#I like akane's dynamic with everyone

[skania]

Opinion on akane x Kana?

Aesthetically pleasing

Cute interactions

Nice backstory

All in all we don't see those two interact enough, hopefully that'll change in the Movie arc because they have a pretty interesting dynamic.

[mari-lair]

YES!! Absolutely! Everyone sleeps on them.

They are so funny.

The way Kou is very judgemental of Akane is wonderful to me, he really just assumes shit about him?? He has a "my senpai is weirdo" view on Akane.

Which makes sense considering the kind of talk Akane has with him off manga?? Like bro, please -

But at the same time!!

Kou looks up to Akane, sees him as a dependable senpai, considering he was an option for guidance, putting him on the same panel as the brother he idolized and the supernatural whose power is knowledge, only stopped from asking for help because Akane was being crazy about Teru's bet.

So on a normal day he would see this "weirdo upperclassman" as someone helpful.

Which leads me to how Kou called Akane when Teru locked himself. HE CRIED TO AKANE OF ALL PEOPLE FOR HELP.

I also genuinely believe he thinks Akane is so cool! He got some awe going on considering how flustered he gets near him.

Honestly this mix of concerned cause he assumes Akane is a weirdo with insane tastes, and flustered cause he genuinely respects him/wants Akane to think he is cool, makes for a really funny dynamic.

Bro really blasts Akane while simultaneously having a kind of admiration for him.

And Akane? Akane also judges him a lot.

He looks down on Kou at times too, cause to be fair, Kou is very spaced out, and their world view does not align.

I will never forget the scene where Akane had to REMIND Kou that "Hey, your friend is dead. Get your priorities straight kid."

But he likes his spunk too, he is inspired by his determination, he wants Kou to succeed. I'm glad Kou goes to him for help cause Akane does like him, if he can help, he will.

He sucks at pep talks though, he comes off as very awkward when he tries to cheer him up.

He also understands Kou extremely well despite barely interacting.

He only scowled Teru after the brothers fought because he ALREADY KNEW Kou would protect Hanako.

Akane could also sense he has some kind of connection with Supernatural MItsuba, who I doubt Kou ever mentioned to him, he is always very silent about Mitsuba. So Akane must have noticed from body language alone?? My boy-

He sees him as a good kid, so much so he goes "you sure you're related to Teru?"

He also appreciates Kou's cooking skills.

bonus: this wonderful panel

[nogenderbee]

♡˗ˏ✎*ೃ˚ ℂ𝕠𝕞𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕥 𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕖𝕣𝕨𝕒𝕥𝕖𝕣 ₊˚ˑ༄

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ @miya-akane request: Hear me out on this. Freminet with (preferably fem) mermaid! reader seems so cool like scuba diver × mermaid dynamic was so cute~ maybe you could write the first meeting and his confession perhaps?

-🌹

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ I'M HEARING YOU!!! Ironically, I did this prompt with him in ch.ai many times already!! Omg j was so happy to do that ^^ I hope you like it!!

I wrote it with fem in mind buuuut it actually turned out gn so more people can read it! Yay!

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ platonic, fluff

✧ sea always brought Freminet comfort and was his way to relax from nervous day at the surface

✧ so when he one day saw eyes in the distance from underneath his helmet, he froze and immidietly wanted to swim off but this person's speed was way faster... and that's how he met you!

✧ you were simply curious about him, since you saw him just sitting underwater many times already

✧ you turned out to be really nice so he didn't mind coming underwater more often just to see you and with time, you two established a nice relationship

✧ and you even had some really nice secret places he didn't knew about! So you loved showing him around and seeing his excitement while he loves discovering new places

✧ and when surface was your obstacle? He was the one who explored and then brought you everything he found or what he learned, and if possible, he even carried you to nearest water source so you could explore with him!

"I've been here so many times already but I never noticed this place... I'm curious what more could it hide..."

✧ that's for your platonic relationship... your romantic relationship is definitely similar but with few additions!

✧ his confession was probably on surface or near it just so he has easy exit, in case confession went wrong

✧ he was definitely nervous but when he ended up only spending more time with you not letting go if his hand, he couldn't be more happier from deciding to confess to you this day

✧ it was definitely a bit weird because of species difference but don't worry, both of you get used with time!

✧ he definitely made Pers waterproof so he could introduce you to his dearest friend

✧ speaking of making waterproof inventions... if you'd want, he'd definitely make one for you! Just to keep you company and so you'd have nice companion as well

✧ kisses usually require you two going on air for a little bit unless he holds his breath for few seconds, which he sometimes doesn't mind doing!

✧ first, your hugs were very awkward as he was afraid of hurting you but with time, he learned to just put hand around your shoulder every now and then when time is right

✧ he's actually coming back to House if the Heart wet everyday, so he definitely had to tell the reason because everyone couldn't just not notice it

﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌﹌

@bleachtheidiot @miya-akane - come get your shy diver~

[anonzentimes]

As weak as Danganronpa 2 Chapter 3 is compared to the rest, I do enjoy the beginning of it before the trial, everyone genuinely feels like friends the interactions are done wonderfully, I also think the despair disease is a great idea, which is why it's such a shame that it didn't hit the landing.

I love the idea that the Despair Disease reverses their personalities, Akane becomes a Coward because she's Brave, Ibuki becomes Gullible because she doesn't let people tell her what to do, and Nagito gets the lying disease because he is a very genuine and honest person and only lies when necessary.

I also really do like the dynamic of Nagito being really annoyed with Mikan, as well as Mikan straight up shoving Nagito's insecurities in his face.

The flawed idea of love that Junko manipulated her into is I suppose also interesting, sad this chapter flops compared to the rest.

Also shoutout to how amazing Nagito sickly asking Hajime to leave while having the LYING DISEASE is??? Like he's BEGGING Hajime to stay and Hajime is just so conflicted with him already that he doesn't get it, every time I'm always yelling at Hajime SMH.

[aihoshiino]

Do you feel like aka and mengo actually having aqua and ruby kiss is a step too far as in it ruined all meaningful discussions about this series as well as any message it was trying to say, because from an outsiders perspective, alot of people are just thinking its just another manga that could have been great but decided to go with the incest route

anon this is such a eerily prescient question because i was rolling more or less this exact issue around in my head all morning lol. is that you, god???

But yeah, while I don't think the kiss has ruined things to any meaningful degree, I think it highlights why this drawn out focus on incest has been such a problem. Not because incest is Le Problematique or whatever but because it's SUCH a loaded topic that people's kneejerk emotional reactions to its inclusion have essentially smokescreened the real issue at play. The AquRuby stuff isn't bad because Incest Is Morally Bad, it's bad because the writing supporting it absolutely sucks shit.

Like, even if we lived in a world where everything that made AquRuby Problematic™ was a nonfactor, this is still a ship whose foundation is 120 chapters of an undercooked dynamic followed by Ruby flipping on a dime and becoming obsessed with Aqua to the point of being reduced to a gag character in his presence for like 20 more chapters. 143 marks the only remotely serious talk the two of them have had in almost a year of real world time and it's STILL absolutely overloaded with gags and totally lacking in any meaningful examination of Ruby's feelings and interiority. Pretty much everything about AQRB's dynamic since 123 has been stuff you have to really dig for and infer. As @akane-kurokawa has described it, this arc in general has been plagued with 'all subtext, no text' and this is no different.

Not only that, but everything to do with AquRuby has essentially overwritten and completely superseded everything to do with Ruby and Marina Tendouji that we were being set up to deal with prior to 123. Ruby's lingering abandonment issues and the trauma she'd carried from living as Sarina was given such incredible weight in those chapters leading up to 122 and then as soon as Aqua revealed himself to her... poof! All gone. I don't even have any faith that we're going to loop back around to it at any point because it hasn't come up again even once even in places where addressing it should've been braindead obvious.

