#akazaya

[dewowis]

as long as there are charts there is a way to make it about the akazaya

with @rainbowreindeer

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

[rainbowreindeer]

-This is an Ashura Doji appreciation zone- 

[irafook]

sir, that's my emotional support kappa

[theanomalouskid]

Have you seen how Oden lifted the lid for his "oden"?, that was some powerful foreshadowing.

[hedgehogcryptid]

Anyone thinks Kyoshiro-the-ruthless-yakuza-from-the-brothel was a more interesting character than Denjiro-the-loyal-infiltrator, or is it just me?

Don’t get me wrong, I still like him. And that scene of him completely losing it to his rage was great. But trying to puzzle out his character on the context of him being a subordinate of Orochi was more fun than realizing he was a traitor. 

Like, when I thought he was an antagonist of sorts he was this dude who dissed his boss (that now reads as making him lose face and keeping his forces inattentive) but was still sort of loyal, and I interpreted that as a sort of mercenary/business interest, “being in this guy’s good graces is profitable, so I’ll keep doing that for now. Even if I think he’s stupid”. That was kinda “confirmed” for me when he said that about treating the women well for them to work well. He seemed uncaring to a degree, but reasonable and pragmatic (the kind of pragmatism that includes “treating people like human beings is essential to get what you want from them”), and those are always interesting things to put together, caring for people for reasons other than empathy. Even Hiyori’s “murder” could be seen from that perspective, “the tides might be turning so I won’t be losing this great asset over this fucker’s stupidity if I can help it”.

I imagined that if it turned out he was nothing more than a yakuza (the posibility of him being the missing Akazaya was always on the back burner) then there was a chance of him turning traitor on the basis of “well, looks like my side is going down so I might as well cut my loses”. They could’ve even bribed him over if it came to that, that sort of negotiation could’ve been fun to watch, a new situation for the Strawhats to parse (they’ve gone through alliances, kidnappings, infiltrations and assassination attempts, so far. All sorts of new exiting things. Negotiating with organized crime would be a nice addition to the list).

And, well, now that the cat’s out of the bag everything he did and said makes perfect sense. And the parallel between him and Kanjuro is nice. But I thought Kyoshiro-the-criminal was a fun character to explore and I’m kinda disapointed he turned out to be a good guy in disguise instead of an asshole with a flexible agenda.

[efowzeff]

Oden Nitoryu. My favorite panel of this week's chapter

[orihara-infobroker]

LAST ONE YAAAAAAY. Sorry it took so long to get all these done.

“For the hundredth time, I am not your babysitter.” - Akazaya

Akabayashi stepped out of the car, looking up at the empty-looking row of warehouses that sat just off the freeway. This part of Ikebukuro had once been a busy industry sector but the decline in many industries had left it abandoned. Akabayashi knew better than to assume the area was as empty as it looked, however. Warehouses like these were perfect for businesses of questionable legality to use. Businesses like the yakuza.

In particular, he was expecting the Asuki and he was not disappointed. As he stepped toward the warehouse in front of him, two young punks stepped out of the doorway, each one bearing a baseball bat. His lips split into a grin at the sight of them and he leaned on his cane.

“Evening, gentlemen. Don’t mind me, I’m just here to collect something.”

“What’s that, gramps?” One of the men asked with a snicker. “Only thing you’re collecting is a beating.”

“Is that so?” Akabayashi’s grin widened. “I remember being a hothead like you, once. Mouthing off to my seniors cause I thought I knew everything.”

“Shut up, gramps.” The other shot back, giving his baseball bat a warmup swing. He came at Akabayashi first with a wild swing, throwing most of his strength behind it. It was an amateur move and Akabayashi easily side-stepped the swing, jabbing the punk in the side with his cane.

“Is that any way to talk to your elders?” He quipped as the punk moved in with another swing. Akabayashi ducked under the swing and reached for the punk’s shirt, pulling him in for a headbutt that broke his nose. The punk wasn’t expecting Akabayashi to get in close and stumbled back, dropping the bat and clutching his bleeding nose. The other punk gave an angry shout and moved in, swinging with a bit more precision than his partner. He wasn’t any more successful in landing a hit, though, and soon found himself brought low by the precise and painful strikes of Akabayashi’s cane. “A piece of advice for you young’uns,” Akabayashi drawled with a grin as he stepped over their prone bodies. “This ‘old man’ was street-fighting when you were still in diapers. Show a little respect for your elders and maybe you won’t get your asses beat.”

He left the thugs groaning on the ground and stepped into the warehouse. As he’d suspected, while the warehouse contained nothing of value, it wasn’t completely empty. A few shelves still lined the back wall, empty crates and wooden pallets scattered about. A folding table and a handful of matching plastic chairs sat not too far from the door, a couple more Asuki thugs sitting at it, along with the reason he had made the trip out to this dismal corner of Ikebukuro tonight.

“Mizuki!” Akabayashi’s eyes narrowed at the singsong announcement of his name by the information broker. “What took you so long?” 

The two Asuki thugs immediately jumped to their feet, sending the plastic chairs careening backward. “What the hell?” One shouted in surprise.

“Who the fuck are you?” The other added, reaching into his jacket. Before he could grab whatever weapon he had hidden, Akabayashi was driving his fist into the man’s face.

“I could have not shown up,” Akabayashi replied to Izaya as the second thug managed to land a punch to his ribs, with the added delight of brass knuckles. He grunted and elbowed the man in the face.

“You? Not show up for a good old fashioned brawl?” Izaya crooned, looking for all the world as if he were watching a concert, not a brawl. Akabayashi grunted, turning his focus to laying out these two thugs the same way he had taken care of the first two.

“For the hundredth time, I am not your babysitter,” Akabayashi declared as he strode over to Izaya, stepping on one of the thugs as he passed. 

Izaya stood up, letting the ropes the thugs had used to tie him up with drop to the floor. “Of course not.” He moved to one of the thugs and began searching through his pockets. “You’re my rescuer~”

“You interrupted my night for four low-rank punks? How did they even catch you?”

“I let them.” Izaya pulled a flash drive out of the punk’s pocket and held it up. “I needed this.”

“Why not take them out yourself?” Akabayashi’s eyes focused on the flash drive.

Izaya smirked, stepping on the thug’s back as he moved toward Akabayashi. “I thought you’d enjoy a night out.”

Akabayashi chuckled, poking a thug with his cane. “Next time make sure it’s a bit more challenging.”

“There were more when I messaged you. It’s not my fault some of them left. They didn’t believe me when I told them someone would come for me.” Izaya mock-pouted and Akabayashi rolled his eyes.

“Let’s go, princess. You can thank me for saving you in the car.”

Izaya gave Akabayashi a wicked grin. “My hero~”

[dewowis]

I present the truth of the universe