All Aboard This Demon Slayer Train

All aboard this demon slayer train

New Chapter of Tidal Wave is oooooooouuuuut!

Im trying to figure out how to hyperlink stuff so I wont have to repost each time (I know some of you more dedicated folk probably have the story bookmarked somewhere)

But if anyone knows how to shorten hyperlinks please tell meeeeee

Thank you to everyone who got me to 50 likes!

All right more trash takes from me on jjks culling game. So Ive found that people who read culling game weekly as it was released enjoy it alot more than people like me reading it in chunks (bc we got tired of being spoiled)

And my initial thoughts are pretty bland. Its extremely bloated with unnecessary/ flat characters, fights and lore that dont make much sense unless gege plans on doing a heian era prequel (which he should.)

BUT

It also beats shibuya in high octane fights and hype Which is important for a battle shounen (if a shounen fails at everything else it cannot be fights so kudos.) and for every “miss” character there were alot of hit characters too, that I liked.

But overall i didnt like it more than shibuya bc from a writing standpoint it flops and unfortunately im at a point in my anime “career” where story does have to hold water (not be air tight but cant leave a lot on the table).

But i will also say, in general, i prefer a meh plot with good characters over a good plot w meh characters… which makes culling game especially frustrating for me because i cant tell which one it is… its right down the middle, some parts were a straight SNOOZE fest while others were so hype i got mad it was over!

Maybe I may need to re-read the arc again

Muichiro to tanjiro: 😊

Muichiro to everyone else: 🗑️

Muichiro has one (1) favorite person and he doesn't care if he's not being subtle about it.

So I decided to post my thoughts from AO3 about JJK and how to correct the issues i saw in the next arc. Let me know what you all think.

rant:

I didnt like how gege built up the zenin clan only to throw them away as a plot device for maki's development. I thought the story would take a different turn when megumi was named heir but it felt rushed and extremely contrived, beginning immediately with the round table decision to KILL megumi. I cannot understand why anyone backed this decision. Why would a family that values power, tradition, prestige and inherited techniques so much not just have a duel to decide the leader?

1) It retcons everything we know about the Zenin including Toji's logic for giving megumi away. He knew if megumi had a good technique the family would invest in his development… turned out megumi didn't just have a "good" technique he had THE BEST technique! Toji' concern was never that theyd kill his som but that they'd turn megumi into a POS. Gojo explictly stated that hundreds of years ago a TS and 6E user killed each other in a mock-duel and the 2 families NEVER got over it. So the idea that the zenin would kill a TS user is completely out of the question. Even IF killing Megumi served Naoya, it didnt serve anyone else and goes against the zenins principles.

2)The TS literally puts the zenin on par (or higher) to satoru gojo in terms of strength. With gojo sealed The zenin clan would jet-propel to no1 in jujutsu society, which is what the family WANTS, power and prestige.

3) Megumi canonically had a lot of supporters, so this goes back to my first point that the blowback of killing him wouldve caused mass, internal strife.

4) Maki's massacre. (Ugh...)

So my headcannon is this:

Naoya gets told he isn't gonna be heir and calls the elders to the round table. Since a large portion of the family want megumi as head, naoya issues a challenge/duel on the condition that if naoya wins, megumi becomes an official zenin member but forfeits all rights to ever become clan head (doesnt matter if its on paper or binding vow, point is megumi won't be head). This would enable naoya to stay at the helm, while also boosting the zenins prestige because they'd have the TS under their control. Having a duel would also showcase naoya's talents so he doesnt come off a glass cannon like he did when maki flattens him later to show HER overwhelming strength. This plan makes infinitely more sense to me than what the manga did because it benefits EVERYBODY. Maki wants this. Naoya wants this. And so does the entire clan, because megumi will be a zenin regardless of who wins. It also put megumi in an active role, instead of passive one.

With this simple change, we can explore the characters introduced in the hei unit, tojis backstory/life, mai and makis sisterly bond, megumis leadership acumen, And ofc this would be the perfect time for naoya to reveal the truth about toji: That Satoru gojo is the one who killed him and thats why megumj and tsumiki were alone (in an attempt to turn megumi against satoru).

This change also benefits Maki's character too because after megumi loses, she tells him not to worry because he has enough supporters to drive a split in the clan, so while he can't be head of the zenin he can be head of his OWN faction. (remember this was makis ultimate goal, to have a safe space for mai, thats why she wanted megumi as head in the first place) now I'm skipping details, but ogi catches wind of maki's coup to start a civil war within the clan and throws her in the pits for it (a MUCH better reason to kill her than taking curse tools. I mean maki has been taking curse tools for years and nobody cared!) She becomes toji 2.0 and the story continues along the lines of the canon. Maki still gets her power boost and her revenge on NAOYA's supporters instead of the entire clan so she doesnt come off as a psychopath, and megumi learns the truth. There is even room for potential redemption for naoya should megumi prevent Maki from killing him which eliminates the need for curse naoya (a colossal waste of time)

What do you all think?