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makshu · 1 month

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Ok. There's something going on and I need to talk about it.

We've all seen that AidaIro is posting new art every day, and on the 18th there will be a new chapter.

But I noticed something, all these arts are about the last arc and are telling the story of it again.

Let me show you

The first one we had was on chapter 111, which shows Yashiro. Everything is normal, but behind her we can see typical theater spotlights, it could just be something mundane or reference her school play rehearsals. Well we started with this.

So we have this art of 12y Tsukasa. Referencing when Yashiro and Mitsuba ended up in the past and found 12y Tsukasa talking to them. He said a rumor about the big clock that further opened the theme of this arc, really an omen for everything.

This art by Sakura is worth mentioning, as she is part of the broadcast gang. She is behind everything, and theories about her being the god or something powerful are increasing more and more. It's worth mentioning that she wished something for Tsukasa, everything he's doing is because of her (because of Amane too, but he has a bond with Sakura). Sakura is an extremely important piece in this puzzle.

Let the fun begin! Next in the series we have Mitsuba and Kou enjoying their time at the festival. Eating and playing together. We were informed, the festival has started.

More moments at the festival. This scene happened in the manga, it is the beginning of the festival that we see. Hanako and Yashiro in the haunted house made by Kou's class. Until that moment everything was normal (or so we thought).

This one is curious. We only see seal Tsukasa in this arc after the plan is initiated. But I believe he was also out there enjoying his last moments. And you can tell that it's really Tsukasa and not the creature. Well, now we're getting close.

Ohhh look what we have here! President and vice-president enjoying the festival as well, despite their work they still managed to find some time to have fun. Natsuhiko had already confronted Akane earlier and Teru had already discovered the black crane, they were probably already alert for anything suspicious. But, everything's still normal.

We return to Sakura, now in her maid outfit. We also have Natsuhiko's first appearance in these arts. This was possibly before or during the festival, but following the chronological line it must have been during. Note that until then this was the only art that did not have a black border (I will talk about this later). Moving on to the next...

From here things started to get serious. The plan had begun. This moment happens in chapter 105. Blood had started to spread throughout the auditorium and Hanako noticed that something was wrong. We are just a few steps away from entering No.1 boundary.

And finally we have today's art. The revelation of the immortal human, Natsuhiko. Breaking the timeline, in this art we go back to chapter 104, where Natsuhiko spreads his blood across the clock, thus executing the plan to go after the last yorishiros.

And these were all the arts released so far, the arts that reference the arc in this case. They all seem to be retelling the story of the Festival arc. Now why? Why would AidaIro be recapping the last arc?

We know that the past has changed and everything has a chance of being different from what we know. We go back to the beginning of the festival, where nothing had happened yet. Therefore, none of these events had happened, if everything really changed, the arts are telling an alternative version of history, the version we know.

Moving from analysis to theory... did you notice that almost all arts have a black border? Black borders are used to indicate flashbacks, the past in JSHK. Now, why would they be using this artifice? Assuming the present has changed, this would be the past. But not a past like something that happened years ago, but a past that no longer exists, in the sense of what it was before this current one. That's why the black borders, indicating that this would be the past.

What breaks this theory is Sakura's art in her maid outfit, as it doesn't have a black border. Maybe the borders are part of the new AidaIro style and are something made to style the arts, or actually have a connection to something. Well, that part is just a crazy theory.

But what do you think of this analysis? The images seem to be telling the arc of the festival all over again, and for what reason? Maybe we'll find out on the 18th, when chapter 112 comes out.

#jshk #tbhk #jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk analysis #jshk theories #hanako kun #yashiro nene #tsukasa yugi #kou minamoto #teru minamoto #mitsuba sousuke #akane aoi #sakura nanamine #hyuuga natsuhiko #long post

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thelunarfairy · 6 months

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Holaaa, First of all I want to tell you that I really like your account and your analysis💖Your points of view are very accurate and you give me my daily dose of hananene, so thank you 🫶

Now let's get to my question, it is not new that AidaIro makes "jokes" about Hanako harassing Nene, however this usually reaches strange limits, let's say, that Hanako tells Kou that he has touched Nene's breasts (clearly a lie) wanting to see up her skirt in a final comic of the Guardians of the Clock arc, hinting at her a lot, in another final mini comic he imagines what it would be like Nene if the water won't affect her (She would clearly be naked and he knows it) I even once saw a user of this app talking about how there is a fairly old mini panel drawn with a pencil in which Hanako wants to imitate a scene with Nene from the romantic movie Ghost (a scene that ends in something sexual) and the most famous imagen:

Clearly if you see this scene without having some context you are going to think badly, everyone thinks badly, the link I am leaving you is an analysis in which it is mentioned that eating and sex go hand in hand in the manga.

https://www.tumblr.com/theevilthatismokke/698270204867788800/the-myth-of-sumire-and-hakubo-jshk-chapter-94-and

And so we could continue talking about the many times that Hanako makes advances to Nene, to which I asked myself this, is Hanako sexually attracted to Nene? Maybe my question makes you uncomfortable, so if so, don't answer it :), even I feel bad and uncomfortable asking you this, I would just like to know your point of view, I also analyze these characters.

Many greetings from Mexico ☺️

Aww I'm the one who thanks you for your kindness, I'm very happy that you're enjoying my posts >.<

This answer was a little long, so I'm going to put fewer images to avoid making it twice as long, I'm going to rely on your memory on this one haha

Finally someone asked about this, and I'm immensely happy because it's a subject I've wanted to address for a long time. It turns out that I never really went into depth about it because I didn't know if people would feel uncomfortable.

JSHK has very strong and heavy themes, so I try to be cautious when talking about some things, even if I have theories about the topic. But to be honest, I'm thinking about talking to people about it.

Some of these themes are important to the main plot, and their analysis has a very important outcome for us to draw some conclusions about the characters' behavior, but anyway, returning to your question, let's talk about two of these themes, and one of the most controversial.

Hanako died at age thirteen, but he maintained his consciousness and physical presence for over fifty years. People still debate his mental age today, some say he has a mental age equivalent to the age he died, others say he already thinks like an adult.

Hanako has a duality, he will never be just "one" thing always, he is not just a good boy, but he is also not just a bad boy, I can spend hours exemplifying this, but that is not my intention, making it clear that this applies to most of the characters, so since we're talking about his mental age, this applies too.

He acts like a child, not like Tsukasa, but you still see him playing with toys or playing with other people, Hanako likes to have fun. He also has some childish thoughts about some things and does wrong things like a child. Tsuchigomori is sometimes seen teaching him things, as if he were responsible, like when the boy wanted to sell Tsuchigomori's objects without permission to buy a hat, the teacher teaches him that this is wrong and he understands.

We can clearly see that there is a very childish side to him, but at the same time he also has a more adult side. Let's consider him to be a side younger than an adult properly speaking. Hanako was thirteen years old so he was in puberty, about to leave pre-adolescence and enter adolescence. In fact, sexual desires are common and very latent at this age.

But, we are already talking about two topics, I will separate them so that we can better understand the connection that sex has with hunger.

Let's start by talking about sex.

Hanako clearly has strong and very latent sexual desires, this was made very clear from the beginning, what happens is that the "comic" side of the series leaves this as a situation that is supposed to be "funny" as if it were just a joke. It is common in works to see perverted characters being used as comic relief, but this does not apply to JSHK.

Hanako does indeed have latent desires, the way he acts, the way he behaves and the way he looks at Yashiro is almost always with a lot of desire. Just look at many panels of the manga, the way Hanako looks at Yashiro with desire, as if he was always about to kiss her, the way he is always touching, hugging, putting his arms around her, it's because there is a desire he tries to control.

The face he made when she was touching him

I talk more about his desire in this post here

Make no mistake, Hanako has actually touched her breasts a few times, I talk about that in this post here

Hanako doesn't just feel desire for Yashiro, he has a sexual desire that is natural to him, that is, this desire didn't start because of her. He always walks around or finds some suggestive items.

Erotic books (whether with girls in bikinis or magazines teaching what to do at "the right time" such as the magazine that teaches how to reach your girlfriend's G-spot)

Books teaching how to win someone over (like the one he used to help make Yashiro's wish come true) the book was very worn out, which means he read it very often. This indicates that he was wanting to learn to do it with someone (conquer someone).

The Kokeshi doll.

Let me tell you about this doll. There are some meanings behind it, such as the fact that it is used as an amulet to guarantee the protection of children, but at the same time the doll is also associated with sex and the sexual desire of boys, due to its shape.

