#yugi tsukasa analysis

[amyyythestarry]

Kokujoudai, projecting Tsukasa’s soul?

I’ve wanted to make a post about Tsukasa’s hitodama.

Hitodama are human souls. So I wonder if Kokujoudai and Hakujoudai are just Tsukasa and Hanako’s souls?

Kokujoudai seems to fret a little bit much, don’t they? Nervous little things.

Tsukasa was probably feeling stressed in this chapter, since he didn’t know how to take care of baby Nene.

He even walked away to sing to himself to calm down.

I love Tsu’s character. There is still so much we don’t know about him.

Are you telling me he’s just a little cutie pie who worries internally all the time? 🥹

I wouldn’t be that surprised. With how much business he has to take care of, must be a lot to juggle by himself

[amyyythestarry]

@makshu

Let's see...

Tsukasa & noise...

. . .

With boys...

Kou shouting annoyingly...

Keep. It. Down.

Kou- Round 2

... again, Keep. It. Down.

No.3 shouting and being more annoying than Kou.

KEPT IT DOWN!

Mit 2.0 throwing a fit. wasn't he doing the same thing in there, too?

Don't be so noisy. Also, get started with the game already!

Both of them being noisy...

We have better things to do at a time like this, don't we? . . .

With girls...

...

What a nice gentleman.

Keep it down, kay? ^^ Just go to sleep.

Nene- Round 2.

Time to get you to sleep, little girl. ^^

When not noticing the source of the noise is a girl however...

A natural reaction.

KEEP IT DOWN, PEOPLE!

*****

We are delighted to be having an interview with our cute beloved really weak to noise cat in here!

Hello, dear special guest!

Any words you would like to say, good sir?

I'm really weak to noises...

KEPP IT DOWN YOU ALL! MY EARS CAN'T TAKE YOUR ANNOYING NOISES!

Noted, Tsukasa! Thank you so much for gracing us with your presence today!

Have a good day!

******

End.

[donut251155]

The "Yugi twins situation" is NOT incestuous

I'll just analyze stuff people used to "prove" the opposite of this, as someone with a close (PLATONIC!!!) relationship with a sibling

I'll just get straight to the point

This scene is NOT incestuous. They hadn't seen each other for DECADES, it makes sense that Tsukasa reached out to touch Amane - usually if you can't believe you're seeing someone you reach for their face, no? And he just moved his head up (+ the つ (translated as "rub" could just be his hand moving and could be a translation error. Like the "ah…" from Amane, he says "つー" (Tsu) which would've probably been him calling out for Tsukasa)

Also Amane was blushing because he WAS ABOUT TO FUCKING CRY??? IT'S NORMAL TO GET RED WHEN YOU CRY??? That's basic knowledge I fear

He'd seen his brother after AGES, AFTER HE KILLED HIM. I WOULD'VE HAVE CRIED TOO IF I WERE HIM Y'ALL HE'S CRUSHED BY GUILT, GRIEF AND IS HAPPY TO SEE HIS BROTHER AGAIN

I also think that if the scene was supposed to have some incestuous undertones, Tsukasa wouldn't have moved his thumb back.

Someone said this

I believe it doesn't have incestuous undertones for three reasons:

1. He had a dreamy and hopeful face in both cases. Usually, when characters dream of doing anything, even eating a cake or something like that, the artist adds blush to make the desire stronger. Tsukasa's desires were just having fun with his brother at a festival, something COMPLETELY PLATONIC, and knowing that his brother genuinely cares about him (another COMPLETELY PLATONIC thing driven by a sense of insecurity that he got because of how grumpy Amane was while sick. He wanted to hear his brother say "I love you" (PLATONICALLY) for the last time. It's less ambiguous in the Italian version because it's "Amane, tu mi vuoi bene?" which can only be seen as platonic (voler bene is platonic, amare romantic))

2. He looks cuter blushing. He's a child, children are supposed to be cute. He looks depressed without the blush in the first image 💀💀

See? He's cuter with the blush

3. He blushes for like 90% of the time. It makes him cuter, more childlike, he's FOUR YEARS OLD. The blush disappears when the drawing is too small for it to be added, when he's supposed to be confused, scary/creepy or serious.

This part fucking hell. Y'all do not know how four year olds think, do you?? Let me enlighten you

To the four year old Tsukasa, you either love or hate someone. No in between. He isn't talking about romantic love, he's talking about caring about someone, usually deeply. He means the platonic kind of love, it's all he knows. Nene reacted that way because she's 15, to her "love" is the romantic kind of love and she's in love with Hanako, same with Kou - they're teenagers who learnt that romantic and platonic love are different. Tsukasa doesn't know. He loves Amane in a platonic, brotherly way and thinks Nene loves his brother in the same exact way, like every other 4 year old would've assumed

(I reached the max of images :(( I meant the part where Tsukasa asks Nene if she loves Amane and says they're the same after she says she does, her mistaking it as romantic love and him taking it as platonic. Mb guys I'm new to Tumblr)

For the pose where the early manga showed us how Amane supposedly killed Tsukasa: it's not suggestive in any way. It just looks like Amane pushed Tsukasa down, stabbed him and that his knees gave out after he noticed he actually did what he did because of the wave of guilt and grief he felt (he even dropped the knife)

That's all I can think of atm :D

If you have any questions about this, ask ahead and I'll answer them!! I'm ready to answer

And sorry if I sounded a bit pissed off, but I am. I'm so sick of people misunderstanding sibling love lolol if you ship them go fuck yourself and do not talk to me, do not even breathe the same air as me I hate you and you're a disappointment to humanity

[lavatory-sealed-hanako-kun]

Words on Chapter 120

“You became what you hated most.”

