hestzhyen

[hestzhyen]

Fushiruha Week Timeline! 🎉

Fushiruha Week イベントスケジュール 🎉

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 91 Bitter Posting

Hello, dear void! And hello Natsuki!

Editor's notes: First Page: デバフを受けた斬。そこへ更なるヒシャクが？！[dibafu o uketa kiri. soko e sara naru hishaku ga?!] "Kiri is debuffed. Then another Hishaku appears?!" The Ruby over "dibafu" is 弱体化攻撃 [jakutaika kougeki], "weakening attack". Last Page: 無邪気！！残酷！！ [mujaki!! zankoku!!] "Brutal Innocence!!"

Natsuki vs. Hokuto (feat. Kiri)

Honestly not too much to say about this chapter aside from TL notes and the insight we got into Natsuki's character- there were a ton of cool action scenes that took up a great deal of space. No complaints here! Just means there's not as much to yap about.

Natsuki is the epitome of cool (until he starts rambling about Uruha at least ha ha). Two swords, massive killing intent, and skill to make even Hokuto take him seriously. I mean, come on! He rocked up to a critical situation saying "KILL YOU" in English! Then went on a Inigo Montoya-style monologue to introduce himself!

The "subtitles" are for the JP reader's benefit (korosuze omae o na, "I'll kill you".)

He is seriously, incredibly cool. But like all Kagurabachi characters, he's got more to him that makes him fun to follow- more on that in a bit. First some TL notes.

Edgelord ability name for an edgelord: perfect.

I've got my head in my hands here for the English TL. No real complaints about how the ability name was translated, but I really wish they'd pick a style of naming things. The Japanese name with the English translation in parenthesis underneath was perfect! Why can't we keep doing that?!

Anyway, Natsuki's sorcery is 雷躯, "Raiku". 雷 [rai] for lightning/thunder bolt and 躯 [ku] for body/corpse/tree with a rotten core. It's SUPREMELY edgy. Looks like he charges himself with lightning then crashes into his opponent!

Local villain unphased after taking a Volt Tackle head-on.

Here, Hokuto makes a pun that's kinda impossible to bring over into English. He asks 雷の妖術か, "Lightning sorcery, huh?" by using the same character for lightning as 雷 in Raiku. But the ruby over it reads かみなり, kaminari. This shifts the meaning of 雷 from "lightning" to "a fit of anger". So he's both making the direct observation of the nature of Natsuki's sorcery and asking if Natsuki's having a bit of a temper tantrum. I think understanding the second part makes Natsuki's sudden launch into a screed about how much he hates Uruha and why more sensible.

Speaking of...

Natsuki, Embittered

The perfect triptych to end the chapter on.

So obviously we the readers know that Natsuki's misunderstanding Uruha's behaviour. Uruha is just a nice guy that wants to be friends with the only other person in his age group- but he's also kinda oblivious about how his attempts at friendliness are perceived as a lack of respect.

The official EN brought it across just fine but basically, Uruha talks to everyone significantly older than him with polite language and uses a -san honorific to address them, as is expected. Normally Natsuki would also be addressed with a -san honorific too since he's older than Uruha, even if it's just by a year. Japan takes that sort of thing pretty seriously and it's rude to address someone older than you without using -san (unless they give you permission to drop it or use something else like -kun or -chan, like how Kiri corrected Hakuri last chapter). But for whatever reason, Uruha decided to drop it entirely and just calls him "Natsuki" while using casual speech. So yeah. Natsuki hates Uruha for petty but not completely out-there reasons. Not only was he overlooked by Kunishige in favour of Uruha, he thinks Uruha's deliberately rubbing it in his face.

It's easy to get the sense that Natsuki's sick of being looked down on in general with the way he interacts with and thinks about Kiri. He cares a hell of a lot about being treated with the respect he thinks he's owed and doesn't find any of it with most of the cast he's situated with right now. Poor guy (Kiri also doesn't bother to use an honorific with him, FYI). One has to wonder what the Misaka brothers did to get nearly killed by Itsuo twice though...

As an aside, it's also pretty funny that everyone who knows the Shriakais sees them as these unfathomably insane people who just have to be put up with. Itsuo's crazy but too formidable to gainsay, and Kiri's impossible to change so everyone just accepts them with a shrug and sigh.

"Look my way for once!"

I can't help but feel Natsuki's burning passion to prove he's better than Uruha is rooted in his big brother's worldview- that the weak are discarded and only the strong get to survive. Natsuki was weak once and it changed the course of his life forever. Ibuki became weak and died because of it. Uruha got rusty after the war while Natsuki continued to hone his craft, yet Hokuto only cares about Uruha. So now Natsuki's struggling to scream "I'm still here!" while the world around him remains focused on his personal nemesis. In that sense, I genuinely do feel bad for him.

As to why all this is being set up? I have another crappy theory.

Sorry for the picture of my shitty handwriting, I didn't have it in me to do this in MSPaint. Also yeah I'm pretty sure Hiruhiko knows that Hakuri exists, but he doesn't know that Hakuri is Chihiro's actual (self-declared) friend.

Basically, I think this is the final framework to take a look at that friendship stuff that was set up between Chihiro, Hakuri, and Hiruhiko in the early part of the arc (chapter 54 specifically)

Hiruhiko wants to be friends with Chihiro -> comes to think that friendship is fighting to the death as equals -> expresses his desire to do just that -> immediate page turn to a huge panel of Hakuri that didn't need to be there. HMM.

The set up of the trios is different but there's one core component: two people in each one dramatically misunderstand each other and their intentions. These are Uruha and Natsuki and Chihiro and Hiruhiko.

In Uruha and Natsuki's case, Uruha thinks they're equal pals while Natsuki thinks he's a rude little gremlin deliberately disrespecting him. For Chihiro and Hiruhiko, Chihiro only sees Hiruhiko as an enemy not even worth fighting while Hiruhiko's heart was broken because he wanted to be his version of equal friends with Chihiro so badly.

As to how Hakuri and Hokuto tie in- the theme of "equality". Natsuki wants to be recognised as equal or better in terms of mastery compared to Uruha, so Hokuto's focus on Uruha is insulting to him. He's got a real inferiority complex about the dude. Meanwhile, Hakuri and Chihiro see themselves as chasing after the other one in terms of strength; the "equality" in their relationship doesn't really exist despite what Chihiro said in chapter 37. Hakuri wants to prove he's worthy of Chihiro's faith in him and Chihiro wants to become strong enough to be Hakuri's samurai (I am never ever getting over this).

