Welcome to 101 of Suou Hayato's expressions. Yes, it is sarcasm!
Suou only has like 3 typical expressions (with some exceptions in special situations) in 90 : 10 : 1 ratio, where he smiles softly x 90, is slightly surprised x 10, and is serious x 1.
In any cases, he's always very beautiful.
This blog is only made for fun and isn't a bot. All posts are manually published/scheduled, and are tagged with #101 suou expressions or #101 suo expressions (with and without the 'u'). Analysis/theory posts use the tag #wbk analysis (yeah, I do write those sometimes) and anything else will use #not an expression post.
Since the number of analysis posts is growing, I've opted to list them under the cut for quick access. Have a nice day!
Analysis posts in reverse chronological order:
Symbols of Takiishi and Umemiya in Ch.150
Symbols surrounding Boufuurin's leaders and their meanings
Boufuurin's Four Heavenly Kings and their Buddhism counterpart
Suou, the one who values his words
[Theory] Umemiya was going to train Sugushita to become the next leader
Umemiya fostering Sakura to be his successor
How Umemiya seems to be the epitome of Suou's image of adulthood and a proper teacher/mentor
I've developed a habit of buying Wind Breaker goods when I'm in a bad mood (haha oopsie), and for now, these are the ones that came in the mail! ✨✨✨
There are more but they haven't arrived yet. When they all get here I will have an update post (maybe, probably). In the mean time, I just want to share these beautiful babies with yall :3
Umemiya postcard: Official WBK merch
Suou Polaroid: purchased from @/ximiximiluu on Twitter
Umemiya and Suou phone charms: @katzzzmimimi on Tumblr
Graffiti behind Umemiya and the class 1-1 representative
The way these are two consecutive chapters is really begging us to look into it, isn't it?
Chapter 38: The Four Kings
On this cover, we can immediately spot the graffiti of four skeletons on the wall behind Umemiya, and it's not hard to understand that it's referencing the four Boufuurin Kings, as suggested in the title. But which one is which?
The skeleton on the top left could be Mizuki, as we can see that it's holding a laptop, representing information control, which suits Mizuki's role. To his right, from the high heel hanging from the skeleton's fingertip, we can safely assume that it's Tsubaki. Below her, at the bottom right corner, with the spray can, is Momose. And last but not least, at the bottom left, is Hiiragi.
One observation to back up this assumption is the skeletons' horns. If we assume that the kings who are physically stronger have two horns, then it'd be fitting for Hiiragi and Tsubaki as their strength had been put on display, as we don't know as much about Mizuki and Momose.
One thing that keeps bugging me is the drawing on Hiiragi's phone. I'm not sure if it's just a random drawing that someone graffiti-ed over the actual drawing or it has a meaning, and I wasn't able to find any information on it, so if anybunny has an idea please share the knowledge! :3
Chapter 37: One step
Here, we have a direct view of the graffiti at the back of classroom 1-1. The drawing is a reference to the traditional Japanese painting Wind God and Thunder God (by Tawaraya Sōtatsu, from the 17th century). On the left is Raijin, the god of lightning and thunder, and to the right is Fujin, the god of wind, which orderly corresponds to Suou and Nirei. The two gods, just like Suou and Nirei, are oftenly depicted together.
Comparing
1. Signs of time
The Boufuurin Kings graffiti on the left is old, with scratches and leftovers of attempts to paint something else over it. On the other hand, the Fujin and Raijin painting is almost anew.
This clear contrast implies the change in Bourfuurin's core members. As Umemiya and the four kings are graduating next year, the leading roles are shifting towards the newer, younger members.
2. The presence of characters (or lack thereof)
In chapter 38's cover, there is only Umemiya with his kings painted on the wall behind him, while in chapter 37's, both Suou and Nirei – Sakura's vice captains – are present, hinting a more direct involvement from the supporting positions to their leader. We can see this by putting Umemiya's and Sakura's relationship with their vice captains. For Umemiya, he is mature and independent, while Sakura is less so, meaning that he will have to depend more on his vice captains, whether emotionally or strategically.
With chapter 152, we have a glimpse into the tattoo on Takiishi and Endo's shoulders.