Point Nr. 1: When Teru attacked Kou with spirit lightning to save Nene, Kou was already a ghost.

I am going to throw out a seemingly controversial take here immediately: Teru did NOT KILL Kou and additionally, there are NO PARALLELS between him and Hanako/Amane within the current events and arguably most of the entire manga. Especially not in relation to his hate of Hanako for having killed his twin brother.

This is going to be a very detailed and long one, so have fun.

In chapter 118, Sousuke and Kou are dragged into the exact same door, next to which Aoi later finds Nene's hair clip laying around. We know from the current chapter that this door leads to the basement of the Red House and the opening of the well. We also already know what purpose this well had, since it was established in chapters 68 and 80, that this is the well leading into the pit to which the Kannagi were sacrificed as offerings to a god.

It's a pit of sacrificial corpses, which due to the events of chapter 118 where Sousuke and Kou were dragged into that door and down to that basement, as well as this current one where Kou's possessed spirit tries dragging Nene into it, is clearly a spot still piled up with sacrificial bodies, nowadays the victims of the Red House. And those two boys were both thrown in already.

So now back to the scene where Teru attacks Kou!

Teru specifically uses his spirit lightning to slash at Kou’s hand gripping onto Nene. His sword blade never comes anywhere near Kou's body and we know for a fact that, while spirit lightning can hurt humans who are to some degree supernatural-

It has never been shown to go so far as to chop off limbs or leave very long lasting damages. (Which again, Kou’s hand being chopped off wasn't from Teru's blade either, it never came anywhere near Kou or Nene.)

After the attack, Kou's entirely blood and gore-free wound is shown and he suddenly starts crumbling into mist, exactly like most of the supernaturals did throughout the manga, showing us that this is exactly what a supernatural looks like when they’re exorcised!

Point Nr. 2: Teru knew Kou was already dead.

Alright, buckle in.

When we see Amane kill Tsukasa in flashbacks, it is bloody. He's got him pinned to the floor, using a knife to stab him in the torso, clearly spaced out in some way but committing a very real murder on a very real, living person beneath him.

Without even fully getting into just how completely different Teru's and Kou's dynamics are with each other, in comparison to the situation Amane/Hanako and Tsukasa have going on, you can't just claim that two characters are “parallels” to one another simply because they both happen to have siblings? Tsukasa and Amane were twins, Teru and Kou are not, they’re not even each other's only siblings, they have Tiara there too. Amane was never the one to sacrifice his childhood and future for Tsukasa's wellbeing, he killed him. Teru didn’t take his brother's life, the Red House did.

Tsukasa and Amane always had a very strange dynamic, glued by the hip and overly dependent on one another, Tsukasa even sacrifices animals and later himself to the wishing entity to grant Amane a chance at life without constant pain and illness. For several reasons Amane wants less and less to do with his brother as time goes on, they're still close, but Amane’s keeping his secrets from Tsukasa, and he in turn even accuses Amane of wanting him gone again. Amane immediately refutes that, yet still through a series of still somewhat unclear events, Amane later ends up brutally killing his own brother with what looks to be a kitchen knife (so very likely at home) on the floor, very dazed, but clearly intending to hurt Tsukasa.

Now back to a member of the “I professionally catch strays from the fandom” trio.

I’m going to remind everyone of the fact that this isn't the first time Teru has attacked Kou with his spirit lightning within the last few chapters. A couple chapters prior, when Sousuke invites Kou to search the school for his missing upperclassmen, they encounter the Red House. Aka Tsukasa's possessed soul most likely, since it only seems to take on the appearance of victims it already devoured and we know from the Yugi family photo in chapter 119 that Tsukasa must have died either before or after he went into the red house as a 4 year old, since he doesn't show up in the photo even when he would've still been very young. (This is a bit of a timeline discrepancy, considering the clock keepers went back to 1968 and not 1959 when Tsukasa first goes into the Red House, but I won't get into that right now.)

After this encounter, Kou gets possessed from chasing the entity around and right as he's about to seriously hurt Sousuke, Teru interrupts them by blasting Kou with spirit lighting, a thing he acts VERY CALM about (keep that in mind!). His stance is measured, he's clearly using a lot of force here too despite not using his preferred weapon, it even leaves Kou knocked out and a bit charred on the ground, but clearly not severely hurt in any way.

When even Akane points out how this was a bit overboard, Teru basically assures him that this wouldn't actually hurt Kou, he consistently has a ton of confidence in his brother's toughness.

This also shows he has experience with also using spirit lightning on possessed people and that it proves severely damaging or even fatal on supernaturals, but seemingly never on living humans.

And yet, attention back to the moment it all goes down: Teru is clearly screaming Kou's name in distress, moving to slice the space BETWEEN him and Nene, intending likely to merely free Nene from Kou's grip. If his intention was to just exorcise the entity possessing Kou’s body like he did earlier (in a very calm manner), why didn’t he just blast Kou with spirit lightning again? Why was he screaming his name with a face of agony before even making his attack?

It's because he already knew by this point, that wasn't Kou's living body, that was his ghost. Kou was already dead. He was too late to save him and now all he can do is stop him from dragging another victim down into the well.

Point Nr. 3: But how did he notice?

We can guess Teru has almost completely different senses from anyone else in the cast. He feels and notices things even Kou, Nene and Akane, all of whom can see supernaturals, don't notice. He mentioned seeing literal cracks between the near and far shores in chapter 73, he saw Hanako looking like that on the rooftop, he was the only one to immediately react to Nr. 6’s ambush attack and he is the ONLY ONE in the red house to feel a cold dread and fear of something powerful overcome him, a sensation neither Kou, Akane or Nene felt at all in the house. And again they can all see supernaturals, but they're not attuned to them like he is.

