Latest Posts by certifiedlesbianvampire - Page 7

You see, these screenshots actually foreshadow what's going to happen in the Bucchigiri finale.

Mrs Tomoshibi, wearing CHERRY pajamas (a symbol of virginity), explains to her dumbass virgin son that loving someone means "surrendering your body and soul". This is going to be important to Arajin, who will realize he DOES care about Matakara and not because Mahoro or Shindo told him to ("Have you ever thought about Matakara's feelings?"/"If you don't hurry up, Ichiya will take over Matakara's body!"). To save Matakara, stricken by despair, Arajin will have to surrender his body (to Senya, because a fight with Ichiya is inevitable. His wish will no longer be "losing my virginity") and to surrender his soul (to Matakara. Arajin will have to make himself emotionally vulnerable to connect with Matakara and help him). And then-

Im too much of a tiktok baby to be on tumblr

sorry this scene was so good but this shot had me fucking giggling

Hagu/Ryu fans won but at what cost

''Now, say it! Tell me your wish!''

THE PARALLELS ARE DRIVING ME INSANE.

You're wasting your tongue with lame excuses and lies

Now what's on your nasty old mind?

“Who Really Cares” TV Girl album cover redraw

im so sane rn

hes my oc now >:)

💙🩵💙

i tjink hes a soup guy

Mahoro, Matakara, Aladdin and the Princess

I think Episode 8 finally confirmed to me that the role of the Princess in the Aladdin allusion was actually split between Mahoro and Matakara, rather than it being one or the other. There's a reason why they're both represented by Jasmine-chan during the Nyan Nyaight Love cutaways!

Preface; imo Bucchigiri's narrative takes inspiration from both Disney's Aladdin and the original Aladdin story, so I'm going to switch the Princess's name depending on which version of her I'm referring to. So Jasmine -> Disney's Aladdin, and Badroulbadour -> 1001 Nights Aladdin.

From what I saw in the 1001 Nights Aladdin, Badroulbadour didn't have much of a personality, so it makes sense that a lot of Mahoro and Matakara's personalities were taken from Jasmine, while their roles in the story were slightly more influenced by Badroulbadour.

Mahoro: The feistier side of Jasmine. She has a sharp tongue and always speaks her mind, regardless of potential danger. Eg. Mahoro stands up to Akutaro after he gains the upper hand on both gangs, similarly to how Jasmine refuses to bow to Jafar when he becomes Sultan.

She's also regarded as pretty desirable, and has charmed several men to get them to do what she wants (something that both Jasmine and Badroulbadour do at some point to trick Jafar/the sorcerer). Arajin falls for Mahoro at first sight, similarly to how both versions of Aladdin fell for both versions of the Princess, and like Aladdin his crush on her becomes his driving motivation throughout the series. Akutaro also talks about turning her into a NG Girl and…abusing her, a la Jafar. Ik it's just to trigger Arajin but yk what I mean!

Matakara: The gentler, more naive side of Jasmine, in that he trusts/believes in Arajin...a lot more than he should, really. The main 'lying' plot point between Disney's Aladdin and Jasmine is directly implemented into Matakara and Arajin's relationship. On a surface level there's also their blue colour schemes and phonetically similar names (Asamine -> Jasmine). Near the climax of the 1001 Nights version, the sorcerer tricks Badroulbadour into giving him the lamp with the genie in it, similarly to how Akutaro manipulates Matakara into shooting himself with Ichiya. Both actions trigger a Very Bad Turn of Events that Aladdin stops/will have to stop with the help of his own genie.

Also very interesting how Ichiya has a moon motif, and Badroulbadour's name is a metaphor for female beauty meaning 'full moon of full moons'. Totally not losing my fucking mind over that no sir

Though they both fit the Princess allusion, the entire show is screaming that Matakara is Arajin's true Jasmine, and Arajin is going to realise he was what he needed all along. Honestly, it doesn't get more obvious than Episode 9.

That's not to mention how Mahoro and Matakara also have many, many parallels to each other via their relationships with Arajin. (Both visit him one-on-one at his mom's restaurant to convince him to do something and order the exact same dish, Arajin thinks of child Matakara after seeing both current Matakara and Mahoro get hurt, his meetings with both of them are juxtaposed with one another and described as a 'fated meeting' in this trailer, etc.)

