We reached the chapter that had me screaming at pretty much every page! Even now, while re-reading my Twitter thread to refresh my mind a bit,I couldn’t help a big smile. That’s how good and wholesome this chapter is.And sorry I’m a bit late for that one, I worked late and was too tired to do it before going to sleep. So you’ll have... Two Little Details posts today instead of one!
More under the cut!
I love Team Fuchi, because there’s One Brain Cell and he’s the one holding it most of the time... Until he starts getting caught up in the bickering, in which case Chôbe gets the One Brain Cell, because he’s used to chaotic interactions. Told you he was working that strategy during the previous chapter!
The chapter provides us with a lot of Aza Bros content, most of it showing us Chôbe’s point of view and how their relationship evolves. It all starts with a demonstration of Chôbe having the habit of taking all the burden upon himself to protect his little brother in a very parental and lonely way, when he was still a child himself. It was sad to talk about that in my Aza Bros Analysis, and it still stings to see it. Chôbe may be a proper bastard, but damn does he need a hug as well.
He’s so used to deal with everything alone, just look at his surprised face when Tôma steps up to actively defend him.That’s 100% the shock someone who’s not used to being taken care off can feel - though it’s not like Tôma was always passive, it’s been stated in the light novel Utakata no Yume that one of the things Tôma would do is to provide proper meals for his brother. But it’s the first time Tôma also intervenes in a violent setting, which is pretty big - especially since Chôbe tends to imagine the worst outcome and acts based on that.
The following action is both a case of UG trolling us and displaying real character development from both brothers. Tôma is surpassing every single one of Chôbe’s expectations regarding him: not only he steps up to successfully protect him (showing at the same time that he is very competent with a blade, something stated since his introduction), but he even gets out of his shell to cooperate with Fuchi and argue with Tetsunosuke. Considering all of these elements, of course Chôbe is momentarily speechless.
And we yet again get to see the way he perceives things. Interestingly, whenever we get to see what’s going on in his head, Chôbe is always represented as a child. Even back in chapter 55, when Rien kidnaps him, his dream shows him as a child crying and completely alone. Despite his tough demeanor, he really is not in the best place emotionally speaking - keeping his thoughts to himself and repressing his own feelings to steel himself. However, we also get a demonstration of his adaptability: he is quick to accept how his brother has changed and actively encourages him to follow his own path.
I mean, JUST LOOK AT HIM. LOOK AT THIS SOFT MAN. If that ain’t a proof that his Tough and Mean demeanor is mostly an act to appear big and scary so he can keep danger at bay, I don’t know what you all need. I really love how, despite being in the middle of a fight with two persons he reluctantly teams up with, he still takes a second to reveal himself a bit, in a very private manner, to show how proud he is of his baby brother’s growth. There’s also a sense a relief, because it means he doesn’t have to shoulder everything alone from now on. Tôma and him can finally function on equal footing and he really likes that idea.
But Chôbe is still the one with the strategy to deal with Ju Fa and Tao Fa, so he remains the holder of The One Brain Cell for now. We even get to see his method to manipulate people: flattery. Because I’ll never say it enough, but Chôbe isn’t just a meathead’s dream character, he’s mostly been characterised by his smarts. He wasn’t the head of an entire village of bandits for no reason.
And we end the chapter with Chôbe pointing out Tôma’s personal development to taunt Ju Fa and Tao Fa, dishing some threatening sass while he is at it because he’s a little shit.
Now you can see why this chapter had me so excited when it was released: it addresses the concerns I had expressed in my Aza Bros Analysis and pushed all the right buttons to make me melt. I love Chôbe so much.
The chapter is action-packed, so there’s no very specific stuff to point out... However, it delivered what I had been expecting for at least 6 months at this point, so let’s just say I had a major blast while reading that chapter!
More under the cut.
The fight starts with the Kishikai form showing yet again a difficulty to speak. Fuchi waxes some observant poetics about it, spelling everything out for us.
