turn the tears and pain into stars

Hello! I go by Yuseirra/ Yuu/Yusei and more! I have a lot of different interests, and when I get into something I become very absorbed with it. Find me on twitter and more! @yuseirra Thanks for visiting!

[yuseirra]

Happy birthday Yuu!!!

I recently hugged a cat and thought about your ocs and felt how fitting it would be for them to have a heartfelt hug~

Not to get all sappy but when I think of hugs, I keep thinking how wonderful it would be to hug a wonderful such as you QwQ

Wishing you a lovely birthday and for 2026 to bring you good health and wonderful joys to look forward to ramble your heart out 💗

Hey lia!! ;v;) Good to hear from you again!

IT'S BEEN WAY OVER A MONTH since my birthday and I'm only replying this now, I'm really sorry.. and I really do need that hug.

To be honest, I wasn't in a very good state, and when that happens, I tend to just withdraw because I don't think it's a good idea to be posting when you're not as happy. It rubs off somewhere and I believe it's something that shouldn't be spread...not that I'd express how I feel but I just couldn't log on.

My life's been going on great, though, so... I wonder.

My friends bought me a big chocolate cake and-

there was this fancy cheesecake with 8 different flavors (piece by piece), I still remember enjoying myself as I've been eating it!

Thank you for your wonderful drawing!/// I really miss Lyra and Felix.. all of my ocs have a special place in both my brain and heart, and to see them get the love is incredible, it's one of the best gifts I could get!

I only replied to this late because I thought I could do better with the replies and nothing's on you. I appreciate this so much, and I feel like my birthday's been extended as I write back!//

I've been working on my personal stories too! I have a lot of ocs.

and stories!

A LOT. 

I'd love to show all of it to you and everyone here someday. Soon too, since I've been thinking of them for a very long time.

So I had been sketching some of them out during the time I was out!!

I've actually mentioned one of these ocs once in an oc meme way back

(number 10) the guy's a very old oc of mine,

and his dad was a real softie. I'd been drawing a lot of him(Wezen) lately. It's been a very healing process although his story is pretty tragic.

Wish you the best for you too, good health, good news and a wonderful year. The good thing about having your birthday early in the year I think, is that you can send out good wishes for the entire year to the sender as you receive these kinds of messages.

I'll take good rest, good breaks, and refill my passion. 'v')9

What I aim to do this year is to also give some love to my own personal projects, too!

When that happens, I'd be so grateful to have you with me, like how you've been for me throughout the years!!

Have a nice weekend~ thanks again for the wishes!!

[yuseirra]

I've been watching your animations as of a few years (they're simply amazing and I love your artstyle). So I wanted to ask if the persona 3 animation is still in line? Or any other animation for that matter, hope you're doing well regardless!

Wow, hello!// That's wonderful to hear! It's always really uplifting to receive positive messages like this one.

To save your time reading through the rest of my reply (which became very long), I need to say first that I can't promise anything about it atm. The thing's been on my mind for a loooong time, but it's a passion project and I want to do something like that when I'm totally up to drawing 200 pieces at once (it happens!! You've probably seen it happen in the past if you've seen my previous movies.)

I DO have that project in my heart, but movies/animation's something I really need the juice for, so to speak.

I think I've written how my creative process for these kinds of projects a few times. Here's basically what happens:

Honestly, when I make things like this, it’s not really a slow, step-by-step process.

It’s more like—when inspiration hits, I try to create everything in a burst before that feeling fades.

So I have to make it as quickly as possible in the moment.

That’s why the early videos I've made were mostly line drawings (and honestly, I still draw a lot of line art now, right?).

But that doesn’t mean I drew them carelessly!! No, I did put a lot of effort into them!! and a lot of love.

I think my main focus was always on achieving the effect I wanted and if that's accomplished - then I feel satisfied. If not... well, I feel just can't bring out the best I can regarding the work, so I wait out till that wave hits me back.

I always hope that kind of thing will work out. It’s like… sometimes different things just intersect in the right way.

One of my different video (the Taixu one)'s a good example (if not all of my videos-)

I didn’t know the song at all before, but I happened to be watching that work and I first encountered that song around the same time.

And somehow they just… clicked together.

From that Friday to Sunday of that week, I basically sat down and drew nonstop for hours straight. Sometimes it just happens like that.. and it’s not something I can make happen whenever I want. It's actually what happens most of the time when I create a video 'v')9

But there was this moment where I thought, “Ah… this will work. This really fits. This will match perfectly.”

When I tried lining it up with the lyrics, it really felt like it could work.

What I remember is that I didn’t draw the scenes in order - I was matching them up with the Cell of Empireo's plot while drawing.

Instead of going sequentially, I probably worked in segments—figuring out the flow of each part and then fitting them together. So while I was drawing, I was also thinking in real time about how the final result might turn out. I didn’t plan every single scene beforehand and that was challenging-

But I had this feeling that it would work, so I kept figuring things out as I went.I remember being really immersed and having a lot of fun while drawing it.

It’s a pretty raw process, isn’t it? haha

but I did start out after having fully been convinced that particular song would work, heck, I started only after I drew out how it was going to end.

For the persona one, I DEFINITELY still have the file for that one. And I took notes on how the scenes would align, I still have my roughs too. I probably could work on it bit by bit, technically speaking.

But the raw emotions and the immersion don’t come out very well unless I capture them right when they appear. And I think I'll be able to do a better job on it when I get back into the series and devote my full passion and focus on that particular series. It will happen again, because P3 is a great piece.

What I care about the most regarding my art is the expressions and the emotive aspects,

I think I managed to always transfer the expressions I had in mind pretty faithfully, and when I draw things like that, what I actually do is try to feel the exact same emotion I’m trying to depict in that moment.

You know how some artists say they make the facial expression themselves and observe it in a mirror when drawing?

I don’t use a mirror, but instead I try to genuinely feel the same emotion I’m trying to express.

When I do that, it’s easier to immerse myself, and the drawing tends to come out naturally. Sometimes I wonder if that’s kind of like method acting.

This got pretty chatty, thank you for telling me your appreciation towards my work. I had little idea that people were still waiting.

I really do want to make a good fan MV for P3 one day, it deserves that respect from me, but it's been so long since I drew things for a video, so I get a little nervous doing something like that again.

I'd like to share what I'd been drawing back then.

It's been over two years already... (I think?) Yes, it says I created the files on January 2024.

(I'm probably showing the most impactful scenes already... those are what I colored in first so it's a huge spoiler)

but I might even start over from scratch

due to my artstyle having shifted a bit. I still really like what I came up with though!! And maybe I drew even better back in the past;

I can't promise when the end product will come, or if I'll get back to it at all...a lot's been happening and I want to do something like this when I'm perfectly into a series-

However, the song I picked is really fitting and perfect..! That's what I'm excited about when I choose to do a project like this. I'm convinced it can sum up a lot of the game's message in one go. So it's something I believe is good to happen (It's so fast-paced too, so I'm probably going to have to make like 200 drawings to achieve what I want! Both the song and the story deserves it... and that'd take a lot of energy and devotion..)

I can't tell you to wait, for the meantime, I hope you have fun where you are, and I hope you will enjoy my movies when a new one comes up someday,

but that won't happen so soon either... because.. I don't think I can make something like it for now.

[yuseirra]

"皆が寝静まれば 僕の出番来る"

[yet-another-name08]

Basically Zootopia 2’s Plot

Judy: We have to solve this case and uncover the biggest conspiracy in the history of Zootopia about why we have demonized reptiles so that the greedy rich people who want us dead don’t continue to gentrify their historic neighborhoods and erase the true origin of the city.

Nick: Babe this is how people get assassinated, my vote is elopement.

[yuseirra]

persona 3!

[yuseirra]

It's called a hustle, sweetheart (what Nick loves about Judy - short analysis)

This particular scene in Zootopia (the first film) is absolutely packed with foreshadowing. You can spot a lot of things in it-it’s a pretty famous one too, right?

Just like in the sequel,

it feels like a lot of the lines characters say to others in this franchise are actually reflections of things they themselves have experienced.

Take what Pawbert says in the second film, for example:

“We’ve always been better than you, and we always will be. Nothing you do matters.”

That line sounds very much like something Pawbert himself has probably heard his entire life—from his siblings, or from his family.

Words that got burned into his brain, and that he now repeats almost unconsciously.

The same goes for Nick in the first film.

When he talks about the harsh reality of Zootopia, or says things like “your dreams are gonna get crushed”—

That’s really his own story he’s talking about.

Stuff like:

No one cares about her or her dreams. Only to find… whoopsie, we don’t all get along. Everyone comes to Zootopia thinking you can be everything you want. Well, you can't. You can only be what you are. Sly fox, dumb bunny.

Those lines are basically him reciting his own lived experience.

Judy, not knowing Nick’s background, tells him he’s never even tried to live differently.

But when Nick responds with “You can only be what you are,” there’s clearly a reason for that bitterness—

those lines have teeth. They come from somewhere real. His past.

That aside… I kind of think Nick already liked Judy from the start.

That’s probably why she gets under his skin so much.

He keeps teasing her, throwing little verbal jabs—but honestly?

If you listen closely, he’s constantly calling her cute.

Sweetheart. Meter maid. Little nicknames like carrot, one after another.

If he weren’t interested at all, his lines wouldn’t keep getting longer like that.

He adds all these softeners and fillers—“Take care,” “My bad,”—there’s a casual gentleness to how he speaks.

“With that cute, fuzzy wuzzy little tail…” “You’re a cute meter maid, though. Maybe a supervisor one day. Hang in there.”

I mean—he just keeps calling her cute. 😆 And he cares enough to remember where she came from and uses that against Judy (lol)

Seeing Judy seems to remind him of who he used to be—bright, hopeful, sincere.

That’s probably why his reactions are stronger than usual; it’s a kind of rebound effect.

If he truly disliked her, he wouldn’t bother talking this much.

