#master executioner

Hoodlum had stuck to Brawler from the moment he started talking to him on the bus in episode 2. Sure, Hoodlum is a cowardly snake who is only using Brawler for his own good so he won’t die as easily since he has this big stupid meat shield protecting him as long as he keeps feeding him little lies, right? WRONG!

Sure, Hoodlum might feel like such a character (and he probably was such a character) in the early episodes; but I think how he thought about Brawler changed somewhere around episode 4, where he saw even Brawler getting severely beat up by the executioner.  Cause despite saying he might change his allegiance to Cutthroat after seeing Brawler get beat up, he never did and he stuck to Brawler. He even, despite hiding away in the shelves as much as possibly before to stay out of the eye of the executioners, hit the executioner in the head with a chair just so he couldn’t make his finishing move on Brawler that time in episode 4. He could’ve easily stayed hidden away and done nothing but watch how Brawler got finished back then, but despite his cowardice he still moved and hit that executioner so Brawler wouldn’t die. 

Now the latest episode... oh boi what a ride it was for Brawler and Hoodlum fans (and just akudama drive fans in general I’m sure). 

After the executioner starts attacking and doctor gets cut in half, you can see Hoodlum hiding behind some rocks, definitely shaking in fear when it zooms in on him a split second after

But the next time we see him, after the executioner left to hunt the others, he is immediately running off to where Brawler got thrown to, looking around frantically and freaking out when he sees Brawler buried beneath some rocks. 

His coward mentality rises up as he tells Brawler to run off with him to recover because Brawler is pretty badly wounded and coughing up blood; but of course Brawler doesn’t want to and wants to fight.  Now I’m not saying you have to believe Hoodlum likes Brawler, but looking at the face he makes when he hears Brawler enthusiastically talking about how he wants to fight and laugh after really makes it hard to believe the ‘They’re such good friends’ dialogue... (look at his little adorable blush, Hoodlum you gay bastard!)

Later in the episode, there is a second moment where Hoodlum could’ve chosen to go to the other Akudama where it was safe, But instead he actively chose to go to where Brawler was fighting, knowing fully well that it was also where the executioner was

Now this is a whole evolution from his character if I may say so. Hoodlum went from only talking to Brawler and keeping up with him so he wouldn’t die immediately after accidentally getting involved in the plan of the cat, but now he’s going towards the danger just to support Brawler and you can see that he never wanted Brawler to die, not for the reason that he wouldn’t have someone to protect him anymore, but because that meant he would lose his Bro

The emotions these stills emit from the moment Hoodlum found Brawler laying on that bridge in a puddle of his own blood is so strong and I can feel so much of what Hoodlum must’ve been feeling at that moment through the distress that is quietly seen on his face

And after finding Brawler like that and seeing the pupil sitting next to the body of her mentor, he does something I would’ve never expected from Hoodlum as he was at the start of the show. Instead of running away or hiding from the executioners like he had always done before, he picks up the weapon laying on the ground near Brawler and actually attacks the pupil.

His character had evolved so much and it’s always because of Brawler that he has the courage to do stuff like this and actually face the danger instead of running away and hiding from it.  With Brawler (most likely) gone now, I’m curious to see how his character will further evolve because judging from the glimpses of him we saw in the preview, he is still feeling very upset about what happened (which is totally understandable I mean his love interest bro just died) and looks like he’s about to fuck shit up.