Racism Isn’t Saying An Uncomfortable Word. Racism Is Every News Media Reporting On The Individual Lives

[EN Sum-up] Hoshino Katsura’s livestream about chapter 253.5 (part 2/3)

Hello everyone, As promised here is a sum-up (more of a transcription?) of the one hour livestream Hoshino Katsura did last Sunday, February 2nd, 2025. The livestream was about chapter 253.5, which came out on January 29th in the SQ. RISE WINTER 2025 issue. This sum-up is very long and will be divided into three parts:

Part 1 about the context around chapter 253.5 (How she came to draw it, etc.)

Part 2 about the art style of chapter 253.5

Part 3 about the story itself and some details which will allow us to theorize about what’s coming next

Obviously, this sum-up is full of spoilers, please be careful if you haven’t read chapter 253.5! This sum-up is not an exact transcription of what has been said: I skipped all the parts where she answered comments (except if it was relevant!) and I mixed some parts, because she has a tendency to repeat herself.

About chapter 253.5 art style (part 2/3)

Hoshino Katsura: “The drawing hell started after I moved to Kobe.

I wanted to give more paternity leaves to my assistant, but, at the same time, I needed him to work. Sadly, I could only give him one month of paternity leaves. We were both tired as hell, him because of his baby, me because of my house move, we were totally down, we worked super silently, just saying “Good morning” “The deadline is…”, when the new year came, we were too tired to wish each other a happy new year. When I asked him about his baby, he was like “the baby is crying all night long” I could only say how sorry I was for him. That’s how we started to draw the chapter.

(Someone asks if she drew about Lavi because he is a top seller character): Well, not exactly. I was totally free to draw whatever I wanted, and I found Lavi the easiest to draw. Actually, my editor was very happy when he heard I was going to draw Lavi. (Someone asks: do you draw the characters first? Or the backgrounds?) For me, inking the characters is my top priority, so first, the characters, and when I finish, I go to see what my assistants have done for the background, and I select what I want. I have also to check what my assistants are drawing.

1. Drawing nature

Do you know which background was the worst to draw this time? It’s not the city background, or those houses with weirds windows, no, not at all. It’s nature. It’s plants. It’s so hard to draw nature, it’s difficult to suggest something through nature, and besides, depending on the plants, they have different positions. We took a lot of time to decide what kind of image we wanted to suggest to the reader through the background. Also, nature is a complex thing: it has its own order without having a physical order. It’s hard to make it natural. It’s important, when you draw nature, to give a realistic touch. For instance, how much do you fill the spots? How large do you make them? This time, we drew weeds, so the question was: how high do you make them? (…)

In D. Gray-man, you often see the wheat field of the Campbell residence, right? It has been years since I have been drawing it, so I’m used now. Of course, at first I struggled, but now, it’s really easy. But the field in the extra-chapter, it’s my first time drawing it, so I had to start everything from zero. It was really hard. Besides, even if I say to my assistants “please draw like this” when it comes to plants and nature, it’s really hard for them to understand what I mean. Because every one of us has a different impression when it comes to nature.

So, in order to avoid creating a weird background, one of my assistants started to do some research on the internet about plants which grow in the area where Lavi is. Basically, I want to make the background as plausible as possible: in this country, there are those kinds of plants, in this season, this plant is growing, etc. I want him to draw something which matches with the universe of the story. While he was doing his research, I started to draw because I didn’t have much time (laughs) (…) I wanted the weeds to be at knee level, in order to make it impossible to distinguish someone from afar. And then, we were wondering if we should add trees, what season it was, what the weather was, etc.

2. Drawing the helix of life

(Someone comments on the fact that drawing the helix of life looks difficult): About this! Actually, I am the one drawing the helix, I am not letting my assistants drawing it. I feel bad saying this, sorry to destroy all your dreams but…it’s really easy. Like really REALLY easy. (…) I’m saying it’s easy to draw but, the thing is, I asked my assistant to make me a special digital brush to draw the helix of life. I was like “this is how I imagine the helix; do you think there would be any good brush?” and he made me one. That’s why now, I am able to draw the helix as I imagine. Anyways, I am the one in charge of making the drawings progressing, and my assistants are my helpers. (Someone says they remembered Bookman’s glass pen design when they saw the helix of life): Thank you for remembering. Yes, it’s exactly this. I forgot what I said back then, but yes (laughs)

3. Screen tones and oblique lines

By the way, when you read the extra chapter, did you feel there were more details than usual?