Aside from that, there's also a lot of little stuff that the two have in common! (Both suck at cooking, both deeply care about their older siblings, both are cute as hell etc etc.)

(it's also pretty neat how they're technically both the respective 'princesses' of Minato Kai and Siguma, being the younger siblings of the leader/former leader of each gang!)

Mahoro, Matakara, Aladdin and the Princess

I think Episode 8 finally confirmed to me that the role of the Princess in the Aladdin allusion was actually split between Mahoro and Matakara, rather than it being one or the other. There's a reason why they're both represented by Jasmine-chan during the Nyan Nyaight Love cutaways!

Preface; imo Bucchigiri's narrative takes inspiration from both Disney's Aladdin and the original Aladdin story, so I'm going to switch the Princess's name depending on which version of her I'm referring to. So Jasmine -> Disney's Aladdin, and Badroulbadour -> 1001 Nights Aladdin.

From what I saw in the 1001 Nights Aladdin, Badroulbadour didn't have much of a personality, so it makes sense that a lot of Mahoro and Matakara's personalities were taken from Jasmine, while their roles in the story were slightly more influenced by Badroulbadour.

Mahoro: The feistier side of Jasmine. She has a sharp tongue and always speaks her mind, regardless of potential danger. Eg. Mahoro stands up to Akutaro after he gains the upper hand on both gangs, similarly to how Jasmine refuses to bow to Jafar when he becomes Sultan.

She's also regarded as pretty desirable, and has charmed several men to get them to do what she wants (something that both Jasmine and Badroulbadour do at some point to trick Jafar/the sorcerer). Arajin falls for Mahoro at first sight, similarly to how both versions of Aladdin fell for both versions of the Princess, and like Aladdin his crush on her becomes his driving motivation throughout the series. Akutaro also talks about turning her into a NG Girl and…abusing her, a la Jafar. Ik it's just to trigger Arajin but yk what I mean!

Matakara: The gentler, more naive side of Jasmine, in that he trusts/believes in Arajin...a lot more than he should, really. The main 'lying' plot point between Disney's Aladdin and Jasmine is directly implemented into Matakara and Arajin's relationship. On a surface level there's also their blue colour schemes and phonetically similar names (Asamine -> Jasmine). Near the climax of the 1001 Nights version, the sorcerer tricks Badroulbadour into giving him the lamp with the genie in it, similarly to how Akutaro manipulates Matakara into shooting himself with Ichiya. Both actions trigger a Very Bad Turn of Events that Aladdin stops/will have to stop with the help of his own genie.

Also very interesting how Ichiya has a moon motif, and Badroulbadour's name is a metaphor for female beauty meaning 'full moon of full moons'. Totally not losing my fucking mind over that no sir

Though they both fit the Princess allusion, the entire show is screaming that Matakara is Arajin's true Jasmine, and Arajin is going to realise he was what he needed all along. Honestly, it doesn't get more obvious than Episode 9.

That's not to mention how Mahoro and Matakara also have many, many parallels to each other via their relationships with Arajin. (Both visit him one-on-one at his mom's restaurant to convince him to do something and order the exact same dish, Arajin thinks of child Matakara after seeing both current Matakara and Mahoro get hurt, his meetings with both of them are juxtaposed with one another and described as a 'fated meeting' in this trailer, etc.)

Aside from that, there's also a lot of little stuff that the two have in common! (Both suck at cooking, both deeply care about their older siblings, both are cute as hell etc etc.)

(it's also pretty neat how they're technically both the respective 'princesses' of Minato Kai and Siguma, being the younger siblings of the leader/former leader of each gang!)

some interview highlights i forgot to post on tumblr

SHAKING THEM

One thing I also think Bucchigiri is criticized for is because a lot of things weren't explained, like what happened to Matakara's parents how senya and ichya became geniuses how akutaro found ichya Why does Matakara have something that has haunted him since he was little? and I also hope they explore Arajin's childhood more because it's not possible for someone to be like that.

