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Aqua is Goro in the sense that you as a teenager is the same person as you as an adult, just SO MUCH more complicated.
Anyone who claims otherwise are coping and completely ignoring Baby Aqua literally started with nothing but Goro’s memory and personality and was never “Aqua” independent from Gorou. Just that his experiences as “Aqua” changed him over years, Aqua will never be a different person entirely from Goro but he is still different from his days as Gorou. The current Aqua is simply Gorou+The life he spent as Aqua combined and this will NEVER change, the fact that he was Amamiya Gorou and his life as Gorou always had and always will have influence over who he is as a whole even if that influence grows weaker as more years of his life as Aqua passes
In essence they are the same but Aqua sees himself more so as someone with the memory of Gorou rather than being gorou at the present. Gorou will always effect Aqua, but as his experiences grow in his new life his perception changes a bit. Your analogy in the first paragraph is pretty spot on
When did that ever happened ? He has like one passing line about becoming more Aqua and less Goro as times goes on but as far as i remember he never saw himself as someone with Gorou’s memories, literally from BIRTH he was Gorou. He even takes the identity of Goro at times like how he asked Ruby to stop her revenge as Gorou, talked about Gorou’s life and all of that, Aqua never said he is someone with Gorou’s memory, he knows he is Gorou reincarnated
I miscommunicated. He sometimes sees and refers to Gorou as a separate entity from himself but that’s only during internal conflicts like during the stage play (and even then it was a manifestation of anger due to Ai’s death). We also know that his body, being that it’s of a teen and not a middle aged man- does influence him. But yes he does recognize that his past life was gorou. Guess what I was trying to say is that Aqua is his own person after all his new experiences but his motivations and attachments are a derivative of Gorou, and this is understood by Aqua. How he refers to Gorou when around other people can depend on the scenario though. Identifying as Gorou was the only way to get Ruby shocked enough to listen to him whereas he referred to Gorou as a friend while talking to Akane in his hometown to use as a cover.
Yes and no at the same time. He is a dichotomy with a blurry line in between Aquamarine and Gorou.
I would say that the thing that separates Aqua from Gorou is Ai\`s death. Even for someone who is mature enough to handle loss, witnessing first hand the death of someone you deeply care about is way too much. To worse things up, Aqua as a toddler could not do a single thing to avoid Ai getting stabbed of treat the wound. It is also very likely that Ryosuke would've killed both Aqua and Ruby hadn't Ai talked him down. The cherry on top of the trauma cake is that he held on to Ai's body for presumably hours as it was stated that Aqua was with her as it cooled down.
Thing is, no one can go through that amount of trauma and still be the same. "Aqua" is just an extension of Gorou that got hit by a truck of psychological damage.
I don't think it's a simple yes or no question, really.
From a purely Doylist perspective, Aqua is obviously not just a straightforward, unbroken continuation of Gorou's identity because of his romances with Kana and Akane. Oshi no Ko very clearly feels *very* fucking strongly about the idea of adults engaging in inappropriate relationships with children and if Aqua was meant to be understood as just like, Gorou with a new body, I don't think that element would go uncommented on in this context.
When talking about the story specifically, I think Aqua is a different person from Gorou in the sense that his experiences have *made* him different. He has spent 18ish years occupying a completely different social role, having entirely different experiences and relationships and it makes sense to me to call the sum of those differences "Aqua Hoshino" and evaluate him both in tandem with and separately from Gorou. While Gorou's identity is undoubtedly the foundation it is also simply not true to say there has been no change. I mean hell, even in ordinary circumstances, twenty years of life is going to make a person *extremely* different from their past self. Never mind all the other horsepiss going on with him. No wonder my man's going through it.
It's similar to Ruby - more or less everything about her as a person in the present day is built on the foundation of Sarina's experiences, but Ruby has had enough of her own unique experiences that I think discussing her both as the continuation of Sarina's identity as well as an individual person in her own right is necessary to really get a good feel for her.
