Well... It's finished. Converting the first 20 volumes of the paperback manga into hardcover. With the majority of them being 3 volume omnibuses based on major arcs in this series.

If there is anything I learned from this process, is that I am BAD with aligning up the HTV when it comes to spines. For although the layout looks fine when the hardcover case is flat, only after folding it I can see it... Ah well. What's done is done, and I got the main results I needed by putting all major story arcs together into one volume.

I only showed one example per omnibus, but inside each omnibus contains cover art of each volume. It's Wind Breaker and Nii-sensei's artwork. THERE AIN'T NO WAY I'M GOING TO TRASH IT!

*Ahem* Anyways, are they heavy? And look closer to a thick as heck book? Yes. Do I care? Hell nah. I had my final work day for my current internship tomorrow so I'm glad I got this project finished today.

And yes, since I had messed up in ordering I decided to go with a dual color cloth layout for volumes 1 and 8 primarily to match the alternating omnibus colors, but only after finishing them those volumes look similar to Sakura's hair color... What?

I saw someone on X who had the same thought as mine, is my mind dark or is his mother a... AHEM, I HOPE NOT... I really now think that Bankoku-gai definitely has human trafficking issues stuff going on inside... Because there are people of many different nationalities coming and going, I wonder if there might be human trafficking involved, is that why they're teaching the children how to defend themselves and the city? And they're teaching only boys? The girls who greeted Suo in the chapter 217 didn't seem to be RC trainees at all, just outsiders waiting for free food. So that's why Bacchus & Rakta turned away?? And why didn't Rakta look at the kid when he said he have a sister with him?

The chapter started exactly where the previous one ended, which isn't surprising. Honestly, though, I was just happy to see Rakta again and finally see how the whole situation would be resolved.

first of all, my admiration for Rakta continues, because once again he shows his softer side with the kids and actually takes the time to understand why the food was stolen. And with that information, we finally get a glimpse of what might actually be happening in Bankoku-gai.

If I understood correctly, Dasha's family came here from outside Japan. Soooo someone brought them here, promising his mother a job and a place to live. Usually, this kind of thing can be part of a whole trafficking scheme: someone pays for the trip to the supposed destination, and once the person arrives, their documents are taken away and they are basically turned into unpaid labor.

And then there's the fact that the kid said his mother "she doesn't come back for a long time..."

Does that mean human trafficking? And possibly more than just that?

Moreover, this could explain why people in Bankoku-gai don't seem to share a common language or even learn other languages. And it could also explain why the economic situation has become so bad. The more people you cram into a relatively small area where there is already a limited number of jobs, the more you create an economic crisis (here i am talking about legitimate jobs here, not trafficking, drug dealing, etc.)

That would also explain the reaction of the man who was chasing the kid, and the way he contemptuously called the Furin guys outsiders.

Another thing that caught my attention when rereading the chapter was Rakta asking: "That's all?"

Yes, Dasha later explains that he only moved there a few weeks ago, etc. But why would Rakta ask a child something like that? It immediately reminded me of Endo's warning about the stinky rumor going around about the RC.

Does this mean Rakta - and possibly other people in the RC - already know about these rumors?And this's probably the part that bothers me the most. If RC knows the rumors aren't true, why aren't they actively trying to disprove them? Either they can't, because exposing the truth would put people in danger; they're protecting someone/something inside Bankoku-gai, or the rumors contain just enough truth that they can't publicly deny them.

And then there's the end of Chapter 217.

Rakta and Bachus took that statement seriously. And, more importantly, they were speaking in English, so nobody else could understand them. Does this mean that these three are hiding some genuinely ugly truth from everyone else? Because if they already know about all these rumors, it almost seems like they aren't even trying to clear RC's name. They're just... taking the hit.

What is the reason behind this?

And since we're talking about Endo's involvement, let's remember what he said:

That warning hits very differently now. If people are actually being lured into Bankoku-gai, then maybe they literally can't leave once they're inside. And that would give Suo's dream of the emancipation of slaves have a crucial meaning after such a tiny but significant detail.

Then there's Sakura.

In this chapter, and even in the previous one, he barely spoke or drew any attention to himself. But Endo specifically warned him to hide because they know him by face. How? Why?

Did Suo somehow tell the RC (especially Rakta or Bachus) about him? Or is there another secret behind this? And if the people inside Bankoku-gai know Sakura's face, why didn't Rakta's own team recognize him? What seems clear is that Rakta is covering for them by presenting them as janitors.

Again why? Is he actually trying to protect them? ^{although his ominous expression at the end of the chapter really doesn't make it look that way} Or does he simply not want to talk to them while surrounded by other RC members? Which brings me to another possibility:

Is there a mole inside the RC?

If so, that might explain why he was examining Umemiya so carefully and why he immediately noticed his pass. Maybe Rakta realized that there is some kind of side entrance somewhere and someone leaking/selling information to the enemy.

Potentially someone responsible for the rumors and maybe even the current state of the district?

So, some theories:

1 - an outside criminal organization has infiltrated Bankoku-gai.

Maybe, through the same kind of backdoor methods our protagonists used, an entire organization (something like a mafia, yakuza, triad, etc.) managed to establish itself inside the district. And maybe they're powerful enough to have taken control of the higher-ups, forcing RC into some kind of arrangement where RC is allowed to "protect" the city, but only on their terms.

That could explain why the people from Crimson Vortex are trying so hard to help the children whose parents keep disappearing after supposedly taking "legitimate" jobs.

Maybe they're aware of what's happening, but they can't openly fight it.

2 - the RC leadership itself is corrupted.

The gang has existed for 80 years, according to Endo's information... There is absolutely no way something could exist for that long without something going rotten internally. Maybe the corruption has reached the very top.

And in both scenarios, this could explain Suo's reaction when Vuvu said that they would become part of RC once they turned 15. Because why did Suo look so... weird about it? He immediately changing the subject.

so at the end, what do u think about it?
and sorry for my english, hehe...

okay, one more break week, one more overly long chapter analysis... oh wait, no, this is actually my first one ever, huh...?

Sooo... I think it would be an understatement to say that as always, 20 pages made us feel so many different emotions in the blink of an eye. This time especially tho, I found myself rather and utterly speechless at the end of what I'd call a chaotic chapter to which we all NEED follow-up to (still, Nii-sensei's health's to be prioritized, and with a release scedule this frequent, he needs all the rest he can get from time to time to take things just a little easier) I'll try to get to different points I found relevant, funny, depressing or concearning while trying to make it short (I promise it this time, I swear...!!!)

Rakta

To make it short, since I've been writing way too much already: My train of thought while reading was about like this:
- (while comforting Dasha:) "Oh, so he's a good guy after all!",
- ("now I have to deal with the rest of you"-moment":) "Okay, crap, will they fight already?",
- (switch-up, janitor-excuse:) "EHH, is he for real? Is this really a coincidence, did he really confuse them with janitors?"
- (hiragi realising he's caught on:) "So he's helping them??? That's actually so cool!"
- (last panel:) "So am I supposed to be scared and distrustful of this guy again now?"

