Atlas

However, we know practicality isn’t the only thing in consideration with topics like homophobia—its not particularly practical here either, but the more extreme circumstances of the neighborhood might allow practicality and impracticality to have more sway—there’s also religious beliefs, strict gender roles, whether or not it’d be a threat to established systems,, though religious beliefs are typically tied to other reasons and were created/shaped to fit it.

Whether there’s religion as we know it in the neighborhood is curious too. There’s the concepts of gods and holiness (Aftokrator is dubbed the Holy nation, though again, not out of religious connotations as we know them), but it’s hard to say if faith based religion and mythology was every developed when their “God” is a tangible thing. It being like that leads to tons of possibilities though… but im getting side tracked.

If the societal structures in the neighborhood resemble our own somewhat, like the patriarchy, then it’s likely they would be at least a little homophobic. The patriarchy enforces strict gender roles and traditions, homosexuality is outside of those boundaries and therefore othered—combined with some other factors ofc. But it is difficult to say if the neighborhood is generally a patriarchal society.

Hell, it’s difficult to apply a general set of ideas to the neighborhood as well because it’s comprised of separate planetary nations, it’s hard to say what the influence of culture is between them.

As i said at the start, the likeliest thing i can think of that would cause the neighborhood to be homophobic is the fact that same sex well, sex, is non-procreative. This alone wouldn’t be enough with the practical and impractical factors, but it wouldn’t be surprising if that contributed to homophobia.

Control, perhaps, could be another reason. But again, that would just end up backfiring.

Frankly, we don’t know enough about the Neighborhoods society to reasonably analyze or assume their attitudes on such things, but even if the homophobic belief/attitude was a thing, it probably wouldn’t be put into practice too much. Gay people might be judged or looked at badly, but they need soldiers, workers, comrades. Heavily discriminate against a portion of the population and you might just end up with a knife in your back or a resistance, which would take away time and resources from external battles and what not.

I CAN see neighbors not caring as much as Meeden/earth, a strong soldier is a strong soldier regardless of if they’re gay or trans or whatever, but it does also depend on how early those beliefs were established🧐 Depends on a lot of things that we unfortunately don’t know because we’ve been given so little on the neighborhood😔

i personally love to see more of hyuse and konami interacting with each other & the parallel between hyuse and osamu.

the changes of hyuse and konami's relationship, from konami having a grudge against him to her caring about him like a sister to an annoying little brother, is always so interesting and funny as hell to me (the spoiled brat panel cracked me up every single time). really want to see more of them interacting with each other :)

hyuse and osamu, meanwhile, has a lot of parallel with each other, mostly shown in a tactical aspect, which has been shown during tmkm2 round with nasu squad and suzunari-1. but they also has differences, and it was shown in round 7 & 8. i think it has really an impact on not only chika's growth but also osamu's future actions. in a way, hyuse is tamakoma-2's character development.

hyuse's upbringing has really give various characters their needed growth (chika, wakamura, osamu) and i really want to see more of him with other characters. but mostly with tamakoma branch, considering the away mission is last arc we will see all of them in a same place to interact and only tmkm2 will be on the mission.

talk world trigger to me / about this post.

hyuse as tk2's character development is soooo good to me. i think he's such a necessary fire under their asses lmao. because he has none of the sentiment or desire to 'read the room' (that phrase that's like...being aware and considerate of the atmosphere) holding him back. he's made up of different parts of all of chika, osamu, and yuma, it's so interesting to see how he, as a character, weaponises those aspects back at them to push them forward.

as for specific thoughts on relationships:

osamu. hyuse knows osamu. i think that's why he's able to read into osamu's flaws so well. that's why he was able to also highlight osamu's strength and the reasons why osamu had no choice but to figure out his own way to the top. i think it goes beyond a surface level of need-to-know that he has with everyone around him (bc he is a prisoner of war in the enemy base, he needs as much data as they're willing to let him collect) and treads into respect. not even a grudging respect, but respect point-blank. they parallel each other in their absolute dedication to their respective goals and both of them have drawn their goals to their natural conclusion and seen them clash. there's almost a tragic sense of inevitability to them. a grief that they could already be processing as they enjoy the time that they do have with one another at a reserve, only expressing little inklings of fondness in other people's company.

