#vol 182

[completeoveranalysis]

INCREDIBLE.

[completeoveranalysis]

[1]

Chapiter 182 - A Night For Vows

In which BATTLE HUSBANDS. 

Listen I don’t even care what else is happening we have the return of Battle Husbands. I’m happy.  

It’s giving the same vibe as the opening for Chapiter 17, but upgraded! They’re in battle, but now they’re facing the same way because they’re on the same page, plotwise, emotionwise, and directionwise. They’re not fighting different battles or aiming for different goals anymore - they’re united on the same path. And they’re no longer disguising their feelings through joviality or putting on a front. Now they’re both serious. 

In another contrast, the chapiter 17 cover had them in opposite colours, which is relatively common for them, but this new cover actually unites them visually. They’re wearing the clothing in a way that matches their personality, but the colours are vastly the same - white all over with the emblematic flames, a slash of black across their middle, as well as across their wrists. The only actual point of difference is in their faces - where Kurogane has black hair with a white band, and Fai has the opposite, but even THAT is brought in line with the other through other elements - ie, The symbol on Kurogane’s white band is an exact match for the one at Fai’s waist, and they’re visually RIGHT next to each other, so you can’t miss it! Kurogane also has a long looping cord across this waist, in white, while Fai has a black cord tying his hair back, with the same kind of tassels. 

Also! In the Chapitre 17 cover their weapons were crossed in an X (a visual clash) while here they they’re angled to be held in the same direction. This brings the visual focus towards them both, together, in the middle of the page, with their differing styles now united in the same goal. OH, and the physicality of their weapons? Before they held the weapons BETWEEN them. The X of the weapons actually kept Kurogane and Fai physically apart (as if they were on opposite sides of a conflict), but now the weapons are on the OUTSIDE, bringing Kurogane and Fai RIGHT in close to each other, with the weapons on the outside. So now even physically they're together, closer to each other than anything else, and on the same side of any conflict around them.

So they're aligned now, both symbolically and physically, and it's with intention from the characters themselves. They’re worked for this, and they’re choosing it deliberately, and they DESERVE it. 

Also like, a FLAME SCYTHE? GO OFF Fai that is INCREDIBLE.

And OOPS I totally forgot that the cover will have splash text as well. What does it say.

The translation I have is something along the lines of:

“Measuring and delimiting one another

Even so, those days come to pass. 

Tonight, the men shall

Link those swords.”

Which is potentially the most homoerotic way they could have phrased that and I strongly approve.

[completeoveranalysis]

[6]

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHh

NO BUT WAIT THIS IS ACTUALLY FINISHES THE LOOP

Now EVERY member of the original Tsubasa family has a name that wasn’t originally theirs. 

Fai took them name of his twin. Mokona is a copy of the [Magic Knight Rayearth] Mokona, and so is called Mokona Modoki to differentiate between them. Sakura and Syaoran are clones named after the people they were cloned from, so the names aren’t “theirs” as much as they inherited them (like with Syaoran’s birthday not being his either, but being copied from Sakura’s). 

And now KUROGANE isn’t named KUROGANE EITHER.

THEY’RE ALL MATCHING. 

And now they ALL have a identity that they’ve forged themselves, built from the ground up and adopted to better suit the people they’ve become along the way. 

I LOVE THIS SO DEARLY HOLY SHIT.

[completeoveranalysis]

[5]

I LOVE IT I LOVE IT 

The undercurrent of their goodbye finally comes to the surface and Kurogane doesn’t apologise or say he’s conflicted or anything else, he just outright says that he’s going but that he’ll be back. And he’s even going to prove his loyalty by reswearing his oath to her. 

Which means that Fai’s oath to Sakura was a direct parallel to Kurogane’s oath to Tomoyo all this time AHH

WAIT

WAIT A MOMENT HERE

WAS I RIGHT?

WAS I RIGHT ALL THIS TIME

NO FUCKING WAY LET ME FIND THAT POST

I can’t even remember when else I might have talked about this crack theory (PRESUMED CRACK THEORY) but here’s a post of me talking about it back in 2019

And you can SEE how at THAT point I was talking myself out of it and was already saying that I was reading too much into the moment after all. 

ARE WE NOW SAYING THAT I WAS ACTUALLY CORRECT THE FIRST TIME??

HOW THE TURN TABLES?????