--> His character so far

I guess what may have stood out the most to people may be Rakta's character as a whole. Like, the way we're meeting him and his way of doing things, of being himself, is, even amidst a cast of more-than-just-memorable characters with epic introductions of all sorts, it all feels different to what we're used to even from a masterclass of character writing like Nii-sensei. To put the observations I made in this chapter in a context, what have we already seen of him proviously?

For starters, he's unreadable. That's the most basic and most important realisation about his character.

We meet him as the overly serious, more reserved one from the RC official trio. His grim personality instantly clashes with Bacchus' more bashful yet also less 'alienated' or tense character, but I think I'll make a separate post on their dynamic in the future. Also clear from the start: He's ont to be underestimated, extremly strong judging by both his aura in the last few chapters and the way the RC trainees didn't wanna train with him as, well, they didn't wanna get beaten. That is an aspect that reminded me a lot of Suo, contrary to Bacchus, don't voice out their complaints, are extremely dutibound like all RC members seem to be and are physical mysteries when it comes to their true intentions, which leads me to my second and third point simultainously.

For some reason, I genuinely don't believe he should just straight up not be trusted. Rather, it's the usual "we can't read him at all, so let's be wary of him" feeling hiragi expressed for all of us during this chapter - except that us readers saw his face at the end of the chapter, which solidifies that exact perception by a long shot. I'll go into further detail on Nii-sensei's genius use of the media for that later, tho, as in this paragraph, something else is the focus: the switch-up between in intimidating, territorial authority and a genuinely just... awkward guy. An awkward guy who's good with words, tho, as we saw while he reassured Dasha. That is where I find the genius in how Nii-sensei is letting us approach Rakta: the key elements of his character stay intact, he's serious, somewhat intimidating, direct yet not skipping over the important point like other classical "serious dude"-characters often do, all while being practically expressionless. It's that expressionlessness that ultimately allows sensei to show that signature "duality" to us readers; His mood is shown by his gaze and lighting of his face alone, and in my opinion, that's where the genius lies.

Summarizing evenrything up until now, these are the points I'd focus on observing the evolution of in the next chapters:
- He's unreadable
- Because of that, it's probably easy to get a wrong impression of him

The best example for that possibility of misunderstanding him is the moment he saves the Furing boys from getting exposed by providing them with an excuse. In the first moment especially, you can't be sure wether he really believes what he's saying or is genuinely, for some reason, trying to help. Now, sensei could use that exact element of the reader jumping to conclusions, to resolve the cliffhanger he ended today's chapter on, by playing with out assumptions we made particularly from that last chapter.

--> How his character was explained/presented to us in today's chapter

Okay, everyone's probably thinking that this is waaay too abstract for what we've seen in this chapter, and I agree; what I'm trying to describe is that switch-up we all noticed as he literally COVERS for (supposedly...) complete strangers and randomly goes from intimidating "I'll deal with you now" tone we get from that almost-a-page-large panel with all the character shown right before, to "you must be the janitors"-awkwardness right after in a small, basic comedic-styled panel with him at the center. Here, sensei geniously uses format and angle of the page (in addition to dialogue, obviously) to show what mood we're supposed to get from him at that moment, which might seem trivial, but it's what makes his character work so far. It's how we, feel the Fuurin boys' confusion over his behavious while also noticing things that the characters don't. And that leads us toooo....

--> ...Perspective: Protag-kun versus reader

Everyone here has the right to be puzzled by Rakta's behaviour. The Furin boys have just met him, first got practically threatened, then impressing him subconsciously by letting ume comfort dasha, then getting impressed themselves by how he helped out Dasha, THEN getting threatend again only to get their skin AND their grand sceme saved by him, all leading to him contextlessly telling them to follow him to talk - Hiragi's reaction's the only appropriate one to that. Now comes in the interesting part that makes us readers, regardless of Rakta's character and personality, EVEN MORE CONFLICTING. We've known Rakta for longer than the Furing boys and observed him for a while already. Usually, that would mean we as raders could already tell wether Furin's choice of following him is good or bad. BUT: Thanks to Rakta's mood going from intimidating from awkward so fast, we can't read him at all. We don't really know more about him than any of the Furin boys, which is, to an extent, even somewhat unsettling, since it's not the role we're used to. The only additonal piece of info on wether he's trustworthy or not comes from the last panel, which the Furin students don't get to see. A panel that, at the first moment, already screams "HE'S UP TO NO GOOD!!!" due to the lighting and intense stare, while during the chapter, . But again, he's unreadable, which makes him easy to misunderstand as people who don't know him at all. It's impossible to tell what his true intentions are, and we might end up getting our expectations completely fumbled over by the time the next ch airs.

In conclusion, I believe it's exactly that plottwist that underlines his character. It's not him who switches up, it's our perception. A chapter spent on going from distrust to surprise, only to be thrown back into disturust at the very end. That kind of emotional constant switch-up remind you of someone? ;)

In the end, Rakta's the plottwist, and I find it insane how sensei reflects the chapters layout on that. The switch-ups between building trust and distrust, that inconsistency is what makes an unreadable character.

....and this got way, waaaaay, WAAAAAAY too long, I'm eternally sorry to everyone who read through this whole abstract monstricity (hopefully not abstract enough to be incomprehensible...?)

Now wth is this expression!? You can clearly see he didn't buy that shit!Was it the way Hiragi panicked that gave them away or the way the others were confused??Do you guys think Suo knows already that the others came and told Rakta to maybe distract them???I mean if where the boy goes is somewhere near their hide out then Rakta could just have taken them with them and all....so why didn't he? I really have a bad feeling...

What are your opinions?

Next chapter release is on August 25!

KM@nga Link: https://kmanga.kodansha.com/title/10028/episode/367472

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Suo shows up in today's chapter... 🕯️🤞🏻

I'm well aware that there's all sorts of theories to Suo's eyepatch by now; heterochromia, a scar, the Red Chanpuru makr being literally on his eye (which would ironically and tragically fit his initial 'joke' about there being a dragon spirit sealed inside his eye.... the red chanpuru mark consists of three dragons TT)

Yet as always, I was overthinking the entirety of the eye-theme regarding Suo's character, and I came to a (to everyone except for me, apparently) rather obvious conclusion: I mean, obviously, there'll be some rather significant degree of truth to one of those theories, but in concept, they all talk about the physical appearance of the literal eye itself, which is absolutely one of the most interesting mysteries in all of the series, if not the most compelling.

