I had this random thought, remember how during the mixed training camp and volume 7.5, there was this whole plot with Ayanokoji and Asahina regarding "fate" or "destiny". Well fast forward to the latest novels now, nothing happened with that. Asahina graduates with nothing going on with her & Ayanokoji.
I'm 100% sure the entire plot line was abandoned. Which got me thinking, are there any other abandoned plot lines in COTE? Let me know if any come to your mind, I'm actually interested in digging some of these up.
I've been reading through a lot of COTE recently and it's crazy how some of the old theories that we had about Ayanokoji in like the first few volumes are basically confirmed in the second year.
1) Like take the example of Ayanokoji faking his personality for the first 3 volumes. Lots of people doubted this one even pointing out to an interview by the author saying he didn't know what to do with Ayanokoji in the earlier volumes. But just in year 2 volume 1 we get Ayanokoji saying -
"One such disadvantage was that I didn’t know what it meant to be a
‘student’. Such a thing had never been taught to us back in the White Room, as they never intended for us to attend school in the first place.
That was why, in the beginning, I arbitrarily decided to create a character
and use it to put on an act.
I tried all sorts of things, like changing the tone of my voice or being
more talkative than I normally was.
I took on the role of a slightly impertinent student who looked at the
world a little bit differently. Though… in the end, the acting began to feel tedious and unsustainable, so I eventually reverted back to my true self.
I had come to realize that, even if I didn’t hide my true self, I could still
live on as a student. However, the person who had been sent to infiltrate the school was different." (pg. 239)
“It seems that you, on the other hand, had to go through quite a lot of
trouble when you first came here. Between your speech, attitude, way of thinking, and even how you chose to spend your time, you were highly unnatural in all respects.”
“The image of what an ordinary high school student should be like was
something I had to come up with on my own after all.” (pg. 318)
2) The idea that Ayanokoji did have emotions and did try to feel them in the beginning of Year 1 -
"If this is true, it explains why it is not difficult to understand why she
can make emotional expressions. In my case, I can play specific acting roles for a short period. However, it was difficult to break the habit of living without emotion most of the time." (Y2V4, pg. 28)
This line basically proved the theory we had from the beginning stretching up to Y1V7. That his natural mode was to suppress his emotions given the training he received in the WR.
It did not mean he didn't have them but rather he suppressed them because that's what was needed to survive, that was his natural mode, that is what he's used to.
3) There's a reason I haven't really given my opinions all too much on the latest few volumes of the second year, it's because IMO compared to year 1, Y2 is pretty unexplored. Like I have a surface level reading of it sure, but all the hidden plots and characterizations I've barely began to scratch.
But I think I'm starting to get it. In fact IMO this following line is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle and gives us a ton of clues on how to approach the second year, especially if you combine it with what we learned in volume 0 -
‘That man’ and I had always been similar.
As long as we could protect ourselves, our own existence, it didn’t matter what happened to others. And neither of us believed in casually revealing our true nature to outsiders.
However, despite our similarities, there was still a key
difference. It all came down to whether or not we’d choose to discard the ignorant who stand in our way. That is, whether or not we were even capable of extending our hands.
Extending his hand to an ignorant person was something
‘that man’ would absolutely never do, and that was the
decisive difference between us. (Y2V3, pg. 403)
And if you combine that with
“You have nothing to feel ashamed of. You simply tried
your best to avenge your friend. But there’s a reason I can’t
lose to you, since I believe that staying here at this school is
the only way I have of going against ‘that man’, my father.” (Y2V3, pg. 404)
You start to get a solid picture of how Ayanokoji's motivations shifted after his conversation with Manabu and what "leaving his mark" meant.
And if you read Y2V5 and then combine that with these lines you can start to see the reason some of the crazy events in the latter of Y2 take place. Honestly I don't have a crystal clear picture yet since I'm still piecing it together, but without a doubt there's something here.
Definitely will make videos on this when it's more concrete for me, but couldn't hold in the urge to share cause I find all of this so interesting lol
I've been going through a lot of the Y2 manga for the new video I'm working on & I'm so impressed with the art man. Like this is all beautiful, IF Hirata looks like this, I can see why girls are thirsting for him lol
I really enjoy Ayanokoji's character so over the years I wondered what a story would look like if it had a female lead like Ayanokoji. And without a doubt Maomao is the closest thing I've ever found.
