#hanazawa hiro

[f00t-fic]

You ever wonder if the widow Hanazawa and the widow Koito ever sought comfort in each other after the loss of their sons/husbands and also kissed each other with tongue

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Hi! Thank you for all your hard work! Despite all the problems, GK had a legacy of good characters and a very interesting background that can be poured on endlessly for inspiration. I have a question for you, if you do not mind. When Tsurumi mentions that Ogata's grandfather was "in the military" too, he was refering to Hanazawa Kojiro's father right? I don't think Noda ever said much beyond what was needed for the story about them, so do you have any thoughts about the family itself or even Kojiro's younger days? Thank you for your time!

Thank you for enjoying my work!

Yes, “Golden Kamuy” has an awesome universe, both in term of characters and setting ideas as well as psychological deep. I love this part of this story.

I don’t mind questions, only, sadly, not always I know the answers to them... -_-;;

In regard to that scene yes, the implication seems to be that Tsurumi is referring to Hanazawa’s father both in the scanlations and in the official translation.

The Japanese text refers to him as

‘Hanazawa Chūjō No chichi-ue’

 花沢中将の父上

“Lieutenant General Hanazawa’s honorable father” (.ue is a honorific that denotes a HIGH level of respect)

So yeah, it’s Hanazawa’s father. Pity we don’t really get info about Tome’s father instead. Iwould have enjoyed them.

In regard to my speculations about Hanazawa, I don’t really have much.

What follows is a bit o my speculations, tied to the canon info we know, but as I didn’t really study him in deep (even Noda doesn’t seem to care much about him, in fact, apart for his death scene, he always recycled the same image of him OVER AND OVER and never let him voice his opinions again) don’t expect it to be that accurate.

So, Hanazawa.

I would say he was probably the second son, (due to his name being ‘Kōjirō’ where ‘jirō’ was usually a name ending given to the second son).

As Hanazawa is based on Nogi Maresuke (although, visually, he looks more like Ōkubo Toshimichi), my guess is that he was likely meant to have a similar backstory, though not a similar personality since Nogi Maresuke wanted to commit Seppuku and was stopped while Hanazawa’s Seppuku wasn’t exactly something he did of his own volition.

Long story short, I believe that, same as Nogi, although Hanazawa was the second son, his older brother died, so he became the heir.

His friendship with Koito Heiji (who’s based on Tōgō Heihachirō) starts early due to their families being close despite one being in the navy and the other being in the army.

Hanazawa would have preferred to become a scolar than a soldier but, being the heir, this wasn’t an option. With time though, he’ll grow to become more devoted to his job, starting to think of it as his true vocation.

My guess is Hanazawa’s father was cold, in the kind of way that was typical to that time period so not cruel or anything, but definitely not someone like Koito Heiji either. When his older son was alive, he didn’t really care much about Hanazawa because he had a heir, when he died, he put pressure on him so that he’ll start behaving properly.

Hanazawa is roped into a marriage of convenience with his wife, Hiro, while he was a Lieutenant Colonel of the 1st Infantry Regiment of the Imperial Guards (近衛歩兵第一連隊長 ‘Konoe hohei dai ichi-ren tai’). He doesn’t care about her beyond what his duties required and, as his father dies, short after, this gives him the chance to spend his free time in Asakusa in a small act of rebellion, where he met Tome, who was working as a geisha.

Hanazawa favours her, partly because his wife isn’t managing to give him a child, which reflects negatively on him too. partly because he can have deeper discussions with her than with Hiro.

Tome deludes herself this means something, and when she gives his a male son she thinks he might consider rejecting his wife and marry her. Hanazawa (despite being happy this proves if he and his wife not having children is not his fault) never planned to do so and thinks its insanity from Tome’s part to do so much as consider he might do so.

This, and the fact Hiro manages to give him a son, persuaded him to cut all ties with Tome and her baby son in a rather rude manner.

Tome won’t accept this and continue to live in her delusion.

Hanazawa and Hiro continue to be a poor match but, outside, they perform in an appropriate manner, Hanazawa becoming more and more interested in rising in his role.

Eventually Hanazawa is moved to the 7th division. Of course, since it’s not fun if sons don’t repeat the mistakes of their fathers, Hanazawa wants his son, Yuusaku, to follow his footsteps in the army, raising him with strictness and trying to push on him his beliefs, Hanazawa hoping Yuusaku, his very obedient son who’s starved for affection, would become the regimental flag bearer.

Hiro disagrees but doesn’t voice her opinion, she merely plot to get Yuusaku a nice girl so he won’t have to be the flag bearer.

Hiro’s action further cause Hanazawa to be displeased in her as her actions might put in question even hi own patriotism.

Unable to stop his wife, to avoid a scandal, Hanazawa is forced to contact Okuda, which further displeases him.

Hiro’s plan doesn’t work and, as Yuusaku becomes flagbearer, this leads to her and Hanazawa to further distance each other. After Yuusaku’s death she won’t be waiting for Hanazawa at home, which means when Ogata will drop by to have a last chat with his father, Hanazawa will be alone.

