#nao-chan

[gemoglobinchik]

For Secret Santa

[prokkoli]

a sketch from a while back because miss them </33

[shrimpchipsss]

skip to loafer ep 2 redraw

[bluegad]

buncha cool kats.

[mapoeggplant]

nao and her new teenage years

the greatness that nao's presence has in the girls' lives is undeniable, but we also need to remember how she is finally receiving a second chance through them, how being by their side allows her to find peace with her own adolescence.

she did voice her feelings before, about how conflicted she feels when she sees mitsumi living the teenage years she never had. on one hand, she’s extremely happy for her niece, but on the other, it’s hard for her not to feel any kind of pain for her teenage self, who was denied of so many things. it’s a very understandable feeling, even more understandable when she shares how guilty she feels for having them. it’s not that she resents mitsumi for having what she once wished, it’s just hard to brush the loneliness that followed her.

however, what i find it beautiful of it all is how mitsumi and her friends are allowing her to experience this adolescence she once wanted, and she even chased that forgiveness by taking them with her to her hometown, a place she never came back to. she’s taking care of them and making sure they are safe and healthy by taking care of them at a certain distance, having respect for their feelings and need for personal space. all she offers them is a hand to hold and a place to go to, something she never had for herself.

nao is not only teaching them, but she’s also learning. she’s not only bringing mitsumi’s friends to her hometown to find a reason to go back, she’s showing her past self how happy she is now and how she can guide the ones around her to be as happy as they deserve.

i think this is one of the beauties of skip to loafer: how gentle it is to its own characters and their own experiences with youth. it respects each characters own trajectories without making them collide; instead, their own trajectories serves as a way to impulse other’s.

BONUS (just a little thing I noticed after someone replied to my thread on twitter):

also about this, i just thought about how nao finally had her talk with her mother while she was working on her garden, something that she always admired, as she once told mitsumi about how beautiful her grandma’s (nao’s mom) hards are

[missbliss12]

Quick Nao and Mitsumi doodle from the Skip and Loafer for pride month. Love their relationship so much!

[ianime0]

Skip to Loafers | Ep8 | Having a little bit of a cringe side will make you more endearing.

[daybreaklynx]

who is the best aunt character ever and why is it nao chan🫡💘💘

manga inspired outfit and panel silly redraw

i realized too late that in the anime nao has brown hair and not black M SORRY!!! 😭🙏🏽

anyways when I started reading s&l more than a year ago I would've never dreamt of seeing it animated... it makes me so happy🩵🩷🤍watch it!!

[animescreencolle]

Skip to Loafer E02

[cozyafternoon]

[arirna]

[nightowlqueen]

Happy Pride to Best Aunt, Nao-chan!

[prokkoli]

with grandma!

[ceyskywalker]

cover page of chapter 55

the trio i didn't know i needed im so excited for chapter 55 and MIKAMURAI NATION WE'RE SO BACK

[haru-rain]

"Talking while drinking when we're adult" That's what Nao-chan usually does, right ?

I think it's fair to say that Nao-chan is a role model for Mitsumi. ❤

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 55 general thoughts // spoilers

it's crazy to think that takamatsu-sensei would be able to condense all the points of what makes skip to loafer special in one chapter alone, but surprise: she did that, beautifully — as always.

like a hot summer night, everything about this chapter feels warm. I can also compare it to a hug. what I want to say in the end is that there's a lot of empathic points and moments on this chapters that brings out the best on sensei's writing and how she build her characters.

giving mika a chance to share her point of view right after so many chapters that focused so much on shima's struggles was a great move. the reason why I say this is because I can see mika as someone who's personality and character construction is very similar and linear to shima's. both of them have this scar of their past that keeps coming and going up to their adolescence and they are trying to find a way to surpass is — and both of their worries lie on loneliness, but a different kind for each one.

while shima fear loneliness as in disappointing everyone around him, mika feels it as in never finding a place she could really be who she wants to be. yes, she found a safe space with the girl group, but she still feels like she can't tell them everything, and I don't think she's wrong for that. even tho it's comforting and they make her happy, it's hard for her to really break this wall she took so long to build. it's not something you can change overnight.

and following this with nao connecting the dots from her past to present was amazing. that's because it was easily an introduction to nao's feelings about her hometown and all the pain she still feels in relation to it. even though she's living in tokyo with a new happy life, there will always be that teenage sitting on the beach, crying and feeling lonely in the back of her mind. by relating to mika's pain and loneliness, nao can finally find a way to put an end to what hurts her so much and make peace with her past. as i said before: she looks at mika and sees a second chance.

different from grumpy mukai, I don't think mika was in any way making that moment about herself. liking it or not, her crush on shima was the reason why her relationship with nao started, so it was the best way for her to make that bond stronger (and find a partner in crime).

now for the one!!! the one we never could imagine had thoughts: mukai! exploring a little more of mukai on this chapter elevates more the complexity of the scenes around them. and also, when he starts to think about mika's feelings and shima's complexity, we're transported to the beginning of the chapter, when mika is asking herself basically the same questions.

mukai realized how sharp and precise mika is, but something inside him still wants to deny. that's because she's "the type of girl" he thought he knew and didn't liked it, but now he's seeing a side from her that is challenging him on his own believes. it's a way for him to break a little out of his shell, to break from the stereotypes he once thought he knew.

there's a lot to come, specially because he's very curious about her — always had been. she's intriguing, beautiful and much braver than he thought she could be. for now, I'm happy that that's all that we have: a little "I notice this but I don't want to think about it" from him.

takamatsu-sensei relies herself on human connections, and here we are again, having the privilege to experience this. the whole chapter is a callback to relationships, bonds, the complexity of one another and our own. it's about connections, forgiveness, moving forward.

it might take time, but mika will find her peace sooner or later. I mean, if someone ever told teenage nao that she would be calling her boyfriend and inviting him to visit her hometown, do you think she would believe it? we're always moving on our own pace 💛

as always, thank you for reading, sorry for any mistakes (I just follow my stream of consciousness basically) and I hope we can talk more about it, together 💛

you can also find this thread on twitter