#1 prophet of Tabitha

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[seventyeight-moose]

The issue with trying to discuss when Shonen gets misogynistic is that the overwhelming majority of Shonen fans believe that that is simply a harmless quirk of the genre.

[toesucker416]

See also: when Shonen gets racist.

[zandessha]

Genuinely surprised to see this from Jamie p and super glad as well. I feel like it's become such a pattern of seeing white queer creators casually say some racist shit or something to come out and then never properly apologize.

So seeing Jamie Paige be outright "No fuck y'all stupid racist white teens, she'd rather stop making music catering to you than let you make a fool of her art" is incredibly refreshing and makes me glad that to be a fan of hers and feel both seen and comfortably safe knowing that for once someone has the decency not to be a racist piece of shit!

Also go listen to Slayr right now! I remember hearing a couple of his songs before, and liking all of them, and this one is no different. Honestly I hope we get to see more hip-hop sampling and remixes of vocaloid music because its so so cool and wish it was done more often.

And hey this is also directed at all you fuck ass "rap is overstimulating" idiots on Tumblr too!

[zandessha]

Something else I think is important to add to this post as well :]

A bit more self explanatory, but I'm glad he's confident to state it for the people in the back that Vocaloid isn't just a white people thing. It's a bit bittersweet to me in a sense that a lot of black creators online feel the need to hide themselves, but I definitely understand (I'm guilty of this sometime too the way Tumblr acts sometimes) but I'm glad to see that people are being more openly anti racist for once and I hope this trend doesn't stop.

Also I know it's already his most popular song, but it is such a banger too, go listen to this and the rest of his vocaloid music too!

[zandessha]

Important addition requested by prev

[lady-hibiscus]

>post by a person of color giving insightful commentary on racism

>opens notes

[toesucker416]

The manga that trusted too little.

One thing I really used to praise Kagurabachi on was its visual identity. This included Hokazono's gorgeous artwork and dynamic posing, but more than that, it included his capability for subtlety.

This is a capability that I have strongly felt was missing from recent chapters.

It's not like I haven't been complaining for a literal real life year about the narrator overexplaining scenes, and the manga steadily and rapidly losing what little faith in its audience it had after Rakuzaichi, but when I compare what I think about the story now to what I thought about this

or this one

or this one

or this one

or this one

There's just not as much to sink my teeth into. When there is, it usually gets explained ver batim next chapter anyways so we don't risk people reach The Wrong Interpretation. Bachi used to use bold visual language, symbolism, and metaphor to say more with one panel than it could with 1000 words. Nowadays, it's so busy trying to reach 1000 words we can't even see the pictures.

Why did Shiba need to tell us that seeing Mashiro crush a ship into a ball inspired him to fight here? We could've guessed that. That is NOT a big leap.

On July 26th, 2026, I made the first positive post on Kagurabachi I'd made made in a long time. I noted how the chapter cleverly let us know, through both showing and telling us that the only times Kunishige's belligerent drunk father praised him was in the forge - when he was working violence into the world. This was, I felt, a strong explanation for a contradiction that was weakening his character for me, and ultimately made me feel like Kagurabachi really DID have a direction, and that all the loose ends could be tied up into a functional knot,

The next two chapters proceeded to beat me over the head with what I already knew.

It's so disgustingly industry standard. This used to be a story that trusted its audience, at least on the little things. At least enough for you to put something like this together. But that trust is a distant memory, a stone scraped smooth by the battering waves. Now, Kagurabachi doesn't trust its audience at all.

So how am I supposed to trust IT, when you say it's lying about the Mikaboshi?

[amjustgoose]

I think Transfem Hakuri might be the only queer headcanon I have that I do not want to ever be canon because I fear what Hokazono would do if he realized that she's a woman

[hestzhyen]

(Not So) Quick Thoughts on Kagurabachi's Pacing

Been pretty sleep-deprived lately so it took me a while to find the right words. I think this is the distillation of all the yapping I've done, though.

There's 3 things that are going on that make this arc a bit of a let-down to me, same as the Assault on Kamunabi HQ Arc before it:

There's been a subtle shift over time in terms of narrative priorities. Rather than having action scenes service the plot, the plot now exists to justify action scenes.

The cast has expanded (bloated, really) in size since the early arcs and characters are not being used properly.

Action movie story-telling pacing falls short when applied to a long-running manga series; it ignores the strength of the medium and makes the story feel hollow the longer it goes on.

Mostly unstructured ramble with the reasoning not already laid out in the chapter 126 and 127 posts below the cut.

All three of those bullet points became very apparent during the Assault on Kamunabi HQ Arc, but the signs were there as early as the end of the Rakuzaichi Arc. I said this at the start of my Chapter 46 post:

At the end of the Rakuzaichi arc, we spent some time letting Hakuri's arc come to a proper close in chapter 44 while setting up for the next arc, 45 had the gang hanging out and discussing the next moves, and 46 was Chihiro being interrogated by Kamunabi leadership until the Hishaku surprise attacks forced immediate action.

