couldn't stop thinking about this since reading the new chapter

It irks me a little that Kuniaki moments and especially Chiaki cooking for Kunishige is criticised/disliked and interpreted as Chiaki mothering Kunishige because he's useless and needs a parentified love interest when Kagurabachi has always used food and cooking as a metaphor for love and care.

Chihiro bringing Char a sandwich. Samura learning to cook for Iori. Hakuri and Ice girl bonding over meals. Yura cooking for his wife. Come on, it's entirely in line with what we've seen in part 1.

Wait a minute,

Oh, Chihiro's eyes are also a little redder than his father's. I bet Kunishige noticed, I bet he really hated himself for noticing.

no wait i lied, there more, the other thing 123 makes me appreciate after watching Chiaki get repeatedly used a tool, is the emphasis part 1 had on Chihiro refusing to see/treat anyone as anything but a person

1. He gives up several chances to go after Kuregumo to focus on saving Char, because her life if more important than his vendetta
2. He gives up Enten to save Hakuri's life, because even when Hakuri was 'powerless' he was still worth more by being a good person than the most valuable object in the world to Chihiro
3. Basically ignores all three sides of a 3 way stand-off btw the government, the Hishaku, and Samura to ask Iori (who everyone else is treating like a living Mcguffin) what She Wants to Do and deliberately makes it an informed decision and lets her know he will support her no matter what
4. EVEN The Very First Chapter - Chihiro gives up a lead on the Hishaku to focus on saving a nameless small town and unnamed background extra

Anyway, thematically, Chihiro (who for his father and Samura explicitly represents a brighter future) not just wanting to save people, but having an overwhelming respect for their autonomy makes sense.

Especially as so much of the confrontation with Akemura at end of Part 1 is triggered by Yura and the Kamunabi longing to go back to the past because it seemed more orderly, but it sucked, it always sucked it just didn't suck for them specifically (See noteable human trafficker Kyora cosy with the government, its why 2 out of4 of Japan's best sorcerers are orphan teens raised to kill/torture/die for their country/its why chiaki's at risk of getting sold off/hiyuki's about to go to war as a fetus)!!

Its just the people dying back then had their lives written on/swept under the rug by the people in power to maintain their illusion of power - but if Part 2 is about anything it's about how idealizing the past (either before the war, or the Soga with their 'heroic past'/divine heritage or the Mikaboshi king who seems to be prioritizing revenge over his citizens actual concerns) isn't the way to go.

oh, the irony

chihiro who pushes himself too hard

inspired by this post

This is genuinely so fucking funny

hina

may your year be full of fish 🐟

'fish' (鱼) sounds the same as 'remainder/surplus/extra' (余) in chinese (yú)! by wishing someone to always have stuff left over, you're also wishing that they will always have enough and won't be in want of anything (*^_^*)

it won’t let me add this to my other post but i can’t stop watching this it’s so good

Never thought Sam Raimi Spider-Man would join the hallowed halls of Shit Referenced In Kagurabachi

"Can you carry that burden? "

PART ONE - END.

like father, like son

Documenting Food in Kagurabachi

(Warning: Long-Ass Post Hiding Under the Read-More)

Introduction:

I’ve seen it observed many a time that food is a recurring motif in Kagurabachi – both the sharing of food and the cooking of food for others.  However, I have never seen anyone remark on just how frequently these food motifs recur!  It’s not entirely surprising, of course: food is a great way to humanize characters!  It’s versatile while also being universal, easily understood by anyone as a basic fact of life and community and therefore an efficient method for reaping tremendous emotional impact.

All the same, there are other ways to humanize characters – think pets, hobbies, media they enjoy, dreams for the future, fashion choices, well-realized living spaces, and so on and so forth.  What really stands out about Kagurabachi’s use of food, what makes it feel like Hokazono is making a conscious choice to foreground food as a motif rather than just repeatedly grabbing for an easy narrative device without thinking any further than its immediate utility, is the incredible consistency with which food is used to emphasize narrative beats.  And not just the wholesome ones!  The absence of food, the perversions of what is consumed, and the use of ironic contrast between quality of food and overall experience of a meal are all used to equally great thematic effect.

Following is not intended to be a full thesis on Hokazono’s use of food in his manga; the thematic messages are not complex or difficult to grasp!  Rather, it’s a measure of the sheer quantity of places food and drink come up in the story, compiled as a side project when I was doing a series reread for another upcoming piece.  While there are certainly musings, even lengthy ones, included about what this-or-that bit of street food or lavish meal are communicating narratively, as well as cultural notes where they seem relevant, this is a project for thorough documentation of individual instances, not an analysis of the work on the whole.

The list is broken down by broad arc and includes specific chapter citations.  Included are all instances I could find of anything related to food, beverages or consumption, as well as conspicuous absences thereof. This includes cooking, meals, snacks, kitchens, restaurants, utensils and tools, sorcery that involves consumption, and that classic standby of food-themed horror, everyone’s favorite meal of last resort, cannibalism!

For people who're new to my copious footnoting style: any chapter footnotes can be found at the end of each chapter's bullet points. Footnotes are numbered and their notations colored; the first one per chapter will be the same color as the section header text; if there's more than one in a given chapter, I progress through different colors as a visual aid to help the reader keep track of their position in the text.

Hit the jump.

Keep reading

yeah he’s his daddy’s son alright

this is so so cool. chihiro meets the moment where he comes into his own, doing this without his father for the first time. while he still walks the path he’d been set upon by the war and the hishaku, where it goes now is left in his hands. i love this series