Subtext Exists Yknow

“stop smiling, i'm kicking ur ass”

reference pic/scene......... guys pls watch bottoms 2023 pleas eplease please

mulled it over for a while and ultimately decided i'm really digging this arajin-matakara fight, because like

the whole series has set up arajin as a piece of shit fuckhead (and i LOVE that for him) but this whole lying to matakara about wanting to be a honki people thing... is like the one thing he did not actually do

i get real rambly under the cut but tl;dr the way matakara treats arajin is the way arajin treats mahoro and that is suuuch a juicy parallel to me

throughout the whole series arajin has been not at all subtly trying to get away from these fights

could he have been more direct about that with matakara? sure maybe! but matakara was really ignoring all the signs that arajin is not who he thinks he is

which is such a delicious parallel to how arajin willfully ignores all the signs that mahoro is not into him

like. matakara built this version of arajin up in his head, with all these unreasonable, unrealistic, and honestly unfair? expectations based off some past foolishness from when they were very small children. he's clinging to this version of arajin that only exists in his head and has basically shown zero evidence of existing in real life

(yes arajin shows crumbs of courage but i think the scales are tipped pretty heavily towards his I DO NOT WANT ANY PART OF THIS moments)

this fight between them was like if arajin were to blow up at mahoro like "you've been leading me on this whole time!" when obviously. lol. no she has not

she did initially! just like tiny arajin as a child had those honki people ambitions! his ambitions may have been genuine, while mahoro feigned interest in him with malicious intent, but they're same in the sense that after that initial story beat, they have consistently demonstrated that actually no what happened back then no longer applies (whether because they grew out of it, in arajin's case, or they were faking interest in the first place, in mahoro's case)

but arajin is blinded by what he wants (mahoro) and ignores the reality of mahoro snubbing him at every turn, and matakara does the same, ignoring the reality of arajin really just... being extremely reluctant to have anything at all to do with him

anyway that's the main thing i'm chewing on and loving here, but ALSO i think the story paints this parallel in such an interesting way because like

matakara is just a big sweet ouppy dog of a boy! it's so so so easy to feel sorry for him, to root for him, to think the best of him. which i still do btw, in fact this episode made me like him more than i already did

because matakara is so uwu angelboy perfect, and arajin is such a dickhead, it's easy to instinctively think oh matakara must be completely right to be hurt and arajin must have hurt him. even if that isn't the case! this doesn't make arajin any less of a dickhead, but he's a dickhead mainly for other reasons

the fact that they've been set up as the perfect epitome of the Pure Boy and the Pervy Boy tropes is just such clever framing for this parallel between them, because i imagine a lot of viewers, if told what mataakara is doing to arajin is what arajin is doing to mahoro, would be like omg wtf no my pure angel baby is nothing like that disgusting freak?

except in this case! he literally is!! which is brilliant!!! i think it adds nuance to both matakara's character and arajin's character at the same time, making it so it's not just one of them is Perfect and one of them is Wrong All The Time

what's even better is that this made sense for matakara, like his reaction breaks him out of the Pure Angel mold but doesn't feel out of character. his emotions are already running high with what happened to his brother, plus akutaro is malewife mansplain manipulating him behind the scenes, so of course he feels like he's driven towards this emotional high that leads to this blowup

the groundwork was already laid out, and it wasn't even subtle. it was right on the surface! but this episode really highlighted how matakara's way of treating arajin is so much like arajin's way of treating mahoro and how inevitable it was that things would reach this point

(there are moments, even in this episode, that are in hindsight so clearly setting up this parallel! like arajin trying to talk to mahoro during lunch, mahoro CLEARLY not interested, making viewers think ugh arajin get a clue. then matakara often IMMEDIATELY coming in to try to talk to arajin, when arajin is the one who clearly isn't interested, making viewers think boo arajin be nicer to him! like i think the show deliberately set the audience up to have those emotional reactions, and this is the moment where the rug is pulled out from under us, so to speak, where it becomes even more obvious that... wait... double standard much?)

anyway. personally my only gripe with this episode is i wished they'd done more with aniki than just pseudo-fridge him, and hope they do still do more with him in the coming eps? but kind of understandable if they don't, because it is just a one-cour show after all

the actual blowup between arajin and matakara was just. mawh, chef's kiss. perfect

haiii

everybody watch this show

spring has sprung! tried a girly spring look (with bold elements) :3

NEW SK8 PV!

We finally have new art!! They've released a new trailer with glimpses of the OVA!

(https://x.com/sk8_project/status/1855037591726559327)

They also gave us some descriptions of the stories! Here are my translations of them!

Rain and Cats, convenience store ice cream, soda flavored

One Sunday, Reki, Langa, and Miya were at the skate park, as usual, when they are caught in a sudden downpour. They take shelter at Reki's house, and end up playing karuta with deck they find there--!?

Someday we'll be able to become serious

We go back in time to when Sakurayashiki and Nanjo were high school students living in obscurity. They're still competing with each other as usual, but after a series of competitions, the conclusion they arrive at is...

Morning Routine

This is a story that reveals just a tiny bit of the mysterious daily life of Ainosuke and Kikuchi-- They each have their secret routines, when there's a crossover between the two, and then a certain someone appears.

Do your best Hiromi-chan!

By night, he is an anti-hero, Shadow. By day, he works hard at a flower shop. These are three short stories that capture the daily life of the precious and kind Hiromi.

the episode was interesting story-wise as always (aside from arajin having one extra cringe hetero moment not related to mahoro) but it fell kind of short. Don’t get me wrong, it looked good as always, just between shots and the way the story plays out feels more… choppy? I can’t explain it. If there’s something happening behind the scenes I hope gets remedied because I don’t want the production/story to go downhill because it has so much potential

On the positives: we get to see mahoro being an evil girlboss this episode, siguma squad and more delinquent gang lore seeing how differently each gang operates. the welcoming party you can tell they’re all having fun even tho they’re beating each other up

theories/questions for future episodes: does that mean if arajin is going to become marito’s successor will he fight matakara??? or will matakara fight marito or mahoro? it’d be interesting to see mahoro fight someone because she’s clearly capable of force and manipulation in other ways (slaps arajin, screams like a siren to get matakara to go away) Now that he knows the reason why arajin joined siguma I wonder how willing matakara is to fight for him/get him back.

I also wonder how the NG boys will play into the next/future ep. next episode is probably about the war between the gangs because that’s where the episode left off.

https://x.com/bucchigiri_pr/status/1750820878685012134?s=46

Guys the preview for episode 3 is crazy…

Very quick translation since I’m still half-asleep:

Arajin: Aaaahhh, what should I do to convey my passionate feelings to Mahoro-chan?

Matakara: Ara-chan, why are you holding your head like that?

A: Hey Matakara! How should I confess my feelings to someone?!

M: Huh? I think it's best to express your feelings in a sincere way, isn't it?

A: Ok then, try it on me!

M: What?! Me?! Uhhh... please allow me to cook miso soup for you every day!

A: The fuck you mean YOU'RE making the miso soup?!

M: Ah right! It would be more pleasant to cook together! You're so smart as always, Ara-chan!

Senya: YOOOOO ARAJIIIIIIINNNNNN

Translator's notes: "I want to cook for you every day" can be interpreted as a marriage proposal

also I've been obsessed with Senya lately (reworking him as well)

THEY REALLY SHOULD HAVE LEANED MORE INTO THE FIRE INSPIRATION

gay homosexual gay gay