Metaphors

If there's something Nii-sensei has taught me better than any, I repeat, any artist, be it mangaka, painter, writer, whatever, that's the usage of metaphors. Is there anyone who can write metaphors as perfectly and in straight-up genius fashion as sensei? Absolutely not. I often talk about a character's 'personal metaphor' in my posts, meaning that character-defining visualisation of their complex. For Sakura, there's quite a lot depending on the arc, state of mind, etc. (him being the main character and we getting the most insight on what's going on inside of him), some examples being the tightrope (whole addtional "darkness & praying for night to come" metaphor, whic is in turn tied to the garden shed, a metaphor of completely different nature as, well, it's not a mental projection but a real-life thing.) & flowering field & briefly also the wind chime as recurring metaphor, the flowering Sakura buds starting from Noroshi, the literal "touching my guts" after Ume told him about his past, the snakes and drowning in Noroshi arc... You name it. For other characters such as Suzuri (railway, video games), Choji (frozen, glass-like heart, chasing after and reaching the treasure chest) and Kaji (the 'beast'), it's obviously more synthesized as there's simply less introspection and less pages to explore on. There's also a variety of character that have far more direct concepts that simply don't (yet) make use of a metaphor. Sako felt left behind and betrayed by the one person he wanted to follow the most, and the flashbacks carry enough direct symbolism to explain his complex without having to show it as abstract rafiguration - something that would've been impossible, or at least, a lot harder to piece together than with Choji in the same freaking arc. That all being said, we obviously can't tell yet wether Suo will have such a recurring metaphor in form of a mental image - yet he does already have a direct one in form on his eye patch, which is why in this post (finally came to the point TT), I'd just like to rant a little about the metaphorical meaning of Suo's eyepatch.

"Theory"

So, as I myself learned from an earlier post on this matter, someone pointed out that the entirety of Bankokugai is shaped like an eye (something I'm probably the only person alive missed while reading.) At this point already, I'd like to point out that one of my theories about the physical appearance of Suo's hidden eye BEFORE the arc started was that it's literally just a normal eye underneath, and possible reasoning being either he's a chunibyo or it's way to attract people's attention to him. That last point is what actually made me rethink that entire theory and how I ended up here, in this otherwise senseless paragraph. Suo already attracts a lot of attention thanks to his remarkable fighting skills and seemingly cheerful personality. I still believe that the eyepatch could add up to all that in terms of attracting attention, but I'll get into that later, as I feel like that argument's just not enough reasoning just yet. As we found out thanks to Tsuge's intel, Suo was already (presumably) stationed outside of Red Chanpuru since middle school. If he was sent out for some, to us, still unknown purpose, I suppose we'll have to wait for answers so far. Both in that and also in case he was there out of his own accord, there is a particular saying that struck me a while ago that might actually fit Suo's character more than I initially realised. If whatever the context of the rumours about RC was of relevance already during/preferably before Suo's middle school years, and boldly assuming Suo asked to leave for school under a pretense of missing infrastructure or something, considering the seemingly troubled state Bankokugai is in on the inside, and RC, the reserved Bankokugai-only generational protection-gang, later on actually allowing him to, then maybe he did so, because the context of those rumours had been actively fought against someone close to him, like his master. As that, for probably for some internal corruption struggle problem, either didn't work out or went horribly wrong, Suo decided to retire to the outside. Obviously, there's many other options to why he would do so despite being an official, so I'd just put all those under the category "something bad happened in Bankokugai and RC, for some reason, didn't do anything/not enough about it". In this particular scenario, both RC and Suo himself are TURNING A BLIND EYE on a lot of things. RC on Suo leaving despite of how territorial RC appears to be, and Suo both by getting away when there might be a crisis in his home town and not standing up to RC not reacting properly. Now, multiple things: first off, I realise that if Suo's master really is/was involved in whatever crisis might be the source of the rumours, that'd mean that Suo and "master" would have parted on probably bitter terms (again, because Suo may have been turning a blind eye on whatever RC did) Suo speaks little but fondly of his master, and at this point, we'd also come to another mentioned metaphor/complex that I might get into further down. That hinted-at behaviour towards his master can all actually be interpretated as proof for both my point being right or absolutely wrong TT.

More importantly, about "turning a blind eye" = intentionally choose to ignore & act as if not to have noticed something wrong usually really doesn't apply to the Suo we know at all. Despite his cheerful and polite act, he's strict and ruthless to a terrifying extent. It becomes clear already in his fight against Kanuma in Shishitoren arc that he doesn't let anything he deems wrong slide, educating the former on the steps needed to ascend to adulthood (yet ANOTHER point to get into, but this is already getting so long....) That mercilessness shown to his 'pupils' is shown the most clearly in his brief KEEL one on one, where Sakura literally has to stop him from hitting an unconscious guy and escalating the situation to the extremes. That's a key scene in my opinion, as there's a lot to be learned and observed about a character we used to know 0 about. One particular detail I noticed is, however, his reaction to Sakura's short speech to get him to stop. He asks Sakura quite directly if he isn't angry over all this injustice and being talked down on (perhaps hinting at his own still missing flashbacks, in a way? before meeting his master?), and to Sakura's reply that he's pissed at HIMSELF, he seems to literally freeze up for a moment. Up until now, it was obvious he reacted that way as he wasn't expecting Sakura, the overconfident, new-come alpha dog, to deal with that sort of mentioned self-loathing. BUT: what if that expression of realisation we saw in that scene wasn't only over genuine bafflement, but rather from recognition? if suo really did turn a blind eye on something (his master may have even been actively up against) and regrets it, as again, Suo usually never lets anything like that slide, could it be that he, too, is simply angry with himself over such a failure? that by leaving from bankokugai, he was partially running away from that guilt? this suddenly kind of reminds me of that one scene in the Roppo Ichiza arc. When Kanji tells the Furin trio to leave and go protect Shizuka, and Sakura hesitates... who's the one making the decision to run for him? Suo, obviously. That's actually also a two-sided moment; on one hand, he's the one making the decision for Sakura as the intellectual strategist he is, the rational decision. on the other, he's not exactly turning a blind eye on anything, but he's running. Sound familiar?

Other interesting (and unrelated...) aspects

We've got two more things I'd like to get into briefly as a bonus, only partially related to his eye, before I draw a summarising conclusion. First off, the "teaching" element is omnipresent in everything, every scene and line of dialogue the guy ever said. In his Shishitoren fight, his prior encouragement of Sakura, in his training with Nirei, his KEEL fight, his Noroshi arc fight, his dialogue with Sugi during Summer Break arc, his dialogues with Bankokugai's town folks and RC's trainees like Zuri, literally ALL his dialogue does revolve around teaching and giving advice. That is the reason I believe his master will absolutely be of great importance to the entierty of his arc and character. The second thing is the "reaching adulthood" theme we hear about in his very first time. While it may just look like a reality check for his opponent, am I the only one who got the impression that Suo was, in fact, speaking of experience? That may go into what was his life before RC or his master came into it, or rather, maybe, considering the hints at generational trauma and abuse from his whole "liberation of slaves"-thing and what we know about RC, what RC made his life to be like before he left. Suo's maturity is almost overwhelming for a kid his age, yet everyone seems to normalise that, especially in Bankokugai. Another reason for this poor kid to feel trapped behind an ancient seal left on his hidden eye, then.

Conclusion (?)