It’s because I had to draw more lines. Why? Well, I told you my assistant just became a father, right? I could not give him a proper paternity leave and honestly, having a newborn looks like hell, so, in order to avoid losing time on laying screen tones, I drew a lot of details with lines. For instance, take a look at the first page [which is actually the second, the cover doesn’t count] or the second page [same, it’s the third], you see Lavi stretching out his hand, right? Well, in normal conditions, I would have used screen tones to make shadows. But here, I created the shadow with oblique lines: this way, we would not have to use screen tones, and if at the end, we realized we would not have time to use screen tones, we could let it that way. So, I drew a lot of oblique lines. Until now, I used to draw shadows with screen tones, but here, everything is made with oblique lines. You can compare it with other chapters, you’ll realize that usually, everything is made with screen tones. (…) Please think that those oblique lines are a guarantee for me in case I don’t have time to use screen tones. But, since my assistant is far from being over with his newborn, I guess we’ll keep using this technique for the next chapters.

(Someone says “Is this the reason why you do not use screen tones anymore for Lavi’s hair?): Ah no, I stopped using screen tones for a long time when it comes to Lavi’s hair. I realized I would never finish in time, so I decided to stop using screen tones.

On the first and second pages [Second and third pages, actually], you can see the shadow I drew with oblique lines on Bookman’s face and, look at Past Lavi: I drew his silhouette with oblique lines as well. You might think it is faster to use screen tones but actually, it takes a lot of time during the final check to adjust them. Do you see the page where Past Lavi says “That’s right, keep breathing”? It’s the fourth page [It’s the fifth]. It’s the last page we drew, actually. Also, please look! Lavi is bleeding, right? The blood is drawn with oblique lines as well. I spent a whole month only drawing oblique lines: everything, his mouth, his hand, his stomach, I was always drawing oblique lines. Actually, we wanted to draw more panels with a background, but it was impossible for my assistant who didn’t have any sleep with the baby crying all night, so we had to suppress a whole page of backgrounds. But I think it doesn’t affect the reading experience.

4. Drawing smoke

Besides nature, you also have the smoke coming from an explosion. We discussed a lot about it with my assistants, we had difficulties exchanging our views on it. You know, dusty smoke coming out of a simple explosion, for instance a building, is very different from a smoke caused by gunpowder. In the chapter, the explosion is caused by gunpowder. At first, we drew white smoke, but greyish smoke gives more an impression of an explosion caused by gun powder. (Comment: The smoke appearing on the cover is whiter than the smoke in the chapter): Exactly, on the cover, it’s just almost like dust, it’s a different sort of smoke. In the chapter, it’s gunpowder smoke, it’s not the same texture. It looks like it’s bad for the body, right?

That’s it for part 2 on the art style, to be continued in the third and last part!

laila dermott you mean so much to me. she’s lebanese. she’s a lebanese LESBIAN whose storyline isn’t dictated by the homophobia in arab culture (and as a queer arab, that is SO refreshing). she speaks arabic with her mother. she buys sex toys for her friends. she’s a great girlfriend to cat. she’s protective of the people she loves. she calls her friends out when they don’t take care of themselves. she loves dogs. she’s an amazing goalie. she sees jeremy as her brother. she brushes people’s hair. she lets jean braid her hair. all she wants is a home of her own. i love her so much.

HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE Let’s say it’s 6.15pm and you’re going home (alone of course), after an unusually hard day on the job. You’re really tired, upset and frustrated. Suddenly you start experiencing severe pain in your chest that starts to drag out into your arm and up into your jaw. You are only about five miles from the hospital nearest your home. Unfortunately you don’t know if you’ll be able to make it that far. You have been trained in CPR, but the guy that taught the course did not tell you how to perform it on yourself..!! NOW HOW TO SURVIVE A HEART ATTACK WHEN ALONE… Since many people are alone when they suffer a heart attack, without help, the person whose heart is beating improperly and who begins to feel faint, has only about 10 seconds left before losing consciousness. However, these victims can help themselves by coughing repeatedly and very vigorously. A deep breath should be taken before each cough, and the cough must be deep and prolonged, as when producing sputum from deep inside the chest. A breath and a cough must be repeated about every two seconds without let-up until help arrives, or until the heart is felt to be beating normally again. Deep breaths get oxygen into the lungs and coughing movements squeeze the heart and keep the blood circulating. The squeezing pressure on the heart also helps it regain normal rhythm. In this way, heart attack victims can perhaps buy precious time to get themselves to a phone and dial 911. Rather than sharing another joke please contribute by broadcasting this which can save a person’s life! Be prepared and become part of the solution. Get your free next-of-kin notification card today. Click here: https://www.InCaseOfEmergencyCard.com/

happy valentine's day 💖 Support me on PATREON 🐤

a really great organization that i don't see any posts about here is HEAL palestine. it was founded by steve sosebee, who was a founding president of the PCRF before leaving in late 2023 to refocus his efforts on heal palestine to better meet the needs of palestinians impacted by the genocide. the organization provides palestinians in gaza with food, clean water, shelters, "makeshift classrooms," and even medical evacuation for some children when it's possible--their services are pretty wide.

