Quiet people have the loudest minds

I've seen quite a lot of people miss the reason behind this man's words and actions or not understanding the message conveyed through this scene or taking it lightly, seeing it as your usual scuffle so I'm gonna talk about it. First off, these panels are actually deeper than they look. It's not just some stupid guy punching ume like your usual storyline. It's an "immigrant" punching him out of "certain frustrations" and that changes the entire interpretation of this scene. As we've understood so far, Bankokugai is definitely struggling with money and food issues and the residents living in it have to experience a tough life because of it so when ume easily handed out money to solve the situation, it rubbed the man the wrong way because he said "do you think MONEY will fix everything!?" because MONEY is smth they don't have, that they're struggling with while living in a community closed off from everyone else. So ume easily offering it to "solve" everything went wrong. Another reason I think behind the frustrations is that he's an "outsider" because I think the bankokugai residents feel bitter knowing people use their cultures as tourism and bankokugai outside layer to enjoy different cultures and easily having access to money while the residents from said cultures are getting by with much difficulty and have been treated as outcasts by the society of the country they're immigrants in.

What the man did was wrong, yes. BUT it is very understandable as well as realistically portrayed once you look at the whole situation. Especially if we're talking about Japan where wbk is set in, which is known for this prevalent serious problem that has existed since a long time. And ume's actions came out wrong also cuz he felt disrespected. The residents of bankokugai have felt how its like to be treated as outcasts, to have lived and to continue to live a life full of struggle in another country where you barely get by and have no options to move places while dealing with the rejection of the majority of the society of that country and having to live off in a closed space in the end managing by themselves, getting disrespected while their cultures are still enjoyed and must've also been through people giving them money (unlike ume's intentions) in a way supposed to mock or humiliate them or make light of their struggle and pain by shoving it at them as tho it would FIX everything they've been through, as tho it would take away their suffering.

The separation of bankokugai's inner layers with the outer layers and the outside majority community also contributes to creating this feeling of being an outcast/outsider and being separated from others as if they aren't the same as every other human. While living in their own bubble protects them, it's still a bubble in the end and it hurts not being able to pop out of it and knowing why they can't while still struggling in their daily lives.

Which is why the few highlighted words in the screenshot convey a lot. It conveys the feelings of all immigrants and any minorities people push away as outcasts in the real world. It doesn't condone the violence but sensei is using these panels to showcase a big message and meaning. And as I've said before, we're stepping into a morally grey territory with red chanpuru too, it's not an arc that's gonna be easy black and white. And aside from the morally grey rc, the issues addressed this arc are complex and not a one moment gone the next kinda thing.

That's not to say he's an inherently evil person, but maybe this could represent one of his and Sakura's parallels.

Perhaps at one point Suo was rewarded or even required to be "nasty" and unkind to survive and develop in the environment he grew up in, much like Sakura was rewarded for becoming more open, trusting others, and allowing himself to rely on them. Perhaps Suo being unkind in his environment was what was needed not only for self-validation as it was for Sakura, but for general protection (eg, another way of "growing a backbone" and genuinely remaining safe).

However, he also likely had a hard time growing out of it or better refining it as he got older...maybe his master had that big of an influence regarding that...

*Spinning Suo Hayato around in my mental microwave again*

I've also been thinking that maybe Suo is a kid who got a hard lot in life, born into the poverty and systemic discrimination (I have another post in the works about Bankoku-gai being a burakumin community aka exploring Japan's brand of racism) in Bankoku-gai. A kid who got intimately familiar with the unfairness of life at a very young age, a kid who looked over the river and knew that the people on the other side didn't live like him. (A kid who maybe secretly hoped to one day spread his wings and join the other side, to be seen as "normal" and to be happy.) And all that suffering made an anger build up in him

But unlike Sakura who turned his anger outwards and rejected the world that rejected him, Suo turned his inwards and into a ruthless act of self-refinement. If his environment expected him to be cold or cunning or cruel, and rewarded him for it, then he would excel in those things to ensure his survival. (Someone forced to grow several hard layers to protect his fragile inner core, the kindness and idealism that he has never truly managed to kill in himself.) And then at some point he ended up at the dojo and met his master who helped him further refine himself and his fighting skills. And taught him how to wield his anger with surgical precision instead of just blindly lashing out

