#tbhk analysis

He has never once tried to harm Sakura, and hasn't ever said anything mean to her. Instead, he's always showing her affection. The most he's ever done is annoy her and bother her — but we could argue that Tsukasa still had harmless intentions.

We do see him be rather forceful and intimidating with Mitsuba. But when asked about him picking on him, he claims that he likes him and didn’t really intend on doing that. We see him comfort and protect Mitsuba, and even help in throwing a welcome party for him. He also does other things like take him to the sea (or probably a boundary that imitates the sea), do his hair etc.

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Okay has anybody else noticed these parallels between Natsuhiko and the new Timeline Yugi Sensei??

They both have a curse that brings them back even when they’ve been killed/defeated, and they both have black liquid that can act as tentacle like appendages

Perhaps it's to try and get Hanako to stop holding back? Mitsuba in his own boundary is more of a threat, and could hence make Hanako give it his all in a fight.

My other interpretation is, what if Tsukasa was annoyed by Hanako trying to interfere with Mitsuba's wish? After all, he only started urging Mitsuba to fight Hanako after Hanako tried to get in the way of Mitsuba's wish. Maybe it brought out some resentment within him, especially since Hanako already interfered once by killing himself, and ruining the life that Tsukasa wished for?

Or maybe, he wanted Mitsuba to feel more strongly about his own wish — like defend it against threats like Hanako? Maybe he wanted to see Mitsuba stop holding back to get what he wanted?

You could also suggest that Hanako was threatening Mitsuba's freedom and desires. Tsukasa feels very strongly about these two topics, no? Especially freedom — Tsukasa's trapped as a yorishiro forever after all. Maybe he wanted Mitsuba to fight for his freedom? Especially since he actually had a chance at it?

Actually, now that I consider the fact that Tsukasa is Hanako's yorishiro, did he perhaps hope Mitsuba would defeat Hanako? He could easily do that, since Hanako is in his boundary, but what if he additionally hoped Mitsuba also destroyed his yorishiro? Aka destroy him — free him?

Usually when I see the "family issues" backstory, I need to brace myself for a tactlessly-written and edgy story. The parents are evil for the sake of being evil. There is either only one child that is innocent, or all the children by default are innocent little angels. This was luckily not the case for the Yugi family.

Mr. And Mrs. Yugi were unintentionally neglectful towards Tsukasa. Their neglect did cause damage, but they didn’t intend that. They genuinely loved him. To the point Mrs. Yugi became abusive in nature, desperately trying to retrieve the "real" Tsukasa. Mr. Yugi seemingly left out of hopelessness, or maybe due to the entity’s influence, but we clearly see that he loved his family.

Amane is confused and suffering, and he wants to believe his brother is still himself. Even when everyone else seems to be a shell of what they once used to be. But despite this he still has doubts, and he hates himself because he thinks none of this would've happened if he looked after Tsukasa more. And then he finally "stops holding back" and kills Tsukasa.

Tsukasa is violent, chaotic and even sadistic at times. Yet all he wanted to do was save his brother. He thought Amane hated him, and so did everyone else. He thought he mattered less and hence repressed himself, which resulted in his strangely childish yet hostile nature. He still loves Amane even though Amane "hates" him.

I don’t think I’ve mentioned it before but I really love the parallel between the whole “sacrificial maiden married to a supernatural entity”,, and Akane who became a supernatural for Aoi, a sacrificial maiden by bloodline

For various reasons too, I could easily see the two of them drifting apart (Aoi going away, like going to university abroad and not telling anyone) if it weren’t for the events of TBHK. Of course I can also see them still being together in various ways too, but there’s definitely a certain connection they have because of TBHK

Btw it’s also noteworthy that the connection truly forms at the far shore. Akane, a supernatural who can leave, and Aoi, the sacrificial maiden who can’t leave on her own: the two of them most connect at ‘death’. Isn’t this quite a parallel to sacrificial maidens dying at their wedding to appease a supernatural?

I think there’s also something fun to be found in the Exorcist working with Supernatural, who is wed to the Sacrifice, and how it’s paralleled to Teru, Akane, and Aoi. In the original, the Exorcist and Sacrifice probably have a tacit understanding due to being human, and Supernatural isn’t able to really get that understanding due to not being human. With the sunflower trio, Teru and Aoi also have a tacit understanding that Akane doesn’t share, although Teru and Aoi’s understanding comes from their similar mindsets and not only because of being human. The Supernatural is the connecting factor and, at the same time, the most removed.

i'm not really a tsukasa or yugi family expert, but yeah i don't think the pit god is inherently evil, i think it just *is*, and the stories surrounding the pit god are less about the god itself, and moreso how people interact with it, if that makes sense. like,,, it wasn't the pit god's fault that sumire's village took advantage of it to systematically murder their women. they just did that, and they didn't have to. the village was evil, not the pit god. the pit god was just vibing tbh

and as for tsukasa, i think it's moreso meant to play into the yugi family's story of familial neglect and abuse, being the one outside factor that makes the ""happy and normal"" family suddenly fall apart. which like you said could defo be a disability thing, there are sooo many families that completely shed all semblance of "love" for their child as soon as something happens to their kid that's outside of their control, and then suddenly that's "not their child anymore," and their "real" child is dead. cough cough children with autism. you picking up what i'm putting down? idk if i am honestly i just woke up