There's way more I could say about why Ruby's writing in this arc falls so flat but conveniently for me and all of you, U/Visual_Law4025 has already made an excellent post on the OnK subreddit that pretty much lays out everything I've been feeling to such a degree that I'd just be poorly paraphrasing them if I tried to re-explain it myself.

Now, take all that and once again factor in that AquRuby is built on not one but two extremely emotionally charged taboos and you see where the problem is. AquRuby shippers are seeing themselves as the victors and crowing about it, while also getting overly defensive in response to any pushback, insisting that the only reason that you would dislike AquRuby is if you're a dumb tourist who can't tell fiction from reality. But like... they're getting overly defensive on that front because of the people frothing at the mouth and insisting that Akasaka is a sicko pervert freak for writing about incest in any capacity whatsoever, regardless of the framing and context in story, and everyone who likes AquRuby is a morally abhorrent degenerate who is Dangerous And Sick In Real Life. It's absolutely fucking biohazardous and it becomes that much harder to have a remotely nuanced discussion about the good and bad parts of the arc as a result.

To be clear, I think using your own kneejerk revulsion reaction to something as the foundation for moral judgement and condemnation is an EXTREEEEEEEEEMELY dangerous pipeline to start down, even over something as seemingly low stakes as 'this wonky mystery manga where those twins kissed' and is a deeply unhelpful place to start a discussion from. On the other hand, it's both disingenuous and frankly a little callous to act as though someone wanting to avoid a fictional depiction of something they find upsetting is somehow stupid or immature or unable to tell fiction from reality as a result. Like... if someone decided they didn't want to watch [Insert Movie Here] because it contains animal death or photorealistic spiders or anything else that could really press their buttons, would you smugly tell them UM ACKSHULLY TOURIST IT'S JUST FICTION WHY SO UPSET KEK? No, because it'd made you sound completely fucking detached from reality and more importantly, like an asshole.

Ultimately I think things will be a lot easier to properly discuss once we know for sure how this whole plotline resolves, but while we're still playing around with Schroedinger's Incest and the fandom is this high on fumes about the whole thing. But I think it's a bit doomery to say things are totally Hoshinover just yet when there's still plenty of runway and imo, still enough things about the manga to enjoy even with this malformed albatross around its neck. You just have to find likeminded people to discuss it with. And just... be fucking nice to people online! It costs zero dollars to not act like a cunt!

[theamityelf]

Who all has who in the mini thh au

Great question!

Hajime- Kyoko

Both forgot their talents, both kind of on the abrasive side. Kyoko will be frequently sneaking out to investigate stuff on her own, which stresses Hajime out because he gets in trouble if he loses her. Built-in conflict.

Nagito- Makoto

Lucky students, and I love imagining the drama of Makoto necessarily being present for everything Nagito gets up to and trying to stop him and maybe succeeding in talking him down from some stuff. And just the idea of Nagito talking while they're in the cabin together each night, saying his usual weird stuff about talent and hope to Makoto while Makoto is all the way in his terrarium and so he can't reply loudly enough for Nagito to hear. So maybe instead he breaks something, just to make enough noise to interrupt. Honestly, there would just be so much going on with them.

Chiaki- Celeste

The gamers, lol. Chiaki would do her best to indulge Celeste's vibe, and I think that could be very fun, because she really does not know how. They reach a point of common ground when Chiaki starts making bets with Celeste about the outcome of her video games, and getting the other senpais and kouhais in on it.

Teruteru- Yasuhiro

This matchup was by default, but Hiro not liking smoke does add some tension.

Imposter- Junko

Imposter and fashionista are super compatible talents, and imposter and analyst are super compatible talents. Both of them read people and put on personas. They would see right through each other.

Mahiru- Hifumi

Both have visual art talents, and Mahiru would whip him into shape.

Peko- Mukuro

The loyal warriors. Very similar vibe. They would be very polite and impersonal to each other. Protecting Mukuro is secondary to protecting Fuyuhiko, of course, but having to care someone so similar to herself, but tiny and powerless, might be a very moving experience for Peko.

Hiyoko- Sakura

Both masters of a particular physical art form. Sakura's steady presence, both respectful and demanding of respect, would be a good influence on Hiyoko. Oh, she would still be super rude, but her interactions would shape up differently and she'd eat a more balanced diet, lol.

Ibuki- Sayaka

Musicians. Sayaka, being more on the calculated side, would be interesting to have as the person whispering in Ibuki's ear. She might try to convince Ibuki to do something she wouldn't normally do. It most likely wouldn't work; Ibuki is very independent. But Sayaka is pretty resourceful, and as a side note, one might think about the despair disease...

Mikan- Kiyotaka

This one was also kind of by default, once the more obvious ones were sorted away. Personality-wise, his bold presence contrasts with her more meek disposition, and she would be really proud of that. Taka argues with bullies! He cares about making sure everyone behaves. She loves him. She loves that someone so principled depends on her. Also, important note: When murders happen on the island, usually the kouhais are left alive. (Though murdering specifically the kouhai so that the senpai gets killed as punishment for losing them is also potentially a thing. Most people would consider it too low a blow to murder someone who's four inches tall, but still. Worth considering. The kouhais' role in this adds a new dimension to the kinds of murders that can happen.) When a murderer is executed, their kouhai is also left alive. Mikan always volunteers to take in the unattended kouhai, because she just really likes this dynamic. (If the Undead AU is Nagito's best timeline, this genuinely might be Mikan's, lol.)

Nekomaru- Leon

Because sports. I could have had Akane and Nekomaru trade, but this was the alignment I chose. (Anyway, if one of them dies, the other will take care of their kouhai, so there's a good chance Akane will have Leon later on.) Nekomaru is a good enough coach to make Leon actually enjoy practicing baseball. Just, you know, tiny baseball. Or, he's a good enough coach to identify what Leon likes and dislikes about baseball and direct him to excel in a way that emphasizes the aspects he likes.

Gundham- Toko

Another "by default" one, where breeding animals and writing romance novels are kind of close if you squint. The idea of Toko being in the care of someone like Gundham is actually super heartwarming; he would make sure she has everything she needs, he would tolerate any lashing out on her part in the same way he does the bites of his Four Dark Devas of Destruction. Toko would be very unused to being so cared for and accommodated that way. If Gundham dies, Sonia will take Toko. Which...would be interesting in a lot of ways, starting with Sonia's enthusiastic interest in serial killers and Toko's romantic obsession with Sonia's assigned kouhai.

Fuyuhiko- Mondo

Both gangsters with a need to present as strong. Fuyuhiko takes it farther than Mondo does (to the point where Mondo is often protesting the things Fuyuhiko says), and they butt heads a lot, but they also have each other's backs.

Kazuichi- Chihiro

Both STEM. I feel like Chihiro would be constantly blushing about everything Kazuichi says and does, and they would also be fascinated by his work. I think it would change his whole deal for the better, if he had the constant company of someone like Chihiro. I think he would be less comfortable openly bugging Sonia if there was an underclassman sitting in the fold of his beanie.

Akane- Aoi

Athletes. Their personalities would go really well together, and Akane would be so serious about making sure Hina is okay, getting enough exercise, eating enough food, etc. It's like she has a new little sibling. Like I've mentioned, she would get a fishbowl from the market so Hina can swim when they're in the cabin. (When Hina has trouble scaling the side of the fishbowl to get in, she would teach her a few parkour tricks.) She would take her to Mikan every time she hurts herself exercising.

