Let’s Read Kagurabachi: Katanas, Gays, and Generational Trauma

[Kermie]

Trust me, that title will make sense in… give or take 5 chapters. Bear with me for a minute.

CHAPTER ELEVEN - AWAKEN

(BEEP… BEEP…)​

We begin in a hospital. It's not too crowded. There's only one person we can see.



It's Chihiro. He was beaten up badly after that fight with Sojo, and now he's alone. But not for long, as someone bursts into the room.



It's Chihiro's two stepdads Shiba and Azami. Azami explains that the reason why they aren't in the better funded Kamunabi hospital is because plenty of Kamunabi disliked Rokuhira, so off the books is the safest option. Remember, not even some Kamunabi higher-ups knew about Rokuhira's location— that's how much of a national secret that man was.

Chihiro asks Shiba about Char and Hinao.



Sojo has a material thought lost, one that's supremely rare at that. Of course, with Sojo being a crime baron, money isn't really a problem for him. Said material?

Datenseki. The material used to create an Enchanted Blade.



Sojo takes over this part of the explanation.




Yup, a burst. Just like what happened to Daruma/Madoka. Interesting.

Anyways, Chihiro says that only his dad could stabilize the Datenseki into something that doesn't kill a person, using his secret blacksmith arts. But Sojo has a different idea of how to make an Enchanted Blade. The Kyonagi family's regenerative cells.



Chihiro realizes what must be happening to Char right now. He's pissed— and for once, sad as well. On the verge of tears, even.



Chihiro asks Shiba what they're going to do now. Azami answers that not to worry, there's backup on the way, an elite squad from the Kamunabi. They all report directly to Azami, and are specifically called in to defeat Cloud Gouger. Here they are, the:

ANTI-CLOUD GOUGER FORCE - ELITE SORCERERS (AND DUMBASSES)​

Anyways, they get straight down to business. Their leader, Glasses (no name given yet) says that the place that Daruma told Shiba about has already been emptied out, so they're looking somewhere else now. Of course, that's when Azami tells the elite squad that Chihiro is Rokuhira's son, and thus the one who knows the most about the EBs.



Yeah, Blonde's kinda a bitch. Meanwhile, Tengu mask asks Chihiro about how he prevented all the casualties.



After this chapter, it took like, one day for them to draw fanart of tengu mask and Glasses kissing. I love this fandom.

Anyways, Chihiro then asks another question that's been on his mind; how long has he been out?



Chihiro has been in a coma for five days and immediately wakes up and wants to throw hands. He hasn't even had any breakfast yet, that's how angry he is now! But it makes sense— he made a promise to Char to protect her, now he's gotta follow through.

Glasses however, still wants Chihiro to live. But…



What is that goofy nodding from Shiba? Ah whatever.

Glasses' counteroffer is simple. His squad will find and kill Sojo, or at least distract him. Meanwhile, Chihiro will use his EB to stealthily sneak in to the next suspected location that Sojo's holed up in. This way, either Sojo dies or is slowed down enough for Char to be saved. Now, what does Chihiro think of that?

 

[StellarSeeker]

These dudes are gonna fuckin' eat it, aren't they?

 

[ScorpioSting]

Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Seems likely.

 

[ThaTrueRealmWalk]

Now hold on
Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, they have Yaoi on their side-

 

[Kermie]

Let's give them the benefit of the doubt, they have Yaoi on their side-

Click to shrink...

NO SHIT?!

IT TOOK THREE FUCKING DAYS FOR THEM TO GET SHIPPED

Spoiler: YAOI

 

[StarSingerBlue]

I absolutely love the way the Kagurabachi fandom handles their fujin (and shipping in general). One of the reason it's one of the least toxic fandoms around despite its size. Hopefully it'll stay like that after the anime adaptation.

 

[no.]

While I do enjoy the Sojo arc, it does have some pacing issues, and the anti-Cloud Gouger Squad is the biggest victim of them. Hokazono clearly wanted to establish the story's themes and set up a big climactic event in under 20 chapters, probably because he was rightfully scared of cancellation. Kagurabachi wasn't very popular until the second arc, and I'm willing to bet the reason it got big was word of mouth around the end of the first arc.