Too proud to listen to others and too career obsessed he’ll make many mistakes in the Russo-Japanese war, the worst of all, undervaluing Tsurumi due to the latter low rank and family fallen into disgrace.

He was however a person who wouldn’t have let Tsurumi blackmail him, so Tsurumi decided to simply move him out of the picture, understanding soon he wouldn’t be able to manipulate him through neither of his sons the way he did with Koito Heiji.

Thus Hanazawa dies and Tsurumi even writes for him a nice note to deliver to Heiji then, as if moving him out of the way wasn’t enough, uses Central’s reaction to his death to further win the loyalty of his men. Yodogawa, who replaces Hanazawa, is easier to blackmail and manipulate so really, everything goes in Tsurumi’s way just fine as he sets up to replace Hanazawa for the control of Hokkaido’s army.

Sources of interest for more Hanazawa info/speculations might be the wikipedia pages of the man who inspired him, Nogi Maresuke (although, visually, he looks more like Ōkubo Toshimichi).

Also in regard to Nogi Maresuke and his parallelisms with Hanazawa @osomanga used to have many more awesome posts on him, his sons and that time period, though I can’t track them anymore. Maybe tumblr swallowed them in their mad and senseless flagging and I don’t know if osomanga will ever make an appeal to unflag them or if they just preferred to erase them.

An interesting and very good post dealing with Hanazawa is the one of @prancing-uboot who has a more positive view than me about him and who studied what might have been Hanazawa's life much more in deept than I did and with a good reference to historical facts.

I’m afraid I don’t know any other post about Hanazawa, though, if there’s more, people is welcome to give me a head up.

Thank you for your ask!

[natsthinkitythinkthinkthonk]

A seiyuu that always makes you laugh?

Please check out the original post here!

This will cover 6 of the post!

Hmm... I won't be counting anything that goes down in anime because those are funny usually because those depend on the writing (without good writing, a good performance doesn't amount to much). So I will only be counting instances where they are at events or other radio shows. With that being said, this one is kinda tough because a lot of female seiyuu are restricted from saying a lot of things due to societal expectations and management, but I think I managed to make the list fairly regardless.

Yoshitsugu Matsuoka

He definitely isn't funny on purpose some of the time, and most of his funny moments stem from him being uncomfortable or arguably having a bit of a social anxiety moment (same), but I feel like including him on this list is pretty fitting.

Yoko Hikasa

Not just any old hag. Not even just a legendary old hang, but The legendary old hag.

Yuuichirou Umehara

I'm not sure if he's funny on purpose either, but there's this one clip of him passing by someone and the person says to him "Do your best (on stage)!" and he just shouts back, "SHUT UP" which pretty much summarizes his character. He's also the epitome of that Squidward button sometimes where it just says, "I really wish I weren't here right now." Relatable. Same.

Natsuki Hanae

His gaming channel is full of really funny moments, but a lot of the enjoyment faded after the community subtitles were disabled. What if I want to be able to understand the video, YouTube?!

Haruka Tomatsu

She's like a bouncy ball that never stops. Even after giving birth, even the radio show host noted, "She's just as lively as before." She does these funny impressions (hard to explain) and has exposed Tsugu on how he was when they first recorded SAO. "He was slapping himself saying 'CALM DOWN. CALM DOWN.' And he was wearing his clothes the backwards and with the tag sticking out."

Tomokazu Sugita

Yeah, I think you know why he's here. I'm just going to put this here in case anyone wants to be scarred for life.

Rie Takahashi

She made me smile and laugh when I watched the recent RomaKira event. Just like the Kakushigoto event, she was on the listening end to some lines that made her blush and react a ton. It was sweet and funny.

Hiro Shimono

Bro, his chopping board laughter and his dynamic with Hanae and Tsugu are great (I'll never forget that random clip where they accidentally nearly blinded themselves with a light). Shout out to his manager who ate his ice cream!

Mikako Komatsu

I have been watching a lot more clips with her in it, and I always forget how funny she can be even off the screen. She's so lively and speaks her mind a lot (mostly regarding b00bs). Her and Eguchi have gotten into some pretty lively discussions about it (just want to add that being part of the itty bitty titty community isn't a bad thing). I've also been watching her with Tsuda and Kaji on the old K radio show where she sheds insight on what girls talk about to the unknowing. It gets quite crazy there too sometimes.

Yuuma Uchida

He has a really funny laugh, a lively personality, and he seems like such a fun person to be around.

Sally Amaki

Her Twitter page is honestly amazing. You read her English tweets are just like, "I'm in Spain but the s is silent" to her Japanese tweets which are like, "I will be appearing in this broadcast. I look forward to seeing you all there!" Honestly, the duality is amazing. She also gives lessons to both Japanese and English-speakers with the weirdest phrases that people probably won't and shouldn't use IRL.

Mamoru Miyano

The funny man himself. I think this explains itself.

Kana Hanazawa

She's really funny at events sometimes, and her screaming over how she got to marry her husband is both hilarious and incredibly sweet.