you can donate here if you would like to send a tax-deductible donation to an organization. also, i don't think any evacuations are possible right now, but if you're in the united states and you'd like to welcome medically evacuated children in the future, i highly recommend signing up for their newsletter or following them on social media so you can stay updated in case any children evacuated by HEAL come to your area for treatment. welcoming these kids at the airport is a really moving way to provide them with moral support, entirely for free.

It‘s scary to see how very important european petitions get no visibility whatsoever. We had a basic income petition last year which failed because not enough people knew about it. Now we have a „tax the rich“ one that only lasts until october this year and only has around 250k out of 1 mio. signings.

Most EU people go through their every day life w/o knowing about them. There are no ads, no marketing…nothing. I know that costs money though one might think important petitions that lead to a better and progressive life would be supported by the government or ministries in some way, but nooooo

And why should they? It’s petitions that would help out the poor and middle class, but endanger capitalism and their exploitation, sooo: government and business leads for example.

So here the link for those who are interested:

Tax The Rich

Tax The Rich

Nous voulons un impôt européen sur les grandes fortunes pour financer la transition climatique et sociale et aider les pays victimes des d

Silly sketches alskjdlas

OK SO CAN WE TALK ABOUT THE WHOLE EYES BEING IMPORTANT TO THE CHARACTERS THING. because this chapter had a whole lot of that. ohhh boy it had a lot!!!!! it did!!!!!

FIRSTLY. akutagawa. for a while, his eyes have been pitch-black. last chapter, they regained their light, as he remembered atsushi. and then they're pitch-black again in this chapter-- as the person who brought light to them, to akutagawa himself, is gone.

SECONDLY. dazai. as he tells akutagawa he can "certainly" give him a reason to live, at the same time, he himself looks like he has no reason to live, as if he's not living at all. his eyes are dark and dead. pitch-blacm just as akutagawa's were at the start of the manga, and this chapter, but with none of the determination or bite akutagawa has. just emptiness.

THIRDLY. (child) akutagawa. his eyes aren't empty, nor pitch-black at first. they're dark, with light within. he has not been shown light, nor has he been pushed into the shadows. they become purely fully of light when dazai claims he can give akutagawa a reason to live.

his eyes turn his signature pitch-black with his time in the mafia. he was not given a reason to live. he was given fear, pain, emptiness, and desensitivity to brutality. the chance of light and goodness in his eyes from when he was a child is erased by the port mafia-- by dazai.

his eyes become like dazai's dark, lifeless ones as dazai trains him. any chance at light, or goodness, or happiness, or true life is sapped from him and replaced with violence, abuse, the mafia, dazai, dazai, dazai!

atsushi is what brings akutagawa that light. and when atsushi is gone, the light is gone.

"the light in somebody's eyes" is a phrase meant to refer to someone's spark of life. their reason to live. akutagawa says that killing atsushi "became [his] sole motivation." but when atsushi dies, that takes the light out of his eyes. his reason to live vanishes along with atsushi.

atsushi is akutagawa's reason to live, isn't he?

Invalid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

They’re too evil! - Redemption has nothing to do with how good or evil you were to begin with.

They don’t deserve it! - Redemption is not something that can be “deserved.”

Their actions are unforgivable! - Redemption has nothing to do with forgiveness.

It’s too late for them to change! - It is only “too late” to choose redemption when a character is dead (unless the scope of the story includes an afterlife in which change is possible).

Valid reasons for why a character should not be redeemed:

It doesn’t fit the themes of the story.

They’re not an important enough character for showing the process of a redemption arc to be worthwhile.

They’re more interesting as a character who isn’t doing the right thing.

It’s more satisfying to let them keep being evil.

It makes it more satisfying when they die.

There’s probably more, but you get the idea.

Remember, redemption is when someone realizes they are wrong, and takes steps to doing the right thing. That is not something that can be “deserved,” it is not something that hinges on forgiveness, and it is not something that it is ever too late for! …Unless the person is dead or something.