#i miss osaragi

[ladybyakuya]

| HIGH IN LOW PLACES + shishiba, gaku , uzuki, shin.

+cw. — f!reader, explicit smut content, { s&d dynamics + s&m themes ,fellatio, forced orgasm + f!ngering ( shishiba ) , dry humping + thigh riding ( gaku ), hj + marking, ( uzuki ), kissing, m!oral + f!oral( shin ) }, headcanon + scenarios format canon typical themes and elements.

+wc. — 4k

+syn.— how do they generally spend their off day? Is it any different when you're with them?

+notes. — PART ONE. | redirect to blog navigation.

✦ shishiba.

The last time you saw Shishiba was months ago. When you are free from work, he is busy. When you are at work, he is busy. He is rarely free not that you misunderstand but it sure takes a toll on you, especially when you check in with Osaragi where he is she simply says she does not know which sounds more like “you don’t need to know.” Odd, right?

However, today he is here visiting you at your house. He is sitting on the small sofa as you do the chores. The curtains are reaching out for the room. Shishiba’s eyes are glued on you as you move from one place to another doing chores. He has not spoken a word since he arrived and the silence is creeping you out. The summer heat is unbearable and on top of that, you are sweating buckets because of his scrutinizing gaze. Why isn't he saying anything? Have you done something wrong?

Has Shishiba done something to offend you? He is here as he promised. For someone who lives a normal life and who is going to live a normal life as far as he is aware he is scared of you. He is scared because you make him restless. He can not ever fathom what goes on in your head. He can not read you like he can with others. So, you make him restless yet he waits for you: to blink back when he blinks; to nod back when he nods but today is rather peculiar from your perspective. He thinks you are angry. He feels you are upset. Is he compromised? Have you become a thing to be used against him when all he can give you is background presence in your life?

“Didn’t you miss me?” He finally asks. You halt in your steps, unable to look at him. The clothes in your hands are wrinkled under the tension of your palms.

“I did.” You start to put the clothes in the washing machine as you hear his voice again. It is in a lower tone than before.

“why not do anything about it?” You pause whatever you are doing and grace him with a glance. He is staring at you so intensely that it almost feels like he is starting into your naked body. Keeping up the eye contact he stretches his legs apart, letting his hands run on his trousers watching your eyes follow the movements as Shishiba taps on his thighs. Now, that's something new for the dull monotonous tune in your life. You could match this new rhythm that he is trying to invoke within you. You quietly follow him keeping up the fierce eye contact.

As you sit on his lap, curling one of your arms around his back Shishiba's hand swings towards your face. He squeezes your cheeks giving more pressure than is required forcing your mouth open. It hurts. It feels good too. He pushes his index finger into your mouth, watches you suck his finger, and then waits before he pushes another one. His other arm is by your belly which is holding you on one of his thighs is pressing onto your flesh. You feel him. You feel his touch: by the time he leaves in the morning while you will be waking up empty, he will not be a fever dream. He will leave marks on your body, little shreds of evidence all over your house. He is here with you, for you. How can you forget that?

“Let's see how much you missed me,” His voice rasps against your skin as he pushes his fingers inside your pussy slipping through your short pants. Why are you even wearing pants when he is visiting you? Your hand that is resting on his shoulders grips his dress suit tightly, a shocked gasp escaping from your chest. Maybe he got a little carried away but as your facial muscles start to relax his fingers start to move: in and out. The single sofa has limited the way you spread your legs so you move closer to his body gripping the collar of his white shirt with your other hand that was resting on the handrest of the sofa a while ago. “Looks like you missed me as much as me.” Shishiba huffs out. Oh god. he sure is chatty when not needed.

Actually, Shishiba only talks to throw off someone from their game but he can not do that to you. Even if he does, it backfires on him somehow. He does not want to be compromised any more than he already is. He is an assassin after all. He can not get under your skin. The territory of intimacy is limited just to skin and sex, not love and lust. His thick dextrous fingers have started to get impatient making your grip on his clothes tighter. Your chest has started to bottle the moans and mewls as your breathing gets uneven and erratic. You would love to kiss him now. You know you want it. He knows you want it to. why? because there is just a thread of gap between his mouth and yours. You are practically breathing into his mouth.

Shisiba feels your pussy walls clenching around his fingers as you arch your head back letting out a loud moan. It is a shame that Shishiba was not able to see how you looked as you moaned his name. He has rarely seen that face. Your 'cum-face'. You always seem to hide it behind the clouds of orgasmic high. Either you bury your face in the nook of his neck, or he has to fuck you in doggy style or prone bone. You never let him truly see you and forcing you has always backfired on him.

You the tip up your head wrapping his tie around your palm to pull him closer to your face and put your lips onto his, the tension at the bottom of your stomach getting stronger, and stronger and stronger. The moment you were about to peak he pushed you away breaking the kiss

There is nothing but a daze in your eyes, wetness over his trouser pants, and a superior sensation painted over his face. He saw you.

✦ gaku.

You are being unusually needy today. He has visited your place a couple of times yet the way you act makes Gaku wonder if someone is hiding in your house or not. Indeed, he informed you about his arrival and it took at least fifteen minutes for him to get to your house which is enough for you to let someone hide or someone could easily threaten you to that point. A welcome hug as well as a kiss, that is indeed the first time you have greeted him so well.

“Why is that door locked?”  Gaku points at the brown door of your bedroom.

“It's 'cause the A.C. is on you moron,” you say bonking his head lightly with the food packet you had in your grip. He watches you. You tilt your head and touch his forehead softly saying his name, “Gaku . . .” No! He does not have a fever but he is acting so indifferent today. 

But so are you. You are  . . . worried which is new for him. It has always been his job to worry, to worry about your safety. He knows your melting point much better than you do. He knows where to touch and when to taste you. 

“Gaku, what are you doing?" Your words escaped from your lips as he grazed his nose against your neck while his hands rested along your thighs with an inch of space. 

“What do you think?” his lips barely touch your skin as he retreats slowly from your body, leaving you surprised at his way with you today. But his hands are intact, fingers clamped at the edge of the kitchen counter as his eyes dart all over your confused face. “I saw you, on the other day,” he inches forward his nose nudging yours making you pull away, “So, I couldn't help it. I came to see you.” You try to contain your astonishment but judging from his slight curve at the corner of his lips, you let out a low gasp at his spite. You were so familiar with his ways. His Adam's apple moved as he noticed your parted lips and in an instant, his sturdy hands pulled you closer to his chest making you sharply gasp, your arms resting on his shoulders. 

The eye contact lasted mere a few seconds before he started to place violent wet kisses along your nape. You try to give him the space, the food he so hungrily searches but it is not enough. “Gaku” you gasp feeling his fingers against your pussy lips. You hear him smile agsint your lips. He is pleased because you are not wearing any pants. Aren’t you a sweet little thing? Always so prepared and ready for him. Indeed, he does not have to coax you for sex and intimacy but he feels a little bit of pity for you; the way you seek him even when he is here with you. 

It seems that he has missed you so much that he is impatient and desperate. That’s why the indifference. That’s why the question . . . he keeps rubbing your clit, occasionally pinching it making you squeal against his neck while working his lips around your neck, collar bones. His other hand travels under your top grabbing one of your boobs at first and then pinching your nipple. You return the favor by biting on his skin. The push and pull of pressing each other’s pressure points, finding each other’s melting point goes on until Gaku starts to feel a strain in his pants. He breaks the kiss leaving you gasping. He looks around and finds a stool set against the cabinet. He carries you in his arms but of course still focused on your lips, working his tongue into your mouth. He makes you sit on his thigh. Thank God, he came here wearing boxers and a t-shirt. 

You have already started to move back and fro. At this point, he is not even guiding you. You are moving your hips on your own. His hand is around your waist, it is just there so that you do not lose your balance.

“There.There.” He coos. “You’re almost there.” It is so frustrating sometimes how well he knows you, how used to he is with your body. You do not bother if Kumanomi is the reason behind this confidence. You just wanna feel good, chase this euphoric high till you grasp it. His hands roam under your clothing squeezing here and there, pinching your nipples as you quicken the pace to the peak. It is kind of exhilarating to watch someone, someone he likes, desperately chase orgasm and cum so hard. 

Gaku gives you the time to calm down, reach the ground state, and get back your natural pattern of breathing. The way your sweaty chest heaves turns him on all the more. The top you are wearing has started to stick to your skin here and there.

