@pax-thuban left these tags on a post:
#well. first of all. this is so. bittersweet
#like screaming and crying and throwing up on the floor etc
#second of all. maybe i'm looking too much into this but.
#it's interesting to see that there's blood splatters on tenzo's face /and/ his mask
#if i recall correctly. the mask covers his happuri as well
#the implication that tenzo lost his mask during battle. put it back on presumably /still/ in battle. continued killing
#idk. just hurts
#like something something anbu work forces him to feel more comfortable wearing a mask and conforming to a nameless org and set of ideals#and forgoing individuality
#or like. something something maybe he feels worse that his face got 'stained' because it's basically a reminder that 'cat' and 'tenzo'
#are one and the same and not two distinct entities no matter how much he wants to separate his identity and his anbu lifestyle
#and the fact that the happuri is blank and doesn't have a konoha leaf on it.... he doesn't feel connected to the community even as he kills
#for it...
#i feel like it's kind of obvious that it's significant that the comic shows tenzo taking off his mask as he shows his weariness/depression
#regarding anbu work and then how he thinks about kakashi as a jonin sensei. like representing himself as tenzo the individual rather than#'cat' a faceless tool of konoha in the shadows
#i also feel like it's kind of noteworthy that the perspective(? is that what it's called for images?) zooms in on tenzo's face
#first panel is mostly black and tenzo's body is off-center(?). like his face is centered but his body's not. and that leaves more room for
#the black background. but the second panel fills it up with the kakashi thought bubble and tenzo's body comes into the center to fill up
#the bottom half. and then the third panel makes tenzo himself fill up more space. there's less 'darkness' now
#not sure how to say it other than. his sole saving grace in anbu at the moment is preserving his self and bond with kakashi ig
#i also like how the black background isn't pure black. there's a tinge of red(? idk it could also be orange? but i'm taking it as red)
#like one hand. maybe a reference to the whole blood thing. a reflection of how he feels surrounded by that reminder of murder instead
#of just it being select patches on his skin
#on the other hand (and this might be looking too deep 😔) maybe how allusion to the sharingan. how even though he left root
#anbu still feels very similar to it that he feels reminded of how he was watched by danzo?
#sorry for rambling. i am in an analysing mood today
#but i'm also not that great at analysing visual art lmao
nooo no sorries! this is really useful and EXTREMELY flattering to receive such detailed thoughts, i feel like im back in a School Crit Circle or something, which is really fun and helpful. Critique like this rlly helps me understand what people are bringing to my art when I make it and how it's getting interpreted, which as somebody who wants to tell understandable stories via images, is useful to me beyond what words can describe!
like—there's no "right" or "wrong" when it comes to interpreting art, there is my intention, but my intention isn't necessarily what comes out (like how kishimoto somehow accidentally wrote two teenagers who he meant for us to perceive as straight, in the pains and throes of love for each other. like he wrote that, whether or not he intended to. i dont even actually ship s/n bc it doesn't have The One Ingredient for me, but its...also something thats hard to ignore about the text)
and similarly, since theres no way to objectively read a text, when you read it you're putting it in your own context, finishing the painting yourself with whatever colors you've got in your palette to use
that said! I can answer for my intentions in some of these
The blood and the mask: Practically, you're 100% right! Mask needs to be off to get at the happuri. That he's got blood on both his mask, and his happuri, means that at some point in the battle, he lost his mask and then put it on.
In terms of art, I did this because the juxaposition contrast between the blood and the small amount of joy he's taking in thinking about a scarecrow, felt really important, and I didn't want to lose that with the removal of the mask.
I also put the blood splatter in the same place, coming in from Tenzō's left, and splattering upward across his forehead area. Practically, this would mean that he was in the same position by a spatter of blood twice, but symbolically this implies that he is or feels like the same with or without the mask—like u talk about them being the same entity.
I didn't really do that intentionally though—like I didn't think about it. I just kinda was like "yea that feels right. anyway moving on."
No leaf on the happuri: I AGREE WITH YOU ABT THE SYMBOLISM...he doesnt feel connected to konoha in a Real way until he's co-captaining, I think. He needs to be allowed to LIVE in Konoha to be a part of it... That said, if I'm not drawing Captain Yamato Post-Sunlight-Exposure I straight up forget that he had the leaf at all–I know it's supposed to be a Danzō thing, but I keep thinking it's an anbu thing. Honestly, since I agree with the symbolism, whether or not I forget or make an intentional choice not to depict it really doesn't matter I suppose
The Zoom In: Kind of the same as the last! i felt in my heart that we had to zoom in...I didn't think about it in terms of ''lessening darkness'' although now that I've read you write that I like THAT reading much more—esp since so much of yamato's themes in canon seem to be about sunlight and darkness...there's an interesting reading of darkness lessening (because he takes up more space) without light gaining any footing (he's still, as always, situated in the dark) about like, the little things that one can do to manage their depression or a dark situation, even when they still aren't able to be fully FREE of it quite yet (if ever).
I think, when I was thinking abt it, I was thinking about making Tenzō seem very small and alone in the first panel, and then even after thinking about Kakashi, he's not quite so small in the panel, even though he still remains alone. This being said, the darkness reading is much stronger than the loneliness reading, even though they go hand in hand, I much prefer your interpretation.
the red in the black: This is interesting!!!! I like your interpretations a lot...in terms of materials this is only black india ink, so there's no red actually in it, but in the photo I can see what you mean—the ink I'm using is shiny because the "matte" ink is twice the price of it and I'm a cheapskate, and it inevitably creates shines of color when scanned or photographed.
Obviously though, the lack of intention or the material contrast doesn't mean you're wrong—I saw the colorful patches in the image and decided it was fine enough to post anyway, they're a piece of the art as it exists digitally! Open for critique and interpretation. I like the idea that the darkness is connected to the blood very much especially, because it is for Tenzō, isn't it?
anyway, ty v much for your analysis, i was incredibly flattered to receive it, and i think you're actually super good at it, in my opinion!
41 notes
·
View notes