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So I might not be the most qualified person to talk about this since I actually dropped Naturo before getting to the specifics of why the Uchiha clan was massacred, but I have the general idea so imma talk about it regardless.

So from what I know (despite not actually getting to that part), Itachi genocided the Uchiha cuz they were planning to overthrow the village, so he wanted to prevent a war bla bla bla, yada yada deep reasons and good intentions shit.

Some ppl might view this as good writing, but honestly this deep meaning given to the massacre will forever make me see it as inferior writing when compared to the Kurta clan genocide.

Why?

Because the senselessness and shallow reasons behind the Kurta’s massacre capture exactly what genocide is.

The Kurta were murdered for money— that’s it. It was nothing personal against the Kurta, nor was there any other kind of special reason. The Kurta simply had something valuable, so the Phantom Troupe massacred them to get it. No deeper meaning behind it; just simple, straight-forward and utterly shallow.

Which is exactly what genocide is; simple and driven entirely by self-interest.

You can search all of history, but you’ll never find a reason for a genocide that goes beyond power, money or control.

So Itachi’s good intentions and all might make for a nice, emotional character arc, but it symbolises nothing of note further than that, nor does it make any valuable commentary on the actual world.

On the other hand, Togashi effortlessly showcased what actual, real-life genocide looks like by simply not attempting to justify it.

So sure, Itachi vs Sasuke is more emotional with deeper reasons behind it, but the cold brutality of the Phantom Troupe does a whole lot more in terms of ‘writing that actually means something real to the world’.

Killua is for the apathetic.

Gon is for the curious.

Like PLEASE IMAGINE IT!! THE TRAUMA BONDING THAT COULD HAPPEN IS GLORIOUS LIKE COME ON

Their shared experiences as child soldiers, horrible fathers, losing their mother at a young age, and both being hypercompetent geniuses who achieved a high rank in an incredibly short time, and being the youngest in history to do so.

Like they seriously parallel each other so much I NEED THEM TO BE FRIENDSSSS

Altho realistically ik Ed prolly wouldn’t like Hawks because Hawks always has a facade on and he’s a pretty huge liar and Ed HATES those kinds of people, so maybe it’s all a hopeless fantasy even if they meet 😭

But then again, Ed might not like Hawks, but he would like Keigo

The angst potential of them starting off at the wrong foot because Ed can tell Hawks isn’t being genuine so he starts hating his guts, even tho Hawks genuinely wanted a real connection with Ed because he feels like Ed is the only one who could understand what he went through I NEEEEDDDD

Or imagine Hawks feeling both envy and admiration towards Ed bcuz despite being a child soldier js like Hawks, Ed HASN’T lost his morals and sense of self. He’s still a 100% authentic and refuses to lie or do anything he disagrees with. He’s what Hawks wishes he could be fr 💔💔

Edward hating Hawks for not having the things that Hawks is envious of Edward for having.

(First-Person of two-piece)

Saihara asked me if I could lie less today. Said he’d be able to ‘understand me better’.

I think it’s pretty damn arrogant for him to suggest something like that.

He’s the one who wants to understand me— that should include understanding my lies. Otherwise, can he really say he’s understanding me at all, if I have to give up an integral part of me for him to be able to do it?

Besides, I have trouble understanding myself most of the time, and this guy is seriously waltzing up to me and claiming he’s capable of doing what I can’t? What a joke.

In the first place, did he even pause to consider whether I even want him to understand me?

Lying is a defense; a protection. A way to prevent others from seeing me.

And Shuichi wants to barge right through all those walls I spent so long building.

How romantically entitled— and oh, wow. Look at that; my heart is loud again. The things romance can do— Kinda makes me wish I could tell him where he can shove those wants and wishes.

Because how dare he suggest something like that? Something so… terrifying?

What if he did break down all those walls surrounding me, peeled off mask after mask… and found nothing underneath?

Or even worse— saw what lies beneath and turned his back on it in disgust?

Yeah no, I’d rather not, please and thank you.

I’ll keep lying, I’ll keep being confusing, and I definitely won’t be changing who I am for some rando.

