#kb post

[kenobster]

Scott Barringer in "Seductions" || Shelby Merrick in "Because It's There"

Nights are the worst. It's like it's happening again.

[kb1301]

So... has anyone found an Uldren in the new Rushdown activity or is it just me?

Because he's just there, lying on the floor. Still.

[friendstolobsters]

I love that the space prossie spotted the kids and immediately was like NOPE baby's come here you have to leave now

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 73 Sob Posting

Head in my hands, heart crushed, brain only sending sad signals. Let's go dear void- it's time to cry again.

Editor's notes: First Page: 破られた記憶の封印... [yabura reta kioku no fuuin...] "The seal on (their) memories has been rent asunder..." This doesn't specify whose memories, exactly, are unsealed but we can infer based on what's been happening the past few chapters that we are seeing both Samura and Iori's memories at once to tell a cohesive story. The audience gets to know everything even though the characters have things only they know and all that. It's my interpretation at least. Last Page: 国重殺害により現実味が増す"蠱"座村は... [Kunishige satsugai ni yori genjitsumi ga masu "kodoku" Samura wa...] "With Kunishige's murder, the "Malediction" becomes much more real to Samura...

Thank goodness VIZ translated the text on the colour page for once so I don't have to. Congratulations to the contest winners! Also, 925 entry submissions for a manga without an anime for this kind of contest is pretty crazy. Kagurabachi is definitely going to be a WSJ mainstay.

Small note before we begin: the title of the chapter in Japanese is 黎明 [reimei], "Daybreak", same as in EN. It can mean "dawn of a new age" as well, which I think has some connection to what happened this chapter. There are plenty of words for dawn/daybreak in Japanese (明け方 [akegata], 夜明け [yoake], 暁 [akatsuki], etc.) but reimei was the one chosen, y'know? My guess is due to the Hishaku successfully engineering what seems to be the beginning of the end...

Iori

Oh my god this poor kid.

It's not, but it's also not your fault at all...

She's so strong trying to bear the bullying on her own. She's smart, too, for realising that her dad will send her away if he catches on to what she's trying her best to endure. So she lies with a smile to protect the little bit of happiness she has.

Iori loses her mom to something no one can control, then tries to control what she can to keep the dad she came to love after all by her side. She only wants to live with him no matter what it costs her. How can a person's heart not break for Iori? She's being bullied by her classmates, the adults are enabling it, people are trashing her home all the time, and she still wants to stay so she doesn't have to lose someone else.

No kid should have to suffer like this and I want to give Iori a huge hug for doing her best under supremely shitty circumstances. Once again, much like Hakuri and Chihiro, we see a kid suffering the consequences of bullshit going on among the adults. Kagurabachi is many things and "a story that examines the impacts and consequences of older generations' issues on the younger ones" is one of them.

The interesting thing to look forward to now that my heart has been thoroughly minced into fine particulate matter: who is Iori's aunt in the Kamunabi? Is it the woman she was living with, or since it was specifically her mom's younger sister, could the theories of this lady being her aunt come true?

NAME, PLEASE?!

She's the only one of the three folks who sealed the Shinuchi we haven't seen pop back up yet- Prince Nez got a surprise showing last chapter, Beard guy was in the panel of the treaty being signed. I like the theory of her being the aunt mostly because it would help us segue back into checking on the folks we left off at Kamunabi HQ. We simply don't know yet though, so... more waiting.

Poor Iori, though. Separated from her parent again and she couldn't do anything about it in the end. But I can't really blame Samura for his decision to upset her so badly.

Before we move on, though... the first of more-than-usual TL notes.

Iori...! You'll find happiness again soon, I hope!

"Six months" is incorrect, it should be "year and a half". Iori lived with Samura for a year while her mom was in the hospital and this chapter takes place roughly six months after Inori died. The JP was correct, as was French and Spanish, so this is an EN-only error apparently.

Samura

I sure as hell woke up when I got to translating this part at like 4 am.