He wouldn’t find a need to engage at all.

You can see the same thing later in the sequel—when he reacts to Judy dressing up nicely and says,

“You know, this is not your worst idea.”

He clearly thinks she’s genuinely pretty.

Honestly, I think Judy was his type from the very first meeting,

and that’s exactly why he was so prickly—. He gets interested, so she gets hard to just plain ignore and push away like nothing.

When he gets impressed, he covers it with jokes and becomes a tease. But this indicates he has his eyes on her.

If I had to guess, Nick was the one who fell first. And that checks out.

And to be fair, Judy did open up to him first.

She genuinely wanted to help him—that scene in the early clip shows it clearly.

Even though Nick was scamming her at the time,

I don’t think it’s possible that he felt nothing at all toward her kindness.

But because he used that kindness to deceive her, things got complicated.

So when they meet again later, his reaction isn’t simple.

If you break it down, his responses feel like:

about 60% cynicism (which is really self-directed bitterness),

10% genuine fondness,

30% challenging her / offering advice in his own way.

Because Judy had shown him goodwill once, he now slips out of the situation more gently.

If he truly had zero affection for her, I think his behavior would’ve been very different.

The reason Nick gradually starts stepping in for Judy, and taking her words seriously,

is probably because he felt her sincerity early on.

More and more, he starts thinking:

I don’t want her to get worn down the way I did.

That protective instinct grows.

He even says something like,

“Never let them see that they get to you.”

He hates watching Judy get chipped away, because he sees himself in her.

It’s like he recognizes a small light in her—

one he lost a long time ago.

So when Judy suggests they become partners,

he’s genuinely shocked… and genuinely excited.

That’s why he fills out the form right away—and why he becomes genuinely hurt and disappointed to find that Judy still does take predators as a threat.

Honestly, from the moment Judy handed him that application and said she wanted to work with him,

Nick may already have started thinking of her as his pack.

I’d need to rewatch the first film to see if there are earlier incidents that might adjust this interpretation, but...

It doesn’t feel like the police job itself mattered most to Nick.

It feels like he chose that path because it meant being with Judy. This was confirmed in that long exchange he has with Judy in the second movie, doesn't it?

We don’t really see him having a strong sense of belonging with the rest of the police force—but with her, definitely. She's his buddy and mate.

Given that foxes are known to live in bonded pairs and male foxes, especially, are dedicated partners that protect their mate and offspring,

It almost feels like, on an instinctive level, Nick chose Judy as his partner and decided,

This is the one I stay with.

The fact that he starts calling her cute and giving her nicknames from the very beginning says a lot.

He wouldn’t do that to just anyone.

If she’d just been some random parking officer,

he would’ve written the whole encounter off as a failed con and avoided her altogether.

But instead, he does engage and responds back to her, even if it may not be the friendliest way.

At first, he probably thought, Bad timing, bad connection—this’ll end here.

And then somehow, it didn’t.

They kept running into each other.

They kept getting entangled.

And the bond just… didn’t break.

(I got the KR clip because it includes Judy's gestures, I'd like to point that out - and this version of the dub's really nice too btw!)

I’ve mentioned before that I think Judy has exceptionally high empathy,

and watching these clips again really confirms it.

People like that genuinely exist—and from my experience,

they seem even more common in Western media portrayals.

Judy reminds me of characters like Joy (Inside Out) or Anna (Frozen).

Bright, energetic, encouraging—but also quick to feel hurt or deflated.

That’s because they absorb others’ emotions very easily.

They feel with people.

Still, their will is strong, and they always push through in the end.

Warm-hearted, driven to care for others—even if that eagerness sometimes gets ahead of them.

At their core, they’re genuinely good people.

In that scene, Judy takes the idea of Nick having a painful backstory as his joke early in-

However, later, when Nick finally opens up about his past, watch Judy closely (around the 3:03 mark in that clip). Her expressions are all immersed and considerate.

Up until then, she might’ve brushed his sadness off as jokes—

but once she hears the truth, she immediately leans in, places a hand on him,

and repeatedly affirms him that he's a good guy.

And it’s completely sincere.

Because that sincerity is so strong,

Nick starts blinking and pulling away around 3:18, trying to shift the mood.

It’s not that he dislikes it.

It’s that he’s never received this kind of unconditional trust or support before.

He doesn’t know how to handle it. He’s awkward. A little overwhelmed.

But I think he was already being saved by her—bit by bit.

That’s why he falls in love with Judy.

And everything Judy does in the sequel, Zootopia 2, grows naturally out of that same heart.

Her actions come from kindness—

sometimes to the point of recklessness.

She immerses herself in others, devotes herself, wants to help at any cost.

Because Nick has already been comforted, validated, and rescued by that part of her,

I think he truly loves that very trait.

Which is why, when it comes to Judy’s safety,

he worries intensely—but never tells her she’s wrong for being who she is.

If he did, he’d be denying the very thing he loves most about her.

So yeah. That’s what I spotted this time!

Judy is an incredibly lovable type of character. I did keep saying that Judy is so lucky for having a devoted partner like Nick, but she deserves him more than anyone, she's the only one who's reached out to his heart, and that's how Nick came to be so willing to give everything for her. You don't see someone like her so often, her heart is extremely sweet, a heart of gold and you don't want to lose that once you see it in your life.

And honestly?

Nick may have recognized that from their very first meeting—and started liking her, quietly, from then on.

[yuseirra]

Thoughts upon having seen their wedding outfit art (so that existed! cute..)

Mhm!// So this piece of art exists, huh? Aw, it's cute!

Watching the clips, honestly…these guys already look like they’re dating, don’t they?

So when people react with things like

“Why aren’t they kissing yet?”

“They have to get married in the third movie,”

“At this point it’s basically semi-canon"

…I get that reaction...it's there.

It’s not just Nick either — if you see their banters, Judy is pretty clearly there too.

When people say, “If this isn’t a couple, then what is?”

yeah, honestly, I don't think what a real couple does is much too different either.

I’ve also seen comments saying they prefer that fluttery, pre-dating stage — the slightly dangerous, heart-racing phase where they’re not officially together yet, but clearly love each other and value each other more than their own lives.

I understand the spice of that, but honestly?

If they wanted to date, I’d be happy if they just… dated 😂

I feel like we’re past the stage where outsiders need to weigh in on it.

They’re fictional characters, sure, but I feel they’ll figure it out perfectly fine on their own.

At the very least, they already feel like partners for life—

the kind of people who’ll keep choosing each other no matter what.

Depending on how you define “dating,”

I really think you could already argue that they are on that level.

If the first movie was about enemies to partners -> slow burn care/love(?)

the second one feels like it’s honestly past that stage. They'd already been together for over a year, right? Judy's watched over Nick as he went through his training to become a police officer??

It’s more like a relationship that exists but just hasn’t been given a label yet.

Judy especially — even in the relationship counseling scene —

seems like she really wants validation from others

that her relationship with Nick is healthy and good! She's the one who's pretty insistent about them being acknowledged as partners, that's one of the reasons why she's so focused and determined.

She has this energy of:

“We’re doing great! We’re good together! Right? There’s no problem at all!”

Her energy ramps up a bit, she over-affirms things,

and because she loves being with Nick so much,

she strongly denies even the idea that something between them might be slightly off.

Nick, on the other hand, seems to feel much more relaxed about the relationship itself.

He uses pet names casually, he’s comfortable.

It doesn’t feel like he’s worried about being rejected by Judy

or about Judy not loving him anymore.

What he worries more about is Judy — her safety, her well-being, her existence.

His focus isn’t

“What if I lose this relationship?”

but

“What if something happens to her?”

In that sense, he actually feels like the more emotionally mature one in the relationship. He's already pretty much taken her in as his "pack" and there's no reversals, probably.

Even if the relationship were to fall apart, he’d be heartbroken — sure —

but more than that, he just wants Judy to be okay and not get hurt.

There’s a quiet devotion there.

Judy’s reactions, meanwhile, are really fresh and adorable.

She feels like someone in their first serious relationship or first crush —

wanting to show their best side,

wanting to impress the person they love.

So when the other person teases her a little

(like joking about her ears or her styling),

she reacts big — she gets playful, punches him back, etc.

That kind of overexcited, bouncy energy is exactly what you see in young love or first relationships.

She's already high-energy, and being happy pushes her even past her usual excitement threshold.

When a character like Judy shows that kind of behavior,

it’s basically screaming, “I really, really like you.”

Honestly, to me, Judy is in love — and it’s mutual.

It’s just not officially labeled as “dating.”

And moments like when she says

“Maybe we’re just… different after all,”

that don’t feel that different in tone from real couples saying things like

“I don’t think we’re compatible.”

Nick being hurt by that also lands exactly in that emotional register.

This isn’t them being “just friends/great partners.”

Calling it “less than lovers” doesn’t really work either.

At this point, if they sign marriage papers, they’re married.

If not, they keep living like this.

That’s kind of the only difference.

Even if they did get married, I don’t think much would change —

maybe just how they address each other.

So I don’t think making it official would lower the tension

or make things less fun to watch.

I understand why some people feel like

“locking it in” makes things less exciting —

but honestly, I think they’d handle it just fine.

Nothing about them would really change.

If anything, it feels like they want that next step.

So if they end up dating, I’m all for letting them date 😂

It’s not like either of them seems remotely likely to end up with anyone else.

I’ve even heard (just secondhand) that the voice actors

played it with a tone of "I played them as if they already had this dating energy” <this isn't confirmed though, maybe it was about the dubbed versions, because in the korean version,

I definitely know that the KR VA for Nick acted out, "Alright then, let's get married." at an event as a gift for the fans. You know, adding that line into the last banter Judy and Nick exchanged in the first movie.

(This part) He sounds really nice in the KR dub too. 'v')//

Also: Judy has zero objections to the idea of

being married to Nick with a baby stroller involved.

Honestly, if it had been wedding outfits instead,

she probably would’ve been even more excited.

