#was really hoping that one white day episode between them was just friendly rivalry

[vividblaze]

Happy White Day🤍 and season 5 start.

[kungukingi]

Meditations on bris/isbr [11/?] "A Moment Just for Them (Because Why Not)"

Link to previous part.

After the match, Team White settles down in their new room, and Isagi already has his eyes on the next match-up. He wants to play against Rin's team next, and tries to get everyone's attention to confirm that they're fine with the plan.

None of them seems to listen though, what with Barou being occupied with fixing up his new bed, Nagi by the videos on his phone, and Chigiri with his hair.

Isagi starts wondering about how difficult their living situation is going to get when the team already had Nagi and Barou in it, who not only don't get along, but who are also don't like to compromise about anything.

As if on cue, Barou starts berating Nagi and Chigiri: One has left a towel on the floor, the other one a pair of socks; one does not dry his hair enough, one is taking too much time to do it. And what's worse, neither of them seems to acknowledge his authority.

While this is happening, Isagi is notably exempt from this tirade of criticism, and in light of what we learn later from Episode Nagi, it seems likely that this is because his cleanliness and efficiency have quickly risen to levels that meet Barou's standards... to the point that Barou will later lament and curse his departure from the team after having spent just a couple of days together.

But more on that later.

For now, Isagi gets alarmed by the undesirable chemical reaction that seems to be happening between the three other members of his team, and attempts to diffuse the situation by suggesting they all have dinner together.

It doesn't play out like he hopes, since Nagi and Chigiri shoot him down immediately. Nagi wants to keep watching his videos, and Chigiri has his knee to take care of. Isagi gets frustrated at their lack of cooperativeness, but then Barou cuts in to say that he'll go with him.

Isagi is understandably surprised. Chigiri is his teammate from all the way back to Team Z, and he's stayed with Nagi for the whole duration of the Second Selection. Both are rivals and friends to him at this point, and he's very comfortable around them.

What comes to Barou though, so far all attempts Isagi has made to try to get closer to him through friendly approaches have been duds. Not to mention even their rivalry has been one-sided up until earlier that day, when Barou made it mutual with his declaration to never lose to Isagi again. And that only happened after Isagi put Barou through the wringer, crushed his spirit, and made him question his whole life.

So it is surprising that Barou would so readily join him to eat dinner in private while exuding this nonchalant air about it.

When the dinner scene opens, they appear to be the only ones present in the cafeteria. They take their seats at a table next to each other, and eat in silence for a while as Isagi waits for Barou to initiate a conversation. He has to have some reason for taking up his offer, after all, right?

Isagi is suddenly reminded of the moment he called Barou 'loser' in the match earlier, and wonders if he's still holding a grudge about that.

Could it even be that Barou accepted his offer specifically so that he'd have a chance to corner Isagi and beat his ass without the other two interfering? He is prone to threats of violence and did seem to really hate getting called a 'loser', so it would make sense, wouldn't it?

When Barou finally addresses him, Isagi flinches and wonders if this is the way he's going to die, but then:

Everything about this must go against the image Isagi has of Barou in his head based on their interactions so far.

The normally so decisively speaking Barou starts by hesitating: He pauses, uses a filler word (uhh), and then asks Isagi to tell him about himself. I'm not 100% certain [and might check later], but I think this is the first time we've seen Barou do either of these things (hesitate while speaking, ask a question like this) with anyone. But it does make sense.

Before this day, the world made perfect sense to him, and he had unshaken confidence in his own place within it, as well as on his own ideals and methods.

Isagi made him recontextualise and reconsider everything during that match, and now he's coming forward with a new approach; speaking cordially to Isagi to get to know him a bit better. And the question he asks Isagi is the exact same one Isagi approached him with previously, which just underscores how much their relationship has shifted in such a short amount of time.

It's a huge show of respect from someone like Barou, and Isagi is exactly the right amount of surprised for it.

Isagi answers him by telling him about his weapons, and Barou easily draws the connection between them and how they help Isagi control the whole pitch. He also proves how uninterested he was in Isagi previously by saying Isagi should've told him sooner, to which Isagi replies that he did, while thinking to himself that Barou wasn't willing to listen.

(In truth, Isagi didn't actually even get around to telliing Barou about his own favoured playstyle and weapons when he approached him before, but that's beside the point. Even if he had told him, Barou wouldn't have cared.)

Now he is listening, though, and he does care.

