I’m rereading the Second Revival Round arc because it’s one of my favourite parts of the series for various reasons: There’s the fact that it’s a 3v3 round with heavy focus on the three main characters, both as individuals and as a team, and at the same time, this round is an important milestone in Nao’s character development because it’s the first time she comes up with a plan of her own and puts it to practice without requiring Akiyama’s assistance - not only that, the person who she chooses to confide in is Fukunaga, someone with clearly malicious and selfish intentions when they first met. The second revival round also fleshes out Fukunaga, her relationship to Nao and Akiyama respectively, and shows what changes she has undergone since meeting the two of them.
It was already shown how quickly Nao learns as she advances through the game and how she is perfectly capable of applying her observations, experience and Akiyama’s words of advice to new situations. She talked back to Yokaya at the end of the previous round and carefully reassesses Fukunaga in this one in order to figure out the best way to convince her. Though the chapter title “Agitation” probably refers to the upset Fukunaga stirs within the enemy team as she acts according to Nao’s intentions and against the enemy team’s expectations, the other agitation that happens is Nao boldly revealing to Fukunaga that she tricked her with the help of a lie. Once again, the series emphasizes that Nao is a force to be reckoned with: not just because of the unexpected turnarounds that she contributes to or her ability to catch on to the LGT Office’s schemes quickly, but because of her tremendous growth stemming from her determination to help others. The former Nao would not have been able to convince and thus manipulate Fukunaga.
In my eyes, this chapter cover is a great illustration of the characters at present: Akiyama, eyes closed, perhaps in admiration and blind faith in Nao’s good heart, perhaps out of shame because he knows his intentions are not and will never be even remotely as pure as hers, perhaps in resignation in the face of the fate that will befall him as he continues playing the Liar Game, taking on the inevitable burden of the accumulated debt as he explains at the end of the round. And though Akiyama has not opened up to anyone but Nao up to this point, he starts to confide in Fukunaga on a personal level in this chapter:
“Honestly, I don’t have an ounce of the noble feelings Kanzaki Nao is carrying. The only reason I encouraged her idea was because it will lead to the "victory” I’m striving for. What happens to those three is none of my business. I only want to weed out who the ringleader is behind this whole mess and destroy him. That is my sole purpose.“
His eyes are closed on the chapter cover because he won’t allow anything to come between him and his goal (which is heavily connected to his deceased mother’s fate), knowing that it will - or at the very least might - demand sacrifices in the process since, realistically speaking, there’s no guarantee he’ll be able to save everyone along the way. He doesn’t know whether Nao sees this side of his, he loathes himself for being who he is, and he is anxiously awaiting the moment where he’ll have to betray Nao’s trust and vision, but nevertheless, he’ll see it through.
Fukunaga, for once, does not have an exaggerated and confident look, but stares contemplatively in no particular direction. This time, it’s not just about herself anymore, and she has long noticed that Akiyama, but especially Nao, are making their way into her heart; she symphatizes with their motives and starts to see things from the perspective of what she would have previously considered her victims. For perhaps the first time, she knows that she can be part of something that will have tremendous impact on someone else’s life - in a positive way. And perhaps for the first time, too, she is shown that there is some goodness, some hope left in the world (I think she’s similar to the other team’s general in that regard even though we haven’t been shown her background yet), because Nao is just that extraordinary. But following Nao and making the altruistic decision is against everything she has lived by for the longest time, so she is not sure anymore where exactly she stands in all of this. She looks on contemplatively because it is now her turn to look at what’s in front of her and into herself.
Then, Nao: looking forward, eyes wide open without any hesitation or doubt reflected in them. She may have started out as a naive, intimidated and lost puppet in the beginning, but barely any of that has remained. She now knows, perhaps better than anyone, what her goal is and what she has to do. She is not afraid of looking at others, to learn what drives them, what background they have come from, and fully embraces every person as they are. She acts against everyone’s expectations and overthrows everything that they have known, which is precisely why I think the chapter title describes her role so well. She sweeps people off their feet and makes them feel uncomfortable, because confronting Nao means confronting your own beliefs and accepting responsibility for your actions.
