#When it comes to Hanako and Kou's friendship

[hanako-san]

Akane confirmed my words. Aoi always tries to be nice to nene and comfort her about her worries and help her best like she can. nene is naive, stupid, very trusting and shows her worries, doesn't hide them and also talks about them easily, which could have caused Aoi to allow her to be 'friends' with her, but in reality she is not trusting towards her

ch.96

She doesn't decide to tell her about her hand which her 'best friend' is responsible for. This means that instead of telling her, she hides it from her like her real personality and doesn't tell her anything. Her excuse is that she needs to focus on her own problems. BS. It was her duty to tell her, but of course she can't be responsible for anything in this manga even if she is the one causing trouble with her own wishes and words.

Even if she saved her, so what. Aoi apologized to her, but she didn't apologize to her. The word sorry won't come out of yahsiro's mouth on its own, someone else always has to point her out by showing her that she's behaving badly, but it doesn't change anything when someone reprimands her because she does the same in some chapters. There is no problem, it's true that yahsiro hugged her when she saw her out of happiness. She doesn't feel responsible for anything, even if she knows it's because of her, because as she said, "I didn't do anything wrong" but how can I expect an apology from a person who considers herself innocent of her actions when she knows it is his fault?

Once again, yahsiro's deed justifying by Aoi this time, to confirm to her that she is innocent and needs to focus on herself, this is to give her another pass to show and tell that she is 'innocent' and poorer than Aoi. BS. She should knows this. This also shows that Aoi still doesn't trust her.

yashiro didn't even notice that there was something wrong with her friend's hand. Her first words after seeing and hugging her sounded like this

I could be wrong, yahsiro gives me the vibe that she wouldn't accept the real Aoi, just the nice side of her personality that she always shows. It's just sad how yashiro said that instead of asking or saying "I'm glad you're okay/Are you okay?" these words didn't come to her mind, the only thing that came to her mind was that the Aoi she knew was back. I understand that she is happy Aoi isn't under spell no.6, but when she said this words I have a strange feeling that yashiro wouldn't accept the real her, it gives me this vibe, and even during their conversation, yashiro never once asked if everything was okay with her. She thinks that since she saved Aoi and she looks healthy and as if nothing was wrong with her, it's fine for yashiro.

I also understand that best friends can keep secrets from each other and that's fine, but even if nene's secrets came to light and her strange behavior. Aoi still doesn't trust her and pretends to be nice, not even deciding to tell her about the problem with her hand.

This only shows that there is still the same gap between them and nothing has changed.

I think that both girls like each other, but they are not as close as yashiro claims. yashiro doesn't know her true self and doesn't look like the person to ask about Aoi's problems, which she constantly confirms by focusing only on herself all the time in the manga, but Aoi doesn't trust her either. This trust is still not there in Aoi for yashiro.

In my opinion, their friendship is an illusion. They both have a bond, but this bond is weak. fragile and bond's not strong enough to call them both 'best friends'. I think that Aoi needs to work on herself in terms of trust, because I understand that she has problems with it, I don't expect anything from yashiro anymore because I don't have to do it,I don't have to expect anything from the always innocent yashiro nene, because she will always be justified in some way by the situation or character even if she's the cause of it. I also don't expect Aoi to start trusting her because AidaIro may not change anything.

P.S: I think their friendship, although weak, has potential, but I think AR is wasting it

[mari-lair]

I got some asks about aoinene before so i may as well get my view on them off my chest.

( warning: I have a negative bias toward this ship and despite trying to be brief and unbias, I very very likely failed.)

To me, Aoinene makes each other worse, not as people, but as characters.

It's the kind of ship that the more I look at it the more empty their friendship feels, and yes sure they have their problems, but I don't mind when a ship have issues (hakubo and sumire are such a cool dynamic, 10/10 for me and they are a million times more 'toxic' then aoinene will ever be), but the aoinene problem is that they feel like fanservice. There is no conflict. There is nothing. They become shadows of themselves.

Aoi isn't stuck in the "I am an exposition girl :D" role because she is oblivious to the bigger story, and all they need is communication, Nene put her there. Iis insane that they've known each other for 2 years but she don't know anything about Aoi. Every time we learn something interesting about Aoi, is when she is seen in other's people's pov, even characters that barely interact with her like Teru and Mei have a better understanding of Aoi than Nene.

To Nene, Aoi is the troupe of a perfect friend. Nene cannot process her flaws, she rejects the idea, and Aoi can't make Nene talk, face her own issues. So there is never conflict. Their friendship is a love that morphed into a horror situation. A staged friendship.

"Aoi is cute and nice and kind. I refuse to believe she wouldl ever be anything else, let's not think about how i was thrown in the trash by her, that aoi was mean, she was a fake. I will not accept her being the real aoi. I won't even think about it."

"I know Nene is going through a lot but I need to play the happy girl with no troubles role for her. I won't ask about her problems or even show hints that I know something is off after learning about supernaturals, and that her crush is dead, and human sacrifices are a thing that happen. That's not what she wants from miss popular me."

It reach the point where their fluffy arts feel like fanservice to me, more of a 'look! cute girls doing cute things!! Aren't they such good friends??' photoshoot magazine than a genuine bond.

Look at this beautiful and cute art for exemple.

You would imagine the chapter is about them, that they will have some form of talk about their feelings in it, so much happened since the last time they talked after all!

Maybe Aoi apologize for throwing Nene out while Nene apologize for planning to die without Aoi's consent, making the same selfish mistake Hanako had done to her when he sacrificed Aoi so Nene could live. Maybe is just a quiet talk about how much things changed? A lighthearted but warm chat of how disorienting seeing supernaturals are as former girls that never had to deal with it? Something, anything, to connect them. Maybe the oposite, a big conflict that gets ugly now that the masks are down...? We had a lot of those in this arc, like kou and teru in chap 87, aoi and akane in chap 69, nene and hanako inc hapter 91! But no.

There is nothing. Is always nothing when they talk.

This beautiful cover art is from the chapter where Aoi issues were immediately brushed aside when she tried to bring them up and the usual bubbly Aoi was forced to come back.

They are bafflingly shallow for how much time they spend together and how much potential is bubbling under their mask, keeping their basic dynamic from their introduction even when the characters are begging for something to change.

So that's why I dislike them, they don't make each other better, they don't even have the gall to make each other act worse, they just make each other boring. Aoi is only allowed to be a fleshed out character when we get away from Nene's pov.

Is only through her interactions with other characters that any hint of dept, or hell, even fun quirks and overall aspects of her personality that are hinted with her friendship with nene, are explored or allowed to shine.

There is potential though! And I could see myself enjoying writing a one-shot exploring how painful for both parties the shallowness of their relationship is in some alternative universe, but unfortunetely the fandom ruined it for me. Which is a shame, since Nene is aoi only other friend, and their charade friendship is genuinely valued/loved by the other.

I tried to read fics and analysis to see if I was missing something but the fandom have a 'omg they are so cute and can do nothing wrong! All their issues will disappear if they hold hands <3' take on them, with so much mischaracterization both girls become unrecognizable. There is also a lot of Akane and aoikane hate, even masked aoi hate, cause god forbid their dear girlboss angelic lesbian queen have any negative feelings towards her bestie or likes a boy whose main flaw used to be the same as Nene (idolizing her to the point of dehumanization), and while that is not the manga's fault, it does affect my negative bias for this ship, make it far stronger.

After 2 years in the fandom, I just don't have the patience for this ship anymore. I don't think people are secretly evil if they ship aoinene or project themselves onto the girls, but it just isn't my thing. I am not looking for a fight either Anon, I block people cause I want as much peace as i can, and if what they ship makes me uncomfortable, is not their problem, is mine. Let them have fun out of my sight so we both strive pls.

[musicalmoritz]

I've noticed you're into psychology so maybe you can help me out with figuring out what attachment style Kou is :D I think he has an anxious attachment style but I'm not sure since he doesn't always fill out the criteria for lack of a better word. Idk I'd just love to hear your thoughts on this

*pulls out my AS psychology degree* You’ve come to the right place

I had to brush up on attachment styles for this because I haven’t thought much about them since I took lifespan development psych. I’ll admit, my initial reaction to Kou having an anxious attachment was to be on the fence. I have an anxious attachment style and my own relationships look very different from the way Kou’s are portrayed, I tend to maintain distance while Kou goes all in. But not all styles are going to present the exact same way, and upon further inspection I think an anxious attachment style is most likely for Kou!

