THE ADVENTURES OF BABYSITTING FRAN!
FOR SOME REASON THEY SENT A BUNCH OF VILLAINS TO DO THIS JOB! Shockingly, antics ensued.
SUMMARY OF THIS CHAPTER:
Varia and Kokuyou spy on Fran and make observations about his giant apple hat. Mammon, who incidentally is sporting a much prettier hat (that squares it, Mammon, you are officially a girl in my mind and I DARE YOU to prove otherwise then, Amano), nips off to go find the magical Arcobaleno fountain, and no one else notices because they are all too busy slowly coming to the realization that TYE!Fran is actually really kind of a dumbass. Actually he is more like the world's biggest troll but it doesn't really make much difference to them, I suppose. Fran proceeds to host the Comedy Central Roast of Villains and somehow this ends badly?? He then spends the rest of the chapter trolling everyone with the most epic fit of Tourette's syndrome the world has ever seen, to the point where his life is repeatedly threatened and he still insists on insulting the guys holding spears to his throat, either because he is just that stupid or he just does not give a single fuck.
Hilariously, it all turns out to be a misunderstanding because someone shot him in the head with cheese. Well, you know. It happens. So all of a sudden Squalo and Mukuro both simultaneously decide that sharing is caring and offer the other one Fran, and for some reason Levi takes it upon himself to hit on Fran's future girlfriend, which WTF does not even begin to cover BUT WHATEVER.
MEANWHILE, Mammon locates the official Arcobaleno Kiddie Pool with all of the other Arcos lounging away around it. Everyone is like, "WHAT'S UP, WE ALL GOT THE SAME LETTERS TOO SO WE ALL GATHERED HERE TO READ THEM AND IT'S ALL REBORN'S FAULT SOMEHOW, WE SHOULD HAVE KNOWN." So then they decode Mammon's letter along with the rest of theirs and finally solve the puzzle resulting in them learning things we the readers have already known for a while. Most importantly, they learn about the mysterious eighth (ninth, technically, right? DOES LAL JUST NOT COUNT ANYMORE OR WHAT) Arcobaleno with the boring clear pacifier, and they all start speculating about this guy while back at the waterfall, Fran randomly chooses to join a MYSTERY GROUP and all of a sudden the chapter ends. Just ENDS, and nothing more has been said on the matter to this day. So... yeah.
THINGS OF NOTE:
- Was I the only one who had an oddly disconcerting experience trying to tell if that was Fran's front or back on that first page? I mean, obviously I knew it was his back, but thanks to Amano's only so-so talent at drawing elbows and knees, I was kind of thrown for a bit even so. ...IDK I GUESS I'M JUST WEIRD?
- "Last time I drifted all the way out to the ocean and no one noticed..." Fran, as far as Traumatic Childhood Pasts go, you're reaching.
- I swear to God for a second there Squalo actually looked a little panicked about Fran's "hex." Like "OH SHIT NO, NOT A HEX!" XD
- I never thought anything Mukuro would do could possibly top Owlkuro, but damned if his reaction to "pineapple fairy" didn't come close. I also died at M.M. in the background going "THAT'S THE NUMBER ONE THING YOU SHOULDN'T SAY" because my first thought was, "Number one as in are there more? HOLY SHIT IS THERE A LIST?" I must get my hands on it.
- "Forgot to cut its bangs..." I'LL SAY.
- Ken being the one to try to reason with Fran while Mukuro was all "LEMME AT HIM LEMME AT HIM" was like some Twilight Zone shit, man. NOTHING ABOUT THIS MAKES ANY SENSE, WHAT UNIVERSE IS THIS.
- Levi being completely ignored was my favorite part of the chapter. XD
- "Listen Fran DO YOU REMEMBER GETTING SHOT IN THE HEAD RECENTLY." Actually, no, that was my favorite part of the chapter. Just... that sentence. EVERYTHING ABOUT IT.
- For the record I side with Squalo on this one. In the end it makes more sense for Mukuro to be stuck with him. Plus, Squalo promised to send gifts if Mukuro takes him! THINK OF THE FREE TUNAS, MUKURO, THINK OF THE TUNAS.
- Anyone ever notice how every time we see Fon, he's making the exact same face with the exact same pose?
??
- I do like that Reborn even plays mind games with his own peers. Like, is there no one he won't fuck with, or what?
- This is obviously going to be a running theme in the next arc, but I gotta say it did surprise me when I first read these chapters that the Arcobaleno apparently knew so little about their own history and curse. I just always assumed, you know, Arcobaleno, most powerful guys in the world, they were probably all-knowing, you know? But apparently not.
Anyway, so ends this little mini-arc. Next chapter we finally get to the good stuff. :D