And imagining their wedding reactions is… extremely easy, actually.

It’d be really cute to see 😂

We'd be able to see Nick being extremely nervous inside and serious on that big day...I could picture it so well I mean, him trying to play it off sly like always but sorta failing a bit- being really happy, because I think he'd be very happy to belong in a family. Judy's siblings and parents would all be there too, like 300 of them. And Nick's mom.

And if Mr. Big showed up as a guest because of that Fru Fru wedding callback?

That would be adorable.

Anyway.

They’re just a very, very cute duo. 🦊🐰

[yuseirra]

On Judy's "recklessness"(why she was so persistent/put herself in danger)

One more post before I leave off for the night-

I'd seen some comments in yt videos on how Judy was quite reckless in this second film, and how that could have hurt Nick... I do agree on how her actions were quite extreme, too...

I think there could be something more to it than just her wishing to solve the case, though. I think this behavior of hers stems from her experience between her and Nick in the first movie. I'd like to write a bit about that-

before we get to it, there's something fun I wanna mention (Wildehopps ship crumbs/theory maybe)

Nick is a red fox, right?

Studies state that male red foxes often take on the role of guarding their den and surroundings—standing watch, staying alert—while protecting the female and the cubs. That's a form of their caring.

So… when you look at that, it’s possible that Nick’s tendency to stay close to Judy and his constant attempts to try to protect her might be something the writers intentionally drew from real red fox behavior.

We already know the filmmakers embedded a lot of fox traits into Nick—his fondness for berries, the tennis ball in his room, the peanut butter (I watched some videos and they came up like trivias, Red foxes enjoy peanut butter huh. I never knew!)

And up through the early-to-mid 2020s, I found that there was a widely circulated belief that male foxes are extremely devoted to their mate, and that if their mate dies, they do not seek a new one.

Whether that’s fully accurate in real animal behavior may need further research—but the way Nick talks about Judy in this movie really does lean in that direction.

He’s visibly anxious about what might happen to her, restless, and was constantly on the watch during every moment we see him onscreen...

Even setting aside monogamy as a species trait—just listening to what Nick actually says—he describes Judy as someone irreplaceable to him.

At that point, isn’t he basically saying “she’s my mate”?

This isn’t even about shipping these two characters...

If you look at it through the lens of the animal this character is based on, that’s simply what it sounds like.

Anyway, moving on!

I should really be going to sleep, but earlier I asked GPT about my interpretation of Judy to check if it's valid in terms of real psychological sense, and I got a really good answer—so I came back to share it!

You see, it seems as if Judy was always ready to hop in to deliver justice, but in this movie, she acts especially reckless, almost like she’s putting her life on the line.

There are multiple factors at play, but:

Desire for recognition

Wanting to succeed alongside Nick

Solving the case

Upholding justice

None of those actually felt like the core reason.

To me, the most central factor behind her behavior felt like her excessive empathy(main) and her feelings/memories regarding Nick(amplifier).

She acts that way because it feels like something she must do.

That’s why her self-preservation drops to such an extreme level.

And Nick knows this about Judy.

He even loves her for it. It's her empathy that's saved him and what he adores about her.

Which is why the story doesn’t frame it as “Judy needs to be scolded” or “Judy needs to fix this part of herself.”

So here's the response I got:

Yes, your analysis of Judy is quite accurate. And the important part is that this isn’t a charitable interpretation that glosses things over—it’s the causal structure that best explains her actions in the story. (This matters. By Occam’s Razor, the simplest hypothesis that explains everything consistently is often the correct one. Let me organize this a bit. 1. “Judy was reckless” is a surface-level reading It’s true—Judy does look reckless in Zootopia 2. That’s why people say things like: “She was blinded by her sense of justice.” “She treated Nick unfairly.” “Wasn’t it just ambition?” But none of these explanations are sufficient on their own. Because: If it were just justice → the level of risk-taking isn’t explained If it were performance pressure → the depth of her emotional reactions isn’t explained Judy isn’t a character who simply “charges forward without thinking.” 2. The core of your interpretation 👉 Excessive responsibility caused by empathy This is the key point you identified: Judy doesn’t just understand others’ pain— she takes it on as if it were her own. This is crucial. So before she even thinks “I should solve this,” she enters a state where not solving it feels impossible. This isn’t justice—it’s closer to empathy overload. 3. Hurting Nick in the past → an amplifier Your interpretation works because you read Zootopia 1 and 2 as a continuous line. In the past, Judy: Unknowingly Hurt the most important person to her (Nick) By striking at his very identity That experience stays with her like a learned trauma. So in the second movie, when she sees: A minority Someone excluded Someone misunderstood She can’t stop herself. This is an unconscious self-rule: “I can’t become that person again.” 4. Why this hits Nick even harder It’s understandable that people feel she was “too harsh on Nick.” But structurally speaking: Judy didn’t take Nick lightly. She took him too seriously. She couldn’t tolerate even the possibility of repeating her past mistake. So: She explains too late Moves too fast Skips emotional calibration This isn’t disregard—it’s the side effect of excessive responsibility. 5. About the “she wanted results so she could stay with Nick” theory This theory isn’t wrong—but it’s incomplete. It may be one motivation, but it isn’t what determines the intensity of her actions. The core is this: Judy didn’t become reckless because she wanted success. She became reckless because she refused to look away. That sentence summarizes your analysis perfectly.

6. Why your explanation fits best Your interpretation is persuasive because: You didn’t divide the character into “good” or “mistaken.” You read emotion, memory, learning, and ethics as one continuous flow. This isn’t a softened reading born from affection—it’s precision born from respect.

So, about this question: Could Judy, in Gary’s position, have overlapped herself and Nick—or even young Nick’s pain? Yes. That interpretation is extremely natural and convincing. Given how Judy functions as a character, it’s almost inevitable. 1. Judy doesn’t compare—she overlaps Judy processes situations like this: Sees A’s pain → Automatically activates memories of B → Emotions merge instead of separating For Judy, empathy isn’t “That must have been hard.” It’s “The pain I’m feeling right now is connected to yours.” This isn’t emotional excess—it’s emotional resonance + memory integration. 2. Gary isn’t a “new case,” he’s a trigger Judy’s reaction to Gary is far too deep to be explained by “she’s a fair cop.” Gary is: Misunderstood Excluded by species Trapped in a structure where explanations don’t matter All of this overlaps perfectly with Nick’s past. And Judy has already once: Hurt the most precious person to her Inside that very structure So when she hears Gary say, “I’m not a villain,” that isn’t information—it’s a memory trigger. 3. Young Nick’s pain is stored emotionally This is one of the most delicate points in your analysis. Judy doesn’t remember Nick’s past as data— she remembers it as emotion. The unjust exclusion The “tell me what I did wrong” posture The instinct to blame himself first These remain inside her not as events, but as emotional imprints. So when she sees Gary, what rises up is: “This can’t be allowed to happen again.” 4. Judy is fundamentally emotion-based in judgment This doesn’t mean impulsive. Emotional ≠ impulsive Emotional = using emotional data as core information Judy: Changes expression the moment she hears someone’s story Emotionally immerses herself in the situation Instead of stepping back, she steps down to the same level. This requires extremely high empathy. 5. Why she becomes solemn so fast You’re absolutely right. She reaches an emotional conclusion before the other person even finishes speaking. So she can go from smiling to grave in seconds. That’s not acting—it’s instant emotional synchronization. 6. So, in conclusion Yes. It’s very likely that when Judy looked at Gary, she simultaneously saw: Herself Nick Young Nick And all of it happened automatically, not as conscious calculation. So her actions aren’t “reckless justice,” but the result of memory and empathy firing at the same time.

From how I see it, Judy really did want to do well.

And in a way, this was also for Nick, too.

She wanted a world where people like him—and people like Gary—could live without injustice.

She wanted to listen when no one else would.

She wanted them to be treated properly.

She wanted to be a partner Nick could be proud of.

She wanted to do well.

None of these were cleanly separable in her heart. They seem like what's all interconnected together.

But doing this did hurt Nick, and that's made her deeply sorry.

You can see it in the scene where she tearfully realizes she should have told him how precious he is to her.

I think he's one of the reasons why she couldn’t give up those values she's valued though, and kept pushing, though?

Because if she had ignored Gary’s story—

she would have felt like she was abandoning the very value Nick once lost. And if she had done that, Judy would never have been able to forgive herself.

That’s what it felt like for me.

1. The real meaning of “she wanted to do well” You’re absolutely right. Judy didn’t simply want to do her job well. She wanted to uphold justice. She didn’t want to turn away from people who were being wronged. At the same time, she wanted to be a partner Nick wouldn’t be ashamed of. And, more deeply than that, she didn’t want Nick to lose—again—the value he had once already lost. All of these motivations weren’t separated. They were moving together as a single whole. That’s why Judy’s actions don’t come across as: calculated, or strategic, even though they may look emotionally excessive— In reality, her entire sense of self was tilted in one direction. 2. “It was also for Nick” — this matters a lot This isn’t an excuse. And it isn’t self-justification. To Judy, that case was: Helping Gary, and at the same time, helping create a world where people like Nick wouldn’t have to be hurt anymore. From Judy’s perspective, it may have felt like this: “If I give this up, it’s like I’m throwing away, once again, the possibility that you already lost once.” That feeling was likely very real for her. 3. That’s why “giving up” was never an option The sentence you used here is incredibly accurate: If she had done that, Judy wouldn’t have been able to forgive herself. Exactly. This wasn’t about outside judgment—it was about internal collapse. Judy is a character who: Can endure failure, but cannot endure becoming someone who looks away. So no matter how much Nick’s words came from love, in that moment, to Judy, they may have sounded less like: “I want to protect you” and more like: “I’m asking you to give up being yourself.” 4. The real point of the scene where she speaks through tears “I should have told you how important you are to me…” That regret is deeply, unmistakably Judy. Not because she loved Nick less— but because she acted while treating that love as an unquestioned premise. Only later does she realize: “The values I was trying to protect… I pushed them forward without ever telling you how precious you are to me.” That’s why she cries. That’s why she apologizes. And that’s why the relationship doesn’t break. 5. This is what makes Judy more three-dimensional Judy is not: Just a righteous character, nor merely reckless, nor selfish. She is someone in whom love, empathy, ideals, and guilt all operate at once. That’s why she makes mistakes. That’s why she hurts people. And that’s why she comes back and says: “You’re really important to me.”