Anyway, we need to see what happens with Hiruhiko and the rest of this arc so there's a good reason I scribbled it out in pencil.

Hakurin!

At least SOMEONE cares about structural integrity in this place!

I love Hakuri. He's adorable, I want to squish him, yadda yadda. How about that desperation flash-back, though?

"Not again...! If I can just muster up the same strength I had back then...!"

Hakuri's Isou is getting weaker and weaker the more he uses it without proper rest, is it? Clearly we need an entire chapter of him (and Chihiro) doing nothing but sleeping and actually fucking idling around on screen once all this is done. Please. I am on my hands and knees begging you, Hokazono.

Interesting that Hakuri recalls killing Soya as the pinnacle of his Isou blast strength though. When he harnessed the power he was unconsciously redirecting to maintaining the storehouse he was able to scramble a very strong (if weakened) fighter's guts. This time, he was barely able to make Hokuto's nose bleed.

I don't know what this means in terms of powerscaling, honestly. That's not really my jam even if it's fun to speculate about. I guess Hakuri might have been able to at least force Hokuto to stagger and make a dent in his armour? Kiri scratched it in her weakened state, Natsuki actually cut into it, so maybe Hakuri would have been somewhere between the two.

I don't think he's going to ever be as tough as peak Kiri or the other elite Kamunabi members at this rate though. Not for a long, long time at least. Even when properly rested he's got limits on his usage now, so he'll either have to start going the Azami route of learning to fight with enhanced CQC or be much more tactical about how he participates in battles. Maybe if he can overcome his aversion to studying he could learn some non-innate sorcery like the Masumi? Hard to say. No matter what he's gotten saddled with the shounen heroine debuff and it's not looking like it'll be cleansed any time soon.

Can't wait to see how Hakuri perceives Natsuki- will he continue the disrespect chain due to Kiri and Uruha's influence or finally give Natsuki what he's been craving for years now? See you next week, dear void. Take care of yourself in the meantime.

[hestzhyen]

putting it here as a pinned post… I’m opening slots for September 🙂‍↕️ VGen is not set up yet so please feel free to contact me directly if interested, thank you!

[hestzhyen]

[hestzhyen]

revised this bad boy for a new, bigger print !!!

will debut at rose city comic con next month and then i’ll have it available in my shop!!!

[hestzhyen]

Kagurabachi F/M/K Wheel Ver. 02

I made an updated version of the Fuck/Marry/Kill wheel from a year ago, so feel free to play along! Just spin the wheel 3 times and in the tags or comments say which one you would F, M, or K! All are 18+ characters if that's something you're concerned about

Link to the wheel

[hestzhyen]

A ban has not happened yet. Please note the following from the Reuters article on this:

The foundation said if it was subject to so-called Category 1 duties – which would require Wikipedia's users and contributors' identities to be verified – it would need to drastically reduce the number of British users who can access the site.

Please read the ruling proper.

Again, from the Reuters article:

Judge Jeremy Johnson dismissed its case on Monday, but said the Wikimedia Foundation could bring a further challenge if regulator Ofcom "(impermissibly) concludes that Wikipedia is a Category 1 service". He added that his decision "does not give Ofcom and the Secretary of State a green light to implement a regime that would significantly impede Wikipedia's operations".

This is, therefore, a good time for UK users to make their feelings about this known to their MPs. Repeatedly and loudly.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 90 Kiri-chan Posting

Time to focus on the newest contender for Best Girl, dear void! Let's go!

Editor's comments: First Page: (none) Last Page: 一難去ってまた...?! [ichinansatte mata...?!] "Out of the frying pan and into the fire...?!"

It's Kiri-chan to you, mister

Princess Hakurin also appeared this chapter!

I'm already in love with her. In case the official EN doesn't bring it across, in the last panel there, the JP dialogue goes like this:

Hakuri: Kiri-san Kiri: Kiri-chan Hakuri: Kiri-chan!!

I don't know why Hakuri was referring to her with the -san honorific- maybe he's playing it safe, maybe she's older than him, maybe he respects her that much already. But Kiri's having none of it and wants to keep things casual and cute.

Hakuri's face is the JP version of the dog saying "this is fine" while his house is on fire.

Another thing just in case it doesn't come across in EN. Kiri's line here is:

それにあの戯言を地獄で後悔させるには どでかい刀じゃないとね☆

Besides, if I wanna send him to hell regretting the nonsense he said, it's gotta be with a huge sword, right?☆

Much like the chapter where she was introduced, Kiri says this absolutely unhinged and bloodthirsty line in the cutest way possible. She's all about sounding cute and silly until you realise what she's talking about! Honestly, go for it, Kiri. Send Itsuo to hell with your "adorable" odachi that has a beautiful name.

Onichika: 鬼池華 鬼 [oni] - ghost, devil (same as the kanji in Ichiki's name); 池 [chi] - pond, cistern, pool, reservoir; 華 [ka] - splendor, flower, petal, shine, ostentatious, gorgeous.

Thank you, Hella!

But of course she just calls it "Oni-chan" (Demon-chan). And given the height comparison, it seems like Kiri herself might actually be quite tall! We love tall queens motivated to end their predecessor's legacy purely out of spite.

You're safe, Uruha. Probably.

Yeah. It's absolutely guaranteed that we are going to examine Hakuri next via Kiri's circumstances, just like we saw Iori reflect Chihiro. I'm stoked and excited to see what comes of it! Kiri's a great character already and I hope we get to see her in action often. If only because it's nice to break up the IWPS Gotta Go Fast duels with someone who's waving a ginormous sword around.

Also, props to the EN TL for bringing across Kiri calling Hakuri "Hakurin" this time. I hope that remains consistent going forward!

Pine Tree In a Itty Bitty Ball

Good job, Derek "Mr. Utility" Hishaku

I like that we have an explaination now for the pine tree walls. Kinda. Is it sorcery that Hatshaku prepared in advance for them to use? Is it part of Derek's repertoire? I guess it doesn't matter. We can still assume that the Hishaku abide by the general rule of one sorcery per person and the other effects we've seen are prepared tools or non-innate things like the flame tattoos that allow teleportation.

Yura's sending his kids off while he occupies Uruha. Given how the chapter ends, I think we'll see Natsuki again soon so that Uruha's not in a 2v1 scenario while he's debuffed from the lion head sorcery. But the Kamunabi might wanna focus a little less on sending all their forces to protect Hakuri.