(i do think osamu would be the type to try and see if there could be an option that would satisfy both their goals without everyone else probably having to pay a heft price for being dragged into hyuse's conflict. he is just also the type to not feel too bad if there really isn't anything that can be done.)

yuma. it's cute that they're neighbour friends, and they have a fellow child soldier to be a little child soldier with. old friends on the front kinda vibe. yuma likes being able to tease him—a holdover from konami, and, more importantly, from his dad. hyuse gives him a chance to indulge in how his dad must have felt with yuma. with wanting to inject a little play and laughter into his life and something other than war and strife. it's that way of bonding through similar trauma but through a lens of joy, you know. joy they got from another dear person and just wanting to see someone who reminds you a little of your old self and making them happier than you were.

it's why yuma can see that hyuse is genuinely trying so hard for everyone and also himself. and why yuma likes to bat for him because he sees it, he understands.

konami. konami kind of follows the same tracks that yuma has with her relationship with hyuse where she can empathise on the child soldier front, and wants to tease hyuse bc his grumpy ass face just BEGS to be teased. but i think there's an aspect of...pity? that i think would be really baller on konami to look at hyuse with. it's not that she wants to treat him like a kid, or very kindly, but i think she's aware, like osamu, of how there are only so many ways this could go. i think she drops the grudge because the main people who would be most justified in having a grudge against him very specifically DON'T so she can't even get all pissy defender on them. which leaves her with pity. so she'll treat him normally. like he's a normal dumbass teenager so long as that's how he, maybe unintentionally, carries himself.

also she's older so he HAS to do what she says and he WON'T and that just isn't fair so noogies for hyuse all the time every time.

usami & reiji. they're probably the ones who treat hyuse most normally. konami tries, but it's rooted in a lot of shit, whereas with usami and reiji—that's just another one of jin's siblings. they ARE ready to flip to treating him like a prisoner of war, but as soon as they don't need to, they'll drop it. it's exhausting having to live with that context so they won't unless the situation calls for it and at the moment, it doesn't call for it. ultimately, they just want to be good and kind hosts to this kid and maybe teach him how to cut a carrot.

though, the idea that barring yotaro, usami being the one hyuse is closest to is really sweet to me. she's the one who has to hook him up with trion and triggers, so i think hyuse is naturally a little more polite with her (not sure if that's even true, would have to re-read to find out) but i'd assume they spend a few late nights just chatting triggers. like to hyuse it's all very elementary stuff so he feels comfortable doling out details because what is border going to do? take on afto with letter blocks? and usami is a gremlin for knowledge.

hyuse likes her marmod power rangers. don't tell anyone, except he outed himself to yotaro after yotaro called marmod pink the worst one. and yotaro naturally cried to usami.

karasuma. hyuse has never faced someone like karasuma. he's never faced a customer service warrior so dedicated to the bit. it's jin but worse, somehow. get him out of here. he is at a disadvantage. also, karasuma is older than him by a month and it feels...gargatuan.

like. so much of chika's depth and nuance was brought to the surface because of hyuse. there was inklings of it. in reiji's conversation with usami post one of the early matches about how chika would volunteer for the dangerous parts and was happy to be used as bait and what-not. and how osamu and yuma wanted to let her get into the habit of valuing herself and that's why they treat her so carefully and preciously...and like the sentiment is there and in the right place but it's almost like they overcorrected. osamu especially can't escape from his bias that chika is someone that he needs to protect and while yuma was the first to recognize that chika should be a combatant so she could fight, he also has his bias that she is a friend. a friend he wants to help and recognises, but ultimately a friend he wants to support.

and chika doesn't need support. like obviously she does, and everyone else has lifted her up to get her to this point, but also it's not what she actually needs.

so it's hyuse who just calls her out and says "you can shoot people." and not even in a cruel way. he's genuinely baffled because he doesn't understand why this has gone on so long and no one has addressed it.

and this sentiment is coming from the fact that this hyuse also has his own bias. and his bias tells her that this is a child soldier. because game recognises game and while yuma is also a child soldier, hyuse feels more structured and directly taught as opposed to yuma who feels like he was given lessons and training, but also heavily encouraged to figure it out on his own and define his own path.

that's why hyuse can speak so concretely about how to break down overwhelming things. that's why he doesn't say ambiguous lines of supportive dialogue, he actually breaks it down and offers insights and actionable, understandable steps.

