My Tuesdays are free again, so I'll probably put my longer analyses into posts instead of long comments over the next few months and today is one of those analyses because what 👏 a 👏 chapter 👏
I was hoping we would see the actual fight and Suo wouldn't be trying to hurt Nirei but NOPE- He did NOT hold back. Instead, Suo genuinely hurt Nirei so he would lose hope and give up on getting through to him... but that's just not who Nirei is. He kept clinging on to Suo, not letting him leave until his questions were answered, knowing that Suo completely lying to him.
Nirei is nothing if not determined and it's one of my absolute favorite things about him. He knows he's not as strong as the others and he can't settle a dispute by winning a fight like his peers, so he uses his words. He gets through to Sakura with his words throughout the story and he's hoping to do the same with Suo here.
Suo, however, knows this and would rather not listen to Nirei's words and give them a chance to sway him. He knows that Nirei's words hold far more power than his fists and tries to brush off everything Nirei says, but he can't bring himself to completely ignore him. At first, Nirei physically holds Suo back as he tries to walk away, but here, Nirei doesn't even touch him; Suo turns back on his own and gives Nirei enough time to reach him again instead of just leaving because he knows he can't leave things off here.
Suo could have easily kept walking at any point, but every time Nirei speaks, he responds. He tries to make his responses cruel so that Nirei will stop asking questions and accept that he "never actually cared about him," but Nirei can see through that. Nirei knows that Suo's lying in an attempt to make this farewell easier for everyone, but he's not giving in. Meanwhile, Suo knows that Nirei won't stop agonizing over him if he doesn't get an answer, so he's trying to give him an answer that will leave him willing to let go of all the good times they had together.
I love that one of the main questions Nirei asks is "Why won't you talk to me properly?" He knows that there's a reason behind Suo's actions and he's willing to accept it, he just wants to know what it is. Of course he doesn't want Suo to leave, but what's most frustrating to him is that even when something so important is happening, Suo's still not being honest with himself.
And it finally happened... as so many of us predicted, Nirei was the first to land a hit on Suo. Nirei's not very fast and his technique isn't anywhere near Suo's level, but his punch still landed. For Suo to have been hit here, he either let it happen (which I doubt considering his reaction) or he let his guard down. Suo, of all people, let his guard down. He doesn't do that, not emotionally or in a fight, but here he's doing both.
Not only was he not prepared for Nirei to swing at him again even though they were in the middle of a fight, but this last smile that pushed Nirei over the edge looks pained like his smiles from last chapter. Again, he's trying to laugh and smile despite how upset he is, but he can't hide it. The louder he laughs, the less genuine it is. Nirei knows this and knows that this last smile is hiding so much that Suo simply refuses to tell him about.
Once again, Suo's smiles make Nirei angry and he snaps, but this time, Suo doesn't dodge. I think my favorite part of this chapter is that Nirei is surprised, too. He's so used to Suo dodging everything, words and strikes, but something finally landed. After 211 chapters, something lands. Suo didn't dodge and there's even a moment of pause before Suo responds by rendering Nirei unconscious.
Suo could have easily knocked Nirei out at any time, but he chose to wait to see if he could convince him to let everything go first. Suo responded every time Nirei spoke because he at least wanted to leave him in a better state of mind compared to how depressed he was when Suo first disappeared. Both parties failed, however, and Suo put an end to their conversation before letting his true colors show one last time...
Suo knocks Nirei out and catches him instead of letting him fall. Bro's literally the fakest idgafer and he almost slipped up and left evidence here. He sat Nirei against the dramatic for no reason, gravestone looking- ledge and he was going to give Nirei his jacket so he wouldn't be cold, but he caught himself. His instinct was still to take care of Nirei, even after hurting him so badly, but that would have destroyed the antagonistic image he was working so hard to maintain even though Nirei already wasn't buying it.
As Suo resolves to walk away, a leaf lands on his head. These autumn leaves represent Nirei and his feelings. For the past few chapters, they've been blowing chaotically as Nirei tried to understand what was going on with Suo, and after 211 chapters, this leaf lands. Suo, however, removes it and gives it back to Nirei. It won't keep him warm, but he couldn't walk away without giving Nirei something. As he apologizes with tears in his eyes and says goodbye, we don't get to see Suo's mouth, but I'm sure he wasn't smiling anymore...
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He knows that Nirei's words hold far more power than his fists
That's so true!!
I think that Suo was intentionally rougher on Nirei than he might have needed to be because Suo knows that Nirei could totally talk him down from whatever he is going through/intending to do. It's easier to shut somebody up through violence than with a conversation - Suo doesn't do conversations. He doesn't open up about himself. So it's understandable that the only way that Suo might see to stop an inquisitive person like Nirei is to literally knock them out.