It felt a bit fast but we still got time to see character moments like Chihiro and Hakuri conking out then waking up at the same time, Shiba "creaming" Hiyuki and Tafuku at video games, Hakuri reacting to Mr. Inazuma's name, and Chihiro and Hakuri apologising for worrying Shiba. Stuff that wasn't necessary for plot reasons but much appreciated in terms of character work.

We're not even getting that much any more though. Chapter 60 is where we found out that Hokazono's foot has been taped to the gas pedal and he's pressing all the way down.

Chihiro DIED. I cannot express the measure of my disappointment that Hakuri's guilt was elided over in a single panel in chapter 60 either. But we spent 0 time exploring the characters and how they felt about it all. The best we got was Shiba reluctantly handing Enten back to Chihiro so we could skip three days of recovery and see him rolling out with the Masumi at the end. And it's been rocky ever since.

I won't go over the sins of every arc but yeah. By the time we get to the Assault on Kamunabi HQ Arc, we've got random character intros that didn't need to happen for the plot but for fights. For example, Natsuki feels less egregious than Kiri since he's tied to Ibuki, but he really is there just because Hokazono wanted that 2v2 library battle- he didn't have to be brought in yet. Meanwhile Kiri is tied to Itsuo but she didn't serve any significant narrative purpose for that arc to introduce. It's just more to keep track of in an already chaotic situation!

Jumping from one fight to the next to the next with the only break coming from a bit of comedic relief and half a chapter explaining how the barrier worked was exhausting to keep up with. It wasn't very substantial but there were many moving parts in motion; we had to wait for fights to end to find out what would happen next only find out it was either another fight or the bare minimum context needed to set up yet another fight somewhere else.

It's cool to see stuff like Azami finally wrecking shit and Uruha going feral! I didn't hate it! I just wish there was more time spent with Hakuri outside of him being a walking camera y'know? More time in Azami's head to get a better idea of why he's still so pissed about Kunishige's death, more time with Kasen so the betrayal reveal hit harder, things like that.

In order to keep caring about these characters and what happens to them in the long-term, we need to settle down and let them do other stuff for a chapter or two sometimes. Show us a day in their lives or something. Bonding with other characters or getting annoyed at them or ANYTHING AT ALL. Showing how they all impact each other and are impacted by events is crucial! It's the privilege of reading a manga that we can spend time with them that way!

---

I guess there is a disconnect between fans who don't care about a character-centric story vs. ones who do. Like Moth said, most manga readers expect time to be spent inside the character's heads and hearts- it's a strength of the medium to be able to do that in a natural way. So to see a manga series continually ignore that privilege is off-putting. At least it is to me (someone who overwhelmingly prefers to read stories than watch them).

In chapter 127, the efficient paneling like implying Kunishige is crying in the kitchen rather than showing it is effective storytelling. Sometimes less is more- that moment did hit home as it should. It's all the things we didn't see before and after that which make the chapter feel lacking though.

Kunishige tells us that he fell in with Azami, Chiaki, and Shiba as fellow misfits with difficult circumstances. We don't see it though- we don't see them meeting for the first time and how that went, how they got to know each other, not even a quick "it was like we'd been pals for ages right from the start" to establish the group dynamic. We didn't even see what changed in his or their lives that led them all to meet! Just the same reused panels of them playing together after the fact.

We don't get Kunishige's personal opinions on Chiaki when she shows up at his apartment either. He thought about how he was sure that the group would be better off without him, and was clearly unenthusiastic, yes. Chiaki also quickly filled us in on why she was there alone. But we have no sense of what Kunishige finds personally appealing about any of his friends and what differentiates them from each other in his mind. If Shiba or Azami had showed up instead, it could have played out the exact same way and be read as platonic friendship since we know so damn little about how they've all influenced each other.

Did they expose him to a new hobby for example? Do they do different things if one of the group is missing? Do they even hang out with each other 1-on-1 or do they only function as a single unit? What does each of them bring to the overall dynamic- who's the leader, the smart one, the cautious one, etc.? We can only begin to guess.

Afterwards we see events happen with the fireworks and the random guy showing up out of nowhere, a contrivance specifically to trigger Kunishige to talk about his dad again. He thought about how his dad's lack of skill and discernment for customers led to that situation. He was also clearly deadlocked by fear and guilt about it since Shiba was the one to check on Chiaki while Kuni's thoughts overflowed. We peeled back another layer on his motivations, but I think the time would have been better spent on commenting about how he sees Chiaki instead. He's supposed to love her, right? Show us more!

Instead, we somehow made the jump from "Chiaki was kind to me at my lowest and got hurt because of my family's problems" straight to "my life has no meaning unless I am risking it for hers". Which is....okay as a short-hand, I suppose? We saw the beginning where 12-year-old Kuni was deeply moved by her gently forcing herself into his lonely life, which is very sweet. But it's not all that far removed from jokes about how anime characters fall in love with the person who picked up their dropped eraser. A single mundane act of kindness is a first encounter to set the stage for development, not the summary of why we see them being completely smitten with each other later on. But in Kagurabachi we skip all that to get back to the forge so Urita can have his fight scene.