On some Japanese sites I found it being linked to use for boys' sexual "relief", if you know what I mean. Not only does Hanako have a kokeshi doll, but he also thinks it's "Sexy." Again, people associated this moment where he says this as comic relief, but the signs are there.

See other examples

So, let's move on to the sexual desire he feels for Yashiro.

When Hanako was a child, he said that Yashiro was his type, that is, he had been attracted to her since that age (even though he was so young). When Nene met him again when he was older, the first thing Hanako did when they formed a bond was flirt with her, and he flirts very often.

His flirtations are different from those we usually see in other works. He always uses touch when he does, and Nene has noticed this to the point of claiming that he sexually harasses her. Do you see that Yashiro herself noticed this? At first Hanako had no criteria, he actually didn't care about touching her or imagining her naked, trying to look under her skirt or watching her take a shower (despite her turning into a fish).

And he didn't care because it was purely physical, he actually felt a strong sexual desire for her, even though she wasn't the only one. Yes, Hanako has also touched Aoi-chan, and even talked about the size of her breasts.

Then, Hanako falls in love with Nene and his way of acting subtly changes. We saw how he was reluctant to go after Yashiro when she went to take a shower with Sumire because he was afraid Yashiro would be mad at him. Do you think he would do this before? Hanako now has feelings for her, so he starts holding back.

Holding back is something that represents Hanako well.

And we see this all the time, the confirmation that he holds so much back came precisely in the chapter on the mokkes of the dead. Hanako doesn't have his normal consciousness, he's letting himself be carried away by his desire, in this case for sweets, but did you notice that he recognized Yashiro's voice when she called him? And the way he "attacks" her is different from the way he attacks Kou. We clearly see the sexual connotation here, Hanako's desire for Yashiro, and he pursues her until the end.

The way he "attacks" Yashiro

the way he attacks Kou

see his eyes of desire in this last panel

In this chapter we see that just by "relaxing" a little, he already tried to fulfill one of his own desires. Hanako already had several opportunities to kiss Yashiro but he was always holding back, he couldn't hold back any longer during their reunion because he hadn't seen her for a long time, because she risked her own life to see him, she saved him from Teru and She still confessed that she loved him. He couldn't hold back any longer and kissed her.

So, I've been thinking about this whole situation and whether Hanako would start putting pressure on Yashiro if they started dating. If Nene is his girlfriend, he'll be able to tease her, right? I was wondering if this possibility could happen and I started to think so after what happened between Hakubo and Sumire.

So, after an intense kiss between the two, would we see Hanako trying to touch Yashiro? Or even succeeding? Nene is not difficult to convince, and she must know that when she wanted to have a boyfriend, sex would be part of the relationship, the question is, how long could Hanako stay before he started wanting to consummate with her?

This is where I start to talk about the second theme, "hunger".

You sent me the link to a post (very good indeed) talking about the relationship between eating and sex, which are directly linked to JSHK, and it actually makes perfect sense. Aidairo made it very clear that this duality exists and the constant use of this metaphor.

That's because sex and hunger have one thing in common, desire

Everything in JSHK is about desire. Make wishes, fulfill wishes, always wishes.

Hunger and Sex are represented by the desire to obtain, to consume, to obtain something at will. Or are you going to tell me that you don't feel pleasure when you can eat delicious food when you're starving?

Eating is a word that actually has a sexual representation not only in JSHK but also throughout the world. I'll give you a personal example here.

In the country where I live (Brazil) the word "eating" is almost a synonym for sex, depending on the context in which you use it. If you say that you desire or want to "eat" someone, the person listening to you will SURELY understand that you are going to have sexual relations with the other person and that you will be the one who will be on top (active). So, if you come here haha, don't use that term because people will interpret it as being about sex.

I want to eat someone is the same thing that I want to have sex with someone. It's a very popular term even though a lot of people hate it (especially women).

I imagine that in other places in the world the word "eating" could be related to sex too, not just here in Brazil.

So back to JSHK, let's talk about hunger. We know that cannibalism is present in the work too, in addition to the extra arts in which the characters are represented as food or something like that.

We see Hakubo and Sumire's relationship, and we have to admit that the moment Hakubo went to "destroy" Sumire, he ate her. It was very obvious and very clear that it was a sex scene.

Obviously not in the most common way, but remember that Aidairo literally uses eating to represent sex itself. This is the most explicit example we have in the work (for now).

So let's move on to another topic, the way supernaturals relate to humans is different, of course it's different. Supernaturals like to devour humans and the way they deal with feelings is different but at the same time similar to that of humans.

Hakubo was a supernatural, he was born that way, and he reflected what was part of his nature. He did it the way he liked, he could have destroyed Sumire in any other way, but he chose to eat her, to consume her.

Do you know who is also a supernatural?

Hanako

Even though he was a human and understands better how relationships between humans work and that he can actually fall in love, he is still a supernatural.

Hanako is also hungry, and the whole time he is next to a kannagi girl, and he said that kannagis are delicious for supernaturals.

Hanako feels desire for Yashiro, he is a supernatural, she is a human with that title, with the blood that supernaturals desire. So, Hanako wants to eat Yashiro?

What if in the end Hanako has to "consume" Yashiro in the same way as Hakubo and Sumire? It's a possibility.

He has to stop himself from doing that. Which brings me to another point that people don't really like to think about

Hanako's relationship with Tsukasa.

Have you ever stopped to think? Tsukasa is Hanako's yorishiro, and if Nene doesn't remove Tsukasa's seal, will Hanako have to "eat" Tsukasa too?

Tsukasa seems to be looking forward to it.

What kind of relationship did these two have?

I won't delve into that now, let's get back to Nene and Hanako.

Their relationship is troubled, not only because he is supernatural and she is human, but also because of the way this relationship develops. There is a supernatural side to dealing with "love" and "desire" that we don't know about, but which is dangerous.

Hanako desires Yashiro in human form (sexual) and also in supernatural form (hunger), he wants her in the same way that Hakubo desired Sumire. Hakubo was supplying both, wasn't he?

It could be the same thing with Yashiro, it will depend on Hanako and how much he can control himself, which side of him will speak louder? the human side or the supernatural side?

This is the question he fears so much, he is afraid of his supernatural side, and the proof of this is the desire he has to remain sealed because he can control himself.

Hanako's human side wants to touch every part of Yashiro's body, wants to take her as a wife, wants to give and feel the purest pleasure with her, but the supernatural side actually wants to consume her, wants to devour her.

Which of these sides will be able to win in the end?

It's like I said, everything always begins and ends with a wish.

Hahaha the answer was longer than it should have been, sorry, but I loved finally being able to talk about it. There are a lot of things I think about these topics, but I'm still thinking about whether I'm going to talk about it or not, I need to know if the public is okay with it.

A big hug to Mexico from Brazil \o/

I hope you liked it, thanks for the ask! ♡

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2n2n · 2 months

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how to say. I Do Not Think AidaIro-sensei make any decisions according to the way the western fandom is. It could not matter less if anyone here hates AmaTsuka. I frankly doubt they even read many comments , let alone ones not in their native tongue, let alone could parse the highly cultural, niche memetic language & hyperbole of the westerners in the comments. I don't even think most westerners over a certain age can parse the things said (I sure cannot, in my 30s), just from an age & community barrier perspective. It's like, the head of a pin, what 15 year olds reading the manga in America, are saying. I cannot overstate the unimportance. The irrelevance.

Thinking about an old journal entry Iro-sensei made long ago anyway, where they talk about loving writing their visual novel, "even if no one will like it". AidaIro-sensei have liked to play together since before they really had much of an audience at all, before anyone really knew who their OCs even were. The OCs would still have shenanigans, even when a VN was unreleased, even if nobody really could know the context. While they now have to confer with an editor & some amount of feeding the beast as it's a paying job, I should hope they mostly get to do as they please after so many years of success, & mostly like to entertain one another & their familiar, local niche fanbase in the gfantasy community.

Iro-sensei was trending across twitter in Japan on their birthday....! Thousands of people were praising JSHK's writing IN JAPAN...!!! I like to think there is a lot of trust placed in Iro-sensei to handle the story they've planned from the beginning....! I mean gracious me, they sure don't get paid to do little games on twitter or make new icons + headers ... but they do it anyway....! & then the anime staff seemingly choose to animate it.... I want to believe they are not chained down by arbitrary fan responses to anything. Even on the local level... let alone what ....globally wwwww

#avvy's JSHK

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theevilthatismokke · 2 years

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The myth of Sumire and Hakubo: JSHK chapter 94 and the reinterpretation of “Tales of Ise: Part 6 (Akutagawa)”

Hakubo and Sumire seem to be a point of controversy and confusion among the jshk fandom: from their introduction to the latest chapters, they are a misunderstood and underrated pair, a phenomenon that has only exploded as of chapter 94.