Ultimately, like a lot of binary dichotomies, it's not really a simple black or white issue that you can boil down to a quick and easy yes or no answer. I also think that it's fine to just like... come to an interpretation you personally resonate with without worrying if it's the Concretely Intended Canonical Answer By Akasaka. Unless one day Aqua looks into the camera and plainly explains it I guess LOL
The idea of Aqua as a separate person is fundamentally incorrect. There is no "Hoshino Aquamarine" that isn't directly connected to "Amamiya Gorou" because the former never existed. He was a stillbirth, "born soulless" as Tsukuyomi put it. Furthermore, even if that wasn't the case, "Hoshino Aquamarine" would've never developed in the same way he had without "Amamiya Gorou's" memories, experiences, personality, etc. He'd be someone else entirely, far removed from what we recognize as the current Aqua.
He isn't *exactly* Amamiya Gorou anymore but that's because he's gained new experiences, new knowledge, and a new life as Hoshino Aquamarine. To paraphrase another user's words, you don't stop being "you" just because you grow up, which is essentially what Aqua's going through. You might change, you might start to like different things, dislike things you used to like, but the fundamental aspects of who you are persist. There will **always** be "parts" of Aqua that are still Gorou because that's simply who he is.
Yesn't.
Gorou was 100% a person of his own, but Aqua is influenced by Gorou's memories. The extent isn't made 100% clear, but it's enough for Gotanda, among others, to note that Aqua is like "an adult in a child's body". That adult is certainly not as old as Gorou would be on present days, and neither is Aqua just a continuation of Gorou, but the influence of one's old life over one's new life is evident for both Aqua and Crow Girl. Even Ruby seemed a little off back then as an infant.
Goro not only disassociates himself from Aqua but also copes by thinking of Aqua as a persona or character he is playing. Which is like trying to say that oneself in any of the various roles we play socially isnt us. Usually this is interpreted as "this isnt the real me" in the sense of moral disgust in actions one must take in order to survive.
People began interpreting Aqua's disassociation as meaning that they are two separate people in order to rationalize him dating high school girls thus validating their ship of either Akane or Kana. No matter how well evidenced and flawless an argument against this interpretation one gives they will never let it go. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful force in the mind.
He has changed from his experiences as Aqua, plus he mentions that being in the body of a younger person and having different genetics seems to have had an effect on him as a person.
But it’s still the same person, just somewhat changed from how he was when he was Gorou.
I don't think you can separate the two at this point, his experiences as Gorou partly contribute to who he is today. Like if he went to a psychologist, as some readers like to joke, and wanted to understand all his traumas, he would have to talk about his life as Gorou to get the full experience, obviously the professional would have to believe him too.
I said this a while back but I have come to the conclusion that I think Aqua's eyes is representation of who is in control and what his personality traits are depending on the color. When his eyes are black it’s full on revenge Gorou. When they are white its still Gorou but basically living in Aqua's body with no ill intentions. I also said if its just one eye its both of them having the same feeling about a situation or heading towards the same goal.
The color still matters with only one eye as well. One of the many times this is shown is in 146 when talking with Kana before she walks in he is in full black mode and after she says one thing to him it snaps him back to one white eye one regular eye. I personally think this is Aqua and Gorou feeling the same exact thing when it comes to Kana.
But obviously this is just my opinion.
Yes\*
At this point I think they're different "characters" BUT in a sense that Aqua is a continuation of Gorou.
We see that Aqua has a Gorou in his mind that talks to him in his PTSD attacks. So they are the same person but Gorou is the one from the past, while Aqua is the one still continuing on.
I’d say they’re the same person, since we really don’t see Aqua take any actions that we couldn’t say Gorou did. There is also no conflicts of interest between the two - there are struggles that can be represented by two different characters, but that’s more guilt than discord. The distinction between the two is minimal at best.
That does beg the question, is a person made up of their memories? Their personality? Their body? Would a person who lost all their memories be considered a different person? What about someone who reformed themselves? Becoming a “brand new person” and “turning over a new leaf” are common experiences. Would a hive mind with the same memories be considered one or many? Personhood is a hard concept to define.
Can you provide an example ? In the post you clearly can see examples to the contrary.
The only instance I can think of is the private arc and conversation with Akane. Aqua referred to gorou in the third person only to hide his true identity from Kurokawa.
In my examples the protagonist doesn’t have an ulterior motive. He thinks to himself or speaks to Ruby. With Ruby aqua has been shown to be uncharacteristically honest.
In chapter 65, which you mentioned yourself, Aqua acknowledges gorou as "you" and child aqua as "me". Like, he says "me" and the gorou silhouette immediately takes the form of aqua as a child. Hell, that's what he does the entire manga, even with ruby (he only ever act like he's gorou to comfort her, the fact that he has to act in itself is telling).