How did 12 y/o Kuni's feelings go from gratitude to a crush to full-on romance? How long did it take? Did it affect the group dynamics- it surely would, so how did Azami react since Shiba seems excited about it? How did Chiaki go from wanting to be a good friend to having mutual feelings? How many years did it all take? And does Akemura -our big bad who we are supposed to learn more about during this arc- have any clue about anything? So on and so on.

It's all these missing pieces that make the series feel like a bunch of underdeveloped characters doing cool things for barely-justified reasons. It works in action movies that need to tell complete story arcs within about two hours at a time every few years; narrative space is at a premium there. But a years-long manga series is expected to make use of it's extra time and space to fill in the gaps. At least, that's what I've come to expect.

Moar character thoughts and feelings about each other. Moar time spent on letting them relax and dwell in their emotions after yuge events (especially if death is involved). Moar remembering that this is a long-running weekly manga, not a series of movie installments.

---

Character stuff.

Basically, when a character is "used", they appear for a purpose in the narrative. A good character can be used for a long time in various ways- provoking conflict, creating unexpected situations, providing comfort, and so on. They need to be fully realised with a rich inner world if they are going to be in the story a lot. We should see different facets of them wax and wane from beginning to end.

But Kagurabachi treats it's characters as one-use tools for a specific purpose, usually for just the arc they appear in too.

That's not inherently a bad thing. You need to pick and choose which characters get the Development Stick lest the whole thing get bogged down in 200 page backstories. But our core cast is suffering from anemic usage which makes the whole roster feel unnecessarily huge.

When we learn something new about a character, it feels like we are revealing a layer to see who they are now. Works extremely well with Chihiro, who started as an edgy emo boi and slowly revealed himself to be a sopping wet kitten. Also worked well with Hakuri- he went from goofy kid down on his luck to a guilt-ridden survivor who can make brutal judgement calls with a cool head. Both Chihiro and Hakuri are still the people we met them as, we just know more about them now.

But will they ever change in a meaningful way?

Let's take a gander at Tenri and Soya. They were introduced for Hakuri's story; Soya to show how cruel the Sazanami clan is, and Tenri to parallel Chihiro's blind devotion to his father's ideals. They served their purposes and it was fine to leave them behind.

But you know who else was introduced during the Rakuzaichi Arc? HIYUKI! She was set up as Chihiro's rival, immediately took a spot as part of the "core four" in marketing, and was instrumental in driving personality-based tensions rather than ideology-driven ones. (She does that too, but her annoying Chihiro when they interact is because he finds her irritating as a person, nothing to do with their differing ideology.)

And yet she's been gone for two years and counting. If she's important, where is she? She should be involved at Chihiro's side to keep pushing his buttons and provide counterbalance to his vigilante operations. Hakuri, sweet and amazing as he is, can't do that. We've seen that he basically enables Chihiro to double and triple down on his reckless go-it-alone hero stunts.

We introduced and spent a lot of time on Hiruhiko and Iori, but they were immediately dropped when Chihiro went to Tokyo with Samura. We met Kiri and Natsuki and a bunch of others during the raid, but they didn't do much to iterate on core themes or push character development.

There's chances for all of these characters to appear later but. Why wait for so long? Why not have Chihiro have to fight with the allies he makes more often? Have them bounce off of each other, coordinate, come to fuller understandings and such. Instead he only appears with the latest person Hokazono had in mind for the scene and no one else.

This huge cast is scattered and difficult to balance now. We are not developing our core characters enough to be spending time on new ones... and the new ones are not justifying their own existence in the story very well. If details are coming later then they're overdue at this point.

Why should I care about Hiyuki or Natsuki or any of them if they are going to disappear for years without any signs of returning? If they can't be used beyond their first purpose, then they are not being constructed properly to begin with. If Hokazono doesn't want to spend the time on developing them, then why am I spending my time reading about what they're doing? Things like that.

There's a smarter way to say it but I think that's all I can get out of myself right now... has to do with Chihiro's lone wolf status being broken down based on Moku's comment about him learning to fight with others, but it doesn't feel like it in practice. He's still only taking the bare minimum with him so that characters like Iori are dropped like a hot potato. We didn't even get to see her reacting to her dad leaving, wishing them a safe return, nothing. And if Hiyuki was being used as a proper rival she'd have been written into that Kamunabi Invasion arc instead of Kiri or Natsuki.

Characters exist to do more than execute story and action. Treat them that way.

---

Priority shift.

Looking at the early fights in Vs. Sojo, they were frequent and bombastic but that was largely due to Sojo being the kind of character that enabled them. And his fights served to ask a question that is still evolving even in recent chapers: Does Chihiro have the right to speak on his dad's intentions for the blades? If so, are those intentions truly for the best? What if there's a better way? Through them, we learned more about Chihiro and his situation as well- mostly how much he didn't know.

In the Rakuzaichi arc the conflicts felt inevitable. Hakuri had to face Soya and all he represented. Shiba had to fight the Tou so they could break in, he literally said he couldn't teleport past the door. Chihiro had to meet the man who set this all in motion and promise to kill him later. Chihiro and Hakuri had to fight Kyora to repudiate him as a father and a perpetrator of evil ideas and traditions. Shiba's fight was offscreened because it wasn't part of the core themes, the rest got shown to tie them into fatherhood and legacy.