“My turn.” Gaku pulls your other leg into his lap, making you sit properly on his lap this time. He eyes you to undo his pants. Getting the cue, as soon as you work your hands to unzip his pants he groans loudly. The strain in his pants hurts a little less. He is sure you will help him to relieve the pain.

✦ kei uzuki.

Uzuki did not mean this to happen when he decided to grace you with a visit. It was supposed to be his off day. He was just wandering in your neighborhood and now he is in your drawing room fighting for his dear life as you jerk him off. Had you not chosen to turn on the dim light of your drawing room he would have drowned in shame, because he doubts he would be able to look at you or maintain proper eye contact during normal conversation after you have seen him like this: vulnerable and desperate like a hungry lion pup.

His navel rises and falls at an irregular pace yet so quickly that Kei fails to sneak a glance at you in between his ragged intake of breaths. At this point, how he is panting for air does not make it at par with his body’s necessities. At this point, even if he were to open his eyes he would see you all blurred. But Kei still desires to take a glimpse of you as your calloused fingers are wrapped and busy working on his throbbing cock.  

With each passing moment, he tends to feel his hands lesser and lesser . . . which are resting at the edge of the cabinet; they are starting to feel numb; his fingertips hurt from gripping the wooden surface so hard; maybe by the time he cums, his nail marks will be the only evidence that he was here. 

He partly opens his eyes only to focus on your luscious lips which seem confident, it would be delightful to taste a little, wouldn’t it? Though his vision is all hazy Kei glances at his member finding the tip glistening in pre-cum, at least he thinks so, he feels so.  

“You’re close, Kei. . can you feel it?” and he is forced to shut his eyes out, cease his breathing at the tickle of your voice through his ears embarrassment gushing in his veins. He could practically feel his ears burn, so hot that it hurt, it itches. His right hand flies around your nape earning him a bonus point, and a soft squeal from you. He is brave enough to think you moaned under his touch but not brave enough to open his eyes and cherish the look on your face rather he is thinking. . . thinking how he loves the feeling of his long sturdy fingers perfectly fitting in between your painted ones while he is balls deep inside you hitting your sweet spot with slow strong thrusts, just like you want; the kind that makes you see stars. He needs to interlace his fingers with yours every time he is inside you. He thinks it makes him cum more by doing so, well, quantitatively.  

But when you wrap those pretty fingers around his cock he could almost feel a quick trip of heaven and back. Visions clouding, his grip around your nape growing stronger with each thrust of your hand, his lips being punished by his fierce teeth, those very teeth that have marked you in the most intimate parts— in between your thighs, inner side of the wrist, on your nipples and sometimes on your waistline.  Kei tries to pull you a little closer so that he can bury his face in the nook of your neck thinking of leaving bruises on your neckline than on his lips. You just stop the pace so suddenly that he gasps loudly, pulling you closer as a course of reaction. 

You chuckle as he watches you closely, through the strands of his hair. His lips latch onto your neckline sucking fiercely as if he were to suck the life out of you, followed by squelching noises and his rough, unrefined moans.  ‘Fuck, he is—he is gonna leave marks...’, you tense up and start to pump his cock again. 

This time with slow and full yet strong thrusts. You feel his teeth graze lightly, almost a feather touch.  “Kei, don’t leave marks.”, you remind him; your voice soft enough that he pulls away making you regret your words instantly.   

“do-don't worry. I won't.”, his hot breath hitting your ear-lobe, sending shivers down your spine.  Kei won't since he wants to feel his euphoric high a little longer; He feels his orgasm approaching, his inner thighs quivering, and he bucks his hips up. He could feel the rope of self-control tugging, going tight, and waiting for it to snap rather than sever it by himself. The urge to kiss your lips seemed to overpower the prior, so much so that it might just snap yet he did not want to leave the sight of your pretty hand, refined and polished fingers nails thinking maybe, someday, just maybe he would see a diamond sparkling on your ring finger bearing his name as you give him a slice of heaven, just like how you're doing it now.

✦ shin asakura.

There is never an off day for someone who works at a convenience store but it sure a little less busy during afternoons like these. Sakamoto is probably playing with Hana as Aoi tells him about the customers she attained during her shift. Lu is taking a nap. Thanks to the rotation of shifts Shin gets to laze around a little during his afternoon shifts. He never forgets to let you know beforehand This is how it has always been. The peace of this humid afternoon during summer is surely draining, not to mention mind-wrecking at times when you fail to show up on certain days. Shin understands that; he understands how busy life can be but still can not help but miss you. The rotating table fan is creaking, the fan blades are making noise as it exhausts itself to its sole purpose yet can not be at par with the heat in the air. It is not just summer that is making Shin sweat buckets. You are a contributing stimulant too. Besides, he can endure the sweat as well as heat if you keep working on his cock like that, lips wrapping around his member as you sit under the desk of the cash counter while he sits on the chair, legs spread wide apart from each other. 

You pleasuring him like this on afternoons has become a bad habit of his even though it is occasional. He wants to return the favor sometimes too but you do not let him do that. Why? because he often imagines eating you out by making you sit on the cash counter. He thinks about it way too much to let it slide as a wet dream or even as a ridiculous whim of a loverboy. But now his mind is filled with the sole thought of you sucking his cock. You are just so good at this. He is a little bit jealous of how pleasurable you make him feel, which makes him wonder about how you are so good at this.   

“Hurry up,” Shin pants as you lick and kiss his tip occasionally sucking the flushed leaky tip. 

“Someone might come.” 

No one will come, at least not any customer.  No one ever visits during this time not as long as you are blowing him, not until you walk out of the shop because when you enter the shop you flip the sign board. No! Shin does not need to know this. If he does, he will definitely stop texting you, will not ask you anymore to meet him, and will say things like, “No. no. I'm busy babe.” or “Today? today the store is packed.”   So, you do as he asks. 

Watching you swallow up to the base of his cock into your mouth he is forced to close his eyes. He will have wet dreams if he keeps watching you like that. Your head moves up and down, to the base from the tip in a slow motion. His tummy starts to twitch, breathing becomes uneven you quicken your pace. You start to suck hard and faster making him tip his head backward, hands clamping on the edge of his seat clenching harder as he comes undone followed by a gasp. 

His cum is still in your mouth when he looks at you still catching his breath. You wipe your lips off after swallowing his seed to say, “You're always in a hurry.”  

OH NO! Here it comes.  “maybe I should just move in with you,” you lie. You know that he can read your mind, but you still lie because you've always wanted to know if he uses that against you or not. 

“Why?” He puts his cock into his slacks.  “why are you saying that?”  

“I don't know. ” Shin holds your arm dragging you near the counter. It's as if you want him to read your mind.

 “I wanted you to hurry ‘cause — he cages you as you lean back, against the counter after he drags the chair to take a seat. “because I wanted to do this.” He cups your entrance making you inhale a sharp intake of breath. You sit on the counter as he spreads your legs apart; he holds one of your legs near his shoulders to lick against your calf muscle. “you wouldn't hurry if I just told you so,”  Shin leaves kisses over your calf muscle in an agonizingly slow pace. “Sakamoto-san has gone to an arcade. Lu had gone to visit her family.” Wait. What?  “And I? Shin pushes aside licking your dripping arousal off your skin. It tastes like salt and weed. “I am alone with you inside a locked store” with a smirk.” Shin then proceeds to hook his arms around your inner thighs spreading them apart to bury his face in between your legs. At first, you watch him give you quick licks by using only the tip of his tongue but as you get a little comfortable, rest your legs on his shoulders, comb through the hair strands that were falling on his face ticking you as well as hindering him to taste your pussy, Shin starts to lap against your entrance using all of his tongue.  Come to think of it, this is the first time he is going down on you. He feels so good though seems skittish. When did he get so good?

networks : @interstellar-inn + @underratedcharactercorner

[akkivee]

naughty busters drama track: youthful riot summary

i’m not good enough to give a line by line tl of the track but i tried to make it as comprehensive as i could without it. you can listen to it here but if you can buy dawn of divisions vol 3, please do!!!! cdjapan has it in stock still!!!!