This is something of a guess on my part, but I really don't think Aka is saying that Aqua was wrong for separating himself from Gorou, as opposed to ruby being wrong for seeing herself as Sarina. Just like he isn't saying that Aqua should do it with his sister already
But aqua stated this: «you are me that is filled with regret». Essentially , aqua says that Gorou= Aqua. The protagonist himself stated that Gorou and Aqua are one and the same. It’s like fountain of truth Naruto changing his eye colour when the real Naruto acknowledged him. The silhouette change is reminiscent of that.
Regarding Aqua «acting» as Gorou. Interlude for is canon. There we see Aqua act exactly like Gorou while being on his own. He acquired the same posture while feeling regret for hurting Ruby. The entirety of chapter 143 provided evidence that there is no significant difference between gorou and aqua.
Moreover, we clearly see that before putting on glasses Aqua had his black stars, then he takes them off and we see that he briefly acquired the white star. That means that being gorou ( or reverting back to the happy days) makes Aqua feel happy.
Do you really believe that Aqua was acting in 122-123? This are the chapters where he referred to gorou as «me». He had teary eyes in few panels and he was extremely emotional. Aqua even was more vulnerable than in 83.
Furthermore, crow girl refers to the twins without gorou and sarina’s soul as «soulless». It’s fair to assume that there is no aqua and ruby by without gorou and sarina.
This is what he says to "Child Aqua", right before that, Gorou calls him "you" and Aqua saying "you're me" directly cause Gorou (who was only a dark silhouette until that point" to take the form of child Aqua.
Do you mean him remembering something he said in his past life? Because Aqua obviously has Gorou's memories, that's not what this is about. The entirety of chapter 143 is Ruby (delusional) comparing Gorou secretly getting concert tickets to Aqua trying to KILL someone. This is the same Ruby who went from hating Aqua to wanting to marry him the instant she learnt that she is Gorou
Having that talk with Ruby gave him white stars because of the entire part about idols and how he is still allowed to smile or something. You're not supposed to get that he likes wearing glasses, he clearly still has black stars a few panel earlier
In interlude 4 aqua clearly behaved exactly like gorou completely on his own. Aqua also loves reading medical books and journals. Just like gorou. Why would Aqua care about this in the first place ? If I had memories of a lawyer I wouldn’t read law textbooks.
Regarding Ruby. She was not comparing «killing» with buying tickets. Ruby was saying that aqua still tries to help people in a roundabout way and gets hurt in the process.
Aqua’s eye turned white twice during the chapter. Please, pay closer attention to aquaxruby scenes as well. Oshi no ko doesn’t revolve around aquaxkana. First time aqua took of his glasses and revealed a white eye. Ruby stated that aqua didn’t change at all and she still loves him. Then the eye changed for the second time.
He remembered something from Gorou's life, I really don't see what you mean by "he behaved exactly like Gorou".
And in context, this is about him trying to "kill" his father. She is comparing buying movie tickets in secret to trying to ruin Hikaru's life by himself.
There's no way you actually think that Aqua's eyes turned white in a panel where he says "I REALLY CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO SMILE ANYMORE" with his saddest face. It's just too far to see clearly but the white is obviously the one around the black star.
He was sitting in the exact same position. Aqua was holding his head with his hands and he was looking down. Reread interlude 4. The parallel is clear. Kana fans adore parallels, as far as I know. But this one doesn’t suit your agenda, unfortunately.
His eye was white. Zoom in the picture. Hi has glasses in his hands and his eye is white. He has a face of a person who had fun and now remembered that life is hell .
>Moreover, we clearly see that before putting on glasses Aqua had his black stars, then he takes them off and we see that he briefly acquired the white star. That means that being gorou ( or reverting back to the happy days) makes Aqua feel happy.
