It's one of things that makes the first part so compelling, the whole dichotomy of Evil Is Gaining Power mixed with Wacky Misunderstandings With Your Favs. All of the restaurant stuff is so unapologetically comedic, so light and pleasant. And then there are gruesome, ritualistic killings. And then Ibuki is being slightly put out by Kasumi referring to him as like a brother! Tonally, it should give you whiplash, but since it's all in service of making you dizzy and suspicious, it works great.

Yeah, I... I figure a different writer is going to take a more traditional view of this show's arcs, and they're probably going to move Asumu into a more defined apprentice role. That just seems like an obvious move for a show that gets a big new creative team two-thirds of the way through the series. Making Asumu an apprentice to Hibiki is something I'm totally not for, but I'm willing to see how a writer defends that choice. But, yeah, nothing about this sweet, dopey boy makes me think he's the next Tsutomu, let alone the next Hibiki.

Not to Um Actually you, but the Rider Wiki says it's because

Nice to see you’re back in the swing of things. Just two more episodes before the big turnover. While I’m sure Switchblade will try to convince you not to watch it with little reasons provided, I’m working on three reason why you SHOULD watch it.

Aside from that, I’ve really got nothing to say, other than what I said about Tsutomu last time. (Ie. That a novel retelling the series has him becoming an Oni named Akatsuki)

Yeah, schedule-wise, I'm trying to make up some lost time. Thursday's going to be 28/29, Friday is a look back at this phase of the show (and a nice point for Switchblade to bail for their own mental health), Saturday's the movie, Sunday is 30, etc.

Kasumi was brought along because of Ibuki, obviously! Need someone Ibuki admires to talk on with and make moves with. It's like asking why brought Hitomi, Ikuko, Hinaka with Asumu and Todoroki. And probably, exactly why he tries to fight Kappa alone, because probably he knows that Kasumi doesn't give the impression that she thinks he's cool? Then he tries to change her by doing something... reckless. "does he think she thinks he’s cool?" shouldn't be questioned, it's probably exactly there, and the driving reason for Ibuki to do that.

There's a reason, Todoroki thinks he has to catch up to Hibiki, so he's imitating him in trainings like swimmings.... though I wonder what's the purpose of bringing Asumu around, he doesn't want to become Oni (Todoroki claims we can't be beaten). Though coming from Hinaka, she's still the weird and goofy one too, as a foil to the responsible Kasumi, doing that to Todoroki?

Well, ok then, feels a bit more vaild to give more percceptives about what bad things can happen if the situation stays as it is like potentially losing a friend, though from what I said before, wrong move also, can be disastrous, like if it not working out, you can lose a friend too and likely end up worse than that. And nobody can predict the future. And the "crushing" part is still, well, an outwardly perception.

Oh right, Oni's Makamou hunting also includes whistling too to henshin or to call disc animals... how did I miss that part, very nice point.

I know, I wrote that in this case, Todoroki's training is necessary, I was leaning more towards Asumu, which the story mirrors, because that one is likely a hobby; no one would force Asumu to join and excel in band.

And you know, what I wrote there, is taken from an article to criticize girls, like those characters in the story (Hinaka, his mom, I know you lumped Hibiki together but iirc not as significant as those others) doing what you say here and what the story does, that they should take into consideration into what's going on the boys first before bashing them as oblivious or something. It just means the girls being at fault, and they should be the one given some talk sense, to not only consider their own, or just their gender's feelings. And just blindly treating everything coming from girl (like what those think) as right and those coming from boys (like ignoring their scuffles) as wrong is double standard-y. It could be that, like your previous criticism, you saying Asumu being "not-so great" being "fought over" by 2 women, but he knows that he's like what you describe towards him, and therefore doesn't feel that he's worthy to be Hitomi or Akira's partner thus he never goes further? (and I can already know that's awry at least from you, making moves you're not-so great, didn't do so and he's frustratingly oblivious :confused:)

Also, from what the show is doing, still, just because the show is doing that doesn't mean that the audience should exactly follow (I know you do but I'm still telling about how for this case you seem to be inconsiderate, and for it being toxic take... probably the story IS being unintentionally toxic, it can happen in various stories, author can't necessarily account for reader reactions).

