Welcome to my read-through of Chapter 162: Hot Spring and Choices in which I take a moment to reflect on all that has come before.

If you’re not caught up, please use this index here to do so. There are no spoilers past the current chapter.

Update: I have just hit a first lock on the cut of my film. Yippeeee. However, there is still work to be done. It’s going to be a lot less labor-intensive than the edit, so I should be back to weekly; however, sometimes it might be more. You know the game, at this point.

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Hot Spring and Choices Summary

An Offer

Towards the end of the evening, the boys are watching a raffle for a 60-inch TV with a Blu-ray player. Shujin narrowly misses getting it by 10 digits, and Saiko guesses that this signals the end of the evening.

As things wrap up, a somewhat portly man asks for Ashirogi after speaking with Nizuma. He’s Tanabe from ANN studios.

OH SHIT.

Tanabe lets the boys know that ANN is interested in making an anime of Reversi. WOOOOO.

The boys are ready to do it, but hold themselves together well enough to direct them to the Editor-In-Chief. Tanabe is aware of that, but he wanted to introduce himself. The boys thank him.

The boys get a commemorative gift for attending, but they can’t get over the real win: less than six months after their series started, they’re getting offers like this one.

Their assistants come up and thanks them for the experience. All of them found it valuable in one way or another. Orihara asks what’s up, but the boys downplay the huge news.

Ririka asks to be considered as a VA when they get animated. Shujin jokes about getting reservations for the show when it gets made.

On the train ride home, Kaya learns of the anime offer. Shujin reminds her that offers like that come early. They received offers for PCP, too. Saiko demands Kaya tell Miho nothing about this. Kaya thinks Reversi’s anime is a done deal, though. Shujin agrees. Make something good, and it will get animated.

Saiko, too, is confident that it will become a great anime someday.

Another Breather

The next day, Shujin hails Saiko over to look at Ririka’s voice acting bona fides. She’s already debuted but has only a few minor roles like student A. Saiko’s grumpy at being pulled away from drawing to look this shit up.

Shujin wants to know more about her (oh, what a sucker for a pretty face); she’s a rookie actress with a blog, too. She’s cute, too, so she may get popular in the future. Right now, she’s virtually unknown, though. Saiko sees it as a commonality between mangaka and seiyuu: even after you debut, you remain virtually unknown to the public

Shujin agrees: for a mangaka, they have to create a popular series, and a voice actor has to play a role approaching the main character (agree to disagree on that one); besides, the mangaka will get more recognition after an anime, TV drama, or movie.

Shujin’s still jittery and wired from the anime offer. Saiko remains cautious: they haven’t secured the deal, and they still have to focus on making the work the best it can be.

Shujin takes it in, then asks about Saiko’s upcoming break, an actual one, and the first time they’ve had the opportunity since they started making manga. Saiko can’t take two whole weeks off, but he’s going to take a break from the 30th to the 3rd. He won’t have anything to do, so he’ll likely work.

Shujin asks if he wants to go on a trip. Kaya and he are planning their first trip since their honeymoon. Saiko’s shocked and feels sorry for Kaya. The trip to Kinugawa was their last trip?

Shujin and Kaya want to go to the same hotel after four and a half years, and Kaya wants Saiko to come.

Wut.

Saiko thinks they should go alone and that he’ll be in their way. Shujin disagrees. Basically, they’re always together while at work, so it’d be strange for Saiko not to be there. It’s a company trip. Besides, Saiko has no plan.s

Not like he could message Miho like a normal person. Nope.

Saiko wants to make sure he’s not in their way. He’l be in a different room but Sjhujin thinksit’llbe more fun if hey all go together. Saiko agrees, and SHujin immediately calls Kaya to fill her in on the news.

Onsen Hijinks

On December 31st, Kinugawa, Saiko, and Shujin go to the hot springs to relax before their meal. Shujin acts like an old man and Saiko makes fun of him, but since he’s also tense as hell, he agrees.

