's already given up for a long time.

I have no proof of that though, so for now at the very least we know that his friendship with Vegapunk is genuine and he was faking a lot of his behaviour during Egghead.

So, is Ichiji hiding something else? Without any additional info, all that's "provable" with the above panels is that Ichiji is actually more aggressive than he lets on, but has to pretend to be polite because of his status. There's other little gestures that do give off the impression that he's hiding something else, but there's nothing clear yet.

With other superficial similarities with Kizaru (constantly wearing sunglasses + light/laser beam attacks) added on top, the parallel is kind of intriguing to ponder.

[exo-raskreia]

hey.... i wanna know your honest Thoughts on the jjk ending? Give a rating out 10. Honestly i'm ranting. I mean the good things in the chapter were sukuna's conclusion, the flashback with gojo , queen utahime being alive yay and the nice art with everyone at the end. Usually i would wait for a story to finish before ranting/judging but my god this kinda sucked. I don't want to be too critical but god I am just disappointed and kinda mad. Overall it is an okay/mid manga ;). Gege is not worst writer but ughh. Aot or mha sure they have their flaws but my god..These should never be compared to THIS. so now we could really say that gojo stayed south. With the full chapter, this does not change my opinion cause it still kinda sucks overall even with the whole north vs south meaning. Nothing really changed in the society or lessons maybe except for yuji and sukuna. The kiddos all really went back to missions huh after everything. I have alot to say with relationships and bonds, wasted potential on many aspects but that is a whole other discussion. i totally understand we can't write a backstory for every single character but that is not what i am insinuating here and yes there should be room for a little literary interpretation . That a whole different topic... Anyways I agree with alot your rants. i would like to hear your opinions. In the end we never got to see a gjhm flashback unfortunately. Ok so let say gojo is dead dead I find it hard to believe no was like remembering or acknowledging not even his comrades ( examples shoko, utahime etc_ or the students (i mean i am pretty sure these characters would but i would like to SEE it you know) and so many hints were gearing for gojo's revival but it is meaningless... and was used for pr ngl that's sad. Maybe the anime would do better at some aspects but i will be salty anyways. i will see uta's dance ;) animated so that i looking forward to and ig the maki's massacre. it looks like it's open ending but really!? They are some loop holes but HEY FEAR not we will probably see answers to our questions in the q&a segment! sigh. I lowkey do not want a "jjk part 2" it is draining. Gege when i catch you. I think gege intended this story to be short oh well. I have alot to say but this gonna be a novel lol. Sorry for errors i was in a moment and i hoped you understood what i wanted to say. Hope the gojohime fandom would not die and looking forward to see some nice content.

Thankyou

I already went on a mini rant here. If I have to rate the ending, I'd say maybe 2-4 out of 10?

JJK really did turn out kinda mid. It has an easy anime to get into (the anime carries it mostly 🫣), to recommend for newbies, but that ending will make one hesitate to recommend it now. Maybe wouldn't even bother to.

I'm also disappointed & mad. I don't even wanna consider that Gojo is fully dead (cuz Gege went about it so terribly). Gege skipped Gojo's whole month after his unsealing then killed him off-panel a few chapters later. The north & south thing was pointless. We didn't even get to see Gojo make a choice. There were so many hints about his potential revival but they amounted to nothing.

Summed up in this image:

This Tweet sums up the terrible mishandling of Gojo's character too 😡. This other short thread pretty much says that his "death" didn't make sense for Gojo either; accepting to stay at the airport is him regressing to his teen self. It doesn't properly conclude Gojo's character arc at all. He was meant to MOVE ON from the loss of his "springtime of youth" & continue to strive for a better future with his comrades & students; the future that HE DREAMED OF 😤 (oof, don't wanna rant further on Gojo; don't wanna make this longer 😅).

Honestly, the fan theories made the story seem much better than it actually was. At least with this ending, people can finally start seeing & admitting that Gege isn't a great writer. I've certainly never thought he was 😒; I once went on a rant here about most issues with this manga, one of them being how terribly fast-paced it is. This story is the definition of wasted potential. So many missed opportunities.

Whatever Gege comes up with for the databook, it'll be infuriating. He'll try to fill in the plot holes but man, I don't think it'll be satisfying. He might not even answer the burning questions everyone has (just like Kub0 never answered everyone's burning questions about the Bl3ach ED, or more like, no one dared to ask. Maybe he himself didn't allow those questions for his interviews 😒). Hope ppl don't give him any more money, especially cuz he's still milking Gojo, such as with that Hidden Inventory movie no one asked for.

I kinda wanted a Twilight: Breaking Dawn Part 1 ending (lol) & then on to the supposed JJK part 2, esp cuz of this sketch here but Gege fumbled hard.

Wonder if Mappa could deliver but we'll see. I only care about GojoHime's 200% Hollow Purple now. Gege made me lose most interest I had for other things getting animated. Just thinking about that ending will mostly ruin my experience... 😞

I also hope the GojoHime fandom continues to thrive. We've always lived off of crumbs... Hope ppl continue to make headcanons, fanfics, fanart, etc... I wouldn't want ppl to leave such a beautiful ship with so much potential 🥺 (I've been thru this type of thing before with Bl3ach, so despite the disappointment, I've stuck around in my ship fandoms only. I don't engage with anything else in that series. Another beloved series of mine also ended terribly but unfortunately, the fandom kinda faded or became inactive cuz it's a manhwa 🥺; if it at least had a proper anime adaptation, then...).

Let's stay strong, GojoHime fam! 🥹❤️‍🩹

[skania]

OnK Chapter 159 Thoughts

It's been 159 chapters and Akane is still unrivaled as the best thing about this trainwreck of a manga 😭

My hopes for this chapter were:

For once I got pretty much everything I wanted, so I should be counting my blessings.

In an unexpected turn of events, I even more or less managed to call the Nino/Ryousuke twist 😂

I was so ready to dive into this chapter, but...

I just can't take that expression seriously 😭 How am I supposed to sit here and try to write a worthwhile post about this chapter when Mengo drew Kamiki making such a ridiculous face.

There's so much wrong with Aka's writing that I don't even know where to begin, but I think the core of it is that this man deliberately withholds information in order to artificially create a sense of "mystery" and "twists". We can sit here all day dissecting everything about this chapter, but what it comes down to is that Aka can completely change contexts by simply revealing any of the stuff he has off-paneled.

