“I love anything that haunts me...and never leaves.” 気持ち悪い • saezuru and JJK are killing me softly • acmilan • read manga, be happy and sad • tea with cyborgs • treat cats with kindness
The entire chapter systematically strips away every excuse Yashiro has been using for years.
First Nanahara points out the obvious contradiction: if Yashiro truly doesn't care, why is he falling apart?
Then Amou lands the most devastating question in the chapter:
"Did you abandon Doumeki for his sake, or for your own?"
The reason Yashiro freezes isn't because he doesn't know the answer. It's because he does.
For years Yashiro has framed what he did as protecting Doumeki. But Amou forces him to face the fact that if Doumeki had stayed, Yashiro would have had to confront feelings, vulnerability, dependence, and the possibility of being loved in a way he never believed he deserved.
Then comes Kamiya.
Kamiya doesn't appeal to Yashiro's emotions. He appeals to reality.
He basically says,
This man has built his entire life around you.
He's about to destroy his future for you.
What are you going to do about it?
For years, Yashiro has treated love as something to be managed through distance, sacrifice, and control. As long as he kept moving, kept deciding what was best, he never had to confront the uncertainty at the heart of it all.
But this chapter exposes the gap between the story he tells himself and the reality in front of him.
Is someone gonna talk about the use of signage in yesterday's episode? Do I have to be the one to talk about the use of signage in yesterday's episode?
I know we all saw the billboard beside Choso displaying the abilities of his technique in tandem with the narrator, but there were so many more great uses of the signs in the background to convey information.
The first sign (and also one of the first shots) that we see in the episode is a Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign overlaid by the sound of Yuuji running, followed by Yuuji's shadow itself taking up the position of the pedestrian on the sign. You can read this as the sign telling Yuuji not to proceed to where he's going or as an indication of how the upcoming fight will end for the viewer.
The next sign that we get is one telling us to Go Left, which doesn't really seem important, but I promise you, it is. We'll see a lot of arrows pointing left throughout the episode and every single one of them is pointing away from danger. Go Left to avoid danger, essentially.
These two signs are arguably the most important in the episode, but they aren't the coolest use of visual symbolism that we got, so lets keep going.
The third sign that we see focused on in the episode is a No Running sign that Yuuji passes that says "Do Not Rush. It Is Dangerous." Yuuji, of course, runs past it on his way toward the escalators that lead (for him) to Gojo and (for the viewer) to Choso.
Once he does get to the bottom of the escalators, Yuuji is attacked by Choso immediately and Choso's opening move (Convergence), once Yuuji moves his arms up and away from his face, slices up through the subway cieling and the road above to cut the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign that we saw at the beginning of the episode in half.
We also get out first big Left Arrow, placed immediately in the foreground of the shot and pointing toward the aforementioned sign that's been cut in half (this will be important later), but in a another view, it also points away from station itself. Again, go left to avoid danger.
Our next Left Arrow is on the ceiling between Yuuji, indicating that he should go away from Choso. Interestingly enough, it also points toward the bathrooms that Yuuji will go into later once his fight with Choso in the hallway becomes too dangerous.
That same arrow falls to the floor between them once Choso gets mad after Yuuji tells him about Eso and Kechizu crying, this time pointing directly away from Choso.
Another Left Arrow, this time in a more urgent red. We see this once Yuuji realizes that he's in serious danger, that he'll loose if he continues to fight Choso in the hallway. It's also pointing away from the bathrooms and toward the escalators from Yuuji's point of view beside the bathrooms, indicating that he needs to leave the area entirely.
The previous arrow pointing toward the bathrooms as a safe option has been destroyed and Yuuji has taken some serious damage by the time he moves toward them. The bathrooms are no longer safe. Yuuji needs to leave.
This is followed up by the only Right Arrows that we see focused on in the epsiode, but unlike the Left Arrows, they aren't used to convey how to get away from danger, but rather what is dangerous. Not only do these arrows all point toward Choso outside of the shot, they also have each of his techniques displayed below them.
Once the bathroom fight is over and Yuuji is on death's door, we get a zoomed out shot of his body framed by (two) people cut in half. This sign is shown right before Sukuna makes his only appearance in the episode, where we hear the sound of electricity flickering.
We heard this exact sound earlier from the Left Arrow telling Yuuji to get away from Choso at the beginning of the fight, but I like to interpret it as an audio indicator of Yuuji's life and/or control of Sukuna flickering in and out, becoming weaker.
