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Retrospective KHR Theatre: Act Two
When last we left our hero Sawada Tsunayoshi, he had succeeded in becoming middle school famous (like Internet famous, but lamer) by stripping down to his underwear and making Mochida more aerodynamic.I have skipped chapter 2 because it is boring, so all you need to know is that since then, Tsuna has helped win a volleyball tournament, been abused an additional six times (so the count is now 15), and been stalked by a mysterious figure in Amano's first tentative use of foreshadowing.
And now, chapter 3.
1. It always seems to start with transfer students, doesn't it? Anyway, ladies and gentlemen, I'd like you all to meet Tsuna's new soon-to-be right hand man, Gokudera Hayato. ...Okay, you can stop laughing now.
Oh, hell, I can't deny there's much to mock. XD It's like coming across someone's old high school yearbook, and flipping through the pictures laughing at how everyone used to have eighties hair. OH AMANO, YOU AND YOUR CRAZY OLD ART STYLE. Why is his hair sticking up inexplicably on the sides like that? Why is his forehead/brow so huge and prominent? Why does he look so bizarrely fat? "Because it was the Daily Life, and we all looked like that, okay? IT WAS A SIMPLER TIME, GEEZ, LAY OFF ALREADY."
Oddly enough, all the girls in Tsuna's class are instantly attracted to him, which just goes to show how ugly the competition must be, for realz yo.
2. Tsuna's first reaction toward Gokudera is to be pissed off (because HOW DARE HE MAKE HIS NOT-GIRLFRIEND SMILE!!!1), so clearly they are getting off to a wonderful start.
For his part, Gokudera introduces himself to Tsuna with a good desk-kneeing, which serves to make his female classmates even more hot and bothered because who doesn't love a surly thirteen-year-old who kicks things around and picks on the wimpiest kid in class for no reason. Is that Hana who's leading the I Heart Gangsters pack? Could it be that Ryohei has some competition?
3. Ah, Amano anticipated my question of "why exactly do they find Gokudera so hot?" and confirmed my suspicions about his competition. In hindsight, suddenly I can see why Kaoru can pass for a student in this school.
4. And Gokudera reveals his true intention: to become the next Vongola boss himself! I remember when I first read this; at this point, I fully expected that Gokudera would end up becoming a rival-type character, a semi-antagonist to help keep Tsuna on his toes. It was what I had been brought up to expect from shounen plots. Ohoho, how wrong I was.
5. And boom goes the dynamite. I-I'm sorry, I wanted to say it. XD Yep, Tsuna, that's how he rolls. You don't even know the half of it yet.
But far be it from Reborn to just let the two of them duke it out unsupervised. He intervenes just as Tsuna is about to be blown to smithereens, then proceeds to greet Gokudera and explain that he's the one who called him over from Italy. (I've always wondered what made him do this, incidentally; I know that Dera's Secret Bullet story suggests that the Ninth had a hand in it, but I'd like to know more about what prompted it someday. They really couldn't have picked a better kid for the job, but that only became apparent in hindsight. I guess it's that Vongola intuition at work again.)
6. Anyway, so Gokudera's all "SO IF I KILL HIM I GET TO BE THE TENTH, RIGHT?" and Reborn's all, "Yeah, sure," and he is so obviously lying through his teeth that I have to wonder why the hell Gokudera, who trusts everyone else about as far as he could throw them (and I suppose at first glance it seems like you could throw Reborn pretty far, but the problem is that you would die a horrible painful death before you ever got close enough to try), actually seems to believe this COMPLETELY RIDICULOUS CLAIM, but I guess hope springs eternal?
7. So a fight ensues and after shoving like nine cigarettes in his mouth at once (just... WHY?), Gokudera lights his bombs and stands there grinning like a fucking maniac because he is just that cool you guys. Then Reborn interrupts and explains that he's nicknamed Smoking Bomb because he smokes and he has bombs (...makes sense...). And Tsuna runs around like a headless chicken shouting things like "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING!" because apparently he hasn't caught on yet that no. THEY'RE REALLY NOT.
8. So Reborn evens the odds with some dying will hijinks. Tsuna starts defusing bombs because apparently his one last regret was not putting out fuses. Gokudera takes this all in with remarkable aplomb, by which I mean he makes a D8< face and starts tossing out even MORE bombs, because BOMBS SOLVE EVERYTHING.
9. BUT THEN the unthinkable happens: Gokudera lights one bomb too many and then DROPS THEM ALL LIKE A FAILING FAILURE. To his credit, he has done many, many stupid things over the course of this series, and yet I don't believe he has ever managed to top the stupidity of this one profoundly moronic act. So that means he is learning!
Anyway, it looks like the end! But then, suddenly, Tsuna the Defusing Wonder intervenes! Heedless of his own safety, he puts out the rest of the bombs, saving Gokudera's life. Thanks for that, Tsuna.
10. Gokudera is immediately filled with and kowtows before the almighty Tenth boss, pledging to serve him forever and follow him to the ends of the earth and he may or may not have also dedicated his firstborn child to him. And Tsuna is like "SAY WHAT?" but Reborn is all, "Gokudera became your subordinate because of your strength, Tsuna! :D" and so that is the story of how Tsuna acquired his first subordinate, whose completely platonic and heterosexual loyalty would prove to know no bounds.
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Did I ever tell you how much I love you and your wittiness? XD
lmfao. Gokudera looked really special back then. AND LOL HE DOES LOOK FAT IN THAT ONE PANEL.
I forgot how angry and pissy he used to be.
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SO VERY SPECIAL. And I think it has something to do with the way the folds in his shirt are drawn, or maybe the fact that his shirt is hanging loose and we can't see where his waist is, but whatever it is, he definitely looks like he needs to hit up Jenny Craig.