You don't just want this thing to be believable—you want it to have the characteristics it needs to have for the story to work, and in inverse of Show Don't Tell, for its difficulty to achieve that, authors sometimes, consciously or not, go "screw it. Why go through all the trouble?" and just have the narration or another character say something like, "she is brave", "this is sharp", "this is sturdy", etc. there, problem solved. But readers can conclude from what they experience for themselves, not 100% taking their word for it, whatever "it" is, like actively seeking reasons to ridicule the concepts they tell them are profound. Like like for example what you say in Kuuga thread about Man of Steel's ending being meant for triumph, but you wouldn't call it a win unlike what intended) is forced to think that way, or that someone that is constantly told as heroic by other characters because they're on protagonistic side but the audience knows that they aren't even close (Designated Heroes). It's difficult to draw the line regarding where the ratio of informed feats to actual feats becomes unfeasible, and deciding for what audience think can be taken to the extremes like altering everything for their headcannons yeah, they had to be flexible and not run totally by bias (like because an author did a mistake then every single thing they convey is flawed, only what we think is right! - full ego) too.

The fact that Zanki put up a fight against the Bakeneko Douji and Hime with a crippled body and no superpowers and only got defeated cause the Kimono Douji and Hime showed up is bad*ss though! They're lucky he's retired from active duty.

Speaking of Kimono Douji and Hime, their voices are actually not mixed up which means they must be a pretty big deal. Their appearance is a portent that the show is about to become completely different. That's the less meta reason anyway.

There's a weird hierarchy to the villains since it's not like they all live in the same base talking about their evil plans, they're very vague. It's like, you think the black and white cloaked guys seem like a big deal at first, right? But then it turns out, nope, they're just mere puppets for controlling and empowering the Makamou. You never know when someone bigger and more important is going to show up.

Or maybe he's Sabaki's former apprentice and his unfortunate resignation is another reason why Sabaki always loses whenever he's onscreen, due to loneliness? Sabaki needs more headcanons apparently.

Based on Ibuki's age, he probably would have been too young to mentor anybody before Akira. Who knows?

Regarding Tsutomu, I totally forgot he was a character until I rewatched this arc. He's still in high school according to Midori, sophomore perhaps, so I presume he must have been in middle school during his Oni training, hence the desire for approval from parents. It's interesting to see what is essentially an Oni dropout.

Fortunately, Shounen's mother seems to be very encouraging of how Shounen chooses to live, which means whether he becomes an Oni or decides he doesn't need to follow that path depends on him. His interaction with Tsutomu seems to be very sempai-kouhai and adds a new perspective to his uncertain future.

I can think of at least 2 reasons to watch. Looking forward to seeing what else you think makes it worth watching.

I intend to skip the movie due to how terrible it is but I'll explain later.

Oh, I’ll still be here to chime in with my thoughts (I have a lot to say about a specific pair of episodes). I’m just not going to watch along anymore.

You mean the arc written by Yonemura?

I had to check, but no. It’s 36 and 37, although apparently the fallout from that took longer than I remembered. It all ties into the most massive and frustrating character derailment from the Inoue era. It is the single thing I hate the most about the rework. Even more than that character.

I think it's more that Asumu and AsuMum brought Hitomi, who invited Todoroki, who mentioned it to Hinaka, who declared it a date. That's how I'm thinking it came about.

Sure, which gets to the original metaphor, which is that following through on something you don't immediately like doing, it can not only be helpful for others (Asumu's band/the other Oni), but it can also teach you the value of perseverance. The reward isn't just the skill, it's the knowledge that you can push yourself.

They're so powerful that they kicked his ass from a completely different set.

There's a thing about the villains that it's probably too early to really talk about, but it's something that occurred to me last night. The villains are getting more human, the deeper we get in the series. The Douji and Hime are largely animalistic, lower life forms. The Clockamou/Puppets are portrayed as more clever, more capable of scheming. And now the Fancy-Dress Douji and Hime are able to move about in human society, indistinguishable from their victims. There's maybe a thing in there about how evil increases with proximity to society, but, like I said, maybe a little early for that.

Sabaki has had a request in with Takeshi HQ for an apprentice for 11 months. They keep telling him there are no suitable teenagers in all of Japan. Meanwhile, at the goddamn restaurant...

I think Ibuki's old enough to have an apprentice before Akira. Tsutomu only quit the year before, potentially around when Akira started. And Ibuki's been training since he was a teenager, so he might've been active long enough to be onto a second apprentice. Also, we never see Ibuki interact with Tsutomu, so I feel like the show maybe wanted to keep them apart. Finally, Ibuki's someone who started at almost the same age as Tsutomu, so I can see that being a bond between them.

Who would you want as your oni mentor? And how do you feel when you regardless get Sabaki?