#chapter 192

Observation notes: Even though here Enji is depicted with a beard when he is not setting it on fire, through the manga we will never see him with one, the most he has being some stubble. This matches with how he is represented in “Vigilantes”... but the interesting part is that it was “Vigilantes” the first to represent adult Enji in such way. In fact in the spin off printed in Vol 3 and that was printed on Jump Giga in 2017 we see Enji taking part to a police conference without his flaming beard and that's when we see him wearing clothes similar to the profile but with his beard reduced to just a stubble.

Horikoshi should have liked it because on the cover of Chap 166 (released on January 15, 2018) he will represent an adult Enji with the same stubble...

...and this will become the look he will have when we will see him without his flaming beard in chapter 192.

This makes the anime, specifically episode 105 being the only media representing Enji with the beard we saw him having in his profile.

Cultural notes:

Hige (髭 “beard”): it is worth to mention a beard is generally not considered fashionable (85% of the women outright dislike it) or professional in Japan, where a clean-shaven look is the norm (in some works it is even forbidden to have a beard) and we will see Enji will cut his stubble and mustache when he will take part to the press conference post the first war. Facial hair are generally associated to untidiness, laziness, and barbarism and, I think, Horikoshi was trying to go for the latter when he gave Enji such look trying to make him look intimidating.

Food notes: the profile mentions Enji likes ‘Kuzu-mochi’ (葛餅). For who is wondering what this is ‘Kuzu-mochi’ (葛餅) is a type of ‘mochi’ (もち or 餅), a Japanese rice cake made of ‘mochigome’ (もち米 “mochi rice”), that is made with ‘kuzu-ko’ (葛粉), which is the flour derived from the root of the ‘kuzu’ (クズ), instead than of corn flour. It is usually served chilled (which increases its elasticity), cut in bite-size slices which are topped with ‘kuromitsu’ (黒蜜 “black honey”) first and then ‘kina-ko’ (黄粉 or きなこ “yellow flour”), otherwise they won’t mix and eaten with chopsticks. If eaten freshly made while it’s slightly warm inside, one can enjoy its chewy and fluffy texture. The usual preparation consists in combining the flour with water and sugar, and cooking it over a gentle heat, stirring continuously until the mixture thickens and becomes transparent. This process also imparts it an elastic texture. The transparent appearance of the final product contributes to a cool sensation, making it a popular choice for consumption during warmer months.