The siblings having feelingsTM about Battler ressembling their dad in his youth(Battler snapping at Rudolf in 1980 for the cheating giving Rudolf Kinzo scolding flashbacks) has me wondering if the choice of the white suit from a watsonian pov was Battler unconciously picking the same color as Kinzo and Rudolf thinking it was too funny to pass up. Or Rudolf trying to assert the validity of Battler's abrupt return to the register by highlighting the family ressemblance without telling his son and also the power play would spice up the inheritance arguments.
(not even accounting for any Kinzo is dead theories and ep5-like schemes, with or without Battler being in the know, kinda paint the white suit as a suggestion of repeating history by making him a puppet heir. Or at least as a possible replacement without the financial agency to fight back long term, who might even cooperate at first for Ange or his cousins' financial safety if told it wouldnt last only for the end to constantly be pushed back)
Rudolf having flashbacks would almost be comical, except for Kinzo being massively abusive and emotionally neglectful towards all of his kids. Both the possibility of Battler unconsciously picking a white suit, and Rudolf plotting him to wear it because of his resemblance to Kinzo are brilliant ideas.
Welcome to the Ushiromiya household, where kids become weapons in the psychological warfare between siblings (and against themselves) for the price of hundreds of millions of dollars (billions of yen).
Puppet Heir Battler…caught on strings for his love of baby sister and cousins….and the cycle repeats, embezzlement included.
I keep thinking of your Akinaka on Rokkenjima post, wherein Battler is still grieving over his grandparents, fallen into a depressive state and, applying this to Battler’s physical resemblance of Kinzo -
Akinaka on Rokkenjima, to some degree, acts like him as well - at least considering the apathy in regards to his own life. And this in turn, gets slightly amplified when - on Rokkenjima - he’s dressed in pale suits, still warmer than Kinzo’s pure white suit that he favored in later years, but still pale in color.
There are still differences between them - Battler doesn’t drown himself in alcohol (minor) or turn to physical abuse of others, and there’s still the underlying warmth of affection he has for his family, whereas Kinzo was indifferent to them - but the apathy in regards to his own well-being tints all other behaviors, leaves him more recalcitrant and taciturn (Kanon-est, as you put it) which has the potential of Battler saying or doing something in an eerily similar manner to Kinzo.
(In Turn, after the murders and the resignation of Battler in purgatorio, we do see gameboard Battler start drinking like it’s the end of the world, which I do think is a parallel to Kinzo’s alcoholism, as much as the fact he thinks they’re all dead no matter what, but those are under extenuating circumstances.
Would be interesting though, to examine Battler under the lens that his throwaway line about drinking practice being true to some degree - even if he uses it as a light hearted joke. Many people do drink to cope with grief, though I’m not sure how widespread underage drinking is in Japan.)
Which also leads me to my headcanon that Battler already has gray hairs from the grief he’s gone through, which he dyes to cover up, and when his hair is undyed, it makes him resemble Kinzo even more.
In an Akinaka on Rokkenjima case, where everyone (including Batter himself) gets two weeks notice that he will be crash landing on Rokkenjima for the conference, it’s a question of whether or not he’d bother to dye his hair back to its original color for the conference.
(Not sure if Batter would be genetically disposed to it, though. When we see young Kinzo’s sprite, he has gray hair - but this presumably represents Kinzo in his 40s, and most people begin to gray by then + Kinzo felt emotionally stunted at the age he became family head (20s) which is why he appears around Battler age, but age is hard to parse on Umineko sprites unless you count the elderly cast, and Will and Lion are still actually talking to 80+ Kinzo, which may also influence his youthful appearance.
My headcanon is that Kinzo began going gray in his 20s, if not from genetics, then from grief caused by the earthquake, but canonically I don’t think we ever get an answer).
All this to say, you have an Akinaka Battler who looks and somewhat behaves eerily similar to the Ushiromiya Kinzo of decades past, and the idea amuses me greatly as much as it may traumatize - everyone else.
(I am now thinking of how Kinzo would react to seeing Battler like that - as well as how all of Battler’s grandparents, unnamed Grandmama Ushiromiya included who knew 20’s Kinzo, would react).
