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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My mom was the cutest kid ever. She was just adorable. Which was probably in no small part due to my grandmother who made sure to dress her in the cutest outfits the 70s had to offer, bought her the coolest toys and put her hair up in pigtails. But she was a cute kid all on her own. My dad, however, there aren’t many photos of him as a child and he looks evil in all of them, he’s grinning at the camera like he’s planning something diabolical. Unlike the pictures of my mom which were taken fairly candidly on a home camera and have that warm film 70s glow, little windows into a comfortable middle class home with a happy little girl, the few photos of my dad were all taken at the Macy’s photo studio and they lack charm.
My mother’s mother didn’t always protect her from the evil in the world but she loves her and she was so happy to have a child after years of marriage and a previous miscarriage. My father came into this world under very different circumstances. He was conceived at a party and his parents had a shotgun wedding when grandma was about 3 months pregnant. I know my dad’s mom loves me but I’m not sure she loves him as much as a parent should. It shows in the photos. It shows in the careful way my mom’s mom packed away baby mementos and little outfits belonging to my mom but my dad doesn’t have many toys from his childhood and all of the photos of him are so impersonal.
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Hello! first of all I'm obsessed with your blog for real! I love your writings <3 I want to order a peppermint mocha with lee chuuya and ler dazai. They were having a snowball fight but Dazai was losing so he decided to use a little bit of cheating but it turns into a tickle fight which is Dazai is winning this time because he's going for chuuya's worst spot,make him scream with laughter and give up!! Thank youuuuu<3
❄️ Peppermint Mocha Special Order ❄️
~~~
“YOHOHOHOHOHOU FUHUHUHUHUHUCKING CHEHEHEHEHEHEATER!!”
“I’m not cheating. This is strategy~”
Chuuya screeched with hysterical laughter, arms flailing, trying to grab onto anything he could to get this all to stop – Dazai’s coat, his wrists, his stupid face – anything! But all he could manage to do was lay there in the freezing snow and laugh himself hoarse, unable to roll away and escape this torture thanks to Dazai’s ingenious positioning.
The brunette curled his fingers into the redhead’s inner thighs, pressing in with just the right amount of vibration, and Chuuya nearly wheezed as another round of laughter overtook him. He grasped a handful of snow and tried to shove it in the detective’s face, but all that did was make Dazai’s playful gaze turn playfully wicked.
“Still trying to win the snowball fight, eh, chibi?”
“I HAHAHAHAHAHAHATE YOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOU!!”
“Why don’t you give up? Then this will all be over, and I’ll be the winner, just as I should be.”
Despite his growing desperation to get out of this ridiculous position, Chuuya screamed, “LIKE HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHELL!!”
Dazai chuckled, and the sound only made the redhead panic even more. The next thing he knew there was pressure on his knees pinning his legs to the snow as well, and Dazai was leaning forward to kiss him, but he was still fucking tickling that goddamn spot—
Chuuya tried to wrench his mouth away so he could breathe, gasp for air, laugh his lungs out, but Dazai followed him relentlessly, never allowing him more than a split second between kisses that eventually descended to his neck just above his scarf.
“Give up, chibi?” Dazai teased into his ear before biting it playfully.
Chuuya was more than ready to give up – the tickling was driving him onto a whole other plane of existence, and he felt like if he didn’t get it to stop he was going to expire right here and now.
“STOP STOP FUHUHUHUHUHUCKING STOP DAHAHAHAHAHAHAZAI!!” Chuuya screamed, the desperation in his voice clear even to him, not that he cared about that right now. “I CAHAHAHAHAHAN’T ANYMORE, PLEHEHEHEHEHEASE STOP!!”
Mercifully, Dazai did in fact stop, immediately shifting his weight so he wasn’t pinning Chuuya but rather straddling him lightly, and he allowed the redhead a few moments to catch his breath and gain his bearings before leaning down to kiss him again and murmur, “I win~”
And Chuuya – thoroughly wiped out and beyond the capacity to fight back, his nerves still singing from the ticklish assault – managed only two words in response:
“Fuck. You.”
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