worldtriggereview

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Chapters 214-215

Going forward I’m gonna include new chapters in here as they release so here’s the first instance of that!

World Trigger gaming arc

The Chibis are evolving now they crave violence

I love this actually

Help I can’t stop cackling at this immense Chibi violence

Osamu now a certified gamer. I’d have him in my raid group

He’s come a long way from illiteracy

Gamer Yuma!!!!

lol

Hey they got Hyuse a screen reader!!! That’s awesome

This mans gaming all on his own! I do kinda respect the strategy, rather than lose time for everyone figuring out the rules and what not, he’s just having them crank out assignments while he games lol. Mizukami certified gamer confirmed. Also, is that shirt a JJK reference I wonder?

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Border Briefing File

I’m going to go on now to look at the BBF again. I’m using the scanlations from tumblr user Chippokenabokura, who used to be very active in scanning and translating world trigger a few years ago. I still remember reading her translations as they came out, and always enjoyed reading her commentary, part of which is why I’m still such a big fan of World Trigger today!

Here’s the character parameters for each character and how their ability is judged. Obviously, these are just numbers, but they give us a good starting point for gauging ability. I might reference this in my reviewing, so I’m dropping it here.

Tachikawa’s attack is the same as Shinoda’s here, which is overwhelmingly high. Anything over 10 is pretty crazy strong, Regular trigger Amo and Raizo both had 9, which is the same value as Kazama, to provide some sense to these numbers. 14 is well over what the graph is meant to display

Tachikawa squad crab clock.... I need one.

Interesting that Toma only uses Egret. I suppose he has a lot of room to improvise as the situation calls for it, but to only have egret for a weapon really speaks to how skilled he is with it

So Kako uses a custom Timer trigger, and Kuroe uses a custom Makou and Idaten trigger. Out of those three, we only know what Idaten does, which makes me think Ashihara has already thought out how Kako squad fights, and thus, we’re gonna see more of them in the future!

We know thank’s to Konami that Yukimaru is around Ikoma’s level in skill so possibly the 5th highest attakcer? Dual wielding raygust is definitely unusual

What the fuck Reiji. No wonder Tamakoma isn’t allowed in rank wars Reiji’s out here with twice the trigger options as everyone else

Konami’s attack is 13 then, one point less than Tachikawa, but she has slightly more mobility and skill. I’d guess they would be pretty even if they fought

Jin’s attack is lower than I expected, but holy shit, that defense support. Guess that’s what you should expect when you can literally see the future but still, sheesh

Kage and Ninomiya both have 12 attack, which is higher than I expected, but I suppose I should’ve expected that

Katori’s attack is pretty high! Not surprising now looking back and having seen her fight, but considering BBF is pretty old now, it was certainly a little surprising then

Speaking of unexpected attack stats, holy shit Suwa? Would not have guessed he’d have a 9. I guess it’s because his attacks are very high in fire power?

Enedorad charger tail aahhhh

Pretty good example right here of why black triggers are op, even if it’s just numbers lol

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Aaaanddd finished my reread! I really enjoyed it, I’ve been really into it the past few days lol. Next I wanna take a look at BBF, since I haven’t read it since reading translations when it initially released, and that was years ago.

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Chapters 211-213

So Suwa shared the results with his teammates, definitley fitting of his style, I wonder if sharing the results will be universal amongst the squads?

Hyuse goes yeah. let’s fuckin cheat it’ll be okay and everyone else who goes to school is like. What.

THATS. A LOT OF RICE??? Is this what she plans on eating for the week??? A year’s worth of rice??? Chika honey. Please get some nutrients...