Long answer below and spoilers including for EP8
After making sending the ask, I realized Kyrie-trice was also a plausible culprit theory for that white suit. Kyrie : I flipped the chessboard to find the strongest opener move against your relatives using Battler. Rudolf : well it sure was a critical blow to MY brain seeing him in that white suit ! So excellent work ! Kyrie : Of course, you were the perfect crash test dummy for this opener.
Kinzo and Akinaka’s depression and apathy intersecting is indeed delicious! It’s so interesting how strongly they diverge on the topic of the occult, though EP1 Battler’s strong distaste for the spiritual and the occult could be a Sayo addition tbh. Imagine Akinaka on bad days, similar to Ange in EP8, finding no respite in the idea of loved ones together in heaven/an afterlife while he remains alive and alone.
On another note I kinda plan to have Battler in the Akinaka on Rokkenjima Au be in his black gakuran school uniform both shown in the EP4 Akinaka grandpa funeral and when he walked off on Rudolf in EP7. Battler Akinaka dressed in black, the color of grief, and common wear compared to everyone else’s tailor made suits highlights the social and financial divide between him and the Ushiromiya even harder. Akinaka, the omen of death in 1986, the crow denying anyone the right to forget those who passed refuses to play the dove bringer of peace and forgiveness. Plus a gakuran, like a sailor-style uniform, is based on military wear so would reflect Kinzo’s passive suicidality when he enrolled into the army and got involved with Rokkenjima in the first place.
Regarding Battler’s relationship with alcohol and grief, you can definitely see Beatrice’s hand in the writing of the EP2 one in the way she parallels Kinzo and Battler by involving Genji even. EP2 even refers to Battler as drinking to get drunk rather than the taste. The wealth trangression being highlighted both times as he ‘wastes’ the high quality liquor by being unable appreciate the taste is an interesting bit too given the wealth gap between the 6 years at his grandparents and the Ushiromiya is my cherry on top.
Speaking of those scenes Battler all alone goading the killer or witch to come and kill him already in both EP4 and EP2 leans towards passive suicidality(in my eyes at least), similar to how Black Battler goads Tohya to finish him off by opening the catbox in forgery XXX, has me thinking Akinaka could have had intrusive thoughts like these after Asumu’s passing(though probably cursing himself for that selfish wish that would crush his grandparents’ hearts) and then when said grandparents died while Battler remained. However since those two instances don’t have a clear culprit to goad, this might lead, similar to Kinzo, towards self-harming behaviours like alcohol, neglecting his own health or pushing people like Rudolf and Kyrie away because moving on feels like forgetting. (Not even talking about my most beloved [redacted], Tohya Hachijo and his own silo of worms on that topic)
(On another, other note, Freeze your brain’s shatter your skull fight pain with more pain looping in my brain even though that one is about pg self-harm through brain freeze That couplet though :))) : When mom was alive, we lived halfway normal Now it's just me and my dad, we're less formal I learned to cook pasta, I learned to pay rent Learned the world doesn't owe you a cent)
Battler having early grey hairs from grief and hiding them just like his grief is something I can definitely see him to avoid mockery from his peers. His award-winning smile and comedy act doesn’t hit the same when the proof that he isn’t as happy and careless as he pretends to be sticks out like a sore thumb. Definitely adding that greyhead-canon to my Akinaka on Rokkenjima au since he would have likely forgotten to pack some when Rudolf dragged him out of the Akinaka apartment after the 3 day-depression spiral. We don’t have any way to verify that since EP6 manga lacks colors but I kinda assumed Kyrie and Kasumi both also had early grey hair genes as well, given Kyrie looks the exact same during the 18 years ago narration/flashback so early grey hair could be both a Kyrie-Kinzo parallel.
Your last comment about wondering how Kinzo and the Akinaka grandparents would react had me realize I can give all the Rokkenjima folks a front seat to Battler’s any percent speedrun through the Kinzo package of depression, apathy and grey hairs during the Enrichment of the golden lion au. Kyahahahahahaha !