A first-person Kokichi Ouma character study, this study attempts to achieve coherence with its third-person counterpart. It does this by displaying Kokichi’s intelligence through rapid moral reframing, unique wittiness and an unusual outlook, as well as a large level of self-awareness. Kokichi’s delayed emotions that were explored in the third-person version shown here through snappiness and irritation, which are characteristic with not being in tune with your own emotions (as well as exhaustion and stress, both which were explored through third-person).

(This is a first-person POV of a two-piece character study. There’s a third-person counterpart that aligns (or at least tries to) with this one.)

Third person:

(Third-Person of two-piece)

The thing about Kokichi is that he never stops thinking. Never.

Every sentence spoken comes with layers of hidden meanings, every word hides thousands of reasons behind it.

His mind runs at speeds sometimes even he struggles to keep up with.

Plans are made and discarded with every breath he takes. Predictions made, proven and disproven. Strategies, calculations, deductions. Truths and lies and everything else, leaving him trembling under the weight of it all.

Kokichi Ouma is a man who never stops thinking.

And it’s exhausting.

It’s exhausting, because the human brain wasn’t meant to function like a supercomputer with a thousand open tabs running at top speed and no shut-down button.

It’s exhausting, and Kokichi is tired, and he’s still thinking.

In between those thousands of processes his mind runs, raw human emotion tends to slip through the cracks and be left forgotten.

It’s only after those same emotions catch up to him, leaving him heaving with sobs, that Kokichi remembers the inherent vulnerability that comes with being human.

A third-person, omniscient-POV Kokichi Ouma character study. Exploring the cost of hyper-intelligence, this character study attempts to display the burden that comes when strategy is a compulsive constant rather than a choice, and analysis is a reflex rather than effort. It hopes to understand what, exactly, it means to be a super-genius, and what the consequences of thought are on feeling and emotion.

(This is a third-person POV of a two-piece character study. There’s a first-person counterpart that aligns (or at least tries to) with this one.)

First-person:

(Spoilers ahead)

I know that, in some way, it was necessary, but I’ll never accept the Promare leaving at the end of the movie.

Promare is supposed to be about racism and systematic discrimination. It’s supposed to portray the oppression and genocide against minority groups and their struggles against propoganda.

So what’s the problem with the Promare leaving at the end of the movie, exactly??

The problem is that you can’t write an oppression narrative and then take away the reason the oppressed group was oppressed in the first place to ‘fix’ the problem.

That’s like if black people suddenly became white, or if Muslims left Islam. It’s taking away a core part of a people’s identity so they can ‘fit in’ and no longer be discriminated against; as if the reason they were oppressed in the first place was their fault for being who they are.

In some manner, I’d even argue that it takes away the meaning of the group’s suffering.

So, while i can somewhat understand the need for it in order to conclude the movie, i still firmly believe they could have found an alternative ending.

((Something symbolic maybe, like the Promare calming down (somehow, they can figure out in which way exactly) in the Earth’s core, representing the Burnish being able to find peace among others now or at some future point.)) ((It’s not the most cinematic ending idea and quite basic, but at least it doesn’t take away from the Burnish’s identity. Besides, I ain’t no film writer; I’m sure there are better ideas than this with similar messages. The point here is that the canon ending just doesn’t cut it in terms of storytelling, symbolism and profound meanings.))

Not to mention, the part where Lio said “there’s no such thing as Burnish anymore.”

Uhhh… yes, there is???

Or is the Burnish identity so shallow and superficial, it’s defined by being able to produce flames, and being able to produce flames ALONE??

What happened to the culture you guys must have developed together? The shared pain of being rejected everywhere? The continued dehumanisation, mistreatment and fear that you lived through together? The resilience and support that you showed each other in order to survive and the shared grief of losing your loved ones at the hand of the government? The community you have built together?

Was none of that of any relevance when it came to your identity as ‘Burnish’?

That comment got on my nerves so bad, and especially because it was said by LIO.

Lio, who should know, understand and value what it means to be Burnish more than anyone.

And look, don’t get me wrong: I don’t expect them to go into detail about Burnish identity and its personal value to each character when the movie is only 2hrs long. (Even though if you ask me, Promare would have been much better off being a series, but that’s a whole other talk). In any case, i know how to stay realistic.

