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THE FRAGRANT FLOWER BLOOMS WITH DIGNITY (2025)

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Wind Breaker | Ep24 | Sheesh. Don’t leave me outta this!

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Wind Breaker | Ep22 | No. What becomes stronger is right here. When I wear makeup, I become the person I admire. It fills me with happiness, and I feel like I can try harder. The feeling of love, no matter what it’s for, strengthens your heart.

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mizusu x kitahara ➤ a love too captivating ♡

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SK8 EXTRA PART (2025) ↳ becoming really serious about things

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OMG FINALLY!!

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If this next arc is going to reveal a big part of Sakura's childhood as he talks to Umemiya, Kotoha, and the newest resident of the orphanage as he also figures out what his dream is for Bofurin and their friends I'm going to screammmmm

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The Summer Hikaru Died | July 2025

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ᴡʙᴋ #180: ꜱᴀᴋᴜʀᴀ🌸- ᴛᴏɢᴀᴍᴇ🐢- ᴡᴀɴɪᴊɪᴍᴀ🐊

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"YOU'RE CUTE."

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i love all the little moments in this series that cover the brevity of human life. it's something that should be insignificant to the youkai who live so long, but instead it's often something as equally painful as it is precious to them

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When Suo-san does it, it looks more stylish.

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#179: ꜱᴀᴋᴜʀᴀ & ᴛᴏɢᴀᴍᴇ ✧˚ ༘ ⋆｡♡

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Hi 🩷

I'm just curious about why tsubaki -chan had more fighting scenes than Sakura in the upcoming arc . I'm rereading the manga, nii sensei used to give Sakura the most number of the action panels except in this arc . Do you think it's intentional? For Sakura's growth?

Oooh! Yeah, yeah- I think it was intentional! Of course, my initial thought was "Well, yeah- of course Tsubaki had to do more of the fighting, it was what was important to him-his sister- who was at stake." But the thing is is that that doesn't actually answer your question towards 'why'. Why put Tsubaki and the things important to him here in the story? Why give Tsubaki a boss fight for Sakura to fight?

Let's talk about Tsubaki first! Tsubaki is the Leader of the Jikoku Team, named after Jikokuten. Jikokuten is the protector/defender deity (called the "upholder of the nation" and also the deity of music) of the Four Heavenly Kings. Immediately feels fitting for Tsubaki, who fights in this arc to protect Shizuka, both someone Tsubaki considers family and a singer (to play into the 'music' aspect too). Tsubaki is someone who fights while upholding "Umemiya's style"- meaning wanting to get to know the other person better and come to an understanding more than wanting to 'win the fight'. Prioritizing empathy and protecting the weak about shows of strength. When Tsubaki arrives to fight Suzuri, understandably he is pissed- This other kid comes sauntering in with a huge mob of mercenaries intent on taking Shizuka away from the life she's found with Kanji and Tsubaki. Tsubaki fights Suzuri to ensure that doesn't happen and to keep his sister safe. Yet, Tsubaki still applies the Umemiya Style and actively tries to understand and have a conversation with Suzuri over the course of their fight. But, we've had Sakura watch Umemiya "fight" before. He's seen a Furin upperclassman prioritize empathy before. So why here?

I personally think the answer lies within not just looking at Tsubaki in this arc, but at Kanji Nakamura. I think what's interesting to me about Kanji is he seems like a mixture of the leader figures in Furin Sakura has seen and learned from thus far. He has the passion/ presence/ strength of will that Umemiya has and he goes berserk in a fight like Kaji.

But, Kanji is actually also like Sakura. He rushes impatiently into fights when he sees someone being scum and threatening the safety of those important to him (though he does seem to have....some control as Sakura comments that apparently Kanji was pulling his punches when he first tried to put himself between the trio and Shizuka. Probably some small part of him realized he didn't actually know what the situation was yet). He's definitely an "act first, ask questions later" person.

I think this arc serves to be a response to Sakura's state after the Keel arc. Sakura is now in this position of leadership, he's coming to terms with the fact that he doesn't have to 'prove' himself in order to be accepted by his new family in Bofurin. The fight with Keel even served to show that what is holding Sakura back isn't even a lack of strength. He was strong enough to fight that "Nobody" (as Kaji called him) and we're not shown that Sakura wouldn't have been strong enough to fight Natori. Sakura's problem was his scope of vision in a fight. His classmates, who Sakura is responsible for leading, started getting hurt. He lead them into this fight but because he was so focused on beating the shit out of Natori he wasn't giving them the support they needed. Which is why when Kaji shows up he punches Sakura and tells him to stop tunneling on beating up Natori and pay attention to who of his peers needs his support. For him to have their back so they don't go down. He's not fighting alone anymore, and that's a very new thing for Sakura.