There are many factors, as I see it, that contribute to this... confusion. But in this post, I'll focus on an aspect that is so far, very overlooked, but in my opinion, very important in understanding Hakubo and Sumire: their relationship with the mythical and mundane.

For that, I'll also be comparing chapter 94 with part 6 of the Tales of Ise (Akutagawa).

But before we begin this analysis, I feel we must clear a few concepts.

1. Clearing concepts: Eating and Sex, Death and Marriage

It feels like I'm pointing out the obvious, but just to be safe, let's talk a bit about these metaphors, not only what they generally mean in literature, but how Aidairo apply those metaphors in JSHK.

a) Eating = sex

This… should be the most obvious one. It’s really not that uncommon to see this particular metaphor in… any sort of media whatsoever! Poems, songs, books, movies, series… Maybe you’ve heard instances in literature of wanting to devour someone equating to sexual desire. Or think of vampires, these monsters now synonymous in pop culture to sexual beings, their lust for blood often intertwined with sexual lust. Heck, even stories that come from oral tradition, such as Little Red Riding Hood, have many interpretations that equal the wolf’s eating of the girl to sex.

Still, even without this knowledge, Aidairo does establish plenty of times, both in their AUs and the manga proper, what eating- particularly someone else- can mean within their writing.

Let’s start with the AUs:

In Hanako-kun of Magic: Sweet Witch Banquet, the only way Nene and Aoi can bring back the people they turned into sweets back to normal is to eat them… with the side effect that, for a short amount of time, the people who were eaten will fall in love with those who ate them.

In the Ghost Hotel AU, it’s a little more subtle but it’s still there. There are two instances of monsters eating those they desire. First, there’s Kou, who’s a werewolf in this AU, and apparently can’t resist taking chunks out of Mitsuba the mummy to cook and eat.

Second, there’s Hanako, who’s a vampire in this AU, and who’s stated to have drunk too much blood out of Tsukasa, and later, is implied to bite Nene and do the same to her, trapping her with him in the hotel.

But AUs are not the only place Aidairo have written this metaphor. In the very first chapter, eating a mermaid’s scale together means you’re bound to each other, a bond equated in said chapter to a romantic relationship.

And if that example’s too much of a stretch for you, than look no further than chapter 39: Mokke of the Dead!

In that chapter we have two instances of eating equating to sex and romance. First, when kegare!Hanako going straight to Nene to eat her. The scene is…

…quite suggestive, Nene even misinterpreted it at first!

Later, we have Akane who, under the influence of kegare, seemingly translates his romantic feelings for Aoi into wanting to eat her.

It’s very clear here that Akane’s thinking of Aoi when trying to take a bite out of Nene. Hilariously, Nene herself worries that Akane trying to eat her would result into a love triangle between her, Aoi and Akane.

And last but not least…

THESE PANELS ARE CLEARLY BEING FRAMED AS A SEX SCENE!!

Seriously, how could anyone not see it?

So, yeah, JSHK clearly uses the cannibalism = romance and sex metaphor a lot. But what about death and marriage?

Let’s find out:

b) Death and Marriage

For this one we must turn back in time and go for stories based on oral tradition.

Death and the Maiden is a very famous, frequently used motif in stories. Most iterations of Beauty and Beast use both Death and the Maiden and Animal Bridegrooms in their narratives to make a point.

But basically, death and marriage have been equated in stories for a very long time, to symbolize the cyclical nature of a human’s life- in this case, it often has to do with the end of a woman’s childhood and the start of a new part of her life, as a wife and mother: adulthood, basically.

Think of Hades and Persephone, who are meant to symbolize the cyclical nature of life and death, the coming and going of the seasons and marriage as the end of childhood/maindenhood, but the beggining of something new.

In JSHK, this is also referenced with the Kannagis, usually young women of marriageable age, whose sacrifice is equated to marrying God and returning to his side.

Keep all of this in mind as I ask you: which of the mysteries oversees 'life and death'? Who, in the JSHK universe, is meant to be seen as the main representative of Death? And what character is mostly seen among flowers? What characters are heavily associated with the dual nature of Life and Death?

Hint: it's Hakubo and Sumire.

As No. 6, Hakubo has powers over life and death. Currently, he’s also referred to as a Shinigami, often translated as a “Grim Reaper” or “God of Death”. The term “shinigami” can also have, in literature, a link to suicides and shinjuu. Finally, he’s an Oni. In many stories, often written during/after wars, famines and natural disasters, Oni are featured eating people- in these, Oni are a metaphor for death itself.

So, if we consider Hakubo’s role as a Death deity in the JSHK mythos, we have to ask this question: what happens when Death falls in love?

2.) Chapter 94: The reinterpretation of Tales of Ise Part 6 (Akutagawa)

The 'Tales of Ise' is a uta monogatari (essentially, a collection of poems and other narratives) composed of more than 100 episodes, some of which date back all the way to the Heian period.

Among those poems, there is one in particular Aidairo chose to allude to and reinterpret in their manga: Episode 6 (Akutagawa). The story below (translated by Helen McCulough) shares certain beats with chapter 94:

A certain man had for years courted a most inaccesssible lady. One pitch-black night he finally spirited her out of her apartments and ran off with her. As they passed a stream called the Akutagawa, She caught a glimpse of a dewdrop on a blade of grass and asked him what it was. The journey ahead was long, the hour had grown late, and a torrential rain was pouring down, punctuated with frightful peals of thunder. The man put the lady inside a ruined storehouse and stationed himself in the doorway wiht his bow and quiver on his back, never dreaming that the place was haunted by demons. But while he was standing there longing for daybreak, a demon ate the lady up in one gulp. A thundercap muffled her scream of terror. When the sky finally began to lighten a bit, the man peered inside and saw that the lady was gone. Frantic with helpless grief, he recited, When my beloved asked, "Is it a clear gem Or what might it be?" Would that I replied, "A dewdrop!" and perished.

There are quite a few beats that match, no? A couple that isn’t allowed to be together is stranded by the rain, but it ends unexpectedly as the woman is eaten by an oni.

Now, before any of you look at this superficially, have a "gotcha!" kind of reaction and try to use it as proof that Hakubo didn't love Sumire or that Sumire was eaten against her will, let me reiterate that not only chapter 94 is a reinterpretation of this tale, but also that Aidairo has done this sort of thing before.

Aidairo loves to reference all kinds of stories in JSHK. The 'Little Mermaid' is thematically very important to Nene's character, part of the short story 'Takasebune' is narrated by Amane during the Picture Perfect arc, the myth of 'Orpheus and Eurydice' is alluded to twice, first with Akane and Aoi, then with little Tsukasa, Nene and Kou.

Most obviously, we also have the urban legend of 'Hanako-san' right in the first chapter.

What do all these instances have in common? The answer is simple: they all are reinterpretations of the original tales.

For example: both with Akane and Aoi, and the trio of Nene, Kou and little Tsukasa, we have an allusion to the famous scene of Orpheus looking back to see Eurydice, only to find her gone.

The differences in these interpretations lie on many factors, but most heavily on the characters taking the role of ‘Eurydice’. Although she was essentially kidnapped, Aoi still was passively suicidal, and later even lashed out at Akane and Nene, who were trying to rescue her. Likewise, Tsukasa actually knew the way to get back to his family, he only chose not to until Kou and Nene convinced him to do otherwise.

By giving Aoi and Tsukasa more agency than the character of ‘Eurydice’ had in some known versions, this allows for a more complex and nuanced narrative without taking the tragic elements out of it. That said, to outsiders, these situations might look like a version of ‘Orpheus and Eurydice’ played completely straight: a tragedy about a poor, helpless thing taken too soon against their will, not particularly nuanced nor too complex.

Chapter 94, similarly, transforms the chapter of Akutagawa into a more complex and nuanced story by giving both Hakubo and Sumire more agency, even if, to outsiders, it might look like it was just the tragic tale of a poor innocent girl being trapped and eaten by a monster.

And this where we can see the differences between the two stories.

The woman in the chapter ‘Akutagawa’ is a tragic figure… but her voice can barely be heard anywhere in the narrative. The only things we know about her are that: one, she was implied to be of a much higher status than the man, and two, that she was apparently so sheltered and isolated, she’d never seen a dewdrop before in her life. The man mourns not explaining to her what a dewdrop was.

Sumire was, indeed, from a family of much higher status than Hakubo, who was essentially a slave to the Minamoto clan and their village. Sumire was also, very sheltered and isolated throughout her entire life.