Sonia- Byakuya

Heirs. And it's really funny to imagine Byakuya being his cold-blooded self while he's sitting on the shoulder of someone really nice. I also like imagining Sonia trying to make a luxurious enough living space for him. Using her own jewelry to decorate, a silk scarf for bedsheets, etc. She's very proud of her handiwork.

[sillyyuserr]

terukane analysis, and/or just random stuff, i have too many prompts in drafts but they’re too small to be their own analysies so they’re here pt. 2 💫

I already made one of these a bit ago, so if theres anything not here it’s either in that other one, or i just haven’t covered it (yet)

Item A: “I like Akane-san”

When teru says this, it comes out differently in every language. And seemingly equally ambiguous which i find interesting

for example, in the french translation of this line, teru says "I love you more than you might think akane" rather than saying “i like akane-san” and i mean having a mistranslation here is obviously something, but what he actually says is just what?

“i love you more than you might think akane” EXCUSE ME??

also not to mention “san” is gender neutral. He very well could be calling akane by his first name and them (akane & nene) misunderstanding what he said. Although he does refer to aoi as “akane-san”, the translators wouldve translated it to “aoi” instead of “akane” if he was referring to her (or not, im not completely sure on how they do the translation 😭)

Item B: queer association

(Edit: Im fucking dumb and forgot to add the panel of that one dude yelling “no i want to be his boyfriend!” But i can’t find it for the life of me so pretend its here)

not only is this one of the only canon queer characters in tbhk, (my guy only got one panel 💔) but also this associates “queerness” or wtv that means with teru

along with akane mentioning both genders being attracted to teru. Again, associating queerness with him. And you may be wondering, why is this important? well, notice how out of all of the main and/or reoccurring characters, he is one of the ONLY characters to be associated with queerness. (The only others being kou; his friends teasing him about wanting to “undress mitsuba” and akane; the whole yamabuki thing) for example, take note of how scarily popular aoi is because of her beauty, shes like a literal god, everyone loves this girl, but notice how never once has a girl ever confessed to her? actively not associating her with queerness, unlike teru.

and notice how the other characters that are associated with queerness are kou, who (its pretty much been canonized atp) has romantic feelings for his male friend mitsuba, and AKANE. The guy i swear he has a crush on like cmon now AidaIro can you be more obvious

Item C: reoccurring patterns

in tbhk, all of the confirmed/obviously implied romantic relationships between the main characters have been supernatural x human, hanako and nene, mitsuba and kou, akane and aoi, excluding only teru and aoi. But this does not exclude teru and akane, almost showing us that in the love triangle between teru, akane and aoi, it may not be revolving around which one gets with aoi, but which one gets with akane. It seems as though teru x aoi was never an option from the start.

Although teru has said he likes aoi, his actions say otherwise. for example teruaoi’s conversation in the convenience store was obviously extremely awkward, the only non-awkward part being when he helped her out of that creepy interaction with the clerk.

And the face he made when akane asked/assumed he had a crush on aoi

(Which he never definitively answered)

The point of this section was because of these reoccurring patterns we can conclude akane is the main love interest, not aoi.

Item D: their relationship

Something teru likes about akane, is how no matter what he doesn’t seem to ever give up. Which yes in some aspects this can be a bad thing, coff coff

But most times, you can kind of tell this is a big reason he likes akane, almost like a “he pushes him down, he gets back up” kind of thing, its a big part of their dynamic. If akane wasn’t like this, their dynamic would change a lot. He likes this because as stated in the spinoff, he kind of uses akane as a “stress toy” (which has obviously changed, as their relationship did when the series progresses) but he likes this because at the end of the day, akane will come back. No matter how many times he ties akane up, he returns to the student council room. No matter how many times teru pushes akane down (in this example, literally) he gets back up.

Something i like about terukane, is their relationship. The trust and motivation they give one another. For example, its shown early on Teru has disassociates himself from other people. Teru views the living as “delicate” and kind of makes it his job to protect them from supernaturals (when i say he made it his job i mean his dad did). He was raised to have a very different view towards the living vs supernaturals. Rounding this back to Terukane, teru doesn't view akane as “fragile” like other people, and I think that's something to take note of. The reason he thinks like this could definitely tie into the fact that he’s half supernatural but also he views akane in a higher regard then most people. Akane keeps up with him, teru actually acknowledges this, saying he values his intelligence and enjoys talking to him. 

Its kind of been shown teru has had a hard time making friends ever since grade-school, i mean yeah he talks to people, but the only people he’s lowered his guard around has been tiara and kou (siblings), and akane. A literal supernatural (the kind of person this guy is supposed to exterminate??) Literally what makes akane so special? This guy is the most popular person in THE school, second to none, and the only person besides his family that he can let his guard around is akane? They both work in the student council, president and vice president meaning they work in extremely close quarters, everyday, giving them lots of time to talk, so its no doubt they became close, but out of everyone, teru choosing akane to put his trust in is just odd to me idk man

Item E: bringing up each other alot

in many instances, teru and akane bring eachother up when they aren’t even involved in the current situation, or unintentionally show us they think about eachother more than we think they do, a few examples:

Teru talking ab akane to his family. Call me insane but i have alot to say ab this one. This one really gets me because that would mean throughout his entire way home from school, including if he fought off supernaturals on his way back (which he seems to do pretty much everyday), from the last time he saw akane, he had to have been thinking about him the entire time. Since they are in the student council they stay together for most of the day when its not their extra/curricular classes or lunch, meaning they probably stayed together until about an hour after school ended, and according to google

School ends around 3:50 to 4pm and their after school activities last until around 6pm. In one chapter i forget which one, kou complains about his brother not being home much and whenever he is home he’s usually sleeping or too sleepy to answer him properly, (and in art of their ‘home life’ teru is always either sleeping or sleepy) because of his constant fighting with supernaturals well into the evening. Now lets assume at this point teru has left the school building, and about a few (5) minutes down the sidewalk and he runs into supernaturals, fights them off yadayadayada, at this point it’s presumably now 6:30-6:40, now lets also assume they live about a few (5) blocks away from the school, one block presumably taking 5 minutes each, times the 5 blocks they live away, taking approximately 25 minutes to half an hour to walk, plus the additional time he took to exorcise the supernaturals on his way home, which by this point we can probably assume its 7-7:20 now which is around an hour after families/people usually make dinner, we can assume he gets home at the 7-7:20 mark, sits down with tiara and kou to have dinner when this panel was shown

Meaning for an esitmated two and half, to three consecutive hours, akane was on teru’s mind. Thats a pretty long time to be thinking ab someone teru. I know what you are

Item F: extras

the “Aoi is coming too.” Bro brings him up at any given opportunity

akane having a literal DREAM about him.

Like I havent had dreams with life long friends in them so to have a dream about this boy you “hate” is.. hmmm

Innermost subconscious feelings you say? okay okay so not queer at all yk so buddy so bro of them

Item G: the original plot

tbhk was originally going to be a oneshot manga featuring the love triangle between akane, lemon and aoi but later was cancelled, and in the official manga, they made lemon and akane “fall in love”

obviously as a joke but that shows AidaIro is not oblivious to the idea/premise of the two boys instead falling in love with eachother, rather than the girl, so the idea (i talked more ab in a past analysis) of teru&akane getting together rather than teru&aoi or akane&aoi getting together is ON THE TABLE

would add more but i fear this will take me too long💔 new chapter next week yall prepare urselfs

[garfeildfanpage]

Aoi & Akane - how not to be a healthy relationship

I’m going to go ahead and get my preemptive bias out of the way: I do not like Aoiaoi, in any shape or form, but this isn’t about that. If you like AoiAoi, this isn’t an attack on your personal feelings on their dynamic, all relationships in tbhk are flawed in some way or another, that’s like the whole point. In the best way I can I’m going to try to dissect their relationship, and maybe give a different perspective on why they behave the way they do.