———

the drama track opens up with the end of otome’s coup speech and ichiro watching the televised event.

otome: instead of foolish, warmongering men, women will be the ones to give the world a fresh start!!

ichiro: whoever just became our leader better be powerful because nothing is going to change for us.

time passes, and ichiro’s just gotten done with his tasks of the day. he figures he might as well go home when he hears footsteps approaching.

kuukou: found ya, ichiro!!

ichiro: oh kuukou!! what’s up??

kuukou asks him if he’s seen the news and upon ichiro’s confirmation, he tells him he should know what these are and tosses him a mic. ichiro’s surprised, and kuukou explains as soon as he saw the power the mics had from the televised coup, he knew he had to give it a try and signed them both up for their mics. it’s then ichiro recalls that these are the hypnosis mics and kuukou demands they give them a whirl, to which ichiro agrees to do tho he sounds a startled by the sudden activity.

kuukou gives a self-introductory rap but when the blow lands on ichiro, ichiro comments it’s a little underwhelming and kuukou wonders how to get the output of power he’s seen. kuukou tells ichiro he’s up next and ichiro delivers his own introductory rap that similarly feels weak. ichiro speculates rapping skill may have an impact on their power so kuukou suggest they better get to practicing then!! agreeing, ichiro says that they need to get good with the mics as fast as they can because this will be the newest weapon everyone will get their hands on. kuukou sees his point and says and they need to stay ahead of the game, which is exactly what ichiro was thinking so they better get on it he exclaims!!!

—————————

we flash forward and training is done. kuukou suddenly started chuckling to himself and ichiro asks him what’s he laughing at. kuukou’s feeling good about how hard their rap training was, ichiro’s lyrics were strong and just about knocked him unconscious!!! ichiro asks if getting knocked out was really something to laugh about and kuukou tells him something along the lines of, “one should buy a lot of hardships.” well, ichiro does see benefits of their training and kuukou tells him soon they’ll both be knocking fools out together, to which cracks ichiro up a little.

ichiro suddenly gets a phone call. he answers the phone and after a brief conversation, states that he’ll be there shortly. kuukou asks him where he’s going and ichiro replies he’s been called in by mozuku.

kuukou: ah the corrupt priest huh…. guess that’s where we’re headed to next.

ichiro: it’s not like you have to follow me.

kuukou: stuuuupid. ain’t this something about your job?? what kinda partner would i be if i left you to do all the work alone?? so let’s go man.

and as kuukou walks away, ichiro pauses and quietly laughs to himself before following after kuukou.

—————————

the next scene, ichiro walks in mozuku’s office, followed shortly by kuukou.

mozuku is pleasantly surprised to see kuukou, as it’s been awhile, and asks if he’s here because he’s missed him. kuukou lets him know he’s the last person he wants to see. laughingly, mozuku says he’s so cold to him.

ichiro steers the conversation back to why mozuku asked him to come in. mozuku tells him he’s requiring a bodyguard service. for himself?? no, for a man who goes by the name osaragi, an investor known for evading taxes. kuukou asks if that’s the kind of guy that they’re guarding and mozuku confirms.

mozuku: do you remember tomabechi zakuro?

tomabechi zakuro, leader of the group Extortion, was the man who terrorised unami and her sister from dhbat manga chapter 12

apparently his right hand man, teshigawara, is after him. ichiro’s familiar with him, he’s the one who stepped up to take over the group after they helped put tomabechi in jail. kuukou asks why he’s after him and apparently he took off with all their money made in their name and left behind a wake of territorial disputes as well.

kuukou scoffs, that’s boring as shit.

mozuku: boring as it may be, i will be paying handsomely.

mozuku again tells ichiro to bodyguard this man and he’ll be sure to provide extra reinforcements.

grimly, ichiro accepts the job.

—————————

we next cut to our boys arriving at their rendezvous point, a business by the name of ‘Lounge.’

kuukou: tf kinda shop is ‘Lounge?’

ichiro: i’m not too sure either, but apparently you buy drinks and get to talk to women.

kuukou: *gives the most exasperated sigh* people really spend their money on this?? that’s so stupid.

ichiro comments to never mind what people spend their money on and they enter the shop.

once inside, they find a man laughing uproariously. ichiro hesitantly asks if he’s osaragi and introduces themselves as his bodyguards mozuku assigned to him. osaragi grumbles at the fact they’re just a bunch of kids and wonders if they’re capable at all. ichiro audibly reels in some anger and affirms that they can. well, as long as they don’t fck up, the money is his and osaragi commands them to stand off to the side so they don’t kill his drinking vibe.

they step away and kuukou swears at osaragi under his breath, calling him a pig. ichiro feels that and let’s kuukou know it’s fine if he’s not up to it and can go home. kuukou again chides ichiro, saying a partner is supposed to always stand by his side. besides, he’s looking forward to beating up some small fries.

kuukou: so i’m not leaving

ichiro: *chuckles* well, i’m glad you have my back, aibou-san

kuukou: *softly laughs* that’s right, just leave it to me!!

the moment is ruined when osaragi beckons them over like they’re his pets. very disgruntled, the two approach osaragi, who asks them if they drink tequila. kuukou firmly tells him he does not. osaragi insists tho, they can drink and do whatever they want to the women here, since they all owe him money. osaragi passes kuukou a glass imploringly, but kuukou, in a fit of anger, takes the glass, repeats he’s not drinking and makes to make a mess—

but ichiro stops him.

osaragi sneers at them, and ichiro declines for them, saying they’re here to bodyguard him, not to play around. osasari groans that they’re so uptight and sends them back to their spot since they’re making his drinks taste bad.

kuukou is ready beat the stuffing out of a pig.

ichiro quickly tells kuukou to calm down, they just gotta put up with him for the night. not mollified but putting it aside, kuukou brings up how those girls are under his command due to their debt to him. ichiro’s concerned about them too, but they can’t make any moves that might put their situation at risk. the girls need to be the ones to ask for help. kuukou concedes with a sigh, saying that’s a rather adult way to look at it. ichiro denies this; he’s only able to come to that conclusion because of his experience in this line of work.

if something goes wrong and he’s blamed for it, ichiro would feel like crap. kuukou hums in thought.

the doors suddenly burst open and a man demands to know where osaragi is. osaragi is in a panic and yells at ichiro and kuukou to protect him. they step up, itching for a fight and to their surprise, it’s teshigawara. they asked what happened to the men stationed outside and teshigawara and his men laugh, saying they made for some good punching bags. ichiro doesn’t understand how they took out so many of them and teshigawara reveals his hand:

he has a hypnosis mic.

so that’s what it was, ichiro muses, and their men hadn’t picked up mics yet. teshigawara is confident they have the upper hand here and tells them no amount of grovelling will save them if they get in their way. is that a threat, ichiro asks but it’s the opposite really. teshigawara feels thankful to them for getting him to the top of extortion, so he’s offering them a way out.

kuukou chuckles and asks ichiro what he’d like to do and ichiro answers they’ll make their own way out.

they take out their mics, much to teshigawara’s surprise, and spit bars about climbing to the top as a diss to teshigawara hand me down position.

their rap sends them flying!!!!

both ichiro and kuukou taunt their fallen enemies and it’s then osaragi shows himself, surprised the brats completed the job but pleased. kuukou scoffs at him and ichiro, job complete, excuses them from them scene.

but osaragi stops them from leaving, and demands they stay on as his bodyguards. he thinks they’re very well suited for this kind of work and offers to pay three times as much as mozuku’s offer. ichiro refuses and makes to leave again, but osaragi instantly knocks the price up to ten times the amount!!!! and offers up the number one hostess of the joint!!!! and they can have their pick of any of women he has under his control, repeating they can do whatever they want with them.

kuukou walks up to the lady osaragi is presenting to them, and tells her,

kuukou: hey miss. if you always hold your tongue, then nobody will ever understand what you need.

hostess: …………..please help me.

kuukou huffs, satisfied.

kuukou: ya hear that, ichiro-san??

ichiro: loud and clear. osaragi-san?

osaragi: so we have a deal??

ichiro punches the living daylights out of him. no they do not.

kuukou teases him, like whatever happened to not interfering where they aren’t welcome?? ichiro quips back that times change which draws out kuukou’s gremlin laugh, oh is that so??

ichiro lets out a deep sigh and says it’s time to go home.

as they set out, it strikes kuukou that they should make a team name for themselves.

ichiro: is it really that important??

kuukou: stuuuupid of course it is!!!! it gives proof that it existed.

ichiro: *pouty* well in that case, go ahead.

kuukou: but what would be a good team name……?? well, since ichiro’s suuuch a rebel, why don’t we go with “naughty monks”?

ichiro: that has nothing to do with me at all???

kuukou: you don’t think so?? then how about—

—————————

the scene changes for the final time and a man is on the run. he very quickly runs into a dead end tho, and, exhausted, turns to reckon with his fate.

kuukou: *laughs* i gotta admit you’ve got some big balls to be acting up in our territory!!!!

man: who……. who the fck are you guys?????

ichiro: we’re ‘naughty busters’, asshole!!!!