Saiko is super relaxed, and Shujin chalks it up to all their hard work. If they went here all the time, it wouldn’t mean anything.

Shujin hopes out and gives Saiko a face full of dirty butt. Saiko is not amused.

(lol).

They have a feast prepared after their bath, and Kaya is already sloshed. She gives both of the boys a healthy dose of sake and thanks them, thanking Saiko for taking care of Shujin. Saiko resists: he can’t drink alcohol.

Kaya, drunk and furious, is ready to beat his ass for not getting shitfaced, so he drinks to appease her.

She then announces that they’re having their annual ping pong tournament. Shujin resists: it’s been five years. But drunk Kaya (god bless her) is going to beat his ass if they don’t play with her.

She fucking ANNIHILATES them with her pingpong skills.

Never change, Kaya.

The boys are freaked out by her freakish strength and she offers to play with her left hand. Shujin plans to retaliate, but Saiko feels the effects of the alcohol. The hotel manager comes to let them know that the area is closing, and Shujin takes his wife before she can chew into him.

Saiko praises the lord.

Kaya decides to drink in her room some more, much to Shujin’s alarm. Shujin promises to drink more. And Saiko is very very drunk. Kaya orders Saiko to remain awake so they can all watch the sun rise.

Shujin thinks they should watch the Kohaku. It’s two hours until the New Year’s.

One Minute to New Years

Saiko is out like a light as the final minute of the year comes to a close. Kaya wakes him up and then they all wish each other a happy new year. Saiko is thoroughly shitfaced but he gets up to text Miho happy New Year.

Kaya observes that he still messages Miho even though they’re with Kaya and SHujin. Shujin wonders if it’s another short message. Miho wrote a short happy new year and best wishes for both of us, again.

Kaya laughs it off: the two of them don’t seem nearly as weird as she used to.

They stand on the balcony of their room, dead tired, waiting for sunrise, and Kaya asks if they really need to. Shujin is sure of it.

At that moment, the sun begins to rise.

Kaya wishes for a good year; Shujin wants Reversi to become an even greater hit. They wonder if Saiko has any wishes. Saiko wonders if that’s a thing: making wishes on the first rising sun of the year. Isn’t that a shrine visit thing?

Apparently, people make wishes on it.

Saiko prays that they can all be happy like this forever.

Aww.

Kaya thinks if Saiko weren’t taken she’d be trying to nab him. Shujin believes she’s still drunk with that audacity; nah, she ain’t drunk anymore. They all laugh. But Kaya, Tearing up, is glad that Saiko came with them. Shujin doesn’t understand why she’s crying; Saiko thinks she’s a crying drunk. She’s just super happy, and it feels so lovely.

We’re on the same page, Kaya *sniffle*

Saiko thanks the two for inviting him. It’s the best New Year’s he’s ever had. Kaya thinks they should come again sometime.

Kaya thinks Miho will come next time. They’ll all be close family friends by then. Their kids, too. Shujin offers to give it a try tonight. Whoo boy. Kaya slaps him for that remark. And they all decide they need to get some sleep.

Eight and a half Years

Saiko sets up his futon with two places and thinks about MIho. Shujin knocks on Saiko’s door. Shujin wants to talk with Saiko a bit. Shujin’s wide awake. Saiko was planning to sleep, and Shujin offered to sleep in his room. Weird. Shujin asks about the two pillows and Saiko gets embarrassed.

Shujin reminisces: they slept under the same roof every day during the summer break of their third year in middle school.

Saiko remembers. He’s getting a flood of nostalgia, and we get some of the more intense art of the early chapters, too. Feels like yesterday.

Shujin notes they’ve been working without taking ga break for the whole time. Eight and a half years. It’s gone so fast, and they’ve been through hardship, but it’s all been fun at the end of the day. Saiko thinks they’d be selfish after getting serialized so many times if they weren’t enjoying themselves.

