The primary picture of Blue Flag’s third quantity, offered earlier than we even get to its opening chapter, is of Taichi and Touma enjoying fortunately as associates, captioned with “Collectively as kids regardless of the variations of their pursuits.” It’s a second that captures a terrific deal about Blue Flag – the manga’s veneration of the incidental, deeply particular moments that survive in reminiscence and in the end form our notion of our personal life, in addition to its indifference to the superficial markers of alleged kinship or similarity that outline so many adolescent relationships. No frequent curiosity might equal the bond of shared expertise and sympathy connecting Taichi and Touma. The people who find themselves most necessary to us should not essentially the people who find themselves most like ourselves – they’re those that inform and broaden our understanding of each ourselves and others, securing their place amongst these dazzling incidental fragments that embody our life looking back.
After which, after all, there’s KAITO’s meticulous, ever-purposeful paneling. The primary web page of the amount correct demonstrates KAITO as soon as once more in positive kind, reveling within the particular specialties of comedian storytelling. The reveal of Touma’s damaged leg to the remainder of his classmates is offered as an awesome intrusion on actuality – the leg’s sling breaching the panel above, each creating a way of disruption within the pure order and guiding us in direction of the main target level of the subsequent panel. After which there’s that huge panel itself; excessive foreshortening combines with the pure traces of Touma’s physique and the angled gutter above, all supposed to attract the attention in direction of that leg in a forged, making it as inescapable and all-consuming for us as it’s for the classmates revealed under.
A lot is conveyed with out phrases right here, like Taichi’s silent accumulation of guilt as one customer after one other stops in with Touma, every providing their very own distinct condolences, every burdening him with their unfulfilled hopes and wishes. Taichi’s forehead lowers with every unstated condemnation, watching Touma embody energy and indifference for the sake of everybody else, calmly consoling his teammates and would-be girlfriend though he’s the one who’s truly damage. The sequence is a microcosm of the characters’ fears – Touma boldly striding ahead into maturity, embodying maturity as he says goodbye to his childhood desires, whereas Taichi and Futaba linger by the door, Taichi too shameful and unsure to consolation his pal, Futaba too hesitant to consolation Taichi in flip.
It falls to Taichi’s previous pal to ask Futaba for assist, providing the phrases that Taichi by no means might. How might Taichi make this example about himself, when Touma’s the one who’s struggling, Touma the one who sacrificed his final probability at baseball glory? After all, we are able to’t truly management our sense of damage at occasions like this, and Taichi has completely comprehensible causes to really feel unhealthy about himself. It’s a irritating reality of life that lots of our ugliest, most uncharitable emotions about ourselves carry with them an inherent implication that we deserve to really feel this fashion, and that any efforts to hunt assist in overcoming them would solely incriminate us additional.
Luckily, that’s not the best way Touma sees it. As Taichi apologizes for his alleged crime, Touma fires again “that kind of dream or no matter doesn’t evaluate to a life. Nothing is extra necessary than you!” His declaration is virtually a confession, so direct that Touma himself realizes he’s overstepped each their consolation zones, as depicted by his fiercely narrowed, conviction-filled eyes widening after what he stated. However extra usually, Touma’s phrases reveal the huge divergence of their views on each one another and the character of a life’s journey.
Taichi sees himself as an individual of little worth, as a result of he tends to assemble worth externally, seeing others as noteworthy due to what they accomplish in athletic or scholastic arenas. Touma sees issues very in another way – persons are “invaluable” in his thoughts as a result of they’re part of his life, a portion of his pleasure with desires and passions of their very own, no matter how “distinctive” these passions could also be. Touma sees in Taichi his personal hope of a cheerful future; in distinction, Taichi sees nothing in himself, as a result of he can’t admire the kindness, concern, and allure that he exudes always, the consideration he takes as a right as simply “how an individual must be.”