Both of them had a bad childhood that forced them to emotionally detach from others and think of the world in a very logical black & white way. Both of them are incredibly smart. Both of them have an insane thirst for knowledge and innate curiosity. Both of them have abilities and talents that no one else around them has. Both of them like to help others, they don't know why, but they know they just want to and both come to grips with why later on. Both of them can't help but look at human relationships from a transactional lens given their life experience and what they've been through (though Ayanokoji does it a more extreme degree).
And when you read their monologues, both of them are very similar in the way they reason through problems. I picked up Apothecary Diaries last year and the first thing that went through my mind was like "holy shit this reminds me of COTE". Even the way they talk and think are very similar IMO.
And lastly, both of them can be ABSOLUTE savages when the need arises. And both series also show off puzzles that you can solve individually and once you solve those individual puzzles they add up into a massive puzzle. Also both characters are put into a world that is completely foreign where they have to use their intelligence to navigate the world.
If you like COTE, especially the characterization and writing that I covered in my summaries, I have no doubt you'll like Apothecary diaries. Maomao is an absolute queen.
Saadisfy
Saadisfy
The stage for S4 is confirmed at MF Bunko J Autumn School Festival on the 16th. So we'll probably get a full on trailer and the release date.
Looking at how season 3 went down, we got the trailer in November and anime in January, so we might actually get S4 early next year, even in Jan.
Link to the official tweet here - x.com/youkosozitsu/status/1965701781544943786
1 week ago | [YT] | 205
View 18 replies
Saadisfy
I know there's no official release date, but if you had to guess when do you think season 4 is going to air?
My money's on maybe halfway next year.
3 weeks ago | [YT] | 404
View 82 replies
Saadisfy
I had this random thought, remember how during the mixed training camp and volume 7.5, there was this whole plot with Ayanokoji and Asahina regarding "fate" or "destiny". Well fast forward to the latest novels now, nothing happened with that. Asahina graduates with nothing going on with her & Ayanokoji.
I'm 100% sure the entire plot line was abandoned. Which got me thinking, are there any other abandoned plot lines in COTE? Let me know if any come to your mind, I'm actually interested in digging some of these up.
2 months ago | [YT] | 517
View 88 replies
Saadisfy
I've been reading through a lot of COTE recently and it's crazy how some of the old theories that we had about Ayanokoji in like the first few volumes are basically confirmed in the second year.
1) Like take the example of Ayanokoji faking his personality for the first 3 volumes. Lots of people doubted this one even pointing out to an interview by the author saying he didn't know what to do with Ayanokoji in the earlier volumes. But just in year 2 volume 1 we get Ayanokoji saying -
"One such disadvantage was that I didn’t know what it meant to be a ‘student’. Such a thing had never been taught to us back in the White Room, as they never intended for us to attend school in the first place.
That was why, in the beginning, I arbitrarily decided to create a character and use it to put on an act.
I tried all sorts of things, like changing the tone of my voice or being more talkative than I normally was.
I took on the role of a slightly impertinent student who looked at the world a little bit differently. Though… in the end, the acting began to feel tedious and unsustainable, so I eventually reverted back to my true self.
I had come to realize that, even if I didn’t hide my true self, I could still live on as a student. However, the person who had been sent to infiltrate the school was different." (pg. 239)
“It seems that you, on the other hand, had to go through quite a lot of trouble when you first came here. Between your speech, attitude, way of thinking, and even how you chose to spend your time, you were highly unnatural in all respects.”
“The image of what an ordinary high school student should be like was something I had to come up with on my own after all.” (pg. 318)
2) The idea that Ayanokoji did have emotions and did try to feel them in the beginning of Year 1 -
"If this is true, it explains why it is not difficult to understand why she can make emotional expressions. In my case, I can play specific acting roles for a short period. However, it was difficult to break the habit of living without emotion most of the time." (Y2V4, pg. 28)
This line basically proved the theory we had from the beginning stretching up to Y1V7. That his natural mode was to suppress his emotions given the training he received in the WR.
