Leafy green
Katsumi in protective mode xD
The background characters were done by my good friend Caznir 😀 He’s trying to get into the freelance art game and he’s going to help me out with the crowd scene’s in this chapter. It will be a huge help and he can earn some money and experience that way, so we both win ^^
Check out his art if you want:
https://www.furaffinity.net/user/korvahk/
https://www.deviantart.com/caznir
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Okay, so… let’s do this in order.
-Benji comforting Jin regarding his misgivings about the festival is so frickin’ adorable.
-Bricks don’t hit back, Benji. Brick Break is a much less impressive move than Circle Throw.
-Who is this ‘her’ that Cleo is enlisting? Very curious…
-Katsumi’s expression in the last panel is hilarious.
Karate is less impressive than frisbee? I’ll have to take your word for it.
My Pokémon reference fell flat. Brick Break and Circle Throw are both Fighting-type moves. Brick Break is the classical “shatter something with a knifehand strike” that removes defensive barriers like Reflect and Light Screen from the target’s side of the field. Circle Throw consists of flinging the target out of the battlefield so that the Trainer has to send someone else in instead.
The mystery of ‘her’
is ours to consider.
Who is Cleo calling
and who will come with her?
Benji makes a new friend
and a new enemy too?
Now he helps little Jin
plan what they’re going to do.
Light chat wins him the ‘pup’
but gains a hidden threat.
Could he win her over?
It’s Benji. There’s no bet.
Do dog hybrids subconsciously wag their tails when they want to look friendly? Do they feel better when they see other dog hybrids wagging their tails?
I think so, it must be a part of being half nonhuman animal, a lot like how people make expressions or alter their body language unconsciously when emotional. Given that Hybrids occasionally show behaviors of their nonhuman half, such as Benji barking when frustrated at Kaya and Cleo ignoring his explanation of Catacombs & Drakes (unless that was just a sound effect used for a gag and didn’t really come out of Benji) or Kai’s self defense instincts kicking in by breathing fire out of fear when Benji pranked him by sneaking up behind him and pulling a Eustace Bagge on Kai. Ironic that a dog (or Dog Hybrid) was the one to scare a person with a mask, though Benji didn’t think that prank through since he nearly got cooked by Kai’s self defense mechanism.
Katsumi is really creeping me out in that last panel. I wonder why she took such an instant dislike to Benji since he is only being nice to her little cinnamon roll.
Pretty sure she starts of this way with everyone at first. She has a bit of overbearing mother feel to her.
Maybe Katsumi has learned to be suspicious of strangers because of a series of doctors who seemed nice at first but then gave Jin various nasty drugs and tried to convince him that Katsumi doesn’t exist.
Kasumi is convinced that Benji must have some kind of mind influencing powers to handle Jin that well, and even with it seeming benign, she’s of course a little less than fond of the person who’s using mind powers on her charge.
Of course the actual situation is just that Benji is good with kids, but Kasumi has decided he must have some level of mind control.
Komainu, or Shishi, are guardians. It’s what they DO.
So why didn’t she do it with anyone else in the crew?
He did do five things that fit the description of being manipulative or good with kids. The twins were more reacting as though to an equal so likely didn’t get the same treatment.
Being an observer rather than participant to conversations probably led to being more analytical of situations.
Can we all agree that Jin should meet Eri from MHA?
I guess Benji can’t see Katsumi. Mind trickery, indeed.
Watch out, Benji, you got a spirit on your tail!
I wonder who the “her,” Cleo is implying, is? I’m assuming Kaya.
Can’t be, Kaya’s there already
Or IS she? Could she be in a state of quantum indeterminacy due to a dose of caffeine?
Go back two strips and she’s in the group reacting to the truck
No fair! You changed the outcome by observing it!
How much would Liz freak out if she got calls from both Larissa and Cleo?
Liz the secret agent: Pretending to still be friends with Larissa but is actually keeping tabs on her for Cleo just in case Larissa should try something again.
Man if that were really the case I would have to give Cleo major applause for forethought and sneakiness!
“I don’t like ol’ SneakySnake,
He laughs too much you see!
When he goes wigglin’ through the grass,
It tickles his underneath!”
–Tom T. Hall 🙂
Funny, he just recently died.