[shinrakotls]

#SAKAMOTODAYS155leaks

“Free for All”

{Apologies for not providing text TLs for past few weeks as there were no sources available. This week I got one}

{It seems there are only 13 pgs for Sakamoto Days this week}

Pg.1

Sakamoto (thinking): Don't die, Shin... Sakamoto: No, he'll be fine. After all, he has psychic powers.

Pg.2

Shin (thinking): Ack!! I can't use my psychic abilities right now!! Narration: The esper (or clairvoyant), Shin, is unable to use his psychic abilities due to effects of the explosion that occured! Haruma: What happened to that power you showed just now? *Haruma threw a stone slab from the ground to Shin* Shin, while jumping aside to dodge: UOOAAHHH!!!

Pg.3

Haruma: That scream was splendid! Shin: Crap... *Shishiba suddenly stomps in, grabs Shin by his collar and carries him away to safety. Thank you Shishiba san!* Shin: Urk!! Shishiba: You aren't moving properly. Are you injured? Shin: No, but thank you for saving me. Shin (thinking): I'm such a burden... *A small panel showing Kumanomi's gloves as she does her coil gun move? Doesn't she have other moves aside from that one lol*

Pg.4

*Shishiba blocks Kumanomi's attack with his hammer* Shishiba: Tch. Shishiba: You're such an attention-seeker... {I think Shishiba mocks her for being like a needy person who's dying for people's attention} *Once more, Kumanomi prepares to launch another coil gun move towards Shishiba and Shin* Shishiba: If all you do is keep running away (/dodging), then you'll never make it. Shishiba: Follow me, I'll cover you.

Pg.5

*Kumanomi jumps and attracts some metal pipings from ceiling* Shishiba: There's that magnetism! Those are gonna come flying at us. Shin (thinking): Everything's gonna be okay. I've become stronger! I don't need to rely on my psychic powers... *I can't tell if the metal pipe hits Shin or if he manage to dodge that one just in time* Shishiba, suddenly having an inner monologue of Osaragi: Osaragi.. You're so zoned out that I usually have no idea what you're thinking. You're very greedy with food and sometimes you're impolite. Shishiba (thinking of Osaragi): At the very beginning, I wondered why someone like you even became my subordinate.

Pg.6

Shishiba (thinking of Osaragi): But she's really great. Right now, I wonder where she's at? Narration: After seeing a ghost, Osaragi got so scared that she locked herself up in the restroom. Haruma: Now, the finale... Shin (thinking): How do I fight in a situation like this..? Shin: !

Pg.7

*Haruma jumps and prepares to spike* Shin, shocked: Li.. Line! You stepped on the line!! *Haruma opens an eye* Haruma: !! *Shin manages to step aside in time and dodge Haruma's powerful spike* Shin: Tch!

Pg.8

Haruma (thinking): Shit, what did I do? I stepped on the line and I missed a great serve. Haruma: Now my leg is stiff... Haruma: ! *Shishiba suddenly moves forward and swings his hammer to Haruma's face which sends him flying back* Shishiba, to Shin: Good job! Shin (thinking): I'm glad I watched the Volleyball World Cup with Heisuke~~

Pg.9

Kumanomi: Haruma! You gotta stop mixing up sports and killing! You're stronger if you fight normally! Haruma: ..... Haruma: Hm? Haruma: I feel like I've seen you before, but where...? Shin: Huh? Haruma: Where did you grow up in during your childhood? Shin: Where..? Well, I..

Pg.10

*Carolina Reaper suddenly lands behind Shin and startled him*

Pg.11

Carolina Reaper: Found ya. How dare you take my little brother... {Kanji was little brother but furigana says Club Jam} *Carolina Reaper shoots breath of fire* Shin (thinking): There's more of them?! *Carolina Reaper prepares to attack Shin again*

Pg.12 & 13 (double spread)

*Amane suddenly shows up from above them and slashes Carolina Reaper in the back using his four-sectioned staff weapon! YES, AMANE IS HERE HE'S NOT LOST ANYMORE!* Carolina Reaper: ...!!! Kumanomi: They just keep coming... Haruma: This is great!! The match is getting heated! We should line up! Shin: Amane! Amane: Sorry to keep you guys waiting.

[ivorypool]

Leah Raeder, Black Iris // Heavens to Betsy, "Me and Her" // Mountain Goats, "Game Shows Touch Our Lives" // Be your own pet, "Becky" // juanabrvo, i had a friend once // Talulah Gosh, "My Best Friend" // Nerd Girl, "Hate Me" // ritika jyala // Countess of Winchilsea Anne Finch, Friendship between Ephelia and Ardelia // Donald Justice, On Death of Friends in Childhood // Kaguya-sama: Love is War Chapters 231-233

[nanakah]

Miko Iino's Justice and growth: Ishigami's role

Hello, hello! It's no secret at this point I sincerely love Kaguya-sama and Ishimiko - the story itself and the ship/those two characters in particular - and I don't even need an excuse to start my essays anymore.

I just have no shame and miss the livejournal ship manifesto culture (both the canon ones and the crack ones people had really good arguments for. Please bring those back. In this case though, I'm being totally canon compliant.) This is the kind of series with a lot of love and care into its creation, so I'm always up to advocate for its strengths.

After discussing Ishigami's character development and how/why Miko can elevate it, it's only fair I reiterate that he is just as needed for Miko-chan's story to truly shine.

Aka loves character pairs that are cut from the same cloth so to say and for personal, environmental and other circumstantial reasons, go about their ideals in different ways as they live - just as he likes infusing them with "real" - positive, ugly, simple - feelings to make them unique and allow them to choose their own path. Much like he says Kaguya and Shirogane are made from a same template that each developed into their own thing as the story progressed - so are Miko and Ishigami.

Both of them share an innate idealism and intolerance to unfairness. While Ishigami manifests it differently and appears to "reject rules", early on in the story he is just as preachy as Miko is and constantly complaining that society, values and morals are corrupted. He initially jumps to conclusions and to the worst outcomes possible when minimally prompted to, being just as "delusional" as Miko was. (And the deliciously ironic part is that Osaragi doesn't realize most of this, despite knowing that Ishigami and Miko are similar. She views him through an idealistic lens due to knowing his best qualities, but fails to recognize he was also immature and in the wrong).

Both are introduced into the story as foils to the Stuco trio and wanting to quit the council once that environment forces them to confront their own shortcomings and failing to understand the dynamics around them. Both are introspective, anxious and demonstrate a genuine fear of people. And while you'd think Ishigami is the "emo" character, Miko is the one with the darkest/ most depressive remarks throughout the story.

The most unique aspect of Miko Iino's love story is how it serves not as an end to her arc, but a means for her to overcome her childish sense of superiority that kept her from ever truly connecting with people, and thus being unable to properly fight for Justice. It's a crime to see people dismissing it as cliche without trying to see things from this angle.

And if someone were to ask "But why Ishigami?", besides them looking the cutest couple ever being a satisfactory enough answer, I can give my own two cents on that too.

"Sutera" - Stella. Not only a flower reference, but also an analogy to stars. It's written exactly the same as the katakana for the latin for star, which is due to Bacopa's scientific name being a reference to its five pointed petals. Miko wrote a poem about stars during the story and she's also juxtaposed more than once to Tsubame, which was "the sun". The sun is too bright to look directly at and you get burned up close, the stars light up the night and are gentle on the eyes. Stars have their own light all the same. I'll bet fifty bucks this will come up as a metaphor in the future.

(And I'm going FULL META(L ALCHEMIST) here, but Aka likes this sort of thing: take as evidence of this a collab doujin one shot of his called "早い話がいくつか - Hayai Hanashi ga Ikutsuka". It was published before he even had the Akasaka pen name. One of the stories features a boy and a girl walking along a beach shore at sunset and he's apparently upset because he's been rejected by another girl he "set his sights too high for ". The girl is smoking a cigarette and he asks if it tastes good. She says if he starts smoking to get over an unrequited love, he'll never be able to quit (implying she has such a love). Girl tells him there are as many girls out there as stars in the sky, the guy says that's pointless because he can't reach for the stars anyway. The girl tackles him, gets on TOP of him and says "There's a star within your reach", that he doesn't ~realize~ but it's "right there" and that this star might spread itself out before him. At the same time, the sun sets and the sky becomes starlit - the guy doesn't get it yet, though, and wonders if that's true. I COULDN'T BE MAKING THIS STUFF UP EVEN IF I WANTED TO LOL.)