[volleypearlfan]

Seiyuu in the Japanese dub of Scott Pilgrim takes off

Scott - Hiro Shimono (Zenitsu in Demon Slayer)

Ramona - Fairouz Ai (Power in Chainsaw Man)

Knives - Aoi Koga (Kaguya in Kaguya-sama: Love is War)

Wallace - Masaya Fukunishi (Ken in Tokyo Revengers)

Young Neil - Yuto Kawasaki (couldn't find any information on him)

Kim - Tomo Muranaka (Cure Gelato in Kirakira Pretty Cure a la Mode)

Stephen - Anri Katsu (Motoharu in A Certain Magical Index)

Matthew - Shinji Saito (his only other role is Seven in the Japanese dub of the Chinese cartoon, Scissor Seven. He's mainly a comedian)

Lucas - Yuichi Nakamura (Gojo in Jujutsu Kaisen)

Todd - Wataru Hatano (Josuke in Jojo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable)

Roxy - Naomi Ohzora (Uzaki in Uzaki-chan Wants to Hang Out)

Katayanagi Twins - Shunsuke Takeuchi (Einar in Vinland Saga)

Gideon - Tomokazu Seki (Kyo in Fruits Basket)

Envy - Kana Hanazawa (Mitsuri in Demon Slayer)

Julie - Yu Kobayashi (Lucina in Fire Emblem)

Stacey - Misato Matsuoka (Mizusaki in Keep Your Hands Off Eizouken)

[demifiendrsa]

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba | English subbed Promotion Reel 2024

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc TV anime will premiere in Spring 2024 with a one-hour special.

The anime will also have another "world tour" under the title Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba -To The Hashira Training- that will screen the final episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Swordsmith Village Arc and the first episode of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Hashira Training Arc in Japan and 140 countries and regions starting in February 2024.

The world tour will screen in:

Tokyo on February 2-3, 2024 with guest appearances

New York on February 10, 2024 with Natsuki Hanae and Hiro Shimono

Seoul on February 11, 2024 with Kengo Kawanishi and Kana Hanazawa

Mexico City on February 17, 2024 with Takahiro Sakurai and Kengo Kawanishi

Singapore on February 17, 2024 with Natsuki Hanae and Akari Kito

Jakarta on February 18, 2024 with Natsuki Hanae and Akari Kito

Paris on February 24, 2024 with Natsuki Hanae

Taipei on February 24, 2024 with Yoshitsugu

London on February 25, 2024 with Natsuki Hanae

Hong Kong on February 25, 2024 with Yoshitsugu Matsuoka and Saori Hayami

The English video above also says the film will screen in theaters on February 23, 2024 and in 4K and IMAX.

[naramaiz]

HELLOOO NARA HOW U DOING!?💞🙌

HIIII POOOKKIIEEEE💕💕💕💕💕🖐🖐🖐‼️‼️

I'VE ACTUALLY BEEN DOING SO GOOD TODAY LIKE I SAW MY BELOVEDS IN PERSON

Kengo and Hanazawa's relationship makes me giggle,

Along with Hiro and Natsuki :D

THIS IS FUCKIN CORE MEMORY

I GOT INTERVIEWED, FREE MERCH, PICS TAKEN BY THE PHOTOGRAPHER

CORE MEMORY‼️‼️

ALSO POOKIE I SAW THAT RAY FANART YOU DID FOR ME,

TYYYY I LOVE IITTTT

IMCSORRY IM WRITING SM IVE JUST GOTTEN BURSTS OF ENERGY TONIGHT FROM EXCITEMENT

[rivalsforlife]

Great Ace Attorney Reading Drama Announced

Lots of exciting Great Ace Attorney stage news lately!

A new drama based on the story of The Great Ace Attorney, including new content from Shu Takumi, will be performed on Saturday August 12 2023 at the J:COM Hall Hachioji in Japan.

This drama will be read aloud by voice actors reprising their roles from the series, including Hiro Shimono (Ryunosuke Naruhodo), Kana Hanazawa (Susato Mikotoba), Shinji Kawada (Herlock Sholmes), and Misaki Kuno (Iris Wilson). In addition, Takayuki Kondo (voice of Phoenix Wright) and Eiji Takemoto (voice of Miles Edgeworth) will be special guests in a talk corner segment with the cast.

There will be a daytime (starting at 14:00 JST) and nighttime (starting at 18:00 JST) performance, and tickets are open now starting at 8800 yen. You can find more information on the performance including where to buy tickets on the website https://daigyakuten-reading.com/ , along with following the official twitter gyakuten_event.

As of right now, there seems to be no indication that there will be a recording of the drama or an online stream. I will try to update in reblogs if more information is available, and as I’m relying on machine translation, any corrections or additional information would be appreciated.

[flamingblinglove]

So I just finished watching the newest episode of kny and

Warning: kny spoilers

DAYUM SON IT WAS FANTASTIC.

Starting off strong with Muzan and the upper moons in the Infinity Castle? Oh god. Finally having more six eyed daddy crumbs in this new season *slurpsssssssss* Miyano Mamoru as Douma really couldn't be more perfect. He's so fking annoying but miyamamo voiced him so well.

