What Up Nerds?!
Welcome back to another blog about World Trigger because I am an obsessed fool. Today we are going to be exploring a question that I have been seeing around in my research. “Is Hana a Psychopath?” Now as I’m watching the anime, as I haven’t read the manga yet, that question never really came to mind. After explaining others reasonings, I though I’d deep down e into my thoughts on this question.
Now for us to fully grasp the situation at hand, we need a basic definition and list of qualities for Psychopathy. The term psychopath is defined as someone who has superficial charm, high intelligence, poor judgment and failure to learn from experience, pathological egocentricity and incapacity for love, lack of remorse or shame, impulsivity, grandiose sense of self-worth, pathological lying, manipulative behavior, poor self-control, promiscuous sexual behavior, juvenile delinquency, and criminal versatility, among others. They may feel inferior and that the world is against them. They often love their families and pets, but have trouble trusting others. Not all psychopaths are killers or have violent tendencies. Psychopathy is something that can be treated if given the chance.
Now that that’s out of the way. Let’s go into her personality!
Hana is described as confident and impassive. While seeming very composed, she is not in able or afraid to show emotion. She never falters from her decisions or beliefs. We see this with her conviction on saving Katori instead of her parents. Hana is a very logical thinker and try’s to rationalize what she does. In an effort to not hate/resent her parents, Hana determined that studying would help her understand and navigate the changing world. This became her motivator for studying and trying hard to meet her parents expectations.
She is very focused on her goals and keep. She doesn’t intervene in her teammates fights unless it begins to directly effect their goals/mission.
“I study on my own and I've learned that the world radically changes its makeup every few years or decades. Even if I follow my parents' instructions, that may not be how things work by the time I grow up. That's why I'm working on my own so I won't get panicked when things go that way. Just in case it turns out my parents were wrong in the future, I won't have to blame them.”
Now, let’s dive into our question.
My answer is no. I do not believe she is a psychopath. I would, however, say that she holds some traits of psychopathy.
•cold
•Calculated
•Lack of Emotion
•High intelligence
These traits are very few and alone can not pin her as a psychopath. Many arguments that I have seen have been spawned from the fact that she saved Katori instead of her parents. With most people saying that she done that to get “revenge” on her parents. Her relationship with her parents does seem strained and distant. It’s common for Asian parents, that I’ve seen around, to stress at their children getting goods grades and being at the top. It’s the only way for them to ensure that their child has a good life and gets into the best schools. Not saying I agree with this taking sole precedence over letting your child be a child, but it’s the culture.
Even though obviously bothered by this as she gets angry when being told she can’t see Katori, Hana accepts it. She may resent them a bit or feel that she herself doesn’t matter to them. Who wouldn’t when they are a child/teen? Hana doesn’t hate them though. She tells Katori that she finds her own motivation to study. As long as she studies she will adapt to the changing world around her and thus she won’t get mad if what her parents told her becomes untrue. That way she won’t hate them. This shows that she has an understanding of the world and she takes her families thoughts and feelings into consideration. So the idea of her getting revenge on her parents doesn’t quite fit.
Hana reassures Katori that she doesn’t need to worry about the fact that she saved her. Hana only took the rational approach and chose who was best to survive the situation. Although this action seems very cold, she’s not wrong. Moving wood is a bit easier Than bricks. By the time little Hana would have gotten done with sifting through the bricks, there’s no guarantee they would have made it. Bricks are heavy. It’s much easier to move wood. Not to mention Katori is younger. Her chance of surviving injuries would be greater than her parents. Katori overall had the best survival rate. This seems cold, but it’s rational.
If there’s anything that I learned it’s that being rational doesn’t always go with what we deem as “morally right” or with the emotions that we feel. Sometime the truth and logical choice is hard to swallow. He rationalizing the situation may have been her way of avoiding the guilt of her decision. Or to help her cope with it.
Now I say this because of her apologizing to Katori for not being a great operator and seeing the situation clearly. She tells her that she could have done better. This shows me that she feels a bit of guilt when she’s unable help her team, when that’s her whole job. She realizes that her actions can affect others and can understand their emotions. But to help herself and others feel better, she rationalizes the situation to downplay things. A psychopath wouldn’t care about others thoughts and feels and wouldn’t admit any wrong doings. Rather than apologizing, she’d be blaming Katori and the other members of the team for their lack of skills.