He could see down that well in complete darkness, immediately knowing that what he was looking at were the corpses of Kou, Sousuke and countless other victims. Akane needed a flashlight to get even a glimpse of what had made Teru collapse at the sight, he couldn't see it immediately, no one's eyes are as sharp as Teru's.

He knows supernaturals, he knows the clear difference between a ghost and living human, even when others can't see those. He knew from the moment he laid eyes on his little brother standing on the edge of that well, that he was already dead, a spirit walking without a living body.

He never “killed” Kou, there is no parallel between him and Hanako. He exorcised the shackled spirit of his beloved brother, possessed and puppeteered around by the red house to lure in more victims, because it knew they'd let their guards down around the sunshine boy Kou. He was one of Nene's best friends after all. 

Kou didn't want this, he would have never wanted to hurt Nene or lure anyone else to the same fate he and Sousuke endured here. In his very last moments, there was no anger, no blame towards Teru for attacking him to stop him from dragging Nene down. And none of the morbid fascination and happiness Tsukasa felt at being killed by his own brother.

All he felt was glad that Nene was safe now, hoping he'd get to see her again when the world turned back to how it once was. 

Endword!

So there you have it. Usually I don't make these kinds of commentaries for things I read, because quite frankly I don't care and I’m too busy to make these, thank you for sticking with me through this because huuhhh it took hours to make dear god. Props to everyone who makes these more often, solid troopers fr. I’ll make an exception for TBHK this time (and maybe if I’m asked to again)- solely because I see so many takes that I find are just very strange or completely wrong and that last chapter had me actually super interested in this series again.

I will take this is due in part to the very young average age of readers for this series and the fact it is often (as much as I enjoy reading this hot garbage, find its worldbuilding super fun and love the characters in it), just genuinely not a very well written series. It has an immense amount of plot holes, inconsistent character writing, situations for the sake of it with no proper set up and lets down on a lot of mysteries it builds up because it never resolves them, even several arcs later.

Anyways, if you disagree with my points and/or want to add something to this, feel free to comment, reblog or send in an ask about it. I think discussing stories does the best job at letting people realise things they never noticed before, so I highly encourage doing that lol. Also you made it to the end of this, you get a cookie. If I could bake cookies..

[tsutsumi-kurose]

some more thoughts on this art before we (probably) return to the red house tomorrow!!

i think what strikes me the most about this art is the difference in hanako’s and tsukasa’s tsueshiros. I love that tsukasa’s seem stable, whereas hanako’s look like they’re spiraling, or unraveling. I feel like that really represents their mental states/points of view: tsukasa, very sure of his choices and making progress towards the wishes he’s aiming to grant; vs hanako, who can never seem to know what it is he wants to do, and who can never find the right way to do it.

even just in this moment alone, hanako vacillates so much, from love to heartbreak. he says he knows, but to me that face reads less like he’s sure of himself and much more like he’s coming undone. meanwhile, there’s tsukasa, keeping calm as hanako unravels above him, keeping his head and assessing the situation at hand.

i love the representation of tsukasa as stability and hanako as instability, especially given that tsukasa is the one who advocates for letting people and supernaturals be how they want, to break the laws of the world, whereas hanako supposedly believes in maintaining order in the status between the human and supernatural worlds.

these two pieces of art are also interesting, especially in the order they were released, because hanako’s left hand seems to go from holding his knife to holding tsukasa’s (notably, not super alive looking) hand to his own cheek. could this represent a choice hanako has to make? or maybe instead, a progression of events?

I also find it very interesting how this art makes hanako’s haku joudai look like smoke, given our impending return to the red house…

[thelunarfairy]

Give me an exact and poetic expression capable of paraphrasing what the unspoken, unpalpable, unseen words were and did.

It transforms even the strongest of relationships into an abyss with no way out.

The absence of words, capable of changing lives

Or ending them.

[royakahoshiart]

A thing i noticed a while back is that Tsukasa looks on the verge of tears

he's calling Amane selfish, why would he do everything to keep Yashiro alive, is it for himself? for her? but why would it be for none other than himself.

Tsukasa sacrificed himself for his brother's health, even so, he killed him and then himself, so why would he do anything for someone else. Tsukasa doesn't understand Hanako's motives to try everything in his power to save Yashiro, this angers him, he's jealous, he would do anything for that girl but not for his own brother? who left everything behind to save him?

Why would you protect someone you met a semester ago by pure chance and completely ignore the one you care the most about for more than 60years.

Tsukasa doesn't know the difference between brotherly, platonic or romantic love, all he wants is his brother to acknowledge him.

He's jealous of Yashiro because she's loved by Hanako but he isint, he'll do anything to be with him again, even at the cost of someone's well being.

[djthemusicman]

I think nearly every TBHK main character as died at least once now

Hanako is already dead as well as the original/supernatural Tsukasa (supernatural Tsukasa is the one that Hanako killed while original Tsukasa was sacrificed to the red house)

Nene was technically killed by Mirai when she sped up her lifespan, obviously leading to the discovery of Nene’s short life span

Original!Mitsuba not only died as a human but also as a ghost while Supernatural!Mitsuba died at the end of the omen arc, killed by Natsuhiko

Akane and Aoi ‘died’ around the same time because they entered the far shore, Akane was able to leave the far shore because of his supernatural form, Aoi being only a human, couldn’t without more help

Now Kou has died to the new timeline Hanako, no debate on that one

Teru is a bit different in my mind since he didn’t die but he was very close to dying in his counter with Hakubo in the far shore

I don’t know about Sakura and Natsuhiko since their an odd pair of evil heteros, Sakura could very well be a supernatural as she’s working with Tsukasa meaning that she has died before, and Natsuhiko has not died yet at all, presumably at least

[makshu]

Did you notice? In the last panel of chapter 115 Tsukasa appears with a hole in his face, but did you notice that it seems to overlap his face?