Also that flashback sequence of Sumiyoshi and Yoriichi 😭😭 man I had goosebumps when Yoriichi appeared, and then the scene going back to present time where Tanjirou woke up..... damn it was so well done. Also.... anime-onlys are going to be so confused thinking that Kokushibou and Yoriichi are the same person LMAO.

Oh course Zenitsu and Inosuke had to be chaotic, but I missed them. It sucks that they wouldn't be appearing much in this arc, but....

MITSURIIIIIIIIIIIIII omg I was honestly so so surprised that they actually followed the manga and kept to the scene of Mitsuri in the onsen??? They actually did keep her n*ked and even showed her *ss and her oppai.............................. also, Hanazawa Kana really voiced Mitsuri real fantastic I love her.

Tanjirou covering Mitsuri's chest HAHHAHAHAHAHHAHHAAHA. Also Tanjirou jumping into the onsen and trying to talk to Genya......... Tanjirou my boy please you are so precious.

Mitsuri playing with smol Nezuko........... 🥺🥺🥺🥺 I want to bawl that scene was perfect in the manga and it was perfect in the anime too. And then.... Muichirou with Kotetsu and Yoriichi Type Zero...... damn I cannot wait for the next episode already.

The anime really kept to the scenes in the manga and Ufotable did an amazing job animating this. I cannot wait for more. I'm so happy. It's amazing.

Also..... listening to Hanae Natsuki and Shimono Hiro in KNY as Tanjirou and Zenitsu just one month after listening to them as Falco and Connie in SNK....................... my heart hurts.....................................

No but really. This season is going to be SO. DAMN. GOOD. I can't wait to see the Mist Breathing and Love Breathing animated 😭😭 I can't wait to see Tanjirou practice with Yoriichi Type Zero........... I can't wait to see all of them in action. I cant wait for next week.

[chibivesicle]

Golden Kamuy - Kikuta deserved better - 273-276

As I catch up on things, I’m gonna hit the highlights that really stuck with me.  Ogata is able to escape from Vasily using the tactics he observed from the showdown in Barato with Hijikata cutting through random row houses.  He’s seriously gotten into Vasily’s head as he hesitated to snipe aggressively after killing the wrong guy with Ogata’s cloak.

The only worthwhile thing from this continued and seriously a no longer interesting plot point, is getting to see Ogata wiggle under a fence like a cat.

So, I approve of this at least.  My own cat scores this as an 8/10 in cat wiggling.  Minus 2 points for not enough emotion from Ogata’s face.

Thankfully, Asirpa was able to escape with Sofia after Tsukishima gunned down Ariko.  It seemed to me that Koito froze/hesitated during that situation.  Tsukishima had no problem brutally shooting Ariko at point blank while Koito literally just hung back and watched. 

Asirpa is in a state of extreme shock. She just interrogated by Tsurumi to give up the code, watched Ariko be shot and now sees Boutarou’s corpse in the bottle-mobile.  Our girl needs years of therapy - she’s reaching the same level as our male cast members at this rate.

At least she breaks down in tears as Sugimoto tries to console her.  The artwork for this part of the page is excellent, it really does capture the melting of her mind and how she’s realizing how deadly the gold is.

It ties directly back to her argument with Kikuta before all this shit went down.  I’m always giving Sugimoto crap for being a moron, but it seems that he did make the right action by reaching out to allow her to hug his arm.  There is that soft look as he gazes down at her and just lets her be emotional.  It is clear that his presence is a comfort to her as she takes her time before returning to a more lucid mental state.  This is shown by how she opens her eyes and looks up before declaring that they need to meet up with Hijikata since she’s figured out how to crack the code.

Meanwhile, Kikuta rushed Ariko to a clinic to save his life.  Being the father figure/older brother he is, he tells him that it isn’t his time to die; he never made that makiri yet! And to my relief, Ariko wakes up!  Noda didn’t go for the lazy writing of killing of the minor Ainu character, something I was afraid of.

If his father saved him, it means his makiri was where he was shot in the chest under his uniform.  There is a lovely transition about a makiri in a fictional museum that was made by him, implying that he returned home and did make the makiri and likely resolved some of his identity issues, though it was still likely a tough life for him.  Ariko apologies for not being able to work as a spy for Central and really it isn’t like he’d be able to do so anyways.  But he did verbally point out he’s now politically on the side of someone like Asirpa to fight for their culture and right to exist in spite of colonial powers. The middle panel of Kikuta bidding him farewell just gives me the feels.  It is so clear that Kikuta knows he’s toast.  He saw Tsukishima shoot Ariko and Tsukishima likely watched him as he tried to save the man.

The fact that he said a casual line about going to an onsen.  Ugh, death flag for sure right there.  It seems Ariko knows that as he looks forlorn.  Kikuta is that sort of suave man who is going to look cool even though he’s doomed; he’s that awesome.

The action returns to Tsurumi at the church having solved the code.  With Tsukishima gone off to try to kill Ariko, Koito has remained behind.  All of a sudden Koito reverts to his extreme Satsuma accent when addressing Tsurumi in the absence of Tsukishima.  I think he didn’t even realize it at first, just like how after they escaped the fight with Boutarou, Koito spoke normally to Tsurumi without realizing it.