Meanwhile, Chôbe demonstrates again his dislike of being held back - I wonder who else in that sanctum behaves like that Tetsunosuke - and goes straight for the kill by aiming at the Tanden.
Furthermore, Chôbe shows us yet again his ability to take in all the informations and use them in the best way possible in the shortest amount of time. He truly is brilliant, capable of working a strategy on the spot, while in the middle of a dangerous fight. And Rien’s torture session really helped him improve his control over his somewhat-semi-Kishikai-form, he’s working his strategy while being on and off that form, a major change compared to his earlier fight against Gabimaru.
We even get another view of Tôma’s dislike of that form. Chôbe has to explicitly tell him to not stop him, because he knows Tôma is ready to do exactly that.
Side note: the fight takes place at the pool where Tao Fa organised the pool party. Now, we know it took place in the Bochu Jutsu Sanctum, which explains the presence of private beds to practice it.
When Tetsunosuke got hit by the spore, it made me consider what Gabimaru had done while facing Ran: he’d used one of Mu Dan’s spores to “infect” himself and get to a level allowing him to properly face Ran. Considering Tetsunosuke had already been attacked when he arrived on the island as well, will that spore have a long term effect on him?
And now, I’ll let you enjoy the bickering team up I had been waiting for. I was well fed with that chapter, worth every single second of my time. Sparks flying between Chôbe and Tetsunosuke is something I expected as well, considering both of them are quite similar: ambitious, strong-willed, stubborn and with a solid amount of sass to boot. Seeing them roasting each other like children gives me life.
It’s even funnier to see them headbutting like that when you consider how far the mirroring goes: it’s even physical, both of them having lost an eye in a similar fashion, by sacrificing it (for different reasons - protecting Tôma and understanding Tao -, but the end result is exactly the same).
This golden chapter also gave us Fuchi the MVP and Wrangler of Unruly Criminals. His no-nonsensical nature clearly helps in that regard. He is also the king who managed to get Chôbe to cooperate, which is no small feat considering how strong-headed he is.
The last panel of that chapter completely cracked me up, as it reminded me very much of a RPG party, with two Damagers (Chôbe and Tetsunosuke, always on the attack), one Tank (Tôma, on the defense) and one healer (Fuchi) - who also happens to be the leader of the group. Pot calling the kettle black between Tetsunosuke and Chôbe, while Fuchi tries to assert his authority over the wildest and funniest bunch. Also please Chôbe, don’t insult the healer, he’s vital to the group.
Aka the chapter that got me like AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.
I’m not kidding, that’s literally how my Twitter thread started.
More under the cut.
The chapter is very action-oriented so my observations basically switch from one thing to the other very quickly there. We start with an explanation of how to make the wooden dolls and papers that indicate someone’s status. Feel free to experiement in your kitchen
During the exchange with Rien should I call that Rien’s monologue, considering he likes listening to himself? we get to learn that Tôma bears an ill omen. Is it tied to Chôbe’s accidental attack, back during the fight against Gabimaru? When Tôma intervened, back then, Chôbe accidentally injured him. And ooooh look, Chôbe is basically withholding information from his brother.
Speaking of Tôma, look at him being all waspy while protecting a friend! It ties neatly into what Chôbe had previously observed: his little brother doesn’t just have his usual passive behaviour around Fuchi and Tetsunosuke, he’s much more expressive!
Meanwhile, Tetsunosuke keeps being extra while ignoring the healer of the party, who’s not enjoying the whole situation. It’s yet another example of Fuchi being very sensitive behind his strange (well, he’s just a massive nerd) behavior. He’s gentle and he cares a lot.
Though funnily enough, Fuchi is also the one who tends to lean on the fourth wall. Here, he’s even naming the attack in a really shonen-y fashion. Though he is right: it’s the same move that got Tetsunosuke in huge “death penalty” trouble. But now, it’s about to save them all instead!
I couldn’t find what Fuchi means by “inu position”. However, I suspect it has to do biology, since it’s linked to the placement of Tao Fa’s Tanden. If someone can bring some light into that, I’d appreciate it!