Take the Kamiki "Twist" for example. When the text leaks originally dropped, there were no dialogues and no expressions, so I thought that maybe the twist would be that Kamiki doesn't intend to turn himself into the police and that he just wants to die instead.

With the full context however, everything points towards Kamiki being the big bad after all. So we got a two-chapter long twist involving Nino only to reveal that... no, actually, we're going back to Kamiki.

And it could have been good. Kamiki potentially managing to fool both, Aqua and Akane into thinking that he was innocent could have been great. There certainly are certain moments that only make sense if Kamiki isn't as innocent and as regretful as he pretended to be.

The problem is that it was so incredibly rushed that the detour feels rather... pointless? It's like Aka's main objective was to surprise the audience. But the audience wouldn't have been surprised if we had had any insight into Aqua's and Akane's research up to this point, so it's once again just Aka off-paneling stuff instead of writing things organically.

Another good example is the Kana graduation. Yeah, okay, she's graduating and Aqua isn't at the concert. That should be the last nail in that coffin, but Aka could just say that Aqua saw her before the concert. Or that he will somehow manage to see her after the concert. Anything to fulfill whatever it is that he wants to write, really.

So I'm going to leave Aka's lousy writing aside and focus on what I, personally, I'm hoping to see.

The Nino/Ryousuke thing showed just how flawed Kana's line of thinking is. You aren't supposed to be the Oshi of your special someone, you're supposed to be their partner. Admiration is the furthest thing from understanding, and this chapter got that across very well.

While Kana was off dreaming of her shoujo romance with Aqua, Akane and Aqua were planning how to gather proof against the people who ruined Aqua's family. Akane's out there wearing an anti-stab vest to protect Ruby and bring Nino to justice, Aqua is out there facing Kamiki.

If Kana has had no contact with Aqua at all and only finds out the reason for his absence later, I'm hoping that this will help her realize that they're in two different worlds. That there's an entire side to Aqua, a very complex side, that she has absolutely no idea about. Because all this time, she's been so busy dreaming of him that she has never taken the time to actually know him.

Another thing I'm wondering about is: if neither Aqua nor Akane expected this Kamiki twist, then where was Aqua during the beginning of the chapter? Could it be that he was tailing Kamiki because he already had an inkling about his true nature? If so, could it also be that whatever plan Kamiki was going to put in motion has already been stopped by the AquaKane + helpers tagteam?

I could go on all day, but I can't help but feel like the writing just hasn't earned being given that much thought. So I'm just not going to theorize anything and I'll simply read whatever Aka writes next week lol

I'm looking forward to seeing Kamiki's truth next chapter, and I'm also hoping that Akane will end up joining Aqua because I'd love to see her properly interact with Kamiki. But not going to lie, now more than ever I'm really only reading so I can see Akane be the amazing woman that she is and so I can hopefully see Aqua and Akane get back together so that at least the romance is salvageable, because everything else is a trainwreck.

[ralibo14]

TPN Brainrots part 1:

Another TPN manga panel redraw, but this time everyone goes down with me (because it's sad).

Also part one of my 'wonderful' tpn theories and head canons. It'll be long😅. There will be manga spoilers so please, read at your own risk😊.

First character I go through is... Ray.

He is one of the most complicated characters I ever saw (all tpn characters are, tbh). I always thought that people who have photographic memory are so lucky. Ray showed me that it's both a blessing and the curse.

Like in the picture above. You can clearly see that the first 2 kid waving at his direction. It's strange to know that there was a time when the Trio were one of the young kids and not the older ones. My first head canon is that Ray tried to save more kids, not just Emma and Norman when he was younger. When the blond haired boy leaves (first panel) he looks like he is about to cry (also the Trio is around 4 or 6) but when the other kids get 'adopted' Ray keeps his head low most of the frames (I'm convinced that when the second kid left he was already working as Isabella's spy.)

Ray coloration explained:

Purple eyes are self explanatory to me. I started draw him with purple eyes as soon as I found out he is Isabella's son. Purple in the hair and freckles? Well... I'm still very, very convinced that Leslie didn't die (at least not when he left the House). I always think about his situation, like what Norman got into with Lambda. The Ratri-clan is big but they need outsiders, to be soldiers, scientists, etc. And since girls from the Houses can only become Sisters and Moms... maybe some boys can become scientists and soldiers. (I can't believe I'm writing this but think about Andrew🤢... he was 100% not Ratri yet he could become an adult). So by this logic I believe Leslie could grow up too and (because I'm a sucker for happiness) he met Isabella again at some point.

Ray turning away:

On the second frame he is not looking at the girl who is leaving, but to the opposite direction. Why? Notice something else? Yes, Norman is missing too. Gilda has her winter jumper on so I figure Norman got sick again. Ray priorities his friends safety over everything else.

Also notice how Emma and Norman slowly get into the middle of the frame while Mom/Isabella get out of it? Pretty strong metaphor. It's the perfect example of 'Blood related family ≠ real family'. And while I'm a RayEmma shipper (obviously aged up version) I would never forget about Norman. He is as important to Ray as Emma. This Trio sticks together no matter what.

(older manga colouring ⬇️)

Now onto the hearth breaking stuff:

Ray's relationship with Isabella:

This deleted scene with Ray and Ayshe lives rent free in my head. Like there are two people with similar family situations and the one who lived int the middle of nowhere with a demon parent thinks positively about their parent, while the other, who grew up in a comfortable home like space with a human parent, thinks the opposite.

"But to me, she was always a monster"– Ray.

Like ufff... This sentence hits real hard. And it's low-key true from Ray perspective. He studied and read all the books in the House, not because he was interested, but because he had to. Norman is a genius, Emma learns real fast, Ray does everything he can to always get max points on his tests. But he also secretly planning his friends excape. Collects scraps of technology to build the device which makes them able to excape, plans his own 💀 carefully, so no one else will get hurt and on a top of that he is 'spying' for Isabella. Sacrifices people he wanted to protect. I can't imagine that inside panic when he didn't get max scores to that one test. I'm sure he was happy because Norman and Emma got their regular scores, but deep down he felt like he failed.

My head canon here is that Ray always gets nightmares if he is alone or in an unsafe place. And 'thanks' to his perfect memory his nightmares build up from actual memories (like we see that in the Seven Wall Arc). Also he doesn't get sick often but when he does... it's like a memory fuelled fever dream, with hallucinations and etc.