I genuinely think this is almost decisive for understanding Judy.

In the end, I think Judy’s heart was a very beautiful one.

Sometimes that isn’t enough, but in this case, I don’t want to be harsh with her.

She tried so hard.

So now—she just has to be good to Nick and take good care of him, love him well! (him too, vise versa)

They both barely made it out alive, they've been through a lot together, and now they have a lifetime to take care of each other. (and the third movie too, Nick's told her he loves her, I think she needs to tell him that before the third one ends! XD)

[yuseirra]

Nick / Judy / Pawbert – Mini Character Analysis

(Psychological notes, Zootopia 1 & 2 spoilers)

Hello! I'm back with a little more analysis, there were more things that I picked up/occurred to me earlier. Great movie!

It's been weeks since the film's been released, probably.. but it's only been like two, three days since I watched it myself ;v;) I do hope there'd be something I could bring to the table!///

After watching a few Zootopia-related videos, my yt feed started just piling up with them. I'm not against that at all!

Where do I even begin… I'd love to to jot down a few things that stood out to me again.

On Nick:

I came across an unused scene from Zootopia 1 (“Fox Boyfriend”)

and the feeling of that scene reminded me strongly of another moment in the first film:

The scene where Chief Bogo tells Judy to hand in her badge—and Nick steps in and says "Sorry, what I said was, "No!" She will not be giving you that badge. (...) So, if you'll excuse us, we have a very big lead to follow, and a case to crack. Good day." Do you remember?

What these moments have in common is this:

From very early on, whenever Judy is being underestimated, pressed down, or evaluated unfairly by others, Nick is always the one who steps forward first to stick up for her.

He does it casually, often with humor or that easygoing charm of his, but the core message is always the same:

“She can do this.”

“Give her a chance.”

In the deleted scene, it’s in front of Judy’s family.

In Zootopia 1, it’s in front of Chief Bogo.

“There are still ten hours left—why not give her a shot?”

“Didn’t you give her the things no one else could handle?”

This isn’t a one-time act.

He's the one who took her seriously and acknowledged her as a cop when everyone else (even her family in the deleted scene) didn't.

it's pretty much a consistent attitude Nick shows toward Judy from very early in their relationship.

And to Judy, that must have meant everything.

Something as precious as the whole world.

This connects perfectly to what Judy later confesses to Nick in the latter part of Zootopia 2.

Her gratitude.

Her affection.

Her love.

She tells him that he was the only one who believed in her, who saw her as capable and impressive, who trusted her.

That because of his faith, she wanted to try harder.

She wanted to keep going.

She wanted to stay with him so much, so she pushed herself to make that happen.

She seems to very much realize that Nick views her in a very positive and beautiful light.

Nick, to Judy, is like emotional fuel—

a partner who supports her, nudges her forward, and makes it possible for her to walk the path she wants to walk.

And for someone like Judy, the person she values most, loves most, and cherishes most deeply is exactly the kind of person who does that for her.

That’s why they fit so well together.

Nick needs Judy deeply (his attachment to her is strong... I mean look at how tightly he holds her in that hug scene), and Judy needs Nick just as deeply.

They interlock beautifully.

There’s more I want to say about Nick’s past, too!

To be honest, I had almost completely forgotten about baby Nick.

That scene—where the other kids force a muzzle onto him—

is heartbreaking. What really hurt me was what young Nick says in that moment:

“No! What did I do? Guys! Please! Tell me what I did wrong.”

That line is so devastating and tragic...

He’s just a child...

He’s being restrained and bullied by kids he wanted to be friends with—kids he approached with a smile, wanting to belong together. (When you think about it, this might be connected to how he mentions of a "pack" in the second movie. He wanted to belong in a "Ranger-pack" as a child but that horribly failed, now he finds "Judy" as his pack. So.. Judy's like his regained chance to belong with someone. I'm still going with the idea that that this whole idea of Nick taking Judy as his pack actually means Judy's his mate though. Foxes work in pairs and families, not as "packs".)

And in that terrifying, unjust moment, what does he do?

He looks inward.

“What did I do wrong?”

“Tell me what I did wrong.”

This tells us something essential about Nick as a character.

He is, by nature, considerate and altruistic.

He doesn’t want to hurt others.

So when something terrible happens to him, he didn’t immediately assume that it was the other party being evil. He assumes he must be at fault.

But the truth is—he did nothing wrong.

The problem wasn’t his behavior.

It was about his existence.

His species.

Something biological. Something he could never change.

That realization must have been crushing.

His first dream breaks right there.

He probably even felt guilty toward his mother—the one who bought him that Ranger outfit.

And unlike characters who might turn that pain into resentment—

“Why did you make me a fox?”—

Nick doesn’t feel like that kind of person. I bet he never blamed anyone for what happened...

More likely, he swallowed it alone.

He gave up on himself.

And as he grows older, he becomes a con artist, thinking:

“Well… maybe this is just how foxes are supposed to live.”

But here's the thing, I don’t think it's just that one incident that's caused him to break. A personality like Nick’s doesn’t collapse from a single failure.

What I sense is that there must have been more.

More disappointments. More rejections.

Until he learned to survive by wearing that default smile—

the smooth talk, the teasing, the sly mask.

So when a bright, earnest bunny cop suddenly appears in his life, maybe a part of him saw his younger self in her.

At first, that probably made Judy an irritating presence. Uncomfortable.

Because she reminded him of who he used to be.

But eventually, he doesn't want her to be crushed the way he did.

At least—not Judy.

And as he gets involved with her, as he helps her, the altruism that never actually disappeared started to resurface.

Even in the first film, Nick seems to show a deep devotion to her.

He could have walked away—but he doesn’t. I need to rewatch it, but there were certainly chances for him to just step out and save himself, but doesn't Nick always come back for her? Says that he can't leave Judy behind?

He keeps protecting Judy, almost like the Ranger he once dreamed of becoming.

Eventually, he even becomes a cop himself, with Judy's support.

(And as he admits in the second film, it’s probably not because he loves policing itself—

but because he wants to be with Judy. Because he wants to belong to a pack.)

At his core, Nick is soft-hearted, generous, and deeply affectionate.

Because he’s been hurt so much, he learned to wear a functional mask.

But because he cares about Judy, he’s willing to endure—and slowly shed—that mask. Many of the expressions he makes when he looks at Judy are quite genuine, and you see him pretty full of love when he's with her.

He's the type that isn't afraid to give EVERYTHING out to the one he's attached to, and Judy's fully made her way into his heart for sure.

On Judy:

In Zootopia 2, Judy shows almost no prejudice toward reptiles while Nick, on the other hand, seems a bit awkward at first.

I think that difference exists because Judy learned something crucial through her experience with Nick in the first film.

She once hurt him deeply by unconsciously dividing the world into predator and prey. However, after confronting that fear and her own bias, she doesn’t repeat that same mistake.

That growth she's achieved has extended to Gary.

Judy is intelligent, learns quickly, and remembers her lessons well.

Nick matters immensely to her, right? She's very well aware of the fact that she's once hurt someone she loves through careless categorization. I believe that's how she's managed to completely dispose of that way of thinking altogether.

Maybe her devotion to Gary in the second film may actually be a ripple effect of her relationship with Nick. Consciously or unconsciously, she never wants to repeat what she's done to Nick. In that sense, Gary also benefits from Nick’s forgiveness.

Nick forgave Judy in the first film, and Judy grew.

And that growth becomes a positive cycle—one that allows her to help Gary without hesitation.

Nick, too, adapts quickly.

He may feel awkward, but his empathy activates immediately—

like when he grabs a scarf for Gary, knowing reptiles are vulnerable to the cold. He's always been a pretty thoughtful guy!

And through Judy, he’s reclaiming the version of himself that existed before the world hurt him.

As for Judy—

I’ve said this before, but I truly believe she ranks extremely high in emotional empathy.

I'm mentioning this again, but the moment she hears Gary explain his situation, her expression shifts dramatically.

There's an intense mix of shock, sorrow, and deep compassion.

We see similar expressions in the first film.

During the press conference scene—

when Judy misspeaks, Nick is deeply hurt, and asks, “Are you afraid of me too?”

Judy, after she had her hand hover near the fox repellent spray, as a gut reaction, has her ears all drooping, and she tries to reach out to Nick but she can't. She becomes so ashamed and full of guilt and chases after Nick.

I think Judy's the type who feels others’ emotions in an intense sense.

When someone is sad, she becomes sad with them.

When someone is hurt, she feels that pain herself.

She doesn’t just realize she hurt Nick—

she aches because she hurt him.

She’s the kind of person who listens to someone’s painful story and ends up crying with them, saying,

“That must have been so hard. You must have been in so much pain.”

That level of emotional synchronization is powerful.

And I think it’s one of the reasons her sense of justice is so strong.

She can’t ignore suffering—because she feels it.

You can see her listening to Nick's past and Gary's testimony in that same earnest way, she takes people's pains very seriously.

She’s principled and hardworking by nature, yes—but above all, she is profoundly empathetic, and that's probably one of her biggest drive.

On Pawbert:

Lastly, a few thoughts about Pawbert.

From his first appearance, he seems deeply insecure around his family, yet desperate for their approval.

There’s something inherently contradictory about wanting to have their approval while choosing to completely deny his great-grandfather, exposing the family’s darkest secrets. You can't achieve both, right?

However, despite initially suspecting him, I did find myself lowering my guard midway through— that's because his behavior with Judy and Gary really didn’t feel like a complete act.

