I really liked Gorou reaching up from the depths to exact his revenge on Hikaru. It actually mirrors some of the visuals from the anime’s season 1 ED in which Aqua is plunged into water and is held down by red threads:
After it is all said and done though, Hikaru has not really lived up to the villainous figure that we have imagined for a large chunk of this series from Aqua’s POV. I guess there is some symmetry with Ai there if you think about it.
When Aqua/Gorou got to know Ai in real life and then even more closely as he investigated her after her death, it turned out that she was just a talented person, but still a person at the end of the day. He had initially built her up inside his head as this unapproachable prodigy, but that was shattered after Akane was able to channel Ai so well in the dating show, causing Aqua’s perception of Ai to start to come back down to earth. Similarly with Hikaru, he is built up as some kind of supervillain inside Aqua’s head. However, the reality is that Hikaru is just a dude with an unhealthy worldview and obsession with Ai.
Edit: looking back through the chapter now, the full page spread is eerily similar to the season 1 ED. Compare the spread to the screenshot I grabbed above. It almost has to be intentional.
I really liked Gorou reaching up from the depths to exact his revenge on Hikaru. It actually mirrors some of the visuals from the anime’s season 1 ED in which Aqua is plunged into water and is held down by red threads:
After it is all said and done though, Hikaru has not really lived up to the villainous figure that we have imagined for a large chunk of this series from Aqua’s POV. I guess there is some symmetry with Ai there if you think about it.
When Aqua/Gorou got to know Ai in real life and then even more closely as he investigated her after her death, it turned out that she was just a talented person, but still a person at the end of the day. He had initially built her up inside his head as this unapproachable prodigy, but that was shattered after Akane was able to channel Ai so well in the dating show, causing Aqua’s perception of Ai to start to come back down to earth. Similarly with Hikaru, he is built up as some kind of supervillain inside Aqua’s head. However, the reality is that Hikaru is just a dude with an unhealthy worldview and obsession with Ai.
Edit: looking back through the chapter now, the full page spread is eerily similar to the season 1 ED. Compare the spread to the screenshot I grabbed above. It almost has to be intentional.