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boinin · 9 months

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Broken Hero: Kunigami's journey in the Neo Egoist League

Overanalysing one edgy orange

0. Background and references

This weekend, I read an excellent analysis on Kunigami on Reddit (it spawns things other than fraud allegations and thirst posts sometimes)... and I was not OK as a result.

I'd been building up to writing an analysis of Kunigami's character for some time, and when the hyperfocus kicked in, it kicked in hard.

Come with me to explore how Kunigami's character arc and journey may pan out within the Neo Egoist League. Manga spoilers throughout, including up to the latest chapters (226 at time of writing).

I'd highly recommend reading StarBurstero's analysis (and their other work!) as this piece heavily draws on the points they raise.

All manga panels are sourced from the official translations, due to the possibility of nuance and foreshadowing that may not arise in scanlations.

Like this? Want to reference these points in your own analysis, on Reddit, YouTube, wherever? Go ahead! A shout out to this post is appreciated. (Straight up plagiarism isn't.)

Pre-Wildcard Kunigami: a wannabe hero

Kunigami has his grumpier moments in the first selection (see: him yeeting Bachira, or breaking up fights), but all in all he's a stand up guy. That's clear from his interaction with Isagi in the cafeteria, where they both share his goal-point steak.

Another character defining moment for him takes place after Team Z's victory against Team V. Kunigami doesn't support Kuon's actions, but he is willing to forgive him now that all has been settled. Raichi is decidedly less forgiving. But Kunigami lingers, and helps a bloodied Kuon to his feet. The choice of dialogue is interesting.

We'll advance together. We know this won't be the case. Both Kuon and Kunigami fail in the second selection, and Kunigami is the sole participant that leaves Wild Card.

But nevertheless, this exchange showcases Kunigami's core attitude. He sees the best in people. He values teamwork and unity, even if he shows egotism in relation to his own goals. He's someone that helps others.

2. What canon information do we have on Wild Card?

...just crumbs. Information on Wild Card has been intentionally vague, with only Ego, Kunigami, and possibly Noa knowing what happened.

Ego simply calls it a secondary route for the losers, and doesn't specify whether there were any entry requirements. The pile of bodies and the attention given to hands suggests two things.

Firstly, contrary to my own assumptions, Wild Card was likely open to all participants eliminated during the second selection. Ego threw the losers a bone, despite having a very specific outcome in mind. The vast majority wouldn't have had a hope of meeting the criteria.

Is that cruel? Maybe. But it's consistent with Ego's attitude towards "lumps of talent". He admitted both Chigiri and Isagi into Blue Lock despite their lacklustre performances in high school, on the basis that the programme might bring forth their sealed egos. He was proven correct.

The focus on hands, other than being creepy, hints at ambidexterity being a key deciding factor in the Wild Card programme. Kunigami confirms this above, in a panel from chapter 213.

Kunigami himself refers to Wild Card as a survival battle, where participants had to match Noa's physical specs number for number. He implicitly confirms that he himself got the closest to Noel Noa's physical abilities, thus winning Wild Card.

3. Kunigami's mindset

We're all Isagi in the bottom corner of that last panel, wanting to know more. But Kunigami has yet to elaborate.

In the Reddit post I linked, StarBurstero theorises what's going through Kunigami's angsty little head: becoming the best striker. Not a midfielder, not a false nine - a striker, and only that. The author proposes that, having had to crush and eliminate everyone in Wild Card, Kunigami has limited empathy for those such as Isagi and Kurona, who are remoulding themselves into other roles to fit into Bastard Munchen.

This tallies with how Noa sees himself, in explaining the distinction between him (the world's best striker), and Snuffy (the world's best player) in chapter 223.

As a player Isagi is closer to Snuffy, in terms of his ability and willingness to adapt, than he is to Noa. Isagi is willing to do whatever it takes to participate in the Neo Egoist League, even if this means providing assists or playing in midfield. But he still maintains his dream of playing as a striker.

As different as Kunigami and Isagi are on the surface, they share a dream. Both want to be the best strikers in the world. In that, they're a lot more similar than the fandom give them credit for.

But the conditions of the Neo-Egoist League pose a stumbling block.

There are limited forward positions, not only in Bastard Munchen, but on the national team itself. To nab a starting position for the U20 World Cup, the characters have only two choices: outshine everyone else playing as a forward, or forsake their dream by assuming a different position. They must choose wisely.

4. Resolve versus adaptability: the Bastard Munchen test

Thematically, Isagi and Kunigami are reflections of one another. They are each others "what ifs?" in a sense.

Heroes in the first selection, both Isagi and Kunigami faced elimination in the 2v2 stage of the second selection; Isagi survived, while Kunigami lost. Isagi emerged as the hero of Blue Lock, following the U20 Japan match. At the same time, Kunigami battled to become the "hero" of Wild Card.

Eventually Kunigami joined Bastard Munchen, alongside Isagi. But they're not co-operative teammates as they were before. They're rivals, battling against one another for the role of striker on this team.

Theirs is a quiet competition, secondary to Isagi and Kaiser's more hostile conflict. But I believe there's thematic significance to their rivalry. For this reason, it's interesting to trace their dynamic over time.

Isagi considered himself outclassed by Kunigami in the first selection. Back then, Kunigami didn't the same "goal sense" that Isagi had. He wasn't particularly technical as a player. He relied on passes and his physicality to get the ball and score goals, using his strength to reliably score from a distance. He's still extremely impressive, in Isagi's eyes.

As Isagi sees it, Kunigami's key attribute is his resolve. He trains hard to maintain his physique. He has a clear vision of who he is, and what kind of footballer he wants to be. At the same point in the story, Isagi lacks this. Even at the start of the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi struggles to articulate what his ideal form is as a player, which Noa calls him out on.

