WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK WAS THAT????

argh thats such cool physical world building and such a good way to illustrate it omgg

Ok, I'm convinced at this point that instead of teaching English, schools should just start getting their students into bsd, because honestly, the effects are about the same.

Like, what is this fandom??? As far as anime go, it's sort of known, but it's not even close to mainstream, and then you join the fandom to discover that it's actually huge.

-The fans will write five thousand word analyses, complete with textual evidence, about anything and everything, and they'll all be more well written and deeper than their thematic essay for English class.

-They won't even think twice about reading a bunch of classics to understand their favorite characters, and then they'll happily write you an analysis of a Japanese classic written in the mid-twentieth century and how it connects to their favorite character. They'll casually read Crime and Punishment, a book english teachers have no hope of having their students read in general, let alone for fun, and they'll do it and then give their theories about how it may connect to the villain's powers. They also end up just getting into classic literature in general.

-Ask them to give a summary of the book they had to read, they'll stare at you blankly, but ask them about the chain of abuse vs the savoir chain and you will hear a psychological breakdown on the concept of abuse, and how different characters treat others differently because etc etc etc.

-Not even the top criminal defense lawyer could compete with a bungou stray dogs fan explaining why Chuuya Nakahara, a man who is an executive in the Mafia, a man who has killed many people, has gotten involved in smuggling and all sorts of illegal activities, is actually a good person and deserves all the sunlight and happiness in the world.

-And the art that comes out of it??? The fanfictions, the fanart, the edits- I've read fanfiction that made me feel more than a published book ever will. Seen fanart that belongs in a museum, and the edits are some of the coolest stuff known to man.

-And they're just so low key??? Like seriously, don't teach English, teach bungou stray dogs. You'd get better results that way.

It’s interesting how Punk Hazard, Dressrosa, Zou and Wano all spill into each other with actions in one arc directly leading to motivations and consequences in another. Like all three of those arcs are essentially set up for Wano when you look at the big picture. They’re all explaining how exactly it is that all these characters ended up her fighting these two menaces. And that makes sense given that Wano is kind of the biggest deal we’ve ever gotten in terms of over arching storyline in One Piece and what is revealed there forever changes the story.

But yeah I just thought it was interesting because outside of Sagas like Water seven and we’ve never really gotten that tipping over feeling before. But while water seven feels just like one big arc with individual pieces. All those arcs are distinct from each other and it’s only when you get to Wano and see the bigger picture can you really fit together just how we all ended up here. It also doesn’t help that Wano’s where they’ve been trying to go from the start.

It’s also the first time they Straw hats actually have a plan to go out of their way and antagonize somebody. Like they are actively trying to antagonize Kaido before they got to Wano. They’ve never done that before they’ve always just kind of tripped and fell into trouble trying to help a friend. Which is kind of how the kaido thing starts but it snowballs into much more than that. The closest to anything like it is Vivi and alabasta. It really helps post time skip feel distinct from pre time and really sets you up with out even knowing it to prepare for something big to go down. It’s almost like a visceral shift from One piece as a serialized story to an a connected one.

“teenage Dazai this” “teenage Chuuya that”

WHAT ABOUT TEENAGE FUKUZAWA

I know where Ranpo gets it from.

Something about Zoro being one of the most misunderstood and mischaracterized characters in One Piece is funny (not haha funny, funny sad) to me because?? That’s literally how his introduction starts?? With people misunderstanding him and thinking he’s some big, monstrous demon who kills with cause and cannot be trusted or tamed.

Meanwhile the actual Zoro is a driven guy who is often both literally and figuratively directionless in life and found his goals in life through good people (first Kuina and then Luffy). He's tied up in the Marine base not due to those actual crimes he commuted (well not inherently anyway) but because he ‘disrespected’ a Captain's son and stood up for a little girl. He accepts the challenge they present to him and because Zoro himself is a guy that puts his money where his mouth is he assumes the Marines will uphold their end of the deal and let him go (note the actual shock when Koby tells him the truth)

He joins Luffy's crew but also outright says he’s not gonna let his goal take second place to Luffy or anyone else's for that matter, he bears the weight of two people's dreams, his heart isn’t going to be swayed by some pirate.