Miko's unshakeable will, kindness and convictions feel relatable to Ishigami because of her shortcomings and failures, as I've said in his analysis, and they are the key to helping him become a more confident version of himself that can find bravery and pride in his ideals instead of shame.

Conversely, Ishigami's crushing insecurity also accompanies important virtues: in particular, his empathy, observational skills (he's unironically called the love master by Chika and Shirogane) and, above all, self-awareness. While Ishigami doesn't utilize this favorably at first (if anything for his first two volumes he had next to none lol and the embarassments made him vastly improve), his biggest difference from Miko is that he was able to seek change for himself and is quicker to admit when he's in the wrong. His problem regarding that is being too harsh on himself, but surrounding himself with people who care for him is slowly changing that.

Even if it took people reaching out to him along the way - Miko, Miyuki, Kaguya; he was never super resistant to change, nor actively avoided it. He is the one that chose to enter the cheer club simply because he thought he "should try it for himself". Miko at the beginning of the story would never have been able to do something like this. But now, because she's humbled herself down to accept people's help in particular due to how unfruitful her attempts of becoming part of the student council since childhood had been and also her "failure" in earning Ishigami's attention through destructive behaviors or being a tsundere, she can currently do things like making amends with Osaragi despite it trampling her sense of right and wrong, or even concede playing games instead of studying can be adequate and can be fun.

rip Ishigami, we know you tried speedrunning her arc but at that point it was Too Soon. But don't feel bad, she tried speedrunning yours at the sport's festival too and got rickrolled by Chika and Prez, thus triggering the Senpai Flag. At least you haven't had to deal with a rival for her love yet (jk jk, I'd rather not get one at all).

Also do note the subtle but absolutely PRESENT usage up there of Ishigami's "covered eye" in that panel. It tries to pass off as a gag, but Miko is probably the most frequent instance of us seeing that eye of his - symbolizing how deeply tied to him overcoming his insecurities she is and how there are still things about her he hasn't decided to face as of now.

It also must be said that Ishigami has always been able to see Miko for who she is at heart despite her shortcomings and immaturity, and that's why he's able to support her with no reward. He isn't one to judge good people for messing up if their intentions are good. He also doesn't agree with Miko's methods, but doesn't disregard her efforts or her love for rules like everyone else ("It's fine if you want to be strict").

As Osaragi puts it: "Anyone who has known you (Miko) long enough should be able to see your good points". (Coming from Koba, who says she can relate to Ishigami.) When they played the "operation friendship" game, Ishigami had a list of compliments about her ready on the fly. Over a hundred chapters later, he's seen and experienced even better sides of her persona.

...And that admiration and "watch habit" of his are supported by the narrative. The page above doesn't simply imply "I saw her once or twice, I know of her". It conveys watching someone closely over a larger spam of time and feeling their pain. On several occasions, smaller stuff about her even. I like this "I'll get someone to vote for me this time" panel of Miko in the manga better because it feels heart wrenching to see her sad, empty eyes because of the constant bullying.

Aka's love for parallels is almost as great as my other beloved authors', CLAMP. lol There are many, many of them in the manga which I love spotting, and Miko and Ishigami's first meeting is no different - but unlike how tired she looks in the election flashback, here she looks bright and optimistic, as Ishigami even in his outward cynicism, wanted to listen to her:

Aw man, I'd want to give her a flower, too.

Ishigami, like Kaguya, doesn't actually consider himself to be kind. When Tsubame says that his name suits him ("優 - kind/gentle ") when he's watching out for the drunk Miko after the xmas party, he says he just follows the good examples surrounding him.

His fear of others and belief he's not "made for" kindness is what connects him to Kaguya and, quite literally, makes him the Kaguya to Miko's Shirogane. He doesn't yet realize the admiration of kindness is enough to speak of his own goodness of heart, but because he thought it was so unlike himself ("loser dude that can't impact anyone or amount to anything"), he can't help admiring Miko's stance because deep down he likes her same ideals - and he does go an extra mile for Miko, as noticed by people around them. Because he's seen her sincerity and conviction, her smile and the purity of her wish (nothing like wanting power or recognition), it feels all the more horrible to see her make such a desperate face like in the election flashbacks.

The fun and connection in that is as I say - Miko is both weaker and stronger than everyone thinks. Osaragi concludes on the dual confessions arc that her being overprotective of Miko was holding back her growth. Ishigami is also confronted with this concept during the election - I don't think he actually intended to rile Miko up to stand up to Shirogane. He wanted to support her in a roundabout way by having a crushing defeat, but the fact she could take Shirogane's hand and deliver a speech that actually touched people was better than what he could have ever dreamed of. We don't even get to see his expression as the showdown happens, but we do get to see his eyes never leave her afterwards until making sure noone is approaching to hurt her: and IMO, sappy as it sounds, that's how "Miko can't be laughed at" becomes "I want to make Miko smile". He's often smiling to himself or other people that want his genuine opinion on it how she's a hard worker and how her smile (and that vague answer of his in that scene gives the impression he's glad she's smiling, not "everyone") suits her more than her frown of playing the rules too straight.

The election was the first time we ever saw Ishigami put effort into anything: it's important to him - Miko was already important to him, no matter the flavor of love we want to call it. However, he was still challenged in his ways in the sense that he underestimated Miko's strength - she could actually stand up and fight back, as long as she had a little push. If he were to just support her from the shadows she won't be laughed at - but to make her smile and to see Miko's smile he has to take action himself. He has to allow her to experience the risks and wounds that come with supporting, but not overly protecting her.

Not only that, Ishigami has a meta moment in which he comments to Shirogane a campaign speech is important because you can't "just have accomplishments, you gotta get your credit where it's due for people to appreciate it" - and the same goes for his relationship with Miko. Both of them want to do a lot for each other, and both of them were naive to think it's not noble to be upfront about it or expect appreciation. They were literally the biggest hurdles to themselves becoming closer much, much earlier. And Osaragi's judgment of the situation is hilariously too meta - she knows too much about what both have done for each other, so of course it's easy for her to say "they've always been a good couple but Miko dropped the ball" because of how much info she had - but allowed herself to be a bad friend by not sharing. She genuinely demonstrates care for Miko at times, but is not the kind of genuine friendship Miko needs - bless Onodera.

Ishigami was worried about Miko for the bonfire patrol, but didn't (or couldn't lol) stop her from going or doing it. And when the bonfire happened, despite it being a time he could have stared longingly at his former crush all night or spent looking for an opening to confess, he seriously walked all around the party taking pictures of people...just for her, completely unprompted.

And looking back on the Dual confessions arc, I am fully hoping and expecting for Ishigami to really open his eyes to all times his relationship to Miko was Weird.

Afterparty: "I can't really chase everyone off and keep her (senpai) to myself! Welp I failed time to take this lost keychain right now to Iino and take some bonfire pics"

Earlier that day: *smacks Miko with rolled up newspaper, confronts two dudes for TALKING to her and glares daggers at them*

pspspsps, have you ever realized the reason Miko considers walking around with those festival guys was indeed to get Ishigami's attention? It's the very same chapter where she hears he "confessed" to Tsubame and looks visibly Bothered by it. During Xmas she also let's the Cheer club guy with Pikachu cheeks hit on her because she could tell Ishigami was watching them, her eyes were gauging Ishigami's reactions the whole time.

A big theme of Miko is that she needs to reconnect with her emotions and accept her needs for what they are. She loves hugging and loves the concept of love, but she advocated for a 50 cm distance between boys and girls/relationship ban. She clearly has repressed libido and catches on/creates in her mind lewd innuendos far too easily, but lashed out on people for the slightest hints of expressing sexuality. She enjoyed gaming/manga/anime a whole lot but started out completely intolerant of Ishigami's hobbies. Another theme is, much like Ishigami, that she needs balance of her idealism and what she can realistically do.

While her obsession with Justice was naive and initially out of a desire to connect to her parents, she does genuinely value integrity and is a good girl. She is extremely kind and she does want to see people happy and living peacefully. And even before she could begin growing into a better person, she already had the quality of being able to see things and people for what they are and deciding her own opinions - which is why even when angry at him, she did not doubt or cut Ishigami off and still defended him during his suspension. Or even why she's so worried about him during the sport's festival - she knows how deeply the Ootomo incident scarred him and she wholeheartedly wanted to help him more.

