#see there's a reason why my tag is called bea rambles

[elizabeatrice]

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

[elizabeatrice]

do you think there will be an happy ending for hanako and yashiro?

*gasps* My first JSHK ask! Thank you!

Warning: !!!Manga spoilers in general!!!

Look I’m gonna be honest with you. How does one define a happy ending for Hanako and Yashiro?

One where she lives, graduates, moves on with her life as Hanako remains bound to the school? Maybe she returns as a teacher. But she’s all grown up. Probably wants a family of her own (she said she wanted to get married in a white dress, didn’t she?). Hanako can’t give her that future. Not with him anyway. So they stay each other’s first love and good friend but they can’t have anything beyond that. Or maybe she lives, he’s forgiven (by Kami-sama and himself), and the two lives (lol) on in separate shores, no longer able to cross.

Or one where, unfortunately, they can’t find a way? She dies, leaving her family, Kou, Aoi, and her life behind. She dies, Hanako can’t grant her wish and he can’t have his own wish granted yet again. And if she stays at Kamome to keep him company, not only will Kou get left behind by a friend again, Hanako has to spend the rest of his afterlife with yet another regret. First Tsukasa, now Nene. Or she dies, goes to the far shore, and promises to wait for him. But we know it’s gonna take a long time.

Or one where, somehow, Nene is saved and Hanako is revived? But how is that fair? To Mitsuba, to Tsukasa? Hanako can’t leave his brother. He won’t. Maybe everyone gets revived. Setting aside how impossible/improbable this is, that means they have to deal with Tsukasa alive. If the abusive relationship theory turns out to be true, then Hanako has to go through all that horror all over again, powerless this time because he’s human again. Oh, he’s got help (and friends) now. Sure. But Tsukasa will have to be taken away, won’t he?

And looking at previous examples of human-supernatural relationships: Misaki and Yako, Amane and Tsuchigomori, Kou and Mitsuba, Mei and Shijima, Aoi and Akane (though tbh despite what happened in 64 they have the highest chance of having a happy ending imo ... even if the pattern is still a looming threat), or even pilot!Nene and pilot!Hanako ...

I know manga in general is all about ‘going against the odds’. But going by hananene’s premise alone it doesn’t sound like these two are heading anywhere near the traditional concept of happy ending. One way or another they’re bound for some form of tragedy.

So. Will hananene have a happy ending? I don’t even know what a happy ending for them is like. But I trust AidaIro sensei to deliver feels, and that’s the only thing you can count on imo.

Man, I’m so dark and dramatic. So sorry about that. Didn’t mean to ruin anyone��s hope or anything. It’s just how I see it.

Thank you again for the ask! I’m always happy to discuss JSHK and hananene.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #hananene #bea rambles #bea answers #see there's a reason why my tag is called bea rambles #sorry i'll shut up now #this ship huuuurrrrrtttsssss meeeehhhhh

[elizabeatrice]

Sumire: In Summary (Chapter 66)

Let’s Talk About JSHK Manga #2

Warning: !!!Manga spoilers up to chapter 66!!! Duh.

These are my initial thoughts. I’m warning you, they may not be entirely coherent. I wrote this when Eng scanlations weren’t out yet, so I used @etoile_atelier’s Eng summary that they posted on their Insta Story. I’ll update with the scanlations later.

Sorry not sorry for the awful title I’m just punny like that okay.

Summary: Chapter commentary + theories on: Sumire’s relations to Aoi, Sumire and Tsukasa’s seals, and is Sumire and Shinigami a cautionary tale for Hanako and Nene?

First, chapter recap.

Having no expectations at all amplified my emotional reactions to this chapter like 1000%

THE COLORED PAGE. REALLY? REALLY. ANOTHER SUPERNATURAL/HUMAN PAIR?

IT ONLY TOOK FOUR PANELS. FOUR (4)! (Oh, the number of death ... makes sense)

I can’t. I can’t deal. I’m not supposed to sympathize with Goat Man yet.

I mean we’re only four panels into his story smh

Okay so we’re back with Hanako and Nene! And they’re ... somewhere.

And they came across villagers who call them monsters (mononokes)

Honestly why are people so rude to my boy he’s a kiddo trying his best mkay and now ya’ll’re capturing him, the nerve! Y’all captured my daughter in law as well, who’s a literal angel! I will call your mothers about this unacceptable behavior, random villagers.

*ding* [A wild new character appears!]

Ghost girl finally reappears! And yet again, I must ask,

“What is your deal, bruh?”

Sumire took them in, treating them like miserable strays in desperate need of help

And Sumire said something along the lines of taking in the mononokes like she always does

Lmao when these two dumbasses tryna escape

At the very least, Hanako and Nene are trapped somewhere comfortable. And without creepy bugs.

Sumire is so much like Aoi I-???

‘Kay they must be related somehow, right? (More on that later below)

So ... is it official? Are we serving tanuki nabe in hananene events now?

Hanako is even more careful than usual and I gotta say, I’m following his footsteps.

Before I got my stylus out and started translating stuffs, I was so worried when I saw the panels focused on Hakujoudai.

I care about Hakujoudai more than I thought, guys. What a revelation.

Domestic hananene, finally some good freaking food tea.

