arkha corvus.

Yubitsume is a ritualized act of self-amputation most commonly associated with Japanese yakuza culture. Literally meaning “finger shortening,” it traditionally involves the removal of part or all of the little finger, usually from the left hand. Unlike punishment imposed by others, yubitsume is performed by the offender themselves and offered as an act of apology, repentance, or submission to authority. Its significance lies in the transformation of guilt into permanent bodily consequence.

Historically, yubitsume served both symbolic and practical purposes. In pre-modern Japan, the little finger was essential to maintaining a firm grip on a sword. Its loss weakened a person’s ability to fight independently, making them more reliant on protection from their group or leader. Over time, this practical function evolved into a symbolic one. The ritual came to represent loyalty enforced through vulnerability. By sacrificing part of the body, the offender demonstrated willingness to place themselves at a permanent disadvantage in exchange for forgiveness and continued belonging.

(most people don't wear their rings like this but even if it's just a stylistic choice, the older the jinki the stronger it gets so I'm willing to bet on him having mankira from a very young age)

Mankira's ability stems from jabbers passion for inflicting poisoning onto himself and others. You could even say it represents a cycle of pain and violence with how it works

>Jabber poisons himself

>Mankira absorbs said substance for future use

>Jabber uses it to poison others

I have been making little posts here and there about this and I answered an ask about it in this post where I rambled about my theory like a mad scientist. I've been wanting to wrap up my thoughts a bit more cohesively on the matter, but I also feel like I don't have enough information to really do so. Consider this a potential part 1 to my theory as I think it will expand and change as we see more of Zodyl, Jabber, and all the Raiders in the future.

Trash Storm Arc

It was so sudden for Zodyl to mention that Rudo is a "brainwashed person", when we know Rudo's feelings and intentions to be quite pure. It's accusatory, and he immediately attacks the latter. Zodyl is always shown as a cunning and calculated man, not showing many emotions. His poker face is strong, and he uses this to his advantage pretty frequently. We only see the information broker guess his charade first-hand, and as the information broker, he knows more than everyone else.

Zodyl's reaction was intense—basically losing his shit when Rudo refused to join. It makes me wonder if this attack tactic has been used on the other Raiders/Vandals to get them to submit.

My roomie is finally reading the manga, so I am no longer spoiling this for him, so let me tell you what I think is up with Zodyl Typhon’s Jinki Mishra.

So I need to find the exact tweet, but Urana basically says that Mishra isn’t a "you are what you eat" type of power, so the food itself doesn’t seem to lead directly into the transformation. Honestly, I don’t see it as some Rashōmon-type fabric manipulation deal. Urana is just too creative for that, especially considering how popular BSD is and the fact that they love studio bones. I don’t see this being anywhere close to a direct rip-off of another power set.

So what do I see it as? Well firstly I think the main power is made to be this monstrous form, able to either command trash beasts, create them or fight them. I personally think Canis was the first cleaner or the first trash beast exterminator and the watchman series was made to combat them specifically with a team of helpers.

My thoughts on why each part of the series exists are: The book to record the history until something, perhaps how to make the beasts, was discovered, and then it became about hiding the ability. The necklace, possibly used to try to talk to trash beasts by connecting their thoughts. The boots are used to calm civilians in danger or to calm beasts like a sedative. The gloves to make weapons with anima that non-givers could use. That would, in time, unlock other people’s ability to become givers like Rudo did for Follo [yes, I think Canis made the first givers using 3 R on his 3 friend.]. Then, finally, the coat for Canis to gain a form fight and control these monsters.

So what do I think that form looks like, welp, the answers in the name, I think he’s straight up Typhon.

Typhon has been described differently by many Greek authors. Still, the main ones I’m side-eyeing are Hesiod, Pseudo-Apollodorus, Antoninus Liberalis, and Nonnus, who all have different descriptions, with three things that remain consistent. These are his body, made of a bunch of snakes (either from his legs or his shoulders), giant wings, and eyes that flashed fire, which, in my brain, are very similar to what Zoydal’s got going on.

