Akutaro Really Is The Greater Of The Two Evils In Comparison To The Other Gangs - Blog Posts

my thoughts and theories on ep 5

starting with the things i did like, i think the animation + visuals are overall very consistent for the series so far. the tone of the episode was a bit more serious because, well... akutaro and the gang war and the growing tensions between characters.

we finally got see the full flashback of matakara and arajin's backstory and it was a nice surprise to see how matakara stood up for himself and arajin of course runs away (understandable) but i'm hoping in future episodes we get more on their pasts (with matakara's brother too. maybe the reason his brother is in juvie is because he did something bad to the bullies and he didn't tell/lied to matakara? this could be interesting later on) and how it affects the present and future character growth. I hope we also get to see the reason why arajin moved away as it’ll help us understand his character more (literally running away from circumstances. A lot of his character is running away and how he has to confront it) akutaro is a fun villain! a complete dramatic and horny menace. i'm so glad he got his face punched in. i wonder how he got ichiya (what influence does ichiya have over him/he have over ichiya?) and if he’ll continue to be the series’ big bad later on or if he’ll just be the antag for this arc.

the good thing about arajin being so indecisive about joining anyone is that we get to see how each gang operates. this time, we see the ng boys (and girls?? they have girls too) and how akutaro has everyone under his finger. he uses fear and threats to manipulate them into doing what he wants, forces them to do his dirty work. we also see how he got kicked out of minatokai and a bit of kenichiro and marito's battle in the background. i wonder how the blue majin will merge with matakara because it's foreshadowed heavily. (“no doubt those kicks are ichiya’s” and matakara’s fighting style revolves around them) right now the blue majin is with akutaro) i’m also dying to know senya’s motives and past with ichiya and how it could tie into the conflict between their person.

i feel like the gag of arajin and his *cough* rampant thinking with his dick is starting to wear on my nerves a bit, but i don't HATE him. i get that his character is supposed to be poking fun at that trope. i think what's interesting is that you could point out that male characters who are considered to be strong also happen to have lots of connections + affections (platonic or romantic) toward other men. arajin by contrast, rejects it in favour of chasing after women (maybe it’s what he thinks will prove his masculinity to others? or it's like. a distraction from his issues?)

maybe it’s not that deep, but it's something i wanted to point out anyway.

on the topic of arajin: my biggest worry is that while i DO have hope arajin's character development is on the way soon, i am concerned that they'll start it too late (like ep 10 which is unlikely but) and not give us enough time to fully sympathize or connect with his relationship towards matakara and the others around him. i understand he's supposed to be a selfish and unlikeable character, but i feel with like there's only so long you can stretch out the drama before it wears thin if you don’t expand on it; which is something have hope that they’ll do since there’s a lot of setup there.

i know arajin’s character is why most people are dropping the anime, but i'm hoping most people will at least be patient for the development. we're only at episode 5. (like sk8 for example had the conflict span from ep 7-10. this is a larger scale conflict so ofc it'd take longer) bucchigiri has a lot of potential, and i’m hoping they’ll stick the landing.

(i also need to see the fight between kenichiro and marito next ep ; i know it'll be awesome.) with the title of the next ep's title being "much much friendship! 'nira-reba'-lution 21!" i do hope we get to see much, much more in terms of friendships (a falling out maybe?) , arajin-related or otherwise. i'm excited to see where the anime goes next!