#the theory of ko

[graphicpolicy]

Nakama Press Packs a Punch with The Theory of K.O. Vol. 1!

Nakama Press Packs a Punch with The Theory of K.O. Vol. 1! #comics #manga

This summer, Mad Cave Studios’ imprint Nakama Press’ is set to make an impact with The Theory of K.O. Vol. 1!  Written and illustrated by Lyon Comics Festival award-winning French comic creator Mathieu Reynès, this high-octane 182-page epic is filled with stunning art and thought-provoking themes that will captivate fans of dystopian sci-fi, underground fight culture, and bold, character-driven…

[r4nnita]

Merch content :3

[evilwickedme]

I said I'd never do jumblr content again and yet here I am because this keeps coming up and it's like the only thing I can think about. That said I will not hesitate to turn off reblogs if y'all are horrible in the notes again, and be warned that I will be blocking anybody who supports any of the theories I mention immediately

There is no such thing as a conspiracy theory that isn't antisemitic. There is no such animal

Antisemitic conspiracy theories go back thousands of years. The ones that still have the most hold on culture to this day are the blood libel, and the protocols of the elders of zion

The blood libel was an accusation that would be brought against Jewish populations in Europe often but especially around Passover claiming that we were killing Christian children for ritual purposes, usually to use their blood for baking matza or other nonsense (it is important to me that you know that this is nonsense. It is horrible and damaging but also to the core a ridiculous lie that never at any point made any sense. They just didn't care). Debatably this trope is present in the merchant of Venice. Undebatably Jews were killed because people did and still do sincerely believe this

The protocols of the elders of zion is a fictitious document published in Russia at the very beginning of the 20th century, supposedly detailing the meetings of the Jewish people who secretly run the world. The protocols were almost immediately proven to be a rip off of another document - ah, plagiarism - but that hasn't stopped antisemites from embracing it wholeheartedly (special thanks fuck you to Henry Ford for publishing them in his newspaper, spreading it across the USA). It built on previous antisemitic tropes, from the greedy banker trope (Jews were forced to be money lenders in medieval Europe as it was forbidden in Christianity and Jews weren't allowed to join any guilds, preventing them from making money in any other capacity - the reason why there are so many Jews in Hollywood is identical, but in the early 20th century) to the concept of dual loyalty (i.e. Jewish are loyal to ourselves above all else and cannot be trusted to be loyal to the country where we live, see: modern trope that every Jew is probably loyal to Israel and the subsequent idea that it's okay to ask every single diaspora Jew how they feel about Israel immediately upon meeting them). It's also worth noting that the word cabal, used to denote the shadowy organizations that supposedly control the world, comes from kabbala, which is Jewish mysticism

The idea of lizard people, created by a guy literally named Icke because he is a gross human being, was designed to repackage the antisemitic shadow cabal concept to be supposedly more palatable

Most qanon theories also build on all of this, such as world leaders preying on children (remember pizzagate?)

But more importantly conspiratorial thinking always positions you as the good guy standing against a mysterious "them", an other which is influencing things behind the scenes. The Jew is the ultimate other, and specifically an other that supposedly forms a shadowy world government, controlling everything and yet somehow not managing to get rid of antisemitism (see: protocols of Zion, lizard people, we control Hollywood and the government which is of course conspiring against you). There is no way to decouple the idea of an evil shadowy organization (usually also referred to as a cabal to really hammer it in) from antisemitism and antisemitic tropes

And this means that even supposedly "harmless" conspiracy theories attract antisemites and train people who aren't necessarily rabid antisemites to confirm those kinds of biases. Obviously Qanon and lizard people are antisemitic, but what does the moon landing have to do with Jews? Well, it was Hollywood and the government that faked it, obviously. Hell, even the conspiracy that Taylor Swift is secretly a lesbian and is either still secretly dating or is exes with Karlie Kloss is riddled with antisemitism -

Okay so I need to explain my position on this because I fucking hate this conspiracy theory, and the fact that most people simply won't acknowledge that that's what it is. Firstly, Taylor Swift has stated that she is not gay or considers herself an ally at least three times off the top of my head, and specifically denied that she was dating Karlie Kloss. Secondly, outing people is wrong. Thirdly, the conspiracy theory hinges on the idea that she would be risking her career by coming out, except that she's proven that basically no controversy can come in the way of her career, she's already "come out" as an ally, donated to glaad and the equality act, promoted queer musicians & artists & designers (there was a song in the reputation tour that was dedicated to a gay designer every single night of the tour). So what's stopping her from coming out at this point? Mysterious forces, clearly. The antisemitism in that I've already explained, but also the virulent antisemitism among Kaylor shippers aimed at her husband and at the fact that she converted to Judaism is fucking disgusting

Again: even a supposedly harmless conspiracy theory leads to antisemitism and attracts antisemites