Ray's healing journey starts after the Jailbreak Arc. As soon as Mom is not around anymore, he ever so slowly starts to let down his guard and starts to show more and more emotions. His relationship with Yuugo/Mister is like a greatest archivment in his case. The playful, sarcastic 'arguments' and the way he openly said his opinion on things in front of Yuugo and Lucas. Shows how much he changed and opened up.

Isabella on the other hand... her change of heart and feelings were a mistery almost to the very end. To be honest I hated her most of the time, until the Back to Grace Field Arc. (Older manga colouring again⬇️😅)

Two things in this page which are very important.

1: Ray's guard is up again in no time, when he sees Isabella, while her emotionless mask is cracking. This is the first time we get a little inside of how she really feels about Ray.

2: Flashback of the two most important things that connects them. The song and the way they were forced to sacrifice others to stay alive.

The lullaby is very important, because it's calming and feels very intimate (like a normal parent-child relationship should be).

You also can't convince me otherwise that Ray didn't hummed this lullaby at least once in the B06-32 shelter to help the youngest kids fall asleep.

And now... onto the last picture. Their goodbye.

Saddest part ever! Never forgiving for this decision.

Ray and Isabella were never allowed to talk even two short sentences with each other without any consequences. In the House they had to play their assigned roles. Then they didn't see each other for almost 2 years. Finally they had to save half of the team from getting unalived... And they moment they would have time the last twist happens... leaving us with a sad ending.

Epilogue and Human World Arc...does little to compensate. Although I can't get over the fact that Yuugo's, Conny's and Isabella's 'ghosts' helped Ray found Emma in the Human World.

Speaking of finding Emma. My last head canon for Ray is the following;

When they found out that Emma lost all of her memories from the Demon World. Ray couldn't help himself but whisper a "I wish this happened to me". And everyone looks at him with an understanding smile thinking he blames himself for this... But in reality he really just selfishly thought (only for seconds) that he could forget everything happened on the other side.

Okay. That's all. Sorry for the supper long post and I'm forever thankful if you read through my brainrots 🥰😘. Also let me know if I should cover more characters like this. I'll obviously do Emma and Norman but if there any other characters you want to see please let me know🥰🤩💖.

[zetsubo-bani]

Rachel and Vincent in an arranged marriage?

A little theory I came up with

I know at first you must be wondering why I think that despite the manga initially showing them as a normal couple. But I have my doubts on whether they married truly for love only. Here's why:

What started my train of thought was this panel here:

Whoever possesses the title "earl of phantomhive" is also the queens guard dog, it has always been like that. So the fact that francis made sure lizzy wouldn't neglect her training makes perfect sense, because the wife of the guard dog should be able to protect him if necessary. But then we have rachel who seems to be a completely normal rich girl with not much known about her. Of course you could say that rachel happend to catch vincents attention which is why he ended up marrying her.

But then we have this:

When it comes to arranged marriages, it is almost always a deal made between parents of the people in question (as seen with lizzy and ciel) or between a parent and the supposed suiter

Now it could be that their parent introduced them in hopes that one of them catches vincents interest which is what happened but then again we have the fact that vincent didn't seem to show interest in rachel. On screen atleast.

He complimented madam red a bit but his marriage to rachel seemed completely unexpected, even to madam red

You would think that madam red shouldn't be that surprised by that announcement if they had been dating before (because if they married out of love then they definitely would have dated before getting into a marriage).

But she didn't suspect anything and even made herself all pretty in hopes of getting more of vincents attention. She definitely wouldn't have done so if she knew he was already taken because after the marriage she never did anymore romantic moves on vincent and instead just observed them bitterly from the sidelines

People in the victorian age were very private when it came to showing affection, I am aware of that. However rachel and madam red used to be very close and they still sort of were even after the marriage. I am pretty certain rachel would have told her if she started dating someone.

However if it had been arranged it could explain why she was so surprised. It is likely that it's the reason why vincent came to visit them in the first place. He likely knew the father because of work relations and got offered to get a potential wife.

The second chapter of the manga literally said that marriage arrangements were pretty common in that time and that rich people only marry other rich people.

Considering how little we know of rachel, it could be possible that she had some qualities that would fit into the role of the wife of phantomhive which is why she got to marry him, however that is just speculation

We also have this suspicious panel:

It even struck me as odd when I first read it because why would he say that? Vincent is apparently happily married with a beautiful and noble wife and has twin sons. So the fact that he questioned him about the love part seemed off to me.

But if their marriage was arranged it might make sense as to why he would question vincents ability to "love" because maybe there never was any love involved in his family life with his marriage arranged and his kids being born out of a need for an heir.

It's very speculative but it's not like it wasn't common at that age.

And considering how kuro has the common theme of "not what it appears to be", it would fit in quite well.

After all, undertaker wasn't just a goofy ally of o!ciel, the servants weren't just some idiots who only fail as a servant, lizzy wasn't a damsel in distress, o!ciel isn't ciel, madam red wasn't trying to help o!ciel, ... and maybe rachel and vincent weren't the loving couple they were portrayed to be.

In any case, it's a little theory I had while thinking. Please share your thoughts with me.

[aranarumei]

about hanzawa's older/younger sister

so! people who follow me might know I've expressed confusion regarding hanzawa masato's sister. what can i say... she's just interesting to me. anyways, i came up with a really fun theory about it, so if you'll trust me and follow me under the cut, we can learn quite a bit about hanzawa's family! even if you don't believe in my conclusion, perhaps you'll have something new to consider...?

(heads up—any mangacaps used in this post are taken from the fantrans of the manga, for ease of reference)

The Situation: 

We know Hanzawa’s family consists of two brothers, and one sister. They make an appearance within ch 28 of Sasaki to Miyano, in this page right here: 

Hanzawa’s two brothers are pretty easy to spot there, but his sister is a bit more obscured—she’s just at the left edge of the right panel. From the -Graduation- Sasaki to Miyano guidebook (some might know it as the 2nd anime guidebook), we know that the older of his two brothers is Masaomi, the younger one is Masaki, and he has a younger sister named Masako. 

…And if you’re as crazy about Hanzawa as I am, that might have raised some flags. Because—wait, doesn’t Hanzawa have an older sister? In ch 19 of Sasaki to Miyano, which, by the way, is the first chapter that Hanzawa Masato is named, we see him say this: 

This isn’t the only reference to his older sister—in ch 22 of Sasaki to Miyano, Kuresawa mentions that Hanzawa’s older sister is the same height as him, and Hanzawa mentions sending a picture of Miyano to her, though he doesn’t specify older/younger here. 

