#such a non analysis lol

[supersecretmetalocalypseblog]

I know everyone's already said shit like this but that shot where Dick Knubbler kisses the production booth or whatever in AOTD? profound. I feel that scene in my heart and soul and also in all of my bones. It's so tender and sweet. This shot was just so overwhelming for me for some reason, when I think about it i get teary eyed. It just feels like it has so much emotion and stuff in it, i feel it all at once. it's like "oh he's the individual ever! that's dick knubbler!! i love him???? Yeah okay this rocks! This movie rocks!"

And then i get mad and i'm like "there's no god damn way i'm getting emotional over a character named DICK KNUBBLER??????"

^^^^shots like these are going to put me in an early grave!

(A bit more below the cut here, but this is where spoilers for the plot are gonna be, so watch ur back if you haven't seen Army of the Doomstar yet)

NOTHING could've fundamentally prepare me for how viscerally upset I would feel about him dying. When he first showed up in Dethwater, i was like "yeah, this guy's funny i guess. I like him" but holy shit? and he's not even my favorite metalocalypse character or anything, but this right here? oh it's so over for me. He's so??? why? I get so sad every time I remember these two shots. It's like he's treated with so much respect (aesthetically and writing wise i mean) because they know what they're about to do. Look at him, look at how he's changed. he's serious AND silly! He's got the weight of the world on his shoulders, he's gotta help Dethklok! He's such a real guy, y'know? That's Dick Knubbler! And the way that death is part of the show's gimmick like "haha this is funny look how brutal it is" and then for THIS to happen? and it isn't gory and it isn't funny. It's serene. It's sad. It's emotional, and cinematic and GORGEOUS! There's a kindness and a huge melancholy feeling over the whole scene. HE's so beautiful here, like you know your about to watch an ally fucking die so hard, and he's so chill about it. "this is bigger than me" sort of energy. and he loves Dethklok, and Dethklok loves him! that's why this scene fucking sucks so hard I want to throw up its so good.... idk clearly i'm feeling sappy right now. the long story short is i'm going to kill brendon small for his damages to my emotional state lol.

[sysig]

Some highlights from a tense but still very Winterkov-y scene (Patreon)

[nyxi-pixie]

me when im supposed to be studying but instead im thinking abt mori and dazai again

let me go absolutely insane for a second (not a second. this is so long. i just checked mfer its over 2000 words. i need to be sedated. imprisoned. restrained. examined. smthn)

'a young man with a death wish once came to me and i wanted to rescue him but i couldnt' and like yeah. beast mori couldnt rescue him. but to a certain extent, canon mori sort of has (touch wood for long term but as it is, dazai is so much less intent on dying than he was in dark era).

and it just. i always wonder about the actual intentions of the mimic situation. because on the surface, it looks like what dazai calls it, then deeper than that, it looks like a very calculated long term strategy, and deeper than that, its just. kinda sad.

i just think its interesting that he plans the mimic thing the way he does knowing dazai will leave despite the fact that he doesnt want him to. and dazai himself reasons this as mori being afraid of him, that mori doesnt want dazai to kill him the way mori killed the old boss. but thats? not true? mori seems unbothered at worst and downright proud at best when he tells oda that dazai will probably kill him one day.

so. Why. did he do it knowing dazai would leave? it wasnt his only option; he could have set skk on mimic. like 5 second future vision isnt gonna do much when the danger is alr there (as oda says). and in the face of a massive black hole coming right at u or a building being dropped on you, five seconds really isnt gonna do much. so mimic cld have been removed without a casualty and the mafia could still have got the permit, and not lost dazai. (who is Objectively an asset to the organisation.) But thats not how it happens. Mori plans it exactly as he does knowing oda will die and dazai will leave. he also then makes it continually obvious that dazai would be welcomed back.

and ive been trying to think of other reasons for it, but across canon and insight from beast mori the only thing i can think of comes back to the fact that mori wants dazai alive. alive and aware that the pm is the best place for him, but alive more than anything else.