It's understandable that Isagi struggles to formulate what his ideal is, because Isagi's genius lies in his adaptability. Throughout the manga, Isagi has been placed into situations that are chaotic, novel and difficult. His approach to football and his abilities have been challenged in every match, and he's been forced to rebuild himself over and over again.

This is what makes Isagi exceptional, in addition to his incredible eyesight and football sense. He's constantly evolving, constantly coming up with ways to beat his competition. No wonder he can't settle on an ideal, when he's been forced to change constantly. All he's certain of is his desire to play as a striker.

5. Chasing strikers: Isagi's journey

Isagi's problem is that he's never been the best striker in Blue Lock. It's his dream to play as one, but purely in terms of his ability to convert opportunities into goals, Isagi is outclassed by a number of players. Rin. Nagi. Shidou. Arguably Barou.

When these players receive the ball near the goal, their ability to put it through the goalposts is simply better than Isagi's. They have the physique, the strength, or the technical skill to outmanoeuvre whatever obstacles are in the way. This is also true of Kaiser: both have metavision, but Kaiser is far better at scoring, as Isagi himself admits. Kaiser is another prodigy, like Nagi or Sae.

Kunigami is also better at securing goals than Isagi is. However, he's not a prodigy, and he lacks Isagi's insane playmaking ability. Nor does he have Ness, Kurona or Yukimiya on his side. Nobody on the team has a reason to support Kunigami or his goal-scoring competence. Least of all, Isagi: his rival for the position of striker in Bastard Munchen, and his antithesis in a sense.

While Isagi assisted Kunigami in the Barcha match, he does so to stay relevant, after Noa threatens to bench them both.

In the Manshine match, Kunigami poaches Isagi's goal attempt. As furious as Isagi is in this moment, it's not obvious that Isagi's shot would have gone in by itself. He targeted the corner of the goal, but the trajectory appears to veer up and left, beyond the goal.

Kaiser alludes to the shot's inaccuracy, and Isagi acknowledges his shortcomings after the match ends. While his eyesight is his "god given gift", he realises that he lacks the physical ability to make his foresight a reality, per this conversation with Hiori.

Who else does he approach?

While he has the wrong idea (seeking Kunigami's advice on becoming ambidextrous), Isagi's dialogue is on the nose.

Kunigami has what Isagi lacks: the physique and ability needed to consistently score goals. Halfway through the Neo-Egoist League, Isagi realises that to secure a position as a forward, he needs to emulate Kunigami in some way. His hard training pays off: his ranking jumps six points between the Manshine and Ubers matches.

Kunigami is a mirror that Isagi looks into and learns from. And like a morphing reflection, their positions are starting to reverse. While Kunigami performed better initially in the Neo-Egoist League, both in training and in the Barcha match, now Isagi is coming to the fore as the strongest Blue Lock player in Bastard Munchen. His performance in Manshine was incredible. His playmaking in the Ubers match so far surpasses it.

If they are intended to be mirrors, then what can Kunigami learn from his reflection: Isagi?

6. Inert hero: Kunigami's arc

Analysing Isagi is straightforward. We have access to his thoughts and development, all the way through Blue Lock. The same can't be said for Kunigami, whose POV was shown rarely during the first and second selection, but not once since his return in Chapter 155.

There's still conclusions we can draw, despite leaning into extrapolation territory.

Kunigami has always trained hard. The Volume 3 omake (Team Z's schedule) alludes to the guy spending every hour he can in the gym.

While Kunigami entered Blue Lock at a higher level than arguably anyone in Team Z, he stagnated as his teammates rapidly developed. He doesn't have a documented awakening, unlike the other Egoist Four characters. The single moment of progression shown was his first goal against Team V, but this was more Kunigami challenging his limits than truly evolving.

My theory is that this goes back to his key attribute: resolve. His formula of working hard and playing consistently has worked so far. Why change?

Other characters like Isagi experienced failures and setbacks prior to and during Blue Lock, but we don't see Kunigami experience anything similar until the second selection.

It's unfortunate that he only experiences a first setback in losing to Team White. Had a moment of failure taken place earlier, the second selection may have played out differently for Kunigami. As it was, this segment of Blue Lock was not forgiving of mistakes. Only players who could adapt and evolve, devour and be devoured, made it to the third selection.

Kunigami just didn't have that adaptability. It's contrary to his nature of working hard, consistently and fairly.

Shidou remarks on Kunigami's resolute nature explicitly after their 2v2 match. It's why he chooses Reo over Kunigami.

Analysis often focuses on Shidou's criticism of Kunigami's heroic idealism, given that Kunigami goes on to reject this himself. But the second point Shidou makes is more important. He's really critiquing Kunigami's inability to adapt and react, not his strength or his motivation. But Kunigami seemingly only internalises the first part.

Failure in the second selection made Kunigami discard heroism as his motivation, in addition to the conditioning forced on him in Wild Card. But Kunigami continues to struggle, even after leaving his so-called naivety in hell.

He came out of Wild Card stronger, faster, and more competent at scoring. It's still not enough to out-do Kaiser and impress Noa in the Barcha match.

If Kunigami took Shidou's words to heart, he might consider his success in Wild Card proof that he can break himself down and be rebuilt. At a minimum, we can speculate that Wild Card consisted of the participants being deconstructed piece by piece, egos eroded and replaced with a drive to become Noel Noa's "vessel".

But in truth, Kunigami already had a lot of the traits needed to become Noa's copycat. Other than developing ambidexterity and packing on even more muscle, the "breaking down" that took place was really the overwriting of his idealism with that of Noa's.

When Ego considers the ways participants may succeed in the Neo-Egoist League, both Isagi and Kunigami are pictured. At the present stage in the manga, Isagi seems to be the fish adapting to his environment and thriving - slowly dyeing the fabric of Bastard Munchen to suit his playstyle.