It makes sense with how unstable his home life is, and how Teru focused a lot on warning him about the dangers of the world. Plus with how Teru (who seems to be his primary caregiver after his mother’s death) is very loving but also not home often, putting a lot of responsibility on Kou. He clearly wants strong relationships, but he’s terrified of losing people. He needs constant reassurance, which is a core element of anxious attachment. Even early in the manga, he panicked when he thought Teru didn’t trust him with the school mystery case

Then we have his romantic relationship with Mitsuba, which is a whole train wreck in and of itself. This is another dynamic in which Kou requires constant reassurance, he needs Mitsuba to rely on him and only him. In fact one of his deepest desires is for Mitsuba to be helpless without him. We see this also in his friendships, with how he’s constantly trying to prove himself to Hanako and Nene by showing off that he can protect them (even in situations where he clearly can’t). He’s also insecure in his friendships with Yokoo and Satou, wanting to open up to them about his life as an exorcist but being forced to keep it a secret. And he struggles to talk about his emotions, I don’t remember the exact chapter but Yokoo and Satou pointed this out during the school sleepover at the beginning of the Grim Reaper arc

So yeah, Kou wanting so badly to be close to people but never feeling secure in those relationships definitely looks like an anxious attachment style. I’ll add that Mitsuba shows signs of a disorganized attachment style, specifically with the way he interacts with Kou. He wants someone to rely on, but when Kou offers to be that person for him he pushes him away. It takes Kou jumping off a building for Mitsuba to believe he genuinely cares about him. I mention this because tbh disorganized attachment styles kinda fuck me up, I get emotional just reading the word. But I digress

Thank you for this ask, I love to infodump about psychology!!

[enulaz]

My reread of TBHK, Spook 5: The Misaski Stairs (part 2)

I like how Hanako brings up the fact that being part of the seven mysteries is about being known by as many people as possible, and being scary is much more likely to leave an impression. And yet, the seven mysteries, or at least Hanako as #7, has the job of keeping the peace between the supernaturals and the humans. So which one is it then?!? At least he acknowledges that #2 has gone too far.

After getting the phone call from #2 about finding her arm, Nene asks if they should then place the arm in that shrine area where it literally says "place arm here." Just thought that was funny.

Hanako telling Kou he shouldn't step off the path in a boundary, but then the way he says

he won't stop him if Kou wants to find out what happens. Hanako is such a little flirt. And then Hanako finding that dirty magazine and having more fun trying to get Kou to look at it. Lol love their dynamic.

Then Nene daydreaming about looking sexier. All of their priorities are way off. But Nene wearing that padded bra and it falling out...lmmaaaooo but seriously Hanako and Kou were such great friends to not make fun of her in any way for that.

Then the big ass scissors make an appearance. Hanako pushes their heads down to avoid getting cut and it's so cute!! I dunno it could be the wine talking tonight but I'm loving their trio friendship...their trioship...so much.

The creepy dolls remind me of when The Stray from Noragami gets all scary. The chapter ends quite abruptly and on a cliffhanger with the scissors coming for Nene's head.

But the page afterward where it talks about their ideal figures....Nene is of course sexy, Kou is big and strong, and Hanako is a monster that goes "Rawr!" Hahahaha he really is still just a kid. ...but then Hanako thinks about what it would be like if Nene was naked once she changed back from being a fish. It would definitely be a different kind of series then! But then again, Undead Unluck has Andy losing his clothes every time his body gets obliterated and then regenerates......could work!!

And that was the end or Volume 1! I almost didn't get to it tonight but knew I still wanted to do it so made the time. I'm really enjoying it but can't wait to get into the deeper storylines.. I say that now but when it starts pulling at my heartstrings again, I'll be thinking about the good ol days of simpler times...

End Spook 5. End Volume 1.

[thelunarfairy]

Hi, I found your website on Tumblr recently, I read some previous posts about your theories and I simply loved it, you have a lot of talent for writing. I don't exactly have a question, but I would like (if you don't mind) to analyze the relationship that developed between Kou and Hanako, not in a romantic sense, I would simply like to see your point of view since from my perspective honestly I don't know if their relationship can really be called friendship.

Awwwwwwwww

Thank you!!!!!!!!🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡 Your words are so sweet >.< I feel happy!!!!!

Sorry, it took me a while to answer your ask because I wanted to do a little analysis that you asked for, but I haven't had time yet. So, to not keep you waiting for an answer any longer, I will do a little analysis about them at some point, I don't know exactly when, but that analysis will come.

^^

Thanks again 🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡🧡

[idyllic-affections]

I see that you do tbhk! If you could can I request friendship hcs for nene, hanako, and Kou? Ty in advance :)

general friendship hcs.

summary. general friendship headcanons with the main three.

trigger & content warnings. references to death.

tropes, pairings, fic length, & other notes. fluff. yashiro nene & reader, hanako & reader, minamoto kou & reader. 0.8k words. no pronouns for reader.

author's thoughts. hello dear!!!! yes ofc you can.... the tbhk fans have been finding me recently and it makes me so happy helshsjghfh that's my comfort manga (i say, knowing it is the most horrible, gut-wrenching, soul-crushing manga i have read thus far)!!! i COULD say that this is my first time writing for tbhk, but that would make me a liar, because it's not! my first reader insert longfic was a tbhk one on quotev way back in 2021. i'd say i've improved a lot since then.

YASHIRO NENE—

being friends with nene means getting dragged into all of her supernatural adventures. if you're close enough to her, that is.

she, without a doubt, rants to you about her crushes and asks you for advice! she'll also complain about hanako to you, if you so happen to know about him.

she's super supportive. she's always cheering you on and encouraging you! and also, if you want advice or want to rant to her, she's completely open to that.

she rants to you, so you should be able to rant to her too. it's only fair. she does admit, though, that her advice might not be that good.

also i think nene would be physically affectionate. always hugging you, maybe giving you a lil kiss on the forehead if you're comfortable with that! hand-holding is also common with her.

she would be SO happy if you shared her interest in gardening or cooking! she'd love to have another friend to do those things with. if not, that's okay too! she doesn't want her friends to feel uncomfortable or forced to participate in any way.

she cares about you so so deeply and genuinely would be devastated if you ever got hurt because of her.

if you're a ghost, i don't think your dynamic would change much at all, actually. i think she would still treat you the same!

tell her she is pretty!!!! do not let her insecurities get to her!!!! reciprocate her supportive energy!!!!!

she might actually cry if a friend of hers were to support her so passionately.

HANAKO—

like nene, being close enough friends with hanako means you end up getting involved in things you probably shouldn't be involved in LMAO

i don't think he MEANS to get you involved, because he does worry about your safety, but it just sort of... happens. you end up involved regardless.

dude follows you everywhere, 100%

it's like what he does with nene, just without the romantic subtext LMAO

if you're human? he's sitting in your classes with you. he does it mainly for two reasons: one, because it reminds him of when he was alive, and it's strangely comforting. two, because he loves you and wants to annoy you <3

he's generally very clingy, and if you happen to be a ghost? ohohoho it's FAR worse.

he's always touching you in some way.

playing with your hair, fidgeting with your hands, hanging off of your shoulders... he's very touchy. poor thing is so touch starved.

personal space? he has no idea what that phrase means!

(he does, and if you seriously ask him to, he will respect your personal space and boundaries.)

it doesn't come from a bad place. he just finds it grounding. reassuring.

hanako also generally won't come to you with his problems.

he's not keen on being an open book. if you've known him for long enough, he would absolutely be more open to being honest with you, but if you haven't known him long at all? yeah... he's not cracking. trying to forcefully pry him open wouldn't help either.

MINAMOTO KOU—

he will absolutely, without a doubt, make you cute little homecooked meals.

we all know he's the only one out of his sibling's who is both old enough to use a stove and competent enough not to burn the kitchen down, so of course he would spend time making you a lunch!

especially if he felt like you weren't eating enough or you needed something extra to get you through the day. he notices the little details like that.

he's an acts of service kind of guy. he does little things to show you that he cares.

btw. if you're close enough friends with him? tiara and teru will both know you by name. you'll become like another member of their family <3

(tiara would get so excited every time she gets to see you, practically bouncing on her heels.)

i like to think he's a lil protective!!!! he worries about your safety and worries that supernaturals might want to hurt you bc of his involvement with you :c

teru would smite them before they got the chance, though, so kou really doesn't have much to worry about.

if you're a ghost, i think this dynamic would be very fascinating.

teru would try to kill you. yeah... sorry.

kou wouldn't let him though!! he would believe wholeheartedly that you're good and have no intention of being harmful, and because teru isn't really interested in ruining his relationship with his brother... you get to keep living your afterlife!