The downside of the Sojo arc's pacing being so streamlined is that, while Chihiro, Sojo, Kunishige and Char are all established well, the rest of the cast don't have any breathing room. In particular, the Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad doesn't get any time to flesh out their characterization or endear themselves to the audience before we are thrust right back into the action.

While Kagurabachi's pacing remains fast, it's definitely less frantic in later arcs, which is to its benefit.

Edit: on the topic of Kagurabachi's infamous "please draw more gay porn so we don't get cancelled" phase, it reflects general trends in the fandom that were born out of that initial fear of the series being axed.

It's been said that Kagurabachi is like if Morbius was good. Imagine that: after all the memes about "It's Morbin' time", it turns out the movie fucks hard. How do you praise it without people thinking you're just doing the meme? You have to really, really insist upon yourself to get the message across. This manifested as a fandom sort of spontaneously willing itself into existence, and the axe looming above only intensified their efforts. This has lead to a very open-minded attitude in the fandom, though on the flipside it can occasionally manifest as toxic positivity.

 

[Kermie]

Chapter 13 starts right off the back of the last one. With Glasses acting smug af. Remember, this is manga, so read right to left.

CHAPTER TWELVE - PREPARATIONS​

All that's left for the anti-Cloud Gouger squad to do is scout out Sojo's whereabouts. For now, they'll just leave Shiba and Chihiro alone.

When they leave, a day passes, and when we get back it's Shiba who's talking to Chihiro alone. He's worried about what Chihiro's been doing— the whole "my body is a machine that turns yakuza into dead yakuza" shtick.



First of all, goddamn Kunishige! No wonder someone wanted to marry you even through the war crimes! Heck, maybe someone wanted to hook up with you because of the war crimes and your… uh… katana!

Second of all, just like how Chihiro has multiple screens where we can barely see how traumatized he is, Shiba also has his multiple of his own moments, where he regrets what he's done, or compares his past to the current present. Here, he's wondering how different Chihiro at 18 is from how he and the old gang were at 18.

Then, suddenly the conversation is interrupted. It's time.



Meanwhile, on the other side of the city…



Sojo is taking a bath— he's gotta take care of his greasy ass hair after all. Apparently, this public onsen doesn't seem to care about tattoos, or maybe he just paid off the owner. Sojo considers whether Rokuhira really raised Chihiro, and where Enten came from. He at first considers that it might be possible that Rokuhira did those things on off time, since the history books didn't say anything about him post-war, but he dismisses it. Chihiro's much too obsessed with some childish "justice", after all.

As he does, some people come in. They're the guys who lent out Daruma to Sojo. They're a bit mad about the fact that… their guy's a corpse. Sojo, for his part, doesn't care. By his exact words:



No, I didn't skip any panels there. He just killed then all off for fun.

As Sojo gets out of the bath, he considers what's been going on.



He realizes that as he is, he won't be able to stand up to Chihiro, and get what he wants.

Because unlike what someone in this thread thinks, Sojo isn't just a murderer. He's also an example of a driven fan. Everything he's done up until now, was a plan to live up to his delusional fantasy of Rokuhira, the Slaughterer.

The hiring of people? It was to get more money for Datenseki.

Kidnapping Char? It was for him to be able to make his own EBs.

And the attempted massacre? All the better to get everyone to see his vision of what Rokuhira and the EBs really are. Everything Sojo is, everything Sojo does— his entire being is colored by those flowers and those blades.

So now, what he has to do is…



He walks out so confidently— there's no way that he didn't know what was out there. And when he goes out, he finishes this whole summation with a monologue of his own.



Sojo wants a world of war. A world colored by the blades like he is.

GENICHI SOJO! HOW FAR… WILL YOUR DELUSIONS GO?!



(Meanwhile, on the other end of the city…)

The building where Char's at has been located. The only people there? Three guys, because everyone expected Chihiro to go after Sojo. That's their last mistake.



Yes, Enten's a remote drone now. Dear god. As Chihiro gets closer, a phone rings. Same kind from before. It's the one guy out of the four guards who was on break. And what does the guy receiving the call say?