Kunigami is the one suffocating, unable to breath in this claustrophobic environment.

His core issue - his lack of adaptability - persists. He is unwilling to consider being anything else than a pure striker. In the Neo-Egoist League to date, he has failed to make chemical reactions with anyone.

If Isagi is a universal catalyst, Kunigami is inert. For now.

7. Hero rebuilt: Kunigami, secondary protagonist

Kunigami is an important part of the Neo-Egoist League arc. Not only is he a returning character, but a significant parallel to Isagi. It's no coincidence that they are presented together in many of the panels relating to the arc as a whole.

There's a lot of symbolism in Blue Lock. The panel announcing the Neo-Egoist League establishes Isagi and Kunigami as dual protagonists, with Kaiser as the primary antagonist. The end of the Barcha match really reinforces the idea that these characters are the main heroes within Bastard Munchen.

Isagi has been on a learning journey from the beginning of this arc, starting with his underdog struggle against Kaiser. If Kunigami's journey is a mirror of Isagi's, then we can expect him to encounter his most difficult hurdle later in the arc, leading to an epiphany about his playstyle. At this point, it's fair to conclude this will happen in Bastard Munchen's match against Paris X Gen.

These are my outstanding questions about Kunigami's journey, which I believe the manga must eventually address:

What will be Kunigami's darkest hour: the low point where he realises he must change or die (metaphorically)?

When he overcomes this moment and emerges stronger, like a phoenix - what will Kunigami's true ego be? Will he return to his original heroism, or strike a balance between his past and present selves? Hero and Wild Card, accepting both?

I'm not going to delve much into Question 2. Hero, Wild Card, Dark Horse, Phoenix - all of these could work as a manifestation of Kunigami's ego. The only thing I can say with confidence is that his ego will manifest. This has been the case for each of the other Egoist Four characters (although Isagi's true ego remains in flux). Personally, I'd like to see an ego manifestation that reconciles the personas of pre- and post-Wild Card Kunigami. I trust the writer and mangaka will serve on that front when the time comes.

On question 1, the fandom (and myself) are hyped for a particular reunion. It's hard to imagine a better catalyst for Kunigami's change than the person that sent him to Wild Card in the first place: a literal demon, the manifestation of Kunigami's internal woes.

Shidou is the opposite of Kunigami in many ways, when they encounter each other in the second selection. Although both are strong with imposing physical abilities, Shidou is chaotic while Kunigami is lawful; Shidou abhors dull players, the ones that cannot spark "explosions", while Kunigami sees Shidou as a violent psychopath. Shidou has no qualms in crushing weaker players. Kunigami defends them, regardless of their nature.

But Kunigami has changed greatly since their last encounter. He and Shidou have more in common than before. In Wild Card, Kunigami had to learn how to crush the weak, despite his inclination to advance together. He's had to become more aloof, more violent even, to survive in Wild Card and in the Neo Egoist League. He's more resolute in becoming the world's best striker than ever.

But Kunigami still doesn't know how to explode. He doesn't have chemical reactions with other players. The part of him that valued teamwork died in Wild Card. Compare this to Shidou, who thrives off what he calls explosions. He adores Sae, because their chemistry on the field made Shidou soar. Sae unleashes Shidou's inner dragon.

I believe in facing Shidou, who will form reactions with his supportive teammates, Kunigami will come to realise that he cannot overcome his demons without assistance from outside. He'll realise his heroism was never the issue: it was his lack of adaptability. To overcome Shidou, Kunigami will need a catalyst to create a chemical reaction.

Luckily, Bastard Munchen has the one person capable of reacting with anyone: the embodiment of adaptability. Who better to set the true Kunigami free than his idealogical mirror? The one person who, thematically, has been by his side since the start?

A link-up between Isagi and Kunigami - dual protagonists, reflections of one another - would be an amazing way to round off both Isagi and Kunigami's journeys in the Neo Egoist League. Even better if the final goal against Paris X Gen is the result of their genuine teamwork - mirroring their resentful co-operation during the Barcha match.

I'm manifesting this and I hope you might too. If for no other reason because... can you imagine the look on Kaiser's face if this happens?

Absolute gold.

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If you read to the end, thank you! I'd love to hear my fellow nerds thoughts on this and Kunigami generally.

Further reading: short analysis of Kunigami's effectiveness on the pitch up to chapter 232.

#blue lock #kunigami rensuke #isagi yoichi #bllk #blue lock analysis #bllk analysis #blue lock meta #bllk meta #blue lock anime spoilers #bllk anime spoilers #boinin talks bllk #long post #mine

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kpchrs · 4 months

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What do you think Caroline thinks of Nathan?

Ah, it's Anon again.

Tsk tsk tsk.

What, you mean Caroline Prescott: Sean Prescott's wife, Nathan's and Kristine's mum, the lady who only got mentioned thrice by OTHER PEOPLE in emails and a letter, the lady whose face and hair colour we don't even know?

HOW SHOULD I KNOW?

Okay, that's all, thank you for coming to my Ted Talk,

Kris

...Hehe, just joking. I'll work on what we have on canon. I have to over-overanalyse things tho.

So as I have said, what we know about Caroline is only mentioned in emails and a letter: Kristine's, Sean's, and Dr Jacobi's.

Kristine's email to Nathan:

"And yes, mother told me that you've been in trouble and father has been on your ass..."

It sounds like Kristine contacts Caroline regularly. Seeing that there is no complaint about Caroline in the rest of the email, I think she still has at least a decent relationship with Caroline. That means, she still has interests in her kids. Thank goodness. Since the rest of the email is about Sean and has no complaint about Caroline, I'm guessing it's Sean who is the "only" problem here.

We don't see the severity of Sean's abuse, but if that can make Kristine, a seemingly great older sister, run away; knowingly leaving an obviously beloved little brother alone in this kind of environment, I think we can imagine it.

