Soooo it's been a hot minute since I made a post about Ichi lol
Honestly, I didn't really have much to say until the last chapter, since the last few months have been a slow build up of new themes, characters, etc, and i didn't see much point commenting until we got a clearer view on things going forward.
But oh boy, do i have some thoughts on it now. I hope y'all enjoy this long ass post full of my wild theories and speculation lol
For one, i love Hakari, they seem really interesting as a new Majik.
Though I have to admit that a large part of it comes from the fact that i, too, also deeply dislike Fujimine, so this scene immediately endeared me to them lmfao
In general, i find her to be obnoxious and kind of grating.
That's not to say that I think she's a bad character- in fact, she feels like a parody or a play on the idea of an overpowered self insert OC/Mary Sue. Specifically the kind that forces themselves into a story and selfishly makes everything about them, with little care for anything else around them, treating the story and characters around her as little more than playthings.
Even her powers lean into that - they make people believe that she's always been in their lives and that they've always loved her, when in reality she just showed up and is brainwashing them.
If Fujimine is supposed to be a direct parody of that, then I think she's a clever one.
However, she's still a particular archetype of character that I don't particularly vibe with, so it felt very cathartic when Hakari shut her down like that.
But as the chapter continues, we see Hakari continue their rant about how much they hate Witches, especially ones like Fujimine, and how they will never let any Witch ever acquire them-
- With the very next scene focusing, very pointedly, on Kumugi.
As if to drive the point home, Ichi is even staring right at her.
This seems to heavily imply that Kumugi will be the one to acquire them later in the arc.
Kumugi herself hasn't really had a focus since the Ichi's Debut ball. Which happened almost exactly a year ago irl, now.
But we've seen her simmering frustration slowly growing in the background. It's shown up after every major event that's happened so far.
We know that Kumugi has a drive to prove herself, and actually enjoys a challenge. But her desire to grow was stifled by her sister.
Now that her sister is no longer pushing her down, Kumugi is free to do what she wants. And she wants to do right by Team Desscaras.
But... She's spent so long letting her sister walk over her out of guilt, suppressing her own desires and potential, that she's struggling to find her footing again.
Watching Amadoro admit to feeling useless and frustrated over her recent failures caused Kumugi see herself in her. And it spurs her to try and help.
Ichi recognizes this immediately, and offers to help, which causes the rest of Team Desscaras to join her.
It's an incredibly wholesome moment.
Let's put a pin in this for now.
I wanna go back a little bit, to this moment between Ichi and Fujimine.
Once she learns about his connection to Desscaras through the student-mentor contract, Fujimine wastes no time trying to kill him.
Ichi, despite the brainwashing, instinctively responds to her bloodlust by stabbing her in the neck.
This sets off a scene where Fujimine calls Ichi's humanity into question.
And it... Deeply bothers him.
There's still a lot we don't know about Ichi. But few things get under his skin like this - in such a direct, obvious way.
Ichi is genuinely stressed about this idea, that he's not truly "human."
Which, this moment made me notice a pattern among Team Desscaras.
Gokuraku turned himself into a cyborg in order to achieve his goal of killing Bakugami. It didn't matter if everyone hated or feared him. He didn't care how far he augmented his body.
Bakugami even directly states that Gokuraku "isn't human anymore."
Later on, it's implied that Desscaras was willing to set aside her own humanity for the sake of becoming the greatest Witch ever, to fulfill the promise she made to Libro.
Hitsugi calls her more of a demon than a Witch.
Once again, someone on Team Desscaras has had their humanity called into question by their enemies.
The only exception so far is Kumugi.
If anything, Kumugi is painfully human.
There's some hints that she might be far more powerful than she appears (look at what she did to Spica), but that potential hasn't been unlocked yet.
Right now, she's just a girl trying her absolute best.
Unlike Ichi, Dess, and Gokuraku, who are all heavy hitters with terrifying strength, Kumugi provides support for the team. She writes everything down, keeps notes, taught Ichi a little bit of magic, and tried to use a little of her medical training to help Minerva.
And - I'm not sure if this is connected or not, but I thought I'd point it out -
Hakari's "home" looks like a giant tower of gifts lovingly piled on top of each other.
It's an especially strange design for a Magik that seems to hate humans so much. You'd think they'd have a much more intimidating home - but maybe that's just stereotyping.
But you know what is interesting?
The first character in the series to bring up the concept of giving gifts is Kumugi.
The series spends half a chapter appreciating the emotional weight gifts have, and demonstrating why they're so meaningful.
Kumugi even bought her sister a gift.
And that was before she gained the courage to stand up to her - before she's able to let go of her guilt and stand tall.
Kumugi just... Wanted to give her sister a gift, bc she loves her.
So, it's interesting that Kumugi is implied to be the one to acquire Hakari, seeing how she's the one who explained to Ichi, the main character, how meaningful presents are - while Hakari's home is a walking tower of gift wrapped presents.
Something else I wanna point out -
Hakari actually praises Amadoro's strength of character for prioritizing the hostage's lives.
They immediately take the praise back, but it's curious how something like that would catch their attention in the first place - enough to comment on it. Especially for a Magik that claims to hate humans so much.
And when Amadoro attacks, her weapon is transformed into a bunch of... Balls, blocks, and cones?
Are those... Supposed to resemble children's toys, maybe? Tho it could be a coincidence.
There also seems to be an implication that normal weapons wouldn't work against Hakari. Amadoro is able to work around this, bc her weapon is crystalized magic and not something truly physical, but that's an exception.
But if that's the case, does that mean that Hakari's trial can't actually be accomplished using weapons?
Before more can be explained however, the fight is interrupted by Fujimine.
