#enzukai

ˏ⸉ˋ‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩͙‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‿̩̥̩‿̩̩̽‿̩͙‘⸊ˎ

Disclaimer: I have zero intent to attack any member of the development team, my criticisms are untargeted and will remain unnamed. I encourage discussion about this topic. I (OBVIOUSLY) do not want disagreement in the form of homophobia. Yes I'm queer my URL is literally lesbianisamu what did you think I was? Not a lesbian? I'll start writing now.

The Mimic has a fairly substantial and fairly egregious history with misrepresenting mental health issues. This is relevant. While TMO (The Mimic Origins) is no longer canon (thank god), its influences still remain. While it is no longer explicitly canon that Futaba, or Futao, has bipolar disorder/bpd (unclear), the stereotypes, mishandling and frankly ridiculous storytelling are still present in The Witch Trials. This point has been done to death, but I will reiterate anyway.

Making a character with a severe mental illness an evil, abusive, disgusting individual is not GOOD(edit) representation, believe it or not. At first it seems that Futaba is aware of her struggles and how it affects her daughter, though I still don't like this. By the end, she completely contradicts herself by doing a 180 and claiming that she is not at fault for any of her actions and instead blaming the demon inside of her. Woah. Sure. Also the split-into-two representations of being manic and depressive with the depressive constantly humming a melancholy tune and crying, while the manic, or the demon (Mote) is constantly cackling with inhuman laughter. It's odd. Left a terrible taste in my mouth.

Yasu is a character who is objectively non-abusive. Pretty non-problematic too. I don't have much to say on the character himself as I've never fixated enough to do a full analysis (sorry to my Yasoomfs), but I can say that his resulting mental health was also handled poorly. So thoroughly traumatised by the events of Control that he apparently? Has PTSD? DO NOT QUOTE ME ON THIS. Either way, I'm going to disregard that, I just had to bring up the hearsay. Regardless of whether he did end up with a trauma based mental health disorder or not, the way he was treated and left after Control by the writing is nothing short of bleak. All of his friends being turned into butterfly spirits and then him being forced to sacrifice them simply to move onto a new room of horror? His parents being caught with his mother hanging in front of him, only to find out when he saves them that they don't remember a thing? Being hunted down by nightmarish mutants that are his long-dead family members, forced to save them all and carry the burden of the curse on largely unsuspecting shoulders? You might think he was put in therapy, or had counselling, or maybe sought out other people who had gone through similar experiences so he could start to heal.

We don't know anything after the knowledge that his parents are amnesiacs about the event. Like I'm not kidding, zilch. Second edition of a character with obviously poor mental health being mistreated by the direction the writing either took or didn't take.

Senzai. Jesus fucking Christ. The next edition we have of mental health representation is a guy who canonically is a terrorist, murderer and conspirator who flattened, and aided to flatten the densest city in terms of population on Earth. I don't think I need to say much more on this topic. If I do, I'll get angry. I hate Senzai and I wish he was written about ten million times better than he is.

In the case of both Senzai and Futaba, they are victims of abuse/generational trauma, which led to or exacerbated their previously present mental health issues. Both wind up as. I don't want to be yelled at again for my wording. Abysmal people. That's 3/3 so far on mental health, all awful, all harmful, and all bleak which is not really the tone mental health representation should speak with.

I promise you it was relevant to the title. Now that we know The Mimic has an, at best, shaky representation with mental health issues and illnesses, we could probably hope that their queer representation would be bett-

They decanonised Enzukai being genderqueer (fluid? or agender? not certain) when JC4 came out. They did this, I think, in an effort to lift the possible implications of a genderqueer character being. Evil demon creature. I get it, like I do. There's also literally everything else. Like Senzai being implied to be queer.

A character who is queer being a bad person is not inherently a poor writing choice. Just because someone is queer, they are not exempt from being awful, they are not exempt from consequence, and they most certainly are not exempt from being criticised for their actions in media, or in real life. However. Senzai is a genocidal terrorist who, I'm not kidding, killed upwards of NINE MILLION PEOPLE. Yes while under the cults influence, and Yes gave himself up to the authorities after (another can of worms) but holy shit. nine fucking million. It's not the best message to give off and I hope I don't have to explain why. Edit: I should have stated that this is heavily implied rather than explicitly canon, but my main point still stands.

