#fami-res iko.

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I was feeling insane.

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Have you noticed that Kyouji has been progressively stepping more and more into the light?

(This particular topic has probably been beaten and thrashed to death by this point, but it's my blog and I wanna talk about it, dammit. )

Kyouji being depicted as emerging from the shadows is pretty fitting for him, both to represent his shady background and his more "serious" side.

It also adds a sometimes comedic contrast between how easygoing he is for a yakuza member when he briefly steps out the shadows to do stuff. But he always returns after he's done in the light.

However, in Fami-res Iko. he's noticeably inching closer and closer to the light. Starting off mere steps away, then barely shielded by curtains, and finally, looking directly at the light.

And where does this all start? Yup, the day when Satomi opened the door to let the first instance of "light" pour into the darkness. Hell, he ends up looking directly at the light in Satomi's room if you really wanna be ultra obvious about it.

I see it as him being ready and unafraid to embrace a "normal" life again. Or perhaps it's just a symbol of him becoming privately candid about his feelings (i.e., towards their "final" meeting, or Satomi in general).

But he's not quite 100% there, at least not in their latest meeting. Kyouji's cloaked head-to-toe in pure black— it ends up looking like a really big and unnerving "stain" in an otherwise pristine environment. Like it just doesn't quite belong. His yakuza background is pretty severely holding him back from being part of *waves wildly* everything that's outside the shadows.

Maybe his background would end up being an obstacle. Maybe he'll stay as part of the yakuza, but be able to step into "normalcy" from time to time with Satomi. Or maybe he'll finally shed that dark suit in the future and be able to fully experience the sunlight.

Whatever it is, I hope he'll still be himself.

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Kyouji's Selflessness & Satomi's Normalcy

The chapter where Satomi and Kyouji goes out to eat yakiniku is deeply bittersweet and melancholic for a lot of reasons.

It starts off a little tense, but starts to mellow out when Kyouji talks about his relationship with his family. He's mostly estranged from his siblings, with his sister offhandedly remarked to be just a bit more hostile towards him (i.e., Houjou saying that last he knew, Kyouji's sister basically refuses to let him see her child). In this chapter, Kyouji assumes that his brother's child is probably either around Satomi's age or already off working somewhere— he doesn't know for sure.

What he does know, though, is the last time he saw the child, they were about the size of tongs at the yakiniku restaurant. Maybe this was before Kyouji left for the yakuza.

Satomi asks if he misses his nephew/niece, and Kyouji could only say that as long as they're living well, it's fine with him.

It does give a lot more depth to his character— how he isn't really just flightly and happy-go-lucky generally. He's probably this way since, as I've discussed previously, his life is full of people leaving. Kyouji has accepted most of the time, people leaving him is for the better, even if he doesn't feel particularly good about it.

He's a pretty selfless guy to tank the isolation, and even takes Satomi's request to not see each other again in relative stride. Kyouji doesn't mind not seeing his family again. Kyouji doesn't mind separating himself for Satomi for those 3 years. And, hell, he doesn’t even mind if it means not seeing him again forever. As long as it means they are living their lives as they should.

It's depressing, but morally, Kyouji's got a good head on his shoulders.

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On the other hand, this meeting serves as a moment of reluctance to return to normalcy for Satomi. He had quite frankly stated that he wasn't comfortable getting roped up with any shenanigans due to Kyouji's presence— so he feels it's for the best they don't meet anymore.

But at their parting, surrounded by the "ideal normalcy," Satomi starts to struggle with the upcoming end to their relationship.

We see him get anxious, his own panels are completely blank, as if lost in thought. Satomi could have just said goodbye as usual, but it eventually culminates to this:

In a world full of just "normal" and "regular," Satomi reached out and hugged the man the most far away from those ideals.

It's an interesting dynamic, I think. One who is willing to let go, because that's for the best. And the other who has to let go for the better, but still wants to cling to that small irregularity in his spotless life.

I wonder if his request only started to hit him when they had to say their farewells. Maybe he thought he could sever ties easily, but didn't realize the weight of basically losing a whole person, forever.

I hope they can find a balance somewhere down the line.

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Fun fact, Kyouji is kind of being an ass (debatable) for choosing to wait where he is in chapter 12 of Fami-res.

If you are attentive, you would notice he is waiting at Kamata Station, which is technically "right," because, well, they do meet somewhere around Kamata Station usually.

But, surprisingly, no, in the latest chapter he is waiting at the East Exit, and not the West Exit— as compared to their other meetings below.

(Chapter 2)

(Chapter 9— I know it's a reused background but bear with me.)