And because Fuchi’s Metal attribute can go against Tao Fa’s Wood attribute, and since he’s powered by Tôma’s complementary Earth attribute (cue them holding hands, Tao Fa does the same to complement Ju Fa’s Fire attribute), he’s able to strike her down once and for all. The way he acts around her is another example of his gentle nature, and a nice parallel/call back to Sagiri’s behavior when she cut Rokurota down, at the start of the manga.Considering what we learned about Ju Fa and Tao Fa, framing it as a mercy kill is very fitting.
On the other hand, we have Chôbe who is... Not as pleasant. In fact, he’s downright petty and fairly cruel with both his strategy (emptying bottles full of Water attribute essence, thus weakening ever more Ju Fa by nullifying his Fire attribute) and his taunt. Since the beginning, I’ve been saying he strongly dislikes the Tensen, and I wasn’t even exaggerating: he really doesn’t like them. They didn’t treat him like a person and he answered in kind, because he’s very vindicative and can’t stand having shit forced on him, especially the way they did - coercing him into sex, then going full torture session to gather material for the elixir of immortality. Speaking of torture session, because Rien Is A Dumb Bitch blinded by his own single-mindedness, he didn’t realise the “torture session to improve your Tao” thing could (and would) be used against him and his kin. It’s not even that he misjudged Chôbe’s character, he completely ignored it and it’s starting to backfiring spectacularly. Just look at Chôbe being desensitized enough to casually pull at his own entrails (while looking amazingly demonic, I dig that look). On a side note, the panels where we see him swallow the bottles really shows how Kaku was Fujimoto’s assistant before going his own way: Chôbe looks like Denji’s (Chainsaw Man) clever older brother there, it’s pretty funny.
Just look at him being as petty as humanly possible while Fuchi is lowkey outraged. Btw his Tao really did improve, have you noticed how easily he switches from his human form to his semi-kishikai one? He can even talk while in semi-kishikai form as well! Before that, he could only act like a mindless beast.
Also, him using these bottles on Ju Fa may mean we won’t get Chôbe vs Gabi 2: Electric Boogaloo... And I’m perfectly fine with that! Now that we’ve seen Chôbae cooperate with Team Fuchi, I’d like to see it pushed more with some cooperation (no matter how unwilling both of them are) because while they’re handling the Tensen... Well, problem is still heading their way, in the form of the ShuGang and the Iwagakure ninja. They won’t be able to afford headbutting, and it’d go against their character arcs imo.
In contrast to Chôbe’s brutal take down of Ju Fa, Tetsunosuke’s method is more gentle and fitting of his personal view of what a warrior and a real man should be: flamboyant, but showing respect to his enemies - especially when they provided a good fight.
Speaking of demises and all, I’m pleasantly surprised no one in Team Fuchi kicked the bucket! They’re safe, at least for now! I genuinely suspected Tetsunosuke would be the one to go, considering his wish for a flamboyant death... But someone on Discord (Hexuse if I remember correctly) pointed out how Tetsunosuke won’t have the death he wishes because that’s not how UG’s story telling works. So I’m personally betting on a sacrifice in a non-flamboyant situation (if not something more dishonorable and going against Tetsunosuke’s views).
Also PLEASE UG STOP MAKING ME SAD WITH TAO FA AND JU FA. Jfc I’m super weak to sibling relationships, this entire fight hit me like a truck with its character development.
Aaaaand that’s how we switch to another fight... No, not Shion and Nurugai! It’s Sagiri and Mei facing the one Tensen we didn’t know the whereabouts of: Gui Fa! I’m telling you now: Gui Fa is the one Tensen I actually stan. Not the nicest Tensen (and actually the one who suggested the idea to lure people in along with Tao Fa), but damn is that “fuck this fight, just let me read my book in peace” attitude oddly relatable. On these good words, see you in the next Little Details post!
