Kita Shinsuke: The Modern-day Philosopher

i finished marineford arc!!

this is the best arc in my opinion! i have loved the arcs before, but as heartbreaking as it is, i love to see characters push past obstacles and limits.

this arc made me cry several times. ace is one of the most beautiful characters ever written. he's incredibly tragic, but i love how he became such a fantastic person despite the odds against him. growing from his rage, becoming a kind person who loves so strongly, and someone that many people look up to - all of these things make ace so amazing. i know that ace will always be a favorite of mine.

what i felt this arc did so well with was how balanced everything was. the writing, when it came to ace, luffy giving his all to save ace, garp feeling stuck in the middle, and the humor with buggy were all done so well. there was never a dull moment while watching.

the childhood episodes were so beautiful yet bittersweet. watching luffy try so hard to be ace's friend made me so emotional. ace, sabo, and luffy becoming an unstoppable sibling trio was so adorable. i loved how they were the first people who showed ace that he WAS deserving of human connection. all three of them became better because of each other. after losing sabo, ace took his significant brother role seriously, and luffy decided he would become strong enough to never lose anyone again. it was such beautiful writing.

luffy losing ace broke my heart. ace dying defending his father figure and saving his brother is so in character for him. he's never backed down from a fight, always protecting the people around him no matter what. although i wish ace was able to escape, i know that he did what he believed was best for his family. it's incredibly tragic yet beautiful.

i was so sad that the straw hats never met up with luffy. i was hoping that they would be able to reunite at some point. although i wish they were reunited as a crew, i also loved that luffy was going through one of the hardest things without them. it makes the situation that more upsetting. luffy wasn't surrounded by the people he trusted most to try to save his big brother.

watching luffy mourn his brother destroyed me!!!!! i cried so hard watching ace die that i had a migraine; it broke my heart completely. luffy screaming and crashing into trees while trying to forget what happened at marineford was HORRIFYING. we've seen him be so happy in every arc, and now we see luffy at his lowest possible moment. but instead of letting his rage consume him, luffy is reminded of the people he still has in his life. he can't allow himself to give up because he has people he wants to see. luffy lost his brother, but he still has his crew. watching luffy realize how much he misses his friends made me cry so much. he truly loves and cares for them. if it weren't for the connection he has with his crew, luffy wouldn't be able to move forward.

overall, this arc was AMAZING. pretimeskip was incredible. so many fun arcs and incredible ones, like skypeia, water 7, enies lobby, and marineford. i'm excited to see the crew together again in post timeskip.

MY BELOVED TOBIOOOOOOO!!!! EAT WELL!!! GROW STRONGGGG!!!! HE'S SO PERFECT AHHHHH <3333

hungry

IT’S PEAK

Mangas that recreate the first cover on the last volume got to be one of my favorite genders

it’s so beautiful how after meeting mitsumi, shima was able to go have the courage to change his life for the better. he met someone who made him feel things he’s never felt before. after meeting mitsumi, he started to want more for himself. he tried out acting again, fell in love with it, and now has the courage to face his past head on. it isn’t JUST that mitsumi herself provided a new world for shima but how her inspiring nature made shima WANT to work on himself to become someone worthy of walking alongside her. their relationship is so beautiful to me!

they make me so happy…itafushi i love you

Happy burn your house down day for my fellow Fullmetal Alchemist enjoyers ✨

suddenly need to read FMA immediately

The Royai moments the anime adaptations left out bc they are COWARDS

(I believe in fma manga supremacy)

Riza's Grandpa asks Roy to marry her.

So this one needs outside material to explain, but Arakawa confirmed in the 2nd Guidebook (released only in Japanese and French) that Grumman is Riza's maternal grandfather. Not necessarily a big Royai moment but, still it's interesting how Riza's only known living family ships it, and that Roy doesn't exactly say "no" to his request.

I am forever fascinated as to why any of this exists in the first place, what did you mean by this Arakawa? why have Grumman make this suggestion in the first place? 👀👀👀👀👀👀 What were you suggesting? 👀👀👀👀👀👀👀

Anyway, I wish we had an in-text confirmation of Riza's relation to Grumman and I wish this moment had come back to the story at some point. Even if it was just Riza glaring at Grumman being like "Grandpa why are you trying to marry me off?????"