Kodera previous to this is a character who’s been kinda subtly in the background since the beginning, so it’s nice when he gets moments where he stands out. This chapter has me thoroughly convinced that Miwa squad is gonna be on the expedition, since we’re getting this focus on Kodera now, and Miwa and Yoneya are both pretty major side characters. Plus, there’s a bunch of set up with Miwa that would be developed well during the expedition. For other A rank squads, I expect Kako squad and Kazama squad, and then of course, a hand full of B rank agents

Behold, the most fanservice we’ve ever gotten in World Trigger and will probably ever get. Classic Ikoma moment

Literally who could’ve seen Hyuse being such an icon. Canada memes, goat memes, illiteracy memes, Ashihara really gave us everything

Kazama is so serious in the story but at any given opportunity Ashihara will give us the wildest little moments, like drunken capybara riding escapades.

I really like this moment here. Suwa recognizes that Osamu is hard on himself, and preemptively goes out of his way to reassure him. He’s taking personal responsibility as captain, and also as the oldest member of the group. It’s something I really appreciate Ashihara including

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Chapters 209-210

Kikuchihara also figuring out the lottery was rigged

Yuba seems so excited by this answer haha

Sorry but this is so funny. Ninomiya boldly being like. Osamu wont produce the same results with people who don’t respect him, completely blind to the angry 14 year old next to him mentally calling him a bitch. Can’t wait to see Ninomiya get chewed out by a middle schooler!

I also appreciate how Border isn’t presented as stagnant, it’s always growing and things have to change to accommodate that!

And Somei’s theory was then 70% correct. I’m curious about the remaining 30%, since it no doubt has something to do with Border’s future, but she nicely explains that this test exists both to evaluate Border’s current strength, and collect data to aid the organization in the future as it expands. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I like how Ashihara portrays Border as an organization and the directors. They’re individuals with personality and preferences, but they’re always, and always have been, thinking about the long term prospects of Border and expanding it in the future.

We don’t know about Arashiyama, but all the people who basically agreed with what Yuma and Hyuse said were people who have been to the neighborhood at least once. Konami’s negative response is in regards to team morale, not that the line of thinking was wrong. I find this snippet quite interesting, since Konami has the same experiences as Jin and Reiji here. There’s a definite distinction in Border between agents who haven’t really experienced a situation where they needed to be concerned for their lives and safety, and those who have, so Konami’s comment about morale would refer to the group who haven’t, essentially, people who haven’t fought in the neighborhood. I wonder if this was a conscious line of thought for her, or more of an intuitive reaction?

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Chapters 207-208

Let the shirt contest begin

Probably some promotional thing lol. Or Ashihara took up T shirt designing in his spare time

Why tf does Kotoro have a different style of shirt from the rest of them

Utagawa already has a plan of course

So far Oji and Utagawa had some sort of concept in mind for making their teams

Kakizaki also has a solid plan. I have to wonder though, if A rank squads join the battle phase, what about Kazama? They just gonna toss him in there along?

Inukai may be dead soon

RIP Kikuchihara

Kodera also had a plan making his squad then!

What the hell Ninomiya lol. Imagine being a 20 year old and talking to a 14 year old girl like that lol wtf

Pteropod shirt!!!

Interesting that Suwa was the first to observe the lottery being rigged

What an example lmao

Mizukami dead ass just being like, yeah idk about the rules delete

And the chapters in which that happen have yet to be released as of now!

There was literally bread making discourse in the World Trigger server I mod. We had to quarantine it to its only channel. It was wild

Katori definitely got some A rank eval points for that one

Pineapple murder

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Chapters 203-206

I remember this day, when illiterate Hyuse became canon. Ah, the memes

I’m surprised Toma’s on this list. Also, catboy pringles guy shirt????

lmao

Osamu, the first person in the history of Border who actually wants to be in Yuiga’s company

Explains why even skilled snipers aren’t getting picked if they can’t do something else, have a shit ton of trion, or are Azuma

RIP Taichi

That had to be deliberate on Suwa’s part lol.