Speaking of Kuina, her impact and influence on Zoro's life isn’t talked about enough for my liking. She was Zoro's first friend, his first rival, his first goal. He looked up to her so much and his reaction to her passing cracks my heart in half every time because you can seem him just..go numb. Kuina, dead? Kuina, the strongest person he knows, gone? Kuina, who swore to him just yesterday they’d race to the top of the world together, doesn’t exist anymore. His blank face only cracking within the privacy of his sensei before he begs. He begs on his knees, tears streaming down his face please please please let me take Kuina's sword with me. Let me take our dream to a high neither of us could imagine. I won’t let her name die here.

On top of gaining the Wado Ichimonji that day Zoro also gained…fear. Not of death, well at the very least not his own, he gained his fear of not being enough. Kuina kicked his ass every way a person could and still died, what could someone like him do? So he trains…and trains…and trains some more. Overly, obsessively, constantly telling himself he’s not enough, he’s weak, he can’t protect anyone like this and everyone's death would be on him.

As for Zoro being cold and stoic that’s just…not completely true? He’s not stone, he can be excited or sad or angry just as much as most characters he just sucks at showing it canonically (Kuina thinks he hates her before their final fight after all). Sure he’s not as forthcoming about it as some of the other Strawhats but Zoro's more of an action guy anyway, he'll show his love with his protection and unwavering faith.

In conclusion, Zoro is a ridiculously stubborn, incredibly loyal, mildly emotionally constipated, do what you say/say what you mean kinda guy.

(Also that whole ‘Zoro would kill the whole crew if Luffy asked him to’ thing? Top ten stupidest things I’ve ever heard from the fandom and that’s saying a lot. He’s loyal not brainless and heartless guys if Luffy asked him to do that, he would never but I digress, Zoro would square the fuck up with him so fast. DPMO.)

After everything that happened in this arc, I think we can all agree that Fyodor is the BIGGEST Atsushi hater of all time

happy birthday chuuya!! (remake of the old animatic i made last year: note i totally rushed to get this finished so its still sloppy has hell) enjoy

(special thanks to @i-eat-mold for randomly giving me a burst of energy to do this shit... yep)

Turns out Big Son + Small Dad is the most adorable combo ever actually.

Douma really, really did not want to go home.

This was the first meeting of the Upper Moons in 113 years, and Douma was here for it. All he wanted to do was talk to everybody, talking and talking, even when he's not being listened to. He forgave any insult and injury, and his attempts to hang out with the Upper Moons after the work meeting reeks of desperation, even turning to Nakime at the end.

The only other people he's interacted with in between meetings are his followers and his unlucky victims, so his fellow Upper Moons are the only beings in existence remotely like and equal to him in any respect. They are the only beings he can form any real sort of bond with.

The problem is that Douma has no idea what a real bond looks like. He's been surrounded by brainless sycophants for more than a century. The closest he ever got was Kotoha, and we know how that turned out.

Douma was, I think, genuinely ecstatic to have an opportunity to become closer to his fellow Upper Moons, and annoyed when they all turned him down. Even if the moment was played for laughs, I think there's a part of it that's sad in hindsight, knowing Douma's backstory.

So like

Akutagawa is in love with Atsushi

If you took this out of context this would genuinely look like an enemies to lovers romance manga scene 🙏

Also Harukawa wrote an illustrator's note (I think it's at the end of volume 5?) about how she draws eyes, and how she portrays the character's current growth, personality and aspect on the world through their eyes

Akutagawa's eyes have almost always been dark, the representation for how dark his life and character is

But Atsushi brings light to them

In chapter 121.5 where Akutagawa's eyes grow wide as he sees Atsushi die, it's not just a show of how shocked Akutagawa is, it shows how Atsushi lightens Akutagawa's eyes, how much he's affected him for the greater good. Atsushi brings out a new side to Akutagawa

His eyes are incredibly light as he recalls his memories and gets hit by Atsushi's death that wasn't even just a death, but a death to save him. To protect him

Because Atsushi thinks Akutagawa is worth protecting

So just, like, I really love how chapter 122 not only shows Atsushi finally seeing Akutagawa's past and fully understanding Akutagawa's trauma and even relating to him, but it also shows how Akutagawa truly feels about Atsushi (although the "and then..." definitely left us on a cliffhanger)

I love them