Hmmm

subtext exists yknow

i love love bullet. u should love love bullet too

I think it should be obvious, but Bucchigiri is an anime about bonds and relationships, with three different ways of approaching it, sex, fights and cooking.

Saying that Arajin only wants sex and losing his virginity is to stay with the most superficial aspect of his character. Because yes, that's what he says he wants, but there are signs that it's not what he really seeks, a meaningful bond/relationship with someone, surely in an attempt to fill the void of that friendship he lost when leaving Matakara behind, because if we look closely, despite what he says, every time Arajin fantasizes about Mahoro it's never in a sexual way, what we see are bonding moments.

And his rejection of fights doesn't seem like a simple coincidence, not only because it's a characteristic of his condition as an antihero (in the classic sense of the word). But it's important to remember that just like sex and cooking (for someone) they are ways of relating, I mean… it is a very common trope… "men understand each other in a fight" which is particularly important here because it's the main way in which the boys relate to each other. Seen this way, by rejecting fights Arajin not only rejects confrontation, but the possibility of relating to the other boys, because doing so means constantly facing his guilt of what happened with Matakara (which also left him with after-effects), because if you pay attention, you can see that Arajin does care about him, more than he is willing to admit.

Let's also add to that how important cooking is (which I already have an analysis on this), cooking is independence, maturity, the warmth of a home and above all affection. I never get tired of saying it, the food in Bucchigiri "speaks", the single scene where Arajin and Matakara cook together in episode 8 is simply beautiful and tells us several things about both characters, their backgrounds, the state of their relationship, how they have coped with their lives after separating. And not only that, but cooking is presented as a kind of "third way" with respect to the previous two, not for nothing the last scene that both friends share is precisely cooking together.

By the way, have you noticed that there is in fact a common idea between sex, fighting and cooking (especially between the first two)? They all involve in one way or another "give it your all" and in particular "being exposed" and therefore "being vulnerable" which ends up being part of the resolution of the conflict, because it is at the moment when Matakara admits his pain that Arajin is also able to accept not only his guilt but the damage he caused him, it is there that he is finally able to gain the determination necessary to become a honki person and save his friend.

Bucchigiri is a story about bonds, relationships, trauma, loneliness, but it doesn't throw all its cards on the table in one sitting, it's also a story told through the small details it wants you to notice, because there's a lot to see if you are willing to give it a chance, it's a unique experience, even touching, that despite its flaws (because it has them) gives off a lot of personality, charisma and especially soul.

Ara-chan. I always believed in you. I knew you would do the right thing! I'm not the one who didn't give up, though. Huh? Forget it. Let's go home. Yeah!

since they made mahoro's birthday valentine's day, i think it'd be fun to make matakara's white day/pi day and arajin's on april fools

misunderstanding🏳️‍⚧️ (dialogue in the alt text if you can't read my handwriting)

Damon says worst take known to man

i actually dont care about these guys at all ❌❌

The way I'm seeing Bucchigiri so far is that the Honki people feel coded as homosexual and as a kid Arajin was really into being like that. But he was never open with that to anyone but his one friend, who was supportive and bonded with him over it. And in trying to defend that, that friend got mercilessly attacked while Arajin just ran away. So the way that Arajin so desperately avoids even Matakara is that he feels like that lifestyle reminds him of both that danger and his own personal weakness. And so he finds it safer to overcompensate by trying to act 110% straight.

ooh this is an interesting reading! i've thought about how fighting=an act of love in this show, but honki people=homosexuality could fit quite well into ara's character arc and relationship with matakara.

given how arajin is the protagonist of a brawling show, and I think it would extremely strange for arajin to completely reject his childhood desire to become a honki person by the end. they've definitely played up his refusal of the call so far, so i think we're going to see ara stepping up into his fighting anime protagonist role. if we assume that fighting, in the language of bucchigiri, is an expression of true self/feelings, i think we're definitely in for some kind of reciprocity of matakara's feelings on ara's part. i will be very surprised if we don't get a arajin x matakara fight by the end.

arajin has obviously buried his feelings about his past very deep and has tried to pivot his life in a completely opposite direction. I wouldn't be surprised if it's revealed that his obsession with dating is due in part to his trauma surrounding fighting; possibly him trying to emulate what a normal teenager does instead of 'embracing his true self' (ie. becoming honki). if this is how the story goes, there will be a definite queer reading to be had.

allegorically, the story would read as: young matakara is beaten up for being queer, arajin sees this and knows being queer is dangerous, he runs away and tries to compensate for his queerness by acting 110% hetero, matakara meets back up with him years later and tries to bond with ara over queerness, ara soundly rejects him and tries to distance out of shame, and ara (assumingly) learns by the end that being queer isn't shameful and embraces that part of himself (i.e. becomes a honki person.)

this all makes me a bit curious how mahoro's character is going to be dealt with going forward. i think there's a few things they're likely to do with her:

get over her brocon stuff and get with arajin at the end as his 'prize' for finally accepting his role as a fighter

arajin's moved on from focusing on girls by the end, mahoro gets with matakara

remain brocon to the very end

get over brocon stuff, become friends with arajin

i'm not a fan of option 1, i find it boring and a disservice to ara's and her character. i think option 2 is plausible given the romantic trope-y type scenes we've been seeing between matakara and mohoro, plus them bonding a little over their brothers. however, neither of them seem really interested in each other during those scenes beyond caring that other knows arajin. these scenes seem superficially romantic to me. i'm not really a fan of this ship so i wouldn't enjoy this outcome and i find it a boring thing to do with mahoro. option 3 sucks, but it wouldn't do damage to any other character at least? option 4 is my ideal outcome. it would allow mahoro to finally function outside of being in love with her brother and be a 'look how he's matured' moment for arajin.

there are a few appealing other options (like giving her kickass majin) that i would personally love the show to pull off, but unfortunately i don't think bucchigiri is going to do them with their limited run of 6 eps left. i'll be super excited if it proves me wrong, though.

sorry for the rambling here, thanks for giving me something to think about anon!