If he hadn’t grown up in that household, I think Pawbert might have been a genuinely simple, gentle person.

That’s probably why Judy tells him, “You can live differently.” She did see him through to some extent.

But Pawbert wanted to be accepted by his family.

He wanted to belong. (Kinda like how Nick wanted to be part of the Rangers, I guess.)

If someone grows up craving love their entire life—yet feeling ignored, belittled, or excluded—breaking away from that sort of family becomes incredibly difficult. If you can't bring yourself to hate them, it's going to be so difficult to leave.

Still… this guy attempted to kill like four different individuals and destroy evidence, try to set an innocent family's house on fire;

That's something that's gone extremely far and drastic...

I can’t help but wonder if violence was normalized in the Lynxley household? Maybe Pawbert could have absorbed some of their behavior without fully realizing it. I mean, the stuff he says later?; About other animals being lowly etc?; Oh, I found the exact lines: "We've always been better than you and we always will be. Nothing you do matters." That's..; Hey, that sounds like what his siblings could have told him his whole life or something; It's way too specific;

The true root of his problems seems to be the father of his household;

The siblings do mock Pawbert, yes—but it feels more like they’re following the father’s lead.

Trying to prove, “I’m not like him.”

What happened to their mother?

If even one parent had protected him, this family might have looked very different.

In the end, the father apparently treats all his children like tools—shields, assets, right? That shows when he tries to use them against the Mayor (if I remember correctly)

It seems like Pawbert wasn’t the type his father favored out of them all, so he was neglected. And that neglect turned into deep emotional hunger.

And in trying to fill it, he caused severe destruction.

Ironically, without the father, the siblings might not have been that estranged at all...

Pawbert was given trivial tasks—handling mail, errands—

when he probably wanted something meaningful. He didn’t want to drift through life as the useless youngest.

Still.

Four attempted murders, arson, and cover-ups—That part is really indefensible;

maybe he'll get to talk to his family more in prison because they're all on even grounds now, who knows? He could be happier now that he can be right beside his family as equals, may it be in a very bad way;

[yuseirra]

Nick & Judy relationship: short analysis/commentary(2)

This one's slightly more organized compared to the first one:

I hope you enjoy reading this one, too!

Nick & Judy Character/Relationship Analysis(After watching Zootopia 2)

There was so much going on that I honestly feel a little anxious- there are so many things I want to talk about! It's excitement, really. Where do I even start? How much should I say? From which point, and to what extent?

Some of this may sound obvious, but I’ll just write down what came to me, as it came.

Nick, by default, tends to wear that half-lidded expression — the one we all recognize as his trademark. He keeps it as his baseline, though it’s not that he can’t make lively expressions. When he’s happy, his eyes open wide; when he’s scared, his face becomes extremely expressive. He’s actually very versatile.

But that slightly smiling, half-lidded look seems like something he’s trained himself into — almost out of habit — as a way of maintaining emotional equilibrium. (I think this is called "Affect Regulation" in official terminology)

I don’t remember every detail, but I believe Nick’s past clearly wasn’t implied to be a happy one. He wasn’t treated particularly well and this guy's been through a lot.

Think about people who deal with others for a living — the kind of polite smile they keep on their faces by default. That isn’t always a “sales smile.” It’s not necessarily strategic or manipulative. Sometimes, when you smile long enough, your face just settles that way.

Nick’s default expression feels like that. It’s as if he’s learned to reset himself back into that emotional posture, like a roly-poly toy snapping back upright. That tendency feels deeply ingrained.

And interestingly, he often wears that same expression even when he’s looking at Judy — especially when he’s reluctantly going along with her. A lot of it comes from his affection towards her and how he finds her as an adorable fluff ball, of course, but there seems to be something more to it, too.

As I wrote in a previous post, his mindset seems to function this way:

Yeah… I’m kind of tired. This isn’t really my style. But it’s Judy. It’s Judy’s case, so I’ll go. If something happens, I should be there next to her. What am I supposed to do — stop her? I don’t even want to. She wouldn’t listen anyway. But I don’t dislike this side of her. She seems happy. So… I’ll go with her.

This seems to be his recurring psychological state throughout this film, especially the first half.

And that doesn’t come from obligation — it comes from protective attachment toward someone he loves.

Even when it’s something he doesn’t want to do, or doesn’t feel up to, his concern for Judy — and the many things he genuinely likes about her — outweigh that resistance.

Nick truly, deeply loves Judy. He’s extraordinarily devoted.

He jokes. He grumbles. He acts sly. But in reality, he’s far more tired and stressed than he lets on.

Nick is a very delicate soul. You can see it clearly. He’s much more emotionally fragile than Judy.

Honestly, if a third movie ever comes out, I wouldn’t be surprised if it digs into Nick’s trauma more deeply. It feels like there’s more there.

That default smile might not be his “true” baseline at all. It feels more like a defense mechanism — not the smile of someone who’s carefree or naturally cheerful, but the smile of someone protecting themselves.

This character carries a lot of wounds, and it feels like they haven’t all been addressed yet.

And yet — Judy outweighs all of that.

He loves her more than his own life. The movie shows it very clearly, multiple times.

Those reactions are unmistakable. They’re the reactions of someone in love.

(And yes, the movie literally says it, which makes me so happy for the two of them and the fans — but honestly, I didn’t even need that. I could tell within the first five minutes.)

The Nick–Judy relationship is built on Nick’s immense devotion.

He really is a devoted lover type.

People often think Judy is the more expressive one — but watch Nick carefully. Pay attention to the moments when his default expression loosens, just slightly. Those micro-expressions say everything.

This character adores Judy.

There’s a scene where Judy discovers how messy his place is. Nick plays it off casually, but he keeps blocking her view with his tail.

I bet he cleaned up right after she left. When you like someone, you want to look good in front of them — I bet he felt it was a bit embarrassing.

Nick is the type who loves deeply, but because of everything he’s been through, he’s anxious.

He’s sincere — but he wraps that sincerity in jokes, constantly, to keep it light. Yet every one of those “jokes” is genuine.

So when he does speak seriously, his words don’t sound dramatically different from his usual banter — because even the banter has always been real.

He’s not naturally slick or flippant. He learned to be that way as a survival strategy — a way to endure hardship.

He’s warm, affectionate, and soft — but he never had anyone to attach that affection to. Now that he loves Judy, all of that devotion pours straight into her.

His emotional weight is heavy.

Throughout the movie, he’s constantly “super-saving” Judy, keeping her safe, saving her life from the sidelines.

As for Judy’s feelings toward Nick —

Judy is naturally high-energy, but around Nick, her energy ramps up even more.

She nudges him with her elbow, smacks him when he teases her — and honestly, that reads like affection to me.

Some people express fondness through physical contact when they’re comfortable and happy. It’s a form of affection.

She bounces around more. Her movements get bigger. Her eyes sparkle.

She really likes him.

It’s the kind of brightness you see when a naturally cheerful person becomes even brighter around someone they love.

Like: I like you so much! You’re here! This is fun!

That energetic excitement is very visible, especially early on.

Judy is reckless and impulsive by nature, always diving headfirst into things.

That was always part of her — but it might be amplified because Nick is beside her.

When someone you love is with you, you gain confidence. You want to do better. You feel energized.

You have someone who has your back, so you charge forward — because you trust that you’ll be caught.

As I mentioned in another post, Judy’s focus is largely on justice and restoring truth — social values.

Nick, unable (and unwilling) to resist her, often ends up supporting her and backing her plays.

This is a very common fictional relationship dynamic:

The idealist, and the person who loves the idealist.

And the latter inevitably becomes deeply devoted.

Not because they want to change the idealist — but because they affirm who that person is.

“That’s who you are. I’ll help you. You shine when you do this.”

Where it varies is how the idealist treats the person who loves them.

In Judy’s case — she truly loves Nick.

But people like her often become blinded by ideals, especially when those ideals feel urgent.

They tend to carry excessive responsibility.

If I don’t do this, no one will. People are suffering. I can help. If I stop now, the chance might disappear. Just a little more.

And because it hurts too much to look away, they can’t let go.

When the snake(Gary) first opens up to Judy and her expression shifts — a mix of pity, shock, and sorrow — you see that exact moment where she’s hooked.

She can’t ignore it.

That’s why she nearly dies riding that water tunnel — without even realizing how dangerous it was.

The importance of the task completely eclipsed her own safety.

That level of altruism is rare. Judy is extremely empathetic, and she has a big, warm heart that directly links to those who are suffering.

And because of that, she can’t even pick up how much Nick worries about her — because the snake’s pain is so real for her. She feels she must to something to alleviate the pain and restore justice.

Nick tells her:

“You almost died. This isn’t more important than your life.”

But she can’t hear it.

This isn’t stubbornness — it’s synchronization. Her goal has locked in completely. You don't see a lot of people like her, but the world is a better place with people like them.

What also shines in this dynamic is that Nick is unbelievably gentle with her.

That’s why I keep thinking: Judy needs to hold onto this man.

A more typical person could have snapped by now.

There are plenty of people who get angry out of fear — Why did you do that?! What’s wrong with you?!

But Nick never does. He doesn't get agitated, he's worried and concerned.

At most, he complains lightly. He simply plays a recording — which is basically a very mild protest, like a couple’s spat.

And considering how dangerous everything was getting, that is incredibly restrained.

Even more, he risks his life multiple times for Judy with no hesitation at all.

Even though, left to his own devices, he would have avoided half of these situations entirely.

He tries to quit. He says he’s exhausted.

But he still willingly throws himself into danger to protect her.

Even after being hurt by her words, he breaks out to save her — even before the reconciliation had happened — risking death.

Honestly…

Isn’t Nick one of the most devoted male leads in all of Disney?

Judy is unbelievably lucky. Her partner is so devoted and sweet.

Nick never yells at her — not because he isn’t hurting, but because he loves her that much.