(please don't betray kou's trust.)

also if you're a little bit older than him, or if you just seem wiser, i think he'd ask you for advice on a bunch of things!

he doubts himself a lot. be sure to reassure him that he's doing the best he can for someone so young.

please consider reblogging, it helps me out quite a lot!

[legend-of-cupcake]

Is Hanako a yandere?

This is something I’ve been wanting to explore for a little while now, but never really had the time or mental energy for it. But today, that is exactly what we are going to do (warning: this post ended up being very long!!)

For starters, we need to define what exactly a yandere is. 

A yandere is typically characterized as someone who initially appears as  loving and caring, but becomes violent and possessive over their love interest. The term comes from yanderu (病んでる), meaning (mentally or emotionally) ill, and deredere (でれでれ, "lovesick"), meaning to show genuinely strong romantic affection.

Some well known examples of yanderes can be found in characters such as  Anna Nishikinomiya, Satō Matsuzaka and Yuno Gasai. 

Female yanderes a lot more common, and are generally the first thing people think of when asked about yanderes. However, male yanderes also exist!! 

When you first take a look at Hanako as a character, you see he’s a cheeky and playful character, who has a perverted side that’s typical of a boy around his age. The very first thing he does when introduced is tease our protagonist, and then laughs at her reaction to him.

And we see this a lot in the early chapters of tbhk, Hanako goes out of his way to get reactions out of both Nene and Kou and enjoys how they respond. As the story slowly progresses, he slowly forms a friendship with the 2 of them, and gets particularly close with Nene and becomes protective of her.

Doesn’t sound very yandere so far, does it?

However, from the very beginning at chapter 1, it’s shown Hanako has a more serious and potentially malevolent side as he pulls a knife out from his stomach and easily defeats the mermaid that had tried to take Nene away. The moment was quick, and Nene never focused on the change in Hanako’s demeanor, which in turn made us the audience not look too deeply into the whole thing.

It isn’t until chapter 3, with the introduction to Kou, that we truly see the sinister side of Hanako rear it’s head. 

Hanako’s secret about being a murderer is forcefully dragged out by Kou, and in response Hanako holds Nene from behind to hide his expression from her, and holds a knife to Kou’s neck. 

Very clearly, Hanako didn’t want Nene knowing about this, and this is a trend that continues all the way up to the current chapter. If it was up to Hanako, Nene wouldn’t know a single thing about him, not even his real name. Everything she’s learned came from a third party source, not once did Hanako willingly divulge any information to her, apart from the fact that he murdered his own twin brother.

Hanako doesn’t even tell Nene about her own lifespan, that is how little information he gives her. 

Now this in itself, isn’t a very yandere trait, but it is a douche-bag thing he continuously does and never truly learns from. 

As the series progresses, it becomes clear Hanako develops feelings for Nene not long after the confession tree arc.

He becomes more clingy, not liking it when Kou and Nene are too close together and sliding himself in-between them to create distance. He’s often seen casually holding onto Nene for no real purpose, other than just to keep close to her.

He even becomes jealous when Nene becomes concerned about Kou after the hell of mirrors arc, 

and is very against her wanting to take Kou to a festival to cheer him up.

And when Akane threatens to kiss Nene, Hanako abandons his plan to try and force Akane to make a wish to him, just because he couldn’t handle the idea of them kissing. 

Again, this itself isn’t very yandere, Hanako’s interest in Nene usually portrays itself as a typical school boy crush. He finds it hard to talk about his feelings so he often resorts to teasing her, but he also loves to find ways to be close to her and easily becomes jealous when other boys are involved.

So, if that’s the case, then why am I making this post? 

Because Hanako isn’t a typical school boy.

At this point in the story, it’s more or less obvious that Hanako tricked Nene in chapter 1 so she would become his kannagi, and he proceeds to use her to destroy the yorishiros. Hanako basically admits himself that he never planned to care about her. 

Hanako hadn’t planned on caring about Nene at all, he thought her life wouldn’t matter to him because he’s already dead-- why should he care if Nene was going to die?

But then he got to know her, began to like her for who she was, enjoyed the attention she gave him and then he realizes what a horrible mistake he’s made.

And that’s when another part of Hanako’s personality slowly reveals itself as the series progresses...

His overly controlling nature. 

As I’ve mentioned before in this post, Hanako refuses to tell Nene anything, not even about her own lifespan. He justifies this by trying to make her final days happy, not wanting her to worry about her impeding death. 

This, while can be interpreted as him trying to be kind in his own way to her, was also Hanako taking away Nene’s rights to know. She has a right to know that her time is short, and she has a right to choose how to spend the rest of that time. If she wanted to forget and remain ignorant, we know Hanako can make that happen, but he never gave her the option in the first place.

And this isn’t the only time Hanako takes away Nene’s rights and agency.

When given the choice to become a fish princess, Nene is unsure of what the right answer is. And although she decides she wants to stay with Hanako, she gets swept up on the idea of being popular and almost drinks the blood that would’ve severed her from Hanako.

This is when Hanako intervenes, forcefully taking Nene away from the fish and effectively making the choice for her.  

While this does end up aligning with what choice Nene would’ve made had she not gotten carried away, Hanako had no way of knowing that. He took away her ability to make that decision for herself, and then speaks of Nene as though she were his belonging and not a person. 

Hanako even indirectly admits that Nene probably would be better off with the mermaid, but to him it doesn’t matter, because she likes him. 

This isn’t an isolated incident either, the entire point of the PP arc was that Hanako was making the executive decision to keep Nene there against her will, because he deemed it as a way to save her life. To him, it didn’t matter what Nene thought about the whole thing, the only thing that mattered to him was that she would be able to live inside the fake world.

Hanako goes as far as to lock Nene away, so that she can’t find a way to leave the fake world before it’s ready, completely taking away her freewill and asserting his own.

This, dear readers, is very much treading into yandere territory, and it only gets worse from here. 

During the same arc, Nene manages to have a heart-to-heart with Hanako. She conveys her wish of wanting to live the next 90 years in the real world, and Hanako relents, finally sending her and everyone else back to the real world. It appears he’s learned his lesson, and everything goes back to normal until the next arc.

But then, we find out Hanako didn’t learn his lesson at all.

Hearing Nene’s wish, Hanako decides the next best course of action will be to swap her lifespan with someone else. And who is that someone else? Why it’s Nene’s best friend Aoi, who conveniently has kannagi blood running in her veins, making her a prime candidate to conduct the severance with-- and thus manually swapping their fates around so Nene lives while Aoi dies. 

This, of course, is all without Hanako consulting Nene on any of this. He already knows how she would feel about the whole thing, and if given the choice he knows she would rather keep her original lifespan, but again he takes the choice away from her.  

I won’t list all of them, because this post is already getting way too long, but these are just some of the big examples of Hanako’s controlling nature when it comes to Nene. He keeps on making decisions for her, not even taking Nene’s feelings into consideration, and he has no intentions of stopping. Literally in the latest chapter, Hanako just outright refuses to comply when asked if he will now stop his “crazy shit” in trying to save Nene without even asking her first.

Allowing Nene to have freewill in her own decisions is something Hanako refuses to allow. He wants her to live, and he will make it happen by any means necessary, no matter what Nene or anyone else has to say about it. 

Tsukasa is the one who calls it out the best:

So to finally answer the question of whether Hanako is a yandere or not...

At the very beginning of this post, I said that a yandere is “someone who initially appears as loving and caring, but becomes violent and possessive over their love interest.”

Hanako, while maybe not typically loving and caring, comes off as caring in the way is very physically affectionate with Nene, always finding excuses to hold her in some manner, and goes out of his way to protect her when there’s danger. And despite all the evidence pointing to him being a bad supernatural, both Nene and Kou decide there is more to Hanako than that and he’s not a bad person. 

However, as the story progresses, we see Hanako become more clingy and possessive over Nene-- to the point that Hanako would rather she has nightmares about him, because then she’s at least dreaming about him.  

He regards her as something that belongs to him, and doesn’t allow Nene to make her own decisions, not even granting her the luxury of information in regards to her own lifespan. If it was down to Hanako, Nene would be locked away in a fake world against her own free will.

Then, when he begins running out of options, Hanako turns to attempting to kill someone else in Nene’s stead, so that she may take their lifespan.

And although it didn’t work out, Hanako has more or less admitted he won’t be afraid to do it again (or perhaps something even worse).

So do I think Hanako is a yandere?

Yes. 

[thequietkid-moonie]

With a S/O without strength but a really good fighter

[ HEADCANONS ] [ Hanako, Yashiro, Kou ]

[ Toilet Bound Hanako-kun / Jibaku Shounen Hanako-kun ]

× This is inspired in Bojji (from Ousama Ranking)

I love this prompt and I love this anime so nothing will stop me from write this!