Hmmm, so Cleo is expecting another, wonder who it could be…
Katsumi does not easily trust new people! I think Benji will eventually win her over too though just by being his natural friendly self working with Jin.
I really like the expressions on this page – Jin looking nervous but wanting to help, Benji recognizing it and putting him at ease, and Katsumi with that hilarious dagger glare at the end. If she had hands, she’d probably be doing that two finger “I’m watching you” gesture.
(Typo: “Grean” instead of “green” in the last panel.)
How did I miss that?!
You’re not the only one. Both me and my two proof readers didn’t catch that one until I uploaded it xD
She’s insulting him with a portmanteau of ‘greasy’ and ‘green’?
Or complimenting him by telling him it’s great and keen!
“Grean” a slang term widely used in Thailand and refers to a person who acts like a bastard or to the act of bastardization in the internet and cyber-world.
Does that mean that Benji has leafy “bastard” hair? Well, to be fair, we really don’t know anything about his birth family, so he could’ve been an illegitimate child but that doesn’t matter since that family isn’t Benji’s any more.
Hang on, I though that Jin did Aikido, not Karate?
It’s a family martial arts that has roots in many different forms. Officially, they decided to call it Nakamura Style karate in english for now. It’s easier to tell people ‘it’s karate’ than to explain the fine differences between martial arts styles. xD
Cool, thanks for clearing that up.
Earlier Robin had posted “family style variant of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu“ which is reeeeaaallllyyyyy long 🙂
And, technically, one definition of “karate” is “open hand” or “empty hand” and thus is valid.
Soooo one might call the style “Nakamura Family Style Variant of Daito-ryu Aiki-jujutsu Karate”
Or one might use an acronym?
NFSVDRAJK
Or go with a Shanghai inspired nickname like “Nakamura Hand” ( a play on Buddha Palm ) lol
I just love Katsumi, she does not trust anyone and can’t be bothered learning peoples names. ^^
I wonder what happens when she does not allow someone to be near Jin, does she eat the person and people just explain it as “spirited away”.
Who is the big grey dog
Read the earlier chapters
That’s Katsumi – she’s only appeared a couple of times so far, and she seems like some kind of guardian for Jin, but it’s a mystery what she actually is.
https://www.twindragonscomic.com/comic/katsumi/
https://www.twindragonscomic.com/comic/action/
And so far she is invisible to everyone but Jin!
And since no one has bumped into her, intangible as well. She hasn’t spoken in the presence of anyone else yet.
IIRC from the Belgariad.
Magic Users could not make themselves invisible but they could make people actively ignore them.
They would get out of the way or move round the MU but not know why they had done it.
I wonder what it is about Benji that’s throwing Katsumi out of shape? He seems like a friendly guy and hasn’t made any indications of dishonestly towards Jin. Unless he was lying about feeling nervous to make Jin feel better and she can sense the dishonesty. I get the impression she’s not a fan of lying, even if it’s a white lie like this. And of course we’ve got the subtle little subplot going on in the background with Cleo. Very interesting Robin. I like it. The story is just as engaging as always, and I can hardly wait to see the next panel. Keep up the great work! And as always, stay awesome!
Thanks Alpha 😀
Funny you mention the subplot. This happens to be the first time I’m juggling four plots in one chapter (The main overarching plot with the food truck, Benji and Jin, the one with Larissa, and this one with Cleo’s secret message.) It’s interesting what goes into scripting all of that to make sense at the same time xD
And yes, Katsumi doesn’t like dishonesty, but the little white lie isn’t exactly the reason why she doesn’t trust Benji.
Four plots in one chapter? I can barely handle three plots in an entire continuous story arc! I don’t think I can possibly look forward to this any more than I am now.
She’s acting like a jealous dog who’s owner is giving their attention to another pet. Is the reason she doesn’t like Benji because she’s like a terrier who sees our Leafy Green Dog boy as trespassing onto her domain, I.e. Jin?
“Leafy green” indeed. I swear Benji is part plant.
Those piles of paper are just waiting for a little breeze to come and pick them up. (Hey, they’re flyers. They’re supposed to fly, aren’t they?)
And I’m as curious as everyone else about who will arrive at three. Could it be Liz?
Cleo: “3pm. Well, I guess the restraining order against Larissa will be somewhat delayed.”
Meanwhile…
Katsumi (thinking): “Your mind trickery seems to have a calming effect on Jin.”
