Kouyou and Verlaine are so similar, no wonder they are both Chuuya's older sibling figures and Kyouka's mentors. Both are executives whose specialty is murder, and who we know have trained several assassins for the Port Mafia. They both encounter a teenager so much like themselves when they were younger that they decide to do everything to stop them from making the same mistakes they made, even if they end up hurting them in the process. They both genuinely believe that what they are doing is the best for Chuuya and Kyouka, based in their own past experiences, because they are so alike that, to them, there's no way that the outcome won't be the same. Their only interaction in Stormbringer is them fighting with each other, exactly because they disagree in what's best for Chuuya. Verlaine killed the flags to make Chuuya agree in letting the mafia, Kouyou was willing to kill Atsushi to distance Kyouka from the ada. Like, even their personalities are similar. I could totally see them being friends if they had met in a different way (but with the way they met in the cannon, I'm sure they still hold a grudge against each other. It doesn't matter that Verlaine understood the mistakes he made, and that Chuuya accepted him as his brother at the end of it all, they still don't get along and don't plan on doing so anytime soon).
Last year I made a post headcanoning that Chuuya was the one to bring Kajii into the mafia after the Laughing Lemon incident and now I am back with evidence.
It's tradition in the Port Mafia to give a new recruit an article of your own clothing when inviting them into the mafia. Famous example being Mori gives Dazai his coat, and Dazai gives Akutagawa his coat in turn.
So with that in mind, if Chuuya brought Kajii in, he would have given him something as well. Only Kajii 5'11" and Chuuya is 5'2", so Chuuya's clothes wouldn't exactly fit Kajii.
But do you know what they both wear?
That's right! Stupid fashion belts that serve no actual purpose!
I rest my case!
If we adopted children into the mafia would that be fucked up or what
Can I talk about the fact Akutagawa doesn’t understand why Atsushi saved him, even though he did the exact same thing for Atsushi. Him using the word 'protect' rather than save is also so powerful to me because that's inherently what Akutagawa always has been- a protector. He was born with his ability and he protected his sister, the other kids in the slums with it. He sacrificed himself so Atsushi could leave the ship. And now, we've yet to see how Bram's wish will play out, but he was asked to protect Aya. Rashomon is shaped like knight armour on him at this exact moment.
And yet he can't understand why someone would do the same for him???? Absolutely INSANE. He's spent so long protecting others and then trying to better himself for approval, to be able to survive on his own by sheer violence that he can't fathom anyone doing the same for him. It was probably the same when Higuchi and the black lizards saved him when he was comatose.
And likely, he knows Atsushi views him as immoral and his actions as abhorrent, and is stuck on the fact Atsushi has had a sudden switch (sudden to him) in such a huge way that he'd die for him, since Atsushi has never been shy about telling Akutagawa just what he thinks of him. He can’t fathom Atsushi seeing his violence and hatred toward him and knowing him so deeply without understanding him and also choosing to save him.
Asagiri you're insane for this truly.
I don't think Akutagawa has lost his memories, neither do I think he's faking it, or doing it as a way to get Atsushi to react and get back on his feet.
In chapter 117, when Bram saves Aya from the airport wreckage, he says that he transferred his consciousness into Akutagawa's body when Fyodor's ability took over his own body, and that his ability would also die with him, his consciousness disappearing as a consequence. . The question is: we don't know what happens to a vampire who turns back into a human, nor whether all vampires were transformed back, or just Akutagawa, because Bram took his body. I don't believe that all vampires have become human, as Fyodor mentions that as long as he has Bram's body, the echoes of his ability would still exist, and he can still control everyone who has been turned into a vampire around the world, so it is likely that only Akutagawa was transformed into a human again (vampirism having disappeared along with Bram's consciousness), even if remnants of his transformation are still present in his body, like a vampire's durability. It is these vampiric remnants and characteristics that make me think that Akutagawa's sudden amnesia was caused by traces of Bram's soul/consciousness in his body.
When Bram dies, we see Akutagawa accepting his mission to protect Aya. Everything in the manga suggested that this was Akutagawa's own decision, and to a certain extent, it is, but it is quite likely that Bram's traits and characteristics remained in Akutagawa's body even after his death. This whole role of a "noble knight" was a striking characteristic of Bram, who always saw the current world as if it were still his time, and used terms from that same time to refer to everyone. Part of Bram's consciousness may have remained in Akutagawa's body along with the vampire characteristics, causing his consciousness to mix with Bram's consciousness, or be overwhelmed by it, which perhaps could have been the cause of his lack of consciousness, and memory. Something I found curious is that Akutagawa not only has protecting Aya (or the princess) as his mission, but also the commoners, something that was not included in Bram's order/request.
So where did the part about protecting the commoners come from? Is it something caused by Bram's influence? A part of Akutagawa's new (and probably temporary) knight persona? Or a wish of his own? His own desire to protect people?