Flustered by Barou's sudden interest in him and shamed by the grace he's currently showing, Isagi apologises properly for the things he said to him on the pitch. But Barou surprises him again by telling him that they already settled that when he made Isagi take back the 'loser' — and continues to say that everything else Isagi said was true.

While casually munching on his steak, Barou admits that his mentality wasn't good enough. He had room to grow, and now that he's absorbed the lesson, he's showing that he harbors no hard feelings towards Isagi for it.

The way he's acting supports the opposite interpretation, in fact: Even though he doesn't say it out loud, I think he's feeling grateful to Isagi, and this is his way of showing it.

Sure, he's interested to learn about Isagi as a player just for the sake of their rivalry, but the fact that he goes about this by asking the exact same questions Isagi asked him before is a bit too on the nose to be a coincidence.

I think this is Barou's apology for dismissing Isagi before, his show of gratitude for the lesson he taught him, and his peace offering — all rolled up into one. I don't think this is entirely conscious on his part, but that's what I think this is, regardless. They're rivals on the pitch, but that doesn't mean he dislikes Isagi.

Isagi, of course, thinks this is all very cool of him, and rightfully so. It demonstrates that Barou is able and willing to tap into the vast potential Isagi always saw in him. It also shows Isagi that Barou, much like Isagi himself, can put his whole being and emotional spectrum into the game while on the pitch, and still rise up above it afterwards.

It's as admirable and relatable as it is surprising, and it must also be very flattering to Isagi. At the start of Blue Lock, Barou dismissed him as someone who did not 'have what it takes' to be a striker. And yet here they are now, talking about their mutual passion as equals.

So it's no wonder he gets caught up in the moment and voices his honest feelings.

It's wonderful when characters sometimes just flat out tell what they're feeling, so that you can always pull up the receipts when someone mistakes banter on the pitch as proof of two characters hating one another.

This is one of those instances.

This whole moment also parallels Isagi's dinner with Kunigami early on in the series, and for those two the scene was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. From my perspective, the fact that Kaneshiro decided to include this whole scene at all, is indicative enough of the fact that the readers are supposed to assume that Barou and Isagi are on good interpersonal terms from now on.

Even though in the future we'll get to see repeatedly how Isagi and Barou clash on the pitch as emotions get heated, it's clear to me at least that, after this moment, Isagi has learnt to like Barou as a person. He already admired him tremendously as a player and found his attitude cool, but this is the moment he's won over by Barou the Guy as well, not just Barou the Symbol.

What comes to Barou, it's less clear how he feels about Isagi as a person as of now. However, looking at this moment with the knowledge of the kind of tsundere tendencies he'll starts exhibiting in the future, and knowing how absolutely preoccupied he becomes with Isagi soon, I'd say his reaction here might give us a hint.

He quickly turns the focus on himself and explains his interest as him just being on the lookout for any and all information that might help him obilerate Isagi in the future.

One could call it falling back to a more secure and unambiguous mode of relationship — their mutual rivalry — when Isagi pushes at a boundary Barou is not entirely comfortable allowing him to cross yet. Villains and heroes are easy for Barou to understand, but I'm pretty sure that he does not have a lot of experience in friendly relationships where he stands on an equal footing with someone else.

Isagi is unbothered though, and challenges Barou to go ahead and try, because he's willing to be an open book for him. Villains and heroes, rivals or friends, Isagi is just happy that they're able to have this kind of a relationship.

Speaking of relationships, I divide Isagi's rivals into two groups based on his primary mode of relating to them:

Rivals first: Barou, Nagi, Rin, Kaiser, Yukimiya, the rest of Blue Lock (and the rest of the football world, to be entirely honest) Friends first: Bachira, Kunigami, Chigiri, the rest ofTeam Z

To this date [chapters up to 254 have been published by the time I upload this meta], Barou is the only one of Isagi's rivals from the first category with whom Isagi has shared such a casual and intimate friendly scene together.

Even Nagi hasn't had this type of scene together with Isagi, despite having spent the most amount of time in private with him out of this group. A scene that is based on mutual interest in each other outside the context of immediate tactical and strategic concerns. While football is what Isagi and Barou talk about, they're acting relaxed about it, and the conversation doesn't go anywhere near the next match, even though it's what Isagi has been waiting for ever since Rin stole Bachira from him.

