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I also wasn’t a fan of ness backstory but would love to hear your personal opinions on why you didn’t like it as much?
I HAVE SO FUCKING MUCH TO SAY-
T/w for excessive amount of hate and oversharing lmao
Well, in the beginning I'd like to say that I grown up in some shitty circumstances which resulted in me having some, uhhh, Ness-classical problems so I may be biased here 😭 Rather not "may" but "will". How can I continue to relate to him when he's like that. Like that's not a representation I wanted. Where's emotional deprivation? Where's emotional abuse? Where's his unsuccessful attempts to get his parents and siblings love because no, lol, no 7 yo child will just accept that he's outcast and be ok with that. He should have tried to adjust to them, he should have tried to reach them, satisfy, do at least something for them to care about him BECAUSE THAT'S HOW CHILD PSYCHE WORKS. And where else would he get this people pleasing towards Kaiser if not from the family? Kids need love for survival, it's not optional. It's a need. They can't just say "oh yes my parents and siblings are stupid I'm going to be alone from now on!".
Okay, now in the order.
First of all, we get the scene of Ness mother saying him he should cure his finger himself, even comforting him while saying that with her "chance of you dying from it is incredibly low". Bad words, bad phrasing, bad everything, it's like to say "dentist just gonna use this drill to take your rotting teeth off" to a kid but still - it's not direct scolding or hate. It's bad, but care. And like, yes?? It was quite a normal parental behavior, even if not really sensitive? You can't be near your kid all the time, they should know how to help themselves because one day you WON'T be there for them. It's a normal way of raising a kid if you don't want for him to grow up weak-willed and helpless. Bad way to approach that, but still. She even mentions that he shouldn't bother her with every LITTLE cut - she'd care for him instantly with something serious. Since we get this flashback from Ness from his following age, we can conclude that he still cherishes that memory as something which hurt him deeply and which was incredibly cruel from his mother to say, forming his personality. And that's… At least strange.
I mean, I also have a story when I cut my finger really deep as a 5 yo and my dad said smth like "go and spit on it and don't bother me" but I won't say it was turning point in our relationship lol But it was valuable in addition to all of other fucked up shit. Otherwise I wouldn't have remembered it at all.
I'm not saying that my experience is the only relevant but child's psyche, especially with some predisposing towards anxiety and personality disorders, has basically the same algorithms. Because till the transitional age child is like a clay, not having it's own form yet. He just adjusts to his family and surroundings.
Memories like that are the ones which CAN be turning points but ONLY in addition to other. They can't be, like. Definition of how your relationship were. It's one small insignificant episode.
Reaching the next scene - Ness reading his book and asking his brother and sister AGAIN about some magical something. Do I need to say that any kid would be irritated if their younger sibling will go and whine around about something you don't like, and again again and again when you have not once said that "that's nonsense I don't like"? It's a normal reaction for kids. They're not grown adults to control their each and every action understanding Ness fragile psychology.
Also, I mean- he got that fantasy book from somewhere, right? He is little kid ~6 or 7 yo, I believe there's few ways for kid to get one. Even if it was gifted by his grandparents or family's friends, or taken from the school library, it's not that his parents have teared the pages from this book. He reads it quite calmly, not hiding - and even demonstrates it to his siblings. His parents allowed him to read such books. No one was REALLY against him reading about something he liked. Not understanding, yes, being bad emotionally repressed family, yes, offending him in some way, probably not really caring, but… It's not that bad as Ness tries to show, at least from the side of his mother and siblings.
Secondly - snowman 💀. Lol, Ness, sorry but have you heard about Rin + Sae drama? About Barou and his little sisters because of which he probably has this obsessive compulsive thing with cleanliness? I love my little brother deeply, but for god's sake he was awful as a kid, the type that will put the hand in the fire and in socket just because I said "you can't do it it's dangerous". Even if we really got along despite the different attitude towards us from our parents, we still fought, and screamed, and got scandals over the laptop. It's a normal part of growing up with siblings.
Not just normal, but obligatory.