i think he wants dazai as his heir bc he knows dazai is enough like him to manage it, but i wonder if it also comes back to the fact that mori is trying to rescue him, and i imagine his own reason to live (and lord knows he suggests he needs a strong one in fifteen) is probably tied down to legacy and responsibility for the city. mori devotes his life to the mafia because he wants peace and appreciates that control (rather than eradication) of the worst of yokohama is the way to keep that peace. and thats enough of a reason to live for him. but it isnt for dazai.

dazai doesnt give a fuck about the mafia as a concept bc his motivations dont rest on ideals the way moris do. dazai only ever does anything because of the people he cares about. everything we see him do, EVEN in pm era where people claim he was some emotionless rockman, come back to his friends.

its why hes never at the centre of the plot. he cant be, because he never does anything for himself. fifteen, in which he is a titular character, is a plot that rests vastly on chuuyas back story. dazais original motivation prior to meeting him is just to khs, and only upon meeting chuuya and them having their whole weird Thing and dazai deciding to be an obsessive freak, does he actually have personal stakes in the job. then in stormbringer, its all abt chuuya again, and dazai is only involved bc he cares about him (whatever he actually says aside). tdipud is driven by odas storyline, and so is dark era. dazai is only active in them bc he cares abt oda.

even when he has more idealistic motivations come canon era, they come back to the fact that hes doing it for oda. anything Above And Beyond that promise is bc hes acting to save the agency, who are his Friends. his motivations are deeply personal in complete contrast to moris, and it is perhaps the only place they really differ.

now ironically, it seems to be that the only decisions mori makes influenced by personal feelings are because of dazai. which takes me to the fact that i think he let dazai leave because he recognises thats whats best for him (at least in the short term - and we'll get to That in a second). and its not really a loss for the organisation because dazais too practical to ever dismiss the mafia, and he still gut responds with their methods. so its an easy sacrifice, a justifiable one.

then theres the contrast with the kouyou&kyouka thing. kouyou doesnt want kyouka to taste the light only to have it sour on her tongue when she realises she cant actually have it because of what she is. because kouyou believes anyone tainted by darkness the way they are can never be free of it. (because she couldnt get out herself).

i wouldnt be surprised if mori thinks the same way, certainly in regards to someone like dazai who Is naturally built for the mafia in a way kyouka really isnt. mori at least believes dazais blood is mafia black and whether or not this is true is irrelevant. he Does have to actively fight his impulses in order to do the Right Thing even now. And even doing that, he still falls into their methods when its practical, or when he's paranoid or unsettled enough to need the comfort of habit, hence the way he treats aku even four years removed from the mafia. hence the way he treats atsushi immediately after Q appears (the way he so instantly latches onto his older self literally slapping the self pity he detests in himself and in his former kouhai out of his current one). hence the way the parallels to mori spring up most when dazai has just been shaken by something.

so i wonder if mori let dazai walk into the light knowing (or believing) he wouldnt fit there, and would come back with a stronger commitment to the mafia as a whole because it may be a concept of sorts, but its one that embraces him in a way the light doesnt, and while dazai does things for the people He cares about, its a mutual thing - he feels responsibility for the people that care about Him too (which probably ties in to the desire for a quiet suicide without bothering anyone, and also to the disgust he has w the sheep - because it Isnt a mutual exchange there).

i think it was always intended as a temporary thing (five years away from the mafia maybe. the 'five years' right before dazai comes to take moris place). give him a taste of the light and let him come to his own conclusion that he doesnt belong there, and eventually turn back to the mafia where he does belong.

(despite suggestions that dazai Doesnt really belong there - smthn smthn cat/dog symbolism - though people suggest this implies he belongs w the ada and i dont think thats true either esp given the way hes omitted from the group so often. i think the cat symbolism w dazai likens him more to natsume than atsushi&fukuzawa esp given the way theyre shown tgthr so often. dazai doesnt belong to any organisation or rigid group, he just fits in line w whoever he cares abt and wherever he decides hes content to stay. v much like a cat actually.).

anyway, moris idea seems to be that dazai wld realise the mafia is somewhere he is cared for, and he cares for the people within it in return. though it doesnt seem to have really turned out that way (maybe mori j underestimated the power of the ada's one specialty: forced integration into its found family. lmao)

so you could see it from a practical perspective: mori sending dazai out to show him he really belongs w the mafia and shld come back to them when the time is right, thus mori secures his legacy by leaving the pm to dazai and the mafia is led forward by someone who could handle it the way mori has.