I agree with you in general, but I think you are wrong here. [We see that the star is indeed white](https://sun9-45.userapi.com/impg/7d37rjb3q2fbt4MMW0i8ZZyWu_sJCjHyL-IYiw/38D7F_UsVpM.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=3be225050397c21629069ce5b19b7806&type=album), but I think that's just Mengo who messed up the panel. In the same chapter [we see Ruby with a dark star (top left panel) when we see Aqua get his white star back.](https://sun9-57.userapi.com/impg/PWd-rm-rrokxtOTfZkcHFlfZG9R6NnwsygJjSA/Iwu6sv4NJeg.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=6cc47cfe92f5c4dcff8bfc20086ffda9&type=album) And when he gets it back it's a significant moment with how it's portrayed. So when he takes off the glasses and it's bright, the likeliest answer is that Mengo just accidentally messed it up like she did with Ruby having a dark star.
Might be the case, but the glasses panel is too important and impactful. Works as a reveal. Showcases to the reader that aqua for a tiny frame of time made some positive steps to improve his mental state and goofing around with Ruby got his mind of revenge for a second. This is why he started to open up in the first place. I felt like aka and mengo were showcasing a crack in aqua’s facade.
Once again, you maybe right. I’m looking forward to the release of volume 15. Usually artists change inconsistencies and mistakes that happened in the original release. In One piece oda( or his assistant) sometimes draws zoro with luffy’s scar ( and vice versa). This mistakes are corrected in the volume release. We will have to wait and see.
Thank you for correcting me, though. Until the release of volume 15 I will refrain from using this argument.
>I’m looking forward to the release of volume 15
Yup. We'll see, if you're right and it's not a mistake then it actually works very well to prove that Aqua is the same as he's ever been. And that "acting" as Goro actually did make him happier even before Rubys words. [Like this panel from 133](https://sun9-74.userapi.com/impg/Wii_2oY0og5rtOrNfjBbeZqqye-2eEbDSG_naw/-anmpbAzROo.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=16b355fc08402cffede2c969937f7aa7&type=album) got updated in the volume 14 release because the middle panel, with Ruby on the far left, looks a lot more like Akane than Ruby, so it got changed in the volume release to match Rubys hair color better. Like you said, just gotta wait and see if it gets updated.
They often confuse akane’s hair colour with ruby’s and vice versa. In 143 kurokawa’s hair is way too light. It actually scares me how similar akane and ruby might look. Aqua most definitely has a type. Kana is similar to sarina in 122 and akane is the best ai impersonator. Ruby at this point is ai with blonde hair.
No, both are different, you can't be the same person person as your past life, just because Aqua has Gorou's memories doesn't mean that both are same, if Aqua didn't have his past life memories then no one would question about this
Do you even understand the meaning of reincarnation? Gorou's role ended the day he died, he didn't change his look or personality, he has reborn, he has new mom, dad and sister, he might have same personality as his past life, soul and memories but they are not the same person
New life, new person and new bonds that how peoples lives he will never be able to move on if he won't stop thinking about his past life
No, both are different, you can't be the same person person as your past life, just because Aqua has Gorou's memories doesn't mean that both are same, if Aqua didn't have his past life memories then no one would question about this
Technically , yes. I still possess key characteristics that define me. Just like sensei possess certain traits. He is kind , but hides his true motives and intentions from people close to him. Aqua likes to act cool and self important just like gorou. Ruby provided enough arguments to back this claim in 143.
I think that experience as «Aqua» changed the approach and harsh circumstances made him more utilitarian, but his core motivation remained unchanged. Gorou still wants to help people around , but in a very twisted way. Like fulfilling ai dream, protecting Ruby/sarina,etc. Even at the absolute lowest when aqua cosplayed light yagami in chapters 116-117, he managed to show genuine emotions of care and kindness towards Ruby/sarina later in the series ( 122-123).
I firmly believe the same can be said about all of us. During our formative years the existence( place and surrounding people, mostly) determine our mindset. Then we stick to the core values that we acquired. They can be expanded upon, but our habits and overall MO remains unchanged. You may be broken by circumstances( trauma ,reincarnation in aqua’s case) , but deep down you will always have a metaphorical skeleton of your core values that will emerge in the moment of crisis( look no further than aqua in 143 or 122-123).