I love how the Chihiro head bandage was revealed here. And yes, I still didn't skip any panels. This manga is so cold man. No words can be said.

 

[SolarGemX]

Well this is interesting... I have a feeling all of the special sword wilders are some kind of intense.
Chihiro can make the goldfish move like a drone? Why do I feel like these blades work on Devil Fruit Rules? That they ARE powerful, but only somebody that fully understands them in and out will be able to push them to their limits. I would have never though about making the creatures that are summoned into drones.
I wonder how far you can push a swords ability... and how you can side grade said abilities into completely different powersets.

 

[no.]

This chapter expounds on an aspect of Kagurabachi's setting that's pretty important: the masquerade broke recently. Up until the Seitei War, there was a magical society that existed parallel to the mundane one, a la Harry Potter or Nasuverse. Then, those wacky wizards had a war so huge and destructive that it couldn't be kept under wraps. The world at large was violently introduced to the existence of magic, and it changed everything. Now, the world is essentially in a transitionary state. Twenty years down the line, it'll probably look a lot like Shadowrun.

The Seitei War is a pretty unsubtle allegory for World War II, one which will get even less subtle as the series continues. Pretty much no country was the same after that was as it was before, and the same is true here.

 

[Kermie]

Alright, no more title jokes. Let's lock in.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - ELITES​

The chapter starts with Sojo facing down the Elite Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad. Y'know, Cloud Gouger. His main weapon.



Classic Sojo. Bro is about to get his ass kicked by the anti-Sojo gang and all he can think about is getting more worthy opponents. Also, those are definitely reused pictures of both Shiba and Azami.



Sojo's blasted away, and we cut back to the past— with Chihiro giving his intel on Cloud Gouger.



Chihiro says that Cloud Gouger is much stronger than any sorcerer on their own. Glasses responds with an agreement. They won't only need strong sorcerers to deal with an enchanted blade, they'll need a foolproof plan.

Back to the present, Sojo realizes the trick— the ACGS is using the girl's ice constructs to force him in an aerial battle above the city, where he can't reach the civilians.



As the elite squad closes in on Sojo, they begin to barrage him with everything they've got. First, Tengu Mask attempts to throw hands…



Then, Glasses comes in with an assist as well! (yes, I know he has a real name now, I like Glasses more!)



We cut back to Chihiro. According to him, what makes Cloud Gouger so deadly is its Charge— when Sojo gets a chance to rest, he'll be able to charge up a full powered Mei lightning bolt, and nobody will be able to survive that. As such, the Elite Squad essentially has to jump Sojo continuously if they want to have any chance of winning.

Of course, Sojo has a countermeasure for this, an attack that needs much less charge. He uses Kou in order to create water, and then…



Zap! Everybody gets hit by a fairly painful electric shock. But none of the elite squad falls down. Why? Because they planned for Sojo to do this.

According to Chihiro once again, Kou into Mei is a pretty standard Cloud Gouger technique, with the electrified water not doing too much to the CG user while damaging everyone around them. Why does Chihiro know so much about the intensely painful electric weaponry? I dunno, blame Rokuhira.

Chihiro says that once Sojo's used Kou-Mei, then it's time to wait, because once he's done the first hit of that he'll have time to charge. Oh, and they also have to:



Yeah, I don't know why they're in the restroom. Hokazono's weird. Mask guy (the other one) asks why they should let him charge (and y'know, electrocute them). Chihiro says that they should let him fire off Mei, taking advantage of his cockiness to let him whiff. That way, the civilians won't be hurt, and he'll be vulnerable and without Cloud Gouger for a period of ten seconds. After that, the squad can get in and win.

So the plan goes like this:

1. Approach Sojo.
2. Jump Sojo, not giving him any time to charge.
3. Launch Sojo into the air, getting him away from civilians.
4. Let Sojo electrocute everyone with Kou into Mei, now giving him an opportunity to charge.
5. Let Sojo launch a full powered Mei.
6. ???
7. Sojo is paralyzed, ???
8. Kill him, take back EB, win.

Not bad strategizing for a 18 year old. As for those question marks? Chihiro trusts the elite squad to cook and figure something out. Yes, really.