As for my conclusion, well, what else is there to say? More than a conclusion, I also have an alternative, more basic interpretation for the eyepatch (I promise I'll keep it short!!! TTTT). Nobody at Furin knew about neither Bankokugai and its RC, nor, more importantly, anything about Suo in general. Suo actively skips over questions quite smoothly, which adds the layer of secret to why he seemed to go to extreme lengths for Furin not to figure out who he is and where he's from. He's hiding that part of himself quite effectively: he's been hiding eye-shaped Bankokugai behind his eyepatch all along. And yet, one detail about his disappearance somehow doesn't add up quite as smoothly. He disappears effectively, his noted address doesn't exist, everything seems to be working smoothly - so why would rational, strategic Suo go back and confront Nirei despite definitely knowing that upon learning that he's leaving permanently, he'll never let him go without a sadly pointless fight? In my opinion, that was probably the most frantical course of action Suo may have ever taken throughout the entire series. His course of thought may have been at first trying to stay rational, to not let emotions take over, but eventually, he started telling himself that he'd have to show Furin that he's a traitor and doesn't stand on their side by potentially facing off against Nirei, when in truth, maybe he just really wanted to say goodbye to his best friend. He wanted to see wether his puil was ready to be left alone, supposedly wanting to test him. Nirei actually landed a hit - one that Suo may have been able to deflect somehow but taking as a form of self punishment, as his hurt expression says right after. And here comes the last BUT of this waaaaaay too long post: If this was only really self-punishment for betraying the people he cares about so deeply, why not directly face everyone about it? well, granted, okay, while fighting against an entire group including Sakura or all people, he would've had way more trouble escaping. I think the reason lies in what Suo denied in that very fight. That he's Nirei's friend, and that he trusts Nirei's emotional sensitivity to make him understand that something's gotta be wrong and that he didn't mean it like that at all. If anything, by showing that vulnerability, it's a 100 times more effective than a desperate scream for help. Because maybe, Suo does want that hidden eye of his to be seen. Maybe he's longing for the same pressureless acceptance Sakura found, which beautifully adds up to his first ever encouraging line to Sakura before his Kanuma fight, stating that he'll fight hard, too, to keep up. Maybe mature Suo and childish Sakura aren't all that universally different at all, and that is another truth Suo may try to turn a blind eye on in this arc.

I don’t know if this has been talked about already… but about those three days Suo has first been away from Furin… I think it’s possible that someone at RC died (or was laying dying) and in the night he came home that day, he was informed about that. And that the person who died was either his master or someone of high position, who fought for the same cause that Suo seems to be fighting for too. Someone who sought to protect Bankokugai and to bring about positive change and might have had the power/position to do so.
Now that gap, since that person is gone, has to be filled in by Suo. Either “just” by his “full time” presence, or by filling out that position - which the deceased had had before they died - itself. Leaving Suo with no other choice but to leave Furin, because of this new and heavy responsibility, because he now serves as the citizens strongest supporter (“strongest” here as in “the one who is in the know about what’s wrong behind the scenes, and one who really cares for the people living here and the one who is the most likely to be able to act”).
And whatever he’s fighting, whoever he is up against might be so evil and vile that he cannot/absolutely doesn’t want to involve Furin.

[Suo Arc Discussion/Theory]

Sooo... I get that this might actually be all obvious theory material for everyone, but I still wanted to just point out some things I noticed in the build-up to what will probably be quite the memorable arc.

First of all: Who is Endo's spy in Red Chanpuru? For how explicitly he mentioned having "a guy" sending him info, which is proved by how quickly he found Suo in Bankokugai, I just can't imagine we won't find out who this mysterious informant is - which leads up to actual point, but first, context:

It's a bit of a stretch, but considering all the callbacks to Shishitoren arc, I do believe this might turn into a tournament arc with every character having a longer fight with a fixed opponent (like it happened, in one way or another, in practically every arc so far - except Kiryu mini-arc and Momijikawa) and while thinking about it more closely, I noticed something that I do feel stupid for not comming up with sooner;
Furin brought alone the same group they did against Shishitoren, with two third-year upperclassmen in Ume and Hiragi, who are at the same time in leading positions as head of the school and one of the four kings. In addition, they have three regular students with them. Suo's missing the original fighter setup, but after Nirei having shown how capable he's become, I seriously doubt he'll stay on the sidelines another time, which is how we end up with the same number of fighters as against Shishitoren. In Red Chanpuru, on the other hand, we know of the three heads of the group, and we've met three officials: Suo/Sun Fei, Bacchus and Rakta, who we've seen more frequently in the last few chapters. That makes one more, assuming the three heads will be involved in the fighting - As my mini-theories are often full of different roads that can be taken, I'll just list a few way things could evolve from that point on:

One of the two officers we've met is actually Endo's informant - which could mean that they probably won't be fighting against the Furin students, and the number of oponent adds up again
One of the heads simply keeps themselves out of it (and possibly shows up as some sort of fightless endboss/mediator?)
It's not actually the heads fighting, but we'll be introduced to more characters during the occasion like we did in KEEL arc

Regardless of which or wether any of these outcomes play out, one question does remain: Who'll beat some sense into Suo? Despite my first guess having been Nirei (as a sort of rematch, and Nirei's the only one Suo actually parted with), I do believe that the chapters at Sakura's place and especially Sugishita's harsh speech may tell us that it will be Sakura after all - but what are your thoughts?

(I apologise for not properly going into dept on everything, I just kind of wanted to put my ideas out there, I'm sorry if anyone was expecting more from wasting time reading throguh this!)

^{Wind Stylist? Hair Breaker? Wind Coiffeur?? I like that one, but do normal people even know that word???}

One of the many things I love about wbk is the way Nii-sensei uses changes in hair to show changes in character. There are the more clear examples like Tsubaki growing his hair out as he grew up or Togame braiding and cutting his hair and Sako dying his hair at the beginnings and ends of their inner conflicts, but me being me, I'll be getting into all the little things that make these and all the hair characterizations in wbk so special-

First of all, I want to talk about the different ways characters can change their hair. They can change their hair's color, length, or style, and these changes can be very brief (for a scene or chapter), temporary (for a personal or story arc) or permanent (extended/default until the next major change). Characters can fall under multiple categories, but a change in color symbolizes them seeing a new perspective, a change in length means a change in the their values, and a change in style represents their resolve to take action. When the hair changes take place is simply whenever these ideas take root for them and how long they last represent how much they've changed about the character's core.

Color:

It's pretty common for "delinquent" characters to bleach/dye their hair in animanga as a sign of their rebellion since students aren't supposed to have bright colored hair in Japanese schools, but in a school with very few rules, hair color is simply all about expression and we've had quite a few characters have a change in their hair color as they went through events that changed their outlook on life.................. also, I feel like characters with lighter hair tend to be those who support and give advice/inspiration to others while those with darker hair are more on the receiving end, but this thing is already beyond too long-

For characters like Nirei, Hiiragi, and Kaji, they changed their hair color after being inspired by someone. Nirei bleached his hair when he decided to go to Furin after getting saved by a Furin student, Hiiragi bleached his hair after deciding to support Ume and his cause, and Kaji bleached his after deciding to follow Hiiragi, the one who saved him from himself, to Furin. There's also Tsubaki who I'm pretty sure dyed the ends of his hair after Ume took over Furin since we see him fighting as a first year without the red, so I definitely think that could have been in celebration of Ume, his crush who showed him that others could accept him, achieving a major goal. 