And today is a day dedicated to Tôma! Chôbe may have stolen my heart, but I can’t ignore his brother. After all, they go as a pair the Stardust Brothers, according to UG The Meme Lord and it would be a massive disservice to their personal to ignore Tôma, especially since he’s the one to provide us with the insight into their past and their life, through his own point of view. Initially posted ealier on Twitter (also here because Twitter decided to be fucky lol), you’ll find it here under the cut! Btw it’s spoilery up to the latest chapter, #71, so go catch up before reading.
1. Tôma’s perception of himself
At the beginning of the story, Tôma is both very admirative of Chôbe and fearing of falling behind and being incapable of following. It’s a sad, sad situation, because it means he can’t perceive himself as equal to Chôbe. He puts him on a pedestal instead. Considering Chôbe seems to have handled a lot to protect Tôma (who was younger, and thus didn’t know better and had a duty to follow as a little brother - Chôbe said it himself, if Tôma is lost, he can blindly rely on his big brother), and Tôma relied on him to take the lead, it has resulted in a young man willingly living in his brother’s shadow and feeling anxious about his own ability to keep up. However, it also fuels him to move forward, fully knowing that Chôbe wouldn’t abandon him. It’s a peculiar situation that shows how aware of everything Tôma is, both about the general situation he’s in and his own feelings. That is the sign of a smart person, in my opinion, even when said person needs a little nudge, a little help to step up...
2. Chôbe’s perception of Tôma
Especially when the brother he admires and fear not being able to follow views him like that:
Chôbe’s own abandonment issues (as expressed here) aside, have you noticed how Tôma is depicted in his mind? In a relaxed, confident posture. Chôbe wants to protect and support his brother, but he also sees him in a very positive light, something Tôma doesn’t seem to be fully aware of. He knows Chôbe wouldn’t abandon him, however he doubts his own abilities much more than his brother does.
3. Tôma is competent and Chôbe knows it
Despite Tôma’s personal doubts and fears, Chôbe readily trusts him with delicate matters (such as infiltrating the Asaemon) because he knows Tôma can do it. Tôma always seems as happy as a puppy to be praised by his brother, and I think he underestimate how proud of him Chôbe generally is.
4. Tôma is the wise one of the duo
Look at him, asking the reasonable questions.
Look at him, explaining stuff for Chôbe because Chôbe was a bad student who didn’t listen at school.
Tôma is presented as skilled, educated (he even silently roasts Sagiri on her lack of skill in poetry, in the bonus pages of volume 4) and generally on the no non-sense side of things to balance his brother’s wilder temperament. A perfect example of Blue Oni to Chôbe’s Red Oni! haha it’s exactly like my Trick or Be Tricked essay, they’re the human version of Shuten-doji and his right handman lol
5. They poke fun at each other in their own way
Tôma casually roasts Chôbe on his apparent lack of gratefulness, because Chôbe is a rough bandit from the wild who may have a tendency to complain for the sake of complaining.
Chôbe goes full Typical Big Brother because it’s oh so funny to make Tôma squeak by doing the weirdest nonsensical shit. People who have a sibling irl will know exactly that feeling - hell I had to death with that with my twin brother irl. Though Chôbe does seem to be quite the prankster on a day-to-day basis. Fitting with his Trickster Archetype profile too.
6. Tôma’s development
wow much photoshop such skillz
Tôma arrived on the island while being an anxious young man, eager to keep up with his brother and easily freaked out. Yet we also saw Chôbe’s view of his brother, and it’s much more caring and positive than Tôma thinks - though this situation has probably been fueled by Chôbe’s handling of their sordid situation when they were children, telling Tôma to rely on him in case of doubt because he’s the older brother and thus knows better - causing Tôma to stay in his shadow from his own volition as a consequence. He even says so himself, his brother is special and difficult to follow.
However, the situation shifted after the terrible fight against Gabimaru and the subsequent separation they experienced. Tôma saw his brother’s distress with his newfound abilities, and took it upon himself to be the one to save and protect. Stepping up like that is the one thing Chôbe was most happy to see when they reunited, and he openly expressed his pride to see Tôma finally consider himself as an equal to him.