Things started meandering in the Sword Bearer Assassination arc. Introducing Hiruhiko to make Chihiro confront his own morality is fine (and was handled much better than I feared it would be honestly), but the fights at Senkutsuji were where I was starting to feel like we were fighting more for Hype and Aura instead of strictly to service the narrative.

Kyoto Bloodshed Hotel had me tearing my hair out when Hiruhiko came back- that elevator fight did not need to exist, cool as it was. Then we spent what felt like an eternity yelling at Samura that he doesn't have to die. Cool fights, yes. But they either didn't need to happen or went on for too long just because Hokazono wanted to draw those awesome spreads.

The gravest sins popped up in, again, the Kamunabi Invasion Arc. Most of those fights did not need to happen- not even that cool 2v2 library fight Hokazono was clearly very proud of. It was mostly wasted screen time waiting for things to stop happening so we could get back to why any of this is happening in the first place.

(And if I can be frank, if Hakuri was so damn important to the mission, he sure as hell didn't feel like it once Uruha came back followed by Kiri and Natsuki and the Hishaku and Hagiwara and everything else! He was in the same room as the Shinuchi but didn't do anything purely so Yura could end up with it anyway!)

Spending four chapters on fighting Ariu was about as long as I could tolerate, mostly because it established him and the others as nigh-immortal threats. This fight to show off Subaru, though? If it's not over in the space of a chapter, I am going to flip a table.

Like, the fights are cool as hell and this is an action manga. I would be disappointed if we didn't have spectacle fights. But it feels like we are trying to get to the next one now instead of letting them occur naturally like they did earlier in the series. We aren't looking at fatherhood, revenge, or legacy here- we are just having dudes clash because it looks cooler than people arguing with words. Which we did to excess in the Seitei War Arc as well.

The fights need to answer a question related to the core themes of the story or they are just flashing lights for audience retention IMO. Call me a fake fan, call me stupid, tell me I have misplaced expectations, whatever. The series started out doing it right so it's disappointing to see it drift away from that.

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 127 Friendly Spy Posting

Certainly one of the Kagurabachi chapters of all time.

Editor's Notes First Page: 現れた不穏... [arawareta fuon...] "An unsettling presence emerges..." Last Page: すば流、臨戦。[subaru, rinsen.] "Subaru, ready for battle."

The chapter was possibly shorter than usual this week -15 pages instead of the usual 19- so that the four dropped pages could be used for the volume 12 advertisement that was included in the JP version. I don't know if having the extra time would have helped with the pacing, though.

'Scuse Me, But Who the Hell Are You?

Feels contrived, but sure, we'll roll with it. Kunishige has even more reasons to be better than his bum of a dad. Cool. It also adds another layer of context to this page from chapter 1. Neat.

Shiba being a meddlesome little so-and-so is really cute, not gonna lie. I wish there was a bit more to his character than being Kunishige's guard dog though. And that we got to see Azami at all if he's supposed to be just as good of a friend as the other three. Why do they feel that way about each other? Being childhood friends because they're close because they're childhood friends because they're close because they're childhood friends because...? Is that all? Surely not. It better not be all we get.

At any rate...

Consider: change "Chaki" to "Chihiro" and show Hakuri's back instead of Kunishige's and ask if there are any significant differences... [shot]

Kunishige is another character that needs a hug and experience with unconditional love to help him value himself. He's willing to shoulder the burden the government thinks he's not up to par for though- and we know he's going to succeed. So all that's left to wait for is Subaru's fight with the Masumi to end... before it even begins.

A Rant (skip to get to TL notes)

Alright.

Honestly, I don't have many positive things to say about this chapter. It amplifies the "checking off objectives from the list" vibes that have been lurking in the background of this whole arc so far.

Unlike the first three tightly controlled arcs -Vs. Sojo, Rakuzaichi, Sword Bearer Assassination- we are kind of stumbling through this backstory to squeeze in all the cool fight ideas Hokazono had.

Guy shows up outta nowhere to hurt Chiaki and motivate Kunishige, give us more insight into why he is the way he is

Shiba is there because someone needs to deal with the guy and neither Kuni nor Chiaki are fighters

Jump back to the present to contrive a fight scene because we've gone a few chapters without one

It's for Subaru so we know why Kunishige was confident in giving him one of the nukes

I just don't know why I should particularly care about these developments when I don't have a sense of what the chapter is building towards beyond the next fight. It doesn't feel like there's a core story theme to iterate on so we are just jumping from one scene to another. Nor are we adding meaningful depth or growth for anyone's character. I will not say many positive things about JJK's overall writing quality, but Hidden Inventory Arc this is not. It's not even on the quality of a Kakashi flashback.

What is the message of this arc supposed to be, anyway?

It's not about examining the plight of child soldiers and how they are recruited. Nor is it about the consequences of how women are seen and treated in highly patriarchial societies. There is nothing here so far that is iterating on legacy or fatherhood, or the cycle of revenge in detail like we got in all the previous arcs.