But that comment was so unnecessary and took so much meaning away from the movie.

Then there’s Kray’s hatred for Galo.

It’s like… why??

I genuinely couldn’t understand or find a single reason why Kray would hate Galo, let alone so MUCH.

Not to mention, it’s such a missed opportunity: making Kray care about Galo would have added so much depth to his character and the movie as a whole.

Like, think about it. Imagine it.

Kray, who cares about Galo and feels a sense of responsibility towards him due to the accidental murder of his parents, resolves to save Galo from the exploding earth; much like Herris and Aina.

But then Galo finds out, is disapproving and even tries to actively fight against Kray.

This would no doubt create an internal struggle within Kray; is he willing to fight Galo, even to save humanity and Galo himself?

But he has to, and Galo himself is forced to fight a person who he not only cares about, but also cares about him, making their fight that much more meaningful. Then, after, Galo has to reconcile with the fact that Kray did something like that, further shattering his formerly black-and-white worldview and creating an opportunity to make the relationship between him and Aina, who is going through the same struggle, even deeper.

Kray would also become more human by having a motivation that isn’t his saviour complex and having to struggle with internal conflicts like so many of us.

AND, it would make for good character development for Lio too, who now has to accept the fact that he was helped by (and is becoming friends with) someone who still actively cares about his archenemy; Kray.

It’s a shame, because not much was needed to change these things and include that bit of character depth. Just a line here and there would have been enough, without diving into the detail.

(Spoilers ahead)

There was so much, SO MUCH potential going on there and it all just… went down the drain.

The first blow being Kisaki’s motivations for the shit he does.

Wakui could have had him be insanely, illogically obsessed with Mikey. Make him want to be the only one close to Mikey (out of his illogical obsession, and NOT because he wants to use him as a tool) and go into detail about the messed up psychological mindset that he needs to have for that. He could have written him as having this vision of how Mikey ‘should’ be and how he’s trying to mold Mikey into that version because that’s the ‘true’ Mikey to his warped, twisted brain. He could have written every fucked up thing Kisaki did to Mikey (trying to kill Draken, killing Baji, Emma and Izana) as an ‘act of love’ and played around with that. He could have made Kisaki into a portrayal of idol worship taken to the extreme.

He had SO MUCH POTENTIAL, SO MANY CHANCES, AND THE PERFECT SETUP TO DO THAT!!!

But instead… he’s in love?? Really?? And that’s why he decided to kill multiple people??? Because a 10 year old sees his love rival go ‘I wanna be a delinquent’ and then immediately goes ‘I must be the number one criminal in Japan to be loved by my crush’???

LAMEEEEEE!!! Lame, predictable, over-used and overall cheap ahh writing. Top 10 lazy ways to write a villain’s motivation type shit.

On top of that, there was NO deep-dive about Kisaki’s mentality regarding it. Like, I COULD have accepted the ‘in love’ route, if it was written in a way similar to what I described above (but then, like, towards Hina instead of Mikey. Even though I think Mikey makes a better candidate, especially considering Kisaki’s actions affected Mikey most directly, but I’d have been willing to look past those details).

But no. It was just revealed he was in love with her and did all that shit so she’d return his feelings, with no exploration behind his thought process, mindset or psychological state AT ALL.

And THEN, to avoid HAVING to write those things, Kisaki was KILLED OFF BY A TRUCK!! SUDDENLY, UNNECESSARILY, FOR FUCKING PLOT CONVENIENCE AND AN EASY WAY OUT.

It’s giving Gege killing Gojo because he was making the plot difficult typa shit.

Literally has no place in the actual story, doesn’t make sense and shouldn’t have happened, but it did because the mangaka couldn’t write the character he HIMSELF created and wasn’t smart enough to plan out his story in advance. Like???

The second blow was Mikey’s ‘Dark Impulses’.

Again, perfect opportunity to explore the effects of grief, loss and having no access to mental help or support. He could have shown how someone could end up if they go through repeated trauma with no adult to help them or give them access to mental health resources. He could have portrayed the psychological state of a teen’s broken mind.