Can Kage feel when people direct thoughts to him through screens as well? Because that would make this week literal hell for him

From what we’ve seen of him so far, I would agree with Satori

First Ashihara gives us illiterate Hyuse, now microwave destroying Hyuse. What a gift

Taichi, agent of walking destruction

You. I want to know more about you. What is a spotter and why are you the only one

We’ve seen Azuma very deliberately sideline himself, so of course, he’s going to do so again. He probably understands decently well what this test is about. Plus, Ninomiya’s too prideful to ask for help, so Azuma and Kagami are just gonna be vibing while Ninomiya and Ema eventually start fighting lol

A reasonable assumption. This arc is going to be tricky to review maybe, since there’s so much going on strategically at every moment, but also so much is going to explained via the judging process.

Interesting, so she’s equating Tamakoma-2′s strength with being A rank already. Likely thanks to Hyuse’s addition of course, but still.

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Chapters 199-303

I also really like this moment and comment here. Katori squad is changing, and their current rank reflects their whole squad, not just Katori. It’s a very satisfying moment.

gay lol

Tamakoma branch is carrying on the mission of old Border after all! And having Galopula as a contact with a mission to Aftokrar is certainly helpful to boot

That’s the war then in which most of old Border died. That means Tamakoma still has 2 friendly neighbor countries it has relationships with, Dexia and Meson. Also, Khronin here in this flashback! Protecting Yotaro and Ruka

More important world building! Mother triggers can create planets with a god, but can also be operated without one

These lil guys are so cuteeee

And of course, there’s the side effect aspect of it. Who knows how that will play out, Ashihara is certainly laying out quite a bit of groundwork here that can be built upon

Sneaky Sneaky. I’m sensing there’s going to be some future tippy toeing on the expedition, since Tamakoma-2 are the only ones going to be aware of this possibly. I couldn’t say at this point whether Ashihara would have it revealed to the expedition team or not

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Chapters 196-198

B)

B) B)

Konami once again, a mood

Usami doesn’t get enough love! She’s a wonderful character, and as we’ve seen, a very skilled operator. If Border had operator wars, I’m sure she’d be in the top tier!

I’m with Toonoka here lol

Again!! Chika made the call on her own!

Katori’s getting her own character development!

I think Wakamura now is in a sort of similar position in the story to how Osamu was at the start of rank wars. Katori basically told him “You come up with the strat lol”, so he’s being exceedingly cautious as compared to Katori squad’s usual “Katori goes ape shit” strat. Since Wakamura is shaping up to being a major player during this next selection arc, this is his starting point!

And if the Wakamura Osamu parallels weren’t clear enough, here’s Katori with spider for ya

And Katori’s already using spider very well! I also love the way she grabs Suwa’s guns to swing herself forward for the kill. This spread really demonstrates just how skilled Katori really is!

Using spider to go for the legs somehow just feels so perfectly right for Katori. It’s unique, hard to counter, and really good against mid ranged fighters. Osamu uses spider in a unique way, but Katori has already found a unique end incredibly effective way to utilize spider as well. You can really see how Katori used to be in the top ranked squads with the strategy of Katori going off doing whatever she feels like, since it’s clearly working quite well for her here

Ashihara let Katori have her moment, but also let Nasu squad have their moment!!

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Chapters 194-195

Heheh

I think this is a good observation here. Osamu doesn’t want to force Chika to shoot, so he won’t tell her to. If she shoots, it will be her decision

LETS! FUCKING! GOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The irony of “If only you had more experience” followed by Osamu getting a hit on Ninomiya >>>>>

In the end, everyone underestimated Osamu :>

Lol that must be akward for Chika

And the last match in the rank wars is done!!! I really love how Ashihara set this one up. The match was set up so that they would need to fight Ninomiya head on, and Hyuse was needed for that. However, Hyuse got kinda screwed by placements, so Tamakoma-2′s plan to use Hyuse and Chika failed. Then, manipulating the narrative so they have to face Ninomiya, and further more, forcing the original three Tamakoma members to fight 3-3 against Ninomiya squad seems like such an unwinnable battle. However, everyone except Hyuse and maybe Yuma underestimated Chika, and everyone but Tamakoma-2 underestimated Osamu. You can see when Tsuji was going back, he had a piece of debris to block lead bullet, he thought there was no way Chika was going to shoot him. But Chika stepped up and did it, more on that in a second. Then, there was the end with Osamu using hound, which no one except Karasuma expected him to do, which let Yuma move in. The synergy of the final face off is so good.