We're learning the why of the present, yes- we now know that this series exists is due to a millennia-long grudge whose origins are almost entirely lost to time. It definitely helps paint a picture of the futility of chasing revenge for past wrongs. But it's not the central focus.

After a little bit of time with Shiba and Mashiro to set the scene, we are jumping around with long chapters devoted to the intricate details of steel making and how to safely incorporate Datenseki. Then introducing the Mikaboshi through a four chapter fight. Followed by a lot of hemming and hawing over appeasement vs. taking riskier action. A few glimpses into the Soga clan's internal dynamics. Back to forging steel and using Datenseki. Now it's time to show off Subaru's skill with the blade in more detail through conflict with a pre-war Masumi squad... after getting the briefest of summaries about how Kunishige grew up and why he fell in love with Chiaki.

What the hell are we doing?!

This arc is supposed to be the origin story for the whole series, where all the themes in the present emerged from. Why are we spending so much time in the weeds on technical fluff and not building up the characters involved? Why are we not establishing and exploring the relationships that changed due to the war- especially between Kunishige and Akemura and Chiaki and Kunishige? You know, the whole root of Chihiro's current predicament?

Even though I like the characters, I don't know enough about them to get invested in them. It's due to same problem I harped on last week: there's just not enough character development in this series. We only take a look at who they are in service of the story- not how they grow over time, nor who they are outside of the narrow confines of the plot. Thus I have no reason to really tune in for these conflicts outside of the centrepiece action shot that Hokazono had in mind. A series of plot events without examining the people affected by them is just a summary of key developments from SparkNotes.

The point is, with no tight focus on a core theme and insufficient time spent on getting everyone's personal stake in all this, the Seitei War Arc is repeating the same mistakes of the Kamunabi Invasion Arc before it:

Introducing more one-off characters who primarily exist for a fight scene rather than enhancing the story

Not enough time spent developing characters we already have

Skimming over the important emotional beats to get to the action scenes

No sense of focus on examining the core themes while excessive time is spent on extraneous details

There's always hope things will change, that he'll get and listen to feedback that the action movie influences need to be dialed back a bit to add more manga influences back in. It's also his first-ever serialisation, so of course it's rough now that he's left behind the short arcs he was good at. Yup, there's always hope... there's always hope...

I swear I still like the series! I'm just having a bad time right now with the author's priorities not matching what's needed to make an engaging long-term manga story (in my humble and extremely non-authoritative opinion)!

Minor TL Notes

Kudari [下り] means something along the lines of "descent", "down-slope", "down-going". Entering the final stretch, basically.

The nameless Masumi person who showed up at the conference and this chapter is a guy with 99.9% certainty. He uses 俺たち [ore-tachi] to refer to himself and the group sent to stop the smithing process.

Hazumi is not a new character or a correction; it's supposed to be Shiba's former boss Hasumi.

Sorry for the downer entries after the hiatus. I'm just not gonna be dishonest with these brain dumps and pretend everything is k. See you next week before the Obon break, dear void.

[mothboypoison]

Chapter thoughts!!

PLEASE DON'T JUMP ME. I PERSONALLY DID NOT LOVE THIS ONE

Let's start on a positive though. I thought the last panel of Kunishige and Chiaki was really sweet.

I loved the little Shiba and Azami faces. They look so funny.

I always enjoy seeing Chiaki!!

What I didn't like... sigh. I don't love that yet another woman is just dying. I don't like that it seems like these women just complete their bit of the plot and then die to get out of the way. I don't want to argue about it or anything that's just... how it personally feels to me.

I'm on the fence about Chiaki cooking for Kunishige. On the one hand, I LOVE how food in Kgrb is this thing of comfort and bonding, and that ties into that. But on the other hand I just dislike the kind of... her coming in and fixing up his life? I guess? I don't know. I don't know!!

Honestly, I think I would have liked this chapter in a vacuum, if it weren't for... you know. All the other women who just died. Some of them named. Some of them not.

Kunishige's injury mirroring Chihiro's scar was a great touch.

Simbay pointed this out on twitter - what if Chiaki isn't dead in the present, but left? Because of his own history, Kunishige probably would have been okay with that, if it was what she had to do. So I have hope that she's still alive.

Again please don't kill me these are just my personal gut reactions to the chapter!!

[mothboypoison]

Another thing: A couple of people have pointed out that in Kgrb, the women don't get to recover from abuse the way men do and I think that is the main reason I didn't super enjoy the chapter. It makes me worry that Chiaki will just be another one who doesn't get to survive it as well D:

[cookiekat130]

i think the events of this chapter would hit harder if we stretched this out to two chapters

first chapter more show-less-tell of kunishige's upbringing, ending with mom's [spoiler]

then next chapter three years have passed, chiaki pov wondering where he is and ending how this one did, more from shiba and azami as well

[hestzhyen]

Chapter 126 Resumption Posting

Hokazono is back to the business of breaking hearts, dear void.