Let's disect it!
Furanki
Breech-loading swivel gun – or Furanki (仏郎機砲, "Frankish gun") in Japanese (Turnbull, 2006) – was one of the first cannons used in Japan. Coming from the Portuguese, these early European models were either called ishibiya (石火矢) or furankihō (フランキ砲) (Gunsen History, 2019), the latter bears similarity with the gun's Chinese name "Folangji", which comes from the Turkish name "Prangi" or Turkic "Farangi" (Chase, 2003). This explains the "Frank" on the tattoo.
I was trying to see if the wheel in the tattoo has any other meanings, but as far as I know, it is simply the wheel of the cannon. The same structure can be observed from Nii Satoru's drawing of the cannon wheel with 4 main spokes and 4 additional, underlying spokes. (Most wheel symbols in Hinduism or Buddhism are eight-spoked wheels).
The right-most part of the tattoo appears to be the rings and the button at the base of the cannon. It is pretty similar to what we'd see with a top-down view of the plan below.
Note. From Oozutsu cannon Japan 16th century [image] by Unknown author. Wikimedia Commons, 2010. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oozutsu_cannon_Japan_16th_century.jpg
The wolf
The illustration of the wolf was cleverly combined into the cannon. Its hind legs turned into the cannon base while its fur blended into the fire surrounding the cannon.
Wolves have many symbolic meanings, but here I believe Endo was trying to highlight Takiishi's fierceness. Takiishi is an untamed, lone wolf. He doesn't obey the rules; and Takiishi's world, as per Endo's explanation, has no one other than Takiishi (of course until Umemiya makes an entrance).
Name references between Takiishi Chika and Ishibiya
Japanese Ishibiya (石火矢) hand cannons are also early firearms in Japan and have made an appearance in the movie Princess Mononoke.
If you find Endo's explanation confusing, here's a more visualised version for it.
Takiishi Chika (焚石 矢)
焚 (taki): to burn, or anger. This character is made up of two 木 (trees) and one 火 (fire)
石 (ishi): stone, or rock
矢 (chika): arrow
Ishibiya (石火矢)
石 (ishi): stone, or rock
火 (bi): fire
矢 (ya): arrow, projectile
Kunikuzushi (国崩し)
Occasionally, Furanki guns were also called Kuni-kuzushi by the Ōtomo clan, which means country destroyer (Gunsen History, 2019).
Kunikuzushi (国崩し)
国 (kuni): country, or nation
崩 (kuzu) し(shi): breakdown
References
Chase, K. W. (2003). Firearms : a global history to 1700. Cambridge University Press.
Gunsen History (2019). Taihō (大砲): Japanese Cannons and Artillery. Gunbai: Ancient Japanese Warfare. https://gunbai-militaryhistory.blogspot.com/
Turnbull, S. R. (2006). Samurai : the world of the warrior. Osprey
Unknown Author. (2010). Oozutsu cannon Japan 16th century [image]. Wikimedia Commons. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Oozutsu_cannon_Japan_16th_century.jpg
Umemiya's Savior, Shitara Yuki, and the Old Furin (Knowledge and Theories)
Now, if anyone paid attention during the Umemiya's Backstory chapters (93-97), I'm sure we all noticed two important players in it.
Shitara Yuki, Umemiya's foster care worker who looks after him.
And the Mysterious Furin 3rd Year Student who saved Umemiya's life.
I've done a little data collecting, analysing and theorising about what knowledge we do have about these two and what information they can tell us about the old Furin before Umemiya was even in middle school. And potentially where they are now and how they could return in the future.
Shitara Yuki (設楽 優希)
According to this Kanji translator, his name means:
設 means "establishment, provision, prepare"
楽 means "music, comfort, ease" (the tree radical in most Furin names is here, I think)
優 means "tenderness, excel, surpass, actor, superiority, gentleness"
希 means "hope, beg, request, pray"
Since we have more knowledge about Shitara, I'd say he's the easier puzzle to crack, so let's start with him.
We know he's a bit of a goofball who keeps a dorky, brave face for the kids to protect them from the violence surrounding Makochi at this time.
