#seishiro sakurazukamori | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

skyflyinginaction · 8 months

Text

X/1999 Volume 6 Illustration Comments

2000 Monthly Asuka August Issue. Title Page Illustration

This one was actually drawn on hotel stationery, which happened a lot with the X illustrations. Hotels provide very good paper, you see [laughs]. I can't use the sheets for very large pieces though. I shaded out the background and added sepia around the edges to make it look like an old photograph. The main outlines were drawn with a PIGMA Graphic pen using brown ink. The wings on Kamui's back are a tattoo. I hid his butt a little with the other ones [laughs].

1994 Monthly Asuka March Issue. Cover Illustration

Paper: BB Kent

Lines: PIGMA Graphic ink pen

Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink

Here Subaru is wearing traditional ceremonial clothes, which he hardly ever wears in the manga. The blade in his hand is one he's had in his possession for a very long time and which he uses whenever he wears the ceremonial robes. I wrote "X" on the blade in blood.

1993 X Calendar Illustration Paper: BB Kent Lines: Holbein Color Ink (Special Black) Color: Dr. Ph. Martin's Color Ink

Back then many people asked me, "Is this Hokuto? Or Subaru?" The answer to that question will become clear sooner or later (laughs].

2000 Monthly Asuka November Issue, Title Page Illustration

There were never plans for this illustration to be used in separate halves, but I still wanted to draw something that could be split in two, and that's how I ended up with this composition. The colors and poses used for Subaru and Seishiro are inverses of each other. The two are hound together by a single red thread, but that thread is also meant to echo the spider web. I drew a spider web pattern on the kimono as well. It's an image of the hunter and the hunted. Obviously, Seishiro has the upper hand (laughs).

2002 Monthly Asuka April Issue. Title Page Illustration

This illustration is meant to look like a colorized panel from the actual manga, so I used screen-tones for the background. The white area of the uniform and the hilt of the sword were done with color ink. The gold areas are in color ink too, but the eyes, shadow, and hair were drawn with Copic markers. As you can see. Yuzuriha's shadow is a large Inuki.

2001 March, Volume 16. Cover Illustration

A back cover illustration from one of the X manga volumes. The title on the front cover was printed in a gold-brown ink. The Magami family seems to have I a cursed fate flowing in their blood. This isn't a horror movie story, but it's definitely something like "It's all because of the bloodlines [laughs]. But then again, the Sakurazukamori aren't that better off either. In this illustration, at first glance they appear to be two sisters who are close to one another, but there's also a dark and ominous atmosphere that exists between them. Part of the kimonos patterns were done with acrylic gouache. and the gold areas were done in poster color.

2000 Monthly Asuka August issue, Title Page Illustration

I was aiming for a "Fake Kung-fu Action Movie" type of illustration [laughs). Sorata's pose looks like it belongs in a fighting manga, and he's wearing something that looks like a champion fighter's belt too laughs]. I used a present someone sent to us as a visual reference for drawing the braided cord. Thank you very much; it was a big help. The background and character lines were done mainly with color ink, but I also used some modeling paste for the rubble.

1999 Monthly Asuka August and September Issues, Cover illustrations

This is an illustration I drew with the intention of splitting it in half down the middle. The background is meant to look like a factory or plant of some sort. Compositions like this lose their sense of unity unless an element from each half is included in the other half, so I had Kamui reach his hand over and place it on Fuma's knee. They're also joined together by a handcuff.

2003 Monthly Asuka February Issue. Title Page Illustration

Since this was for a February issue of Monthly Asuka, I used snow in the image. You may be surprised to know that Kusanagi actually appears in quite a lot of illustrations with snow. Since he works for the Self-Defense Force, I had him wear a military-style coat. But the composition was rather bland with only that, and I wanted to add something else. Then I saw Hideroshi Nakata, the soccer player. wearing an extremely long scarf on TV. So that's why Kusanagi's wearing a long scarf too [laughs)

2005 X 0 (ZERO) Art Book. Exclusive illustration for New Edition

This illustration was created for the new edition of the XO art book. Ohkata (Ageha) had given me orders to differentiate the covers of the two art books by making one look Japanese and the other look Western, and to use a dark red color for one and a dark blue for the other. So I had Kamui wear a kimono. like clothes and made the small objects around him look Japanese as well. The dragons, which go with both the background and the pattern on the kimono also have a Japanese air.

