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In turn, Rosi’s final moment on Minion Island also seems to suggest his love and reverence for his adoptive father. Facing a furious Doflamingo at last, Rosi recalled the time when he had met Sengoku as a boy. Then he proclaimed his code number and position in the Navy, and confronted Doflamingo, not as his brother, nor as a defector from the gang, but as “a Marine.” At this point, Rosi had already, by stealing the Op-Op Fruit, betrayed the Navy. Furthermore, he knew how the Navy, as a whole, was complicit in many of the World Government’s atrocities—Law, to whom Rosi was confessing, is one such victim. Rosi apologized for having concealed his identity, but he didn’t seem to intend to disown that identity itself, which, I think, might be interpreted along the lines of the following examples: Belle-Mère would rather be killed than deny that Nami and Nojiko are her daughters; eight-year-old Robin insisted on claiming Olvia as her mother, though Olvia had left when Robin was two; and Ace calls only Whitebeard his “Pops,” while denying his biological father, Roger. Similarly, Rosi’s claim of “Marine” identity might indicate his deep appreciation and respect for Sengoku—feelings that seem to persist even after they parted ways, and even when Rosi is prepared to give his life for the child for whose sake he had chosen his own path. 

Rosi probably harbored complicated feelings for his brother as well. Doflamingo’s viciousness certainly frightened him. But Rosi might also have wondered how much of what his brother had become was nature, and how much was the poisoning influence of the adult members of the pirate crew, chief among them the four senior executives—Vergo, Pica, Diamante, and Trebol. Rosi clearly despised them—so much so that he did not even care to explain himself to them: “I have nothing to say to you.” To Doflamingo, however, Rosi does have a few words to say before his own death: “Law won't listen to you anymore... He is no longer the lost child who wandered into your gang of maniacs... He has nothing to gain from a devil such as you! Leave him alone! He is free!” This, I believe, is Rosi’s blessing for Law. Yet I think it can also be read as Rosi cautioning his brother: be not so arrogant as to think that you can decide other peoples’ paths, that you can control what others think and do, that you can always, through violence and trickery, take away another person’s independence and freedom. That Rosi is willing to go to such lengths seems to suggest that, despite calling Doflamingo “lacking all humanity,” he still retained some feeling for him. Doflamingo might look all-powerful and confident, but beneath that exterior might be deep-seated fear, unease, and loneliness, which Rosi might have sensed, or at least imagined. Therefore, Rosi went undercover by his brother’s side—not only to stop his crimes and prevent him from falling into complete madness, but perhaps also not to leave his brother struggling alone.

Though this may border on over-reading, I suspect Rosi’s character design carries certain religious references. I personally find Law’s successful escape “miraculous” in the literal sense of the word: Rosi thought of the coincidence that made it possible as “heaven letting you live after all,” and as “merciful fate smiling at you once again”; once shot, he held on for quite some time before finally dying, so that Law could leave without being heard. Rosi’s death scene is also remarkably peaceful, despite, and in contrast to, the surrounding chaos of the fight between Doflamingo’s gang and the Navy: his expression looks calm and relieved; and amid the falling snow, he once again sends Law his blessing in an internal monologue. There seem to be quite a few parallels with Bruno Bucciarati from JoJo Part 5: a gangster who rebelled against his boss to save another person’s life, and was admired by those whose lives he redeemed. Killed halfway through the story, his body continued to operate by sheer force of will. In the last part of the story, and in the middle of an intense fight with the main villain, his soul ascended to heaven after a somewhat long expression of gratitude to his comrades for having helped him find life’s meaning. If this is not a direct reference, then I would guess it to be some kind of archetype, of which the concept of “sacred death” is an integral part. 

outfit & pose from

By authority, I mean things like rules, morals, superego, or social consensus. Furthermore, the word here doesn’t have any negative connotation. Similarly, authority figure refers to those who, at some point or to some extent, provided 6s with guidelines/sense of morality, helped 6s integrate into society, served as examples, etc. 

6s’ relationship with authority is tied to their anxiety and need for security: they want to gain approval, support and protection from good authorities, while fear being controlled and harmed by bad ones. There’s a childhood theory that suggests that, if 6s grew up with good authority figures, they will likely try to replicate that pattern in their adult relationships, by seeking authority figures in their friends or spouses. On the other hand, if they were abused by authority figures in their childhood, they will likely project negative feelings/suspicion towards any authority figures later in life. 

Yusei also seems to display a subtle, unconscious attachment to authority figures. For instance, he easily internalizes correct values from people around him. He also picks up those parts that are correct/valuable in his enemies’ ideologies (“5ds has no real villain, except for Divine”). And it’s also not just on the intellectual level; Yusei actually empathizes with the antagonists, validates them, and respects them as people. 