Isagi does not have any revelations about himself, or about anything that would relate to the next match, or the ones after it. We learn that Barou is not as sore a loser as one might've initially assumed based on what we know of his character, but that information is of peripheral importance compared to what we learn about his changed perception of Isagi.

The chapter starts with Isagi thinking about the next match, but only after Barou and Isagi depart in comfortable silence does Isagi return to thinking about it. While they dine together in the empty cafeteria, it doesn't even cross his mind.

Bottom line is: This whole scene is about how the relationship between Isagi and Barou has evolved, and nothing else.

Link to next post.

[fic-dreamin]

4.0 out of 5 stars Graphic Novel Review: “Batman ’66 Meets the Green Hornet”

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC BAT-FUN! Just finished reading "Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" released by Dynamite.Crossovers were basically unheard of when the original "Batman" and "Green Hornet" televisions series first aired back in 1966.For those who came in late, The "Batman" television show can be best described as a cult classic serio-comic, somewhat campy spoof of the superhero genre; while "The Green Hornet" television show has a gritty realism to it because it played it straight for the most part."Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" is a direct sequel to that historic television crossover. Written by Kevin Smith, Ralph Garman, Ty Templeton, and Tony Avina; this comic book sequel begins when Italian adventurer Franco Bollo decides to transfer his expensive collection of fossils from Gotham City to Century City via train. Millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fears there may be a hijacking attempt and decided to join Bollo on the trip - Dick Grayson isn't on-board because he's going on a date! . Also on board is newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel, Britt Reid - newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel in Century City - and his valet Kato also just happen to be on board the train. In their civilian identities Bruce and Britt have a somewhat intriguing conversation that hints that the other suspects. As it turns out though, Bruce and Britt have to swing into action becasue the villainous General Gumm (formerly Colonel) is also on board the train and he steals the fossils in spectacular fashion, leaving both teams of superheroes in deadly peril.Perhaps the best line in the comic is when a somewhat miffed Kato whispers to the Green Hornet, "I can't believe you let her drive the Black Beauty." Her referring to Lenore Case.Read more › Go to Amazon

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking back to Old Days Odd to believe but when I was a child I watched this series of which the Green Hornet's was my favorite so here I am Looking back to Old Days when Batman and Robin were on the air and so was the Green Hornet of the two I am more the Green Hornet Fan than for Adam West's Batman. My brothers and I would watch them on our parent's black and white TV sitting on their bed. So when these comic books came out well I wanted a copy which is what I eventually did just for sake of nostalgia if for no other reason.First of all the Art work is Good but the story is somewhat lacking, I would even say Lame. I loved the use of the train transport as well as vintage transport plane though that model based on the B-36 didn't go beyond prototype stage and required major landing strips to operate from but beyond that well this one could have used a little more work. I was hoping for more material from the Batman episode I loved and some explanation as to the cameos of the Green Hornet and Kato when Batman and Robin were climbing up some building. Overall I would say the whole thing was not that bad but needs a lot more work. Hopefully some sequels are coming to really explore some of the old material such as what is this friendly rivalry between Britt Reid and Bruce Wayne? I know they're both orphans and their fathers victims of violent crime but how did they meet and how did they become friends and rivals? Does Batman ever figure out the Green Hornet's actual intentions? So many many questions I have. Go to Amazon

[fic-dreamin]

4.0 out of 5 stars Graphic Novel Review: “Batman ’66 Meets the Green Hornet”

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC BAT-FUN! Just finished reading "Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" released by Dynamite.Crossovers were basically unheard of when the original "Batman" and "Green Hornet" televisions series first aired back in 1966.For those who came in late, The "Batman" television show can be best described as a cult classic serio-comic, somewhat campy spoof of the superhero genre; while "The Green Hornet" television show has a gritty realism to it because it played it straight for the most part."Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" is a direct sequel to that historic television crossover. Written by Kevin Smith, Ralph Garman, Ty Templeton, and Tony Avina; this comic book sequel begins when Italian adventurer Franco Bollo decides to transfer his expensive collection of fossils from Gotham City to Century City via train. Millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fears there may be a hijacking attempt and decided to join Bollo on the trip - Dick Grayson isn't on-board because he's going on a date! . Also on board is newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel, Britt Reid - newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel in Century City - and his valet Kato also just happen to be on board the train. In their civilian identities Bruce and Britt have a somewhat intriguing conversation that hints that the other suspects. As it turns out though, Bruce and Britt have to swing into action becasue the villainous General Gumm (formerly Colonel) is also on board the train and he steals the fossils in spectacular fashion, leaving both teams of superheroes in deadly peril.Perhaps the best line in the comic is when a somewhat miffed Kato whispers to the Green Hornet, "I can't believe you let her drive the Black Beauty." Her referring to Lenore Case.Read more › Go to Amazon