They’ve got luck. Saiko chalks it up to luck in three qualifications: conceit, hard work, and luck.

Siako thinks meeting SHujin was the luckiest thing that ever happened to him. Shujin agrees on that point.

Awwwwwwwwww

Saiko thinks SHujin would be in a very similar place regardless since he already wanted to be a manga writer back then. Shujin doesn’t deny it.

Saiko, by contrast, had no future in mind. He wasn’t interested in anything, so he would have lived without a dream or ever thinking about Miho. Shujin believes most people find dreams, though.

He agrees, although he thinks he would never have had a crazy dream of becoming the greatest manga artist in Japan or marrying Miho. This year, though, that may change. It’s almost within reach with Reversi.

Shujin doesn’t think that’s the finish line. They’re ought to move toward an even greater goal after fulfilling that dream. Saiko is glad to have met an optimist like Shujin. That’s part of luck though, right? Meeting the right people? Hattori, Eiji, Shujin, it’s all luck.

Shujin asks if he can be a snob for a moment: Saiko tells him to let it rip. They’re on vacation.

Shujin thinks life and manga are the same. Saio thinks that is snobby. What does it mean?

He explains that you have a limited time for both. A week for manga, and a lifetime for life. You have to do what you can in that amount of time.

And that’s why you can’t cut corners for both your life and for manga. If you want to do good, you need to have conceit, luck, and most important of all.

Hard work.

Saiko agrees with him completely. Not to mention willpower, stamina, and, of course, guts. They promise to have a trip again next year with Miho with them. That’s their next goal. One, they’re both pumped for. Neither feels like resting until the 3rd.

Is it Happening?!

On Monday, January 8th – despite still being on break – the boys, now fired up from their trip, return to Hattori with their latest draft. They don’t want to rest too much and get sick.

Hattori gives them some good news; Reversi’s second volume came out on the 4th and has already gone to reprint. Plus 500k copies of the first volume have been published.

They ask about Zombie-gun; hasn’t it gotten a second printing yet? Nope. Reversi has the momentum in this case.

Hattori reminds them they’re playing the long game. But if it continues selling at this rate, they’ll catch up with Zombie. The boys are thrilled to hear their predictions are true, and they need to keep going the way they have.

Hattori brings down the mood a bit: Zombie gun got first in the survey for both of the double issues. The boys take it personally: they can’t have everything. Hattori thinks they’re fine.

Meanwhile, at Shueisha, Aida and Not-Nakano are discussing which series will replace Crow at the end of the summer. What are they going to choose? Or are they going to choose?

Heishi thinks there isn’t much to debate: it’s going to be one of two choices.

Reversi or Zombie-Gun.

HERE WE FUCKING GO

On that hype note, the chapter ends.

Hot Spring and Choices Reaction

Loved It

So yeah, look, I just did the whole spiel on breather chapters last chapter – and I’m not going to lie, this was pushing it a skosh with having a second breather chapter follow a breather chapter just before. But I’m going to give it a pass because I’m also a sucker for a very specific type of late-stage chapter that we are now getting sub-20 chapters away from the conclusion.

The fond lookback on how far we’ve come in the story as we approach the climax.

I feel like these types of characters are usually beloved because they’re easily the best at manipulating the audience to feel strong emotions. They sit at this nice interstitial place emotionally: On the one hand, there is an underlying sense of buildup to something big as we get to the moment where the final battle concludes and we get some drama.

But also there is this immediate feeling of weight that comes from recognizing the significance and length of the journey we’ve been on.

It’s simultaneously nostalgic, sad, but also hopeful. It doesn’t hurt that this is a bit of a victory lap for the boys who finally, after close to a decade, have finally gotten a real break.

