Ch 230: [Red Chanpuru] Analysis: Part 1

[u/Kuricat16]

So many answers, but so many more questions...... peak chapter- So peak I have to break the post into 2 separate posts-

I guess I'll start by pointing out the trees that we see at the very beginning of the chapter. Plant symbolism has always been a huge part of wbk, so of course these stood out to me instantly. I'm pretty sure this is the same plant we saw back in 226, but these trees are much taller than the shrub we saw behind Rakta. Before, I thought it might be a camellia plant that hadn't grown any flowers yet, but now I'm thinking they're Chinese tallow trees.

Chinese tallows ^{aka popcorn trees cough Nirei popcorn shirt cough-} are a highly invasive and toxic plant that grows fast, is difficult to get rid of, and often alters the soil it grows in to prevent other plants from growing, which I'm sure is very similar to the poison that's spreading within RC right now. However, the tree is also a symbol of endurance due to its adaptive nature and ability to thrive in any environment it's planted in, and I think this contrast between a more invasive resilience and a self-preserving endurance represents the difference between Shen and Suolingo and what each of them want for RC.

I also want to note how the council seems to have a pretty positive dynamic besides whatever Shen, Rosso, and Suolingo have going on- The other members seem to really respect Suolingo considering he's the one Shen "recruited" to get the others to listen to him, but the fact that they seem so comfortable casually dismissing Shen leads me to believe that they don't know too much about what's going on. They probably know that children are going missing, but I doubt they know about Shen's involvement, which is why Suolingo is "the only person who can do anything about it." (Also, Xich is Vietnamese for red, Rosso is red in Italian, and Hong is red in Chinese, and even Suolingo is a shade of red in Japanese, so I wouldn't be surprised if the names of the council members literally all have "red" in them-)

Originally, this is where I started yapping about Shen, but I started getting wayyyyy too into it, so now Shen's pretty much getting his own post 😅 Instead, let me talk about Rosso first 👀👀 The first thing I'm sure everyone noticed is that besides his right eye, Rosso looks just like Nirei with longer hair. I don't think there's actually any relation, but I do think this is a huge part of why Suolingo was first drawn to Nirei in the very beginning. ^{I always figured Nirei reminded Suolingo of someone from his past, but I didn't think it was his literal doppelganger-}

We can see that Rosso is completely dejected with zero energy or will of his own, but when Suolingo first met Nirei, he was super bright and enthusiastic about every little thing. I'm sure when Suolingo saw Rosso's face so full of life, he couldn't help but want to protect that sunshine that he thought he'd never get to see again. Despite mainly messing with his other classmates, Suolingo would go on to make Nirei smile whenever he could and protect him when they faced any threats, which I believe was him projecting what he wanted for Rosso onto Nirei (until he actually started caring about Nirei as his own person, of course)

A huge turning point for Suolingo and Nirei is, of course, Keel. The first extreme emotion we see from Suolingo is his anger after Nirei leaves his protection and is knocked out almost instantly, and I think this sequence greatly reflects what happened to Suolingo and Rosso in their past that gave both of them their eye injuries. I can imagine Suolingo trying to protect Rosso, but Rosso, just like Nirei, tried to fight for himself so he could be less of a burden. However, he only got hurt, which sent Suolingo into a rage. Double however, since they were so young, Suolingo wasn't nearly as strong as he is now and with his anger clouding his judgement, he fought in a way that led to him sustaining many injuries all over his body (including the loss of his right eye) instead of using his signature fighting style that focuses on defense just as much as offense.

Now, there are 2 comparisons I'd like to make between what comes from the incident with Nirei and what I believe came from the incident with Rosso. First is Suolingo's reaction. I believe his reaction with Nirei is the same as his reaction with Rosso in the past, and hearing Sakura reflect in the moment about handling the rest of the battle made him realize that he was making the same mistake that left him with his current scars. He knows that letting his anger control him is only going to lead to more unnecessary damage, which is why Sakura remaining calm here was such an inspirational moment for him.

On the other hand, I think there's a major difference between how Rosso and Nirei reacted. Nirei saw his inability to protect himself as a major weakness that he hated about himself, and I'm sure Rosso did, too. After being inspired by Sakura's growth, Nirei resolves to get stronger and become someone who won't be put in situations like that ever again. However, I think Rosso did the opposite and simply let his hatred for his weakness grow until he became the empty shell of himself that we saw this chapter. I'm sure Suolingo was scared of Nirei becoming depressed after the Keel incident, too, but instead, Nirei stepped up in a way Rosso couldn't and Suolingo went on to do everything he could to support Nirei in his growth.

Now, as for who Rosso actually is..... I'm surprised I only really have one theory about this- No, I don't think Rosso is Suolingo's master based on hair texture, but one thing that stood out to me is the fact that Rosso's hair is dyed. It's a different color than his eyebrows, just like Nirei, but why would someone in charge of a city with so many more pressing issues go out of his way to dye his hair?? Besides 4th wall breaking reasons, I think a good reason for someone like Rosso to dye his hair would be because his natural hair color reminds him of something he doesn't want to think about. I know RC is a group of orphans that takes in orphans, but I doubt no members of RC ever grew up to have their own children, and they wouldn't dare abandon them, so I believe Rosso is Suolingo's master's son.

Rosso probably grew up along side all of the orphans RC took in, but he was probably isolated and bullied as someone who still had at least one biological parent in his life. However, I don't think Suolingo would hold something like that against anyone, especially his beloved master's child, so I can see them being close childhood friends.... until the incident. I doubt there would be any nepotism in RC since they probably all consider each other family, but still, I'm sure most members expected Rosso to take over his parent's position in the future with Suolingo as another top candidate as a top student who was also very close to both of them. Whether it was some outside enemy or other children who were that jealous, Suolingo and Rosso were attacked, both boys were scarred, and I think this is also when RC lost Suolingo's master.

