Chapter 110 is 13 pages long welcome to hell!!! so in a lot of ways this is just more fuel for a theory that I've had for a few weeks now, that's only gotten stronger with each recent season 5 episode, which is that the last episode of the season is gonna end on 110, and that Asagiri/Harukawa and Bones have been collaborating to make this happen, specifically because it's a major turning point that would be the only good place to end the season on.
When we started getting especially long chapters again (like from 25-35ish pages, with the exception of 107.5, the last two being some of the longest we've ever had), at first I just assumed that Asagiri/Harukawa got freed up from some other obligations they'd been having to cause the extremely short/half chapters, like promotional stuff for the anime/Beast movie, or working on light novels. But then 109 happened, with the "supposed" death of Dazai, and heavy emphasis at the end on how literally everyone is at their lowest point right now, and I got to thinking. 11 episodes is a strangely specific number for an anime season -- why not 12, or 13, or even 10, like you'd usually see? Why have we gotten suddenly gotten two 35 page chapters out of nowhere, that's almost unheard of at this point? They're both beautiful chapters, don't get me wrong (as always), and maybe A/H simply just didn't want to cut them in halves because they felt like the full emotional impact wouldn't hit/that there were no good cutoff points in them, but you can't deny that it's surprising, after all the shorter chapters we've been getting. Why has the anime been going at such insanely breakneck pacing for the most part ever since around the Sunday Tragedy chapters, even more so than it has in the past? So much so that it feels dangerously close to overtaking the manga?
Well, maybe, just maybe, it's because..... Asagiri decided a long time ago that whatever happens in 110 is the only point that feels "season finale"-worthy enough, in an arc that still isn't anywhere close to being completely wrapped up, and so both the manga and the anime have been specifically coordinated to reach that part within 2 and a half weeks of each other?
I've seen a lot of people now think season 5 will end with 109, and as much as my sadistic side would find that hilarious, I honestly don't think they'd do that and realistically don't want it to happen; it'd be so cruel to cliffhanger the anime for years like that, and just doesn't feel like a season cliffhanger BSD would do, a series that is ultimately hopeful and uplifting. Seasons 2 and 3 had a positive, conclusive ending; the only reasons seasons 1 and 4 didn't was because they're technically not really full seasons of their own, and are more like the first cour of another "season" that also came out that same year (seasons 1 and 2 both aired in 2016, so they're more like one big season, and seasons 4 and 5 have both aired this year, so they're also more like one big season, again taking into account how episodes 12 and 50 are not satisfying finales like episodes 24, 37, and hypothetically, 61, are). I really can't see season 5 ending with Dazai and Fukuzawa's supposed deaths, Sigma being unconscious and maybe close to death, Atsushi being vulnerable and limbless again, everyone we love still vampires, and the entire world being basically doomed; that's just too depressing and not like BSD at all. However, having said that, if it doesn't end there, there really isn't any good place to end the season before that, either, that feels in any way satisfying or like a finale at all. And so, to me, that only leaves after 109: chapter 110.
I think things are really gonna turn around next chapter. Like I said, everyone is at their lowest point right now, it cannot possibly get any worse, the framing of Dazai, Fukuzawa, and sskk at the end of 109 is telling us that; this is the time for the heroes to finally start winning again, with Aya being so close to pulling out the sword, and for all the thematic reasons other people have talked about to death that I don't need to go into here again. This upcoming chapter being so short again makes a part of me wary of 110 being "the one", so to speak, I won't lie, but at the same time, it's very possible that it needs to be that short because that's all the final episode of the season will be able to reasonably fit in, since it's already gonna be VERY close if they do make it all the way to 109. And at the end of the day, I don't doubt at all that Asagiri and Harukawa can make these the most monumental and game-changing mere 13 pages ever if they wanted to; a chapter does not at all need to be extremely long in order to be an important and impactful one, even if short ones we've gotten in the past haven't felt the most important.
An additional thought I've had, though this is much more crack territory than all this already is, is that since we know from Anime Expo that a Stormbringer movie at some point is highly likely (judging from Asagiri's reaction when someone brought it up), it's possible that chapter 110 and thus the final episode will involve the long-anticipated return of Verlaine and/or Adam, or at least some other major reference to Stormbringer, that would naturally and smoothly lead into a Stormbringer movie to explain things to people who haven't read the novel. It would make a lot of sense, especially since the s4 OP has the Old World sign behind Chuuya, which might be a hint that this has been in the works ever since seasons 4/5 were first in planning with Asagiri. We also know that Dazai and Chuuya's voice actors apparently struggled to record their lines together this season, which probably relates to 101 and possibly 109, but it could be 110 too.... I could be very wrong, as I'm no expert on this kind of thing, but I kinda doubt they would bring Chuuya's actor in for just the vampire growls, and Asagiri placing heavy emphasis on Chuuya's importance this season in that one interview gives me the impression that he's talking about much more than just 101/109. But that's the least solid evidence I have, that's just mostly based on vibes I get.