Hana cares deeply for her friends and puts a lot of faith in them. We see this when she just lets her team hash out their problems. She has trust in them to get the mission done and guides them when needed. A psychopath would have a big problem trusting people outside their family. So her having that trust in her friends and most likely the other agents at bored, says a lot.
I do want to take a moment and say how much I love the dynamic between Katori and Hana. Their personalities complement each other well. Hana’s logical and cold demeanor helps ground Katori and brings her stability that she lacks. Katori on the other hand Brie the emotion that Hana tends to hide away. And I think that’s beautiful.
Before I end this blog I did want to touch on something else that kind of goes with this. I have seen others call Hana a sociopath instead of a psychopath. To this, I say a no as well. Here are some core traits of a sociopath.
•Breaking laws and rules
•Aggressive/impulsive behaviors
•Little to no guilt when causing harm
•Manipulative, deceitful and controlling
None of these traits sound like her. Hana isn’t the type of person to break rules or rules on purpose. I think she’s one to strictly follow them and make sure others do as well. As that would be the logical thing to do. Now if there were situations that were outside the norm that may call for breaking a rule, she may do it but only if it was the most logical thing to do. Hana didn’t make impulsive decisions. She thinks them though rationally. She is also not an aggressive personality, though she can be brutally honest. I do see her as someone who does feel guilty about causing harm, but she would do what it took to make someone feel less hurt or bad about a situation. She’d rationalize it so that herself and others could move on form the hurt. And if she did hurt someone she would take responsibility in a heart beat. She is neither manipulative, deceitful or controlling. And I think the points above can tell you why I think that.
Hana is cold upfront and very rational about the world. She tends to hide her emotions, but that doesn’t make her a psychopath or sociopath. It doesn’t make her a bad or evil person either. It just makes her different. Her decisions may not always be morally right or go inline with what we would decide, but that’s what makes Hana a voice of reason in emotionally high stake situations.
That concludes this character deep dive! What are your thoughts? Do you agree or disagree? Let me know. I’ll see ya in the next one.
──────────────────
Sources: https://worldtrigger.fandom.com/wiki/Hana_Somei#cite_note-c144p17-5, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-a-psychopath-5025217, https://www.healthline.com/health/mental-health/sociopath
6 notes
·
View notes
[Fic] Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice [Somei/Katori]
Title: Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice
Pairing: Somei Hana/Katori Youko
Summary: Katori learns to make chocolate. The situation is blown out of proportion.
Author’s Note: I keep forgetting to crosspost my fic here. This was originally written for Valentine’s Day, and uses a lot of cultural cues from Japanese Valentine’s Day: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Valentine%27s_Day#Japan
AO3 Mirror
There was a claim that nothing moves gossip faster than an academic institution, especially one populated by teenagers.
As proof, Katori Youko was witnessed sidling into the classroom of 3-A 10 minutes before homeroom - an unheard of action for a freshman, and especially unheard of for Katori who spent her time in school like she was above it all, engaging in a fervent whispered conversation with Kon Yuka - voted best cook in both her year level and 18-year-old Border members, and then leaving with a stubbornly determined look on her face.
By lunchtime, the news had trickled down to the first years and Shiki found herself surrounded by her female classmates the moment Katori waltzed out the door of Class 1-E.
Shiki stayed silent despite the expectant gazes, waiting for them to make the first move. Except the initiative was stolen by the ruckus across the room instead.
A much larger crowd was gathered around Koarai’s desk, and making enough noise that Shiki could hear every word.
“She was asking about making chocolates!!” One particularly desperate sounding boy shook Koarai by one shoulder.
“Honmei chocolates!!” Another desperate sounding boy shook Koarai by his other shoulder.
A third boy was waving a small desk calendar in Koarai’s face, as if he wasn’t aware that Valentine’s Day was a week away.
“So?” Koarai asked, obviously confused.
“You’re both Border, aren’t you?” One of the desperate sounding boys said accusingly, as if it meant something. “Who is it??”
“Is it someone in Arashiyama squad?”
“A sempai in the school?”
“Karasuma?!”
“Does our idol already have someone!?”
Shiki could have lived her life without knowing that someone viewed Katori as their idol.
One of the girls in front of Shiki smiled ruefully. “I think you know what our question is.”
Shiki sighed. “Does it matter?”
It was a different girl who answered. “Aren’t you curious? Katori-san always looks like she doesn’t care about anyone, and yet here she is, making chocolates for Valentine’s Day.”