So… that’s weird, right? But, you know, this is one of Hanzawa’s first appearances. Maybe it’s a retcon, maybe Hanzawa is using older sister here in a not-actually-related loose way (though that seems unlikely), maybe the guidebook is wrong (also seems unlikely, for reasons I’ll get into later), maybe there’s some kind of explanation for why Hanzawa’s got a younger sister and not an older one. I chalked it up to early-installment weirdness. Admittedly, this does feel out of character for a mangaka who’s consistently drawn characters like Shirahama and Karasubara into the background long before they have any real scenes or dialogue. But whatever, we can move on from that, it’s not like Hanzawa’s going to mention his older sister again— 

Except. Well, if you’ve seen this tweet recently:

There, in the bottom left corner, is Yashiro and Hanzawa discussing the outfits they’re wearing. Because it’s cosplay, you know. Much like that older sister we know Hanzawa has. Which is who they are, indeed, talking about. And my grasp of Japanese is terrible, but Yashiro is definitely calling her Hanzawa’s older sister. 

The Theory: 

So, the reference of Hanzawa’s older sister—it’s not a mistake. How could it be a mistake, when she’s not an offhand mention in ch 19, but brought up again in ch 22, and again in this art? She’s intentional—but the guidebook isn’t wrong, either. 

(guidebook images provided courtesy of @sunnnfish)

Hanzawa Masako’s appearance in the guidebook aligns exactly with the little we see of her in the flashback in ch 28. Here’s another thing about Hanzawa Masako that we learn in the guidebook: she’s definitely shorter than Hanzawa Masato. So that doesn’t line up, either. 

Two sisters, but there can only be one. How do we explain that? Is Hanzawa talking about an older sister in a vague sense of just… an older female friend? He’s got a lot of those, after all. This just seems a bit implausible to me, though—it feels like a stretch for him to refer to someone that way, and it’s also a kind of unsatisfying answer. Then what? Is he lying about having an older sister? Is all of that stuff just his, and he’s made up an older sister to make his makeup skills and knowledge of crossdressing way more plausible? Is it just some kind of mistranslation / misunderstanding on my part? Sure, that’s always a possibility. 

But… you know who is the same height as Hanzawa Masato? Who is his family? Who is older? Yeah—Hanzawa Masaomi. 

I’m being completely serious. If we accept that Hanzawa Masato, when bringing his cosplay outfits to the school, is simply obscuring the truth by referring to his older brother as his older sister—well, it makes a pretty good amount of sense. 

The Defense: 

I’m aware this isn’t a theory that’s got a lot of evidence behind it. What it does have, though, is a lack of evidence to contradict it—and a lot of stuff that aligns with it in a fun way. It’s a fun answer, is what I’m getting at. Is it the right one? Maybe not, but let’s investigate some of its parts, anyways. 

Eagle-eyed readers might notice that Hanzawa’s sent a picture of Miyano to his older sister. Wouldn’t this older brother recognize Miyano, then? Not true! Miyano covers his face with a folding fan when Hanzawa first takes pictures. And, for obvious reasons, Hanzawa Masaomi has never turned to the camera and gone “By the way, I’m not an otaku, and I don’t cosplay.” Honestly, if he did that, I’d be more suspicious, because it’s so damn specific. Really the only other thing we can bring up is that Hanzawa's older sister messes around in his uniforms, but that's easily explained—he wears a different uniform style when compared to his older brother.

With that settled, there isn’t any other information that I think would contradict this theory, considering how little we know about Hanzawa’s family in the first place. Now, what do we know about Hanzawa that makes this theory plausible?

Hanzawa actively lying about anything isn’t really well-documented, but we do know he’s well-aware of societal norms, and prefers being… normal, let’s say. In ch 28, we see his brothers both come out, and once Hanzawa (awkwardly) says he prefers girls, he feels oddly about his mother’s relief. There’s a few ways to interpret this. #1: he’s straight, the question just caught him off guard, and his uncomfortable feeling was due to the fact it was clear that, despite his mother’s casual acceptance of his family, it’s not all sunshine and rainbows for gay people. #2: he’s aromantic, and said he liked girls because of course that’s what you do, and maintains that fact into the present day, as either a conscious or unconscious lie. #3: he’s gay/attracted to not just women, and said he liked girls because of course that’s what you do, and maintains that fact into the present day, as either a conscious or unconscious lie. 

If we take Hanzawa at face-value, it’s #1 that’s the truth… but like, why would I do that to someone like Hanzawa, who’s all about mystery. I personally prefer a mix of #2 or #3, both of which point to the idea that Hanzawa might, indeed, lie to make people feel a little more comfortable. To not obviously stand out. In the 2nd dvd extra, Hanzawa reveals that his hair is dyed black, and mentions its beneficial to act like a straight-laced student. He’s got a crazy amount of piercings, but he only wears them outside of school, too. I mean, he’s literally the president of the disciplinary club. Clearly he knows a thing or two about propriety. There’s a lot of evidence in the manga to show that Hanzawa’s over-concerned with a presentation of normalcy, and I’d argue that’s not because he dislikes deviance, but because he understands deviance is disliked. (I’d add more, but it’s enough for an entirely separate post, you know? You’ll just have to work with me here.) 

All that said: Is it easier to say that you’ve got all of these women’s cosplay clothes because you’ve got an older sister who’s an otaku with interesting garments (and you won’t even say cosplay, you’ll let Miyano make that connection himself), or is it easier to say you’ve got an older brother who’s an otaku that crossdresses? 

Probably the former. And it’s an easy lie to maintain—who are you inviting to your home? If you call him your older sister, the fondness and a lot of the truth stays the same. I’d thought it wouldn’t be possible because I thought there was some kind of reference to the clothing being originally fitted for a woman’s body, but all that happens is that in ch 22, Hanzawa says that Miyano, along with Kuresawa, has quite the shoulder span on him, and thus a kimono-style outfit was the right choice. All that suggests is that this outfit fits his shape best—not that Miyano, a guy, has to have this outfit altered because his shoulders are a lot broader than Hanzawa’s sister, who’s not a guy. Even if it was true that Kuresawa or Miyano’s shoulder spans were a bit much, if we look at ch 28 again: 

There’s Hanzawa and his older brother. Heights are about equivalent, but those shoulder spans? Hanzawa Masaomi is decidedly slimmer. …That’d probably help, if he wanted to crossdress in any kind of cosplay. In ch 28, after he gets called Maa-kun in public, Hanzawa tells his older brother to watch what he says in public. Here’s a small moment of Hanzawa wanting to seem… you know, cool, in public, and then getting embarrassed by his older brother, as is the right of siblings. But it also, once again, demonstrates Hanzawa’s awareness of the public, and his older brother’s dismissiveness of it—right after this, he just outright asks Miyano if he’s Hanzawa’s boyfriend. Like… Miyano seems like he’s a nice kid, but at first meeting? That’s not the easiest thing to ask someone, even casually. 

