#brainrot fodder

Goliath lore!! We finally get an explanation for how Goliath is SO absurdly powerful. It turns out he's an Okami dog--I couldn't find the kanji version of his breed name, but I bet the name stems from the polite honorific 御 (o-) and 神 (kami), a deity spirit. It'd certainly be fitting, as we'll soon see. Mutsumi doesn't say where the Okami breed came from, but I feel like the Yozakuras had something to do with their creation. If that's the case, it's likely that someinine was involved and that's how Okami dogs can grow to such monstrous proportions. I would love to meet a mad scientist ancestor who bred superdogs using their own blood.

The Okami breed has been around since the mid-Edo period, which is around the time Tsubomi was active. Goliath himself is not nearly that old, but if he belonged to Mutsumi's great-great-grandmother, he's easily around 100 years old. He's an old geezer! No wonder he never wants to join in on the Yozakura siblings' shenanigans lol.

(Rambling about Yozakura heads and timeline stuff under the cut)

We finally discover what gives the Yozakuras their unnatural abilities: the protein someinine, which "increases the speed at which cells divide and the threshold of the division." Basically it gives them way more cells than the average person, and those cells can handle insane amounts of abuse. And it's apparently so potent that it works in non-Yozakuras, making it an incredibly valuable doping agent. No wonder so many people are after the Yozakuras—getting to take down the greatest spy family in the business, AND you can get their powers by ingesting their blood? That's one hell of a prize.

Ayaka as a maid! Ngl this is a super cute outfit on her. I love the ruffles, and the brooch with the Yozakura crest is a classy touch. And she got to keep her little spider pincushion!

Dark Sweet (10,000 yen per gram)

"A stimulant that is several thousand times more effective than coffee. Excessive intake will result in death. If an ordinary person dilutes it by a ratio of 1,000 parts water to 1, the flavor is much more tolerable and is great for one's health. Kyoichiro drinks exactly three cups every day, undiluted."

I love this little tidbit because it has SO much going on. To whit:

1. Dark Sweet is INSANELY potent. Kaoru mentions that Dark Sweet is illegal because the seed can be used to make drugs, but honestly I think Dark Sweet straight up is the drug. A drink that's hundreds of times more stimulating than coffee and will kill you if you drink too much? That's more than enough to get it classified as a dangerous substance. Also, most stimulants (including caffeine!) are addictive and highkey mess you up if you quit cold turkey.

2. It costs 10,000 yen per gram, which equals roughly 65 USD. And that's per gram. A standard cup of tea uses about 2-3 grams of tea, which means you're paying 195 USD for a single cup of tea. Imagine how much a whole pot of it would cost.

3. Dark Sweet actually has health benefits if you drink a diluted form of it (although 1,000 parts water to 1 sounds like it’d make an incredibly gross watery tea). That explains how Taiyo, Momiji, and Kaoru were drinking it at the end of the chapter: Mutsumi probably diluted it so that it was harmless to regular humans.

The baby Yozakuras are so cute ahhhhhhhh <3 I can't get over how little they are! I guess they'd all be 5 and under in this video, which explains why they're so itty-bitty. Even Kyoichiro is adorably tiny. And is Goliath biting Kyoichiro's leg??? I guess the "guard dog" aspect only applies when you're not Kyoichiro ahakdhjkahsdahjdha.

Oof, running at full speed for a full hour is a brutal test! And they only get ten minutes before the next part of the exam starts. No wonder there are years when nobody passes the test.