A few years ago I tried to rewatch white collar cause I remembered really enjoying that show as a preteen and after around a season I just couldn't stand it anymore, because all I wanted to do was jump into the universe and yell at Mozzie to shut the fuck up because these conspiracy theories were barely presented as a joke and never challenged even once by any of the characters. When I rewatched that 70s show it also fucking sucked, but at least it wasn't showing up in every single episode. The blacklist focuses entirely on a literal Cabal, that's what they're called

This stuff is so normalized and it's fucking everywhere and it's exhausting. Jews are to this day being murdered over this. I can't change the world by myself, unfortunately, but if you don't have a specific person to blame for your troubles, shut the fuck up. Just shut up. There is no conspiracy against you. Sometimes life just sucks. Or definitely does for the Jews who get shot at over this shit

Again, I'll be blocking anybody who parrots this bullshit in the comments but especially fucking gaylors y'all are one of the main reasons that being a fan of Taylor Swift's music is fucking unbearable. Just accept you can connect to music made by somebody different than yourself it's not that difficult of a concept

[yuseirra]

Original post

A SUMMARY/THEORY OF WHAT'S BEEN HAPPENING IN ONK.

This can explain every weird thing in the story and have the plot ACTUALLY MAKE SENSE while tying all the elements that were introduced altogether.

e.g.

what are the star eyes all about

why were gods mentioned and what were the missions of the twins

why the lyrics are like that

why did Aqua have to go through with what he's done

what IS up with Hikaru (his soul being "noble", his goals, etc)

what is up with the souls breaking apart

why was Hikaru and Ai so about love

why does Tsukuyomi exist

why the ending is that way

and more! I drew little drawings to go with it this time~

[sergeifyodorov]

been thinking about Weirdos in the jeff skinner theory model. obviously skinner himself is the titular Weirdo, but i think we can go deeper than him and the occasional hughes brother*

*Weirdo in this sense meaning someone who doesn't conform with the typical skating patterns of someone with similar development pipelines (era/location/league). like you can analyze one of them vancouver petterssons all day but they're really all pretty standard swedes when you think about it

**i do think ep40 has busted a hip

***WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH MORGAN RIELLY

[fuckitpossumorb]

New sdr episodes done ✨❤️ and I have so many thoughts!!! Spoilers below people <33

First off Ko is such a massive dumbass through this whole two episodes ans I LOVE her for it, she’s a big dumbass but tries to do good over it all, she’s just so EXTRA on everything. She feels so much all the time about everything and it’s great!! I love Ko oh god I love her so much.

2. WE WERE SO CLOSE TO A HONEYPOT SQUEME PEOPLE SO CLOSE!!! it was even Ziggy who suggested it!! I feel insane!!!!!

3. Welcome back Rex Maxim, diva extraordinaire. I thought he was a massive diva on overture oh baby that was NOTHING! THAT WAS DRAG!! Also washed out celebrity is pretty much what he was doing in Overture only that slightly less desperate.

Can’t wait to see Rett and Pyke struggle and generally let out waves of hate in his vicinity in the next eps, when they find out the blackmail and Pyke finally experiences joy after many years is peak comedy, I strive to be as petty as this man.

4. Speaking of Pyke he’s a liar!!! HELL YEAH! For a second I thought he was going to try and impersonate Rex but hell yeah, he totally used to do this type of shit when he was working alone.

Better enough Rett says something like “making up stories, being someone he’s not, this is what he’s good at” about Pyke to Ko. That’s a hell of a quote. Either Pyke was a spy at some point or there’s something deeply wrong with him.

5. PIXEL POP!! PIXEL POP oh how I love thee, I was not sold on her character at the start but the more time we got to spend with her, the little morsels of worldbuilding and how she’s connected with it, and then she killed a man!!! Way to go PIXIE!! Also props to mace for acting his ass out on that scene I could’ve sworn he was actually dying.

Rett’s over here collecting children like they’re Pokémon cards I love that for him.

Her relationship with Ko and Ziggy was great, how she interacted with Rett and Pyke when the ruse was down felt so much more natural! She’s an amazing addition also hi Nikkie hi. I think her and Ko should kiss anyways,,,,

6. Space vampires? Space vampires. Space vampires that feed on your soul!!! Hell yeah. That’s metal as hell. The way Mace described all of it was very fun, also Pyke seems to know something about this? About the silent and the harmony I’m interested

Also that scene where Pyke calls out to the crew “They’re the silent” and everyone goes “what?” Is amazing. Peak comedy.

I wonder if anyone will bring it up again, like I would live to see Pyke trying to explain to Pixel this whole soul/harmony thing. When Rett tries to explain it to Ko and says that’s what they explained to him does he mean the corp he worked for before? Or Pyke himself? Pyke’s connection to the stars in overture was very fun to think about I wonder if it translated to this at all.