Editor's Notes: First Page: お待たせしました。今号より連載再開です！！ [omataseshimashita. kongou yori rensai seikaidesu!!] Thank you for waiting. Serialisaion now resumes!! First Page Reminder: 千晃を救うため、製鉄に挑む国重。その赤き瞳に秘めたるはー [chiaki o sukuu tame, seitetsu ni idomu kunishige. sono akaki hitomi ni himetaru ha-] Kunishige takes on the challenge of steelmaking to save Chiaki. What lies hidden within those crimson eyes... Last Page: 閉ざした心の差す一滴の灯ー [tozashita kokoro ni kisu itteki no hikari...] A single glimmer of light shines through a closed-off heart...

"The way to a man's heart..."

We are also back with the food metaphor that was so prevalent in the first two arcs!

A broken home represented by a broken plate and food thrown on the ground. Kunishige starting to heal represented by him getting to eat the home-made food Chiaki prepared for him. Simple as!

I was a little worried that we wouldn't get to see why Kunishige fell in love with Chiaki so I'm glad we got this little scene between them. Treating Kunishige like he's a normal friend she wanted to keep around was so important to him! No dramatic anime-style declarations of friendship or promises of staying together forever here. She just says she likes having him in her life and proves it by cooking for him. Once we get Chiaki's perspective (we will get that, right?!), I'll be satisfied.

This also solidifies Chiaki as the "heart" of the group. Where Shiba and Azami wavered, she decided enough was enough and reached out. Without her, Kunishige would have almost certainly drifted away from their little group of misfits and lived a lonely life. Male friends will dither and say "maybe he'll be alright if I don't bother him" when their friend's in a deep, dark place. Female friends with actually go and check.

Reductive and stereotypical, not something I'm really excited to see here, but we needed to get Kunishige and Chiaki alone together somehow I guess. And we can't have the men be emotionally intelligent because that would be unmanly or something. ...That's pretty uncharitable of me, but it's how I'm feeling right now.

At least we now know why Kunishige is the way he is, more or less. He doesn't know how to take care of himself and doesn't feel he's worth the effort anyway. It's not until Chiaki gives him some casual reassurance that he's wanted that he starts to think he's allowed to be in her life, poor guy. And apparently he couldn't even get a kind mentor.

Chapter 114

He really needed a bit of kindness in his life. If Chiaki was the only person he could get that from, it's no wonder he fell for her.

And then...

It hurts extra deep knowing that Kunishige deliberately tried to flip the script with Chihiro. He was kind, gentle, patient- everything he didn't have in his own childhood. Protecting Chihiro from the violent life he knew was probably the number one thing to him. So Chihiro setting out to avenge his dad in the bloodiest way possible- his kid who had been raised only with love choosing violence and murder out of grief- well, Kunishige would probably weep with pain. I'm certainly deep in the feels right now just thinking about it.

Chapter 3

It seems like Chihiro really inherited the best parts of Kunishige and Chiaki. The eyes that let him see things no one else can, the ability to cook and provide comfort. I really get the sense that Chiaki and Kunishige wanted Chihiro's life to be better than theirs were- he was so, so cherished. He was truly meant to be a gentle soul living a peaceful, ordinary life. Ouch.

The Elephant in the Room

So... about those first six pages... and Chiaki's role in all this...

I've got strongly mixed feelings on this chapter.

On the one hand, Kunishige's story landed as intended on the first reading. Some parts of it resonated with my own experience so strongly that it was basically guaranteed to. That's a reasonably realistic depiction of abuse, alright- especially how the victim can use the same vices to abuse their own victim. Cycles of abuse and Kagurabachi: an iconic duo.

Chiaki being a great friend first and foremost is also very sweet. She's the exact kind of person Kunishige needed in his life- someone down-to-earth and prone to dead-pan sarcasm rather than gushy emotions. And yet completely honest with what she's thinking and feeling so there's no guesswork involved. Even if they hadn't fallen in love, they would have been thick as thieves. It's a very wholesome relationship!

However, this chapter only really works in a vacuum. TL;DR:

Characters in Kagurabachi are static and disposable so we never see them in new contexts once their purpose in the story is done -> most of the girls and women are used as sob story fodder or objects to rescue in service of a man's story -> overstuffed fridge

These types of topics are very heavy and deeply affect the character involved; we should be doing more than saying "here's where they started and here's where they are now". It should be more than a basic motivation behind their actions servicing the plot. It's a reasonable way to deliver the story if we come back to it to sit with the character and their feelings for a while... but we don't.

Kunishige's matter-of-fact narration about his horrible childhood tracks with other abuse victims so far, namely Hakuri. They're very stoic and sparse on the details about it all. And once it's told, we never revisit either. So we are meant to swallow a hard lump of emotion then keep going just like they did.

Even if it works as efficient story-telling, I don't think this is effective for a serial manga series. The action movie pacing of giving just the bare minimum before moving on is a detriment to Kagurabachi at this point.

This is a serial that's been going on for years now, but we still scarcely know the main characters. We're starved for all kinds of information about them, even basic things like hobbies and how they act outside of tense plot scenarios. We don't get to sit with them and get in their heads nearly as much as a normal manga series would allow.