but. hes never pushy abt dazai coming back. hes downright polite abt it (contrasting to the way he treats yosano), and he puts an awful lot of effort into saving dazais life. (kinda funny that he sends chuuya to pick dazais ass up every five seconds with no reward for either of them - chuuya post dead apple literally asks and moris just like ? uh the safety of the city?? bragging rights😁👍? - but when he sends chuuya to save the agency as a whole the price is Heavy like. exchange of a member is crazyyy.)

dazai is always very much considered One Of Their Own. his seat is still empty waiting for him to come back, he and mori post guild are Always cooperating (despite the kinda petty way dazai talks to him during the reunion - the whole 'i burnt the coat' thing - its almost childish, spiteful in a way that speaks to personal hurt that undermines any control he might have had of their kind of distant passive aggressive exchange. but. im too insane abt that interaction that my interpretation cld be entirely bs.)

they communicate through this ridiculous game of chess, and rely on each other to keep both their organisations afloat. when anyone else from the ada tries to pull the same thing, mori pulls out contracts for their damn souls but when its dazai hes just like ? oh ur bf needs to save you again? of course i can spare him to go pick you up from european prison yeah not a problem! ill even glue his vampire cosplay teeth in!!

in connection with that, even with dazais commitment to Doing The Right Thing, he does not do it in the right way. hes perfectly content to use mori-typical underhanded methods to get the ada to the right place. he sends aku To His Death Knowingly for the sake of saving atsushi and by extension the rest of the agency (and he may have known that the vampirism wld sorta bring him back?? but he still sends him to die), and its sorta similar to mori sending aku out to deal with hawthorne and mitchell while hes in rlly bad shape.

anyway dazais methods always make me think of that cunty exchange sskk have in dead apple 'thats not the way we do things in the detective agency' 'was that a bad joke😘 ur too much weretiger🌈✨💖'. but like. dazai Doesnt work the way the ada does. at least not when things get tense enough to drive him back to habit.

i think people like to interpret dazai as being a better person now, and i think in some ways he is. because hes always influenced by the people hes around most. but also, his motivations havent really changed from pm era. he still does what he does for his friends, they just happen to be on the right side now.

anyway. mori puts more work into keeping dazai alive than any other character (bar perhaps chuuya - but thats because mori saving dazai runs hand in hand with chuuya doing it given hes the one sending him) which is. aurgh.

mori and the wish to save people is just interesting in general. the fact that he became a doctor in the first place is telling on its own plus the unhinged way he deals with yosano - of course someone obsessed with saving people would want a cheat card for sending Death packing - but maybe i could believe it was just a power thing, more to his sense of control. playing with life and death so that he can play god. and i think that probably is just a little bit part of it, esp during the war.

but theres also the way he treats doctors within the pm (sb calls it respect for his former position but it may also be knowledge that the better treated they are the more people they will save). And the only reason he works w the tripartite agreement is bc he loves yokohama, wants its people, including its underground, alive and all that (honestly it probably links back to war stuff - hes really intent on peace).

so hes already someone that is intent on saving people (and beast mori makes this obvious w the way he treats atsushi) but theres a personal edge to it w dazai, possibly bc dazai is so much like him, and asgr is kind of obsessed w the saving your mirrors bc you cldnt save yourself thing (atsushi. lucy. chuuya with his clone. beast akutagawa siblings. beast atsushi&kyouka. i could continue).

im frothing at the mouth but basically, mori does everything for practical reasons in line with his ideals, his grand vision for the PM, but that doesnt mean he isnt making any emotionally charged decisions. its just that theyre always justified by their practical outcomes. (Especially where dazai is concerned). so he can pretend that theyre not driven by personal feelings but IM WATCHING U MORI U CANT HIDE FROM ME.

yk i sometimes wonder if i see him too sympathetically for a guy thats as so sucks as he is but someone has to counterbalance the 75% of the fandom that thinks hes pure evil for no reason and has no thoughts outside of Being Terrible so. here you go have this from the depths of my brain.