Yusei also tends to lend trust a bit too readily to authority figures, as long as they don’t appear plain evil. Or we may say, he wants to trust them. We see this clearly with Antinomy. Yusei’s mind knows to wonder about Antinomy’s motive, but that doesn’t stop him from getting led by the nose. Even Rex Goodwin, who’s already under suspicion as head of city government, was given too much good faith regarding his accounts of the signer/dark-signer legend and promises to the Satellite. 

Using the aforementioned Enneagram theory, we may be able to explain Yusei’s attachment/trust/positivity towards authority as a carry-over of his positive experience with Martha, the lady who takes care of homeless children in the Satellite. Yusei, Jack and Crow are all raised by her. We may well say that Martha is Yusei’s early/primary source of ethics. When Yusei felt unable to confront a hate-filled Kiryu, or hesitant to reach out to a resentful Aki, it is again Martha’s guidance that he followed. On the other hand, Martha’s general approach seems more or less indulgent, especially towards the smaller kids (plus, she didn’t seem to have reproached Jack for his unethical conducts). It is reasonable to infer, that the good early example which Martha served is what breeds Yusei’s later unconscious positivity towards authority in general. 

It is interesting, then, to see similar patterns manifested in Yusei’s later relationship with Kiryu and with Antinomy. 

It’s clear how Yusei regards Antinomy, or how the writers [*] positioned Antinomy, as some sort of mentor. Both to forward the plot, and on a psychological level: One example is before the duel with Placido i.e. debut of shooting star dragon. Antinomy said: “it’s time to master accel synchro”. Then Yusei, who habitually worries about others and refuses to let others worry about himself, responds: “Am I able to do that?” To put this into perspective, the only other time he spontaneously and openly voices his inner worries/lack of confidence is at the very end against Z-one when he said to his father's [**] spirit “I’ve done my best…there’s no way out…I can’t do this anymore”. Another (more verbose) example can be found here. 

[*] I’m increasingly suspicious of the writers being familiar with the Enneagram system, as so many characters’ (e.g. Jack, Crow and Aki) arcs fit well with certain Enneagram types.  

[**] Side note: Antinomy also seems to know a lot about Yusei’s father, hence has a non-negligible influence on how Yusei constructs his father’s image (although occasionally Yusei can also directly access his father's spirit). This is somewhat significant, as Yusei's father is supposed to be Yusei’s conventional early authority figure.

Antinomy is the one talking the whole time. But there’s a change of pov in the visual presentation. The "slideshow" portion where Antinomy explains what happened to the future is still his perspective. But from where he talks about Aporia’s despair and three personas, the visuals start to shift to Yusei's perspective.

By the time of “My mission was to protect you and help you grow,” the shot of Bruno’s face is entirely from Yusei’s pov. What I want to point out is: what’s on screen here isn't necessarily Antinomy’s actual attitude; it’s how Yusei is perceiving/imagining him in that moment.

Then Antinomy says: “I never expected you to have evolved this far. And to think, it’s on me to cut it short. ”

Yusei: “Am I just a gear then?” (Side note: The use of the "gear" metaphor feels like a deliberate callback. Yusei must have taken to heart what Bruno said about being "gear that turns your dreams" when they first met. )

At this point, the conversation still seems to be about whether Antinomy/Bruno was ever sincere. The cold, aloof expression of the imagined Bruno is just hostility for being on opposite sides. However, there’s a very similar frame in the final battle against Z-one, which suggests something else. There, Yusei “hears” (imagined) Bruno’s voice: “Yusei, you will surely find it—your own accel synchro,” followed by his thought, “Bruno, I found it.” Then, we see the imaginary Bruno smiling.

These frames are clearly Yusei’s mental projections. One could interpret it moderately as Yusei thinking that Bruno was worried about him, and the final smile is a sign of relief. What I find more plausible (and unflattering), however, is that the unsmiling expression in the first two frames represent the internalized Bruno as a member of Yusei’s "inner committee" (the 6's inner authority), with an attitude of appraisal/scrutiny. The final smile isn't relief; it’s approval that Yusei has met the expectation. Furthermore, this interpretation only makes sense if Yusei does regard Bruno/Antinomy as more of a guide/mentor than a friend/equal comrade. After all, it’s 5ds, not GX. 

This is classic 5 behavior when they feel insecure, or uncertain about their understanding and calculations. They don't want to discuss with others because others’ emotions and opinions interfere with their thinking process. They’d rather figure it out on their own first and then just present the result to everyone else as a done deal. This explains why Antinomy kept his regained memories a secret even while acting as, and believing himself to be, a 5D's ally. By the way, this 5-style secrecy works almost seamlessly with Bruno’s 9-style "playing pretend", effortlessly driving things to the point of no return before anyone else realizes.

