i love stars.

Can we just talk about how stunning Gen is? How many unique abilities and skills does he possess? And why is no one paying attention to it even though it's so absolutely amazing?

1)Let's start with the fact that he was able to track down Senku at first. Have you ever wondered how he did it so quickly and accurately? Alone? In the jungle? In an unfamiliar area?

We don't know the exact distances, but in chapter 90 we were shown that Tsukasa’s Empire is somewhere near Tokyo, and the Kingdom of Science is south of Mount Fuji (possibly near the cities of Ito or Izu). The distance is about 90-130 kilometers.

Before Senku noticed Kohaku’s smoke signals, he had not seen people in the area for almost a year. The inhabitants of Ishigami village are quite reserved and it is very problematic to find their traces. But Gen, who knows only an approximate description and general direction, managed to find the way without a guide, without professional tools and with very few traces in like ten days.

Gen managed to pave a path that was sufficiently effective and understandable so that even being seriously injured, he could find a way back to Tsukasa’ Empire.

It requires huge skills. I mean, travelers were found like several kilometers away from their routes, and they wandered for weeks without being able to find the way.

Just in general, the fact that he ran so fast severely injured and literally dying really deserves attention.

2)Then, his clothes. He does not carry any bags and supplies, although when we get to know him, we learn that he has a lot of things up his sleeves. He needs all these layers of clothing to keep all his materials. Not only for his blood bags, but also food, water and something that will help him find a way. All of his clothes probably weigh a lot more than they seem to weight.

Interesting to find out what is included in the standard equipment of a mentalist.

3)We also know that Gen must have an extensive stock of knowledge about nature. Senku survived because he had scientific knowledge about plants and geography. Tsukasa let Gen go alone, knowing that in floriography and orientation on the terrain, Gen has no less knowledge.

Plus, Gen was able to make wine and bags of durable material alone, which once again testifies to his knowledge in the scientific field. One more reason he and Senku tuned in to the same wave so quickly.

4)And he is also much stronger and a lot more athletic than he proclaims himself to be. Most likely, he is lying about his weakness in order to avoid unnecessary energy waste. Anyways, his words are definitely not to be believed. If he constantly repeats that he is "the most superficial man in the world", while being a boy with a heart of gold, then nothing prevents him from repeating about his weakness, although in fact he is still strong. 

For example, he stops with his BARE HANDS an axe strike of terribly strong Magma.

Then Stanley confirms that Gen's hands are strong.

And I repeat he is able to run a huge amount of kilometers a day and is still able to work like some kind of superhuman.

We should also not forget about his past as a magician. To do a high-quality show, Gen had to be very flexible and athletic. For example, here we are shown that he just easily avoided the trick with the sword. This once again confirms that he is agile.

Isn’t it amazing how he easily climbed onto the bridge pole, and then onto the roof? Plus no one notices that he is doing this, and he has no problems with balancing. It's not easy to get on the roof of this house at all, but it takes like couple of seconds for Gen.

This clearly indicates that Gen has a huge acrobatic training and an incredibly developed sense of balance. (I want his backstory so much!!)

5)And of course he is incredibly capable diplomat and mentalist.

He has done so many things for the kingdom of science, this is truly awesome.

So, to sum things up, Gen is not only an amazing mentalist and psychologist, he is also a traveler, a guide, a driver and an acrobat with amazing endurance and tracking abilities.

My dear sunshine, whatever happened, you’re safe and loved now…

Stanley: ♡ ♡ ♡

Gen: …okay lovebirds whatever you say as long as you don’t torture me

I want to talk about chapter 56 because it it incredibly significant. This whole observatory story is one of the most important in the development of Senku’s character and his relationships with other people. And it would be truly illogical to reduce it all to some simple romantic infatuation. Sengen's feelings go much further than a petty romance, and here is why.

*was inspired by this post

Let's start from the beginning. Magma blindfolds Senku and brings him to all the villagers. Things are really unsightly, and Senku naturally comes to the conclusion that Gen has persuaded all the villagers to bring his head on a plate to Tsukasa. Hence it can be assumed that Senku had such thoughts before, and he admitted the possibility that Gen could raise the whole village against him. Senku is right that Gen could raise the whole village since he has no less power over the villagers than Senku himself does, but he is wrong with the fact that Gen would want to go against him. He didn’t know his motives and even though Senku chose the “as long as you are on my side, let’s just be friends” strategy, he was wary of Gen. That is, he did not trust either Gen or the villagers completely. The fake speech of Magma, who was just trying to make Senku angry and let go of his hand so as not to die together, immediately becomes real in Senku's head, and does not help the situation at all.