Sean's email to Nathan:

"Nate, I know this has been a stressful week and your mother and I are here to talk if need be. Just make an appointment anytime. Your mother wants Doctor Bill to come out after his book tour but for now let's stick to your prescriptions."

I know he's a businessman, but an appointment? To your own kid? Okay, asshole. Does Caroline need to be booked in the appointment too? Is she also in the business? It sounds like Caroline is involved with Nathan's treatment at least. I don't really know what subtext to make out from the first part of the last sentence, if any. But, I guess, she at least can give opinions to Sean, normally. Maybe.

Dr Jacobi's letter to Sean:

"You have ignored my requests for a consultation with you and your wife so I have to assume you are no longer interested in my services. Regardless, I care about Nathan and I believe he needs serious help."

Dr Jacobi only talks to Sean here. He's like the top authority in the family, I get it, but it's like Sean is the only parent available. The doc seems very desperate because he believes it's dangerous to not help Nathan as soon as possible. If it were me, I would try to contact Caroline directly as well. Does he try? Is he able to? Does Caroline listen?

Dr Jacobi is Nathan's previous psychiatrist who "fires" him because of the lack of family cooperation. The doc wants to work on it seriously, he sees problems in Sean's parenting that are largely Nathan's stressor.

Since the doc is denied repetitively and so decided to terminate Nathan's therapy, I assume Sean searches for another psychiatrist who is not that "fussy" with Nathan's treatment. So maybe...this Dr Bill...is not a good psychiatrist. I mean, if he is really based on Dr Phil, that just confirms that he's a bad, unethical one.

Has Caroline ever taken THE INITIATIVE to TALK to Nathan directly? I don't know. Canon gives us nothing. And see this: in Kristine's email, it really sounds like lecturing Nathan was a regular thing she did when she was still at home. An older sibling lecturing a younger sibling is not rare. I did that too to my lil bro, my big bro did that too to us sometimes. But something tells me that the one who tells him to stand up to Sean is only Kristine, never Caroline. Just an intuition.

This is like searching for cookie crumbs on the floor but see this about Victoria talking about Nathan:

"Yes, he takes serious meds but that's not his fault. His family treats him like a total freak, just because he has little meltdowns."

Throughout the game, they establish that Sean is the menacing, terrifying, asshole figure. But Victoria interestingly generalises with "family" which means it can include Kristine too (but I refuse to believe so hehe), but most importantly it can also include Caroline as well. Using Victoria's words, Caroline might treat him like a "freak" because of his mental illness.

Btw, this is very obvious because duh, but what we know about Caroline is filtered from another person's point of view. Delving into her possible mind is hard. Kristine might hear a passive and neutral, "Nathan isn't doing what's expected of him and Sean isn't happy" from Caroline and Kristine with her already anti-Sean mind paraphrased it very strongly and made it sound like Caroline is more opinionated. I think various kinds of characterisation are possible here. But, in general, I can think of two?

The cold mum. Distant. Or at least not openly affectionate.

The "Team Sean Prescott" mum. "Your dad is right, Nathan", "your dad says that for your own good, Nathan", "you need to do as he said, Nathan", "it's just the way he is", "he did that not to hurt you, Nathan", etc.

Okay, she can be both.

Whatever characterisation in the list she has, if she lets Sean be his abusive self and does no intervention, that sounds like a bystander parent to me. Maybe she is a Sean-minded person and that's why she lets it be. Maybe she lets Sean be in charge of Nathan's education because "let me, Caroline, Nathan must learn about the Prescott legacy from me", so she is just a yes woman. Maybe she knows Sean's treatment is wrong, but she's afraid to oppose him for a reason. Dunno. Anything is possible.

Bystander parents confuse the kid, btw. It complicates their feelings on the trauma and the parent, because "I'm angry at my abusive dad but I'm also angry at my mum for never protecting me. But she never treats me like Dad did, am I allowed to get hurt because of her inaction?" The bystander effect hurts the abuse victim too, but I digress since we are on the topic of Caroline's thoughts on Nathan, not his thoughts on her.

TLDR; I think Caroline cares about Nathan and his well-being to some degree, despite the possibility of thinking that his mental illness is a burden on the family. There's no canon information of her communicating with him directly, because, well, canon gives us nothing. From the zero complaints Kristine has of her, she might not treat Nathan like Sean does, but she might enable Sean's treatment of him thus making her a bystander parent.

Well, in the end, this is just a theory, a game theory. Nathan never talks about his mum, so I really don't know what she's like. He is especially hung up on his dad, pushing him to search for validation from a father figure in the form of Jefferson.

Caroline is a blank slate. Any interpretation or effort to fill in the blanks fanfic authors do for her (dead, not biological mum, assumingly in a mental hospital, emotionally unavailable, neglectful, physically and verbally abusive, abused turned abuser, mentally ill, having Nathan as a mirror of herself thus can't face him at all, etc.), the possibility is endless, and I enjoy all I have read.

Okay, that's all from a Nathan-biased person.

Thank you for the ask,

Kris

#caroline prescott #nathan prescott #sean prescott #kristine prescott #kris got asks #life is strange

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theendofuno · 5 months

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alr tumblr. i dont have a drawing for today but i can share my headcanons :3

im having to overanalyse all of uno's official arts to work over them for the animation cuz im really enthusiastic about it

so, we all know his annoncement trailer he was kinda......big up there (its inherited from me :3)

now, onto his release art/lore art

we can see his chest symbol, its kinda small and it points middle-down

but then his symbol goes straight onto his chest, which is confirmed by his ref sheet

so heres the deal:

i dgaf about the mobile lore but from the crumbs of uno existence i've read onto sieg T lore, highlanders can pretty much regenerate their body very easily

except that

highlanders are pretty much human-looking guys and not...elf ears and symbols onto their chests backs eyes neck-

so, uno being a defective highlander, and a literal newborn, being weak and not knowing what to do better

dude just went and

chop chop

and his body trying to regenerate and re-create his chest, ended up deforming his chest symbol, which also ended up covering his possible scars

thanks for coming to my tedtalk (again)

*goes away staring at you waiting to be thrown tomatoes at*

(psst, since you read it all, have a sneak peek of one of the background i redrew for the animation! i really like how it is looking c:)

btw im feeling like this is becoming less of a "drawing a character daily while waiting for him" and becoming more of a "im a middle aged single dad who is really proud of their child and wants the whole world to see him". not sure if this is bad or not. i like doing it, tho.