So basically, I think a lot of factors -- the unusual episode count, how close the anime is to catching up to the manga with three whole episodes left, the seemingly arbitrary recent chapter lengths, and the climactic events of 109 -- can tell us that 110 might be a very, VERY big deal. Again, there's of course no way this arc is anywhere near close to being finished, with so much left to address and resolve, but since it is currently incomplete in the manga, unlike the previously adapted arcs, if the anime was going to adapt it at all, they'd have to find a place that feels satisfying enough to end this season, knowing there won't be more anime for a long time after this, and so I think they specifically planned for that, from both Bones' and A/H's sides. 10 episodes might not have been enough to reach that point, but 12 or 13 might have been too many it wouldn't have been if Bones actually decided to slow down and let the story breathe the way it needs to, but this post isn't meant to criticize the anime, so maybe 11 was just right. And maybe Asagiri and Harukawa specifically pushed to make recent chapters longer than usual, in order to make sure that the manga reached the story content in 110 the monthly release right before season 5 was to end.
Is this just copium? Absolutely. Am I going to look like an absolute clown in two days when this post ages like milk? Probably. But the evidence is There, so let me just enjoy my delusions until Sunday, okay 🥂🫡
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trick or treat <3
ahhhhh hi tauria!!!!! thank you for the trick or treat<3 🎃🎃🎃
so here's a small (very rough draft) lil drabble of a fem!jaytim idea i've had. its set in a weird timeframe, but basically jaye who's still on the outs with the bats teams up with tim (who has a massive crush on her) to take on the League of Assassins for some reason i have yet to come up with lmao
it's literally just called "tim & jaye take on the league" in my docs xD please enjoy<3
“Sorry, I’m about to be beheaded, can I call you back?” Jaye chirps into her comm, smiling up at the League assassins holding her down.
“What?! What do you mean you’re about to be beheaded?!” Barbara shouts, voice crackling with static.
“What do I mean?” She chokes out a laugh. “I said I’m being beheaded.”
The assassins gathered mumble and whisper to one another, motioning towards her. They seem pretty unconcerned over her kneeling in the dirt, unbothered by the fact that it might have been too easy to catch the Red Hood, one of the prodigies of Batman and Talia al Ghul.
“I-...what?” Barbara’s words stall out, and Jaye can feel the disbelief and shock radiate through her comm.
“Sorry about this,” She rolls her eyes and shrugs, as much as she can, being held down like this. “Work partners, what can you do?”
“No worries, we can wait,” Koru states, in his perfect League dialect.
“Much appreciated, Koru,” Jaye responds back in the dialect, perfect accent and all.
“Hood, be serious,” Barbara barks out.
“I am serious-!” She protests.
“Yeah, Hood is definitely about to be beheaded,” Tim cuts in over the merged comm line.
“Robin?! I-what are you doing with Hood?” Barbara screeches, her voice too high-pitched and crackling through the line.
“What’s it look like I’m doing?” Tim snarks.
“Can we not yell in my ear like a harpy? Oh hey, wait, actually, like a canary,” Jaye jokes, smothering the laughter in her throat.
“Hood!”
“Oh, Jesus Christ,” She mutters, rolling her eyes.
“Robin! Where are you? You’ve been missing since Thursday and-” Barbara asks.
“Uh, yeah. I left a note,” Tim answers.
“Timothy Jackson Drake!”
Tim squawks at Barbara’s words and her frustrated batmom? older sister? tone.
“I’m going to be beheaded with you two screaming in my ear aren’t I?” Jaye groans. “Koru, put me out of my misery.”
“Can do, Hood.” Koru doesn’t hesitate to agree, rolling his shoulders slowly and stepping forward. One of his squad members steps forwards, unwrapping his sword from the green and gold fabric hiding it.
“Oh my god, you two are worse than Cass and Steph,” Barbara groans over the comm line.
“Well, won’t be too much trouble for ya in about 15 seconds so,” She muses, watching as Koru prepares his sword and the other members get into position.
“Hood! Goddamnit-Robin, what’s the plan here? I’m practically blind.” The rapid clack-clack-clack of Barbara’s keyboard echoes over the comm line, a soothing candace compared to the sounds of the League hideout she’s been dragged to.
“We’re waiting,” Tim explains.
“You’re….You’re waiting? Waiting for what?”
“To see if they’ll actually go through with it.” Tim explains their plan like an eccentric scientist, captivated by the potential of his experiment but uninterested in the human squishy bits.
Her successor fascinates her. She kind of wants to let him dissect her, little freak that he is.
“Repeat that again for me.” Barbara’s voice goes stone-cold.
Jaye breathily laughs, watching Koru step directly in front of her with his sword, the silver metal gleaming in the high sun bearing down on them.
“We’re waiting to see if Koru actually attempts to behead Hood,” Tim repeats.
“Robin. Tim,” Barbara stresses his name. “Explain this plan to me, in full detail before they behead Jaye. Now.”
“Ohohoho, I think you activated big sister mode there baby bird,” She laughs, grinning up at Koru.
“I-...Koru won’t actually behead her. Talia’s orders. But it should bring out who were actually looking for.”
“And who are you looking for?”
Tim stays silent. Jaye observes the other league members settle into position, lips twitching with a smile at Tim’s reluctance to answer.
“Tim,” Barbara growls.
“Ra’s.”
“Ra’s? Ra’s al Ghul?!” Barbara screeches.
She winces at the volume, “Hey, hey, hey! I would not like to die--again--with you two arguing in my ear.”
“Now is not the time for jokes, Hood,” Barbara hisses. “Tim, why in god’s name are looking for Ra’s al Ghul?!”
“‘Cuz.”
“Timothy-"
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