Seriously, I need to write more for jshk, my heart is begging me to do it!

Hanako-kun

Your lack of strength is one of the first things that he notice about you (specially if you are a supernatural, for being the leader of the mysteries he have to know you), and he is really curious about it so he probably follow you around to find it out why you are like this (asking Tsuchigomori or even Nene too)

You ended noticing him (and maybe confront him) and that is how you two officialy meet, if you discover him while he was stalking following you he will be embarrased but will try to act like nothing, in case you summon him in the bathroom he will surprise but won't let you see it

Either way it won't take long for him to ask you about your condition, he have been so curious about it since the first moment, but will still try to keep that facade of the honorable 8th mystery

He will pester you about the whole thing (if you are a supernatural he will try to take advantage of his title as a leader), following you around and messing with you, so it doesn't take long for you to became friends with Hanako (but to become a couple it take more time, Hanako is really flirty and clingy but when it come to being sincere with his feelings he is shy)

Telling him your history about how someone stole your strength or not is your choise, but hearing it make him have mixed feelings, between saddnes and anger (and frustration too if you two already have an establish friendship/relationship), he feels bad for you having to live all your life like this (and after life too, in case you are a supernatural)

Hanako takes a moment of sincerity to express how he feels sorry and reasure you that you are brave and how you are perfectly fine just the way you are before returning to his normal self since he feels a little awkward whenever he gets this sincere

Hanako will tease you non stop about this, always saying things like how you don't have to worry about anything since you have the strong and handsome honorable 8th by your side or how he will save you just as your golden armor knight (but when he says that he will protect you from everything and anything he mean it)

He will never admit it out loud but he is always looking after your well-being and how to help you, looking for ways of how make things easier for you and even if there is a way to reverse the curse you have (even if you don't ask for it), he go as far to ask the mokkes to help you carry your things when they are to heavy (but ask for not saying that he was the one how tell them too)

For him to discover your true strength have to be one day where you where fighting against a supernatural (or even other mystery) and he get away from you, don't being able to protect you from an attack

He was already cursing himself when he sees you standing in the same spot like nothing happen, he was shocked but mesmerize, and with this you have the oportunity to actually fight (since Hanako could get really protective over you) taking advantage of the fact that he was too distracted to continue fighting you take care of the situation all by yourself

The fact that you are really powerful without even having strength flustered him a lot! He will be all blushy after this for a while (the others will tease him a lot for this), he feel like he just fall in love with you once again

Nene Yashiro

If you were already friends with her it would easier for her to notice that you always have problem to carry things, even light ones. She didn't ask you about it since she doesn't want to come across as rude or be disrespectful, but she ask Aoi and Hanako about it, maybe one of them could know something

But if she just get a crush in you without having exactly a close relationship then it will take her a long time to notice it, too blinded for her lovestruck. It have to be one of her friends who point it out

Still, she doesn't see much of a problem of it, she just thinks that your weakness makes you more cute, she compare you with a beautiful and delicate flower!

Also, she decided to take this as an opportunity to get close to you, maybe it wasn't the most romantic way but at least it was of use! Nene shyly approach you offering her help to carry your things

After that she just cling to you whenever she get the opportunity with the excuse of helping you, and with time you two became a couple (and she feel like in heaven!)

Also, after a while Nene plucks up the courage to ask you about your weakness, and when you tell her that you had to live your entire life like this since someone had steal your all strength she can feel the tears in her eyes for such sad story! (she's just being a little dramatic)

She took your hands and promise to you efforly that she always be there to help you and protect you! She say it with so much determination and confidence that is flattering, but when she actually notice what she did she quickly let out of your hands and get all shy and blusy again, quietly apologizing

And just as she said, Nene is always by your side trying to help you with whatever you need, she even introduce you to Kou and Hanako, maybe they could help you with something too!

She always drag you in her problems with supernaturals, putting you in danger by accident but she feels really bad for doing it, and she always deeply apologize after

But is one of those moments that she ended having the opportunity to see not just how fast you really are, but your true strength too, when a supernatural was close to attack her, just a blink of eye the supernatural was in the floor unable to move

And you were there, between her and the supernatural, slowly turning around to face her, asking if she was alright, but Nene was unable to answer, her mind was too busy with the image of you being her knight in golden armor

After thanking you she just get all blushy and shy around you for a while (just like when you two started dating), she feels like she had fallen in love with you once again!

Kou Minamoto

Kou is a really kind person and likes to help others whenever he can, so it wasn't strange for him to offer you his help when he saw you struguling (even if is just a little). It would take him some time to actually notice your lack of strength, especially when he gets a crush on you (even a small one)

He will be really curious about your condition but he is too nervous to ask you about it, if you two are already friends it would be a little more easy for him to bring the topic, and even so when he finally manage to ask you about it he does it shyly and quickly reasure you that you don't have to talk about it if you don't want to, he will totally understand and he respect your privacy

Telling him or not is your choise, but when you tell him your story about how someone had stole your strength since you were little and you had been living like this all your life he will be moved by your story (even close to tears) and he quickly gets angry to however did this to you too, Kou is easy to impress and since he come from a family of exorcist he doesn't find difficult to believe your history

He start to rant a little about how you didn't deserve to suffer all of this too, and he will promise to you to help you with whatever you need with a lot of determination, even if you want to become stronger he will gladly help you

And when you two start dating his protectivness and desire to help you just increase, it isn't like he will stop you from doing things but he gets rather clingy, wanting to be there in case you need him

He will ask to Teru and Hanako if there is something he can do for you, if there is even a solution to your condition, not because he is bother for it but because is sadden him seeing you strugle for even the smallest things, he just wants to be able to help you

He tries to stay by your side most of the time (specially if you two are in the same class) and will be happy to introduce you to Yashiro, Hanako (well, with him he will be a little wary), Mitsuba and even Teru. He even ended up draging you to his problems with the supernaturals (and he feels really bad about it)

However, is in one of those occasions when he drag you to a fight that you show him your true strength, when he was too busy or not in time to protect you from an attack, he was feeling desperate and even cursing himself for it, but when he looks back at you you were perfectly fine, maybe just a bruise but nothing more

He was truly impress and amased since you aren't just capable to defeat the enemy on a second but also you were really fast, even faster than the supernatural

After all of you were out of the danger he will praise you a lot about your habilities, he will even rant about it with Yashiro and Hanako (and later on with Teru and Tiara), he is just so excited that he can't help himself

[hadescabin]

as much as i love the series, one thing that sorta frustrates me about tbhk is how little fleshed out some characters feel even though they're in the spotlight. someone else brought it up on here but i wanted to expand out on it a little bit, where it feels like yeah, characters like aoi, akane, and even nene, don't seem to be seeing much developments. akane can be chalked up for the fact that he's sorta meant to be comic relief, and his relationship with aoi is by extension mostly exaggerated as a result of this. while we've SEEN some development happen between the two because of past chapters, it's not really anything substantial? same thing with nene, it seems like she hasn't really budged much since her confession to hanako. she's back to the same (or at least a similar) problem and seems to have made little to no progress since then. we spend the last few chapters seeing her trying to figure out a way to have a discussion with hanako about the state of their relationship, even though it makes little to no sense on why she'd be this way when they've both made it abundantly clear that they liked each other and even went as far as to kiss. like there is little to no room on how both sides confessing their romantic feelings for one another before kissing should warrant this b plot conflict confusion, or at least a conflict that spans for a good several chapter. especially when that scene was meant to be representative of them both opening up to each other. if anything, that discussion should've happened there or the chapter after it because it's like come on girl, how are you STILL doubting that he likes you.

akane is also a big victim of this, where his character isn't that fleshed out. it doesnt make sense to me since he's been playing a big role in the past 30 chapters or so, and had chapters dedicated to his and aoi's relationship with one another. yet we're just supposed to accept that yep, akane is hopelessly obsessed with her for no reason and it just happened out of the blue ever since he saw her as a kid. dont get me wrong, it made sense back when he was a gag character, but now that he's taking a much more serious role in the story, has a spotlight, and covered some serious topics with aoi about the nature of their friendship and how horrifically complex and messy it is, it just feels out of place? i know that this comes primarily from the fact that tbhk is pretty silly, especially in the early chapters, but i feel that the author is talented enough to work around this, as they've done so already several times within the series. i wish we got more of an explanation of akane's character outside of him being obsessed with aoi, why he dislikes supernaturals so much outside of a few comments, and why he ended up seeing the clockkeepers in the first place when spirits cant make themselves present to anyone who isnt close to death or have exorcism blood. we know its neither because without his glasses he cant see them so its not a nene situation.

now its just back to akane saving aoi when shes in danger, and them having their weird dynamic (albeit toned down, so thats where the development comes from). we dont really get to see them address more outside of being like "oh aoi's hand is a little fucked, we need to take care of that!" we dont really get to see aoi reacting much with the fact that she LITERALLY DIED and came back from the dead and had that whole horrible conflict with her best friends. we dont really get to see her address this with nene and how she really felt about her and their friendship, even though that was a major plot point back during the mirai escaping arc and her being kidnapped. we dont see much of a shift in her dynamic with others and trying to open up and be her true self in front of others. shes just like there i guess and acts like nothing changed. i guess tbf they've been having their festival, and the stuff at the minomoto household was meant to be focused on kou + teru and mitsoukou (both of which were excellently done) but idk, it just feels like we're given all of these plotlines and developments and nothing is being done with them.

its why i sorta have an ooc version of akane and aoi in my head that i really like and is a lot more fleshed out, but i dont really talk about it much here or anywhere really.

