#suno-san

Idate is plotting something…

To get acquainted with this part, it is recommended to read the four previous parts. The final scene of the entire cutscene: Shirogane, screaming and crying loudly, runs away, leaving Yukisada and Suno-san alone together. I don't think anyone wants to go on a boat ride now.

Shirogane's precipitous escape left his close friend worried, while his bully was delighted by the incident. It's immediately clear how each person feels about the wolf. A certain amount of sadism is apparent in Suno-san, as not only does he show no guilt for what happened, but he also comments on Shiro with excessive glee at the moment, thus reinforcing my thoughts that the snowman LIKES to see the polar wolf suffer (and that he wouldn't mind seeing him suffer at the hands of Orca). Meanwhile, Yukisada, despite being abandoned by his friend due to his crisis, expresses concern not for that, but for Shirogane's reaction to everything that happened and, perhaps, for the future consequences. Just as Shiro didn't dwell on the snowy owl's silence during their shared conversation with Rocma, Yuki also doesn't bother to dwell on the fact that his friend, spur of the moment and his emotions, abandoned him here with Suno. Another interesting detail, I think, is that Yukisada didn't run after Shirogane to calm him down or, again, as with the boat, to ensure he didn't get into another mess. It seems that when the wolf "changed his mind" about going on the boat, the owl might have been largely reassured by this and mistakenly believed the worst was over.

We then see the snowy owl attempt to rebuke Suno-san, but he interrupts, making it clear he doesn't regret what he did and that appealing to pity is futile in his case. Furthermore, the snowman begins to shift the blame again, only this time he does so by directing it toward Yukisada's approach to his wolf friend. Suno begins to justify his behavior toward Shiro by claiming that (again) it's not he who's "cruel", but now Yuki is "the one who's to lax on Shirogane", and therefore "a little teasing" from him "should be just right". But why is Suno-san doing all this? What is his goal? It's one thing when you're just a sadist who gets pleasure from others suffering (hello Idate), and quite another when you expect some kind of result by bringing this suffering to another. He's certain that Shirogane deserves no pity or leniency, unlike Yukisada, for which the snowman reproaches the owl. Suno doesn't judge Yuki for his WEAKNESS (both physical and emotional, as he put himself in danger because he didn't want to hurt his friend's feelings when owl was attempt to talk him out of going boat ride), which should have been appropriate, just like with Shiro.

Suno-san will again interrupt Yukisada when he tries to object, only to say that the snowy owl "know" that he "just gonna have to admit" everything snowman's said until Shirogane "gutsy enough to take on an orca." And this is a very interesting point for me. Suno never directly told Shiro to take on an Orca, instead telling him that he's "a dimwitted, irritating, weakling piece of dog doodoo." Yet we can recall that Suno-san allegedly tried to verbally encourage him to leave Iceberg Isle ALONE on a boat, knowing full well that the familiar smoker would be waiting for him out in the sea. The snowman seemed to want them to clash, but at first I thought it was because Suno harbored some kind of resentment toward Shirogane, which he hid behind his "nice guy" facade, and because of his resulting from this desire to see the wolf's suffer. Now I think it's not quite that simple. When talking to Yukisada, Suno-san seems to say that he will only acknowledge Shirogane when he grows "gutsy enough", and the sign of that "gutsy" for the snowman will be Shiro going and "take on an orca". He doesn't mention the wolf's weakness or tell Yuki to make his friend STRONG enough to fight Orca. Suno-san deliberately emphasizes Shirogane becoming gutsy, not stronger, which maybe that means that the piss-stained snow doesn't think Shiro is REALLY weak. Moreover, when the polar wolf doesn't do as Suno-san wants and doesn't go to take on the smoker, the snowman apparently begins verbally insulting him, thus attempting to "nudge" Shiro in the direction for Suno himself desires. At least, that's the impression I'm getting from everything he's said now and everything that's happened so far…

To get acquainted with this part, it is recommended to read the three previous parts. Suno-san appears on the scene out of nowhere (no, seriously, he literally teleported there). This takes our two friends by surprise, and now comes the hardest part of this discussion for me…