chika doesn't need steps. from his point of view, chika is already there. chika doesn't need to be pushed or prodded or backed into a corner—she needs to make a decision. and chika panics and retreats. her friends and confidants take over to help soothe her and that's when she's able to finally say things herself instead of people assuming and diagnosing on her behalf. she's able to talk about how deeply she thinks about the way people think about her. about the lengths she goes to in order be amicable and not rock the boat. about how she doesn't say anything because last time she did, her friend got taken and she was so afraid of being blamed for it. more than her grief, it was her fear.

hyuse sees how she has comported herself in order to survive and he sees how that is no longer conducive to her actual goals. because there is a difference between "i want to fight" and "i want to fight".

so that's why he tells her to protect osamu and yuma in his stead. he doesn't tell her to shoot, he tells her now. and that says a lot about him as well.

he gives her a fucking fist bump im still screaming about it.

born a drake, with tails, body marks.

A drake is smaller than a traditional dragon and has no wings. It has four legs and walks closer to the ground, similar to a reptile. The name is derived from the Greek word drakōn and the Latin word draco, which is also where the word "dragon" comes from. For that reason, "drake" and "dragon" are often used interchangeably, but they are still two distinct subspecies. — wikihow

after the installment of horn trigger, he grew wings. however, due to his drake heritage, his wings is smaller compare to other dragon when manifest. that's why he’s only qualified as a wyvern. after his horn trigger reach adult stage, another pair of horns start to grow right below it.

A wyvern has two back legs and wings instead of front legs. Its body is long and sinuous, and its equally long, skinny tail is usually pointed. "Wyvern" originates in the Latin word vipera, meaning viper, which explains why its tail resembles that of a snake more than a regular dragon. — wikihow

-> did i choose this type of mystical dragon for the wordplay? yes i just did

________________________

his wings is smaller compare to dragon but has the same structure, his tail is similar to a red-eyed crocodile skink's. (see image for ref)

aside from that, he has some prickly-keratinized scales marking on his face and hands, 4 horns; two for each side of his face; and black sclera in both eyes (see this art for reference, this is also the inspirations of this post)

his hair texture is dry, coarse; and get more frizzy the longer he stay at meeden. got describe by yuma as dry hay grass. hyuse try to kill him right after that comment.

in my personal opinion, his tail’s color would be shamrock green. it could also look wedgewock blue if the light hit the right angle. (is changable in the future)

when joining tamakoma-2, his backstory is that he’s a mixed hybird between a bearded dragon and a bat. in his trion body, he hides his horns and turn his black sclera into white. other features stay.

yotaro introduce him to meeden's natural documentaries and he become obsessed, a nerd, interested.

has opinions on his backstory and the naming system of meeden's animals (especially, the bearded dragon) but only voice about them privately.

has a really bad hoarding tendency, arguably the worst one in tamakoma. (and has a cultural shock when tmkm let him hoard) — everyone in tamakoma start giving him stuff to hoard (and he accepts) in order of: yotaro → yuma → chika → osamu ≈ konami → other tamakoma-1 members. — he throw jin’s offering either in jin’s face or from the window/rooftop. — his favourite aside from foods are glass marbles, coins and art supllies.

a snippet of me writing while brainstorming ideas for hyuse

Absolute peak it didn’t take you long to add this to your au and it’s wonderful

I also love the idea of Hyuse being interested in animal documentaries, him and the afto group are just too animal-associated. Given Viza’s hobby of keeping pets, Hyuse would probably have a few choice words on how zoos keep them too lmao

also question question for the biggest afto fan i know.

(Forgive me if I use this opportunity to also yap about their slightly unrelated animal associations)