#not really daily uno but also not-not uno related

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clownao · 3 years

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Rereading Korosuu Chapter 4 (the ChibaHaya chapter) from the perspective that Hayami has feelings for Chiba

And boy, is it a ride.

Check out the previous post

Listen, I’m a big ChibaHaya shipper but I never believed they liked each other romantically in canon. One of things I like the most about their dynamic is how great they are even without the typical shippy stuff like blushing, stammering etc. They work well both platonically and romantically.

So I never tried to go MiDDLe ScHOoL cHiBaHaYa is CanOn but then I read the Chinese translation Ch4 of Korosuu. And boy oh boy did it make me think Hayami has ✨feelings✨ for Chiba. (And he doesn’t.) I literally did not expect that, but once I saw things from that perspective, I can’t stop lol.

Keep in mind I’m analysing a Japanese -> Chinese translation in English, and I don’t have the Japanese raws, so the word choices may be off. And I am probably overanalysing but yes, I will eat these ChibaHaya crumbs for the tiniest bit of information.

Also keep in mind manga Chiba is more social than Hayami (you can check Fumiko’s posts for more information, she’s the Chiba expert haha). So while these two may have the same responses (eg. smiling because of what the other said), it weighs differently.

So Hayami was originally going home, but stopped when she saw Chiba trying to figure out a problem. And so she helped him pump the balloons to act as Chiba’s targets. They discussed for a bit, then they both said they were surely getting closer to their “answer”.

And then they both smiled. The translation is “速水露齒而笑。千葉也回以微笑。” which is “Hayami grinned, and Chiba returned with a smile”. But notably, the translator used “露齒而笑” (literally: grinning with teeth) for Hayami and just “笑” (smile) for Chiba. “笑” and “微笑” (which also means smile, but a little softer) are used five times in total, and considering they’re interchangeable in Chinese, the translator probably used them to add variety. But “露齒而笑”? That’s different. That’s the only time the translator used this term to describe someone smiling. And “grinning (with teeth)” feels more joyful than “smiling”. And it’s used to describe Hayami’s reaction.

Hmm.

By the way, let’s count how many times they smiled in this chapter. Hayami smiled 3 times, Chiba also 3. And literally every time they smile it’s in response to something the other did/said. Chiba smiles more than Hayami in the manga, so the fact that Hayami is smiling so much in front of Chiba... hmmm...

As mentioned before, Hayami stuttered when Chiba praised her. In the translation, she barely stuttered anywhere else. Hmm.

After a very long time, Chiba lifted his head and turned to Hayami.

“Hayami, you’re brilliant! So it was like this all along! Why have I never noticed something so simple?”

“Wh-what?”

Yeah. She stuttered after Chiba called her brilliant/amazing.

And then, of course, the most telling paragraph follows.

Hayami felt bewildered upon seeing the suddenly agitated Chiba. Even though she had always been looking at him in E class, she hardly recalled seeing him so delighted.

She had always been looking at him. Whoa.

The Chinese translation is “雖然一直在E班看著他”, special focus on “一直” (always) and “看” (look). Like, okay, it could mean “from her daily observations, she didn’t recall seeing such an expression” or “looking after him” or “knowing him from school” but this phrasing just makes me think she’s staring at him in class. And you know what, Chiba actually sits behind Hayami in another row. So she has to turn around to “look” at him, which is a deliberate action. Of course the translation used “E class”, which also means training and other misc stuff and not just conventional lessons.

Either way, she’s been observing him. She’s ALWAYS been observing him. Continuously. And she knows she’s never seen him so joyful. And the translator (and maybe Matsui?) felt the urge to point it out.

After complimenting Hayami, Chiba proceeds to explain his new theory. And thus the passage:

“So what do you think?”

Chiba turned to Hayami, a smile quirking on his lips. He lightly prodded the pages of his notebook with his mechanical pencil.

“That’s brilliant!” Hayami also used an excited tone to reply as she looked down at the diagram.

“If you weren’t there, I probably wouldn’t have thought of it. Even though it’s really simple once you notice it...”

Hayami used a smile to respond to his words.

The word “也” (also) is used in Hayami’s happy response to China. Granted, it may be a translator thing, to add word variety and connectives, but the sentence makes perfect sense without the 也.

From this we can infer Hayami’s mood is affected by Chiba’s, and probably vice versa, but Hayami’s case is specifically mentioned.

Next day, Chiba stays behind to practice again. And he looks sad because he’s failing.

Hayami thinks “I suppose even people like Chiba will feel uneasy when thinking about official operations” (一旦設想正式行動，即使是千葉這樣的人類也會感到不安吧。) This makes me !!!! because it sort of implies Hayami thought Chiba won’t be nervous. She thought of him in a positive light, only for him to disprove it. Also, the use of “吧”. “吧” is commonly used in dialogue, so here it implies Hayami is thinking the whole line despite the lack of speech bubbles, not some omniscient narrator saying it.

Then Hayami tries to encourage him.

“Relax. If you think it’s right, then it has to be.”

“Even though hearing you say that makes me happy...”

