2/3

Thinking about how Hunter is so instantly protective of anyone who shows him a sliver of kindness.

Luz says she thought he was her friend? He lowers his weapon and deflects Kikimora's attack which would have hit her.

A palisman chooses him? He could have easily given it to his uncle who needs their essence to survive but didn't, instead worrying more about the palisman's safety and "not being worthy".

Under all the trauma, he's genuinely just a good kid who craves validation

(Also, if you see this, reblog it with the reblog addition you cowards)

I REFUSE to believe that Sukuna’s damn tattoos are only visible to the audience. It doesn’t make sense.

The tattoos are so fucking cool. Why would they not be visible to the characters?? Anyway I’m gonna rant beneath the cut about why the tattoos are visible.

First of all, it lacks practicality for the mangaka and the show’s animators. There’s plenty of other indicators that signal to the audience, if not the characters, when there’s been a switch. The manga uses different fonts, the anime has cast separate VAs for Sukuna and Itadori.

If they really needed an indicator, the tattoos could flash as Sukuna takes control, but sink away. They could use a shift in music, there could be a distinct difference in facial expressions and posture between Sukuna and Itadori. If there were never any tattoos in the first place, I don’t think anyone reading or watching JJK would be confused about the switch between Sukuna and Itadori. It’d be efficient for the creators, but still obvious to the audience, to write the story without any tattoo indicators.

Secondly, it’s more confusing if the tattoos are just an audience-only feature. I could be wrong, but I can’t think of any instances in any anime where such a prominent aspect of the show—the main villain’s physical appearance—is only visible to the audience. It just seems needlessly misleading.

Thirdly, when Megumi first meets Sukuna, Yuji takes over, but the tattoos are still there.

At this halfway-stage while Itadori is regaining control of his body, if the tattoos are still visible, it would be VERY hard for Megumi to figure out who’s in control. It also poses a question for him & other sorcerers around Yuji:

If Yuji can control the body while the tattoos are still visible, then who’s to say that Sukuna can’t control the body while the tatoos aren’t visible? At this point, sorcerers don’t have an answer to that. Gojo says that the two are literally combined, so who’s to say if their minds have combined too?

THIS is is why Megumi, Gojo, and Yaga all had doubts about whether they were speaking to Yuji or Sukuna. They lacked information. They were cautious and curious, because the tattoos weren’t an absolute indicator of Sukuna’s control.

Lastly, if the tattoos really are only visible to the audience, WHY WOULDN’T GEGE MENTION THAT SHIT ON DAY ONE?

Am I wrong??? WHEN and WHERE did Gege Akutami say that the tattoos are invisible?? pls i need closure 💀

lift you up every time everyone pulls away (x)

Old fanart I did last year but never posted

so i've been thinking about risu. "personality defines one's magic" lives in my mind rent free, and i've been trying to pin down how magic reflects the personalities of sorcerers we know. risu's curse magic is especially interesting due to its rarity and the nature of curse itself. so, what can curse tell us about risu, and what role does risu play in dorohedoro? (spoilers through the end of the manga under the cut.)

who is risu?

risu is a low-level sorcerer and a member of the cross-eyes. not much is known about his past, besides for the fact that he used to go to the zagan magic school, he was friends with aikawa, and he had an apartment where he lived alone and grew cacti. but what else do we know about him? what's he like?

i want to start this discussion based on asu's perceptions of risu in extra evil 16, since we, as the readers - and risu himself - get to be explicitly told what asu thinks of him. risu's interactions with asu and nikaido are particularly important because, unlike with the cross-eyes or en's family, risu isn't really putting on a front here. and since asu is genuinely trying to help by offering risu advice, we know this is what he really thinks - even if his devil traits are getting in the way of his delivery.

to summarize: asu characterizes risu as neurotic, high-strung, and repressed. these evaluations seem to be at least partially correct; asu is the catalyst for both moments in the manga where risu grows to better understand his magic - the first in spell 84 and the second in 122 - and he wouldn't have been able to do this if he truly didn't understand risu. and risu agrees with him!

this is interesting when contrasted with what we see of risu in one of the first flashbacks of the series.