Sojo finishes charging, and he's fully ready to kill everybody on the battlefield. But there's something he's missing. He hasn't charged up enough yet to fully hit everyone— his hits are going to be partially absorbed by the water from Kou.

And Glasses knows that.



Sojo's Mei has whiffed, absorbed by the water that Glasses sent up into the air, and he's pissed now. Thanks to more of Chihiro's "cowardly" hit-and-run techniques, he's on the back foot, with no more sorcery to aid him.

He's a cornered animal, as the hunters of the elite squad begin their assault.



Meanwhile, there's something else happening, over on the other side of the city where Chihiro is. A sorcerer is giving him information on where something— or someone— is being held within one of Sojo's bases.



Chihiro flies through the base, doing his best Solid Snake/Spider-Man impression and sneaking by the rooftops and shadows. As he does, something that his father told him comes back to mind.



The Datenseki is essentially, a constantly mutating thing. It's something without any defined limitations, that can change in response to the challenges in front of it. This made it a perfect material for the Enchanted Blades, the perfect ore to make weapons of war from. And now…



Both Enchanted Blades are about to reach a new level.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN - END​

 

[SolarGemX]

Just quickly read this as Project Prometheus hell is happening... Oh shit the swords can evolve with their users!? Shit is going to hit the fan...
And now back to hell.

 

[Kermie]

I'm not sure who I envy less: the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad or us Prometheus rollers/readers.

 

[StarSingerBlue]

I'm not sure who I envy less: the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad or us Prometheus rollers/readers.

Click to shrink...

Us Prometheus readers vascillate between heaven and hell

 

[no.]

This chapter has the first hint about how the Enchanted Blades were made, a very slow reveal that to this day remains nowhere near finished. Datenseki is something that grows, both in the sense that it breaks thermodynamics by multiplying the energy put into it, and in the sense that it allows the Enchanted Blades to grow over time to suit the wielder. The swords aren't thinking beings, but they are alive in a sense. What Kunishige did was more than just craftsmanship and sorcery, it was a massive scientific leap that he didn't explain to a single soul, because if it got out, it would such a major paradigm shift for… everything.

Aside from that, this chapter doesn't have too much to talk about, it's mostly just a pretty good fight. A consequence of the Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad not getting any time to develop.

 

[Kermie]

Merry Christmas everybody. Here's a cool little extra chapter before my Saturday chapter, because I've got free time. Also I really want to catch up to current KB.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - TRUE REALM​

Our chapter starts out with a cool cover page. Quick, save this as a wallpaper!



Ok, now for the chapter to actually start. We begin with yet another flashback to Chihiro talking to the Anti-Cloud Gouger squad. It's about what Kunishige was talking about last chapter.



Remember, the Enchanted Blades don't follow any thermodynamics or linear scaling. They're like mutants. They can just do shit once they've been bonded to their user for long enough.

With that in mind, let's check back in on the Rescue Char operation.



It's Shiba, who's appeared outside of Sojo's Child Murder Mansion. Looks like he was doing his classic torture interrogation beforehand.

Shiba explains that he and Chihiro also need to find out about the Hishaku and about the Shinuchi underground auction that Sojo's going to. As such, Shiba's out here splitting up and going to this underground shed where there might be info, while Chihiro focuses on getting Char.

Chihiro is supposed to scout the area and not go in (he will) and avoid any combat/sorcerers (he won't).

And then…



Surprise! Chihiro gets jumped. Who could have seen this coming. He just barely manages to dodge this dude— his reaction time's off today.

As the entire prison/human experiment complex begins to chase Chihiro, we cut to Char. She's not doing too well.



As it turns out, having your flesh harvested and being dehumanized for multiple days on end isn't very good for your head. She still recognizes that Chihiro's getting there, so yay!

Right after he gets past like, eight different sorcerers I'm not even gonna bother to introduce.



Chihiro barely manages to dodge this— his left arm's practically out of commission, and his body in general is operating under a speed debuff. All of that, just because he absorbed one Mei from Sojo. Yikes. That's one thing I like about Kagurabachi— all of the injuries usually have some sort of effect.



When the lights turn back on, Chihiro's gone. The sorcerers spread out to look for him, but they won't be finding squat. He's hiding in the rafters, and similar to Char, he's having a very Bad Time.



