Roy Mustang Q&A (Character Guide Translation)

Reigen just fucking died

Had riza ever tried to train ed with a gun, u think? How do u think roy felt about this

Mama Hawk just wants to keep her boy safe. She, more than anyone, knows that you can’t always rely on alchemy to fix all your problems :’)

Bonus:

here’s proof that serizawa’s new umbrella is supposed to be transparent (or at the very least translucent), btw. it’s a consistent detail in the manga and it’s obvious in every panel in this multi-page sequence. i only picked a few where i thought it was most obvious. it’s a great detail emblematic of serizawa’s growth. the umbrella is no longer a tool used to shelter or block out the rest of the world; he can see through it now and it ties in well with its use in this chapter as a tool to protect as opposed to attack.

aaaand here’s the preview pic for next week’s episode. solid white umbrella, just like his old one. i’m pretty pissed that the anime is doing this; maybe it was to save on the animation budget or something? i don’t know but i sure as hell don’t like it. so i’m speaking my truth as a transparent umbrella stan now. spread the word! let the truth be known!!!

Drawing details and background is actually pretty fun  _(:,3 」∠)_

As much as I loved Brotherhood’s version of this scene, there is this wonderful detail in the manga:

He took off his glove.

I’m way more upset with Teru about this text message he wrote than I am about him choking out Mob.

I’m so sorry to inform those who don’t know that Teru’s response to this is: “I’m waiting like a good boy.”

He also makes a pun with his name and 「待ってる」 (matteru) by writing 「待っ⭐️テル⭐️」 (mat⭐️TERU⭐️)

my predictions for mob’s haircut, if he gets one

my buddy

sluttiest thing a man can do is have an air of profound melancholy

[Image ID: A page from the Reigen manga. Panel 1: Reigen stands in a forest looking exhausted. He says, “At least I bought bug spray this time …” Panel 2: He sprays himself down. Panel 3: A closeup of his face. He’s dripping with sweat and his eyes are sunken. He says, “Preparations complete.” Panel 4: Reigen loosens his tie as he staggers towards the viewer. His face is sweaty and he has a haggard expression. He says, “All right then …” End ID.]

Okay listen it’s been a month since i read this and i CANNOT stop thinking about “At least I bought bug spray this time…” It’s just. It’s so Reigen.

This man is dying. He is being eaten alive by a curse that will kill him in less than 3 hours–probably closer to 2 by this point because this place is pretty far outside of Seasoning City. Since Serizawa couldn’t destroy the curse, he knows that Mob is the only person who could get rid of it–and he doesn’t think that he’ll get there in time, if he comes at all. Reigen’s last-ditch plan is to try to trudge into the most haunted forbidden evil woods he knows about in the hope that he can make the curse that’s killing him fight a different, worse curse, and if that doesn’t work at least he’ll die in a place far away from other people and the curse will be prevented from victimizing anyone else.

And what does he say when he arrives at the Evil Death Woods? “At least I brought bug spray.”

One of the things that makes Reigen’s character work is that he is Just Some Guy. A deeply bewildering, paradoxical guy who lies for a living, but still just a guy. Different characters in MP100 are trying to exist in slightly different genres, and for all his absurdity Reigen is the character who is the most grounded in the real world. He worries about his fire insurance during a psychic terrorist attack. He’s the one who goes “Hey, this is illegal?” and “Kids should not be dealing with this” and “You’re supposed to be adults, what is your PROBLEM?” when he’s introduced to the shonen-anime-villain Scars.

And he’s the sort of person who thinks, yeah, dying of a horrible curse in the woods would be bad, but you know what would be worse? That and bug bites. And he’s not … wrong, but it’s not something that anyone else in the series is going to think of. It’s such a normal worry in such an abnormal situation. It’s so grounded.

And it’s also … weirdly hopeful? I feel like a lot of people talk about this part of the manga like Reigen’s given up and is just marching to his death, but he really isn’t. Yes, he was willing to take on the curse to save Tome, and he’s well aware that he might die, but he’s still trying to get out of it with everything he’s got. He doesn’t have powers, but he’s really clever! He goes into a place with a time distortion effect in the hope that it will buy him more time! He manipulates the curse into turning around so that it gets attacked by the Mimic spirit but he doesn’t! If it had been a more even match between them like he’d hoped, he might have been able to get out of the woods even without Mob coming to save him.

He’s aware of the danger and how much the odds are stacked against him, but he hasn’t given up! And the bug spray feels indicative of this. He thinks he might succeed in getting rid of the curse. He thinks he might need to get out of the woods on his own. And if that happens, he’s going to be so happy about not getting covered in bug bites this time.