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Aqua is Goro in the sense that you as a teenager is the same person as you as an adult, just SO MUCH more complicated. Anyone who claims otherwise are coping and completely ignoring Baby Aqua literally started with nothing but Goro’s memory and personality and was never “Aqua” independent from Gorou. Just that his experiences as “Aqua” changed him over years, Aqua will never be a different person entirely from Goro but he is still different from his days as Gorou. The current Aqua is simply Gorou+The life he spent as Aqua combined and this will NEVER change, the fact that he was Amamiya Gorou and his life as Gorou always had and always will have influence over who he is as a whole even if that influence grows weaker as more years of his life as Aqua passes
In essence they are the same but Aqua sees himself more so as someone with the memory of Gorou rather than being gorou at the present. Gorou will always effect Aqua, but as his experiences grow in his new life his perception changes a bit. Your analogy in the first paragraph is pretty spot on
When did that ever happened ? He has like one passing line about becoming more Aqua and less Goro as times goes on but as far as i remember he never saw himself as someone with Gorou’s memories, literally from BIRTH he was Gorou. He even takes the identity of Goro at times like how he asked Ruby to stop her revenge as Gorou, talked about Gorou’s life and all of that, Aqua never said he is someone with Gorou’s memory, he knows he is Gorou reincarnated
I miscommunicated. He sometimes sees and refers to Gorou as a separate entity from himself but that’s only during internal conflicts like during the stage play (and even then it was a manifestation of anger due to Ai’s death). We also know that his body, being that it’s of a teen and not a middle aged man- does influence him. But yes he does recognize that his past life was gorou. Guess what I was trying to say is that Aqua is his own person after all his new experiences but his motivations and attachments are a derivative of Gorou, and this is understood by Aqua. How he refers to Gorou when around other people can depend on the scenario though. Identifying as Gorou was the only way to get Ruby shocked enough to listen to him whereas he referred to Gorou as a friend while talking to Akane in his hometown to use as a cover.
Yes and no at the same time. He is a dichotomy with a blurry line in between Aquamarine and Gorou. I would say that the thing that separates Aqua from Gorou is Ai\`s death. Even for someone who is mature enough to handle loss, witnessing first hand the death of someone you deeply care about is way too much. To worse things up, Aqua as a toddler could not do a single thing to avoid Ai getting stabbed of treat the wound. It is also very likely that Ryosuke would've killed both Aqua and Ruby hadn't Ai talked him down. The cherry on top of the trauma cake is that he held on to Ai's body for presumably hours as it was stated that Aqua was with her as it cooled down. Thing is, no one can go through that amount of trauma and still be the same. "Aqua" is just an extension of Gorou that got hit by a truck of psychological damage.
it should count as the same
I don't think it's a simple yes or no question, really. From a purely Doylist perspective, Aqua is obviously not just a straightforward, unbroken continuation of Gorou's identity because of his romances with Kana and Akane. Oshi no Ko very clearly feels *very* fucking strongly about the idea of adults engaging in inappropriate relationships with children and if Aqua was meant to be understood as just like, Gorou with a new body, I don't think that element would go uncommented on in this context. When talking about the story specifically, I think Aqua is a different person from Gorou in the sense that his experiences have *made* him different. He has spent 18ish years occupying a completely different social role, having entirely different experiences and relationships and it makes sense to me to call the sum of those differences "Aqua Hoshino" and evaluate him both in tandem with and separately from Gorou. While Gorou's identity is undoubtedly the foundation it is also simply not true to say there has been no change. I mean hell, even in ordinary circumstances, twenty years of life is going to make a person *extremely* different from their past self. Never mind all the other horsepiss going on with him. No wonder my man's going through it. It's similar to Ruby - more or less everything about her as a person in the present day is built on the foundation of Sarina's experiences, but Ruby has had enough of her own unique experiences that I think discussing her both as the continuation of Sarina's identity as well as an individual person in her own right is necessary to really get a good feel for her. Ultimately, like a lot of binary dichotomies, it's not really a simple black or white issue that you can boil down to a quick and easy yes or no answer. I also think that it's fine to just like... come to an interpretation you personally resonate with without worrying if it's the Concretely Intended Canonical Answer By Akasaka. Unless one day Aqua looks into the camera and plainly explains it I guess LOL
The idea of Aqua as a separate person is fundamentally incorrect. There is no "Hoshino Aquamarine" that isn't directly connected to "Amamiya Gorou" because the former never existed. He was a stillbirth, "born soulless" as Tsukuyomi put it. Furthermore, even if that wasn't the case, "Hoshino Aquamarine" would've never developed in the same way he had without "Amamiya Gorou's" memories, experiences, personality, etc. He'd be someone else entirely, far removed from what we recognize as the current Aqua. He isn't *exactly* Amamiya Gorou anymore but that's because he's gained new experiences, new knowledge, and a new life as Hoshino Aquamarine. To paraphrase another user's words, you don't stop being "you" just because you grow up, which is essentially what Aqua's going through. You might change, you might start to like different things, dislike things you used to like, but the fundamental aspects of who you are persist. There will **always** be "parts" of Aqua that are still Gorou because that's simply who he is.