2005 X ∞ (INFINITY) Artbook. Exclusive Illustration for New Edition

This illustration of Fuma is meant to be a counterpart to the one of Kamui in the new edition of XO. It was created to have a more Western atmosphere. He's wearing something that looks like a clerical garment, and the dragons have a Western fantasy look to them too. Since the background is blue, I made the dragons look like aquatic animals, with smooth skin, pale hues, and fin-like wings. The whole idea of drawing seven dragons in each of the new illustrations may have been a little too ambitious since it took me a really long time to complete this.

2002 Monthly Asuka August Issue, Title Page Illustration

Nataku is smiling in this illustration because I drew it after the death scene in the main story and wanted something to cheer me up. An image of the gates of heaven opening onto the land of bliss. or something like that. A sad figure who died a long time ago when young but who was then forced to keep living by unnatural means, now finally freed... Nataku was based off a character designed for a vídeo game that had a quasi-Chinese setting but was never made, so Chinese-looking clothes are a default for him

#x #x1999 #clamp #subaru sumeragi #kamui shirou #fuuma monou #yuzuriha nekoi #nataku

4 notes · View notes

victoriadrwrites · 2 years

Text

Tokyo Babylon: Where vice trumps over virtue as identities are born and challenged

What follows is an analysis of meaning and its messenger and how the protagonist drives the premise (Chapter 17 exercises from David Corbett’s The Art of Character).

In this analysis I will be looking at:

Sumeragi Subaru and Sakurazuka Seishiro from Tokyo Babylon

Tokyo Babylon--A Save for Tokyo Story

Sumeragi Subaru

What makes him a protagonist?

Subaru is presented as a 16 year old teenage boy who also happens to be the 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan, a clan of Onmyōji that has protected Japan for many generations.

The events in Tokyo Babylon revolve around his every day experience as an Onmyōji as he solves supernatural cases around Tokyo as part of his duty as the 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan.

The scenes in the story all serve the purpose of revealing his character to the audience. For example, his deep empathy, pathological compassion and low self-esteem.

What is most striking about Subaru is that, given his exalted role as the most powerful head of the clan in its history, Subaru does not perceive himself as someone special. True to the “chosen one” trope, Subaru is a reluctant hero who was given a role and power he did not ask to be given.

One of my favorite scenes from the manga is Subaru telling Hokuto that the moment he finds an Onmyōji more powerful than him, he will ask him to take on his role as the 13th head of the clan. And I just feel like going up to him and telling him: “honey, there is no such Onmyōji. You are, literally, part of Team Apocalypse. You are chosen af.”

What is at stake for Subaru?

Subaru’s “hero’s journey” does not follow the traditional pattern to a T but does have some of the classic markers. For example, by the time the audience meets Subaru, he has already taken the call to adventure (becoming an Onmyōji out of duty) and is immersed in his every day life as an Onmyōji. Meeting Seishiro in the train station is what ushers the transformation that Subaru will have as a character as it forces him to learn about what his heart desires.

As Hokuto says, Subaru is so busy with his duty as an Onmyōji that he’s forgotten his heart and doesn’t know what he truly desires. And as noa says, having a wish/desire = having a sense of identity in CLAMP.

Subaru realizing what he desires is partially him becoming a person in his own right--not Hokuto’s reflection or dress up doll, nor the 13th head of the Sumeragi Clan, but Subaru, the person who loves Seishiro and “selfishly” cares about what Seishiro might think of him.

By the time this realization happens, by the time Subaru becomes aware of his own person and his desires, however, the rug gets pulled from under his feet by the very source of his desire, Seishiro.