Taichi sees an individual’s worth as outlined by exterior metrics of success, which is why he sees Touma as unreachable, and why he’s so determined to assist Futaba not be like himself. However Touma simply needs to be round folks he loves; that is what’s most respected to him, not infantile desires of turning into a star on the mound. He has been blessed with studying early that life just isn’t a collection of medals to be gained – it’s a assortment of moments just like the the one which opens this quantity, and the good process of life is to make sure your reminiscences are well-furnished with moments resembling that.
Having gone too far in declaring Taichi an important factor in his life, Touma makes an attempt to reassert normalcy by asking “we’re finest associates, proper?” This pair of panels and the house between them are devastating – Touma anxious but hopeful, determined to reclaim his most necessary relationship, and Taichi mired in remorse, hating himself for having one way or the other preempted Touma’s treasured dream. The large hole between these panels emphasizes the emotional distance between them, the phrase balloons of Touma’s query standing as a tentative try to bridge that hole, a ship crusing from one notion to a different. This gulf in perspective is embodied by Taichi’s closing phrases, as he mutters that he’s “not value that a lot.” Attributable to his skewed notion of non-public worth and deeply seeded self-hatred, Taichi can’t see in himself the worth that Touma sees.
The arrival of Touma’s brother Seiya gives recent alternatives for KAITO’s mastery to shine. Right here, the angled panels mix with the twisting of Seiya’s neck to evoke a way of furtive, circuitous movement as Futaba exits the scene, her anxious vitality virtually spinning Seiya in a circle as he returns to Taichi. In distinction, Seiya’s bigger kind in every of those panels conveys his sturdy presence and clear private confidence, as a person who takes heart stage wherever he could also be. KAITO is remarkably good at not simply conveying particular person character dynamics, but additionally articulating the aura of characters in house, the best way sure folks appear to both dominate their atmosphere or wilt into the background.
And naturally, this extends to the distinctive methods characters see one another, as effectively. After a number of pages of Taichi being overwhelmed by reminiscences, classes, and that overwhelming sense of guilt, the filter of recollection and jumble of disorderly, intently stacked panels offers method to a web page of pure white, as he sees Futaba ready on the subway bench. By this distinction in paneling, KAITO demonstrates how an surprising sight can truly clear our minds, can sprint our preoccupations and allow us to dwell freely within the present second as soon as once more. Each mangaka defines their very own visible language, however one thing like “the silence of an unlimited white web page” is pretty common, whether or not it’s utilized to the isolating silence of Futaba’s anxiousness from the second quantity, or the releasing silence of this second right here.
Realizing Taichi wants a break from all of the self-hatred, Futaba invitations him out to a neighborhood park heart, solely to study the park is already closed. This disappointment is relayed by one other playful flourish of paneling, utilizing the bars as seen by a perspective shot to additional emphasize the failure of Futaba’s hopes for his or her outing. It matches with this manga’s normal embracing of the unvarnished actuality of interpersonal relations; nobody ever will get the “good alternative” to get nearer with another person, all of us simply do one of the best we are able to with the possibilities we’re afforded. A undeniable fact that performs into Blue Flag’s bigger themes of embracing life’s alternatives, of turning into greater than a bystander in your personal life. Our possibilities to grab the day will at all times be imperfect, however we should seize them nonetheless.
When Taichi asks why Futaba selected this place, she replies that “it appears like time flows peacefully right here.” It’s an offhand comment that appears to embody the brightest hopes of Blue Flag – that these tempestuous storms of identity-finding and disgrace will go, and that the characters will finally discover a place the place they’re pleased to get up as themselves each morning, and to benefit from the time passing with out worry of lacking out on a greater life. We don’t want glory or perfection to be pleased; all we want is a spot the place time flows peacefully, the place we are able to fortunately be ourselves in addition to people who find themselves pleased to be beside us.