Pre-canon

Aoi and Akane’s relationship has been, and has always been, incredibly codependent. Both of them perpetuate unhealthy behavior, and ignoring one or the other completely nullifies the point of their dynamic in the first place.

Aoi is implied to have a bad home life, along with a bad social life. Outcasted by everyone including her own father, lied to, and “treated like she’s a different species”. While I have a few personal interpretations of why that is, (autism*) the main point is that no one seems to really “get” her, she has difficulty connecting with people, and difficulty understanding relationships in general. To infer that Akane deals with similar problems isn’t far fetched, but he obviously goes about this differently. Akane is respected, looked up to, and is generally treated well by everyone around him, unlike Aoi. Aoi is treated like an object, a thing without feelings, constantly having her boundaries stepped on to the point where it’s just how life is around her. People see the unfair treatment, yet no one bats an eye as she doesn’t outwardly complain about anything. (Yashiro being a main point, though blame can’t really be put on her fully since she has no reason to think that Aoi is unhappy)

Akane doesn’t fully understand Aoi, and I don’t think with his current approach, he ever will. Aoi is a mystery, but it’s not his job to solve it. He imposes himself into Aoi’s business, with good intention, but because of how closed she keeps herself, he will never be able to help. But he doesn’t believe he is the one at fault, because all he wanted was to help her, and that can’t be bad right? But she doesn’t want people to help her, and unless she can learn to accept help, there’s no way to force entry. And it upsets him, as it would for most people. “Why won’t you just let me in?!” They’re an unstoppable force and an unmovable object, and unless they learn to communicate like normal people, it will stay that way.

Canon

The Clock-Keeper arc is a huge example of a lack of communication. Akane not telling Aoi about something so substantial can be a huge trust breaker, wether or not he thinks it’s important to tell or not. So many people take Akane’s side on this and it’s really unfair, it’s not just the fact he didn’t tell her, it’s the fact that he kept lying to her face about it. Of course, Akane is allowed to keep secrets, especially when he doesn’t even want to be a Keeper in the first place, “why tell someone about something when you don’t even want to be a part of it anyway?” But in tandem to that Aoi is allowed to feel betrayed, that Akane could just keep such a large factor of his life from her is obviously an upsetting thing to know. They both have grounds for reason, but they don’t ever communicate, ever. Akane thinks he knows what’s best for Aoi, and that’s not a just thing to believe. Aoi is a hypocrite, never being open about anything to anyone yet she expects the opposite from others. They’re both unbelievably stubborn, and both refuse to change their behavior even if it would be beneficial. Akane is selfish, Aoi in selfish, they’re both selfish, and that’s the whole point.

As much as I abhor the Akane & Aoi chapters, they are fundamental in seeing how bad the state of their relationship is. They both refuse to let up on their main flaws, and with Akane is specific it is infuriating to watch. Aoi never stands by boundaries, and so Akane pushes them without seeing how gross it is. They’re both at fault, but Akane’s behavior is at its worst. Aoi’s disappearance after probably knocked a few screws back in place for him, which I think really proves another point.

Better apart

When separated, Akane’s attitude changes. Losing his weird sense of childish entitlement, and returning back to a more childlike sense of justice. Wanting to save Aoi, not have Aoi for himself. The severance acted as a slap in the face to Akane, basically telling him to get his shit together. Comparatively making his confrontation with Aoi seem like two children fighting over something stupid. He regrets his actions, and wants to make them right. This development shows that Aoi is an inhibitor to Akane’s growth, this goes both ways. But the moment they reconnect, they start to fall back into bad habits, Aoi not telling Nene about her paralyzed hand, and Akane jumping back into the “will you go out with me!” attitude. Obviously not as hard, (and it really depends on how AidaIro decide how they want them to go forward.) but unless they really put the effort into it, it’ll just go back to the way it was before, having the cycle continue.

Akane needs someone who trusts him with their personal life, someone who gives him meaning without having him be forced to dedicate his life fully to that person.

Aoi needs someone who will listen to her and ask her if she’s okay, someone who accepts her without putting her on a pedestal.

And unless they can both learn to understand what the other needs, they’ll always never be able to be with one another comfortably.

final thoughts

Moral of the story: if two mentally unwell individuals wish to date, they both have to put in the effort to change themselves for the better.

I believe that if they were to fix their underlying problems, they could definitely be happy with one another. But because they don’t seem to be doing that at the moment, the belief that their relationship is healthy is completely false. And that’s not to say they can’t be together and if you like them you’re a bad person, flawed relationships can be explored in interesting ways, that is quite literally what they already are. But to their core, they are unhealthy, and misunderstanding their relationship defeats the whole point of their characters in the first place.

Harkening back to a previous post. I personally think that Akane’s specific attachment to Aoi is a trauma-bonding behavior rather than something he just does with people he likes. I don’t believe he would act like that with anyone else, since his relationship with Aoi runs so deep they obviously have behaviors exclusive to one another. That doesn’t mean Akane is totes peaches and cream with everyone else, he obviously has other underlying problems but I don’t think he’d ever do what he does with Aoi for anyone else. They’re very attuned to one another, positively or not, certain aspects of their personality are definitely specific to one another.

(*I personally view Aoi as autistic as I believe that a lot of her character can be viewed as a non-diagnosed autistic girl who is never able to fully grasp herself let alone other people, and is thusly turned into an outcast because she’s “different”. Akane not so much, but I can see the vision)

This was long sorry if it makes no sense or there’s some grammar mistakes I’m very very tired atm

[haunted-xander]

I think one of the main reasons why sdr2 is my fav is that the cast feels much more natural and united compared to the other groups

Like the thh cast has a very scattered feel to them, with people mostly being by themselves or in a very small group (and sometimes, the people in said groups aren't really that close). When I think of the groups in thh, the only ones that spring to mind that seem actually CLOSE is Sakura-Aoi, Mondo-Taka & Makoto-Kyoko

And V3 then has very clearly defined groups that mingle with each other and... not much outside of that. We have stuff like Tenko-Himiko-Angie, Miu-Kiibo and Shuichi-Maki-Kaito. Outside of groups, characters usually don't have very unique or meaningful dynamics or interactions

Sdr2 on the hand have very fleshed out relationships and dynamics with EVERYONE. Like, yeah of course there are still established groups like Sonia-Kazuichi-Gundham, Fuyuhiko-Peko and Akane-Nekomaru but even then those groups mesh and mingle well with the rest of the cast

In thh & V3 I find it hard to imagine unique and interesting interactions between a lot of the characters, but in sdr2 you could give me any combination of characters and I'd be able to imagine them interacting in a fun and interesting way

They're also the only class I could genuinely imagine all getting along and having fun together outside the killing game. But they're not all friends either, which makes the unison and feel of the cast more natural and fun! Hiyoko-Mikan aren't friends. Fuyuhiko-Mahiru aren't friends. But they still have meaningful and interesting dynamics with each other

Not only that, but even if you take each character seperately I genuinely like them all. Like, actively like them. Yes, even Teruteru and Hiyoko. I find each and every one of them compelling in their own way. I like Kazuichis well-meaning stupidity, I like Gundhams love of life, I like Ibukis cheery attitude, I like Mikans care for others, I like Pekos devotion. I enjoy them all

I don't have a good way to end this just. sdr2 cast my beloveds

[funishment-time]

For the ask game, give me ............ Sonia Nevermind!