But some things I want to note:
Hakari hates witches. This seems to stem from the idea that all Witches treat Majiks like slaves, so the source of this hate is righteous fury on behalf of other Majiks.
They have a special hatred of Witches with qualities similar to Fujimine - that is: arrogant, possessive, overconfident, and patronizing.
Hakari compliments Amadoro for her bravery and care for the hostages.
Putting it all together, it feels like Hakari places a lot of weight on the kind of person someone is. On their attitude, morals, and actions. They take special notice of these things.
Plus:
Their house is a walking pile of... gifts?
They turned Amadoro's weapon into a harmless bunch of cones, balls, and blocks.
Hakari says that they "won't ever let any human acquire them." The scene then cuts to Kumugi, with the implication being that she's the one who will acquire them, due to the law of dramatic irony.
Which, if we follow that train of thought, seems to hint that Kumugi will do something to prove herself to them, which will be what causes Hakari to let themselves be acquired by her.
Now. The bigger question. What could Kumugi do in order to prove herself worthy of acquiring Hakari?
Furthermore, what on earth could Hakari's trail be, where accomplished and powerful Witches such as Amadoro and Fujimine can't beat it, but someone as comparatively weak and inexperienced as Kumugi, can?
Well.
This is a longshot, but what if it's some kind of true act of kindness towards a Magik?
It can't be something shallow or obligatory, it has to be genuine.
Plus, Hakari seems... sincerely upset on behalf of other Magiks' suffering? This isn't a common attitude among Majiks. Many keep to themselves and dislike or avoid humans and even other Majiks, and friendships among them isn't exactly the norm. We've seen exceptions, but those seem to be firmly exceptions.
If Hakari truly believes all humans are selfish and terrible, wouldn't it make sense that their trial is something that they believe a human would never be able to accomplish?
Now, with those ideas laid out, how would Kumugi go about accomplishing this particular trial?
Well.
Hakari has this lil' guy around them, named Sukemaru. They get quite a lot of focus this chapter, mostly with slapstick humor between them and Hakari.
But...
What if Kumugi proved herself by protecting Sukemaru? Sacrificing herself to save them?
That would go against all of Hakari's beliefs on humans.
Bc here's the thing -
The source of Kumugi's motivation for this arc - the very reason why the team is going to support Amadoro on this mission in the first place - is because of her empathy.
She has no connection to Amadoro herself. There is no logical reason for her to get involved.
However, she understands just how frustrated Amadoro must feel. And seeing someone experience the same kind of shame and regret made Kumugi want to reach out and help them in return.
Once again, she's the odd one out among her team. She isn't motivated by injustice or anger, like Gokuraku and Desscaras. And she wasn't abandoned in the woods and left to die, like Ichi.
All three of them had something traumatic happen to them as children. Some outside force came in and changed everything, which made them dedicate the rest of their lives to surviving and getting stronger, to overcome what they experienced.
But Kumugi caused harm to someone she loved - her sister - and the guilt ate at her for years. And the wound may be gone now since Spica had it healed, but Kumugi still spent a majority of her life feeling horrible for what she did.
This made her grow into a deeply considerate person, bc she was so anxious about how her actions might trouble others. Caring and empathy became second nature to her now.
Hell, the reason she suggests buying a gift in the first place, is bc it's a great way to show someone that you care about them.
It's why she wants to become more useful to the team, bc she doesn't want to be dead weight. She wants, more than anything, to help however she can.
So the idea of her befriending Sukemaru and putting herself in danger to save them... doesn't seem too crazy, imo.
It doesn't have to be Sukemaru either, just... The idea of her going out of her way to save or protect a Magik. Bc we know those on World Hater's side will absolutely get rid of anyone who turns on their goals. (Looks at Kizashi)
Plus, the arc seems to be putting Kumugi and Fujimine in direct contrast with each other.
Fujimine starts the chapter by saying no one else but her is allowed to acquire Hakari.
Meanwhile, the chapter itself hints that Kumugi will be the person to do just that.
She's also the complete opposite of the kind of person Fujimine is, at least in Hakari's own words.
Kumugi isn't arrogant, possessive, overconfident, or patronizing
She's polite, kind, anxious, and patient.
While Fujimine is obsessed with "sharing" her love with everyone and getting it in return, Kumugi didn't even think she was worthy of praise at the beginning of the series, and tried to stop Ichi from speaking so highly of her until he convinces her otherwise.
In fact, he's shown her consistent affection, support and trust since the day they met, much to her confusion. As far as she's concerned, she's done nothing to earn this kind of attention, but Ichi gives it to her anyway.
This is in stark contrast with Fujimine's extremely entitled attitude.
They even have some visual parallels in their designs, with Kumugi having short hair with long pigtails, and Fujimine having long hair with short pigtails.
If Kumugi does acquire Hakari, I wonder how Fujimine will react.
Kumugi is the most normal person of Team Desscaras. All the others have had their humanity called into question in some way or another. But Kumugi almost acts like a grounding force - if not for the whole team, then at least with Ichi, who always looks so content and happy just to be around her.
She brings out a young, bright eyed, boyish side of him that no one else can. And she does it just by being around him, no magic required. He's absolutely charmed by her, for reasons only he knows.
So pitting Kumugi - someone who brings out Ichi's endearing humanity simply by existing - against Fujimine - who thinks Ichi is just playing as a human, and wants to see him fully corrupted - is a very interesting choice.
No idea what may come of it, but definitely interesting.
One last crack theory, bc I couldn't figure out where to put it:
What if Hakari's tower is some kind of safe haven or home for weak Magiks who don't want to be acquired? It might explain the tower's appearance as a friendly pile of gifts, Hakari turning weapons into (possibly) toys, and the presence of at least one smaller and weaker Majik around (Sukemaru).
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