[amyyythestarry]

Any Tsukasa and Mitsuba thoughts? Headcanons, whatever?

AHHHHHHH!

YES YES YES YES YES!! ( x1000 )

I’M SO GLAD SOMEONE ASKED ME THIS!

I’ll start with the thoughts!

I think Tsukasa and Mitsuba have a lot of best friend potential! Because think about it, Tsukasa helps Mitsuba with a lot of stuff, and they do a lot of stuff together!

Like how Tsukasa grants Mitsuba wish.

I see too many people saying that Tsukasa was ‘oh so cruel’ for doing that, but they never realized that it’s all thanks to him that Mitsuba is still here.

He provided Mitsuba privileges that he would have never got from anyone else.

Kou didn’t have the same abilities as Tsukasa, and Hanako didn’t give a sh** about whatever Mitsuba had going on. He also doesn’t grant supernatural/apparitions’ wishes.

This was bada** though.

Hanako believes death is the end, and Tsukasa believes you could do more if wanted.

I think the ‘moving on without me’ is just him saying that you can’t make a wish and then completely forget about it and the consequences.

Because Mitsuba’s rumor was something about a boy haunting the school entrance. The Broadcast group made that up for him, so he could have some position in the near shore and exist in people’s memories like he wanted.

I guess we’ll never know who that would’ve played out though.

Now I do think he could have been a little bit nicer about this, but that’s Tsukasa for you.

But even though he’s a little bit cruel, I feel like it’s the lack of empathy. And it’s ok to have less empathy than others.

He’s still so supportive! Encouraging Mitsuba to make friends! How nice. And forgiving him for whatever he could do to people. He’s such a sweetheart!!

Then after this whole thing, the Hell Of Mirrors arc comes and other Mitsuba gets even stronger. Thanks to Tsukasa!

He’s very genuine. Just genuine interest of what’s going to happen.

Seeeeee!!!

Besties!!!

There is definitely this sort of boundary between them that stops them from being better friends. I really hope that flips around and they can actually be the best of friends. But honestly with how the manga is going right now I don’t think they’ll have a chance.

I’ll still hope though!

Now to headcanons!

Since Mitsuba and Tsukasa have a special place in my heart, they also have very special roles in my aus.

Summer Camp Hanako-kun, New Blues, my new and very unthought of Halloween au, and other ones that just come and go in my head or have no official plots once so ever.

At least not yet. Maybe.

But I will go through each of the official ones. And the Halloween one, even though it’s not fully thought of.

Their friendship in New Blues starts from 5th grade, like in the Halloween au and probably every modern au I’ll make. Like Summer Camp.

They met in after school detention, like in my Halloween au. Mitsuba goes there because of tardiness and Tsukasa goes there because he got into fights with some of his bullies.

PS, his bullies started the fight.

Mitsuba’s heard of the fight that happened around 2:30, passing period.

Mitsuba asks questions about the fight, Tsukasa answers them with no offenses.

After detention Tsukasa sees their interaction as potential friendship, and they interact even more.

Then they start becoming friends because of number exchanges, hangouts at free periods, group projects/work, ect.

And then boom, their besties!

In Summer Camp, they meet in 5th grade again ( It’s gonna be the same thing with every modern au I pretty sure ). This time it’s because of a group project though.

The teacher assigns the partners. Since there was an uneven number of students, Tsukasa was the only one without partners ( Groups had 3 people ), so the teacher let him choose which group he wanted to be apart of.

Nobody wanted to be his partner though, so when he went over to Mitsuba and rando character, Mitsuba didn’t really complain but rando did.

They exchanged numbers but since rando didn’t know Mitsuba and didn’t like Tsukasa they didn’t participate in the project that much.

They ended up guilt tripping Tsukasa to not to tell the teacher they didn’t participate, but they didn’t get to Mitsuba and he told.

Got a F while the boys got high Bs.

Then they started talking a lot and became besties.

The rest of my aus where there relationship is important ( Which is literally all of them ) are just not fully thought of yet.

Maybe except for this one I didn’t say anything about called Desolate au, I can’t explain the whole thing now because this is about TsuMitsu but I probably will one day!

Also I decided to call them the ‘Magenta Duo’ because pink and purple makes magenta, I also didn’t know what else to call them.

I ship them platonically and romantically!

HAVE A GOOD DAY/NIGHT/ECT!

[2n2n]

general random ch96 thayoughts

Teru is so funny.... he really is not dissimilar to Hanako... I feel like if Hanako was brooding you could also make him come out of his room if you threw a big party without him with sparklers and made him all jealous and left out.... HARRUMPH... without ME??? precious and lovable... wtf.... .. you NEGLECT MIETTE?

nothing funnier than Teru grabbing his SWORD before he goes to pout about stuff and barge in.... crazy dude. Yet couldn’t we imagine Hanako entering a party intended to make him jealous knife-first, lol....

PUT THAT THING DOWN.

I feel like you were going to barge in and electrocute Akane...... 

I really like the visible pain in Aoi here...

Nene means well, and I think its something to interpret as you wish, but... given Aoi’s stated acceptance of that ‘state of mind’ being nothing but Herself, With Guff Removed, having Nene see her self now as a ‘different’ Aoi, owing those behaviors to ‘that wasn’t Aoi’, may feel like they’re not ready to be closer; she’s not ready to... ask Nene to really understand everything that happened to her, what that all was an expression of. The narrative that she was ‘brainwashed’ is what Nene understands, right now... it’s not the time to challenge that. Truly... Aoi now will be a liar on a few levels.

Being ‘accepted/forgiven’ is touching/painful, as it is, that Nene is so pure/kind she would not be afraid of her, while at the same time feeling the conditions of that acceptance rely on a misunderstanding or mischaracterization, hmhm... I think it’s a bit of everything.....

I’m pleased Akane is the only one with complete knowledge of Aoi’s entire personality issues.... this exclusive acceptance and grasp of the situation, is sweet... I mean, I feel as if Akane himself could never have seen that Aoi as ‘brainwashed’ in quite the same way, since he recognizes her pattern of thinking. Ultimately he loves it. Well.. That Why He Her Man’s.

I dunno, just a goodgood thing that made me sad but endeared to see. Nene and Aoi still have a ways to go, in their friendship... I have faith that it could become more full-hearted, that some day Aoi will trust Nene to ‘see’ her... or rather, will feel less like she’s burdening Nene... but, baby steps. It’s a sweet and painful little middlezone to be in this... Aoi has been graciously granted this narrative, situation, that lets her evade explaining herself for a little longer.... 

I kinda like the contrast of the more tasteless Hanako who I feel gladly leans in to the way others will rewrite the narratives for him, assume him ignorant or sloppy, save him interrogation, without it seeming to burden him to do so  (And I’ll Do It Again Lol), while Aoi choosing to keep Nene at a distance is more like... well, Aoi knows Nene doesn’t deserve to be lied to, as someone so hurt by lying herself....  

AND I’m thrilled if our next trajectory is TALKING TO BROADCAST CLUB MEMBERS!! for the love of GOD... I’d be happy with anyone, eager to learn about Natsuhiko OR like, what the hell Mitsuba thinks about Tsukasa.... Mitsuba doesn’t strike me as the most observant of his environment though, nor like he’s trusted with crucial information, so beyond his feelings/takes on things I don’t know what light he could shed... but nonetheless just knowing his feelings would do me a favor.

It’s sortof funny to me Kou’s first objective when coming back isn’t checking in on Mitsuba, fklsdj;lsjdfksl;fjsdkl I’m starting to feel bad for the guy... please go talk to him, and preferably not in the context of gaining intel, maybe just in the context of You Are My Friend....! I Was Worried! You Looked Scared!