It did not mean he didn't have them but rather he suppressed them because that's what was needed to survive, that was his natural mode, that is what he's used to.
3) There's a reason I haven't really given my opinions all too much on the latest few volumes of the second year, it's because IMO compared to year 1, Y2 is pretty unexplored. Like I have a surface level reading of it sure, but all the hidden plots and characterizations I've barely began to scratch.
But I think I'm starting to get it. In fact IMO this following line is one of the most important pieces to the puzzle and gives us a ton of clues on how to approach the second year, especially if you combine it with what we learned in volume 0 -
‘That man’ and I had always been similar. As long as we could protect ourselves, our own existence, it didn’t matter what happened to others. And neither of us believed in casually revealing our true nature to outsiders.
However, despite our similarities, there was still a key difference. It all came down to whether or not we’d choose to discard the ignorant who stand in our way. That is, whether or not we were even capable of extending our hands.
Extending his hand to an ignorant person was something ‘that man’ would absolutely never do, and that was the
decisive difference between us. (Y2V3, pg. 403)
And if you combine that with
“You have nothing to feel ashamed of. You simply tried your best to avenge your friend. But there’s a reason I can’t
lose to you, since I believe that staying here at this school is the only way I have of going against ‘that man’, my father.” (Y2V3, pg. 404)
You start to get a solid picture of how Ayanokoji's motivations shifted after his conversation with Manabu and what "leaving his mark" meant.
And if you read Y2V5 and then combine that with these lines you can start to see the reason some of the crazy events in the latter of Y2 take place. Honestly I don't have a crystal clear picture yet since I'm still piecing it together, but without a doubt there's something here.
Definitely will make videos on this when it's more concrete for me, but couldn't hold in the urge to share cause I find all of this so interesting lol
Pic credit - @sally_shike
3 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 818
View 96 replies
Saadisfy
This one is really cute
Source - www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/118769363
3 months ago | [YT] | 676
View 26 replies
Saadisfy
I've been going through a lot of the Y2 manga for the new video I'm working on & I'm so impressed with the art man. Like this is all beautiful, IF Hirata looks like this, I can see why girls are thirsting for him lol
4 months ago | [YT] | 504
View 32 replies
Saadisfy
So cute
Source: www.pixiv.net/en/artworks/129445968
4 months ago | [YT] | 464
View 18 replies
Saadisfy
I really enjoy Ayanokoji's character so over the years I wondered what a story would look like if it had a female lead like Ayanokoji. And without a doubt Maomao is the closest thing I've ever found.
Both of them had a bad childhood that forced them to emotionally detach from others and think of the world in a very logical black & white way. Both of them are incredibly smart. Both of them have an insane thirst for knowledge and innate curiosity. Both of them have abilities and talents that no one else around them has. Both of them like to help others, they don't know why, but they know they just want to and both come to grips with why later on. Both of them can't help but look at human relationships from a transactional lens given their life experience and what they've been through (though Ayanokoji does it a more extreme degree).
And when you read their monologues, both of them are very similar in the way they reason through problems. I picked up Apothecary Diaries last year and the first thing that went through my mind was like "holy shit this reminds me of COTE". Even the way they talk and think are very similar IMO.
And lastly, both of them can be ABSOLUTE savages when the need arises. And both series also show off puzzles that you can solve individually and once you solve those individual puzzles they add up into a massive puzzle. Also both characters are put into a world that is completely foreign where they have to use their intelligence to navigate the world.
If you like COTE, especially the characterization and writing that I covered in my summaries, I have no doubt you'll like Apothecary diaries. Maomao is an absolute queen.
I also made some videos on it some time back they're all here - youtube.com/@saadcorner
4 months ago (edited) | [YT] | 337
View 31 replies
Saadisfy
Always loved the cover for the first year guidebook, it goes so hard
4 months ago | [YT] | 555
View 32 replies
Saadisfy
Y2 manga has to be the biggest glowup for Koji's design after the tragedy we got that is the Y1 manga
4 months ago | [YT] | 416
View 34 replies
Load more