It is what it is

"さぁ" (Saa) - "Well then" or "Now" "どうする 潔…?" (Dou suru Isagi...?) - "What will you do, Isagi...?"

[Pictured: Barou sitting on the floor watching the BM-PXG match while surrounded by popcorn littered all around him.]

A commonly used Japanese expression for "clean freak" is:

潔癖な人 (keppeki na hito)

This term is written using the following kanji:

潔 (ketsu) - "clean" or "pure"

癖 (heki) - "habit" or "tendency" or "obsession"

な (na) - adjectival particle

人 (hito) - "person"

Together, these characters form a word that literally translates to "a person with a cleanliness/neatness obsession".

We can eliminate the な人 (na hito), and we get 潔癖 (keppeki) - Which means "fastidious" or "obsessively clean."

And then we have the name 潔世一 (Isagi Yoichi).

The first kanji in both 潔癖 and 潔世一 is the same: 潔 (ketsu/isagi), meaning "pure" or "clean."

Meanwhile, 癖 (heki/kuse) in 潔癖 means "habit" or "obsession."

So, 潔癖 could be read as either "潔癖 (keppeki) = Obsessively clean" or "潔癖 (Isagikuse) = Isagi obsession"

bris art commission requested by @kungukingi

A scene from Kungukingi's bris fanfic

Head In The Game Barou and Isagi have been in a relationship for nearly 5 years, but they're still figuring things out. How will things go?

The rest of the Ubers team @ Barou :

barosagi commission for Kungukingi ! i drew the opening scene from chapter 12 of her bris fanfic Head in the Game, where isagi and barou are attending sendou's wedding. definitely recommend reading it AND it's prequel Eyes on the Ball if u enjoy barosagi, the writing is so beautiful <33

commissions are open, more info can be found here. process gif and speedpaint (<- WARNING: flashing lights for this one) are available under the cut

Late piece for DAY 5 of Blue Lock Rarepair Week @bllkrarepairweek !

Preface: I know that the PWC game interactions are not strictly canon, and as such i don't put too much weight on them as anything other than instances where interesting clues about characteristics and character quirks etc. might get revealed.

I don't even play the game, but I come across screenshots from time to time.

And this time I came across this screenshot that caught my eye, because of the translation attached to it. Here's the picture:

And here is the translation provided in the original tweet by Hoshi:

Hiori: ...it seems that there is a deep animosity between you and Isagikun. Barou: You guys other than Isagi. Like I said, I'm not interested in anything other than devouring Isagi.

Here the term 'animosity' piqued my interest, because it sounded counter-intuitive to me as something Hiori would say. It gave off the vibes of the type of Japanese term that comes off as strange when translated within a sentence into English, because there isn't a straightforward translation that exists for it. So, naturally, I went looking for what does the term "因縁" (innen) mean.

And here are the condensed results of what I found:

In colloquial usage, "因縁" can indeed refer to a dispute or argument. It often implies a situation where parties are in conflict, due to a long-standing grudge or feud.

However, "因縁" also relates to the Buddhist concept of cause and effect and interdependence. In terms of relationships, it suggests a sense of fate or destiny. It implies a significant (especially because it's paired with the term 深い 'fukai'= 'deep') connection or bond that has been established by past actions or circumstances. It also suggests a complex, intertwined relationship without commenting on whether it's good or bad.

So, while the 'animosity' translation is not wrong because it is also an accurate way to describe the relationship between Isagi and Barou, it misses the nuance/double meaning.

In this context, (and in my opinion this is especially likely, considering this line was put into Hiori's mouth) the use of the term may imply that the relationship is not just based on circumstantial and surface-level rivalry. Instead, it may be something deeper, complex, intertwined, and possibly even destined/unavoidable.

Kaneshiro is known to enjoy wordplays, which makes me think using this term was not coincidental (even though he likely didn't write this line — I don't know what kind of a canon-alignment-checking process they have in place over there). There are tons of more specific terms one could use to communicate a more straightforward hostile relationship, but what we got was this multifaceted term with all of its implications and potential readings.

So make of that what you will. (Don't mind if I do...)

Meanwhile, Barou's reply is of course self-explanatory. Not caring to consider the possible nuances of Hiori's words, he simply states his truth: He does not care about anyone else, and is exclusively interested in devouring Isagi.

Not only does Hiori say this to Barou, he also says (almost) the same thing to Isagi too!

特に馬狼くんとはなんか因縁ありげな感じやったし (Toku ni Barou-kun to wa nanka innen arige na kanji yatta shi) "Especially with Barou-kun, it felt like there was some kind of 因縁 (innen)."

And this is what Isagi replies:

それは…色々あったからなぁ… (Sore wa... iroiro atta kara naa...) "That's because.. various things happened..."

An understatement of the year, Isagi. But he's not lying.