I'm still not really convinced that RC is a 100% good organisation... I think it's likely that they may also have expected Suo to commit acts of cruelty that he might not have wanted to do but wasn't in a position to refuse following the orders. And - this is just total speculation until canon either vindicates me or proves me wrong - what if Suo's currently in danger not bc someone in RC wants to harm him but bc he's putting himself in danger by trying to stage a rebellion? To change RC and how it works from the inside. (As a side note, I'm starting to lean on the theory that Suo's master is dead/gone and there's now someone else in charge, and maybe after master's passing, the higher ups stopped caring about/funding the dojo and maybe that's why Suo is now going against them; to protect his younger siblings who haven't been disillusioned by the realities of life or what RC really is like yet. And as another side note, while Suo is an officer, I've been consistently reading his role as an "enforcer", like he's def high up in the hierarchy but I don't think he's one of the three dragons, rather his role is to enforce the will of his higher ups onto others)

Bc no matter how Suo acts when he sees his friends again (whether he's angry with them and says cruel things to hurt them/chase them away, or apologises but refuses to talk and/or come back with them, or they find him dissociating in 4K and trying to act like nothing's wrong)... I can't imagine Nirei having a good reaction to any of the options

That being said, the way people are claiming that Suo looks like he's doing great back at Bankoku-Gai and his smiles are less forced is killing me, because look at these panels and tell me that's not a kid dissociating in 4k and that smile isn't forced

He looks tired and on the edge, and this is not the first time he's looked like this, so it's wild to me that people are ignoring it

Like, he has that look before as well

And then obviously the strained smile, like, how do you miss that, obviously there's something Suo doesn't like about the kids joining RC at 15

And well, more proof that things really are getting serious (and I feel this is a big issue that not necessarily has to link directly to RC, like, maybe there's some corruption in RC, but we have to remember that RC and Bankoku-Gai aren't synonymous, please)

And last but not least, this panel

The only light in that eye was the reflection from an artificial light, that boy is not okay...

And it's likely just that he's a 15 year old with too much responsibility on his shoulders due to being an officer, a clear problem in Bankoku-Gai, possible internal issues with the other 2 sections of RC and the fact he had to leave his friends and Makochi behind.

But truly it is wild to me that people feel the need to claim that Suo looks perfectly fine and all his smiles are genuine back at Bankoku-Gai, specially considering the panels I've pointed out, as if any other claim would suddenly mean he doesn't care about his city and his people, when it's very obvious that exactly because he cares a ton he's not doing fine, he has to hide things from them, as an officer he likely can't show weakness, vulnerability or doubt in public because that would influence everyone he's responsible for.

Concerned for Nirei, but affectionate smile:

Joking around:

Admiring smile:

Talking to friends

Angry smile:

Sad, introspective smile:

Possibly the most gleefully happy and carefree Suo in the whole manga

When I first started getting into wbk, I saw all these comments about Suo being "oh so mysterious, wearing a smiling mask and being inscrutable" but the more I read the manga, the more I realise this kid actually sucks at hiding his true emotions

We only know what the characters have told us about Red Chanpuru, and from what we’ve been told they’re a much older and strongly bonded organization with similar goals as Furin.

AND weve been told this by outsiders, people who have never experienced this organization personally who probably have heard misconceptions and rumors and so that’s the entirety of what they know! Most of them didn’t even know this organization existed!

I understand wanting angst and the easiest way to get that is through “Red Chanpuru bad and evil” but I NEEED you to think critically about that because this is the FIRST diverse group we’ve come across, PLEASE use your brain for 5 seconds and think about how harmful it is to say that the first group we have with diversity is abusing this teenager.

Now this doesn’t mean you can’t criticize them or talk about how Suo being connected to them is inappropriate. Suo is still a child and the fact that he has to go back and forth between this town on a 4 hour commute daily to a school he has then been made to drop out of (either by his own, or another persons decision) is wrong, but also we can’t even imply that he was forced to do it because WE DONT KNOW!

We can talk about how they probably have strict outdated rules without making them out to be an evil organization.

Things need to change, yes, but things also needed to change with Shishitoren and Noroshi and now they’re amazing allies which we don’t villainize because we heard them out!

I am just tired of people acting like this organization is evil and malicious when we know so little and to imply that Suo’s mask is something that was beat into him by Red Chanpuru when we don’t know that is just frustrating.

no, but seriously. the way people see one image and immediately start making wild assumptions. "There's blood on the logo" so they're an evil violent organization. "It's their own blood" okay, um, [checks notes] they can still be an evil organization some how, just give me a minute.