An unshakeable belief in Ishigami's integrity and potential, to the point of standing up to her superiors. Miko's justice may have started out as rough in the edges and simple, but it's exactly what the Principal tells Miyuki in the 239 chapter: "don't blindly believe what adults say, make your own choices". Everything Miko needs to be successful as Student Council president, Ishigami has helped her with, directly and indirectly.

While many romcoms and love stories depict having a romance or love interest as something alienating to the female lead or that even sidetracks her from her goals, the pursuit of Ishigami Yu is ultimately the same road that will allow Miko to actually achieve her goals of getting closer to a "true" justice and finally reaching a position to share, rather than enforce, her values.

And not only that, the experience of being absolutely crushed trying to win Ishigami's affections led her to rely on people more and finally understand the kindness and initiative she already had in her from the start, but didn't know how to go about expressing it.

That she's able to say that ("I really respect Tsubame senpai") after being conflicted over having Tsubame as a rival, means she's steadily growing, and it's only getting better from there. And that she realized Ishigami being closer to her or not wasn't even really a matter of Tsubame or anyone else. Both of them were at fault for not meeting half-way to stop arguing, and the way she used to approach him only drove them further apart. Now she understands being there for him to comfort him, like she wanted someone to do for her as she suffered over her (formerly) one-sided love, is way better and it skyrocketed their progress.

Because it never took much to draw Ishigami to her, being herself would always have been enough.

And my last bold prediction for her arc is that the last she needs done is to fully achieve "loosening up" (much like it's lampshaded for Ishigami, her hair too is symbolic of her self-imposed restraint) is balancing being a responsible student/leader also means she should know when to be lenient. She's learning, but there's more to learn. Not only that, she hasn't fully overcome her phobia of public speaking.

So for my bold theory: I'm hoping Ishigami will help with her own Stuco campaign, which should be 3 months from the dance, and be the opening to it in Osaragi's place. Miko doesn't simply need to be rescued, she needs/wants someone to fight by her side.

A common public speaking technique was partially applied on the first election - when directing yourself to a large audience, you gesticulate and look up as if you were addressing all, but one of the best secrets to not feeling nervous is looking for someone familiar or someone who will nod and agree with you for support and focus your gaze on them.

If she were to be super honest as to why she's been able to grow during her time on the stuco and direct those words to Ishigami, it would be the coolest ever. Idgaf if I sound sappy, I WANT MY CUTE ROMCOM TO GO ALL OUT. WHAT IS THE POINT OF ROMANCE, IF NOT TO BE CRINGE.

I'm sure the Principal has his eyes set on her and expects her to be up to the task - and if anything, he'll make sure to challenge her.

Godspeed to Miko-chan and I can't wait to see their story reach its payoff. May she be teased every day after the election for being the President to the 69th student council. XD

[recentanimenews]

Kaguya-sama: Love Is War – Ultra Romantic – 02 – Better Not to Put on an Act

The Ishigami-Iino Accords

Kaguya-sama is about far more than two goofs who won’t admit their love out of pride and fear. It has the ammo to provide a veritable kaleidoscope of spinoff stories about its other characters. Ishigami and Iino Don’t Get Along could not only be a decent series unto itself, but has an incredibly catchy English title!

That Ishi-Iino isn’t a spinoff from the Kaguya-sama: Love Is War Cinematic Universe is a shame, but it’s also the mark of a great series that it keeps you wanting to see more of its greatness. Also, it’s good enough that it doesn’t have to spin things off. Sometimes a small taste is enough.

So we’ve known for a while now that Ishigami and Iino hate each other…but do they? Sure, they seem to inhabit opposite ends of the Discipline-Rebellion Spectrum, but we know better. Ishigami has as strong a sense of justice as Iino, especially where Iino herself is concerned. He just chooses to conceal it behind an outer crust she loathes.

By the same token, Ishigami obviously respects Iino’s honesty and diligence, or he wouldn’t stand to defend her from embarrassment. The thing is, their practiced hostility has escalated to a level neither Miyuki nor Iino’s friend Osaragi can suffer. Hence, the Ishigami-Iino Friendship Plan.

After an exchange of compliments turns into a hatefest, ear-cleaning becomes awkward contortionism, and Pocky-eating leads to aggressively gnashing teeth, Osaragi ditches Miyuki’s plan and pulls out the big guns, telling the two what a good match they are, and how it’s “typical teen behavior” to not be able to stop yourself from being mean to the one you like.

Ishigami and Iino are so shocked by the checkmate they relent on the spot, then devolve into an automated, emotionless, auto-tuned exchange of Iino saying “I like you quite a lot” and Ishigami returning the sentiment. It’s very far from normal human interaction, but by the letter of what the segment victor Osaragi and Miyuki set out to do, it gets the job done.

Play Along, All Right?

Of course, simply getting the job done on paper is not Kaguya-sama’s M.O., as evidenced by the epic two-parter that closes the episode. This might also just be my favorite segment of all the shows two-plus seasons. After declining several times in the past, Miyuki finally accepts an invite from classmates to go out for karaoke and “networking” with kids from other schools, unaware that it’s really going to be a group date.

Hayasaka can’t help but point this out to Kaguya, but Hayasaka ends up being inconvenienced, as Kaguya orders her to attend the group date and make sure no girls get near the President. Hayasaka is so good at getting herself mixed up in Kaguya’s man mess that one frankly can’t rule out that she does it on purpose, for sport or personal achievement.

This scenario marks the return of Hayasaka’s alter-ego “Miss Herthaka”, and when Miyuki recognizes her, she’s grumpy enough with her plight that she decides to take the fact that he dumped her like a bag of sand when last they met and run with it like Marshawn Lynch in Beast Mode.

After making clear to Miyuki’s pals that he dumped her, she takes the stage and belts out a stirring, pitch-perfect rendition of “My Feelings” by Akasaka Saka/Giorgio Giorgio. If there’s such a thing as anime nirvana, it’s this.

What makes this performance so powerful is that it’s not played 100% as a joke. Hayasaka is legitimately frustrated both by her past failure to seduce Miyuki and Kaguya’s continued taking of the President for granted as someone who will always be available to her.

After the song, Hayasaka and Miyuki have a serious discussion about putting on acts. When she rants about her “little sister” forcing her to come to this to get over being dumped, he feels like he’s talking to the something like the “real her” … which of course she is, since she’s voicing real frustrations! Miyuki, always forthright in everything but his love of Kaguya, feels he can relate to her better, and you get the feeling he likes this “Herthaka” more than the obviously fake one from their first encounter.

Hayasaka then reveals her position on the matter, which is that “no one will ever love you unless you’re acting”, and that weakness and ugliness must be hidden by that acting. He then puts it to him whether he’s actually the real Shirogane Miyuki, or if he overreaches and bluffs. He thinks on this and decides it would probably be best to call it a night.

Hurt You Just a Little

When some rando tries to put the moves on Hayasaka the moment she’s alone, Miyuki returns, takes her by the hand, and leads her to safety, telling her to “play along”. She’s so moved by the gesture, she reserves a room just for her and Miyuki, where she plans to succeed in Kaguya’s dare for her to seduce him.

Hayasaka reports this to Kaguya via earpiece, who is in her covert ops outfit on a rooftop. And again, this is all played straight. We have a legit love triangle here! There’s a part of Hayasaka who likes Shirogane and a part of her that wants to win, and when opportunity like this knocks she’s not going to ignore it. What started as a playful dare is no longer just a game. When Hayasaka cuts off communication, Kaguya panics.

She knows that normally Hayasaka operates within the bounds of common sense. But she also knows that Hayasaka was furious for having to go to the group date to begin with, so who knows what she’s capable of. Kaguya finds the door of the booth where they are, but there she’s paralyzed from further action.

The window is covered by Hayasaka’s coat, rendering it a Schrödinger’s Shirogane scenario. Whatever is or isn’t happening in there, Kaguya’s imagining of what it might be is far worse. And she knows she can’t just barge in without “losing”, i.e. revealing she cares so much about Miyuki that she’ll stalk him when he’s hanging out with friends (which, yes, she does, and is!).

Her solution? Invite Chika to karaoke, being sure to give her the number of the booth. But before Chika can arrive to open the box, Kaguya starts hearing suggestive noises and a flurry of double entendres. When Miyuki exits the booth to go to the bathroom, Kaguya slips in and learns the truth: Hayasaka’s strange utterings were reactions to Miyuki’s rapping.

While I saw this coming, it’s still an excellent callback to Chika’s attempts to improve Miyuki’s vocal skills. But I don’t believe rapping lessons were part of her curriculum judging by the state of Hayasaka. When Chika finally arrives and hears Hayasaka describe what she heard, it immediately puts her off karaoke and the three take off, leaving Miyuki all alone.