I'll compare it to two other actively running action manga in WSJ to prove the point, plus a bonus one with similar efficient story-telling.

This is a bit of an apples vs. oranges scenario, yes. UEK's much more light-hearted than Kagurabachi is- it's all about "friendship, effort, and victory" like the classic shounen the author so clearly loves. But this comparison is about structure and pacing, not tone.

UEK has a typical structure where our protagonist faces increasingly challenging foes until the final showdown with the Big Bad. Each arc focuses on one problem and how Kiyoshi overcomes the trial with the help of the people around him. He might be the only one who can go toe-to-toe with the bad guys, but he can only do it because so many people believe in him. The usual stuff.

What really got me to stick with the series wasn't the classic shounen feel though. Nor was it the fight scenes (they're average for the most part) or the wholesome gags (pretty good most of the time). It's the character work that made UEK one of my weekly WSJ reads.

Between each arc we always have at least one chapter dedicated to winding down and letting the characters internalise their growth. Not just for Kiyoshi either! We get glimpses of where everyone's at and where their sights are set next. It's like sitting down and getting cozy after a tough day.

During that time, we get silly scenes to catch back up with some characters we haven't seen for a while, develop some relationships, or just see the cast members goofing off. It makes them much more relatable and desirable to follow. Food for the soul. Then the subsequent chapters start establishing stakes and tension again when the next trial is introduced.

By comparison, Kagurabachi just keeps zooming ahead. We didn't even get a full chapter to process Chihiro dying and coming back to life! If there was a time to pause and take things in, that was it!!! But by the end of the chapter, Chihiro's rolling out with the Masumi. We skipped over three whole days that could have been shown to check on him, Hakuri, and Shiba at a minimum!

At the start of UEK's current arc, we are still taking time to show how Kiyoshi, Akari, Nehan, and Jack Joe are doing. There's no sense of needing to rush into the next fight scene lest the audience grow bored. It's all about the character growth and setting the stage for even more of it.

Ichi the Witch is also closer to a traditional shounen than Kagurabachi is. But unlike UEK, it's got blurrier lines between friend and foe. It also relies less on the power of friendship (though there's still plenty of that).

Again after every major arc, we get time to sit with the characters for at least a whole chapter. The first big one was what sold me on this series, actually.

The first long arc in Ichi the Witch focused on Gokuraku trying to save his family and kingdom at large. There were a lot of heavy moments exploring the necessity of grief and regret- it's really good. And once the bad guy was defeated, we spent an appropriate amount of time with everyone in the aftermath.

Instead of rushing on, we spent a whole chapter and a half exploring how the experience changed Gokuraku and his sister. We sat with him as he weighed his options, thought through his decisions, and finally got the emotional catharsis he (and the audience) needed.

We got the same thing after the most recent arc too, which tackled themes of love, loss, and carrying memories forward. It caused a ton of huge feelings. And once again, we got to spend at least one chapter getting the proper catharsis for those feelings, resetting the stakes, and building tension again.

Ichi the Witch is like Kagurabachi in that the fights are generally snappy and plot-heavy instead of just existing for their own sake. So it's very noticeable that we are given time to relax and explore the characters here and not in Kagurabachi.

Ichi the Witch also doesn't seem like it's rushing from one fight to the next. There's plenty of action, yes, but we are taking the time to let characters play magical ping pong while factions plot their next move on the side. The characters are front-and-center instead of the Hype and Aura moments.

And lastly...

UNDER DOCTOR is similar to Kagurabachi in that we never linger very long on any particular story- the longest "arc" so far has been 3 chapters at most. Yet even with only 26 chapters out so far, we've spent two of them following two separate characters around on a day off and one showing how they all function together as a little found family. They were great chapters that were extremely welcome even though they didn't advance the plot at all.

Even when Haiji (the titular "Under Doctor") is on a solo mission, we still come back to check on Chiwako and Shuuli by the end. They don't need to be directly related to what's going on for us to get in their heads! They matter to Haiji on a personal level, so it's important to see what they're up to. They exist in the story because of his actions, but aren't there only for his story. Can't really say the same about Kagurabachi's cast members- their screen time depends on how relevant they are to Chihiro's mission.

That's the thing that Kagurabachi lacks the most and it really hurts the overall quality. Characters are effectively established, and these one-shot style tearjerker backstories work as individual chapters, but there's no sense of catharsis or character security. As soon as their purpose in the story is done with, we discard characters and completely forget about them unless they're needed again. They're just props. Just a summary explanation on why characters are who they are and nothing more.

And it's even worse when it comes to the women. The damn fridge is full, Hokazono! STOP KILLING YOUR WOMEN TO GET THEM OUT OF THE STORY!