But Sumire’s status within the village was simultaneously very similar to Hakubo’s own: she was nothing but an object to be sacrificed, mostly referred as a Kannagi by her fellow humans. And although she was sheltered and isolated, Sumire hilariously began her relationship with Hakubo as the one with more basic living skills (cooking, laundry, cleaning).

Sumire, most importantly, knew Hakubo was an oni from the very beginning, and again and again proclaimed her love for him, knowing very well what, who and how he is.

While Sumire is meant to represent the woman in the tale, Hakubo is meant to be both the man eloping with the woman he loves and the oni who eats her.

Hakubo, like the man in ‘Akutagawa’, pines for a woman he cannot be with: not as kaii who loves a human, not as the one in charge of seeing her off as a Kannagi. Hakubo had wished to take Sumire’s hand and run away from their village, to ‘spirit her away’ much like the eloping couple did. And ultimately, so they would not be separated again, Hakubo eats Sumire, as the oni ate the woman.

It’s very poignant, I think, that Hakubo represents both the man and the oni from ‘Akutagawa’. The entire irony of his monologue in chapter 94 lies in the fact that he didn’t need to be a human man to do any of those things: he managed, in his own way, to do them all.

He laments not being able to cry for Sumire, while his face has been permanently marked, two thin tears streaks forever burned in his visage.

He wishes he could’ve grown with her, and yet, did he not grow? Learning with and from her, how to take care of himself and her, discovering and developing feelings and desires buried deep within him? Does he not seem older, comparing before and after he met Sumire, physically, mentally, emotionally?

He says he wished he could’ve laughed with her too, dismissing how, moments ago, he was actually smiling and playful, the happiest we’ve ever seen him be as he recalls precious memories with Sumire.

‘I would’ve clung to you and cried as you were sacrificed’ he says as his boundary itself weeps, trapping her in a cave with him, as if begging her not to leave him again.

…‘I would even have fallen in love with you like a human man would’ he confesses, as he devours her, usurping the River God of the village as her husband, after kissing her like a man starved, after confessing to be under her spell.

Hakubo represents both man and oni because he was both, because, in JSHK, kaii and human truly aren’t all that different.

…Hakubo is also the woman, ignorant of his own heart, as she was of the world outside.

Sumire is also the man and the oni, at once guiding and haunting Hakubo.

The reinterpretation of ‘Akutagawa’ in chapter 94 is not meant to lend a cynical view on Hakubo and Sumire’s relationship and feelings for each other.

Instead, it is meant not only to reinforce that they loved each other, but also finally get some agency, after a lifetime of abiding to their village’s will.

It is also important to note that chapter 94 is, in many ways, a do-over of chapter’s 89 ending for both Sumire and Hakubo.

Once again, they’re placed in a situation where a higher power dictates that Sumire must be sacrificed and that Hakubo shall oversee said sacrifice. Sumire even says:

Both Hakubo and Sumire had many regrets about that day. Feelings unspoken, the sin of inaction… the loop present in their boundary symbolizes how neither ever moved on from that night, from their regrets.

When faced with the same situation once again in chapter 94, Hakubo and Sumire decided to take their fates into their own hands, with the cards they were dealt. Unlike their past selves, and unlike the man and the woman in ‘Akutagawa’, Hakubo and Sumire at last gained some agency.

It isn’t a tragic ending, although I don’t see it as truly happy either. Like many things in their lives, it was bittersweet.

3.) Nature vs Nurture: the significance of the rumors and the “right way” to love someone

I've seen some people completely miss the point and think that Hakubo's nature as an Oni means he's incapable of loving someone. The same people also completely ignore the sort of environment he grew up in.

First, and as a quick note, I find this panel very interesting:

It has struck with me for quite some time now, Shuten Doji’s pose. It looks like he was reaching in Hakubo’s direction, almost as if to warn him or protect him. How odd if you think that Oni apparently aren’t capable of love.

But regardless of nature and what love might innately mean to an Oni, we should also take a look at Hakubo’s formative years:

A slave, a tool to be used, Hakubo not only equates the humans to the mountain Onis, he also grows up hearing again and again that he’s a monster incapable of understanding humans, that he’s different, he’s unfeeling.

How the hell was that not supposed to affect how Hakubo viewed himself?

(something, something, call someone monster enough times, and they'll actually become one)

The manga never really discards either nature and nurture when it comes to their characters, and with Hakubo, it is both his dense nature and his alienating non-upbringing that turns him into the mess he is.

By the way, we’re absolutely meant to compare the villagers talking about Hakubo to the students spreading rumors. The way they call him creepy, the panel where only the hands of the villagers are shown... it kinda reminds me of Shijima-san's flashback.

This last image also low-key reminds me of the scene where the villagers are celebrating Sumire's death. I think Akane's steadyfast belief that kaii don't value life and his implict belief that humans value it will be put in question by either or both Shijima and Hakubo. But that's a whole other thing.

And just in case you missed, here’s a little montage of humans and supernaturals being compared:

Kou is ‘kinda like’ Yako, Aoi and Hanako 'might be alike’, Nene and Tsukasa are the same.

Humans and supernaturals are compared so many times in this manga, and every single time we see that they’re not really that different. All of them have someone they love- all of them.

Considering this, I must ask: just what is “truly loving someone” in the world of JSHK? What is the “right” way to love someone in the manga, presented by the text?

And just which characters have managed to love someone the “right” way?

Is it Yako, who has tried to bring Misaki back in the shadiest way possible, by harming students and building a fake body?

Is it Tsuchigomori, who never put anything in line to help Amane?

Is it Shijima, who tried to kill Mei?

Is it Akane, who stalks Aoi, constantly changes himself for her and beats up her admirers? Is it Aoi, who has stabbed him, and simultaneously kept him at arms length and lead him on for years?

Is it Natsuhiko, who tried to drug Sakura and is okay with her destroying humanity as long as he gets a date? Is it Sakura, who is cold and violent towards Natsuhiko, while not letting him go?

Is it Kou, who calls Mitsuba a ‘fake’, tries to commit suicide to appease his guilt, and is a low-key bully to him? Is it Mitsuba, who kidnapped Kou and wants Kou to accept him just because he’s lonely?

Is it Teru, who tortured Akane on a daily basis and tries to control Kou’s life?

Is it Nene, who fell for the first boy who gave her attention, can be frivolous and shallow when it comes to romance and is always making excuses for Hanako?

Is it Tsukasa, who’s love-starved, obsessed and willing to destroy and manipulate everything and everyone to make Hanako happy?

Is it freaking Hanako, who killed Tsukasa, who tried to imprison Nene and who is creepily possessive of both?

…Is it Sumire, who wished to a submissive, obedient Oni to fall into hell for her and was blissfully happy when she found out he did just that?

...Is it Hakubo, who cannot express or understand himself clearly, and struggles with his feelings just like any other character in this manga?

If you’ve read any of those and tried to justify something, or if your gut reaction was “well, it’s more complicated than that…”, or if you thought that this doesn’t mean the feelings of love weren’t there, even if warped or twisted…

Then, congrats, you got it!

Pretty much no character has a truly healthy idea of love in the manga- all the romances… all the main relationships so far have been at least a little bit messed up.

But something JSHK has not done so far is put any of its couples in the “failed romance/not true love” box. It has played with concepts of selfishness vs. selflessness, yes, but it has never disregarded the feelings of those involved as not love.

The only time I remember that Aidairo explicitly told the audience that something wasn’t love was through Nene in the very first chapter… when she admitted she didn’t know anything about her old senpai or Teru, nor did she bother getting to know them.

This is a manga about people who are on the way to discovering themselves and who have no idea how to communicate nor express love in a healthy manner. Trying to divide characters and relationships into “true love” and “not-true love” is… terribly inane.

Furthermore, trying to say that any character is incapable of love in JSHK is, to me, going against one of the core themes and messages of the manga: that everyone loves and is loved.

And speaking of themes, let’s talk about Hakubo and Sumire’s role as the culmination of JSHK’s themes, thesis and messages.

4.) Hakubo and Sumire: JSHK’s blueprint

This one will be brief, but it should be said. If you’ve paid any attention to JSHK, you’ll notice that Aidairo love their parallels. They use it everywhere, to drive a few points and get their themes across better.

These parallels also serve to connect all the characters narratively and thematically. But, the king and queen of parallels in this manga are Hakubo and Sumire. Go ahead, compare them to any character or relationship in the manga, and you’ll see what I’m talking about.

Basically, Sumire and Hakubo serve as mirrors and foils to all the important characters and relationships we’ve seen so far… actually, even minor ones, since they also have parallels with Yorimitsu.

