Anonymous Fwend · 4mo
I've been having kouyou thoughts. every character has their main theme, and imo, hers is freedom. that nikolai quote about the bird in the cage made me think of her. kouyou's "catchphrase" during the development stage was "the oiran". the more I learn about the old entertainment districts, the more I can see it's not only a design choice. luxury items that don't belong to the wearer. available, but unattainable. there is an exit, but it's so, so distant… etc etc. I could elaborate, but it'd take long af
these are very good big brain thoughts!! i love this contrast to nikolai/his speech about the caged bird, i hadn’t thought of her in that context but she really is a caged bird. it’s even how we’re introduced to her, the way she spends half of the guild arc in captivity looking pretty. sometimes i wish we got to see her with a bit more power in the manga. i know she’s an executive but when do we ever see her REALLY use it? she’s arguably been there longer than the other executives (idk about ace, but definitely chuuya, verlaine, and dazai) and yet she is not the designated interim boss when mori is out of commission. not saying kouyou has NO power, and i’m sure she does important things off screen, but even that to me is on-theme with “luxury items that don’t belong to the wearer”. she has so much power/status, and yet simultaneously very little power. a very interesting paradox.