[ngmn2002]

Ch 96: Random thoughts

To say the least, I'm so pleased with the new chapter. I was really in need for a light chapter. So, the chapter was really satisfying to see.

Welcome back. I missed seeing the three of them interact this way.

Hmm…. Kou seems to have a tendency toward tying others… (let's say supernaturals?) up…..? I wonder now… who is going to be next in line…… maybe Mitsuba 2.0? Whatever anyway. I don't really care that much about it.

Same old Hanako... same old Hanako. So lovely. "yes, I... will not." Great.

Hmm......

Kou and Nene's reaction is really sweet. Although... I'm not so sure about Hanako... I guess he will still be keeping things to himself.

Twins.

In comparison to what happened in the tea party and that you didn't say a thing about it, this is so much development, keep it up!

Lost in thought…. Although, in the hell of mirrors one… he looks like he's thinking more seriously…?

Well, I expected some other kind of reaction here. He doesn't seem surprised or anything. It feels normal to him? Maybe he had his suspicions before? Maybe he knows something? ............?

It also feels like: "yeah, that's something Tsuaksa would do." As if... Amane is not surprised to see Tsuaksa pulling such a thing. He is used.... to Tsuaksa... maybe.... being.... this way....? Idk.....

And.... Why would Tsuaksa want you to do that... is there a reason behind all that and you're aware of?

Spill the beans already, Amane. What are you hiding?

Anyway, ... maybe someday he will talk about him as a person... with Nene...? Hopefully...? Just as he promised her before...?

That's interesting. ♡

Maybe my favorite thing in the whole new chapter. Such a sweet look we have here, Amane. I really want to see where things will go with this.

And... even with you saying all that.....

Fascinating. ♡

(I guess that made you want to understand Tsuaksa even more and to get closer with one another, huh?)

You're moon is amazing, isn't he? He is worth some deep thinking to know about all his different sides. ～

Tsukasa's eyes...

It's nice to see the 3 of them working as a team and planning things up.

This! Is... so funny!

Why does Amane's face look like: "Oh, crap! I've been caught! He discovered the truth! I'm done for! I couldn't hide the truth well enough! I'm screwed!"

And… him not denying that… Is extra funny. Like… are you scared for real, Amane? I'm in suspicion here. Are you… or not???

Is there really a side you fear from your dear, lovely twin? ...........

I've always wondered about how Amane could have felt about Tsukasa's black eyes back when they were little. Did he fear them like their mother did?

Amazing. ～

It's great to see the 2 girls back to how they used to be. With alomst no secrets between them. At least on regard of Nene's interference with suprenaturals and all. Their friendship is really sweet to me.

The gang having fun after going through some wild things is really refreshing.

Such a wild ride these 2 have went through.

And... I kinda have hope for the twins to have a kind of happy ending after seeing this. A really nice feeling. I hope it will come true someday.

Well, I don't know how to feel here... I'm a little scared.

And as they say... what is you're running away from the most, comes running your way.

Hmm!!! A really nice chapter!!!

[theevilthatismokke]

/ rambling about jshk chapter 97 spoilers under the cut/

Not at all surprised that Kou still wants (really badly) to be a strong exorcist like his brother. And it’s veeeery poignant that when he starts going through his battle shounen hero routine of ‘now I’m going to be stronger and prove to everyone my worth’, and loudly declares he’s going to exorcise whatever kaii is outside his house, it’s the moment he meets Mitsuba again. Very, very poignant.

Maybe it’s just me, but Kou jumping at the opportunity to exorcise a weak kaii is actually pretty funny, considering that, just a few chapters ago, he was apparently very intent on becoming a kaii himself. And that Nene was also willing to become one so Aoi wouldn’t die in her place.

Also, that comment about, ‘oh, if I need to, I guess I’ll exorcise Hanako’ is going come back to bite him in future chapters, isn’t it? Kou was already being pretty judge-y of his relationship with Tsukasa in the last chapter, and you can’t, YOU CANNOT, judge people and relationships in this manga without the narrative smacking you back with ironic shit. Like, refusing to understand or know something or someone on a deeper level has a tendency to… be punished by the narrative in JSHK. And now with Kou saying that he’ll ‘put Hanako down like a mad dog’ if necessary is… kinda asking for trouble.

Which might or might not mean that this meeting with Mitsuba will be a slap on the face for Kou.

But it’s something that been going on for while, no? This… underlying tension between Kou and Hanako only seems to grow with each chapter. Makes their ‘friendship’ more interesting to me tho, so I’m not really complaining.

It’s funny though, that Teru takes this decision as proof that Hanako is important to Kou, just like Kou’s wish to extend Nene’s lifespan. It’s not just that the comparison is consistent with the manga’s themes, but also that it’s Teru who makes this comment. Makes me wonder what Aidairo has in store for him…

And speaking of Teru…

This guy is a walking meme, and he’s so, so funny for it.

And you know, it was always obvious that his loyalty was towards his family, mostly Kou and Tiara, instead of the Minamoto or the ‘greater good’ as he puts it, but it’s nice having a confirmation.

… Teru and Hanako are so similar, it’s not even funny.

And maybe it’s just me, but I… kinda feel bad for Teru here? When thinking about him, he really feels like the… third-wheel of many dynamics. It’s more obvious with his interactions with Akane/Aoi, but even with Kou, it’s… kinda obvious that his brother’s affection doesn’t match his in… intensity, I guess? Kou saying he really likes Teru as well, after Teru remarks how important Hanako and Nene must have become to Kou, feels… lighter, I guess, in comparison to Teru’s admission that he only became a exorcist (and endured everything awful that comes with the job), for Kou and Tiara. Poor little sibcon Teru (lol), such a tragic, unrequited maiden.

Back to Kou though, he really doesn’t have much critical thought when it comes to… thinking about what being a Minamoto exorcist really means and what it entails, huh? Like, even after his brother talks multiple times about how much he had to sacrifice, Kou still wants very badly to be one.

But it makes sense. Kou seems to equal love to being needed and relied on. Aidairo like to play with battle shounen tropes through Kou and wanting to be strong and prove himself is kinda of a staple of the genre. But the thing with JSHK is that you just are loved, so this thing about… proving yourself as worthy isn’t really necessary. It makes me think how Nene, in the beginning of the manga, worked a lot to… gain feminine skills and “improve” herself for years before confessing to her crush, so she could be worthy of being loved. I think that… there’s something similar going on with Kou.

So maybe, Kou’s development could rely on a few things:

1) Realizing that his wish to be stronger isn’t as selfless as he thinks it is;

2) Upon accepting this selfishness, realizing that he doesn’t need to be a ‘proper Minamoto exorcist’ to be loved;

Kou… wants to be needed. He wants others to rely on him and to trust him. And that’s partially because of his self-esteem issues.

Buuut… it doesn’t seem like Kou likes to think of himself as selfish, or being capable of selfishness. At least, that’s the vibe I got from his reactions to the Red House ‘tempting’ him.

That he wants Mistuba to trust him is very significant. I often think how the Red House’s manifestation of Mitsuba essentially asked Kou to “think only about him and nothing else”. Kou always makes such a fuss about how he’s doing this for “everyone” (not really true, but that’s an analysis for another post) and Mitsuba had such an impact on him that makes me wonder if… Kou feels bad or something, when it comes to these selfish feelings, of wanting people to rely only on him, of wanting to focus and devoted himself to this one person. Who knows.

On a side note, didn’t the Red House’s illusion of Mitsuba say that he “missed Kou so much, he just went to meet him (despite the Severance)” or something? And now Mitsuba has apparently come to meet him…

hm.

I’m gonna be honest and I say that I don’t know if Mitsuba being out of the school means something. The only two mysteries/kaii we know for sure that can’t leave the school are Hanako and Sakura. And maybe I’m remembering wrong, but I think that Tsuchigomori can leave the school (bc he was making house visits as a teacher, I think). But that's probably an ability unique to him.

Who knows, maybe now that there are so little yorishiro left, the remaining seated mysteries can roam around. Maybe Mitsuba did something or simply just asked Tsukasa/Sakura/Natsuhiko/whoever for help. Maybe it's not Mitsuba. Again, who the heck knows.

Well, whatever’s going on with Mitsuba, should prove to be fun.

[musicalmoritz]

this gonna be a weird question but ever since i have know Aoinene. I have always found a consistent theme of Aoi being a lesbian. While it cool, interesting and all, it hard to found anything canonically to use to prove the interpretation beyond "it just a vibe" . It doesnt interfer with the shipping experience but it still an interesting HC that i would love to found some canon material to build on.

