Choujin X Theory - Tumblr Posts

Why can Azuma talk to the hyena? Is he already a beast? If Tokio can talk to bird because he is a bird-related beast, then Azuma talking to the hyena could mean he is a hyena-related beast. Sora having "beast" related powers is vague enough that I wouldn't be surprised if those who inherit her Beast power just became the beast most appropriate for their Choujin "obsession". I think it is reasonable (foreshadowed, even) that Azuma's beast would be related to a lion or hyena. Both work for the character.

However, this idea is apparently dispelled when Zora rejects him:

He seems confused. Maybe he thought he was a beast already because of his conversation with the hyena? Either way, he does not take it very well (he has issues).

If he is already a beast, the following must be true (as of Ch. 51.3):

Zora does not intrinsically know what aspects of her power her "children" inherit from Xember. She had just seen Azuma using his iron creation abilities before she offered Tokio the mark, and assumed his only power was iron creation. Batista could have also reported to her that Tokio was a beast and Azuma was iron, etc.

Zora's offspring do not need to be a beast to talk to beasts. Can Azuma talk to birds? That means he would have heard Masamune call Ely an idiot.

However, Batista also assumes Azuma is not a beast, despite witnessing Azuma crying over a random hyena on the beach. He seems to believe it is possible to "convert" Azuma into a beast.

But... why can he talk to the hyena? I don't think Azuma would hide some crazy Lion Powers from Ely or Yamato Mori. However, his iron powers lay dormant until he died the first time, as a response to him feeling helpless and trapped (obsessed with a fear of losing).

If he felt powerful and dominant enough to trigger an "obsession" with that feeling, would it similarly trigger a dormant bestial power?

im.... thinking bout..... the hyena in Choujin X.... the escaped zoo hyena.

it's a real hyena, probably. the zoo break out is mentioned by other characters, we see it at the ocean later. but it's also clearly not a real hyena, it speaks to Azuma, it's a metaphor for his emotional state at this point in canon (a predator lost in a world suddenly too big for it, unable to cope with the changes, looking for the right path and finding one that just leads to an unmaking).

this hyena finds the ocean eventually (it is a real hyena, the birds and bugs eat it) (it is also Azuma, and his end in the story is???)

and then of course there's the other hyena. a year and change later.

there's a beach, a corpse, Azuma, a hyena (metaphorical, not literal (yet))

there's something there, right? Azuma at the beach with a hyena twice in the same story. There's something there about a hyena being a metaphor for the you who has to change to survive, for the things people do to survive, for coming to terms with who you are when you are the hyena.

the first hyena gets to the ocean and collapses, feeding the flies and the carrion birds (there's a metaphor there too, of course). i'm not sure what that means for the others.