this might be sort of stupid, but could you explain the A3! doujin?
whenever i read it, i get confused since I don't know if Akira's supposed to have three different personalities or if all three versions of him exist at the same time,,,,
I'd also like to hear your analysis/thoughts on it, if you have one!!
hello hello!! I love your username...
It's not a stupid question at all! I was a bit confused the first time I read it as well lol. I can share my interpretation of it with you, but since I'm not the creator, I don't know if this is exactly what they intended to convey. Also, I haven't read that doujinshi in a while, so my impressions are probably not going to come off as intense as they would have if I were reading it for the first time.
I think the creator's main objective was just to create a story featuring a harem of three Akiras and one Shiki lol. So they played with the setting a bit and wrote a universe where all three versions of Akira exist in the same timeline. I don't think this is something we're supposed to think too critically about; they just wanted to have a story showcasing Shiki's dynamic with each of the three Akiras, and that's how they decided to do it.
The first time I read it, I had assumed that the doujinshi features ED3 Akira, ED2 Akira, and then ED1 Akira in that order, but rereading it now, it feels more like the last Akira that is shown is the "Cat and Mouse Ending" Akira from the True Blood version. (I mean I feel like the outfit is a pretty dead giveaway + the fact that he and Shiki are still 'enemies' instead of being on the same side):
Okok and now for my analysis:
I think it's interesting that all three Akiras have such distinct personalities, but Shiki's characterization sort of feels like an amalgamation of all versions of him if that makes sense? Like we see that he's still domineering and possessive, but he still has that affection and adoration for Akira. To me, I think he resembles his ED2 version the most in this doujinshi, mainly because it's implied that Shiki is still planning on carrying out world domination, but he still gives Akira a lot of attention and intentionally seeks him out. You REALLY get the feeling that he's utterly obsessed with Akira lmao he leaves one Akira just to go fuck another Akira.
Also, I like Shiki's dynamic with the "Cat and Mouse" Akira version the most out of the three (though this doesn't necessarily reflect my thoughts regarding canon lol). It's the one that feels the most grounded, but also because I like the way Shiki treats him compared to how he treats ED2 and ED3 Akira lmao. I feel like Shiki definitely favors the third Akira the most because he literally goes out of his way to see him, and their sex scene just feels way more intimate. He loves how the third Akira plays hard to get because it's more of a challenge, whereas the other two Akiras are already obsessed with him. Their dynamic is so fucking good here idk.
And Shiki being soft with Akira just makes me weak in the knees:
LIKE he literally stays behind and holds Akira in his arms, watching over him while he sleeps. It's just soooooooooo good.
And then my favorite part of the doujinshi:
The panels of the three Akiras, showcasing their different personalities, and yet you can tell Shiki loves and adores all three of them on the sole basis that it's Akira. And honestly I like to think what we see on this page is Shiki's perspective of all three of them, and so the aesthetics are a bit dreamy and romantic, because it's reflecting his own feelings toward them.
The double meaning in the "You're all mine," line is great too. He means that he owns every part of Akira's being, but on the next page, with the reveal of the three Akiras, the line takes on another meaning, with Shiki saying that all three of them belong to him. It's intentional details like this that really elevates the writing in a story.
I absolutely love the dialogue at the end too, and how the doujinshi just ends without Shiki finishing his sentence, because we already know what he means. It's already been implied throughout the entirety of the doujinshi, just how obsessed Shiki is with Akira. Shiki willingly admitting that he's been captured by Akira and is emotionally attached to him just feels so cathartic to read. On a surface level, it seems like Shiki's in complete control of the relationship, but in actuality, Akira has power over him, too, because Shiki's swayed by his feelings for Akira.
(Personally I'm someone who really enjoys the kind of dynamic where one character is clearly more dominant than the other one, but the dominant person is "weak" for the other so to speak, so it balances out lol.)
Thanks for the ask and I hope my explanation helped!
I'm all caught up on the asks in my inbox. Sorry I took forever to respond lol. Also I haven't really been active in the fandom, not because I'm growing out of Shikiaki, but because I don't agree with many of the interpretations I see from others in the fandom, so I'd rather just not interact.
I'll probably just mostly keep to myself for the time being and focus on uploading fics.
Sorry you’re going through it right now. Just wanted to say your posts/fics are really good! Also I keep thinking about scenarios where Shiki would get jealous and possessive of Akira and how he would interact with the main cast. Idk why I’m telling you this part lol skak infected my brain anyway take care :3
Thank you for enjoying my posts and fics!
"I keep thinking about scenarios where Shiki would get jealous and possessive of Akira"
okay so basically their everyday lives 😭✋
I've seen some cute modern AU fanart where Shiki gets jealous over the prospect of Akira hanging out with the other characters in the main cast lol. Not in a "you can't talk to any other guys except me" sort of way, but in a very possessive, clingy, and sulking Shikitty way lol. I can imagine the main cast being annoyed/exasperated that Shiki always hogs Akira's time and whisks him away, and Shiki just kinda ignores their complaints... he's the type of guy to just do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, and we love him for that. ❤️
(feel free to share those scenarios in your head though...)
plz do you have any more shikiaki ED3 hcs to bless us with….theyre so good
Thank you!!!