7. Ziggy they could never make me hate you, also the fucking curveball with the bugs on Pixel’s things this man is a fucking madlad I love him

8. The last part, the ex-girlfriend plot line! I’m invested, and a little confused. Did she maybe die in whatever experience Pyke had with someone like the vice-roy before? Did she betray him and he faked his death? Or did she just leave him?

A part of me is sure it’s a girlfriend and a part of me thinks it could maybe be Dandy. Idk I’m just wondering how she could tie up in this new universe, I mean she’s not dead, but she isn’t around.

Why do I think it could be Dandy? Because of two lines, one Pyke says that is “she went through a phase” and another that Ko says which is “she was just a coworker”.

The first one still works with the girlfriend but because he could mean that there was a time she was really into clubbing, but it could also mean she had a phase were she wanted to be a dancer/pop star and that would’ve been the scene she would be into which to me sounds more paternal idk?

Ko’s like also works with both scenarios, it could imply that they weren’t even partners at all and Pyke is just hung up on a crush, or trying to minimize her relationship with Pyke to make him feel better OR it could mean that Pyke only ever described her as a “coworker” to Ko and she just assumed it was a romantic sort of relationship when it could be diferent.

Anyways,,,, that’s all I have to say for now. Stay tuned for more of my bullshit.

[hamliet]

Oshi no Ko's Angel of Light: Kamiki Hikaru

So, I wrote a review of Oshi no Ko previously, just not on this blog. I talked there about the meaning of Hoshino Ai as a name (it's literally hoshi no eye, Ai spelled in katakana to reinforce that it's a loanword, meaning starry eye, and of course, eye/ai is a homonym for love) and how Oshi no Ko uses wordplay and puns to introduce its themes.

Naturally, I wanted to talk about the other parent, whose name is just as significant.

Kamiki Hikaru is literally "god of light/shining god." Well, okay, sort of. It's technically "kami of light," and kami doesn't translate super well into English. It's often referred to as a god in Shintoism, but it's not quite the western perception of a god. Spirit is another popular translation.

Of course, this references the supernatural themes of the story, as well as Hikaru's role. See, "angel of light" is what the Christian Bible calls Lucifer, the Christian devil. Pretty fitting for Hikaru's role in the story as the main villain.

But wait! There's more! Lucifer itself, as a name, refers to the planet Venus, known as the morning star. Which, of course, is the "star" we see in the story associated with Ai.

(Yes, the story is very much using distinctly Christian allusions alongside Shinto ones.)

Hikaru, like Lucifer, is known to, well, want everything for himself. That doesn't mean he wants all the worship of the world like Lucifer literally did according to mythology. No, instead it's far more insidious but no less disturbing: he sees himself as entitled to dictate how the world runs. He decides whose life is worth living, and makes others pay for mistakes of people they don't even know. He's playing God, in other words--exactly what Lucifer did to fall from heaven in Christian mythology (it's not actually super biblical hence why I'm using "mythology").

Lucifer is also called "Satan" obviously, which literally means "accuser" in Hebrew. That's kind of the perfect summary for what Hikaru sees himself as: he's visiting his hatred of an abuser he has every right to hate on everyone and everything that remotely reminds him of her.

The thing is, as said above, Hikaru does have the right to hate Airi, just like Aqua has the right to hate him. But following the path of revenge is Not The Way.

So, is Hikaru Satan?

No. He's a person.

The Path To Hikaru

Hikaru is not all that different from the other characters we know and love--Ai, Ruby, Kana, Akane, and especially Aqua. Fitting since they're all idols of sorts (yes, Akasaka is constantly using religious references to add social commentary to the idea of an "idol" as a false god/object of worship). They're also all actors.

Hikaru is what Aqua risks becoming. No, seriously. Hikaru was traumatized as a child via rape that led to the creation of a life.

As a result he's pretty anti-life as a whole, and especially anti-woman. He's constantly seeking revenge on women, hence his murder-happy spree. The problem is that he's not seeing these women as individuals: he sees everyone and everything as a representation of Airi, the person who assaulted him.

Also, society as a whole's attitude towards male victims of sexual assault, especially male victims of attractive women, means that Hikaru would not be seen as a victim. One of OnK's major themes is how messed up society is and how it dehumanizes people via fitting them into roles, and this is a perfect example of the harm that can come from it. Hikaru would be seen as a boy, and all boys clearly want sex. A famous actress slept with him? Lucky him! Even though this never came out publicly, Hikaru absolutely knew this was the case and it certainly plays a role in his grudge against the world.

Even though Airi is dead (probably as a result of him provoking her husband by revealing that he wasn't the father), he still isn't satisfied. No, Airi is still everywhere. Killing the perpetrator, making them pay, did not erase his trauma.