I think it just adds a fun dimension to things that are already true about how I feel about Hanzawa and his family… that he likes to present himself as “normal” when he isn’t, and that this is probably in response to some of his siblings being much more obvious in their strangeness. As sad and practical as it is, he understands the benefits to concealment and conformity. He avoids letting Tashiro count out the number of piercings he has—and he’s got more of them than any other “bad boy who’s not really a bad boy” (Hirano, Sasaki, Ogasawara) in this cast, despite being the least outwardly a delinquent. Considering how little we know about Hanzawa, is it really so hard to believe that this might be one of many a carefully-kept secret?

[meiieiri]

Something about JJK 236 is bothering me

That fight...was awesome, but it could have gone better.

Other than the fact that I'm currently in mourning over our king's garish demise (don't get me wrong, I do want him to be happy in the afterlife and I'm slowly coming to terms with his death, it's just I can't really process all this yet), I'm still a bit confused how we got here so quickly.

I have countless questions and I know Gege will probably brush this off in the coming chapters and pull yet another meeska-mooska-Mickey Mouse Clubhouse move.

But there is one that lingers in my mind up to this day:

Remember during the Fearsome Womb Arc when Yuji and Sukuna deliberated with each other on the possible resurrection or re-animation of Itadori's body via a deathmatch?

Yeah. We all know Sukuna, the king of all curses, is a master at one-shotting his opponent. Just take a look at what he did to our best rose-colored boy who went from this:

To this, in a split second (lmao):

Yeah, yeah, I've read all the “copium” theories from other Gojo fans such as myself who are kinda on the fence when it comes to accepting Gojo's death as being final or not, but, let me bring this back real quick to the matter at hand.

Sukuna went for the head with Itadori. Of course, maybe he did that to shut him up sure, but what I'm getting at is, the head is the singlemost critical point to hit when it comes to sorcery dogfights.

He knows this.

And he probably knows that Gojo Satoru, the darling of the heavens, the uncontested gem of Jujutsu Society, is a reverse cursed technique user. Pretty obvious thing to catch since Satoru had been using RCT the entire showdown to heal his countless critical wounds.

So, Sukuna, in all his centuries of wreaking havoc on the world, should know that the only way to permanently kill a sorcerer who uses RCT is by targeting the head. There were so many instances in this entire deathmatch that we are completely blown away by Sukuna's prowess and overall mastery of Jujutsu.

Can you imagine the amount of practice he's had over the years with other "greatest sorcerer of their generation"s? He knows the ins and outs of Jujutsu like scripture, which is exactly what kept Gojo Satoru on his backfoot for some parts of their skirmish.

Now, here's the thing that's bothering me:

I liken Sukuna as something like a super computer. All that battle experience is readily available to him like some Jujutsu techniques data bank, not to mention, Mahoraga's adaptation clearly gave him yet another advantage in this fight for the title of the strongest.

He knows Satoru Gojo has been frying his brain using Reverse Cursed Technique this entire time, and he's probably seen his former opponents do the same as well. He knows that the only way to kill them is by dealing a devastating blow to the head via decapitation or complete obliteration of the body.

So, my question now is:

Why did he bother cutting Gojo in this particular manner? Why didn't he go straight for the head, since Mahoraga's adaptation blueprint can now allow Sukuna to cut through reality/space itself and therefore bypass Gojo’s infinity non-selectively?

Arrogance now that he's secured his definitive victory? Or the so-called warrior's high? Why leave room for obvious speculation when it could so easily be crushed into smithereens if he just went for the kill?

It's all very confusing. I'll point back to the time when Sukuna swiftly decapitated Itadori.

And I'm willing to bet that that move was deliberate since at the time, Itadori had already been in Jujutsu High for quite some time and Sukuna must have realized that under the tutelage of Gojo and other sorcerers, he must be learning a thing or two about RCT here and there which may have led him to end the fight quickly hence, the resurrection of Yuji Itadori.

Now before, ya'll attack me, I know what manga panel you're gonna throw at me to deconstruct this entire analysis and dismiss it as "copium". So, I'll put this here:

I know it may look like Gojo's entire head has been blown off at this point seeing the pool of blood he's currently lying on. But why is Gege or the editor making the effort to cover Gojo’s head with the text bubble when, logically speaking (and coldly at that), Gojo should be deader than dead? Which he…in theory based on the afterlife sequence, SHOULD be.

And with that whole North/South thing to cap it all off? Though, I wouldn't dwell on that. The wording in that bit was very vague and I’m not really into the habit of over-reading so hehe~

Anyway.

Could it be there's something else in store for Gojo Satoru? Is something else at play here?

Or is this simply a writer's failsafe, just in case Gege wishes to bring back Gojo Satoru so that he'll have a rational explanation as to how that came to be? No one knows. But I think this wasn't some on-the-fly decision by Gege or the editors.

Gege Akutami - though as a writer myself, I find his current choices for the story to be a little questionable with the many gray areas where plotholes could eventually arise - has been deliberate about this story since the beginning, having already mapped out the fate of Fushiguro Megumi.

This panel, the entire chapter, the circumstances we're now currently witnessing is deliberate. And maybe...we haven't seen the last of Satoru yet.

I'll leave this here for everyone to think about. This is all speculation, after all, so don't be mean about it, Jesus. In the meantime, I'll just admire my husband, Suguru, for now and will probably go back to writing my fics~ 💕

[mars-ipan]

Hi, it's me again. I decided to follow your advice and try to seek out your 'actually serious' analysis, which led me to your komahina bible, the most easy to find compilation of this supposed analysis. Here are my thoughts-

1) Overview

- Most of this 'analysis' isn't analysis but a summary/overview of the game. It's not so much a 'bible' as a children's book summary of the bible, which at that point it would be better to play the actual game itself. It's clear it was made for a presentation on the 'uninitiated' if you will, but if that's the case, you shouldn't be advertising it as the literal bible on the subject.