Cuteness Aggression

Anyone who thought I wouldn't give Hakuri his own section doesn't know me very well.

He's so freakin' cute I can't stand it. I want to squish him then tell him it'll be alright. How his he allowed to be that cute? Why is a deeply traumatised 17 year old guy the cutest character in this manga? Iori and Char come close, but they haven't had nearly as much time to be adorable on screen. It's absolutely incredible that Hokazono decided to make the protagonist's male best friend the consistent "cute" factor in his story. What the hell.

Anyway, it looks like Hakuri really is just "bait" here. The Hishaku don't seem to be actively trying to kill him so much as draw attention by threatening his life. They probably know about the plan to use Hakuri to isolate the Shinuchi, so Yura sent the rest of the crew on ahead while he plays with Uruha. The Kamunabi's core fighters (like Natsuki most likely) will be drawn to Hakuri's side to protect him, leaving the Hishaku free to do whatever it is they're aiming for.

Hands off my son you sleazeball!

Hokuto's probably the free-wheeling type who cares about his own desires over the group's based on what we've seen, but surely it would have been simple for him to kill Hakuri and interrogate Kiri here if they were serious about eliminating the Storehouse ability from the equation. Hakuri's been practically defenceless the the past few chapters and Kiri's struggling with the aftereffect of killing the lion heads. So I'm pretty sure the Kamunabi are operating as if the Hishaku are playing checkers when they're really playing chess, or something like that.

I kind of wonder what it would do to Hakuri's ego and self-confidence if he figures out that he's actually not that important after all. Or rather, important for the wrong reasons. He believes that the Kamunabi's plan is what the Hishaku are trying to disrupt when instead they're trying to skirt around it. It might not be addressed, but it was actually a bit surprising to me to see Hakuri be assertive that he'd be useful. Just short of a week ago (in-universe), he was surprised that he was useful at all:

Chapter 45. It's been so long... let them reunite soon...

I think it's a great thing for him but as always, there's the worry that he'll needlessly put himself in harm's way to help someone. Whether it's by over-exerting himself to save them or interfering and taking a hit for them. He's showing some restraint and honesty about his situation, mostly because Uruha knew to ask him to clarify.

I don't know how Kiri's situation will develop but I think most Hakuri fans are hoping that it addresses this flaw of his somehow. The need to be useful isn't going to be done away with very easily though, most likely. Not by a competent writer at least. Either Hakuri will learn the hard way by losing something irreparable and precious, or the people around him will help ease the anxiety in his heart. First option almost happened when he was put in a coma to restore his sorcery. Second option will take a ton of time and reassurance.

I'll be real here: I want to see the second one happen because the drive to be useful to earn love is something I also struggle a lot with. I think it's pretty common and one of the reasons so many people can connect with Hakuri, honestly. So no matter how it happens, I just want it to be done with thought and care like we saw in the Rakuzaichi arc. The message that the right people won't ask you to burn yourself down to ash for their sake is important! People who really love you understand when you reach your limit and won't hold it against you (supposedly). Heck they'll even encourage you to rest without guilt-tripping (supposedly). But these personal feelings might be completely divergent from what the author intends to explore with Hakuri, so let's just let this arc finally wrap up at some point to see where we go next.

Alrighty. Place your bets on who will show up next week: Natsuki? Chihiro and Samura? Azami? Sword Master? Some random person? Any or all of these? Given it's been a month (four weeks, not counting the break week) since we've seen Chihiro, I think he'll at least pop up near the end. Or maybe it's finally time to let him sit offscreen and wait while other characters get the spotlight. I love him, I really do, but I do want to see the rest of the cast.

Anyway. Sorry if it's short this week, life is not always kind. Stay safe and be gentle with yourself, dear void.

[hestzhyen]

Romance in Oofuri: An Opinionated Yap

Hello, kind void. I am here to rant about the silly dorks from the long-running baseball manga.

Before I get into it:

If anyone finds this later: this is current as of chapter 206 (where we left off on yet another hiatus).

I yap in excessive detail and hit the image cap so this post is very, very long. I did try to be brief though I swear.

I'm an AbeMiha shipper but I'll be taking a general approach to this topic without trashing, intentionally skewing, or selectively ignoring what's happened in canon (just don't be surprised at the shipping talk when it comes up).

Chapter reference numbers go by what's hosted on a certain website for manga uploads. The discrepancy between old tankobon numbers and the magazine numbers was hell to work with, trust. (´ཀ` 」∠) Alright? Alright! Mega expansion under the cut!

The Gist of Things

(Here's the space where I'd put a relevant manga panel... IF I WASN'T CAPPED AT 30)

Normally I wouldn't do something like this for a series that's clearly about the love of the sport first and foremost, but Ookiku Furikabutte spends a lot of time with the characters outside of the matches too. We see them being normal teenage boys with all the usual worries that come with growing up- so of course the topics of sex and love are broached from time to time. The current arc in particular has a spent some significant effort to show us how they're handling the topic of romantic feelings. So I'm taking that as license to go all out and do a semi-structured brain dump of what the hell's been happening!

The team's all over the place in terms of where they're at when it comes to even caring about romance in the first place. Some have no interest, some like the idea but aren't actively pursuing anything, some have had a few crushes, one's even got an active thing for Shinooka. There's no one-size-fits-all approach for the Nishiura boys except to say that they're all awakening to love at their own pace.

Chapter 78.5 (omake)

That said, there's been some teasing since very early on in the series that love will be addressed- most likely with Mihashi, but Abe is a contender too. And because Oofuri is a seinen instead of a shounen, we get some more realistic scenes of their development as the series goes on.

How Are Characters Written in Oofuri?

Ookiku Furikabutte is serialised in the seinen magazine Afternoon Monthly when it's not on hiatus. Generally speaking, the tone of the series is "boys will be boys" with Tajima as the main instigator. Exhibit A:

Chapter 2 (tankobon release). Tajima's usually the catalyst for moments like this, but he's not the only one.

Exhibit B:

Chapter 6 (tankobon release). Sakaeguchi immediately asking Mihashi if his cousin's cute when he learns about her. And they both understand why her parents might not want Mihashi under the same roof as her, even though he's the most polite and timid creature in existence.

Exhibit C:

Chapter 194 (magazine version). The boys do this on the regular to each other in order to calm the tickling victim down.