If Aqua kills Hikaru, his trauma will likewise not be erased. Not his trauma as Gorou, not his trauma as Aqua. Hikaru's death will fix absolutely nothing in his life besides stopping more murders, but there are ways to do that that, y'know, don't involve killing. If Aqua kills Hikaru, he will lose the best part of Gorou (valuing life) and the best part of Aqua (the future Ai wanted for him, a future with Kana and Ruby).

Aqua, You are Your Father

Aqua, you are your father. It's almost like the entire series has been trying to give you this message and you keep ignoring it. (By the way, because I know I'm going to get asks about this, I am NOT saying Aqua and Hikaru are moral equivalents. Not at all. I'm just saying that Aqua is walking a path that will end with him being just like Hikaru if he doesn't get shoved off said path.)

From being the violent stalker who attacks someone who has never felt loved in his first acting job after Ai's death to scenes like this:

The story is asking Aqua to take a good long look at himself, and he's trying desperately to avoid doing this. Why? Because he's also playing God, same as his father, same as Satan in Christianity. He thinks he is responsible for everything; a natural, childish attitude that people grow out of as they age.

Of course, Aqua is not nearly as toxic in this as Hikaru--he's not attacking innocent people--but the root of this is still a belief that he somehow controls what happens, when he doesn't. He doesn't at all.

Aqua, too, is just a person.

But Aqua struggles to understand what it means to be a person, to be Hoshino Aquamarine.

He struggles to see other people as people, too. This ranges from sabotaging Ruby's auditions to how he treats Akane to his protecting Kana without considering what she wants. It's been brought up multiple times in the story so far:

Aqua also fundamentally does not see Ai as a human being, either. Unlike Ruby, who calls Ai "Mama," Aqua only ever calls her "Ai," her persona. Aqua and Ai are foils to Kana and her own mother, in that Kana's mom lived through Kana only to abandon her, and Aqua is living through his mom... but ignoring what she would actually want.

(Ruby isn't flawless or perfectly healthy, and the story certainly doesn't frame them as good twin bad twin, but Ruby's overall worldview is absolutely more in line with what the story wants to endorse.) That's why we have lines like this, where Ruby reveals that she has a healthier view of their mother than Aqua does. She knows Ai was flawed.

This is extra notable because he has 0 problems calling Hikaru his father. It's almost like Aqua is drowning in self-hatred, in feeling unloved, in the idea that he brings bad luck just by existing.

He'll call out Ruby for her negative traits, but Aqua thinks he deserves them. Aqua dehumanizes himself, the same way he dehumanizes Ai, and he has to see both his mother and himself people before he can step off this path.

Essentially, what he tells Ruby here is exactly what he needs to realize, but he has not done so.

The root of Aqua's God complex is that he cannot move past his trauma. It's actually psychologically realistic that a child who experienced such an event would be stuck in a childish mindset wherein they feel guilt for not being able to save their mother.

But it's not just Ai that Aqua couldn't save. It's Sarina, too. She is the one who introduced him to Ai, after all. He didn't move on from her death in his past life, either, which can probably be traced back to his own tragic birth circumstances--the idea that he only brings death, because his mother died giving birth to him. Gorou even states that he became a doctor to help people like his mother, but the point is also that he wanted to bring life, not death.

Except, he isn't God. Neither Gorou nor Aqua are. He can't save Sarina, and that isn't his fault. But Sarina ends up okay as Ruby, not through his own intervention. Aqua couldn't save Ai, but that's not his fault.

The point I'm making here is that Aqua needs to heal the hurting child within him. The story has also brought up the theme of children suffering at the hands of the entertainment industry numerous times:

His path towards healing would involve taking a long look not just at the hurting child in himself, but the hurting child in Hikaru, too. Which is not the same as excusing. After all, we already saw what happened with Aqua thought his dad was dead: despite the supposed justice and his proclamations about being free, he was still every inch the trapped, terrified, traumatized child afraid to live. Killing Hikaru won't be any different.

Becoming Human

So, is there hope for Aqua?

Yeah. A ton of it.

Despite the tragedy of Ai's story, every other arc has ended optimistically. The story's optimism, also, is fundamentally rooted in humanity. Every character, even the ones who seem like exploitative jerks like the producers who edited Akane to look bad and the self-centered mangakas, end up having their thoughts and motives explored, and we see where they are coming from. Not only that, but they have the best of intentions.

Frankly, this is true to life as well. Precious few people see themselves as the villain. Almost everyone thinks they're doing the right thing. It's very human.

The end of the reality dating show arc is kind of what I expect in the end here. There, all contestants came together and pooled their unique individual talents to exonerate Akane. I would expect Ruby, Miyako, Kana, and Akane (who herself has finally realized that she can step into her own personhood instead of trying to be Ai/whatever Aqua needs and vowed to stop him) to come together to save Aqua from himself.