I love how the panels slowly get smaller here, like Chihiro's trying to compress all his feelings down, like he's been doing for years at this point. But it isn't working. Instead, he closes his eyes—



And we're in a flashback. It's Rokuhira once again, just chilling out in another goofy shirt. For reference, all the shirts that he has are supposed to be like, those goofy novelty shirts that tourists buy. This will be a running gag, that always shows up even during serious flashbacks. He's just a silly guy! (Who probably killed millions with his insane nuke-swords but I digress.)

He asks what Chihiro's sitting outside for. Chihiro says that he's just taking a break, since he's getting a bit tired of being more responsible than his own father. Oh, and some other things but that isn't really important, just the fact that he's wondering about his family legacy.



We still haven't seen Chihiro's mom yet. Place your bets on what happened to her. Deadbeat or Dead? As of the current chapter, Ch. 61 we still don't what happened to her.

But yeah, looks like Chihiro got his personality from her. But Rokuhira butts into that assertion— in his opinion, Chihiro doesn't need to be a blacksmith like him. Or like him at all.



"Be yourself, Chihiro. Don't get obsessed."

Well, 1/2 isn't too bad. But what Rokuhira's giving here is good advice. Chihiro's gotta do his own thing. He can't act so stuck up and stern all the time.

Ok, maybe only the stuck up part, the sternness might be a part of him, but still!

Rokuhira tries to make Chihiro laugh, and it genuinely looks like it's working. He is genuinely goofy ngl.



Chihiro smiles for a second. And then, in a beautifully paneled sequence, he goes from wiping away tears of laughter…



To keeping his eyes open. He's gotta lock in now.

Meanwhile, the sorcerers have returned for their experiment of the day (read: to grab more of Char's flesh). Once again, we get more vague flashbacks to Char's mom, as the surgeons close in.



One Enten is closing in. And with that, comes Chihiro. By this point, the goldfish is sort of associated with him, in the same way you associated a bat with Batman or the "S" with Superman.

As he closes in, we get a monologue from Chihiro, about the Enchanted Blade. Or rather, about how he's going to use the Enchanted Blade.



Each goldfish/attack of Enten ends up falling underneath a certain "category" of thing. Nishiki "cloaks" Chihiro in energy, and represents the "cloak" of his coat. Aka "absorbs" an attack and "absorbs" one use of sorcery.

That's when it hits us, though Chihiro's always known this next tidbit subconsciously. The true power, the "true realm" of the Enchanted Blades isn't some thermodynamics breaking bullshit (though that is a part of it)— it's conceptual. It's an Imagination-Based Superpower, with the limitations being that it slowly grows as long as he fights with it.

As long as he can fit his idea underneath "cloaking", "absorbing", and "long range", his options are theoretically limitless. His father was right all along— to become the best he can be, he really does have to be more flexible.

So far during this story, he's been using Kuro as some sort of "long range slash", but what if he didn't? What if instead…



He used a long range, all out barrage?

CHAPTER FOURTEEN - END​

 

[SolarGemX]

OH.
OH!
Thats niiiiiice.
Yup! The swords follow DF rules. If you can associate it rven vaguely under a specific word, the possibilities are endless.

 

[no.]

The car sequence piqued my interest, but this chapter is what really captured my attention. To be able to craft a page as hard-hitting as the "keep a cool head" page with only 14 chapters of buildup is a phenomenal feat of art and writing. In fact, I would argue that the one-two punch of this chapter plus a later one is what saved Kagurabachi from the axe. This makes this chapter… kind of metatextual, in a way.

Shonen Jump is currently running 23 manga(22 if you discount HunterxHunter, which is usually on hiatus and comes out with a new chapter whenever its author is feeling up to it). At point in time the series was near the very bottom of Jump's table of contents, which generally correlates with upper management's confidence in a series. One Piece sits at the top, with the big dogs of the current generation filling out the rest of the top five. The next dozen are the middle of the pack, a rat race competing for readers' attention but generally doing well enough to not be in danger. Then there's the bottom five. That's death row - if you are down there for too long, you risk cancellation every week. Kagurabachi was there.