But he does deeply care about and is protective of the Furinen kids, scolding them when they worry him and kindly smiling when they need to talk some emotional stuff through.
What I'm most interested is what he says about Furin.
Notice how the other orphanage worker is talking about Furin and Shitara says "That stings", and she responds with "But I'm not talking about you?"
Then there's Mystery Student's comment about how "It's not like what happened during your generation".
Shitara Theories
From these comments we can all but confirm that Shitara was a Former Furin Student, likely while it was a delinquent school when the students were "a little more well-behaved" and didn't provoke the nearby teams. And Mystery Student could have known Shitara when he was a student, or heard second hand through Shitara about his time in the school.
Shitara could also be a glimpse into Umemiya's future; what happens after Umemiya gradutes? Does he stay involved in protecting the town? Or does he work in Furinen, being a good caretaker for kids like him? Or does he become a teacher in Furin, protecting the students?
But that's enough about Shitara. Now onto the main event:
Umemiya's Savior
We have comparatively less information about him, so I'm just analysing him to Hell and back.
What we can infer from the visual information is that he's a 3rd year student (so 17 or 18 when Umemiya is 9, making him 26 or 27 in canon time). He also wears a chain necklace with some kinda charm on the end. Less important, but he has lighter coloured short hair, but we all know hair is allowed to change in this world (Nirei, Kiryu, Umemiya).
I know a few people wondered if he could be Takiishi, but considering Takiishi is around the same age as Umemiya, it's unlikely.
First thing we can confirm is that he's strong. Specifically that he went to Furin because he wanted to get stronger "just like someone we both know", meaning himself and Shitara.
Second we can confirm that Savior was in Furinen for 6 months, 8 years before he met Umemiya (17 years ago in canon timeline). Savior would've been 9 or 10 years old at that time. Not only that, but Shitara kept an eye on this kid, the same way he's kept an eye on Umemiya since then. He also has a close enough relationship with Shitara to trust him to handle stuff he's ill equipped to manage.
Thirdly we can confirm that though Savior was one of the Furin Students wrecking the town, it comes from a place of wanting to protect it. He's trying to stop the teams and gangs from getting too big and becoming a problem for the local area.
So those are the concrete facts. Now for the
Savior Theories
Based on the information gathered, we can confirm that he's got either a role model or a peer he wanted to become stronger for, who Shitara also knew. This person was most likely also a Furinen orphan or a Furin student. And since Windbreaker does this pattern of Serious Guy & Silly Guy (Sakura & Nirei, Umemiya & Hiragi, Togame & Tomiyama, etc), I'm assuming the other student is the Silly to Savior's Serious. As of right now, we can't really make any more guesses about this person.
It's also highly likely that Savior has gone through something traumatic, in order to give him this outlook on Umemiya's situation. It likely influiences why he didn't try to talk Umemiya down from his suicidal thoughts until after Umemiya attempted it himself. He could well have been putting on an act of indifference though to, in a way, give Umemiya permission to make up his own mind about the situation without someone who "cared" about him getting in the way.
Based on the way that Shitara calls out Savior on the mess of the town and the idea that strength shouldn't be used in this way, and how Savior is trying to protect the town by taking down the smaller teams, part of why Savior could've wanted to be stronger is so he could physically defend the town and have what it takes to overcome life's difficulties.
Where Savior is now?
This is more thumbtacks and string zones, but I think he could be one of Suo's martial arts brothers, based on a connection @101suouexpressions pointed out in this fantastic meta here.
Or if I can be much more cracky with my headcanons, I think Savior could have trained Sakura or is the Weather contact in his phone, based on their Big Damn Heroes entrances when saving a weakling in an alleyway.
One thing I'm certain of is Savior is highly unlikely to be in Noroshi or one of the random towns folk. The character design and the significance to Umemiya's backstory even without a name reveal proves that this guy is too important to remain a shadow in Umemiya's past forever.
He, Shitara and the "Silly to Savior's Serious" character are most likely gonna turn up in an arc closer to Umemiya's graduation, when the fate of Bofurin's status as Defenders Of Makochi is under threat with Umemiya soon being forced out of the role by the Japanese schooling system.