[thetempestechoes]

Has anyone else here on Milgramblr ever thought about how awkward the shipping culture on here would (and very possibly does) get for the prisoners - like, at least some of the voices must be talking about the really popular ones. To quote someone in our system: "It's like someone saying that you'd be a really cute couple and now everything's awkward".

[turtleblogatlast]

omfg did you have any content on that post you just posted? the one about leo never shutting up until hes in real pain? because you are very much Correct for that one holy hell it gets me every time

[ cw: violence mention / self sacrifice implied / ]

No content, just something I thought upon when thinking of the movie (something that is on my mind so very often.)

Just, thinking of Leo, when he’s separated from everyone and everything, being completely silent. Even being so horrifically beaten as he was, even being in a true nightmare scenario, he is silent in his suffering. Smiles through it, even.

At the moment where it would have been more than justified to make any noise, he stays silent.

[nonbinary-vents]

Grabbing myself by the shoulders and screaming: IT IS OKAY TO NOT WANT TO BE COMPLETELY BINARY MALE LOOKING, IT IS OKAY TO WANT TO BE IN BETWEEN MALE AND COMPLETELY NEUTRAL, IT IS OKAY TO WANT TO LOOK LIKE AN ANDROGYNOUS GUY, YOU ARE NOT A TRANS MAN STOP TRYING TO FORCE YOURSELF INTO BEING BINARY AND THEN FEELING GUILTY BECAUSE YOU DON’T WANT TO BE A FULL MAN, YOUR TRANSITION GOAL IS COMPLETELY NORMAL AND NOT HARMFUL, JUST BE HAPPY FOR ONCE AND ACTUALLY WORK TOWARDS THE BODY YOU NEED INSTEAD OF STRESSING OUT ABOUT NOT BEING ‘TRANS ENOUGH’ BECAUSE YOU’RE NOT A MAN

[ikeameatballspoisonedme]

HOOOOOOOO ME WHEN VIDEO ESSAY MENTIONED JOYCE AND LILIENNE BEING POLAR OPPOSITE. JOYCE WILL ONLY MENTION HER FAMILY IN PASSING EVEN THOUGH SHE IS WILLING TO TALK ABOUT SO MANY COMPLEX CONCEPT LIKE THE PALE WHILE LILIENNE IS SO OPEN ABOUT IT. JOYCE ONLY REFERRING TO THE BOAT AS THE SERIAL NUMBER WHILE LILIENNE LOVINGLY NAMED HER BOAT 'SUN'

[reitheist]

Do you think bucchigiri is a yaoi because I would love it I ship Matakara and Arajin and Senya and the other genius a lot?

i think that bucchigiri is sort of in that BL/BL-adjacent original anime spectrum (yuri on ice<-sk8 the infinity<-free!) based on the director's previous shows and general vibes. I think bucchigiri is kinda with sk8 in the middle of the spectrum of 'canon' queerness.

the way sk8 and bucchigiri are specifically formulated is to fall within sports anime genre conventions (which appeal to male audiences) while showcasing attractive and charming male characters with deep, near romantic bonds (appealing to a female demographic). (this isn't to say that boys like this and girls like that fyi, that's just how marketing generally works in the anime industry) this garners more of a fanbase than if the show were to market exclusively to one or the other.

unfortunately, this means shows like bucchigiri are unlikely to fully confirm anything due to the potential of stirring up controversy or alienating male viewers

similar to sk8, bucchigiri has and I think will continue to code matakara's and ara's relationship (and probably senya and ichiya's too) as somewhat romantic. i don't think they're going to make it canon, though.

the only chance I could see of having a canon queer relationship (or breakup, rather) is mayyyybe between senya and ichiya, since they're not the main characters and bucchigiri hasn't been especially afraid of being blatantly homoerotic lol

[madmadmilk]

lol to the people who keeps leaving hate comments on my dumb anime ships,,. thanks for reading 10K of gibberish, i guess?? i hope u continued to be haunted by them 👍

for reference i started writing for my hero academia, for ochako uraraka x bakugo katuski [kacchako] (i am already writhing in embarrassment, ok)... and it's just for fun.... i'm not like expecting anything but omg very chapter is just SPAMMED....