^ this is one of the most mutual shippy moments in my opinion. Hayami has total faith and trust in Chiba, and Chiba literally told her that her trust in him makes him happy. It just feels... kinda shipbaity. The sentence structure “雖然你這麼說讓我很開心啊……” (Even though hearing you say that makes me happy...) feels like something out of a romance novel (especially in Chinese), even though the words don’t exactly have a romantic meaning.

Chiba says Hayami’s words makes him “happy”, but he’s still troubled by the shooting problem. Hayami trusting Chiba despite Chiba not trusting himself makes him happy. Oho. That... can be interpreted in a shippy way.

When Hayami sees that Chiba is still troubled, she “nonchalantly” says “to fill in the gaps using intuition” (看著無法消除不安情緒的千葉，速水若無其事地說。”無法確定的地方，用直覺填補就好了喲。”)

I believe there’s a typo here, since the next line is “千葉帶著的表情抬頭看著速水”, which is “Chiba lifted his head to look at Hayami with a xxx expression”. So the translator accidentally left out his expression (the sentence doesn’t make sense otherwise), but we can easily infer Chiba’s feelings from the following lines.

Chiba basically thinks “Intuition? What? She’s talking about things unrelated to this shooting problem again.” He doesn’t say it out loud (no speech bubbles), but he probably shows his doubt through his facial expression that the translator unfortunately left out.

And Hayami wants to prove him wrong.

So Hayami roughly glanced around the classroom, and quietly uttered, “Vase, tape, Korosensei.”

Before Chiba could ask “what are you talking about?”, Hayami swiftly pulled out a pistol from her thigh and shot three bullets with surprising speed.

Hayami hits all three targets without aiming precisely. Naturally, Chiba is in awe, calling it a “miracle”. Chiba says even though he, out of everyone in 3-E. can shoot the furthest target using calculations, he can’t imitate Hayami’s perceptual(?) type of shooting.

And then:

Hayami shot a stunned Chiba a smile.

The word for “stunned” (目瞪口呆) literally means “eyes wide, mouth frozen”, but that’s just a Chinese phrase for being stunned.

Honestly, to me, I feel:

Hayami wants to help Chiba -> Chiba is in doubt -> Hayami wants to prove him wrong and show off -> she quickly shoots her targets based on intuition/emotion, not even waiting to hear what Chiba has to ask -> (she wants to show off lol) -> when she sees he’s in awe, she smiles (smugly?)

ALSO, Hayami may have gained confidence after Chiba praised her by saying she’s brilliant, and that may be why she shot so quickly (since the adrenaline rush or something.)

Hayami then says something:

“And if at that time, you’re not confident in your theories, in the end, I’ll still shoot according to my gut feelings. (Basically saying if you can’t do it, I can do it for you.) We can do what the other cannot do. If we team up and become partners, there’s no target we cannot hit.”

Chiba gazed at Hayami’s face for a moment, then smiled and said, “Thanks.”

Wow. What surprised me is that Hayami’s the one with the speech— she’s the more serious and reserved out of the two. For her to say something so “sentimental” when she’s usually like “I respect you”, wow...

By the way, “凝視” (gaze) is used. It can mean stare, but it usually means gaze. Also he gazed at her face (臉). This is specifically mentioned. Mmmmm.

And I can’t get over “將兩者合為一體的話一定能順利地進行”. It means “if we combine two into one, it’ll definitely proceed smoothly”. They’re... MERGING lmao. It’s so shipbaity.

There’s also more stuff, like how they agree on something without speaking, but that’s... typical ChibaHaya stuff. And that’s it.

SO:

Possible hints of Hayami’s feelings towards Chiba:

1. Hayami immediately helped Chiba with practice even though she was intending to go home

2. SHE LOOKS AT HIM IN CLASS. Bro. I can’t make this up.

3. Hayami is happy when Chiba is

4. SHE STUTTERED WHEN HE SAID SHE’S BRILLIANT

5. She wanted to prove him wrong by showing off (this is a stretch)

6. She low-key put him on a pedestal (?) because she thought he won’t be nervous (this is also a stretch)

Possible hints of Chiba’s feelings towards Hayami:

1. He was very noticeably happy, perhaps a side he only shows to people close to him

2. Chiba says Hayami praising him makes him happy

3. He gazed at her face. Yes, her face.

But I don’t think Chiba likes Hayami that way. Like, he didn’t stutter when she praised him, he just said he’s happy. Hayami is usually very chill and calm, and even quieter than Chiba, so when she stutters because of Chiba, hmm...

Of course all of this is immediately disproven by the mini comic, with Ritsu claiming they reply to their emails a day late and their heart rates don’t go up when next to each other. Psssh. Okay, Ritsu. I mean, we can always hc Ritsu is protecting her friends’ privacy by lying about them. And of course Chiba and Hayami can stay as purely friends. I like their dynamic either way.

This concludes my rambling overanalysis of them. If you read till this point, I congratulate you <3 also reblogs appreciated :DD

#assassination classroom #ansatsu kyoushitsu #chiba ryuunosuke #hayami rinka #chibahaya #ryuunosuke chiba #rinka hayami #korosuu #spent too much time on this #chibahaya brainrot is real

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jungshookz · 4 years

Text

CHAPTER THREE; The investigation.

chapter one; chapter two

Player has chosen: [B] Stay together!

“okay, if you’re not scared, then you’re okay with us splitting up to find the rest of the gang, right?” taehyung tilts his head before raising a brow

you swallow thickly and take a couple of seconds to think it through

if you split up, there would be four people exploring four different parts of the house, which would be pretty efficient

but sticking together would be a much safer option and this house does give you the heebie-jeebies after all...

