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Gen - The most superficial man is dead

There, there, easy. I don’t mean literally. What I mean is that Gen’s superficial side is officially dead. We all cry about Gen’s petrification crack. Really me too but on second thought I think Inagaki and Boichi are also sending here really beautiful message.

We all remember Gen’s introduction. He seemed shady since very beggining and his petrification crack which looks like creepy smile with sharp teeth was like cheery on top screaming ,,Yeah, he is evil”. Manga readers, anime watchers don’t even lie that you knew he is a good boy after introduction. Or first thought was at least ,,villain or antagonist” not ,,new buddy”. Petrification crack really tried to highlight Gen being sketchy character.

Gen even introduced himself as ,,The most superficial man on Earth” which points at him being selfish person which will trample others to chase after benefit and be the last one standing. He even talked about shallow things like chilling all days with bunch of girls.

Interesting fact: After choosing Senku’s side Gen never brought back idea of getting harem and he don’t even flirt with girls.

Like really all Gen do since then is hang around Senku as close as he can if he doesn’t have job to do in different place. When Gen is in ,,chilling out mode” which he talked about doing with girls he is doing with Senku.

Let me bring up technique Gen is using to manipulate people. It says about being next to person you want to win over but Gen explain it more as moment of negotiation which is one time situation if you want something from other person.

Going back to Gen’s ,,special behavior” towards Senku. Gen is using same technique but this time for winning person over for personal reasons. Gen choose person he really wants to gain trust from on longer terms and not in one time negotiation. Gen isn’t stalking Senku or anything like that but omg Gen wants to share personal space with Senku in all parts of daily routine: 

1. Eat next to Senku

2. Stand next to Senku

3. Walk next to Senku

4. Work next to Senku

5. Sit/rest next to Senku

6. Sleep next to Senku

That’s everyday parts of human life and Gen is doing everything to do those things with Senku around. That’s almost like living together. Gen at this point seek for every occasion to approach Senku. Let me show you how he is doing this:

Let’s take cotton candy moment as an example. Gen is standing few feet away from Senku. He just spotted him standing alone and free after giving cotton candy to everyone and what Gen is doing next?

Few seconds later Gen is already at Senku’s side chilling with cotton candy. They are pretty much touching with elbows. That’s start of entering personal space and it looks like Senku doesn’t mind that at all. Gen is usually approching Senku THAT close when he is alone and not in big group. Gen then just waits for Senku to be in more open area again.

Maybe Gen really was superficial man in the past but Senku really picked his interest. Maybe whole harem talk was a lie since beggining or Gen warned Senku that was his already exerienced past to perform magic shows, write books, chill and hang out with girls so he wanted to check if Senku is worth of changing his old ways. In the end Gen pretty much confessed to Senku that he liked him longer than he thought.

Gen even said being around Senku makes him feel safe. That could be another reason why he stand next to Senku almost all the time because he feels comfortable and not only for times when his Science is needed. Senku in terms of body is the weakest person around so saying his side is the safest place sound weird. That just shows that Senku also keeps Gen’s sanity in good mood and Gen believes Senku has solution for every situation.

Kohaku are you secret Sengen shipper? She always saw through Gen’s lies. She pretty much called out Gen wanting to stay with Senku for personal reasons and not for strategic reasons. Senku is also in the corner smirking probably being flattered by Gen being soft towards him and only act tough.

And this is just prove of Gen really feeling safe only around Senku. Gen wasn’t that scared since being around Tsukasa and Hyoga. Just let Gen be around Senku because separation gives him almost heart attack XD

Now let’s go back to Gen’s petrification crack and hidden beautiful message from Inagaki and Boichi about Gen. Just look at him here while being all soft around Senku and now look at his petrification crack. Now let’s be honest. Does it still suits him alfter all Gen went through? Shady mark on face of someone who is opening up to people and only mess with them with no bad intentions. Yeah this petrification crack looks cool but doesn’t it also show broken and bad version of Gen? And this is where all this character development went:

Gen let himself turn into stone FOR Senku. That was the most selfless act he ever did. This pretty much threw out the window all his ,,superficial man” trash. Superficial man would take a run for it, join Mozu or Ibara or something like that. Gen choosed to sacrifice himself to protect Senku. To protect not himself but another person not knowing if he will ever get out of stone again. He took that with smile on his face with full trust in Senku. Boichi even focused on Gen’s cheek in stone form now without petrification crack.

Gen by loosing his petrification crack is saying farewell to his superficial side. He is fully team player and doesn’t want to be last man standing anymore if he knows someone like Senku could do bigger things to benefit not him but many more people and is more worth saving. Gen turned from superficial man to selfless man and now scar won’t be reminding him every morning how badly he treated people in the past. Gen will get back his pretty face and losing scar might lift some burden from his shoulders or he will make fun of it and start doing make up looking like his petrification crack to remind himself how much he changed.