Like, his eyes literally get a little flame-shaped pattern. His wings exist, and while the arrow-looking things might at first not look like snakes, Urana and I both love Soul Eater, and you can’t tell me these don’t feel similar to Medusa's snake-witch vector arrow attack.

Add that into the thing that stronger powers have stronger drawbacks, he probably has to be constantly eating to deal with keeping the creatures in his body fed. (Yes, I think they are alive in the coat, and in there, Mishra is horrifying to me.) Like, even if you consider what he’s been eating, there are a lot of birds and bugs, not a lot of standard food, but pretty standard snake food. I also think he might be trapping crows on purpose, as he doesn’t want to be seen by either Kuro or Corvus. As they might potentially be the white and black crow or able to see out of the crows through their Jinki’s, but that's a different theory. I think Zodyl is taking those out specifically and is weirdly specific about everything else.

Also, the name Mishra is derived from the Sanskrit word “miśra" (मिश्र), meaning mixed, mingled, or combined. When you tie that to Typhon, who I think is specifically said to sound like every beast combined multiple times, things start to line up. Also, it would just be fun since Cerberus is the son of Typhon, who protects the underworld, and Typhon was said to be born to attack the heavens directly. Like, if you link that Rudo’s Cerberus connection and Zoydal and Typhon, it’s already brilliant, but with this extra bit of lore to the transformation, it will be so good.

Especially since Zoydal, as the father of monsters, can make trash beasts, which I find very interesting, since his method doesn’t sound that special. Like I’m sure lots of people have tried to be givers and then threw their object away or died before they could finish it, and I don’t think they all have become trash beasts. This is also seen as relatively new to Riyo. Who has only seen the new kind when Rudo gets to the ground, and that also lines up with Gris saying the raiders only started experimenting recently. So I think, yeah, it’s because Zoydal has the coat, which also has the ability, but I don't think the series itself created them. It's possible Canis was attempting to give more objects anima here so people could fight back, but instead just made another trash-beast creator.

Tamsy embodies a paradoxical, yet impenetrable personality, expressed through his Jinki, Tokushin. Tokushin draws inspiration from the art of Shibari, a practice fundamentally rooted in trust, surrender, the act of relinquishing control to another. Far from mere physical restraint, Shibari encourages vulnerability and emotional exposure. Within this framework, ropes function as instruments. Trust strengthens relational bonds, enhances communication, and fosters deeper emotional intimacy.

Each tie in Shibari requires precision, restraint, and deliberate attention. The practice demands presence, both physical and psychological, from all participants, as Tamsy’s approach reflects this discipline. He binds with purpose that suggests a prolonged observation of the human body and its responses to submission. His movements are fluid, controlled, dismantling resistance and force through patience. And with each attempt to break free, the ropes tighten.

Before color symbolism comes into play, the structure itself carries meaning. The top layer represents the self he presents to the world, visible, and intentionally constructed. Beneath it lies the underlayer, the concealed self, closer to truth than performance. Tamsy discloses himself selectively, allowing what is acceptable or misleading to sit above what is genuine.

The blonde top layer symbolizes the false innocence he performs throughout the narrative. Blonde, often associated with purity or harmlessness, creates a visual and psychological contradiction when placed against his actions. It suggests a detachment from corruption, a cleanliness that does not belong to him, and in doing so, it actively lies about who he is. The audience is meant to feel unsettled by how easily his appearance contradicts his behavior.

In contrast, the blue beneath carries an entirely different emotional register. Blue is commonly associated with detachment, control, and emotional distance, and at times with sadness or emptiness. Here, it implies something colder and more deliberate, a restrained cruelty and a depth he keeps hidden from immediate view.

The scar on Enjin’s right temple matches the kind of scar you’d get from being grazed by a bullet

THE DOTS!!! THEYRE CONNECTING!!!

WHITE CROW, WING, FLYING, THE SAME MASCOT, THE BOX, THE VINES, THE HAIRDO, THE MAGIC

➸ A deep dive into Chapter 39's interaction between Rudo and Enjin and why I think it's one of the best examples of Enjin's leadership in the series. ➸ 900 words. No spoilers!

