Last time, it was Takashi's 16th birthday so he attempted his test for his license. Back at home he and his mother were surprised by the sudden reappearance of his father who'd disappeared after getting debt, coming back at least temporarily when he realized his life insurance wouldn't cover it while his mother said he could stay to rest before going off on her own Takashi could only note with disbelief that at one point his parents had actually loved each other. While heading out he was stopped by his dad but could only note how small he seemed thinking that now, at 16, he was equal to his dad. Either a testament to how much he's grown (physically and otherwise), an indictment of how pathetic his dad has become or both.
Meeting up with the rest of his pals, they all went out to eat which included, to everyone's surprise, Ooki. But Takashi insisted they got off on the wrong foot and the atmosphere seemed to help things. Once Shinya split everyone decided to go to Karen's but calling ahead, Yuko learned from Saeko that her ex was there looking for her. She then decided she wanted to cancel going but when Takashi figured out why he was even more determined to go so he could beat her ex down.
At Karen's, Kouji was quick to "join" Takashi and crew and then ask Yuko to choose between the two of them. Saeko kicked him and his buddy out but while everyone else was cooling off Ooki caught up to the two of them and, not appreciating the disrespect shown, declared that he was Yuko's boyfriend.
Might seem a bit ridiculous but on the other hand these are just some low level gofer simps while Ooki's overly tough and a trained boxer even if he's still a teenager.
But that chapter in one page summarised exactly why Kase is the way he is. I always found the way Kase started off and what he later became was a bit jarring but that one page/panel made it clear.
Grayson Anderson
And of course Takashi's so insecure that he interprets "he was beaten half to death we should call an ambulance" as "she wants to fuck her ex" even though, slut or not, she's been pretty loyal to him.
>the more depressing ones. I see it the opposite way. Takeshi realizes there's more to life than his own childish views by discovering another side of his that he wasnt aware of and learning that an adult himself has to face challenges that require grit and resolve.
So Ooki's a burakumin. I don't know how bad the stigma/discrimination was in the early '80s but apparently it's died off a lot and is really only a thing in Kansai.
Early Kase, despite having a page which sugested he hung out with delinquents in his old school, seemed like a fairly non descript average kid with nothing really special about him. I felt that in a fairlyshort period of time he became this, admittedly self proclaimed or self assured, badass type dude in the ZEROS. When I first read BR it felt just a little too sudden for me but typing this I can't actually remember how long in terms of chapters or volumes the change took. He also seems to get respect for nothing other than being around and being older than some of the rest of the gang in the way that Bosozoku always have to respect their seniors, but he was useless in the first big fight and pretty useless in general.
Although to be fair that changed when he organised the masive gathering and then changed even more after what happened in the aftermath of that but that involves spoilers and is miles away from where we are now.
Charles White
Sure but I mean that being the final nail in his family's coffin. My parents never got divorced (probably should have) but I pretty much grew up in the same sort of strained household because of it so a lot of that stuff hits close to home.
Also this is the point where Bond starts turning the corner and becoming one of my favorite characters. Shame it's a while until we get to my other favorite.
I think a lot of it was loyalty and devotion to the gang. Ayase didn't really like him at first and after Kuwahara beat the shit out of him in the run up to the Gokuraku rumble he straight up said that Takashi was just a gofer and nobody would care if he just dipped.
After the two of them got their shit pushed in by the cops during judo "practice" he gained a lot of respect and since Ayase was basically one of the heads that probably went a long way.
I get that and overall Kase's character development has been great. Maybe it's a personal thing, like I don't understand how a guy who could get his shit pushed in by Bond, his junor, would have the balls to shake down a guy who shook him down much earlier in the manga, for example. Like, if that dude stood up and pummelled him he wasn't going to be do nothing about it. In that way Kase reminds me of some people I went to school with, thought they were hot shit but based on absolutely nothing. For me he didn't show any real resolve until he cut his hair before the huge gathering and that's where his chracter become really interesting for me, that and the bits just before and after, His realisation that he can't stay in the gang forever is great.
That's what makes him great though. He was basically trying to project hard. Like the counselor of his middle school said, he was just a normal kid trying to be a punk even though that wasn't who he really was and after what happens a few chapters from now he starts to slowly grow up.
His disgust and the way he severs most of his ties with Mitsu and Yuko when he sees them getting high is the first sign of him beginning, very slowly, to mature.
Also fucking captcha I don't need to make the bus disappear 30 times.
I do think it's pretty funny that once Shinobu became a real character and not just a simple joke about how Manion's girlfriend would look Takahashi drew her much less ugly.
I also liked that point because as he matures he is desperate to still stay in the gang, it plants the seeds that this isnt going to last forever. I still can't believe not everyone has read BR, there's no other manga like it. Other Bosozoku manga don't come close to it, it's more like Anj as far as chracter development and writing go.
Yeah one of the most recently translated chapters where he realizes that Sakurai and Isogai were just guys he hung out with because of them being in the ZEROS as opposed to real friends was harsh.
But that's also what the cicada metaophor is for early on. Come out, make a lot of noise, have some fun, then go away all too briefly.
Also BR is honestly one of the few comics I've seen that's able to use decompression to great effect. A lot writers (especially in western comics) just use it to pad their stories but Takahashi does a great job of using it to set mood and tone and allow things to sink in. It feels genuinely cinematic in execution.
Thanks for the dump. Hopefully Mani will be alright, that "it'll be fine" was a bit ominous.
Joshua Walker
Well the thing with Kase is that he's easily influenced so he had all this people around to imitate like a poser so he did exactly dad to fit in which is what he wanted most as well as approval.
The thing with respect is just his commitment, more than most he was really loyal to the gang, even more than older members. Just look at Mitsu's borther and Gerako, the were older, but they really werent as commited, they'd just show up to the gather here and there until they silently stoping gathering and just left.
Liam Torres
Ah shit I haven't read the last couple of translated chapters, but Sakurai is a real bro man. Even more so than Bond.
Xavier Hughes
>decompression ??
John Gomez
Decompression is using a lot more visuals and slower pacing to tell your story. A lot more influenced by storyboarding and things like that. For a long time a lot of western comics were quicker paced, often "done in one" and such. The Night Gwen Stacy Died, for instance, is one of the seminal western comics and was a two issue story.
But manga tended to be more decompressed due to the format so once more authors started being exposed to it in the '90s (probably because of Dark Horse and the like) they started borrowing that style of storytelling. Funny enough that I mentioned Takahashi as being great at it because Blame! is one of the series credited with influencing the use of decompression in western comics and Nihei started out as an assistant to Takahashi.
Joshua Martinez
Cool, thanks. Takahashi is a GOAT of course. Probably got in the tone of using decompression with Jiraishin since that's practically noir in style.
