Status Updates From Wind Breaker 03

AND WE EVEN GOT THE GAY EYE REFLECTION SHOT??????? oh sports anime how i adore you and your thinly veined homoeroticism

i feel like sakura's ability to inspire his opponents to be their strongest selves through sheer force of will is going to be a theme in this story. he's gonna attract all the freaks and they're all going to fall deeply in love with him. through fighting. literally yay

when i was watching the anime i was already pretty invested up until this point, but i remember that it was THIS fight and this moment of clarity and understanding between togame and sakura that really got me hooked. and it's just as effective in the manga

togame braiding his hair, putting on sunglasses, and trading in his casual flip flops for the more traditional (and brutal) wooden ones is all fantastic symbolism for how he's chosen to become the moon to choji's sun. but all he's actually doing is standing still, just biding his time in the shade and waiting for the sun to come back out all on its own. looking directly at the sun and its pain would hurt too bad

starting this chapter with choji's eyes and how CLEAR and BRIGHT they used to be is just fantastic. and then further showcasing how his eccentric and bubbly personality used to manifest back when he was happy. it's such a stark contrast to how that personality just sits on top of hollowness now. also togame so earnestly calling him the sun????? they're so tragic and gay and no one can convince me otherwise

i really hope we get to see sako again and not just bc he's voiced by chiaki kobayashi