Of course, I have to talk about Chika though. Osamu didn’t think she could shoot, and ordered her not to. However, when Inukai and Tsuji went after her, Osamu forgot in the moment that Ninomiya wouldn’t full on attack without support, and didn’t expect Tsuji to jump back. Osamu’s mistake there would’ve cost them their victory, had Chika not stepped up to shoot. It was Chika’s decision that decided the match, Chika finally stepping up and overcoming all her fears and hesitations and taking the shot that let Tamakoma-2 win. And because of their victory, they qualify for selection as a squad for the expedition. The whole reason Tamakoma-2 was formed in the first place was because Chika wanted to go on an expedition. It was Chika’s decision that led to the characters even being here, and it was Chika’s decision that enabled them to win. It all circles back to Chika and her determination! It’s so masterfully executed, puts so much importance on Chika and her character development, I fear I may explode

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Chapters 190-193

I think Obishima is aware of Yuba missing Kanda’s presence, and is taking it upon herself to step up. I appreciate how Yuba clearly respects her and her capabilities to, he has trust in her knowing her limits and knowing what’s best to do.

Gottem

Oki makes his appearance! I wonder if he was waiting for that once he realized Toonoka was going after Chika. Also, Chika’s trying so hard, even though it’s difficult! How could you not root for her at this point

He got instantly bisected afterword though

Nice move by Obishima. Also, narrative forcing that confrontation with Ninomiya as a result lol

Nice move by Yuba! I’m a huge fan of when people don’t use their weapon and just fuckin go for the kick or punch

This shit? Is cool as hell

See, this kill here is really interesting, because Yuma’s looking away. Look back on previous Yuma moments and tell me how often he looks away when he makes the killing blow. He doesn’t! So this already is interesting, plus the set up of Yuma being like a goal for Obishima to reach is so good! A lot of potential here!

Yeesh that’s some tricky bullet work. I wonder if Nasu or Izumi could do something like that with viper

Also I forgot these are longer chapters oops long post

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Chapters 184-189

Chika is already in a tough position, plus she’s going to be hard targeted by the other snipers. A real test of her development, coming up!

Just Ikoma things

Ikoma 4th wall break haha

Again, Yuma steps up to take a little more involved of a role now. Training wheels are of for Tamakoma-2! Yuma also does a really good job of guiding Chika here, thanks to his side effect realizing Chika can’t do it, when she might not even be fully cognizant of that herself

I don’t really remember what happened with the everyone jumping Hyuse part of this fight, so I’m excited to reread it lol

RIP Hyuse

This match starts out putting Tamakoma-2 between a rock and a hard place, while they have a definite goal, so Ashihara nicely amps up the tension. Having Toonoka specifically going after Chika makes it also very challenging for Tamakoma-2 since their strategy is dependent on her and if she can’t do it, Hyuse and Yuma meeting up, but neither of those are possibilities that would work

That’s gotta be tough to think about with everyone and their mom trying to get you though lol

Spoiler alert

Inukai knows Hyuse has viper, and considering he’s alone surrounded by close ranged attackers, he has to be very cautious about his movement

Seems like an adapted version of something Yuma would do lol

Damn Hyuse! Ambitious much?

Konami is such a mood this match lol

Mizukami goes “ah im fucked”

You know, now that I think about it, Chika and Hyuse are a little similar. Both blamed themselves for things a beyond their control, but in a surprising move, Hyuse was able to appeal to Chika’s feelings towards not wanting to be a burden in order to keep her from shutting down. Unexpected and wholesome moment!

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Chapters 182-183

A lot of smaller moving pieces this match regarding individuals rather than the teams as a whole!

