The first couple of pages of Episode Nagi parallel Nagi's journey and hint at Nagi understanding his originality after death
Episode Nagi chapter 1 page 3
Nagi wakes up and gets pricked, causing him to awaken- just like how experiencing frustration for the first time in the team Z match "awakened" him.
Despite being awake, Nagi doesn't get out of bed bc "getting up is such a pain..." so instead he focuses on "beating the daily challenge" This may refer to Nagi wanting to/succeeding at beating Isagi, though I think it more so parallels Nagi’s decision to start “making an effort” in blue lock, given that he dies.
So then Nagi dies, which forces him to get up and go to school. At the same time, he realizes he's hungry
This is a pain, because to be hungry is to want things and be human. Being hungry makes you do things to sate that hunger. It forces you to live. And to Nagi, living is a pain.
After chapter 298, we have reached the part where Nagi “dies”, which will forces him to get out of bed. Right about now is when Nagi should be getting "hungry" too, which can be understood as understanding his “originality” as Ego describes. This is whatever deep intrinsic desire he feels he wants to fulfill.
Maybe the reason why Nagi’s death kickstarts this understanding is because it denies him of what he wants, causing hunger. Maybe it’s because it’s only at rock botttom, having lost everything, that Nagi can face what he wanted in the first place. After all, if he’d faced it earlier, he’d have to face the possibility of losing it. Now, that’s moot point, as he’s dead and lost it all.
What is this originality? It may be related to his fear of losing Reo, which he expressed in his dying moments. But what he hungers for shouldn't just be being by Reo's side. That's settling. Settling in a place like Blue Lock is no good.
Nagi got mad at the implication that he was Reo's toy. What he should aim for isn't just Reo letting him tag along by his side, but being Reo's true and real partner. He needs to find the bravery to chase that instead.
What Nagi's been doing through his lack of communication with Reo (and, what Reo has been doing by assuming certain things are impossible) has been settling. They need to stop settling for a situationship and get together. They need to get to a point where they have a mutual understanding of their partnership that isn’t functioning to keep them together, but rather only exists because they decided to be together and understand each others feelings.
For an example of settling, take Reo’s 300 mil proposition and Nagi’s unenthusiastic agreement. Nagi clearly doesn’t care about that, but he wants to be with Reo, so he doesn’t object or correct him. He settles for being a passive participant in the relationship despite getting mad at Barou for calling him Reo’s servant, and later gets to the point of begging Reo to let him stay by his side by 298.
For another example of settling, take Reo’s assumption that without soccer they could never be together, and that they will separate once the World Cup is won (in the extra chapter). This is part of what leads him to react the way he does in 2nd selection.
By the time of 298, Nagi clearly thinks the same- though this wasn’t a given to him like it was to Reo. He’d asked Reo in the harujuku extra chapter what they would be if Nagi had no soccer talent, and Reo had told him Nagi’d be abandoned- though there was no way Nagi didn’t have talent in Reo’s mind.
Even if Nagi had gotten past that idea by the time they entered blue lock, it would have been reinforced when Reo accused him of forgetting their promise/not caring about him anymore by choosing to play with Isagi, demanding Nagi to throw him away. Being rejected because of not playing soccer with Reo despite working toward their dream would send the message that their partnership is reliant on soccer. At least, to someone as passive as Nagi. Thus, “I am not your toy”. But it seems like he’d settle for that.
After that moment he uses kanji instead of katakana to refer to Reo which has been confirmed to mean he feels more distant from him.
The fact of the matter is that playing together doesn’t necessarily make one play better. Your motive cannot be being helpful or useful to someone else, out of transaction for their company. Partnerships only work when mutual interests align instead.
That may beg the question- doesn’t that mean relationships of convenience are the way to go? Ie the Karasu Otoya route, for instance?
Well, no. Relationships of convenience are for when two different/opposing mutual interests align. What we haven’t seen (yet) is when mutual interests align because they are so similar- because two people want to win together at the end of the day. They understand this shared desire, and trust each other to do their best to carry it out- resulting in an ideal partnership.
The nagireo endgame… potentially.
Bisan's recent post. I think it's important for you to read it. Tonight 03.12.23, journalists in gaza share their last messages. There are no words to describe the horrors unfolding in gaza right now.
I no longer have any hope of survival like I had at the beginning of this genocide, and I am certain that I will die in the next few weeks or maybe days. I have been sick with severe viral infection for days and cannot move from the mattress!
I suffer from nightmares that are so closely resemble reality that I no longer differentiate between reality and dream.