Maybe being in Border together did mean something, because Shiki already knew Katori did care - deep, deep, down inside - and that was enough for her in a way that was clearly not enough for the rest of their classmates.
Shiki shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably. “Does it matter?” she asked again, but no one was willing to budge. With no other choice left to her, Shiki threw her sempai under the bus. “Why would I know anything? If anyone knows, wouldn’t it be her teammates?”
“Are you expecting us to bother the sempai with this?” One of the girls tried to look scandalised, but Shiki knew she bothered the sempai all the time, with matters much smaller than this even.
Shiki - and Koarai - were finally set free from their classmates with Katori’s re-entrance into the classroom, a sandwich dangling in one hand. Unfortunately, a glance at all the message notifications on her phone told Shiki she was far from being free of the matter itself. She wished people would stop expecting her to know everything about Katori just because they were classmates.
As further proof of the claim, the whole story had already spread to Rokueikan by the very next day, and not all of it caused by Border members gossiping amongst themselves even.
But, when it came down to it, Katori was a girl from another school, it wasn’t enough to keep the attention of a prep school focused on the upcoming exams, except among Border members.
Kodera looked over at Somei’s desk, where most of the prep school operators had gathered - including Usami, chatting cheerfully amongst themselves. Kodera turned his eyes away from Usami, forcing down the blush that burned his cheeks, and focused on Somei. She had the same blank look on her face as the one she wore when the crowd around her had been normal classmates - the few who knew enough about Border to know about Katori and cared enough to approach Somei about it. The whole situation didn’t seem to be affecting her nearly as much as it affected the people at the other high school - at least from the complaints Kodera had been aware of: from Koarai in the chat group they shared, from Wakamura that he heard from Narasaka who heard from Arafune who heard from Inukai, even Miura had been less than his usual accepting self according to the testimonials of multiple Attackers. Kodera had a lot of pride in his data collecting skills.
But there were always gaps, people who refused to participate - people like Somei. Kodera was convinced that Somei knew who Katori was planning on giving chocolates to. If anyone did, it was her. But Somei would never tell. Even if it didn’t matter, Somei kept quiet and let people make their own assumptions.
One thing Kodera was certain of was that the chocolates weren’t for Karasuma. When he had gathered up the courage to ask her about it at lunch - since Karasuma had been the most likely possibility, Somei had smiled - a small quirk of her lips - and said, “do you think so?” The look in her eyes told Kodera she didn’t think it was Karasuma, and if Somei didn’t think it was Karasuma then it wasn’t Karasuma. It was that simple.
This, unfortunately, left the question of who. He wasn’t getting any more hints from Somei, he knew that, which meant he would have to gather his intel from somewhere else. Kodera ran through his sources, who hadn’t yet commented on the occasion? Who might know something - even if they themselves didn’t know what they knew? Who was in a position to find out?
Unconsciously, Kodera started planning out the logistics like one of the strategy problems Tsukimi would set him up with. It was no longer about Katori - it never really was - instead, there was a puzzle for Kodera to solve, even if he didn’t care what the answer was.
By the time Valentine’s Day arrived, the rumour mill was in overdrive and Class 1-E’s anticipation was through the roof as everyone hoped to see the fruits of Katori’s training with Kon. And because the teachers at Mikado First Municipal High School valued a good bout of festivities just like anyone else, the Home Economics teacher turned all of her lessons on Valentine’s Day into chocolate-making tutorials. For everyone.
But Class 1-E was destined to be heavily disappointed as their Home Ec. class began with Katori sitting around and playing with some of the unused equipment while the rest of the group did the actual work, glaring at her resignedly.
Koarai might have disassociated himself from Katori and whatever she was planning for Valentine’s Day to keep the gossipers at bay, but he had fought her often enough in the rank wars to know her personality through and through. He could have told them that she wouldn’t be making honmei chocolate on the day in front of everyone else. If Katori did make chocolates, it would have been by herself, so that no one could see her mess up or expend effort on something that actually mattered to her. If Katori did make chocolates, it would already be wrapped - perfectly - and hidden in her bag for her to give when she chose before she even got to school today.