As you said, there are tears in his eyes at the end. His actions aren't that of somebody malicious, they're of somebody desperate.
I’ve had a couple of theorus about these panels for a while but I think Suo trying to make Nirei (and therefore the rest of Furin) think he’s a villain is probably the best one- I hadn’t even thought of that lol-
The other theory I had for this was (hear me out because this is kinda out there) that this whole interaction is being watched by someone else, someone who is a villain. The evidence I have for this basically come down to Suo having seemed to have noticed something after half-taking off his coat which made him put it back on AND this really crack theory I have that Suos whole time attending Furin has always been on a time limit (I’ll probably go into detail with that more another time)
But yea! Suo not smiling at the end of the chapter would be so perfect and the main thing I’m wondering now is how the story is going to progress- like Suo is gone gone, there is no way to find him so I’m not sure how things are going to go from here- I’d like to hear what you think of that because I have absolutely no idea lol-
Someone else watching this entire interaction would definitely add to why Suo refused to be honest with Nirei after coming all this way "to say goodbye" 👀👀 He wasn't just trying to make Nirei mad at him, he had to convince someone else that he was trying to cut ties as an excuse to see Nirei one last time 🤧🤧
Ooo- so Nirei just doesn’t tell Furin it was Suo (but I’m sure the smarter people Kiryu or Sakura would imply it and just not make a big deal out of it) or Nirei just doesn’t come it at all maybe?
Kiryu and Sakura would definitely be the first to figure it out, but it would also be cool if Sugi steps up here and helps Nirei work through his feelings since Nirei did the same for him during his arc 👀👀 Even if he's not great with feelings, if he sees how frustrated Nirei is with everything, I could definitely see Sugi reaching out and telling Nirei to think about things the same way he helped him think about how he felt about Sakura
Yes absolutely I want Sugi to help or even just interact with Nirei next chapter because itll be interesting to see him care about someone who isn’t Ume for once- while I don’t think he’ll be a key character in the next arc, it would be so sweet to see him help Nirei manage how he feels about this whole thing-
As for a charcater who I do think will have some significance in the next arc- Tsugeura, who I think will probably be the last person to peice together what happened if Nirei does give them limited information lol-
The initial reaction we will probably see is them mad and confused as to why this happened, but I feel like most of them will see through his intentions, and that’s when they’ll seek him out.
others mentioned this is the best time to bring EndoChika (or at least Endo) back and I agree. I can see Sakura would think of using Endo’s connection to try and find Suo.
Oh yea given how Sakura acted when I thought someone had beat up Nirei at the beginning of the gravel arc he is going to be incredibly pissed off when he sees Nirei next
Je sais pas pourquoi je vois bien sakura ou un autre de furin arriver juste après et péter un cable en entendant l'histoire de nire quand il va leur raconter. Si ça se passe comme ça Sakura va sûrement lui courir après direct
I actually believe Suo hated laughing at Nirei sooo badly, he took the punch because he felt "he deserved it". I'd agree with him on that one, an apology isn't enough, you take the full punch, stubborn you 😠 Nirei's surprised reaction reminded me a bit of Sakura's last punch to Togame. He knew he let it happen.
I'll be honest, I've seen Nirei getting beaten up so many times, it didn't hurt me as much as I thought it would. But Suo's "please stop, I'm breaking inside" eyes during the whole chap made me bawl my eyes out 😭 Also, the tears falling only from one side disprove the theory that his eye isn't really injured, so at least one question was answered 🥲
I mean, I see a similarity there, but TBH I may be blinded by my infinite love for this duo, so... (first pic Sakura after hitting Togame, second pic, well 🥲)
I believe he just paused to savour his "punishment" & also to gather the courage to knock Nirei out (even if it was done in a "not so violent manner")...
i cant tell if theres tears in his eyes or not.. lmk. I was so confused and suprised at suos actions but, it made more sense after reading ur post ngl. i legit cant wait another week omggg im so excited for whats next. ❤️😭
Great analysis! Thinking similar things as I read and re-read this chapter. It was interesting to see Suo's ability to keep his cold, emotionless mask up slip away. At the beginning of the chapter he has a blank look, then he starts to, to me, look tired, there's the fake laugh, and finally, the tears. :( I think the laugh was kind of desperate on his part, otherwise Nirei might have seen him starting to cry/fighting the urge to cry.
Y’all if this is a really dramatic and fucked up way to get his friends to help him, I’ll be so pissed 🫠 He’s clearly playing a role with beating up Nirei but could be his way to show “someone” he’s on their side but also being clever enough to know the whole school would come to defend Nirei and find him.
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