@JulieYBM:

"I'm a guy, please refer to me as such."

Being trans is self-identifying as a gender other than the one you were assigned at birth…which is exactly what Yamato does. It's okay for people to stop identifying as such, of course (happens in real life all the time). Yamato as a character written by a nominally out-of-touch millionaire cishet author with poor understanding of gender (in general) or trans issues in a magazine published for children by a massive, multi-million dollar publishing company is extremely important because he is invariably giving some trans boy the representation he's likely never going to receive from his family or friends, let alone society, growing up. Oda's dragging his feet and lack of clarity is a major issue and we should be critical of him and Shueisha for their handling of these subjects in their massively popular work. To borrow a tired quote, "With great power comes great responsibility."

Oda's handling of Kiku is extremely problematic and shows a pretty lousy understanding of being transgender, so it really wouldn't surprise me if Oda doesn't know that transgender men exist, too. With Yamato being an admirer of Oden...trans people do this all the time? Plenty of us name ourselves after characters or people who played a big role in our understanding of who we are.

Oda wants to touch upon important subjects and political messages with his art and that's fine and dandy but it also requires him to have a degree of actual experience with, knowledge and understanding of these things. He's a millionaire, would it kill him to hire a few consultants? Or hell, check out these communities himself? Or just...not mystery box worthless shit and actually just outright explain his ideas beforehand through text? If Oda's intention was not for Yamato to be trans perhaps he should actually, I don't know, have the responsibility to make a clear statement beforehand? His platform is a very important one and he and the publisher should be aware of this without dropping all this weirdly vague bullshit like breadcrumbs on the way to a massive shit sandwich years down the line.

And I'll agree with you, I don't think Oda's qualified to touch this subject with the longest of poles. Handling this subject matter tactfully is difficult in general. But in terms of the authors intent I don't think it's anymore than "Lol Kaido's kid is calling themself by the name of Kaido's worst enemy" not a character embracing what they feel to be their true gender identity. It's more like, Yamato identifies as Oden who just happened to be male than Yamato identifies as a male and is named Oden. If Oden had been female it'd be the same to Yamato.

Honestly I think Kiku is truly transgender whereas Yamato is Oda just giving the character a quirk (albeit clumsy and somewhat tone def/offensive). Oda made sure to say that Kiku is biologically male but has the spirit of a maiden. That is pretty cut and dry there. Contrasted to Yamato who just seems portrayed as an overzealous fan of Oden and who's only emphasis of identification to the male gender is through being identified as Oden and we now learn was being referred to as demon princess beforehand. The story could just as easily go the direction of Yamato realizing that they don't have to be Oden to appreciate him and then no longer go by Oden.I mean no offense when I say this but I really don't think it's any deeper than that.

This news honestly has me shook, I've been a fan of Berserk for 19 years since I first saw the OG anime. I hope Miura is at peace and passed knowing how many lives he touched with his work.

At this point I think you're supposed to consume DB FOR the DB tropes. Don't bother if you're expecting subversion of these elements. If we're lucky Vegeta's defusion powers involving spirit fission will play a major role in beating Moro if he himself won't be the one to do it. My only complaint this chapter is that Moro lost his snout.

These changes were necessary in my book, the previous rendition of the fight had phoenixman being ridiculously OP which as a consequence made CE have to be a lot stronger than was likely intended. Additionally these character development changes give needed setup for some things that are currently ongoing in the webcomic so it serves to more fluidly bring those two continuities together. Lastly now that Phoenixman lives he can be used again in the future and if One wants to then give him other crazy abilities when he recovers he has that option open.

God I miss going to the gym, mine is still open but Im trying to not be a dickhead.

@Stranger:

Why is there even a curfew? :wassat:

Think the rationale behind the curfews is to minimize the amount of time people are in contact with others thereby lowering the window of time the virus has to be transmitted. Its about doing as much as you can to limit transmission without going full blown forced mandate stay in your homes style quarantine.

Yeah there definitely needs to be some form of permanent strict regulations on those markets especially when the entire globe is feeling consequences from their choices in food. The virus is rumored to have possibly come from pangolins which have been hunted to near extinction.

@Yobiyopi:

Yes of course people will be irrationaly angry to it, and if they are stupid enough to act criminally they will be judged for it. Sweeping under a rug something thats now part of history helps even less, and creates a slippery slope no one can be the judge of. Should Germany no longer be mentioned as the birthplace of nazism due to possible discrimination?

By trying to hide it could encourage even more of said prejudice, since we're talking hypotethically. You cant stop people from naming reality how they see it, unless you want to do so by force achieving even worse results.

Its not the time to bicker how things should be named or not.

My point was that by the president (a leader of men) calling it as such while its true to the place of origin of the illness, given his position of power he is one whom should always pick his words carefully. Yes racist people would be racist without what he said but him saying that risks inciting issues for innocent people regardless. Its grossly irresponsible.

Trump just dubbed it the "China Virus" on twitter. The racist flood gates have surely been opened…