is this normal in anime fandoms?? is this normal anywhere????

like can someone just confirm with me that this is crazy:

like oops sorry to put these people on blast but like... is this normal.... ??? i'm scared to block them cos if what they just post more??? i'm so lost bruh

i've hesitated making other anime-fandom-centric friends cos of this lol, so yeah anyone well versed and like... reasonable, can you just like tell me what to do LOL

anyway for now i've gotten this on all my (TWO) fics:

[hawkinsp0st]

the s3 ending wants to put the audience’s focus on byler.

thank you for the request @lemonkookies !!! disclaimer this analysis has totally been done before by causeineedu on tiktok and other excellent creators—just wanted to share my specific observations and thoughts <3

part i: “not possible” vs “i like presents too”

• first scene we get in the moving out sequence is mike & will. mike hasn’t wanted to play dnd all season, and yet he’s scared that will is throwing his dnd set away.

• the 2 of them have the interaction “what if you want to join another party?” “not possible.” michael is,,,,,positively smitten. but even after the famous mike smile, the camera turns back to will and he’s staring mike down as he walks away. this is so, so flirty i’m having a mental breakdown. i’ve seen this scene several times but never noticed they were this bad. this interaction is especially interesting since they never really made up from the rain fight in 3x3 bc the mind flayer showed up.

• mariah carey goodbye scene is framed within a closet when it starts. like the camera is inside the closet

• mike finds el, immediately tells her “dw you’ll get your powers back”. huh? if u valued her for who she is as a person shouldn’t u be telling her that things will be ok without her powers, instead of reassuring her (ahem, yourself) that they’ll come back?

• mike brings up presents then goes sorry that made me sound like a seven year old. he’s dipping back into enjoying things that he had thought were too immature all throughout s3, bc that interaction he just had with will about dnd made him feel safe to do so again.

• this boy fr just stands there and lets her walk away. michael. 🧍‍♂️

• never noticed this before but he seems like he genuinely doesn’t remember at first what eleven’s talking about when she’s calling back to the cabin “ily” moment. i just think it’s funny that he doesn’t even remember LOL

• THIS IS FR MIKE DURING THE KISS 👁👁🧍‍♂️ HE DOESNT TOUCH HER OR FOLLOW HER OR ANYTHING IM

part ii: hop’s letter scene and the crazy fucking byler centric way it’s sequenced

• this scene does a weird non-chronological order thing. let’s discuss.

• el sits down to read the letter and hop’s voiceover starts. we get shots of hop writing the letter & the kids’ goodbyes (i’m looking at you, sus internalized homophobia byler hug that lasts 30 seconds shorter than all the other hugs lmao). but then…..

• the byers/el drive away and we zoom in on mike. just mike. this tells the viewer to focus on him for the remainder of this sequence. the zoom into mike happens as hop is saying “like you’re… you’re pulling away from me or something.” he watches el & the byers drive away. he looks distraught.

• “i miss playing board games every night.” OH COME ON. (dnd)

• the rest of their friends bike away, but mike stays behind for a really long time—“growing. changing. and i guess…”

• mike looks back at the byers’ house, LOOKS THE HOUSE UP AND DOWN MULTIPLE TIMES AS HOP SAYS “if i’m being really honest, that’s what scares me.”

• “i don’t want things to change.” direct cut from mike to will, will’s crying in the car and jonathan notices (parallel to 4x8 van scene imo).

• mike walks into his house. “i think that’s why i came in here… to try and maybe… stop that change.” subtextually? i think this is meant to show us that that’s why mike has been acting so weird and closed off towards will in s3. growing up means acknowledging those feelings they share, so he’s trying to stop that change. i really don’t think i’m reaching bc these lines play clearly & distinctly while we see mike wheeler, standing by himself, looking distraught over will leaving.

• “to turn back the clock.” he gives his mom the Will Look™️ (the same one from when he thought will was dead in s1) and, in direct parallel to s1, She Knows Things And They Hug. this parallel is so direct that it’s clear to me they’re showing us he’s emotional over will right now—not el.