- When you are not regurgitating points from the game beat by beat, the screen is halfway filled with either manga panels or fanart. My gripes with manga panels are, that even though they do depict the events of the game, the way they can be depicted by the artist can be pretty subjective due to the freedom of the medium in comparison to sprites, and that the role of one character can differ depending on whose pov manga it is (chiaki vs nagito). Fan art therefore should be scrutinized even more since it fully depicts abstracted and even the fandomified version of events, leading to situations where it's either unclear what is actually happening or betrays your more shallow view of the characters (i talk abt this later.)

- When you do use pictures directly from the game it's either a possible screenshot from a memorable moment or dialog from the wiki, limited almost exclusively to the freetime events. This leads me to believe that you haven't actually played the game(there are other factors hinting towards this) or watched a Let's Play of it, but going off of merely information that's already widely known and circulating within the fandom, and easy to search on the wiki.

2) Incorrect/Questionable information

Here I'll compile a lot of information that's either plainly wrong or baffling to having come to that conclusion , leading more credence to the theory that you either haven't actually played the game or your memory of it isnt as good as you think.

-"if Nagito's plan went off of without a hitch, he would have killed anyone that was closes to him at the time" plainly wrong. Komaeda's goal from the start was to make himself the victim, so by dying this way his death could have meaning and help the others. For somebody that keeps talking about Komaeda's "Martyr complex" this is truly a weird take to have.

-"Nagito...got the nurse for sure sick" is there any proof that specifically points to Komaeda for this? I believe the takeaway should've been that Mikan got sick because she was around all of them AND she overworked herself trying to take care of them. Is this just an awkwardly phrased attempt to make more of a connection between Tsumiki and Komaeda? I don't think you needed more than the ones that already existed.

- "he helps Junko brainwash a bunch of students" Kamukura at neither point in the anime or Danganronpa 0 was ever specifically implicated in the brainwashing. He never 'helps' Junko, especially in that way. If you meant, participates in the student council killing game, you should've said that, but even then his agency and influence is limited.

-"they found the Remnants and captured them!"...no, they didn't. The Remnants presented themselves as survivors and the Foundation took them in. They handed themselves over willingly. It was a pretty big piece of the final part of the game...

3) Komaeda and Komahina

- "Nagito's habit of putting people on pedestals" Where. Sure, he certainly parrots the belief that the "Ultimates" as a unit are at the top of the food chain and should be prioritised, but its clear that doesn't exactly carry over to his classmates like teruteru, Kuzuryu and even Souda sometimes. Just because of a few positive comments refering to them as Ultimates and the trial which he literally breaks down in, this is a hard position to support.

-"Nagito manipulates Hajime into playing the game" How. He literally just told him to play it. How is that manipulation. Also, isn't it a bit unfair to put the blame on Koizumi's death to him as well? I think they were multiple factors playing into this, but sure, how else are you gonna convince people that Komaeda is a twisted fucking cyclepath that loves leading people to their deaths.

-The way that you say the Kuzuryu/Pekoyama relationship mirrors Komahina as 'I will give up my agency for you/ I just want you' is also confusing. Unless of course you mirror Peko's struggle with her agency and harmful beliefs the clan enforced on her with Komaeda's own belief system, in which case, idk man, i feel like you are giving a bit too much credit to the supposed severity of Komaeda's views and trying too hard to make Hinata the 'rational' and 'grounding' one in the relationship.

- Again, the amount of times you refer to Komaeda as a freak for doing something 'weird' or even being drawn weirdly doing it , mostly in the manga, makes me belief this isn't just an affectionate tongue in cheek joke as you claim, but an actual way in which your interpretation of Komaeda is colored.

-"it doesn't excuse his nonchalance towards tragedy and murder but explains it" what needs to be excused here exactly? Komaeda doesn't need to immediately bawl his eyes out when someone gets killed or else he's suspicious and...bad? I am confused with what you mean by this. If you mean that Komeada shouldn't be so nonchalant about murder because he's constantly trying to kill someone else, that is plainly incorrect and i explained above why.

-Posturing about Komaeda's 'black and white thinking' while in the next exact slide you show fanart of him smugly explaining he has Borderline. First, i want you to explain to me the black and white thinking in a way that isn't "oh, the friends and classmates i previously liked turned out to be fucking terrorists". I think that's a pretty justifiable situation for your thinking to go from white to black. Also, if that is enough credence to assign Komaeda BPD, you really don't know how BPD works, especially since you assigned it to the one character you constantly talk about being a freak (and also lust...pseudo lust? after).

- The insistence with Hinata not really understanding Komaeda and running away, even if he wants to understands him is pretty suspect, especially when compared to the game. Hinata is confused and overwhelmed yes, but it's not just that he wants to understand Komaeda but that he still feels fondness for him, he still follows his advice and puts his faith in him and the way he mourns him in Chapter 5 is also pretty indicative of this. It's just another part in the pattern in you making Hinata the confused, rational, 'morally pure' man that's 'tempted' by 'corrupted' manic pixie mentally ill demon Komaeda. Something tells me your priest AU isn't so much playing with dolls as much as...what you actually believe these characters dynamic is.

- The whole page where Servant is basically made into a joke about how hot and sexy and freaky he is doesn't help your point either.

-The most damning evidence of course is a drawing in the second to last slide, wherein Komaeda is supposed to be analogous to 'guy who has something wrong with him' (distorted, freak, mentally ill) and Hinata is analogous to the guy that 'is the only one that understands them' (the rational one, the relationship of understanding doesn't go both ways).

- Your slide with sources is pretty vague and unclear. Also the way that you credit "Your superior mind" before the game itself when all you've been doing is repeating and misinterpreting the plot of the game is ...ironic

So yeah, that's all I got. Feel free to 'debunk' my observations as much as you please, I just want to know if there's actual basis behind everything you just said or I should go digging for 'the actual serious analysis' yet again.

i think you forgot that fandom is meant to be fun

[thepersonperson]

Hey! After reading your amazing dream's end theory it sure does answer a lot of weird tonal shifts and pacing problems going on after Sukuna battle. You've already pointed out much of the ooc things going within these three chapters. It feels like some inception level trolling by Gege (i really hope it is..I need the last chapter to make me roll down in my puddle of tears) I found it especially odd how Angel says Sukuna baited Hana with Megumi's memory (which for that Megumi should've known about Hana's feelings all this time but in the same sequence he actually looks taken aback with Hana's response) but in the actual scene during the fight it looked with Hana's declaration of her possessiveness for Megumi, Sukuna put the bait in that moment...Angel's answer seemed similar to what Sukuna had answered to Yuji's question about him knowing about the hydrangeas.