He could even have given Mikey fucking BPD, shown the importance of knowing what someone’s is going through and the need for mental health awareness, explained Mikey’s behaviour away as him being unaware of his problems and unable to receive help for it because mental health wasn’t as important at the time the story plays in.

He could have done that and CALLED IT A DAY.

(Edit: I forgot to mention this, but Wakui ALSO had the PERFECT chance to convey a profound message about being unable to save those who don’t want to be saved.)

But no. Wakui is determined to take the cheapest, laziest option imaginable and made it that Mikey was cursed.

Mikey wasn’t like that due to mental health problems and lack of support. He was actually, supernaturally, cursed.

Because of course, let’s introduce new supernatural elements (other than the time travel) that have never been mentioned before right at the NEAR END OF THE FUCKING STORY SO WE CAN AVOID ACTUALLY WRITING, GUYS!!

God it PISSES ME OFF SO BAD.

Also, third blow: the cause of Mikey’s ‘dark impulses’.

So Shinichiro is a time traveler too.

Cool, awesome plot twist!

However did he become a time traveler though??

Oh, he killed a random homeless dude that we know nothing about!! It’s also why Mikey has the dark impulses by the way!! :3

What. The. Fuck.

Not only is the supernatural explanation for Mikey’s Dark Impulses utter TRASH, we also get NOTHING, absolutely NOTHING, about the homeless guy or the origin/nature of the time travel ability.

I’d have been prepared to not get an explanation. Fuck, that’s what I was expecting. In fact, that would have been PREFERABLE to that half-assed, fuckass bs that Wakui pulled.

If you’re trying to explain a supernatural element of your story, DO IT WELL OR DONT DO IT AT ALL.

And don’t even get me started on the miraculous happy ending that MAKES NO SENSE.

Like, Mikey killed Takemichi. Okay, cool, according to the shitty logic that we’d established with Shinichiro before, that means Mikey gets the time travel ability. Makes sense that Mikey goes back in time.

So why the fuck did Takemichi travel in time with him??

“It’s a miracle”, Takemichi and Mikey say.

“It’s lazy, shitty writing”, I scream into the void.

Tokyo Revengers pisses me off SO BADDDDD

And it’s made all the worse because I LIKE the characters. I LOVE them. I liked the initial story, too.

It was great. It was awesome. It was everything I could ever ask for.

And then it went to shit.