He fears for her so much that he's worried she'll fucking hang herself. His anxiety is definitely overblown here, but that's a parent's worst nightmare isn't it? To find their child committed suicide... unless they're Kyora, who wouldn't have minded much if Hakuri's suicidal leap in ch. 24 had succeeded. Fortunately (or unfortunately) Samura's got different failings as a father and he makes the most rational decision he can: he removes Iori from his home to live with her aunt. To spare her from his issues and having to suffer consequences she doesn't deserve. If anything, Samura doesn't deserve her.

There are some extremely cool comparisons we can make between Samura and Kunishige now. Both war veterans with literal skeletons in their closet who didn't necessarily want their kid to emulate them. Both teaching their kid their craft despite some having some reservations. Both loving their kid a hell of a lot. But where Kunishige wanted to walk Chihiro through every step of learning about the world -including the "not so bright and shiny stuff"-, Samura tries to shield Iori by sending her away and abandoning her again.

I can't be mad at him for doing that even if it's such a heart-wrenchingly painful thing to see happen to Iori. She was crying herself to sleep and being worn down by the resentment towards her father echoing down to her as well. Living with her dad was a kind of happiness for her, but it was a huge risk too. Even if she didn't hang herself like he feared she would still be deeply affected by so much negativity aimed at them both. So Samura did the responsible thing by sending her away to somewhere safer even if it broke his little girl's heart. Part of being an adult is making difficult decisions like that and credit to him, he did it.

I can't fault him for any of his actions that he took before he went off the deep end in the present either. I mean, really:

Protect the father for the sake of the son... sorry, Shiba, I know you tried your best.

Samura didn't try to keep this burden to himself! He talked to his superior and informed him about everything John told him, who spread the word to at least a few other folks who could do something about it. He asked Shiba to look after the Rokuhiras. And he tried to be a proactive presence in Iori's life even if he was awkward around her.

Samura did everything right and still lost.

My personal theory is that the Hishaku targeted Samura for this plan because he'd be the easiest to manipulate. His negative feelings are strong- anxiety, grief, guilt, self-hatred, etc. That makes him easy to predict. Maybe telling Samura was vital to the plan because all these dominoes needed to fall and he was the right piece to push first. In other words, they knew he'd inform everyone and relied on that to make this catastrophic prediction come true.

Regardless of what we learn, it's hard not to feel for Samura when he was genuinely doing everything he could to protect the people he cares for. He made responsible moves based on what he knew and didn't try to tackle it alone. The reason for how he came to be so misguided in the present is bright and clear now- each step he's taken in his life so far has been logical, responsible, and with good intentions. But losing so much despite doing the right thing at every turn amplified all his negative traits and feelings. So he decided -again, with clear and sober reasoning- that he needed to tackle the root of the issue by himself. Kill the Master Swordsman, kill the Kamunabi's mole, kill the other Bearers, kill the Hishaku, kill himself. Kill everything that's causing problems and restore peace. He's drowning in despair over this Malediction prediction coming to pass and will stop it by any means necessary. That's my impression anyway.

An observation before we move on:

Bad news...

The change of seasons here gives us a rough timeline of when Chihiro and Shiba visited before Kunishige's murder. In the preceding page they're all wearing clothing for spring or autumn- long sleeves but no coats (other than Samura's unkempt suit) and the plants in the backgrounds are full of foliage. Then we transition to this page with a bare branch to show us that it's late fall/winter when Samura gets the news. So anywhere between a month to about six passed and Kunishige died late in the year or early in the next one.

Aaaaand a small TL note because this is impossible to really bring across in EN:

Heckin' punks.

Glasses guy says the same thing in the second panel in Japanese: あっ 座村 but this is giga turbo maximum disrespect towards our favourite blind guy. Not using a -san honorific for someone older than you is incredibly rude, and it speaks volumes for how these kids see Samura even before the other guy gives his little speech.

It's related to this scene:

Samura I can't believe I'm saying this, but you have nothing to apologise for.