Thus Subaru’s identity moving forward revolves around feeling rejected by Seishiro, his conflicted longing for Seishiro, his hatred for Seishiro, and the guilt he carries from Hokuto’s death.

Subaru is thus initiated into the world in the cruelest way possible. His innocence is taken from him, and his awareness of the person he is becomes tainted by the cruelty of the world he lives in. In Subaru’s eyes, to dare to wish, to dare to allow himself the privilege of desire means tragedy for himself and others.

Sakurazuka Seishiro

What makes him a protagonist?

While Seishiro does not get as much air time as Subaru, Seishiro is one of the characters affected by his meeting with Subaru. In a sense, Tokyo Babylon revolves around the bet Seishiro makes with Subaru and how this decisive event impacts the both of them.

What is particularly outstanding about Seishiro’s role as deuteragonist is that his heart is the direct inverse of Subaru’s--or at least he thinks so. Ironically, he is also presented as someone who understands Subaru on a very deep level, thus earning Subaru’s trust and affection.

To complicate matters further, Seishiro’s last name, Sakurazuka, is associated with the Sakurazukamori Clan, a clan of assassins that works in the shadows and use their powers as Onmyōji to kill. This set up loosely uses the trope in Romeo and Juliet in which the two mc’s from opposing clans fall in love with each other. In Romeo and Juliet, however, romantic love is thought to trump all challenges.

But over all, what Sei does for Tokyo Babylon is that he introduces the Yin (Sakurazukamori works in the shadows) to Subaru’s Yang (the Sumeragi work in the light). His assassin persona is presented as a hidden opposing force in Subaru’s existence that challenges everything from his morality to his kind and gentle heart.

What is at stake for Seishiro?

Seishiro is so complex. On the one hand he says he is unfeeling, and yet, some of his actions reveal otherwise.

On the other hand, Seishiro’s main motive in Tokyo Babylon is eventually revealed to be finding out whether Subaru can make him feel something, anything, through a bet he makes with Subaru.

If he lost the bet and being exposed to Subaru’s kind heart changed his, then Seishiro would let Subaru live. If on the other hand, Seishiro’s heart remained unmoved, then Seishiro would kill Subaru.

The irony in all of this is that, just the way Seishiro presented a conflict to Subaru, Subaru created a conflict in Seishiro’s mind. The mere fact that he found a reason to let Subaru live was proof enough that Seishiro had felt something, anything.

Seishiro saw in Subaru a reflection of his own kind heart that he had probably buried deep within himself for self-preservation purposes. We don’t know much about Seishiro’s backstory, but the idea that Seishiro has some kindness to him, however small, is consistent with the symbolism of the Yin and Yang used in Tokyo Babylon.

In a sense, Subaru created a split in Seishiro’s identity the way Seishiro tainted Subaru’s. Seishiro found that he was not so unfeeling after all, and to admit this to himself would run counter to the defense mechanisms his ego mind had erected.

And as we see at the end of Tokyo Babylon, Seishiro chose to turn his back on Subaru and disappeared from his life after killing Hokuto. In the end, if he had truly won the bet, he would have had to kill the one person whose heart touched his. But to loose the bet would mean he had to accept the one thing he rejected about himself: his deeply kind, feeling self.

Psychologically speaking, Sei would not have been able to recognize Subaru’s kindness if it didn’t already exist within. There is a lot more to it than this but I am not going to go into it right now. Point being, believe it or not, Sei has a kind heart buried somewhere deep down in there.

The premise

Ok, this was actually really hard! I did not want to read the official premise so that it would force me to try to figure out the premise based on what I wrote for both Sei and Subaru.

So here goes my botched up interpretation of the TB premise:

Tokyo is the only city on Earth that can enjoy itself along the path to destruction. But for Sumeragi Subaru, the 13th head of the Sumeragi clan, the people he meets as part of his job as an Onmyoji are all worth saving.