I don't know if I have any headcanons that I haven't already mentioned before in some of my posts. But if it's of any interest, I do have an ED3 prompt I'd like to write in the future about Akira being jealous of Shiki for once, instead of it being the other way around like always. I think that Akira is just as fully capable of being obsessive and murderous as Shiki in ED3. If Shiki suddenly started giving someone else attention (like a guard), Akira would act extremely petty and spiteful toward that guard lol. He doesn't like the idea of anyone else capturing Shiki's attention (in the light novel he was jealous over his past self because he thought Shiki liked his past self more... 😭).
Hi!!!!!!! I really love your ShikiAki content - your headcanons feel so accurate, I absolutely adore them!❤️❤️❤️ So I wanted to ask you something.
How do you think - if we imagine a situation where one of them had to die, would Shiki sacrifice himself for Akira?
I feel like it might depend on the ending. For example, in the 3 ending their bond seems weaker to me, so in that version Shiki might not sacrifice himself.
I’d love to hear your thoughts on this!❤️❤️❤️
Hi!!! Sorry I took so long to respond to this ask. (your icon is so cute btw...!! ❤️)
Thank you for saying that you enjoy my Shikiaki content and my headcanons omg 😭. I feel like my headcanons are a bit silly sometimes lol, but yeah I do try to apply elements from canon to my headcanons whenever possible.
Okay but onto your ask, this is a really interesting question and I had to sit around and think about it for a while lol. If it were any of my other OTPs, it would be easy to answer this question, but because it's Shikiaki, the answer isn't so clear cut. I don't want to be biased and say that yes, Shiki would sacrifice himself for Akira simply because it's what I hope would happen, rather than thinking about it objectively. Shikiaki's dynamic is so tricky to explore precisely because they wouldn't do typical notions of romantic gestures (like professing their undying love for each other, for example).
But as you suggested, I also think it would depend on the ending.
For ED1:
This one I can confidently say for sure that Shiki would sacrifice himself for Akira. I think Shiki's whole thought process during the tunnel scene is that he's aware that he's lost the will to live (or will devolve into a hollow shell of himself), and he doesn't want to drag Akira down with him. I think there's something poetic about Shiki pulling Akira along with him by the wrist as they walk through the tunnel, but he tells Akira to go wherever he likes once they escape. He took Akira with him only because he wanted Akira to be free, not because he wanted Akira to stay with him. It's not exactly an act of self-sacrifice, but it's halfway there. It's the first time Shiki has acted solely for Akira's sake and not for his own. There was no way Shiki could've foreseen that Akira would make the decision to stay with him instead of leaving, so it's not like he led Akira out of Toshima because he wanted Akira to take care of him when he became catatonic, lol.
In the True Blood version, Shiki specfically says something along the lines of, "Don't follow me," when Akira tries to follow him after the death of Nano. To which Akira stubbornly replies, "I'll go where I like," and continues following Shiki.
In True Blood, it's a bit more obvious that Shiki didn't want to drag Akira down with him and have Akira live a life tied to him instead of being free. Dialogue lines such as, "Go wherever you like," and "Don't follow me," support this interpretation pretty conclusively, I think. This was as self-sacrificial as Shiki could get in canon. He didn't tell Akira to follow him and take care of him or protect him; quite the opposite, actually. And the fact that Akira had to defend Shiki from pursuers because Shiki refused to defend himself with his sword anymore, just proves that Shiki fully intended to allow himself to die.
So in a scenario where Shiki has woken up and he and Akira are being chased down by pursuers or whatever, yes I do believe Shiki would allow himself to suffer a fatal attack for Akira's sake. The tunnel scene has shown us that Shiki is fully capable of taking Akira's thoughts and feelings into consideration, and by extension, his well-being.
For ED2:
This is when it gets more tricky lol. In ED2, we're shown that Shiki is a ruthless tyrant. Objectively speaking, this is Shiki at his worst. At least during the game's timeline in Toshima and in ED3, Shiki just kills whoever gets in his way and doesn't make a point of assigning any moral values to his actions. But in ED2, Shiki justifies his actions by claiming that this is necessary for empowering the nation, the strong should rule the weak, etc. And with the whole Nazi parallelism, it's safe to assume Shiki exploits the weak and impoverished by forcing them to do manual labor, torturing them, and experimenting on them, and all that other cruel, uncomfortable stuff.
