Does anyone find this moment of the new minigram kinda strange? Especially because of how ooc Kotoko is here, and how different it is from the usual lighthearted minigram tone.
We're shown that Kotoko is certainly not enthused with Kazui looking at her and trying to figure out what kind of martial arts she does, so much so that she feels actual discomfort at the situation (there's even a whole ass panel dedicated to her reaction).
And then she immediately jumps into calling him a "pervert", even though we all know that Kazui is not that kind of person at all:
She covers and retreats further into herself, and her first reaction is to call him a "pervert"? She simply could've just told him to stop, but she immediately jumps to "stop looking at me like that", which is a pretty major conclusion to jump to for anyone much less Kazui, who doesn't show any outward hostility towards her or the others.
This minigram is based off of this timeline conversation, and while minigrams aren't considered canon, timelines are. Before, I wasn't sure how to gauge Kotoko's interaction on whether or not she was simply telling him off so he would stop analyzing her, but from the information shown from the minigram, we can now see how uncomfortable she actually was based on her physical reaction:
Idk, it just seems like a strange reaction coming from her of all people, especially since we haven't seen Kotoko react this way to anyone before. We see her keep her cool the majority of the time, except here where she's ooc from her usual self. I do wonder if this detail/timeline convo implicates some kind of traumatic experience she's had in the past. If that's the case, Kazui's actions ended up reminding her of the memory, and that's why she acted the way she did here.
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Ride 766: The ones chasing the colored bib!!
Pag 1
1: Those who pride themselves on their speed on flats are jumping ahead one by one!!
Waa
So fast!
2: Their goal is
3: the first result that's 10km ahead of here...
Pag 2
1: The sprint line!!
Pag 3
1: We're done here
On!!
Hurry up, you haven't forgotten anything?
No
2: Damn, road racing is so much more hectic than tennis
3: I-I'll grab that for you!
Thanks
4: We have to take a different route than the race to get to the supply point ahead of time
5: They were saying that a a lot of people jumped ahead earlier right after the start
For that “something line”? Is that thing so important?
On
Pag 4
1: The sprint line is the first title
2: During the Inter High there are three colored bibs you can obtain in one day: the sprint's “green bib”, the mountains' “red bib”, and the one for that day's victory, the “yellow bib”
This for all three days... nine of them in total
3: And among them, the “first day's fast sprint line” is the very first one
4: A flash situation right after the start when no one is injured or had retired yet.... out of the nine bibs that everyone can desire
5: under the same conditions, this, most of all, is the one
Pag 5
1: when everyone has the same chances!!
Gallop!!
2: The green bib
3: has to be mine!!
Ugh!! That guy's fast!!
4: There's a lot of show-offs from Nagoya
They mistake flashiness for strength
Real strength is
Pag 6
2: is “thickness”!!
Th... “thickness”!?
3: I'm Oosumi from Kagoshima's Satsuma Nishi high school!!
In Kyushu “thick” means “big”!! And I won't lose against anyone when it comes to waist circumference and neck thickness!!
Ugh!! He really is huge!
4: Oosumi-kun!!
Kagoshima's Oosumi-kun!!
5: The thickest volcano in Japan is Sakurajima!!
The thickest radish in Japan is the Sakurajima radish!!
Uh... but that has nothing to do with running!!
Pag 7
1: I want to try and see if there's a connection!!
3: If everyone has a chance, then it's not out of reach for anyone
4: That's right... the chances are equal... so
5: of course... in order to take all the bibs and regain the title
Pag 8
1: Kanagawa's Hakone Academy is aiming for the first sprint line too!!
Pag 9
1: “Shoot them down”?
You really wanna go, Bashi-kun?
2: Well...
3: In that case, Jou-kun will rest..
Wha!! wait, Manami, the plan....
4: We can't hold him back.... Bashi-san, please don't break your zipper
5: Even if I break it, as long as I win there's nothing to complain about!!
6: Can you do it?
Who do you think you're speaking to!!
7: I'll take it, 100%!!
My jersey, that was handed over to me by Izumida-san... and that Izumida-san got from Shinkai-san...
Pag 10
1: Is the one with the “bib number 4”, the ace sprinter number of Hakone Academy's tradition!!
2: Ugh!! Hakogaku is moving....
Ugh...
The first sprint.... for Hakogaku, Doubashi is suddenly going for it?!
Pag 11
3: Just now
4: I heard someone say that Hakogaku is moving!!
5: And earlier I got confirmation that Kaburagi moved
Pag 12
1: The third year Doubashi is going?
That Doubashi!!
2: What should our selected team do!!
3: We have no chance of winning
So do we keep going like this and preserve our strengths?
No
Should we send someone!?
4: Good grief.... is there no time to calmly savor the “feeling of running”at the Inter High!! The feeling of running!!
5: Pfui...
Pag 13
1: Of course I'm prepared for it but still!!
2: Kobayashi!! Uchikawa!!