And… Ness' brother and sister actually tried to get along with him till some point, even if in their own way. They tried to make him fit into their world because somehow, but they loved him, and wanted him to be more or less happy and near them. They couldn't understand his passion for magic, they couldn't realize - but they had their parents as example, and they knew that while two of them fit into their parents world, Ness doesn't. And thus both magic book scenes and snowman one were a normal reaction from young kids - Ness irritated them, being too loud, and speaking some nonsense because of which they couldn't play and research together, all three of them. That wouldn't be a normal reaction from grown ups, but once again - they're kids. Siblings. Destined to ruin each other's things lol
Thirdly - no one with dirty hands should enter the house, go and wash them. ????? How is that even??? Maybe they'll also ask him to take his shoes off in the wardrobe? The cruelty of parents.
His mother even explains him why he should wash the hands before coming in. Like- I don't want to dig into psychology of two-frames character, but she looks incredibly emotionless and deathly tired. She has three kids and work at home for god's sake. And she STILL finds time to explain Ness how sounds and snow works, probably trying to comfort him somehow. She loves him, just as she loves her other kids - she tries to comfort him in her own way.
Should she have had three children if she didn't feel the need to take care of their every issue, including emotional? No. Does she cut down her children and husband when they offend Ness? Also no. Is it possible to understand her? Absolutely yes.
Through his dad indeed is a jerk lol but I feel that he's not really present in the family? It's usually her and Ness and his siblings. Imagine having a full ass house, in which she works full-time, three 5-9 yo one of whom is constantly injuring himself, and with two others probably fucking up their experiments and her work as well without her husband around. Like…
And the fact that Ness doesn't analyze anything at all, placing himself in a victim position not trying to understand that world doesn't revolve around him and other people don't understand him by default and act the way they think is right and good for him, is, uhhh. Note that "understand" doesn't mean "forgive". It's just about a critical view to the world.
Aaand regarding the kainess flashbacks… I can't say anything because it was just bland and stupid.
Overall I got a feeling that this was just lazy writing with cute kids fanservice so we'd be more invested in the last game with PXG. I mean, those scenes with milk, shower and oversleeping? I can imagine there any other pairing in blue lock - nagireo, bachisagi, kunigiri, etc etc etc. There's nothing special, nothing unique for us to actual feel something towards kainess. It's just a template into which familiar faces have been substituted - and totally OOC.
No toxic dynamic, especially the codependent one kainess have, works like THAT at the start. Even at the sugary period when one non-self-aware manipulator instinctively tries to bend other to himself being nice and everything. Ness behavior towards Kaiser also makes no sense - those things are ALWAYS growing from experience. From the need to please your parents, to try to track your every word, walking on a thin ice.
But Ness never shown such things in his flashbacks, never taking back from telling each and everyone about magic and him being a football player. Then where did this attitude got from? Just from loneliness? It still doesn't work like that THIS HIGH like to the level of enduring physical pain and alcohol in the face.
I low-key hope that Ness is unreliable narrator, so we actually DO NOT see the way his real relationship with Kaiser were at this time. We see only memories and impressions, and his memory saving only good from them - thus it may (PLEASE) happen that from Kaiser's POV it will be totally different.
The last thing about kainess I SOMEHOW liked (because I'm sure it wasn't intentional writing from Kaneshiro) is the way Ness reacts to Kaiser choking. Because he pays no reaction to it - and no real friend/lover would react like that for the sight of your dear person suffering. He doesn't care about Kaiser as of Kaiser - the thing I suspected from the beginning but didn't really liked because that's so predictable and dull. He doesn't even know about Kaiser's habit of choking himself. He doesn't really worry about Kaiser - he worries only about his idol, which he doesn't see a human behind. This was a fun thing to think about prior to this chapter because of the potential of angst from Kaiser's side who'd feel how this "love" is synthetic to the core, but I'm not sure I'd love to see this in the manga. But at least this would be yes, realistic, logical and painful, especially in that "Yoichi's magic" and naked king theme.
The only thing I really 100% liked without any whining from my side was that "undescribable feelings/undescribable sadness" frame because lmao 🤝🤝🤝 At least here you get it Ness. This frame is engraved in my memory.
At this point I feel that I dislike backstory not because it was necessary bad or stupid, but because I hate the thought of Ness turning out being so… Flat. So ridiculously touchy, so stubborn for no reason like a ram since a very childhood, so lacking critical thinking skills. So limited, so self-centered (which is visible even in that Kaiser choking himself scene).
Such a completely uninteresting character, predictable and causing only indifference towards himself.