And so, we see Chihiro desperately struggling to survive as Hokazono figuratively does the same. And just as Chihiro experiences a breakthrough at his lowest point, so does Kagurabachi. Neither are out of the woods yet, but there is hope. I have no way of knowing, but I wonder if that feeling of resonance gave Hokazono some kind of inspiration. It would explain why the last stretch of the Sojo arc has so much sauce.

 

[WayWard_Animal]

Honestly my first thought when I saw this scene was

"Oooooo More Murder Fish."

 

[Kermie]

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - FOOD​

Food, huh? Reminds me of an earlier chapter. Strap in, because this chapter is going to be a ride.

Like many chapters before this, we start with a flashback. This time however, it isn't Chihiro. It's Char, enjoying a nice home-cooked meal.



Man, now I'm hungry for a katsu sandwich. Anyways, Ms. Kyonagi asks Char about her injury that she got. Char says that it's already been fixed, thanks to the whole "hyper regeneration" thing they have going on.

Ms. Kyonagi cautions Char to be careful with her power, since she's going to school soon and it might be discovered. Char asks why they should hide the Kyonagi regeneration. Ms. Kyonagi, not wanting to tell Char about the "you might be slaughtered and eaten" thing, just says that:



Which, let's put some respect on her name right now. Single moms and dads deserve recognition. Also, skill issue on Mr. Kyonagi's part, I would never run away from somebody as good-looking and nice as that, never mind the cooking. (I probably would just fend off the yakuza trying to kidnap my family, I'm just built different )

Ok, now let's get back to business. Ms. Kyonagi tells Char that she shouldn't end up like her, alone thanks to her bloodline. Char asks, in that innocent manner that kids do, if that means that her mom isn't happy. Ms. Kyonagi's response?



With that out of the way, we finally resume the story. Chihiro's about to use Enten's untapped potential.



That's one thing that I love about Chihiro's character design. His white scar stands out brightly among the sometimes gray backgrounds and skin of the manga panels. It does so as well in color pages, but it really stands out in the bottom panel.

And while we're talking about art direction— have you noticed how Hokazono barely ever uses motion lines? That's because of all the western movies he watched, like John Wick. Thanks to his heavy cinema inspiration, panels like that top one look more like screencaps from a movie. You can visualize in your head, or at least get the idea that each Kuro is sort of vacantly floating around. We also see this type of paneling in Chainsaw Man author Tatsuki Fujimoto's works, one of Hokazono's other stated inspirations. He was also inspired by movies, funnily enough.

As Chihiro readies his sword, Daredevil Lite begins to charge at him. That's the biggest mistake of his life.



And hilariously enough, his last mistake. This Kuro didn't just cut through wooden buildings, like the one Chihiro used on Daruma. This one just sliced clean through iron gauntlets.

One of the yakuza men remark that Chihiro just cut through that guy with one slash. That's when the narrator jumps in to explain the misconception.



Kuro: Scatter isn't really a big cut, not in the same way that base Kuro is. While Kuro is a flying slash that can take the form of a goldfish temporarily, K:S is like a school of fish, all swimming together and striking as one slash.

Basically, in exchange for consuming a lot of Chihiro's spirit energy in one blow, the resulting flying slash is extremely quick, efficient, and lethal. It also doesn't tax Chihiro's body much, since the Kuro are doing a lot of the work for him.

If normal Kuro is like an armor piercing round, Kuro: Scatter is like a minigun. Or to use a better analogy, K:S is a chainsaw compared to Kuro's sword. Lot more electricity consumption, way better at cutting flesh (at least in fiction).

The narrator also explains that Chihiro didn't come up with this whole "school" thing out of some sort of logical plan. He found it as a breakthrough, in the same way that the best sports players learn their specific style of play and special tricks out there on the court. As such, he subconsciously understands all of Enten's properties and moves better now.



I didn't notice it on my first read, but look behind the speaking Yakuza's shoulder. There's Chihiro. When we're not going at Sojo speeds and looking from the perspective of a normal non-sorcerer, Nishiku is terrifying. This is the same mode that allowed Chihiro to catch up with a moving Char and dive through the window without getting any injuries.