“i’m…” you trail off before shaking your head gently, “i’m not scared, but i don’t think it’s a good idea to split up. this house is huge and we could lose each other again, which means we’d waste even more time.”

taehyung immediately lets out a quiet groan and tilts his head back, “ugh. you guys are so lame.”

wha-

you’re not lame!!

you’re just,.,. you’re being safe!!

and safety isn’t lame!!

“okay, what about if we split off in groups of two?” you suggest, raising a brow, “that way we’re not entirely alone, and we have two teams searching the house instead of just one big one…”

“okay… i guess i can get on board with that…”

“and this can be our meeting spot!” you perk up, “how about… twenty minutes? in twenty minutes, no matter what, you have to come back here for a team update.”

“this is exciting!” jimin grins, clasping his hands together in anticipation, “it kinda feels like we’re ghost-hunting.”

taehyung snorts, “well, yoongi is as pale as a ghost, so i guess there’s some truth in that-”

“alright! so, jungkook and i will take floors one to three, and you guys can take floors four to six-“

“woah, woah, woah-“ taehyung interrupts you, waving both his hands to stop you, “hold on just a second- why do you get to take jungkook?”

you frown lightly, “what do you mean?”

“if you take jungkook, you get the flashlight and the baseball bat. that’s so not fair!”

“i thought you morons weren’t scared of this dusty old house.” you mock, using the bat to gesture around the large room

“we’re not scared-!” taehyung argues, “but anyone would feel a little better having at least one helpful tool.”

you suppose he’s right

it’s only fair that their team gets a tool

you roll your eyes before nudging jungkook with your elbow, “jungkook, give him your flashlight-”

jungkook immediately gawks and holds his precious flashlight to his chest, “what? no way! i’m not giving up the flashlight! you give him your bat!”

and now it’s youR turn to gawk

“what?? i’m not giving him my bat! i’m the weakest one here, i actually need the weapon if we get into any kind of trouble-”

“you know…” taehyung whistles lowly, “for two people who claim they aren’t a pair of scaredy-cats, you sure are acting like it now-”

“okay, what about this?” you use your bat to point towards jimin, “i’ll take jimin, and you can take jungkook-”

“i don’t wanna pair up with taehyung!” jungkook speaks up, shaking his head furiously, “no friggin’ way!”

oh jesus

at this rate you’re going to be here all night just arguing about who’s going to go with whO

the others would be better off finding you guys instead of you guys finding them

“and why not?”

“because he’s an asshole- and what if he tries scaring me again? this place already gives me the creeps, and i don’t need taehyung whispering about how this place could’ve been, like, a mental hospital or something and the deranged patients are still somewhere in here-”

“oh my god, jungkook-!” you cut him off, partly to get him to shut up and partly to get him to stOp talking about deranged mental patients because the idea of that is just plain terrifying, “okay, i will take taehyung, and you can take jimin. is everyone happy??”

a good five seconds of silence ticks by and you take that as a yes

finally

thank GOD

“ooh, you know what we should do?” taehyung gasps as he makes his way over to you, “why don’t we turn this into a game? whichever team comes back with more people in twenty minutes is the winner!”

“what kind of prize are we talking about?” jungkook perks up, his competitive streak suddenly kicking in, “i like games if there are prizes to win.”

you like playing games too

and you like winning prizes

plus, it’ll motivate you to find everyone faster!

“i have a starbucks coupon in my wallet?” you offer, “there’s like, six bucks left on it, but it’s better than nothing-“

“i have a strawberry flavoured condom in mine!” jimin chirps

everyone looks over at him

“what?” he shrugs, “strawberry is tastier than plain ol’ latex.”

“okay, well-” taehyung claps his hands together to effectively bring this flavoured condom conversation to an end, “the winning team gets a six dollar starbucks coupon, a strawberry flavoured condom, and the title of best team ever- so we’re all in, then? are we doing this?”

“mhm.”

“yep!”

“uh-huh.”

“remember, twenty minutes!” you call out as jimin and jungkook head back towards the staircase to go up to the third floor, “twenty minutes and we meet back here- aaand no one’s listening to me. wonderful.”

the sound of their footsteps fade into the distance and soon enough, it’s just you and taehyung

you turn around to look at him, “alright, superstar. there’s no way in hell i’m giving up my starbucks coupon, so we’d better get a move-on.”

“i say we tackle the kitchen first,” taehyung nods enthusiastically, “i could use a snack.”

“you- you think you’re going to get a snack here?” you snort, the two of you heading towards what seems to be the swinging double-doors to a kitchen, “unless you’re in the mood for, like, dead cockroaches and dust bunnies, i doubt you’re going to find anything yummy here.”

“hm.” tae frowns, “good point. you don’t think they have any canned goods here? like, canned peaches or… i don’t know, i’ll even take tuna-“

“tae- give up all hope of finding something edible here. after we find everyone, we’ll get out of here and go to mcdonalds! i’d kill for a big mac right now-”

“okay, you need to stop talking about food because i’m actually starving right now-“ taehyung looks down and places a hand over his tummy before patting it, “let’s talk about something else. who are we finding first?”

the two of you step into the kitchen, the door gently swinging back and forth behind you

for a house that’s seemingly been abandoned, this kitchen is pretty neat

you expected it to be overrun by rats and covered in weeds and all that

it’s still pretty dusty in here, though

“well, i don’t think we can plan to find someone first, tae.” you raise a brow as you swipe a finger over the gritty kitchen island, “we find whoever we find.”

you rub the grime in between your fingers before wiping your hand off on the back of your jeans

“touché.” taehyung mutters as he walks alongside you, “say you were mr. kim namjoon himself, where do you think you would be?”

“hm. do i think i’m in trouble or am i just passed out?” you ask absentmindedly as you open up the drawers in search for anything useful

unfortunately, all you’re able to find are boring old utensils

you’re not sure how useful forks and spoons are as self-defence weapons

unless you scooped someone’s eyes out with the spoons

that could work!

that sounds like it requires technique, though… so maybe you’ll have to go with a different approach

“um… just passed out.” taehyung coughs before waving his hand in front of his face, “jesus, it’s dusty in here-”

you let out a gasp when you end up finding a box of matches - there are only three matchsticks left, but that’s definitely better than no matchsticks at all!

light!!

