[courtesanofdeath]

Lady Sana

[fluidlymellowelemental]

chapter 323

yurako was almost onto something, a+ for effort, but she wouldn’t have been able to kill byoki anyway since his body isn’t complete. he can’t die without his body.

also byoki doesn’t give a fuckkk what happens to mao. if anything, byoki actively wants mao to die. he makes it sound like mao can simply tap out at any point, which, while technically true, would be convenient for byoki and byoki only.

we gotta remember that as soon as byoki’s body leaves mao he’s going STRAIGHT for nanoka. so whenever they do get to that point they have to plan it in such a way that byoki leaves mao’s body and is killed before he can reach nanoka.

this chapter reminds us that nanoka is being watched, always. he always knows where she is, and when she’s in danger/at any risk of being unable to become his vessel. mao too, for that matter. this includes every single blood transfusion between mao and nanoka as well. he is constantly aware of their movements, watching and waiting for his chance. literally all he cares about is his own agenda and survival.

50/50 chance that mao dies immediately after releasing byoki’s body… yeah that makes sense. i also think there’s a 50/50 chance byoki actually knows exactly what would happen, but he’d rather they fuck around and find out themselves bc it doesn’t change the fact that he’ll get to jump into nanoka’s body right after, and mao will no longer have superhuman abilities on his side. he also may not be able to use hagunsei at that point. but he WILL be able to use the spear of taima! and that means we have to have faith in daigo…. oof

as for the business with sana’s heart… hmmm. we’ve seen it’s ability to purify yurako enough to heal her outer appearance, and i’m sure it also purifies her own heart somewhat. it could be attempting to purify byoki. or maybe our girl is about to show up and stop the whole fuckin show IDEK ANYMORE

mao, pls show up 🥺

p.s. i mentioned in a reddit comment last week how it’s mildly infuriating for nanoka to not have a distress beacon to send to mao in situations like these. i’m still mad about that - if not more so - after this chapter

p.p.s. i predict there will come a point at the very end where nanoka IS briefly possessed by byoki before everything works out. i feel the taizanfukun will also play a big part in saving someone at the end, but who knows. 🤷‍♀️

[taisho-era]

appreciate sunrise for letting mao and nanoka stay like this for bit, gotta love protective mao

[fluidlymellowelemental]

it’s also worth pointing out that this earthquake lasted about 5 minutes and they accurately show the clock at 11:58 and then again at 12:03. SO HE HELD HER LIKE THAT FOR 5 WHOLE MINUTES

[fluidlymellowelemental]

mao with his mischievous smile when he returns curses on amateurs, like he might actually enjoy it juuuuuust a lil bit🤏

“it’s been taken care of 😀” kills me every time

[fluidlymellowelemental]

these are all little kisses and i will not be convinced otherwise

[otakunews01]

"MAO" TV Anime episode 8 stills

Aire Date: May 23

[fluidlymellowelemental]

a heian arc i’m craving

putting this out there bc it’s been in my head but i’m notttttt a writer, so: i keep thinking about the immediate aftermath of the goko fall. like the first year. mao flees, but where to? what must he have been feeling? what was it like for him experiencing his powers for the first time, or realizing how dangerous his blood is. maybe he gets a lil training arc of his own (remember when hyakka said, “this dolt was at the bottom of our class”). i want to see otoya’s “birth” and early days as mao’s shikigami. maybe another moment like 10 years later where the other immortals realize they aren’t aging and cannot die. did ANY of those boys [that have one] visit their families? pleaseeeee i need this filler to exist 😭 not sure that ms rumiko will get to it at this point so will someone, please, write the fic? 🙏🙏🙏

[fluidlymellowelemental]

nanoka getting princess treatment while hyakka just has to deal with it

(ch. 50) kamon lifts nanoka completely out of the water. a gentleman! hyakka gets a vine… but remains half submerged

(ch. 57) mao gives nanoka a pillow and blanket. sweet angel! hyakka gets moved off the chair… and his kimono thrown over him. no pillow.

[taisho-era]

aww, they care about each other 🥹

[courtesanofdeath]

They're protective stones. They will repel any evil that comes near you.

[courtesanofdeath]

[rokushoh]

[taisho-era]

yuki kaji put his soul into this performance

[julietcpulet]

I feel like Mao proves simple animation and straightforward storytelling without giving everything away is still popular. So much anime today is about being graphically impactful while lacking the ability to hold back on the big reveal and build up the suspense, giving the character arcs time to breathe. Also having too much detail in everything makes it hard to appreciate the characters themselves. Not that I don’t love a purely pretty anime sometimes but Mao being very reminiscent of early 2000s anime is bringing back all those that hold a special place in my heart.

[courtesanofdeath]

The Water Maw shall devour you!

[taisho-era]

imagine them being someone’s first OTP

[nocandnc]

Damn Kamon, what a power move!!

You just know he was mimicking Masago to effectively control that sap as if it were water 🥺

[nocandnc]

Been thinking about this moment a lot lately, as it makes me think of other creative elemental techniques I'd like to see, such as:

-A metal user controlling liquid mercury like water -A water user controlling ice like stone -Would lava fall under earth or fire jurisdiction? Could users combine their techniques for something new?? Could they create lightning or plasma!?

Just things I think about sometimes lol