It is clear it took him a moment to realize he was speaking ‘Koito’ as Tsurumi is unable to respond to him and he then panics.  Koito is more than willing to chase after Tsukishima and support him, but Tsurumi instead recalls him.

At first he consoles himself that everything is okay. 

He is trying very hard to convince himself that everything that they witnessed through the keyhole was all an act to get the key!  Yes, it isn’t that Tsurumi doesn’t have some sort of awesome goal and this isn’t about how the death of his wife and daughter left him unhinged!

But the other random members of the 27th then comment on how strongly Nikaido reeks of beer . . . and Koito then thinks about how he and Tsukishima were hiding in the room at the church when Tsurumi ‘checked’ that he was alone.  And then it hits him - they were also played as a part of the ‘Tsurumi theatre’.  Unlike Tsukishima who has whole-heartily given himself over to Tsurumi, it is clear that Koito can’t.

That monologue sounded too good to be true.  He weakly says Tsukishima’s name into the rain as he then thinks ‘No . . .’  The rain is really fitting in this scene, I think it really is a stand in for Koito’s own disappointment and tears in this entire crazy quest for the gold.  Is he worried about his ‘older’ brother figure?  Himself?  Both of them?

He continues to try to rationalize the performance that Tsurumi gave them - even if Tsurumi lied to them, it wasn’t all a lie.  Oh Koito.  I want to give you a hug and pull you away as your little bon-bon-ness has won me over.  Most of that speech wasn’t for Koito, it was for Tsukishima.  Speaking about helping Japan is what Koito would like to hear but we can tell he doubts that as well.  Hence, his waffling.

But then he realizes that as Tsukishima has given so much - all of Tsurumi’s words, even if they were ‘sweet lies’ as he he referred to them on Karafuto, it was just perfect for Tsukishima.  However, Koito has broken the spell that Tsurumi held over him.  The final page of the chapter of Koito looking at the illuminated Tsurumi and shutting the door on him.  It is the exact opposite of when Tsurumi rescued Koito from the kidnappers when in his youth. I now find myself wondering how this relates to the tiger curse.  It is clear that the curse for Tsukishima will not end well.  After he shot Ariko, his eyes regained their sparkle!  Not good, not good at all!  However, have I misinterpreted it for Koito that by becoming disillusioned with Tsurumi he will be cursed to be miserable through him gaining independence from his hero worship of Tsurumi?  The idea that ignorance is bliss, and now Koito is well in the know.  The fact that when he and Tsukishima were sort of on the same page was when he could speak to Tsurumi but now that he’s on a different path from Tsukishima he’s tripped up again.

Chapter 274 finally allows Asirpa to determine the fake skins after what she witnessed with Boutarou in the brewery and thinking about Ainu garments that she figured out that Edogai likely went above and beyond with his fakes.  Thanks money counterfeiting guy from the fake Ainu village for the inspiration.  It is a lot of pages that tie together other plot points nicely but really doesn’t do anything for me as a reader personally.

The most important point is that as Sugimoto falls asleep while Asirpa and Hijikata work with the skins is that we get another flashback - one that links him to Kikuta!

and even more importantly - Hanazawa Yuusaku!  Chapter 275 starts out with an homage to the classic movie ‘Singing in the Rain’.  As soon as I saw Sugimoto spinning on a lamp post, it was obvious.  Yes, small town boy in the big city - causing trouble.  He gets in some sort of brawl with random guys from the army and is ‘rescued’ by Kikuta, who immediately realizes that he’s hungry and decides to treat him to some lunch.

It shows that Sugimoto has a short fuse and is an impulsive youngster.  Really, he is lucky that he didn’t do more stupid shit to get him in trouble.  We can also clearly see that Kikuta is a member of the 1st Division, the Tokyo based one that Sugimoto eventually enlists with.

Kikuta decides that he wants Sugimoto to impersonate Hanazawa Yuusaku and to go on a marriage interview for him.  This is because Hanazawa Hiro, the now identified wife of Hanazawa, is pulling the strings in the background to prevent Yuusaku from becoming a flag bearer.

This then makes us wonder why these two parents have such contrasting expectations for their only son.  It makes me think back to my theory that Yuusaku was a pretty poor solider and lacked any skill or potential.  Long ago, Tsurumi told Nikaido that Ogata is the ‘true heir’ of Hanazawa inheriting his military and [some] leadership skills as he stood on the watch tower in Barato ordering the random gangsters how to fight effectively.  Yuusaku is a disappointment for Hanazawa - he can only save face by having his son become such a symbolic part of the army.

I laughed at the next page where Kikuta confirms that Hiro is colluding with the young heiress to steal Yuusaku’s virginity and thus preventing him from becoming a flag bearer.  I love the posture of the terrified Yuusaku!

However, Hiro’s plan has been found out by Hanazawa and he consulted with the leader of the 1st Division to assist him with resolving this unpatriotic and embarrassing issue.  Recall that Ogata was born as a result of Hanazawa being posted to Tokyo - this implies that he likely became good friends with the leader of the 1st Division during this time.