Yes, fucked up evil queer characters are sometimes fun, but its less fun when so far (and continuing) its the only gimmick that the queer characters get. Then it's weird.

My biggest gripe is honestly with the Nagemi character in Halloween Trials. OOOO god. It's agender. Win for agender's right? WRONG. WE LOSE. AGAIN. It is, if you haven't actually seen the character, half a body. It is a decaying freakish torso that crawls behind you and kills you like all other mimic monsters. In an old. Insane. Asylum. AN INSANE ASYLUM. What the actual fuck.

There are no queer characters who are happy with their queerness, no queer characters that actually even have an arc that remotely includes their queer aspect, and all of them are fucking oddball freaks. I'm not including Kibo Edouji as a queer character, even though he pretty much objectively is as much as I detest the Kizai propaganda that gets pushed, because he's essentially a brick with a jumper, with no actual character arc, and exists purely to be in love with Senzai. (HEAVY IMPLICATION)

Overall. Not a good look. Time for the main event.

Isamu is a character that hides. While it's obviously not intentional, Book 2 gameplay has an extreme increase in hiding spots compared to Book 1. He was neglected by his father and mother, and definitely is a victim of their abuse I genuinely will not take any of that "we didn't see him get hit" bullshit. Go read my other post about this if you want to argue. Neglected for the first 15 years of his life and probably beyond, hiding in plain sight from care, and this is also shown in the way the C3 teaser shows him deflecting blame from himself, trying to remain hidden, and being caught off-guard when involved in a conversation only to act as the deciding factor in the result of the event, the result being Senzai hit over the head with a glass bottle. His only method of reliable defence was to hide, and he continued to do so throughout the book, hiding or running from danger instead of fighting it.

Giving Isamu a queer identity, or more likely a genderqueer identity would've fitted his character if shown, even briefly, alongside the display of his upbringing. He knows how to hide, it has been instilled into him from the moment he was brought into the world. He was also neglected, meaning the attention was away from him and on his older brother anyway. He could've gotten away with existing as a queer person in his early teens, though it wouldn't necessarily have been readily accepted by his peers. When thrust into the spotlight after the incident, and focus placed on him, likely to "marry well and continue the family lineage", he would've struggled with the conversations.

The UK is currently a shitshow with protecting queer and trans people, but even in school when it wasn't so abhorrent as it is now, the bullying was horrific, and I was incredibly lucky to have firm friends alongside me. I cannot imagine how difficult and isolating it would be in a country such as Japan where gay marriage is still not legal.

This, however, would contribute to him being isolated as an early adult. Isamu has no friends or partners listed in his "relationships" tab on the wiki. In a country where there is an ongoing "loneliness" epidemic, being queer would only further isolate you.

I think him specifically being some form of trans (transfem/neutral) would've introduced yet another parallel to Enzukai. Youngest siblings vying for the attention of their family and going to extreme methods for it (destructive in Enzukai's case and semi-self-destructive in Isamu's). Informal and crass, making (and keeping) them both genderqueer would've introduced a neat parallel, showing us again that Senzai turned from his brother to a version that could give him power, instead of accepting the power that came from Isamu's encouragement. But they decanonised Enzukai being genderqueer. So whatever.

It also gives us an aspect to Isamu's character that's a personal struggle, even if it's in the background and barely touched upon, and derails the focus from being entirely on Senzai and the antagonists for THE ENTIRE BOOK. He wouldn't be a person going through shit in a queer way, it wouldn't be a central aspect of his character. He'd be a character going through shit who also happened to be queer but ultimately is busy focused on saving the world. It humanises him a little and shows how things operate in the real world. Being queer is important to me, undoubtedly, but I also have a job, I have responsibilities, I don't focus on being queer 110% of the time, because it's just one aspect of who I am. It would add another layer to his character that makes him more intriguing when his arc is all about COURAGE. and supposedly acceptance but the execution of that was dubious at best

Isamu's courage. Growing up, becoming stronger, saving his brother and saving the remaining people of Tokyo that he could at extreme risk to himself. I have points to make but they're not totally relevant. Stay Tuned Maybe.