Grandpa 🤣🤣 Bachira knows how to pick the right taunt for the right person. I wonder what they consider 'grown-up food'?
and i got eyes on the back of my head, i got eyes everywhere so i know where you go
HOLY SHIT THERE'S AN ISAGI FANPAGE??
..sorry lol. anyway, im a big big isagi fan, so i was wondering: what are (in your opinion) the best/worst takes or characterizations you've seen about our beloved striker isagi yoichi?
YES THERE IS AN ISAGI FAN PAGE!!! I love making fan pages <3 I have many
Uh quick note tho: most of the characterization of him I've seen has been via fanfics so I'm not 100% sure about how Tumblr views him, so when I say "the fandom" I mean the fandom I've seen from tag searching ao3
From what I've seen there's 3-4 main ways the fandom takes him and thats: 1 uwu soccer boi twying his best, 2 RAHHH SEX GOD, 3 [insert love interest] omg I live for you never leave meeee, 4 shy boy whos good at shit. Which isn't that bad tbh, other fandoms wouldn't even get close to his character, so while I kinda tear at those interpretations they aren't so far from the mark.
1 I think is mostly from anime onlys because at the start of the anime he's kinda like that and people tend to run w/ their first grasp on a character, also his low self esteem and repetitive losses throughout the season can very easily feed into that. However in the manga as the series carries on he gets more and more skills, he gets more egotistical and confident in his own abilities. So seeing this version annoys me because if anyone in this series is gonna be like that it's Igaguri I mean
Look at him, but even then that'd be a stretch.
2 is just frustrating to see everywhere like calm down
3 stems from wanting to ship characters but not knowing how to write individual ships, so the writer defaults back to a cookie cutter dynamic and sorta fits the characters. It happens in every fandom, with every ship. At least once. It's like rule 34 but the porn is optional.
Ah but it doesn't fit Isagi because he's more than capable of leaving people behind if that's what's best for him, it wouldn't be personal for example him and Bachira play against each other all the time and they play to win but they're both still close after the game. He's able to detach emotions from leaving someone behind which is why when they show up again later he's genuinely happy for them, he still likes them. So for Isagi to be like "nOoOooooo I neeeeeeeeeeedddd youuuuuu" it doesn't make sense. And in regards to the 3v3 game against Rin. He was upset about Bachira being taken I think if Bachira had chosen to be on a different team he wouldn't have been so pissed.
4 is just episode 1 and 2. He outgrows his "shyness" immediately, but it is the closest to canon imo. Because Isagi isn't shy per say but he is aware of his limitations (most of the time) which means he does change his plans to accommodate that, not exactly shy but I can see how one could read it that way.
As a bonus I don't mind the chatfics but I'd like if they gave them text accents. I think Isagi is a no punctuation but uses capitalization For Emphasis kinda guy.
Sorry if I didn't answer this how you wanted but I love yapping about characterization.
I was gonna say how I'd personally characterize Isagi but this is already several paragraphs longer than I'd planned so. another day.
i need ness to have an actual stable relationship in his life where there are no intentions of harm or manipulation please!!
Rambling about Alexis' selfish-Ness [chara analysis ig]
Ness doesn't actually care about Kaiser.
Or well, he does, but in his own, selfish way.
He cares about the image of Kaiser existing in his mind, which consists in the material proof that magic exists and that Ness' dream did not, in fact, go to waste. Everything Ness has all ever believed in life finds its vessel in Kaiser, and Ness is desperate and stubborn enough to never letting that go.
He doesn't really see Kaiser for who he is (and that's also thanks to our mr male manipulator who literally STUDIED on mf psychology books what buttons to push to make Ness bond with him, like ok we get it but what the fuck).
Ness was chosen first as Kaiser's first "support system" (intended as someone whose role was to support kaiser's goal) but eventually ended up as the first person to indulge and feed Kaiser's narcissistic traits (and delusions).
Ness is used to Kaiser being mean to him and he lets him because, in his mind, he is still special. He is like "yeah he is mean to everyone, but I got more privileges than the others. I'm closer to him than anyone else will ever be. I'm the only one to actually know what's best for him" -> except he does not. He does not know Kaiser, he has no clue what's best for him. (he is my delusional puppy)
Ness people pleases and masks 24/7 so that he can keep being useful to Kaiser. So that his dream would not get thrown away. He doesn't even let Kaiser see his own real self, how is he supposed to know the real Kaiser?
