"Then Why Don't You Teach Him?"

one of the main reasons arajin is a "bad friend" towards matakara for most of the series is because he knows matakara is the better person and he feels he can't offer him anything so he avoids connecting with him completely because he thinks that's what's best for them both

yes yes yes you get it! I also think Ichiya has some sort of mind control thing going on. I think that's why the NG boys are like that. Or maybe it's not a specific power, but that's Akutaro's wish?

Also, I feel like a lot of the anons you're getting are not fully understanding Arajin's character or purpose in the narrative. More fundamentally, I think they're misunderstanding shame as a motivator. Like saying, "if he's so ashamed of himself he should be trying to get stronger" is such a misrepresentation of how shame works. You don't run towards the problem and try to overcome it you run away from it. To overcome something you have to reject that shame and believe in yourself in spite if it. You have to let go of shame to even be able to look at the problem head on. Arajin wouldn't want to get stronger (the desire that led to his trauma in the first place, by the way) because he doesn't believe that he can, and he's too ashamed to try.

I also have the theory that Arajin won't be forced to change until something happens to Matakara, like whatever is being teased in the intro.

Yeah. I’m kind of had a headcanon that Ichiya has some sort of magical ability that makes Akutaro keeps the rest of the grunts in line.

Also yes to Arajin cuz that’s what I’m feeling his character development is going to revolve around and what has been teased in the OP.

workplace romance

i've got another doodle request!!: arajin third wheeling jabashiri and hagure

+ bonus points if he asks hagure about it and hagure says "oh he probably doesnt see me that way" but it's so obvious they have big fat crushes on each other and would do anything for each other... and everyone wants them to get together already!!!

ur joe king

I keep seeing this "Bucchigiri has an awful mc" discourse popping up whenever the anime is mentioned, and there's something that bothers about the way a lot of people are framing these discussions. People always point out the fact that Arajin is a dirtbag who ghosts his only friend to simp for a girl who is actively disinterested in him under the pretense that this is behavior the anime expects us to agree with and think is good, and will thus endear him to us as audience, but like... that's obviously not what Bucchigiri is trying to do??

like- this is a show where the protagonists main love interest is a girl that is so revolted by him that she has zero qualms manipulating him into joining an actual gang, a show where the main character almost shits his own pants before every single action scene, and lets not forget, a show where he neglects and mistreats his only friend so badly that said friend loses it and systematically beats the piss out of every other character on the show to work out his frustrations.

Does that sound like a show that "failed at making a likable protagonist", or does that sound like a show that is purposefully centered around a selfish and awful character?

One of the shows main narrative hooks is watching this terrible man stumble his way through what is an otherwise fairly serious shounen anime world. I think that's a pretty funny subversion of typical anime tropes, but even if you don't agree, to deny that it's what the show is going for is to just refuse to engage with it on any level, and that's the main issue with this type of critique.

You can dislike the show for not having a likable protagonist, but the show is not trying to have a likable protagonist. At that point you're not hating a show because it executes what it's trying to do poorly, you're hating a show because it's not something it never wanted to be in the first place.

peg art dump :3

ohhhhhhh they make me lose my fucking mind

We’re doing another one chat, I have more to share

Have you noticed that the two post-credits scenes in Bucchigiri?! are similar? It may be obvious, but it is no coincidence, both are moments between friends, TWO FRIENDS, sharing a very personal moment together. Here we can appreciate some things regarding both friendships, they show trust, loyalty, sincerity and above all, equality. We could say that it's the type of relationship that Arajin and Matakara should share at this point if they hadn't separated, or in any case, if they had reconciled in a healthy way.

Arajin was so engrossed in how it made him feel to have abandoned his best friend and at the same time betrayed the foundations on which their friendship was based (the principles of a honki person) that he never asked himself how his friend felt about it. Deep down he worries about Matakara, to the point that just remembering what he did to him causes him physical discomfort. Wanting to push him away is not because he no longer cares, but rather an instinctive response of rejection of a trigger related to his trauma.

Matakara, for his part, has his own problems. The story has shown us that he always had a dependence on his brother as he was his only close relative, or at least the one he trusted the most. Then comes Arajin, the only person besides his brother that he allows himself to trust. During that time, Matakara puts Arajin on a pedestal, being (surely) his first true friend and first significant connection outside of his family, but eventually the incident we all know happens and Arajin abandons him. Matakara was most likely so heartbroken that he preferred to blame himself for what happened, reinforcing his feelings of inferiority, dependence on his brother and creating a (perhaps) subconscious fear of trusting other people again (something confirmed by Zabu's face during episode 10, surely realizing that he really didn't know his friend as much as he thought), while at the same time, Arajin's memory becomes more and more mythologized, which only gets worse in the fight between Arajin and Marito, which only confirms his own blindness, making the moment of confession much more painful for him.

Obviously neither of them was psychologically prepared for their reunion, because neither had the tools to open up about what happened, and when Arajin decides to do so, he doesn't do it with the intention of taking that necessary first step towards reconciliation, but rather as a way of distancing himself from the source of his trauma, at the worst moment and in the most hurtful way possible, totally blind to Matakara's suffering, who, seeing himself completely deprived of any support, begins his descent into the abyss.

Many talk about how Arajin must open up and allow himself to be vulnerable in order to save Matakara and reconcile, but that also applies to Matakara, who if we look at it, has strongly refused to do so. Although his friends in Minato Kai worry about him, his first reaction after his brother's incident is to isolate himself. He has always been someone strong, honest and reliable, he is that friend you trust in difficult times, not only because he is like that, but because it's what he feels is expected of him and what he demands of himsel. To be able to be like the Arajin he remembers, for his brother who believes he can become the honki person he wants to be, because he is the younger brother of the legendary former leader of Minato kai. All of this has created an enormous weight on him, which surely helped the shadows that stalked him to remain close to him, even when he seemed to be more stable.

This is where we return to the topic of the other two friendships., Marito and Outa for example. In Siguma, their positions as leader and second in command are clear, however, it's more than evident that between the two there is a relationship of equals, where we can appreciate a complete and unquestionable loyalty towards each other, having a fairly strong and solid bond. Kenichiro and Mitsukuni seem to have a similar relationship, the way in which the second one shares his future plans goes beyond a simple conversation between a leader and his successor, but between two people who understand and respect each other. Both are relationships where, although they do not say it explicitly, share great affection, which is what Arajin and Matakara should aspire to in the future. A friendship founded not on the childhood desire to become a honki person, but on the mutual appreciation and affection that they share.

Is it odd that I even found meaning in Arajin serving the patrons the wrong dish at the restaurant but the patrons love it anyways? Perhaps he and Matakara are flawed sure, but they can still accept each other for who they are, which is what counts as being "pure" in being a genie.

when you're not quite what they wanted you to be but they love you anyway.....