Savior may turn up in a gang of his own that have been opperating under their own banner trying to protect somewhere near Makochi, but not near enough that Umemiya would randomly run into him and learn his name. Then they could be paralleled with the Noroshi, who are the Furin drop outs who never graduated and became trouble makers, focusing on this other team as being graduates of Furin who stop trouble.
Or if I could be self indulgent, I'd say that Savior is gonna turn up in the Suo Yakuza arc I imagine happening in the future (I'll make a post about this later.)
Guess we'll just have to wait and see what comes next.
This is a continuation of Part 1 (it was too long I feel like I should halve it). You don't have to read it in order to understand this post, but you are more than welcome to!
Let's continue!
Tiger and Dragon (Sakura and Sugishita)
The drawing of a tiger and a dragon on class 1-1's black board refers to the idiom (龙争虎斗) from eastern culture, meaning the clash between dragon and tiger, which are two of the most powerful creatures. The idiom is used when two opponents who (often) hold grudges and are equally powerful face each other. Tone wise, it is a positive phrase, leaning towards amazement and admiration from an outsider's point of view.
I'd say Sakura is the tiger and Sugishita is the dragon here based on their physiques (Sakura is small but flexible and resilient, while Sugishita has long limbs and tends to strike his opponent heads-on with force).
Graffiti on the wall in chapter 3 as a foreshadow for Shishitouren Arc
As the section name suggested, this is definitely a reference/foreshadow for Shishitouren Arc. On the wall, we can see a rabbit chasing down a man with a (rather dangerous, oopsie) baseball bat while other animals (foxes to the left and I'd say bears to the right?) look on and laugh.
This is the expected scene in the run-down theatre Ori. The rabbit is their leader - Tomiyama Chouji, as his name has the word rabbit (兎) in it. Moreover, having animals in them is the common Shishitouren name theme (I might make a separate post on this haha surely). E.g. Togame Jo is a turtle (亀), Sako Kouta is a fox (狐), Teruomi Inugami is a dog/wolf (犬) (note: I can't access the original Japanese publication since it's paid only so I'm only guessing based on the "inu" in his name. For anyone interested, he appears in chapter 127).
Skulls/Skeletons
Skeletons and skulls are easily seen throughout Fuurin. Most of the time I believe it's just because it's a common thing to graffiti. It's also interesting to think about how they represent violence and death, while Boufuurin are just little babies running around protecting the town haha.
Little blobs accompanying the skeletons <3
It is clear that the large skeletons are looming over the little blobs, but the skeletons don't look hostile and the blobs aren't scared of them. This makes me think that the skeletons are Boufuurin students and the blobs are the people of Makochi who are under Boufuurin's protection.
Overall I just think they're adorable. They are literally you and me :3 :3 :3
different anon: now you gotta tell us who fudo myoo is (take your time)
Hi anon, of course! ^^ Sorry for the late reply I am juggling with schoolwork.
I'm going to try my best to not sound like a copy-pasted version of the Wiki!
To start with, the Myō-ō (明王) are wrathful deities who represent the power of Buddhism to overcome the passions. Five of the Myō-ō are emanations of the Five Buddha of Wisdom and Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王) is the central deity of the group (the other four deities keep guard of the four cardinal directions). We can see the similarity between Umemiya and the Four Heavenly Kings here.
Fudō Myō-ō (不動明王)'s name consists of 不 (not) 動 (move) which mean "immovable" or "unmoving" (for this, he is often seated or standing on rock), 明 : "wisdom", and 王 : "king".
Fudō Myō-ō is often potrayed surrounded in fire with fierce expression to scare the evils and force them to surrender. He has two fangs, one pointing upward and other pointing downward; and a sword in right hand (thatcan cut through the Three Poisons: Greed, Wrath, Ignorance) and ropes in his left hand.
No picture but I find this to be a very helpful source!
I was working on symbolisms in WBK and chapter 150 came out and I LOST MY MIND GRRRR
Continue under the cut.
The panel of Takiishi vs Umemiya was directly accompanied with another panel:
In my previous post, it was (not really subtly) implied that Umemiya, being the Boufuurin leader and surrounded by the Four Heavenly Kings, carries the same role as Buddha. Thus, you can see Budda on the right.