we know that risu has a lot of doubts about the boss and the cross-eyes, but what he's saying here is really . . . idealistic? even in spite of any doubts or worries, risu says this to aikawa - and given how earnest risu is with him, i don't think this is a lie. on top of that, risu was pretty loyal to the cross-eyes and to aikawa. this is not to imply that pessimism and loyalty are inherently at odds with one another, but the way risu talks about aikawa and his own death really doesn't scream 'i see the worst in every situation'. i don't think risu's pessimism is the whole story. so, how does curse fit into all of this? why does risu have curse magic?

what is curse?

curse magic is considered rare. it's not well-understood by any characters, and especially early on, only asu and dokuga seem to have any understanding of how it works at all. curse is activated after risu is killed and remains active until the curse is 'complete.' after curse merges with risu after his revival, when someone tries to kill or harm risu, curse will activate, taking over risu's body and reflecting all attacks.

curse is angry and violent, and it is so overwhelming that risu has no control over it at all. faced with this, risu rejects the idea outright; this is all he knows. he's gotten so used to being controlled by his anger for so long that he can't comprehend any other options. he assigns everything to his anger. he's angry at everything, and he only acts because he is angry.

something that really stuck out to me is when risu says he's 'pissed off for making [him] kill.' it's unclear if he's angry at the cross-eyes or at curse, but it's really indicative that he doesn't want to be violent - he's been forced into it due to the circumstances of this world and his place in it. curse is not a representation of some inner desire to hurt or harm others; there's something else going on here.

(a brief aside, but this is the only time we're shown anything from risu's life before the cross-eyes, the magic school, and aikawa. he's younger - he looks about shin's age from his backstory ten years ago? so, let's tentatively call risu 18-ish here, placing this about 6 years ago, which should comply with canon. he's injured and alone - there's no mention of parents or any other caretakers. with how vague this information is, it's difficult to draw any definitive conclusions. one possibility is that risu was abandoned by his parents. i say this because a flashback of risu alone is paired with the the thought that others, specifically powerful sorcerers like the en family, look down on him, and there are multiple severed heads in the same shot, who are clearly not en family members or other cross-eyes. it could be that his family were powerful sorcerers who left him alone due to his 'weak' magic, and perhaps he himself killed them, which is why their heads are floating and detached. but i digress.)

asu says it best: curse is only part of risu. curse protects risu. it is not just risu's anger, but also what that anger is hiding - perhaps feelings of hopelessness, isolation, betrayal, etc. curse is a literal and physical obfuscation and reflection of risu's identity and feelings. risu needs to learn to control curse not because anger - or any of his other negative feelings - are bad. it's because he doesn't understand where they come from or why, and as a result they consume him. this is why risu's realization has him literally being freed from a physical trap, because risu is now the one in control, even if he lacks mastery. risu is angry, but that is not all he is; risu is angry, and that is okay.

so, what does risu do? why is he important?

risu actually has strong thematic ties with both caiman (the protagonist) and nikaido (the deuteragonist):

risu and curse's relationship parallels aikawa and hole's: a magic user with low/no smoke output possessed by a violent entity that is controlled by strong negative feelings and obfuscates their past.

curse foils nikaido's time magic: risu is controlled by dangerous magic that he has no control over while nikaido refuses to use time magic because she perceives it as dangerous and uncontrollable; both have realizations about their relationships with magic (with asu's help), and learn how to use their magic as part of their character arcs.

curse is a physically painful, like aikawa's headaches and nikaido's devil transformation.

risu, nikaido, and caiman all struggle with their identity: both how society perceives them and how the see themselves. all of them have complicated relationships with their magic, and they feel like they do not 'truly exist,' at least in part due to this.

also, risu is a big player early on in the story, if not arguably the most important one, especially when it comes to the mystery of derohedoro. risu's curse is the means through which caiman and nikaido can hunt sorcerers and is also the en family's first major lead in their investigation. risu is what brings caiman and the cross-eyes together. risu goes back in time with nikaido to learn the truth of caiman's past. risu is the one that kills aikawa. risu offers to restore caiman's original face at the end of the series. (i could go on!)

risu isn't rich or extremely powerful or a genius, but he feels important because he was aikawa's partner; their partnership is what gave aikawa's existence as a sorcerer legitimacy, and their bond persists through the entire series. risu may be a 'nobody' when compared to characters like en and nikaido, but he was somebody to aikawa, and that identity is consistently given the weight it deserves.

Love them so much 🥺

Spoiler?

I found yuujis dad. He’s still alive don’t worry

You know the biggest loss of the decline of physical media and the rise of streaming? DVD special features.