Normally his hair would be above the hole if it were directly on his skin, but the hole is above and what's more, the hole distorts the surrounding hair.

It's like a vortex or a black hole superimposed on his face, with the hole distorting what's around it.

For me, that's what makes this scene more macabre. It's not just a hole in his face, but something superimposed in front of his face itself, being a bizarre distortion of reality and even more, a distortion of a child we've seen before.

[nanabansama]

I was looking more into Sumire and Tsukasa's song earlier and I found something interesting.

Here's the English TL and OG Japanese side by side:

One thing that's interesting is that the Japanese one is entirely in hiragana. Well, actually, in Sumire's version only the first part is in hiragana, but I digress... (Tsukasa doesn't know his kanji yet and I respect that)

Regardless, the lack of kanji makes the song a bit...ambiguous. it leaves wiggle room for other interpretations. And if you read the ask I answered about Kagome Kagome recently, AKA the song this is based on, that song is actually somewhat ambiguous, too! There are not only variations of the lyrics but different interpretations of the same lyrics.

Anyway, I want to focus on the first part of the song specifically. Here I've transcribed both versions for you:

English: One Night, Two Dawns, Three Go Together.

Japanese: hito yo, futa aki, mina soko e~

It's clear the English writers were trying to focus on the counting part of the song as opposed to incorporating every meaning possible, which is respectable. Given their lack of hindsight, I love these lyrics!

The only note I would leave is that "Three Go Together" is more like "Everybody Gather There" in Japanese. So it's not limited to just three people.

Anyway, here's me arbitrarily adding kanji to these lyrics to make it match the English version:

一夜、二明、皆其処へ

...and here's another way to write it:

人よ、蓋明、水底へ

Before I tell you the translation, isn't that kinda crazy!? Most of these characters look completely different! You can see why it'd be difficult to translate.

Anyway, here's the translation of these new lyrics:

O' Human, It's Starting, Go To The Waterbed...

Now, it's totally possible AidaIro didn't intend this specific interpretation, but it's interesting how I could even think this, isn't it? I think at least some level of ambiguity was definitely intended.

And it brings to mind something familiar...doesn't it?

...yes!! That's right! The kannagi were sacrificed into a pit filled with water!!! Wow!!

And let's not forget, they all washed ashore in the reservoir below the Red House...

...Which was built on top of a WELL!!

(Look, the text bubbles of the Pit God are even modeled like water bubbles!)

So the two people that sang this song, Sumire and Tsukasa, were both sacrificed into water-filled pits. Neat! I can't imagine that's a coincidence.

I'm not sure if there are any other interesting ways to interpret these lyrics, but in case anyone wants to try their hand at it, I would be most curious to see what you come up with!

[musicalmoritz]

Why does tsukasa seem to not care much about himself?

I had a hard time figuring out what you meant by this because to be honest, I don’t focus on the Yugi twins as much as some of the other characters. I still try to read analyses on them and understand them, and I have been talking a lot abt Tsukasa lately, but I haven’t rly grasped their characterization as quickly as I did with some of the others

However, after giving it some thought I believe you’re referring to scenes like these

If this is what you mean, then the explanation is that Tsukasa simply doesn’t want to exist. He is a yorishiro and existence for them is essentially hell, just look at what Sumire went through being stuck in a time loop for 100 years. It is not a reach to assume Tsukasa went through something similar, seeing as he alludes to being trapped in a place before escaping near the start of the series when we first meet him. He reached out to Hanako for years, but Hanako never answered any of his calls. So Tsukasa wanting to be destroyed isn’t really out of any self-sacrificial nature, it would be a peaceful ending for him. He’d be able to move onto the afterlife, or otherwise accomplish any conniving goals he might have with the entity (idk as I said, not a Yugi twins expert)

He views Hanako as selfish for wanting to hold onto the people he loves at the expense of their wellbeing. Part of Nene’e fate is to die young, it’s sad but that is the natural path her life is meant to follow. She herself even tries to come to terms with this and make peace with it, but Hanako won’t let her. He loves her, so he wants her to live a long and happy life. This is completely understandable, but it is also selfish. It is part of human nature to be selfish, and part of Hanako will always be tied to the human boy he once was. Selfishness isn’t always bad, sometimes it’s necessary. But from’s Tsukasa’s perspective, Hanako is robbing Nene of an escape

Tsukasa makes this a personal issue because Hanako treats him the same way. It would be objectively better and more natural for him to let Tsukasa go, especially if the theories abt him killing Tsukasa to free him from the entity are true. That is what Tsukasa wants, to be free, to no longer be a yorishiro. But Hanako is selfish, and he loves Tsukasa too much to grant him freedom

Now, if you’re talking about Tsukasa’s lack of self-care in regards to Hanako “hating” him, that’s a bit different

Tsukasa seems to conceptualize relationships in a very black and white way. You either love someone, or you hate them. He’s interested mainly in how other people feel and react to things, so he’s constantly asking them how they feel about others. I don’t think he differentiates much between platonic love and romantic, it is simply “love vs. hate” to him. The two are opposites and cannot intersect