One of those people is Sakurazuka Seishiro, a veterinarian with a mysterious background who, little does young Subaru know, harbors a secret identity as the Sakurazukamori, an assassin who uses his Onmyoji powers to kill.

Tokyo Babylon is a story where vice trumps over virtue as identities are born and challenged. Above all, it is the tragedy of two individuals who, unable to bridge their differences, become victims to their fate and turn their backs on their hearts.

Ok that was painful and horrible. Don’t ever try this at home.

The ways of life in opposition

To Subaru...

Everyone matters: Everyone is special and worth saving even if it means harming himself for their sake. One of the most poignant examples is when Subaru is willing to let Yuya’s stab him so that she can take out her pain on him. Unfortunately this leads to Seishiro loosing one of his eyes

Tokyo is a place full of special people who experience very human problems: In this example, we see Subaru taking the time to listen to people and their stories time and time again. He is highly compassionate of these characters and always tries to understand them and their suffering

His Onmyoji powers are meant to help others: Subaru uses his powers to protect others like in the “Call” chapter where he puts himself in harm’s way to protect one of the girls from a poorly-executed curse

To Seishiro...

No one matters: Everyone is equally worthless and to put himself in harm’s way for their sake would be to go against his instinct for self-preservation. Near the end of Tokyo Babylon, Seishiro is revealed to see Subaru as no more than an object that he can destroy if he so pleases

Tokyo is a place where people betray each other all the time: The obvious example is Seishiro revealing his true identity to Subaru. This betrayal completely breaks Subaru who had come to love Seishiro after spending a year with him

His Onmyoji powers are meant to kill others: Unlike Subaru, Seishiro uses his powers to kill and desecrate, which is consistent with his complete disregard for others as beings of value

The premises in terms of the individual characters

These were actually harder than the overall premise and I might come back to rewrite them. But I just wanted to get this over with so here it is:

Sumeragi Subaru

To Subaru, the 13th head of the Sumeragi clan, using his Onmyoji powers to protect other people (even if at his own expense) and his interconnectedness to them are what motivate his identity--or rather, lack thereof.

When he meets Seishiro, however, Subaru is at last confronted with his personal budding desire for Seishiro, something that is initially incomprehensible to him precisely because of his collectivist identity. By the time he becomes aware of said desire, Subaru is confronted with yet another challenge--the object of his desire is a psychopath with little regard for others and human life, including his own. To make matters worse, Subaru’s twin is killed by Seishiro as she risks her life to bring Subaru back from his catatonic state.

Thus Subaru’s identity as a person becomes tangled up with the idea that his personal wishes and desires will bring him and others misfortune. In that sense, Seishiro managed to change him.

Sakurazuka Seishiro

For Seishiro, the world is a cold place devoid of emotion. In his eyes, he can’t differentiate people from objects and is thus able to use his Onmyoji powers to kill indiscriminately.

That is until he meets Subaru whose kind heart awakens in him something. Thus, rather than killing Subaru, Seishiro makes a bet with him and lets him go until destiny should being them together again. When that happens, as part of the bet, Seishiro will profess his love to Subaru and act accordingly. If Subaru is unable to persuade Seishiro’s heart to feel something after a year, then Seishiro will kill him. If, on the other hand, Subaru is able to change Sei’s heart, then he will honor their bond.

Thus, Seishiro spends a year in company of Subaru and his twin sister and finds himself fighting his desire to kill Subaru until the bet reaches its conclusion. Once the bet ends, Seishiro declares he is unchanged. But is he really unchanged if he’s let Subaru go once again?

Personal notes

In conclusion, coming up with a premise is a bitch.

Anyways, and with anything CLAMP, as always, I feel like I am only scratching the surface of what is happening. I normally consider myself a “deep and insightful” person but not when it comes to CLAMP.

Nop. Just straight up not smart enough for CLAMP.

But that’s exactly what makes their manga such great subject matter for literary analysis.