Actually fighting the monsters, fighting a huge dragon with the weaponry equivalent of a very bright candle and barely breaking a sweat. But also having the courage finally to actually show his emotions, show his feelings to someone who isn't himself, and actually break down a little bit even if it was for five seconds, he had the courage to not be okay for a moment. If Isamu had gone through the journey of queer self-acceptance before all this had gone down, it would've GREATLY increased his ability to become courageous and stay courageous, as it is such a hard thing for many people to do, and would show his eternal strength and bravery to keep existing despite the world being against you for who you're attracted to or what you identify as.

We would also finally have a queer character who is genuinely a good person, who before the events had a stable job he enjoyed and got along with his coworkers, even if he wasn't the best at making friends. We would have a queer character who isn't a terrorist, who isn't just a creature or an insane asylum resident clump of flesh. We would have a queer character who is the HERO of the story instead of being a direct antagonist. We would have a complicated, naive and slightly flawed in his thinking queer person who felt the most like an actual, real human from this game.

I have contradicted myself and been aware of it the whole time, as it fuels my own point. Isamu is not a happy character. Even if he was queer he would not exist peacefully, but it isn't due to his queerness. This is less of a point about how queer people rarely end up happy in media - although it's also one I'm actively making - and more about how Isamu himself was treated anyway. A punching bag, a scapegoat for the writers and the fandom intentionally or not, abused, belittled, refused genuine peace at every turn, his one supportive figure snatched away from him at the very last moment, and the last thing he sees being his brother flinching away from him in fear, confirming to him that his self-hatred was correct, diminishing any and all character growth that they barely acknowledged before ripping it away. He died alone and unloved, and being queer wouldn't fix that, a complete rewrite would, and should be done.

To conclude: I'm always going to be angry about the mental health mishandling that happened and continues to happen in this game. Isamu's entire character focus should not have been on his brother. Your only queer characters should not be fucked up evil insane 100% of the time. I miss Isamu. He's a transfem lesbian to me always and forever.

Another Enzukai fanart! Can you tell he’s my favorite beast?👀

The sky is bloodred, there's crumbled buildings as far as the eye can see. Pools of blood paired with piles of bodies lie on either side of you as you make your way towards the commotion.

He’s here. He has to be.

Ever since his disappearance, you and Isamu had been heartbroken and filled with determination for your two tasks. Isamu would find out what happened to his brother. You were convinced that this strange body wasn’t Senzai, that he was actually alive and could be in grave danger. As the news reporters on the TV kept issuing warnings about strange occurrences, culminating to a national emergency alert broadcasting to Tokyo that dangerous monsters had breached the barrier between Jigoku and the overworld, your fear only mounted that Senzai might’ve been alive before, but would he still be by the time you got to him?

I will find him. I must find him.

Unlike your brother in law, you had absolutely no detective skills or even a clue as to where he went, other than that his body was recovered off the shore of a place called Aogashima. But nonetheless you continued venturing on, the feeling of adrenaline and pure terror fueling your every move.

I will endure. I will endure.

But now each step was becoming harder to take. Your lungs burned, eyes watered, face stung as the hot air and bits of debris scraped by your face, making your forehead and cheeks raw. You almost ran out of water, and searching broken down markets was unwise after seeing…things roaming around the place, their faces bloodied and shrieking with unparalleled joy. Better to stick where it’s safer, albeit harder, to move.

You stop to take a drink of what little water you had left, and paused to catch your breath. Passing your hand through your now dirtied and disheveled hair, tears stung your eyes as you recounted all the events that brought you into this mess. Just a year ago, you and Senzai had finally been happy together. Even if Father was angry some nights, for the most part he seemed almost happy that Senzai got to live with his wife, even if his own Tamae was no more. You and Senzai had only grown closer over the years, studying and working together towards a future that you’d been dreaming of building together.