The most genuine statement I could possibly make about Tsukasa is that he loves his brother. Both versions of him, no matter how you interpret his current existence. The possessed Tsukasa we know now is the one who grew up with Amane, he spent ten years of his life with him whilst Baby Tsukasa only knew Amane for three. Ofc that was still his brother so time isn’t rly relevant to how much love/attachment Amane still holds for the original version of Tsukasa, but that doesn’t change the fact that the brother he knew for most of his life was the possessed Tsukasa. They shared holidays and birthdays together, lived together, walked to school together every single day. Through and through, they are brothers and it would be impossible for Hanako not to see him that way, even if he claims not to. It must be a complicated situation for him, on one hand he grew up with this Tsukasa but on the other he blames this Tsukasa for the old one’s disappearance

Back to how Tsukasa feels, he loves Amane fully. He does describe them as rivals, so I would say the feelings are complex on his end as well, but overall he loves his brother. He loves his brother so much that he doesn’t care if Amane hates him. And he must, he threw him across the room once when they were kids when Tsukasa was bothering him. He knew something was off when Tsukasa returned, and his attitude towards him likely reflected that throughout the 10 years they spent together. He killed him, he freezes up when he sees him, he consistently sides against him. For a character that views love in black and white terms, that sure looks a lot like hate. He recognizes that Amane is sad without him, but he also understands that Amane hates him. At least, from Tsukasa’s perspective, that’s what it looks like

But Tsukasa’s love for Amane is unconditional, he doesn’t really care if Amane hates or loves him. Baby Tsukasa says he wants Amane to be an astronaut with their parents, somewhere far away from him so Tsukasa can never make him upset. He believes Amane hates him, but he doesn’t care as long as Amane is happy. That’s all he wants, for Amane to be happy. His brother is the most important person to him, as long as Amane is happy he doesn’t care what happens to himself. Until it reaches a breaking point ofc, and Tsukasa realizes that the best situation for everyone would be for him to disappear

I’m pulling a lot of this out of my ass so I apologize if I got any information incorrect! Also just to be clear I don’t mind being asked about the Yugi twins at all, people were asking me a lot about Tsukasa yesterday so I get why the questions keep coming. Just beware that I am a self-proclaimed Not Expert lol. I do plan to look more into them whenever I start that series of character analyses tho so stay tuned for that

[amyyythestarry]

The hiding hands behind his back thing could be nervousness

I LOVE LOVE LOVE THAT SOMEONE ASKED THIS!!

I always think that he does this out of nervousness, but I just thought I was being delusional.

Even though sometimes he does it when there is seemingly no reason to feel nervous, I think that there are some scenes where that can definitely be felt.

Like when he saw Hanako again.

Meeting a sibling for the first time in a while is nerve racking, I can relate.

Introductions are nerve racking, they can make you feel a little self conscious just wanting to be presentable. First impressions are everything.

First kisses. Definitely. I’d feel shy too.

I think what really goes over people’s head is the fact that Tsukasa is a person too, not a demon or anything incapable of feeling emotions. Hanako’s a supernatural and has a lot of emotions, so is every other supernatural in TBHK. Tsukasa can be emotional.

This character trait is going to be one I always will not fail to mention. Always.

HAVE A GOOD DAY!

[sunsetsmakemesad]

I have many thoughts about the yugi twins but the main thing is that I think they are dysfunctional and have a mountain of issues but at the end of the day they genuinely care about each other and would do anything for their twin

[donut251155]

can you tell us more about the hakama tsukasa wears? I for one don't know anything about japanese clothes

I COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THIS??? I'M SO SORRY

ANWYAYS I didn't know much about it either, so I researched it ^^

Tsukasa's hakama - why is it the female one?

"How'd you know it's the female hakama?"

More than a completely women's hakama, it's something in between a men's-like one and a women's one - he wears it above the waist but not quite to the chest. The men's-like hakama is still a female hakama

"Why does Tsukasa, a male, wear it like that?" - theory

Excluding the little joke I made about Tsukasa being a failed transfem (which is not a real theory - it's normal for a 13 year old boy to look like a girl since they haven't gotten to puberty yet), it could be that AidaIro decided to make a reference about Tsukasa being a sacrifice

Sumire and Katakuri are also stuck in the clothes they got sacrificed in, so this is the theory which would make the most sense. He got killed in his summer school uniform and got sacrificed in his home clothes, but the Pit God probably told him he'd help him become more powerful and unbeatable to help his brother if he dressed accordingly

This is just a theory, AidaIro likes keeping us in the dark about the Yugis 🫠

Something cute I found is that the tea party is probably also a reference to Tsukasa's hakama, since they're sometimes used in tea parties too <33 adorable

[kaeyaswifefromsnezhnaya]

We don't need Yugi's flashback because their story has been told for a long time. (an analysis) Part 1.

We don't know much about the twins, but I think that's enough because their personal story parallels all the characters in this manga. And we already know it. In this analysis, I will analyze the relationships of Kou with Mitsuba, the fourth secret, Hakubo with Sumire, and Aoi with Akane, because their arcs interpret one big arc of the twins.

1. Kou and Mitsuba. That boy was still that boy.

The main problem for Kou is the "real" Mitsuba. His entire arc is reduced to trying to bring back "that" boy, while Mitsuba's problem is wanting to live as a living person. Kou feels responsible for Mitsuba and wants to help him with his own hands, not someone else's.

He believes that he can make everyone happy, alone. It's really important to him, he's really dedicated to saving Mitsuba. So much so that he won't listen to anyone, even Mitsuba himself - he's so stubborn.

Just like Amane.

The problem is that Kou separates the two Mitsubas, he's completely confused about "who's the real one" and spends his time trying to figure it out instead of cherishing the time he spends with Mitsuba more often.

"You wanted to be my friend, right?" "You wanted to bring back the me you lost, please stay by my side..."