To prevent anyone from identifying Sugimoto, he’s the perfect substitute for Yuusaku and changes into Kikuta’s uniform.  He’s one of those guys who just has that look.  Sugimoto immediately thinks that since he’s been treated well by Kikuta, joining the military might be a good way to find security - in food.  However, we get a link of the cap to Kikuta and what appears to be his dying younger brother.

Kikuta looks so sad, like there is something unfortunate with Sugimoto’s statement of food.  We don’t get to see his expression, indicating he’s likely hiding his emotions from Sugimoto and instead tells Sugimoto he’s going to have to train him in food etiquette.

He’s presented with some Western cuisine, something that may blow his cover and something that Kikuta didn’t expect as he watches from a tree outside.  But again, due to his extreme luck, he’s able to use nervousness as an excuse and it gives him time to state his family his super traditional so they wouldn’t have eaten food like this.  When he’s removed the cap, Kaneko Kaeko is smitten with his handsome face. He can use his excuse as a way to have an out for not knowing how to eat that tasty ebi fry (why to I hear ‘ebi fry’ in Nyanko-sensei’s voice?).

As she explains the fancy places she’s dined at, Sugimoto thinks about how he was living off of cat food.  Cue another reason why he just hates on Ogata, since he was stealing food from Ogata’s people! 

The rest of the dinner goes well, and Kikuta checks in with him.  Meanwhile, our wealthy heiress is completely smitten with him!

As Sugimoto mulls over the idea of a somewhat arranged marriage as a negative he spills the beans about Toraji and Umeko.  And Kikuta isn’t having any of his bullshit.  I love how Kikuta points out how selfish and downright stupid Sugimoto is being in all of this.  Kikuta gives Sugimoto good advice - which he’s clearly still never followed.

He makes it clear that he’s got to give up on that hometown and move on.  Which will be completely ignored as Toraji will end up in the 1st Division with Sugimoto in the trenches.  I’m now wondering how Toraji and Sugimoto reconnected.  Hrrrmmmmm?  Is this something that Sugimoto encouraged and that’s why he has all of these unresolved emotions about Toraji’s death in the war?

The chapter reveals to us that Tsukishima’s love ended up marrying the cousin of Kaeko, making Tsukishima’s acceptance of her ‘death’ even more heartbreaking as he thought that Tsurumi had lied to him about her fate.  [weeps bitterly]. 

As Kikuta and Sugimoto discuss what appears to be Yuusaku’s lack of a free will, he’s told not to meddle in others concerns.  What does Sugimoto do? The man just can’t keep to himself and he goes and finds Yuusaku to confront him.  He wants to know if Yuusaku wants to be a flag bearer even though it is a death sentence.  How does that conversation go? Just how we’d expect with all of the information we know about Yuusaku.

I love how he’s like it isn’t to meet my father’s expectations!  It is because understand my father’s convictions and fight for my country.  Okay, you keep telling yourself that Yuusaku, but it still sounds like you are doing this for your father, you know tomay-to, tomah-to.  Sugimoto mulls over what Yuusaku would choose if given the choice.  I just sigh as we know enough about Yuusaku’s backstory that the man only does what his father says - with great conviction. All of our Ogata flashbacks have made this so clear, Yuusaku is a doomed man from the moment he entered the army.  Maybe even a doomed man from his birth even.  Perhaps, he’s acutely aware of this, but based on how freakkin’ awkward he’s with Ogata and his older brother actions, I continue to think he’s not the brightest bulb in the pack and can only be used as a patriotic pawn.

Yuusaku then becomes suspicious of Sugimoto’s line of inquiry and realizes that he’s got Kikuta’s cap.

Not sure how to respond, he runs away and we learn that Kikuta’s younger brother died of illness during the first Sino-Japanese war.   That same war that killed Koito’s older brother and that Tsurumi and Tsukishima fought in as well. With the statement of illness, I know what most likely killed Kikuta’s younger brother - malnutrition - specifically beri beri.  As the Japanese military rapidly modernized using European models, they ran into an issue with many soldiers and sailors dying of some sort of mysterious illness and it wasn’t something that impacted the Westerners at all.  Most of this has to do with the ability to eat white rice which was much more processed.  It made it more expensive, but was nutritionally bad for men who came from lower incomes or poverty.  Remember how stoked Asirpa was when she ate white rice all the way back at the herring fishery?  If anyone has read “House of Five Leaves” by Natsume Ono, you’d know the protagonist is a poor ronin and he falls ill due to beri beri.  The solution was to return to the countryside/hometown to eat a more diverse diet.  For a more detailed explanation of how bad this was for the Japanese military check out the video by Linfamy on youtube here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IzIBpFDRr5g

The video even highlights the fierce (and counterproductive) competition between the Army and Navy which has already been well defined through Koito’s backstory. The chapter ends with Sugimoto dropping the cap and the polite man who picks it up for him is Tsurumi with Ogata, Usami and Tsukishima in Tokyo. The plot thickens . . . somehow Sugimoto got mixed up in the business of the 27th and apparently Tokyo isn’t a vast city that you can get lost in and everyone knows everyone.  Like how I was on flight to Saskatoon and the man next to me started up a conversation how he was from Burlington and went to Guelph and my friend who I was going to visit was also from Burlington and went to Guelph it is a small world kinda moment and in agriculture.  I digress though.  Things are starting to pull back together but I’m still not 100% on with this plot direction/story arc.