You were reminded of the nights you spent together, talking about nonsense and laughing together until the sun came up. You missed the way his tired eyes lit up whenever he saw you, how he’d always greet you with a kiss, how you two would totally not burn anything you tried cooking, how at night he’d always snuggle close and tell you how much you meant to him. You missed jumpscaring him with hugs at random, making him laugh right afterwards. You missed making him blush with random kisses in public, braiding his hair, hearing his voice every time Father would start screaming and breaking things in the house at night, trying to keep you and himself calm. You missed him, and nothing was going to stop you from bringing him back to you. And if the worst you feared happened, that he really was…you tried not to think about that, but also prepared yourself for what you initially thought was the worst case scenario.

You continue forward, scraping your hands and legs on the rubble, avoiding downed power lines and rebar sticking out at random.

A shrill roar echoes through the ruined city, causing you to jump. As you move closer and closer to the noise, you can’t help but notice a faint buzzing sound. The buzzing gets louder, and thats when your ears start to differentiate several separate voices making up the buzzing.

You’ve hidden behind a large part of a roof sticking up in the ground, and the space opens up into a circular clearing, and that’s when you finally see the source of the noises.

There’s almost an entire legion of monsters, the kind that Senzai used to draw, the ones that you knew for certain were just a myth. There was a young child with a sewn mouth, clinging to a large, lanky creature she kept referring to as 母, “haha”. There was a futakuchi-onna, with a mouth that screamed constantly, hair moving every which way, causing her to walk in a jerking motion. There was a tenome, too, with purplish skin and a deep voice that made your skin crawl. A larger figure towered over them, with multiple heads and white horns crowning its head and sprouting from its mouth. The monsters seemed to be subservient to it, bowing respectfully, and at the feet of the tall white figure was…

It was lanky but definitely the most human out of all of them, with a black substance wrapping around its arms, eyes black and yellow, mouth twisted into an unnerving grin. Its long black hair fell loose around its shoulders…wait.

Do I know that monster?

A crazy thought, but you couldn’t deny just how familiar it was. And as you observed more closely, and heard its voice, that's when it hit you: This…thing is Senzai? What happened to him? So he isn’t dead after all…but what exactly happened to him? Why is he with all those yokai?

A thousand questions swirled in your mind, but your musing was cut short when a gravelly voice whispered, “found you.”

That cursed tenome grabbed your neck and lifted you up, reaching another hand out to see in front of him, and dragged you to the center of the monsters. Your neck burned under his grip, your blood roared in your ears, feeling red-hot, and the world began to tilt and turn black. You heard the child say, “A human!” excitedly, as if it had been ages since she had last seen one.

So this is it, huh…I never got to see Senzai again. I hope little brother is okay, at least…I haven’t seen Isamu in a while. I hope he, at least, is still alive. Senzai, I’m sorry I failed you…

“Stop.”

Not a plea, or a cry, but a commanding word. The tenome’s face looked surprised, but obliged with the spoken wish. He let go, and you fell to the ground, coughing and retching, tears streaming down your face as you inhaled the hot air, dagger-sharp in your lungs.

Your vision returned, and your neck was definitely bruised from the monster’s sheer force. Why were you spared? Who ordered it? You looked around, and saw that all the monsters were seemingly just as curious, too. Their eyes looked over your shoulder, and you heard lighter footsteps behind you.

“I…know you”, you rasp. The figure says nothing, a snarl on his face. You couldn't tell if that was his normal face, or if that anger was directed at you. His eyes were a little unfocused, as if he was suddenly bored of whatever activity this was.

“Do you?” His voice was almost mocking, and that’s when it hit you that he couldn’t recognize who you were. Whatever emotion was possessing him right now–based on the past, it had to have been envy–was preventing him from actually seeing who you were.

“Yes. You’re Senzai Uchiumi. My husband.” Your voice shook at that word, and you couldn’t help but feel betrayed that all this time he had been siding with the very beings that were destroying the world, killing all hopes of the future you once had planned together.

A sharp inhale came from Senzai’s mouth. His voice no longer retained the layered effect that demons all had. Maybe from surprise, or from distrust. “Prove it.”