Hakubo’s and Sumire’s narratives and relationship are meant to illustrate all the themes of the manga in one duo. So, when I really think about it, the thought of Aidairo saying that Hakubo/Sumire are a “doomed/failed romance” or that Hakubo and Sumire didn’t love each other is… absurd! Why make the embodiment of your work’s message and themes into something cynical, when JSHK has such hopeful undertones, especially when it comes to love? Doesn’t make sense to me.

Instead, I propose the opposite: Hakubo and Sumire are meant to illustrate that relationships between kaii/human are possible, that they can understand one another and that everyone is capable of loving and being loved.

5.) Conclusion

JSHK chapter 94 is meant to be a reinterpretation of chapter 6 of ‘Tales of Ise’ (Akutagawa). This retelling is meant to give more agency to Hakubo and Sumire as they choose to end things on their own terms, while finally having some sort of closure regarding each other’s feelings: Hakubo and Sumire loved each other and were loved by one another.

This reinterpretation also reiterates Hakubo and Sumire’s role as both the culmination of JSHK’s themes/messages and as part of the folklore/mythos of the manga.

Finally, the themes of nature vs nurture and kaii vs humans are explored within Hakubo’s speech to Sumire, where we are meant to question whether it was necessary for him to be human in order to love Sumire or if he, as an Oni, managed to do it, regardless of what the world and Hakubo himself believe about oni/kaii.

While confusing sometimes, I believe Hakubo/Sumire are the key to understanding JSHK’s themes, messages and possible endings better, so it is vital that we look at them carefully.

Also, on a side note, I do not believe that chapter 94 will be the last we’ve seen of these two, and I’m not necessarily talking about flashbacks.

When it comes to a manga like JSHK, which deals so much with the afterlife, plays with our notions of “life and death” and has so much time traveling, not to mention time-loops… I’m always hesitant to say that a character is truly gone. After all, Mitsuba has ‘died’ how many times already in the manga proper?

And considering the other instances of characters fusing upon eating the other, and the fact that Hakubo not only oversees ‘Life and Death’, but also that his powers haven’t been properly used for the plot yet… there’s so much that’s gone unanswered about those two… and there’s this panel that shall haunt me forever:

(Me, after seeing how deeply connected to the number six both Sumire and Habuko are: What the hell does this mean, Aidairo?! Come back and give me my husband-wife team!!)

Only time will tell. Who knows, maybe that’s the end and Aidairo was just messing with me. But I digress.

The purpose of Hakubo and Sumire in this manga is clear to me: not to makes us fearful and cynical for a ‘bad end’, but hopeful for a good one.

Now, whatever that would be for our characters is a whole other story.

#a mokke overanalyses

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hanako-san · 4 months

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To conclude my thoughts that I have had about the jshk character for a long time, the last character is Kou. It's possible that I will make an addition because the manga is not finished. I can finally express the thoughts I currently have for him.

Edit: [I know I'll be repeating myself and I apologize for any mistakes]

Kou is a character from I expected more and I had a lot of hopes for him, but I was disappointed and irritated by his character. I don't hate him! I am very disappointed with him. He shouldn't get close to Amane like the daikon did and stop playing the big friend act. I thought that if he gets closer to Amane he will start to understand something, but no, all I see is a boy who wants to defend the girl he developed a crush on. No wonder Kou is so good with daikon on the team, they are both the same,except that Kou tries and wants to understand and takes too much on his shoulders. These efforts are visible in him, but it still doesn't explain how he behaves and the way he disappointed me. Kou actually sees Amane, as shown in the red house. So he's furious and ready to kill anyone if he doesn't get rid of him, but he still hasn't decided what he wants because he doesn't want to accept it, because can see that Amane is different and not like his brother and grandmother said, but honestly? He deceives himself with promises. You see him this way. The red house shows sincere desires and thoughts, so let him finally stop deceiving himself and pretending to be good and a prince on a white horse, because it simply does not work for him. I know that only he can see Amane and that he doesn't think Amane is evil, but the way he sees it confuses him. The feeling that Amane is evil is greater. He was willing to break his promise to Amane to become stronger and he had no problem with that because, as he said, he wanted to be stronger when he decided when Amane would kick out. He considers himself the "god" of his life and decides. He's just a pathetic jerk, he doesn't know what he wants and is completely lost, but he wants to become stronger in the future if he wants to get rid of Amane. This is a pathetic, stupid and naive approach. Sure, Kou is too weak to defeat Amana now, but he should stop playing the good friend, maybe he sees good in him, but they wouldn't mind getting rid of him. He didn't blame the daikon for what had happened, but mainly himself. Sure, who would blame the princess who has the right to everything and Amane is just her dog on a leash, which she leads because she doesn't deserve an apology because he had to fulfill a wish for which she is responsible. But it is not important. It's important to side with this weak, always whining, crying, short-tempered daikon who always does something that she thinks Amane is always more responsible for than she actually is, and make her the eternal victim. Accepting Teru's offer to train him means killing indiscriminately, and he quickly backtracked on his opinion when he desperately tried to save Mitsuba, who wanted to die. And in disbelief, he did everything he could to help him. He did it because he loved him, sure, but it just shows that Kou is a jerk and a worthless friend. It didn't bother him that Mitsuba 2.0 might hurt a student out of hunger, but it did bother him that Hanako was doing it for the life of his dearest senpai. I really don't expect much from him, but at least he would be honest with himself and admit that he sees Amane's evil and good at the same time for him, instead of playing the role of a good friend because in reality he is only a friend of the daikon and no one else. I completely understood Amane how much he counted on Kou and was disappointed with him. Kou talks and shouts a lot, his words are great, but his actions are poor and pathetic. Do absolutely nothing to show. I thought he would be the minamoto who would start to see the supernatural differently, but no. He acts almost like Teru, in fact over the past two years he's been starting to remind me more and more of teru.

I understand why teru kept him away from the supernatural. He is completely useless if he doesn't organize his thoughts and decisions, he is terribly confused between how he feels towards Amane and he should stop denying that he doesn't see an evil spirit in him and stop pretending to be good and a prince on a white horse. It won't make everyone happy. His naive thinking like this is what destroys him the most, but I still feel very dissapointed for him because he was willing to break his promise, and the only thing that stopped him was Mitsuba. He couldn't get rid of it. I'm still not sure if he will train or not, but he failed his first mission. He should stop really pretending to be nice to Amane and finally be honest with himself, because it just makes him pathetic. I won't feel sorry for him when he's ready to break his promises, and his feelings for Hanako are not completely sincere, he doesn't know how he feels towards him and he considers himself to be his god of Amane's life, it's up to him to decide when to get rid of him. Come on, man. I really don't care that he's disappointed with Amane. Amane was disappointed with him too, so it's 1:1.

For me Kou should stop fooling themselves. The fact that he sees the good in Amane won't change how Kou saw Amane's illusion on the roof when Teru was trying to get rid of Amane , what he said in red house, Which means the illusion that appeared in the red house in front of Kou shows how Kou really sees Amane and Kou never really trusted him either, and what he's trying to do is just play the good guy and friend to Hanako, get stronger, and get rid of Amane whenever he wants, forgetting that he's failing all the time. He should stay as far away from Amane as possible and be as close to his senpai as possible. He and his senpai really are a good team.Being like his 'teru-nii-chan' doesn't work

I really feel sorry for Amane because he surrounds herself with people like that. He doesn't deserve it.

#toilet bound hanako kun #jibaku shounen hanako kun #minamoto kou #my jshk post #was surprised to see that there were people who didn't like Kou #but now I'm not surprised. I still like him #but despite everything I understood what was incomprehensible to me.

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mitsubabunny · 1 year

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(following you for the JSHK art and rambling!! also thank you for.... not being part of the various "this is abusive" (i mean yes but also look at what the whole manga is about) and "mitsuba is a canibal he's going to eat kou :((" (possibly, and no) takes, they're a bit tiring !