But let’s talk about a few things that more or less signal we’re wrapping things up:

Saiko’s Caution

This is actually a great symptom of being in the final battle, especially in the series. While there is nothing wrong with enthusiasm and the idea that you are going to win – or as this chapter calls it “conceit”, there is also a lot of strength in knowing when to rein things in and keep your eyes on the prize.

There is a poem in the Tao Te Ching I’ve held close for a long time: a sage always walks as if they are walking on thin ice. And that’s the mentality I’ve found suits me best in the real world. There is a difference between being confident in your abilities and confidence in an outcome. Hubris is the second one. That and thinking you’re like a god.

Now that’s not to say that you shouldn’t approach life with the notion that you are going to be able to succeed (more on that in a bit), but you should never rest on your laurels. You always treat the ending as just out of reach and that you have to keep your eyes on the prize.

I cannto tell you how many times I got complacent as I made progress, only to move two steps backward.

But as my film has taught me – among other bigger events under the surface – to survive creatively, one needs conceit more than I’ve usually stated.

Making my film this year has been a huge gamble – it still is, althouhg it’s wrapping up post now – we have to get into festivals. We have to finish every element of post-production. Find ways to promote it. For a short, these questions are complicated. And there is always the possibility of failure.

But as I was going through the production of my film in July, conceit – that self-belief that borders on delusional – that this work is important, that people will want to watch it, and that we have to do a good job and not cower away from challenges, helped it get across the finish line. And it’s going to carry it once it’s finally released.

And Saiko has learned this the hard way several times over, so it makes sense that here, he doesn’t want to get his hopes up only to have them dashed by overconfidence.

But also there’s an aura of “we’ve hit the mountaintop” type vibe that feels both like “We have actually done it, our work has paid off” but also “oh god, what’s going to happen next?”

Oh God, what’s going to happen next?

Given the brackets of this chapter – at the party with the ANN guy (sorry, Saiko’s friend Yamashita, I guess you are just an acquaintance) and the final moment with Heishi, the anime is actively being considered in a way that PCP wasn’t. And if the story greenlights the manga, then the story is also basically over.

Well, not quite, I guess, but we have been told: Saiko gets anime, Miho gets VA role, and they get married. That is the end of the story. So once the story gives them the anime, they are done.

And we still have…shit, 14 chapters. So we have over one whole volume of content left. It’s not going to be that easy.

My current guess is that they’re going to find some weird technicality to avoid choosing Reversi as an anime. Or Heishi is going to go with Zombie-gun because it has more potential.

But I do also feel like it’s very possible we’re going to get the Reversi anime since at this point the narrative is basically just lining up its ducks in a row to take them all out.

But either way, there is a tension of “things are so good I have to imagine that something is going to go wrong”, especially with Saiko’s wish since, y’know, that’s a famous death flag in storytelling.

But honestly, I’m less inclined to believe that that’s the road the story is going to take at this point because:

We really are at the end

And I think this chapter kind of encapsulates the joyous energy of a series heading into its conclusion when it’s not a mainstream battle series.

Unlike a series like My Hero Academia or Demon Slayer, where everyone is literally fighting for their lives, non-mainstream battle series usually have a more chill-out ending structure because the majority of fighting, which happens off-screen, builds to something that stabilizes progressively.

It reminds me of Kaguya-Sama, which has a really intense final arc, followed by a victory lap for the characters. Or Haikyuu, where the final arc is less about who is going to win, and more of a recognition of how far the characters have come.

And this chapter was very much that reminiscence about how far they’ve come.

I particularly liked the use of some of those early panels from the series because it’s so weird seeing just how different he art style was for Obata coming right off of Death Note.

Even though I didn’t question it at the time, as the series has gotten lighter with the screentone – and streamlined the character designs of its main characters – and leaned more into the humor, it’s easy to forget how intense those first few chapters were in execution and how over the top they were.

Whcih, to be clear, works in its favor.Which

But it’s also a reminder that things have changed so significantly.

But that also extends to how relaxed the boys are in this chapter.