Yeah that is one of my main problems with BUCCHIGIRI?! cause it left a lot of things unopen like are the Asamine bro’s parents even around, why is Mahoro super obsessed with Marito to the point that everyone in Siguma and Marito himself is at best bothered about it, are the Jin’s even aware of their daughter’s problematic behaviour and like with Mrs Tomoshibi, just brushed it off as no big deal to them.

That’s one of the things I want to tackle in my rewrite of BUCCHIGIRI?!.

Mahoro, Matakara, Aladdin and the Princess

I think Episode 8 finally confirmed to me that the role of the Princess in the Aladdin allusion was actually split between Mahoro and Matakara, rather than it being one or the other. There's a reason why they're both represented by Jasmine-chan during the Nyan Nyaight Love cutaways!

Preface; imo Bucchigiri's narrative takes inspiration from both Disney's Aladdin and the original Aladdin story, so I'm going to switch the Princess's name depending on which version of her I'm referring to. So Jasmine -> Disney's Aladdin, and Badroulbadour -> 1001 Nights Aladdin.

From what I saw in the 1001 Nights Aladdin, Badroulbadour didn't have much of a personality, so it makes sense that a lot of Mahoro and Matakara's personalities were taken from Jasmine, while their roles in the story were slightly more influenced by Badroulbadour.

Mahoro: The feistier side of Jasmine. She has a sharp tongue and always speaks her mind, regardless of potential danger. Eg. Mahoro stands up to Akutaro after he gains the upper hand on both gangs, similarly to how Jasmine refuses to bow to Jafar when he becomes Sultan.

She's also regarded as pretty desirable, and has charmed several men to get them to do what she wants (something that both Jasmine and Badroulbadour do at some point to trick Jafar/the sorcerer). Arajin falls for Mahoro at first sight, similarly to how both versions of Aladdin fell for both versions of the Princess, and like Aladdin his crush on her becomes his driving motivation throughout the series. Akutaro also talks about turning her into a NG Girl and…abusing her, a la Jafar. Ik it's just to trigger Arajin but yk what I mean!

Matakara: The gentler, more naive side of Jasmine, in that he trusts/believes in Arajin...a lot more than he should, really. The main 'lying' plot point between Disney's Aladdin and Jasmine is directly implemented into Matakara and Arajin's relationship. On a surface level there's also their blue colour schemes and phonetically similar names (Asamine -> Jasmine). Near the climax of the 1001 Nights version, the sorcerer tricks Badroulbadour into giving him the lamp with the genie in it, similarly to how Akutaro manipulates Matakara into shooting himself with Ichiya. Both actions trigger a Very Bad Turn of Events that Aladdin stops/will have to stop with the help of his own genie.

Also very interesting how Ichiya has a moon motif, and Badroulbadour's name is a metaphor for female beauty meaning 'full moon of full moons'. Totally not losing my fucking mind over that no sir

Though they both fit the Princess allusion, the entire show is screaming that Matakara is Arajin's true Jasmine, and Arajin is going to realise he was what he needed all along. Honestly, it doesn't get more obvious than Episode 9.

That's not to mention how Mahoro and Matakara also have many, many parallels to each other via their relationships with Arajin. (Both visit him one-on-one at his mom's restaurant to convince him to do something and order the exact same dish, Arajin thinks of child Matakara after seeing both current Matakara and Mahoro get hurt, his meetings with both of them are juxtaposed with one another and described as a 'fated meeting' in this trailer, etc.)

Aside from that, there's also a lot of little stuff that the two have in common! (Both suck at cooking, both deeply care about their older siblings, both are cute as hell etc etc.)

(it's also pretty neat how they're technically both the respective 'princesses' of Minato Kai and Siguma, being the younger siblings of the leader/former leader of each gang!)

Something² about them all idolizing someone and putting them into a pedestal

package deal besties are always so fun to draw :3

Return to Nyan Nyaight Love-A Happy Ending in Sight?

Before I begin my analysis for Episode 9's NNL segment, I would like to thank everyone who reblogged my previous post and left kind and wholesome compliments about my analysis. It really warms my heart that so many of you guys enjoyed my thoughts on these segments. Especially if they helped provide a clearer understanding of what thematic purpose they serve in the Bucchigiri series. I'm more than happy to help and I appreciate the compliments.