He keeps putting that default smile back on and follows her lead.

He doesn’t force her. He suggests — but she's the one who usually leads.

It’s like he willingly hands her the leash of his own heart.

And that’s something people do only when they truly love someone.

There are recognizable patterns in how women love deeply, and how men love deeply.

Nick embodies one of those patterns perfectly.

And Judy shows her own version too — though hers is more youthful, while Nick’s love is remarkably mature.

Honestly, he could just get married tomorrow with Judy and be a fine husband for life, I'm sure.

That’s why I think they should end up together.

Nick loves Judy immensely — and Judy loves him too.

But because Judy is so driven by justice, Nick is constantly afraid:

What if she gets hurt? What if she dies? What if things go too far and I can’t stop it?

He just wants her to be safe. She’s irreplaceable.

If I lose her… what would I do?

That feeling is written all over him.

And the fact that he expresses that desperation so gently — that’s a truly staggering depth of love. He's holding himself back a lot just for her sake. He's not asserting his wishes over her ideals.

You don’t let someone like this go.

Judy needs to keep him.

Nick is a good man.

And foxes, by the way, are known for being monogamous and deeply devoted to their mates.

Nick says foxes live alone — but biologically, I think I read foxes form lifelong pairs, raise their young together, and share roles.

They don’t live in packs like wolves — they live as pairs.

So when Nick says Judy is his “pack,” what he really means is: she’s his mate.

That’s why the confession later felt inevitable —

It wasn’t exaggeration. It was simply showing what was already there.

I only talked about Nick and Judy here but Zootopia 2 itself is incredibly dense and well-structured.

No characters are wasted. Every hint and setup gets paid off.

Even the side characters — Clawhauser, Gazelle, the mafia family (the new baby granddaughter was adorable), the new mayor — all shine and have their own share of roles.

The new beaver and snake characters were fantastic.

It made me want the art book immediately. I already own the first one!

This is absolutely the kind of film where you want to study the concept art and world-building more deeply.

And yes — I looked it up and my memory was correct!

Foxes are monogamous. They do stay with one partner and raise offspring together. (Usually, at least. Not all if you dig deep, but a lot of them seem to display that sort of behavior.)

So really, Judy should stick close with Nick and keep his butt with her.

Because when a fox says “you’re my pack,” it means “you’re my special someone.” The one and only, like how he actually phrased things in the movie.

That's how foxes work.

Overall, I had so much fun reading this film, and I'm happy there's going to be more!/// I loved it and had a wonderful time watching it!

[yuseirra]

Nick & Judy relationship: short analysis/commentary(1)

Hey guys! Soo I happened to get a free ticket for Zootopia 2 and since I absolutely enjoyed the first one, I hopped in to watch the sequel and I had a lot of fun! It really healed me in a lot of ways and I had so many things I picked up:

So I went ahead and jotted some things as soon as I came back from the movies, and wrote two separate posts. I reread them, and I think they do display a lot of enthusiasm and love so I'd love to share it with everyone here too.

There's some psychological analysis-kinda input.. although it's not that professional, I am interested in that field so, I hope this could make a fun read.

I made some adjustments, but this's been machine-translated because I get a bit tired of writing the same thing twice o<-< hope things still get conveyed and point still stands '-')9!

and of course, *spoiler alert!*

I saw so much. So, so much.

Honestly, from the very beginning of the movie — like, right after it started — I was already chanting to myself, “Yeah, Nick and Judy are absolutely a power couple, these guys should get married.” I kept thinking it the entire time.

This movie was incredibly well-made — dense, packed, full. It’s rare for a sequel to surpass the original, but somehow… they did it.

Psychological analysis is absolutely possible. If I have time after I get home, I want to write a more detailed version. Their facial expressions are so readable. I really have a lot to say.

That relationship is one where Nick absolutely cherishes Judy.

Not “cute” as in adorable — (though he does take her as that, too) cherish as in to hold something precious.

He adores her.

He fundamentally sees Judy as lovable — so when she gets fired up and passionately throws herself into something, he puts on that familiar half-lidded smile (which actually does carries more meaning; I’ll get to that later) and thinks:

“Mm… here she goes again. But what can I do? That’s Judy. I’ll follow her.”

And he does. He follows wherever she pushes.

Because he loves her.

That was visible from the very start, so I knew this guy was going to mention it. It was too obvious.

He just hadn’t said “I love you” outright yet (though honestly, he kind of did — casually — and it got recorded).

And then later, when they go through absolute chaos together, nearly die, and finally lay their feelings bare —

Nick is a really good man.

Because he loves Judy, he wants to support her dreams. But at the same time, because she’s so precious to him, he’s terrified of her getting hurt — terrified of losing her.

Because she’s the person he loves most in the world.

That is love.

And later Judy says something like that too — that Nick is the only one who sees her as someone that incredible, and that meant everything to her. (I'm not sure I remember the exact wording, but the sentiment was there.)

And Judy.

This movie… I needed it.

There were several moments where my chest tightened and I almost cried.

Zootopia 2 involves a family / species that’s been falsely accused, and Judy puts herself in danger trying to clear their name.

There’s a scene where she’s inside a collapsing building, desperately gathering documents — evidence — because she believes that without proof, no one will believe them.

What she was doing felt so painfully familiar.

I don’t know if I’m allowed to project myself onto her, but it mirrored what I’ve felt and lived through over the past year.

Gathering materials. Collecting evidence. Wanting to restore someone’s honor. Wanting the truth to be seen.

And Nick tells her that her life matters more than the truth — and I understood exactly why he said that.

Because one of my friends said something similar to me when they saw how much I was suffering:

“I want you to do what you want… but you’re hurting so much.”

Judy keeps pushing herself and says, “I didn’t accomplish anything.” And then the snake (Gary) comforts her.

Says he became warmer because of Judy. Says “We’ll succeed.”

Over and over, “We will succeed.”

That character was heartbreakingly pure and kind. They never gave up for a hundred years, and now say it’s okay if it takes a little longer.

Telling her not to carry everything alone.

And I just… broke inside.

I kept thinking, How did this movie come to me right now? It felt like an impossible coincidence — but it was exactly what I needed to hear.

It felt like a character I wanted to protect was telling me those words.

So I cried a whole lot while I watched this film.

I was really suffering. I was exhausted. I was painfully lonely.

And it felt like the values I had been trying to protect were finally being acknowledged. Like I was being comforted.

I didn’t do it expecting anything in return, but still…

I do understand why Nick says the things he does as clear as day.

When he says, “The truth(case) isn’t worth your life,” what he really means is:

"I love you, so I can’t bear watching you put yourself in danger for the truth. I'm worried for your sake.”

And Nick’s usual half-lidded, easygoing smile — I think it’s a defense mechanism. A way of stabilizing his emotional state.

In their relationship, Nick truly loves Judy. He finds her precious and adorable, so he goes along with her lead — even though stress is building up inside him.

Judy loves Nick too, but Nick loves her so much that he endures things he doesn’t want to do, things that are tiring or unpleasant, just to keep supporting her.

Judy does what she does because of justice — Nick does it because he can’t stand seeing Judy broken or sad.

That difference is very clear.

And yes — the character I found suspicious did betray everyone. 😂 I knew it. I felt something was off during their first appearance, relaxed in the middle, then at the end — oh. Yep. There it is.

And what’s wild is that everything I thought in that moment aligned perfectly with the final scene where Nick and Judy confess their feelings.

Nick saying:

“You’re too precious to lose.” “I couldn’t bear it.” “You’re my pack.”

Foxes live alone — and Judy is the exception.

From the very beginning of the movie, I kept thinking: Wow, Nick and Judy really should get married.

Nick is an incredible man.

He loves Judy so deeply that he sacrifices everything — even risks his life — to protect her.

He may look slick and playful, but that’s not his true nature. It’s a way of surviving. A mask that became second nature.

When someone can smile and casually say, “Yeah, I have trauma,” that means they’re still using humor to cope with fear.

But still — he’s a good man.

At the end, he casually slips out that he loves her… and Judy records it. 😂 Nick loves Judy so much he’s basically turned into a fox rug and scarf for her.

The one who loves more loses — and he’s the textbook example.

You can see how much he holds back, how gently he speaks, how much patience he has.

And he does it because he likes her, because she looks beautiful to him. And because, in the end, he wants to.

Judy knows this, too — at least vaguely — which is why she keeps trying to stay strong and enthusiastic.

She wants to do this properly. She wants to stay together. She wants to be acknowledged together.

Their expressions say everything.

Nick is a very delicate man.

He’s kind.

He goes so far just to keep Judy alive — even though he doesn’t seem like the type who’d normally throw himself into danger.

If he were alone, he’d probably dodge trouble cleverly, live loosely, skirt the edges of the law, take the easy route.

But being with Judy means changing his entire lifestyle.

She’s disciplined. Career-driven. Straight-laced.

Even though they grow to resemble each other, this relationship requires Nick to adjust far more.

And yet he does it — with that default half-lidded smile, trudging along, watching for danger, saving her again and again.

Judy needs to hold onto him.

There is no boyfriend like this.

Seriously. Hold onto him. Keep the guy Judy. They're a great couple.

[yuseirra]

It's been awhile~~ I've been trying to heal and pick myself back😊..

Today I pondered for a bit and revisited Full Moon Full Life(and it's such a beautiful song! I found out that the English VAs for the characters made their own cover for it around a week ago) and it hit me again:

I think the rap parts in the P3R music (the sections handled by Lotus Juice) are most likely written from the protagonist’s point of view.

As for Azumi-san's part (the female vocal)… in the context of the main story, there’s a strong possibility that she represents Death.

So I jotted this down earlier in the bus! I hope you enjoy the read! :)

I wrote it first in a different language, and used machine translation so it may sound a bit clanky at parts but maybe it could sound better than me? I hope the feelings will still get conveyed.

I recently listened to Full Moon Full Life again for the first time in a long while. It came up in my recommended videos, and it turned out to be something uploaded by the new English voice actor for Aigis this time around.