You held up your left hand, shaking from exhaustion and bleeding in several places. The wedding ring still remained there, the skin around it just as battered.

That’s when it finally hit him. You saw the horror in his eyes, and the tears that immediately welled up.

“...It’s you.”

“Yeah”, you breathed, sitting up and wincing in pain. “Sorry that I look a little different. Got a new hairstyle, and everything.”

“That’s not funny.”

“You’re lying, I saw your mouth twitch just now.”

“Shut up.”

“I look nice, don’t I?”

“You’re insufferable.” He said this last bit with an almost full smile.

The banter warmed your heart a bit, and a laugh erupted from your chest. Senzai’s expression was pained but also calmer, as if he’d been despairing about you this entire time, too. His voice shook as he whispered, “I missed you. I’m so sorry for leaving you behind. I-I was…it was too much. Father–you saw. He hurt me, and instead I hurt you. I'm so, so sorry…”.

You raised one hand to touch his face, brushing his hair away to get a better look. This face was not the same as the Senzai you once knew and loved, but the love was still there. Your thumb glided over the side of his forehead, and you could feel the ridge where the glass had sliced him, leaving him as broken as his skin was. Despite everything, it was still him. You smiled weakly, and knew in your heart that everything that happened wasn’t entirely his fault. You still held a bitterness from his betrayal, but it was quite easy to understand why things turned out the way they did. You just wished there were less monsters and carnage that came along with it. Perhaps that’s where your bitterness sprung from—the hurt knowing that his pain was the reason for Tokyo’s misery. But if this was the white-boned demon’s plan all along-–to ravage Japan completely—then you doubted that Senzai was the main cause and rather an unfortunately placed catalyst for the havoc these creatures wrought.

He seemed to understand this silent gesture, and that's when the tears came and kept coming. He sobbed into your shoulder, perhaps from relief or fear or love–you’d never know, but hugged him as tightly as your arms allowed you to. Part of you felt strangely nostalgic, remembering the earlier times where he’d hug you this tight back when you used to cry after Father would fly into a drunken rage and scream at and hurt everyone in the house. As bad as that was, that situation was definitely better than what this was.

Senzai suddenly looked up. The white-boned demon (who you learned is called Enzukai) beckoned him forward. He glanced at you, holding your hand briefly before walking over to the demon’s feet. The other monsters seemed to have gotten the message to not attack you, which you appreciated. The less dangerous-looking ones (or you hoped, at least) came to inspect you, and the ones with tongues introduced yourself. The little girl, whose name you learned was Chihiro, talked to you about the other members of the Kiiroibara Clan (this seems strangely similar to an American incident you read about a month or two ago). Despite this newfound and conditional kindness, you kept your guard up, at least until Senzai came back to shoo away the annoying onlookers.

Senzai told you that a certain human they hated was approaching, and soon a battle would commence—one that would kill any other human left in this vicinity, including yourself. The news terrified you, but Senzai said that Enzukai could send you somewhere safer to get you out of the zone of destruction. You asked what other human could possibly be alive in this mess, and he looked away, eyes darkening. He said nothing, but insisted you sleep here. Under his god’s watchful gaze, the two of you would be safe. As safe as one could feel, knowing that the world was about to end.

******

Morning came, and the energy was…alive, but in a vicious, violent way. The human was coming, Senzai told you, and now it was the time for the final battle. He asked you if you were excited.

“Why would I be excited? Wouldn’t this result in more destruction? You can’t have much of a future if the entire world is about to end.”

“We’re so close to our future…just give me more time, (y/n), and we can be together again, just like old times. Please, trust me.”

You looked away from him, shaking your head. The monsters were falling into their ranks, through instructions from Enzukai communicated through Kyogi, the tenome. This was not the future you wanted, but how could you tell him? As far as you knew, he was still a yokai, still capable of switching into a rage just as any of the other monsters here.

It’s time. Enzukai’s voice boomed above them, and he began to stride away in the direction of the mall. The boy is there. The other monsters shrieked in delight, and Kyogi, Rin/Mio, and Tsukiya followed suit.