Darn Hanako spilled the tea (literally, and figuratively)

So they’re not in the Far Shore ... I feel like I was lied to. Why would you lie to your own minions (and us), Shinigami?!

Unless them landing wherever this is wasn’t intentional.

Man, I was excited to see the Far Shore too.

Hanako said they’re still in Shinigami’s boundary, and the place is water-less because they’re in some sort of made up world inside his boundary (that may or may not be based on his memories)

I think it actually is based on his memories, because the first page’s introductory sentence included something along the lines of, “Seven Mysteries’ No. 6′s memories”

So yeah it’s like a mini theater, presumably made by Shinigami so that his boss and his boss’ kannagi couldn’t interfere with his plans. Maybe.

I know the tea might be drugged by Sumire/Shinigami or whatever but-

Your wife helped make that tea, Yugi Amane, show some appreciation!

She looked sad about the tea, too, oh you precious child

Hanako’s sulky, distrustful face tho lmao

Boy was all serious like, “I’ll protect this girl with my afterlife”

Then ZAP *obligatory “Hanako you pervert” comment*

Hanako: Go in there save Yashiro go in there save Yashiro and maybe take a lil peek-

Also Hanako: She’ll hate me.

Hanako: Fuck.

Sumire: Aren’t you two lovers?

Nene: NO.

Sumire:

Nene: ////// D-do we actually look like lovers?

Sumire:

Sumire: Gurl-

*TV beep*

AidaIro: Imma just drop the bomb of the month here~

Sumire: I’m (probably) a yorishiro!

*roll credits*

*cue me screaming*

Sumire? Aoi?

Option A

Aoi and Sumire come from the same bloodline, Sumire’s her ancestor.

Option B

Aoi is Sumire’s reincarnation. So, that means the Sumire we’re seeing isn’t the real Sumire, regardless whether she was made especially for this ‘made up lil’ world inside the boundary’ or the real yorishiro.

Though, would Shinigami actually put his yorishiro somewhere Hanako and Nene could find and destroy her so easily? Suspicious.

So yeah this Sumire, if she really is the real yorishiro, must be a memory apparition like Mitsuba 2.0

White on Black, Red on Black

Now the moment this girl revealed her seal I knew the fandom would point a finger and unanimously scream, Tsukasa!

But ... then again, there’s the matter of different colors between Tsukasa’s seal and the yorishiro seals we’ve seen so far

What if object-yorishiro and person-yorishiro seals have different colors?

Like, white on black seals for object-yorishiro, and red on black seals for person-yorishiro

We actually need to see Sumire’s seal in color to confirm this tho

Sumire, Shinigami, and the Repeating Motive of Tragic Human-Supernatural Relationships in JSHK

Boi. You knew from the first four panels alone that something went wrong with Sumire and Shinigami.

“Promise you’ll stay with me forever.”

Bruh. I can not.

I mean I’m already imagining stuffs that are probably not how their real story’s gonna go down but

It’s definitely tragic, you can smell it. I’ll be entirely shocked if it ain’t tragic

Shinigami’s her betrothed, right?

Why are they only getting married now tho? I assume these two first met ages ago.

Could it be that human Sumire died before they could?

If so ... what if they’re trying to fulfill their wish that never got to happen when Sumire was alive?

What if these two are a cautionary tale for Hanako and Nene?

This might be too far fetched but think about it.

Sumire said, “Falling for things that don’t exist in our world may be deemed a taboo, but you can’t help it if you’re attracted to them,” and it’s the same for Sumire.

According to her, Shinigami is a straitlaced but cute demon. He used to kill for fun (and out of boredom, ‘cause the dude is immortal) but he’s quick to get shy, too.

So. You’ve got a kannagi who’s all too kind to ‘monsters’ (taking in the mononokes, remember?) and try her best to help them.

And a monster with dangerous powers who also have a shy side and would do anything to do what they deem right.

Sounds familiar?

Let’s admit it. The only problem Nene has with liking Hanako is the fact that he’s not her type.

Him being dead has never been the main problem.

In fact, when she does acknowledge his death, it was out of sympathy. She wished he could’ve lived happier. But since he didn’t she sets out to make his afterlife happy, you know, as a good friend.

So I imagine if she does, in fact, accept that she really does like him like that, she’ll be a lot like Sumire, don’t you think?

Nene’s thing is that she’s got compassion for everyone, whether they’re supernaturals or not (unless they mock her legs I guess hahahaha).

She won over Yako (who still hasn’t admitted it), Tsuchigomori, and Shijima with her earnest heart.

On the other hand, Hanako was willing to defy his own principles, his hatred toward the fakeness of Shijima’s world, and perhaps supernatural law or whatever (’cause I doubt it’s ‘legal’ to keep the students trapped in a painting) just because Nene could live happily there.

As we (slowly) uncover Shinigami’s story, Nene also seems to be constantly confronted by others regarding her own feelings. Akane, Aoi, now Sumire.

Also:

“Promise you’ll stay with me forever?”

“Stay by my side until then, okay?”

BAM!

I just broke your hearts. Maybe. Maybe not.

Now Imma go cry.

#jibaku shounen hanako kun #toilet bound hanako kun #jshk manga spoilers #tbhk manga spoilers #hanako #yashiro nene #sumire #no. 6 #shinigami #bea rambles #see there's a reason why my tag is called bea rambles #let's talk about jshk manga