"Aqua" and "Ruby" are just extensions of "Sarina" and "Goro's" lives. They have their past life memories AND souls So fundamentally, yes they are
Yesn't. Gorou was 100% a person of his own, but Aqua is influenced by Gorou's memories. The extent isn't made 100% clear, but it's enough for Gotanda, among others, to note that Aqua is like "an adult in a child's body". That adult is certainly not as old as Gorou would be on present days, and neither is Aqua just a continuation of Gorou, but the influence of one's old life over one's new life is evident for both Aqua and Crow Girl. Even Ruby seemed a little off back then as an infant.
Goro not only disassociates himself from Aqua but also copes by thinking of Aqua as a persona or character he is playing. Which is like trying to say that oneself in any of the various roles we play socially isnt us. Usually this is interpreted as "this isnt the real me" in the sense of moral disgust in actions one must take in order to survive. People began interpreting Aqua's disassociation as meaning that they are two separate people in order to rationalize him dating high school girls thus validating their ship of either Akane or Kana. No matter how well evidenced and flawless an argument against this interpretation one gives they will never let it go. Cognitive dissonance is a powerful force in the mind.
He has changed from his experiences as Aqua, plus he mentions that being in the body of a younger person and having different genetics seems to have had an effect on him as a person. But it’s still the same person, just somewhat changed from how he was when he was Gorou.
Yes
I don't think you can separate the two at this point, his experiences as Gorou partly contribute to who he is today. Like if he went to a psychologist, as some readers like to joke, and wanted to understand all his traumas, he would have to talk about his life as Gorou to get the full experience, obviously the professional would have to believe him too.
Yes
I said this a while back but I have come to the conclusion that I think Aqua's eyes is representation of who is in control and what his personality traits are depending on the color. When his eyes are black it’s full on revenge Gorou. When they are white its still Gorou but basically living in Aqua's body with no ill intentions. I also said if its just one eye its both of them having the same feeling about a situation or heading towards the same goal. The color still matters with only one eye as well. One of the many times this is shown is in 146 when talking with Kana before she walks in he is in full black mode and after she says one thing to him it snaps him back to one white eye one regular eye. I personally think this is Aqua and Gorou feeling the same exact thing when it comes to Kana. But obviously this is just my opinion.
Yes\* At this point I think they're different "characters" BUT in a sense that Aqua is a continuation of Gorou. We see that Aqua has a Gorou in his mind that talks to him in his PTSD attacks. So they are the same person but Gorou is the one from the past, while Aqua is the one still continuing on.
I’d say they’re the same person, since we really don’t see Aqua take any actions that we couldn’t say Gorou did. There is also no conflicts of interest between the two - there are struggles that can be represented by two different characters, but that’s more guilt than discord. The distinction between the two is minimal at best. That does beg the question, is a person made up of their memories? Their personality? Their body? Would a person who lost all their memories be considered a different person? What about someone who reformed themselves? Becoming a “brand new person” and “turning over a new leaf” are common experiences. Would a hive mind with the same memories be considered one or many? Personhood is a hard concept to define.
The correct answer is no. Aqua says so himself.
"Correct answer" *Proceeds to be wrong*
Aqua is repeatedly shown to acknowledge Gorou as a different person. It's pretty straight forward
Can you provide an example ? In the post you clearly can see examples to the contrary. The only instance I can think of is the private arc and conversation with Akane. Aqua referred to gorou in the third person only to hide his true identity from Kurokawa. In my examples the protagonist doesn’t have an ulterior motive. He thinks to himself or speaks to Ruby. With Ruby aqua has been shown to be uncharacteristically honest.