I personally love to see the characters in JSHK get pushed to their limits and do horrible things, out of desperation. It's not a rulebook on how to behave irl... 🥺 (I would love for everyone to be happy though)

I have one last thought : Kou forcing Mitsuba was fucked up but clearly Mitsuba doesn't hold it against him at all, so we shouldn't either, and just look at this like the parallel to tsukasa it is + insight on how selfish and desperate Kou gets

Yes the takes are definitely very tiring I just feel like they lack any sort of nuance. I mean do people really think that Mitsuba and Kou have a toxic relationship just because they had a fight? It’s completely normal and it was bound to happen with how many stuff was building up while they were separated. It’s easy to say that Kou could of handled the situation better but really he did the best that he could. His options were either to let Mitsuba die or do something to save him and Kou didn’t even know that being force fed a heart was something so traumatic for Mitsuba. Mitsuba forgives Kou very quickly once he saw how upset he was because he realized that this was about more than just his feelings. They don’t have a toxic relationship they have a very good relationship all things considered they just need to talk about their feelings (which we will hopefully see next chapter)

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7ban-sama · 9 months

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(I didn’t mean to insult your girlfriend I’m sorry 🙏) but I’ve thought about smthg… it’s so funny how parents in JSHK never care about their children

*chuffing* as long as you're sorry...

(for future reference: I don't really know how to engage in an ask saying 'I like [thing] more than [your favorite thing]'... I'd prefer it if instead we could talk about a subject on it's own, not in comparison to My Thing. I like Sumire plenty, she is quite pretty. But Nene is my favorite, like how all aspects of my ship are my favorite thing in this manga, & I don't really get anything from hearing about preferences that I don't have, stated at me — there's not really a 'discussion' to be had... bc there's not even a question being posed..? Anyways, hope that illuminates something.)

Oh you know, it's funny, I moreso get the impression that Iro-sensei isn't really interested in parents as characters... so we don't really get many instances of them being incredible caretakers. We definitely have a skew of, various cases of neglect, or (as I suspect for Teru's upbringing) physical abuse — but I wouldn't say that all of the parents are deadbeats lol.

I assume that Nene's home life is perfectly fine, as it doesn't seem to trouble her at all. Her parents are by her side on her first day of middle school (unlike the Yugi or Minamoto, more fraught cases) and Nene seems to be able to pursue her own hobbies, fill her room with things she likes, etc. It's not that owning lots of things means that parents are good, but combined with Nene showing no notable distress about home life, I think it's indicative of them being willing to accommodate her personal tastes. Mommy and daddy will buy you ghoul toys, give you shopping money to buy cute clothes, let you stay out after school and go to Tanabata, so on and so forth. I think of Nene's parents as loving in a... neutral? Way? I don't think they are going above and beyond for her, necessarily, but she seems to have had a normal childhood and expects nothing from them. I'm not sure if there's even any expectations on her wrt future careers. Which imo, would be to purposefully contrast the Yugi, who likely had a strenuous home life alongside expectations for Amane's impending science-focused future.

Ahh, I believe her, you know. It's her distinct swag. Normal girl swag. She has been a normal girl living a normal life until she meets Amane...

Nene's problems lie in her peer-to-peer relationships. She's not able to make many friends, and is seen as weird and eccentric. A bit homely, not alluring, which means her chances at romance are slim... Which troubles her, because she's romance obsessed and really really wants to be in a relationship. I always ah, think it says a lot, that Nene's fear manifested in the Hell of Mirrors is everyone laughing at her about how she is unattractive and no one will ever want her. That's... simply her greatest concern in life... Being attractive enough... Yk I really feel for her though, I know a lot of people would see it as shallow, but I respect that this is just how she is. She can't, ignore it-!! But yk, I also love the fact that Nene doesn't seem to think very hard about her family... It's interesting, because she's otherwise a considerate girl, who cares when innocent people are in harm's way. But ah... she still doesn't factor in her parents' misery at the thought of her never returning from the Far Shore? This decision is so interesting. While fraught families can leave characters with lasting complications, which we can explore deeply... I also am very interested in when an individual has 'no reason' to resent their family — and they don't! — but they also do not seem to care deeply about them. When push comes to shove, Nene is willing to sacrifice everything she has for Amane... which is, in reality, what really sets her apart. Her romanticism goes beyond what a 'normal person' would do.

It is, in reality, easier to leave people who have been cruel to you, than people who have never really done you wrong, because they don't 'deserve' that. Nene is an only child, what if she is valued and loved by her parents...? What if she's their pride and joy, what if she makes them very proud? Well, it just deosn't matter, anyways. Which is selfish, in a way... but I like that. It doesn't matter if you should care about your parents hard work. What if you just, don't-? In Bakeneko Ryokan, Nene is a fancy, extravagant breed of cat, and her owner clearly loved her, enough to name her 'Pretty-chan', enough to put out a flyer to find her after she went missing. But, ehm, Nene simply left... in search of hot guys, to fawn over her...... I think this probably sums up what's going on in canon lol. Loved child, but ultimately this can't take up space in her heart.

Moving on from Nene... Mitsuba's mom seems like a well-meaning woman, as well. I actually would bank on her being more thoughtful than Nene's parents, bc she at least was invested actively in Mitsuba's hobbies, and she was concerned about his friendlessness... They seem to have 'hung out' more. (Makes sense... if Mits had no friends ww...) And, perhaps Kou's mom was a caring sort (? more ambiguous though, he loved her but was very young, and the Minamoto family is complicated.) And then there's a point where, idk if we have enough information to really make a call about anyone, like. What are Akane's parents like...? Honestly, I'd assume neutral again, not terrible but not amazing, not note-worthy. I think a lot of things go into this category...

I just don't get the impression Iro-sensei really wants to linger on anything they don't have to, it really needs to be plot-relevant. Whiiich.... imo makes sense... bc Iro also seems to gravitate to young characters — sooner going to write out complex interactions happening between, 8yos, rather than full fledged adults. Since I also like young characters and dgaf about parents, I kinda get it lol. Parents are often like, something you need to figure out in a clinical sense. Often times I handwave things like, ehh they're just normal people who are fine with their kid but more hands off or whatever, etc etc, let's move on.

Maybe it's also bound to happen when you mostly care about writing romance... *strokes my chin* Which, again, same, relate. You don't really want to linger on platonic dynamics tooooo longgg.... Boring.

So yeah. I think of it more of a matter of preference and how much time is allotted to things in the story, not necessarily that all parents are supposed to suck. I think it is supposed to be distinct when someone has OK parents.

#☀️#💬#💭

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solivcgant · 8 months

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my url !

SEND A URL AND I WILL ANSWER THE FOLLOWING;

Do I Follow Them?: ... 誰?

Why Did I Follow Them?: i was also told of the return to rp and supported heh

Do We Role Play?: yes, we have many threads floating between us ouo

Do I Want To Role Play With Them: yes, but we are both slow with replies sooo (￣▽￣*)ゞ though sometimes i enjoy throwing my reply back quickly to see her panic at reply speed.

An AU Idea For Our Muses: uuuh-- i think.. we have gone over most. royal au and picture perfect arc au.. so i cannot think of anything yet. but just know if you come up with an au idea that you want to do. just let me know and i will almost always say yes.

A Song For Our Muses: NEWSmile - JO1 i know you wanted a disney song for the jokes. but eiji.. could not commit to that idea. so this is the closest kind of disney sounding song he could.. do. this was the lyric that i could see for our muses uvu;; because we all know eiji (even in picture perfect) will always be on nene's side.. eventually. 空を見上げ何を思うの 1人じゃない I’ll be by your side

Do I Ship Our Muses?: i think we said fake ship jokes?

What I Think About The Mun: a close friend who i am comfortable sharing my 日本語 and poorly translated engrish memes with. i like how all the threads between our muses range from angst to silly things like eiji spreading rumors. talking with you ic and ooc is very enjoyable since we have similar likes too. also i'm sure i've said it multiple times but it's also really fun writing with you as well. you always worry about your english, but it has never been an issue to understand what you mean. at least it has never been an issue for me-- and if that's the case, maybe i need english help too heh.

Overall Opinion: a fun daikon queen blog that likes to tackle both the comedic but serious sides of jshk. i think you do a great job of capturing nene's voice and portraying it in your writing. i also think your excitement for the series (and other series that we discuss heh) helps make writing with you more enjoyable. because you're always out here telling me about new chapters or trying new au threads just bc of one page from the manga. i'm looking at you royalty au. but even though she is perpetually busy, if you get the chance to write with her.. you won't regret it.

Blog Rate: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 1∞

#nenegyo #ᴏɴᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴍᴇssᴀɢᴇ | answered #[ i forgot about this in my drafts oooops cries

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elizabeatrice · 4 years

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Mystery Spot (Chapter 68)

Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga #4

If you get the title reference, I applaud you.

Warning: 1) !!! MANGA SPOILERS UP TO CHAPTER 68 !!! Duh.

2) I dropped a couple of f bombs and several curses here ... I really ranted lmao.

3) This reaction/review is closer to me spewing wild theories rather than an actual review. But these wild theories are my reactions. So. Ehhh these theories are probably wrong anyway. Lemme have my dark, twisted fun, mkay? Not sure if they’re entirely coherent though.