At the end of the climax of the Lady of Penta Arc, we see Rudo lash out in anger against Amo even when she's defenseless. He's seething and blinded by his own rage at the situation and Enjin and Gris have to physically pull him off of her. But in the moments immediately afterwards, Enjin doesn't jump in to share his opinion on Rudo's actions in the same way that others do. While Gris makes it a point to argue on behalf of Amo, Enjin just listens.

He takes the time to hear out Rudo's motivations for attacking her and then, without making a big deal out of it, reminds him what they're really there for: information on the Sphere which only Amo knows. He reads the situation but keeps it to himself, and when it seems like Rudo is starting to have a revelation about his own actions (and then looks horrified about them) — Enjin moves to take him away from other people to discuss it in private rather than with an audience.

Once outside, Enjin sits next to him and then just waits. I love the framing here. Enjin and Rudo are on the same step together, literally on the same level with one another. There's no power imbalance, Enjin isn't standing over him or facing him head on. They are side by side, and that eases some of that pressure on Rudo to speak and creates more of a peer-to-peer dynamic. Rudo's head is down and he's hunching forward and hiding his face, very clearly upset with himself, and that kind of ashamed posture sticks around for most of this conversation.

Enjin lets Rudo reflect on his own actions in silence. He doesn't push Rudo to begin talking nor does he start up on a lecture even when Rudo directly calls him out on it. Enjin knows that Rudo understands his mistake. He gives him the space to connect those dots on his own, unwilling to excuse it but also not piling on more shame.

When Rudo *does* eventually spill out his emotions, it reveals the emotional core of his internal conflict: the fear that violence is his default. That no matter how much progress he thinks he's made to not be that angry kid who hits people anymore, he's still the same person at the end of the day. He can't escape it. And he gets really upset with himself, starting to spiral away from talking about how upset he is with his past actions and starting to talk about the issues he has with himself as a person.

And obviously, Enjin interrupts with "Personally... I like hot chicks." It's unprompted, comes out of seemingly nowhere, and brings Rudo's monologue to a screeching halt.

It's such a great redirection of the conversation. He doesn't comfort Rudo or try to minimize the pain and frustration he feels towards himself right now, but he also makes it a point to stop the self-flagellation too by pointing the conversation back at himself. It's the first time that Rudo perks up from his hunched position since we got outside too. It takes him off guard and removes some of the emotional weight that Rudo was allowing to bury him.

Enjin proceeds to talk about his own faults. He establishes a connection between the two of them by acknowledging the areas that he could stand to improve about himself, admitting that it's a part of himself that he can't hide. And because Enjin gave Rudo the space he needed to self-reflect within the silence earlier in this same conversation, Rudo managed to connect the dots on what he can do better by himself. Enjin highlights this as proof that Rudo is already further along in his progress towards growing up than he was at his age.

Rather than just broadly reassuring Rudo that he'll be better one day, Enjin focuses on the fact that growth is something everyone has to go through all the time. Even adults. Even people like him. There is no linear path or finish line, and that's okay. They'll grow together.

But it's THIS panel specifically that makes me tear up. Because we're seeing Enjin through the eyes of Rudo here, and he looks so kind. They're once again pictured side by side, but Rudo is sitting upright now and looking at Enjin. He's letting himself be seen rather than hiding away, and Enjin in return is looking at him with all the love and support and grace that a mentor figure should give to a teenager who's still trying to figure it all out.

Rudo made a mistake and was ashamed of it, and instead of being upset with him or hardening his expectations for Rudo in order to force him to improve, Enjin is compassionate. He relates his own struggles as an adult to Rudo's struggles now. He invites them to apologize to Amo together, shouldering some of that responsibility and ensuring that Rudo won't have to do the scary part alone.

Enjin believes in Rudo's ability to grow into the person he wants to be, and he not only gives him the space to do that on his own but he also shares in Rudo's hardships when he doesn't.