#genbu

WOAH WOAH WOAH!!!! THIS MONTHS GFANTASY COVER!!!!!!

i'm still making my fanunits hee hee heeeee this time with Genbu, Kiyoteru, and Kevin (with my fan design LOL)

i named them "THREE men of AVERAGE HEIGHT wearing PLAIN T-Shirts" however they could also be accurately described as Kiyoteru and Two Green Freaks From Synthesizer V. or something <3 i really like this fanunit.... i think its funny :)

SGDQ 2025 - Castlevania: Rondo of Blood

(I originally intended this to be some speculation/theory post but it turned into some weird metafic idk I was half-asleep 😐)

Your smiling, watching your Shikigami bicker among themselves as your entourage moves across the land, never far from Kyoto,

always chasing malevolent Youkai.

You bring peace to others,

but your heart remains unsatisfied.

You’re smiling—

when your proclaimed rival, your closest friend, challenges you again.

You accept.

Because there is fire in him— a fire you’re no longer certain burns in you.

You admire that passion.

You love it, because it reminds you what it feels like to want something.

You’re smiling— even as you sleep,

because the Sight never rests.

It shows you everything,

but never what you choose.

It sees all.

And that—

that is what makes it so suffocating.

Your smiling, even as you cry silently though you do not understand this melancholy,

soon, you will but not now,

Let this moment be a reprieve

Your smiling, watching the small kindnesses exchanged between your rival and your Shikigami - and for moment you you wish it could always be this way but the Visions come and you know they won’t last.

They never do.

Your smiling, because you are being watched.

The Red Bird is clever— sharper than he lets on. He hides brilliance behind thievery,

insight behind mischief.

Your smiling, as you dodge the truth without telling a lie. He is confused. He thinks he understands.

He doesn’t. But he will.

It'll take him a thousand years to even think of you without that bitter resentment.

You’re smiling—

and there is blood.

All of it, yours.

You’re smiling—

and a sword has pierced your body.

A parasite drains your powers.

You’re smiling—

and your rival is not.

You’re smiling, Abe no Seimei—

even as death claims you.

You’re always smiling.

Because how else would you release the emotions you were never allowed to show?

Smiling is easier.

Smiling is safer.

Smiling is the only thing left.

You feel.

Of course you do.

But you are bound—

by status, by era, by etiquette, by expectation.

You—

Abe no Seimei—

the most powerful man of your age,

will never be free.

You are smiling,

but you are not happy.

You are smiling,

and you are human—

but you are not allowed to be.

You are trapped by what will be,

and never permitted to live in what is.

Perhaps the other you—

in another story, another life—

Right now a lot of speculation is going on about the Five Stars that probably will be the main antagonists of Beatbreak until at the very least the mid-finale (around episode 25 I would assume). And also about their relationship to Kyo, because Kyo really screams "I was a former Five Star, and then had a traumatic experience that made me form the Glowing Dawn."

And there is one thing about the Five Stars I do not see discussed so far: the Five Stars being based in the Buddhism/Feng Shui elements also would correlate with the Holy Beasts.

Now, you might argue: "Wait, but aren't those just four?" But actually... There is a fifth Holy Beast. The Golden Dragon of the Center. In Digimon this is Huanglongmon.

And given that those animals originate with Chinese tradition that then got pushed onto Japan through mechanisms whose history is too complex to elaborate on. Let us quickly go over the mythology of the Guardian Beasts.

These are:

The Azure Dragon of the East (Qinglong/Seiryuu)

The Vermillion Bird of the South (Zhuqiao/Suzaku)

The White Tiger of the West (Baihu/Byakko)

The Black Turtore of the North (Xuanwu/Genbu)

The Golden Dragon of the Center (Huanglong/Ouryuu)

And yes, those Beasts are also connected to some deities, and also to the Chinese Elements. And no, it is not the elements you would expect.

This is all connected to this entire idea of Wu Xian, which frankly I am not that well educated on, I will admit.

But the elements are:

Azure Dragon = Wood

Vermillion Bird = Fire

White Tiger = Metal

Black Turtle = Water

Golden Dragon = Earth

And given we have the Digimon associated with this, I am going to assume that the Holy Beasts will eventually make their appearance here. (Beatbreak does not outrun those Tamers' parallels, does it?)

But also, based on this, I do think that Kyo is associated with Byakko, or rather Baihumon.

And yes, admittedly this ties back to the fact that Murasamemon's design so clearly ties back to Byakko no Rangetsu from Onmyou Taisenki. (For reference: Byakko no Rangetsu below.)

Funnily enough having then Gokuwmon take over the position makes also a lot of sense, given that Baihu is the guardian of the West, and Sunwokung is obviously best know for his Journey to the West.

One of the other Digimon we see in lineout with the Five Stars is definitely Proganomon, which is also turtle shaped.

Though it almost makes me think that they will play fast and loose with the elements of some, as they have before. After all, Qinglongmon gets associated with air (which is not a Chinese element) a lot, while Seiryuu even in Japanese mythology often gets associated with the ocean, which is at least partially connected to the fact that pre-Buddhism Japanese culture had indeed also a blue dragon character, that was a guardian of the ocean. So... Uhm, yeah, we will see.

But yeah. My speculation mainly is: The Five Stars all are somehow connected to the Holy Beasts, and Kyo was originally connected to Baihumon.

Which also does bring me back to the first thought I head when we got the announcement to Beatbreak: Tenma is a very, very Buddhist last name.