Had trouble copying some kanji this time around ‘cause they’re so freaking blurry! So I got too lazy to write this yesterday haha. Thank you Ropes of Fate for the translation! Truly commendable heroes of the fandom *sobs*. I also used three panels from Chapter 61, translated by Caim.

Let’s jump into it (ba dum tss).

This chapter is a bit shorter than usual and boy do you feel it. Well. At least I do. But I really hope sensei are taking some time to relax. Last chapter was 45 pages, after all. Y’all deserve it you wonderful creators.

First of all I would like to dedicate the biggest f bomb for the villagers because what the fuck. Why the fuck would you sacrifice poor, innocent young girls just to keep yourself safe? And it’s not even a sacrifice to kami-sama! Y’all just droppin’ these girls to be eaten by supernaturals! And y’all practically manipulated them smh.

Are y’all insane?! Y’all could’ve just moved the fuck out. What kind of insane people just decide to stay near a literal pit of hell? Don’t give me the ‘we’ve lived here for generations’ bs okay ‘cause y’all neighbors be getting eaten by supernaturals but y’all rather trade innocent young girls for your own safety. If Berkians and Asgardians can suck it up and be the bigger nation with all that ‘Berk/Asgard is not a place it’s the people’ shit, y’all can too.

I’ve disliked characters in JSHK before. But I’ve never hated JSHK characters before. Until now. Y’all fucking did it, dumbass villagers.

Ahem. Pardon me.

Because my brain is a literal self-debate machine let me just say that I did consider several possibilities in these ‘people’’s defense. There’s the obvious ‘some people back then didn’t know any better and believe a human sacrifice will solve everything’ mindset. Then there’s the possibility of them being trapped in their village for some reason, hence not having any other choice but to sacrifice those girls.

But y’know what else could be the case? ‘Cause my mind really went dark there for a bit.

The Minamoto clan let it happen.

In the last chapter it was mentioned that the Minamoto clan was involved. And this is a bit shocking now that I think about it more ‘cause Teru has always been adamant that all supernaturals are evil and must be exorcised, humans must be protected.

But what if they just let the villagers sacrifice these girls so that the monsters can be contained in this village, in that pit, instead of running amok to other places and cause more trouble?

Which makes me wonder.

Uh. Where did Teru go to? Does he know about this? Did he go to that pit (or that village, if Kamome Academy wasn’t built on its land)?

If he does know, isn’t he interested in saving a fellow human student and underclassman? If he does know about the Akane clan, isn’t he interested in telling his VP, who’s obsessed with an Akane? Unless ... you know ... he meant for this to happen, which I kinda doubt.

He must know something about this. He went out of his way to make Akane promise to protect Kou if something were to happen. What’s more dangerous than the Grim Reaper showing up looking for a sacrifice who turned out to be Kou’s beloved senpai’s best friend? What if Akane had to choose between Aoi and Kou at some point?

Okie next I wanna talk about Hanako. This is gonna sound just as far fetched as the previous bit lmao but here goes.

Boiiii y’all saw it. The pause before his answer. His face drawn out of view, in an evasive body language.

(Hanako my boy pls do us all a favor and stop lying to your girlfriend, we all know how well that turned out in Picture Perfect lmao)

Theory. He knew what’s been going on all along. Or at least the gist of it.

Remember this?

Imma take a detour a lil bit.

The Far Shore/torii gate refused Nene in chapter 67, right? In my Chapter 67 reaction I said it was the bracelet that saved her but now I think the bracelet probably disguised her as Sumire in the villagers’ eyes. So the Far Shore/torii gate refused her, and we all thought it was because she wasn’t an Akane.

But then we found out that Hanako was right about the village. It was just a ‘made up world’ inside Shinigami’s boundary. It’s just a reenactment of the day Sumire died, probably based on Shinigami’s memories, as the first page of Chapter 64 said.

So of course Nene was refused. Because in his memories, Sumire was the one who fell into the pit that day.

Sumire also said in this chapter’s narration that the villagers sacrificed young girls. Not Akane girls. Also, before the sacrifices began, the monsters already ate villagers anyway, right? They didn’t only eat young girls. It wasn’t said as such. The villagers probably just chose young girls because that’s sorta like the equivalent of offering the best meat or smth. Practically a please accept our humble offering of tenderloin wagyu, O Horrible Monsters.

The coveted bloodline thing was probably a plus, not obligatory. Often in stories, people with high ‘spiritual energy’ are supposed to taste more delicious and grant whoever eats their meat special powers or smth (e.g. Tang Sanzang from Journey to the West). Also ancient cultures sacrifice young girls often, that was the trend.

And they proceeded to try to sacrifice Nene anyway, despite her not being an Akane. They said it themselves. “It doesn’t matter if it’s that girl.”

So according to the (rather vague) information we have, it’s possible that the sacrifice doesn’t have to be an Akane or a girl.

Some of y’all have been theorizing that the Yugi twins got involved with supernaturals, and that sorta lead to their death.

What if this is it?

I myself am not sure how it went down if this is really the case. But I keep imagining our boy’s infamous ‘I’m not going anywhere’ being said by Sumire because bruh she’s the epitome of not going anywhere. She was chosen to be sacrificed since she was a child, not given a choice. Even after she died and became a yorishiro, she was imprisoned in this time prison world or whatever, reliving her death every single day with no escape.

And I couldn’t help but think ‘hoooo shit what if???’

I mean. I don’t know who was the chosen sacrifice. Could be Tsukasa, could be Amane. Maybe he killed his brother so that he wouldn’t get sacrificed, and decided that he’ll die along with his brother. I’m not going anywhere. Maybe it also means I’m not letting you send my brother to be eaten by monsters, and since we can’t escape either, we’re staying here no matter what.

And if the Minamotos were really in on it, it makes sense for Grandma Minamoto to accuse Amane of being an evil murderer. He practically got in the way ‘of other people’s safety’ by killing the chosen sacrifice.

banjjakz also said something about the possibility of Tsukasa being a previous sacrifice. Read about it here and here. It’s pretty interesting!

Besides, a wonder whose precious person got sacrificed and later became their yorishiro? That’d be some parallel, haha.

Sure, Sumire said ‘if the kannagi was switched’. But the early narration didn’t mention a sacrifice of kannagi. Just ‘young girls’.

Look just lemme have this, alright?

Oh. Also I wanted to point out the possible tension/trust issues between Hanako and Nene but many other blogs have pointed it out quite well so I’m just gonna stick with my wild theories.

But I will address what Nene said about the pit.

Where is said pit anyway? In Kamome? Why is it open? Is it Tsukasa changing rumors and allowing more supernaturals to cross back to the Near shore? More likely. I mean, he does grant wishes for supernaturals after all.

Oh. Speaking of Nene. Let’s give her a round of applause for her character development. She’s become of better judgement regarding men’s terrible behavior. Wow. That’s my girl. I mean, we still don’t know much about Shinigami, but from what I’ve seen so far, Sumire guuuurrrrllllll you deserve better.

Regardless of my ships, these supernatural boys should take notes from my precious Kou and how he loves so selflessly. Lmao. Remember that one post-chapter panels in Picture Perfect where he said he’ll find Nene a prince in the real world, even though he likes her? Broooo I want ten of this precious boy.

Lastly, Akane and Aoi.

Where are they? They look like they’re stranded in some wild boundary somewhere, the one with half sunken houses and lost things that usually appear in color spreads. I am so hyped, ‘cause I love the aesthetics, and I wanna see more of this place.

Oh. And Akane’s alive. Phew. I gotta be honest though, I kinda looked forward to his death. Not because I hate the kiddo. He’s technically still human, right. I’m just wondering whether his death or Aoi’s would cause Teru to outright declare war against the Seven Wonders because aren’t these folks supposed to protect students like they claim to be? (This, of course, ignores my previous theories about the Minamoto clan)

Basically I just wanna see some shit go down with Teru mkay ‘cause this powerful dude has been useless for quite too long now.

Aoi’s still pretty confusing, too. She went from this weird expression:

to this:

She kinda looked like she was still under the influence of the drug thingy. But she was also concerned about Akane, even though it’s not like how she worried about Nene in the past. And she knew Akane longer than her, they practically grew up together. Real Aoi would be in tears seeing his condition, y’all. So I guess the drug thingy’s effect is slowly wearing out.

Closing! JSHK is dark but usually not in ways my brain expects it to be. (And a lot of times I still get surprised with the amount of comedy it has lmao.) Sooo sensei are probably gonna prove me wrong about most of these, anyway. Haha.