Well, I don't know, but if that's the case, I can see a lot of ways this memory loss could really add something to Akutagawa's character arc. We know that he is someone who is truly true to his promises, and when Bram's consciousness and influence begin to dissipate from his mind, he will probably still remind that he promised to protect Aya, and will commit to fulfilling his promise. Being placed in the role of protecting someone, for Akutagawa, would be something really good, it would help him understand that he doesn't need to kill for his life to have meaning, that there is also value in protecting other people, that this is not necessarily linked to a failure (the last time he protected someone, they all got killed), and that there is something good about protecting and helping people. Finding a new reason to live would also help him get rid of the idea that the value of his life is linked to Dazai's approval of him. It's clear how he was using rashomon in a much more effective way in the last chapter compared to his other fights, so much that even Atsushi seems surprised. I believe this comes from the fact that Akutagawa learned (due to his life both on the slums and in the mafia) to use rashomon as a weapon, not as an extension of his own body, as a part of himself, in addition to that he does not need to use rashomon to fortify his body, which allows him to use rashomon more freely.
Other things that I think could have caused Akutagawa's amnesia are his transformation back into a human (dying, being turned into a vampire, and then back into a human again could definitely do some damage to anyone's brain), and Bram's promise to Aya to protect her, as we know that in Bsd promises can be kept even after someone has turned into a vampire (as we see with Akutagawa and his promise not to kill anyone). Bram's promise to Aya surpassed Dostoevsky's ability, causing Fyodor to create a great will to protect Aya, so it is not so impossible that it also surpassed Bram's death.
for just another day in paradise
Poe bought a phone with a camera just so he could take pictures of Ranpo and Karl 🥺💕
If we consider what Vegapunk said about the origin of devil fruits to be true, it is entirely possible that both Luffy and Loki have the sun god's devil fruit, as people have very different views of Nika, with Luffy having the fruit that represents the version of Nika who is the god and warrior of liberation, and Loki the one that represents the version of god of destruction
Wonder who he got it from
Vibes for this chapter:
Now that my hands have stopped shaking, here are my main take aways. This is gonna be a super long word vomit, so just be prepared:
Shamrock is aware of Shanks (they might have met) and seems disappointed that Shanks likes chilling with ✨the commoners✨
If Shamrock’s sword has the Cerberus-Cerberus Fruit, that means that the theory of Blackbeard having it is debunked
The Shiki-looking figure made a reappearance when Luffy was talking about Shank’s family and seems to be approaching the castle, so we might meet them soon
THE MURAL AND HARLEY
I wonder if there will be a specific character that made the mural, who we’ll be introduced to later. Ripley’s line about “a child’s dream” stood out to me
Due to the “Three Worlds” that Robin reads about, I’m assuming that it’s basically confirmed that there have been 3 holders of the Nika fruit, that coincided with the 3 world-changing events (the first Nika, Joyboy, and now Luffy)
There are 3 demon-like figures, one for each world. I assume they represent the foe that each Nika rose up against, but are they different? Are they the same? Are they all Imu? Only Oda can tell
And here’s everything I took note of on the mural:
The First World
The forbidden sun — power source? Devil Fruits???
Seems like it caused the separation of the earth and the sky/heavens
Lots of factory imagery
Who were the slavers?
The figures (the slaves) carry sun/starburst things. Are these the forbidden sun? Devil fruits? They seem to be throwing them toward the Second World part of the mural, where “embers of war” are mentioned
BIG SNAKE, SERPENT OF HELL, WHO ARE YOU???
The Second World
“The God of the Forest sent forth demons” — is this about devil fruits? Fruits grow on trees (duh) and then obviously demons = devils. And later, it talks about the Sea becoming enraged
Mentions of people belonging to the Half-Moon and the Moon. What is the difference? Is this referencing the Lunarians?
“Humanity killed the Sun, and then ascended to divinity” — they killed Nika or Joyboy? Seems to be about the Celestial Dragons
“The God of the Sea became enraged” — about the rising of the sea levels?
bruh, the boats look like Enel’s ship. If Enel comes back, I’ll lose my mind
The Third World
Where we are now. The final arc. What we should expect. The future.
References the Void Century and how the Elders and Imu remember what happened and what might happen (“the day of promise”)
“They will surely meet again” Who? The reunion of everything that was separated in the First and Second Worlds? The reunion of all the gods that were mentioned?
The mural is amazing and there are so many details throughout, but especially in this section
Obviously there’s Nika/Joyboy (Luffy) leading an army against a figure that’s probably Imu
Under Imu, there’s a boat with figures in white uniforms — Marines/the World Gov
In Nika’s army, there are figures that represent: giants, minks, lunarians, mermaids and fishmen, samurai/ninja/people from Wano, a robot (Emet?), dwarves/tontatta, Sea Kings/Laboon (the whale), and a ship with a flag that looks like the Alabasta kingdom’s flag (@sabo-torao’s post brought my attention to that, shoutout to them)
There are so many details that I probably missed and so many things that Oda probably hasn’t explored yet, but will and I’m so excited
But TLDR: Oda cooked, Lore Piece is real, this chapter was fantastic, and the final war arc is gonna blow my mind
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