#separation arc

[exilepurify]

I know this is way old news, but I’d just like to say that them putting the 7th division back slash on Reigen during his press conference realization sequence was such interesting visual symbolism. The cut on his back is something so easily forgotten about because it seemed to have no lasting consequences when it happened, but when you see it again here, it’s like being punched in the teeth.

[2bencats]

WHO IS: REIGEN ARATAKA?

[candyskiez]

Thinking about why Separation arc works so well again.

There's already a very good post about how it makes you think it'll have Reigen fail at keeping up the business on his own, and apologize to Mob to get him back because he can't do it without him. Only to have him actually be perfectly capable of running the business by himself without even touching real spirits. But why didn't they do that?

It wouldn't have actually meant anything. Reigen apologizing to Mob wouldn't have meant shit, because it would just come off as using him. Mob going back to him wouldn't be satisfying or a relief. It'd just feel like he was going back to an unhealthy environment. No character development, no actual satisfying resolution.

What they do instead works so much better, and I've been thinking about why. Because I think about this show way too much, let me live.

Reigen was perfectly fine money wise before Mob showed up. Money problems aren't even implied to be a reason why he wants to leave spirits n such. It's all just being unsatisfied. He's restless and unfulfilled, and nothing really catches his interest. And then actual company shows up, and gets him talking to people, and gives him something worthwhile to do.

Most of Reigens worst moments have nothing to do with money. His controlling tendencies come out when he feels left behind or like someone is a better person than him. His toxic traits are so painfully human. He lashes out when he feels like his place in someone's life is in danger, he's not honest because he feels like nobody can love him as he is, and he doesn't try to change because he feels like he's inherently bad and cannot get better. Because of this, he doesn't stop and recognize he's hurting people. He thinks of him being a bad person as Inherent, not actions he can stop doing.

This is why it's so so SO important that there be a moment in the arc where he stops and looks back at how he treats people. He needs to realize that him being Bad isn't determined by just being bad by existing, but by what he says and does. Mob didn't leave because Reigen is inherently bad. Mob left because Reigen treated him badly.

If the Reigen and Mob conflict had been resolved with Reigen apologizing because he needed him for his business, it would've come off like Reigen didn't care about Mob. But because it became clear that Reigen didn't need Mob for his business, it tells the audience that Reigen really fucking cares about Mob AND why Reigen had actually acted the way he did:

Because he was a sad bastard who's scared of being alone.

And also, if they had Reigen just take on a spirit alone, the audience wouldn't have had nearly as much reason to be sympathetic towards him. It would've just felt like Reigen was being an idiot. But because of how they set up Reigen's downfall, we're so much more sympathetic to him. He works hard and gets what he thinks he wants, only to be set up by a guy who he saved the life of. It makes us feel extremely bad for him and like his ridicule is completely undeserved.

It also tells us something about him. Reigen has had so much experience where doing the right thing is punished. Reigen feels like it's too late to be good. Reigen falls into thinking he cannot be good, so he needs to buckle in and keep going. Because it shows Reigen being punished for being good as well as being punished for being bad, it makes what Reigen did feel so much more human. You're more inclined to sympathize with him, because it's not just about money. It's about the fact he was an asshole to his only friend because he felt like if he had other friends, he'd like them more and leave him. And seeing him face negative consequences for Doing The Right Thing as well as the wrong thing makes you understand why he just...doesn't try. If that makes sense lmao.

The way they constructed the arc makes us sympathize with Reigen while he's acting like an absolute asshole, while also setting up Reigen stopping and asking himself "why DID I do this, why DID I choose this path, why DO I treat people like this" perfectly.

Tldr, it's a really good arc.

[pierogish]

yeah but sometimes you just feel like sketching a sad man

[bandtrees]

- EXCLUSIVE !! Street Interview With 2012’s Scam Psychic, Former Star of Supernatural Detective, Arataka Reigen’s Former Middle School Student - What He Told Us Will Shock You !! Bit-crunched, at the text’s side, is a dull-eyed, dark-haired boy Reigen couldn’t forget, even four years later. -- Reigen’s message at the press conference in 2012 receives no answer. Yet, in 2016, a rogue phone call does.

inspired by this post by @fuck-kirk, here's an au where mob and reigen never make up after separation arc - and where they stand four years later :'] (ft trans/nb mob at the end)

this was a unique thing to write for me, so i hope you all like it ^.^

[mp100confessionbox]

I skipped almost half of separation arc because the second hand embarrassment got too bad. Half of what I know from the arc is from fan content.

[coolmilk98]

this came to me in a dream

[akicalaraika]

WOULD YOU GROW UP ALREADY?

this edit is made possible by manifesting my melancholy from losing a sum of money i haven't spent

[lettucefather]

good morning I come bearing reigens

[exilepurify]

The emptiest of feelings / Disappointed people clinging onto bottles / and when it comes, it’s so, so disappointing

A Reigen-centric AMV I’ve been thinking about since last year and finally got around to putting together. I’m pretty pleased with how it turned out :}

Song: Let Down by Radiohead

[eefozlab]

LMFAOOO IMAGINE GETTING CANCELED ON TWITTER 🤣😂🤣

[luciferstit]

It just kinda sunk in that separation arc happens right after the Mogami incident. Do you think Reigen’s words landed twice as hard because of that? “Your friends aren’t really your friends, they’re just having fun mocking someone as wimpy as you.” I can see that being a very sore spot for Mob after the six months of bullying and torment he endured. Mob’s having fun with his friends after being alone and in pain for so long and now Reigen’s suggesting that it’s all a lie and that Mogami’s words are actually real, albeit completely unintentionally. Because Mob got very serious in that moment. He should have and had every right to, but you can tell he double-meant it because he purposefully missed Reigen’s birthday.

[abri-chan]

(lowposting with @plavi)

[eudikot]

Hey mobbers new Separation Arc song just dropped

[heather-m-quigley]

imo this separation arc should have been handled different. it did 9 straight eps of luffy's side and now seems to be catching up with 2 crewmates each episode. i would have preferred these parts spread out through his eps.

(from the production end i get it, i guess.. giving VAs a bit of a break or something)

ok looks like robin gets her own and i like it... oh nm 5 mins of usopp at the end

[cupcakeslushie]

i love the donnie and timothy content 🥺 but now it’s getting me to wonder about the love language between leo and usagi and how they show affection toward each other

They show affection by basically being ride or die for each other lol. Their love language is…battle. Their first kiss was after a exhausting fight with the Foot, where they kicked absolute ass. They watch each other’s backs no matter what.