btw toni anji's phose if he gets one WILL be a blakiston's fish owl. like, no debate. if he does get one it will 100% be a blakiston's fish owl and i will be dying on this hill. this is for the same reason i believe yuusaku WILL be a reindeer if he gets one
• sugimoto got a bear for multiple reasons. he's the main character, bears are basically the mascot of the series, he is literally compared with a bear when he survives getting shot in the head
• asirpa has retar, and wolves are an important part of her story
• shiraishi gets bit on the head by a tanuki - a little bit of a stretch but he also suits it
• koito vs the wolverine
• tsukishima isn't really shown with any animals, but he is a loyal attack dog
• ogata is blatantly and constantly compared to cats and the eurasian lynx. this is the one i have to explain the LEAST
• tsurumi's phose is directly modeled after edogai's cat, which i think is the only time we see him interact with an animal
• tanigaki's phose is based on ryu. interestingly, ryu is a hokkaido dog and not an akita, though maybe his phose *is* an akita
• kiroranke is a tiger. yulbars. self explanitory
• hijikata is the biggest stretch, but i think it's because he's alive when he shouldn't be, much like retar. both are part of a bygone era
• kadokura is literally called a tanuki once. self explanitory
• vasily's phose is based on that bird he was drawing
• usami... yeah.
• boutarou's phose is based on those sturgeon we see at around the same time he's introduced
anyways, a very VERY common theme is that they're all based on animals we see them interact with or be compared to. through this we can definately guess what multiple characters would be. because the hot spring bandits arc is foreshadowed by sugimoto shooting a blakiston's fish owl through the eye, and tonji anji's design is intentionally owl-like, his phose is definately going to be a fish owl
henmi would either be a boar or a killer whale, though i find the latter most likely. inkarmat would be a fox. edogai would be a polar bear. wilk has never gotten merch so we don't count him but he would be a wolf as well. kirawus would be a deer. i think ushiyama is compared to a bull so he'd be a bull (i badly need to reread the manga). and those are the only ones i can think of right now. wait no miyazawa stag beetle phose??? real shit????