I live in a world other than the one I claimed to be building! I am a community activist who lived on the fantasy that the world was free and just, and I sought to bring rights not only to my people, but to many men and women in third world countries!
I was shocked that I was not from the third world! Indeed, we are the most humane and moral! Yes, because the world approves, supports, and finances the genocide we are being subjected to, legislates it, and gives reasons for for 58 days! While we are a people who have been living on occupied land for 75 years and are still searching for our rights and communicating our voice to the world!
My message to the world: You are not innocent of what is happening to us, you as governments or peoples that support Israel’s annihilation of my people. We will not forgive you, we will not forgive you, humanity will not forgive you, we will not forget, even if we die, the history will never forget .
A Message to friends: Thank you and the supporters around the world. You have been compassionate and very strong. We ask you not to lose hope, even if the world seems completely unfair and your efforts have not yet resulted in a ceasefire.
to ME free! is about having to grow up too fast and make decisions too early, it's about wishing the summer and school days could last a little longer, it's about wanting to put your all, your whole self into your dreams and aspirations, to lose yourself in your passions but life and expectations and responsibilities keep pulling you back to reality, it's about being thrown into a capitalistic society and told your hobbies are only worth something if you can monetise them or be the best at them, it's about being told to grow up and move on and be realistic when that's the last thing you want to do, it's about wanting to be young and eternal and splashing in the water with your friends forever, it's about all of that being impossible and yet there is still light at the end of the tunnel, hope is not lost
but it's not really about all that (it is) because it's a sports anime about swimming
This is what we live every moment.
Our lives are in danger, as we do not know how to escape death every time,
and we do not know what awaits us. I hope for your help to save the lives of me and my family from death. Every 250kr makes a difference.
I hope you will not fail.
Donate please 🙏🏻🥺
🆘🆘
I dunno if I can begin to explain how much of a ship purist I am for Haikyuu. Each character has a ship. That is their one true love and I will take no notes. I will avoid any fic that includes anything other than them, and I will refuse to acknowledge their existence.
Unless I find cute art, that gets a like and the occasional praising comment.
But under almost all other circumstances, no changes made. I will not budge on this.
Actually that’s not true.
KiyokoXTanaka
KiyokoXYachi
TanakaXEnnoshita
Tanaka alone
are all interchangeable and I will take them. However otherwise, I have a very strict little list of ships that I will read fanfic about, otherwise, out of my sight!
Tehe but no really I don’t have a problem with most ships, I just don’t enjoy them as much, especially as a sucker for childhood friends to lovers, there are some ships that tear Iwaoi, Tsukiyama, or Kuroken apart that I simply cannot look beyond. Like yes I know they’re best friends, but they’re actually so much more than that to me and I will hear nothing more.
And I’m AWARE that most of my ships are the most common but I like to believe that it’s because they make a lot of sense. Plus, this way, Everyone’s got someone they have chemistry with, when it gets mixed up some characters end up alone and I simply cannot do that to them.
(Also OsaSuna/OsaSunaKomo are both good. It’s like adding a little egg to your ramen, it doesn’t technically change the dish but it drastically changes the flavor.)
I'm sorry for being so sappy, but I wanted to show you guys something.
When I first donated to PCRF in December 2023, it was barely 10% close to its goal. Now in March 2024, they're also 100%. Everyone of you has helped support a better future for Gaza.
They're so close to their goal. Please donate or share this post so that they can get to their goal🇵🇸
If you want to support Ukrainians, DO NOT donate to Red Cross. Can't speak about their work in other countries, but they're useless in Ukraine. The only trustworthy international organisation I can think of is World Central Kitchen.
Donate to World Central Kitchen
And it's even better to donate directly to Ukrainian organisations. Here are a few good legit places:
hospitallers.life - "Hospitallers", Ukrainian paramedics on the frontlines
savelife.in.ua - "Come Back Alive", assistance to the army
prytulafoundation.org - "Prytula Foundation", assistance to the army, humanitarian causes
starenki.com.ua - "Starenki", helping elderly people
everybodycan.com.ua - "Everybody Can", helping disabled children, elders and hospitals
uanimals.org - "UAnimals", saving animals
When the anti "LGBT propaganda" law passed in Russia, all of you were going insane and cared. Give Georgia the same energy. If you can have sympathy for our oppressors on the basis of them being queer, you should keep the same energy for us, if not more.
If this law passes, every Georgian queer person I know is so severely fucked, myself included. If you make jokes about "being illegal in several countries" you better fucking care about the countries you're apparently illegal in, or going to be illegal in.
Make sure to spread this around. This is important.