I’m so glad you asked this, I’ve been trying to find a way to talk about my feelings on the lesbian Aoi headcanon for a while now. I’ve written it in my own fics a lot but I have some issues with the way people treat it so I’d like to make this a more nuanced discussion

First off, where does it come from? To answer that question you have to keep in mind that as the manga chapters were being released, fans had no idea where AidaIro planned to go with Aoi and Akane’s relationship beyond what they could infer. While it seems obvious in hindsight that Aoi always liked Akane, a lot of lesbian readers overlooked those hints because they were able to relate to being pursued by a relentless man that they didn’t want. They found comfort in Aoi’s character because her perceived disinterest in Akane was something they could connect to their own experiences with their male best friends falling for them

Then we have this scene, which is a whole rollercoaster in and of itself. At this point in the manga, fans didn’t know Aoi was faking her personality. She only existed as Nene’s popular best friend, the girl with the rumors. And, of course, the girl who kept rejecting Akane. Aoi and Nene seemed to have a very close friendship, so when this scene came out, many readers jumped to the conclusion that Aoi planned to confess to Nene. This, coupled with her constant rejection of Akane, led many fans to believe Aoi was a lesbian. Not just as a cool headcanon, but as an actual theory. To this day some fans still call her queercoded, and that’s where I have a bit of an issue with the headcanon

Because, despite all of this, Aoi isn’t a lesbian in canon. She’s not even coded to be one. In fact her and Akane’s characters aren’t able to develop without each other. Some fans chalk this up to bad writing or lesbiphobia, stating that Aoi never showed interest in Akane up until chapter 69, but this simply isn’t true. There were numerous hints that Aoi liked Akane back, since his feelings for her were first introduced. She’s shown to be absolutely devastated at the possibility of him dating someone else, and in the Clock Keepers arc we see that she’s been encouraging his pursuit of her this whole time. Fans may not like them, but it’s impossible to deny they’ve been set up since the beginning of the manga- on both sides

However, if you were to call Aoi sapphic coded/bi coded in canon, you wouldn’t be far off. In the Hanako-Kun Of Magic au, Mei fell in love with Aoi through a spell. After the spell wore off, they were confirmed to still hang out. They hang out so frequently, that it makes Mei’s little sister jealous because Aoi is stealing all her attention

It wouldn’t be a reach to assume they’re dating in this au, which would make Aoi bi or bi-coded in canon (though it’s very up to interpretation so I wouldn’t say she’s as strongly bi-coded as Kou or even Nene). It rubs me the wrong way when people discuss her potential queercoding and entirely ignore her feelings for Akane just because they don’t like the ship, it feels biphobic. It’s also been implied that Aoi has liked men (or people in general) other than Akane, he joins school clubs based on whoever her current type is

Canon aside though, I’d like to talk about why people like the lesbian Aoi headcanon. Namely, why I still like it in fanon despite feeling that it has a very weak basis in canon. Because for some fans, Aoi’s true personality reveal only made their love of the lesbian Aoi headcanon stronger

Remember how I said fans overlooked Aoi’s feelings for Akane because they projected onto her? I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with that as long as they aren’t bringing their bias into analyses. I’ve read many Aoi queercoding analyses where the creator completely ignores Aoi’s attraction to men in canon due to their own projection, and I hate to say it but that is a bad way to analyze. I’ve mentioned before that I strongly relate to Nene’s shallow crushes on men because they remind me of my own experiences with comphet, but I would never call Nene lesbian coded because that would ignore her entire arc with Hanako. Project onto characters all you want but leave that out of your analyses

Anyways, the reveal that Aoi had been faking her personality only gave the lesbian Aoi headcanon more fuel. At this point in the manga, fans were already fully convinced that Aoi was a lesbian…so to find out the pretty popular girl was hiding her true self from the world?? I mean that sounds queercoded as hell. And I won’t lie, I relate to that a lot too. The need to hide who you really are is a nearly universal queer experience, so pretty much any character that has that storyline is going to hit home for a lot of queer readers. That same trope also plays into Mitsuba’s queercoding, so yeah. Despite all the romance stuff with Akane that happened in those chapters, the big takeaway for lesbian Aoi truthers was that Aoi had been hiding a part of herself that the world would shame her for

This is furthered by her relationship with femininity. Aoi plays the role of the ideal popular girl, a common archetype in media. These girls are feminine, passive, kind, humble, and all the boys love them. That is the image Aoi presents to the rest of the school. However, the real Aoi is nothing like that. I wouldn’t go as far as to call her masculine, but she doesn’t act like the poster child for femininity when she’s being her true self. She’s bitter, arrogant, spiteful, and she only really cares about two people. Lesbians tend to have a very complicated relationship with femininity, because heteronormativity asserts that the defining trait of being a woman is your relationship to a man. As a woman, you are someone’s wife, daughter, mother, sister. So when a woman has no interest in men, she loses a core part of her “femininity.” Some lesbians choose to embrace this, they have no interest in femininity so they perform whatever gender presentation they want. Other lesbians reclaim femininity as something defined by themselves, not society. So when lesbians see a character faking her personality to conform to the societal expectations for her gender…oops she’s one of us now lol. This is also why the transmasc Aoi headcanon is popular, though I won’t be getting into that today

There are more simplistic reasons people like the lesbian Aoi headcanon. It fits a trope, the popular girl who’s pressured to be perfect is secretly a lesbian. Then she falls for her fun and quirky bisexual best friend. Unfortunately this is where the headcanon gets very boiled down, people want Aoi to be something that she’s not in canon. They want her to be a trope rather than her own, unique character. The aesthetic girlboss lesbian. She hates Akane and has a huge crush on Nene, maybe some mommy issues and that’s all there is to her. I don’t like these type of headcanons very much, they reduce queerness to an aesthetic rather than an experience. As I mentioned, the lesbian Aoi headcanon does have potential for fanon content, but some fans sadly reduce it to a stereotype

I’ve written both bisexual and lesbian Aoi, and I think they both have their perks. Lesbian Aoi requires a bit of stretching/rewriting of canon, which can be fun but it has to be handled very carefully. Otherwise you get fics that villainize Akane and ignore Aoi and Nene’s complexities. It’s perfectly fine to project onto a character and headcanon them a certain way for comfort, but in terms of characterization I would recommend people try to look past those biases when they’re writing analyses. Fanfic is a bit different bcuz that depends on whether or not you’re trying to stay in character lol, this might be controversial but some writers just don’t care and that’s fine too. They’re just writing it for fun, it doesn’t have to be that serious. Still, I would like to see more fics that keep Aoi and Nene closer to canon (they absolutely exist dw)

The reason I hesitated for so long to address this headcanon is because I wanted to find a way to talk about it sensitively. Queer fans, especially lesbians, already get a lot of flack for their headcanons and I didn’t want to make it seem like I was invalidating anyone’s experiences. If the lesbian Aoi headcanon brings you comfort then, yes, Aoi can absolutely be a lesbian. Fandom is about fan enjoyment, not authorial intent, so headcanon the characters however you want. Just don’t push those headcanons into others, and try to at least be aware of what’s going on in canon. And again, don’t write an analysis if you’re going to be biased. A better way to do it would be something like “I recognize that AidaIro didn’t go this route but it would’ve been interesting if they made Aoi a lesbian.” An analysis like that might have some weight to it!! Aoi and Akane are a super cute ship, but another straight relationship is nothing revolutionary in fiction. However, canon lesbians in a shonen series?? That’s something you don’t see every day. People have valid reasons for wishing Aoi had been written differently, I just wish they would accept that she didn’t get written that way rather than ignoring canon

Sorry if this isn’t what you were expecting, I hope I explained all sides of the headcanon well enough. Tbh a lot of it is just “vibes” but once you look past the surface, it goes a lot deeper. I also want to clarify that Aoi faking her personality reading as queercoding could absolutely work with her being bi too, bisexuals also have to hide a part of themselves and that’s something other lgbtq+ individuals often overlook. The reason it reads specifically as lesbian coding to some fans is because of her projection of femininity being fake so, by extension, her encouragement of the men who pursue her must be too. That’s obviously not canon but some fans believe it would’ve been a cool route to go. Okay that’s it I think I covered everything lol

Thanks again for the ask, I’m glad I finally got the opportunity to talk abt this <3

[enulaz]

My reread of TBHK, Spook 4: The Misaski Stairs (part 1)

So I know I mentioned this in my Spook 1 post, but I recently read through all of Another and Misaski were the names of a lot of strange characters lol.

So the chapter opens with Nene trying to figure out how Hanako seemed when he asked about her ability to get along with a murderer. I questioned the same thing last chapter, but it seems Nene wasn't able to come up with a definitive answer either. He's so hard to read!