Aqua is incredibly loved, and he doesn't seem to understand this. Love is what enabled Ai to die smiling. A lack of love, feeling undeserving of love, is what torments Sarina/Ruby, Aqua, Kana, and more. The bastardization of love is what torments Hikaru.

Love allows someone to be themselves, truly, to individuate. This is what Aqua needs to learn:

He also doesn't need to earn the love of those around him, nor the love of Ai. She loved him just because he was her son, and all she wanted was for him to be happy and to live.

Imo, it's pretty unlikely Akasaka plans to end the series with Aqua becoming Hikaru 2.0. My guess is that Hikaru will be stopped because of Aqua, and he'll even likely die, but not at Aqua's hand. I suspect Akane, Ruby, and especially Kana (the one person Aqua has consistently placed above Ai) will help save Aqua from himself.

[ballad-of-the-lamb]

new art soon i promise i've just been dealing w/ a migraine for the past couple days that's been killing me and preventing me from getting anywhere

[thoughtspresso]

This Tweet by Aka Akasaka:

I always thought there was something unhealthy about Akane’s relationship with Aqua. And while I don’t think she had ill intent, personally, it’s just like a lot of people you may have met that also either had depression or have very unstable support systems -- they tend to depend heavily on people who did treat them with kindness and gave them affection. Albeit, not by their conscious effort to use people, simply a reflex driven by a personal need to feel useful and appreciated by the people they feel love for.

Spoilers after the break.

In many scenes after Akane’s attempt during the LoveNow arc, it’s shown that she’s become to give a lot of herself to whatever it is she thought Aqua would need of her. She was happy to give those things, including:

Act as his dream girl

Be his showbiz girlfriend even with her awareness that he’s using her

Help him kill somebody in the industry

Bear his emotional burdens

Kissing and sex, even during their showbiz relationship 

Listening to her romantic rival brag about their steakhouse date and be cool with it

Being in a relationship with somebody who she knows still bears feelings for somebody else

Being okay with getting bugged/GPS-tracked if only he said so

Tracking down his father for him

Confronting and possibly killing him herself so Aqua doesn’t have to

I do think that Akane genuinely believes she was being helpful. She believes doing these were all good things.

But what she doesn’t really realize is that she was, in a way, being an enabler to Aqua’s darkness, or triggering his traumatic feelings even further.

There was something consuming about their time together.

I felt like, Akane was absorbing him somehow. Not in the literal sense. But their relationship was one where they fed into each other’s darkness. She wanted Aqua to be more dependent on her, and he was kind of glad to have someone enable his delusions--whether that he would find and kill his father, or that it was all over and he should just stay with Akane because it was the safe, scandal-free relationship to have. In Akane he found a brief respit, but also he continued to lie to himself a lot.

He gives this up when he realizes that even with Akane, being with her puts her in danger. It was the very opposite of the thing he hoped to achieve in that relationship, when he said he wanted to protect her.

In really stark contrast, Arima Kana says things like this:

She just snaps him right out of a fucking monologue.

Whenever Aqua tries to bear everything by himself, she reminds him crudely that he never had to protect her, and that he’s supposed to learn how to communicate:

In a way, it’s Kana’s radical honesty and her core understanding of who the true Aqua is all along that will set him towards the path of real freedom and healing.

Of everybody, she’s the one who knows what Aqua is like when he was at his best. And every time they’re together, they draw out the light from each other.

That, instead of Akane who says “I’ll go to hell with you if you ask”, Kana just says, “Wake the fuck up”.

So often, being stuck in your trauma also means that you need help getting out of it. You need good support systems to remind you that your trauma isn’t all that you are. And this all-consuming guilt you’ve borne on your shoulders isn’t really there anymore--you just believe that it is because that’s exactly what trauma does.

I think, despite Akane’s best attempts to remind him that things weren’t his fault, and that he doesn’t have to carry burdens by himself, the fact that she enjoyed being useful to him was, in some way, also keeping him there.

I know that there are a lot of great Kana moments after the baseball scene, but I’ve come to love coming back to their first time meeting each other again.

Even in her first re-appearance in the story, when Aqua was being all angsty emo sadboie about his acting career, Kana’s immediate reaction is to hire him, and believe in him.

Kana just wants to see him shine, too.

The way he makes her shine.

[bobbyzombiegg]

so I was bored and pacing so I was monologuing to myself about bloodborne lore, and I started thinking of the second ending where you take Gehrman’s place and basically my thought process was “and we become a pet to the moon presence. Well... Less like a pet and more like a doll. A living doll….” and then I paused and had a realization. What if our relationship with the great ones is less human to ant and more like human to the doll? We know that the great ones do feel something close to human emotions, with Kos mourning her orphan and feeling rage at the massacre, and every great one yearning for a child. What if to them we’re like the doll? Almost on their level, but not quite to an uncanny degree. Missing fundamental emotions (in their point of view). I think it might make sense with how often we see them take pity on humanity. They see us as broken, empty. It might also explain why the doll is like that. She’s an echo of a perceived echo. Maybe she has some great one emotions mixed in there too, if she was made by the moon presence

[batw1nggg]

am i crazy or are u guys also seeing the beginnings of another danganronpa fandom resurgence . like not as bad as 2020 obviously but ive been seeing komaedaposters regularly get thousands of likes on twitter and insta. gamegrumps back with v3. what is happening im scared .

