A simple comic relief page, because there's no way I can accurately draw a pokemon battle with that many pokemon, so I'll leave it up to you guy's interpretation how it went :p
There's no new episode or chapter this week BUT that means I had enough time to write an analysis on one aspect of Kahaku's character development. I rooted through the Uralis and Renryrr arcs for this one specific pattern like a madman, so if this doesn't give you more insight into Kahaku's character I won't be able to do anything because I don't know any of you people, but I will sit down and stare into space for at least an hour.
So this anaylsis focuses mostly on Kahaku in the Uralis Arc, and more specifically, his relationship with religion. Because Kahaku is pretty religious. He was raised as a cult's figurehead, it's built into his character. So like all of Hayase's other successors, he's a follower of the Defense Corps.' belief system. In his opinion, his faith makes him stronger, and he also uses it to reassure himself and other people.
This exchange where Kahaku tells Fushi about the afterlife stands out because it's worlds apart from anything that could conceivably comfort Fushi. They had just fled from a girl who was going to die, because they couldn't stand not being able to cure her, and climbed a tree in March's form to feel more secure. Seeing this, Kahaku went with something he would be relieved to hear in that situation, and it shows just how much his beliefs dictate his thoughts and actions.
Since Fushi is the Defense Corps.' deity of choice, Kahaku's opinion of them had already formed before they met. How this affects the way he treats Fushi is clearest when he apologizes for not maintaining the public's good will towards Fushi almost immediately after introducing himself, and when he anticipates that they'd let Bon execute the Defense Corps. when they were captured by his soldiers. Both times, he's pleasantly surprised when Fushi demonstrates basic human decency; he was expecting to meet an inhuman shapeshifter who needed to be guided towards benevolence by someone worthy. Because that's how Hayase depicts them. But the slightest bit of kindness makes Kahaku's perception of them shift entirely. Ironically, Fushi only told Kahaku not to apologize because they thought everyone was right and they were responsible for knocker attacks. It had nothing to do with cheering Kahaku up, but he thought they were being nice and asked if they could be friends.
Fushi—because they, you know, kind of have a history of friends dying horrible deaths—doesn't accept this offer, so Kahaku sticks to the servant/master relationship, which only intensifies after he falls in love with them. Yes, this is creepy as fuck. He could talk to Fushi in a friendly way and even messed around with them a little before they started using Parona's form, but afterwards... Referring to Fushi as "our Fushi," bowing before he enters their room, acting as if he can make decisions for them, and encouraging them to work miracles so that other people will believe in them too are some of the bullshit things he does that make Fushi uncomfortable/piss them off/are just weird as fuck.
The Defense Corps. version of Fushi doesn't match the person Kahaku is getting to know. Beyond the "Hayase's opinion on what Fushi needs versus what Fushi actually needs" discrepancy, he can see how they react in very human ways when they're angry, how they like to read and absorb new information, how they can't ride a fucking horse properly, and how they can't handle death. None of these are very godly things, but Kahaku's so wrapped up in his own mind that he doesn't notice how out of touch he is, and how it affects Fushi. This inconsistency comes to a head when Kahaku proposes, and subsequently can't understand why Fushi's rejecting him because he doesn't have a sense of who they are at all. He falls back on Hayase's belief that Fushi needs to be taught by others and assaults them. Then, this:
Kahaku was dead wrong, and according to Fushi, so is the religion he believed in. Next, Bon and Fushi are captured by the Bennett Church, and Pokoa throws a lit match onto gasoline.
This is a great interaction because Pokoa unintentionally points out that Kahaku actually doesn't have much faith in Fushi, and maybe he never did. He was trying to guide them like Hayase's successors are supposed to, but that's just proof that he doesn't think they can take care of themselves. So the Defense Corps.' agenda is contradictory: if not Fushi, what exactly are they supposed to be having faith in? Hayase? That answer might have suited Kahaku fine before, but now he knows that she was a horrible person. To make things worse, the Defense Corps. have to disband.
In the middle of this mess, Fushi gives him a concrete goal: to help them fight the knockers in Renryrr and to worm information out of the left hand. And after that he—wait for it—stops wearing the piece of cloth that has the Defense Corps.' religious symbol on it. Yes this is what made me decide to write this up. As funny as it is to imagine that removing one article of clothing not even I noticed was missing from an outfit so distinctly unfashionable it could be recognized from a mile away was Kahaku's idea of going incognito, there was no reason for him to disguise himself by the time the knockers started attacking Renryrr. It didn't get ripped up or anything either. He just stopped wearing it. It's a statement that means he no longer agrees with Hayase's religious ideals.
Kahaku decided to put his faith in a specific person who he cared a lot about, instead of an organization based on the beliefs of an insane person. In the Renryrr Arc, he's able to attune himself to Fushi's emotions because he's no longer confused about who they are. After the left hand kills Fushi, and Kahaku's in another situation where it looks like there's no hope, he does have faith in them, and fights the left hand assuming that March managed to work something out despite not even knowing that they're still alive until he sees Kai.
That last sentence would have been a somewhat positive point to end this post, but I'm going to keep going. When Kahaku died, he killed himself and members of the Bennett Church, while declaring that he loved Fushi, directly after a flashback in which he swore to devote himself to them without even knowing who they were. You get the point I'm trying to make here: his death was like a ritual sacrifice, and he chose to die in that way and reincarnate instead of returning to Fushi's side when Kai offered or wait for them to resurrect him after he died.
