I mean....red and blue is a very common trope for characters that end up getting shipped together. Usually bc there's at least massive subtext around them. But yeah, red and blue characters are often paired up in some way in narrative, and Senya and Ichiya definitely have some kind of connection & relationship.

They're the only two genies in the show (that we've seen), they're shown fighting/sparring in the intro to what Honki people are, they were housed in the shrine side by side in the first episode. They're literally a pair.

Oh and also Senya means 1000 Nights and Ichiya means One Night (I think? idr if i got them mixed up). And the story is based on 1001 Nights (sort of). So...

There are many narrative and visual storytelling factors that pair them up. What their actual history is we don't know yet.

Ty for the ask 🫰🏽

Hiiii Nanami anon! I'm so glad you came back!!

Yes I think this story is so interesting even just in the potential it sets up. If it doesn't deliver on that potential it could be disappointing, I guess. but it brings up a lot of interesting discussions either way, so I'm just enjoying where we are right now and the conversations going on in the criminally tiny fandom.

To be completely honest i spent a lot of time arguing with people about the literary worth of this show on another platform and it was just depressing. Nobody wanted to engage deeper than surface level appeal, and only would approach it through an extremely narrow lens of expected tropes of the type of show *they* wanted to watch, and a demand for pandering to one type of fan in a genre it doesn't even really belong to, instead of honestly approaching it for what it is and the story it's trying to tell. I've been trying to curate my experience more so I can actually enjoy myself, and interacting with the small community of people here who actually like to enjoy and analyze the show within the literary conversation it's clearly trying to have has been so much more fulfilling.

ANYWAY, I love what you're bringing up because self-delusion is such a big theme here! and specifically how it interacts with compulsory gender roles!!! Like, Arajin is trying so hard to fulfill compulsory heterosexuality, but is running away from the very masculine coded honor-through-fighting that senya and the general culture value. A lot of people suspect that his pursuit of losing his virginity is a way to make up for his self-perceived weakness and failure to uphold the masculine ideal of honor-through-fighting when he was young.

THEN when MAHORO stands up and displays that ideal, he is able to achieve it (at least for a moment). There's also discussion that if this follows Aladdin, he's going to lose the genie and some point and will have to essentially prove himself as honorable without the genie's help. This could be interesting. We'll see what happens.

So is fighting masculine coded in this show? Or is it just the height of honor? Or is fighting for the right reasons or in the right ways honorable. Because not all the fighting is portrayed as a good thing.... I'm thinking out loud here.

Anyway, Mahoro is also stuck in this gendered role obviously, but I wonder how much self-delusion will play into it. She believed she needed to use her role as a cute girl to stop the fight, but all those attempts failed. Ultimately what worked was dropping the facade, dropping the role & those tactics, and standing up to fuckface (i do not care about this man I'm so sorry lol) as HERSELF. Saying what she really thought, how she really felt about these people and the whole situation. And basically willing to sacrifice her well-being to do so. Ooooh this is so interesting!!!!

I really can't wait to see where this goes, I know I keep saying that but. It's true. I mean, Matakara could be said to have some delusions about honor. Maybe the way he sees his brother is diluted. He believes in Arajin to a fault, but he was proven correct. Although it wasn't him that sparked the change. I dunno, a lot to think about.

I'm so glad I could be an intermediary for this discussion! I don't know anything about Utena, but if y'all do feel free to talk through me lol. I'm loving this.

OOOOOOH THAT'S SO INTERESTING. Nanami anon, what do you think of this???

I love this context, especially because, yes I do feel like Mahoro feels restricted by her role but she's also very comfortable using it to (try to) get what she wants. It's like she's super aware of how other people see her, but that's clearly not the full depth of who she really is. And the parts of her that she doesn't show as often clash so heavily with the "princess" image she puts out.

Like I don't think she wants to have to rely on everyone else (definitely not Arajin), but she knows these people won't listen to her or respect her (her brother doesn't) even though she clearly believes herself to be above them, and even derides them (standing up to Shindo...???? i still can't remember this loser's name).

This also has me thinking about her social isolation. Like, at this point all the guys in the school would know not to approach her bc of her brother beating up guys who go out with her. She really doesn't interact with anyone, but they're aware of her. We don't see her hanging out with other girls. But again, she doesn't seem to fit the archetype she would need to at this school. I dunno, just how she navigates the world is very interesting to me.

Also, I can't not think about the line in Disney's Aladdin (which i watched on REPEAT when I was younger) when Aladdin & the Sultan are talking about Jasmine and she overhears and puts them in their place saying "I am not a prize to be won." Very Disney girlboss, and Mahoro would not say that because of how she uses that objectification to her advantage, but it makes me think of it!

Do I think she could move out of this role down the line? Maybe! It will be really interesting to see where they take her character. I mean she did abandon her mask to stand up to Shindo, but it felt more like a version of her that's been operating this whole time, there was just no reason or benefit to wear the mask. I think so much of how she operates is because other people put her in a box, objectify her like Arajin without getting to know her, or ignore her like her brother, and she has to work from within those confines. It would be nice to see how she operates if those restrictions on her are lifted and she has more freedom to be who she wants to be. Also, if she has friends 🥺

ty so much for the ask!

New Bucchigiri?! in the morning

i am so sick of coming in this tag and seeing 50-75% of the posts are about hating the mc or not liking the genre of the show. people come to tags because they like the thing and everywhere i go where people are talking about this show there is this overwhelming negativity. it's annoying. where do i go where people actually like the thing i like?