• “to make things go back to how they were.” he hugs his mom. his eyes are open wide and the camera focuses on that. he’s realizing that things will not be the same now that he and will are growing up, and he’ll be forced to either face or repress things.

• now we cut back to el reading the letter. then the rest of the scene plays out chronologically—the byers & el leave their house. this is what confirms everything for me: the only explanation for this weird time shift is that they wanted hop’s specific words over the mike sequence.

if hop’s letter were meant to only be about hop & el’s relationship, or the bond between all the kids, it would’ve been a montage of their happy memories playing as she was reading the letter or in the moving van with joyce. but the show actually takes us out of this and focuses on……mike losing will? for the majority of hop’s letter???

this REALLY contextualizes “i guess i feel like i lost you or something” from 4x4. watching the 4x4 scene right after the s3 finale, i feel like mike is finally trying to open up about how much this sequence of s3 took a toll on him. i honestly think will moving away changed him forever.

[lord-squiggletits]

I know there are as many religious good guys as there are religious bad guys in IDW, but I think I pinned down the reason why it feels like the most prominent religious figures are all bad guys and it's pretty much due to the worldbuilding.

Maybe my memory of the comics is just really bad, but the religious worldbuilding in IDW is....kind of trash honestly. I'm not sure there's a single religion or religious custom that doesn't exist solely to further the plot along. Like, it's one thing for the Camiens to worship the Primes and that causes a lot of stuff in exRID/OP, but what does that worship actually look like? What are their holidays, customs, religious texts? What about "spectralism" which basically the only thing we know about is the Festival of the Lost Light and some hippie color coding and aura shit? Like sure, there are characters who are religious and their beliefs come into play sometimes, but it honestly feels (especially in MTMTE) more like their religiousness only exists when it's relevant to the plot and it's just kinda. Disappointing eh. Lacking in worldbuilding. Plus the more religious a character is the more it's written as their entire personality and the driving force making them evil so it just kinda made me cringe to read honestly.

[maddy-ferguson]

i have never in my life seen a fandom hate fun the way this fandom does. someone will post a headcanon and preface it by saying "i know this would never happen but wouldn't this be so cute" and within 20 minutes someone else will make a post saying "um if you think this could Ever happen you are gravely mistaken. you don't understand anything about the show. how dare you post this on the internet. you should be ashamed of yourself" all because the first person didn't take every "agreed upon" theory into consideration like bro maybe they aren't here for that maybe they just wanna be silly and have fun maybe you should consider shutting up

[drawnaghht]

Neo Edo, Ki-Stone and Kaikishi connections

another little wayward thought i've kept pushing back in my head to post about it another time: the way the connection between both our younger Usagi and the Ki-stone is pictured and then the original, older Usagi, how these things connect in the story and wordl. (Fanramble)

when Usagi first touches the Ki-Stone, he describes it as "like if you had a friend, who was lighting " and seems to be visibly fine after the Ki-stone pushes him away from the connection (or it seems more like; he's so taken aback to see Miyamoto Usagi in the same space as him, he just "wakes himself up from it" but doesn't look worser than usual).

But you'll notice that 1) his pursuers (newfound friends) + Spot are all ALSO lying on the ground, smoking from being zapped by the Ki-stone, and 2) Tetsujin who was touching Usagi on his shoulder to stop him is "not a ghost" - "transmuted into another plane of existence" - so basically we can say that as a kindness, the Ki-stone "transmuted" him instead of just killing him. So we can assume that usually touching the Ki-stone either kills or zaps the person.

But Usagi is basically fine, save for maybe feeling a bit hurt by the push-back onto the temple floor. Most of the next times he connects to the Ki-Stone again, it's by his yo-yo. Did the Ki-Stone, recognizing Usagi as a familiar rabbit, or even recognizing him as Miyamoto Usagi's descendany, know he would need this yoyo? Did she know Usagi could solve the 1000-year old problem delayed by Usagi's ancestor by killing the shogun and trapping all spirit-farers?

We also see in ep 6 "Nobody likes A Ninja", the ninja trying to list the Ki-Stone get zapped back as well. Side-note: we don't know if they just get a bit "burnt" like the main cast in ep 1, or if they're actually dead here after.