But what about Takiishi? We have so little information of him, but from this frame, I'm pretty certain that here, Takiishi is Garuda, or Karura in Japanese Buddhist version.
Garuda in Buddhism is invoked as a symbol of impetuous violent force, speed, and martial prowess.
Karura (迦楼羅), sometimes can go by the name of konjichō (金翅鳥, lit. "gold-winged bird", is a gigantic, fire breathing bird that feeds on dragons/serpents. In Journey to the West, Garuda was subdued by Buddha and served Buddha from then on.
EDIT: I WAS WRONG! THANK YOU ANON FOR TELLING ME
"Ume is associated with fudo myoo, not buddha. He has a sword and fangs, which is how he's usually depicted." - Anon
TYSM anon this really sheds some light into me, I'm rewiring all my thoughts rn!
I was working on symbolisms in WBK and chapter 150 came out and I LOST MY MIND GRRRR
Continue under the cut.
The panel of Takiishi vs Umemiya was directly accompanied with another panel:
In my previous post, it was (not really subtly) implied that Umemiya, being the Boufuurin leader and surrounded by the Four Heavenly Kings, carries the same role as Buddha. Thus, you can see Budda on the right.
But what about Takiishi? We have so little information of him, but from this frame, I'm pretty certain that here, Takiishi is Garuda, or Karura in Japanese Buddhist version.
Garuda in Buddhism is invoked as a symbol of impetuous violent force, speed, and martial prowess.
Karura (迦楼羅), sometimes can go by the name of konjichō (金翅鳥, lit. "gold-winged bird", is a gigantic, fire breathing bird that feeds on dragons/serpents. In Journey to the West, Garuda was subdued by Buddha and served Buddha from then on.
EDIT: I WAS WRONG! THANK YOU ANON FOR TELLING ME
"Ume is associated with fudo myoo, not buddha. He has a sword and fangs, which is how he's usually depicted." - Anon
TYSM anon this really sheds some light into me, I'm rewiring all my thoughts rn!
Symbols surrounding Boufuurin's leaders and their meanings
This post will go into explicit symbols (ones that are clearly drawn with the intention to show the audience) of the flowers that represents our Four Heavenly Kings, and Umemiya Hajime.
(Implicit Boufuurin symbols)
The fanatic - Sugishita Kyoutarou
The first, and most impressive piece of symbolism that hit me is from chapter 3, when we meet Sugishita for the first time.
While I was doing research, I came across @/sawacore on twitter who had pointed out that the 5 flowers are the flowers of Boufuurin's Heavenly Kings and Umemiya.
The 5 flowers
Below is my effort to match and name these flowers. I don't think I am 100% correct, but I've identify the most distinguishable details about them. (And all of them are edible! What a surprise!)
Umemiya - Ume (Plum blossom)
Plum blossom means good fortune, health, and a talisman against evil. Moreover, Ume flower is also considered Sakura (cherry blossom)'s older sister, as it blooms at the end of winter and beginning of spring, right before cherry blossom does.
Tsubaki - Japanese Camellia
The flower is in their name, so there is no speculation here.
Tsubaki resembles freedom of choice and perfect love, which is very in character for our Tsubaki. Tsubaki had broken the gender norms to wear skirt and make-up even if they were born as a boy. Moreover, I truly adore their opinion on love: Love's value is in its own and doesn't need to be reciprocated for it to be perfect. They loved being in love, and that was what's beautiful about it.
Mizuki - Amana flower (Tulipa edulis/アマナ)
Now I can't find the meaning of this flower, so maybe I was wrong here. But this flower is, in fact, edible, and kind of fits the description: Pointy petals and cruciform. Please let me know if you find a better flower!
Momose - Momo flower (Prunus persica)
Momo flower means "fascinating personality", love, and good luck. It's a little all over the place, yes, but maybe we haven't known enough about Momose?
Hiiragi - Holly berry
Holly, or holly berry included, represents prosperity and focus strength. This is factually correct, as Hiiragi is the leader of a team whose name is taken from the god of warfare.