[osomanga]

The Tragedy of Hanazawa Yuusaku

Yuusaku’s virginity and plots and schemes around it abound in this insanely stubborn family relentlessly...

At least in Asahikawa he thought he could relax from being the flag bearer of virginity and just do general fun brother things with his Anisama...

Eating, drinking....

Alas!

[daily-shimonohiro]

Feat. Hanazawa Kana for HitoKana/花澤香菜のひとりでできるかな?/Hanazawa Kana no Hitori de Dekiru Kana?/I wonder if Hanazawa Kana can do it alone, 2011.

[goldenkamuyhunting]

Hello hello! I LOVE your summaries and chapter & character analyses! I just wanted to ask...what is the significance of the bottom panel with little Ogata and his mom plus that text? Maybe I'm reading his expression wrong, but little Ogata seems to be looking lovingly at his mom (looks like a slight smile on his face)? It's interesting that this was shown near the final battle...

Sorry, I placed these three asks together because they deal with a similar topic.

Now, as I mentioned more than once I'm in the group that believes that Ogata is indeed feeling emotions like any human being but he's used to suppress them so that not only he often doesn't show them but he manages to keep his conscious side not even aware of them.

I've a by now ancient meta dealing with how characters in the story cope with guilt trying to suppress it, as this is a recurring theme through GK.

Noda seems to remark on how Ogata is so good at ignoring his guilt yet he's feeling it by giving to said guilt a manifestation in form of Ogata hallucinating Yuusaku.

Basically, unless we assume Yuusaku is a real wandering ghost tormenting Ogata, the fact Ogata keeps on hallucinating Yuusaku tells us he feels guilty, that murdering Yuusaku wasn't like stepping on a leaf for him, an act he did without thinking about it and forgot short after.

The memory of Yuusaku torments Ogata each time his psychological defences are at their weakest point, we see it happening when he was lying in a hospital after having been injuried by Sugimoto but also when in Karafuto he get feverish and, in this case, Yuusaku's image superimpose with Asirpa, creating in his mind a subconscious connection.

Later, in fact Yuusaku's hallucination will 'stop' him each time he'll try to shoot Asirpa.

We see something similar happening to Asirpa as well, as, when she consider killing Ostrog, she can't because she's reminded of when her arrow hit Ogata.

In Asirpa the whole thing is more natural as, although she too is prone to suppress negative emotions, she's not really doing it as much as Ogata, who's a lot more psychologically damaged than Asirpa will ever be.

Ogata has likely felt affection for his mother.

He remembers her, he dreams her as she sung him a lullaby, he used to love the anglerfish nabe she made, when he realized she was going insane, he tried to 'heal' her by providing her other things to cook.

When he lies about Sugimoto's last words in his mind he basically imagines Sugimoto's last minutes were what he wanted his father's last minutes to be, him thinking at his mother, him wanting to provide to her, him wanting to eat her anglerfish nabe again.

He had genuine attachment for his mother.

I don't know how he came up with the idea that, if she were to die, his father would finally come for her.

I know back then insane people weren't entrusted to a mental asylum but left in the family's 'care' the family either keeping trapped in a room that would work as a cell or disposing of them as discreetly as possible (a common way was to bring them to a trip on the mountains and 'forget' them there).

This social background could have influenced him but I don't know if we'll ever know why he came up with such an idea.

But that act likely impacted deeply on his psyche because Hanazawa never came and he lost his mother.

Possibly it's from that act Ogata learnt to bury guilt. So as not to feel pain for his own actions, for his own loss, he learnt to bury it, to disconnect from it and grew up with the idea he felt none when instead he continued to repress it... which is encouraged because Ogata becomes a soldier when he's really young and soldiers are actively encouraged and brainwashed into not feeling guilt for killing people.

And so Ogata ends up on meeting Yuusaku who latches on him like a lost puppy, without any care for how Ogata, as politely as he could, told him to let him be.

As far as Ogata knows, Yuusaku is the reason due to why Hanazawa stopped visiting his mother.

Ogata doesn't want to play the role of the 'Ani-sama' (兄様 "older brother") to the guy who, according to what he knows, caused his mother's abandonment... and Tsurumi feeds this feeling by suggesting if Yuusaku were out of the picture Hanazawa would love Ogata.

All this eventually leads to Yuusaku's demise, which, again, gives Ogata nothing. Hanazawa doesn't care for Ogata all the same. When Ogata goes and talk with him there's the implication his mother was already starting to lose her mind and that's why Hanazawa rejected her.

My speculation is Tome was a bit like Usami, obsessed with Hanazawa, thinking he would eventually dump his wife and marry her.

She, as far as we know, differently from Usami didn't get to the point she murdered someone to get Hanazawa, but he probably saw her obsession as insanity, he likely never planned to leave his wife, which is from the upper class, and marry a geisha and this is possibly why he left her, because she wouldn't content herself with being just his lover but had the 'insane' fantasy she could become more.