3: You have the chance to test your legs that you've trained on the track field!!
4: Go for the green bib challenge!!
Pag 14
1: Huh.... but
But the first attack is basically already done
If only the two of us jump ahead now from here....
2: One last train is soon coming up from behind us
He has a terrific acceleration, but if you can jump on it you can make it to the front!!
3: Ohh
Waaa
4: He's coming!!
5: Seriously!? If we can then I wanna go!!
What should we do, Sugimoto-san!!
Pag 15
1: He's here!!
5: He's huge!!
Hakogaku!!
Huh!! Sugimoto-san!?
7: Kuaaaaaa!!
Pag 16
1: Doubashii!!
2: Sugimoto-san jumped ahead....
3: and caught up to the Hakogaku guy!?
4: Huh!?
What do you want, you....
Pag 17
1: You're Sohoku's handyman....!?
2: Can you take two people of the selcted team with you!?
I want to give them the chance to experience the sprint
3: Why are you running in the Inter High!!
4: The selected team!? So you're the one they said they called at last minute!!
Please take them with you
5: Ah!? You call that a negotiation!?
Get out of here with that selfish talk!!
6: There's no benefit for me..!! It's ridiculous!! I refuse!!
I'll make up for it!!
Pag 18
1: When Hakogaku is in a pinch somewhere, we'll help you!! I'll take the initiative!!
3: Buah!! Oi, wait-
You!? Helping!? Hakogaku!?
Th-that's right!!
4: Buuah, that's not balanced!!
Please
5: Please!!
Pag 19
1: …. tch, I don't hate earnest people
2: Get on!! Selected team's guys!! But I won't care if you get shaken off!!
5: Handyman!!
I felt your spirit!!
Pag 20
1: I'll take these guys for now
I don't expect anything though!!
Thank you Doubashi!!
Waaa-
He's so fast!!
Pag 21
1: Ah I'm so glad....
Sugimoto-san....
Sugimoto-san is amazing.... he negotiated....
2: Now, we'll run in a formation while preserving our strength
Otherwise, if we're all scattered when they come back, they won't have a place to rest
3: Yessir!!
4: Do your best, guys
5: So fast....
It's hard, Kobayashi...
6: But we'll hold out
This is the road that Sugimoto-san negotiated for us!!
Yes!!
Pag 22
2: Hakone Academy's Doubashi moved, on!!
This.... Issa-kun and Doubashi-san... could it be that it'll be like...
3: last year's matchup, on!!
4: No but, Kanzaki-chan, what you were saying earlier about the colored bibs
5: You said that counting the sprint and the climb, there's three of them for each day
Pag 23
1: And there's no one who wants to take all three of them?
2: Yeah, since climbing and sprinting are fundamentally different running styles, there's no one
5: That is, if you exclude....
Pag 24
1: those out-of the-ordinary people who will appear sometimes!!
Yon
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Did Tim “kill” King Snake and does Bruce know?
In Tim’s first solo min, he goes to Paris to learn martial arts and get that “edge” he thinks he needs to properly assume his role as Robin. He ends up on the tail of British Lord, Hong Kong-based heroine kingpin, leader of the Ghost Dragon gang, Sir Edmund Dorrance AKA King Snake (who is blind, which will be important later). Tim’s only companions on this world tour are Lady Shiva, who wants to defeat Dorrance to prove herself stronger, and ex-DEA agent Clyde Rawlins, who wants revenge against Dorrance for Dorrance’s reprisal killing of his family.
Robin I #4 -- the dream team, I love them
The trio catch up to Dorrance in Hong Kong, where he’s waiting for them in what seems to be the top suite of his skyscraper, 50 stories up.
In this final confrontation with Dorrance, Tim takes full advantage of a crucial moment of distraction to kick Dorrance out of the window. Dorrance ends up clinging to a ledge, hanging on for dear life.
Shiva then appears to order Tim to kill Dorrance, presumably by kicking him off the ledge. (It becomes clear then that this is how Shiva intends to prove herself stronger than Dorrance: she trained Tim and therefore Tim is her weapon and an extension of herself. If Tim defeats Snake, she defeats him by proxy).
Tim refuses and walks away. All we see is him listen as Dorrance falls to what Tim explicitly assumes is his death, 50 stories down.
Robin I #5
So, while Tim isn't directly responsible for Dorrance's death, he was the one to put him in that position and then left him there to fall.
It’s unclear how Tim conceives of his actions here and how we are supposed to interpret them, especially in light of Tim’s refusal to kill in earlier chapters in this arc (and after).
Robin I #2
Robin I #4 -- I love Shiva
He stopped Rawlins from shooting and killing gang members, but then points to the danger Rawlins might have put them in by accidentally shooting crates containing plague (please read this arc it’s really fun despite suffering from uh. severe written in the 90s syndrome) and then explicitly restates his vow not to kill.
AND THEN, the plot thickens!!!