These guys in the background watching Samura fall over himself to apologise for Iori fighting with his student's kid don't have a great impression of him. And neither does the guy he's teaching and apologising to! The kids bullying Iori heard all that slander from their parents and are using it to torment her. The adults are being duplicitous and respecting Samura to his face since he still has that War Hero status, but they've got doubts and issues with him in private that their kids are picking up on. Iori's getting all the blowback since she's just a child who can't slice them to ribbons and Samura fucking hates that, as he should- which only amplifies those guilty feelings he never quite got rid of.

Lastly, just one small thing I found amusing:

Samura, eternally Going Through Some Things

Samura refers to Yura as 奴 [yatsu], "that guy (derogatory or familiar)". Since Samura's not exactly chums with Yura it's more like "That bastard's been spreading that story?".

The Hishaku

I wanted to murder John and Hatshaku myself after translating wall of text after wall of text this chapter. May God rest the official translator's soul.

So, first up, a translation note... 民族浄化 [minzokujouka], "ethnic cleansing" never appeared in John's explanation here in the original. There wasn't even verbiage alluding to the incident in that way. The text in the bubble was:

町にばら撤いたのは 条約と剣聖の事件の一連を記した文書と条約��調印式の偽造写真 "We scattered leaflets around town... detailing the treaty and the Sword Master incident, as well as forged photos of the treaty signing ceremony." I wonder what the official EN TL was going for here. 事故 [jiken] is a neutral term simply meaning "accident/incident" or "circumstances"- the official Spanish and French translations also didn't include the "ethnic cleansing" terminology. That's a pretty loaded concept to include by mistake, you know?

At any rate, John's been carefully laying the foundation for years now. We still don't know exactly why he's doing this but he's patient as hell and willing to do things slowly so they're done right. I'm all in on bets for him using Samura and telling him about the prediction to ensure that the Malediction event happens- dollars to doughnuts he's going to be the one who causes it, assuming it's not thwarted by Chihiro et. al.

I appreciate the writing for this nefarious plot quite a bit. Hokazono-sensei understands how these plots usually unfold through careful manipulation instead of an obvious misinformation campaign that somehow totally wins over the populace. What's important isn't to get the truth out right away but to plant seeds one by one- first sow doubt, then build mistrust, so on and so forth. This is very true to life and honestly just as scary as whatever the Sword Master's got going on with Magatsumi. The Hishaku are deadly serious about this plan with the patience to see it through.

Okay, dear void... no idea what we'll see next, but I'm comfortably strapped in and ready for whatever it is. Hopefully I can reassemble my heart in time for it to be shattered again. Take care of yourself this week and give yourself a little praise, just as a treat.

[dreams-are-paper-thin]

Skeleton crew episode 7 prediction

I can't imagine it happening any other way lmao

[nheystyle]

psychic Kyle strikes again!

art by @nheyguys

[mirror-and-mind]

Girls will see a beautiful twink and go, "Is anybody gonna sexualize and/or brutalize that?" and not wait for an answer.

[chacerider]

☀️🧡🌊 (1/4)

[chipthekeeper]

Looooove fern getting the “I’m not even tired”—smash cut to her passed tf out gag

[dr-pipis]

bachi memes pt 2

part 1

[kenobster]

Sometimes we need a good cry. 🥺

And sometimes we need a Shelby group of peers to get us up and having fun again, too. 🥹

[kb1301]

Just read through the recent TWID and saw this there.

I’d spam F constantly. That man needs hugs and more.

[anonymocha]

Do you think that Medicine Pocket would talk to their puppies/doggies with a different voice? Like how some people would talk to their pets in a higher pitched voice or smth?

I remember watching this video a long time ago where someone explains how they only talk to their pet in a gremlin voice, and thinking back on it now , I feel like it’s kinda Medpoc coded. People just think that they’ve finally lost it when hearing it out of context.

I need your opinion on this.

👏 DO 👏 NOT 👏 DISRESPECT 👏 THE 👏 PUPS 👏

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 80 Nerves Posting

Hello, dear void. The anxiety increases as we inch towards the climax of the arc.