2. Roy's "Get your hands off my wife!" moment.

He really said, "is he bothering you queen?" I wish we had more protective Roy and frankly, I don't understand how this scene didn't make it to Brotherhood? Riza was getting manhandled by a tin can and clearly not into it. The fact that a tin can serial killer developed a crush on her is concerning to begin with. It just wouldn't be in character for Roy to be cool with this. Roy is also a jealous boyfriend, what can I say?

3. The "I'm glad you're alive" moment.

For some dumb reason, Brotherhood changed this so when Riza apologises for worrying him, he just snaps "save it for the end of the mission!" Like, why Brotherhood? why would Roy ever snap at Riza like that? especially when Riza is generally the one who is laser-focused on the mission. Roy has enough faith in her, he's not going to see this brief apology as her being distracted or less competent. The manga dialogue is also meant to show how Maes's death is still a fresh wound for Roy, so of course he's on edge at the prospect of losing Riza too.

4. He literally asks her out

I feel like both anime adaptations really wanted Roy to be more of a womaniser than he actually is. But this scene lowkey confirms Roy has limited game and he only really wants Riza. It feels like dude jumped at the opportunity to ask Riza out the moment she technically stopped being his subordinate.

5. Roy's codename for Riza actually coming back

Seriously, I love how Arakawa took the time to establish "Elizabeth" as Riza's codename only to use it later to have Madame Christmas suggest that Roy regularly spends time with "Elizabeth" to the point where it's weird that he isn't with her now. And then, when Roy bemoans how "another man took Elizabeth" (an obvious reference to Riza being taken hostage by Bradley) one of Christmas's girls gets excited at the idea she might have a chance with Roy. The suggestion is that Roy isn't normally available on account of his seeing Elizabeth.

It's a strong hint to the idea that Riza and Roy might have *something* going on and are bypassing the fraternization laws through codes. At the very least it suggests that Roy isn't interested in anyone but "Elizabeth". Also look how bummed out he is that his wife is gone. Why did the anime rob us of so much pathetic whipped Roy? WHY?

6. Just a lot more touching in general

There's actually a lot of touching between these two in the manga. It's mostly during the big fights like the Promised Day or the battle with Lust and it really cements them as a true battle couple.

In the case of the Promised day they are literally fighting in each other's arms. Riza is leaning on Roy as she's on the verge of passing out from her wounds, and Roy is clinging onto her now that she has become his eyes. The way they hold each other shows how they are each other's crutch and how one always empowers the other. It also symbolises how inseparable these two are as moments ago Roy was at the Gate and before that Riza was on the brink of death, they could have lost in each other for good but they're still standing strong together in spite of everything.

The post-Lust fight is just a nice moment were Roy clings onto Riza out of sheer relief that she's okay and he hasn't lost another loved one. Even though he's on the verge of passing out from pain and blood loss, he still finds the strength to reach out to her.

Then there's the scene in the tunnels where he lowers her gun for her. The noticeable difference in the manga is that he does this after he takes off his ignition gloves.

The anime forgets to do this. It seems like a minor difference but it's kind of a big point of characterisation. Because we know that Riza has been hurt by flame alchemy, from the process of having the tattoo done to her by a trusted parental figure at a young age, to the trauma of seeing how much damage it did at ishval, to her very literally being burned by the flames so that it won't do anymore damage. Roy is the one who burned her, he's the one who used her secret to do unspeakable damage and suffering, why would he hurt her again by letting her go anywhere near flame alchemy?

My final thoughts: Manga Roy is altogether more dorky and in love with Riza than his anime counterparts and I miss his adorkable self.

I also feel like Arakawa was so good at subtly hinting at how in love these two are and how they basically *do* function like a couple even if they might not be together in the conventional het married with babies way.

finished water 7 arc!!

so peak! i loved that the problems weren’t JUST a new villain but also the issues between the crew. the usopp vs luffy situation was very realistic. i was so hurt by their argument but it was important to show the audience that not EVER moment between the crew is amazing. after all, they are all different people with different dreams and personalities.

robin’s storyline is amazing. i have grown very attached to her character. she’s beautiful, smart, caring, and it hurts when people from the government label her as a “devil”. she was just a child :(

overall, this arc is definitely my favorite so far. there was some cool moments, some sad ones, and funny ones!! just a perfect arc in my eyes!

side note: the scene where zoro gets stuck in a chimney and luffy gets stuck between the wall TWICE made me laugh so hard. def a highlight for me 😭

………..slips gege ¥2000

my beautiful obamitsu...

i love them so much...