I’ve been reading David Corbett’s The Art of Character for some time now but had not gotten around to doing any of the exercises in the book. But since I am stuck without a plot outline for my wip novel, It’s Written, I thought “why not give chapter 17′s exercises a shot since premise and plot are related?”

And that’s just what I’m doing here. And like... how this is going to help me? I don’t know yet, but maybe if I do more of these analyses it will make more sense?

We’ll see.

#writing exercises #manga literary analysis

18 notes · View notes

ayameyumesaki · 2 years

Text

Tokyo Babylon - Clamp Premium Collection - Commentary Part 7

Previous Part First Part Next Part

So here we are, finally entering volume 3! I told myself to post one commentary at least every week, especially now I have volume 3 and 4 (and already read it more than twice) but for the sake of my sanity after reading volume 4 I needed that break lol

So, here is the glamorous volume 3's cover with Boss Mafia Subaru and his assassin Seishiro. Pretty cool, pretty cute, and pretty adult-like. I love how in covers with Seishiro, Subaru looked pretty mature but the ones with Hokuto made him like a little cute puppy. Anyway if Subaru is a mafia instead of onmyoji, imagine how powerful he would be. (We have sakurazukamori widowed Subaru tho so it's okay)

This chapter covered one long story; Call. The chapter is divided into two; Call A and Call B, but I decided to divide it into three parts because the first half of the Call A revealed a lot of important information, and even more with Call B. If I can comment something, Call A is pretty funny and full of information, while Call B is just pure depressing. I will explain why in next commentaries.

So, Call chapter is talking about three girls who believed that they are world saviors and they have special powers to save the world. The three used telephone to contact each other and they spent quite a lot of money for something that we won't know, even believing that in the past life, they are warriors that protected the world.

What's funny is one of the girls seemed to have a yochimu (predictive dream) ability.

The world will be destroyed. I, from before, already knew about it. I already predicted it. But only the chosen ones, the one with special abilities who can save the world.

Uh oh, X spoiler in 1991, CLAMP? Sounds totally what happened in X.

They then seemed to assure each other that they are those chosen people and they are waiting for someone who will tell them that they are special. That's funny because in previous chapter we are talking about what is normal and not, and here there are people who wants to be special. Okay, let's move on.

We are going on Sunshine Aquarium date Seishiro seemed to look forward to it. I already made a post about how stupid this man talking to penguins, but at least he made me sure that he has a vet license despite his questioning working hour.

The amount of sorry Subaru said in this part is immensely painful, a friendly reminder of what kind of personality this boy actually had to apologize on everything. Oh my son, I was so mad at you for keep apologizing. I forgot who it is, but my teacher, or supervisor, told me that it's not healthy to keep apologizing over and over to a Japanese; it would annoy them. Then Seishiro asked if Subaru is free that day and he said he is. Look at how happy this puppy is.

Then on their way, Seishiro spotted a computer-based fortune telling booth.

Seishiro asked if Subaru liked stuffs like this and Subaru replied that he is forbid to do fortune telling by his family because it is also their job to do fortune telling, to be told by other fortune teller is a bit (strange). Talking about onmyoji's job, I did a research about onmyoji for fanfic writing purpose and during Heian period in Japan, aside on being master of spiritual matters, they are regarded as the master of astronomy as well---focusing on predicting the future events. Since their working line is aligned with fortune telling, it's indeed unethical to be told by other fortune teller about their own fortune. Makes sense.

Seishiro's smile tho. :)

Anyway they still get that fortune telling because it was done by a computer (talking about advanced technology). Seishiro asked for compatibility telling and when they were told to tell their birthdays...

Subaru told that his birthday is on 19th February 1974 and his birthplace is in Tokyo. Seishiro asked Subaru if that's true, and Subaru said yes. While Seishiro said he was born in 1st April 1965 in Tokyo too. Damn, Seishiro is older than my parents.

Then while waiting for the result, the clerk told Seishiro that it's pretty good that his lover is a high schooler and Seishiro told him it's one-sided. Then she continued by saying that they suited each other and his lover is pretty cute; her husky voice is amazing too.