Real Confidence, and real Love

This whole chapter was kind of cheesecake for the Kaya being the most adorablest lil’ drunk on the planet and the only time I’ll ever see what amounts to a polycule in a manga that doesn’t make a gag of it. Or isn’t a straight romance.

But it’s so cute that Kaya considers Saiko an unofficial part of their marriage to the point where she invites him on trips. It’s also just cute seeing Saiko lighten up about things because he’s at a point where he can afford to do so.

And mostly it’s an opportunity for Shujin and Saiko to express their real affection for each other. How they’ve found purpose in each other’s work and life, and how they find what they are missing from themselves in each other.

It’s beautiful, man.

And that’s what really keeps this chapter from being boring. Because it’s really about resting and taking it easy, and relishing all that they’ve worked for.

To Get Personal

Yeah, it’s also making me think about this blog. Which I didn’t realize would be so labor-intensive, or would take 6 years. I thought I would finish it fast.

And even though it’s a fairly light-hearted read-through, it’s had its fair share of behind-the-scenes stress and time.

But over the last 6 years, I have changed dramatically.

When I started this series, I was just in the beginning of my shonen transformation. I was still 240 pounds, and I spent all my time alone. And over the last 6 years, I have been steadily changing that. Writing screenplays, drawing, dating, going out, and living life.

It has been difficult many times – sometimes almost insurmountably so – but I keep going forward.

And my film career, though nascent is growing. I’ve learned that I’m pretty well suited to directing and i’m good at it.

But also, music has been taking as much time as directing and writing. Its even more embryonic as a craft than film, but it’s growing. I’m going to explore it, too. And whatever arts I may find that arouse my passion. I’m building a career, slowly, but surely. I have areas of focus, but I contain multitudes.

And I feel like i’m getting there.

I’m working on my craft with dedication and focus, and still producing other art and getting closer to my dreams bit by bit with each passing moment.

I am definitely nowhere close to where the boys are. But I feel it getting closer each moment. And it feels like w’ere on the sme, but different trajectories.

And for the last few years, I had a creative and emotional slump. Not that I lacked for productivity, but I’ve not had my shonen spark in the same way. I’ve just been doing things to do things.

But now that spark has returned. I’m pumped about what I’m doing. And I’m aiming for the top.

Shujin’s speech about conceit, hard work, and luck really hit home. I’ve had the hard work part, and the will power, and stamina, but I’ve never had the guts, the conceit, and the luck. It has been a slow transition.

But now I feel invigorated to be conceited about how good I am at things. I am allowed to dream big and pursue what feels impossible. Because I am enough to handle those things. Even in the face of uncertainty and scars from my past. Self-inflicted and otherwise.

I am ready.

So this chapter really reinforced that feeling internally. I need to have huge dreams. Be ambitious and keep going forward. It was really sweet.

And as always, it’s been a pleasure reading with you. I’ve heard from a few people over the course of this read-through and I’ve always appreciated these minor connections. They remind me that there are people out there reading these things. That I’m not shouting into the void.

Back to the chapter

The Anime?

So yeah, aside from the cute shenanigans at the hotel. The only other things worth talking about are Saiko and Shujin not having a break in almost a decade (jesus); Kaya’s happiness, which was absolutely adorable; and the anime.

Oh yeah. That thing.

We already talked about it during this read-through. But honestly. It’s hard for me to believe that they’re actually going to get it just yet. What that means, I don’t know. But I don’t think it’s going to happen just yet.

Otherwise, this was just a lovely, meditative chapter, where we had the opportunity to breathe and take in the fact: Ashirogi have done everyhting ot get where they are, they can afford to coast.

And that was another great thing: they did’ have to do anything to beat Eiji. Just had to take it easy. That’s a nice message. One I’m increasingly learning to do.

Sometimes, the best thing to do is nothing at all.

So go chilll, my lovelies.

Until next time,

Peace