Their dialog embodies one other key aspect of Blue Flag’s visible vocabulary: the purposeful interaction of sunshine and shadow. KAITO portrays moments of both emotional aid or fond recollection as virtually pure white, as if the reminiscences are shining so brightly you may’t even see the darker particulars. However as Taichi falls into self-recrimination, a black miasma begins to waft throughout the panels, steadily consuming his pleasure and main him again to anxiousness and self-hatred. This distinction embodies an unlucky fact of reminiscence and self-reflection; our psychological impression of occasions is at all times filtered by our present perspective, with moments of happiness turning into all of the extra pure and delightful looking back, whereas moments of disappointment turn out to be nothing however unhappy as effectively. We’re very unhealthy at appreciating the emotional complexity of our previous experiences looking back, and very good at coloring them totally in a single shade or one other, which makes all of it the simpler to then unflatteringly evaluate our present emotions to our previous glories.
Taichi’s perspective is relatably self-destructive. He doesn’t need to be pitied or nervous about, as a result of he sees himself because the perpetrator of a criminal offense towards Touma. Because of this, he lashes out towards the folks making an attempt to consolation him, as a result of their comforting solely makes him really feel worse about his actions. And naturally, that very act of lashing out additionally makes him really feel worse, since he appears like a foul individual for being merciless to the individuals who care about him. He doesn’t need to be cared about proper now – he needs to be alone, struggling for his crimes in a method that for as soon as doesn’t contain the struggling of others. Everybody making an effort to assist him is just recreating the unique “crime,” in his thoughts – which once more, in the end comes right down to him not seeing himself as worthy of concern.
Locked on this damaging cycle, Taichi tries his finest to shove Futaba away, however is luckily simply not superb at being unkind. His finest efforts solely quantity to “it’s not possible so that you can like Touma and me equally,” which is clearly a lie, and a reasonably toothless problem at that. Blue Flag refuses to embrace canned misunderstandings or out-of-character explosions with a purpose to justify its drama; human beings are a lot difficult and fascinating sufficient already, in case you’re keen to really pay shut consideration to what makes us dream, cry, or fall in love with one another. Blue Flag’s nuance of characterization and interplay means its story can really feel anthemic with none melodrama; it’s embedded in the true substance of imperfect human interactions, and that substance is worthy of sonorous articulation.
Refusing to be pushed away, Futaba is portrayed as the sunshine itself, drawing Taichi out of his self-hatred and even briefly bleaching his hair, in order to raised emphasize the glow she casts on the folks round her. Dragging him from a sudden rainstorm to a close-by shelter, the 2 share an ideal second the place no phrases might suffice, and no phrases are vital. Futaba clinging to his hand as they wait out the rain, decided to point out she cares about him, now not caring if she will verbally persuade him of how she feels. One hand in one other, a second that sticks in reminiscence, right here remoted by the dearth of any background artwork behind these hand-focused panels. In a second like that, nothing else exists.
After all, KAITO’s cautious presentation can elevate cruelty simply in addition to consolation. Our return to Touma’s perspective opens with a vicious juxtaposition, as we hear an announcer detailing the continued drama of the legendary Koshien highschool baseball event, with a collection of panels shifting from the open sky, to the scene as considered by a tv, to Touma mendacity helplessly in his hospital mattress, his face unreadable however neck muscular tissues clenched. The development of panels is sort of a miniature reprise of Touma’s one-time dream drifting out of attain – it ought to have been him staring up from the stadium at that staggering blue sky, however as an alternative he’s imprisoned right here, not even able to strolling himself into the stadium seats. By these panels, the fundamental strategy of progressively zoomed-in establishing photographs are remodeled into an articulation of a dream destroyed.
Our leads are nonetheless struggling a disconnection of intent as Taichi arrives at Touma’s room, revealing that Touma requested that he alone come to observe the baseball sport. Taichi believes this can be a portion of his punishment – that Touma is demanding he bear witness to what Taichi stole from him, and really feel all of the extra totally the accountability and remorse he ought to be feeling for destroying Touma’s dream. Clearly, Touma would by no means assume that method; in all chance, he needs Taichi right here as a result of Taichi is his pillar of energy, and he’s undecided he might bear to observe this sport all by himself. We are able to by no means know what we imply to one another until we attempt to really talk our emotions, and in highschool, with the dissolving certainty of childhood assembly the profound anxiousness of setting up a mature self, it’s all the tougher to know what others need or imply.
