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Happy Day After Thanksgiving, everyone!
Yes, that's including everyone not from the US! Because even if you don't celebrate American Thanksgiving, everyone can celebrate the day after Thanksgiving! This is true of most other major holidays as well. But I digress.Now where did we leave off last week? Oh yes, that's right; Gokudera was being an amazing badass.
1. My oh my. Somehow, the word that comes to mind is "BOOYAH." Don't ask me why. ("Because they're really hot." That's why.)
2. DAMN YOU HAYATO I JUST SPENT THE WHOLE LAST WEEK RAMBLING ABOUT HOW YOUR SELF-CONFIDENCE WAS CLEARLY AT AN ALL-TIME HIGH AND THEN YOU JUST GO AND THROW ME A CURVEBALL LIKE THIS SO INCONSIDERATELY! You still don't like yourself? Even though you're the most awesome that ever awesomed? WHAT DOES IT TAKE, DAMMIT?
...ohhhh.
I am actually fine with that, then. Because if his standard is G, then wow. WAY TO AIM FOR THE TOP, KID. So it's really not that he hates himself; it's just that he always, always wants to be better. And hell, that's what I love about him; he's never complacent. He always tries so damn hard. Haha, if at the beginning of this series you'd pointed to Gokudera and said "BTW ONE OF THESE DAYS HE'S GOING TO BE A REAL GREAT ROLE MODEL FOR CHILDREN," I'd have been like, "say whaaaaaaat?" BUT HERE WE ARE.
Incidentally, if anyone out there was still not convinced that the Primo Arc was canon, I think it's safe to say it's confirmed now. I can't see how this could be anything other than a direct development of the trial G put him through, since the only time he even saw G for more than a few seconds in the manga was during those two flashbacks. (And speaking of G, that's the hottest I've ever seen him, and since every last one of G's panels is hot, what I'm basically saying is I'm astonished people aren't bursting into flames just by looking at him.)
3. SON WHAT IS IT WITH YOU AND CATNIP. On the other hand... you sure can't say it's not effective. (I'm also impressed by his ability to plan and think ahead even when confronted with super-awkward situations like a woman STRADDLING HIM OUT OF NOWHERE.) Uri, with this you join the ranks of great cats everywhere, like Simba, and Chiyo-chan's dad. Well done, my feline friend, well done.
Also, I love that Dera referred to Uri as his other self, even if he wasn't being literal. It works, because all of the Vongola mascots really do mirror the guardians in terms of personality (and hell, half of them were designed specifically for their respective guardians, so). What I like best about it, though, is that (seeing as he just spent paragraphs explaining how he doesn't like himself) it totally sums up why he and Uri never get along. XD
4. OH MY WOULD YOU JUST LOOK AT THAT
I'm gonna have to clean my glasses here for a second to make sure, but it appears that here, today, on page 7 of chapter 316...
GOKUDERA HAYATO WON HIS FUCKING FIGHT
HOLLLLLLLLAAAAAAAAAAAA
BEST DAY! HAPPIEST DAY! "YOU'RE AWESOME, GOKUDERA-KUN!" ALWAYS THE TONE OF SURPRISE, TSUNA. HAHA, AND LOOK AT MINI URI STICKING HIS FOOT INTO GOKUDERA'S MOUTH, AND REBORN ACTUALLY SMILING AND NOT ONE OF THOSE HALF-ASSED SORT-OF SMILES EITHER, HE IS REALLY FUCKING HAPPY. WOULD YOU LOOK, WOULD YOU JUST LOOK AT THIS FREAKING AMAZING SPECIMEN OF RIGHT HAND MAN? G WHO?? THAT'S RIGHT.
I deem this fight's conclusion satisfactory.
5. I don't think Amano's quite as accomplished at the "let's draw the character's head in two different positions on the same body so as to simulate movement and save on space" technique as Oda is, but it's nice to see her trying. She's really being relentless about the pace of things recently, isn't she? (Not that I really mind Gokudera winning his fight in like three seconds. It just makes him that much more of a badass. HA HA I'm still so psyched about this; I'm going to be bouncing up and down all week.)
"Don't you think Uri's shrunk somehow?" WOW, TSUNA. THINK YOU'RE ON TO SOMETHING. And I'm glad to hear that Uri will be back to normal just in time for our scheduled epic finale, too (though a little concerned about what Gokudera will do if he ends up having to fight again before that, which, you know. Seems ALL TOO LIKELY).
And oh wow, BONDAGE SHITT P. I'm not really sure how I feel about this. Apart from "aroused."