Mitsuba wants that understanding from Kou. "Admit it already, it's impossible, I can't become a _normal_ person, because no one can do that."

Mitsuba knows he's not the same anymore, but he still wants understanding. No one can turn back time, so why not just accept it? Kou is adamant.

And the famous "do you want me to die so we can understand each other better" page.

And then Mitsuba calls Kou an idiot because you can't say things like that. You have to value your life.

So how does this relate to Yugi?

Amane has trouble deciding whether the "new" Tsukasa who came back is the real one, while Tsukasa just wanted some simple human warmth.

Amane thinks he's responsible, thinks he can fix everything on his own, he never listens to anyone, and is very stubborn. It's believed that he tried to fix the big clock to turn back time and bring back the "real" Tsukasa. That's why he doesn't value the time he spends with his brother, because it's not the same. He's fixated on the idea of two Tsukases and a real brother.

"You wanted to bring back the me you lost back then (that birthday), please stay by my side..."

Tsukasa just wanted to spend time with his brother. Deep down, he was waiting for the joy of meeting and understanding from Amane. No one can return Amane to a real living brother, it's all too complicated and even the machinations over time did not solve the problem. And perhaps Amane could have thought that if they both died, it would somehow bring them closer together. Tsukasa is very angry with Amane's actions, because he gave his life in exchange for his brother's health, and he destroyed it so easily, without appreciating it.

2. The Fourth mystery and Mei Shijima.

I won't say much here, and maybe not very deep things, but nevertheless.

"Killing Shijima Mei is all I want." Yes, we have an obvious parallel with killing her twin with a knife, but the reasons for the fourth secret... "I wanted to protect the real you."

Shijima believes that this will bring Mei good. And despite the fact that she tried to kill Mei from the dream world, she still asks her not to leave, even though she is not "real" in the full sense, because it is too painful.

Also, the Fourth hates this fake world. It is too perfect in it, in a way that does not exist in reality.

How does this relate to Yugi?

Amane in the pp arc is parallel to Shijima, Nene just catches their similarity.

Radical problem solving, believing that they alone know what's best, doing horrible things "for your own good." Amane probably killed Tsukasa for similar reasons, believing that somehow it would be better this way. Amane also accepts the current Tsukasa as a fake, but even so, he doesn't want all the yorishiro to be destroyed, he doesn't want his brother to disappear, because losing him again is too painful.

Hanako hates the world of the perfect picture, everything is too easy and wonderful in it, as it was not in his real life, where he had to endure a lot.

3. Hakubo and Sumire. Mystery and yorishiro.

Sumire first appeared before us as proof that yorishiro can be in human form and her story is very parallel to Tsukasa. She had to spend many years locked away in the boundary of the mystery, in the form of the same place where she met her death.

She has not met Hakubo since that day. She hoped that he would come to her, but this did not happen, although Sumire strongly maintained some hope for her own importance to him - "after all, yorishiro becomes what the school mystery cherishes most."

She is tired of her existence, she has no particular purpose and she does not mind disappearing if it will help someone, if she will be useful at least in this way.

Nene asks Sumire what is so good about Hakubo? After all, he is unbearable, and Sumire probably fell in love with him because there was simply no one else. No one was as close to her. It is funny to hear this from Nene, but more on that later.

Sumire was also sacrificed to the hole demon in exchange for a wish, and later became a yorishiro, which is mechanically very reminiscent of Tsukasa. She also has a control complex due to the fact that she could not influence anything in her life.

She would also really like to be mourned and remembered - that is, at least some sympathy in her direction.

Hakubo, on the other hand, had problems expressing his will, and this is the main point of his personal history.

He suffers from the fact that he could have acted differently towards Sumire, these thoughts have haunted him since that day. He understands that he did not value the time spent with her during her life, he was cold in everyday life and he did not save her from death. The guilt for her death lies heavily on him.

"If I lived another life, I would have done things differently." He only grinds this thought in his head, and Sumire sits alone in the boundary, without the support of a loved one nearby.

How does this relate to Yugi?

I will continue this thought in the next post, since the image limit has ended 🙌🏻

Parts 2 and 3

[tsutsumi-kurose]

Thoughts on chapter 120? Like Kou just died, Amane has been dead, who knows what will happen next

You know what I’m curious about

What Kou said about the house

That whoever is in it becomes servant to its whims

Who else do we know is part of the house

Tsukasa.

He’s dead now, but even before he was dead, he was part of it so that begs the question….

How in control is Tsukasa? If he is at all?

hiii thank you sm for the ask!! (and thank you for your patience!! life's been a little wild this week!)

heads up this post is. pretty long lol chapter 120 was such a trip!!

to address the biggest event first: I thought the tragedy was really beautifully done!! teru absolutely unraveling and giving up all pretense in a way we have never seen before… SO good, I’ve loved watching this arc tear him apart—he’s such a guarded and constructed character, I’ve loved the angst of seeing the neat threads of him pulled apart to reveal what’s inside (that feels mean but I promise it’s a compliment about how he’s written lol I just really love angst)

I think I have a lot of the same questions as you!! as for what happens next, they’ve resolved to turn back the clock, but they still haven’t figured out what changed. times running out!! how will they find out?

well, there is one way they know to get answers in this world (:

such a helpful little guy in every reality huh!! my favorite little lore keeper <333

I love the change of tsukasa-kun not granting any old wish but specifically only granting information. knowledge has been a really interesting theme this arc... I have especially loved how a lot of this arc hinges on how much our characters don't know---especially teru, as he typically is one of the more knowledgeable characters throughout the series. (sorry i'm really delighting in his pain in the post lmao it's just that it's fascinating to see characters get the floor swept out from under them, seeing what breaks them, etc).