- goshdangronpa

MISS SOnnNIAAA

Sexuality Headcanon: as much of a sin as it is, she's one i Headcanon as mostly straight based purely off vibes. mostly. (everyone at HPA is on a scale: she's just one end of it.) however, i do love sapphic content of her, especially with Chiaki and/or Akane

Gender Headcanon: she's our token Cis, too. poor Sonia. but just as every friend group needs the Crazy Ass every friend group needs the Cis Girl At The Club you know what i mean

A ship I have with said character: i'm boring and mostly ship her with Gundham but come on, they're so funny. their dynamic, impeccable. their children, resistant to Psychiatry. this is yuri to me

A BROTP I have with said character: she and Hina like true crime podcasts and talk about them together

A NOTP I have with said character: i don't think i have one for Sonia in particular actually!

A random headcanon: she comes out of the NWP post-DR2 with some severe memory issues/holes in her own Personal Timeline. (i headcanon generally it caused some brain damage in a few of the ex-Remnants.) while she heals the best she can, she is forever under the Impression that though she did evil shit, her Country is still mostly standing, just she's been exiled from it. everyone plays into that delusion as much as possible; however, almost supernaturally, she immediately forgets any Big Revelations about her past the next day after a long sleep. a blessing or curse from Chiaki? who knows. but everyone takes turns tucking in the princess after she accidentally picks up a Newspaper

General Opinion over said character: 10/10. she is not Some Woman With Flexible Legs

[batw1nggg]

i know the dr2 survivors having zero chemistry couldve easily been fixed by like. If The Writers Had Taken The Time To Write The Chemistry instead of just last minute throwing in one or two lines literally at the very end. the combo of characters does have lots of potential for chemistry but also i think one thing that wouldve really helped is LETTING HIYOKO SURVIVE 😭😭😭😭😭😭 if dr2 had just had 6 survivors like dr1 their survivor dynamic during chapters 5 and 6 couldve been so much better 😭😭

hiyoko just slots with them perfectly. theyre missing the energy that she’s able to bring if that makes sense like dr1 has hina as its more upbeat survivor and v3 has himiko but dr2’s most upbeat survivor is. like. Akane. am i making sense here. and also hiyoko bonding with any of the dr2 survivors theyre the last people youd expect her to bond with and it can be representative of her character arc and i also wish theyd been able to play more with fuyuhiko’s arc spurring on hiyoko’s because they had that kinda going on too. idk i know we’ve had this conversation as a fandom already but i just get angrier every day that she didnt live. of course adding hiyoko in isnt a Fix All Solution to the issue of the survivors not having been given chemistry but it couldve elevated the dynamic a lot i think :( i wanted to see her fight with and bond with everyone

[akane-kurokawa]

Chapter 150 thoughts!

Glad to be back in the nightmare hell scape! Fun Tokyo Blade vibes.

Bro is so BORED of the horrors. He looks at his sleep paralysis demon and goes “augh you again??”

The most obvious answer to 123 that we’ve all been waiting for for like a year.

Seriously though, on one hand it’s a bit annoying that we’re matter of facting this conclusion after a whole volume worth of playing the ‘What is Aqua thinking?’ game during the aqrb section of filming, it feels disproportionate to the buildup (a very common criticism for subplot resolutions lately)

On the other hand, they’re finally saying what everyone with reading comprehension has been thinking! Aqua doesn’t want this stupid badly written ship to happen, and neither does fucking Gorou!

But Gorou changing the subject from the big revenge life dream to “so what girls do you like” after he just admitted he was like, fading away is a little jarring to me. Maybe it’d read better with voice acting but right now it’s just a little tonally weird.

“You don’t need to act anymore” goes hard though, all things considered. Tbh, I don’t even really dislike the conversation, it just feels a little fast to me. It’s a dream sequence though so I’m being nit picky.

You and the girl who’s telling you not to worry about

Akane aggressively playing matchmaker is a pretty funny role for her, it utilizes her knowledge of people and Aqua adjacent manipulation skills while keeping her motives as well meaning yet overbearing as I’d expect from her.

The current dynamic of her Kana and Aqua has a very Kaguya feel, which I mean positively. It’s refreshing and reminds me why I like this cast and their interactions in the first place. Again, it’s a pretty stark contrast to the rest of this volume which has been steering into horror territory, but I’m suspecting this is probably to set us up for another tone shift later.

The dual flashbacks of their building crushes and feelings is very cute, I think their ship still walks the line of healthy and toxic, but it’s still built on a strongly established foundation. That said, there’s no way they get out right now and it works out. Not without at least one more solid complication first.

So happy for you to admit that, babe. Not gonna go well for you though.

[e-lisss]

Positive and negative things about Alice in Borderland Season 2.

Well let's start with the positive things.

I really liked how Arisu and Usagi soften as time goes by and how they both care for each other, I really liked that dynamic a lot.

God I can't complain about the K of clubs, I literally liked the dynamic between the actors who play citizens, I really liked Kyuma and his way of thinking. You really feel that they are true friends. I also really liked the dynamics of the game and how things turned out.

Let's talk about the J of hearts, I thought that the fact that Chishiya was there was going to ruin it, but let's not put that aside, I really liked the participants of this game and especially Urumi, how he was killing everyone and how he died, obviously also Sunato and Yaba were great.

I liked the Q of spades (although I still believe that this game is a bit unnecessary) I liked it for one thing and it was for the queen of this game, the dynamics were good and I liked that Usagi defended her man. Arisu was fine for the fact that she went looking for Usagi after parting ways.

Akane and Aguni's dynamic was good, it's nice that she cared for him and he cared for her too. I don't know about the fans but I see a father-daughter dynamic in my opinion that's cute. Akane's introduction was very good for me and having her show her first game was valuable since I thought she wasn't going to be shown.

The K of diamonds was what I expected the most, the deaths were brutal and I would have liked to have seen more of this game. The fact that it included the scene of Momoka and Kuzuryu's past I thought they weren't going to include it.

Arisu's flashbacks with Karube and Chota were special and deepened their friendship more, that's nice, they made up for the magan scenes.

I liked the friendship between Kuina and Ann a lot, that is, the time together and playing games. That makes up for the manga.

Speaking of Kuina, I liked the dynamic between Arisu and Usagi, I liked that they showed a little the J of swords if I'm not mistaken and she was rude in the final battle, they did her justice by showing more of her than what was shown in the manga.

Speaking of Ann, I really liked her that they showed her more and that they did justice to her just like Kuina, that she took Yuuji's place and that she played the game with Kuina was very epic.

Speaking of the battle against the K of swords, it was brutal in my opinion, both the K and Kuina, Aguni, Ann, Usagi and Akane looked good and made a good dynamic in my opinion.

Let's talk about Look god how I love that woman, she's really smart, pretty and very bitchy (it had to be said and it was said) I definitely can't hate her she's very interesting, I just love her and her game.

Let's talk about the ending, it's just that the manga is very beautiful in my opinion and it was a perfect ending, the way they handled things was very fair.

Let's move on to the negative things or things that don't convince me at all.

One of the things I didn't like during Tatta's death was Arisu's reaction, in the manga his reaction is more heartbreaking and more convincing, even Kuina and Usagi's reaction to his death is also very sad but apparently They didn't give it enough importance.

Speaking of the J of hearts, it was really weird to see Chishiya there, but well, you can't change things anymore.

Let's talk about the Q of spades, the queen was fine, her death was very epic but the fact that she wanted Arisu saying "he's my type" is kind of unnecessary for me.

Let's talk about the K of diamonds, god needed more of this game and the dynamics of Kuzuryu and Chishiya.