Dorrance did not actually fall to his death; he caught himself on a ledge below, where he believes Tim came down to taunt him. He came away from his fall with a fear of Tim and an obsession with killing him to purge himself of that fear. (anyway Sir Edmund Dorrance walked so Ra’s could run)
Batman (1940) #468
Batman (1940) #469
Dorrance moves to Gotham with the Ghost Dragons and takes over Chinatown (which. Who decided to put, a British lord, what boils down to an allegory of British colonialism in Hong Kong as the head of Chinatown? I have questions – anyway crimelord Lynx ftw)
In the course of his pursuit of Robin, it is revealed that Bruce believes “it was Lady Shiva that caused Dorrance to plunge to his death”—that Tim told him this.
Batman (1940) #469
This is clarified a bit more later, when Bruce confronts Dorrance.
#469
Dorrance explicitly accuses Tim of murder. He outlines the incident leading up to his fall—that Tim tricked him and attacked him from behind (he did, we saw this), that Dorrance was left dangling, and that Tim then caused him to fall.
Bruce refutes this accusation by claiming that it “wasn’t Robin who left you for dead. … Robin spared you. It was Lady Shiva who threw you to your death.”
From this, we can assume that in the moments after Tim refused Shiva and walked away, Shiva threw Dorrance down, which he didn’t realize because, as Bruce claims, he is blind and was likely traumatized by the incident. We can’t know this for sure, however—that Shiva threw him down—for exactly those reasons. Bruce is working off what Tim apparently told him, but we—and Tim—did not see this happen.
Bruce’s explanation of what actually happened also calls into question what exactly Tim told him about what happened.
It’s unclear what exactly he is refuting by: “It wasn’t Robin who left you for dead.” Does he not count Tim leaving Dorrance hanging as “leaving him for dead” or is the implication that Bruce thinks Shiva was the one who both threw Dorrance out the window and off the ledge? We never actually see what Tim told Bruce.
This leaves us with some possibilities:
that what Tim did by leaving Dorrance to dangle, by leaving him to Shiva, does not count against Batman’s no-killing rule.
Perhaps that Bruce does not feel that he could have expected or wanted Tim to step between Shiva and her target, Dorrance
that Bruce does not actually know what really happened—that Tim kicked Dorrance out the window, which in turn implies that either Tim may have stretched the truth or Bruce misinterpreted (purposefully?) what Tim told him
These all seem inconsistent, however, with incidents further down the line, with Cluemaster for example, and then when Tim rebukes Azbats for leaving Abattoir to die. A core tenet of Tim’s characterization is his sometimes frustrated but dedicated adherence to the no-kill rule (im beating anyone who cites the league bases at me away with a stick). So I don’t know what to do with this. Maybe it’s just comic inconsistency. Chuck Dixon, what are you doing?
If anyone has any thoughts about how to reconcile all this!! Please grant me peace
ADDENDA
i.e. stuff that I can’t possibly expect to be addressed in comics, but that I think about anyway
Related to this arc—a point is made a few issues later that Tim at this time doesn’t really have anyone to confide in. He can't really talk to Batman, isn’t close to Dick at this point, and while he is willing to work with Alfred and ask for help with Bat-related things, they’re not yet emotionally close. This isolation is poignantly demonstrated by him confessing his troubles to his still-comatose father.
Robin II #2
WHOM then would he have talked to about all that happened on his little “world tour”? No one? Besides whatever happened with Dorrance and brutal training and isolation, he also had to deal with the fact that Clyde Rawlins—whom he presumably developed some sort of camaraderie with (it’s tim ;-; he forms connections) was killed by Dorrance while working this mission with him.
We know that he had no one to talk to about all that. Did Tim linger on Rawlins????? On the fact that Shiva called him her weapon?? My boy is 13 ;-;
I also love that the whole buildup to Tim’s debut as Robin is Bruce agonizing about whether he should allow another boy to assume the position that cost him his son, and is then followed by plenty of moments after of Batman being overprotective.
Batman (1940) #468
And yet, when Tim is like “I need an edge to be Robin” presumably Bruce?? although this is never explicit connects him with a martial artist in Paris and sends him off on his own. It’s also possible that Tim is the one who comes up with this given that he agonizes a bit over whether he’s doing right by choosing his own path
Robin I #1
Either way, Tim goes to Paris Alone and essentially Unsupervised.
This lack of supervision is further emphasized by the fact that he goes to hunt down a king pin all the way to Hong Kong with Lady fucking Shiva and an ex DEA agent and no other back up. And Bruce presumably doesn’t find out until Tim runs into the hitman Henri Ducard in Hong Kong, who is apparently Batman’s acquaintance. (#5)
I have so many questions. I know that the actual reasoning is probably “oh we want to give this new character a little mini adventure arc on his own!!! To showcase how cool and independent the new robin is” but STILL
(also tim immediately getting himself a little team :’) I lub him)
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