In the end, he chose to forgive himself - to make peace with his inner child.

Grown up Kaisei is the God of Death, and Child Kaisei is our protagonist. By choosing to accept his younger self (despite all his cynicism in the beginning), Kaisei was able to “grow up” and move forward. He decided to be more gentle towards his own self, deciding that Haru Ome deserved even more. That saved the old him, and also allowed him to move on (hence why the God of Death was the one to both light the candle, but also snuff it out).

It’s heartwarming 🥹 Even though it’s implied that our protagonist died (since his candle was snuffed out), I don’t feel bad at all; I feel warm.

His God of Death is so different from Akane’s that I don’t even know where to start comparing them. A capricious, uncontrollable child, versus a cynical but almost warm adult.

To begin with, Akane’s performance showed us the fruits of her labour, whereby Kaisei’s performance allowed Suenaga-sensei to give him is long-awaited character development. These two performances don’t serve the same narrative purpose for each character😭

Unlike Akane's shinigami, who's a separate being, Kaisei's shinigami is actually himself.

All his suffering is contained in that vessel. 

The reason we see it in the form of his adult self is because Kaisei was forced to grow up much faster than most kids. Not just because of his family situation, but also because of the weight of his name. He has to be better than everyone else. So he feels like he has to grow up and improve before anyone else does.

Having to watch his mother suffer because of their debts. Knowing his family is poor. Knowing his father abandoned them to start a new family, and that the rest of their relatives abandoned him and his mother as well.  Being just a little kid, unable to do anything but smile at a mother who can't stop crying because she feels she can't give him a decent life.

Throughout the entire performance, Kaisei has been talking to his inner child, that innocence we all carry somewhere deep inside. That's why the protagonist is portrayed as a child. That child is the light Kaisei still has left, the key that will allow him to be reborn and, this time, live for himself. Not to prove to Issho that taking him on as an apprentice wasn't a waste of time, nor to carry the weight of what his name means. 

That's why I love this scene so much, the one where Kaisei talks to his mother. It's here that he realizes he doesn't have to let his name define the way he lives, that he doesn't need to be the best or the first flower to bloom. And that's what I love most about it, because at this moment, the story gives his name a new meaning. It no longer represents the obligation to be the first; it represents the chance to be reborn, to bloom into a new person.  Until that moment, Kaisei hadn't truly been living; he was nothing more than a shell built from his own suffering. It wasn't until he finally let go of everything that had been weighing on his heart that he truly began to live.

I really love the symbolism of the candle. Taking it would mean going back to where he came from, going back to living for other people. But this time, he has to make his way through the dark cave on his own.

As a side note, in the official Spanish translation, when the Shinigami says he no longer needs the candle, he actually says, "It seems we don't need it anymore," referring to both of them.

Another aspect of this performance that I love is how it makes use of the manga's black andwhite art. At first, the shinigami is depicted in a black kimono, reinforcing its connection to death and suffering. But the moment Kaisei embraces himself, that very same figure is transformed, taking on an almost angelic appearance as though it were now clothed in white. 

in the end, the god of death blows the candle because, well, first of all this is a horror story and this is the suitable end. but since the god of death is also kaisei now, it means that he has finally "killed" his younger version and there's only the current him left now

I've been saying this, that Kaisei is going to use this performance to find himself. People have brought up the irony of Kaisei telling Akane the stage isn't a place for soul-searching (I dont remember the chapter someone help meee!!!) when he's doing that himself right here. Maybe he's not actually finding himself on stage, instead he's using this performance to show the results of his exploration.

I think Kaisei wasn't ready to do that quite yet when he told Akane that. However, this breakthrough that he's only been living up to the expectations of others and not for himself really flipped a switch in him.

"That's why you pushed me away," Kaisei says to Issho in his mind. I think Issho saw too much of himself in Kaisei during his Shinuchi promotion test and that's why he ruined it for Kaisei. In the past, I imagine Kisoba's thoughts for his master and Kaisei's thoughts for Issho were similar if not the same. They both want to live up to their masters' expectations, but the way they're achieving it doesn't align with the way master wants. Maybe it wasn't until the old Shiguma's death that Kisoba snapped out of it and truly found his art.

I guess Issho wants to push Kaisei towards his goal earlier, by what, being an unlikeable old man? I completely agree with Kaisei when he said Issho could've used more words. How ironic, that their entire profession is telling story with words (the "go" in "rakugo" literally means word), yet Issho just can't get a grasp on how to use them properly in his own life.

Kaisei is going to fully embody the shinigami in the tail end of the story and kill his past self. Will his past self fight back? Or has he completely given up on his previous goals? Make this a surprise shinuchi test and promote both Akane and Kaisei lol just do it!!!

In one of my previous posts, I pointed out that the God of Death was Grown up Kaisei, and the main protagonist was Little Kid Kaisei (Haru). At first, I was kinda confused as to why Suenaga-sensei and Takamasa-sensei would go for that, but now I think I understand.

The first half of the chapter feels like a conversation between Kaisei (the protagonist) as a child, who has a much nicer and innocent opinion about Issho (aka the master) and Kaisei now (the God of Death), whose thoughts concerning him are much more complicated and twisted. The God of Death constantly contested the young protagonist’s “pure” opinion of his Master, reflecting Kaisei’s inner conflict concerning his thoughts about Issho after all that’s happened. But in the end, it’s Haru’s deep gratitude that shines through, which explains his obedience and loyalty towards of him.

However in the second half, what we see from Kaisei is a desire that’s always been true for him, past or present - his desire for his master’s approval, his want to be worthy of his grace. Which is why this time, we don’t see Kaisei-the-protagonist or Kaisei-the-God-of-Death, but Kaisei the performer.