On the ride home, Hayasaka admits to Kaguya that she had become somewhat jealous of how happy and carefree she’s been of late, and selfishly wanted to take her down a peg, or as she puts it wanted her to “hurt just a little.”

She accomplished that mission admirably thanks to her intimate knowledge of Kaguya, but Kaguya already knew it must’ve been something like that thanks to her intimate knowledge of Hayasaka; specifically, how twisted her personality is. Hayasaka shoots back that Kaguya’s no different than her, and Kaguya doesn’t argue that fact.

While Hayasaka might have started out as Kaguya’s maid and attendant, the fact of the matter is in the ensuing years they’ve grown into something far more like sisters. Siblings love each other, but they can also irritate or hurt each other like no one else. I really loved this sprawling segment’s ability to balance humor and character drama so perfectly.

Mind you, the credits could have rolled during this last exchange between Kaguya and Hayasaka, but that would simply be “getting the job done.” Instead, the end credits roll over an lovingly, amazingly detailed intro for a Starship Troopers anime adaptation, with Miyuki, Kaguya and Hayasaka reflecting that film’s triangle of Rico, Carmen, and Dizzy.

Again, this ED could be a whole show, and it would be incredible. But here it’s just a fun throwaway gag. We live in rare and tremendous times that anime like this is still made.

RWHL

By: sesameacrylic

[nanakah]

about Ishigami, his growth and Miko's role

most people, myself included, thought at some point that Tsubame's rejection (or acceptance) could wrap up Ishigami's arc and even his past's flashbacks neatly, but Osaragi's arc suddenly revealing there was more to his relationship with Miko made me reflect more and think nah...if anything we're halfway there. It also showed glimpses of him already struggling to find his place in the world by quitting his clubs, even though he was successful at them and there was no Ootomo incident yet to undermine his self-image.

It seemed odd that despite everything he went through he still has his "hair=shield/averting eyes" theme going strong, but it makes sense if you consider even though Tsubame helped him see the way to be more accepting of people and cleared his name, his self-esteem still is super low. I spoke of this in my "sutera" meta, but to Ishigami, his life still has been a sucession of failures and almosts. At his core, he still hasn't fully opened up to people or learned to use his vulnerabilities to his advantage.

If I have grabbed your interest thus far, keep reading for more considerations!

Tsubame is kind to anyone and attempted to do good for him, but ultimately he was never fully himself around her, nor she tried/he alllowed her reaching out to the deepest parts of his insecurities. She doesn't show her own flaws to him either and to this day we get the feeling we don't know her well, just the best parts that Ishigami wanted to see. Kaguya, Miyuki and Chika contribute a lot in a sibling-like way, but there's a limit to how much Kaguya in particular can inspire him. Miko however, has scratched a little beneath the surface and has expressed an interest in helping him with that, even if he himself is still avoiding the topic. She's also more relatable to him in the sense that the rest of the stuco has a history of successes in their lives, while he was able to watch Miko's hardships and failures closely. Their panic attacks even look similar and they're always watching the other to provide backup (in a very roundabout way, at least before) when they happen.

While their personalities are fundamentally different, his arc and struggles remind me a lot of Miyamura from Horimiya and today, as I was musing on what is so different about them as of now, I believe it's how Miyamura didn't have a single *traumatic* mistake to get over, so he goes down his development road much faster. Putting it another way, it's ultimately that Ishigami hasn't yet learned to be kind to himself like Miyamura has through Hori. Like Shirogane and Kaguya are through themselves. In Miyamura's case, sympathizing with how Hori despite her strong exterior can be very fragile inside but still support him (fight for him, defend him, accept his true self, not judge him, hear him, make him feel good enough) made him feel compelled to grow stronger to protect her back.

Miko as she was at the beggining of the story couldn't provide Ishigami this sort of stability (and that's where Osaragi's "prettier story"/"you weren't there for him" reasoning fails) even if deep down she wanted to, but now after making many mistakes, learning from them and becoming more flexible, she absolutely can. Both Ishigami and Miko have deeply rooted issues that took them more than just each other to flesh out and develop, but they're very much the missing puzzle piece the other needs.

Miko still very much has room for growth as well, mainly concerning finding a middle ground between her "bad girl" and "good girl" personas that Ishigami can easily see through, as demonstrated by the consolation chapter. She tried being "bad", she attempted lying but was still saying half-truths, because her love of justice isn't just out of parental abandonment issues or loneliness - she does believe them sincerely. The moment Ishigami headpated her and shared genuine, spot-on words of concern and admiration (thus a hint of fondness), it was all over for her trying to keep up the love-warfare upper hand.

That's not actually new - Ishigami has always demonstrated he was able to see glimpses of her true self, be it teasing how she's an otaku or a closet pervert and such, he never fully bought the strait-laced image she aspired to make real. But it did take him being around her more to see she could be sweet to him and as he puts it, that smiling more is not a bad look on her. Miko says to Osaragi your true self only comes through interacting with others, so given how lonely she has always been (and how the one person close to her - Osaragi - was actually keeping things between them superficial because of her own problems), it's no surprise she's only finding out now who she is. Ishigami can help Miko find a better compromise of good/bad after both not following any rules at all for so long and recently learning that hard work can pay off. Miko immersing herself in his hobby will clash with her rigid study schedule sooner or later, and he'll know how to help her with that better than anyone else.

On the other hand, Ishigami's moral compass, romanticism (love for flowers, planing dates etc) and idealism aren't things he is proud of...yet. He protects himself with layers of cynism, especially in his first appearances, but he is always being contradictory and letting it slip how idealistic/pure he is at heart. He also is only now learning to like his outward image with things like fitness/studying and finding out it's not like he never cared about it - it's just that he was scared shitless of failure, thus never even tried hard in the first place to avoid being hurt. And as I have advocated for in the Sutera post, I expect Miko in some level to help him come to terms with seeing good in himself. Heck, even being able to game with her now and showing off how good he is and having her appreciate it is gonna do wonders to make him feel more "adequate". Tsubame's arc had a lot of him changing himself to become "better", but Miko on the other hand is trying to put herself in HIS shoes to maybe go "hey, I like you as you are. I'm trying to understand you more and put effort in for you".

Ishigami and Miko start out watching out for each other behind their backs - which instead of helping their relationship, drives them further apart because they think the other side is showing no appreciation. As the story progresses, they're slowly learning to make each other more aware of their support, and it is making them open up more in general.

They have a strong belief the other wants to be rescued and there is truth in that. Both want help and to be recognized for their efforts, but won't cry out for it. In the unplugged earbuds chapter Ishigami takes it upon himself to protect Miko's reputation in spite of himself, the election arc has him actually putting effort into the campaign just for the sake of protecting her and at first posing as a rival of hers to Shirogane only to reveal he's trying to "make Miko smile", he is constantly fending off men from interacting with her as protection (while also sounding jealous), he was way more protective of her when she was wearing that cast than needed and is now being able to openly headpat her and sounds almost like her "soothing sounds" from the days of yore lol Sure Tsubame seems like his start to becoming "a better man", but all the way back on the election, it was for Miko's sake that we first SEE him putting effort into *anything* without being coerced by anyone to take action.

And while it's more discreet compared to Ishigami's "white knight" attitude, Miko also tries hard to protect him - cheering him on during the sports festival race and wanting to console him before the stuco intervened, telling him he should study (but he thinks it's just nagging), christmas (which I'll elaborate bellow), making sure he was able to graduate middle school by actually confronting school staff and, of course, their very first meeting as recently revealed.

Many people hated the entirety of Osaragi's arc, but 232 gave very juicy info indeed. Ishigami's reason for supporting Miko from the shadows comes from admiration AND part gratitude for her attempting to talk to him and listen to what troubles him, and seeing they actually had a "falling out" argument was game changing.

He looks sad and troubled to have shut her down there, not simply angry, and so does she (there's tears in her eyes when her face is shown in the next page) - despite her black and white sense of justice at this point of the story, she still wanted to listen to him. And even after that outburst she still believed the rumors weren't real, unlike Osaragi sees it - otherwise she wouldn't have made the effort for him to be able to move on to high school. Why would she care, if she truly hated him and thought he was in the wrong?

If any further proof was needed at all that this info is important, I'm happy to say we have more. I noticed the Christmas stairs scene mirrors this exact falling out moment: "Go away"/"Suit yourself"

But this time Miko had already decided to change, had already seen the mess their relationship became the last time she did not reach out to him and thus already had their previous falling out in mind - meaning she decides to chase after him.