2. He likes to watch from behind the scenes. Let’s not forget that, while Bruno is at the front end interacting with 5ds, Antinomy is (almost) always at the back end watching. Even when he himself interacts with Yusei, he tends to adopt a "poke and retreat" attitude—it’s less about telling Yusei what to do, and more about probing Yusei for reactions, especially for those that exceed his expectations. 

This neutral, holding-off stance is maintained on a larger scale: he executes his mission to fulfill his vow to Z-one, while simultaneously putting his lot on Yusei, all while hoping that Yusei’s triumph could assure Z-one and free him of the burden of saving the future. He likely anticipated all outcomes. He could genuinely say “I started the duel to show you a new power”, while having also (mentally) prepared for the possibility that Yusei might emerge victorious. (This indecisiveness, IMHO, is also the 6-wing's suspicion leaking in). 

3. The so5’s "totem": Here totem refers to an abstract, sublime ideal, which often also entails some source of power. The so5s compensate for their internal sense of depletion by attaching to this sublime being, while simultaneously becoming even more acutely aware of their own inadequacy by comparison. (“I felt ashamed watching Z-one fight without losing hope even in despair.”) The totem is usually non-human, but can be projected onto people (like the aforementioned victim, who is not entirely innocent). A classic pitfall is "Loving humanity in the abstract, but struggling to love concrete individuals." Real people — including, of course, themselves — can end up being sacrificed for the sake of the sublime ideal.

The social instinct combined with a 6-wing also brings out some so6 traits, like a rigid sense of duty and loyalty to a faction. (“I am tied to Z-one and my comrades by unbreakable bonds born of despair. My vow to Z-one is my mission.”) Even when he doesn’t necessarily agree with the faction’s ideology/objective—and is really sort of off doing his own thing—he still feels this “imperative” to go down with the ship alongside old comrades.

4.The totem for Antinomy is “clear mind”, which is courage, or the overcoming of fear. Fear of the enemy’s strength, fear of failure, and for Yusei, the fear of failing others' expectations and being abandoned.

Little desire for isolation: He literally has no personal space and seems completely fine with that. The only time he ever asks for alone time is Ep 103, when he’s having a memory flashback. Otherwise, he’s pretty much down for whatever nonsense the group is chasing after. It doesn’t even take that long before he naturally slips into a shared peace-keeper role with Crow (and becomes a bit of Jack’s punching bag, which inevitably annoys me). The extent of his active participation in the group makes me think he’s a so9.

Sincere humbleness (humility): as in, “want to be a gear that helps turn your dreams”. And a longing to belong, like the scene where he wanted his name included in the team name. He also gives off this soft, innocent, and clumsy aura, which I think is significant, since 5s typically don't want to be seen as too innocent, as it implies vulnerability. While 5s probably also don’t want to be seen as aggressive, their defensive, wall-building tendency can make them look hard, or arrogant (see, e.g., Antinomy).  

"Pretend Everything is Fine": As Bruno gradually recovers memories of Antinomy and Z-one and the past, he never discloses any of it to Yusei and others; he just keeps acting like nothing happened. He seems to be waiting for Yusei to steer the wheel. While Bruno and Antinomy share this secretive/un-transparent tendency, it could be from distinct motives. For Antinomy’s (E5), it’s more like “I don’t have sufficient information (memory) yet to act”. For Bruno (E9), it’s more like "only Yusei can save the future, so there’s nothing for me to do but wait".

Some Enneagram-informed interpretation:

E9s fear losing connection with others. Thus they neglect, or forget about, their own dissatisfaction, upsets, needs and wants, so as to avoid conflict which could break the connection. Although Bruno is an amnesiac persona, his subconscious might have retained the feeling of losing everyone in the apocalyptic future/past. He seems to side with Yusei, but also doesn’t want to break with Z-one and other old comrades. He can’t disclose what he knows, since that essentially means choosing a side, i.e., putting himself on the opposite side of old friends. His expectation of Yusei is both for Yusei to save the future, and for Yusei to make the choice for him. In the final duel (144-145), even though Antinomy is technically the one on screen, the theme of "Bruno" remains: Yusei, (under Antinomy’s pressure) by declaring “I’ll defeat whoever stands in my way”, saves Bruno from the impossibly hard choice between his two worlds.

9s also have a tendency for self-erasure, to blend into the environment to avoid friction against it. In this sense, Bruno doesn't seem to feel at ease with, or “entitled” to, his own existence. He likely can see from Antinomy’s perspective, where "Bruno" is a mask. Better (or worse) yet, because "Antinomy" himself doesn’t have long to live anyway. Then it’s a completely logical position for a dying person to take: to cherish what time he has left and keep the memories as happy as possible. 

Guesses from Enneagram theory:

Childhood: There’s a Enneagram theory which says that in childhood, or before stress/trauma, people look like their integration point. In particular, 9s integrate to 3 (confident, proactive, competitive). And Johnny, from the very brief glimpses we have of him, indeed has a high-energy 3/7 vibe before destruction.