Physical male closeness is also common and not remarked on by other characters. It's not unusual to see teammates holding hands as part of meditation practice, slinging an arm around each other's shoulders, non-seriously kicking or putting each other in headlocks, or even Tajima pantsing Mihashi at the pool to prove he has a circumcised dick (chapter 66). Most of them also express an interest in girls and the Nishiura teams always hear "you guys are lucky to be co-ed with a female manager" from teams associated with all-boys schools.

Maybe it's a sign of the era it was written in, but the NIshiura boys are depicted discussing their porn preferences at least once too (chapter 60)- and their coach views that as a positive sign of them bonding. We even have a side-character that was held back in school for a year after he got his heart broken from getting involved with an older woman who cheated on him. It feels a bit old-school honestly. That's not a bad thing! It's just another reminder that the series has been going on for about 20 years now, breaks included.

So in terms of romance, despite all the boys being at various levels of awareness, this series will go farther and dip into more topics than a shounen would. I mean, just pointing out that everyone except Abe and Suyama have specific sexual fantasies they jork it to is already going beyond what a series aimed at a younger crowd could get away with. It's also not a simple linear progression of the MC meeting a cute girl then falling in love with her by the end. All of the boys are sexually aware to some degree, but romance is a completely different story.

So let's strap in to see what's been going on since the first chapter.

Developments Both Weird and Wonderful

The very first arc of Oofuri is centered around one main thing: building up Mihashi's confidence. This is done through training with his new teammates, bonding with Abe, and getting a win over his middle school bullies and Kanou.

This sets the tone of the series that's mostly remained the same. The teammates working out how to get along with each other, putting in tons of practice to get to Koushien, and growing up a little on the side. And so, this flag is firmly planted in chapter 10:

Meet cute, sorta.

Momokan helpfully points out that Mihashi and Shinooka aren't mature enough to recognise the romantic flag they raised by literally bumping into each other. Oh, but wait! Shinooka has a crush on Abe!

Chapter 59, after being asked to help Abe and Mihashi plan and make breakfast for the team at camp for the first day.

Will we get a love triangle?! WAIT! Holy cow, Mizutani has a blatant crush on Shinooka! Is it a quadrangle?!

Chapter 127. He took a shot and missed, but at least it wasn't a personal rejection from Shinooka's end.

Nope. Instead, the team agrees to ban romantic relations for all the team members later on, and the author agrees with Momoe. Because despite the occasional Mihashi insight on how he sees Shinooka and reactions like this towards her:

Chapter 85, culture festival shenanigans

...He has basically zero awareness of romance as a concept, to an almost unbelievable degree.

Chapter 160

On top of this, Mihashi can't comprehend why someone would give him chocolate on Valentine's Day (chapter 164). So this subplot, if it's meant to develop into anything, is certainly on hold for the time being from Mihashi's perspective. Right now his biggest concern is that he might be replaced by the talented first year as the pitcher paired with Abe.

On Shinooka's end, she's recently given up on the crush she had on Abe (chapter 165) and... that's it. She realised she loved her image of Abe as the "cool baseball-obsessed guy that takes care of Mihashi" more than Abe himself. Whenever she gets teased about possibly having a crush on one of the team members, her default response is that she doesn't have feelings for anyone. In fact, most recently, she said this:

Chapter 164

She's focused on recruiting a new manager to ease her own burden, which makes sense. Shinooka does a hell of a lot to support the Nishiura guys, constantly going above and beyond for them- even supporting them when they have the somewhat crazy idea to walk all the way to Gunma and back. She's more than willing to inconvenience herself for their sake but that's not a healthy thing to keep doing. It's great that she recognises it as a path to burnout and is hoping to recruit someone to help her out (my bet is on it being Nishihiro). So yeah, she's got other priorities right now.

As for Abe, he's never once shown interest in anyone outside of reasons related to baseball and that hasn't changed. It's even been noted by several people over the course of the series that he's extremely stand-offish and essentially has no friends, the latest being Hanai:

Chapter 188

The people who HC Abe as autistic with a special interest in baseball aren't pulling that view of him out of nowhere. It's always down to practicality to him- he's unaware of how gruff and rude he comes across as to others, there's no point in doing stuff with his teammates outside of practices, there's no point in talking to people who aren't related to baseball, and he spends all his free time with baseball related stuff like stats research. He really only lives and cares for the sport right now so he's probably gonna have an epiphany about being a real friend before anything else.

What about Mizutani? Well... pour one out for the guy. The No Dating rule the team established to prevent conflicts over Shinooka and/or distracting members from the goal to win at Koushien hit him the hardest. He's still down bad for her.

Chapter 164, context being that Shinooka (finally) shared her reasoning for joining the club as a manager with the guys: her mom did the same thing in high school.

As for the rest, the only two that seem like they'll get any development on that front are Tajima and possibly Hanai. Hanai's part might even be over since the Momoe situation was addressed very decisively (coming up next). Tajima is the most emotionally intelligent out of all of these guys about the subject but he's still got a lot of growing up to do himself. He's more interested in other people's feelings than his own at this time anyway though.

The Short-Lived Momoe/Hanai Subplot

The topic of Momokan being a young, attractive 20-something woman coaching a bunch of horny teenagers was addressed. And honestly? It was handled really well.

First, Momoe's dad remarks that she might be getting a bit too close to her team. Since she's focused on leading them to victory at Koushien, she thanks him for the heads up. So it's pretty clear on her end that she's not looking to be a romantic interest to any of the kids on the team. She doesn't even want to be too buddy-buddy with them. Her devotion is to get the boys to Koushien and that's what she stays focused on.

Chapter 158

Meanwhile, Hanai's deeply invested in getting a Koushien win for Momokan to repay her dedication to them. Tajima assumes it's something else, though and spends a ton of time when he should be prepping for exams agonising over it (chapter 159). Should he bring it up with Hanai? Should he tell anyone else? He understands it would be a very awkward thing at best for Hanai to have a crush on Momoe.

But this is totally sorted out two chapters later. No dragging it on, no causing drama out of it, just forcing a bit of self-reflection out of Tajima and making it abundantly clear that Momoe's off-limits to the boys. They mostly see her as their coach first and a woman second. Even Tajima, the team's porn mag distributor, said he'd only go for her if she was the same age as him (chapter 60).

Chapter 161

The ultimate conclusion of this miniature subplot was really wholesome. The kids look up to Momoe as their coach, and she's determined to shape them into great baseball players worthy of playing at Koushien. Zero complaints from me!

It also gave us some insight into Tajima, Mihashi, Abe, and Izumi's feelings on romance. To shorten it up:

Chapter 161

Teenage boys will be teenage boys and all that.