Secondly, I'd like to thank @saph-yells-into-the-void for providing a majority of screenshots for me to use. Even though you didn't mind not being credited, you still deserve it for these great screenshots!

So just as a quick recap, the NNL segments serve as a Greek Chorus as they parallel the main story of Bucchigiri by using the customer's relationship with Jasmine to symbolize various relations and plot events. This time, their relationship parallels the main relationship of the series: Arajin and Matakara.

Episode 9: A Heartfelt Reunion

The segment starts with the customer being nervous as usual about whether he should go in, only to hurry inside as to avoid being spotted by Arajin who's on his way to the bathhouse. The customer is greeted by the receptionist who is still uneasy with him avoiding Jasmine. And even the customer himself looks less indecisive and more somber when he's asking for Pu'er instead of Jasmine.

As I mentioned in the Episode 1 segment, the customer is meant to symbolize Arajin while the catboy receptionist represents the colorful delinquents that Arajin encounters. And even though the first episode had Jasmine stand in for Mahoro, this time she stands in for Matakara.

The receptionist describes Jasmine as being strong-willed, clingy, and too much at times. Many of which are traits that are associated with Matakara.

-While Episode 9 shows him slowly succumbing to Ichiya's twisted therapy sessions, it's worth noting that it's been several days since when he first merged with the Blue Genie til then. So it's worth noting that Matakara lasted a good while before succumbing to Ichiya's will. And even before that, it was his strong will that helped him become stronger and find a place among Minato Kai while also evading the shadows that constantly haunted him. His determination in becoming stronger helped him to evade those shadows; maybe not vanquish them but not to succumb to them either.

-The clingy and too much at times qualities seem to go hand in hand as most of Matakara's screentime has been spent trying to reconnect with Arajin while holding him on a pedestal. Even as Arajin kept pushing him away, Matakara still clinged on to his idealized version of his best friend. One who constantly inspired him to be a Honki person and do the impossible. The too much at times part also works since Mataraka just wouldn't stop gushing over Arajin to his other friends or tries to force Mahoro to talk with him about Arajin and his involvement in Siguma Squad. While is very much a sunshine puppy boy, he can be quite overbearing when it comes to his old friend.

As of the last episode, Arajin made his true feelings for Matakara painfully clear and how he wants to avoid him at all costs. Only now the rest of the cast have taken notice and how much it's effecting Matakara given his refusal to talk to his other friends Zabu and Sakigake mixed with him running away from home. It's become a serious problem and they're all worried about him.

Something peculiar about the receptionist's behavior, and the whole scene overall, is how it's played for dramedy.

The receptionist treats the customer abandoning Jasmine as something tragic and how badly it's effecting her. There's soft music at play as the receptionist speaks his heart out about the cat's distress and how only the customer can help her.

But at the same time, it's just so ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous! There's no reason that the receptionist should need to be so invested in the customer's preferences in cats. They haven't actually bonded with each other apart from letting the customer in so he can spend time with the cats and spend Lord knows how much money. This is his job so it shouldn't matter which cat some random, pathetic everyman chooses to play with since he's still getting paid rather handsomely at the end of the day.

But it does matter to him.

Maybe (as far as we know) the receptionist doesn't know the customer very well but he (supposedly) knows that Jasmine truly misses him and is miserable without him. The receptionist could try to make Jasmine feel better herself given that he sees her more often and knows more about her. But he knows that she holds the customer in his heart and implores him to go back to her.

And while the Minato Kai boys don't care much for Arajin or flat out tell Arajin to patch things up with Matakara, they do make it clear that their friend isn't doing so well after their falling out. He's in need of help and they unfortunately can't do anything about it given how they were brushed aside. And even Mahoro, who also happens to be a colorful character that Arajin met when he entered the Ichizu gang life, has also picked up on Mataraka's despair and wants him to feel better. She clearly doesn't care for Arajin but she knows how much he means to Matakara, someone who understands her when it comes to valuing an older brother figure. She even flat out orders Arajin to go see how he's doing.