It's hard to believe that Shiki would be compassionate enough to sacrifice himself for Akira, isn't it? I've been trying to rack my brain for a possible scenario where that would happen, but none come to mind. I don't think this is to say that Shiki doesn't care about Akira, but that he would never allow a scenario where he had to choose between himself or Akira in the first place. ED2 Shiki would resolutely try to find a way in which both he and Akira survives; I don't think he would ever willingly sacrifice Akira or tell Akira to sacrifice himself. If anything, Akira would probably sacrifice himself before Shiki even has a chance to turn things around lol.
I actually feel like it's more likely Shiki and Akira would die together instead of one of them sacrificing themselves for the other. They would literally rather be in death together than be alive without the other lol.
For ED3:
My thoughts here are similar to the section for ED2. I also don't think Shiki would willingly sacrifice himself for Akira, but I don't think he would let Akira die for his sake, either. The only difference is that I don't see ED3 Akira sacrificing himself for Shiki like he would in ED2. The thing is that, Shiki's ego in ED2 and ED3 is so big that he wouldn't entertain any possibility of him or Akira dying; he would try to brute force it and find a scenario in which both him and Akira survive. Which is... sort of romantic in its own way, I guess you could say. He's so attached to Akira, but ED3 Shiki has that kind of narcissistic and power-tripping personality where he would believe he can find a way out of death without compromising his or Akira's lives. After all, he does act like he's ascended above even god after drinking Nano's blood and overcoming his fear.
---
I hope this answers your question! I'm sorry for taking months to answer it, and I hope my answers weren't too disappointing to read. This was a really interesting and tough question to explore, but thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain my thoughts on Shikiaki and their respective dynamics in each ending.
What do you think about Chayamachi's manga adaptation of tnc? I've heard people say that unlike the anime it is pretty good and at times does things better than the vn. Problem being that it is unfinished and finding the English chapters is a huge pain lol. But if it is genuinely that good would you say it's good enough that people should go out of their way to read it or am i fine just having only read the vn?
In terms of visuals, I think Chayamachi's manga adaptation is stunning and matches very well with TNC's aesthetic and worldbuilding. While I do love Tatana Kana's art, I find that Chayamachi's art is more consistent and is just more aesthetically pleasing to look at.
In terms of narrative storytelling and pacing, I think the manga is worse than the visual novel. You really wouldn't be able to understand it without having read the visual novel first, because the way it exposition dumps information is confusing and abrupt, and it jumps from scene to scene without proper transitioning. If you read an actual shounen manga vs. the TNC adaptation manga, for example, you'll be able to immediately see the difference. The TNC manga relies on you having already read the visual novel first to understand what's going on, so there's a lot of exposition that isn't slowly incorporated into the worldbuilding, but just told to you outright through dialogue.
The only thing the manga does better at than the visual novel is keeping Akira's characterization consistent. His character is more understated and he retains some of his traits from the beginning while slowly coming to terms with the idea of mortality through his interactions with all 5 love interests. I'd say, in the manga, the narrative pacing is faster, but Akira's character development is slower and more realistic—whereas in the visual novel, the narrative pacing is slower and more immersive, but Akira's character development is too sudden and out of nowhere.
The manga is "good" in the sense that if you're really starved for more TNC content, you can read the manga to scratch that itch, but it's essentially just fanservice and not an actual alternative to getting the full experience out of TNC. I admittedly didn't bother to fully read through the manga. I found it a pain to read and skimmed most of the scenes, and only read it for the Shiki scenes. The manga is fine if you just want to read more scenes of your favorite love interest in a beautiful artstyle (that's why I consider it fanservice), but it really doesn't do anything to elevate TNC's worldbuilding or story as a whole. You're not missing out by not reading the manga.
It also doesn't help that a lot of the visual novel scenes get taken out of context and repurposed in the manga. For example, the scene where Akira kisses Rin in the visual novel—it's supposed to be a sad and somewhat heartfelt moment of Akira making the effort to go out of his comfort zone to help Rin, with hints of a romantic undertone. But in the manga, it comes across as Akira just kissing Rin for the sake of giving him water, because Rin is injured and unconscious. It doesn't carry the same emotional impact or weight, because again, the scene was taken out of Rin's route and placed somewhere else in the timeline, so it just doesn't have any of the romantic undertone that was originally there.
Which I guess leads to my conclusion that the manga doesn't feel very romantic at all, despite it copy-pasting romantic scenes from the visual novel, and that's because it's missing the emotional context of the route(s) as a whole. The only thing the manga has going for it is its amazing and striking artstyle.
i cooked up sum 2005 vkei shikiaki haha..... i used the gazette as a reference for shiki-- but akira i just free styled. i used mostly rokku gyaruo references on him though.
if i dont answer your ask in a reasonable time frame, im sorry, im not ignoring you, im just going through it right now... 😭 (and also because i would like to be able to answer as informatively as i can, which means it may take a while for me to write up a response... 😔) but thank you for expressing interest in my thoughts... i will try to pull myself out of my slump
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