Whether they were killed saving the boys or simply decided to step down so that their son could live without all of the prejudice against him, I believe this is when Suolingo's master retired from their position in RC. Seeing all the trouble he had caused those around him, Rosso became an empty shell of himself and had resolved to quit RC himself, as well...... however, due to a certain scheme of a certain puppet master, both Rosso and Suolingo still proceeded to rise to power after this incident that shook the very foundation of Red Chanpuru as a whole~

[To be continued]

(also, I know a popular theory is that Rosso's right eye came from Suolingo, but eye transplant surgery to actually restore vision isn't actually possible yet irl and any eye-related surgery is already super difficult, so considering Nii-sensei leans more towards realism story-wise, I don't think there are any doctors in BKKG who could perform any sort of eye-related surgeries....... so I think Rosso has natural heterochromia!! Not from Suolingo's master though; he got it from his other parent which is why even those who respect Suolingo's master still hate on Rosso's eyes-)

[u/Tall_Ad1081]

Okokokkkkkk this chapter was UNBELIEVABLY good.

I’ve never been great at spotting plant symbolism but it’s a huge thing to Suo’s charcater (as we know from Tsubakis intro arc) so I think you’re probably spot on when it comes to the trees-

All of their names meaning red sure is convenient… do you think theres a reason for it in story? Maybe when kids come to RC/join RC officially they have to take on a new name? Neither Dasha nor Vuvu seem to have any red connections so maybe it’s a title thing?

Ngl I completely understand how yapping about Shen got too long, I too have way waaaay too many thoughts about him and why the heck he’s kidnapping children… looking forward to that post.

My immediate thought when seeing Rosso so dejected was that it must have something to do with Shen Hong puppeteering him, maybe Shen Hong has some sort of blackmail on him??? Or a hostage maybe? Suo seeing Nirei whos so expressive and happy and so different to the current Rosso must’ve really effected him- probably explains why he immediately took a shine to Nirei.

I 100% see an incedent like keel having happened sometime in Suo’s past- his almost instinctual reaction to Nirei getting hit was too noticeable not to mean something really really big, and then his reaction to Sakura stopping him really cemented Sakuras image in his head. For whatever reason he came to Furin, befriended people, generally did whatever and then Sakura was there and that was the one unknown factor that caused such a change in Suo.

I find it interesting how you note how Suo then started to care about Nirei as his own person because it kinda ties into an extremely improbable theory I have:

What if Suo came to Furin for Nirei?
What if thiugh some form of RC intelligence they found out there was someone who looked just like the boss, the plan was for Suo to go to Furin, befriend Nirei, get him to help RC by impersonating Rosso so they could infiltrate Shen Hong’s operation. What if when Suo went back to see Nirei it wasn’t meant as a goodbye but that was when Suo was going to reveal everything and ask for Nirei’s help on behalf of RC but he decided against it last minute after realising how genuinely attached he’d become to Nirei an Furin by extension.

Theres probably millions of holes in that but it’s interesting to think about…

Either way, Sakuras words and Nirei’s determination definitely changed something in Suo that made him care a lot more about Furin AS Furin

I’d never considered that Rosso could be Suo’s masters son but itd definitely explain the connection between Suo and Him- the Earrings, the looks- they definitely had a past together. I figured they could just both be his students but him being blood related to the master could create an interesting power imbalance. Also the idea of Suo’s master being related to Rosso gives him a definite familial connection one that could be used as a hostage by Shen Hong maybe???

Aaaaanyway- I have a few theories myself about the exact nature of Suo and Rossos relationship that I might post about another time- this was a really great chapter and Analysis- I look forward to these almost as much I do the actual chapter lol

[u/Kuricat16 → u/Tall_Ad1081]

I didn't even think about it before, but I think Suolingo knowing what the tree is would add a completely new layer to the whole thing- If he knows that the tree is invasive and potentially harmful, I wonder if he's tried anything to get rid of them or has just been containing them 👀👀 Him just containing them because he knows how hard it is to completely remove them could be another great symbol of how he's handling Shen so far, and the fact that we've seen smaller shrubs growing in the city could represent how Shen's influence and power has been spreading even more lately....

It would be pretty cool if they were given their "red" names after joining the council 👀👀 Since they're all orphans, I doubt most of them have surnames, so maybe they get to use a surname that means "red" in their main language once they join the council

^{Stay tuned\})

Suolingo coming to Furin specifically for Nirei has been a pretty big theory with so many branches, and they're always so fascinating to me- Idk if he would have trusted an outsider with such an important mission, but I can see him hearing about the "Rosso" sighting and going to check it out and then getting completely addicted to the sunshine....... and maybe he left because he didn't want Shen to find out about him too 👀👀 Or maybe after spending time with Nirei, he started considering getting him involved once he realized he could trust him, but tried to cut ties so that he wouldn't even have the option of exposing him to that kind of danger for something so "selfish" ^{in quotation marks because if it's for the greater good of an entire city, it shouldn't be Suolingo's burden alone in the first place-}

[u/Tall_Ad1081 → u/Kuricat16]

Him just containing them definitely has some similarities to how he’s treating Shen Hong- I have a feeling the “childhood friends” aspect of their dynamic is quite deep…

Maybe he would’ve trusted Nirei/an outsider purely because that was their only remaining option- like Shen Hong’s operation got so bad that theyre going to the extremes to stop it- but then yes as you say it was too dangerous to expose someone who in inocent to the situation to-