i was getting panels for an edit and damn this panel hurts more in retrospect now that we know teruko's backstory

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i was getting panels for an edit and damn this panel hurts more in retrospect now that we know teruko's backstory
is it just me or is baby fukuzawa looking like 16 chuuya
(**Major BSD manga spoilers below!**)
Okay but like… now I’m really curious what’s going on in Teruko’s mind, and what she’s going to do next.
Let’s talk about her a little bit. 👀
Since the Hunting Dogs were first introduced in the story, I would say she’s been the hardest for me to figure out—but even though she came right out and said in this chapter that she knows the truth about Fukuchi and still sides with him, that only raises more questions for me.
Of course, Teruko has always been obvious about her affection for Fukuchi, but ngl sometimes she was so obvious about it that it made me doubt her sincerity a little bit? Take this panel from Chapter 60, for instance:
I don’t know if it’s just me, but honestly, this panel has always felt a little odd to me? Especially the look on her face on the top left? Jouno doesn’t seem to think she’s lying, or at least he didn’t say so, but if that really is the case, then where exactly does Teruko’s intense devotion to Fukuchi come from?
If she knew that he was the mastermind all along, then what was she thinking when she heard that her comrades in the Hunting Dogs were kinda going off the grid one by one? Would it really make no difference to her if she knew what Fukuchi did to Jouno and Tachihara? Especially Tachi, seeing as they seem to have a particular bond, which we saw from their teamwork during the Sky Casino arc. What must’ve gone through her mind when she watched the video Tachihara made, defending the Agency?
Because obviously, she does care. And I can’t be convinced otherwise.
Think about the shadow that falls over her eyes when she’s done watching Tachihara’s video.
And then, not long after, how dull her eyes look when she reports to Fukuchi that she’s lost contact with Tecchou.
As far as I can remember, this is the first time we’ve seen that kind of look on her face? Like… to me, she seems kind of jaded, almost resigned. And that leads me to wonder.
We still don’t know much about Teruko’s past or her motivations, but she clearly takes her role as a Hunting Dog very seriously. Does she show… sadistic tendencies? Sure. But, kind of like Jouno, she seems to find some satisfaction in protecting the innocent—and punishing the villains in order to do so. Just look at her conviction here:
The Teruko we’ve seen in the last few chapters has been very different than the Teruko we see here (at least in my opinion). Part of me wonders whether something happened between then and now—like, if she actually didn’t always know that Fukuchi was the mastermind, but somehow found out later on? What if he approached her at some point and invited her to join the Decay of Angels, like he did with Jouno?
In any case, I really wasn’t expecting things to take this kind of turn with her, and right now I can only think of a few possible explanations.
If she really is loyal to Fukuchi, as she claims…
It’s because of her genuine respect for him (which seems more and more unlikely to me with time idk), or at the very least, because she believes that his plans really will stop the world from becoming the “garbage” that she describes up there in Chapter 76.
It’s because she fears his power, or maybe something has prompted her to come to the conclusion that trying to defeat him—or evil in general—is pointless. Imo, the way she got so upset with Atsushi in this most recent chapter for saying that there was still enough time to stop him kinda supports this.
But I also don’t want to rule out the possibility that she’s lying, and that she really isn’t as devoted to Fukuchi as she has seemed all along. After all, she’s already proven that she’s capable of surprises. If things continue to get worse, and if her teammates continue to get hurt (or… y’know), I wonder if that would be enough to push her to action.
I think the key factor here is how much she knows. Clearly, she understands that something bad has happened to Tachihara and the others, but does she know the extent of it? Would it change her mind if she were to encounter one of them in vampire form, and witness exactly what Fukuchi did to them? Because we all know whose side Tecchou would end up on if he knew the whole truth.
So, then there’s secret option #3, and the one I’m hoping for the most: all of this, such as her open adoration for Fukuchi since her very first introduction, has all been an attempt for her to gain his trust. Because it really doesn’t seem to me that Fukuchi would be expecting her to turn on him at this point, it would be a hell of a twist if she was the one to take him down now.
All in all, Teruko is such an interesting and under-analyzed character, and this chapter has me questioning everything I thought I knew about her. I don’t know about anyone else, but when the BSD manga resumes in the fall, I’m hoping that we’ll finally get a better understanding of who she really is. As it stands right now, she’s in a very unique position, since she’s basically the last Hunting Dog standing, and I’m really excited to see what she’s going to do, knowing that.
Does Fukuchi just, like, not know Fukuzawa was an assassin????
He’s constantly like “you’ve never been to war!!!! You’ll never understand the bloodshed I’ve witnessed!” And like yeah maybe it’s not on the same level, but he’s definitely seen some shit. He has blood on his hands. He has his regrets.
But from what I can tell from what I’ve read in The Untold Origins of the Armed Detective Agency, it feels entirely in character for him to have simply never told him about that part of his life.
gay is all i have to say
// bsd 103.5 translation: ranpoedgw on twt
BSD Chapter Screaming Time!!
Spoilers for chapter 104 (or 103.5?) ahead!!!
fukuzawa and fukuchi: are fighting and having a dramatic dialogue
ranpo, kunikida and tanizaki meanwhile:
BSD 104 spoilers//
The fact that Teruko keeps on insisting "justice is nothing more than a word" kinda feels like she's just trying to reassure herself more than anything.