If you look up the actual IRL surroundings of the two exits, it's more obvious the location has changed.

(Area right outside of Kamata Station West Exit)

(Kamata Station East Exit— it's the one with Kamata Station in English right under the sign)

The reason why it's a dick move to wait on the East side of all places is if you look at the layout for the station:

It's just jammed right into traffic. 😭

I guess it's to really highlight the dynamic change between Satomi and Kyouji. It's their "final" meeting, and there's a karaoke contest, too, so it's a lot of looming over them.

Kyouji is dressed in his yakuza attire and is a bit more aloof than usual. Just a lot of "distance" even if they're still friendly.

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Satomi is so spoiled (he knows this and takes full advantage of it) when he’s with Kyouji. Starting from Karaoke Iko! it’s kind of how it’s always worked out— Kyouji paying for food and Satomi usually gets anything he likes.

The fried rice at the karaoke, the compensation strawberries, and even the meals they have when Kyouji comes to visit in Tokyo.

In the most recent chapter, he asks Kyouji to bring 20 pork meat buns from 551 HORAI and 2 cheesecakes from Rikuro’s for their last meeting.

Surprisingly, it's technically a pretty affordable amount of food.

▶ 551 HORAI x20 (10 buns = 2100 yen): 4200 yen

▶ Rikuro's Bakery Cheesecake x2 (Size 6 Cake = 956 yen): 1930 yen

▶ Total Cost: 6130 yen or approximately $38

Pretty much just Osaka classics Satomi was craving probably lol.

Fun Fact: Fami-res Iko. actually collabed with the real-life yakiniku place Satomi and Kyouji went to in the story.

The place is called Yakiniku Hiroki.

They have a private room (with business cards) if you want to relive the chapter.

And yes, they even have the skirt meat/steak that Satomi had Kyouji order lol.

You can see more photos here.

Wayama-sensei also drew Kyouji holding the horrifically big piece of skirt meat/steak.

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In Karaoke Iko! Kyouji mentions he has a hawk irezumi, which the hawk itself is commonly seen as symbol for being cunning and intelligent, as well as associated with the brave and bold samurai.

Sometimes the Japanese proverb, "A capable hawk hides its claws," is also related to it— pointing out how the individual is full of talent, but is modest (or that there is more than meets the eye).

That's quite fitting for Kyouji, isn't it?

(Though I do want to clarify that in other translations— he does actually specify it’s a crane. Not sure why the official English version went with hawk, unless the bird in question was worded vaguely. Anyway, he does fit some of the hawk’s qualities, but ultimately the canon irezumi is that of cranes.)

In the live-action adaptation, Kyouji is seen with red-crowned cranes on his irezumi. The cranes represent longevity and good fortune, which, I guess is sort of indicative of his situation (it's kind of like he stumbled into the "wrong" sort of luck/fortune for most his life).

But that's not all! There's the story of "The Grateful Crane," which some of you have perhaps heard of. In it, a man rescues and nurses an injured crane who later on returns as a beautiful woman. The woman becomes his wife, and promises him an abundance of food and wealth as long as the man never peeks into her weaving room. However, the man's curiosity gets the better of him, and what he sees in the weaving room is the crane he had previously saved. And since her true form was revealed, she could stay no longer and flew away, never to return.

While I'm not sure how "canon" the live-action adaptation is, it sure does foreshadow a potentially sad ending for Satomi and Kyouji.

Satomi (the man) teaches (rescues) Kyouji (the crane) how to sing in preparation for the karaoke contest. In return, Kyouji has always offered to take Satomi out to eat, and even gives an extremely expensive watch to him without expecting it back (the crane repaying the favor). But at the end of the day, it is up to Satomi to continue to maintain this relationship (to not "peek"). Yet, his desire for a "normal" life and conflicting feelings toward Kyouji has gotten the better of him, and Kyouji is on the brink of leaving (flying away) depending on Satomi's choice.

Hopefully this time around they can find a happy ending for this story.

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Satomi has a talent for embodying the ultimate 😃 and 🙂 face.

His eyes are so dead and scary when he has to play friendly...

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Sometimes at peak insanity, I like to think Kyouji and Kobayashi are related somehow.

But then that flies out the window when:

1. They have different names and surnames.

2. Kyouji has 2 siblings, an older brother and sister. Kobayashi also has 2 siblings, but only one confirmed brother 12 years his junior (which unless some time fuckery occurred, the younger bro shown in the udon bun chapter isn’t him).

3. Wayama-sensei just has a type and damn does she draw them well.

Regardless, it’s fun to think about when half your brain is melted.

(Also lol at Kyouji’s differences between books, though the callback was great).