After this, though, we got some truly bizarre flags.

Why is Mihashi's Cousin Being Added to the Mix?!

Chapter 162. Notice the difference in reaction. Could just be the difference between family and an outsider, but immediately after this...

Why bring this up?! Also, Kanou is talking about Mihashi Ruri, our protagonist Mihashi Ren's cousin that was dressed up for New Year's in the panels above.

Mihashi says he doesn't think that will happen. But why set this flag? Why acknowledge that Ruri might have a crush on her cousin? I know there are cultural differences at play here, but... well, I'd rather see Mihahshi crushing on Momoe than his blood-related first cousin. Hopefully this is just another misunderstanding and becomes a nothingburger. Still, there's something else very important that Mihashi says here to keep in mind for future arcs.

So Where Are We Now?

We're in limbo since the series went on hiatus in the middle of a baseball match. But as for the main characters involved...

Mihashi: Completely clueless, more focused on his insecurity of being replaced by Horii as Abe's pitcher.

Abe: 100% AroAce vibes. He acknowledges that Momoe's a woman and that Shinooka is cute, but he's got no room in his head for anything except baseball. Poised to grow by caring about people beyond their relationship to the sport.

Mizutani: Gave up on dating Shinooka because of the team-wide dating ban, but still has a thing for her.

Shinooka: Gave up on her crush on Abe, credibly maintains she has no romantic interest in any of the Nishiura boys.

Tajima: explicitly doesn't want to fall in love right now.

As for continuing the sub-plot, the conversation Kanou has with Mihashi over New Year's break in chapter 162 is pretty telling. Mihashi completely fails to answer Kanou's question when he asks "But how can you forbid falling in love?" after learning about Nishiura's no dating rule. Mihashi's pretty sure he won't be affected by it, and Kanou tries to drill him on how he's so confident of that. The subject is dropped soon after but to me, this is a flag to set up a future conflict for Mihashi.

There's a reason why the downtime chapters covering the winter break (particularly 160-164) are used frequently in this post. Quite a lot of time is spent exploring how Abe, Mihashi, Tajima, Izumi, Mizutani, and Shinooka feel about love, with most of the emphasis and narrative hooks for later focusing on Mihashi and Abe. Those two in particular are set up to mature as people and it just might involve falling in love with a girl. Maybe with Shinooka herself despite the ban.

...Does it have to be a girl though?

Author's Intentions and Outlook

This is going to be pretty subjective because I'm looking at this as a Western reader that's neither cis nor het.

I generally go into every series expecting the bare minimum in terms of romance, and Oofuri's gone as expected in that regard so far. But I've also noticed something that's... not odd I guess, but definitely a bit of a surprise given my experience with the series as basically a fujin shipper's paradise.

Along with the author's "boys will be boys" approach to character interactions is a strong heteronrmative framing of almost everything they say and do.

Kind of understandable, else ordinary changing scenes like this would become awkward (chapter 99).

Most of this comes from the guys in the series -and thus the author themselves- assuming that Shinooka and Momoe are the only potential causes of "relationship issues" within the team. Boys like girls after all.

Men not considered here. Not "normally", at least.

Chapter 160. Abe being his completely blunt and honest self... that doesn't consider men a romantic option at all with that phrasing (matches the JP text).

The boys often specify being attracted to "girls" instead of a type of person too. So despite all the skinship and passionate expressions towards each other, it's got a very "bros" feel. With the exception of some sus moments between Abe and Mihashi, the author's depictions of how the boys think and interact are very platonic compared to other sports series that enjoy giving a wink and a nod to the homoerotic potential between cast members now and then.

Dogsred - Ice Hockey, seralised in Weekly Young Jump (seinen magazine); though given the author, this is just his brand of humour (and it's toned down compared to Golden Kamuy so far)

Ekiden Bros. - Long Distance Running, serialised in Weekly Shounen Jump (shounen) (this guy 18 and in college, if that is important to you); also has a strong "bros" feel but is apparently okay with some fanservice like this

Blue Lock - Football/Soccer, serialised in Weekly Shounen Magazine (shounen); famous for it's extremely "passionate" rivalries and bonds between the cast members that get expressed in some eyebrow-raising ways

Harukaze Mound - Baseball, serialised in Weekly Shounen Jump (shounen); he's thinking about his pitcher like this only 8 chapters in. Hop on for a Good Gay Time.

But in Oofuri, there's never a single scene where the boys are even hinted as being attractive by themselves either (they're far more likely to be self-deprecating). No touchy-touchy admiration or admiring muscles/bodies when stripping down in the locker room (you know, the fujin equivalent of girls admiring each other's boobs in the same scenario). The absolute closest to sus skinship we ever get is Mihashi asking to touch Haruna's muscles over his clothes in chapter 74 and getting excited by how high-quality they are:

Apologies about the blurriness

Given that Mishahi's reactions are always weird and he's pretty much always blushing, it's just a cute and funny moment of him looking up to Haruna. It can be taken as ship fuel by anyone who wants to though, of course. Truthfully, most of the ship fuel comes from appreciating the bonds between players and actively ignoring the parts where the author makes it clear they all see each other platonically.

I don't think there's homophobic intent behind all this framing. It's just how the author sees the world and the boys she's writing about (honestly, I'd be a little weirded out if we were getting strip-down fanservice of 15-16 year olds anyway). It's just that Higuchi-sensei takes some great pains to remind us that she sees all the boys as "average" and therefore "straight", getting rid of any potential awkwardness over group changing and general physical closeness between the characters.

...There is one character where some shade was thrown about how weird he was however. Ootagawa Yoshimi of ARC.

Chapter 67

It's easy to frame Ootagawa's "esteem" or "affection" for his senpai (and catcher) Yoshida Tomonari as plausibly romantic. The hearts, the blushing, the way his mood and performance hinge on Yoshida's praise of him- it's not completely unreasonable.

Ootagawa's teammates are uncomfortable about how much he likes Yoshida and will comment that he's being "too much" or "kind of creepy". So there's a line that can be crossed in terms of affection shown and it's not a good thing for a guy to be "too interested" in another guy.

It's similar to how Abe and sometimes other teammates react to Mihashi praising them with awkward blushes- they're embarrassed because he's so direct and sincere with his compliments, which isn't standard for Japanese guys towards each other. Ship fuel? Absolutely. But it's meant to be more of a sign of how much of an endearing oddball Mishashi is.