Something to consider is that while the Minato Kai boys and Mahoro have their respective but serious scenes with Arajin, they still have their quirky (questionable in Mahoro's case) personalities at play. Such as Sakigake singing his heart out in the bathhouse with Arajin while in his birthday suit to Mahoro having a tea party with a blow up doll of her big brother before learning about Matakara's brother. They're still weird and silly but they show how much heart they have and how they can empathize with someone who's at their lowest. And while they might not be the best person to help out, they know that Arajin is the best person to help them out.

Just like how the customer is the best person to help out the upset cat. And what does he choose when he's asked a second time?

He loses his mopiness for just a moment, becomes slightly more confident and chooses his precious Jasmine. Much to the receptionist's jubilation.

I'm gonna be leaning on the optimistic side and say that this will foreshadow Arajin reconciling with Matakara.

As much as I find Arajin to be a detestable and disappointing human being, I will admit that he is capable of growth. Particularly with bonding with his old childhood friend.

Right after defeating Akutaro, we see Arajin help out a grievously wounded Matakara while mildly complaining about it. We see them being on speaking terms during the Pro Wrestling Episode and Arajin even took the time to teach him how to make gyoza. Not to mention that Arajin was also willing to stick around for Mitsukuni's Welcome Party. The guy is not a good person (ESPECIALLY towards women) but he is capable of becoming better. Maybe at a snail's pace, but it's possible.

And we see those glimpses of growth in Episode 9 with him secretly admitting that there was one person (Matakara) who actually would like his rock for a gift.

So I want to be an optimist and say that Arajin will be able to save Matakara from his despair and they'll reconcile. Maybe accepting that he took Matakra's feelings for granted and how he should have treated his former friend better. How he was acting like a dunderhead and how he doesn't expect to be forgiven after treating him like yesterday's trash. I don't know if the puppy boy will forgive and accept Arajin again so quickly after everything that's happened (it actually would make for an impressive writing choice if Matakara chose not to accept him right away but with their being hope that they'll be friends in the future) but their relationship status will be a hopeful one.

Random Thoughts

When the receptionist brought up how the customer has seen other cats, I had two thoughts in mind. The first is from the Group Date til now, the customer has seen other cats at NNL apart from Pu'er.

The second is that this could be an implied parallel to Ichiya. I don't have enough information since we don't know much about Honki People and the Pasts of the Two Genies, but it's possible that Ichiya has encountered other masters in the thousands of years from when he was human to the present. The other cats could have been masters that Ichiya encountered and tried to possess to take revenge against Senya. But as the receptionist claims, Jasmine kept waiting for the customer. In this case, Jasmine was Senya. Ichiya's oldest friend who still longs to see and reunite with him after so many years of separation and regret.

Another thing I want to bring up is how conclusive this segment feels. It feels like it was wrapping up the plotline between the customer and Jasmine. I find this odd since this happened in Episode 9 and we supposedly have three more episodes before Bucchigiri is officially over. Does that mean we won't get more NNL segments in the final 3? Or will we still get them but in different formats? Like an epilogue of the customer bonding with Jasmine (along with getting an official reveal of who she is) or maybe we get a new customer who's set up to meet another cat potentially foreshadowing a final plot point in the series.

And those would be my thoughts on this segment. No lie, I did not expect this to be this long. But given how conclusive this NNL segment was, I felt there was alot to say about this. And what did you guys think of this segment? As before, feel free to reblog this if you agree with what I wrote, disagree or have another interpretation for this scene. So if you think of something, please say that you know.

"Do you know? Do you know? Do you know what this means?"

what the fuck man

Arajin: man maybe i do kinda want him...

Matakara: i NEED to kill him so that the voices stop.

oh my god is this gonna be a thing where it’s revealed that ichiya turned on senya out of guilt for being unable to protect him at one point in the past and 2 billion lightbulbs go off in arajin’s head

enter the utsumiverse

bucchigiri ep 9 thoughts:

taken over huh... is that also what senya is doing to arajin maybe? like with the magic trampstamp (words i never expected to write...)

shindo is a bitch and pathetic but i enjoy his character unfortunately (in my defense, my interpretation of him threatening to do That to mahoro was just to make arajin pissed and get him to reveal senya. i think it was kind of narrative low-hanging fruit honestly.)