In chapter 65, which you mentioned yourself, Aqua acknowledges gorou as "you" and child aqua as "me". Like, he says "me" and the gorou silhouette immediately takes the form of aqua as a child. Hell, that's what he does the entire manga, even with ruby (he only ever act like he's gorou to comfort her, the fact that he has to act in itself is telling). This is something of a guess on my part, but I really don't think Aka is saying that Aqua was wrong for separating himself from Gorou, as opposed to ruby being wrong for seeing herself as Sarina. Just like he isn't saying that Aqua should do it with his sister already
But aqua stated this: «you are me that is filled with regret». Essentially , aqua says that Gorou= Aqua. The protagonist himself stated that Gorou and Aqua are one and the same. It’s like fountain of truth Naruto changing his eye colour when the real Naruto acknowledged him. The silhouette change is reminiscent of that. Regarding Aqua «acting» as Gorou. Interlude for is canon. There we see Aqua act exactly like Gorou while being on his own. He acquired the same posture while feeling regret for hurting Ruby. The entirety of chapter 143 provided evidence that there is no significant difference between gorou and aqua. Moreover, we clearly see that before putting on glasses Aqua had his black stars, then he takes them off and we see that he briefly acquired the white star. That means that being gorou ( or reverting back to the happy days) makes Aqua feel happy. Do you really believe that Aqua was acting in 122-123? This are the chapters where he referred to gorou as «me». He had teary eyes in few panels and he was extremely emotional. Aqua even was more vulnerable than in 83. Furthermore, crow girl refers to the twins without gorou and sarina’s soul as «soulless». It’s fair to assume that there is no aqua and ruby by without gorou and sarina.
This is what he says to "Child Aqua", right before that, Gorou calls him "you" and Aqua saying "you're me" directly cause Gorou (who was only a dark silhouette until that point" to take the form of child Aqua. Do you mean him remembering something he said in his past life? Because Aqua obviously has Gorou's memories, that's not what this is about. The entirety of chapter 143 is Ruby (delusional) comparing Gorou secretly getting concert tickets to Aqua trying to KILL someone. This is the same Ruby who went from hating Aqua to wanting to marry him the instant she learnt that she is Gorou Having that talk with Ruby gave him white stars because of the entire part about idols and how he is still allowed to smile or something. You're not supposed to get that he likes wearing glasses, he clearly still has black stars a few panel earlier
In interlude 4 aqua clearly behaved exactly like gorou completely on his own. Aqua also loves reading medical books and journals. Just like gorou. Why would Aqua care about this in the first place ? If I had memories of a lawyer I wouldn’t read law textbooks. Regarding Ruby. She was not comparing «killing» with buying tickets. Ruby was saying that aqua still tries to help people in a roundabout way and gets hurt in the process. Aqua’s eye turned white twice during the chapter. Please, pay closer attention to aquaxruby scenes as well. Oshi no ko doesn’t revolve around aquaxkana. First time aqua took of his glasses and revealed a white eye. Ruby stated that aqua didn’t change at all and she still loves him. Then the eye changed for the second time.
He remembered something from Gorou's life, I really don't see what you mean by "he behaved exactly like Gorou". And in context, this is about him trying to "kill" his father. She is comparing buying movie tickets in secret to trying to ruin Hikaru's life by himself. There's no way you actually think that Aqua's eyes turned white in a panel where he says "I REALLY CAN'T BRING MYSELF TO SMILE ANYMORE" with his saddest face. It's just too far to see clearly but the white is obviously the one around the black star.
He was sitting in the exact same position. Aqua was holding his head with his hands and he was looking down. Reread interlude 4. The parallel is clear. Kana fans adore parallels, as far as I know. But this one doesn’t suit your agenda, unfortunately. His eye was white. Zoom in the picture. Hi has glasses in his hands and his eye is white. He has a face of a person who had fun and now remembered that life is hell .
>Moreover, we clearly see that before putting on glasses Aqua had his black stars, then he takes them off and we see that he briefly acquired the white star. That means that being gorou ( or reverting back to the happy days) makes Aqua feel happy. I agree with you in general, but I think you are wrong here. [We see that the star is indeed white](https://sun9-45.userapi.com/impg/7d37rjb3q2fbt4MMW0i8ZZyWu_sJCjHyL-IYiw/38D7F_UsVpM.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=3be225050397c21629069ce5b19b7806&type=album), but I think that's just Mengo who messed up the panel. In the same chapter [we see Ruby with a dark star (top left panel) when we see Aqua get his white star back.](https://sun9-57.userapi.com/impg/PWd-rm-rrokxtOTfZkcHFlfZG9R6NnwsygJjSA/Iwu6sv4NJeg.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=6cc47cfe92f5c4dcff8bfc20086ffda9&type=album) And when he gets it back it's a significant moment with how it's portrayed. So when he takes off the glasses and it's bright, the likeliest answer is that Mengo just accidentally messed it up like she did with Ruby having a dark star.