Having a twin brother myself, I really get that entire situation at a personal level. My own circumstances made me feel... Very inadequate throughout most of my life, and it’s difficult to shake that sort of shadow - especially with my brilliant twin brother who would always put me down. He expressed his joy at seeing me finally stand my ground and openly take control of my own life not so long ago and it was very surprising for me. That damn bully of a brother wanted me to show myself while being a dick about it all along. As you can see, my relationship with my brother is not like the Aza brothers’ at all, it’s in fact completely broken so seeing their relationship being so positive despite all the shit they went through is really touching. They care, they care a lot, because they have nothing else than each other. So, despite my own broken-beyond-repair relationship with my brother, I can really appreciate their dynamic and give my kudos to UG for that. He really nails it with these two.
I realised I hadn’t posted that one! Initially available here, and yet another amateur translation from me! From Japanese to English this time, because what is my native language again haha As you can see, it’s a follow-up on the poster sold with the novel (available on Amazon and Rakuten, if you’re interested)!
UG IS MY HERO THAT CHAPTER IS EVERYTHING I WANTED TO SEE I’M CRYING AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH
Let me c/c what I said on Reddit because I’m a lazy fuck.
That page with the Gintama-esque smiles killed me.
I knew something was up with the braid. When I pinged UG about it on Twitter, he liked the tweet without commenting. I knew there's was a trick somewhere.
Chôbe being so proud of Tôma is like... Please Chôbe, Tôma, stop being adorable or don't, I love these interactions
Still, the number doesn't make the odds in favour of our group, since it's a 2 Metal/1 Fire/1 Earth vs 1 Fire/1 Wood. I remind you all that Fire hinders Metal, Wood hinders Earth, and Wood generates Fire - but it'll be more useful to Ju Fa than Tamiya, since the latter is bad at handling Tao. Edit: btw both Fuchi and Chôbe are capable of taking Tao Fa down, since Metal hinders Wood. Ju Fa may be a much bigger issue in that matter, since the only Water type, Nurugai, isn't here (and I doubt she'd be able to handle Ju Fa anyway, considering she's not exactly a fighter). However, we know Chôbe can handle hits from Ju Fa now and possesses a Tao of high quality + both him and Tôma are genius when it comes to fight...
It's not gonna be easy.
THESE TWO THOUGH. I want to marry them lmao I love them so so much. These smiles. These damn smiles.
Emo Ju Fa as a bonus because I love making fun of the Tensen and the mf is crying blood lmao get rekt, Ju Fa
As I post this, the series is as far as chapter 71 and I recommend you to be caught up before checking what’s about to follow because it’s spoiler territory. More under the cut.
So I’ve been thinking about Chôbe’s curious reaction during his fight with Gabimaru for a while now, and how I felt we were missing a small piece to fully understand what was going on. Now that’s it’s confirmed that the Tao from the Waitanhua tends to take over the will of the humans infested by it, the fight between can really be seen under a proper light.
Reminder that this is what happened to Chôbe:
It’s interesting because we’ve been shown, with Senta’s demise, that the process of being overtaken can be like a pleasant dream. But in Chôbe’s case, it only summoned bad memories that triggered him to the point he got mad and murderous. The GabiGang commented that both men lost their mind. Yes, and no. Gabimaru was unwell after his exhausting fight with Zhu Jin and had memory issues, but Chôbe wasn’t really losing himself in my opinion. He seemed really stuck in a fight of will between himself and the Waitanhua that was trying to overtake him (and seriously pissing him off in the process), all while going on automatic pilot during his fight against Gabi.
The implications of this scene, though. The Waitanhua really doesn’t evoke pleasant memories to Chôbe. That’s just brutal, that man has so many unresolved issues he bears all alone. With Tôma’s progress, I truly hope he’ll start relying on his brother more for that matter, because he is in dire need of support.