Editor's Comments: First Page: でっけ-書庫 [dekke- shoko!!] "A huuuuuge library!!" Last Page: 己が戦場へ駆け出せ！！ [ono ga senjyou he kakedase!!] "Dash towards your own battlefield!!"

More Kamunabi Lore Dump

Kudou, you're a great person, but I felt seen and heard by Hakuri this chapter.

How I was feeling looking at all the yap in the first half of this chapter.

Ro, head of the Sorcery Nerd clan, having such a high opinion of Hakuri is adorable. Hakuri himself is adorable too. It's now canon that he gets nauseous when overloaded with information or asked to study though (please let this just be a silly gag and not tied to anxiety over trying to please his family). Hakuri, you're the best. I love you.

Following my favourite little guy has given us some insight into the Kamunabi side of things like I hoped. And more insight into the world building! Barrier and movement sorcery being "more academic" -plus some emphasis on how important it is to learn to be useful- makes me wonder if we'll get a Hakuri training arc focused on him making use of what's in the Kamunabi's library. Or maybe having someone like Azami teach him. Who better than the incredibly strong gorilla that's a head above the best sorcerers in the whole organisation?

I'm really sad that one of Hakuri's rare smiles was turned into this though:

Absolutely insane that the "x days since someone slit their throat in front of Hakuri" timer was reset to 0.

This poor kid can't escape people killing themselves in front of him. Then Kudou (most likely) died to save him too. He stays focused but honestly?! I feel like there's a good reason to think he'll burst one day. He's got a similar near-meltdown expression Chihiro had in chapter 11 before someone snaps him out of it. Neither of them are addressing the pain they've been shoving down to get things done. If that's not brought up in some way later on then I'll be disappointed honestly.

But anyway. The guy who killed himself: Ishihira, written as 石枚. 石 [ishi] for "stone" and 枚 [hira] for counter (of things like thin, flat objects, portions of gyoza or soba, ranks, fields or rice paddies, and more). Hokazono having a laugh at naming this guy Mr. Beancounter lmao. I feel awful for him though since the Hishaku are definitely doing dastardly deeds by taking his daughter as a hostage.

The second name we got was much more interesting: Prince Nez, the short Kamunabi guy that trained Shiba and Azami, is Ichiki (壱鬼). 壱 [ichi] for "first/one" and 鬼 [ki] for "ghost/devil". PLACE THOSE TRAITOR BETS! I think we'll have the reveal soon. Azami's busy entertaining Samuraishaku, Kudou just got murked, Eyepatch hasn't been on screen since the trial in chapter 46 basically, and we've seen quite a bit of Ichiki lately while not knowing where he is at present. Hmm.

Lastly, the elite squads.

Hajime...

Hagiwara is alive and not so well. But he's active and fighting at least. Man, he looks so bitter compared to the first time we saw him with the Anti-Kuregumo squad in chapter 11. I hope we catch up with him sooner or later.

I think we should also remember the woman in the panel underneath him. I won't be surprised if she comes back with a name to call her by.

HAKURI

I can't express how much I love him.

His mask is cracked so it seems like his Storehouse sorcery really is on thin ice. But man. He's always so good at thinking under pressure. And he even apologises for hurting the people who are beating him. Hakuri, you're so kind. Probably because he knows pain far too well.

Oh man.

This is extremely interesting framing to me. Hakuri's hand is outside the panel, partially covering up the huge LOVE (愛) in the narration box in Soya's panel. At least that's how it is in JP; I assume the English version will do the same. They got it close enough I guess.

But yeah. What's up with that?

Hakuri overcame Soya's "true love" and killed him to show that he finally broke free from the family bond that kept him trapped and helpless for so long. However, he acknowledged Soya's affection for him as such and doesn't talk about what he actually endured and how it affected him. He's still quite happy to say he's fine and get on with whatever needs doing. I really get the sense that Hakuri doesn't want to think about those experiences at all. He's fine now (he's not). He's okay (he's not). He can still be useful (and thinks he needs to be to be loved). He broke free from his family but not the mindset that was literally beaten into him.

