Grafting Is A Complicated Process

I don’t know about you all but i am 100% ready to face tomorrow’s episode

more cheese = less cheese

comfort

As a fan of character relationship dynamics, I'm seeing a lot of odd "Serizawa and Reigen's relationship has no weight or substance" discussion on my tl recently, and it's important to me that this fandom actually understands the connection between these two characters.

The most prominent and probably most important narrative parallel being how Toichiro "freed" Serizawa by having him depend on him and CLAW, whereas Reigen freed Serizawa by encouraging him to be his own person while still including him in S&S and promoting real healthy connections with other people.

Toichiro towering over Serizawa while Reigen kneels to be at his level... Reigen sees Serizawa as an equal. Despite technically being "his boss," he includes him and encourages genuine discussions in both a personal and workplace environment.

This, and the way the two of them seem equally amazed and supportive/reliant of the other. Serizawa in Reigen's logical knowledge and street smarts and Reigen in Serizawa's psychic powers and spiritual experience.

On a more wholesome and personal note, there's also the fact that, after the climax of the finale, Serizawa was definitely calling Reigen in a panic to find out if he was alright.

Long story short, there's a lot of character interactions and development of these characters and their relationship if you really pay attention! Sure, they both have their own lives (Serizawa going to night school and Reigen... doing what Reigen does), but it's not like they're "just coworkers." They're very close, and they have a lot of canon material to work with!

What’s wrong with you Ritsu?

oso you were so close

original

Regarding Serizawa and whether or not Spirits & Such will be a part of his future, the answer is implicit in the way he speaks here. In talking about how each person has their own role to fulfil in REIGEN, the scanlation translates this one part of his speech as given. But this removes the poetry in what he’s saying: he uses 流れ着く, “washed ashore/drifting toward”, rather than just “ended up”.

I’d translate this part as, “I understand this personally because I went through a lot before life drifted me toward this job”. The image is that Seri was lost ‘at sea’ before he finally found the shore - his purpose - at S&S. (Twitter)

(this was going to be another casefic sort of comic but my motivation vanished into thin air, so instead of a runaway comic it's three panels with no words or context whatsoever, oops)

We're still gonna ignore the fact that Ichimatsu was about to make contact with younger Karamatsu?? He clearly knew something was bugging him. He was REACHING OUT to the brother that he gets annoyed with the most. AND THEHEHHH FACT,, THAT IT WAS BROUGHT UP AGAIN

KARAMATSU COULDN'T REACH OUT TO ICHIMATSU. ICHIMATSU COULDN'T REACH OUT TO KARAMATSU. SOMEBODY PUT THESE TWO IN A LOCKED ROOM AND MAKE THEM BOND WITH EACH OTHER, HOLY SHIT.