The boy. A realization struck you, almost knocking the wind out of you. If these monsters aggroed this easily when they saw me, it meant they didn’t expect me to survive. I was gone because I was looking for Senzai. Which means the only survivor…

‘It’s Isamu, isn’t it.”

Senzai’s head whipped around. “What?”

“The boy. It’s Isamu, right? Why would you agree to hurt him?”

Senzai’s snarl was back, and his eyes clouded over slightly once more. “Why wouldn’t I want to? After everything that happened, you should know why I hate him so much. He sided with Father, against ME, when he was the one who suggested I should tell Father about the letter. YOU SAW WHAT HAPPENED.” His voice was a practical roar, and caught the attention of other monsters, who immediately looked away and pretended to be busy. It would’ve been funny if it wasn’t so serious.

“Senzai, that is our BROTHER. You’re going to risk everything—-people’s lives, Tokyo, our future, our little brother—-because of an event in the past?”

“That event in the past ruined my LIFE. None of this would’ve happened if Isamu had taken my side when Father was screaming.”

Your argument was cut short by loud stomping. Everyone looked up and backed away as Enzukai returned. The boy escaped. He will be back. Be ready.

You turned back to Senzai, eyes desperate and pleading to make his god do something, to call off the carnage, to keep little brother safe. He looked away.

Enraged, you took a threatening step towards Enzukai. “How DARE you try and hurt Isamu. You think that killing all the people around you would make him more likely to submit? Killing his spirit is not so easy. He is a kind, noble man, and if you want to kill my little brother, KILL ME FIRST.” You felt yourself stumbling over the words that left your mouth, and knew this would actually result in your demise, but you didn’t care. At the end of your sentence, you picked up a rock and threw it straight at the creature’s face.

A sharp cry erupted from the monster, and it immediately roared at you, teeth bared, ready to attack—and then remembered that Senzai seemed to favor you, for some reason. Traitorous, ignorant whelp. I will not waste my energy on a narrow-minded fool. We will prevail, and a world ruled by yokai is coming. If you are not with us, you are an enemy. He paused, looking at your face, still seething with anger. It seemed to realize that you weren’t just angry for the carnage or the threats against Isamu, and glanced at Senzai, his eyes full of so many emotions—swirling guilt and pain and anger and heartbreak all at once. Such a confused ally would be of no use to him. I will spare you. But you will leave, far from here. You distract my most important member, and I will not allow you to hinder our victory.

You stood back for a bit, fearful for Isamu. You turned, eyes still lit with anger, towards Senzai. The two of you stood across from each other, with Senzai unable to hold your gaze.

You heard the shrieks of monsters being killed, and your eyes filled with hope. “He’s here”, you breathed, as Enzukai let out a cry of rage. It glanced back at you, and snapped its fingers. Senzai’s eyes widened, and he took a step towards you, letting out a shout of fear and alarm. You were suddenly whisked away, to a place in the mountains, with trees everywhere and a low-clinging fog. You knelt, silently, and prayed that your brother and Senzai would be okay. All you could do is wait.

******

An hour passed, then two, and then suddenly you were back. Back in the middle of Tokyo, back where the interaction between you and the Kiiroibara first occurred.

Senzai was human again.

Isamu was dead.

He looked up at you, and back at his brother. He sat at his head cradling it, shrieking with sorrow.

You also began to cry. This horrible war, this demon, took away everything from you. You and Senzai sat together with Isamu’s body for a long time, until law enforcement arrived. The two of you looked at each other, knowing what awaited Senzai, knowing that your relationship would never be the same again, that even in death, you would never be able to be together again. Senzai would be banished until he proved his worth to enter heaven, or even sent to Jigoku for all eternity. He has damned you both, and all you could do now was pray that the gods would be merciful upon the Uchiumi family.

First fic kinda nervous 👉👈 sorry if its badly formatted or full of typos I tried ok 😭

I'm trying to help my friend grind yen for the Senzai lantern and we have yet to be successful 💔

I tried drawing Enzukai from The Mimic but I kinda messed up. 😑🌹