This dialogue with Suno-san begins with the unexpected appearance of Suno-san HIMSELF (no, seriously, he literally teleported there). Based on his opening phrase: "Because, Shirogane. You're a dimwitted, irritating, wealking piece of dog doodoo," one can immediately conclude that Suno is a sarcastic cad who dislikes Shirogane and, having witnessed the entire scene with the boat, Rocma, and her going, skillfully intervenes in the conversation in a way that simultaneously makes himself heard and catches his opponents off guard, with far greater effect than the polar bear had done earlier. Next, we see the reactions of our two childhood friends. Shirogane, already depressed by his interaction with Rocma and clearly not ready to take another blow from Suno-san, shows surprise, more likely from what was said to him, while Yukisada is simply surprised by the snowman's unexpected appearance. However, I can see that, in addition to surprise, Shiro also displays fear (shouts instead of the previously demonstrated silent surprise at Rocma's appearance: "Waugh?!?", stuttering: "W-What…", and an overly emotional reaction, compared to how he reacted with the polar bear), which is not the case with Yuki (shouting out the name is not accompanied by excessive use of punctuation, like Shiro, and stuttering is also not accompanied by an overly emotional display of reactions on the sprite or any obvious fear in the moment: "S-Suno?!"). The next thing worth noting is Shirogane's attempt to hide his previously displayed emotions and retake the initiative in the conversation with the phrase, "You got a problem…?" But the snowman ruins this plan as well, saying, "Oh, there's lots of problems with you! For starters, that miserable mug of yours," which leaves Shiro even more flustered, not finishing his sentence, "Wh…," thus demonstrating that he can't keep up with the aggressives rapid pace of conversation set by Suno-san. This demonstrates that the polar wolf, while not a very sociable guy, was also inept at verbal battles due to his unsociability, low level of social interaction, and lack of self-confidence. When interacting with Rocma, he didn't show this in such a vivid way as here, which is why his behavior then could be written off as a manifestation of cowardice. However, with Suno, he demonstrates, rather, the reason for his cowardice is not so much external, but internal, in my opinion. There is no obvious reasons for Shirogane to be so obviously afraid of Suno, and if there is nothing we can see, then these reasons lie within Shiro himself. But I can see that Suno-san is very talkative. He's one of the most talkative characters in this cutscene. This piss-stained snow must have been somewhere honing his eloquence and ability to use verbal battles instead of physical force.

In this moment of the dialogue, Suno-san scolds Shirogane's actions, much like Rocma had done earlier, but in his own style. In short, it all boils down to the fact that if the polar wolf wants to leave Iceberg Isle, he should do it ALONE, without involving anyone else (in this case, Yukisada), summing it all up by saying that Shiro is a "bad doggy, can't even change for the better." This is quite strange to hear, considering the only difference in this situation is that Shirogane will suffer from the Orca ALONE, and Suno will be fine, whereas if he takes his friend with him, they will both suffer, and that's not good for Suno (although for me the situation will be bad either way due to the high probability of being beaten by Orca IN ANY CASE). Suno doesn't seem to notice that Shiro could be in danger either way. Yeah, Shirogane does this on his own initiative, but for some reason, Rocma doesn't seem to pay attention to it and tries to stop him, as if she worry about both him and his friend, even though she is depicted as a colder and stricter person than the talkative snowman. This makes me begin to conclude that he either doesn't care what happens to Shiro, or he REALLY wants to see the wolf's suffer.

Now, Yukisada, seeing his friend's extreme passivity, albeit hesitantly tries to defend him from the piss-stained snow's verbal attacks with the phrase, "S-Suno! How dare you?! You can't say sucр cruel things!" - which, I think, slightly offends Suno-san when snow owl mentions the "cruel" of the things he said earlier. Because of this, he may be using an abusive form of defense, trying to portray himself as like a "nice guy" who is caring for Shirogane, and who, if he says something "cruel," is because "this dumb doggy doesn't seem to get it, so I'm giving him a little hand," although, due to the points I mentioned earlier in this dialogue, this is SO FAR from the truth. And yeah, Suno, "for his own good" you wanted Shirogane to go out to sea ALONE and meet his hypothetical death at the hands of Orca instead of talking him out of it AT ALL?