'is that a yes or no' take a wild fucking guess buddy

zabuuuuuu you are such a good friend

senya hitting people as a show of affection lol

matakara gathering money, presumably he was saving to get an apartment with his brother. what's he planning to use it for?

oh my godddd the cat boy drama 💀 this side gag is so stupid but so funny i love it. i imagine jasmine as as a pure white long hair cat and pu'er as a classic brown tabby. also cat boy getting way too invested in his personal life is *chefs kiss*

arajin is trying his absolute best to convince himself he doesn't care about matakara

the dynamic between komao, zabu, and ara is really funny. i think in other shows they might just sideline the friend characters but they really have an awkward 'friend of a friend' dynamic i like. komao isn't really socially aware enough to be mean to ara despite being him being mean to matakara, and zabu is more hostile but puts most of that aside for matakara's sake. it's like your friends scoping out your awful crush lmao

THE LIFE SIZED NAKED MARITO DOLL? EXCUSE ME??? there is so much wrong with mahoro oml

wait is the life sized naked marito doll marito's? that's somehow weirder.

mahoro, is that concern for a person who isn't your brother? wow

matakara :(

so is the 'monster' literal or metaphorical? interesting

ichiya you're hot as hell but stop telling matakara to draw away from his friends you bitch

'one person would've wanted it' stopppppp 😭 arajin is realizing he liked having matakara around while matakara is being turned against his friends by ichiya. the dramatic irony is killing me

the fact that this 'love forever stone' is a lake blue stone wrapped specifically in a blue cloth as well... that thing is definitely going to be given to matakara by the end, right? pretty gay if you ask me.

ohhhh my god mahoro character growth. plus her relating to him specifically through their shared brother idolization is a good touch. very sweet

mahoro's basically saying like "dude how are you only focused on yourself and me right now. how have you not noticed your childhood friend is depressed and crazy in love with you. like seriously he has not been subtle. at all." lmao i love herrrrrrr

mahoro deserves her own show

also relieved to have ara's interpretation of matakara and mahoro's relationship as romantic to be kind of trivialized again in this scene. i think their dynamic is more interesting as two very different personalities which share just enough to relate with each other. she only wants ara to get his shit together for matakara's sake. i want them to be besties please

arajin is The Worst with emotions huh. he can't read other's feelings and he's somehow worse at reading his own. he needs to stop being relatable right this second

yknow at this point i think i can say i truly and properly enjoy arajin as a character. he's mostly an asshole and deeply emotionally unintelligent but i like him regardless and because of it

ah senya ichiya and arajin matakara parallels as i expected

so does senya=matakara and ichiya=arajin kind of?

i really wasn't joking about them being exes huh

stoppppp ichiya gave him his name? senya was and continues to be so ridiculously down bad

'he meant absolutely everything to me.' dude.

senya is trying to get ara and matakara together bc he couldn't do that for him and ichiya

i am so gd curious what happened to drive them apart

matakara losing sight why he wanted to become a honki person in the first place (ara) and trying to destroy it

'what senya wants is your body' context needed.

i'm thinking maybe ichiya is willing to fully take over bodies and senya isn't, thus why he hasn't done it to arajin already. that or he was planning to in the beginning but got too attached

ohhh this is gonna make for a good dramatic fight

ughhhh another really good episode. i think the story's finally full found its stride. very hyped for the last 3 episodes. i think next episode will probably deal with betrayal between senya and ara, leading senya to explain exactly what happened between him and ichiya. matakara will trying to fight ara and ara will have to run away, frustrating matakara even more. mahoro might focus on trying to help matakara

Spoilers for Bucchigiri?! Ep 9

Some thoughts about the nature of the majins and their wishes:

In regards to the plot, I'm pretty sure the "wishes" are less about having them granted and more for the majins to know how to connect with their hosts emotionally so they can fully possess them. Senya has the decency to at least ask Arajin in order to establish some pretext of understanding (even though he can't really relate to Arajin's specific wish). On the other hand, Ichiya imposes his own wish/emotions on Matakara, taking advantage of the boy's personal fears and current vulnerability.