Benji (thinking): “It’s no trick, I’m just good with younger kids.”
Katsumi: “Who said that?!”
LOL I’d love to see that look on Kitsumi’s face!
Kasumi’s look says she wants to do terrible things to Benji. I still think it would funny if Benji has been able to see Kasumi, even more so if he was aware Kasumi and just ignored her just to casually bring up the subject later while they’re out and about.
I JUST REALIZED THAT HIS HAIR DOES LOOK LIKE lettuce!
“Leafy Green Hair” huh… maybe Benji is a mythical hybrid too, a Leafeon. 🙂
Joking aside, Jin’s animal spirit thing doesn’t seem to like anyone does it? It always had a sort of annoyed/grumpy look, but this is the first time I can recall it saying anything, and it’s about how much it doesn’t like Benji despite if anything helping out Jin.
Also I never realized until said spirit called it out but, it kinda is weird that Benji’s hair is green. Was it ever mentioned if that’s dyed? Or do some hybrids get fur colors/patterns that are not found in the animals they are a hybrid of?
Katsumi did speak at the end of the previous chapter. The Q&A had Benji reveal he’s albino, which reacts weirdly with hybridization to result in a change of pigmentation instead of a lack of it.
Since this afternoon, I’ve been picturing a storyline culminating in violence, bloodshed and heartache.
I’ll give you a 76% chance of violence (90% if you count Nate’s evasive maneuvers & distraction from the museum chapter as violence), 27% chance of bloodshed (which differs from bog-standard violence by the caveat “intent to kill and [thinking you have] means to do so”), 3% chance of heartache in referring to the twins or their circle of friends (Robin is not so cruel as to end such a joyous event on such a sad note for the good guys), and 32% chance of heartache in referring to Larissa, Dinah, and Liz (if this does end up being the last straw in Liz’s friendship with the other two, that’s gonna be bittersweet at best for Liz).
I actually meant between Jin and Katsumi.
…I’ll give you 39% on that one. Katsumi seems like she’s good-natured enough not to judge Jin for making friends with someone she dislikes for personal reasons, but then again, we’ve gotten relatively little out of her dialogue-wise, and that could definitely lead to heartache if I’m wrong.
I’d count the actions that Nate’s evasive maneuvers and distraction nullified as violence, which is part of why the museum promptly had Larissa arrested. But I’d say Nate himself was rather non-violent.
Still, that sounds like a 90% prediction.
As far as the Jin and Katsumi situation… She’s waiting and seeing for now. I feel like she will over time decide Benji’s a good friend for Jin to have.
I theorize that Katsumi isn’t real , but a “physical” projection of Jin’s feral mind/soul : that’s why she was doing the same moves lightly before him during the fight-lesson ; it is wild reflexes against thinking mind . She appears each time Jin’s unconsciousness mind feels a threat
Sound theory, barring the fact that Benji wouldn’t hurt a fly.
She could be Jin’s Stand. Those can act autonomously to various extents, even to the point of being independent of their own Users. That is just one possibility out of many.
While I understand the base message, I’ve known plenty of people who would do their best to not hurt a fly, but have no restraint against hurting other humans.
Also, ones unconscious mind is not infallible. I have personally felt unconscious or even conscious threats because of people making assertions like Benji’s “In fact, I feel a little nervous, too. … Yeah, it’s normal to feel nervous about something new.”
When I felt threatened by such statements, I wasn’t feeling nervous about something new. I was feeling nervous about a possible repeat of something old. I usually did still go through with the experience that was being suggested to me, so long as the group of people suggesting the experience were not people who had previously provided a bad experience.
It doesn’t mean that Benji’s a bad person. It just suggests that Jin may spend most of their free time at home and practice his self defense training a lot for reasons.
It happens sort of the same for me : i’m somewhere and surrounded by unknown peoples , and i feel a sudden rage as if i was endangered . When it happens , i leave quickly before to let the “inner” me drive the situation
I theorise that Katsumi being invisible and thus having great infiltration potential spoils nefarious plots in this chapter.
Katsumi doesn’t seem to like (much?) anyone besides Jin. ^_^;
Jin and Eri (MHA) would be best friends.
That would be so cute! Now I won’t be able to get that out of my anytime soon!
My Hero Academia: Twin Dragons edition, I can see that happening.