6. A love letter! Lol, okay, it's not a wedding ring or flowers, BUT IT'S STILL PRETTY CLOSE. And hell yeah, look at the Vongola family outnumbering the Simon family like that!
7. "BOSS, IT'S A LETTER FROM GIOTTO!" "OH BOY, HOW THOUGHTFUL OF HIM TO CONTACT ME OUT OF THE BLUE! LET ME JUST READ WHAT IT SAYS."
"Hi Cozart,
What up? I hope you're enjoying your wonderful life of freedom you lucky bastard! HAHA, I KID, I KID. So anyway, now that I've gained a bunch of trustworthy comrades (especially that D. Spade guy), our family's been doing all right, though I have to admit I'm a bit concerned that we are totally becoming the very thing we were created to fight against! But I don't mean to whine. Anyway, the real reason I'm writing is because I thought I'd hit you up for a giant favor after not speaking to you for about a dozen years. Because our friendship is totally cool like that, right? Yeah, so if you could just send me some of your guys to help me fight some enemy that I am being totally vague and secretive about, that would be great. See you soon, bro.
-Vongola "I call myself the first since I presumptuously assume there will be a second, third, etc. after me" Primo"
"...WAIT FOR ME GIOTTO, I'LL BE THERE TO HELP YOU OUT."
- Enma was right; Giotto was kind of a dick.
- "You're the only one I can talk to about this." Does your boyfriend G know you're engaging in emotional adultery, Giotto?
- BABY SIMON FAMILY MEMBERS?? You guys had two Lambos? The hell is wrong with you?
- In the "kind of obvious but needs to be said anyway" category--goddamn but Cozart is HOT. Man, I would tap that in a heartbeat. ESPECIALLY THE BOTTOM LEFT PANEL OF PAGE 11.
- This flashback is taking place much earlier than I expected. Makes me wonder if we'll get to the bottom of all of this relatively soon.
8. Bawwwww Shitt P flashback. THEY'RE JUST JEALOUS OF YOU, SHITT P. But wow, you and Gokudera really do have a lot more in common than I thought back when you first showed up.
...a lot more in common. XDDD
9. Awww, Tsuna! That's right, he never leaves a man (or woman) behind! PONDER THAT FOR A BIT, SIMON FAMILY.
Also, both loling and shaking my head at "Why did I say that?" Uh, because you're a good person, Tsuna. Come on, now.
Oh my, but what's this? THAT PENIS FLAME CAN ONLY BELONG TO ONE MAN.
10. Sob, yes, it is indeed Enma. AND HE IS CRYING. He is having a Tearful Boss Moment, and damned if my heart did not just break into like six pieces because ohhh he really is so much like Tsuna. T_T I mean, WE KNEW THAT ALREADY, but idk, it just really hit home all of a sudden. He is what Tsuna would be if Tsuna had grown up without a loving mother, and with his family constantly under attack, and constantly having to fight for survival. And even with all of that, he still had enough goodness left in him to befriend the kid who was supposed to be his mortal enemy, and to put his trust in him, but then thanks to I-PIN DAMN YOU I-PIN his heart was broken. And THEN, after they finally got the Sin and just when things finally seem like they might turn his way, HIS ENTIRE FAMILY GETS THROWN IN PRISON ONE BY ONE (not to mention his "precious", which is oh so intriguing by the way) and just. Jesus. No wonder the poor kid was crying. Ffff I'm almost as worried for him as I am for the Vongola at this point.
Anyway. So in a moment of anguish, it seems that Enma has preemptively challenged Tsuna to a fight right here and now, which in hindsight shouldn't have been so surprising considering that Tsuna was the only one left who hadn't fought yet. This could turn out really bad for Enma, though, given that he's still not fully powered up. --AND OH GOD WHAT IF HE LOSES AND GETS TAKEN TO PRISON AND THEN JULIE SWOOPS IN AND TAKES CONTROL OF THE SIMON FAMILY. D: ADELHEID YOU MUST STOP HIM AT ALL COSTS.
Well, either way. PLOT, YOU ARE BEING ALL SORTS OF AWESOME LATELY, SO IMMA JUST SIT BACK AND ENJOY THE RIDE.
Incidentally, I hope everyone did have a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I also hope
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relaxsama and jewel_song had super-epic birthdays, and readerofasaph, I hope you have an awesome birthday on the 28th as well! ♥
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- with catnip. Best fight ever. EVER. Catnip and balloons and them constantly stopping the fight to chat and hug <3
Oh wow Giotto, you... might want to tell your guardians you're going to call in reinforcements.