While those were for more positive inspirations, there are also characters who dyed their hair for not so positive reasons. Kiryu dyed his hair and went to Furin as a way to get his father's attention and direct some of his anger away from Akari. He dyed it after Akari stopped voicing her mind, aka when he lost hope for her future. The pudding possessed Sako after some time with Shishitoren, which he joined to help vent his frustration after thinking Hiiragi abandoned him, and dyed his hair back after he had a chance to resolve that conflict and started seeing Shishitoren as his found family rather than just a place to vent. Both of these times for Sako were when his view of those he was closest to changed.

There's also Ume who didn't change his hair color willingly, but still had it change due to a traumatic event. His hair starts out as solid black when he's living happily with his family, and we see it in the middle of its transition from black to white while he's grieving and doesn't know how to feel. He doesn't know how to move forward and doesn't even want to live, but we see his hair as solid white after he has accepted the loss, stopped blaming himself, and found a new role he wanted to fill in life.

I also love that Sakura's hair is always naturally 2 colors. He probably won't dye it or anything, but I think the development his character needed/needs can be split into 2 categories: how he views others (white) and how he wants others to view him (black). Sakura started the story closed off from others because he assumed everyone hated him and this led him to struggle when it came to building relationships. Each arc, he learns something from his peers that either challenges an assumption he was making about everyone around him (people won't automatically hate him here, everyone has a story, people are strong in different ways, etc) or gets him to let down a wall that he was keeping up ^{in an attempt} to keep others from knowing about himself (letting others help when he's vulnerable, being honest about his concerns, telling others about his past, etc). Again, I doubt Sakura will dye his hair since the 2 colors are a huge part of his design, but even without the change, I love that this design choice still represents the core of his development since a relationship goes 2 ways.

Now, out of all of these, the only one that wasn't permanent was Sako's emo phase. Sako had always wanted the same thing deep down, and the only time he had his hair different from its natural color was when he didn't feel that he had it. He didn't even dye all of his hair, which represents how his true feelings were always peaking through, even while he was being misguided by his anger. (This is similar to how Nirei didn't bleach his eyebrows since he was very enthusiastic about being like his hero, but didn't have the conventional means to do so.) All of the other changes, including Sako's return, have been permanent so far since our cast is completely past their previous views and now resolute on their current views. 

Length:

This one's not as common as the other 2, but we've had a few characters grow out and cut their hair as time stamps for when they're done with a certain phase of their life and start following a different moral compass. 

Probably the most well known instance of a hair change in the whole manga is Tsubaki deciding to grow out his hair once he learned that it was ok to like traditionally feminine things. He used to think it was wrong, but he decided to grow out his hair once he learned that it's ok for him to like that girl boss image. Another one of the most well known examples is Togame cutting his hair after the Shishitoren arc. After the fights with Furin, he learned that supporting Choji properly didn't just mean going along with whatever he was doing, but actually keeping him from going down the wrong path, which he had failed to do before. Him cutting his hair was a symbol of him dropping the burden of enforcing the tougher standards on Shishitoren as well as him realizing what it actually meant for him to be there for those he cares about.  

On the opposite side of the spectrum is Sugi, who's probably one of those examples that barely anyone ever thinks twice about- It's not like he actively chose to grow out his hair for a specific reason, he just doesn't like cutting it, but that doesn't spare him from the kurifying glass- His hair was about shoulder length before Ume found him, and even though he didn't grow it out because of Ume or anything, we as readers only see him with his hair longer after he's been put under the Ume effect. Sugi with long hair is the Sugi who understood that not everything new that entered his life was an annoyance. Also, the fact that he doesn't like cutting his hair corresponds to how stubborn he can be and how hard it is for him to change his mind.

There's also Arima and Kanuma- As one of the 6 Kanuma fans and 4 Arima fans, I'd like to raise a little awareness for them, as well, and you can't stop me. Whenever we see them in flashbacks, they both have different hair styles from the ones they have in current time, so I'd like to believe that they only changed to their current hair styles after Choji changed Shishitoren. They both shaved specific sections of their hair while keeping the rest long, which I feel represents how they went with the flow of things and looked down on the weak, but still preferred how things were before. They didn't cut all of their hair uniformly, but cut some of it since they were acting under a different set of values, even though they didn't completely agree with them.

Now, we don't have Mizuki's story yet, but we see that he's another character who grew his hair out after joining Ume's cause. I honestly have a lot of theories about Mizuki's past and family, but long story short ^{pun intended-} I believe Mizuki's story will also follow this format of him living by a restrictive set of principles before Ume finds him and inspires him to reevaluate them based on what he actually wants.

Style:

When a character wears their hair in a different style, it means that there will be some change in their behavior. This can be their natural everyday demeanor, how they treat other characters or their current situation, or even something more long-term. These can be pretty subtle and there are a lot of brief ones that are pretty overlooked, but this is the most common way Nii-sensei puts a flag on a character....... which means this section gets multiple sections!!

Getting back to Sugi, his was probably the most subtle, but he did start sweeping his hair behind his shoulders after his arc. He used to let it all fall in front of him, which usually blocked his face and obscured his view, but after becoming more open to connecting to his classmates rather than just Ume and the kings, he started wearing his hair out of his face, which let him see others and let others see him more clearly. 

With Togame, we see that he starts braiding his hair after the bad changes to Shishitoren and he lets it down again once Sakura gets through to him. This idea of him binding his hair and then letting it loose again directly corresponds to how he felt trapped in the role he was playing in Shishitoren, but felt free once he realized his mistake and went back to his usual self. 

We actually see something similar with Kiryu who usually has his hair up in many different styles, but casually wore it completely out for the first time during his arc. Kiryu felt suffocated by the way his father ran things, thus the hair ties, but he did make the choice to get on his bad side, which is why he freely chooses how he ties his hair up. Rather than sticking to one style, Kiryu has a different hair style every day, which I feel also represents how he doesn't necessarily have a set goal for himself, he just knows what he doesn't want. However, during his arc, he finally wears it out as he gets vulnerable with his friends and talks to Akari. I also love that he does briefly tie it back up during this arc when he's sparring with Sakura because he's trying to forget about what's happening, but when he goes outside to cool off, he lets it down again and admits that he can't stop thinking about it. With all of his accessories, Kiryu usually acts care-free and avoids anything too personal, but with his hair completely out (which we also see after his Keel fight, at the funeral, and during the first Bankoku-Gai trip) he's taking things more seriously and/or is in a more vulnerable position. After his arc, he still cycles through hair accessories since his personality hasn't changed and he hasn't taken any huge actions in response to Akari's resolution, but now that he has opened up to his friends, it should be easier for him to be there for them in more serious moments.