Ness is the glass protecting the blue rose from the outside world: fragile, almost useless, if not to keep said rose safe from dust.
It will also cut when broken.
With this post I absolutely do not intend to victim blame. Ness was love bombed and manipulated and he did NOT deserve his first best friend to turn up being [gestures] that. But I still wanted to make light on some other traits that Ness has shown. He is not just a victim and he is stronger than some people give him credit for [insert mitski scream here].
He really needs to see that the real magic is within himself and that he should. Stop biting into a rotting carcass (kaiser ily but damn u kinda infected this boy).
Either that or he'll end up pulling an anakin skywalker at the end of ROTS type of move lmfao.
Isagi doing something totally wrong. (Drugs is bad, kids please don't)
I fucking hate school
⚠️ slightly gore
Yeah but why Hiori could be that savage. So.. I was testing the stylus I just got and
Summer class still isn't over. And I might getting closer to quit Tumblr because I'm fucking enough of these shit
Is Kaiser really a king or just a thief?
I was thinking a bit more about Kaiser and his backstory, and I revisited that old fable "The Emperor's New Clothes" by Hans Christian Anderson. I was a little mistaken about the meaning of the story since I haven't read it since I was a child, but it's worth mentioning that this isn't just a "folktale" but a fairytale as well and was written by the same guy who wrote The Little Mermaid.
In the story, it's less about the King being naked for everyone to see, and more about how everyone refuses to admit that they can't see this magnificent cloak that the king is wearing for fear that they will be mocked for it. In the story, the two "weavers" are actually thieves who trick the King into letting them make him the finest cloak imaginable, with the added caveat being that anyone who's stupid or foolish can't see the cloak at all. Obviously, however, what's really happening is that every time the king gets them more materials to make said cloak, the thieves just stow it away in a sack for later.
This made me think more about Kaiser's backstory as a thief himself and it's made me wonder if Kaiser's real position in the story has always been that of the thieves and NOT the king who's wearing the invisible cloak. I wrote in my earlier post about Kaiser's backstory that Kaiser is the "Naked Emperor" in that he hadn't realized he wasn't the best on the field until that very match with Isagi. And it makes sense for him to be the "king" metaphorically speaking if we're comparing his experience to the fairytale.
Especially with this newest chapter, where he quite literally learned humility for the first time ever mid match and said "please" to Raichi Jingo of all people.
But after I reread the story and looked back at Kaiser's background and behavior in the last match, it's made me really question him. Was he always the king, or has he always just been the Thief trying to trick everyone?
You could even say that the "second thief" is Ness in this situation, and that with Ness' help he's clawed his way up to a place he doesn't deserve to be at yet. No one around Kaiser want's to really tell him the truth about himself, and he doesn't have any real "friends" outside of Ness. So in a way, he has managed to trick everyone into believing he really is the ace on that team.
I should mention that the Emperor's New Clothes ends with a child telling everyone that the Emperor has no clothes on. The point of the story being that even someone who is completely blind to the world like a child can admit when they cannot see something, unlike the adults in the story who were so afraid of being perceived as foolish that they lied to themselves repeatedly.
Isagi is that kid essentially. He has no relation to Kaiser, and he doesn't care about dethroning him as a "King" since while this rivalry is ongoing, it's not one that's centered around Kaiser himself. He's just a face in the crowd telling it like it is.
Anyways, there's actually like so much more depth to that one panel taunt than I ever realized lol. The doubt that comes with wondering if you deserve your place and title is the entire point of the short story as well. Each person who can't see the "invisible cloak" immediately believes that it must mean they're too foolish for the job the king has given them, so they lie about being able to see the cloak to the King.
I really feel like that can apply to not just Kaiser but also Ness. If Ness really knew Kaiser that well has he been lying about what he's been seeing this whole time to himself? Has he just been keeping his own thoughts about how he really feels about Kaiser to himself? I mean, I know a lot of people think Ness might be the one to leave first and if that's the case maybe this is the answer for why and how it starts.
reo venting to nagi about how his parents (some of the only people he has emotionally meaningful, if negative, relationships with) are extremely controlling and treat him like a doll to groom into the image of success they've decided is best for him, hearing nagi propose that they not treat other people in the negative ways their parents have treated them, and then immediately (and correctly!) interpreting that as a request by nagi not to "meddle" in his life sure has some implications
