I was going to just skip straight to Yamamoto's intro chapter.

[makeste]

But then I got to reading the chapter in between, and too many amazing things were happening for me to not make wry observations about them.


1. So not only are Tsuna's test scores a dismal failure, but they're not even the proper amount of dismal failure! Twenty-six? Really, Tsuna? You couldn't have scored one more lousy point just to give all of us fans a good chuckle? Fine, be that way.

Also, Tsuna seems to swear more in these early translations. Though considering they were done by a group called "wtf", I'm not surprised.


2. The students can't help but notice an extraordinary change in Gokudera's attitude toward Tsuna since the last chapter! Their explanation? "Tsuna probably became Gokudera's bitch."

1. LOL
   
2. They kind of got it backwards, didn't they? Though otherwise, it's pretty close to the mark.

3. Blah blah Gokudera assaulted the teacher blah blah EXPELLED blah blah no wait they just have to dig up a 15-year-old time capsule instead. Who digs up a time capsule that's only 15 years old? "Oh wow, look, a VHS tape! People still used these back then! HAW HAW GOOD TIMES." Back in the day this was what passed for a complex plot. |D


4. Oh no, if Tsuna gets expelled he won't be able to see the girl he likes! THAT IS ABSOLUTELY THE WORST THING ABOUT POTENTIALLY BEING EXPELLED. You can't say Tsuna doesn't have his priorities in order.

Can you imagine if this attitude had persisted into the Future arc? "Damn it, if Byakuran takes over the world and kills all my friends and family... I won't be able to see Kyoko-chan anymore!" Le gasp.


5. And this is what made me decide I had to do a writeup on this chapter. XD For whatever extremely bizarre reason, Reborn suddenly decides that now is the perfect time to VOMIT INTO TSUNA'S EYE. In hindsight, there were some pretty clear warning signs that this would one day evolve into a manga where velociraptor heads erupt out of the ground and then explode.

I hadn't actually noticed that Leon was absent from the first three chapters. WHOOPS. Gosh I'm observant.


6. I think this is the only time we've ever seen someone other than Reborn using one of Reborn's patented hiding places. "Reborn-san was instructing me on the basics of killing." You're a good mentor, Reborn.

There's a quote from the movie Valkyrie that goes something like, "Any problem on earth can be solved with the careful application of high explosives." I like to think Gokudera has a poster of that quote hanging on the wall over his bed or something.


7. Heeeeey well what do you know, Tsuna's professor is a dick! Were you surprised? I was not surprised.


8. But Reborn has an even better solution to this problem than dynamite: DYING WILL BULLET, MUTHAFUCKAH.

Yeah, you go, Tsuna. Dowse for time capsules with your dying will. ...????


9. Success!


10. SURPRISE, IT TURNS OUT THE DICK PROFESSOR WAS A FRAUD AND A SHAM ALL ALONG. A happy ending for everyone! Except that professor guy, fuck him.

Gokudera reassures Tsuna that he was never in any danger of being expelled because Gokudera would "trade in my life to prevent anything like that from happening!" It's good to know that Gokudera has his priorities straight as well. XD


So what have we learned from this misadventure? Mostly that the combination of Gokudera, Reborn, and Tsuna is highly volatile and prone to disaster. Clearly some saner force is needed to help balance out the equation and keep Tsuna from losing his mind. A "tranquil rain" type, if you will, who can "wash over everything" and restore calm, etc. etc.

Yeah, that would work.

Comments

[escherichiacola.livejournal.com]

For whatever extremely bizarre reason, Reborn suddenly decides that now is the perfect time to VOMIT INTO TSUNA'S EYE.

If I ever wonder "when did Reborn get so bizarre?" I'll think back to this moment.

[makeste.livejournal.com]

The point of no return, I think.

[irtiolre.livejournal.com]

Who digs up a time capsule that's only 15 years old? "Oh wow, look, a VHS tape! People still used these back then! HAW HAW GOOD TIMES."

LOLOLOLOLOLOLLLLLLL OMG. VHS? I TOTALLY FORGOT ABOUT THOSE THINGS. 8'D

Dowse for time capsules with your dying will. ...????

I think he was dousing for a crack so they could split the playground. The teacher said they'll definitely be expelled unless they split the playground or something like that. I think. |D

[makeste.livejournal.com]

I STILL HAVE A BUNCH OF THOSE. I need to get rid of them, actually.

Well, dowsing for time capsules, dowsing for weaknesses in the playground... it all amounts to the same amount of wtf, really. XD

[irtiolre.livejournal.com]

XDD BUT THEY IS COOL. I'm going to keep mine so I can show my kids and say, "See kids, this is what we used to use before DVDs (or whatever new thing they come up with in the future)"

That is true. XDD;

[makeste.livejournal.com]

And hey, maybe one day VHS tapes will become so scarce they'll be collector's items. Or maybe I watch too much Cowboy Bebop. XD

[ojuzu.livejournal.com]

I think we all do, really. :D

[ojuzu.livejournal.com]

"Tsuna probably became Gokudera's bitch."

I think the most hilarious thing on that page is the bit where Tsuna is going "I can't have people thinking I know someone who's a gangster!" Tsuna, you're IN THE MAFIA. XD

In hindsight, there were some pretty clear warning signs that this would one day evolve into a manga where velociraptor heads erupt out of the ground and then explode.

Come to think of it . . . yeah. I don't know why I was actually surprised at Kikyou's box weapon. I really don't.

[makeste.livejournal.com]

I really don't know why he freaks out so much about people associating him with the mob. If anything, having people like Gokudera around just means he gets picked on a little less (just a few chapters ago, we got a great demo of what happens when they catch him without any of his bodyguards around XD).

All the warning signs were there. We just didn't heed them.

[ojuzu.livejournal.com]

For someone who used to sigh so much about being a failure, Tsuna certainly goes out of his way to encourage it.

Now I'm wondering if he has some sort of Tragic Past that made him long for 'normality', possibly involving meeting Xanxus at a young age. (That could give anyone a Tragic Past.)

[makeste.livejournal.com]

HE DOES omg. I think part of him really likes being a failure because it means there's no pressure or expectations weighing down on him. But then he goes and bitches about it all the same. Oh, Tsuna.

And yeah, I'd say that a childhood encounter with Xanxus would definitely qualify as a tragic past. Oh wow that would be traumatizing. XD

[ojuzu.livejournal.com]

I--I kind of want to write that fic now. It would be both angsty and hilarious:

"GET OUT OF MY WAY, SCUM." *kicks baby!Tsuna out of the doorway*

"Xanxus, what the hell do you think you're doing?! That's the Outside Advisor's son!"

"Whatever, Federico, I have people to yell at and brooding to do. Leave me alone or I'll shoot you."

"I swear, you're the worst little brother I've ever had." *ruffles Xanxus' hair and casually dodges the shot*

[nilly-chan.livejournal.com]

My favourite part if this chapter is totally when Gokudera goes "And hey, the tests in this school are a chinch, huh?" and Tsuna just freaks out because he's way outclassed by a guy who's a violent jerk-off with a bully's disposition and a tendency to skip class. xD

[makeste.livejournal.com]

OHMYGODSOCUTE. XDDD Yeah, Tsuna, Gokudera is more intelligent than you. Stop and think about that for a sec. THE GUY WHO TRIED TO BLOW UP HALF THE SCHOOL GETS PERFECT GRADES WHILE YOU'RE BARELY SCRAPING BY WITH TWENTY-SIXES.

His liiiiiiiife. :'( Heh, love the pic. ♥