Whatever the case, the Ki-stone can't be touched directly without harm to the physical person. The way the fake scroll bait is used by the Neko Ninja also makes me think that Tetsujin, knowing that Fuwa would want to steal it, also made the scroll in a way he could punish the Neko Ninja a little, but without killing them (i know it's maybe not that important since they're technically enemies, but Tetsujin's whole outfit makes me thing that he'd approach it peacefull, or more with mischief that lethal harm in mind.)

In the same ep, Tetsujin also repeats the "Do not Touch the Ki-Stone" rule, also explaining why (magnetic pull of the earth - sidenote: that's why u can also see this magnets idea in how people in Neo Edo carry their weapons - magnets are everywhere in Neo Edo and that's how the cars and some of the appliances work for example)

As the series goes on, we see Usagi get gradually worser reactions after each time he has touched the Ki-stone. In ep 5, trapping Hakai, we see him step back and yell in pain, holding his eyes closed and covering them, staged in a way that makes it seem both the info and physical experience were tougher to experience. Trapping Sakuran in ep 6, he stands in shock and simply rolls down from not being able to stand on his own anymiore, lying down for a while when Tetsujin and Spot approach him. He says "That hurts a little more every time." At the end of the season, once he's seen the final scene with his ancestor, he holds his head again, but in slightly less pain. This could be explained how the whole city saw the scene and is "sharing the brainload", as we see everyone from Gen to the city police rubbing their heads in shock. Ironically, the only person to recover quickly from this is Lord Kogane (for humor, but this scene was genuinely funny with how it's a comment about history changing in a 1000 years)..

Anyway, this all to say that it's an interesting internal consistency within the show world x3 Usagi is the only one who survives touching the Ki-Stone, presumably bc of his connection to Miyamoto Usagi, who was able to also survive connecting to the stone and even cut it thanks to Willow Branch, his own personal weapon. I had a theory going in my head a while back that perhaps, despite him not having a legacy left after the murder of the fake shogun, what if the Ki-Stone decided to "save" Miyamoto Usagi somewhere? I probably forgot to post on it, but that first scene with Usagi and Usagi together in the white space of the Ki-Stone made me think. the older Usagi "wakes up" in a similar way, as if his spirit has been asleep for a 1000 years. We know he wasn't in the Ki-Stone like the Yokai, bc we see at the end of s1 that he survived that interaction + in s2 that he sent his sword away,.. but what if he had to send it for safe-keeping with his family not just because he was sure he would die and be captured, because he knew the sword would be needed later? "Willow Branch is a special sword" as he puts it in the ep 10 flashback. (and more abt this theory another time then)

At the end of the episode, we see that Yuichi connects to the Ki-Stone again, but this time, not to remember and not with his yoyo but to return Omurasaki to the Ki-Stone as it was the piece that his ancestor cut, was passed down instead of a sword, and now sit's on his auntie's Edgewing, at the pommel.

Maybe it was this connection to the Ki-Stone that also saved Usagi the first time? Whether it was the connection itself (having the sword with him, with the stone still spiritual/magical) or the Ki-Stone knowing that the piece was back in the city, and thus choosing Usagi based on it in the first ep. But the stone saw that he needed his own spirit weapong, and so it opened up the vault for Usagi to pick the most suited weapon for him. Again, I wonder how much the Ki-Stone in it's magic/spirit sentience actually foresaw or predicted some of this?

(I also find it interesting that the piece of Ki-Stone attached to Edgewing is named after the national butterfly of Japan, the Sasakia Charonda, or, ō-murasaki " (オオムラサキ - "great purple") - but all that for another time)

Giving the piece back the Ki-Stone throws Usagi back so far that he's actually left unconscious for a longer time, enough for the Ki-Stone to pulse with some sort of energy to close the big energy portal in the sky, go wireless and for his friends to basically finish fighting the rest of the warbotto.