So far, the women in the series that have existed for something other than a (usually male) character's sob story are:

Char (child who exists to soften Chihiro's character and display his deep empathy, hasn't been seen since the Rakuzaichi Arc)

Hinao (plot device to introduce Char and Soya and mind children, hasn't been seen since the Rakuzaichi arc)

Shiyumi (fought and died to Sojo)

Yatsuru (has had all of like two lines and a few mentions in passing, not even a character right now)

"Pink Bearer" (we don't even have her name yet, not a character)

Hiyuki (Chihiro's rival, hasn't been seen since the Sword Bearer Assassination Arc)

Tamaki (Tou member, not even as much characterisation as Enji got)

Sumi (part of the single unit that is the Masumi, which is fronted by Ro)

Toto (non-combatant, partial comedic relief Hishaku member)

Yuki (hostage daughter of a Kamunabi member)

Kiri (unknown purpose but tied to her grandfather)

Traitor ninja lady (died to Kiri)

Chiaki's Mom (manifestation of the pressure Chiaki is under, this one is alright)

Bath house, smoke shop, and fortune-teller grannies (3/4 for gags in bonus chapters, 1 for Hokuto to flirt with)

Not great usage or writing for them, yeah. Meanwhile, the rest...

Uran (killed Kunishige)

Char's Mom (died to save Char)

Yuu's Sister (motivation for Yu to "invade" the Rakuzaichi, rescue target for Chihiro)

Ice Lady (died to change the trajectory of Hakuri's life)

Kyora's Wife (died to make Kyora waver at a key moment)

Iori (rescue target, Samura's sob story and possible temporary Tobimune holder)

Inori (died in service of Samura's backstory and his relationship to Iori, as well as Iori's sob story)

Yura's Wife (died for his backstory)

Chiaki ("fixed" Kunishige with her love, presumed dead for Akemura's and Chihiro's backstory)

Kunishige's Mom (died for his backstory) <- NEW!!

It's just not a good look at all. You don't have to have every woman be a badass, kick-ass independent fighter! Just do more than introduce then completely side-line them via a built-in Relevancy Timer, okay? No one is safe from being off-screened for years at a time in this series, but women get the worst of it due to them being even more disposable than the men.

It's a really sad state of affairs that we aren't guaranteed to get Chiaki's perspective in the one arc where she's guaranteed to be alive for it. She's in a decent position for it- she's a central figure for the political conflict and obviously important as the woman that Kunishige and Akemura cherished in different ways. And we've seen her perform those roles so far, even gotten in her head for a little to see why she's doing what she is.

But what about her feelings outside of the men in her life? Outside of her role as the Soga Princess? We don't even get that kind of information about Chihiro, so there's basically no chance we'll get it with her either. With her functions in the story is being Fixer of Man, Sister, and Princess- very gender-coded roles that don't do anything to break the mould, and we aren't doing much to examine the tropey misogyny of those roles being assigned to her. Much like we never examined all the rescue targets and dead wives before her.

I really want to give Hokazono the benefit of the doubt. I really do- I don't think he hates women or anything. It's just that the way he writes them makes it clear he's not interested in going above and beyond to make them feel on-par with the men in terms of importance. We need more ladies who exist for their own reasons outside of enhancing a man's story, y'know? Do you know that, Hokazono? And we DESPERATELY need character development chapters to better space out the action scenes.

I like this series!

I like the characters!

I like the development potential they have!

Let me spend more time with them even if it's not in a fight or advancing the plot!

P L E A S E ! ! !

I think I got it all out of my system now. See you next week, dear void.

[psalmicwitch]

To put it bluntly, the only way to end homelessness is to house people or kill them.

That's it. Those are your options. Homelessness doesn't go away based on "crime crackdowns." You will imprison the unhoused, and when they are free, they will be unhoused again. Or they will die in prison.

When you burn encampments or force people out without their stuff, they remain unhoused or freeze to death.

After working with the unhoused, it's become abundantly clear that those who don't want to support them instead want them dead.

There is blood on the hands of every government and organization that controls the homeless population with force instead of compassion.

[radrush]

when we drink we do it right getting slizzard sippin sizzurp in my ride. like six seven

[radrush]

now im feeling so fly like nine eleven

[checkyourasianbias]

[creatingblackcharacters]

Shit, the way things are going, racial slurs, racist jokes, and the N word have become socially acceptable too. The bar, already in hell, has gone lower and still!

[giragirameganedan]

[strawberry-crocodile]

personally i believe there are two things you need to be keenly aware of to write an actually good m/f romance. obviously a good writer isnt going to just plainly state them but u should be able to tell.

1. how does the patriarchy and coercion for women to be presentable and marry and be moms and serve men affect each character and this relationship?

2. WHAT DOES THE WOMAN LIKE ABOUT THE MAN

[strawberry-crocodile]

just in general i think straight men... struggle to imagine what exactly the woman is getting out of a relationship. so they gesture at "he's nice" and "he saves her" and "he's dorky" I DONT CARE IF YOURE STRAIGHT, IMAGINE SOMEONE YOU WANT TO SPEND YOUR LIFE WITH!!! also read stories written by women.

[were--ralph]

Lesbians

[were--ralph]

clap for lesbians

[p-paradoxa]

[hiyukikagari]

kudo was like a cousin to me

[cookiekat130]

we all have that one cousin who is dead adn is never coming back

[hiyukikagari]

chiaki had like five of those after irishima alone