#mankai swap

[mozukumi]

I want to be an adult! / I can’t be an adult!

Some friends and I made an A3 Age Swap AU (otherwise known as mAnkAi swAp), and uh, I’ve been thinking about it a Normal Amount. More details under the cut!  

While canon!Masumi has the issue of wanting to grow up too fast, teen!Itaru has the problem of not wanting to ever grow up. He fears that once he grows older, he won’t be allowed to enjoy the interests he loves so much - and that he’ll soon become the adults he hates.

Canon!Itaru was able to counter and assure him that you don’t have to grow up too fast. Adult!Masumi, who has had over a decade’s more life experience then canon!Masumi, has finally grown up at his own pace. He’s seen that adulthood, while not quite as perfect as he thought it’d be as a kid, really isn’t that bad, and tries to tell teen!Itaru that he’ll make it out okay.

For design choices, Itaru’s was taken straight from his Mankai Playback card. I  got the idea for Masumi to dye the blonde part of his hair purple from his KniRoun fit, but adjusted to look nicer to me. Outfit is inspired by his autumn one from in-canon, and my friends had the correct idea to give him piercings.

And, in case you’re curious, the full lineup. 

Other major role swaps are Banri as the director, Izumi as the leader of Akigumi, Juza as the yakuza enforcer, and Azami as the yakuza boss.

if you have any questions about this au please ask me i am thinking abt it so hard

[matchatcat]

mankai swap is a very serious au 

[mozukumi]

HI I SAW UR MANKAI SWAP AU AND I NEARLY DROPPED MY PHONE GETTING HERE!! SO ANW IM CURIOUS ABT THE 27 YEAR OLDS + 17 YEAR OLDS IN THIS PLEASE PLEASE GO HAM IN EXPLAINING IM SO INTRIGUED

HELP YOUR PHONE!!

this ask is SO sweet though i'm so excited. ask and you Shall Receive. For context, this is referencing art I did of Itaru and Masumi in the mAnkAi swAp AU , where ages get shuffled around.

This got Really Long, so I'll place my explainations under the cut.

I'll start with the 27 year olds, because first and foremost I need to explain...

Juza Hyodo - This entire AU was started from one conversation: going off of how Sakyo saw a lot of his younger self in Juza, what would the reverse be like? What if Juza was the older yakuza, and Sakyo was the gruff teen

The whole deal with Kumon and his baseball team happens as in canon. However, in this verse, some members of the team get really pissed that Kumon 'made them lose' the championship, and attacked him in revenge.

Kumon needed expensive surgery to recover from his injuries - and the Hyodo family didn't have that kind of money. So Juza decided to join the yakuza to make that money, after a meeting with the chairman (the original one, not Azami).

Ever since joining the yakuza, Juza hasn't contacted his family, too ashamed by what he does, and too worried that it's come back to haunt them. Instead, he just sends them money every month - they realize he's alive, but they just can't find him.

His relationship with Sakoda (who remains the same age in this AU) is a lot more gentle and brotherly then the one Sakyo has with him - partially because Sakoda's youthful energy reminds him of Kumon.

Banri Settsu - The three people who made this AU are Juban and Sakyoizu shippers. So obviously, when we swapped out Juza for Sakyo, we had the realization that this would make Banri the director. And then the yeast really started to form in our minds.

Desperate, he finds a help wanted listing for the Director of the MANKAI Company - a formerly prosperous company that’s now dead after its former director left a year ago. So he said fuck it, despite not having any experience in theater, because he just wanted anything - anything to make him feel passionate.

As a director, he’s definitely more lax then Izumi - where she would tell a kid to go to school if she saw them skipping, he’d just say “lmao you’ve made sure you have enough absences right kiddo”. He still definitely cares about all of the company, though. He is going to win at being the director of a theater company, something which is both normal to want and possible to achieve.

Sakuya Sakuma - Already a member of the company before Banri arrives, Sakuya is a freeter who was moved by 16 year old Matsukawa’s impassionate plea for actors, and decided to join the company because he realized he didn’t feel fulfilled in his life. His general vibe is still the same - it’s his hope to make everybody smile through his acting - but now he has Dad energy instead of Son energy.