“well, see, that’s not fair, because then it’s free game-” you spin around and hold the box of matches up before shaking it gently, “if i was a passed out namjoon, i could be anywhere in this damn house- also, see if you can find any candles or anything-”

“you know, these types of games aren’t fun when you overanalyse and think about it like that-” taehyung flat out ignores you before bending over so he can lean against the kitchen island, “i change my answer. say you were a mr. kim namjoon who thought someone was chasing you- what would you do and where would you hide?”

you wait for two seconds to see if taehyung will make a move to get up and actually help you

and....

nope

god

you have to do everything around here

“okay, fine. if i was a namjoon who thought i was in trouble…” you let out a sigh as you spin back around before reaching up to open up the cupboards, “i would probably leave a clue somewhere for my friends to find me…”

a large speck of dust floats past your eyes and you’re about to wave it away when you suddenly remember the dust that you saw earlier at the top of the staircase

…

you follow it with your eyes, watching carefully as it drifts past you and begins lowering to the ground

“like a hansel and gretel situation?” taehyung asks, “with the crumbs of bread and stuff?”

“exactly…” you murmur, watching curiously as the speck of dust never actually floats to the ground but appears to float down the hall

“what would namjoon use in place of bread? probably, like, those caramel candies he’s always sucking on-” taehyung snorts and moves to the side when you shut the cupboards and lean over to keep an eye on the floating dust, “what are you looking at?” he asks, standing up straight to look at what you’re looking at

which is...

nothing?

“nothing, nothing-” you shake your head, quickly springing into action when you nearly lose sight of it, “here, take the bat-”

you don’t know why but you feel like you have to follow it

or maybe you’re just crazy and it’s just an innocent speck of dust because this house really IS super old and musty after all

there’s nothing left to explore in the kitchen so you have to move on to other rooms anyway

taehyung takes the bat from you and props it up so he’s holding it over his shoulder, “what’s going on?”

you fumble with the little cardboard carton before pulling a matchstick out and quickly striking it against the side of the box, a little ball of flame suddenly coming to life and flickering before your eyes

the corridor is pitch black so you can’t see very far ahead, but it’s better than fumbling around in the dark

you swallow your nerves before venturing forward, tucking the carton into your pocket for safe-keeping

“hey, wait- where are you going??” taehyung stammers, quickly trailing behind you as you leave the kitchen

“i just have a feeling…” you murmur, watching the flame carefully and slowing your pace down a little when it trembles a little too violently for your liking

if this thing blows out halfway through and leaves you in the complete dark.,,. you’re 100% going to piss yourself

the two of you round the corner and start to walk down what feels like a longer, narrower corridor

your tiny little torch is proving to be very useful right now!

“you know, we’re supposed to be a team.” taehyung hisses, “you can’t just start walking and not tell me where you’re going-”

your sneakers squeak against the floor when you suddenly come to a stop, tae letting out a grunt as he bumps into your back, ““jesus, the architecture of this place literally doesn’t make any sense at all.”

“what are you talking about?” taehyung asks, glancing over his back towards the safety of the kitchen

it’s brighter in the kitchen so he can still see a patch of light, but it seems like it’s a million miles away

“i mean… what is this?” you gesture in front of you

the corridor splits off into three different paths

the middle one just continues on into the darkness

but the others split off into two different… rooms? for some reason

kind of like the letter ‘y’ with a gap in the middle

the doors to the rooms have glass panels in the centre and you take a step closer to peer into the left one, and then right one

and from that point onward, things just keep getting weirder and weirder

in the left room, there’s a staircase spiralling down, and in the right room, there’s a staircase spiralling up

you wouldn’t be surprised if the staircases led to more corridors with even more staircases

“i don’t know about this.” taehyung mutters, “i don’t… i mean, i really don’t think anyone would be here… i think we should go back to the kitchen, y/n. i’m, like, a little scared right now-”

“okay, yeah.” you mutter, “my match is about to die, so-”

as soon as you turn around to start heading down the hall, you suddenly feel a little thump from underneath your feet

you jump in surprise and reach out to grab the back of tae’s arm, “did you- did you feel that?”

“did i feel what?”

“the… i swear i felt something. i heard something too- like- like if someone was, like… like if someone smacked their fist against the wall or something-”

“what? well, i would’ve heard it too but i didn’t hear anything…” taehyung mutters uneasily, attempting to start walking again only for you to pull him back

he lets out a sigh before turning to look over at you, “okay, fine. where did the sound come from?”

you swallow thickly as you turn to look over your shoulder, “…the door on the left.”

“...okay, well, there’s no way i’m going in there, so i’m gonna head back to the kitchen-”

you feel taehyung’s arm slip away from your hand right as your match burns out and you open your eyes as wide as they can possibly go as if doing so will give you night-vision or something

“taehyung, hold on-” you fumble for the box of matches in your pocket, “just gimme a second to-”

as soon as you light another match, you’re more than surprised to see that the structure of the corridor has changed because now you’re standing in front of a wall

you turn around quickly to see that the three paths are still there

what??

where did the-

where did the kitchen go??

where did the corridor go???

your hand starts to tremble, the little flame starting to shake as well

you feel your heart beginning to pound a little harder in your chest and you whimper quietly when you hear another thump

what do you want to do?

> [A] Don’t go into the room! You don’t know what’s down there!

> [B] Go into the room! …Once again, you don’t know what’s down there... And what if it’s one of the others?

Place your vote here.

You have one hour.

Good luck.

#choh2020 #choh2020 drabbles

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