Okay enjoy the doodles time to ramble about Ichiro because I love him lots:
Ichiroās character quote is āyouāll never find a rainbow if youāre looking downā (he makes it abundantly clear he stands by this message, I mean look at his jacket, what a dork) and this quote is attributed to Charlie Chaplin
The meaning of this quote is pretty simple, itās a hopeful forward-thinking message of not focusing on hardships and looking to the future and finding the bright side of things. Itās cute, and it suits Ichiroās character nicely, especially considering who he is in the current timeline
Before Ichiro became who he is now, though, he was a pretty angry teenager (which makes sense). And I think that part of his character is really important when looking at his quote since Ichiro has always been trying to secure a good future for his brothers even when his brothers disliked him
In the past, Ichiro was ālooking down.ā As a delinquent, Ichiro was someone who acted on his frustrations. He would get into fights and was literally a loan shark what the hell is happening guys. Considering everything (losing his mother, abandoned by his father or like he ran away from his father?? Hypmic isnāt very clear about that, and feeling the need to take on the responsibility of raising his siblings) it makes sense he would be rather estranged
But even during these hard times, Ichiro still maintained empathy and compassion for other people, refusing help in return unless itās insisted. He always prioritized his brothers and he never wanted to share that responsibility with anyone else least of all any sort of authority figure
Ichiro constantly had to keep moving forward so he could continue to be dependable and so that he wouldnāt be left behind. Samatoki says something sorta like that in TDD at some point when he and Ichiro are offered to join up with Jakurai and Ramuda I think idk donāt beat me guys
This is why I believe Rei becomes a problem for Ichiro. Rei is directly tied to the part of Ichiroās life that heās trying to move past
With Kuko and Samatoki, Ichiro allows himself to grieve. Heās able to mourn the loss of his friends and eventually moves forward. Thatās why those relationships are shown to eventually be fixed in some ways
In a way, Ichiroās own philosophy becomes a double-edged sword. Continuing to look up and not ālooking downā helps him survive, but it also prevents him from finding closure
Not gonna lie I had too much free time on my hands and I was looking into Charlie Chaplin a little more so that I could make the biggest reaches of all time for Ichiro when I found a different quote by Charlie Chaplin that I could relate to Ichiro too perfectly the stars aligned for me
āThe saddest thing I can imagine is to get used to luxury.ā
This immediately made me think of Rei. A character who is literally represented with gold and has shown to have many luxuries as he lives comfortably in a giant stolen mansion
To get used to luxury is to grow accustomed to comfort and that can turn into something truly isolating (Rei be like)
Now- to relate this back to Ichiroās whole thing- I think this quote helps visualize the core of how he views his father. Ichiro sees Rei as someone who hurt him deeply: a father who left him behind, who is going against what Nayuta wouldāve wanted, and shaking up the dynamics between the Buster Bros
Ichiro is fairly civil with Rei for the most part, but he refuses to truly connect with him. He refuses to get used to āluxury.ā Because to get used to Rei would mean accepting someone who hurt him back into his life
Okay, home stretchā one last thing that I think is worth mentioning: In the manga (specifically looking at TDD and DoD), Ichiro is the one character clearly shown to grieve the loss of his friends (Kuko and Samatokiā ps I know Ichiro is mostly crying over his brothers not actually being dead, but I feel like he was also devastated at Samatokiās apparent betrayal, but if you disagree with me my bad chief)
Anyways. Ichiro is allowed to grieve the people he lostā even when they hurt him, as I said before: He grieved Kuko, and now in the present their relationship is able to mend. He grieved Samatoki, and now theyāre on somewhat decent terms
Ichiro hasnāt grieved Rei and I think that matters a lot because Rei isnāt just someone who left, heās someone Ichiro never got closure with. There was no proper loss, just a lingering presence that complicates everything
Iām just saying, I think that if Ichiro were given the chance to truly grieve the loss of Rei Yamadaā the father he will never get backā then maybe he could begin to reconcile with the person Rei Amayado is now
Itās clear that Rei wants to reconnect with his kids again (albeit in strange āriddle me thisā ways)
Ichiro doesnāt mind that Jiro and Saburo want to talk to Rei, he fully accepts that itās their choice if they want to trust him
But the key difference is that Jiro and Saburo donāt remember Rei as Rei Yamada. (Hypmic fix your timeline, the math for this makes no freaking sense unless Iām missing something)
Ichiro does
And because Ichiro remembers, heās the only one who canāt move forward without first looking back
Okay in conclusion I think Ichiro needs to cry about losing his dad in order to reform any sort of relationship with Rei

