Seishiro said "it's not a girlfriend. It's a boyfriend" and SUBARU'S FACE OMG IT'S SO CUTE. Damn, Hokuto would be laughing at him looking at this scene, looking so guilty for being a boy cries cries the lady is even more shocked than them. Poor lady.

Then Subaru's pager rang loudly and look at him being cute embarassed dork. He said he had a pager because there are times where someone would contact him during the work. Seishiro commented how trendy the onmyoji right now for using a pager, and it seems Hokuto contacted him.

Talking about pager, I wasn't born in the era where pager is used so I don't know what that thing is until I read this manga. The last pagers ended their service in 2019 anyway so with the advanced technology we have right now, we probably won't ever see a pager in our life.

Then Seishiro continued with teasing Subaru and said "I told you that I'm not joking about it, so how about trusting me about it?" and Subaru was like "No, but...", he wasn't even denying it. You already fell for him that hard huh. And Seishiro told him "I love Subaru-kun" and I'm totally the woman in the back. What did I see? A love confession?

If you think Subaru's sufferings had ended. Think again.

Yes. Subaru has two people in his life that constantly making him either embarassed or extra tired which is 1) Seishiro and 2) his own sister, Hokuto. Subaru called Hokuto but he couldn't hear it due to the noisiness, so he kept saying "I can't hear it". You know how loud Hokuto? Yes, to the point people see Subaru and he needs to stay away from the phone. He apologized afterwards.

After that, scene changed to Subaru returning to his residence and Hokuto in her rabbit outfit said "YOU TWO HAD A DATE IN IKEBUKURO!?". Pretty Hokuto-like.

See her outfit? The queen slays indeed. I wonder what's the concept that they were sitting on the floor but that's not important. See how Subaru sat down and looking serious at the papers? That's pretty cute. How they had those large pillow (it looked like bean bags to me anyway) is beyond me, but I already accepted the fact that Subaru is rich so I'm not gonna complain.

Before going into the content, please highlight SUBARU'S SITTING STYLE. Look at him crossing his legs like that while apologizing to Seishiro, then he lifted one of his legs when he ate Hokuto's bread. We all know that Subaru is probably the most out-of-earth character in this series but his overall behavior? Him sitting like this? Pretty much me reflected like that.

On the plot side, Hokuto mentioning about date to a yakiniku house, oh my girl, if Seishiro is the one who pays then I will go too lol Anyway, Hokuto asked about what work Subaru got this time and Subaru asked about Dial Q2. I want to say that you can just read the translation version but I found something interesting about this:

So, according to Wikipedia, Dial Q2 was released for the first time in 1989 and like the manga explained, the first 4 number is 0990 (zero kyuu kyuu zero), thus making it Q2 (kyuushii), but it's not the official explanation. It was a paid service, and since it was targeted towards adult, 3 minutes is 300 yen (if we're going by Hokuto's explanation in the manga, 14-18 seconds will cost around 10 yen which means in real life, to reach 300 yen you will need to call at least 6 minutes so the Wikipedia's explanation is a bit crueler). And it seemed that this Q2 is more popular between the youngsters; they can talk hours without paying attention to the time and boom your monthly bill goes over the roof (here is written the bill can be around 10.000 yen to 1.000.000 yen. Average salary in Tokyo is 200,000 yen so yeah you know).

Then Seishiro told Hokuto that she is pretty detailed about this and she replied it's because she is an Aquarius, confirming that probably Subaru's birthday is right. I will talk about this later below.

They then talked about horoscopes and Seishiro mentioned about the fortune telling the couple did in the afternoon. She took a look at the paper and she said this.

Sei-chan, you were born in 1st April? Your image doesn't look like an Aries. You are more like water-related zodiac, like Scorpio or Pisces.

She knows, Sei-chan.

They then talked about how the magazines at the time talked about horoscopes and the end of the world prophecy. Seishiro then asked what Hokuto thinks about the end of the world and she replied by she is more worried about the sale bargain in IOIO (this is called Marui in Japan) that will happen in three days. Pretty Hokuto.