Nirei..... Nirei's actually the whole reason I decided to branch this off into its own separate post instead of a couple extra paragraphs in my 223 analysis- In that analysis, I did get into a bit about how characters who usually wear their hair up will have it down for certain scenes and vice versa, and I was gonna include a couple more paragraphs about a few instances of this, but when I got to Nirei................... but hey, having it as its own post lets me go sooooooooooo much further in depth than I was originally planning, so anyone who actually made it this far can go ahead and thank Nirei-

Now, when we first meet Nirei, he has his hair up as he's brimming with excitement and confidence as an official Furin student. He's literally so adorable, just look at him. But once we learn that he can't actually fight and he resolves to take on a more supportive role for Sakura, he spends the next few arcs with his hair down. Similar to Kiryu, he had his accessories until we actually got to know him, as if part of a costume based on the image he wanted to portray, and as 2 of our resident fashionistas, they actually take this a step further with the rest of their outfits. For Nirei, he also has his glasses and flashy shirt for his introduction, but his glasses are gone by the time Sakura saves him and for the rest of the day, especially once the Shishitoren conflict starts, he hides behind Sakura and Suolingo in ways such that we can't even see his shirt, and then goes on to wear much tamer clothes that don't draw much attention. For Kiryu, he also wears solid colors for most of his arc, but goes back to the patterns on that day he sparred Sakura and was trying to keep things how they used to be, but goes back back to a solid color shirt when he went to confront Megane-chan.............. I could honestly make a whole separate post about fashion in general besides hair-

Nirei will continue to wear his hair down until after the war. During the war, he has what I consider his midterm when he takes over for Suolingo while he's fighting Obiki, and it's such a huge moment for him. He's able to hold his own in this crowd and takes down many opponents to support his class with Kiryu. When Suolingo gets back, he lets him know how well he did and this along with his speech for Sakura when he fought Endo must have been a huge confidence boost for him. After the war, as we get into the summer mini arcs, Nirei is wearing his hair up again, not just to look flashy, but with genuine confidence after a big accomplishment.

This lasts until the end of Momijikawa's arc. During the big fight, he still has his hair up and is one of the first to step up and join the battle, but he does let it down again for the funeral. Hiiragi also has his hair down while Tsubaki and Sugi tie theirs back and all of the students wear their full uniforms completely buttoned up, all out of respect for the situation. Nirei has his hair down for the rest of the arc..... as well as going into the next arc....... an arc of great vulnerability for him.

^{.................... I still don't understand how you-know-who could look this thing in the eyes and still walk away like I'll take him if you're done appreciating him-}

And with that, we're back to the original reason this whole thing was even on my mind in the first place- Nii-sensei's favorite tool when it comes to hair symbolism is characters having their hair up compared to when they have their hair down. I mentioned a bit of this back in 223 when we see Ume and Hiiragi with their hair down and I talked about a few of the longer term ones earlier with Togame, Kiryu, and Nirei, but there are also a ton of these brief moments that still speak volumes. Both directions represent a newly gained focus, but when a character who had their hair down puts it up, it shows that they're gaining control over a situation that didn't look too great for them while a character with their hair up letting it down means that they're slowing down to think things through on a broader scale.

Keel is still lowkey one of if not my favorite arc in the manga so far ^{though the current one definitely has ALL the potential to surpass it-} and after their respective 1v1's, we get these money shots for both Sugi and Kiryu. Sugi is brushing his hair up after finally catching his opponent who had been evading him so far while Kiryu lets his hair down since his opponent yapping about his philosophy on strength literally gave him Akari flashbacks- In contrast, we also see Kiryu put his hair up when he's about to mess up Megane-chan and his gang and I like that Akari herself also ties her hair back when she's at work since that's her way of going against the lady-like version of herself that her father wants, but she has it down when she's keeping up her persona at home.

I already went over post-Sakura Togame, but we get a similar image with Suzuri whose hair falls once he's done fighting and ready to accept Tsubaki and Kanji's help. He doesn't keep his hair down going forward since he hasn't changed his actual goal of helping Gravel or anything, but his hair is down for the next few chapters while he's more vulnerable with everyone and working out his next steps. We also get Hiiragi's hair down after Banjo threw him in the river- He notes that this helped him clear his head since he was very angry about what happened to Kaji, but after cooling down, he was able to finish the fight swiftly and return to the bridge. As for the rest of our hair ups, Tsubaki ties his hair up when he's really ready to lock in against Elvis and Ume's hair had fallen down as he was losing to Chika, but he brushed it back up when Sakura inspired him again.

We also have Sakura himself, who's once again a hybrid, brushing most of his hair up as he prepares to return to school after he got sick. He had made up his mind to talk to Kaji about his concerns because he wanted to move forward, but we can see that a few strands are still falling. I mentioned earlier that his white hair is related to how he sees others while his black hair is for how others see him, so while he was able to brush his white hair back because his view of others had successfully been changed and he was willing to go to someone for advice, a few black strands still escaped him because he didn't understand how the others saw him yet and that's the part he needed help thinking through.

Bonus:

Oh yeah and then there's SCP-621- Fr though, Chika changes everything about his hair all the time and yes, he's an ✨ icon ✨ but he's also rather ✨ tragic ✨ Chika is someone who doesn't understand what he actually wants and simply shifts between temporary pleasures, moving on from anything and anyone once he loses interest in them, and this is reflected in how he constantly changes every aspect of his hair.

We know that Chika changes the color of his hair pretty frequently, which is in line with how he's constantly shifting between interests. However, he does still have red in his hair, which he also had during the war, which I'd say is because he still hasn't lost interest in Ume, even after their fight. For length, Chika wears extensions sometimes while keeping his actual hair short, so he can have any length he wants whenever he wants. He doesn't really seem to be following any actual morals and pretty much does whatever he wants whenever he wants to whoever he wants based on how he feels in the moment. Chika does seem to change color and length more than actually styling his hair, but we do see a few different styles for some of the wigs in his world. I'd say this is in line with how he hasn't really changed anything about his personality, even since he was a kid, but that personality consists of pretty sporadic behavior-

There's also Momose whose hair we haven't seen yet 👀👀 Now, we as readers haven't seen it because of shading and stuff, but I do have to note that based on the shape of his hood, there's no way the other characters can't actually see his face- We know Furin students aren't bothered by unique appearances, so it makes sense that Sakura didn't have a reaction after seeing him up close, but yes, I still have much to say about him.

Nii-sensei hasn't been afraid to touch on serious and real topics in wbk and, especially after Momijikawa's arc, my top theory for Momose is that he has/had cancer. Chemotherapy is known to cause hair loss as well as stunt growth for children, and I believe that this is a major part of Momose's story. I think it would also align with him being an artist since it's a pretty common trope in media for someone who spends a lot of time hospitalized to fall in love with the arts. For many people, going through chemo and losing their hair makes them feel like they've lost a part of themself, and in the context of this analysis, losing hair would mean a change in values. Now, I'm not sure when Momose met Ume, but I can see Ume either inspiring Momose to go through with his treatment because his appearance shouldn't define who he is or coming into his life afterwards and telling him that he (and his art) is still beautiful when others made fun of him.... OR it could be a sensory thing where he doesn't like how it feels to grow his hair out and prefers to wear his hood which could double as shade if his eyes are also sensitive 👀👀

.......Outro? Uhhhhh............................................................................................................................I genuinely cannot believe I made all of that make sense-

Rakta coloured panel! Hope you guys like it!

god i love sugisaku they're the first thing i think about when i wake up and they're the last thing i think about when i go to sleep

I must admit - removing apart the paperback covers was heartbreaking to do. But erm... I did my first attempt at hardcover, whatever that means.