Speaking of Chishiya god the writers of the show changed everything about him, I still can't get over how they showed him, they literally changed everything about his past and his personality, wait you just left him as a sarcastic good guy, they didn't give him the development they gave him in the manga. Ok, I'll tell you what they changed, firstly, the patient's scene, in the manga it's very different since the patient turns out to be a man with cancer, to which he asks Chishiya to give a letter to his family to which he is He accepts but ends up throwing it away since he did not have a good relationship with his father. I'll get back to Chishiya later.

Let's talk about the cards shown which is the J of diamonds, J of clubs and the K of hearts that were really unnecessary to show them in my opinion would have shown more of the Q of clubs play that Ann and Kuina played I really wish they would They would have shown them more.

Speaking of Kuina, I have a little problem with her and Chishisya and that is that in the manga after Chishiya betrays Arisu and Usagi she confronts him and asks for an explanation of why she did what she did, but in the show she still does. continue, that is, let's say that if someone betrays my friends I stay away from him, but well, in the program it is not the case.

The scene of Chishiya, Niragi and Arisu in this scene I was hoping it would show up well in the show, but it didn't and I'll tell you why. It is supposed that in the manga Niragi makes the reflection that the three of them look alike since they only care about themselves, that therefore makes Arisu reflect and makes him want to change his way of being saying "this surely not always I was egotistical" makes his speech about wanting to change and this prompts Chishiya to want to do the same and reflects on himself, but this in the program seems nonsense since they omitted certain scenes that were important and even dialogues. That really leaves me more to be desired.

Chishiya, the fact of not showing the scene of the relationship with his father and the Monalisa theory, pisses off the character. My explanation is the following and it is that in the manga he says that there was no sense of upbringing on the part of his father or a sense of love, to which this makes him question why he had it, this makes him say about his father " perhaps to pretend to be a normal person, as the director of the hospital" to which he also says "the funny thing is that I am following the same path" reflecting on it. In the manga he mentions the Monna Lisa saying that it was probably Da Vinci himself, to which he says "everyone wants to be seen as he is" to what he wanted to be seen as he was and that is why he says the following "I used to see humans as foolish beings, I despise the sincere, I can't help but reprimand those who put all their effort, I couldn't stop the psychological abuse, I couldn't live without hurting someone, I couldn't avoid the good will and intentions of people …. well he was probably jealous, they were things I didn't have." In the show they omitted this dialogue and left Chishiya without proper character development, I am literally not complaining about the decision to put him in the J of hearts but I am complaining about this because I love the character.

Talking about Kuzuryu they omitted the part where he tells Chishiya "There is still a new unknown world waiting" since that also makes Chishiya change in some way "the possibility of changing to see the future ahead".

They also omitted the part of Mira and Kuzuryu's talk where he wanted a law that would unify Borderland.

I also miss Doudou, that's my only complaint with the K of spades.

Well without further ado Merry Christmas I hope you have a good time, I know this post was a bit long and I am seriously sorry English is not my first language so please excuse my grammatical and spelling errors.

[theblackinnkeeper]

My top ten Danganronpa ships

Since it’s Valentine’s Day I decided that i should show my top ten Danganronpa ships for the world to see

Now here are some rules

One all of this is my own opinion if you disagree that’s fine but no harassment

Two I do not ship same sex couples for reasons I won’t elaborate on so if you don’t see your favorite slash ship on here then tough luck

Three these ships aren’t just ranked on personal preference but other factors such as screen time chemistry or others so that should set the tone now let’s get in

I’m also tagging @hopeymchope @freezethunder and @wydstepcat to give a list of your top ten ships (you don’t have to follow my rules)

Number 10

Nagito komaeda x Mikan tsumiki

So why do I ship these to together? Because Kodaka said they’re kokichi’s parents! UP YOURS KOMAHINA’S HAHAHA

In all seriousness these two make a surprisingly good ship because of surprisingly compatible both being some of the most mentally broken members of the class as well as nagito being one of the classmates to stick up for Mikan so there’s that and because there’s so much potential in the dynamics for this ship be it the nurse/patient dynamic or just being the insane couple. The one thing holding this ship back is the lack of interactions between the two which is why it’s so low on this list but this should be a good way to start the list right?

Number 9

Byakuya togami x toko fukawa

If your still reading this please put down the pitchforks and hear me out

So you’re probably wondering why I’m putting a ship like this well I’ll explain

As well all know togami starts the game off as a selfish jerk who only cares about winning and doesn’t seem to care about anybody and is more than willing to use toko as a tool for his amusement so with that in mind how could I ever ship something like this.

Well most of the appeal of this ship mostly comes from the development of the two characters in general.after Sakura’s trial makes him reconsider his preconceived views about bonds he starts to treat everyone slightly better and even gives toko a few compliments (which admittedly isn’t a bit much but hey it’s progress) and later in the series we see him actually sticking his neck out for other people so admittedly most the appeal for me stems less from their current relationship and more for what it might look like after both of their development which is why it’s low on this list and honestly togami’s insults don’t seem to bug me as much since toko seems to be enjoying this a bit too much

Number 8

Shuichi saihara x kaede akamatsu

You know it’s true love when you see a girly looking detective boy who’s scared of his own shadow fall out of a locker

In all seriousness these have a nice dynamic between the two partnering up to stop the killing game in the first chapter.kaede helps encourage shuichi out of his insecurities which makes it more tragic when she’s revealed to be the culprit through the rest of the game kaede’s death serves as one of shuichi’s biggest motivators throughout the game

Now as for why it’s so low we’ll most of their dynamic stays in chapter one so

Number 7

Miu iruma x kiibo

News flash lusty girl falls for walking tin can

With how raunchy and egotistical miu is I didn’t think to much of this ship when I heard about it added on by the fact the kiibo was a robot (sorry that was robophobic of me) and when I see they’re dynamic it’s surprising wholesome with miu showing genuine kindness towards kiibo and kiibo being the only student who isn’t gonta to be sad she died and I haven’t even talked about the “maintenance” so yeah number 7 good ship

Number 6

Nekomaru nidai x Akane owari

Ahh yes the gym couple

Nekomaru and akane’s relationship isn’t just fun to watch it’s also sad to think about with how much they spend training with each other (and how many sexual innuendos they have with each other) it doesn’t take long to see why people like especially when it comes to Nekomaru sacrificing himself for Akane and his death being Akanes big motivator throughout the rest of the game really shows how much these two mean to each other

Number 5

Sonia nevermind x gundham Tanaka

What’s better than one over the top edgelord two over the top edgelord

Sonia and gundham is one of the ships that pretty much everyone can agree one (save for the yaoi/Yuri fans and the kazuichi fans crying in the corner) with just how over the top they are together and their shared interest in the occult and much like with Akane gundhams death helps drive Sonia as a motivator for the rest of the story well what do you know

Number 4

Kaito momota x maki harukawa

The luminary of the stars and his murderous girlfriend

Kaito and maki is one of the ships that have one of the strongest developments in the series. Maki’s arc in the series revolves around her dropping the aloof assassin thing kaito is one of the biggest factors in it. Throughout the game kaito constantly tries to reach out to maki to get her to finally open up not only inviting maki to train but also pushing her to open up as well to the point of arguing with shuichi when it’s possible that kaito killed kokichi and tsumugi using kaito to break maki like she used kaede with shuichi overall this is one of the best ships in the series I just prefer these next three

Number 3

Fuyuhiko kuzuryu x Peko Pekoyama

One of the ships we all can agree on

Honestly this ship surprised me and I didn’t like it until further examination in the beginning we see Peko seem to know kuzuryu better than most but it isn’t until chapter two when the whole story comes out.we learn that Peko is fuyuhiko’s childhood friend who was raised to be both a servant and a hitwoman for the kuzuryu clans heir (fuyuhiko) and was raised to be a tool since birth however we know that her feelings for kuzuryu are 100% genuine and she will do anything for him even take a murder out of his own hands so she can take the fall for him but what if kuzuryu well this is best displayed in chapter two when he confesses that he didn’t care that Peko was raised to be a tool and just wanted to be with her and was begging for her not to go to the point where he tried to interfere with the execution and got slashed in the process. The amount of devotion between the two is fantastic and bittersweet and the same time when you have a couple so devoted to each other they are willing to face death for the other

…..