And for the 17 year olds:

Itaru Chigasaki - The whole deal with his sister telling him to become a sickly prince and his subsequent friendship/fallout with Tonooka remain as in canon. We pick up his story right after he’s been exposed as being a fraud. So he’s in a pretty bad place: everybody in the school has turned against him, he’s back to having no friends, and he’s having to grapple with the horrifying prospect of keeping up this act his entire life. People began to hate him immediately after he showed his true self, just like his sister said. Was he going to have to play the prince forever? Was this his destiny?

When his gaming rival, NEO, made his ranking description “come audition @ mankai company” in on of the gacha games he played, Itaru decided to go. He was already at his lowest social standing. Even becoming a theater kid couldn’t bring him any lower. At least this way, he’d get out of the house.

this is what I mean by “ranking description”, idk if that’s the right name for them.

Itaru’s conflict is about a) learning to abandon his princely character and b) learning that he doesn’t have to fear growing up. In Banri, he gets to see an adult who is unabashedly interested in video games and is still regarded as ‘responsible’. And um, having Banri as your role model probably isn’t the best idea? But like, he’s vibing.

Tasuku Takato and Tsumugi Tsukioka - I’m placing them together bc Do Not Seperate and also it’s easier to talk about the changes to their story with them together lol.

So, there’s no GOD-za seperation here - so no divorce arc. Instead, they’re still childhood best friends, and their main conflict is about getting into university. They’re both pushing themselves way too hard studying, because they want to go to the same fancy arts school - but they both have their own worries about what will happen if one of them gets rejected. 

Thank you so much for asking this, and thank you so much for reading this far. I am constantly thinking about this and it means a lot that somebody out there would care!

[mozukumi]

HIII IT'S THE EXCITED ANON AGAIN (will be referring to myself as 🌸 from now on)

AAAAAA THANK YOU FOR ANSWERING I'M SO 👁👁 AT THE AU!! i'm even more curious about the 30 year olds (lmao oldasses) bc they didn't really have a concrete life plan in canon!! i also saw that izumi, azuma, chikage, and hisoka are the same age so im super intrigued!! did yukio just leave, why izumi became the autumn leader, do they go to the same school, and where is august in this au are the questions floating around in my brain!! AND DAD ENERGY SAKUYA SO TRUE he practically adopted izumi, azuma, chikage, and hisoka bc of their similar family circumstances (probs??? not to impose on your ideas though!!) and the lone wolves link skill became a 5-person one now lol I LOVE THIS AU SO MUCH AAAAAAA

a*sneefles* 🌸 ANON I OWE YOU MY LIFE!!

Just like last time, this got long, so under the cut - for context on what this is about you can look at the mAnkAi swAp tag on my blog! tl;dr: ages of the cast get shuffled around. changes result in much to think about!

first of all. YES. they are very much oldheads. I've literally realized just now in writing this response that Azami should... technically be 31? Because my original methodology was to swap from the two extremes (14 year old become 30, 30 year old become 14, and so on). And while I ended up doing much more tweaking for the high schoolers ages to make it Make more sense, the older crowd remained the same. But um, I forgot that Azami is actually 1 year younger then Yuki and Muku. Oops!

You're absolutely right in that it's hard bc they dont have life plans in canon, which means It's Free Real Estate.

Azami Izumida - Azami, you really got the short end of the stick in this AU, I'm going to be painfully honest. In this verse, his father died when he was about 20 - and without Mankai and Sakyo around to encourage him to find his own path in life, he ended up taking up the family business and becoming the head of the Ginsenkai. He runs the organization with diligence, although deep down he knows its not what he wants to be doing with his life.

He's known Juza ever since he joined the yakuza (at age 17), and holds him in high respect. He appreciates that Juza isn't cruel, but also isn't fake with Azami, and is willing to be honest with him even when that honesty is blunt.

Recently, a young Sakyo Furuichi approached him and asked to join the yakuza in hopes of making money for his family. However, Azami rejected him - not seeing the yakuza as a place for a promising young man such as him.

Muku Sakisaka - Despite his unassuming demeanor, thirty-year-old Muku is actually quite the celebrity - being a renowned shoujo mangaka. Which, funnily enough, makes him kind of parallel to Homare? Famous artist who you wouldn’t expect to be one based on their personality.