I was fucking 13 holy—

Anyways, here’s my 13 year old baby self’s attempt at media literacy, for those interested:

~~~

“Before I start this character study, I want to warn those who may or may not end up reading this, that this will be the first real character study I have ever done. I originally went with my feelings for the character and how much I find myself attracted to them when judging them. So if this doesn't make sense, then you know why. I will probably make more studies and reviews for various different things when I have the time, like (fictional) characters, books, stories ect. I'm doing this with the purpose of better understanding the message and such of the aforementioned things. With that out of the way, let's start with my first character study of one of my favorite characters in probably all of manga and anime, Ouryuu Zeno, from the anime and manga Akatsuki no Yona.

Personal Experience

Anyone who has read the manga series Akatsuki no Yona knows him. Zeno, the cheerful young boy with his head in the clouds. But oh boy, nothing could be more wrong. The truth is there is so much more under the surface.

Nothing could have prepared most readers and fans of the shock in chapters 100+ in the manga series. And I say most, because I don't think I'm the only one who picked up on the hints scattered in the manga. If i'm going to be completely honest, i don't think i could've caught the hints if it wasn't for me getting a little spoiled beforehand, which made me pay him more attention than i think i would have at first. But that's beside the point.

I, personally, first watched the Akatsuki no Yona anime. And I'm not exaggerating when I say what got me to watch the series in the first place was a picture of Zeno that I saw on Instagram. Yeah, that's right. A picture. I seem to have a knack for knowing beforehand whether I'll like a character by seeing a picture of them.

Anyway, the picture I saw of Zeno that got me to watch the series was this one:

Yeah, those who have seen the anime will probably recognize it. It's the scene where Zeno asked Yona what her intentions were. Of course, when I saw the picture the first time on Instagram I didn't know that. I never even heard of the series back then. But I was just pulled toward it, as if by something invisible.

The vibe I got from this was someone cool, mysterious and yet caring. So of course, I went into the anime expecting to meet one of my new favorite characters. While I enjoyed the anime a lot, I was starting to get more impatient with each episode, wanting Zeno to get introduced already. And when he finally did, (in the last episode of the anime, may I add) I was so surprised to see that he was the complete opposite of what i expected him to be. Like, literally speechless. And although i didn't really buy the 'I'm a carefree kid with my head in the clouds' act he put on, (being pretty confident in my ability to guess what kind of personality a character has through the vibe i get from them) i would be lying if i say didn't start getting doubts. I even started questioning my character judge skills.

Then the scene of the picture from before came. That was when I realized that I really was right. His quick change of demeanor caught me off guard, but I didn't forget what happened. Unfortunately for me, soon enough the anime ended before I got to know more about him, so my curious ass self searched him up on google. That was when I first got spoiled. Not about his backstory, though. That's why I paid him extra attention, waiting patiently for his power and backstory to be revealed and trying to catch any hints. He's a sly dude, after all.

Anyway, enough about my personal experience with Zeno, that I have no idea why I thought it was a good idea to write about, let's start the (probably failing) character study.

Ouryuu Zeno

Beside the occasional hints scattered throughout the story, I noticed how Zeno seems to constantly view himself in a negative light. After his backstory reveal, specifically. He believes his powers to be disgusting, as he quotes it:

'...Because my body doesn't hurt. I don't get worn out. I don't catch illnesses. It hurts when I'm injured, but... The pain goes away as if it was never there. I'm incredibly healthy. That is so terribly... Disgusting.'

Or how he calls himself a monster when threatened to become the vessel for the souls of deceased Seiryuus:

'If it were something I could open, I would do it for you. But, I'm a living monster.'

It is clear multiple times how he finds himself to be disgusting and a monster. That he's an entity that shouldn't exist. And I don't blame him. No one can be and stay truly happy and content with themselves after millennials of solitude and regret. He knows too much of how dirty and corrupted the world is. He experienced and is still experiencing the unfairness of it, after all. And it doesn't help that he was cursed by a god, really.

Yet he didn't lose his kindness and smile. Even with all his self-hatred, even if it's fake, just being able to put on such a facade and smile when around others speaks of incredible mental and emotional strength. I mean, would you be able to do so? I'm sure I wouldn't, at least. But we, the fandom, know better. It isn't fake. His kindness and smile aren't fake. If it's fake that means he has incredible mental strength. If it's real, just how much stronger does that make him? That makes Zeno a truly inspiring character.

But Zeno has always been a kind person from the very beginning. The very reason he became a dragon warrior despite hating having to fight, was out of kindness. Altruism, even. That's very clear through his following words:

'The four dragon warriors? I am neither a heroic figure nor a veteran. I cannot become something like a warrior. But, even if it's someone like me... This world... Everyone... If I can make them just a little bit happier then... That dragon blood... Give it to me...' 

Even though he never had any experience in battle, he didn't hesitate to take the dragon's blood if it meant making the world and everyone 'just a little bit happier'. A decision that would unfortunately cost him to suffer for the next two millennia.

Something that makes me admire Zeno even more is that, while he harbors a lot of self-hatred and regrets, I don't think he regrets the 'If I can make them just a little bit happier' part, despite everything. That's shown through his most well-known quote to Kan Tae-Jun:

'People are mirrors. If you smile, a smile will be reflected.'

I believe that while I'm not saying all his smiles are real, this one shown above is 100% real without a hint of falseness or negative feelings in it. Even after two millenia, he continues his quest to the happiness of everyone around him. It's in his core. If that isn't altruism, then I don't know what is.

Now let's move on to something else. This is really just me assuming things and speculating, but i always thought it likely.

Zeno is a go with the flow type. He doesn't try to interfere with the decisions of the HHB and often hides information.

While he has always seemed to be a go with the flow type, (in my opinion) the old Zeno would never hide information. The reason he does now could be because of various different reasons:

1. His circumstances as an original Dragon Warrior makes it difficult for him to easily disclose information. While I strongly believe that to be one of the reasons, I don't think that's all there is to it. I'll come back to this later.

2. He doesn't trust the current dragon warriors and the HHB enough to easily disclose information. While it's an entirely possible reason, I disagree greatly with it, since he seems to think of all the dragon warriors, of all generations, to be Hakuryuu Geun, Seiryuu Abi and Ryokuryuu Shuten's children. And I would like to believe he thinks of the HHB as his own children, as well.

3. Disclosing certain information will lead to bad, or if it's already bad, worse, outcomes. While this one is also completely possible, I'm not entirely convinced with it. Zeno can't hear the voices of the gods anymore. He can't know the future. Sure, Zeno is extremely intelligent and has predicted the future multiple different times, but still. Knowing and predicting the future are two completely different things.

4. He wants them to ask him themselves. I'm also not entirely convinced with this as well. I don't think he would lie to them if they ask, but I also don't think he wants them to ask him. He tends to hide things for as long as possible until absolutely necessary for them to be revealed, his powers and identity as an original dragon warrior being the perfect examples. While he did say it didn't make a difference and neither did it matter, do you really think that was all there is to it? Well, I don't.

5. He wants them to figure it out themselves. I strongly believe this to be one of the most important reasons why he hides information. I wrote in the 1. reason that I'll come back to what I think is another important reason for why he hides information, right? Well, here we go.

I believe Zeno thinks of himself as a figure of the past. Someone who shouldn't be alive. Someone whose time has passed and is guiding the new generation to lead the future. Like a parent guiding their child. Guiding them, helping and protecting them, but not interfering too much. As I stated earlier how I like to believe Zeno thinks of the current dragon warriors and HHB to be his own children as well, (which I'm 99,99% sure he does) I think this makes perfect sense. You know how people often say children are the future? Well, it's that. He's a figure of the past that's only alive because of a cruel curse, and they're the future. So he wants them to deal with the world and its problems themselves, while he quietly helps guiding and protecting them from behind. From the shadows.

I wrote all the reasons just to make this broader for speculation, but my point is reason 5. About how Zeno lives in the past. How he's a parent watching over his children, wanting them to lead the future, because his time should have passed. I believe this to be completely reasonable.

Now that I'm done rambling about how much of a parent Zeno is, let's move on to the next point of discussion. His past. Or Kaya, specifically. Just so you know.

Zeno is the literal epitome of the saying 'don't judge a book by its cover'. No one could have guessed the truth out of pure deduction. While sure, there are some mysterious moments of Zeno, where the fandom would start questioning the seemingly obvious, I doubt that was enough for us to guess he was one of the original warriors.

That's because he is really skilled in hiding his real strength. Well, experience, I guess. But I honestly don't think Zeno could put on his 'I'm just a kid' act, (as I like to call it) if it wasn't for his wife, Kaya.

While everyone in his past has greatly affected Zeno in one way or another and shaped him into who he is today, I think we can all agree that Kaya had the most influence on him. We can see that through his actions. His third-person way of speaking, putting his hands up in the air when happy and even the way he puts his scarf around his neck. These are all quirks he adopted from Kaya.