[completeoveranalysis]

I can't believe Kurogane and Fai got married in Nihon with Tomoyo officiating. Kurogane's engagement ring (his metal arm) was really unique, and Fai's furisode was lovely. Remember when they tossed the bouquet (it was a sword) and Seishirou caught it (got stabbed)? And it's so sweet they're going to Clow for the honeymoon (to kick FWRs stupid face in)! So happy Sakura got to be their flower girl... literally *happy tears*

Truly such a unique wedding! Definitely one of a kind!

I may have some notes about how literally they took the concept of a flower girl but still...!

Honestly we should all be following this example.

[completeoveranalysis]

[7]

Oh!! I love this too! I was going to make a joke about Lava Lamp still sitting on the roof all by himself but Fai made it BETTER by physically coming over and checking on him. Which implies that at the end of the last chapter, when Fai finally looked away from the metaphors of his past and looked up at the sky, he probably saw Lava Lamp up here on his own and went over to try help him feel a bit better. 

Which even on its own is such a great signal of Fai moving away from the things that used to chain him to his fate (ie, the things that he saw in his reflection), and instead actively moving towards this family he’s found and focusing on loving them instead. 

And! And this is a GREAT echo of that moment in the Hanshin republic, where Syaoran was crying alone in the rain and Kurogane and Fai used their kudan to shield him from it in solidarity. But THIS time Fai notices Lava Lamp sadly sitting by himself and HE’S the shadow that falls across him as he PHYSICALLY comes here to help him instead. 

OH THE GROWTH OF IT ALL.

Now that I think about it this might actually be the first private conversation we’ve seen between Lava Lamp and Fai, which is a bit wild, but also a bit less wild considering WHICH arcs they’ve been through together so far. Even in Infinity Fai was either cloistered with Sakura or Kurogane, so I could be wrong, but this might be their first onscreen bonding!

And it’s going pretty good so far. Fai starts off by expressing concern over his health and Lava Lamp immediately derails it by thanking him for helping Sakura. Which surprises Fai, but then again their devotion to Sakura is pretty much the biggest thing they have in common so far. 

Oh and THIS is fantastic. Fai has a sad smile on his face as he says that being there for Sakura was pretty much the only thing he ended up doing for her in the end, and Lava Lamp (perhaps with a note of self-derision? Or regret?) says that Fai being there for her probably helped more than anything else at all. 

Which I LOVE in the way that it visually uses Sakura in Infinity as their point of reference. Fai was constantly by Sakura’s side for those months, helping her through one of the hardest things she’s had to do, when she was forcing herself to be alone in order to save everyone else. But I ALSO love that their closeness is purely seen as a positive thing by both Lava Lamp AND Fai, showing that he doesn’t even think of the fact that “being by her side” is what technically let his curse kill her. It doesn’t even come up, he doesn’t even look conflicted about the wording. 

Fai is HEALING and he DESERVES IT. He’s no longer seeing fault in everything he’s ever done, and isn’t blaming himself for the curse that wasn’t his fault or the choices that Sakura made without his knowledge. Now he only sees it as a time that they were close and supported each other and OH that’s so encouraging to see. 

Meanwhile Fai gives him a bit of a hand hover in support, as he considers touching his shoulder 

OH BUT HE DOESN’T COMMIT. 

ABSOLUTELY FASCINATING. 

They haven’t really had the chance to personally grow close enough for that, with everything else happening. BUT they still look toward the future together, united in their goal to save Sakura, and Fai still stands protectively over him as they look in the same direction.

OOH I LOVE THIS ALSO. 

[completeoveranalysis]

[8]

ORIGINAL OUTFITS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

COMING FULL CIRCLE INDEED

Going ALL the way back to their most iconic looks, that speak the most directly to who they are and who they were, and we can SEE the visible differences in their designs. Kurogane’s arm has been replaced, doubling down on his signature colour as he’s become the truest version of himself. And as a FASCINATING parallel to that, his sword is the actual one this time - not a copy or imitation, like HE was before. Haunted by his past as he was, he was a damaged echo of who he was when he was younger, but not anymore. Now Ginryuu is really here and it’s the actualisation of Kurogane BECOMING the Kurogane he was always meant to be. He’s fulfilled his family role by relearning the love his parents taught him, he’s regained his true name by healing from the grief their loss left in him, he has more family than ever before, and now he’s on his way to punish the one who took it all away from him in the first place. Kurogane is PEAK Kurogane. 