Thematically, I can see these wishes being reflections of Arajin and Matakara's insecurities. Arajin's wish is clearly known (and I've talked a little about it's emptiness before). Matakara's is a bit harder to pin down. He's always wanted to be a Honki person, but why? Ichiya twists it into being about raw strength, but we know Matakara also valued the purity aspect his brother told him about. Perhaps he believed that part of the path would protect him from his darker emotional tendencies. This unfortunately did not work out for him, but the friends he made at Minato Kai become something of a support group. They were able to be there for him when he got overwhelmed. Matakara knows he can't wish his fears away, and has somewhat learned to cope with that, but his current mental instability is allowing Ichiya to manipulate him.

fellas is it gay to only be known by the name that was given to you by your best homie buddy partner who "meant absolutely everything" to you or

My thoughts on the latest episode of BUCCHIGIRI?! Episode 9 aka the one episode that had me mentally broken

WARNING: *May contain spoilers esp in regards to Senya and Ichiya and the starting of the corruption arc of Matakara*

- Continuing the ending scene of Episode 8, it seems like everything was Akutaro’s and Ichiya’s plan was to go smoothly but SIKE! It was ICHIYA’S plan all along! Akutaro was just a pawn!

- Akutaro doesn’t seem too pleased about it and wants to merge back with Ichiya with the latter telling him straight up how he was nothing but a tool straight up made him mad.

- In class, Mahoro as always is looking at photos of her brother and holy moly! THE JIN’S HAVE A DOG?! I DIDN’T KNOW THEY WERE FRICKIN RICH!

- Anyways, Arajin being the simp that he is tries to give her the soapstone but she ignores him.

- However, Arajin just so happens to overhear Komao and Zabu being worried for Matakara and how he’s been gone for three days! WHAT?!

- This has got me super worried AF.

- Arajin doesn’t seem too concerned about it but something tells me that deep down he feels…worried for some reason.

- Back in the Tomoshibi family restaurant, Arajin is helping out as always and Senya can’t help but notice Arajin’s worry so much to the point that he slapped him on the back pretty hard to cheer him up which he doesn’t seem to accept.

- Back with Zabu and Komao, they asked the receptionist about Matakara’s whereabouts again only this time he’s back. Excited about the news, both Zabu and Komao bought him something to eat but they heard a crashing sound.

- They open up to see Matakara opening up his piggy bank and taking up whatever remaining money that he has all the while ignoring Zabu and Komao. Man. That hurts.

- Meanwhile, Arajin is heading to the bathhouse due to the showers in his home being broken down, but then he bumped into Matakara but unlike the usual, Mata’s whole cheerful demeanour is gone, most likely from what happened last episode and just left without saying a word.

- The customer and cat cafè waiter returned again. This time, when the customer asked for Pu’er again, the waiter begged him to take Jasmine again because of how she’s been waiting for the customer which causes the customer to change and asked for Jasmine. What this means is probably gonna be foreshadowing of the next episode or the current predicament that’s happening.

- At the bathhouse, Arajin was trying to enjoy a peaceful bath time when he ran into Komao and Zabu with the former being all cheerful, calling him Ara-pyon and offering to wash his back despite seeing him act like an uncaring asshole last episode (what a sweetheart).

- Arajin and Zabu asked each other about Matakara’s wellbeing before Komao jumped into the bathtub cannonball style.

- There’s something oddly cathartic seeing the NG Boys and Girls discussing about Akutaro’s downfall (I mean he did abuse them after all) and Akutaro can’t help but watch all of this happen and ran off embarrassed by his downfall.

- Tho that being said, Akutaro does have a plan in which he discovered a slip of paper that says Honki on the front but what it says is pretty unknown.

- Any scene with Matakara and Ichiya is just so heartwrenching because unlike Arajin and Senya’s relationship, Ichiya is trying to break Mata down mentally.

- Oh and it turns out that the dark shadow thing isn’t Ichiya’s but something hiding within Matakara all along.

- Also, we got some backstory regarding how Matakara joined Minato Kai, in which he just beat up a bunch of random thugs because of honoring his brother and Arajin, he and Ken went up against each other to pass the trial to become a member of Minato Kai.