After King Hiryuu and the original dragon warriors death's, life has been hell for Zeno. But Kaya reminded him of the beauty of the world. To Zeno, Kaya is the beauty of the world. Even after centuries of her death, he still sees the world she lived in as beautiful. He adopts her quirks and personality in an attempt to keep her alive in him. In his memory. It's because Kaya reminded him that there is good and happiness in the world, that he can still smile. If it wasn't for Kaya, I believe that Zeno would still be lying where Kaya first found him and the HHB would have had to dig him out. I don't think he would have recovered.

No matter how strong someone is mentally, if almost all they have known in life is pain and loneliness, they can't and won't recover. It gives us all the more reason to appreciate Kaya. If it wasn't for her, our sunny Zeno would have been broken far beyond repair. I'm not saying he isn't broken now. He is. But he would have been broken in another way. He wouldn't be the Zeno we all know and love today.

Now into how Zeno sees King Hiryuu and Yona.

I think it's fair to think that Hiryuu affects Zeno a great deal as well. I think that a fair deal of Zeno's decisions are somehow influenced by Hiryuu. Like how he decided to watch over the fate of Kouka after realizing that Hiryuu might someday be reborn:

'Then, just for a while... Just for a while, I will... Look after King Hiryuu's precious country's fate.'

But then, does that mean he sees Yona as merely Hiryuu's reincarnation? No, he doesn't. He sees Yona as her own person. That's clear multiple times:

'It's not like you have to follow in King Hiryuu's footsteps or anything, miss. I just decided that I wanted to follow you around.'

Here especially, it's clear that the primary reason he follows Yona is because she gained his trust. She gained his trust as Yona, not as King Hiryuu's reincarnation. Or here:

'It's finally been born... Our... Light of fire. Well, whether it actually becomes a light is up to itselves though.'

The second sentence here clearly means that just because Yona is King Hiryuu's reincarnation, doesn't mean that she will necessarily grow up to be the same person as Hiryuu. Charismatic, strong and reliable. (Well, she did, but she wouldn't have if it wasn't for her being chased out of the castle.) He recognizes that she might have grown up to be a pampered little princess. Grown up to have nothing that could ever indicate her as Hiryuu's reincarnation except her crimson hair.

In the first place, if he only saw her as Hiryuu's replacement, he wouldn't have tested her. (Because, she's Hiryuu's reincarnation, right? Why bother?) But he did. She needed to gain his trust first. Something she wouldn't have had to do as just Hiryuu's reincarnation.

From this, we can conclude that Zeno sees each as a different person. That he respects them both. Though I think he sees Hiryuu more as his master, and Yona more as his child, like he does the rest of the HHB. Possibly because of the age difference.

This has grown to be really long so I'll end it here. After all, Zeno is a really complex character and not even a whole book will be enough to cover his entire personality and character. So:

Conclusion

In all the anime and manga I've seen, Zeno is probably the only one who successfully conveyed to me the burdens of immortality. While immortality certainly isn't something new in the world of anime and manga, the way Kusanagi-sensei wrote him gave him a special place in my heart and the hearts of the other members of the fandom.

Even with his powers and backstory revealed, Zeno is still much of a mystery. Probably even more of a mystery than before the reveal. There is still much we don't know about him. It doesn't help that he seems to be the scheming bastard type.

In chapter 208, Zeno talks about a wish in the last panels. While most people believe the wish to be his own death, I highly doubt it's something so simple. He is a sly ass, after all.

But from all the points from before, we can have a small grasp of what kind of person he is. I believe that Kusanagi-sensei still has a lot in store for him. In my opinion, Zeno is one of the, if not the, most interesting and complex characters in the entirety of the series. We have no way of knowing everything until Kusanagi-sensei decides to tell us, so we have no choice but to be patient. But one thing I'm sure of: Akatsuki no Yona will show us a journey we won't ever forget, and Ouryuu Zeno will be a part of it that will always stay in our hearts.”

~~~

Not happy thoughts I fear tho.

Because the thing is, i don’t think there could exist a universe where Dazai is happy.

Yes, he has a lot of trauma that has been caused by others, but i feel like his worst enemy and biggest baggage isn’t anything that has rlly happened to him, but more so his intelligence. He feels inhuman not js bcuz of his crimes, but also largely bcuz his intelligence is so rare, that he feels aliented from humanity, and would still feel aliented from humanity even if he lived a normal life.

Kind of how Ranpo has always suffered bcuz of his intelligence b4 he met Fukuzawa. The difference with Ranpo is that Fukuzawa gave him a way to block off his ‘freakiness’ and make him ‘normal’ like the rest; the glasses. The glasses for Ranpo serve as a mental barrier; in a way protecting him from his own mind.

But Dazai doesn’t have such thing that could block off his own mind, and i don’t think he ever will, bcuz he will never get to a lvl of trust w smb where he would let himself get deceived like Ranpo was.

Nothing will ever surprise him and so life will continue to be boring and senseless. No one will ever be able to understand Dazai either, because their minds simply don’t have the capacity for that; Oda, ironically, probably came closest to understanding him by understanding these facts, hence the “you’re not gonna find a reason to live” speech.