Gen immediately calms Senku down, saying "I swear I haven’t a clue what you’re on about", because he never had any thoughts of rebelling against Senku. On the contrary, his uttermost devotion can be admired. The blindfold is removed, and instead of a bloody betrayal, a view of Saturn opens up to Senku’s eyes, followed by the view of the whole observatory. And then Senku mentally transfers to his childhood, remembering his main dream - to go to space. This is how Gen shows that he sees Senku. He sees the great scientist Senku, and the highschooler Senku, and the child admiring his father Senku. He sees his wishes, ambitions, desires, he sees what brings him happiness and fills him with inspiration, he can hear what Senku’s heart says.

Gen also sees that it will be difficult for Senku to cope with emotions after such an event, so he begins to chat about everyday things so that Senku finds support amid such an emotional shock, feels more comfortable and has time to gather his thoughts.

Senku clings to this opportunity and continues the conversation in his pragmatic manner. However, here is another Gen's revelation waiting for him. Gen says that he remembers the date of his release from the stone and he counted the days to find out his birthdate. He once again shows that he can see the real Senku, and thus makes it clear how much Senku means to him and to all the villagers. How much he believed in him, even before he met him.

To make it a “fair deal”, Gen opens his heart to Senku in return, allowing him to see his real self. Formerly we saw Gen as a fickle opportunist, a dark horse, a vile greedy man, a traitor, a self proclaimed “the most selfish man on earth”. But right here he’s telling Senku almost straight up, that this has never been true. That he is by Senku’s side not because of pros and cons but because of true likelinesses, admiration and respect.

He cracks his mask with his own hands, allowing Senku to see into his heart as well. It's like he's saying, "I trust you completely, so please trust me too." This scene means so much because after it Senku gains 10,000% confidence and trust in Gen and the villagers, he can not doubt their loyalty for a millimeter anymore. And this is incredibly important for the development of the plot.

Gen's words gave Senku so much faith in himself and in the success of the Kingdom of Science that Senku literally changed as a person overnight.

After this conversation, he is noticeably getting closer with the villagers. He even gives them all something like "high five", although physical contact has never been his thing.

And communication with the Gen becomes a hundred times warmer, and Senku keeps showing and showing that now he also trusts Gen for all ten billion percent. He trusts him to work in the laboratory, and drive a car, and a tank, and he plays along with Gen’s schemes even if he doesn’t know much about it, and he even doesn’t mind when Gen starts analyzing him.

I wrote here that his constant laughter and joy might just be a defensive reaction, and I'll stand by that opinion, this post is one more proof.

Firstly, we have the first appearance.

Tsukasa asks very bitterly why someone would be protected by this knife while he was killed. I can feel the pain right through the screen in his voice. Because the truth is, for Tsukasa, as for any of us, the life was everything. And it pains him greatly to see that the object that has taken all his dreams and wishes away and destroyed him will be used to protect someone.

(okay but the fact that Tsukasa is so sure Amane hates him and doesn’t give a slightest shit about him that he even asks does Amane remember him)

Then this scene. Tsukasa reminds Amane what he did though it wasn’t really that necessary. Probably because Amane has raised his hand against him again which reminded Tsukasa of the day of the murder. He tries to calm Amane down because he still loves him and doesn't want him to cry.

But at the same time he does not forgive him completely and does not want Amane to feel so comfortable about the fact of his death.

In general, Tsukasa isn't shy about bringing up the past when Amane is around. I mean, when Tsukasa is alone, you can't get a word out of him about the past, but as soon as Amane comes, he remembers it. Probably unintentionally, but maybe that's also his way of showing how much he's hurt by the fact that Amane took it away from him.

Then, look at the pensive expression on his face in the PP arc. I think it also shows that Tsukasa would like to be in that reality, at that time, and is hurt that it will never happen.

Finally, this official art. We see Tsukasa looking up, which probably symbolises his dreams and hopes for life (and there is the pit below, by the way). And Tsukasa's gaze is not cheerful at all.

It shows that he actually wanted to live and to do something great, but Amane took that away from him.

