This is interesting part, because as omnyoji, Subaru is expected to lie about his birth date and place. It wouldn’t be impolite or pathological of him, but rather part of self-preservation as Seishirou said. And what’s more, Subaru lied about some things before, such with that girl in catatonia. While talking about her with Seishirou, Subaru said her words (“you’re not normal”) did hurt. But when she apologized to Subaru later on for hurting him, he lied he wasn’t hurt by her words at all.
Seishirou probably knows all data regarding Subaru due to connection he has with government as their assassin. So it makes sense he’d know what Subaru has lied about and what he hasn’t. But why birth place only and not date too?
It was Seishirou who asked him about birth date. Assistant asked him for birth place. That’s probably why he instinctively told true birth date to Seishirou, but when random person asked him for place, Subaru’s intuitive response based on feelings wasn’t triggered, instead strict behavior code (teachings by his grandmother) kicked in instead. This is all beyond sphere of consciousness, Subaru isn’t aware of any of background thought process occurring in mere seconds, so to speak. It’s a reflex. One based on emotions he’s yet to be aware of.
After almost 30 years, here we are back again with Tokyo Babylon.
This manga is super personal for me. I read Tokyo Babylon (and X) at a time in my childhood when I was hyper aware of how different I was than everyone. It gave me a way to understand myself. Well, better than my previous self identification with HAL9000 lol.
My teachers and friends’ parents used to constantly comment that I was unusual, cold, that I had a deficiency of feelings. What kind of kid didn’t get scared or homesick or guilty? I was a person encased in a jar: I could see all these feelings everyone was swimming in but only extraordinaryly intense ones could reach me. Reading a character like Seishirou was a gift—how easily he blends in but is always never anything less than himself. He’s unapologetic for his lack of feeling but at the same time hungry to know what he’s missing. I, too, wanted to know.
Rereading it as an adult is a completely different experience. I recognized not the longing, but the fear and intensity of when Seishirou reckons with finally feeling something. People, even those close, often feel like entities I happen to share space with. They are pleasant in the way air conditioning is pleasant. But then there are moments when you suddenly understand their love for you or the precarious nature of their choice to be with you and your heart feels close to exploding.
It’s why he is so bothered by Subaru’s injuries in X. It makes him understand. It is a frightening and deeply unsettling thing to go from feeling no fear your whole life to the sudden all consuming storm of it. I get on this level maybe once a year. I don’t know how anyone functions with all these feelings all day long. Subaru, how do you function?!
And I think that’s the most interesting part of Subaru/Seishirou—they can’t be together because they are too different in canon. They fundamentally don’t understand each other. Their love is like trying to divide by zero; it combusts to infinity or withers into nothing. Either way, all is destroyed. They can only drift so close. We all have those people who have defined our world views, who we can’t live with or without.
Sei-Chan, I’m glad we’ll meet again. Maybe in this adaptation the equation solves differently.
I was concentrating on following the shikigami at the time … and since it was flying, I had to keep my eyes upward! … but I forgot to look at my feet as well.
You're so uptight, Subaru! Can't you be more natural, like this? In these times it's perfectly natural for lovers to behave this way! I-It would be weird if I did something like that! Hokuto-chan!! --Tokyo Babylon, Volume 1, Chapter 2
“‘Well, I heard you were visiting Tokyo Tower, so I decided to arrange a nice little date!” “For whom?” “You.” “With whom?” “Sei-chan.” “Wh-what are you talking about, Hokuto-chan!?”’
The prompt I chose asked for a fashion editorial, and among the styles suggested for it was also Leyendecker. I couldn’t say no to something Leyendecker-inspired<333 I took inspiration from one of his illustrations and tried a different way than my usual with the colors to deliver something more similar to his strokes, and I like the somewhat rough feeling it gives.
(also all on a single layer. I never thought I would ever be able to mix lineart and colors together like this but it was an interesting experiment out of my comfort zone)
I hope you will enjoy your gift, Graqsceve! It was so fun to work with! Happy Hanami ❤️
My art for the @seisubhanamiexchange , this is for @lostinthebabylon! The prompt I used was “cute seisub in a cafe”, I imagined a Bet winner Subaru studying veterinary and science at a cafe, and Seishiro helping him study …or not ?
My entry for this year’s SeiSub Hanami exchange, based on one of the prompts from @subarusakurazuka: AU where Subaru meets an injured Seishirou and nurses him back to health, unaware of his true nature. I think it would make a very interesting fanfiction, so I was immediately drawn to choose this one!
I hope you’ll enjoy it Lilith! It was really fun to draw ❤️