Since he didn't have the theater to turn to after he had his injury, in this verse he instead decided to work on his artistic skills. And like...

This is his practice doodle, and I think it's pretty cute! So I don't think it's out of the question to assert that with more time, Muku would be somebody quite capable of producing some good shoujo classics.

He joined Mankai due to a bout of artists block, and hoped the environment would provide him with new inspiration.

Yuki Rurikawa - A well-known fashion designer. Yuki... actually doesn't change that much in this AU? He's definitely more genuinely confident in himself in this verse, which means he isn't always as acidic - he doesn't need to put up a bravado of confidence anymore. But otherwise, same old Yuki, great new package.

and now for the 16 year olds (abandonment issues crew) lets make some NOISE. please dont feel bad for suggesting sakuya adopts them because he ABSOLUTELY DOES. like, obviously all of the adults in the company are parents now :tm:, but sakuya is number 1 dad. masumi also, because he's now realized how fucked up his dad was and he's trying to become a better role model then he was. i have made a meme to illustrate the vibes

So, first of all, let me talk to you about my darling daughter:

Izumi Tachibana - Imagine: it has been one year since your father disappeared. For the most part, things have returned back to normal - or as normal as things will ever be, now that he’s gone.

Then you see a flyer on the street. For the goddamn Mankai Company.

Would you react well? Because um. Izumi didn’t! Understandably!

She was pissed, assuming that her father was back and didn’t even bother to say hi to her and mom - mirroring her longstanding issue of her father valuing the theater over her. So maybe she didn’t think logically. Maybe she just went over to the Mankai theater as fast as she could, and angrily demanded that she speak to the director.

The first person she met was one Yuki Rurikawa. And well - he could tell this kid was upset, for some reason. But also Banri had denied him the budget increase he so clearly deserved, so Yuki was feeling petty and decided not to clarify anything. He just told her that “he’s right over there.”

So she just goes up to the figure and punches him, because she’s 16 and she’s angry and honestly, have you met an angry 16 year old whose angry at her father? I was one. It’s intense. And then he turns around, and it’s not her father at all, but it’s Banri.

She immediately apologizes, but Banri honestly isn’t even that mad. He’s just kind of impressed. #Girlboss! She explains her situation, and Banri invites her to audition for the autumn troupe.

You may ask: wait isn’t mankai a men only theater. and my response is ya but idk <3 #girlboss

As for Izumi being  a bad actress, I posit that so were Sakuya and Juza. I forget where I saw it, but I remember seeing some fic or meta say that the only problem is that Izumi never had her own Izumi, somebody to nurture her talent and make her bloom. But in this AU, she does. 

She’s the leader because honestly? She volunteered first. Sakyo was considering volunteering, but when Izumi volunteered, he yielded to her. Her style as a similar is pretty similar to her style as a director, except y’know she’s a teenager.

Azuma Yukishiro - ohhh azuma poor little meow meow.

He’s more fresh off of his familys death in this verse, which does make him a bit squishier. However, he’s also less emotionally distant, because he hasn’t had all of the years to try and convince himself he’s #coping. He’s actually honest enough to admit that he doesn’t want to have his own room in this verse - so he ends up rooming with Tsumugi and Tasuku is the solo room. 

(my friends joked that because Tasuku and Tsumugi aren’t ‘divorced’ in this verse, Banri decided to divorce them by making them not be in the same room. this does actually make their problem of exerting themselves too hard for the others sake worsen, bc they can stay up late studying without the other noticing.)

Chikage Utsuki and Hisoka Mikage and also August - y’know, for somebody who constantly reblogs gekkagumi content and is constantly thinking about gekkabros, it is actually kind of hilarious that i have no fucking clue what they’re up to in this AU.

It’s something I’ve been rotating and trying to think about! Theoretically, most of their arc could remain the same, because I do think that Chikage and Hisoka entered the Organization at around age 12. But my friends and I still haven’t decided if we want to keep it the same, or have it changed up somehow? The main issue I personally keep running into is justifying the year where Hisoka joins the company but Chikage doesn’t, since if they aren’t split up by potion of erase your memory, I don’t see why they’d go their seperate ways. And then there’s August to think about... I don’t know!!