In fact, it kinda admires me that Tsukasa is so careless and happy even tho everyone treats him pretty much like shit

No matter what, he seems to be in such irrepressible high spirits, you can not even imagine him being scared or crying. And I actually am inclined to think that there is no problem with his unshakable joy. Maybe he is just like that, “just because”. Just cause it’s fun and he feels comfortable in this constant state of merriment. Just because he wants to.

What I’m saying is that not everyone has to be severely traumatised to be like that. As Sakura said, if he's enjoying himself, it's fine. If he likes being like that, then it's fine.

That kind of constant cheerfulness and happiness might be considered abnormal, but what do we call normal anyway?

It’s always what is comfortable for the majority. And an unconcerned child with unusual ideas who pays no attention to anyone's opinion in order to get what he wants with malicious grin is uncomfortable. So I am not sure if we should call him crazy and call his cheerfulness wrong simply because he ignores everything bad that's said and done to him, trying to live a joyful life and fulfil his dreams.

While we're on the subject of insanity, the elements of it that Tsukasa clearly shows may be related to his creative nature.

Current empirical research suggests that the most important mental trait found in both geniuses and madmen is what is known as cognitive disinhibition - the inability to filter out and throw useless things, pictures or ideas from the mind. It is this trait that contributes to delusional thinking and mental confusion, but it also makes creative minds more fertile.

A huge number of creative personalities walk on the edge of normality and insanity. Because for them, the flurry of impulses and ideas they draw from their state is a treasure trove of all creativity, without which they cannot imagine their existence.

Sources: «What Neuroscience Says About The Link Between Creativity And Madness»,  Fastcompany;  «If You Think You’re a Genius, You’re Crazy», Nautil.us

As a ghost Tsukasa are not restricted or limited in action and ways, so he implements his ideas in a possibly very creative way, but his initial aim is to create, to create something good, to make wishes come true and to bring happiness through his art.

But on the other hand, things may not be so simple and happy. We don’t know much about Tsukasa’s past but it’s kinda obvious it wasn’t too good.

I mean, for start with, 4-year-old kid who is willing to sacrifice his life for his brother’s sake, while thinking this brother hates him and is happier without him, is definitely a traumatised kid.

Then who knows how many accidents or disturbing unpleasant stories happened to him in the Red House. I mean, lots of people came there in hoped to make their wishes come true, and according to Teru, they all died. Who knows how many things those innocent children's ears heard. Who knows how many deaths and tears he saw in that house.

Then he had to listen to the hatespeech and threats from Kou, even though Tsukasa didn't even know what he had done wrong. And then also he found out that Amane would kill him.

By the way, remember how he reacted? He laughed too, looking absolutely happy. He's been reacting like that to every stressful situation ever since.

And at school, finally? The situation with Amane's wounds is very suspicious. And I have a couple of questions for Tsuchigomori-sensei. If he saw that Amane has so many wounds and problems, wouldn't it be logical to find his twin and see what's going on with him? Or even ask him? That would have been a huge clue!

Why wasn't there a word about Tsukasa in the flashback? Why is there no mention of Tsukasa's past at all in the whole manga? Did he have any friends? How about his grades? Was he abused too? Or was he safe and sound?

Why didn't Tsuchigomori care about Tsukasa? Maybe Tsuchigomori didn't even know Tsukasa existed? Maybe Tsukasa didn't go to Kamome Academy at all? Why didn't he go then? Maybe he was chronically ill? Or beaten up even more than Amane, so he couldn't even come to school?

I just think Tsuchigomori is smart enough to know that it's not just one twin you have to worry about, but both of them. However for now it all looks like Tsukasa didn't exist at all.

It might be that his life wasn’t so easy and this constant laughing, smiling, spreading a good cheer might be just protective reaction. Why the need for grief, envy, anger, sadness, shame? They only make life harder, so why not just laugh and convince yourself that everything is great, everything is fine, and you're happy with everything? I think this is how he got rid of the unpleasant feelings and emotions he was feeling and now he just won’t stop smiling at any misery or insult he meets. But most importantly, I believe he really, genuinely thinks he is happy and has a great time. I mean, he is not like “I'm going to show everyone a fake happy image and then I’ll sink in an ocean of tears and sadness", he really thinks things are better than ever.

So we all know how Amane and Tsukasa often represent Sun and Moon respectively (more here)

and now, if we look at Tabanata festival manga sleeve…

Tsukasa has the image of Sun on his yukata and Amane has Moon!