#in the second case where mechamaru gets to turn human again

[yuesya]

I just read the Mechamaru short and also the other replies and well. And it just STRUCK me how Mechamaru is downright in the wrong in so many fucking ways.

Especially when you mentioned the guards. Those poor people who were guarding the Death Paintings and fingers. Mechamaru didn’t even give them a single consideration and probably even forgot they even existed, but they died horrible deaths because of Mechamaru colluding with Kenjaku.

Mechamaru accuses of Shiki having a perfect life - powerful, beautiful, perfect - and feels anger at her for the indifference when she looks at him, and yet, HE is worse than she is.

Ironically enough, despite her indifference and very much real and sincere want to resort to killing to solve her problems ALA she’s a cute little psychopath, Shiki is far more nicer to her subordinates and “people who don’t matter to the sorcerers”.

The guards. The assistants. The servants.

Because of how logical, abnormal and straightforward her way of thinking is, Shiki just… gets straight to the point. She treats her servants nicely because it’s basic decency to treat people who make everything work nicely. She makes sure her assistants are out of harm because duh, they are her assistants and can take care of other things, they don’t have to risk their lives fighting curses they cannot handle, she can handle that. Someone has committed a crime? Well easiest solution is to kill them but because of politics she will just immobilize them :/ Just let her break their limbs quickly, she had learnt from her mistake with Geto Suguru after all. They can be interrogated with only their mouth.

Anyways.

It’s just. Shiki doesn’t care about them the way she cares about Nanami or Satoru or Tsumiki or Megumi or Yuzuki.

Yet, she’s far, far more kinder to them than many other sorcerers who just see them as fodder.

Ironic. One of the most inhuman of sorcerers is kinder to them than those with human ego, isn’t it?

I think we're probably all in agreement that Mechamaru's plan in canon wasn't thought out very well. It sort of feels like he just finally, finally saw a chance to save himself, and went for it -to the point that he was tunnel-visioning quite a bit, either ignorant or uncaring or both regarding the casualties that such actions would have.

Shiki is largely uncaring about most people on the emotional level, but not the intellectual level. Which makes all the difference!

Mechamaru is indeed rather hypocritical in various ways when you look at things this way. Luckily, he's alive instead of dead in the Liyue AU, so now he gets to deal with the repercussions.

I haven't really made up my mind on details in the Liyue AU, although I think I'd like Mechamaru to have some character development in which he deals with the consequences of what his actions wrought.

In his own world, we have many civilian deaths, as well as the deaths of the warehouse guards. He also endangered his own classmates during the Goodwill event. He actively assisted and helped to hide Geto-Kenjaku and the man's faction from the jujutsu school.

In Liyue, an entire village was decimated by the four Special Grade cursed spirits that Shiki was fighting. Cursed spirits that she was only fighting because she'd been sent to search for Mechamaru.

Part of me wants to keep the transfigured monster-form a permanent state for Mechamaru. Actions have Consequences, and all that. It would also serve as an ever-present reminder that Mechamaru can't run from, in terms of what his shortsighted decisions cost him. There's also a fun parallel to hilichurls!

At the same time, there's another part of me that wants to make it so that Mechamaru can learn from the adepti. More specifically, learn to transform his shape from the illuminated beast adepti, whose original forms are animals but they themselves can take on a human form.

Because part of Mechamaru's growth in the Liyue AU would be coming to terms with what he did, but also trying to atone for it, too. To move past his mistakes, and become better.

... Anyways there are fun things to write either way, and I'd better stop here and get back to editing the next chapter for zenith of stars now haha.

[recentanimenews]

Jujutsu Kaisen – 21 – Naisupitchi!

Guy with the sword with a hand for the grip—who I’ll just call “Guy”—is retreating from the academy through an underground tunnel when a severely injured Hanami smashes through the walls. Guy is ready to put Hanami out of his misery when Mahito appears, telling him that as a human he shouldn’t act alone.

Back on the beach, Hanami and Mahito rejoin Jougo and Getou (and … er … Zoidberg? is still swimming in the ocean). Getou explains to Jougo how Mahito was able to get past the academy barrier maintained by a sorcerer named Tengen: by placing a charm made of Mahito’s Cursed Energy on the finger of Sukuna they collected.

Suffice it to say, thanks to the successful raid on Jujutsu High, their plan is right on track, with Getou setting October 31 and Shibuya as the day and the place they want to unleash the “bomb” that is Sukuna. Meanwhile, the higher-ups of Tokyo and Kyoto meet and agree to keep the theft of the special-grade objects a secret among them, still unsure what the enemy is about to achieve.

We then shift to the infirmary where Yuuji and Nobara are visiting Megumi and eating pizza. This is a momentous occasion, because it’s the first time since Yuuji came “back from the dead” that the three friends have been able to simply kick back! So of course “Big Bro Aoi” has to muscle his way in, leading to him chasing Yuuji around the academy campus.

That brings us to the question: What of the Exchange Event? Rather than be cancelled, everyone agrees it should continue, though with the group event of the first day over, most expect the second day to take its typical form: individual battles. However, when the form of competition is drawn from a box, it’s baseball, so we get a baseball game!

I love baseball, particularly the unique style Japan brings to the game, so I was fine with this! Maki, as you’d expect, can both pitch and hit at an elite level, while Nobara can man the hot corner and beat out a grounder. Kamo Noritoshi (who really should be wearing a helmet) uses the opportunity to speak to Yuuji, who until a few hours ago he was trying to murder.

When Nori hears that the reason Yuuji became a sorcerer, he’s surprised to find it largely matches what his own ostracized mother said to him before they parted ways: save a lot of people so they’ll help you in turn, or even just be with you at your end. After a Nobara hit (off a Mechamaru pitching machine) and a perfect sacrifice bunt from Megumi, Maki socks one out of the park, only for the flying Momo to catch it—which is allowed because they’re short on players.

Maki gets her revenge when Aoi steps to the plate, beaning him as he’s telling Yuuji how he hopes he’ll pitch to him someday, which…there’s just no way to say that without it sounding like something else entirely. When Yuuji comes to the plate, the two principals discuss the Yuuji conundrum. The strict interpretation of their laws says he shouldn’t exist, and Gojou’s selfishness kept him alive at the cost of many lives.

At the same time, there’s no denying that Yuuji’s being alive has saved lives that would have otherwise been lost. They tentatively agree to simply continue watching him as they weigh the pros and cons. After all, if they kill him for good they can’t undo it…again…I presume! It’s fitting that Yuuji is the one to hit the homer that puts Tokyo up 2-0, which ends up being the final score thanks to Maki’s lights-out pitching.

The show proved that it can animate baseball (or at least baseball-ish) action just as impressively as it does its battle scenes, while the on-screen graphics were full of great jokes, like the fact that Mei totally stole the ripe mango Kasumi was saving from the fridge…and that despite being able to actually say the word “rice”, Inumaki prefers bread for breakfast.

If there’s one mild complaint I have about Jujutsu Kaisen, it’s that the main trio have been apart more than they haven’t. The preview indicates Yuuji, Nobara and Megumi will be working next case together, which is just what I was hoping for as this second cour starts to wind down.

By: braverade