For Hyrein, it’s pretty simple. Ashihara designed him based on a dragon, and while he might’ve been talking about the eastern dragon—japans specific one, it’s different than other eastern dragons even the Chinese one though they share many similarities—I think the western “classic” dragon [four legs two wings] suits him best. In pretty much every mythology these dragons show up in, they’re portrayed as greedy, selfish, evil, and strong. A thing the people have to abide by until a knight comes to kill it. They’re tyrants who take what they want. Aside from wealth, them kidnapping people, especially princesses, is common both in mythology and trope. This is a sharp contrast to how easterners usually see dragons. There they’re more akin to gods, they’re seen as wise beings who rule over the sky’s, seas, rivers, ect that can and do bless people and land. Both can be fitting for Hyrein, a weird amalgamation of the two would be perfect lmao, but I’m leaning towards Western dragons. Hyrein himself isn’t all that, but a big part of Hyrein’s character is his position and his responsibility—how he’s viewed and what he has to do even if it directly goes against his want for a peaceful life. Hyrein doesn’t enjoy fighting nearly as much as ranba and Viza, he might even be envious of their love for it, and this shows in his trigger. But he is viewed simply as one of the leaders of Aftokrator, a military powerhouse. In most perspectives, he’s strong and evil; he kidnaps borders people, and he subjugates nations like Galopoula. So I think, even though he’s so much more, the dragon symbolized as evil and terrifying fits him well. People rarely look past his position and actions, so why not add the bonus of his appearance reinforcing the ideas everyone has about him.

(Okay so I MIGHT be a bit of a dragon nerd and have far too many thoughts on Hyrein lmao)

The rest are a little more complicated.

For Ranba, I gotta continue with the mythological animals—him and Hyrein are brothers—but it’s fine to take it away from dragons. Bird. He is literally so bird. Chelidon, his trigger, translates to thunder feathers and also means swallow in Greek(swallows are also the bird we see Hyrein utilizing, so fun fun)ntm his flight abilities and enjoyment of them.

I think Thunderbirds are the most suitable, though Phoenix’s would also be fun esp with the play on the dragon and pheonix dynamic with him and Hyrein.

For thunderbirds, they’re typically portrayed as birds of prey but there isnt a specific one, so I offer you:

The golden eagle

They’re large, fast, and strong apex predators that tend to live in the mountains, similar to Aftokrators mountainous terrain. Small mammals are its main prey, however, it’s strong enough to attack and fight of coyotes or bears to defend its prey and young. Their wingspan can get to 6.5 to 7 feet!!(females are slightly larger but as Ranba’s a guy I’m using male measurements). A large and strong bird like this who can fly high and fast, who’s primary environment is mountains, is fitting for Ranba🙂‍↕️🙂‍↕️

Oh also, since Hyuse was already decided, his trigger Lamprys translated to butterfly shield and in Greek it’s a genus of beetles! Hyrein’s trigger Alektor[egg crown] is also rooster in Greek, I forgot to add it earlier. These guys are very animal associated.

Okay onto Enedora. Snake. 100% snake. I’ve drawn him as an amphiptere before which also works, though then that’d be 3 dragons in the afto group. Either way it’s spun, Enedora is definitely a snake or snake adjacent creature. I don’t have much explanation for this one he just feels so snake to me, though cold blooded animals and snakes in particular are seen and portrayed as villainous and evil so🥹 Enedora’s fighting style does utilize a decent amount of trickery as well, probably more before his horns rooted into his head and he got more aggressive and straight forward in his fighting. But his trigger is well suited to trickery as seen when Kazama cut off his head and they thought they won, only for Enedora to reconnect it without trouble and take Kazama down with an invisible attack. There are more instances but I don’t gotta yap about it. Given snakes common symbolism of liars and trickery, it also fits. Enedora = snake trust. As for the species of snake, maybe a Mexican black king snake or black spitting cobra? Depends on what you want

For Mira and Viza, I’m not too sure. Both mammals, but I’m not sure about the specifics🧐

For Mira, maybe a snow leopard. They’re nicknamed ghosts of the mountains, which makes me think of Mira’s “warp women” nickname plus rep for being scary as shit back in afto. They’re solitary creatures with high mobility, plus they’re petty regal. Even if not that, I think some sort of cat suits her.

Viza is hella difficult actually. Maybe something like an Orca or lion, I could even see a wolf. Going with the classic old & wise animals like owls could also work…

I’m not sure about him lol. Aside from one of his likes being “raising animals”, he isn’t associated with them at all, and he’s hard to place😔 For some reason the thing I see him as the most is like a Pegasus and that’s such a random association

I’m sure you’ll figure out what’s best,,, Organon translates to staff of stars, so perhaps one of the animals in the constellations?

I wasn’t too helpful on the last ones but hopefully this helps!! It was fun to think about thank you for asking🙏🙏 Getting to talk about the afto group is rare but wonderful.

I’m looking forward to seeing more of your AU!