While Hokuto read the fortune paper, Seishiro asked Subaru about what's wrong in the dial line and Subaru explained that lately, there's been a series of prank calls. Seishiro, being who he is, said he also received a lot of prank calls that asked him like "My wife what are you doing?" or "what is the color of your underwear?" in panting voice.

And I don't know if Subaru is too naive, or he really thought that someone who've done marathon will do a prank call to a vet's office in the first place. A portrayal of Subaru's not-so-on-earth side. That aside, what the fuck is happening on the other side of the phone cries cries

Then, this triangle man continued with:

Seishiro: I'm not his wife so I can't satisfy his wish, so I let him hear the voices of my patients, like the cat, or the dog, or the monkey.

Whoever did the prank call to Seishiro, I hope you can continue whatever you are doing on the other side of the phone without getting shocked or heart attack.

Then SUBARU DECIDED TO FOCUS ON WHY THE CALLER ASKED ABOUT UNDERWEAR. It's okay it took me five looks at the panel to understand what this whole conversation means. Please, my boy.

The conversation continued with Subaru explaining that in the past 3 months, people with last phone number 19O9 (I think it's 1999) have been receiving a lot of prank calls and it's not just a normal prank, it was a prank including the use of curse art (jujutsu). At first, it seems like a normal prank call, but the houses and companies that received that call received continuous spiritual harms. But when NTT did the phone trace, because it was done in this Dial Q2 Party Line's system, it's difficult to track them, thus they seek Sumeragi Family's help.

Seishiro asked Subaru if he knew from what art this curse coming from, and Subaru said it's coming from a lot of religions and mixed. While Subaru is wondering how to find out who is the caller,

Hokuto: Wait a minute, Seishiro-chan! Isn't this horoscope fortune telling wrong!? Your personality is wrong! Also your compability with Subaru is the worse!

Hokuto, who is reading the fortune paper, is finally raising her voice and it's pretty hilarious. Her priority is showing.

And Seishiro replied with "the harder the obstacles, the bigger love will blaze". Idk how to explain this as it is but yeah it is like that. And I don't know how to explain this line if I consider what happened in the future :)

I will just say, Seishiro succeed in a way.

SO I will cut the first part here, and I'm going to talk a bit about the first half of Call A.

Just like how the second volume goes, the first part of the first chapter is talking about the information they had about the work Subaru is going to do. As you see, Seishiro teased Subaru about many things, but one thing for sure, Subaru didn't lie about his birth date, just the birth place. And if you noticed it, Hokuto unconsciously proved that Subaru's birth date is correct due to her revealing her own zodiac. Is it a good thing, or a bad thing? We will see in the future.

One thing I need to highlight here, you see, Subaru is most of the times out-of-the-world. His whole personality and view about the world is just off. We can see by how he goes sad when someone told him that he isn't normal, or how he decided to wonder why someone asked about underwears in prank calls while panting instead of focusing in the prank calls itself OR how Seishiro responded to it. Still, you can see that he is pretty much like a normal human---he can feel sad about not being like everyone else, he can feel embarassed by what people around him doing to him, he works using a pager and fax just like a normal employee, his unconscious body language, etc. etc.

I think the concept of "being normal" and "being special" is the most important theme in this chapter, and we will see how Subaru deals with this normal and special in the rest of the volume.

Anyway, that's the end of the first commentary for volume 3, and I hope I won't cry writing the next part because for God's sake, Subaru cries cries

#also its pretty interesting to learn about japanese past cultures through this manga #and i read in twitter that actually subaru and seishiro are pretty compatible if we go by their real birth date and place :)#the best thing about tokyo babylon is seeing how much effort clamp doing in each chapter #their dedication is amazing to this manga #sumeragi subaru #sakurazuka seishirou #sumeragi hokuto #clamp premium collection #tokyo babylon

9 notes · View notes