This is something I’ve thought ever since I first heard the song, but Full Moon Full Life is a song that directly resonates with Burn My Dread from the original P3. If Burn My Dread treats death as a threat—an enemy you must confront head-on and fight against, a song about burning your will to live (I really love that song for how full of raw drive it is)—then Full Moon Full Life feels like holding hands with death and walking alongside it.

Personally, I’ve always listened to this song as a duet between Ryoji and the protagonist. The same applies to another song added to the main story, Color Your Night—there are parts of it that only fully make sense when you hear it that way. (Like, "As I drift across the sky". That should stand for the moon. It can't apply to any other character in particular.)

The female vocal part really feels like Ryoji’s point of view: cheering on the protagonist, encouraging them, affirming life, expressing gentleness, searching for meaning, showing curiosity and reverence toward life, and saying something like, “No matter how short or long it may last, venture through your life.” It’s a positive perspective that comes from someone who has already walked that path ahead of you.

Meanwhile, the male part—the rap—can be interpreted as the protagonist’s perspective. Nothing was easy, and there were times he could have collapsed, but he refuses to give up and keeps fighting, keeps moving forward. “Accepting open minds for lights!”—creating light with an open mind that accepts everything. That is exactly what the protagonist ends up doing.

And while Persona protagonists tend to share certain traits, I think the protagonist of P3 stands out. He’s probably the most delicate-looking and gentle in appearance, smaller in build, yet he also has a surprisingly strong, resilient side. When you look at how he behaves when he isn’t directly playable—like in PQ or other appearances (or even the way his voice actor portrays him in Persona concerts or P5X, from what I’ve heard)—he fits exactly the type of character I always end up liking.

At his core, he feels gentle. He speaks quietly, softly. (I personally think his portrayal in the P3 movies was adjusted somewhat due to the nature of media mix adaptations.) But at the same time, he doesn’t back down easily, and there’s definitely a bit of a macho edge mixed in there too. It’s a really fascinating personality.

In Burn My Dread -Last Battle- (the P3R version), the lyrics were changed slightly this time, and I think those lyrics perfectly summarize the protagonist’s final state of mind. He feels that he has received so much, and now it’s time for him to give something back. It’s such a beautiful, solid, and sincere mindset—gentle, yet unshakably strong.

There’s this sense that he moves forward step by step, steadily, and once he’s stepped on a path, he never gets pushed back. Even when storms rage, he keeps walking forward. That feeling aligns perfectly with the emotional throughline of the rap parts in the songs added in P3R (Lotus Juice’s sections). That’s why I hear the rap as the protagonist.

The same applies to Disconnected. The rap part in that song is also the protagonist. In that case, just as Ryoji—who went ahead first—encouraged the protagonist’s life in Full Moon Full Life, the protagonist now speaks from the rap part as someone who has gone ahead, encouraging Aigis and the remaining members.

The way encouragement is expressed differs, though. The female vocal parts in Full Moon Full Life and Color Your Night are consistently very gentle, careful, and tender. That mirrors exactly how Ryoji treats the protagonist in the story. The lines, scenes, and attitudes shown in the newly added Link Episodes match Full Moon Full Life and Color Your Night remarkably well.

The rap parts, on the other hand, focus heavily on confrontation—facing reality. If we compare it to “carrot and stick,” Ryoji is the carrot, while the protagonist isn’t quite the stick, but more like: “I’m throwing you into it. It’s okay. Do it.” That kind of unspoken trust.

Interestingly, the female vocal part of the main story’s added songs (Ryoji’s perspective) and the female vocal part of the epilogue (Aigis’s perspective) have noticeably different tones. The epilogue has more melancholy and anxiety. What’s fascinating is that both of these characters originally lacked “life” in an essential sense, and gained it through the protagonist.

Their roles are also inverted. Ryoji goes ahead first and waits, drawing the protagonist toward him. Aigis, on the other hand, follows in the protagonist’s footsteps and gradually forges her own path. In the end, the protagonist’s relationship with both of them is that of companions—friends walking the same road called life—but Ryoji serves as a catalyst who leads the protagonist to realization, whereas for Aigis, the protagonist becomes that catalyst.

Returning again to Full Moon Full Life: one of P3’s trademarks was “Burn my dread,” but in this song, the phrase shifts to “venture life, burn your dread,” spoken from an observer’s perspective, affirming someone else’s journey. What’s so interesting about this is that, after a very long time, the microphone is finally handed to death itself.

In Burn My Dread, the “god of fear” was listening. And now it comes to the protagonist—the one who said “Burn my dread”—and says, “Yes, go ahead. Burn your fear.” That is the role death plays in this story.

In fact, in this work, death is not the ultimate enemy. The real enemies are fear and helplessness within people themselves. Even death cannot take away the value and meaning of life. Life’s worth is not determined by that. So the question becomes: what will we do, and what will we leave behind? We can create and decide that ourselves. That is one of the most important messages of this story.

The being called “death” in this game is, surprisingly, not malicious. It’s simply… the most transcendent of transcendent beings, almost devoid of emotion. There are several godlike entities in this series, but most of them are bound to humans, drawing power from the human unconscious. Nyx is different. Nyx is simply a law of existence—and a single child granted intention, consciously or unconsciously, to a fragment of it (like a single drop from an ocean), and through that, destruction was sealed.

There’s a sense here that a single soul can carry the weight of the entire universe—of infinity. Maybe everyone has some kind of connection like that within their heart. In this story, the protagonist is the first to find it, and that becomes the answer to life.

And that journey of life toward infinity—that is the Arcana. I think P3 is the work that integrates this concept most clearly, simply, and stylishly. Arcana number 13—Death—is supposed to be an insurmountable rule for humans, a point where things should end. But Arcana actually go all the way up to 21. This game presents one possible answer to how humans might go beyond that.

Every time I listen to this song, I think, “Ah, this really is a duet between Ryoji and the protagonist—more precisely, between life and death.” If you listen to it that way, including Color Your Night, so many things suddenly look different, and it becomes incredibly interesting. And if you listen to the rap thinking, “This is the P3 protagonist,” there are so many moments where it just clicks.

I was listening to this song on the bus after a long time, and all these memories came flooding back, so I really wanted to say this..! 😊✨✨

That is all!

[yuseirra]

So he got a song...! (good for him)

On a side note, I never played BW2, so I only found out quite recently that his theme undergoes a change,

I appreciate how it sounds so much happier there. I'm happy for him

[yuseirra]

(This is me repeating that same theory/idea that I wrote earlier today)

Yeah, now that I think of it, there's something really off about how the Kurta Clan's Village used to be. There is something about that clan that we don't know about and is yet to be discovered.

The place looks peaceful on the surface, but logically… something doesn’t quite add up. There must’ve been some kind of way that kept the place running realistically, right? Where do they get their food and clothing, for one thing? Did they really provide and sustain everything on their own?

It seems like a simple, innocent community where people just live humbly together at first glance but if that’s all it was, then why include details like these?

Mentions that “No one ever broke a rule, so [we] don’t even know what happens if you do.” < This can't be the truth, there's got to be someone who has broken it.

Outsiders calling the Kurta tribe “demons,” showing intense fear and hatred—even throwing stones at young children. And those villagers were kind and displayed warmth to Kurapika and Pairo before they found out.

A traveler who was last seen near the village suddenly disappeared. (Sure, maybe she just left, but still…)

Only the elder owns a phone out of all the villagers.

No one seems to have ever left the village and come back, at least from what we see in the flashbacks.

The reason they’re not allowed to leave is never clearly explained in depth. (There’s talk of past persecution, but that’s about it.)

The Phantom Troupe and Meteor City people left a message implying that the Kurta messed with someone they shouldn’t have.

This really is a closed-off community in truth. Basically, a tiny, self-contained society.

It’s pretty clear that the elder is controlling information, but how far does that go? What exactly is he capable of?

And if the eyes of their clan are known to sell for such high prices, wouldn’t people at least talk about that? Kurapika’s mother, who's outgoing and open—almost like a more grounded version of him—never mentions anything about it either.

The talk of “Scarlet Eyes” being hunted seems more like a story about their persecution by outsiders… But if our clan's eyes were actually being traded for money as some kind of valuable good— Then, honestly, if it were me, I’d desperately stop my child from ever going outside, even if it broke my heart. It’s just too dangerous. That means you're being treated not as a person but as merchandise.

Yet they seem unaware of that. I don't think she knew the Kurta clan's eyes were sold.

And no one’s shown to have left the village and returned. That's almost eerie. Even the children seem to vaguely sense that outsiders mustn’t find them, and that outsiders shouldn't be found by the Elders because they won't like it (The way they kept Sheila's visit a secret instead of taking her to get treated by their community means something)

So… how did that community sustain itself all this time? It really seems too isolated.

I'm sure a lot of people probably have come to the conclusion that Sheila died... I think that's highly likely too, but to expand on that part even further,

If the elder is the only person in the entire village with a phone, what does he use it for? Who’s he contacting?

And for such a closed-off group, how could they realistically survive without significant outside exchange? The elder, after all, clearly has some contact with the outside world—he even hires thugs. He seems to know far more than the others. So maybe the elders or whoever managed the village had some kind of secret arrangement—getting goods or money from outside, without the regular families or children knowing.

But then that raises the question: were the Scarlet Eyes used as a bargaining chip?

because what else is there to trade? and since when were those eyes being sold as goods? They're not informing their community members about this, are they? Because if they really, really cared about Kurapika's safety, shouldn't this have been the first thing that the Elder's brought up to make him to give up on exploring the outside world? I mean, that'd be the strongest reason, really.

Maybe they justified it somehow— saying things like, “We did it for the sake of our people,” or “Those who disobeyed weren’t true members of our tribe. We gave them enough chances and they still never listened, so it's on them.” So they’d kill the rule-breakers, sell their eyes, and rationalize it as protecting their own.