Yuma knows how he works in the Tamakoma-2 dynamic very well I think. I’m excited to see more of that now that they’re a fully functioning team!

Ashihara trying to boost Karasuma’s popularity: Ninomaru mode, activate!

I love Ashihara subtly pulling the switcheroo on us. Introducing Ninomiya as mr. serious no nonsense, then gradually revealing he’s actually a pretty hot headed guy. Osamu has taken note of that, Ninomiya now available for manipulation

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Chapters 180-181

It’s simple, but tricky to pull off, making it difficult to replicate, and hard to guard against unless you had a stupid amount of trion.

^^^

I think this is an interesting observation, people who rely on muscle memory are better as gunners but people who are more intellectual with their fighting are better as shooters. Muscle memory is a very powerful thing, especially for someone like Satomi who is set up here as so comfortable fighting. Also interesting the way Yuba is set up to, before gunners, even skilled ones like Kitazoe and Inukai, were shown to be in a much more supportive role, and not going to get points themselves, but the way Yuba works make him seem like he’s very capable of getting points when he’s in range

lol

Yuma’s new technique!

Well fitting with Yuma’s whole ‘Take moves and make them your own’ gimmick. Yuma says it’s a variation on mantis, but we’ve seen Kazama do a scorpion through the ground thing waaaay back at the beginning of the series. Again, I want a Yuma-Kazama fight so bad lol

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Chapter 179

And of course, it all ties back into this. She’s still very much traumatized by what happened to her friend and brother, and doesn’t want to be the reason someone gets hurt.

It’s harsh, but Hyuse is right. Everyone in Tamakoma-2 sans Hyuse would put themselves in danger over their squad mates if that’s what it came down to. I bet Yuma has thought of this to, but he wont say it to Chika of course, since he cares about Chika more as a person, and also going back to him giving Osamu and Chika space to grow

Ashihara very, very rarely gets heavy like this, even with some of the darker subtext in World Trigger. He’s very good at building up subtle narratives, and Chika is a really good example of that. Looking back, she’s so passive, and so quiet, she doesn’t talk a huge amount, and this moment is probably the most we’ve seen her talk, and talk about herself at once. With this reveal, where Chika’s concerned so much about herself and so afraid of judgement, all of a sudden the reader realizes how much of her passivity and agreeableness makes sense. After this, I hope we see Chika really realize its okay to put herself first, and see her act decisively without fear of judgement, because we know she’s capable, we know she’s clever and good in battle, we’ve seen her develop up until this point, but she’s been holding herself back because she’s so afraid of judgement and being ostracized because of her trion attracting neighbors, who we’ve seen have caused so much grief within Mikado city. I really think Ashihara pulled out all the stops for some of the stuff immediately after his long hiatus, he likely had a lot of time thinking about what to do and since he wasn’t just rushing to get it done as is the standard in the manga industry, some of the character development and the battles and everything are so meticulously executed. I do think its a shame that there’s so much crunch culture in the manga industry, one because of how detrimental it is to the people working in the industry, but also because if authors could write stories at their own pacing, how often would we get awesome moments like these, that are so intricately crafted, and have such a good payoff?

I also think this message is so, so important. It’s okay to be selfish sometimes, it’s okay to be afraid of judgement, just do what you can do and it’ll be okay. Thank you Usami

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Chapters 176-178

Lol

Again, the Osamu-Kikuchihara dynamic is so great.

I love how Azuma’s just here to help spread juicy gossip lmao. Azuma could probably get away with a lot and no one could care

I appreciate how they don’t just have Netsuki and Kinuta be random HQ minions, they’re both smart and have their own opinions, and are responsible for their own actions and how it affects Border.