this difference in the timeline really highlights sources of knowledge/knowledge systems... which is think also relates to the clock keepers... knowing what they wanted to change and how to change it but no one else knows... the minamoto family having information or not having it and withholding it and from who... teru feeling powerless in this timeline bc he doesn't have knowledge and power to have the sort of control he normally has over supernatural situations... knowledge as power/power belonging to those with knowledge/knowledge as something owned and dispensed by those with power... really interesting themes this arc!!

in terms of figuring out how to get back before time runs out, i wonder if teru could stand to get information through this tsukasa-kun if it was for kou? does he have the skill and power to go against this iteration of the well god and get answers his own way? how will he cope with his loss of control now that it's caused him the greatest loss he could suffer? i honestly can't say i have any predictions there, but i'm very excited to find out!!

thinking about knowledge/lore keepers also makes me think about natsuhiko and sakura… telling kou how a human can become a supernatural, telling yashiro about tsukasa being hanako’s yorishiro and about her lifespan… thinking about knowledge as a theme this arc really makes me wonder where they are and what they know

but to stay on track with the ask lol: wrt what the clock keepers changed, I’m even more convinced after the 120 color spread that it has to do with amane changing the past 1968, though I have no idea what he changed or why. but i am thinking a lot about this interaction in 111:

hanako is still very much holding his knife up to kako---protecting tsukasa!!!---after kako says to dispose of tsukasa!! meanwhile, kako's eye seems to say halt---there seems to be something additional/different happening there. the circular lens framing of that panel of tsukasa also suggests that's from the pov of kako's eye specifically. when akane asks "is that all you wanted to say?" do we really know what it is that kako said? hanako's wide eyed "huh?" seems like it's a totally different reaction than the face he makes right above while wielding his knife, but we don't really see anything new between these panels, besides them looking intently at each other. does kako have some sort of way to control people into changing the past, I wonder? can he see someone's past, but only with enough information, maybe? did something happen to amane the first time he messed with the big clock back in 1968 that kako can sense here? at this stage, all this analysis has given me is more questions lol

to respond to your final question: tsukasa!!! tsukasa and how much autonomy he has!! perhaps my favorite tbhk mystery to ponder <3

i am a long time believer that tsukasa is tsukasa... and upon first reading, this arc strengthened that belief. but i gotta admit, the more i think about it, the more i realize there are definitely some arguments to be made about the status of our regularly scheduled tsukasa! i think the main things this arc has given us to consider regarding this mystery are: 1) the possessions feel very different here than the possessions in the original timeline; and 2) we start to see the god have more of a personality in this arc.

please join me on my thought spiral lol

the first difference we see this arc is that tsukasa-kun seems so not in control as compared to original timeline tsukasa, which makes him seem more possessed. most prominently in this arc, I think tsukasa-kun’s little moment of calling out for amane while wandering around the school portrayed him as much less in control than the tsukasa we know.

and 120 certainly seems to have confirmed that in the new timeline, possession is largely in the well god's hands, and something that the possessed person has no control over; amane seems to be violently possessed, then seems to forget anything ever happened once he's not being actively possessed.

to get back to the question of agency: the change in amane's demeanor and who's in control has been shown very starkly through the color of his eyes this arc. the changes are incredibly abrupt.

in contrast, original timeline tsukasa's eyes slide easily between black and gold---he carries on conversations, making one consistent point as his eyes change back and forth.

this would seeeeem to suggest original tsukasa has more control than this amane, and is therefore more himself

but kou's eyes weren't black either when he led nene to adult amane... why does kou's possession slide in and out, whereas amane's is so stark? and what does this mean for our original tsukasa, who seems so seamless?

though kou’s is still different from original tsukasa’s possession, as kou very visibly broke out of it because he heard nene calling for help? (maybe there's something to be said there about love and familiarity and its power, even if temporary.) kou’s possession felt somewhere between the abruptness of amane’s possession and the seamlessness of original tsukasa’s eyes shifting.

which… could suggest either that original tsukasa has agency, since he doesn’t seem to ever be fighting against possession or snapping out of anything. but, to argue the other point, it could also mean he’s so wholly controlled that he can’t fight against it or snap out of it. (which I don’t necessarily believe, for reasons I’ll get to in a bit!!)

the extent of the god's control this arc is also really interesting to think about considering possessed amane just... watches kou whisk nene away

this panel is so haunting. who's in there? is it the well god? it would seem so, as there are no bags under amane's eyes when he comes back to himself. so then is this the well god's expression? doesn't it look... tired? it just watches them run off. maybe because it knows it still has control over kou. but that doesn't explain the fatigued expression. it's so hard to read!! somewhat sad, somewhat... curious, maybe?

which raises questions about the well god having more personality this arc. I could be forgetting smth, but i don’t think we’ve seen it say too much before this other than the deals it made with original tsukasa, but it gets to express itself a bit more this chapter!! and i think there are a lot of similarities to tsukasa that may raise concerns about the agency of original tsukasa… but i think there are differences as well!!

the laughter in response to distress and the fact that the god asks a lot of questions do admittedly feel pretty similar to tsukasa:

i have considered that the god acting independently in a way that original tsukasa acts could indicate that tsukasa's personality is the god's, but if you consider the timeline, i think it's actually the other way around!

in this timeline, it seems like tsukasa still sacrificed himself for amane, which would mean that the god still learned its speech patterns by copying tsukasa when he started talking to it under the house, which confuses their similarities right off the bat! the well god is made of tsukasa, the well god learned to articulate itself through tsukasa.