Again, I don't think this is specifically anti-gay or anti-queer on the author's part. I think this is just a heteronormative framing because that's her own perspective on things. Boys fall in love with girls and keep a certain sense of distance with other boys. Remember, Higuchi-sensei is from an older era where things simply were a certain way. Japan's also made a lot of strides in recognising that LGBTQ+ people even exist in their society the past few years, but there's a long way to go for normalisation.

So Oofuri's characters are written to be straight until proven otherwise.

What Does it Mean for Shipping?

Well actually, on the internet and Ao3...

It really depends on what kind of shipper you are.

If you're the kind who only needs the characters to exist, you're golden. Nothing will stop you, you magical beast of a person.

If you're the kind who only needs some canon interactions then you're in pretty good shape. These guys get super passionate with each other over all kinds of things and genuinely care beyond just being teammates, so you're set. And in Abe's case you can always imagine him having an epiphany over his ship partner of your choice.

If you're like me and you want it to be possible in canon with just a small tweak to framing, then you might be in a bit of a pickle. The author tacitly shutting out possible homoromantic interpretations gives all the bonds very strong platonic vibes despite the hand-holding, the mutual devotion, passionate speeches, blushing over compliments, so on and so forth.

Lastly, if you only ship things that will become canon then only invest in a het ship. Probably Mihashi/Shinooka if you want the safest bet.

I suppose people who want straws to grasp on to can go with the assumption that their M/M ship of choice is closeted or has a bi/pan awakening at some point. Ignoring reality isn't an option for some of us, so that's what I do at least. I feel obligated to since absolutely every single conversation any of the boys have about liking someone specifies liking "girls" instead of leaving it up to interpretation as "a kind of person" like some other series do.

I still love AbeMiha quite a lot since it activates enough neurons to trigger the obsessive brain worms every so often. The dynamic of their relationship and how it's changed since the start are just as good as the baseball matches for me. I'm definitely going to write a "why ship these guys" rant in the future.

But for now, it's way too late at night so I'm going to crash. If you made it through all of this nonsense, thanks. May your ship be as canon as possible 'till the very end.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 89 Okay? Posting

Hello, kind void. Better late than never, right? Let's go.

Editor's Notes: First Page: 伝説!! [densetsu!!] "A legend!!" Last Page: その実力は- [sono jitsuryoku wa...] "His true strength is..."

Colour Page Text: ジエットの速さで吹っ飛ばしてけ！[jetto no hayasa de futtoba shite ke!] "Blow them away at mach speed!"

I am a HUGE fan of this colour page. Uruha and Hakuri, mentor and mentee, looking cool as hell! The rest of the chapter, though? Well...

First up, something the Official EN translation didn't bother with entirely:

That's a hell of a lot of yap I don't have it in me to translate, sorry.

The blank page that preceded the colour page of Uruha and Hakuri was actually this in the JP version: the 5th story "update" presented as a Kamunabi news bulletin. It's basically a summary of who's doing what and where in the HQ while noting that Samura and Chihiro are also about to join the fray from Kyoto. And that volume 8 is on sale (in Japan), please follow the official Kagurabachi account (@/kagurabachi_x) on Twitter, etc.

Now for the chapter itself.

Introducing... Misaka?

Okay...

So, right out the gate, I think this chapter was great in isolation. We met some interesting new characters, got a lot of new clues to chew on, and there's some great set up for future conflict. Hope Uruha's ready to have two men after his ass.

However!

We are already in the middle of a major conflict. We already have a lot of details swimming around unresolved. We already have some cool characters to work with- some that haven't been seen in months to almost a year. Hiyuki and Tafuku, Hagiwara, Shiba, even Kazane- what about them? Hiyuki and Shiba in particular are advertised as major characters in the series, but Shiba's hardly shown up at all since the arc started and Hiyuki's been off screen entirely since chapter 52. Shouldn't we get back to them at some point?

It was a given that we'd meet Samuraishaku for real, yes, and deal with whatever his situation is. Natsuki being tied to that is also fine- no reason we can't examine themes of brotherhood and being left behind and such. It's something that could very much relate to Hakuri. But do we have to do the set-up for it right in the middle of an already chaotic situation? Where we're juggling not only the Main Character's situation but Hakuri, Uruha, and yet another new character (Kiri) facing off against the Big Bads? And the general situation in Kamunabi HQ with Azami, Izaru, and the rest of the staff?

This kind of pacing is just a bit much for me, I guess. I'm following the action and story just fine -Kagurabachi's always straightforward and easy to understand- but at this point I'm just exhausted. We've been barreling ahead for over 40 chapters with no real breaks in the tension and it's getting to me. I'm genuinely despairing at the thought that we won't get a proper moment to relax with the characters after this. Full steam ahead into the next arc is going to lose me for real if it happens.

Tension breaks and "fluff" chapters are vital to maintaining reader energy! Just like exercising in real life, we need to rest as readers alongside the characters. Downtime chapters are essential for good pacing and don't have to be pure filler; they can forward character development outside of strictly plot related things. Showing us their hobbies and preferences, how they interact with others, having fun chats that highlight less-seen aspects of their personalities, things like that.

Bygone Legend

Okay. Now that that's out of my system... Misaka Ibuki: the man, the myth, the legend.

Eagle-eyed JP readers will notice that the text on their jackets is that very same "Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the honoured one" saying that got famous in the West via JJK.

Ibuki was named as though he was always meant to be a heroic swordsman. As a refresher, the last name "Misaka" (巳坂) means "snake hill". 巳 [mi] represents the snake from the Chinese Zodiac, and 坂 [saka] means slope/hill. Ibuki (伊武基), though... 伊 [i] means "that one", 武 [bu] means "warrior/arms/military/chivalry", and 基 [ki] means "fundamentals/foundation". So something like "the quintessential warrior". This guy was always destined for greatness, it seems. No wonder he was a shoe-in for the destructive power of Kuregumo.

And yet:

Author's priorities: Sexy shots of women? 0. Torso shots of slightly overweight men? 1. Shirtless men? Many. Hmm...

He died because he let himself go. Sucks to see, but now we know why he was targeted I suppose. If he was the one who stopped fighting and took to the quiet life instead, then he'd be the easiest target. No wonder both Hokuto and Natsuki were both disappointed in him.

(For the record, I think it's perfectly fine for war veterans to hang up their weapons and live a soft, peaceful life if they want to. It's just understandable that Hokuto, who lives for a good fight, and Natsuki, who idolised his big brother, would be disappointed that Ibuki went out like that.)