Shitt P. and Gokudera are the bestest girlfriends. Right after prison break they probably go shopping for boots and then swap clothes.
BOO HISS NO SYMPATHY FOR ENMA. STOP WHINING YOU SORE LOSER. 'yeah so one of my guys crippled one of your best friends while you still trusted us and thought we were friends but OMG HOW DARE YOU WIN YOUR FIGHTS AND IMPRISON MY FAMILY MEMBERS!!!'
shut the fuck up enma; if you were afraid of the consequenses you should've thought of that beforehand. No lie, I was all psyched up about Gokudera and Shitt P. and then ENMA RUINED THE MOOD FOR ME. I almost started swearing at my screen.
(Go die, Julie. He wasn't actually in the chapter but it can never be said enough.)
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Enma's not really being a sore loser. Yeah 'moto got attacked and yeah he's landed in the hospital and yeah it's a viable possibility of him not being able to walk anymore. But he's still alive. He isn't emprisioned in a test tube full of water where they're sedated where people will never get to see him again. Yeah, gosh, how dare Enma be upset that his family is getting imprisoned! It doesn't matter who is at fault for these fights, I'm pretty sure losing your family members to a place like Vendicare entitles someone to freaking the fuck out.
The consequences were something he thought would only befall Vongola, and from his standpoint, he thinks that they deserve it. Because people have yet to prove in otherwise in his thinking of Vongola's betrayal. So, I mean, Enma's rage totally has justification, to a point. Because everyone lost their families because Shimon got labeled so horribly after the shit with Vongola. So yeah, he has a reason to be a bitch about things. And I don't see how Enma could ruin the mood by trying to... save someone from his family? Just saying.
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Combine that with me thinking his justification for revenge is already on shaky ground (taking it out on a generation that has nothing to do with it? really? really really?) and I just find that that scene paints him in a very unsympathetic light, even if he's motivated by his love for his family members. And it feels - I don't really know the right word for it, but he didn't intervene in any of the previous fights and it feels like cheating. He made his bed but doesn't want to sleep in it. That's what it seems like to me at least.
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I'd have to agree with makeste's analysis. Enma's basically what Tsuna would be without a loving family and in a tiny mafia family. The other Shimon members are probably all he has, and they're dropping one by one. Should he be blaming Tsuna for all that? No. But if the only people I cared about were all being taken away from me to rot in an evil mafia dungeon of Doom, I'd probably lash out at the one I thought was responsible, no matter how indirectly. I don't think Enma even cares about the rules or what'll happen if he loses, he just wants to beat the crap out of Tsuna.
tl;dr Enma's not behaving rationally because he's probably not thinking rationally. I'm 95% sure Julie's manipulation has something to do with it.
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I was thinking that it might be more like Enma is Tsuna without Reborn, really, because he does have a loving family (Julie obvs not included). Reborn has had enormous influence on Tsuna's development, and in Enma I miss that.
He's really not thinking rationally, but then it isn't really his fault that that's one of my berserk buttons when it comes to characters. Whoops...
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I'm betting at least one of his so-called guardians already knew, since my money's on Spade for having orchestrated this entire thing, but yeah, Giotto definitely could have handled this thing better.
Agreed about Dera and Shitt P; glad as I am that Gokudera won, it breaks my heart to see the two of them split up so soon (especially after Shitt P's "I wish I had met you sooner" speech, bawww). Gotta disagree about Enma, though; he didn't personally order Kaoru to freak out and paralyze one of Tsuna's guardians the instant it seemed like something might go wrong (and Kaoru, have I told you to go fuck yourself lately, because if not? GO DO THAT). And before all that, Enma tried to make peace, went so far as to put his family's one shot at greatness on the line in order to do so (because what would he have done if Tsuna had showed up to meet him after reading his letter? Abandoned the entire plan and gone back to living a miserable life getting crapped on by all the other mafia families?), and got what basically amounted to a big "FUCK YOU" for his trouble (of course, we know that it was all a misunderstanding). I really can't wish any harm on him in spite of what he's done.
Julie, though. I can wish plenty of harm on that guy. GO JUMP INTO A PIRANHA TANK, JULIE.
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Spade is so creepy. So creepy! Is it a requirement for a boss to have a gigantic blind spot for at least one person being obviously evil or something?
Are there even any people who like Julie? I can't think of any; everyone seems to react to him with some variation of OH GOD GET IT AWAY GET IT AWAY.