Interesting, it makes sense that Azuma has expedition experience, I wonder who else exactly does as well. Kazama squad obviously, and probably some of the top A rank squads. I wonder if Azuma went on an expedition before they sent expeditions out as squads, in the earlier days of new border

I find Azuma’s wording of unbalanced here to be interesting. We know Osamu has no problem sacrificing himself, sort of similar to how Chika is. I wonder if we’ll get a similar conundrum in the future, with Osamu not valuing himself? It seems low self worth is a common theme amongst Tamakoma-2 ;w; Although, it seems Dadzuma has taken note of that

Coinky-Dink

Damn look at all those empty bowls. Just how much rice is Chika eating?!

Inukai’s definitely a tricky kinda guy. He seems happy go lucky at first but he’s pretty sketchy at second glance. Again, no wonder Kage doesn’t like him

Yupppp he knows alright lol

Osamu smartly keeping that to himself

Adding Hyuse is interesting in more than just his dynamic with Osamu. Neither Yuma, Osamu, or Usami are going to pressure Chika, they don’t want to make her uncomfortable, but Hyuse has no qualms about that, so just by saying this, he’s putting that pressure on her that Toma talked about earlier. And I think Chika knows this at this point, even if it was something subconscious at first

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Chapters 173-175

Supportive Zoe pt 2

I like how Osamu’s gone beyond beating himself up over his loss, and instead trusts his teammates. It shows how much he’s grown since the start of this arc! Plus, he’s aware enough to realize as he is now there’s not much he could’ve done differently at the time, and isn’t hung up over not being perfect

I mean, Yuma loses an arm every match and still does fine so

This is pretty dope to! Azuma’s good at quietly doing his job until it’s time for him to show off. Again, every element of this fight is just. so. good

Chika looks like she’s having fun here! Mass destruction can be fun

RIP Okudura, demonstrating why Chika’s inability to shoot made this arc interesting

There it is!!!

Everyone collectively goes “Oh shit, can she shoot now”

Azuma dad mode deactivate, Azuma teacher mode on

Assuming at some point in time wee see A-rank wars, which would be cool, I wonder how we’ll see more Azuma-esque techniques used there. Osamu’s good at psychological trickery, but Azuma is basically the pioneer of it at Border. They’re playing Azuma’s game now, while Tamakoma-2 controlled the game a lot in their previous matches

Yuma doesn’t get a lot of character development in the rank wars arc, but this moment is so important for me. Yuma let Osamu take the lead all of rank wars, doing what he was told to do and giving Osamu space to work things out for himself. But now, with Hyuse in the mix, Osamu has people who aren’t just going to agree with whatever he wants. Obviously being challenged is good for Osamu, just like being able to work things out for himself was good, but here he’s conflicted over it, and Tamakoma-2 does still desperately need points. But Yuma realizes that, and moves on his own to follow Osamu’s orders, and relieve’s Osamu’s burden. I think this is the first strategic decision Yuma has made on his own this entire arc, not because he doesn’t have anything to say, but he trusts in Osamu to do what’s best. At this point, Yuma shows he realizes how much Osamu has grown, and that he no longer needs to be not contributing towards strategy. It’s just. Augh. It’s such a perfect moment that encapsulates the relationship between Yuma and Osamu so well and it works as effectivley as it does because Hyuse is there and. I just. Holy shit, this match is so fucking good

And Yuma also understands Hyuse’s perspective as well and just. The way he steps up because he realizes that’s where he himself is needed and aaahhh it’s so well done Ashihara you genius

Azuma’s bagworm deception! The hype just doesn’t die down, does it!

And holy shit, if you go back you can see him setting this up to. That’s crazy! There are some battles where I’m just sitting there wondering, how does Ashihara do it?? This is one of them

I can’t believe I forgot about Inukai saying that was the big mood. I’m disappointed in myself

Very important!!! Fistbump!!!

Okudura and Koarai pass Azuma school! Hooray!

And with that, my favorite battle in World Trigger is over! Ashihara brought this back for post Hiatus, so he had years to think about World Trigger’s future and getting this battle to be perfect, and I’m of the mind to say he succeeded! Every moment in the battle is full of tension and clever little moments and character development! It encapsulates why World Trigger is such a good series, all in one!

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