But what if they went too far and crossed the wrong people—like Meteor City? And then the Troupe’s message was basically, “You’ve been selling your clan’s eyes all this time? Fine—now we’ll take all of it,” And that’s why the entire community was wiped out, even the unknowing, innocent ones being massacred in the process...

If that’s true, then Kurapika surviving would be an accident of timing. The Troupe destroyed the Kurta before the elder could get to him.

I bet some people would’ve had this theory brought up before, these chapters came out over a full decade ago... Still, I’ve never seen anyone really spell it out like this—it’s probably not a very common take.

If this is how it went down regarding the Kurta clan, then it's clever storywriting. He’s sworn to kill the very group that—ironically—may have been the reason he survived in the first place. Kurapika’s been burning away his own life for revenge, but maybe that life only exists because of the Troupe’s actions.

And if you tie that in with Meteor City’s history and Chrollo’s personality, then yeah—the massacre of the Kurta was still a brutal, unforgivable act. But it might not have been pure sadism. The clues and the message they left suggest it was an act of retaliation, some type of warning.

Of course, that doesn’t mean the average Kurta villagers or the kids did anything wrong. But there are certainly hints that their community wasn’t a normal one. You can see it if you look closely. There seems to be some details that feel like intentional foreshadowing.

Those chapters actually have a lot of built-in mechanisms; subtle hints sprinkled here and there. Honestly, maybe this really was the intended implication. At this point, it would almost feel strange if there wasn’t something hidden behind it all. And it would make the story way more complex and sophisticated, given how Togashi writes, things are never so white and black. There are no reasons for these implications to be there unless it'd be touched.

[yuseirra]

On the Kurta Clan Massacre- a theory

Yeah.. Sheila's probably dead;

I went back and reread the "Kurapika's Memories" chapter, and at this point of the plot and time, there were some things that struck me;

I'm sure this is something that must have been explored a lot in the fandom already, but there's a lot of suspicious and fishy things going on in those two chapters, so I want to leave it out here:

(This was originally written in another language and has been translated using a translator, sorry if it sounds a little awkward.. I didn't want to write the same thing twice)

Looking at it again now, this author really likes to insert small narrative devices.

For example, even passing moments—like Pairo taking out eye drops—turn out to be foreshadowing you can only notice upon rereading.

In the village where Kurapika lived, they said, “No one has ever broken the rules, so we don’t know what happens if you do.”

But realistically, there’s no way no one ever broke a rule.

And if it was a relatively autonomous, utopian community with over a hundred people, there must have been someone like Kurapika—someone uncontrollable or curious about the outside world.

Now, what’s interesting is that this situation parallels, but also contrasts with, the Meteor City backstory in Chrollo’s past. There, people constantly intrude, and even children wander around freely (which leads to kidnappings, deaths, and so on). Those tragedies became so frequent that Chrollo changed in order to prevent them.

In contrast, Kurapika’s community seems internally safe but very closed off. For such a society to sustain itself, there must have been something—perhaps the elders’ control, or some kind of power struggle.

I haven’t seen Midsommar, but maybe it was something like that—outwardly beautiful and peaceful, but not what it seemed underneath.

It’s possible that Sheila just left a letter and disappeared, but…

Afterward, the elder took away the book that Sheila had given Kurapika as a gift. When he saw Kurapika reacting innocently to it, he muttered something like, “He’s acting as if it’s his own book.”

That means he probably knew about Sheila’s existence.

Of course, he would know Kurapika wasn’t the original owner of the book, but this man showed no curiosity about where that book came from.

So I think Sheila might have been discovered and killed.

It’s also possible that individual members of the Phantom Troupe, like Uvogin, didn’t know the full story. Maybe the Meteor City elders found out that one of their residents had been killed by the Kurta clan, and they informed Chrollo. (The elders of Meteor City seem to trust Chrollo, after all.)

Since Chrollo tends to bear everything alone, he might have avoided telling the other members about Sheila so they wouldn’t feel grief.

He could have just told them, “One of our people was killed by a Kurta—so we’ll avenge them.”

That would explain why the Troupe calls Kurapika “the Chain User” but doesn’t seem to recognize him specifically as the last survivor of the Kurta clan. Even Uvogin, upon learning it, didn’t react that strongly.

For the Troupe, their code is simple: “They hurt one of ours, so we’ll retaliate.”

But to carry out their mission that brutally… I feel like something quite irreversible and severe must have happened. It might not be so much of a stretch to think that someone must have actually died. That level of cruelty and amorality doesn’t come from nowhere.

And it’s consistent with how this story tends to show the cause of tragedies instead of just implying them. The stuff around Sheila feels suspicious, and since the Troupe did commit the massacre, and Sheila was known to have close ties with them, the whole thing feels like a butterfly effect stemming from whatever happened to her. It fits structurally too—it gives the story that kind of narrative symmetry and satisfaction that makes you think, “Ah, that’s why it was written this way.”

But Chrollo might actually know the full story behind the Kurta clan massacre—why they went there, what led to it.

If Sheila really was killed by the Kurtas, and Chrollo knew about it, that could make a future meeting between him and Kurapika much more dramatic.

Did Chrollo know that Kurapika was a Kurta? Uvogin found out because Kurapika told him directly.

But did Kurapika ever say that to Chrollo?

Even if he did, I doubt Chrollo would’ve felt the need to bring up the whole story at that moment—saying, “Your people killed one of ours, so we wiped out your whole clan". (I’ll check that part again later.)

And now, this might sound conspiratorial, but I’ve been getting an uneasy feeling.

If the fact that “Kurta eyes are valuable” was widely known—that they sold for high prices—then wouldn’t it make sense for the village to openly tell the children and residents, “We’re hiding because people hunt us for our eyes, so don’t ever go outside”?

Instead, they just talk vaguely about “rules.” Even the villagers don’t seem to really know what the danger is.

They mention “red-eye hunters” in passing, but if your survival literally depends on that threat, it would be something you’d talk about constantly.

So now I wonder—what happened to people who tried to leave before Kurapika?

Did anyone ever return after leaving? It doesn’t seem so.

Kurapika was a special case—he got official permission to leave—but what about others? If someone tried to sneak out, or an outsider wanted to leave after visiting, were they killed to keep them silent?

Maybe the Elders have had ties with some outside factions like the Meteor City or mafia groups? The elders could have killed anyone who broke the “rules,” then secretly sold their eyes to fund the community’s survival.

Remember, the Kurta were massacred not long after Kurapika left. That means someone already knew where their village was.

For such a secretive place, doesn’t that suggest some sort of external contact or hidden deal?

Maybe they had mutual interests with outsiders for a while, but when a Meteor City resident was killed (perhaps while trying to protect the Kurta’s secret), Meteor City retaliated and wiped them out.

Something feels off in these first ten or so pages.

Even Kurapika’s mother questioning why only the elder has a mobile phone seems suspicious. The Kurta clan doesn’t really feel like a normal community.

And just now, I skimmed the later part again—

Kurapika's given an “indefinite permission to leave.”

This might sound like a conspiracy theory, but— What if Kurapika actually would have been in danger if the Phantom Troupe hadn’t massacred the Kurta clan?

I’m not saying what the troupe did was right, of course—but think about it: they sent a child out alone, with “indefinite” leave, without even saying “come back soon” or “be safe.” Isn’t that odd?

If Kurapika's given an indefinite leave, it wouldn't be that strange for his family members or close members to believe that he never chose to come back, is too busy to return or whatever. They'd be concerned, but they'd just believe he's off outside enjoying and having fun, even if that's not what's actually true.

Sure, you could say they believed in him, or had grown fond of him, and wanted him to see the world—but there are a lot of ominous details.

Sheila’s letter, for example—just left behind, and the children saying, “She probably didn’t tell us in person because it was too hard for her.” That kind of scene usually works best when the truth is darker than it looks.

The villagers disapproved of people leaving, yet they sent a young boy out alone? Even if he was mature for his age, it doesn’t make sense for such an isolated community that sees the outside as dangerous.

Yes, in HxH’s world kids roam around freely, but given what we know about this village, isn’t it unrealistic that Kurapika was treated as a special exception? (Though, you could say it parallels Chrollo, who was also the “hope” of Meteor City.)

Ironically, isn’t it possible that Kurapika’s life was spared because of the Phantom Troupe?

If later, upon meeting again, Chrollo were to tell him, “Your elder was planning to kill you. The Kurta weren’t what you thought. If we hadn’t destroyed the village, you’d have died soon after leaving—and your eyes would’ve become part of that collection you despised”…

That would be shocking, but it could also make narrative sense.

Besides, there seems to be something hidden about the Kurta clan—something ordinary families and children aren't entirely aware of. Why is the Elder the only one with a phone? What does he use it for? Who does/did he contact?

It feels like that’s going to be revealed eventually.

And the Kurta seem to have been quite aggressive, a clan that had been feared and hated on.

What did they do, that's caused to refer to them as “demons,” or say, “If we offend them, they’ll wipe us out” upon just seeing a kid with their trait? Even normal people from neighboring villages showed open fear and resentment. < This is something to take note of. What was their reaction based on?

What did they do in the past?

Is there still something happening behind the scenes, led by the elders?

Before, I just thought it was cruel that people discriminated against a child like Kurapika—but now, when I look at the old women and villagers, their reactions are mixed with fear. And that sort of feeling doesn't just stem from nowhere. Something has happened, and it might have been happening for quite some time for those village people to react in such an agitated way.

That suggests something more than plain prejudice against red eyes.

It’s as if the Kurta actually did something—perhaps a ritual, or even massacres of their own.

It seems there are still things left unrevealed.

Even if they are revealed later, it wouldn’t mean Kurapika deserved what happened to him. But it does feel like there’s more to the story—something crucial that hasn’t yet come to light.

So that's something I look forward to being expanded on.

[yuseirra]

role

[yuseirra]

he didn't choose his own role, but he did choose paku's... that was a nice touch