Finally fed up, the teacher walked up to Katori with a stern expression. Katori, however, merely flipped her hair lazily, clearly not taking the teacher seriously. Her voice rose sharply, clearly audible even from where Koarai was. “Well, what if I’m not giving Valentine’s Day chocolate? Are you going to force everyone to participate even if they don’t have anyone to give to? All those poor girls having to either reveal that they have no one to give chocolates to or fake making chocolate and then having to eat it themselves! It’s public humiliation!” Katori did not sound like she was feeling sorry for anyone at all.
“You always have to make a smart comeback, don’t you,” the teacher replied wearily, not at all cowed by Katori’s words. “All we are doing is making chocolate, whether you are giving them to anyone as honmei chocolate on Valentine’s Day is up to you. I don’t see anything wrong with giving it as obligation chocolate, friend chocolate, or eating it yourself, do you?” Not giving Katori a chance to reply, the teacher continued in the same tone of voice, “Now I want to see your hands moving if you don’t want to be penalised.”
Katori didn’t seem in the mood to continue the fight, grabbing baking paper and spreading it out roughly with a sharp pout on her face. It was apparently enough for the teacher though, turning away with a nod of satisfaction.
Koarai turned his attention back to the chocolate his group was supposed to be making as everyone else also stopped paying attention to Katori now that they were sure she wasn’t going to do anything interesting.
Around him, Koarai could hear the disappointment of his classmates that, whatever she had been up to with Kon, it didn’t seem to be actually making Valentine’s Day chocolates. Koarai ignored them. He had been receiving obligation chocolates from Hitomi for the last ten years, and this time he was going to give her something in return. And to do that he had to make sure these chocolates were edible. There was no time to wonder about what Katori was or wasn’t doing.
Meanwhile, in contrast, matters have quieted down to almost nothing on the prep school side. Somei had been privy to the same complaints as the rest of Border from those who attended the other high school on the ridiculous heights the grapevine was reaching on the simple matter of Valentine’s Day chocolates. But Katori was enjoying all the attention, and that was good enough for her.
Feeling eyes on her from the front of the classroom, Somei turned that way, keeping her face blank. Kodera looked back at her undaunted. He was the only one in prep school who was still paying attention, though it was obvious by this point that he didn’t really care about who Katori was giving chocolates to - Kodera would probably be more interested in knowing who Usami was giving chocolates to, if she hadn’t already announced to everyone days ago that she’s giving obligation chocolates to every official Border member at the school. It was the puzzle for him, the thrill of solving the mystery.
Not that it was much of a mystery. Katori had been unusually silent on the matter even to Somei, when usually Somei would have been the first to know - and maybe even roped into helping Katori make the chocolates. But this time, not only did Katori not come to her, she hadn’t even told Somei about them. It had been a bit of a rude awakening to learn along with everyone else at prep school that Katori was planning on making chocolates after the fact. But that was also how Somei realised who Katori must be making them for.
Somei did not believe in false modesty, she knew she was intelligent in her ability to see patterns and make connections, it was obvious that if Katori was changing her habits just to hide this from Somei, then the chocolates were probably for-
“Somei-san,” the girl who sat next to Somei said, pointing to the window beside her, “I think you have a visitor.”
Somei peered out the window. Class was already over for the day, dotting the school grounds with students leaving, but as a prep school the number of students who remained to catch up on work, to prepare for the next day, or to participate in club activities far outnumbered those who left. Even Somei’s own classroom was still half full of students even excluding her and Kodera. This was why Katori’s lone figure at the front gates stood out even at a glance. Some early cherry trees were blooming already, a stunning backdrop that lent a story-like quality to the scene, as if Katori was the protagonist of a movie. Katori was very suited to be the protagonist of a movie.
The sky was starting to darken as Katori led Somei to a small park near the Forbidden Zone. It was a sad little park, with just a single rusted slide, two rocking horses that no longer moved, and an abandoned air that betrayed its neglect. That and the location meant it was empty at all times, and the sunset gave the surroundings a romantic flair that Katori had made a lot of effort to ensure. Effort that was going to go to nothing if she messed this up. Katori gulped.
Somei, who always knew Katori better than she knew herself, turned expectantly when Katori stopped in her tracks, her usual blank look on her face.
Sick of her own anxiety and uncomfortable with the unfamiliarity of it, Katori plunged a hand unceremoniously into her bag and said, “Here. For you.”
Somei received the well-wrapped package solemnly, not a hint of surprise on her face. “Thank you.”
Katori kicked lightly at a small rock between them. “You’re welcome, I guess,” she mumbled, feeling weirdly disheartened. She had known Somei wouldn’t react, she knew her that well, but it still felt discouraging.