Aoi noticed that Nene is spacing and, to get her to cheer up, tells her about the latest rumor she's heard. I love their relationship so much. I had a best friend like this in high school.....I miss her dearly.

Also how does Nene never know about these rumors until she hears them from Aoi?!

Why does the guidance counselor give me the creeps looolll

So Aoi is forgotten by everyone because of the Misaki stairs, and Nene asks the teacher where Aoi is and he says there's no one with that name. Couldn't he have said "you mean Akane?" Speaking of, I wonder if he noticed Aoi was missing....?

Ah Natsuhiko makes his first appearance! He placed an origami swan in her hair to spy. I remember not thinking much about him my first read through, but now that I know more about him, I'm gonna be paying more attention to his actions.

Nene finds Hanako to ask him about Aoi's disappearance and says that he was gone during the morning and afternoon. He says he's a busy guy. Wonder what he was doin.....

With Kou coming in with the same problem, having Yokoo and Satou gone and forgotten, we get our first mention of a boundary that connects the near and far shores.

Hanako says he'll help them once he sees how truly upset and sad Nene is. I like how she's already got him wrapped around her finger even if neither if them realize it yet. Though I also love how protective of Nene Kou is from the start. And thus starts their trio.

This felt like a much shorter chapter for some reason, but it's our first look into the real supernaturalness of the supernatural. I love the friendships that are starting to be shown. One of my favorite things about this series is how I love every character and every character's interactions with any other character.

I'm getting closer to starting my fanfic. I was having a hard time figuring out a "realistic" way for Kou to become a supernatural with Mitsuba, but I think I got it. Though I stole the inspiration from another manga series......

End Spook 4.

[thelunarfairy]

While reviewing Hanako-kun after school I realized that Tsukasa can appear clearly in the photograph taken by the recording group, however, Hanako appears distorted and like a dark spot/shadow.

But, I thought it was weird that Tsukasa could actually come out, so I thought to myself that maybe it's because he's a yorishiro and not a ghost/spectre like Hanako is.

The first time I read it I thought it was funny (and a little sad because I couldn't get Yashiro and Kou in the photo) and a little realistic that it does not appear correctly in the image because it is a ghost and, in real life , this is how spirits usually look if they are captured in photos: blurs.

And that led me to think, what are yorishiros really? Specters, objects, the original or realistic representations and, dare I say, alive, real, brought back to life or taken from the afterlife in the case of Sumire and Tsukasa?

Maybe I'm wrong but, I'm very sure that Tsuchigomori's yorishiro is the real moonstone that Amane gave him and not a replica; He had to keep it and, when Amane's death caught him off guard and greatly impacted him, became his yorishiro; idon't think he threw her away, otherwise she wouldn't have become his yorishiro.

Yako's scissors were given to her as a gift and they were something precious to her, she protected them and took great care of them, her precious gift, the memory of her beloved Misaki. (Although it is unknown how or when it became one of the mysteries, I highly doubt that Yako neglected those scissors, so they must have been intact or, at least, at her hands at the time of her appointment as the Second Mystery.

Shijima-san's notebook belonged to Mei-chan, where she drew the sketch of the tower and Shijima-san. It's probably the same one, after all, it's where Shijima-san was born.

Even Sumire and Tsukasa (who was introduced to us first, but I'll be honest, it never crossed my mind that he could be a yorishiro:[) human yorishiros are introduced to us, and they're both dead.

How are they selected? ¿Are there requirements to be able to be a yorishiro?

With inanimate yorishiros it can be easy, a treasured memory, something that made you witness an event that you never believed would happen or was impossible, a wish of someone who could not fulfill and it is your turn to do it, something that you longed for or long for. Who knows, it's interesting how each yorishiro object that has been presented to us represents different things for each mystery, and it is beautiful and melancholic as Aidairo represents them.

Except Sumire and Tsukasa are yorishiros too, and they're both dead.

Are humans different? Do they have to be dead to be yorishiros? Or can they be yorishiros as long as their possessor is a Mystery? Sumire and Tsukasa died first than their possessors, one by a sacrifice to which they condemned and another by the hand of his twin brother.

However, I don't think their dead status has anything to do with it. Or at least, not their death itself, but what they represented and meant to Hakubo and Amane, and in which they both died.

Hakubo killed the village (for Sumire, a way to show how affected he was by her, his way of showing love perhaps) and Amane committed suicide (after killing Tsukasa, and we still don't know what led him to do it).

Although even then, it may just be what they both meant to each other respectively.Hakubo did not know any other way of relating beyond order-obey, although it seems that with Yorimitsu there was a bit of friendship, but with Sumire it was different. They both accompanied each other as friends/lovers/lifemates. Hakubo loved her, in his own way.

With Amane we know that he wasn't much of a friend in high school, and most likely only had his brother for company during school hours. Adding that we do not know the circumstances of Tsukasa and his family, did his mother continue with her accusations? Did she stop seeing him and treating him like her son? What about his dad?

(Also taking into account that, we know, the entire Yugi family died the same night, but what killed them, or what led them to suicide as the media mentioned/speculated at the time? If the authorities took it as a family suicide, there should have been signs of non-violence inside the house [everything in its place, everything in order], everyone should have been in the same room)

but anyway, there's a good theory about this from another account.

I just wanted to know your opinion about this that came up after going around the bush.

Initially I would just point out that it seems that the yorishiros are not spirits as such given the situation with Tsukasa and his photo with the broadcast group but I digress hahaha, aside, Mitsuba can also appear in the photograph and is a spectrum (made with other spectrums but details) so maybe Aidairo missed that detail, or they took a photo with an Old camera, or they were just having fun at Hanako's expense.

Nice day! <3

Wow, I loved how you built your entire analysis on contexts in general. I'll assume to you that I've thought about this too, about the photographs, but it seems to be something beyond death.

Hanako seems to be different from ordinary ghosts, he is not like Mitsuba, there is something about him that he himself fears. The photo in which he appears with Nene doesn't just have blurs, it has these souls that are apparently suffering, and they are accompanying him.

You see, the Mokkes are blurs too. Where are Hanako's Joudais? Do these souls have any connection with them? What is Hanako? He was shown with a large black hole in his chest in the original manga and in the pilot as well.

Is this something all ghosts have? Okay, we can think about it, but the logic still doesn't add up. Tsukasa also has a blur on his chest, so why is it in the photo?

There are two factors that we have to consider, Nene's cell phone, is it a cell phone that humans use, and what type of device did they use when they took the photo with Mitsuba?

There are pieces missing here.

About the yorishiros, yes, the objects seem to be the real ones, because they are so special and important to the owners, them still having them is something predictable (I wonder if they still exist after having the seals removed)

But the big question is about humans. It's so mysterious how a human can take the form of a yorishiro, is it real? is it a replica? is it a ghost?

Theoretically, Tsukasa should be a ghost because he floats, but Sumire doesn't. There is one thing we have to consider, Sumire was sacrificed, and Tsukasa initially sacrificed himself. Let's remember that Nene said he had a pulse and was warm when he was a child, that is, he wasn't a ghost, nor was Sumire.

But what about Tsukasa yorishiro? He was born when Hanako murdered him, that is, it was a concrete death and without "apparently" supernatural involvement, he stabbed Tsukasa and he died. It makes sense that he became a ghost and Sumire didn't.

But then, what does the creature in the house do with the sacrifices? Does it consume slowly? Anyway, I digress.

How can someone become a yorishiro? Initially we could even consider that it is the original because of the memories, but the objects also had memories, at the same time, if they are a replica, is the original really dead?

Are you listening? Yes, are you? The sound of silence. No one can answer our question other than Aidairo. We still have no clues as to how a yorishiro is born, only how he "dies".

So yeah, dead status doesn't seem to have that much value, seeing as Sumire was like little Tsukasa, apparently alive in a cursed house. Tsukasa later died, and the proof of this is that when he threw himself into the well, they didn't find his body, that is, Tsukasa was taken in one piece.

When he was stabbed I imagine he actually died, but if that's the case, death is not a prerequisite for becoming a yorishiro. That's because apparently Sumire didn't die, as she was sacrificed in the same way as Tsukasa.

Why didn't Yako turn Misaki into yorishiro? Is it because he had actually died and didn't become supernatural? Tsukasa died and became a supernatural, or he had already become one when he sacrificed himself.

The twins' relationship is very ambiguous, it is a love mixed with remorse, it seems to be a tiring and heavy love, I would like to see more about them, but we don't have many clues other than the current ones.

Anyway, we're still in the dark, it's hard to know how all this works when Aidairo doesn't give us any more clues.