…..

…..

I’m not crying you’re crying!

Number 2

Makoto naegi x kyoko kirigiri

The hero and the heroine but which one is which

What can I say that hasn’t already been said these two probably have the most progressive relationships in the series from unlikely Allies to devoted partners these two have earned their place in the fandom

And now for my number one pick a tragic ship that was simply never meant to be

Number one

Hajime hinata/izuru kamakura x Chiaki nanami

This is probably the most tragic ship for me on this list by a pair with a bond so strong it transcends memory

The pair consists of a boy with no talent but wants one and girl who has a talent but sees no value in it and both end up positively impacting the other hajime started to realize talent isn’t everything and Chiaki starts to see her talent can be useful sadly thanks to someone beating(literally) it into hajime that he’s nothing more than a talentless scrub this leads hajime into the kamukura project and Chiaki suffers a tragic death impaled and betrayed by the person you loved most as she’s in tear because she didn’t want hajime to be talented she just wanted him alone (reminds you of another couple don’t it) but hajime’s love for her remains enough to get izuru to start shedding tears over her death

In 2dr2 Chiaki is hajime’s closest ally backing him up in trials and keeping him out of trouble all this comes to head when Chiaki is revealed to be the traitor and hajime is in the most denial he’s ever been in he doesn’t want to believe that his closest friend is the traitor but sadly is forced to do so

In the final chapter hajime’s memory of nanami is enough to inspire him towards the future and even helps deal the final blow to junko

Regardless of your stance on this ship its clear that these two have a strong bond that still persists regardless of it and that makes this my favorite Danganronpa ship of all time

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone

[leviadraws]

What would you think about the Kisaragi foundation if the entire gang survived DRA? Like the one image Linuj made.

Personally I think Mitch would get kicked out. Immediately.

I think about this a suprising amount, what if they all lived and had a The Office style sitcom/drama /lh

This is real long, I went a little crazy, obvs DRA/SDRA2 spoilers so under the cut

If they all got their memories back I might give him a week for that apparent off-screen character development /lh perhaps they keep him around just so Tsurugi can keep an eye on him/drop him in a jail cell.

If timeline AU is like one of my favourite AUs in DRA, especially if we say Utsuro/Akane survive and have the chance at redemption. You still get all the conflict of the setting with the disaster, you have the conflict between Utsuro/Akane v Yamato/Mikako/Tsurugi, some of the survivors potentially meeting their families, and then all of them essentially being thrust into being adults and needing to help provide relief for a ruined world.

I do seem to remember that Linuj has given everyone a role in that scenario, so assuming the wiki is correct we end up with a strike team and an office team (and management I guess, they'd probs be "you should be in the office" but don't).

Office team: - Rei | intel network, imagine like the people who try to predict and prevent terror attacks - Teruya | finance, probs also works with Haru to manage supplies - Mikako | counsellor, also works on all the management stuff that Yamato isn't fixated on, and drags Tsurugi to therapy - Kizuna | receptionist (really Linuj? She'd be a pretty good addition to either Kinji's or Rei's teams, so I'm gonna say she jumps between the two) - Kakeru | company lawyer. I read somewhere that he also helps Teruya with financial law. - Kanata | company medic - Akane | catering/janitor - Satsuki | Linuj has her listed as "welfare" but that sounds like a hr job and we're not doing Satsuki dirty like that? I'd kinda imagine she'd help Mikako with the mental health of survivors, or go with Kinji as like a first response for victims. Strike team: - Kinji | negotiator - Kiyoka | Daredevil? Kinda more pictured her as the support watching through a sniper scope - Mitch (apparently? Who taught him to use a gun??) - Ayame | scout - Haruhiko | getaway driver, somewhere had him listed as haulage so I guess he also manages procuring supplies. That means that providing supplies to peopleis probs the whole sunshine quartet which makes me happy (Haru drives, Satsuki is the main point of contact with survivors, Teruya manages cost/procurement, Kiyoka acts as security).

Management: - Yamato | Head - Tsurugi | Second-in-command - Yuuki/Utsuro (except if this is IF, he'd probably be monitored for a real long time/essentially a prisoner. He'd have a lot of redeeming to do to be trusted by Yamato again).

So like, first off the dynamic is a lot more balanced, since Yamato acts as Tsurugi's tether to stop him going off the edge, and with a larger more trusted team it's less likely that Rei and Teruya would need to go out on missions as much, which in turns puts less of the stress on them.

I feel like out of all of them, Kakeru has the most work on his plate. It's easy to ignore laws in your favour when society has all but collapsed and I can totally see Tsurugi, Rei, and potentially Yamato wanting to just side step some laws to get things done easier. He really has to put his foot down, because /no/ catching the bad guys is not worth becoming the bad guys. He gets a real headache after the strike team goes on missions as all the collateral means more paperwork.

Likewise Kanata has the problem of half the team disregard their physical health and the other half disregard their mental health. Sometimes it's better and sometimes people wonder if she'll just snap and kill them all /lh. She does get to work with her dad tho, which helps a ton. When they find Midori, she helps Kakeru keep an eye on her condition.

Yamato spends a lot of the early days working to remove the memory wipe on everyone, and reversing the side effects on Mikako and himself. The effects were disabled in IF due to the device Yuuki pressed, but there's no guarantee that effect will last. I'm gonna say for this that it does revert, but Yamato still has good motor function, so for a while he communicates via sign language and a whiteboard he hangs around his neck. He becomes friends with Kiyoka this way, as she has poor hearing from years of shooting without proper safety equipment and is the one who teaches him JSL.

I'm not sure how morally grey the og Kisaragi foundation was, since our narrator on it (Teruya) was kinda unreliable. They're kinda in a difficult situation anyways, they want to save people as a priority but also they need money/resources, which means they'll need to work with anyone they can, especially in the early days of the tragedy. I'd like to think that a lot of their income comes from creating and distributing anti-monokuma tech like the railgun Yamato has in chapter 0.

Kakeru + Teruya would definitely catch Tsurugi if he attempted something like what he did with Syobai in SDRA2, and in this timeline it's not a certain that Tsurugi regresses to his old ways. I think he's not in a good place after shooting Akane, but he's not past the point of no return.

Something I do wanna talk about is that the strike team has Kinji and then one braincell between the other four?? I guess Tsurugi and Yamato (and possibly Rei) will go too just to have some planning and thinking amongst the team /lh Going back to the actual question, perhaps they take Mitch for him to be cannon fodder in missions and then he just gets patched up again when they get back lol. Haru gets really annoyed when people bleed all over his car/van/helicopter.

One last thing, they figure out pretty quickly that they can't really imprison Utsuro/Akane since the moment Utsuro just thinks about leaving a string of events will happen like a Rube Goldberg machine and he'll just walk out and get a sandwich or something. So, they just kinda work with his mental health and try to help him and Akane through their despair. It's a lot on Mikako, but she wanted to give him a chance back then and she wants to see that through.

I'm not sure how they'd eventually interact with VOID, I think Mikado would still be obsessed with him, but I think the other voids would be happy with their luck still in effect.

Right, I could keep talking about them but I'm gonna stop there, if you read this far - congrats!