 I definitely think there’s something fun and unique that could be gotten from their dynamic in this AU, but it hasn’t been cracked quite yet. But also imagining August as a really overdramatic theater parent is everything I need in my life. In my moms home videos of my own community theater productions, you can literally hear my father distinctly whistling during all of the sections where everybody is clapping. This is Augustcore.

One thing to note tho is that if the Chikage arc goes the same way, there is definitely going to be like. a Moment where Banri realizes he got kidnapped by a 17 year old and he’s like “goddamn it this is kinda cringe isn’t it. anyway this kind of overdramatic response is exactly what i would have done if i was a kid lmao lets get you to bed.”

As for the schools... that’s a great question omg. We haven’t decided where Izumi goes to school! But there’s so much potential for interesting dynamics there. And depending on how we end up handling Chikage and Hisoka in this AU, it’s possible they aren’t even going to be going to a regular high school because y’know, Spy Kids. Which brings about a really funny scene in my head where Hisoka isn’t going to school and Banri asks him if he has enough absence days stored up, and then Banri comes to the realization that he literally does not go to school. 

And for Yukio, yup, he still left! It’s just that he only left 1 year prior to the story starting. 

AGAIN, ANON, THANK YOU SO SO MUCH!! onto your next ask these are a joy and also really good for developing some stuff abt this AU

[mozukumi]

Hi there!! 💕 I had to come running here to tell you how MUCH I'm loving this Mankai swap idea!! Like??? Yesss??? This is kadjshs SO GOOD!! I love how you are presenting all the new dynamics and it's everything!! 💕 I also wanted to ask, because I wanna bing it when I have time this weekend aksjdj I also wanted to ask is there any specific order to read this au or are these general contexts? Have a lovely day and know I've been having a blast reading these aaaaah!! 💕 Thank you for writing it!!!

oh my god thank you so much this message is SO sweet im gonna die :sob: i'm so glad that you've enjoyed it so much, bc it's really been such a treat to write abt and the reception means a lot to me!!

hrm.. i think the best route would be to go through the tag in chronological order! here's a link for that - because there is some stuff that builds on previous asks/content. i think as long as you understand the basic premise of it tho, you're probably good to go in whatever order you like, so if you want to pick stuff that seems more interesting to you go ahead!

[mozukumi]

i wasn't born for the rose and the pearl // mAnkAi swAp juban drabble

A bit of necessary context for this fic: this is a part of the mAnkAi swAp AU, where basically everybody gets age-flipped. Banri is the director and Izumi is the autumn troupe leader, and Juza is the yakuza debt collector and Sakyo is a delinquent.

--

Contrary to popular belief, Juza Hyodo wasn’t completely oblivious.

He had plenty of other bad qualities, he’d readily admit. He was a man so bad he couldn’t even show his face to his own family. So it wasn’t a matter of pride so much as it was a matter of fact: he truly wasn’t that dumb. He knew Banri was flirting with him.

It took him a while to accept. He only said he wasn’t completely oblivious - he was liable to let some things slip through the cracks. And at first, the director's flirtations fell into that category. They were all tiny actions, easily explainable by more logical reasoning. But then the tiny actions kept happening. And even he couldn’t ignore it.

It wasn’t a matter of unreciprocated feelings. Juza did like him back. Chalk that one up to the numerous other bad qualities he admitted to, maybe - perhaps his taste in men was at times questionable. But by god, did he like him back. He liked him damn well.

Banri Settsu was a man who carried himself through his own life as if he were the main character. If he wanted something, he was going to take it, fight for it, work for it - all with that trademark grin on his face.

Juza couldn’t be faulted for falling for him. It was just another vice, he supposed. To desire what he shouldn’t have.

Because he really, really shouldn’t. He could. But he shouldn’t.

Banri Settsu was a man with a bright future ahead of him, one that he was going to face head-on. And a man like Juza - well, he wasn’t fooling anybody, least of all himself. A gruff yakuza had no place in his world. He would only sully it.

Maybe if they had met when they were younger, back before Juza had stained his hands red with blood, things could have been different. Or, well, he ought to be more careful with his wording - they had met when they were younger. Even if Juza hadn’t remembered it for a while, as soon as Banri confronted him about his sudden recollection, the memories came back. Of his teenage years, right before he joined the yakuza and set his life down this path. Of a flaxen-haired boy with big ambitions who he easily crushed, in both body and mind.