To beat that disconnect, to rekindle what you as soon as held treasured whereas shifting ahead in direction of a more moderen, happier you, is a troublesome and infrequently lonely course of. However in case you’re courageous, in case you’re sort, and in case you keep in mind what you care about most, it’s at all times doable to succeed in out. As Taichi stews in his emotions of guilt and remorse, determined to say the fitting factor but unsure what that factor is perhaps, Touma reaches out as soon as extra, asking for Taichi to carry his hand by the ninth inning. He admits he’s scared, and that Taichi’s presence has at all times been his consolation in occasions like this. He acknowledges he wants his finest pal now, greater than the rest on the planet.
Taichi’s thoughts floods with all of the folks he thought had each proper to evaluate and to hate him, all the explanations he invented to hate himself. However none of his companions had been like that – none of them blamed him, none of them noticed in him the disgust he felt in direction of himself. In truth, they really tried to consolation him, identical to Futaba did. They noticed his happiness as worthy and invaluable, even after the errors he’d made, even regardless of the gap between them. And in that second, he’s flooded with not disgrace, however gratitude – a deep, honest love for all of the folks in his life, and a want to repay the religion and kindness they’ve instilled in him.
In that second, Taichi grows up in a small however essential method, seeing himself not as a burden to these round him, however as a bearer of their hopes and generosity who should repay that hope in sort. He begins to see the judgment of others not as a burden or prison sentence, however as a mutual promise individuals who care make to one another. He’s profoundly grateful for his or her kindness, and now needs to turn out to be the form of man who can repay that kindness in flip. Whereas adolescence is steadily outlined by anxious worries of being judged or rejected by others, the shift in direction of a assured, mature self calls for rising above such self-inflicted anxieties, realizing you’re surrounded by individuals who care about you, and committing your self to paying again that love in sort.
We then soar to Futaba’s facet of the story, and discover her equally mired within the assumptions and expectations of others, a few of these truly well-founded. Whereas everybody in highschool is mostly making an attempt to determine their mature self, some folks take a a lot crueler path than others in direction of that time, and a few folks frankly simply aren’t that good to others. There’s a lot of real friction in these years, whenever you’re pressured to a minimum of be acquaintances of proximity with many individuals who you wouldn’t naturally be associates with. It’s an ideal storm for destroying your sense of self-worth, and Futaba’s fears relating to being a burden to the folks she cares about are comprehensible. It’s a very good factor she has a pal as frank as Masumi to depend on, somebody who cares nothing for the social niceties of highschool, and the whole lot for the real happiness and success of her associates.
The 2 share a beautiful breakdown of the complexity of adolescent romantic emotions, as Masumi asks Futaba to explain how precisely she feels about Touma versus Taichi. Listening to Futaba articulate her emotions, it’s clear that she cares about each of them, however that her “love” of Touma is extra like a distant infatuation, a respect and admiration for what he embodies mixed with a transparent bodily attraction. In distinction, Futaba sees Taichi as a detailed pal and confidant, somebody she will depend on in occasions of bother, somebody she usually forgets is definitely a boy. Taichi is virtually household to her already, and she or he couldn’t think about dropping that household. He’s the one who makes her really feel full – he’s the one she really loves.
For his personal half, within the wake of his revelation in the course of the Koshien sport, it’s clear that Taichi has grown up a bit of bit. The final chapter of this quantity finds him now not wallowing in his personal insecurities and self-hatred – he realizes that Touma truly has it far worse, and is nonetheless holding it collectively for the folks he cares about. And Taichi sees the energy in that, and desires to turn out to be somebody who can ease others’ burdens like Touma, somebody who will be relied on in occasions of bother. Each Futaba and Touma have been so sort to him, and he now needs to be their pillar of energy in flip. After all, he’s nonetheless Taichi; he doesn’t but understand how a lot he already performs that position, though his associates have informed him repeatedly. Strive as we would, it’s troublesome to specific simply how a lot we rely on the folks we love.
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