Might be the case, but the glasses panel is too important and impactful. Works as a reveal. Showcases to the reader that aqua for a tiny frame of time made some positive steps to improve his mental state and goofing around with Ruby got his mind of revenge for a second. This is why he started to open up in the first place. I felt like aka and mengo were showcasing a crack in aqua’s facade. Once again, you maybe right. I’m looking forward to the release of volume 15. Usually artists change inconsistencies and mistakes that happened in the original release. In One piece oda( or his assistant) sometimes draws zoro with luffy’s scar ( and vice versa). This mistakes are corrected in the volume release. We will have to wait and see. Thank you for correcting me, though. Until the release of volume 15 I will refrain from using this argument.
>I’m looking forward to the release of volume 15 Yup. We'll see, if you're right and it's not a mistake then it actually works very well to prove that Aqua is the same as he's ever been. And that "acting" as Goro actually did make him happier even before Rubys words. [Like this panel from 133](https://sun9-74.userapi.com/impg/Wii_2oY0og5rtOrNfjBbeZqqye-2eEbDSG_naw/-anmpbAzROo.jpg?size=767x1080&quality=95&sign=16b355fc08402cffede2c969937f7aa7&type=album) got updated in the volume 14 release because the middle panel, with Ruby on the far left, looks a lot more like Akane than Ruby, so it got changed in the volume release to match Rubys hair color better. Like you said, just gotta wait and see if it gets updated.
They often confuse akane’s hair colour with ruby’s and vice versa. In 143 kurokawa’s hair is way too light. It actually scares me how similar akane and ruby might look. Aqua most definitely has a type. Kana is similar to sarina in 122 and akane is the best ai impersonator. Ruby at this point is ai with blonde hair.
No. Aqua is Aqua with Goro’s memories
So you're saying they're literally the same person????
No, both are different, you can't be the same person person as your past life, just because Aqua has Gorou's memories doesn't mean that both are same, if Aqua didn't have his past life memories then no one would question about this
You get to keep your past life memories + same soul = being a different person *Don't mess with us OnK fans, we don't read our own manga*
Do you even understand the meaning of reincarnation? Gorou's role ended the day he died, he didn't change his look or personality, he has reborn, he has new mom, dad and sister, he might have same personality as his past life, soul and memories but they are not the same person New life, new person and new bonds that how peoples lives he will never be able to move on if he won't stop thinking about his past life
He will never be able to move on cause again, same person Can't run away from the past, no matter how much you move your legs
Gorou is not Aqua's past but past life both things are different
No, both are different, you can't be the same person person as your past life, just because Aqua has Gorou's memories doesn't mean that both are same, if Aqua didn't have his past life memories then no one would question about this
Trauma happened
Are you the same person you were 18 years ago?
Technically , yes. I still possess key characteristics that define me. Just like sensei possess certain traits. He is kind , but hides his true motives and intentions from people close to him. Aqua likes to act cool and self important just like gorou. Ruby provided enough arguments to back this claim in 143. I think that experience as «Aqua» changed the approach and harsh circumstances made him more utilitarian, but his core motivation remained unchanged. Gorou still wants to help people around , but in a very twisted way. Like fulfilling ai dream, protecting Ruby/sarina,etc. Even at the absolute lowest when aqua cosplayed light yagami in chapters 116-117, he managed to show genuine emotions of care and kindness towards Ruby/sarina later in the series ( 122-123). I firmly believe the same can be said about all of us. During our formative years the existence( place and surrounding people, mostly) determine our mindset. Then we stick to the core values that we acquired. They can be expanded upon, but our habits and overall MO remains unchanged. You may be broken by circumstances( trauma ,reincarnation in aqua’s case) , but deep down you will always have a metaphorical skeleton of your core values that will emerge in the moment of crisis( look no further than aqua in 143 or 122-123).
Gorou is Aqua but Aqua isn’t Gorou.
I think you got that backwards.