Katori could feel Somei’s gaze on her, but something inside her didn’t want to look up. Katori's cheeks were shamefully hot. She wasn’t sure she liked the feeling.
There was a light crinkling of wrapping paper and the quiet crunch of chocolate being bitten into. “It tastes very good.”
It was as if a weight that Katori didn’t know had been stuck in her chest had suddenly fell away. She looked up. “Of course! I made it!” Everyday after school at Suzunari branch, she didn’t say, until it was perfect.
Somei smiled. “Of course,” she repeated, and placed another chocolate in her mouth.
Katori smiled too, feeling like she was floating off the ground, like everything was right in the world again. She didn’t know why she was so worried. As if there was ever any possibility of it going wrong. She made those chocolates herself after all. Katori looked Somei straight in the eyes. “You’re supposed to return three times as much on White Day, you know.”
Somei blinked slowly, and nodded. “I see,” she said seriously. “Understood.”
The setting sun was lined up perfectly behind her, casting a hazy glow over Somei’s features and dazzling Katori’s eyes. It made her look ethereal, as if she was out of Katori’s reach. But Somei always had lived in a different world, one that contemplated difficult matters and planned for a future Katori didn’t understand. It didn’t matter. They didn’t need to live in the same world, not as long as Somei was willing to meet her halfway.
Katori leaned forward, her eyes open, watching as Somei did the same. Their faces were close enough that Katori could see every imperfection in her skin, every hue of colour in her eyes; undeniable proof that Somei existed right there in front of her. Their lips met in the middle. It tasted of melted chocolate.
1 note
·
View note
some nabari OST things i’ve noticed after watching the show ten thousand times:
- miharu, yoite, tobari, raimei, yukimi, hana, and hattori all have songs with their names in them.
- the kairoshu’s unofficial theme is “ki ra tsukai”(you hear it whenever they pull some shit), which actually just means the use of kira.
- raikou and raimei’s theme is called “tragedy of a brother and sister,” and it’s used when they’re together or thinking about each other. later in the series (post-e11), it becomes raikou’s theme alone. however, you can also hear it in the background of a scene with yukimi and kazuho, because the title of the song applies to them, as well.
- “seou shukumei” (more or less a way of warning the viewers that something bad is going to happen) is never used without dialogue over it. most notable moments include: e11 when iroku kills somei, e17 when yukimi and yoite confront each other on the roof, e14 when everyone is trapped in the basement of alya academy, and e3 when yoite is torturing tobari.
- a song called “bonds” is used most frequently with gau and raikou, though it plays a part in some other scenes featuring paired characters.
- the song that plays when miharu is looking for yoite in the snow and sees the dead cat is called “yoite’s despair,” which is a direct translation of a line from the original japanese episode. in the dub, the term “yoite’s despair” is never used. the song is used again when yoite is tied up on the floor of the temple at the mercy of hattori, when hattori explains what drove yoite to use kira.
- “shinigami no negai” means “shinigami’s wish,” and is heard most frequently when yoite is seen sick or injured. (ex: e19 when yukimi finds him on the floor)
- the melody to hana’s theme, “hanabusa,” contains only the major C scale.
- miharu’s theme, “miharu’s perplexity,” can be heard in the background when yukimi is trying to give yoite a name in e19, and when tobari is trying to convince yukimi that yoite is still alive in e24.
- even though the song “fuu ma kotarou no omowaku,” includes kotarou’s full name, it’s used often in scenes that have nothing to do with him (ex: e17 when tobari comes to raimei’s defense, e23 when yukimi and raikou fight).
- “alya academy” is used in the koga arc, but it can also be heard in the church in the last episode.
- the shinrabanshou has three separate themes: “shinrabanshou no sasayaki,” “shinrabanshou’s activation,” and “wisdom,” which is named after what the shinrabanshou fairy promises to grant miharu.
- the beginning of “the world of nabari” can be heard often in gau’s scenes. the song was used in its entirety at the end of e10, when gau and raikou were doing wakachi work below the train, finishing exactly as raikou stopped swinging his katana.
- at 2 minutes and 39 seconds, “yureru kokoro” is the longest song on the soundtrack, and at 9 seconds, “makuai” is the shortest.
- the song “two people” never actually plays in the episode called “two people.”
- deep darkness is usually heard when yoite refuses to let people help him.
9 notes
·
View notes