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking back to Old Days Odd to believe but when I was a child I watched this series of which the Green Hornet's was my favorite so here I am Looking back to Old Days when Batman and Robin were on the air and so was the Green Hornet of the two I am more the Green Hornet Fan than for Adam West's Batman. My brothers and I would watch them on our parent's black and white TV sitting on their bed. So when these comic books came out well I wanted a copy which is what I eventually did just for sake of nostalgia if for no other reason.First of all the Art work is Good but the story is somewhat lacking, I would even say Lame. I loved the use of the train transport as well as vintage transport plane though that model based on the B-36 didn't go beyond prototype stage and required major landing strips to operate from but beyond that well this one could have used a little more work. I was hoping for more material from the Batman episode I loved and some explanation as to the cameos of the Green Hornet and Kato when Batman and Robin were climbing up some building. Overall I would say the whole thing was not that bad but needs a lot more work. Hopefully some sequels are coming to really explore some of the old material such as what is this friendly rivalry between Britt Reid and Bruce Wayne? I know they're both orphans and their fathers victims of violent crime but how did they meet and how did they become friends and rivals? Does Batman ever figure out the Green Hornet's actual intentions? So many many questions I have. Go to Amazon

[fic-dreamin]

4.0 out of 5 stars Graphic Novel Review: “Batman ’66 Meets the Green Hornet”

5.0 out of 5 stars CLASSIC BAT-FUN! Just finished reading "Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" released by Dynamite.Crossovers were basically unheard of when the original "Batman" and "Green Hornet" televisions series first aired back in 1966.For those who came in late, The "Batman" television show can be best described as a cult classic serio-comic, somewhat campy spoof of the superhero genre; while "The Green Hornet" television show has a gritty realism to it because it played it straight for the most part."Batman Meets The Green Hornet '66" is a direct sequel to that historic television crossover. Written by Kevin Smith, Ralph Garman, Ty Templeton, and Tony Avina; this comic book sequel begins when Italian adventurer Franco Bollo decides to transfer his expensive collection of fossils from Gotham City to Century City via train. Millionaire playboy Bruce Wayne fears there may be a hijacking attempt and decided to join Bollo on the trip - Dick Grayson isn't on-board because he's going on a date! . Also on board is newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel, Britt Reid - newspaper magnate and owner of The Daily Sentinel in Century City - and his valet Kato also just happen to be on board the train. In their civilian identities Bruce and Britt have a somewhat intriguing conversation that hints that the other suspects. As it turns out though, Bruce and Britt have to swing into action becasue the villainous General Gumm (formerly Colonel) is also on board the train and he steals the fossils in spectacular fashion, leaving both teams of superheroes in deadly peril.Perhaps the best line in the comic is when a somewhat miffed Kato whispers to the Green Hornet, "I can't believe you let her drive the Black Beauty." Her referring to Lenore Case.Read more › Go to Amazon

4.0 out of 5 stars Looking back to Old Days Odd to believe but when I was a child I watched this series of which the Green Hornet's was my favorite so here I am Looking back to Old Days when Batman and Robin were on the air and so was the Green Hornet of the two I am more the Green Hornet Fan than for Adam West's Batman. My brothers and I would watch them on our parent's black and white TV sitting on their bed. So when these comic books came out well I wanted a copy which is what I eventually did just for sake of nostalgia if for no other reason.First of all the Art work is Good but the story is somewhat lacking, I would even say Lame. I loved the use of the train transport as well as vintage transport plane though that model based on the B-36 didn't go beyond prototype stage and required major landing strips to operate from but beyond that well this one could have used a little more work. I was hoping for more material from the Batman episode I loved and some explanation as to the cameos of the Green Hornet and Kato when Batman and Robin were climbing up some building. Overall I would say the whole thing was not that bad but needs a lot more work. Hopefully some sequels are coming to really explore some of the old material such as what is this friendly rivalry between Britt Reid and Bruce Wayne? I know they're both orphans and their fathers victims of violent crime but how did they meet and how did they become friends and rivals? Does Batman ever figure out the Green Hornet's actual intentions? So many many questions I have. Go to Amazon