TofusForTBHK

Deciding to post my Minamoto reunion angst comic I did recently!!

It messes with the idea of going back to the old timeline were Teru wakes up in his bed after the timeline was set back- only Akane fully remembers what happened (bc he's a clock keeper) but Teru being able to remember bc of his Exorcist blood- the memories of the "new timeline" are what he thinks are dreams but are actually the memories of what happened echoing throughout is head unwilling to forget.

The end of my Minamoto reunion angst comic!!! It took forever (33 panels in total) nut I like how it came out!

I particularly adore the use of pencil scribbles to build atmosphere throughout the comic. Esp at the end where the scribbles take up more than half the page. Gives it that overwhelming feel. Like Teru’s drowning in everything he’s been through with his worst fear being realized and all.

#1: Teru did not kill Kou on accident or by reflex.

I’ve seen this take on tumblr and Twitter and I disagree. As much as I like the poetic irony of Teru’s violence towards supernaturals causing him to hurt whose he’s sworn to protect from them, I think it’s wrong.

As Teru blasts Kou, Teru is already upset.

Comedy moments in the manga aside, this is the 1st time we’ve ever seen Teru visibly devestated. Prior to this he has always, consistently approached supernatural danger with whimsy and lighthearted cheer. Even when there were dire stakes:

Teru after realizing Aoi was essentially dead after coming getting kidnapped by Number 6. (Ch70)

Teru in ch79, after learning his baby brother went into the notably deadly Red House. (Ch79)

Teru after getting betrayed and apprehended in the Clock Keepers’ boundary. Where they’re supposed to be “undefeatable.” (Ch109)

The uniting factor is that Teru had some level of control. That there wasn’t any true danger/death. He’s gonna get Aoi back, he had faith in Kou to not succumb to the house’s wishes, and you can’t die in boundaries (applies to when the gang got jumped by Num 6 too).

Here, Teru is devastated — not bc Teru is sacred that Kou may get hurt (active threat) but bc Teru knows Kou is already dead.

Look at how Teru walks to the well immediately.

Teru isn’t falling to his knees like “Wait, I didn’t mean to kill him. What have I done?“

He walked there immediately. With intent.

He’s not acting like someone who’s killed his brother on accident. On reflex. He’s acting like someone who knows. Who’s already grieving. Who’s checking for confirmation.

Confirmation that his little brother died in that well. Has been dead.

This isn’t a boundary or fictional world. That is the real Kou — just of a different timeline — and in this one he died. No control, no games, no convenient truth. And Teru couldn’t protect him.

it seriously makes me upset tho how quickly people went to blaming Teru tho....his brother is dead and yall fr have the NERVE to blame HIM?-

Peeps be framing the entire encounter as Teru’s instincts causing him to blitz Kou, his body working faster than his mind bc bro just hates supernaturals that much.

They blame Teru for killing Kou and while there is like a scrap of truth in that. Just definitively. Talking about it like it’s murder rather than what it actually is — putting down someone you know is suffering and has no chance of being alive in a way that’s living is diabolical work.

To be a supernatural is like 9/10 times a wretched existence. Hanako says this. Mitsuba lives it. The Red House was starting to use Kou’s spirit to kill people. Starting with Nene — someone that, if Kou managed to be used to hurt her (if Teru didn’t step in), would’ve crush Kou. The spirits the house uses still have some kinda consciousness as they lure people to their deaths. It’s why Hanako broke concentration when Nene called him. It’s why Kou was so relieved after returning to his og self.

And then these absolute acorns get a thousand likes on Twitter by saying garbage like “turns out the thing Teru needed to protect Kou from wasn’t a supernatural, but himself.” As if the red house, a supernatural curse, didn’t put Kou and Mitsuba on their backs — spines to circular-stone-brick-coffin — a couple chapters ago.

I’m not gonna gatekeep how to interpret the manga. That’s naive and hopeless. I can’t even guarantee my take isn’t gonna be debunked in a later chapter-

#1: Teru did not kill Kou on accident or by reflex.

I’ve seen this take on tumblr and Twitter and I disagree. As much as I like the poetic irony of Teru’s violence towards supernaturals causing him to hurt whose he’s sworn to protect from them, I think it’s wrong.

As Teru blasts Kou, Teru is already upset.

Comedy moments in the manga aside, this is the 1st time we’ve ever seen Teru visibly devestated. Prior to this he has always, consistently approached supernatural danger with whimsy and lighthearted cheer. Even when there were dire stakes:

Teru after realizing Aoi was essentially dead after coming getting kidnapped by Number 6. (Ch70)

Teru in ch79, after learning his baby brother went into the notably deadly Red House. (Ch79)

Teru after getting betrayed and apprehended in the Clock Keepers’ boundary. Where they’re supposed to be “undefeatable.” (Ch109)

The uniting factor is that Teru had some level of control. That there wasn’t any true danger/death. He’s gonna get Aoi back, he had faith in Kou to not succumb to the house’s wishes, and you can’t die in boundaries (applies to when the gang got jumped by Num 6 too).

Here, Teru is devastated — not bc Teru is sacred that Kou may get hurt (active threat) but bc Teru knows Kou is already dead.

Look at how Teru walks to the well immediately.

Teru isn’t falling to his knees like “Wait, I didn’t mean to kill him. What have I done?“

He walked there immediately. With intent.

He’s not acting like someone who’s killed his brother on accident. On reflex. He’s acting like someone who knows. Who’s already grieving. Who’s checking for confirmation.

Confirmation that his little brother died in that well. Has been dead.

This isn’t a boundary or fictional world. That is the real Kou — just of a different timeline — and in this one he died. No control, no games, no convenient truth. And Teru couldn’t protect him.

Now imagine being Teru.

You’re 17 and cherish your little siblings who you’ve raised with little to no parents or adults (ch114).

You’ve sacrificed your entire childhood to protect and keep them out of exorcist life. Something you know to be grueling and deadly (ch97).

You recently have fought with your little brother, revealing your true thoughts about being an exorcist and him being one.

This truth you’ve been hiding under half-hearted encouragement (ch9) being something you know would hurt him.

You think your little brother is too weak to be an exorcist (ch87). That he isn’t cut out for it (ch97).

To you, it is a painful truth.

But, regardless, you set aside this “truth.” This deep-seated, learned fear. And chose to believe in your little brother and support him as an exorcist. For real this time. (Ch97)

Because you love him more than the cynical logic. More than your anxiety and fear. More than your sacrifices made useless as your little brother wants the life you worked so hard to keep from him.

But he dies. He dies to a supernatural.

That's simply NOT true.

He's exorcized his spirit that was being trapped there by the Red House but he didn't kill him.

Kou was dead before Teru got there (he's probably been dead since he and Mitsuba ran into Amane) so Amane was the one that killed him NOT Teru-

Tho ofc Amane is also a victim in all this but regardless he IS the one that probably killed Kou.

But I suppose that depends on if you think killing a supernatural or ghost is heavy enough to use the word “kill”/“murder” or lighter and deserving of the word “exorcism.”

Kinda reflects a fan’s view on supernaturals in that sense too. And in extension Kou vs Teru. How fun!

To me, it was a mercy kill at most. Teru exorcizing Kou was an act of liberation. Kou wouldn’t have wanted to be used by the Red House and indirectly responsible for the deaths of innocents — esp Nene’s and Kou expresses relief after Teru blasts him.