This moment was Osamu’s first brush with death—sure, before this he did briefly face off against a Bamster, but that was taken care of by Yuma almost immediately. Osamu hadn’t faced any personal danger in his life until this moment. Even during the first large scale invasion that rattled so many, Osamu lived someplace else and was a bystander rather than participant/victim. And because of all this, he didn’t ACTUALLY think he was going to die or fully reckon with the fact that it was a very real possibility when going to fight the Marmod.

From the start, Yuma knew clearly what kind of danger Osamu would face and told him so bluntly.

But Osamu didn’t give any actual attention to his warnings until Yuma repeated it much more seriously.

Osamu’s first reaction was to ignore Yuma’s words because he wanted to protect the other students. His selflessness and tendency to put others before himself showed in full force here, but either way the desperation of the situation left him antsy and he only paused when Yuma’s tone shifted. It’s not just his good nature and adrenaline influencing him, but his death just isn’t something he’s seriously considered. Not in a he’s a fool and never even thought it a possibility kind of way, Osamu is a smart character and right after this he did logically think that Yuma was probably right.

However, thinking and logically knowing that something is a possibility and technically could happen doesn’t mean you actually comprehend the fact that it can and will happen. People often have a hard time fully realizing that bad things WILL happen to them, like back in Covid when a lot of people didn’t think that they’d actually end up sick or those who say, leave their doors unlocked all the time because they don’t think they’d get robbed.

The “I know this thing happens to other people but it probably won’t me” feeling is pretty common, especially in younger people, and it’s not really naivety per se, it can just be difficult to fully realize even though you know it logically when you or someone your close with don’t have personal experience with it or similar things.

(Naturally this doesn’t apply to everyone)

I don’t know if this sort of bias has a name, but I think it’s shown well throughout Osamu’s fight.

At first, though he doesn’t think he’ll win, he still has the overconfidence his youth and lack of experience grants him. He’s fully thinking that he’ll protect everyone until other border agents arrive, intending to fight until they do. He believes that it’s something he can do, without the caution Yuma’s warning should’ve given him. If it was later Osamu, he’d probably try to use the environment to his advantage to stall until Arashiyama squad gets there, avoiding direct combat?

Anyways, he’s overconfident and isn’t really thinking about the possibility of him dying.

Pretty much immediately, he’s shown he’s outmatched.

Even after this, Osamu acts recklessly while overestimating his ability. He charges forward(in the anime, looks like he’s doing the same here but it’s harder to tell)aiming for direct combat. Still not really thinking about the consequences.

And look what happens. Aside from the slight horror of having an arm cut off and the effects that could have on trigger users mentally, his expression here really shows a lot.

Osamu is genuinely shocked. He freezes. He’s looking at his arm flying off and for a moment just doesn’t believe it. And then it clicks into place, and Yuma’s words echo in his mind. I think this moment is when Osamu realizes without a doubt or any bias that he will die. Or at least that the possibility is real and becoming realer by the second.

And here he knows. It’s not like before where he thought that Yuma was probably right but still didn’t completely comprehend it. He had to face the reality that he was about to die because he was overconfident.

His lack of experience with combat and dangerous situations in general was prominent in this fight, and it’s pretty crazy to see how he’s grown.

I 100% do not believe that without the overconfidence or sense of unrealism about death and danger he wouldn’t of rushed in, he’d absolutely go help those students either way. That’s just his personality. It’s just these aspects of him that make him so real, and he learned from this experience as well.

During the afto invasion arc, he similarly put himself in harms way. But he didn’t freeze or get extremely shocked, he wasn’t overconfident, he was just doing what he felt he should with an actual plan in mind and knowledge of the danger🙂‍↕️ still reckless tho

I found this difference in mentality very fun during one part of the away mission test arc, when they were asked what they thought the purpose it was, and only Yuma and Hyuse answered in a way that considered death as a viable option during the away mission.

This big difference in mentality is also between agents that have been to the neighborhood vs those that haven’t, as you said, which was shown well after Enedora’s death. Kazama squad was very calm about it while Suwa wasn’t nearly as composed, of course, this can also be seen in the general behavior of those squads esp during the afto arc but that’s the first thing that came to mind.