[heel-samizayn]

This whole segment lives rent free in my mind

[meganechan05]

KingOh What-If:

Grodie was (somehow) Rita's biological father. (Episode 38 Edition)

After reclaiming Gokkan:

Note: Rita did not know Grodie was their bio dad until a week before his debut nor did their bio mom. Dugded kept insisting on them to call Grodie "Papa" or "Daddy" after the reveal but Rita would rather eat rusty nails than do that. They only did so for undercover work and Himeno had to bring them a fck ton of cake bc the sweetness could offset the disgusting aftertaste.

[yuseirra]

Scary face~

I'd been thinking, but that really freaky face Kamiki made near the end of the story? That could also be referencing the myths. The god who he stands for was known for having a very intimidating face (had no effect on his wife Ame-no-Uzume but it did scare off all the 80,000 other gods besides her though!!)

Some analysis under the read more!

There's no mention of Sarutahiko being ugly in the myths. (I mean, him and Ame-no-Uzume fell in love at first sight and got together on the spot... Of course, it doesn’t seem like that goddess was particularly tied down by anything. She probably would've liked him regardless of how pretty he looked)

But there is talk about him looking scary. He didn’t look normal—more like a monster—so the 80,000 gods, except for Ame-no-Uzume, couldn’t even approach him just because he was standing there.

So doesn’t that mean that eerie, bizarre expression Kamiki made at the end was a reflection of that?;;; and that talk about him being a monster as said by Akane?

It was terrifying… like something straight out of a horror movie. That expression was way too unsettling.

I wondered why they drew it that way, but—

In the original myth, Sarutahiko didn’t actually have any ill intent. It was just that his face looked like that, so he got misunderstood.

I don’t know;; I mean, in Kamiki’s case too (that character is Sarutahiko Okami;;;), we don’t actually know whether he had any real malice or not. Personally, I think there’s a pretty high chance he didn’t.

But because of his expression and the way he looked, Aqua got all triumphant like, “You’re the problem here!” And then everyone else was like, “Oh, this guy’s seriously evil, huh?”

There’s no actual basis for it!!! There’s no proof at all. Except for this one really messed-up thought about Ruby he has, but for even that, we don't even know if he actually attempted to kill Ruby or have plotted/devised something against her because, didn't her stage end safely!! Didn't this man tell Aqua to go watch her!! Follow her journey and see her perform at the dome!! That means he wouldn't have let her die at least before she performed there!!!

And I keep saying this, but Sarutahiko’s real ability is guiding things towards a positive direction/future.

If that’s the case, then sure, in this story, all these strange incidents happening might technically be Kamiki’s fault. Because he's lost. Looking for Ai(Love). But whether he actually intended it or not—he said he didn’t.

Of course, his goal must have been to elevate/amplify Ai’s presence. And at this point, he’s indeed fallen into darkness.

But honestly, rather than being outright evil, I think his nature just got distorted. So… does that still count as evil?;

I mean, he did do a lot to try and bring Ai back in a sense.

But I don’t really feel malice from him. It’s more like… he was just so desperate to see Ai again that he lost his mind. That method—that was all he had, so he went off the rails. If there had been any other way, wouldn’t he have taken it? Was he ever really in his right mind to begin with? Besides, he really didn't do anything much in a physical sense, did he? So just how much of it was his intent and what exactly did this guy do anyway?? What I'm guessing is that what he's said is partly true, he didn't do anything in a physical sense, and he never wanted people to get hurt in the process but he still went for it because he thought it was the only way- the songs are what covers this aspect of him. He kept trying to offer things to bring Ai back or get closer to her I guess, he is not sane at this point of the story...

They would have had to stop him, of course.

But if you think about it… Ai and this guy really loved each other. They must’ve been happy together.

I just can’t imagine him doing anything bad to Ai. There’s not a single action in the story that proves he’s the kind of person who would orchestrate something against her.

And why is that?

The story is based on a mythological couple known for their deep bond. And now we’re supposed to believe the husband plotted against his wife? Why would the story be written like that? For what reason? This is so ridiculous.

Everything about what he’s done and how the situation is unfolding—it all lines up with that Sarutahiko god. That’s the only way to explain the bizarre events in this manga, or why Ai asked him to be helped.

If that’s the case… ugh… this is just horrifically tragic.