So why haven't we gotten to see his face yet? Wasn't this chapter supposed to be all about him? Somehow we ended up spending more time with Natsuki and Hokuto instead though. All we learned was that he was a fearsome swordsman with a younger brother who smashed face during the war and for a few years after before giving all that up and dying ignominiously in a duel in his mid 30s. Uruha and Samura's chapters with the Cool Name Intro Paneling were used to convey who they are, after all:

Chapters 47 and 51

So a page like this means we should be learning all about Misaka Ibuki, right?

The poetry of the original JP was hard for an amateru like me to bring across, so I'm glad the official EN made an effort.

But instead, we saw these guys:

Hokazono "draw a completely unattractive man" challenge: impossible

Let's start with everyone's favourite ragebaiting bottom that flirts with old ladies for fun: Hokuto, previously known as Samuraishaku. 北兜 [Hokuto] - 北 [hoku] means north, and 兜 [to] means helmet/headpiece. Fun fact: it's considered a bad omen/sign of bad luck for a samurai's unworn helmet to be placed facing north. So we know this guy's bad news even without the Hishaku's flame tattoo on his hand.

Right from the get-go we can tell he's completely insincere and a bit of a tease, or a jerk of a troublemaker if you aren't smitten with him. His skill with a sword may be the real deal but he's not making friends with how much he obviously enjoys messing with people. He's also extremely unmotivated unless there's a chance he can cross swords with a strong opponent. Makes you wonder how the Hishaku bait him into giving a shit when fighters of Uruha's calibre aren't around.

His flippant personality also extends into how he uses his sorcery.

Hello again, Mr. Hatshaku. Please tell us your name too.

Hokuto refers to the puppet he was controlling remotely as "Yoroi-kun" (ヨロイ君), which is basically "Armour-kun" or "Helmet-kun"; can't say which exactly since they're both pronounced the same with different kanji, while the name was written in katakana here. But yeah. He's completely unserious until it's time to fight someone who will really test his skills. So I guess he's going to bumrush his way to Uruha on the fifth layer and not stop for anything or anyone less. Will Azami intercept him? Will he meet up with Natsuki or Samura and Chihiro and realise there are more fighters to get excited about? Who knows?

Speaking of...

Misaka Natsuki (feat. Uruha)

Just give me one chance PLEASE

First, a TL note. The "Togo Squad" that he's commanding isn't related to Shiba. Shiba's first name is written as 登吾 [togo], where 登 [to] means "ascend/climb up" and 吾 [go] means "I, myself, our"- something like "overcoming myself". It's a really cool name that I think has lots of connections to his character! The Kamunabi "Togo", however, is written as 十河: 十 [to] meaning "ten" and 河 [go] meaning "river", quite literally "ten rivers". As to who it is out of the remaining unknown higher-ups (beard, hairclips, eye patch, earlobes, giraffe), that remains to be seen.

Anyway. Misaka Natsuki, ~36 years old, and younger brother of Misaka Ibuki. The man who carries grudges and heavy feelings from the past into the present. He wasn't named as thoughtfully as his brother, unfortunately. 奈ツ基 [Natsuki] - 奈 [na] can represent Nara (either the prefecture or it's capitol, Nara City) or mean "what?". ツ tsu is written in katana and so has no meaning. 基 ki is the same as the ki in Ibuki: fundamentals/foundation. So something like "the foundation of Nara". Which is not exactly as impressive as "the quintessential warrior".

Natsuki's got a lot of stuff on his mind even as he's going in to try and save the day. His brother's pathetic death propelling him to literally pick up his sword to become a dual wielder. His brother's words about how the weak will always be defeated. Even being overlooked to become a Bearer and stand by his brother's side like he'd always done.

Uruha, child soldier: confirmed. Ouch...

He's kind got a lot going on and I'm interested in seeing him interact with Uruha, Hokuto, and presumably Chihiro too. I genuinely wonder if he still has beef with Uruha or not- I guess it depends on how he feels about the war's outcome and what kind of fighter Uruha is right now. And how much of a grudge he holds.

I think it's also interesting to note how he also saw Kunishige as the man he was, where a lot of the bearers seem to hold him up on a pedestal. Samura and especially Uruha saw Kunishige as someone incredible and much better as a person than they were in some respects. They still strive to follow his ideals of protecting the weak, remembering him fondly. Their memories of him are cool, clean, and overall "someone worth fighting for".

Natsuki, though, remembers him as a scruffy blacksmith looking for recruits:

What was Kunishige's criteria, I wonder.

There's a hell of a lot to chew on and speculate about while we wrap up the action in Kamunabi HQ, that's for sure. Natsuki's definitely gonna have some time dedicated to sorting out his issues with his older brother, possibly Uruha and Kunishige too. Hokuto will be chasing Uruha's ass as well. Add that on top of Kiri showing up to introduce her grandfather and her own goal of proving her grandfather wrong and we've got quite the set up for the next arc.

Before moving on I want to note something that didn't really come across in the En version, which would have been difficult to try in the first place.

Poor guy.

For the most part, Natsuki speaks with an extremely rough and manly style. When he says "big bro", that's aniki in JP- the casual and super masculine way to say it. But in the panels above, he says nii-chan, which is a very cute and affectionate way to refer to one's older brother- usually only used by little kids. Natsuki was absolutely crushed by Ibuki's death.

Petulant Demands

Protect that prince(ss), Kiri!

So, I'm gonna say it right out. If this all isn't setting up an arc to dig into Hakuri's insecurities, I will both eat used cat litter AND spontaneously combust with rage. The dynamics set up with other characters here are too closely related to Hakuri's own struggles to not be related to him. Right? RIGHT?!

More remains to be seen obviously, so I'm not going to say absolutely everything about these new characters has to be about my special little guy. But hopefully this is enough to illustrate why I've got my hopes riding high for a Hakuri arc:

Kiri's situation with her grandfather Itsuo is a direct parallel to Hakuri's situation with Kyora. The only difference is she's out to kill him with her humongous odachi to prove him wrong where Hakuri accepted his father's poor estimate of him.

Natsuki's obsession with being strong because the weak are discarded like trash obviously ties into Hakuri's key character motivation and flaw: not wanting to be weak/useless so he isn't abandoned (or worse) again.

Natsuki's complicated feelings towards his older brother could also open up room for Hakuri to reflect on Tenri and Soya. He's a middle child, remember. He probably understands both the perspective of looking up to an older sibling's strength and trying to be a role model for the younger one.