Returning to Suno-san, in the moment where he responds to Shirogane with the phrase, "Oh, there's lots of problems with you! For starters, that miserable mug of yours," I immediately remembered another moment from the Remake, where Suno also made a reference to the wolf's face, saying, "Heya, Shirogane! You've got a real mess of a face today too, huh!" - after which he DESERVED (in my subjective opinion) got hit in the face with a shovel. What am I getting at? The point is that IF this scene is ever made canonical within the Remake, it will turn out as if the snowman, by mocking Shiro like this now, is trying to "take revenge" for the incident with the face and the shovel. He even teleported to a higher ground so that Shirogane couldn't reach him and hit him, like last time, when Suno-san was close to him and standing on the same surface with him. Plus, he timed it right when Rocma wouldn't be around, leaving only Shirogane and Yukisada. Yukisada obviously wouldn't try to harm Suno because of his kindhearted nature, and Shirogane... hmm... I'd say he wouldn't harm the snowman BECAUSE OF Yukisada's presence, who has no desire to harm anyone, not because Shirogane himself lacks the desire to do so. The arctic wolf's reaction to Suno-san's comment about his face in this dialogue might suggest that he have been scared of the snowy idiot's appearance, since he had "neutralized him" earlier and didn't expect him to recover so quickly. He might also have been afraid that Suno would tell his friend about it, which is why he kept quiet, thinking that mentioning his face at this point was a form of blackmail from the snowman (along the lines of "If you argue, I'll tell Yukisada about how you hit me with a shovel because of your mug"), but that's all just my guess. At the very least, that might be one of the reasons why Suno-san does what he does...

To get acquainted with this part, it is recommended to read the two previous parts. Unexpectedly for everyone, Rocma leaves silently. She never clearly stated the purpose of her visit, causing some confusion in Shirogane and Yukisada. In Round 3 itself (outside of the cutscene), we'll see her at the top of Iceberg Isle, but I'll probably disscust about that in another post. For now, we need to focus on something else: the reactions and reflections of the arctic wolf and the snowy owl to what just happened, as their interactions once again take center stage in this scene.

Let's start with Rocma, who ended her conversation with Shirogane and Yukisada by silently leaving them. This, in turn, left our two friends perplexed. As I mentioned earlier, the polar bear didn't clearly state the purpose of her visit, but her reaction after their conversation also didn't let them know whether she was satisfied with the polar wolf's answer or not. I also assume that this behavior was atypical for Rocma, since both Shiro and Yuki had clear unknowing about her intentions due to the polar bear's incomprehensible (to them) actions. It seems she hadn't ended a conversation with Shirogane (and Yukisada?) in this manner before. Next, we see Shirogane and Yukisada reflect on what happened. Being a pessimist, Shiro begins to believe that Rocma came here only to demean him. He first expresses this rhetorically: "She came here just to insult me…?" and then outright says it: "She came just to demean me. I know she did." Yuki, being an optimist, first timidly and then confidently begins to express his disagreement with his friend's negative opinion: "T-That's not true" and "I don't think so at all!" - not forgetting to also express his own opinion, optimistically explaining the polar bear's actions: "Rocma was just concerned about the danger…" Considering that they both hold opposing views on life, which is emphasized in this dialogue, I'm generally surprised how they were able to maintain a close friendship with each other for so long and at the same time not influence each other in any significant way, since they have such a noticeable contrast between pessimistic and optimistic views… I'd also like to add to my reasoning that, despite the differences in opinion regarding Rocma and the entire situation, there's some truth to both sides. In my previous part, I suggested that Rocma was concerned about the possibility of future danger, and it seems Yukisada, based on everything he'd heard previously before, had begun to make similar thinks. But it also shouldn't be ruled out that the polar bear verbally attacked Shiro to convey her concern about the danger. It appears she had good intentions, but the means to achieve them were entirely unfavorable. I suppose Rocma was genuinely concerned about the danger that could have threatened Shirogane and Yukisada, but the fact that Shiro himself had nearly provoked the disaster prompted her to resort to something akin to passive aggression. The polar wolf, while itself the culprit of the tragic events that could have unfolded, could also have become the victim all of this. It's like a mother scolding her child for playing with matches, which could potentially start a fire, but only, in Rocma's case, her own poor social skills and towering pride and stubbornness create a rather ineffective way of achieving "all of good means". Things are probably so bad for her that the polar bear silently walked away from Shirogane and Yukisada simply because she (under the influence of her pride and stubbornness) was offended by Shiro, who, as she see, could that he wasn't listening to her and was unwilling to answer her exactly the way she most likely wanted to hear.