The agents are pretty adaptable, I’m not too worried about it in the long run, they are fully capable of learning from their experiences(like Sasamori who considered the battlefield much more calmly and widely after the afto arc, where he did have to face actual danger and consequences to his actions in Suwa getting cubed which is a much more real danger than the usual defeat)but in the time between that? When they see the deadliness of the neighborhood and face actual death? Both their own and others?

the switch between ''start eating myself'' and ''not out desperation'' shown not only the natural process of trion mother and the difference between neighborhood and meeden as a whole. neighborhood has now used to the common orrcurance of war and invasion, after all the strongest one survives. meanwhile meeden, is not the same as neighborhood, theyre not used to the common occurance of invasion from others, they never ''struggle or when short'', thats why they are now desperate. for what, one might ask, salvation?, help?, someone to save them?, then will they take it for granted again? like everything they have right now that the neighborhood cant never have?

trion is such interesting sources of energy, its provide its citizens with all they needed to survive, yet its also ''eating everything they can, and yet never full'' (the continue, unstoppable circle of gods for trion)

the part where ''fight at dinner'' and ''world is a buffet'' shows a common cultural of neighborhood, everything they have is a result of something they fight for. and that when they stronger as an individual or a nation, they can have everything they want, like a buffet.

This is beautiful gimme more neighborhood thoughts🥹

Mannn maybe I should post my other neighborhood edit on here, I’ve only got three of em because there’s so little to edit with. Yet somehow one of ems over a minute long lol

Meeden has an inherently easier situation compared to the neighborhood. A self sustaining nation, plentiful resources, no actual reasons to fight in wars and destroy both others and themselves—until the neighborhood touched their world, the neighborhood where fighting is their salvation because in order to survive they need to take, take, and take some more. They won’t survive otherwise, not just out of circumstances the people caused themselves but because of the base operations of the neighborhood itself. While humans rely on Meeden, the nations in the neighborhood rely on their people. There’s less resources, their god relies on a human operator.

War is the shared culture between all nations in the neighborhood, it’s an inherent part of their lives and beings, but Meeden got used to the peace that came with modern life. It’s why the situation was so desperate during the first invasion, why it continues to be even when Jin can manipulate the situation to skew better(oh they’d be fucked without that guy)Meeden has fallen victim to the neighborhood, and though border is rising up, neighbors pop in all over the world to kidnap people for resources—because that’s what people are to the neighbors. Resources. Trion is a biological energy, one that’s the basis for everything in the neighborhood. It’s the most important energy throughout the world there, unlike electricity and all the others in meeden. I suspect this is because it is the only resource the neighborhood has in plenty. The nations are inherently connected to trion, existing bc of mother triggers and surviving off of sacrifices gods, but they’re also small and have a limited amount of resources. This probably forced people to rely on the replenish-able biological energy that is trion more heavily than they perhaps would’ve if things were different. But meeden never had to make that choice, their world will operate completely fine without trion so they’re also able to use all their trion for battle, which is different than the neighborhood which—while being more war focused—has to use it for all kinds of things.

Still, though they have an easier time just surviving and existing, Meeden is ultimately a victim of the neighborhood. They have everything the neighborhood can’t, but they also can’t just let the neighborhood use them as resources. Because that’s what they are to it. With the relying on biological energy, the neighborhood’s actions in Meeden is more akin to people searching for oil or what not no matter the harm it causes. And even for that comparison, oil is a resource that matters much less compared to what trion is for the neighborhood.

Meeden is a victim of the neighborhood while the neighborhood is a victim of its own circumstances. It’s not and has never been good for its people, pretty much every neighbor we’ve seen are victims of this way of life(Yuma, Hyuse, Enedora, Hyrein—which my god I wanna yap about that guy all the time—the Galopoula crew, ect)

Oh and you described trion so well, you’re absolutely right. Trion is an amazing resource, as the primary if not only thing keeping everything powered, including the nations themselves? It causes on unending cycle of war, because with that and the lack of resources, neighbors have no choice but to fight and take from others. I yapped more about this is my other neighborhood edit on that account I believe,,, I’ve already gone on a tangent whoops

YESS EXACTLY!!(replying to the buffet part)fighting is the neighborhoods way of life, it’s a part of every culture there, and as strong nations rise up, weaker nations get pushed down. The neighborhood embodies survival of the fittest istg. Once you’re strong enough, like aftokrator, other nations are like a buffet. It’s the way they take vassal states so easily(and even if the fight isn’t the easiest, they still take), like we’ve seen with Galopoula, and use them to further increase their power at the expense of that nation and its people. I’m sure other nations do the same. When you’re weaker, you have less options and way of survival. You can’t invade other nations, while you can’t defend yourself easily either. Strength and power is the only way you can survive, and this culture shows in the behaviors of the neighbors we’ve seen. Hyrein is a great example of this.