Side Note: In the previous shot of Yuuji that we get before this one, we see a blade of light cutting Yuuji in half, the same way Convergence cut the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign in half earlier in the episode. This will come into play later in the post, but keep it in mind.
The next time we see these bisected bathroom signs is when Mimiko and Nanako approach Yuuji to awaken Sukuna. Two people framing Yuuji/Sukuna that have been cut, while those same signs are whole in the hallway to the left. Go left to avoid danger applies to the girls here as well.
Our next important set of signs are actually the same sign, a large green arrow in the foreground that points away from where Yuuji's body is. While Choso stumbles away from it (away from Yuuji/Sukuna) the girls walk toward it.
This is also the first Left Arrow that we see point toward Choso, unlike the one pointing away from him at the beginning of his and Yuuji's fight. Choso, at this moment and onward, is no longer a source of danger to Yuuji or to us, the viewer.
And finally, the final shot of the entire episode, our old friend, the Pedestrian Do Not Cross sign. Yuuji has lost to Choso, the girls have found him to awaken Sukuna, and we get a focus shot of the Pedestrian that previously represented Yuuji cut in half and covered in blood.
I mentioned earlier that we get another shot of Yuuji cut in half by a ray of light in the bathroom.
Here is that shot, and the way that I interpret it is as a reminder that Yuuji shares his body. Yuuji's control of his body has been cut off in the same way that the Pedestrian representing Yuuji has had part of it cut away. What's left is the part that Yuuji can't control, the Pedestrian covered in blood.
Additionally, repeated use of a sign showing pedestrians cut in half and bloody can also represent the civilians in Shibuya, especially now that Yuuji no longer has control of his body.
laurent lost everything — his brother, his family, his reputation, his kingdom, and nearly his own life, and he would make the trade for all those things because he gained damen in their stead, and only wishes it hadn’t happened that way for damen too.
We are mere days away from Chapter 52! Spoilers are afoot! And soon they will be flooding our TL's with lovely images from our favorite mangaka!
Thank you to the tireless Team Steve! You have moved houses! You have moved countries! And you still pulled yourself up by your bootstraps, tightened your belts and cranked out a chapter! You are the glitter in my stars, the sunshine in my heart, and the rubber on my soles. Get some rest, if the teaser is any indication, we are going to need it!!!
Thank you as always to the Saezuru Fandom! This is a short chapter, and I almost considered just adding it 52, but...NAHHHHHHH!
Many Chookens died to bring you this chapter...
RIP Fandom, you were one of the good ones!
PRESENTING THE FIRST CHAPTER IN VOLUME 9!!!! WE ARE HERE!!!
The two main characters of Slam Dunk are characterized as opposites; with Hanamichi Sakuragi being a boy with a loud and flamboyant personality, while Kaede Rukawa is a polar opposite, being rather quiet and asocial. Rukawa is considered by Sakuragi to be unlikable and rude, and this is true to an extent. However, I want to discuss aspects of Rukawa’s personality aside from him being basketball-centric. While his other qualities are shown rather subtly throughout the series, I do think he has some depth and development as a character.
When Rukawa is first introduced in Slam Dunk, he is portrayed to be “mean”; telling Haruko to leave him alone and that she was being annoying. He is instantly deemed as unlikable to Sakuragi, but I believe that Rukawa’s actions and attitude was justified. He had simply been sleeping and minding his business, but he was jumped out of nowhere and had to fight some randoms. That would make anyone irritated— and then Sakuragi was picking a fight with him as well. While what he said to Haruko was harsh, I think that he had already been bothered enough and he just wanted some peace.
I also want to note that when Sakuragi and Akagi had their one on one, Rukawa’s specifically shown to think “Sakuragi’s not bad”. I think this shows that even though him and Sakuragi weren’t on good terms, he acknowledged skill when he saw it.
I wouldn’t say he went out of his way to be friendly to Sakuragi, he didn’t instigate first either. When Sakuragi was struggling with doing a lay-up shot and “apologized” to Rukawa and asked him to demonstrate, he did it. He could have easily told Sakuragi “Nah” and went off to do his own thing (me personally I would have done that if the dude that tried fighting me did that), but he didn’t. I think that showed Rukawa has some maturity.
