#megutsumi

So I have to admit I loved parts of how the whole tragedy unfolded because I personally loved Yorozu, but overall I do feel empty when it comes to megumiki and more specifically, Tsumiki.

How to say... like I never expected Gege to come out and overtly say megumiki is canon (because he seems to only do it for very specific ships), but...

Excuse me, wut?

We don't even see them interact in real time?

I seriously don't even know what or how to feel because, as of chapter 225, it's all still so inconclusive, and with the way Gege is rushing, who knows whether he'll elaborate.

That said, the story is not over yet and he might still reveal something. Otherwise I have to come to terms with the idea that Gege gaslighted me lol 🤡.

And, yes, I feel gaslighted because I know a "canon" ship when I see one! I know I've said this three hundred million times, but the way Gege introduced this dynamic was soooo ambiguous.

He presented them as "childhood friends to lovers" and then *boom!* jk they're step siblings. Gege is a troll, let us never forget that.

I was genuinely upset that she ended up dead because it felt like we were going to get this big reveal with them and it just never panned out

I'm curious to hear more about what you thought would/should have happened.

I think for me, I would have liked to see that apology. Perhaps even Megumi letting his guard down and being vulnerable with her. But he literally wears his "cold and aloof emo boy" mask right up until he realizes Tsumiki has been long gone.

The sheer look of terror in his face is *chef's kiss* and probably some of the realest panels with Megumi since he hardly ever shares how he feels.

Also, the fact that he says "all this time" implies the obvious idea that Yorozu was acting like Tsumiki all along--I just also feel like it isn't out of the question to overthink and assume Yorozu might have been leading Megumi on as Tsumiki.

That's not to mention his inability to see Tsumiki as having her own sense of self and agency. To Megumi, Tsumiki is a doll, an idea to be protected, not a real person with her own desires and thoughts. That's not to say Megumi didn't love her, just that Megumi is immature about how he relates to her. Heck, they both are!

So I am not surprised by the outcome because to me it feels like Gege was always going for tragedy with megumiki. On so many levels too... but I have to be honest, I would have liked to see her, Tsumiki. Not Megumi's idea/memory of her.

So again, it makes sense we never saw Tsumiki because we're experiencing jjk through Megumi's pain rn, and in Megumi's mind, Tsumiki is a damsel in distress that needs to be rescued. She's an idea, a projection of Megumi's emotional life.

I have my issues with Gege and the way he kills off his female characters as a way to power up other characters. I am not a fan.

Yeah, not to excuse him, it's just that the way I see it we're just seeing the edge of feminism in Japan. I'm not sure a lot of fans are aware that Japan ranks low in the feminism index for being a developed nation.

Coincidentally, a moot recently posted about how the women in Gundam Wing basically serve the purpose of powering up other characters, most frequently males.

I reckon this might be a frequent theme in manga geared at young boys? idk...

I like to think that the women getting sacrificed in jjk is an unconscious cultural and societal bias about how women's role is to support men? Who knows...

But I feel like everyone else got some closure when their character died. Megumi and Tsumiki did not get that closure.

Yeah I totally get you!

Hell, as of right now, Megumi himself does not have closure. We don't even know if he'll survive.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed tho. I can't imagine Gege won't at least say something about only Megumi's most important person.

I would go a step further to say that the last real conversation they had was when she threw the strawberry milk at him. Because she was possessed by Yorozu and I don't think that Tsumiki was in there at that point. So they left on horrible terms. Which is completely heartbreaking.

Na, that was Tsumiki.

Remember she went into a comma when she became possessed.

Regardless, as you say, they totally left off in bad terms, which only makes it all the more tragic. So, again, we're seeing Megumi's immaturity showing.

I may or may not be exploring this theme in the fic I've been working on someday I will finish it dammit.

It's just that I 👏🏼 am 👏🏼 telling 👏🏼 you, Gege is one of those mangaka that does 👏🏼 not 👏🏼 do 👏🏼 happy pairings.

I know "tragic" ships that are "meant to be" is not everyone's cup of tea but I find it so compelling.

I view Tsumiki and Megumi's relationship as completely different from Yorozu and Sukuna's relationship.

Yes! I do too. I just also agree with the idea that, psychologically, Sukuna and Yorozu are an exploration of the toxic traits of the bond they shared.

Basically, Tsumiki is a girl who takes her role of "big sister" a little too seriously, possibly to the detriment of their "romantic" bond because it causes conflict with Megumi.

So you have Sukuna mirroring that very same dynamic with Yorozu in which Sukuna is not interested in how Yorozu tries to relate to him. Yorozu basically wants to own and subdue Sukuna.

What is Tsumiki doing when she's nagging at Megumi not to fight? Well-intentioned or not, Tsumiki is trying to control Megumi and Megumi does not like it.

Anyways, that's how I see it.

But again, yes! They're their own person. Sukuna is not Megumi and Tsumiki is not Yorozu.

I think above all, regardless of how uninterested Megumi might "look", I just can't imagine that Megumi would have killed someone if it wasn't because of how much she means to him.

I think I already mentioned this but there's a post in this hellsite that implies Megumi and Tsumiki had a rocky relationship because of the panels we see of them. But I couldn't disagree more with the post because...

1) it fails to acknowledge that Megumi's poker face is an act. Megumi is the kind of character who looks aloof while there's an emotional storm brewing within

2) again, if they really had such an awful relationship and there were no good times for Megumi to think back on, why would he go through such great lengths to save her?

In the end, these are two kids who were abandoned, who've had no one else but each other to rely on. They don't know what a healthy relationship looks like so it's likely they had a rocky and dysfunctional relationship.

Anyways, I was so sad when she died. I really wanted Megumi to get up and fight but he was so defeated it crushed me.

I know 🥲.

He's all traumatized... I need him to save himself...

Sorry for the long post.

Sorry for the long wait!! I've literally been just working and have been working on answering your ask for a couple of weeks now. Thanks for your patience!

Thoughts:

Even if Gege doesn’t give us a moment like this (doubt he will but I remain hopeful and open to being surprised), at least we have this!

This is what happens when I get obsessed going down rabbit holes on the internet, I find little gems like this one. Turns out I had looked under “Megumi x Tsumiki” but not under “MeguMiki” which is how I found this. “MeguTsumi” is another good tag.

Apparently I am old now and we’re no longer doing the whole Name x Name thing and just shortening the whole thing.

I hope you enjoy this drawing as much as I did my lovely “degenerate” MeguMiki lovers!

I LOVE IT.