It's kind of scary to think that the Gokudera we know and love nowadays is actually the mellowed-out version. XDD
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I can't imagine Tsuna just giving up (like he did during volleyball) these days and not have Reborn bust his chops.
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I was surprised he almost got away with it even in chapter 2. Reborn was a little more hands off than I remember; in my memory he was going around shooting Tsuna with the dying will bullet every two seconds JUST BECAUSE, but it's not really the case, I guess. He likes to sit back and see if Tsuna can do things on his own first. THE ANSWER ALWAYS SEEMS TO BE "NO", BUT ALL THE SAME.
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joking aside, I am so glad he does not look like that now. XD
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But I would invite him over for tea and non-poisonous foodstuffs, and possibly attempt to ruffle his hair when he wasn't looking, because the early chapters do nothing to reduce his adorableness. XD
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...it would be amazing. XD
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Tsuna starts defusing bombs because apparently his one last regret was not putting out fuses.
I wish I could psychologically trick myself into changing my last regrets to something that I just should've done but didn't feel like it, & then get shot with the Dying Will Bullet. "I never...wrote...my final essay...REBORN! I'LL WRITE ABOUT JOYCE CRITICISM WITH MY DYING WILL!" You could use it to clean house, do your taxes, all sorts of things.
As I recall, this was the chapter wherein I decided to go ahead & read all extant chapters of Reborn. It being Gokudera's first major appearance is not a coincidence. :x ♥ It's the deranged expressions.
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ME TOO HAHA. Most convenient plot device ever. Except for the part where after you get shot ten times all your most embarrassing secrets pop up all over your body and you die. XD BUT SOMETIMES I THINK IT WOULD ALMOST BE WORTH IT.
There is something awfully compelling about him, even with the weird old art style uglying him up. For me I think it was the fact that he had such a radical personality change in such a short span of time. I WAS MESMERIZED. XD
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at least after Amano changed her drawing style?Aaaaaaand we get a first taste of Fail!dera. But we still love him XD
Eeeee I can't wait for the Yamamoto one!
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Actually, my pet theory is that coming into a shounen manga for the first time, Amano had to de-shoujo-ify her naturally pretty art style, and went way overboard. And then over time, the prettiness slowly worked its way back in.Heh, I love him all the more because he's so failish. *pats Dera*
YAMA'S IS GONNA BE FUN, HEH.
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It's hilarious how everything used to be about Kyoko-chan XD and he was probably fat-looking because he had so much dynamite hidden on him O_o geez, I almost forgot he used to fight like that.
His face is just epic when he's stuffing the cigarettes in his mouth but FFFF I FORGOT JUST HOW MUCH THAT KID SMOKED HOLY SHIT MAN
BUT THEN the unthinkable happens: Gokudera lights one bomb too many and then DROPS THEM ALL LIKE A FAILING FAILURE.
HAHAHA OMG I FORGOT IT WENT DOWN LIKE THIS -- I SEEM TO HAVE FORGOTTEN MANY THINGS ;___; sadgkllslkgh
GOKUDERAAAA
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I THINK THAT FOR THAT ONE SCENE, AMANO JUST WANTED TO GO ABOVE AND BEYOND AND REALLY HAMMER IN THE FACT THAT HE IS SMOKING BOMB. BECAUSE HE SMOKES, GET IT? DO YOU GET IT SEE ALL THE CIGARETTES HE'S GOT, DO YOU SEE THEM? SEE??!
And I'm just like, "Yeah, WE GOT IT." XDD
Heh, yeah, Gokudera's origins are not so much humble as they are hilarious. The Daily Life was gooooood times.
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because HOW DARE HE MAKE HIS NOT-GIRLFRIEND SMILE!!!1 This. This made me laugh. Ah, unrequited love. Ffft. I seriously would have thought his last regret at that time would be for not punching Gokudera in the face because how dare he impress Kyoko without even trying! But alas, it was to put out dynamite wicks because it's just so much fun to have second degree burns.
I don't believe he has ever managed to top the stupidity of this one profoundly moronic act. So that means he is learning! So true! Yay for learning some common sense there, Gokudera!
he may or may not have also dedicated his firstborn child to him ... I wouldn't doubt he did. Oh, Gokudera, what won't you do for your boss? You even follow his apparently telepathic orders! Gotta love this guy, he's definitely on my favorite character list
though, admittedly, most of the reborn! cast is, fft.no subject
Tsuna is a complicated young man with many regrets, but apparently the dying will bullet only affects those most conveniently related to the plot. For which he is fortunate.
Indeed! Though I actually just remembered that in the beginning of the Varia arc, he was again stumbling around and nearly blowing himself to bits while trying to train himself, so maybe it wasn't as permanent a lesson as I would have hoped. XD
He really is a great character, though I agree that it's a very tough cast list to pick favorites from. They're all awesome, heh.
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Gokudera takes this all in with remarkable aplomb, by which I mean he makes a D8< face
8'DDD
I-I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING FOR SOME REASONI eagerly await the next chapter! 8DDD
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Heh, I can't wait to do the next one; so far they've been really fun.
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Oh, Dokudera, how I missed thee.
That misspelling is actually on purpose as when I read these old chapters, I never did remember his name and always when when pressed on the issue produced 'Dokudera' as my guess. xDThough I really shouldn't be reading this, I do think I really needed all that laughter.
Thank you, bb. ♥♥
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This chapter really was nostalgic. It's important to go back and revisit our main characters' failtastic origins every now and then, I think. Fun, too. Glad you enjoyed it. ♥