As always feel free to discuss.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk spoilers #tbhk spoilers #minamoto teru #akane sumire #shinigami #aoi akane #hanako #yashiro nene #akane aoi #bea rambles #see there's a reason why my tag is called bea rambles #here y'all have some wild theories y'all didn't ask for lmao #let's talk about jshk manga

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uglierdaikon · 4 years

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So, I’ve seen a lot of people talking about their fears that this story could have a bittersweet ending (i.e. Nene lives, but she and Hanako can’t be together). And I can definitely see why you’d be worried about that, but in my personal opinion it just... doesn’t feel right? I guess?

First off, from a writing perspective, you have to set up your story to have the ending you want from the start. You have to set the tone correctly, you have to subtly hint at it. This isn’t to say that endings have to be predictable, or that the ending of this manga will be predictable. But that’s why audiences are so turned off by poorly done twists or “bad endings.” Often, it’s hard to say why a story’s ending sucks. A twist/unhappy ending that flops in one story could be incredibly powerful in another. And that all comes down to establishing the right tone and circumstances for that ending from scene one. It’s like when people say that Avatar: The Last Airbender should have ended with Aang killing the firelord- while that would’ve been an interesting ending, it wouldn’t have been a GOOD ending, because it contradicts everything that the writers set up about the characters, the world, and the internal logic and value system of the world/characters. It’d be bad storytelling.

It’s definitely easier to see these hints and the groundwork for an ending in hindsight. But that being said, I just don’t feel like I see the groundwork for a sad ending being laid. I think the key thing to this is Hanako. He’s a fantastically written character, so I trust that AidaIro know what they’re doing with him. The audience is clearly supposed to like him, and we do! We want good things for Hanako! Of course, that alone isn’t enough to prevent a sad ending for him, but it plays into it. Because we love Hanako, we want him to get an ending that’s right, an ending that we feel is earned by the narrative (regardless of the specific ending, we want his ending to be the natural conclusion to the arc that he’s been on from chapter one). If the story was going to end with Hanako accepting his fate and continuing on as the Seventh Wonder, then we would slowly see the story begin to support this. But the story CONDEMNS his acceptance of fate. Hanako’s current place in life (er, death) is framed as a tragedy! When we see Hanako giving in to his circumstances (hiding Nene’s lifespan from everyone, or hiding her in the dream world rather than actually dealing with her lifespan) the narrative treats his actions as being deeply flawed.

And beyond that, we have the recurrent themes of hope and determination against the odds, as well as Nene’s growing desire to help him. If the story ends with Hanako remaining a ghost, or even just passing on, it would be crushing. It would feel like a betrayal of the other characters as well as Hanako. It would spit in the face of everything Kou and Nene represent. I say Kou as well (even though he hasn’t expressed the same desire to help Hanako) because of how the two of them operate in the Picture Perfect arc. Their defiance of fate is THE rallying cry of the manga. We see hints of it earlier, but it’s clearest here. Two of the main characters say “fuck fate!” and they are rewarded for it! The supernatural world concedes victory to them, and they leave and go out into the world that they choose! Letting Nene fail to help Hanako would be a betrayal to her just as much as it would be a betrayal to Hanako.

I can think of a bunch of other examples of how the story discourages the idea of just accepting fate, but I’m not going to get into it because this is kinda long. I’m sorry this is getting so rambly. I tend to do that. But the gist of it is, I just can’t see AidaIro taking the story in that direction. I trust their writing more than that.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet-bound hanako-kun #jshk #tbhk #tbhk spoilers #hanako kun #yugi amane #yashiro nene #please discuss don't just let me hang out on my soapbox #i was gonna talk about manga with similar themes but i'll just make a different post for that

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chihurroz · 4 years

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TBHK / JSHK SPOILERS

• • • •

WHY ARE WE ACTING LIKE THIS DIDNT HAPPEN !!!!! LETS DISCUSS

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #tbhk manga #tbhk spoilers #jshk manga #jshk spoilers #hanako kun #nene yashiro #tbhk #jshk #hananene #hananene rights #please lets talk about this #this whole arc #has me crying #anime #manga

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tsufangs · 3 years

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Inside the character: Hanako-kun

Sup people! ✌️ Today I want to start doing some “Inside the characters” posts. It’s just me analyzing but in a more deep way (?)

Anyways, enjoy! (Manga spoilers!)

🌺 Hanako-kun

And how I couldn’t start from one of the main characters of JSHK: Hanako-san Of The Toilet also known as Amane Yugi.

The character of Hanako is known for being a slimy and perverted ghost who likes to make, most of the time, stupid little jokes. However, it’s clearly implied that this teasy yet childish part of him is just a facade in order to hide what he really feels. This behavior is commonly used by people who think that they can handle everything without anyone pitying them: in fact, the people who behave like that usually avoid to make it seem they’re weak and would just pretend to be strong and going through everything with a firm smile, no matter if it means smiling at the worst situations, too.

(Chapter 27 reference)

We see, Hanako fakes his emotions a lot through the manga, when he smiles or when he’s having fun... just like he did with Yashiro. He knew she was going to die from the beginning yet he pretended it was nothing, he pretended to not care (as he states in Picture Perfect Arc)

(Chapter 57 reference)

making her live her last days in the best way possible even though, we all know, he was desperately lying to himself; he just dealed with it silenty like he used to back when he was alive: bottling his pain up.

(Chapter 27 reference)

Hanako is a difficult and reserved character, we never know what he’s thinking, we never know if he’s genuinely saying the truth or just lying... most importantly, we don’t know the reasons which leads him to use such extreme methods without discussing it with the others: doing everything by himself, no help at all.

(Chapter 71 reference)

But I think I might have an explanation of the reason why he doesn’t consult anyone regarding his decisions: Hanako, from when he was a little kid, was always used to deal with loneliness.

As we see in the Star Festival Arc:

(Chapter 38 reference)

As we see in the lyric of Tiny Light: “I’m embraced by loneliness” supposing Hanako is singing that to Yashiro (it could be since the lyric sounds like from Hanako’s POV)

(“Tiny Light” JSHK ED - on YouTube)

And as we see in a few glimpses of his past:

(Chapter 14 references)

Also, his whole existence as a ghost was made of loneliness before he met Yashiro.

No one to talk with, no one by his side. Sadly, this led him to the thought of relying only on himself, no one else. Judging by his family situation back when he was alive, his parents were likely absent or just didn’t care about what happened to him... he didn’t even have his parents’ support, neither his brother’s since (we still don’t know) he might be the person who was doing such bad things to him. But actually, Tsukasa is known to be a carelessly free spirit who would leave alone his brother for HOURS (just like at the Star Festival Arc), showing to not really care whether his brother was okay or not. So, I believe mostly in the second option: Tsukasa shows his “not caring side” to Hanako most of the time which is really painful though. To think how many times Hanako had to deal with his emotions completely alone, bottling them up, not letting out, every single day.

On the other hand, Tsuchigomori-sensei offered him his help and complete support since he wanted to know who was the person that was treating Hanako like garbage. However, Hanako refuses to tell the attacker stating it was fine, he could forgive it all.

(Chapter 14 references)

Putting the facade even in front of the sensei with the famous quote «it’s alright, no need to worry for me», hinting that Hanako’s loneliness was growing so much at the point of even refusing the teacher’s help, it seems like he says: «It’s not that I’m not used to this, I can handle it, I always handled it after all.» WAAAAAH IT’S SO SAD 😭

So yeah, when a person continues to bottle everything up and tends to be embraced by loneliness, it likely turns out as the Hanako we see right now who makes decisions without any help, because he thinks he’s choosing the best way since he never had a proper confrontation of opinions with anyone, neither in the afterlife, neither in his past life.

To me this whole thing is so depressing, how Hanako is unhappy, how he never had friends or just a person who could open up with, how he had to deal with loneliness, stuck in a black hole with no exit... Yashiro is his only hope, right now. I really wish for him to open up with Yashiro and let out everything that he’s been holding in for DECADES so that he feels at the very least a bit relieved. Yashiro is his only tiny light in that whole darkness of his. 😢 She’s the only one who can help him exiting that dark world: for once making him feel what happiness truly means, adding colours in his monochrome days, reviving him even though he’s now dead.

I wish for Hanako to finally find relief after all that he’s been going through :,)

🌺 And this ends here!

Hey, are you alive after this painful post? I hope so BECAUSE I AIN’T ANYMORE HA-HA!

See you in another post fellows~

#jibaku shonen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #hanako kun #analysis #jshk analysis #tsu’s theories #jshk theories #jshk manga #jshk spoilers

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