Ayakashi Triangle Episode 3
Matsuri explains that humans are made of two type of energy kon and haku--the spirit and the body, and when someone has haku energy above the charts it makes him Ayakashi Medium. If an ayakashi eats that human, he gets lots of spiritual energy. Suzu doesn't really understand it, but realizes she is super exclusive extremely high-calorie dessert for ayakashi.
Ayakashi Triangle Episode 3
Ayakashi Triangle focuses on exorcist ninja Matsuri Kazamaki, as he tries to defend his childhood friend, the Ayakashi Medium Suzu Kanade, from evil spirits called ayakashi. However, during a battle to save Suzu's life, Matsuri is turned into a girl[b] after being cursed by Shirogane, the King of Ayakashi. With no apparent way to reverse the transformation, Matsuri is forced to live publicly as a girl in the foreseeable future as he and Suzu deal with both the friendly and the malicious ayakashi they encounter as well as their growing romantic feelings for each other, all while trying to break Matsuri's curse for him to return to his original masculine form.
The story of Ayakashi Triangle takes place in the fictional Omiko City,[Jp. 1] located in the countryside of Japan.Ch. 2 Unbeknownst to its citizens, Omiko is also populated by ayakashi,[Jp. 2][c] spirits that are invisible to most people. The few individuals able to see ayakashi are those who possess a large amount of at least one of the two energies that humans are composed of: haku,[Jp. 3] the life energy, and kon,[Jp. 4] the spiritual energy. An example of such is the Ayakashi Medium,[Jp. 5] a rare type of human who over-secretes haku, the energy from which ayakashi are entirely made of; for this reason, the Ayakashi Medium is worshiped by the majority of ayakashi as a deity-like figure.Ch. 14
Although ayakashi in general are amicable and pacific towards humans, there are malicious and wicked ayakashi that endanger their lives.Ch. 1 To counter the threat they pose as well as to protect the public from dangerous ayakashi, exist clans that consist entirely of exorcist ninja whose strengthened kon allows them to perform jutsu and other extraordinary feats.Ch. 25 These clans work directly under the Exorcist Ninja Association a secret organization founded by the government of Japan hundreds of years prior to the start of the series.Ch. 13 The Association supplies local agents across the country with knowledge about ayakashi, training to combat them, and special equipment; this last one is provided by tool shops that also doubles as regular stores for the wider community.Ch. 15
Matsuri Kazamaki and Suzu Kanade are childhood friends who share the ability to see ayakashi. While Matsuri is descendant of a line of exorcist ninja who protect people from evil ayakashi, Suzu is an Ayakashi Medium whose power draws many ayakashi to her. However, Matsuri learns Suzu's growing power will inevitably bring ayakashi to try to devour her to get more power, so he decides to protect Suzu by exorcising the evil ayakashi that approach her. Years later, on the day before the pair were to start high school, Suzu is attacked by Shirogane, the King of Ayakashi,[Jp. 6] but is saved by Matsuri. Unable to beat him, Matsuri seals away most of his powers into a scroll, but before he does, Shirogane puts a curse on Matsuri that turns him into a girl, hoping the transformation will ruin any chance he and Suzu have of becoming a couple in the future. As Suzu helps Matsuri to adjust to his new life as a girl, Shirogane plots to regain his power and devour Suzu.[6]
In 2019, mangaka Kentaro Yabuki published the one-shot manga Reo Leo[Jp. 7] in the 11th issue of Weekly Shōnen Jump on February 9, as part of the magazine's "J Romcom Festival!" for Valentine's Day celebrations.[7] This one-shot would later be used by Yabuki as a source of inspiration for him to create Ayakashi Triangle,[8] with the manga featuring a premise similar to that of Reo Leo, although there was no ayakashi in the one-shot, a significant difference that would only be shown in the manga. Reo Leo focused on a normal high school student named Fuuka[Jp. 8] and her childhood friend Reo,[Jp. 9] a martial artist boy who is magically gender-swapped into a girl by his father; Yabuki reused the characteristics of both characters, including their personalities and designs, to conceive the main protagonists of Ayakashi Triangle, Matsuri Kazamaki and Suzu Kanade.[9]
Ayakashi Triangle is notable for focusing on legendary creatures that are notable in Japanese folklore and mythology, with the aforementioned ayakashi as the central point of the series. In legends, ayakashi are yōkai that appear above the surface of some body of water, whereas in the manga, ayakashi is the collective name to refer to the variety of spirits that inhabit the world, in addition to having subspecies such as the tsukumogami, a type of ayakashi that take over inanimate objects.[23] A secondary focus in Ayakashi Triangle is Japanese culture. An exemplification of this is how some of the manga's drawings pay homage to the classic style of Japanese art.[24] Another case worthy of observation is that Matsuri is constantly seen wearing a fundoshi (in both his male and female forms), which is a traditional Japanese undergarment for adult men.[25]
The series' main theme is about sexual orientation, and how the romantic attraction that one person feels for another is unrelated to their sex or gender. In Ayakashi Triangle, this is addressed mainly in the interactions between Matsuri and Suzu; the latter's behavior in the manga strongly reflects that of someone who is uncertain of their sexual preferences, as Suzu constantly questions herself in several chapters of the series if it is acceptable for her to pursue a relationship with Matsuri, regardless of whether or not they are of the same sex.[28][22] Also, Matsuri is forced to examine his romantic interest for the same sex, a situation analogous to that of a person who suddenly realizes that they have feelings for someone of the same gender. The above theme coincides with Yabuki's statement in July 2020 that he plans to include various "relationship triangles" in the manga that go beyond just romance.[29]
A vomic (voice comic) adaptation of Ayakashi Triangle started to be released on November 20, 2020, with episodes uploaded to Jump Comics' official YouTube channel.[56][57] The vomic shows the manga images appearing on screen as voice actors, music and sound effects are heard. It stars both Hiromu Mineta and Yūki Kyōka as Matsuri Kazamaki (Mineta voices the character in his male form and Kyōka voices his female form), Saya Aizawa as Suzu Kanade, and both Mitsuteru Nagato and Hikaru Fujikura as Shirogane (Nagato voices Shirogane in his standard cat form while Fujikura voices his ayakashi form), among other voice actors.[56][58]
On January 23, it was announced that the series would be on a hiatus following the airing of episode 5 due to production delays caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.[63] On February 27, it was announced that episodes 5 and 6 would air on March 7 and 14 respectively, but stated that it will announce details for episode 7 and beyond at a future date.[64]
Reviewing the first two chapters of Ayakashi Triangle, Shawn Hacaga of The Fandom Post called the story "decent" but "nothing special". Apart from strongly praising Yabuki's art as "gorgeous" and "fantastic", Hacaga also said it was fun nonetheless and admitted to being surprised by the gender-swap at the end of the first chapter.[70][71] Reviewing for UT Daily Beacon, Connor Holt gave the manga a rating of 3 out of 5, saying that Ayakashi Triangle is average when viewed as an ecchi manga, but fails when viewed as a romantic comedy. Holt also commented on how he prefers for the manga to continue in this direction and that it helps to differentiate Ayakashi Triangle from other series in Weekly Shōnen Jump.[72] In another review, Holt complimented on how Yabuki has managed a perfect balancing act between the manga's love triangle narrative, battle elements and ecchi overtones, saying it "gives readers an actual reason to read this manga and enjoy it as it comes into its own".[73]
Suzu starts this episode doing one of the things she likes the most: eating sweets. Meanwhile, she was reminiscing about how Matsuri had taken her feelings into consideration with regard to what had happened to them and Shirogane. Even her bedroom has candy decorative cushions. Since Shirogane wants to devour her because she is delicious and will provide him with immense power, her reasoning is that, if she gives him something more delicious than she is, he might become her friend and give up on trying to eat her. Simplistic, but good for comedic purposes. So, she prepares dango (団子) for him, which is considered one of the most iconic wagashi, or Japanese sweets, that could ever exist.
It is then revealed Matsui was terrified of the ayakashi when she was younger, then we get to see the flashbacks of when he was little and Suzu was the one that controlled the mischievous ayakashi that used to torment Matsuri, who would become her friend. So, it is shown that Suzu is not really just a damsel in distress after all. So, Matsuri cares for her and, according to his grandpa, idolizes her so much that, in order to save and protect her, Matsuri would even consider remaining a girl forever. In the meanwhile, Suzu was playing with Shirogane, who was indeed acting like a house cat after all.
After Ninokuro attacked Matsuri anyway, even after her reasoning, when her panties were shown, he got as red as a tomato and decided to hold on for now. Shirogane even commented on how that was scandalous. And, seeing how Suzu handled the ayakashi when she was younger, and how pleased Shirogane gets when she pets him and plays with him, and gives him sweets, it is hard to say she will not get what she wants. This was a very consistent, funny, and heartwarming episode, which kept the quality shown in the second one. Ayakashi Triangle is only getting better. 041b061a72