for me, this the worst action we see from bankoku-gai. not only should suo, a fifteen year old, not be responsible for this, he should also be barely aware of it.

even though the man is nice (and apparently other adults help out), he doesn't bring up the fact suo, a teenager, shouldn't be involved in this. it's like he forgot suo is a teenager, which i think is the case. kids join the red chanpuru at fifteen, but was this suo's case?

i think that even if he didn't officially join, he was part of it, and mature enough that slowly the adults forgot he was just a kid.

this is a teenager worrying about making sure an adult man (and the kids) doesn't worry about things. why that man gets to keep his innocence while suo seems to not have had his for a while?

i honestly think this isn't so bad. when umemiya, at fifteen, became a leader, he was trying to bridge the gap between teen delinquents and an angry population. a job i don't think he and the four kings should've had either.

i see suo's and umemiya's jobs as similar, but the difference is umemiya is doing real translation of one person to another. while suo is having parallel conversations. at some point in the two years, umemiya's job was done. everyone now understood each other well enough.

suo's job will be never ending if it continues like that, scolding adults like he's their teacher/parent. idk what's causing the imbalance, but they're adults and can figure it out with some minor help from suo to translate things so a conversation can start. and then they can finish it by themselves.

this post doesn't really have an ending, i was just thinking how sad it is suo doesn't get to keep his innocence. if everyone forgot suo is a kid, maybe seeing him having a mental breakdown will remind them.

I’ve been thinking about cha. 146 a lot recently. More specifically, about how both Nerei and Suo offer to fight Endo on behalf of Sakura while Sugishita tells him to finish what he started. The scene stands out to me, especially on a reread, as one which clearly shows Suo Being OffTM before the official start of his arc.

This scene showcases two of Suo’s worst habits 1. dissociating and 2. projecting onto Sakura.

I think it is very important that Nerei speaks up first. This is, of course, an indicator of the progression of Nerei’s own arc of becoming a Furin protector like the people around him he so admires. I initially thought that was the only reason that he spoke up first. But then, Suo said his piece and it just felt so flat in comparison I did a double take. Nirei’s impassioned speech comes first so that Suo’s can flop harder as a pale imitation.

Suo often echoes what other people are saying in conversations or quickly passes the proverbial talking stick onto others. E.g. the special chapter:

(There are sooo many other examples of this. Revisit your favorite “Down Time” chapter and I promise you’ll see it in a new light). It’s like he can’t always muster up the energy to fully engage and just parrots what others have already said.

146 keeps this pattern going. Suo starts by basically saying, “Ditto:”

He reheats Nirei’s leftover nachos for the most part with “This time we’re here to pick up where you left off.” He then ends by passing the burden of conversation/choice onto Sugishita:

cha. 146 is, however, the first instance in which this happens in a high-stakes environment. Suo is reaching his limit!!

Now, I say, “For the most part” because there’s some nuance—bringing me to his habit of projecting.

Suo and Sakura are foils. They have both been shown to clearly see parts of themselves in the other. So, when he and the reader see a Sakura who is clearly not fully convinced by his and Nirei’s words:

(My boy is CONFLICTED)

he musters up the energy to engage more fully and pivots into adding what he himself would want to hear.

Suo’s face is often covered during moments when he is trying to hide emotional vulnerability (see: all of 210-212). So, I think that this boy is deffers saying what he himself desperately wants to be told.

Unfortunately for him, as Sugishita so bluntly points out later in the scene, what Sakura needs is different. And so, because Suo’s projecting his own desires and also leaning heavily on Nirei and Sugishita to do the emotional uplifting Sakura needs, his attempt at convincing Sakura not to fight is a major swing and a miss.

Redraw from 3 years ago