The Park Flashback/scene Where Tenko Plays With Mikkun And Tomo-chan In Chapter 418 First Takes Place

The park flashback/scene where Tenko plays with Mikkun and Tomo-chan in Chapter 418 first takes place in early afternoon, as evidenced by the clock reading almost 2:00 PM.

The art in the scene confirms this: clear bright skies, and the shadows under the children are short.

However, the time in the scene changes after Mikkun and Tomo-chan tells Tenko he should be All Might (the moment Tenko decides he wants to be a Hero, as he tells his mom in Chapter 235). Suddenly it's evening: the clock shows 6:13 PM, and the sky darkening because it's nearing sunset.

When Shigaraki/Tenko thinks of the League, he and the League (and Deku) all have long shadows, the kind you see when the sun is low in the sky.

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The context:

Sunset is the time to go home. Children who have been playing outside, in playgrounds, at the park, are supposed to go home, to get back in time for dinner, back to their families.

In Japan, many cities and towns have a bell/chime/song that plays from public loudspeakers at around 5:00 PM. It's a daily test of an emergency broadcast system, but it has also come to be seen as the evening bell, a 'go home' signal, especially for children, telling them to go home before it gets dark.

In manga and anime, all these elements have become common imagery and symbolism, associated with each other: red-orangey colors, sunset, long shadows, the chime, children saying goodbye to their playmates for the day, the idea of home and return.

(from Mushishi)

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Putting it all together:

When the park scene first shows up, it's Tenko memory of playing with Mikkun and Tomo-chan, likely exactly how it had occurred in real life: it's early afternoon, the sun is shining bright, their shadows are short, they're at the park, they're playing Heroes, and when the kids tell Tenko that he should be All Might, Tenko is overjoyed.

But this isn't the scene 15-16 years ago; this is a memory. Tenko is also Shigaraki here. He has just had his core pried open by Deku, and given relief. The Crying Child has been symbolically saved, but the past, the massacre, the Walk still all happened.

So it's suddenly 6:13 PM, it's sunset now, because it's way past proper time (5:00 PM) to go home - because Shigaraki/Tenko can't go home to the Shimura house. It's too late. It's been long over.

Shigaraki/Tenko then looks away from Mikkun and Tomo-chan, to the side, and say, 'Nah' to their suggestion, because besides it being late, he also no longer wants to be All Might. He's deciding he's a Villain, he still holds malice and he still destroys.

So, the scene changes again to contains the League now, all six of them (plus Deku). They exist in this sunset time, hence their long shadows. They exist with current Shigaraki/Tenko, they exist in the now - and arguably, the League would be the home he would return to at sunset.

Up to interpretation, of course, but the sunset/going home context is real.

Japanese tweets about it (translated):

[When Tenko got the words he wanted, his eyes lit up, but it was past time to go home so I'm guessing that means "it's too late."]

[It is just heartening that the League members are the place where Tomura would return to when it was "time to go home." I'm sobbing]

[In the scene where Tenko is at the park, the clock is already past 6:00 PM, the time when good kids go home, so if he had met Deku a little earlier, Deku might have been able to stop him, but this seems to show that they're past that stage now, which is good.]

More Posts from Jellycatchicken and Others

jellycatchicken

1 year ago

I shall enter this treacherous dungeon through the main gate , I hope I shan't be ambushed by any foul creat-

The concept of transformation and Will as Hannibal's muse, explored through La Primavera

I. Hannibal's Simonetta

So I remembered briefly seeing this reddit post a few years ago (pre-joining the fandom) about Simonetta and Hannibal. I remembered it just now and although I don't remember much of what it actually said, it got me thinking.

In the scene above, Hannibala and Will are admiring a painting in the Uffizi Gallery in Italy. Hung up behind Will is a painting of a woman called Simonetta Vespucci, called Portrait of a young woman. It was created by Sandro Botticelli, an Italian painter who lived in Florence during the late 15th century. On the other side, hung up behind Hannibal, is another is a painting done by Botticelli.

The story goes that Botticelli was in love with Simonetta, a noblewoman, who was wed to another noble. Botticelli couldn't be with her, but he was still so infatuated with her that he painted her portrait multiple times (Portrait of a Young Woman, La Bella Simonetta) and incorporated her likeness into many of his famous works (The birth of Venus, La Primavera).

Simonetta had an important place in Botticelli's life. She couldn't be with him, but she still influenced him, and influenced his art - much like Will did with Hannibal, although in a slightly different way. Will is not yet "his", yet right from the beginning Hannibal starts to tailor his tableaus with Will in mind as a clear influence. Marissa Schurr, to show him what he was missing. The copycat kills and the judge from the courthouse, to free him from prison. Anthony Dimmond at the end, displayed as the broken heart Hannibal had torn out of his chest in an offer to Will.

All of them, in some way, were dedicated to Will. Will is incorporated into Hannibal's work - he is the art that which their deaths have been elevated to. Will, as seen through the scene's shot composition, is sitting on the side of Simonetta's portrait. He is the Simonetta to Hannibal's Botticelli.

II. Arriva La Primavera

The actual painting that Will and Hannibal admire in the scene above is called La Primavera, also painted by Botticelli. The rightmost side of the painting depicts Chloris, a nymph, and Zephyrus, the god of the west wind. Zephyrus is seen coming onto Chloris, who has flowers streaming from her mouth. They appear in the writing of Orvid's Metamorphoses, where it's said that Zephyrus, seeing her potential, fell in love with Chloris and won her heart. He then kidnaps and marries her, where he transforms her into Flora, the goddess of flowers. Flowers begin to stream out of her mouth, signifying the coming of spring and her transformation into a god.

Much like Zephyrus, Hannibal sees the potential of Will and comes onto him pretty intensely, starting with his psychoanalysis in Apéritif ("I imagine what you see and learn touches everything else in your mind,") where the script describes the scene as "Hannival has just described Will Graham to a letter..."

As the story progresses, we see Will undergoing transformation by Hannibal's hand, who we know wants to see him Become. Will descends into darkness, where his hands that grasp at the frayed edges of normalcy begin to slip. They start to slip at the very first instances of meeting Hannibal, where he states that he liked killing Hobbs in their first therapy session. Over time, we see him start to grow more comfortable with his darkness to the point where in Shiizakana he admits regret to not taking a life ("I regret what I did in the stables... Allowing you to stop me was a mistake.")

His transformation culminates in the acceptance of his dark nature, first by telling Hannibal "I don't know if I can save myself, and maybe that's fine," and then killing Dolarhyde with him, which he calls beautiful.

Hannibal transformed him into someone beautiful, someone he sees akin to a god. He transforms will into his Flora.

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telling this to everyone ik right fucking now

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jellycatchicken

10 months ago

(driving home from work) i must not kill myself. killing myself is the myself killer. i will— (sees a guy jogging shirtless and he’s all sweaty) Woaw i wish I lived in his armpit (crashes car into telephone pole)

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