Well, he wasn’t going to make that mistake again. He wouldn’t be the one responsible for dragging Banri down.

But maybe if things had gone slightly different - if Banri hadn’t picked a fight, but started a conversation. Maybe things could have gone differently for them.

(Some may call it an indulgent fantasy, but the way Juza saw it: it was just as likely as him getting together with Banri now. Zero percent chance of it happening either way. So why not embellish it, like the shoujo his cousin so dutifully produced?)

(It wouldn’t change things either way.)

[mozukumi]

Omg I just went through your entire Mankai Swap tag and I'm !!!!!!!!!!!

I was thinking what if, while Gekka is split up Chikage ends up hiding out at Itaru's school, either as a "transfer student" or pulls a misumi and just starts living in a storage room or something? The first makes more sense to me though. Being Regular Kid Who Goes To School would be a good cover, and assuming he still has his hacking skills, a pretty easy one to do.

Also I am 👀 at the TasuTsumu dynamic here and also VERY curious about the Tenma and Yuki dynamic what with them both being in very different stages in their lives than canon.

ALSO I'm now imagining every soft SakyoIzu moment in Canon but Juban instead (though in this case it may be Banri dropping the hints and Juza just sitting there with mii channel music playing in his head on loop)

AHHHH TYSM FOR BEING INTERESTING IN THIS AU!!! These asks always give me so much energy and strength ^_^

(For those who don't know about mAnkAi swAp, you can find more info about it here! It's an age and role swap AU.)

First of all, I find the idea of Chikage pulling a Misumi to be so charming. I agree that it's not likely or plausible, but it's just so much fun to think about.

We don't know that much about Itaru's school in canon, so I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that it also has rooms for students who want to board at the school, and Itaru is just a commuter student. He could definitely hack himself into the system. Plus it's so funny imagining him trying to be a Normal Teenage Boy. I don't think he'd have trouble with the academic parts, but BOY the social atmosphere would be a challenge for him.

And YEAH Tasutsumu is very different from canon here because they haven't had their big separation moment. Well, aside from no longer being roommates, but all that means is that they can overwork themselves and not have the other notice.

Tenma and Yuki, yes!! They're honestly not as changed as you would probably expect from fully grown adults LOL because I think they're always gonna be bickering with one another. Yuki's main objection to Tenma is that in his career as a fashion designer, he's worked with a lot of hair stylists, and therefore been in a lot of salons, and everytime he sees Tenma on a magazine there's always some gossip about him. So Yuki is like "ya i dont trust u lawl always getting into drama smh".

SNEEFLES THIS IS SO TRUE... juban being adults is smth that can be so important... an idea we've been floating is that um. juza and banri still had their big moment as kids, but juza disappeared before banri could ever find him again to challenge him to a rematch (this is because juza joined the yakuza). And it's been over a decade, so Banri doesn't remember this clearly, but eventually he remembers - so instead of a warm and fluffy childhood flashback, its a HOLY SHIT YOU'RE THE GUY WHO BEAT ME UP THAT ONE TIME!!

Being older and more far removed from his Super Ultra Easy Mode phase, though, Banri would honestly find this hilarious. It probably would endear him to Juza even more. And I adore the idea of Banri being more proactive with Juza and Juza just... not noticing. an important part of idiots in love is the idiots part, after all.

[mozukumi]

WEIRD JACKET HELP JKBASDASKUBAUKDAW i couldn't help myself so i made a little sketch of mankai swap izumi! (imgur/com/zoYUXc7) i am so fond of this au jbqajsfbajkbfawbfak thank you for putting up with my constant asks :D!! i'm excited to see more of your au!!

- 🌸

ANON THIS IS GOING TO MAKE ME SOB!!!!!!!! This is so beautiful holy shit. Thank you so much for caring so much about this AU and listening to my rambley answers - it means so much that you actually think this is neat and worth engaging with, and it's given me a lot of motivation to try and create content.

This art is just absolutely lovely- I especially love the detail of the skort and the asymmetry of the jacket sleeve. Emotionally, I am putting this drawing on my emotional fridge with emotional magnets. I do not know if that metaphor makes sense but please understand that I love this and can't thank you enough.