Now let's consider Shirogane's attitude toward himself and those around him. The first thing I noticed was that Shiro was taken aback by Rocma's sudden departure during their conversation. He certainly wanted their conversation to end quickly, but he clearly didn't expect his apology to be SO effective (this poor guy even stuttered and cursed a little: "W-What the hell…"). Apparently, he'd had to listen to her lectures like this often and at length (Remake seems to confirm this, but, alas, not in the best sense…). The second thing I noticed was his opinion of Rocma. He must have a VERY low opinion of her to immediately assume (and believe on this) she'd come all this way ONLY to insult him. The third thing I noticed is that Shirogane has NO understanding of what others want from him. In the post, where I looked at fragments from his dream, there was a moment where he, terrified next to Rock's eerie silhouette, wonders, "What did I ever do???" Here, he asks, "Why does everyone get so angry at me…?" and it seems that this scares him far more than the mere presence of ANGER directed at him. Maybe that's why his dialogue with Rocma looked like he was trying to ignore her (as if this guy didn't understand AT ALL what she was talking about and what she wanted from him, but in order not to anger her with this, he simply apologized, thinking that Rocma was angry at him for something, and for what exactly, Shiro didn't understand from the entire lecture she gave, but I will, of course, be very surprised if this turns out to be true and not my speculation). Gosh, it seems Rocma isn't the only one with social interaction issues… By the by, the fourth thing I noticed is that Shirogane wasn't at all offended by Yukisada for not trying to intervene in any way during his dialogue with Rocma. He didn't even mention the topic. The snowy owl apparently showed fear of the polar bear, causing the polar wolf to take the blame, but Shiro didn't comment on it, much less condemn him, as most of the inhabitants of Iceberg Isle might have done. So, despite having numerous flaws and being aware of them, Shirogane doesn't condemn the shortcomings of others?

By the way, regarding numerous flaws and being aware of them…

Something caught my eyes about the design of that unnamed character on the right art. At first I couldn't formulate what it was, but then I saw Shiroma's snow witch character's portrait and it dawned on me: their jackets(?) are the same, in terms of the basic model of clothing in general. And the color of their skin, hair and eyes are also the same (all white).

Then I saw a merch on OkegomWiki with this snow witch and Christmas tree. And I remembered that the DSP's artwork I showed earlier with Samekichi and Wadda for the New Year's greeting also had a Christmas tree painted on it. These trees were not seen on Iceberg Isle, which is located in the North, which is one of the reasons for assuming that our loving couple is not on Iceberg Isle. But in this case, can we still assume that the place with the Christmas tree is not on the North Pole, but on the South Pole?

Next we have the snowmens: note that in Shiroma's portrait the snowman has a gray bow tie, the same color as the fur on the sleeves of the witch's jacket(?), and a bucket hat, so to speak, of dark brown colors, the same color as the witch's mittens. Then notice the snowman that Wadda is holding - he already has the scarf, but the bucket hat remains. The color is also different when compared to the snowman in Shiroma's hands. Next we have Suno-san: a snowman that differs from the previous snowmens not only in the color of his scarf and hat, but also in his size (we can safely assume that he is taller than Rock in animal form, whose height is 70 cm). Moreover, his blue-colored outfit is clearly similar to the scarf and hat of the previously mentioned unnamed character (while the drawing of this character itself is made mostly in blue and white colors).

And what conclusions can we come to in the end? Well, my reasoning has personally led me to the following: 1) In addition to the existence of a family of Sea Witches (Meikai, Wadda herself, and Minami), it's quite likely that a family of Snow Witches could also reside in the world of Wadanohara and Ice Scream. At the very least, some similarities between Shiroma and that unnamed character might lead us to think that they are related (perhaps sisters?); 2) Maybe their world has North and South poles, and as such, Shiroma might answer/reside at the South Pole and that unamed character at the North Pole. But since both polar bear and penguins live on Iceberg Isle (they usually live on different poles), we can assume that the author "united" the North and South poles and there is only the cold North, or that the inhabitants of the South and North poles are in contact with each other and are able to move from one cold place to another (remember Aom, the giant river shrimp, that originally was not a resident of the Sea Kingdom, but moved there); 3) Based on the idea that that character and Shiroma are related, then it is also worth noting that their "family feature" is most likely that they have companion snowmen (and they should all have bucket hats ). By Shiroma's is a snowman with a bow tie. By the currently unnamed character has Suno-san (he may not be unique in this regard, but for now I will stick to the assumption that he is "one of a kind", as is the case with the rest of the snowmens). But at the same time, we also have the 3rd snowman, which was shown along with Wadda. Does it mean that there is also a 3rd snow witch or DSP decided to redesign Shiroma's snowmen - it's not clear…