Also there's the scene of Charles working on a manga for a magazine but Charles never got a nod for serialization? He broke the same editor's finger and bailed out halfway..and now still got a chance also meaning the manga industry is back in business even though Tokyo is still haunted by curses.(Idk maybe I'm reading too much and too wrong 😕) I'm so confused with all these events my best bet is something sketchy happened after that small interaction between Megumi and Yuji. Megumi wanted a normal peaceful life and he's getting it all now.

Ok so this ask had a lot in common with a different anon so I'm answering them both at the same time.

Anon who sent me a reaaaaally long ask about re-reading JJK 268, I'm copying and pasting your exact words below the cut.

"Re-read chapter 268 and the sequence of events is interesting.

We have the moment with the letters, and Yuuji and Nobara seem taken off guard by Megumi's reaction to Gojo's letter, then immediately they change subjects to them having to meet Maki and the others. It seems pretty chill.

Then Megumi mentions wanting to apologize, and suddenly they imply that the reunion is to "save" Yuta. Now after last weeks chapter we know they meant from Maki's scolding, but like, the panel with Maki, Panda and Inumaki has them walking somewhere, presumably to Yuta, so how did they know they had to save Yuta from Maki's scolding...

Now admittedly, there are explanations for this, like Maki mentioning Yuta and acting mad before while Megumi was unconscious. But it's...odd. How Megumi keeps trying to address what happened to him but other characters keep changing the subject or pushing focus to something else.

Megumi mentions being inside Sukuna during Nobara's revival, we are presented with the letters, Megumi mentions wanting to apologize, suddenly they have to "save" Yuta from Maki, who is acting more aggressive than ever (but still asks Megumi how he is feeling), Megumi once again tries to apologize, but he gets dismissed by Maki, then Yuuji tries to blame himself, and then Kusakabe blames Gojo, Kenjaku and all the adults that "failed" them. And from then it's all Yuta and talking about the battle (and simple domains).

Then Megumi buries Tsumiki, and instead of getting his thoughts or see him apologize (something we know he wanted to do) we get commentary and a joke from Shoko. In the same panel where she makes that joke, we see Megumi with a "..." speech bubble but we can't see his expression (like. not even his usual "im done with you people" expression), and then he immediately gets a call to do something.

Then, once again, Megumi tries to take responsibility for what Sukuna did, trying to make it up to Hana, and she takes attention away from that by mistaking it as a marriage proposal. Megumi is flustered, and runs away to do a mission (presumably what the call was about before).

Now, here's the thing, some of this stuff have perfectly reasonable explanations or are actually in character for the characters to do do (ex. of course yuuji would blame himself and hana also felt in character) but instead is the culmination of everything that leaves this odd taste in my mouth.

Sure, Gege could be stressed and overworked, sure, he could simply have no interest in really exploring Megumi's current state (which is odd considering Megumi was the original protagonist and Gege said in an old interview that he already knew his fate). But it could be something else at work, Gege could be playing with us.

What ever happens though, I'll always hold this theory close to my heart."

As the both of you pointed out, this really points to someone (Yuji) wanting Megumi to feel happiness and nothing else. The moment there is friction or him trying to confront negative emotions, he's pulled somewhere else. If both of you noticed this pattern without speaking to each other, it probably means something. (It's also funny how you both latched onto the Hana-Megumi confession scene in particular.)

I keep getting asks/replies that point out things I missed that indicate something is afoot. If these people made these posts by themselves, they'd likely get mocked for copium. But you add them all together and the case gets stronger.

That's why this whole debacle is so Umineko. The plausible deniability is the catbox that makes the mystery so hard to solve. It's also a recurring theme in JJK. Gojo and Sukuna use plausible deniability to mask their true feelings and mislead each other during their fight and everyone who is trying to have some kind of relationship with them.

If Gege is using the very real burnout, rushed deadlines, and health problems to mislead fans with this past 3 chapters, I will become a permanent glazer. Weaponizing your own flaws and feeding into the negative fan sentiment for trickery. It's evil genius.

[slamdunktheories]

Sailor Moon cameos in Slam Dunk

Totally random but if you've never noticed, there is actually a collection of Sailor Moon cameos in the Slam Dunk manga. There're a few more panels than shown here but you get the idea. Basically all around the Shoyo chapters. Any theories how it got there? The style doesn't look like Inoue's to me so if I had to bet I'd say it was an assistant's handiwork. ;)

[batbabydamian]

🦇🐥 Batman and Robin (2023) #5 rambling and a conspiracy theory lol

tbh this is the most exciting issue for me since…the first one 💀 i’m going to talk about the story and art separately because Nikola Cizmesija’s one of my favorite action focused comic artists so this issue’s a treat 😭

Alfred used to mediate during a lot of Bruce and Damian’s early relationship, so it’s refreshing to see Bruce take more initiative involving himself in Damian’s life even if it’s for a case lol

a couple instances of Alfred’s fatherly support on behalf of Bruce and Damian from Batman and Robin (2011) #2, 4, 39 and Teen Titans (2016) #1

Damian seems to take Bruce's involvement more as a sign he’s not reliable rather than Bruce finally just. being around to help him. which is fair 😭

this is complementary to Cizmesija’s art, but i love this half of the page so bad 😭 the negative space and the shaded foreground with Damian mid-run gives this feeling of time kinda stopping for us to really feel the impact of Damian’s entrance AND the effect it has on Bruce, like!! that wide eyed expression in the below panel!! 😭

Bruce’s quiet “you can do it, son” to A FULL BODY CHEER OF “GO, DAMIAN!” Bruce witnessing Damian be great outside of Robin, and on top of that it’s just another mundane moment that Bruce has wanted with Damian 😭

this is such a goofy bully line sdfgh though the whole “broken” bit might be a callback to Batman and Robin (2011) #1, in that Bruce is really trying to do his job as a father here or i'm likely reading way too into it

SO the “shocking ending” of Zach being Zsasz’s kid was definitely a surprise but then got me wondering what is up with Williamson doing reveals of new kids for villains lol otherwise, the hints in the issue were neat!

the tally marks!! at least tallying blocks is pretty innocent compared to kills 😭

and Damian would recognize how Zsasz moves, since he’s personally fought him before in Streets of Gotham (2009)!! very much not in a sport, but uh maybe it was to Zsasz

the art!! first a shoutout to the colorist Rex Lokus for giving Damian his green eyes and maybe melanin (it didn’t look consistent throughout so i say maybe)!! 😭 also a Talia by Cizmesija!! even though this panel calls her a “not great” teacher…💀