we see tsukasa acting this way in the red house, before going back, when he has the god in his chest but can have a conversation with it. this behavior is also in line with tsukasa saying "yay!" and smiling brightly when amane says he loves him, even though we know tsukasa still thought amane hated him, despite him saying he loved him.

i also think there are differences in personality between original tsukasa and the god we see here!

their philosophies and goals seem different to me. “this is happiness” and “join the land of the gods” feels very different from “I like the look on people’s faces when they stop holding back” and “if something as simple as [humans and supernaturals mixing] is enough to break the world, it should be broken”… the god seems to exert authority over a taking or transfer, with a definitive ddestination and answer, whereas tsukasa's beliefs seem more in line with a smashing of any such boundaries or authority. wondering what would happen if the clock were to be “blown to smithereens” is very tsukasa, whereas things seem to have an order in this red house ritual… there's just something very one track and surreptitious about the way the well god seems to be operating here that feels at odds with tsukasa's beliefs and methods to me.

there’s also something to be said about tsukasa’s investment in emotional honesty vs a god that takes over people and decides what their emotions are for them. "this is happiness" and "are you happy to see me?" feel very opposed to each other!! tsukasa just seems so much more genuine in the questions he asks. what about what nene wants? so? how are you feeling? are you... happy to see me? do you think amane's gonna come? do you love your mommy, kou? more than nene chan? amane, do you… love me? so many questions!! they just seem so much more open-ended and prompt so much more than the god saying "this is happiness" and deciding that for everyone.

and asking questions is a habit tsukasa had before leaving the red house, even before sacrificing himself: he asks the god if it wants rice then asks if it wants a frog; he asks amane what wish he wants granted; he wonders how amane will kill him! he's always been really curious, and we see that in original tsukasa as well: he wonders what the inside of the supernatrual fish looks like, he wonders what it would be like to make an artificial human, he wants to know if akane has gears inside him too... an endless well (pardon the pun) of curiosity!!

the god, on the other hand, seems at this point to just want to pull people into the well, and has not shown any visible interest thus far in who those people are or any details about them, or any interest in life beyond the well. it makes a blanket statement about everyone wanting happiness and decides what that means. not very curious!!

tsukasa is also very willing to answer questions, without a price! which is different from the god taking people in exchange for answers! tsukasa very openly answers kou's question about his wish in 77-78 without asking for anything in return. tsukasa also stays where amane wants him in 111 despite definitely being able to overpower him, and (in my personal reading) does his best to hear amane out about why he's stopping him. tsukasa seems much more willing to communicate and converse that this god possessing people and telling them what happiness is and leveraging information.

something i'm also having half formed thoughts about is the fact that tsukasa couldn’t grant ghost mitsuba’s wish until it was less vague, whereas the entity seems to be deciding the meaning of the vague wish for happiness. also who even wished for that. they couldn’t have all wished for that. well god, who are you talking to?? who all wished to be happy and when?? what are you referring to?? cite your sources?? (also raises the question: what conversations has this god heard and how?? but that's a little off topic rn lol)

so, i think tsukasa is much more open and doesn't seem to want authority in the way the god appears to. sure, he definitely has a bit of a streak with giving orders---to sakura, and mitsuba, and nene, to name a few---but i think he's much more receptive to freedom and the breaking of rules, whereas the god seems to have one idea of what is good and isn't interested in any outside input, nor in sharing its ideas or doing anything in conversation. he also seems to be genuinely trying to grant sakura's wish as far as i can tell!! whereas nothing has suggested the god is taking other people's wants and wishes into consideration, at least not in any genuine sort of way.

so while tsukasa and the god definitely have some similarities, i think they have enough differences to suggest they each have their own minds and personalities and agency. i'm still of the belief that original tsukasa is tsukasa!

to dig a little deeper into the what has been revealed about the well god this chapter: while i think the well god is authoritative and acts in its own self interest, i kinda can't help but feel a little sympathy for it... the way it watches kou carry nene off, the way tsukasa-kun makes deal in exchange for people spending time with him, the way the people the red house takes never leave---the god doesn't seem to do anything with them, it just seems to keep them there. doesn't this all make the well god seem lonely?

i've said before that i think original tsukasa's shifting eye colors seem to indicate more emotional and mental shifts than possession/control shifts, which could raise interesting questions about the emotional core of this god...

this may also be a piece in the puzzle explaining what made original tsukasa so special: why he was the only one who got out of the kannagi cavern, why he had the autonomy to tell the god he was going back home without asking permission… he's god's favorite!! lol and i've always wondered why!! (i mean he's my favorite too so i get it---but lore reasons lol). could tsukasa be special to the god because tsukasa chose to be with the god?

one last thought i have right now is that I also think original tsukasa’s emotional investment in hanako and nene hints at him being himself, bc I don’t see why the god would be so invested in those two specifically? if original tsukasa is wholly possessed, what reason does the god have to shower amane in so much love every time he sees him? that feels different than a learned speech pattern, and even if the god has tsukasa's memories, it doesn't seem in line with what we see of the god here to jump at amane and hug him whenever he sees him--actions like that feel very singularly motivated by tsukasa's feelings. there is, of course, the possibility that if the god took over tsukasa, he was affected by his feelings, but at that point, isn't the god more tsukasa than tsukasa is the god? if the god is possessing tsukasa but has been made to have tsukasa's personality and act on tsukasa's feelings...isn't tsukasa arguably the one in control? where does the difference lie? what tips the scales?

maybe the biggest question re: tsukasa's agency will be... how much of tsukasa is the god, and how much of the god is tsukasa? though at this point, i do still personally view it as a partnership.

anyway, i leave you with my favorite panel, which haunts me in new and exciting ways every time i think about this: