countdown to Karin's bd; day 3
My favorite kichi!Karin moment: chapter 627
You know, it’s ironic that so many try to define Karin’s character by this aspect of her personality when there’s actually such a small number of instances where she has shown it. There’s seriously barely anything to pick from lol which I bet Kishi considers a shame because he enjoys his humor and as such, seems to enjoy kichi!Karin a whole lot, too.
Anyway, since I’ve already addressed the kichi side of Chapter 365 here, I’m picking my other favorite:
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Part of it is due to the hilarious, nervous reaction it gets from the usual stoic Sasuke (which is even more of a highlight considering his behavior during 99.9% of the war so far). A trend I’ve noticed regarding this scene is that people tend to miss just how important it is that Karin got such a reaction from Sasuke. As I mentioned before, Kishi loves his humor. But if there is something he loves even more than that, is the kind of relationship where the man - no matter how powerful he might be - is scared of the temper of his woman. This is the very first time that a girl has brought such a reaction out of Sasuke; and this just so happens to be the girl that best fits the trope Kishi is so fond of and continues to promote through his canon pairings. In other words: both things are a sign of the fact that Kishi finds SasuKarin’s dynamic pretty positive for both characters.
And the rest is because of how big of a change such a display is when it comes to Karin’s by-the-norm behavior.
Until this moment, as we all know, the requirement for her to get physical with Sasuke was being alone with him. Yet, here she is so overwhelmed by her feelings for him that she waits for no such thing and thus, delivers the most open display of affection that she has allowed herself to show in-public thus far. It’s pretty important because Karin keeping her feelings to herself was a big part of the things that constituted SasuKarin’s status quo; so this right here was what pretty much broke it from her end, IMO. A trend that only continued through the next few chapters, despite her adamant attempts to save face and deny her feelings.
I also personally find it a testament to just how much impact having her Sasuke back had on her. The fact that she gets momentarily teary-eyed over his apology (or at least, that’s how it looks like in the scan I have; I’m curious as to how Pierrot will animate it) and that she is even drawn shaking displayed it quite well, but this panel right here only solidifies it. If you ask me, beyond his apology, it is his sincerity combined with his chakra that got such a reaction out of Karin.
The fact that his chakra is no longer a bottomless pit of darkness is the tell-tale sign of the fact that the Sasuke she once thought might’ve been forever lost is back for good; or at least, on his way to be back.
So, the way I read that Kichi scene is that Karin was so relieved by it, so happy, that she threw caution to the wind and couldn’t keep herself off him. She missed him that much haha
ns 15.158.61.43da2