[tenebriskukris]

Oshi No Ko Chapter 144 – My Thoughts/Analysis

We're thrown a bit of a curveball for this chapter, but it's certainly an enjoyable chapter nonetheless. Spoilers for Oshi No Ko Ch144 below.

A timeskip??? After the absolute banger we got in the last chapter we’re served up a timeskip?? Considering how the last chapter ended I fully expected things to focus on everyone else’s reactions to the kiss scene as well as Aqua and Ruby’s new dynamic but shifting the spotlight to the movie’s hospital scene in Miyazaki is a massive departure from where we were in the last chapter. The pacing issues of the arc are starting to become more and more evident.

Traditionally movie productions take months if not years to get to a stage where they can actually film the movie. Even setting aside that most of the people involved are basically newcomers to the big leagues of stardom, the production shouldn’t run this fast towards the finish line. And now the manga’s telling me that there’s nothing that would be relevant in between the bureaucratic mess that would actually be making a movie of this scale? I can believe reincarnation exists, but certainly not paperwork and bureaucracy running as fast as it has throughout the arc.

The manga does infodump some cursory knowledge on how actual productions are supposed to work—thankfully enough. But the fact that it has this basic knowledge and it hasn’t seen fit to add in other, smaller interactions between the cast members who already lack sufficient screentime—and by proxy Aqua and Ruby—is a grating offense. Perhaps it would have been better to split this entire movie arc into two, perhaps three arcs in total while juggling more character focused chapters? I’ll make sure to give my thoughts on this arc as a whole as soon as it finishes.

With all the hubbub of Aqua as Hikaru and Ruby as Ai, I’ve almost forgotten that Melt wiggled his way into production. Why is he here again as a B-list actor? I know Kaburagi likely pulled some strings to get him in, but his acting ability isn’t really something to harp on. Then again Goro would basically be a B-list character in a story about Ai so I get why they didn’t try very hard to find someone good in acting.

Ruby’s face as she glares at Melt is perfect. Her roasting Melt is fucking hilarious, especially since she’s not even wrong in her criticisms. Of course that girl is going to have opinions on someone that’s trying to portray her sensei. If it was some role that wasn’t Goro I’m sure she wouldn’t have cared as much as she has about how he acts.

The little little princess shirt in Ruby is a treasure. This girl needs to be protected.

Melt knowing that his acting skills are only decent is a great moment of self awareness from a character we don’t seem to see much of. Other actors coughKanacough would have egos too large than to admit that they were doing anything wrong without some sort of outside intervention.

We’re basically in the final stage of the movie??? This arc’s pacing has been all over the place, so I can believe we’re approaching its conclusion, but there’s still too many plot points left unresolved. 

It’s refreshing to see Melt admit his deficiencies to Ruby and doing what he can to shore up his weaknesses.  It shows that not everyone is not to the level of Akane or Kana or even Aqua—Melt may just be the least experienced actor among the cast. And while Ruby’s acting ability may be less refined in comparison to Akane or Melt, I don’t think it’s a leap to say that she performs the role of Ai better than Akane or Frill simply because she can understand Ai’s heart better than what’s written on the script. Her impromptu scene after Kana’s outburst was proof enough of that—I doubt that either of them would’ve let their emotions run free and gave us a peek at what Ai was really feeling.

Ruby saying that Himekawa would’ve been a better fit for the role of Goro is multi-layered. On one hand of course she wants a good actor to play her sensei. But on the other hand Himekawa is also her half-brother. 

Melt saying that he’s putting more effort to understand the characters than anyone else is somewhat ironic considering Akane’s very existence. Ditto for Aqua and Ruby when they’re playing their parents. Perhaps Melt has also been affected by Kana’s insensitivity with how those words can be interpreted very badly.

Oh. Some of Ai’s merch in Melt’s pocket. I’m starting to see where this is going. Also I know that guy who sold Ai’s merch! Funny how he keeps popping up.

Melt’s analysis of Goro…even if he’s not on the level of Akane or the rest of the cast, I think he’s managed to grasp the man’s heart well to make these kinds of statements. I have to give Melt props for it and I have to dock the manga points for basically infodumping this to Ruby and the average reader. It’s a typical case of the manga telling us rather than showing us Goro’s character. Really, would it be difficult for us to see another Ruby flashback of what her thoughts are of Goro?

Ruby’s face as Melt explains his reasoning for his portrayal of Goro’s character…And the way the panel is drawn—hiding Ruby’s star eye from the reader—that’s good paneling. Also, “A symbol for his feelings for that child.”? I’d say that the manga was trying to bash in the fact that Goro and Sarina had a very unique relationship even further but the fact that I can still see people screaming about this exact subject even almost 150 chapters into the manga so I can forgive them for it.

Ruby gushing about Melt’s portrayal immediately after dissing him is also funny. Melt’s proved he can understand Goro, so she has a greater respect for him after that. I’d also wonder if Akane would have similar thoughts about Goro from the script…

Crow Girl???? Finally you’ve reappeared. I was wondering what the payoff for her being in the arc would actually be.

Oh man Ruby…with how 143 ended I think this tells us that Aqua didn’t break Ruby’s heart after that kiss scene. If he did—which would be very much out of character with how AquaGoro holds RubySarina in his heart—it would definitely be shown to us immediately afterward. Letting what happened after that scene linger in the background still doesn’t sit right with me with the arc’s already bloated pacing, but I understand why it’d have to be offscreened—doesn’t mean I can’t critique the hell out of it.

Crow Girl lore???????? Crying and shaking and throwing up right now what the fuck does she mean by that. The implications are all running into each other because with how Crow Girl described how the reincarnators could be considered gods it’s looking more and more likely that Aqua and Ruby are in a position to eventually become gods. Comparing that with how Miyako in the flashforwards was talking about how Aqua and Ruby were given favored treatments and trials in equal measures alongside divine guidance…it paints a picture of how the potential supernatural aspect is going to pan out. 

I am also pretty sure that some of the gods Crow Girl refer to are Aka and Mengo themselves, the actual writer and artist of Oshi No Ko. Especially with that whole “you guys often receive help from god without knowing it” bit. That smells very much like narrative relevance and protagonism. If the manga decides to go meta now I wouldn’t really mind that, but I’d hoped it would be foreshadowed better beforehand. A small comment about how “god-like” Aqua and Ruby would be would’ve really helped. 

And of course we end off on Crow Girl being a gag. For a very powerful supernatural entity she seems to be easily handled by Aqua and Ruby. You’d think she would put the fear of god more into them, really, but if Aqua and Ruby actually do become gods I can see why she’s being pushed around by them like this. 

What the actual fuck was this chapter. We don’t get to see if Aqua has white star eyes after the kiss but we do see Crow Girl and her massive lore drops written between the lines. Ever since she’s been introduced in this arc I’d been wondering what the followup would be to her whole thing but having even more evidence that Aqua and Ruby are on the path to godhood was not on my bingo card for this chapter.

I’ll be the first to admit I don’t have the cultural knowledge on the Japanese versions of gods—the kami—so I can’t put the pieces together on some of the more subtle things that Crow Girl might be referring to, but casting off mortality for the divine isn’t something that most people can aspire toward on a whim. In my mind you’d ideally need at least two things for it. Belief and freedom.

The former for people to believe in you in a certain manner—of which both Aqua and Ruby are already there with the movie releasing—and the latter through some sort of catalyst that makes a person more than flesh and blood. For a manga without much of a magic system at all, the only thing I can think of at the top of my head is dying.

Of course this assumes that both Aqua and Ruby will choose to become gods in the first place. Perhaps to reincarnate Ai again? But with how the manga is pushing this narrative of godhood and the supernatural it’s still in the cards for them. Something to consider as the arc unfolds.