#megashadowdragon

(sorry for the lateness answering this my teeth woes are at their worst)

Hi!

I think the video makes a good job at showing how Gon's spiral stems from a series of traits Gon has always had. Apart from that, I have not much to add. Gon's arc is something I have discussed several times on the blog after all :)

His story works so well precisely because once he becomes Gon-san, you re-evaluate a lot of things about Gon's motivation and personality. Traits that were always praised by others, like his determination, his original way to look at problems that let him empathize with criminals and change them, his refusal to accept things as they are, etc... They all get deconstructed and become flaws that almost kill Gon. Even Gon's wish to find Ging is revealed to be a cry for help from a child missing his parent. Togashi is very good with this, as he starts showing the first cracks in Gon's behavior in Greed Island, which is ironically one of the arcs where Gon himself is more successful.

Greed Island has Gon beat Razor, beat the game, beat Gentrhu and being celebrated by everybody. His friendship with Killua is praised by everyone and seen as incresibly special and a secret weapon of sorts. And yet, we also have:

Gon getting angry at Gentrhu and challenging him to come after his group when he is exhausted and Killua is wounded. Tsugerra even calls Gon out on this

Killua destroying his hands in the process of helping Gon, just because Gon asks him to

Gon letting a dangerous criminal go and empathizing with criminals, only to find out in the CAA that empathy is much more difficult against people, who hurt you personally

So, Gon is an amazing protagonist because what made him a perfect shonen protagonist damns it in the CAA :)

On a side note, I had received your ask the first time, so there was no need to send it three times. I take some time to answer because it is a very busy time irl :) I will get to all the asks eventually.

Oh that’s a big fucking oof actually, I never made that connection

His girlfriend turned into ash

Hi! Tbh, I read that and was very confused. Maybe I'm forgetting something because I read the earlier chapters a while ago, but I never got the sense that he and Marin crossed boundaries with each other????

He *could* mean the amount of work Gojo did for Marin, like how her dad was upset with her for having him make so many of her costumes? But they worked that out with each other fairly, and Gojo approached it like an apprenticeship imo, so I don't think it was too weird. The one thing I can think of that was totally avoidable was making Gojo measure her 💀 Realistically, she could have gone to a lingerie shop, like the type that will give you a bra measurement consultation (those were free when I was a kid). Or, as a model, she probably knew someone who could help her get her measurements and deliver those TO Gojo. But I doubt her classmates would know that happened, especially that guy.

Maybe he means that Gojo spent a lot of time with Marin and doing things based on her whims, considering they weren't dating?? That's all I can think of. From an outsider perspective, Gojo isn't her best friend and certainly not her oldest, so how is he suddenly making her clothes all the time, and taking her photos, and tagging along on all things cosplay related (and just in general!)? Maybe? I don't necessarily agree with the logic, but I do see how a teenage boy can get there.

Like, if you have a hard separation between platonic activities a friend does versus what a partner "should be" doing, I can see what he means by boundaries. For example, the "influencer boyfriend" stereotype follows gf around and takes good pics for her? Maybe he meant Gojo seemed like he was filling that role? But I disagree with him because I've gone out with friends and seen other girls out together, and getting each other good photos when you're somewhere fun is an entirely common thing. Besides the fact that he makes her cosplays, I always thought Marin's and Wakana's friendship was normal and cute. And he's the only person she knows who will also read the manga she's into, so of course they'd spend a lot of time together even if they're recent friends. At the beginning of the series, one of her friends said Marin was getting excited again while talking about a character, but it didn't seem like any of them made an effort to look into the source material themselves. And that's not saying they're bad friends. That's just not a hobby they share, so I can see how Gojo being willing to play games and watch shows with Marin becomes a factor that's unique in their friendship. But that's also a very normal part of friendships!

Tl;dr: I can imagine what he might mean, but I don't fully agree with him. But I think that's also part of the message of this manga. Marin, Wakana, and the other cosplayers pursued hobbies they loved even if others judged them for it. As long as it's right for them, that's what matters. Marin and Wakana's relationship might seem weird to others, but as long as it's right and fair for them both, who cares?

Honestly the more we learn about Void each chapter the more I cringe and facepalm at his foolish shortsighted plans vs Blast or god or whoever. Because w h a t. Anyway. Let’s continue to clown on him. Any power-seeking similarities he shares with Genos and his old partnership with Blast are still meager at best.

I’d say Genos curiously shares closer naming conventions with the other cyborgs called Elimin(ate) and Destro(y), who have mysterious ties to the Organization that still remain in the dark. (And I’m more interested in learning what’s up with that! Bang, Bomb, and Blast have another funny naming theme going on too.) So it’s really all up in the air how ONE might tie everything together, with god and the evil organization and their plans to eradicate humanity and who knows what else.

I WANT TO SEE IT.

I think the relationship between human Griffith and NeoGriffith, personalitywise, is kind of like the relationship between grape juice squeezed from a grape and grape juice from concentrate. What I mean is, you take out parts of human Griffith and then add different parts to what's left and what you get is something similar but not the same. And someone who has only ever had grape juice from concentrate might not know what the difference is, or even that there is a difference, but someone who has had both will know even if they don't know how to put it into words.

The biggest question is basically how much of the original "juice" is left, which is somewhat unclear.

It would be a contrast, but I don't really see it happening. Aphrodite in the myths was a Very loving mother - to a fault, really - and I've never gotten the idea she's any different in the RRverse.