We flash back to Sojo, talking to Ms. Kyonagi. Thanks to somebody who leaked their location and regenerative powers, she and Char are now captured, both of them kept in a cage. According to Sojo, right after the Seitei War, a (false) rumor spread that eating Kyonagi flesh makes somebody immortal, so the entire clan was massacred. You and I already know this, but…



In case you're wondering, this is the exact point where Sojo went from "cool villain" to "ok, he's gotta die". What the fuck, man.

As the days go on, more and more of their flesh is extracted by Sojo's researchers, constantly regrowing as it's cut away. All so that he can make his own Enchanted Blade with the one substance that's close enough to Datenseki but also regenerating. After one particularly bad day, we get this heartbreaking sequence.



Note the parallels between this panel and the original "happiest person in the world" panel. We've got a similar panel size, but this time it's only Char in frame, and it's Char saying that she's happy to her mom.

We cut back to the guys outside Char's current cell. According to them, Ms. Kyonagi stole the key and killed a lot of guards before getting out with Char.



Char can go through a vent, but Ms. Kyonagi has to stay. This is the last time they'll be together. But Char still wants to stay with her mom. But…



Ms. Kyonagi wants Char to live a happy life. One outside of the cage, where she can live whoever she wants. For that to happen, it doesn't matter if Ms. Kyonagi dies. A good mother would throw down her life for her kids, after all.

So Char goes through the vent, and we cut back to the present day. Even though her mom allowed her to escape, it's only been a few days, maybe a week or two since then. They still caught Char after all that.



This is Char only a few days before now, by the way. She spent a few days running before getting to Hinao's place and going through all that shit again. But at the same time…

If it wasn't for Ms. Kyonagi's sacrifice, Char wouldn't have learned that resistance to adversity that she has now. And Char would have never met Shiba, Hinao, and Chihiro.

The guards outside of Char's cell spot Chihiro, and mock her. What is it with the bad guys in this series and mocking children? No chill. As always, they really can't help but focus on one thing: that Ms. Kyonagi's sacrifice was meaningless.

TWIN ONI MASKS - DEADLY SORCE—​

But it wasn't, because now, after all this time, Chihiro's here. And now, the Oni Mask brothers are dead, not deadly, sorcerers. Shame. Deserved it for shit talking Char though. It does seem like everybody who mocks Char usually gets dammed to a horrible death soon, like they deserve.

Char looks up at Chihiro, and remembers the principles that her mom taught her. "The happiest person on Earth". What did her mom say about that?



"Live, Char."

Get both of these kids therapists, and get Chihiro his Medal of Honor already!

CHAPTER FIFTEEN - END​

 

[Kermie]

Welp, that was a bit of a gut punch. Why don't we relax with some Reddit reactions, filling in some things I missed?



(Curator's Note: "Tenoi" is a nonsense word coined by the fans which is used to praise Kagurabachi. It means goddamn nothing but is commonly used as a synonym of "peak".)

 

[WayWard_Animal]

Kermie none of these people (and future ones) are getting Therapy any time soon as evidenced by the later chapters.

 

[Kermie]

Kermie none of these people (and future ones) are getting Therapy any time soon as evidenced by the later chapters.

Click to shrink...

There is not a single person in Japan qualified to deal with all this baggage, tbh.

 

[no.]

The montage of Chihiro fighting his way to Char, intercut with her mother telling her to never give up on hope for a better life, is some powerful stuff. That feeling of hope despite everything, that better things can be built, is the series' thesis statement. Underneath the stylized Kill Bill and John Wick-esque aesthetics and the political allegories, Kagurabachi is an optimistic story. That, I feel, is why it avoids feeling too edgy, trenchcoats and all. There's a lot of empathy to its storytelling a sadness that things are as bad as they are and an unshakeable conviction that they can be made right. This tone is quite similar to some of the best Batman media, which makes sense, because Hokazono is a big Batman fan.

I want to say more, but I'll save further comments about the Sojo arc as a whole until this readthrough gets to the end of it.

 

[King_Rule]

Ah, that was cute. Now I wonder how the Anti-Cloud Gouger Squad is doing. They must be kicking Sojo's ass....

....right?