I Forgot To Post That Doodle!!! Also A Preview Of A Thing I Was Doing On Monday But I’ll Probably Never

online fandom is so fun because we’ll be talking about very serious character moments and analyzing them and stuff and there will be a lull in the discussion and someone will be like “and then they fuck about it” and then we’re all like yeah and then they fuck about it

Ahhh, this is a really good essay!!

There's a really good scene of Minamisawa that's in (currently untranslated) a drama CD that takes place between Holy Road and Chrono Stone, where Minamisawa got agitated over Gouenji and Kidou calling Sangoku's version of Rairaiken's rice bowl "not real Rairaidon" and went on an argument with Kidou over it loolll. I love how he went from apathetic to openly defending his friends...

(yes Gouenji and Kidou picked fights with middle schoolers. And Kidou got offended over Minamisawa calling him old. Grown ass adults)

I love Minamisawa's arc, I'm sad he left Raimon so early on bc I would've loved to see more of him, but it's still so satisfying.

I really like that he and the rest of Gassan Kunimitsu had to learn that they can't always depend on Fifth's rules. the team had already been following them even before Minamisawa joined, and he was already okay with - and kind of hoping - to just be able to fall in line and graduate with a good-looking student record. but having been in Raimon before, that seed was already planted about fighting for what you love, and he realized just what it was that he truly wanted- and that the only way for him to get it, was to fight like hell for it.

and I love that his teammates saw him give it his all and realized that Fifth's rules had been holding them back, and then and there decided to abandon those rules and throw themselves into the battle. not just to win, but for Minamisawa. because he fought so hard, against his old team no less, for something they were all hoping would just fall into their lap if they behaved and did as told. he, a newcomer, proved to them that standing by and watching wouldn't help them, and instead of disregarding him, they accepted his influence and fully committed to playing a fair and fun match. in a way, Minamisawa was to them what Tenma was to Raimon- a revolutionary wind.

him playing against his old team in the first place brings a lot of good drama also, like the betrayal and the anger and confusion- I don't know just how close he was with the other third years, but I think one of them mentioned that he hadn't told them anything about what school he was transferring to, or even that he was transferring at all. to their knowledge he just quit the soccer club and that was it. any feelings of betrayal make sense, this came out of nowhere for them.

and on his end, there seems to be some frustration about how things unfolded- he didn't leave for no reason after all, and even though he jumped at the opportunity to, it doesn't mean he feels apathetic about it. Minamisawa seems like the type of guy to act cool on the outside, but ruminate on things quite a lot inside his head. and he's not emotionless, leaving the team and Raimon as a whole had to be a big step for him, I just believe that he chose not to show it. it would be easier for everyone that way.

I really love that he acknowledged Tenma as a good player and a worthy addition to Raimon, giving credit for stirring the team with the wind of revolution. the effects that Tenma had on the team may have lead to Minamisawa leaving, but it also lead to him finding new friends and his own soccer at Gassan Kunimitsu, and ultimately reconnecting with Raimon after that match. he wasn't exactly welcome to change at first, but acknowledging and vocalizing Tenma's role in changing his life for the better is proof that he's changed and grown a lot.

and on top of that, Raimon assuring him that no matter what he'll do or where he'll go, there'll always be a spot for him at Raimon? that they'll always be waiting for him? ahhh man it's so good, it's that promise of eternal friendship and support, even after everything, even though he was the one who left. and they acknowledge that Gassan Kunimitsu needs a player like him, that he belongs to that team too now, but that it doesn't matter which uniform he wears- he will always have friends at Raimon.

my recent art plan has been about experimenting with traditional supplies but i feel turned off from posting them because i'm not confident i can get as many notes as i usually do with digital pieces. and sometimes it's not even digital or not but the works i put much more thoughts into don't do as well than the less personal ones. i don't know. thinking about it makes me mopey

2:30 AM and can't sleep thinking about how sakuma has 0 selfish bone in him and his "i can't see your world" @ kidou line in shin teikoku arc is him venting his desperation over not knowing what is in kidou's mind 💔💔💔💔 even post shin teikoku he's beefing on fudou never about what fudou did to him but instead over the risk he could do to kidou. sakuma who is made of 100% pure love for better or worse

The T-Shirt

Adding to this post with my analysis of the emotional implications of this scene because it gets even crazier when one tries to visualize from Kidou's POV

You can see that Kidou was standing behind Sakuma in the initial composition of the scene's frame. It then switches to Sakuma's close up, which is more or less should be similar to what Kidou's point of view. So what possibly could be going on in Kidou's mind when it happened?

The close up of Sakuma's face ends when he fully turns his head, revealing the eye that's normally covered by his eyepatch and the disheveled hair his Shin Teikoku arc design has.

As one can see on the first post, looking closely Sakuma was drawn in a way that makes him look like his original design with the pulled forward hair and the eyepatch covered right eye, it was what Kidou saw!

What Kidou (and the viewers) initially saw was the Sakuma he knew, the one who played soccer together with him, the Sakuma who is his best friend. But something about it is uncanny, until Sakuma's entire face was shown and it was Shin Teikoku Sakuma that Kidou was seeing. It wasn't the Sakuma Kidou knew.

Even if their scope of love in their writings are different (Sakuma loves Kidou, while Kidou loves EVERYONE including Sakuma) Sakuma and Kidou care deeply towards each other. And it was Kageyama's actual purpose in the arc, to not win the match but rather to inflict as much trauma he could on Kidou by manipulating and hurting (mentally and physically) his best friends against him.

Shin Teikoku arc has really good animation and storyboarding in general; this particular scene has cleverly drawn frames where Sakuma's hair was positioned to look like how he normally looks until he fully turns at Kidou and you can see the the black eye

I don't have frames that are of 1:1 comparison but I hope you get the gist

some of you think ‘nuanced’ only means ‘morally grey’ and I’m here to tell you that actually straight up good characters can still be nuanced and unapologetically evil characters can still be nuanced. the character doesn’t have to be an anti hero or morally dubious to have depth. they don’t even have to feel sorry about their crimes to have depth.

What kind of hat fits sakuma?

i actually once drew him in a baseball cap before during my webfishing hyperfixation phase (full post) so it's the first thing that came up in my mind.

there's also this art used in natsu bomber of penguin trio and megane as cowboys and i think sakuma is rocking his cowboy hat so much. i always get excited whenever i see fanart of him.

sorry for answering late i had been saving this ask so i can draw my thoughts but i never have the time to ^______T i also think he'd look very cute in newsboy cap too ahahah. thank you for asking!!