#in my estimation saying 'never lost word' is basically the same as saying 'heat-haze days' for 'kagerou days'

[lovers-instead]

Thoughts on “Shissou Word” from former tumblr user mekakushi-chord

obviously, i have a lot personally invested in this. let’s get down to it

first of all, i had no idea this was coming. i’ve been on vacation, and i’m also extremely unobservant

I understand what the song is going for-- a “new side” to Kido. However, I think it failed to achieve that in the end, and instead managed to give her a completely new character arc

I say this because it fails to mention ANY of her previous motifs/characteristics-- music, ghosts, her love of cats, the fact that she has chuunibyou, cooking. Instead, it focuses mainly on the motifs of “bud/flower” (never mentioned before aside from her name) and “mirror” (completely new)

We barely managed to get ONE mention of “disappearing--” even her central theme has been retconned. It now revolves around “speaking” and “words” (hence the title)

Essentially, her old character (”caring girl who tries to act tough”) has been completely replaced with “reserved girl struggling with her identity”

THIS IS GOOD. IT’S SO MUCH BETTER NOW

Kido now comes across as extremely introspective to the point of self-centeredness. The song fails to make a complete allusion to even one other character, much less her beloved “gang.” I love this, as it is both cool and relatable, and finally gives her some depth beyond her relationships with other characters

In The Old Days, I always defended Kido as “not being tsundere,” even though she definitely was (perhaps not in the seriously official material, but in most of her appearances such as the manga anthologies she was portrayed that way). Now she really isn’t! My long-awaited victory!

lesbian kido is canon king

I know, I know. the snake is talking to her or whatever. but why should that mean her self-doubt and internal turmoil aren’t genuine? examining the lyrics, one can easily extrapolate Kido’s severe psychological issues with identity and gender ever since she was young

“So that no one will ever know--!”

She’s always been distinctly butch, but this song does a lot to solidify her as a gay-coded character. Probably on accident.

Music-wise: all I’ll say is... I wish it was more like “Headphone Actor,” the best song of all time, than “Shounen Brave.” oh well. that’s just how kagepro is now. it’s growing on me, though

The video doesn’t really make any sense. Is street urchin Kido now chronologically before sister-fire-daze Kido?!?!?! It’s possible that the novels already established this, but like everything else from the novels, that’s just stupid and most likely contradictory. It looks pretty, though.

(Why not intersperse some shots of earbuds or something between all the flowers......?)

There is a real stumble in the execution, which is the absurdly extended period of time that the first Young!Kido is on the screen before any of the designs we know and love for this character. It also lessens the impact of the second new design at the end of the video. Speaking of which.....

ADULT!KIDO IS THE GREATEST THING I’VE EVER SEEN IN MY LIFE

Theoretically, if Kido is 16 in, say, 2012, then Adult!Kido is, perhaps, 21 in 2017. We can only hope.

I truly appreciate this quasi-intentional admission that most of the themes in kagepro are generally pretty childish.

Also, Adult!Kido looks pretty much exactly how I’d imagined “Kido’s sister” to look before Rin was revealed! Awww!

I am now legally allowed to admit that her old/standard design is ugly as HELL

(It’s hard to tell with all the filters, but it seems possible that Someone has forgotten that Kido’s hoodie is canonically light gray and not purple, anime notwithstanding)

I cannot stress enough how thrilled I am. For all those years, I’d chosen Kido as my “favorite” for... basically no reason. Now, she suddenly has extreme social anxiety, is self-obsessed, is alienated by “normal things,” and is horrifically ashamed of her own existence! She used to have basically no personality, but it turns out that she’s actually exactly like me! For some reason, Jin decided to give me this glorious gift.

TL;DR: “Chuunibyou Team Mom” has been completely revamped into “A Story of One Who Can’t Speak Well” in the most acceptable continuity breach of all time