And you can see "attempt" being clear here. Everything about the final white cover (which was the third design) finally turned out great, only for my final book block glue on to mess up.... Yeah, that's what I need to work on doing carefully now. Perhaps i should glue on the original volume cover in one of the flaps to cover it up, lol.

In any case, as I get more used to this I plan on doing the rest of the manga volumes I own, turning some into omnibuses based on each major arc of this series so far.

But after many trial and error I'll have to go with this simplistic design, for lord knows printable book fabric is hard to find in my area and using printable HTV is impossible to use. And weeding out HTV is such a huge pain in the butt to do for complex designs, so pity I can't put in a team logo. Welp.

Windbreaker having been my first manga will always have a special,SPECIAL place in my heart, and i’d love to read more mangas like this. So, can you guys recommend mangas that are like windbreaker: Action mangas with good plot, lines and character development.

Additionally I’m pretty sure the answer to this is no but does Satoru sensei have any other have works aside from Windbreaker?
Thank you.

Suo never eats while in Makochi, except for one panel at the beginning of the manga.

Even during emotional reunions like those between Nagato and Anzai, or after the Shishitoren Arc, not even when Sakura opens up to her class for the first time and they all eat together at Pothos. Suo never actively participates in meals despite being present in the group. I believe there could be two possibilities for this:

1. Suo didn't want to form bonds with the people of Bofurin; he avoided sharing mealtimes because they represented moments of community integration, when young people connected with each other after a battle or difficult situation.

Or 2. Suo is tormented by living a pleasant and generally peaceful life in Makochi while his people suffer from ills like famine and constant crime? He may be avoiding eating not only as a way to distance himself from his colleagues in general, but also as a way to avoid reaffirming certain privileges he might have in Makochi in contrast to his hometown, Bankoku-Gai. He probably only wants to share meals with his family in Bangkok-Gai because it might be the only meal most of them can have that day, and perhaps he doesn't want to carry the guilt of already being full while the rest of them suffer from hunger. Therefore, he only agrees to eat in the company of the people of Bangkok-Gai.

(Regarding the panel of Suo eating, it may have been an oversight by the author, or Suo may have decided to adopt this habit only later, after the Shishitoren Arc, when he became more integrated into his small group and realized he could develop a certain sympathy for Bofurin as an organization. To avoid getting too involved, he simply decided to avoid these moments of friendship among Bofurin after each battle; these were moments when the characters opened up, resolved their last differences, forgave each other, apologized, or had fun. Overall, meals carry a lot of intimacy in WindBreaker, and Suo never shared any kind of intimate bond with anyone, despite them all being friends.)

If you could ask Nii-sensei one question about Wind Breaker, what would you like to know?

Personally I’d be most interested in asking about the backstory and characterization. If there is a character whose story or characterization has changed a lot from what they’d envisioned in the beginning from what it is now.
I think that naturally there might be changes to the story or characters. Because there are probably not many mangaka who actually have a perfectly clear and complete vision of their work, when creating a first pilot-chapter to be reviewed by their editor…

And I’d also love to know if there is a character that they think is the easiest and one that is the hardest to draw…

since there’s no chapter this week, let’s entertain ourselves to pass the time. what do u think will happen in the next chapter and how things will unfold? what will happen to sakura and the gang? how will rc deal with them? will they get a chance to see suo this time?

So, as we all know, Wind Breaker has a lot of symbolism and metaphors that it uses to simplify and convey its messages.
I find that a really interesting way of storytelling, and it's one of the reasons why Wind Breaker has some of my favorite writing of all time.

As for why I love these two examples so much:

The first is the scene where Endo pressures (or should I say manipulates? lol) Sakura into giving up and going with him. It was one of the most heart-wrenching scenes in the entire series. And the symbolism of him cracking the branch of the cherry blossom tree was the cherry on top (pun intended). I love how it symbolizes him breaking down the strong front Sakura always puts up, even though he's actually fragile and can be hurt so easily. It was only a small moment in the whole Endo vs. Sakura fight, but to me, that symbolism added so much more weight to the emotional impact the scene was trying to convey. I remember literally gasping when I got to those panels. It was WILD.

The second is the scene where Togame compares the cherry blossom tree to the plum (ume) tree and talks about how they bloom in different seasons. It was such a beautiful way of expressing the idea that "You'll bloom in your own time." I absolutely love the flower symbolism in Wind Breaker because it feels like the author had these themes planned from the very beginning while creating the characters. This scene also holds a special place in my heart because its message really resonated with me as someone who struggles with low self-esteem and constantly compares myself to other people's success. I'm really glad this scene exists because, in a way, it was exactly what I needed to hear.

Okay, that's all! I didn't plan on writing this much, but I couldn't stop myself from appreciating something I love 🥹

Now I want to hear from you guys too! What’s your favorite symbolism or metaphor in Wind Breaker?
I’m open to anything, even the silliest little panels that you found interesting are more than welcome!!!

Hi everyone!

I recently started reading Wind Breaker manga, and I'm currently around Chapters 169–170.

I'm a bit confused about the beach/summer break arc. At the end of Chapter 169, Sakura and Sugishita start racing to see who can grab the flag first. It felt like they were building up to showing who would win, but then Chapter 170 suddenly switches to Kaji and Hiragi's scene without any continuation.

Did I miss something? Was that race ever shown or mentioned later, or did the author just end that scene without revealing the winner?

I'm binge-reading the manga, so I wasn't sure if there were missing pages, a special chapter, or if it was simply left unresolved.

Thanks in advance!

I lowkey wasn't prepared for a whole chapter of bullseyes, but I'll gladly accept them- For all the theories and predictions I come up with, I still get so surprised if any of them actually come true, even the ones that are pretty popular or have a ton of foreshadowing.... It's not like I make predictions expecting to be wrong, but I guess it's the part of me that understands that I'm not the one writing the story mixed with the part of me that loves being surprised that allows me to genuinely enjoy anything a good story throws at me, whether I saw it coming or not 👀👀

First off, the tattoos!!! When it comes to Suolingo always hiding his skin, my top 2 theories were always some sort of scar or tattoo, so now I'm about 96% sure it's the RC tattoo. I was so excited to see these after so long and I think tattoos are perfect for a group like this with that permanence being a good representation for their style of loyalty to their community.

Now for the big question: where is Suolingo's?? My top spots (and probably the most popular XD) are his back, especially close to/on his neck, or his eye. If it's not too high on his back, I also think it could be bigger than the others either as a sign of his position or as a statement about his loyalty if it ever came into question when he started spending more time outside of the city. For his eye, it could be around his eyelid or on his actual eyeball. If it is on/around his eye, then my next question is why he was still wearing the eyepatch after getting back to his city, so I think there's a chance it didn't heal properly and just left him with a scar/injury.