I really think Tsukuyomi is the real mastermind… What exactly can she do if she supposedly governs fate? Looks to me like all she did was try to get rid of Kamiki. What was she doing while Ai was alive? Just watching her die? Isn’t that what drove Kamiki insane? Was there really no hope from the start? It feels like she just let things play out because Amaterasu had to shine.

Like—“Retrieve the two troublesome gods and replace them with Amaterasu.”

Unless that was her mission all along, I have no clue what Tsukuyomi actually did in this story. She even let Aqua die… She totally used Aqua for her own ends. I can’t see her in a positive light at all… Or maybe she was acting on orders from some creator god or whatever. That could be a possibility

Did Kamiki and Ai violate some divine taboo or something? Their lives were way too cruel. Did they get punished just for reincarnating as humans of their own free will? Because their life was really cruel to them; Kamiki has all the right to curse his own fate, nothing works out for that guy.

A friend told me that maybe the author will explain some of this in another story that shares the same universe-

But personally, I think the full truth of one story should be revealed within that story itself.

One more thing, Sarutahiko is the guidance god- the god who directs everything into goodness, right?

I've been thinking, but I think that power may work in reverse when he's in bad shape (black star). That's probably why Ai got pregnant when both of them were totally unready (Ai says he was really crushed back then), how Ryosuke and Nino approached this guy and went after Ai, how Ryosuke went to stab Ai when Kamiki asked him to deliver a flower for him etc.

Remember how his eyes briefly turned white when he met Ruby? That's because Ai's love was transmitted to him through Ruby's eyes. So he was briefly restored of his original powers then-

Thus, that's how Ruby's wish got granted. because, he was able to grant wishes in the right way the way he should have been (along with Ai)

He went to visit his children last thing before he thought he'd rot away and all, didn't he? and what did he do when he actually met them? He asked Ruby of her wish and congratulated Aqua on his having come true, that's all he did.

He was there to grant his children's wishes as a parting gift of sorts, that's what's been going on. Because he's the guiding god who can direct people's futures and GRANT WISHES WITH HIS WIFE. He wasn't there for his children physically, but there's mention that he has an eye on Ruby(when he met Yura) and he tells Aqua they share the same eyes, right!! HE'S THE BLACK STAR GOD! AND HE WASN'T ORIGINALLY THAT WAY! HIS EYES USED TO BE WHITE! HE WAS UNSTABLE BECAUSE HE GOT ABUSED, AND HIS NATURE GOT PERMANENTLY TWISTED BECAUSE HE RECEIVED A FATAL FLAW UPON AI'S DEATH! That's what the song Fatal is talking about.

That whole say about him having paternal love is true!! What happened when the twins used/utilized their black star eyes, huh? They did have things work out their way. That's kamiki's power!!! HE HELPED HIS KIDS PURSUE WHAT THEY WANT WITH HIS POWER! I say this a lot, but that's what the whole star eyes are about! The white star eyes are from Ai and the powers of "sending out love", and the black one originates from their dad!! What kamiki tells Aqua in ch 160? that's him going, "I gave you my powers, wasn't it helpful? didn't it feel good?" and Aqua's rejecting him saying "Aw yeah, but you suck and Ruby's going to be different from you" but you know? in the final chapter, doesn't Ruby still USE the black star eyes??? Then it's not exactly always a bad thing??? It's just their parent's powers, that's it!

What Sarutahiko is capable of is directing people's futures, so Aqua abandoned it, leaving him powerless, that's why Kamiki got so shocked. What he said to Aqua about his futures is what Aqua really could have had!! It's words coming from the very god who has to do with futures, so Kamiki knew his son would have had all those things he mentioned, he even smiled at him.

Aqua just. hates his dad so much. I think this is Tsukuyomi's doing tbh

come on, this guy originally had a noble soul, that's something that's put out there as a statement. Ofc he went mad after having lost Ai but this entire story is such a trainwreck... Ai had to be brought back o<-<

Well, that's that,

The author should have explained this all, not I...

I keep talking about this because this keeps bugging me a lot; I hope it doesn't at some point but I feel so bad about how.. this character seemingly seems to be constantly so misunderstood and misjudged by everyone, that's not fair. Even if someone's done wrong, they should only be accused and punished for things they're responsible for. It's just..agonizing to look at;

[a-really-big-cat]