- Also, just saying but the first year design of Zabu and Komao are just so adorable. Oh and I guess my headcanon of the first meeting between these three got debunked but it technically became true when it’s revealed that all three joined Minato Kai at the same time.

- To Mahoro, Marito and Outa (the latter two who are absent since last ep): Mahoro is playing some sort of imaginary tea party with a dolly of Marito lol but the moment real Marito and Outa came in she quickly hid under the covers.

- From there, both Marito and Outa began to discuss about Mitsukuni’s hospitalization and also revealed that not even Kenichiro can beat him. When Marito asked why is Outa is concerned about Mitsukuni and even brought up the topic about it, Outa then revealed that Matakara is going through a hard time right now and that he is the kid brother of Mitsukuni.

- Both Marito and Mahoro who overheard about it expressed shock at the relation. And my reaction to all this is: “Wait none of you siblings knew about it?” (Moreso from Mahoro because Matakara told her about it back in Episode 4)

- Marito heard something and began to search in his room for the noise which Outa began to question what is he doing before they continue their discussion.

- Mahoro oddly began to display worry and concern for Matakara, despite those two never interacting by a whole lot. But it is a nice gesture nonetheless.

- The next day, Arajin and Mahoro have a talk on the rooftop, to which the latter asked about the condition of Matakara’s wellbeing. Arajin was hesitant to ask and even begin to worry about how she is showing interest in Mata (which is not true at all) to which Mahoro is disgusted by and just left him.

- Also, it’s interesting to note how Mahoro said that it happened to her once (regarding the things Matakara is going through) but what this mean is quite peculiar.

- While walking back, Senya tried to cheer Arajin up with a massive slap to the back but Arajin dodged it this time. At least until they are approached by a disheveled Akutaro who slipped a paper right into Arajin’s jacket pocket before going off.

- Ichiya breaking down Matakara and manipulating him to fight Arajin. My poor sunshine puppy. 😭

- Arajin and Senya are walking to the bathhouse again but this time we are given expository on Senya and Ichiya.

- Both Senya and Ichiya are street kids (possibly back when they were mortals) who live in an unknown part of the desert long time ago. Senya (who wasn’t given a name back then) admired Ichiya’s fighting style and begged to fight him. Ichiya was disinterested in Senya at first but he doesn’t seem to say no either.

- Over the years, both Senya and Ichiya’s friendly rivalry grew and grew so much so that when they were hanging out, Ichiya was the one who named Senya as he is today.

- But all of a sudden, their relationship turned sour at some point with black shadows covering Ichiya. What happened is unknown but it’s seem odd for some reason.

- When Arajin asked why Senya relied the backstory to him, the genie said that both Arajin and Matakara’s goal of being Honki People is a lot similar to his and Ichiya’s goal.

- Matakara appears in front of Arajin, clearly looking distraught and not long before he starts attacking Arajin.

- Arajin had no idea what has happened and Senya told him to merge with him to which Arajin managed to thankfully stop Matakara’s kicks but Matakara overpowered Arajin and just as he was about to land a finishing blow, Arajin’s gut began to growl which hit him to run to the nearest bathroom

- Also in all seriousness, can’t they dropped the toilet humor?

- Ichiya appeared and is convinced that the reason Matakara held back was because of his kind heart.

- Back in the Tomoshibi residence, Ara patched himself up from what has happened and Senya looked down and muttered about how Ichiya now has a hold on Matakara now. Angered by all this, Arajin began to ask how did he know about it before Senya disappeared.

- Just as Arajin is lying down, he saw the slip of paper that Akutaro slipped in meet him in the dead of the night.

- Akutaro then revealed that the reason why Senya is being secretive is because apparently Senya is planning to take over Arajin!

- Back with Ichiya and Matakara, Ichiya talked about Mitsukuni and feed lies on why the latter is weak before Matakara began to go apeshit and destroyed the dark shadow. Oh and Matakara has a mark behind his back not unlike the one Arajin has behind his ass.

- And with that, the final scene now has Ichiya in full possession with Matakara all the while saying that he is lacking anger and hatred in his heart. Matakara’s eyes lacked shine and now resembles Ichiya’s.

kill him

AWWWWW

No one is beating the kitty allegation lol.