I called out how Uruha could teach Hakuri how to value himself beyond throwing his life away for others back in chapter 48. This is still true! Even though they've made some progress and Uruha understands that he needs to ask Hakuri to clarify his real situation, and Hakuri's finally understanding that pushing himself too hard will lead to him losing his sorcery for good, he's still too willing to throw himself in harm's way.

Chapter 47 vs 88

Lastly, depending on how things go with "Lucas", we can look into the weight of expectations parents have of their kids, how to be realistically supportive, differing reactions when kids don't measure up, etc.

Like I said, not all of the themes of the next arc need to apply to Hakuri- there will undoubtedly be elements that apply to Chihiro since he's the MC. I'm just way too excited that we might finally be getting to Hakuri's character development post-Rakuzaichi. Please, please let it be so. I went without him for like 3 months and he's been separated from Chihiro for almost a year in real-time already. Give me this. The only reason I'm not insane and frothing at the mouth waiting for this kind of development is because I'm so damn tired from the constant quick pace. Samurabachi mellowed out a lot of the fervor I went into making these posts with. I hope a Hakuri-centric arc can bring that intense joy back.

Tinfoil Hat Time

Okay. Now that I've said some things that could be plausibly intelligent, I'm going to int and disco Nunu down mid in this part here.

What if... Hokuto is Misaka Ibuki?

Local man unsatisfied by no one being able to match his swordsmanship.

I'll list the reasoning:

Still haven't seen Ibuki's face- the framing this chapter was very deliberate about that

Hokuto talking strangely about "killing Misaka" and being touchy about it, clearly thinking the man was pathetic

Framing of the scene where they "fought" is also in quotes (in JP)

A lot of the PoV from Natsuki and Hokuto is disappointment in Ibuki after we started off talking about how awesome he was during the war

Hokuto talks and acts like one would expect Ibuki to- raring for a fight and being rough, only caring about a good fight, and having peerless swordsmanship

Emphasis on having to be strong to not be "discarded" would tie into Ibuki's decline after the war; Hishaku could have tapped into that

I think having one of Kunishige's hand-picked wielders betray him long after the war would be really fucking cool to read about

This chapter ostensibly introduced Ibuki but we spent a ton of time with Hokuto instead to learn who he is; Hiruhiko's the only Hishaku who got the same treatment, but even then it was done differently

Points against the theory:

How would the contract to Kuregumo have been severed?

Natsuki found Ibukis' body at his house; was that a doll from his sorcery, or the real deal?

We saw Hokuto facing off against Ibuki in the latter's garden

It's stupid. It's crazy. But it's got more going for it than the Azami Traitor theory. Grab some tinfoil if you like, there's plenty to go around.

Last Minute Azami Appreciation

Oooh Mr. Azami *swoon*

I'm not leaving without giving a shout out to my wife. Blessings be upon this chapter for Hakuri and Uruha looking cool as fuck in colour AND my beloved wizard gorilla looking so fine with blood splattered on his face. I hope he joins the main fight and starts punching some faces in.

Okay. Say something kind to yourself, give yourself a hug, and treat yourself if you need it- whatever it takes. Hopefully see you on Sunday again, dear void.

[hestzhyen]

HakuHiroWeek Day 1

Almost late but what is time except a construct to induce anxiety attacks. It's not 8/7 yet somewhere in the world, surely.

As a heads up: I plan to make everything I write for this event kinky (though I'm definitely not into every kink I plan to write). I also ship HakuHiro as a switch couple so there won't be a fixed top/bottom dynamic. Consider this your warning before getting the details under the cut.

Title: Instinct Prompt: Trapped Together Ship Dynamic: 伯チヒ/HakuChihi Kinks: breeding, cumflation, public https://archiveofourown.org/works/68828076

[hestzhyen]

both responsible for a weapon of mass destruction at SEVENTEEN btw

[hestzhyen]

I'm gonna make a chapter 89 post for Kagurabachi (it's actually in drafts right now). Just got a lot going on and it's gonna be a long-ass post because of all the translation stuff and info we got. There's a break next week anyway so I'm gonna take my time on it.

[hestzhyen]

One bit of serious business before the fun begins:

You may or may not be aware of targeted harassment campaigns and "callouts" within the Kagurabachi fandom on other social media sites. I haven't seen this issue crop up on Tumblr (bless you all) and I don't think it's going to happen, but it would be irresponsible for me to not set expectations:

That will not be tolerated for Hakuhiro Week.

If you find yourself offended by or uncomfortable with another user's submission, keep scrolling. Block that user if that seems right for you. If you must express your displeasure, I ask that you do so in private with a trusted friend.

We're all responsible for our own online experiences and we are not entitled to policing what other people say, think, or do. This rule also applies to me, so if I see a post/ask message/whatever that I determine to be harassment, I'll block that user at my discretion. And if you find yourself in the position of being harassed by others, I strongly encourage you to block them and continue with your day.

Once again, though, that hasn't been a problem so far and I feel confident that we can all behave appropriately. And with that, the serious business is over.

Hakuhiro week is just about to begin and I'm excited to see what you all have made!

[hestzhyen]

IT'S HAPPENING

Teaser manga page from link above.

Dorothy: I have a bad feeling about this. Mairemaia: Maybe we should reach out to the other members as well? Dorothy: It might be too late if we wait for something to happen. Lady Une: Very well, let's call a meeting at Point Half.

Text: Preventers, assemble!

A sequel manga series is going to start for Gundam Wing! The first chapter will come out in the October issue of Gundam Ace on August 26th in Japan only (don't ask me how that works). It's being written by Katsuyuki Sumisawa, who was the head writer for the original anime. This is legit! Let's fuckin' go!

[hestzhyen]

Classic Shounen Dynamics, or Something

Monke see pattern. Monke make stupid picture.

Top to bottom:

Boku no Hero Academia Naruto Bleach Dragon Ball Z Ultimate Exorcist Kiyoshi Shinobi Undercover Kagurabachi

[hestzhyen]

A Quick Evolution: Uruha & Hakuri Edition

Chapter 81: "ハクリ君/Hakuri-kun" (normal, expected, what he's been using all along)

Start of chapter 88: "ハクリ/Hakuri" (familiar, casual, close)

End of chapter 88: "はくりん/Hakurin" (cutesy, extremely casual, this is a nickname a girl could easily have)

I can't wait to see Chihiro's expression when he finally shows up and hears Hakuri being called the JP equivalent of "Hakkie" or some other ridiculous cute variant lmao. Please, Hokazono, let us see him react to that! And thank you Kiri for starting it!