While him and Sakuragi didn’t initially get along well, their relationship did develop over the course of the series. I think that as Sakuragi got more serious about basketball, Rukawa noticed that too. He still didn’t go out of his way to be nice to Sakuragi, but he did “praise” him from time to time (such as when he said that he didn’t do bad for an idiot), or when Rukawa told him that Shohoku losing against Kainan wasn’t Sakuragi’s fault and that he played as well as everyone expected him to. I believe that shows Rukawa didn’t necessarily hate Sakuragi, and that he had some care for him as a teammate.
Their biggest moment in their relationship was when Rukawa passed the ball to Sakuragi in the last few seconds against Sannoh. While I wouldn’t say Rukawa never passes (as he is shown to pass to people when he believes they can score, such as Akagi or Mitsui), he isn’t going to pass to someone just for the sake of it. He’s only shown to pass when he believes that the other person will score, and Sakuragi isn’t necessarily his #1 pick. I believe that his pass to Sakuragi shows his belief in Sakuragi’s skills.
The first time Rukawa was outwardly “nice” towards Sakuragi was during their high five, which I think happened in the heat of the moment, as they switched up their attitudes right afterwards. However; it showed how close they had gotten.
I also want to mention how Rukawa and Sakuragi talked on the beach. Rukawa was just going on a run — he could’ve just ignored Sakuragi and kept running, but he chose to go up to Sakuragi and show off his shirt. I think that shows that Rukawa now views Sakuragi as someone he’s close to, though he would never directly admit it.
Rukawa was also fairly respectful towards his other teammates. He had respect for Akagi, referring to him as “captain”, and him and Ayako appear to be on good terms.
I don’t think Rukawa was on particularly good terms with Miyagi and Mitsui (due to the latter’s gang fight with the basketball team, and the former being similar to Sakuragi), I believe he grew to respect both of them as teammates.
Though Rukawa isn’t outgoing with his teammates, he does grow closer to them: one of the biggest moments of this being him asking them to do that “we are” thing to hype them all up. I believe that showed his care for them as he wanted them to get their spirits up.
Also, with Haruko, I think Rukawa just isn’t interested in girls since he’s devoted to his sport. But I do think he can interact with girls, since him and Ayako talk and they have friendly interactions. I feel like if Haruko had approached Rukawa if he was in a better mood (aside from when she approached him when he got injured), they could have talked more. Rukawa doesn’t seem annoyed when Ayako talks to him, and he responds to her. So I think depending on Haruko’s approach, they could have been friendly with each other.
In addition, I think two other things that showed other aspects of Rukawa is his music taste and his love for cats (something I have already posted about).
On Rukawa’s commutes to practice/school, he’s shown with a Sony Walkman, listening to songs by Prince. The two songs Rukawa is listening to on his commute are Diamonds and Pearls and New Power Generation , both made by Prince. Diamonds and Pearls is a love ballad, while New Power Generation is more upbeat. These songs seemed surprising to me, since I didn’t think Rukawa would be the type to listen to them. But I think that this showed he was multifaceted, even if his thoughts weren’t shown much in the story.
When Rukawa is walking back home after watching the Kainan vs Ryonan match, he sees a black street cat. While I expected him to just look at it and keep walking, Rukawa got on his knees to try and pet it. The one he encountered was just some street cat he could’ve chosen to ignore, but he seemed to want to pet it. He also seemed reactive when the cat didn’t want to be pet, and this surprised me since he’s usually unbothered and he normally doesn’t want attention from anyone. I believe this and Rukawa’s music taste portray him to have more depth than what is shown on the surface.
Rukawa’s lack of thoughts being shown in the story (with his thought bubbles often just saying “…”) make him come off as “mysterious”, as we rarely know what he is thinking or feeling. This leads to Rukawa coming off as not having much substance on the surface, and is what made Sakuragi label him as boring and unlikable. However, I believe Rukawa is very misunderstood, and that he isn’t what Sakuragi makes him out to be.
Spoilers underneath, just in case you don't want to ruin it.
Doumeki wakes up with a cat in his arms.
Dear God! Yashiro has turned into a cat!!
It's clear that Nyanshiro is trying to speak to him, but Doumeki promptly says that he can't understand him because he doesn't speak cat. Doumeki determines that at the very least, Nyanshiro might be hungry. And he wonders if Nyashiro can have human food or would he, being a cat, prefer CAT FOOD.
Doumeki listens very hard and tries to "hear" Yashiro say "Of course it's obvious!"
Just then, the actual Yashiro comes out of the shower, hearing the conversation Doumeki had with the cat and says "Oh, and buy some shampoo, if you're going shopping."
Then teases that's he always figured Doumeki as someone who would talk to cats.
