Waiter! Waiter! More Yuri Please!

self reblog bc I made some edits to further clarify on some of my points! (indicated w an *asterisk)

this week's episode was one that i've been looking forward to for a while, and while not perfect in execution, i still found it interesting, especially how it expanded on matakara and how his and arajin's fight played out.

arajin is a character that is guilty, that flees unless absolutely necessary not to, and would rather save face. he is a character that is meant to be unlikeable. contrast this with matakara, who is kind and considerate, helps his friends, and is willing to reach out, even if someone has hurt him. even their reasons for fighting could be pit against each other: arajin wants to fight to lose his virginity, and matakara wants to fight for his brother, arajin, and his friends.

the difference between arajin’s idealization of mahoro and matakara’s idealization of arajin is that, at the very least, you’re meant to make fun of/laugh at arajin- because you're not supposed to like him. matakara’s idealization of arajin is not put in a comedic light, because you're made to sympathize with him; you're meant to root for him. another example of a character who idealizing another person: mahoro. mahoro is self-aware she’s delusional. she’s self aware her brother doesn’t want her, and because she is so weird about him, her brother doesn’t open up to her as a result. but even mahoro (as much as i hate the brocon thing) can recognize it'll never happen. she still has her core values that don't stem from her brother.

arajin and matakara idealize people for two similar reasons. arajin is in love with the idea of mahoro, because she represents what is expected of arajin, a guy who wants to be un notable because he believes he can’t do more.

matakara idealizes arajin, because arajin represents the simpler, ideal life, the best life one can live as honki person, one that he strives toward. he idolizes arajin because he himself needs something to cling onto after his brother is gone.

matakara and arajin are two characters both stuck in the past. they both keep ideals from their childhood; because arajin couldn’t protect matakara, he believes he is weak and cannot do more than that on his own. matakara believes that since arajin wanted to become honkibito together, he would still want the same deep down and it’s him who’s weak.

matakara puts his faith in people, even if it hurts him. arajin doesn't put his faith in people, but he gets hurt because he doesn't trust anyone. both put their faith in different things because they don't trust themselves, so they let others dictate it for them. both are stubborn about their beliefs, yet fragile, and it hurts them when they are questioned so they double down on it.

arajin is an asshole, hell, he's a bad friend, but he never lied about his motives. matakara seeing their relationship through rose-tinted glasses and arajin being detached harms the both of them; it prevents their relationship from progressing any further.

arajin is *partially right, he is not is not what matakara thinks he is: the ideal matakara holds for himself and him. one of the key things that is first emphasized about honki people is that, "they don't run away." this is what arajin has been doing all this time. even then, arajin has not been tricking matakara in any capacity, because matakara has an idea of what arajin is, and clings to it for support.

*arajin didn’t lie back then about wanting to be honki people together, but since he believes he can’t do more for matakara (he’s used to running away) he avoids confrontation about it. matakara’s used these ideals as support so basically it’s like his beliefs were a lie

arajin is no longer the ideal that matakara saw in his childhood. now that matakara's ideals are shattered, he is vunerable to akutaro's & ichiya's manipulation.

i do think arajin and matakara are capable of being friends. however, they both need time and space to process their emotions. it’s shown that they can look out for each other, but one is overly committed (to an ideal version of the other) and the other is not. they need to find a middle ground to understand each other. i love their relationship because they're made out to be so different, yet they're so similar. i love how messy they both are, and i'm so excited to see how their relationship could possibly contrast ichiya/senya's. more importantly, i can't wait to see how their relationship develops/spirals from here.

AWWWWW

da demons won 💥

hate when a pause is pregnant. abort that thang

Can’t believe that Utsumi posted another sketch in honour of the final episode of BUCCHIGIRI?! English dub.

Also the fact that she acknowledges the fandom associating Matakara as a toy poodle?!?! HELLO?!

Spoilers for Bucchigiri?! Ep 9

Some thoughts about the nature of the majins and their wishes:

In regards to the plot, I'm pretty sure the "wishes" are less about having them granted and more for the majins to know how to connect with their hosts emotionally so they can fully possess them. Senya has the decency to at least ask Arajin in order to establish some pretext of understanding (even though he can't really relate to Arajin's specific wish). On the other hand, Ichiya imposes his own wish/emotions on Matakara, taking advantage of the boy's personal fears and current vulnerability.

Thematically, I can see these wishes being reflections of Arajin and Matakara's insecurities. Arajin's wish is clearly known (and I've talked a little about it's emptiness before). Matakara's is a bit harder to pin down. He's always wanted to be a Honki person, but why? Ichiya twists it into being about raw strength, but we know Matakara also valued the purity aspect his brother told him about. Perhaps he believed that part of the path would protect him from his darker emotional tendencies. This unfortunately did not work out for him, but the friends he made at Minato Kai become something of a support group. They were able to be there for him when he got overwhelmed. Matakara knows he can't wish his fears away, and has somewhat learned to cope with that, but his current mental instability is allowing Ichiya to manipulate him.

Thoughts after ep 8 of Bucchigiri?!

Maybe spoiler-ish, mostly about Matakara and Arajin

Like i get what Matakara is literally the sweetest boy that we need to protect at all costs, but there is a reason he has to grow as a character too, because, yeah, he's the nicest person, but nice people like can get themselves in trouble very easily (him getting close to Shindo, as every viewer screams internally for him to run out of there, for example), so in order to continue to be a nice living human, a person has to be selfish too, a person has to build boundaries and try to see things as they are. And in order to be brave you have to be afraid of something and then still decide to face your fears. It's not about not having flaws but about living with them and managing the horrors in your live and trusting yourself to overcome bad stuff, to maybe fall and then gather yourself and only then rise back again. And Arajin is obviously the silliest guy with zero communication skills sometimes, but well, at least he knows his limits and what he does and doesn't want. But he has the guts to be honest even though he's scared of disappointing the person that looks up to him and also too scared to face his weakness and his past, and he still doesn't choose the easiest way out which is lying to the person who will believe anything he says. Because he obviously cares, and in his own way he still tries to protect his childhood friend with his own two weak hands be it simply supporting him after fights, shouting nonsense to distract his opponent or helping with a party. That's not much, but that's still an effort, because it's easier to cut off the person you wronged before from your life and then make up some excuse to justify your behavior, than to face guilt and regret every day and still care. They're very similar in many ways and very different in others, they have different ideals and goals, but they make the same mistakes, and i love this, this makes their connection that interesting, and it makes me want them to ultimately resolve their issues and become the bestest buddies ever cause it seems possible. Their relationship will benefit from personal growth, and their personal growth relies on their relationship. They both could learn from each other and they both need more self awareness and confidence. I like how the plot just collides everyone's delusions, insecurities and conflicting motives, not giving a universal answer to all problems, instead it shows how this doesn't work, but people still can be together and do cool stuff and have fun even with all their differences, as shown in two previous episodes especially. I'm invested into relationships between each member of this ridiculous cast more and more each episode

from animage

bluray version of the gyoza scene from ep 8