So basically I'm interpreting this as more of Hakuri not wanting to acknowledge who and what gave him the strength to endure this attack and fight back. I wrote 8k words about all this in a different post but man, Hakuri... I hope we do address all the things that have been used against him lingering in his Storehouse.

The other thing I'm thinking of is that Hakuri might be cluing in that Soya's "love" for him (and Kyora's, the same ai/愛) isn't really love after all. But I think that's something further down the road for his character if we do address that aspect of what what instilled into him. Right now we're showcasing the Sazanami influence in terms of him thinking he needs to help and give everything he has for the cause. What love means and should feel like will come when Hakuri's finally ready to address that from a healthier frame of mind, most likely. If it's addressed at all (which I really hope it is).

It's also a bit odd for a reveal that Hakuri was abused for ten years instead of the five that he was "useless" for. Maybe Soya only really went off the rails when Kyora gave up on Hakuri? Or maybe he was abusive in the name of making Hakuri strong once training started? Soya a shit either way, may he burn in hell. Hakuri has better sources of strength now!

When in a pinch, think of the person who inspires you.

Once again he uses Chihiro as motivation to shore himself up and do everything he can. Just don't push yourself too far again... please...

Hishaku Machinations

It's all going to shit, just as planned.

Using Hakuri as bait, huh. Who is considered to be in the "main forces"? What's the ultimate goal of putting Hakuri in peril? Is he really the heroine of Kagurabachi? (Yes to the last one, apparently.)

The most obvious answer to the questions would probably be that Hakuri's intended to bait Chihiro away, probably to free up Samura. But that would be unsatisfying on a narrative level after we had so much setup for Chihiro and Samura to clash over ideals at last. It's possible despite the distance between Kyoto and Tokyo -Hakuri can summon him at will and all-, but it'd be a questionable and risky move is what I'm saying.

I think it might be bait for some people in the Kamunabi higher-ups, like how Kudou was taken out in the elevator. The higher-ups in the Kamunabi have some good eggs that would probably put their lives on the line to protect Hakuri if he gets in over his head. Kudo was the best of them but Azami certainly wouldn't let Hakuri be hurt- yet he's tied up with the Samurai Hishaku guy.

So who's left?

We have no information on where the other members of the council are right now. Ichiki, Beard, and Hairclips would be prime targets because they are key to sealing the Shinuchi and Beard in particular seems to be the leader. Ichiki might be with Azami (and is a great traitor candidate) though, and the little we saw of Hairclips made her seem very dispassionate. Beard isn't above bending morals but he's also got the greater good in mind so maybe him? He invited the Hishaku in to prevent innocent civilians from being caught up in the battle, so I can see him responding to Hakuri being put in danger.

Giraffe and Mutton Chops were the most dismissive of Chihiro and seem to care about the Kamunabi as an institution more than the people they're supposed to protect. I don't think they're traitors but they're not the type to respond to Hakuri being used as bait either in my mind.

Earlobes and Eyepatch don't feel like major players this arc. Earlobes has been shown talking and being a rather flippant guy, Eyepatch has been offscreen. I don't think they're going to show up.

As for other choices, it might be bait to leave the other Bearers we haven't met yet undefended- or to catch Shiba. Hiyuki wouldn't leave her post to save Hakuri but Shiba absolutely would; he would definitely teleport in to save the day (assuming the defensive barriers didn't get in his way). The only question would be how he was informed of what was happening.

Basically, I'm on the edge of my seat hoping nothing too horrible happens to Hakuri and whoever he's meant to draw to his side while bracing for heartache.

As for the bastards orchestrating all of this...

From breaking into the strongholds with trees to having hostages released, Hatshaku can fulfill all your second-man-hand needs.

I've gotta say this: I sincerely appreciate the writing of the villains in Kagurabachi. Hokazono-sensei shows a lot of restraint by having them not be cartoonishly evil like you might expect in a shounen manga. They took hostages to make people kill themselves and turn allies against each other: clearly evil. But they also let those hostages go once the pawns fulfill their tasks.

