u/gauty001

During the climax of STL, when Souichi tells Baku to not turn around whilst tearing up, do you guys see this as 1) a sincere, deliberate act of gratitude from Souichi to let Baku win or 2) an act of last second surrender (e.g: hail mary) that souichi did because he knew he wouldn't stay conscious or 3) an emotional strategy that would force baku to not turn around, therefore failing the check?

The reason why i'm asking this is because i feel like it's intentionally left ambiguous by the author. Did souichi know for a fact he wouldn't be able to stand anymore and collapse, or did he still try to win through deception at the end?

There's 2 possible scenarios here to consider:

A: Souichi tried to win until the very end, hoping Baku gave in to his deception, actually turned around and failed the check before he collapsed. (Deception route)

OR

B: Souichi knew he would collapse but hoped baku wouldn't turn around until he did so and only dropped the handkerchief AFTER the round ended, purposely resulting in Baku's win (Gratitude route)

Please give me your thoughts and reasoning on which route Souichi took, thank you.

I’ve watched about 2 episodes, and i kind of enjoyed it but heard there were some pretty questionable depictions later on, how true is this and to what extent? Also can someone tell me if this anime deals with philosophical themes and dilemmas beyond just a big, deep hole that gets more dangerous as you go down? Ever since i’ve read Land of the Lustrous my standards have been set rlly high, so i’d like for someone to be honest and tell me if the writing is exceptional or just good. Lastly, beyond world building and overall story structure is there good focus and depth on the protagonist? Riko doesn’t seem like a very layered MC for now. (At S1 EP 3 currently)