And Aftokrator in general actually. I suspect that Afto got so strong because its government is ideal for sustaining their god—the thing that earned them their nickname—and is overall an excellent survival strategy. I’ll talk about it at some point fs.

Neighbors are accepting of their circumstances, they continue to fight and kill and die as is their way of life, but it begs the question if anything will ever change. It’s dubious. On Meeden, or earth, conflict has generally resolved as people’s relations with each other improved and well, there wasn’t as much justification for war, it hasn’t been worth the use of resources, citizens don’t have the same attitude towards it as in the past, ect ect. But none of those reason are the primary cause for war in the neighborhood, which is a need to survive. Literally.

The neighborhood is like a continuous loop, there are not as many sustainable options to stop the fighting—if any at all. But as the neighborhood stays the same, the people will do anything to continue their and their nations existence. Regardless of the harm it causes to others.

Okay so I’m done and possibly went way off topic but I REALLY like thinking and talking about the neighborhood, it’s genuinely the most interesting part of world trigger and I need to know more about its structure and culture immediately.

This moment was Osamu’s first brush with death—sure, before this he did briefly face off against a Bamster, but that was taken care of by Yuma almost immediately. Osamu hadn’t faced any personal danger in his life until this moment. Even during the first large scale invasion that rattled so many, Osamu lived someplace else and was a bystander rather than participant/victim. And because of all this, he didn’t ACTUALLY think he was going to die or fully reckon with the fact that it was a very real possibility when going to fight the Marmod.

From the start, Yuma knew clearly what kind of danger Osamu would face and told him so bluntly.

But Osamu didn’t give any actual attention to his warnings until Yuma repeated it much more seriously.

Osamu’s first reaction was to ignore Yuma’s words because he wanted to protect the other students. His selflessness and tendency to put others before himself showed in full force here, but either way the desperation of the situation left him antsy and he only paused when Yuma’s tone shifted. It’s not just his good nature and adrenaline influencing him, but his death just isn’t something he’s seriously considered. Not in a he’s a fool and never even thought it a possibility kind of way, Osamu is a smart character and right after this he did logically think that Yuma was probably right.

However, thinking and logically knowing that something is a possibility and technically could happen doesn’t mean you actually comprehend the fact that it can and will happen. People often have a hard time fully realizing that bad things WILL happen to them, like back in Covid when a lot of people didn’t think that they’d actually end up sick or those who say, leave their doors unlocked all the time because they don’t think they’d get robbed.

The “I know this thing happens to other people but it probably won’t me” feeling is pretty common, especially in younger people, and it’s not really naivety per se, it can just be difficult to fully realize even though you know it logically when you or someone your close with don’t have personal experience with it or similar things.

(Naturally this doesn’t apply to everyone)

I don’t know if this sort of bias has a name, but I think it’s shown well throughout Osamu’s fight.

At first, though he doesn’t think he’ll win, he still has the overconfidence his youth and lack of experience grants him. He’s fully thinking that he’ll protect everyone until other border agents arrive, intending to fight until they do. He believes that it’s something he can do, without the caution Yuma’s warning should’ve given him. If it was later Osamu, he’d probably try to use the environment to his advantage to stall until Arashiyama squad gets there, avoiding direct combat?

Anyways, he’s overconfident and isn’t really thinking about the possibility of him dying.

Pretty much immediately, he’s shown he’s outmatched.

Even after this, Osamu acts recklessly while overestimating his ability. He charges forward(in the anime, looks like he’s doing the same here but it’s harder to tell)aiming for direct combat. Still not really thinking about the consequences.

And look what happens. Aside from the slight horror of having an arm cut off and the effects that could have on trigger users mentally, his expression here really shows a lot.

Osamu is genuinely shocked. He freezes. He’s looking at his arm flying off and for a moment just doesn’t believe it. And then it clicks into place, and Yuma’s words echo in his mind. I think this moment is when Osamu realizes without a doubt or any bias that he will die. Or at least that the possibility is real and becoming realer by the second.

And here he knows. It’s not like before where he thought that Yuma was probably right but still didn’t completely comprehend it. He had to face the reality that he was about to die because he was overconfident.