SUCH A FUN PAGE 😭 i’ve been into montage scenes lately lol and i love how quickly Cizmesija establishes Damian’s routine - Tues, Wed, and Fri are the funniest for me!! Damian grumpily getting lectured by his teacher in the foreground while his classmate’s still visibly steaming from the hit he took LOL, DAMIAN’S BUG EYED STARE WITH HIS SUNGLASSES UP, and then Damian looming. stealthily. in a tree. while some kid is blatantly pointing him out HAHA 😭

Cizmesija’s use of motion lines and effects when conveying movement is so cool!! the shonen manga vibes jumps out!! the smoke/dust trails following the movements; the limbs and soccer ball having a sort of blur effect with the motion lines. V COOL.

which leads to my favorite part of Cizmesija’s work - HIS IMPACT SHOTS!!

more motion lines and effects!! the splatter effects!! the arcs!! the jolting impacts!! GRRAAHH!! the setup to that impact shot of Zach's block is so great, and then following with Damian's reaction!! i almost wish that "???" wasn't there, just because that expression of stunned silence already feels so loud!!

last thoughts about Cizmesija's art is that i'm really hoping for a showdown between Damian and Zach next issue because i need to see a Damian fight scene in Nikola Cizmesija-fashion 😭 we get a taste of it with Orca and soccer but i NEED MORE LOL for now, dropping the moment when Damian overpowers Zsasz, in Batman: Streets of Gotham #11 since it was such an epic moment

okay SLAPPING MY CONSPIRACY BOARD!! so on another note Principal Stone being Shush is starting to feel like a red herring and Ms. Heather Hall could actually be Shush. Shush’s main point about Damian as his instructor was emphasizing how much potential he has, but the “wrong” influence could affect that

Stone and Hall have made the same observation about Damian’s potential, but the difference is how they address that - one wants Bruce to be more involved while the other wants Bruce to back off

Stone acknowledged Damian can take care of himself but still wants Bruce to step up in Damian’s life; Hall says it’s okay to be a helicopter parent BUT implies giving Damian space (which we already know Bruce has given so much of after Alfred’s death to the point of neglect 😭)

Hall even suggests moving Damian on to college, which would estrange Damian further. also idk how Damian kicking his teammates/bullies asses at soccer is really “making friends” lol

and of all the subjects she’s teaching, it’s AP Biology - according to the current case Batman and Robin are working on, which is centered around DNA-sequencing, it makes Hall the perfect accomplice to Langstrom

this is where my brain started reaching because i laughed at first at how specific that comparison is, but then it just made me think of how Shush’s first introduction was sniping Bruce LOL anyway, Bruce’s reaction is me 😭

one more Cizmesija appreciation panel - the lil running effects behind Damian :)

[mari-lair]

Idk of u read the new chapter yet BUT these two panels look ODDLY similar...do u think teru and natsuhiko have similar powers or something?

I have a theory that is very out there, but since you asked my opinion...

Not only do I think there is similarity to their powers, I would go as far as to say Natsuhiko is part exorcist.

Exorcist blood has always been special. We see Teru open a gate between boundaries in chapter 70, and Yorimitsu used his blood to make a contract with No.6, so their blood has influence over the supernatural.

Natsuhiko is treated as a normal student, a living being: Everyone in Nene’s class can see him, he is part of class 2-D, and acts as if participating in the school festival is normal, unlike Sakura.

There is also this official art of him with a sword, which so far in the manga only exorcists have 'weapons'.

Natsuhiko does not exorcise supernaturals though, he lives with them, many of his quirks making him seem inhuman. And I personally don't think exorcists are fully human, they must have some supernatural blood in their lineage, some deep connection.

Minamotos are inclined to like supernaturals despite being tasked to eliminate them. Hanako is basically the personification of supernaturals to Kou but the young exorcist overall sees him as a friend, Tiara got attached to a Mokke, and even Yorimitsu, who had heavily implied there is something wrong with his emotional attachment, took a liking to No.6. He stayed with the demon on his death bed.

Humans also don’t have fangs, no matter how dramatic the manga paneling can get, only supernaturals and the Minamotos have fangs.

 Exorcists can eat monster's body parts without needing to make a contract, so while they have spiritual energy that is destructive to supernaturals, and resistance to their power, their body doesn't reject supernaturals and their influence.

Exorcists are built to give a lot of damage to supernaturals and protect humans, it is heavily implied their spiritual energy can’t hurt humans, but who can they hurt? Half humans, and themselves.

And Natsuhiko’s blood hurt supernaturals, not humans. Possibly himself too, since it is the first time he actually commented on how it's 'painful' to do this despite being thrown in deadly and hurtful situations a lot. (tho it could just be pain from the cut, I still find it strange he comments it's painful.)

He is influenced by rumors which is a supernatural trait, not a human one, and Minamotos are not affected by rumors.

...Or are they?

Since i’m already going wild, i’ll throw another out of pocket theory here: Teru does gain powers by rumor, that’s where his astronomical popularity comes from.

The other character we are told to be ‘the peak of beauty’ in this manga is Aoi, who was unnaturally beautiful since young, and attracted attention even as a toddler. While Teru seems isolated, not just from an ‘I'm not normal’ perspective.

But he got a popularity jump so big at some point that both boys and girls are interested, able to loudly proclaim their love, his beauty is so amazing it overshadows Aoi's, to the point, someone suggested they made a Teru pavilion. A pavilion that has a BIG line.

His beauty is the first thing we learn about Teru: His introduction is as a ‘handsome and dreamy boy’,  not as an exorcist or any of his main traits, because that’s what Nene, and most of the school, sees him as.

Such hypnotizing beauty mysteriously disappears outside school. He has no fans or stalkers on the streets, and absolutely no one that isn’t from school ever comments on his beauty. Which is not the case with Aoi. 

I know people have always been more respectful to Teru than to Aoi (misogyny is a bitch) but this is not just a change of approach caused by respect, Teru has no admirers at all in the city. Aoi is beautiful outside school too, people can’t help but stare and want her, it is a genuine problem she always had, but Teru, who should make everyone swoon regardless of gender or how weird he acts, is not worth even passing comments, he is treated as a normal guy outside school. A pretty boy, sure, but nothing special.