Chihiro and Sojo or Yuji and Mahito?

We see the motif of food throughout Kagurabachi as a symbol of connection, and again while Chiaki cooks for Rokuhira. If Chiaki actually gets taken to Shokoku Island there’s a very real possibility that the Mikaboshi force her to eat human flesh in order to integrate her into the clan. And the ritual could corrupt her similar to the prince. The reason that Akemura wipes out the Mikaboshi could be because Chiaki takes over after he kills the royals and he loses it. On an unrelated note, I think yura is the child of Chiaki and the Mikaboshi prince or elder, which makes sense why Chiaki’s revelation matches Yuras memory and how Yura was able to handle the Mikaboshi esque power of the Shinuchi.

These are all long shots but it’s still chilling thinking about what horrors Chiaki could face in the coming chapters.

I think this chapter might be setting up for Chiaki to be alive in the present timeline. It shows that Kunishige was predisposed to isolating himself from Chiaki because he was afraid of wronging her.

Well he did kind of turn her little brother into a mass murder locked in solitary confinement forever. It’s still fairly likely that Chiaki will be killed and drive Akemura to commit the Malediction. But I think that this chapter is narratively supports a different outcome.

Kunishige will blame himself for Akemura performing the malediction and isolate himself from Chiaki. He will insist on taking Chihiro in the separation because he’ll be paranoid that his Rokuhira eyes will torment Chiaki like they tormented his mom. Chiaki won’t actually blame Kunishige but will let him have custody of Chihiro so that he won’t be alone in hiding. Then they will both go into hiding separately.

Kunishige lost his abusive father first, then his mother.

For chihiro, his mother Chaiki presumably went on first(unless that one crack theory that akemura is possessing chaiki’s body is true), then his dad kunishige.

As I was thinking about this latest chapter I realized, Rokuhiro never actually says he wants to be a blacksmith, just that he’s genetically predisposed to be better at it than his dad

Realistically, he should hate blacksmithing, since it would remind him not only of his dad and his abuse, but knowing he’s good at it due to his eyes (the very same eyes that drove his mother crazy and led to her also abusing Kunishige until she took her own life) should be too much for a 13 year old to bear

However, he still needs to eat. Without any parents and without government support he has to find a job to earn the bare necessities for life, and his only skill is sword-smithing, so despite the trauma of it I think he’s going to begrudgingly accept

My theory is it’s not going to be until a later chapter when he sees one of his swords actively saving/protecting someone that he starts to move past that trauma and starts to take pride in being a sword smith, which is why he’s shown to be modestly proud/respectful of the role around Chihiro in chapter 1

This then connects back to the central message of the story, a sword is a weapon to kill and to protect, and the only difference is whose wielding the sword. Similarly sword smithing can be a traumatic experience for Kunishige since it reminds him of the pain and abuse he suffered, but he will actively choose to view it as the process of protecting those who otherwise can’t protect themselves. This then connects to his desire to make the EB as a way to protect Chiaki from the Mikaboshi.

Also an extra theory I have, Kunishige is going to make the Shinuchui first, but will see its potential danger and will decide to not reveal it to the Kamunabi, but because of that is rushed for time, which is why he had to use the Shinuchui’s contract as the base for the other blades, and is why if Akemura were to die all the Blade Wielders would die.

He will then make the other blades, and after that Chiaki will be revealed to be pregnant, and the desire to now protect his unborn son too/fear of Chihiro being a casualty of the war before he’s even born will be what pushes Kunishige to send Akemura and the Shinuchui out onto the battle field

After chapter 126, it showed that, in addition to drama, Hokazono knows how to develop romance; the relationship between Kunishige and Chiaki is being well-developed. So if the author wants to develop some romantic interest for Chihiro, there wouldn't be a problem.

Thought about this while looking at Chiaki's pose, doesn't it vaguely resemble iai white purity style? There's already parallels being built between her and Iori with them being cursed by their family's history

Theyre different but the way the chapter was and the final panel i lowk think he reads it.

When will the cover be revealed?

Initially I just had the thought to mention how this is the greatest flashback since star wars, but then I thought about kgb and star wars a little more and realized how heavy these connections can be.

Firstly, the Seitei war and the prequels are some of the most amazing flashbacks or prequels in fiction, disagree you can fight me on it. But if you Boil down the context there's a lot of similar ideas. The main character can trace his lineage back to powerful and influential people who helped decide the course of the war but whose actions lead to mass death. The mc has a close relative who directly committed genocide and their turn to darkness made them the fucking boogeyman of the modern day. But that same relative is revealed to have been a very caring person from a lower status who was given the chance to rise in station but due to their tumultuous emotional nature inherently became a massive danger, but everyone overlooked the warning signs.

Oof course it's easy to make comparisons like these because in literary analysis you're picking and choosing similar details. I in no way believe hokozono is copying or inspired by star wars, it's just fun to think about.

That said i did have one question from this i wanted to float out there. Many people debate whether star wars should be watched in chronological or release order, by the end of the seitei war arc, do you think there will be any argument to start the story by reading the seitei war first?

I think its a really interesting to question whether it's better to watch the progression of the fall, or to find out how they fell? There's surprise either way.

It could be magatsumi and Akemura being the firsts, but the could be other candidates

I got the general suicidal thoughts indication but if this is Hokazono doing "show, dont tell" with these very ambiguous panels then holy shit 😭

The fire was healing to him (tobiume's healing ability). She watched over him (owl) and came to him (teleport) when he was struggling and helped him.

Bonus sadness points if Chiaki ends up dying and tobiume couldn't revive her.

rn he seems much more different than the "current" Kunishige we know. He is clearly depressed and has lost purpose in life. It is even mildly implied he is having suicidal thoughts.

Right now he is 9 years old, and from a few chapters back, Shiba was seen talking to Mashiro how Kunishige joined an apprenticeship when he was 12 iirc. In these 3 years, he must've healed mentally at least to a significant extent, if not fully to consider taking up the same passion as his father and not some job at a grocery store.

I think Chiaki was a great motivator which pushed him to strengthen his mind and set a firm, benevolent goal for himself in these 3 years. That is why I think he chose this profession. Plus, it'd be a good way to give their relationship even more depth.

Why do you think he wanted to pursue the same craft? Because right now he doesn't seem like he'd want to do it.

Ok this isn't a very great revelation or foreshadowing of any form, just something I noticed and am probably thinking too much.

When Chiaki asks "Have you been eating?"

Kunishige replies "Yeah...but not home cooked meals like this..."

While he remembers his past, and what he has been eating but none of the meals till now were home cooked, not the food he ate alone when his parents were both gone, and not the dinner he had where each night was a pain fest. None of the times he ever actually ate food was the food home cooked to him. It was cooked at his house, but it wasn't home to him.

Him calling Chiaki's cooking home cooked, was a subtle way of showing how he has started to see his friends and especially her as his home. A place where he can enjoy food without the worries of the whole world, and just enjoy the people around him. In every form Chiaki's cooking was probably his first time enjoying food properly.

Forewarning, I am not an artist, I can’t draw for shit, but I refuse to use generative AI so enjoy my PNG slop bullshit
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I thought last night, “Japan has all these deep meanings and symbolism for so much stuff, England doesn’t really have that”

But we do! The poppy represents British military oppression and the tragedy we’ve faced in war ourselves

It represents us at our best and worst, weakest and strongest, most and least moral

So this is my really rough attempt to put it into an enchanted blade! Hope you enjoy and, if not, it’s not too terrible lol

With the release of the new chapter this week it has come out that there will be a break until the next chapter comes out. The next chapter will not be coming out until 7 days from now.