After reading 123, I'm surprised (or maybe not) that people miss the point of the chapter. It's pretty much revealing what was Aqua doing from 105 till now: his mission to make everyone hate him so no one miss him when he's gone. When Ruby hated him, he was fine with it. When he met Akane in 106, it wasn't because he was unconsciously asking for help, but instead provoking her to hate him. When he laughed in 117, it wasn't because he manipulated Kana (he still hasn't) but instead because he thought everything was going too easy and had it in the bag, but now in 122-123 he finally had the moment of truth of manipulating Ruby, but he couldn't. He had to go against his own plan and reveal the truth because Ruby was getting too involved in the revenge plan without his control (something similar to Akane that led to the break up). Crow loli said it was a bad move because it made him notice that he didn't manage to drop his naivety at all. But then there's also Ruby. With this chapter we have confirmation that Ruby is maybe the most mentally unstable character of the main cast: she was a happy girl trying to carry on Ai's legacy while also wanting to meet Goro. Once she found out Goro was dead, she went on a mental breakdown and her whole personality changed. When Aqua revealed Ai's secret, her personality once again did a switch and wiped all the good memories she had about Aqua. When she saw her mother happy with a new family, her personality flipped once again making her hate everyone, and when Aqua revealed that he was Goro, her personality once again flipped, now being happy with him and memoryholing everything that happened till that moment. This is the second part of the bad move that Crow loli said: Ruby is too mentally unstable and uncontrollable, her current state will lead to the complete opposite that Aqua wants for both the movie and her future. But of course, shitposting about incest is more engaging.

Wow ok this random commenter seems to be on point with the literary analysis

[hamliet]

thoughts on how oshi no ko has portrayed what happened to hikaru (thus far) and any ideas for what his motives/role in the story is?

Honestly? I think it's doing a pretty good job of portraying it. TW for discussions of childhood sexual abuse below.

When it's first introduced to us that Hikaru was raped by the adult actress, Aqua doesn't have much reaction. On an intellectual level, he gets it, but on an emotional level in terms of what this means for Hikaru, for his development and for his pain, he doesn't get it at all. It's only when we get to Akane's expressed horror ("that's sick!") that we get an actual reaction.

The previous chapter was honestly acting and a flashback as it actually happened, and I appreciated that they showed it as violent.

That's something so often missing from stories of older women who rape younger boys (see Mary Kay Letourneau). It's not a love story. He's not lucky. It's violence.

Like, I spoke about this with a friend after the chapter, but the wiki literally says he was "implied to have been raped." Implied? He was ELEVEN.

I don't think the wiki writers are intentionally being obtuse or dismissive, but there is a subconscious way in which a lot of the world, across cultures, reacts to female predators of young boys in a way that is incongruent with how we react to men who prey on young girls. And to be fair, the latter is a far more prevalent issue but still.

So anyways, I was grateful the final panel of the flashback showed Hikaru being dragged, violently, away from a girl his own age whom he likes by an older woman who won't even introduce his son as his son. Anything Hikaru has, he cannot have.

I've written about Hikaru before, but yeah, he's a scary serial killer at this point who is likely going to target Ruby and/or Kana. He's a final antagonist, obviously, and his past abuses don't excuse him. He's somewhat modeled after Lucifer, and not the Hazbin Hotel version.

But I don't think Aqua's final challenge is stopping Hikaru.

Aqua playing Hikaru in these scenes is challenging him to do what playing Ai has provoked Ruby to do: to empathize and further understand their parents. But, the problem is that Aqua can relate to Hikaru's anger and hatred already.

Again, as I wrote previously, Aqua already is very much like Hikaru (albeit at a far earlier stage): trying to reenact and kill the perceived causes of his trauma and not able to see that he's not going to be happy with such an ending because you can't kill your way to peace.

What Aqua actually needs to do is to come to understand Ai. Ruby, imo, is the one who will come to understand Hikaru, and probably forgive him (not excuse, but this is very likely where it's going).

Ai seemed to, after all. She reached out to Hikaru's proxy (the stalker) and definitely recognized the white roses and knew who had sent him.

Yet she still reached out to her stalker as a human being and empathized with him after he had stabbed her.

If it had been Hikaru standing there himself, she would have done the same.

And lest we think this is solely an example of her toxic wanting-to-please-people trait taking control, this was also the moment--the only moment in Ai's life--where she was finally able to express herself without a lie. It can be both an indictment of the entertainment industry prioritizing pleasing others over your own life and pain and Ai's moment of triumph even amidst tragedy.

Hence again why Aqua's challenge is to understand his mother, not to kill his father as justice for her. He needs to recognize her love for him as her son. She wanted him to live. She wanted him to love. She didn't want him to obsess over her in death.

Ruby, on the other hand, needs to understand Hikaru... and Aqua. Thus far, while she's had the best growth of everyone in this entire series, she is still idolizing Sensei and Aqua thereby.

She needs to see him as a person just as Aqua needs to see Ai as a person. Seeing Hikaru's anger and pain and seeing Aqua's go hand in hand for Ruby (again, not a coincidence Aqua is playing young Hikaru in the movie).

As for where Hikaru goes from there, I don't know. He might end his own life like the stalker proxy did, but I think the fact that that's already happened makes it less likely. He might find new life even if like, in prison, or he might die sacrificing himself for his kids. It's too early to make those exact predictions... but I think Ruby understanding him and empathizing is key.