Anyway, while Ogata probably managed to bury deep enough the guilt for his mother's death, he just can't work out in the same way the guilt for Yuusaku's death, which haunts him even though he tries to deny it even to this day.

It's meaningful how in chap 253, when he tries to aim at Asirpa, he senses Yuusaku in the same way as he has sensed it in chap 246, when he was trying to aim at her again but, despite Ogata being usually intelligent, he doesn't manage to make the connection between those two happenings.

Actually in chap 253 the fact he got distracted by Yuusaku's presence even saved his life, yet he interprets it as Yuusaku's ghost trying to get in his way.

He lives in denial, his father, with his dying breath, cursed him so of course Yuusaku would be there to get in his way.

Either there's really a ghost in this story or Ogata is just not ready to accept he feels guilty.

And in all this mess he stumbles into Asirpa who we can see presents parallels with both his mother (she feeds him but she also loves someone who loves another) and Yuusaku.

And so at this point we've to wonder where Noda is going to lead him.

Since there was all this big build up between him and Asirpa, we can wonder if he'll face her again and this will force him to face the emotions he repressed for such a long time.

Will this cause him to be more open with his emotions and not suprress them? Will this cause him to accept he feels guilty? Will it make him cry? Will it make him show affection for someone again?

It's hard to say.

Unless Noda radically changed his plans, as I've said many times, I don't think he plans to kill Ogata... but this doesn't necessarily mean he'll make a 180° turn from how he is.

We've seen how Tsukishima tried to face what he kept inside... only to go back on square 1 and return on being a loyal Tsurumi follower.

We've seen Koito trying to be different... but then he let doubt catch him and he didn't dare to confront Tsurumi when he understood the latter knew they were there.

Changing is difficult.

We saw Shiraishi... slowly growing attached to Sugimoto and Asirpa to the point he went into the brewery despite the fire to save Sugimoto (and we've heard Boutarou saying through his whole permanence into the group how Shiraishi changed from how he was even though Shiraishi himself denied it).

Changing is possible... but it requires time... and, often, it requires help, a reason to do so. Shiraishi changed because he formed an emotional bond with Sugimoto and Asirpa due to the GOOD time they spent together. They had bad times as well, but the good ones just won.

So, back to Ogata... even if he finally were to face what he keeps inside... how much this would change him?

Hard to say but this is not a shonen so I doubt we'll have a drastical change in a short amount of time.

The story is ending, my guess, according to what Noda did, is Ogata isn't going to die but, all the bets are open on how he's going to live.

Tears when he were to face his buried feelings would be a good release of bottled up emotions but again, it depends on how he faces them. If he does it the bare minimum to realize he actually can feel guilt, we might not get them.

There's no time for him to develop emotional attachment/affection. Either he already has it, and he is in denial for it, or this is something that will require time. So it's a bit like a videogame. Will Noda unlock this event or not?

As Noda showed a flashback with his mother of whome we hadn't seen the face yet, I expect we'll get more about her... and possibly about his grandparents.

So yeah, we could get to see a more emotional Ogata, but it can also be this won't be the case... or Noda will save the best scenes for the volume version because sometimes Noda is like that.

Long story short, I've no idea what will be of Ogata beyond that I think that Noda won't kill him and that he has been building him up to have him face 'the ghosts of his pasts' and it's possible he's meant to do it while facing Asirpa but I think we should prepare ourselves for an interesting ride because Noda so far still seems to have plans for him.

We'll see... thank you all for your asks and sorry if I put them together!

[ttrust-no-one]

Bruhhh Kemono Jihen premieres in 5 days i'm so hypeddd!!!!!!??? Hot list of seiyuus!!!!! LET'S FUCKING GOOOO!!!

Shimono and suwabe were just in Maoujou de Oyasumi and now they're doing another series we're being spoiled eheheheh ☺️☺️☺️

[goldhhearts]

tags  your  honor  

[vagavagabond]

[riotanitnot]

I don't really like watching on going show. I can't afford the loneliness after the episode ended but I have to wait for a week to know what happen next. I prefer wait until the show end, so I can have a marathon of it.

I tried watching the first three episodes of Kimetsu no Yaiba, and it's really fun. I enjoy it. And I love the voice actors. Yet I can't watch anymore because it was still on going. So I decided to put on hold and wait till it' wrap up. I don't know though if it's end already.

Then while I was scrolling down the hashtag for Uchiyama Kouki, I found his pic on Kimetsu no Yaiba tv with Shimono Hiro and Matsuoka Yoshitsugu. What the heck? Is he seriusly on KnY?? That's what I thought.

So I checked on MyAnimeList. Here's for more of shocking news.

Look at the casts!!

The last time I followed the anime, it was Hanae Natsuki, Shimono Hiro, Kito Akari, Matsuoka Yoshitsugu, Kaji Yuki, and Kakuma Ai.

It's really cool to found so many actors that I love were added to the casts. No wonder it even more hype. I have to catch up with the story. And listen to my favorite voices a long the way.