I don't like how the scanlations handled this scene because reading the japanese raws, my interpretation was that Miko was sounding "annoying" because she was still kinda drunk/unfiltered and freaking out when talking to Ishigami, not outright berating him like the Jaimini's box translation made it look like. She also sounds too angry after the fall, so I generally thought Viz's version (the panel shown above) was closer to the original.

"I always have to take care of you! You keep putting youself in danger. You can't make it on your own." is a better translation than Jaimini's, and also parallels better what Ishigami is often telling Miko as well (That she keeps putting herself in danger and that he has to be around to keep her in check). But with 232 in mind, I think it misses a nuance of the original line: "ほんとあんたは 私が居ないと危なっかしく駄目ね" - "Honto anta wa watashi ga inaito abunakkashiku dame ne" - while I'm a novice at japanese studies, gathering from what I can read and trying to get a feel of the whole sentence, it's closer to "So it really is dangerous to you if I'm not there/ It's no good if I'm not around you". You can take that as her being full of herself, which is the route Jaimini's goes ("You'd be screwed without me") but that's too hostile - Viz's got the spirit of wanting to protect him better, but the original has an implication that she has "tested not being there"/failed being there before (due to not fully siding with him in middle school) that's absent elsewhere.

IMO the reason Ishigami's "closed his eyes" arc is not over yet is because he hasn't accepted or gotten over or fully learned from his past yet, he simply shut it down. That's why briefly during the sports festival his eyes are in plain view, then go back to their usual for the balloon gag. I'm not sure if Ootomo herself will make a comeback, may or may not - regrets are regrets and sometimes the only solution to them is letting them stay in the past. But the topic of how he saw Miko in middle school and the letter certainly are being set up to still show up in the story.

If I compare him to Miyamura again, he'd still be at the point before Miyamura's haircut - not wanting to face the parts of himself he doesn't like, not quite ready to change. Not quite ready to patch up his own wounds yet and instead silencing everything from his past.

In this sense, Miko does wonders to make him feel more confident even if he hasn't realized it yet, and she's always dropping little hints she'd like him to worry about his future not in a naggy way, but because she genuinely prays for his success. He unconsciously wants Miko to think well of him and it fills him with confidence and a more prideful image of himself he doesn't really display to anyone else, not even Tsubame - like his usages of "ore" (a more manly/confident way of addressing himself) around her (AND HER ALONE):

( I don't like the available translations to the staircase scene either, lol. Zaibatsu has conveyed the tone of the second scene up there perfectly. For the staircase line, I've seen "I'll be there to catch you" and "I'll save you" which are contextually correct, but to me the original "俺が絶対守る" - "I (ore) will absolutely protect you" carries a much more romantic nuance or ambiguity, regardless of him realizing it at that point. It's like, the title to one of the most romantic moments/songs in the CCS Clear card anime ost, for instance. OF COURSE MIKO LOVES HIM. The narrator doesn't overexplain or take apart Ishimiko's interactions like for Prezguya, but all the evidence needed is there. And I gotta add the very next chapter to the staircase one is the "eternal love" x "real love" I'm super fond of that says fate is irrelevant and to find real love you must use your head to realize/understand things, so makes the romantic subtext even greater.)

This whole affair is also making me open my eyes that I should try to study japanese more...of course I'm happy to have translations and scanlators working hard, but there is something inherently lost in adaptations because it robs you of connecting with the author's intentions unless it was the author who wrote the translation in the first place

Thinking back on Ishigami's early "i wanna die/i'm going home/don't look at me" role, it seems unbelievable we're at the point he's now able to directly confront a "stranger" (lololol) or make serious promises with so much confidence.

PLEASE DON'T END SO SOON MANGA, I NEED MORE.

( off-topic kind of, but i'm lazy to make a separate post just for it: Since I mentioned things lost in translation, I saw something on Discord about Ishigami having an unreliable narrator moment in the "compliments" chapter/Iino Miko cannot love part 4 and holy molly, it is true. He first says something akin to "You're just too beautiful" out of context, Miko HEARS IT - and that's why she looks so shocked before asking for clarification - and he DID SAY IT in the speech bubble, but after she's nice to him and he thinks back to what he said he adds a "Your handwriting is just too beautiful" to his flashback. I'm ONTO HIM. ONTO HIM I SAY. It is what he meant, but it's like his mouth betrayed him. Whether it's unconscious or denial...it totally is something. The scanlation completely skips this and had the same line both times it's mentioned.)

[recentanimenews]

KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -Ultra Romantic- Crunchyroll Spring 2022 Spotlight

  More KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR is officially here with the arrival of the hotly-anticipated third season! You'll be able to catch the latest episodes adapting Aka Akasaka's manga of the same name as part of the Crunchyroll Spring 2022 Lineup, so read on for an overview to see what's in store for the romantic comedy series in KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -Ultra Romantic-. 

  Official Website

      Navigation    

Launch Info 

Official Trailers 

Synopsis    

Characters and Cast    

Staff    

Additional Info

  Launch Info

  Launch Time: April 8

Territories: North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Africa, Oceania, the Middle East, and CIS

Show Page

  Official Trailers 

    Synopsis

  From a good family? Check! A good personality? Check! Shuchiin Academy is where all these elite students with bright futures flock to. As the two leaders of the student council, Kaguya Shinomiya and Miyuki Shirogane have supposedly fallen in love… But after almost half a year, nothing has happened!? They both have too much pride and can’t be honest. Things have gotten troublesome, and they are now caught in a war of "How to get the other to confess their love first." This is a whole new romantic comedy, following an outbreak of cunning warfare between two elite students in love.

  Characters and Cast

  Kaguya Shinomiya

VA: Aoi Koga (Shoko Komi in Komi Can't Communicate)

  Miyuki Shirogane

VA: Makoto Furukawa (Saitama in One-Punch Man)

  Chika Fujiwara 

VA: Konomi Kohara (Chitose Kaginoji in KARAKAI JOZU NO TAKAGI-SAN)

  Yu Ishigami

VA: Ryota Suzuki (Bisco Akaboshi in SABIKUI BISCO)

  Rei Onodera

VA: Yuki Takada (Elma in Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid)

  Miko Iino

VA: Miyu Tomita (Riko in Made in Abyss)

  Ai Hayasaka

VA: Yumiri Hanamori (Nadeshiko Kagamihara in Laid-Back Camp)

  Nagisa Kashiwagi 

VA: Momo Asakura (Iroha Tamaki in Magia Record: Puella Magi Madoka Magica Side Story)

  Kobachi Osaragi

VA: Rina Hidaka (Milim in That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime)

  Narrator

VA: Yutaka Aoyama (Dr. Giovanni in Fire Force)

  Staff

  Original Creator

Aka Akasaka 

  Director 

Mamoru Hatakeyama (Showa Genroku Rakugo Shinju)

  Series Composition 

Yasuhiro Nakanishi (Toilet-Bound Hanako-kun)

  Character Designer

Yuko Yahiro (Aharen-san wa Hakarenai)

  Art Director

Risa Wakabayashi

  Sound Director

Jin Aketagawa

  CGI Director

Yuki Kuribayashi

  Color Design

Kanako Hokari

  Editing

Rie Matsubara

  Music

Kei Haneoka

  Opening Theme Song Performer

Masayuki Suzuki

Suu

  Ending Theme Song Performer

Airi Suzuki

  Animation Production

A-1 Pictures

  Additional Info

  In the final days leading up to the premiere of KAGUYA-SAMA: LOVE IS WAR -Ultra Romantic-, the official accounts started sharing countdown illustrations by various members of the anime's staff. Here's how it all went down!

  Day 9 by animation director Satoshi Noma

    Day 8 by animation director Yuichiro Mizutani

    Day 7 from A-1 Pictures Key Animation Department

    Day 6 by chief animation director Koji Akitaka

    Day 5 by director Takayuki Kikuchi 

    Day 4 by chief animation director Tetsuya Kawakami

    Day 3 by key animator and Four Ramen Kings supervisor Shinobu Nishioka

    Day 2 by Animation Director Honoka Yokoyama

    Day 1 by Chief Animation Director Hiroshi Yako

      Day of broadcast art by Character Designer Yuko Yahiro

      -------

Joseph Luster is the Games and Web editor at Otaku USA Magazine. You can read his comics at subhumanzoids. Follow him on Twitter @Moldilox.

By: Joseph Luster