So why the Gravel arc? I think because the events of the Gravel Arc forces Sakura to decide what he wants to do in being placed at the top (of his class). It's still small scope, it's not yet addressing his intentions of becoming the top of Furin. But it IS forcing Sakura to ask the question, "what do I want to do"? What is his goal as the captain of class 1-1 (who, it is important to note, are first years and for the most part not as strong as the few best fighters)? The Gravel Arc gives Sakura a chance to see the events of the Keel arc from an outside perspective and evaluate how he feels about how HE currently fights (and also a new perspective to consider when it comes to fights, but I'll expand on this in a moment). Sakura rushes into fights by himself, and Kanji does as well.

But what starts to happen? There's simply too many members of Gravel and while Kanji is able to still steamroll through Gravel, the other members of the Roppo Ichiza start to lose steam.

And Kanji also knows that even given as strong as he is, he's not going to be able to take on the entirety of Gravel himself. Which bring us to perhaps Kanji's most important lines in the arc:

It doesn't matter if Roppo Ichiza getting beaten down by Suzuri and Gravel. They can at least wear them down enough, they can at least keep fighting until they are no longer able to stand. And in doing so, whoever is left will not be able to get past Sakura, Suo, Nirei, the Sakaki twins, and Tsubaki. Even if Gravel has the last person standing against Roppo Ichiza, they can still have been successful in keeping Shizuka safe. And to them, that's all that matters.

But what is Sakura's reaction to these words? To this perspective on fighting to the very end to protect what is important? Well, at first he admires it. But... then he realizes what losing would mean. It wouldn't just be him, Sakura, getting beaten up. It would be everyone else getting hurt in the process too.

Kanji's means of leading Roppo Ichiza is... actually pretty reliant on individual strength. He puts his money where his mouth is; he will fight with his entire being for the safety of the red light district so that they can feel safe. He even is shown to have the same drive and strength of will as UMEMIYA. But, when he fights, Kanji rushes in on his own. It's up to the other members of Roppo Ichiza to hold their own. And every member of Roppo Ichiza is a strong fighter. That's directly stated in the arc. However, that is not necessarily the case for those in Bofurin.

It is more someone's heart that determines whether they are able to find a place at Furin- if they are willing to fight to protect the town and everyone and everything within it. Everyone has something of value that they can offer towards helping out the townspeople or supporting their fellow Bofurin members in a fight. But Sakura saw the same thing that happened in the fight against Keel happening against Gravel. So what did Sakura decide his role was in this fight? To support the other members of Roppo Ichiza and keep them from going down (something that will play a BIG role for Furin in the Noroshi War after this arc). He was not going to let there be a repeat of the Dead Wife!Nirei moment.

Sakura doesn't go after Suzuri because he decided there was a more important role. Trying to go after the BBEG is what got others hurt last time. From watching these events unfold, Sakura is deciding that he would MUCH rather stay close to others' sides if it meant he could keep them from getting hurt as much as possible. He's deciding that no goal is more important than his team's well being. That he will never let himself put the blinders on and ignore them in a fight. He's deciding that he has to be aware of what is happening to them at all times during a fight so that he can do everything he can to keep them from going down. He knows it's a naïve and unrealistic goal- to keep the others from getting hurt in the fights that they get into- but that's what he decides at the end of the Gravel Arc to start applying himself towards.

I think the Gravel Arc's role was to have Sakura revisit the events against Keel now that he has some of that pressure of never making a mistake, of always having to prove himself to be strong removed from his shoulders. To be presented with a similar situation and have Sakura confirm that the role he wants in a fight is to prevent his classmates from going down/getting beaten into unconsciousness. I think the Gravel Arc is why we are able to get THIS Sakura in the Noroshi Arc.

Sakura's growth isn't towards being able to take down the big bad guys who try to pick fights with Makochi. Sakura's goal is to be a leader that is able to best support his family and keep them safe as well. It's for him to become the kind of leader that HE will be proud to be. In order to feel like he is doing all the things that he can for his class as their captain.

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imagine watching a show that centers a social outcast who finds community after a life of heavy prejudice and discrimination due to his “strange” looks and unconventional behavior, and then you get mad because it features the experience of queer people 😐

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SAKURA IN ROPPO ICHIZA ARC✨‼️🎊 (//∇//) (//∇//)