And FAI. He’s in his Seresu clothes, but he’s not displaying the damaging lessons Ashura taught him in order to manipulate him into doing what he wanted. Fai isn’t lying anymore - he’s not smiling, he’s not pretending to be happy, the entire facade is gone. He’s showing how he really feels - in a direct contrast to how Ashura taught him to fake smile as the only way to help them since he couldn’t do it with magic. Now he doesn’t even HAVE that magic and he’s helped the people that mean the MOST to him without ever touching it. Fai knows his VALUE now - he knows he is loved, that he loves them back, that that’s ENOUGH, that that ACCOMPLISHES more than magic itself ever did, and that he doesn’t need to fake anything in order to make a difference. 

Also his HAIR is longer. He’s no longer keeping his appearance the same as a facsimile to the twin he wanted to switch places with. He’s healed from that too, moving on as HIMSELF and not just as a living promise that he was manipulated into making in the first place. He’s his own person now, all the chains on him are gone, and there’s nothing in his past looming over every action he takes. He’s free now - and he’s chasing down the man who DID THIS to him in the first place, along with the people he loves. 

OH IT’S SO BEAUTIFUL. 

And then Mokona outlines it for us in words too, because Mokona is still awed by the plot coming back around to the beginning and it’s utterly adorable. Because at this point ME TOO MOKONA.

MEANWHILE I SEE BOOTS AND A CAPE AND I THINK I HAVE THOUGHTS (tm) ABOUT WHAT THIS NEXT PAGE WILL HAVE ON IT

LAVA LAMP DRESSED AS SYAORAN

OH now THAT is interesting

On the one hand it’s a FASCINATING move to make. Because visually? YES, the Syaoran should dress like Syaoran in the beginning of the manga.

But we know now! It’s not the same! This ISN’T the Syaoran we started the manga with! Moreover Lava Lamp NEVER DRESSED THIS WAY. These AREN’T his clothes. He never looked like this! He didn’t grow up in Clow like Syaoran did - though he WAS apparently there, in his Lava Lamp, the whole time. 

And all of THAT is difference enough that we get no other visual signifiers of his growth. His outfit is the SAME because it’s the CHARACTER who’s different. Instead of the clone donning the identity of the original, now it’s the original donning the visual identity of the CLONE. 

And THAT’S an entirely different kind of circle, but I kind of love the inversion of it all. Especially since the last time Lava Lamp left the Clow Kingdom (where he was trapped) he travelled TO Acid Tokyo, in order to hopefully fix Syaoran’s soul. But now Syaoran’s soul IS fixed, and he’s travelling BACK to the Clow Kingdom to find a whole Syaoran instead!

… OH AND HIS EYE. He only has ONE eye in the reaction shot at the end, because that’s an echo of the link he had with Syaoran, and how he ALSO used to have all the single eye imagery that foreshadowed Lava Lamp watching through it his entire life. 

Lava Lamp is the reverse of everything that has happened - the mirror image of things coming full circle, but coming full circle all the same. 

[completeoveranalysis]

[9]

LOVE that they draw attention to this as well. It’s all on purpose! They want you to realise!

OH time is stopped there?? Yeah that’d do it. Also if Evil Wolverien did that then it's VERY similar to what Clow can do, considering that he’s the only other person we’ve heard of so far who has created that kind of magic (ie, in CCS). They're DEFINITELY related. 

It’s making me wonder what other glimpses of Clow we'll before this is all over, to contrast him with Evil Wolverine. Obviously I have countless holes in my knowledge of Clow’s actions so far, but based JUST on what I’ve seen there’s already a nice contrast between them. Clow in Tsubasa had this same kind of power in the same world and spent his time raising Sakura and Touya, and also being kind to Lava Lamp inside Syaoran so that he'll be ok in the future. Evil Wolverine spent his time trying to kill children instead, emotionally destroying them so that they do what he wants, and is the entire reason Lava Lamp was trapped there in the first place. 

There’s still a LOT left of the picture left to fill in but I’m interested to tie this all together eventually.

And off they go!!

IS THAT THE END OF NIHON?

DID WE SOMEHOW SURVIVE NIHON?? 

THESE ARCS SURE DO ARC DONT THEY?