Side-note: Like. he actually looked kinda dead in this scene and while being a longtime cartoon fan I knew it probably wouldn't last long, I was kinda convinced enough just to be like "no way. they're not gonna kill off a main character!" at it haha x3

Now, for the other times that Usagi touches it, he uses the yoyo, which basically seems to act as a conduit between his spirit and the Ki-Stone (which is basically a spirit-energy stone, going by the name), even tho he feels worse each time, he can still endure the memories and connection without bigger harm. Does this mean the other's in his orphan crew also get this ability with their Kaikishi weapons in s2? or is it special to just Usagi's yo-yo? It's also intersting that while both the Ki-Stone and the entire city feature magnet-related features as does the yo-yo (being able to connect to metal, but also spirits), it seems the other weapons do not have this ability. Except maybe Chizu's arrows, which she can change at will. Kitsune's new batlle fans can also disappear at will, matching her personality and skills, but the disappearing "woosh" energy also resembles the Ki-Stone itself, being purple. Gen's new war clubs can change size, but also connect into one big version which he is able to lift with ease, so that could also be a connection to the magnetic theme related to the Ki-Stone. Kinda wish we'd gotten more of the others or to see more of these weapons secondary skills, but alas, 10 eps is what we got.

But would this ability to connect to the Ki-Stone via weapons, mean that the others would also have more backstory and lore to explore if the show went on longer or even just for another season? More of those 2D cutscenes where characters remember or imagine something? What kind of story ideas did the writers and crew have simmering underneath all the stories they had to cut for time?

Also of note: While the rest seem to have standard features + super-natural ones which reflect their users + some hidden ability we don't know about, it might be that the yoyo also has one more secret ability?

Usagi's yoyo can act as a normal yoyo. When lit/glowing, it acts as a magnet and Yuichi can use it creatively in a lot of ways. It's nigh-indestructible, which seems like a feature that would be common to all Kaikishi weapons. It can capture anything magnetic and in episode 3, Possessions, we see it can also capture a yokai in place. Dare Mo, the yokai who takes auntie's appearance to fight Usagi, is surprised to see him sporting a Kaikishi weapon and begs him not to "use [his] weapon's power!"

So that has always made me wonder if there's more to it than what we see later? Because we see with ep 5, capturing Hakai, that if Usagi asks respectfully, the yoyo will "calm" the yokai into not struggling or resisting. It's about Usagi learning to respect and trust his weapon and learn to not jump into a fight all sword-crazy. But also, if it's part of it's spirit we could poetically state that it's about Usagi learning to trust and listen to his own soul as well.

In any case, this "calming" effect of the yoyo seems the most obvious third extra power, but I get the feel like there might more. (again, sorta wish we'd gotten to see more of the rest of the Kaikishi weapon's special powers x3) And then, if the other spirit weapons are not there for capturing yokai + we've already seen their secondary powers, what else could be there?

What's subtly interesting about Usagi's choice in the yo-yo, is that the Ki-Stone seems to have wanted to pick Chizu at first (she's the temple student and in reality an experienced fighter, but also, not being picked is a visual gag here), but then comically turns to Usagi, giving him the spotlight... but also making him react in a way that to me at least speaks that "that stone took his spirit-orb and sent it to the weapon door". We see him pick the yo-yo impulsively, but we also see. So it makes it feel like the Ki-Stone picked him deliberately, as if knowing he'd pick the yo-yo, instead of something sharp that could cut her, since we know that a sword is usually a samurai's spirit (and probably why in this show, Willow Branch was able to cut it at all).

In s2, after saving the city from the Makkine attack with his spirit-samurai form, granted to him by meditating while connected to the Ki-Stone by his yo-yo again, Usagi says that it's probably something he won't be doing again. It almost seems as if this drained all of Usagi's own spirit energy, and then some. The Ki-Stone gave him a boost upwards and he got some heavenly spirit-power to transform into a spirit-suit basically - with Usagi himself in the "heart" of the mech.

Interesting design. (I've made notes about this before). It's really cool! Also cool that it mirrors the end of UY: Senso in this way too. The show's showrunners and other creative staff were such big fans, they put something like this into the story, but it still makes sense internally.

also just because: of COURSE it ends with a bit mech vs kaiju fight!!!

he is much more like his ancestor than he thinks he is haha

sdfsdfs i love thinking abt the connections in this show x3

[iristial]

When I get notifications for old posts, I used to think to myself "wow, how did someone find this?" Now I see the notifications and think "wow...I don't remember writing this" 😂

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