I was ready to roll my eyes and be all "yeah, they're super bad dudes, got it" if the Hishaku were shown to be killing the hostages after all. But they let them go! They have ethics, damnit. And it's really refreshing to see Hokazono keep them consistent as villains who are doing bad things but not without some internal logic. For the most part. Kuguri and Hiruhiko are definitely not going to get into heaven with how casually they kill innocent people, yeah. But the organisation as a whole is following a plan that doesn't encourage them all to be wanton killers, so the hostages go free.

It really helps the Hishaku feel serious about what they're doing. They've got these unhinged weirdos all gathered up for a goal that they care deeply about, so much so that they'll do the right thing even when they're doing wrong overall. Finally there's a criminal organisation in a shounen that I can actually be invested in!

So much to wait for... see you next week, kind void.

[mdverse]

bunch of kb warmups i did last month specifically to drive @backslashdelta insane

[classicanalyzer]

Skeleton Crew - Can’t Say I Remember No At Attin Thoughts

"Perhaps someday, when I am leader of the Triok, I will remember your ways. I see now. You weakness...it makes you kind. And my world could use some kindness." Hayna

This was a pretty noice follow-up to the last episode. It was a lot more focused on the character interactions as home seems to be ever far away.

Those satellites at the opening look very much like the ones used for Operation Cinder. Given some of the Imperial-looking uniforms (especially the Imperial Army Trooper helmets) in the episode and the destruction of the world, I wouldn't be surprised if that's the case. But Jesus, if their world was destroyed by Operation Cinder, that's one hell of a dark backstory for At Achrann. Especially given how Jod even said,

"This is At Attin? It tastes like ashy dust. Looks a lot like my home planet, actually." Jod Na Nawood

It has to be Operation Cinder unless the satellites are part of a similar barrier system (or the world could've been hidden by different methods). I also wonder how bad Jod's world must've been for him to make that comparison. I can't wait for that Episode 7 Jod lore.

Jod's "kill me" look and line delivery just killed me. He's so sick of this BS now lmao. I honestly thought he and SM-33 kicked all their asses but it just turned out he just gave them Old Republic credits haha.

Also very interesting that the Hattan army seems to have a CIS tank as well alongside the Imperial Army Trooper helmets. The world must've been destroyed and known to the galaxy for quite for some time by that point.

Neel is pretty brutally honest about his friends, lmao. I love seeing his kindness shine through in such a hellish, war-torn world. I also like seeing his brief friendship and relationship with Hayna, who only knew war and nothing of a possible peaceful life. Plus unlike the girl he had a crush on in Episode 1, she actually knows who he is. Given how Episode 3 focused a lot on KB and this episode on Neel, I wonder if Episode 5 will focus on Fern and Episode 6 will focus on Wim.

It's pretty sad how the Triok and Hattan are stuck in a forever war and only trading for weapons, especially given the implications of the world being a victim of Operation Cinder. The idea of child soldiers being normalized in the world is pretty disturbing much less how desertion is met with death even applied to kids. I still find it insane to see on-screen aftermath of Operation Cinder in this episode, especially on this show.

I also like how we see that for all of Fern's tough front, and she's just as scared of being truly lost forever.

SM-33 continues to be a comedic riot even when we see him being terrifying. God, when SM-33 was remembering his old Captain's orders and his voice started distorting into a nightmarish tone, that was pretty chilling. I would like it if the treasure was actually a legit stereotypical pirate's treasure.

This was a noice follow-up episode and I hope Episode 5 continues to expand on the mystery of At Attin.

"I do remember At Attin. It was in this very room. The captain killed any of his crew that saw the coordinates to At Attin. Slaughtered them, he did. Then he ordered me to destroy them and forget everything I knew about At Attin. And then he told me, if anyone ever comes around poking around, looking for the treasure... He told me to pull them apart. Pull 'em apart. Pull 'em apart. Pull 'em apart. Limb from limb. Limb from limb. Limb from limb! Limb from limb! Limb from limb! Limb from Limb." SM-33