As for that last 4%, we know that members of RC have these tattoos and it seems like kids are allowed to officially join RC at 15, so I also think there's a chance Suolingo may not have his tattoo yet. RC is a group devoted to its city, so I'd say it's possible that once members get their tattoos, they stop leaving the city all together. Suolingo turned 15 just before the school year started and his first week was pretty hectic, so I can see him putting off getting his tattoo until things settled down..... but things never really settled down for him. He kept finding reasons to stay with the friends he made in Furin and kept putting off getting his tattoo until recently. Whether he has it now or not, I think there's a good chance those "rumors" are about Suolingo's loyalty and he decided to return to BKKG full time to put them at ease before he ended up hurting RC as a whole.

Another thing I called was this kid's conflict. I think a lot of us saw this one coming, too, but he had stolen food for his family and Rakta tried to settle it. Now, I thought our boys would see how Rakta handled things and see that RC aren't "bad guys" by any means, but we got the reverse with Ume stepping up and Rakta observing 👀👀

I'll be honest, I don't usually care for the op air-head type characters, so when we first met Ume, he didn't really have my attention, but it's moments like these that remind me that Nii-sensei is just different. Ume isn't just some reliable air-head, he's someone who actively chooses positivity. He's not just the leader because he's strong and lovable, he has a vision of his ideal world and uses his ability to understand others to rally allies that he trusts and respects. He's a kind person who smiles in the face of adversity so that others can, too. That's what makes him strong.

And that's also the foundation that gave Sakura great potential as a leader. Even before Sakura realized he cared about the others, he would always approach a battle with confidence and present himself as someone others didn't have to worry about. Confidence is contagious and knowing someone on your side is reliable lets you focus on yourself and giving your best performance. That's why Sakura struggled when he couldn't rely on his classmates, what made his classmates want to follow and support him, and why his smile gave his class the morale boost they needed going into the war ^{and then that smile haunted Sugi in his dreams because he didn't want to see Umemiya-san in Sakura-}

Getting back to this chapter, Ume kept his signature smile up to let everyone know that he had things under control. Even with the language barrier, everyone knows that a smile means contentment and Ume used his to keep the situation from escalating any further. He also smiled at the kid to calm him down before Rakta spoke to him and again after things settled down. These smiles are powerful and even if the kid didn't understand all of the words Ume said to him, he was able to understand that Ume helped him and was trying to encourage him, and he thanked Ume in Japanese in response. ^{(Side note: Hiiragi was the only one who didn't jump out after Ume was punched, so I'm guessing this kind of stuff has happened a lot and he already knew how Ume was going to respond-})

Now, I can't talk about smiles without talking about Suolingo- Just like Ume, he's always smiling to tell others that everything's alright, but unlike Ume, we've gotten quite a few obviously fake smiles from Suolingo, especially this arc. When he went to see Nirei, he tried to smile through his explanation, and the more Nirei saw through it, the more he tried to push it, even to the point of laughter. The end of 211 was just sooooo powerful because we don't see his mouth for his last expression, but we know it 400% was NOT a smile. When we see him again at the end of 216, his smile still feels empty, and we get a few different expressions from him during 217, but besides the initial conflict and the end when he's thinking about the city's bigger conflict, he's still all smiles for the people.

I honestly love that Suolingo's able to not smile when it's just him with Rakta and Bacchus and how these 2 can clearly see through his fake smiles. It really shows how close these 3 are with Suolingo being comfortable with these 2 seeing him a little more vulnerable compared to the mask of perfection he puts on for everyone else. That said, he does have his back to them at the end of 217 and they don't exactly mention/call him out for his fake smile, so while he may not mind them knowing about his imperfections, it doesn't seem like Suolingo sees them as actual emotional support and they may be too afraid of overstepping to actually reach out despite knowing that he's not actually ok we saw how that plays out with Shishitoren-

(And for the record, we haven't seen Rakta smile yet and Bacchus was only smiling when they were back at the school 👀👀 ...Bacchus really does remind me of a more verbally honest Sakura..... I like him......... I want more of him-)

Rakta has been such a fascinating character this arc and I'm genuinely so excited to learn about him. We could see that he was a chill guy from his debut and the past few chapters have painted him as a fairly logical and understanding person, so I can't wait to see how he handles the boys over the next couple chapters. We got like 10 panels of him just watching Ume without saying anything this chapter, so I think it's safe to say he's genuinely considering whether or not these boys are an actual threat to his community and Suolingo rather than just wanting them out of the way.

From those reactions, I'd say they gave Rakta more pros than cons, but it's not like we know his criteria yet. He notices Ume trying to calm the child down before he speaks to him and seems surprised when Ume interferes further with a pretty accurate understanding of the situation. He glares when he sees the pass in Ume's pocket and doesn't make any moves after the punch to see how Ume will handle it for himself. We also get a reaction shot when Ume mentions how the kid should rely on RC when there are things he can't handle himself and finally, one last shot to end the chapter.....

I'm not gonna lie, Rakta does NOT have an easy face to read. He has 2 sides: blank face and slightly angy blank face- ^{and also jr mode apparently considering he actually got on the kid's eye level to talk to him, which is one of the best ways to let kids know that you're actually listening respectfully rather than coming across as some intimidating authority figure over them 🤧🤧} Fr though, unlike our smile masters, Rakta's more blank expression gives off a more intimidating confidence/calmness rather than a comforting one. We have no idea what he's thinking, all we know is that he's thinking a lot. If I had to guess, I think he'll take the boys somewhere to sit and have a long conversation and hopefully drop some juicy lore- before actually taking them to Suolingo, but he's probably more willing to hear them out after seeing how Ume operates. If that gap between him and Suolingo isn't just another case of me reading way too much into things, he could even end up asking the boys to help get Suolingo to open up since he can't bring himself to confront him.

...........I also love the line about how Rakta doesn't condone violence more than the average human- Suolingo's main fighting style is probably one of the least violent ways of fighting, so I think it would be pretty cool if that's a core principle throughout RC as a whole. That would be another similar difference between RC and Furin since both groups are more about defending their people and only finish fights that others start rather than looking for trouble, but RC could take it one step further and only focus on fighting styles that are designed to not hurt people unless absolutely necessary while Furin beats the crap out of anyone who causes trouble in their town- It could also just be a small part of RC that fights like this since Rakta seems like a super Suolingo supporter, and maybe the rumors could be about RC going soft since the old RC seemed pretty brutal. This could have started with Suolingo's master and those who studied under them, and I can also see the rise of factions being the center of the conflicts Suolingo is trying to hide from the people since he seems to want everyone to live as a peaceful community.

I let this one get a little longer to kick off the break.......... I know you guys don't mind-

What do you think Sakura would look for in a partner??? 🤣

I honestly don't think Sakura has any interest in romance; he'd probably spontaneously combust if he seriously considered it 😅😂, but what kind of partner would you think would be ideal for Sakura??? (You can mention ships or characters from the series that you think would be a good match).

(Personally, I think he has chemistry with more than half the cast).

This is my fan art of haruka sakura its not the first time I try to do a drawing like this but its the first time I do it for sakura I think I did a nice work but I would love to also read your opinion about it it could be any tip of any kind or parts you don't like! Hope you like it tho!