His lack of experience with combat and dangerous situations in general was prominent in this fight, and it’s pretty crazy to see how he’s grown.

I 100% do not believe that without the overconfidence or sense of unrealism about death and danger he wouldn’t of rushed in, he’d absolutely go help those students either way. That’s just his personality. It’s just these aspects of him that make him so real, and he learned from this experience as well.

During the afto invasion arc, he similarly put himself in harms way. But he didn’t freeze or get extremely shocked, he wasn’t overconfident, he was just doing what he felt he should with an actual plan in mind and knowledge of the danger🙂‍↕️ still reckless tho

We still haven't seen much of the detail surrounding it, but there are a few flashbacks to Jin saving Osamu from a trion soldier before he joined Border.

Overall I think this is a good analysis of this specific brush with death Osamu has. Beyond that, though, Osamu actually faces death quite a lot in the series - aside from the aforementioned 3 times, there's also the second invasion, where he very nearly does die. Every one of these four times serves as a opportunity for Osamu to grow as a character in the story.

The first is what - I would argue - drives him to join Border, despite not having been present for the first invasion, which served as many members' cause for joining. It also cements Jin as someone he looks up to. That's not to say that Chika's brother getting abducted wasn't a driving factor for him - it definitely was - I mean that Jin saving him seems like what convinced him that he could have a purpose broader than just "save Chika's brother," a thing I believe he would've attempted with or without Border recruiting him.

The second is what connects him to Yuma, and shows him that his motivation to "do what's right" isn't enough for him to succeed - that Yuma didnt need that kind of motivation to win, and that even having had that motivation, that Osamu himself would have died/been abducted. I believe this is what drove Osamu to improve beyond being just "an agent" into being "a capable agent," because the version of him we see in thr beginning was much more naive about his own capabilities.

The third, which you mention, serves as a reinforcement for this. He pays lip service to his own inexperience, but he still rushes in anyway, and it isnt until he loses his arm that he acknowledges his own mortality. I won't elaborate on that much more, because you already did so very succinctly.

The fourth, during the second invasion, both reinforces Osamu's selflessness, while also showing that his selflessness and naivety aren't antithetical to his aim of keeping people safe. He almost died, but he did succeed in his part of protecting people from the worst consequences of the invasion. He accepts the risk, but he also has a plan of action where his own survival isn't imperative to his defense of Chika and, in part, the other agents.

Your analysis of Osamu’s near death experiences and how they affected him is very interesting, I do agree that his run in with Jin is another driving force for him and the way he operates as an agent, and probably cemented his resolve to join border—not that he was lacking… when Jin saved him, the guy was already sneaking into the forbidden zone to try and join after failing. Instead of realizing the recklessness of that, he saw the strength of a border agent and their ability to save others. Being a border agent was no longer just about finding a way to help chika and rinji—it was the strength to help people. Or, given his mind, a way to gain the power he needs so he won’t run away when people are in danger.

One thing about the second brush with death is that I don’t think Osamu particularly thought about how without Yuma, he would’ve been abducted or well, killed given his trion levels. That moment established his connection with Yuma as a neighbor, it showed Yuma’s strength while Osamu was unable to do anything, and most importantly it related Yuma to Jin—someone who’s saved osamu and who he looks up too—in Osamu’s mind. I’m unfortunately too busy to continue pondering this line, but I do like how you said this—I didn’t think much about it before, but it makes sense, and this situation plus the next one are definitely driving forces for Osamu’s improvement, because as you said, he realized that his motivations weren’t enough and he is not strong enough to do what Yuma and Jin do.

Honestly I can see Osamu dying on the away mission🧐 He has repeatedly put himself in genuine danger to help others, and that is not a trait of his that’s gone away just because he knows his abilities and the reality better, it just changed the way he did it to ensure that even if he dies he HAS actually helped people and it’s not in vain. This is something he’d absolutely carry into the away mission, especially if it means he can save Yuma, chika, or help them get to their goals. He won’t be trying to die ofc, but if a dangerous situation arises we all know he’d go in headfirst.

Whether he as the mc will die or not is dubious, but it’s definitely a possibility. Atp there are too many characters who’re somewhat likely to die on this mission😭 Osamu, Yuma, Hyuse… At least Chika doesn’t have any flags yet??