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BakuHal is the slash ship between Madarame Baku and Kiruma Souichi (Hal) from the Usogui fandom.
Canon[]
Madarame Baku and Kiruma Souichi (Hal) are first introduced as enemies, with Baku's initial goal being to gain enough power to have a second chance at playing Surpassing the Leader and take over Hal's position as the current Leader of Kakerou, a powerful underground gambling organization that has influence in every major area of Japan, including the police and politicians. It is revealed that Baku had already lost this gamble once before in 2001 to Hal, who decided to spare his life initially saying that it wasn't even worth taking.
As the story continues, more information on Baku and Hal's relationship and its true nature is shown. Hal suffers from an illness in the form of memory loss which is accentuated due to the heavy burden of being Leader and his need to be "perfect." In order to deal with the pressure of his duties, over the years, Hal developed a coping method where he loses stretches of his memories after making a mistake or finding himself in a grave situation. He erases the memories of his losses and then has them re-implanted with fake ones by his attendants. This memory loss caused him to forget his relationship with Baku who he had met in 1998 and been strongly attached to, even going so far as to deciding to shoot himself in the head and give up his life if he couldn't stay together with him. After meeting each other both Baku and Hal's hearts which were described as having blank spots that had never been filled by anything else were now filled by each other.
Baku however, is not deterred by Hal forgetting him and the real reason for him wanting to play Surpassing the Leader with Hal again is to have him back in his life, restore their relationship and create a space where they can both belong with each other. Baku bets anything and everything on the path to gain Hal back by his side, choosing to help cure his illness. He further proves his affection for Hal by buying the old bookstore where he and Hal first met, giving strict instructions that it should remain untouched and be the same as it was in 1998. He also collects a huge sum of 100 billion yen in his endeavours to reach Hal as well, stating that money is not of importance to him.
In 1998, when they first met, Baku had given Souichi the name 'Hal' which can also be read as 'Haru.' Hal is a special name that only Baku knows Souichi as, and is one that is exclusive to the two of them, highlighting their importance to each other.
Introduction Arc[]
In the Introduction arc, Baku is shown as a man who is apparently cold and manipulative that wants to have a second chance at Surpassing the Leader, a high stakes and sought out gamble where you bet your everything to become the Leader of Kakerou. He meets Kaji Takaomi and recruits him as an ally, with them bonding over their mutual love for a specific pornographic video. Baku takes an interest in only that video to the point where Kaji calls him out on his obsession later on. This video is one that features the same actress of a book from when he first Hal, as it was one of the two items they betted on in the bookstore (with Hal himself being the one to bet the book) and so the only time in the series when Baku shows any sexual desire of the sort it is in relation to Hal. This is proven at the start too when Baku suggests they play 'rock, paper, scissors' to decide who will take the first turn to see the video, a game that Hal suggested he and Baku play in 1998 during their bet, and it is also shown again when as soon as Kaji, who won, leaves to watch the video Baku instantly diverts his thoughts to getting money to play Surpassing the Leader, his attention going back to Hal.
Abandoned Building[]
Baku using the famous romantic phrase to Hal "tonight's sky is beautiful"
Baku and Kaji take on a gamble with Kakerou member Q-tarou in an abandoned building where Kakerou is first mentioned. Kaji notes that Baku makes a surprisingly human face at the mention of Kakerou and this is an initial hint to Baku's deeper motivations to do with the organization and his relationship with it's Leader. Later in the arc the referee who had come to preside over the gamble, Yakou Hikoichi, reveals that Baku had already attempted to Surpass the Leader in 2001 and lost. In the flashback Baku uses the phrase "tonight's sky is beautiful" when proposing a bet on whether any air vehicles would pass by in the skies within thirty minutes to Hal, who was/is the current Leader of Kakerou. This is a famous Japanese poetic phrase used to convey one's romantic feelings in a roundabout way when the distance is too great, something that gets recontextualized in the Bookstore arc. Yakou also states that after losing the gamble, Hal didn't order Baku's death (which is Kakerou's usual tradition) but instead keeps him alive because he is so disappointed by the gamble that he doesn't even view Baku's life as worth taking. His feeling of disappointment later morphs into curiosity and then full scale affection and protectiveness the more Hal starts to piece together his past with Baku.
Baku's two main goals: wanting world peace and wanting Hal back
Baku's two-fold motivations are also hinted at in this arc which are: to gain the power to dominate evil, and to gain Hal back in his life. He tells Yakou that he wants world peace and declares that his target is the head of Kakerou, and so he is aiming for Hal. Baku also recruits another member, Marco who was Q-tarou's son and is someone who reminds Baku of Hal, in the same way Kaji reminded Baku of Hal too, something that gets shown throughout the story and also in later in arcs like Propotoros. In this arc, however, Baku frees Marco from the burden of his dictated life as solely Rodem just as he had shown Hal an alternate path away from solely being Kiruma Souichi in 1998. Both personas of Marco and Hal tied them down because of their love for their fathers Q-Tarou and Tatsuki. This starts the trend of every ally or foe that Baku interacts with in Usogui being a memento of Hal while he is on his journey to reach him.
Terrorist of the Abandoned Mine[]
Baku next faces Sadakuni Ikki, a leader of a terrorist organization and someone who is apathetic to death. He believes that every person has a “mission” as dictated by their destiny, which is a notion that Hal also subscribes to as he makes it his mission to be perfect in order to lead Kakerou and sees it as his destiny since birth to do so. Baku however challenges this belief and holds it with contempt (a microcosm of his battle of free will vs destiny with Hal over the course of the story). During their gamble he calls Sadakuni a corpse as he has already been through the “death” of Hal in 1998 who like Sadakuni left his life to destiny rather than gambling his all for it.
Baku and Hal have a personal bet
This is also the arc where we first see Baku and Hal meet each other face to face in the story. The rumour of Hal’s death from 1998 is also brought up here too, and the gambling scene has spread that Usogui sacrificed one of his comrade's life to save himself in a Kakerou match years ago. This scares Kaji who fears that he will eventually be sacrificed like that too but, unbeknownst to him, he is actually helping Baku revive that very same ally as Baku wants Hal to emerge from the depths of Souichi and remember him. During the gamble with Sadakuni, Hal asks his attendant Yakou Jouichi, who Baku is and Jouichi tells him about Baku being a former Kakerou member who lost to him in 2001. Hal wonders why he didn't take his life and orders to confiscate it but Jouichi's brother, and fellow referee, Yakou steps in to warn them that violence is not prohibited in ongoing matches. Hal concedes and spares Baku yet again, who proposes a bet with him over whether the missiles that Sadakuni had prepared would launch or not. He reminds Hal that "it's a personal bet between you and me" which hints to Baku’s possessive side when it comes to Hal as he craves the mutual exclusivity he can only find with him. The bet also highlights the contrast of their ideologies with Hal believing in his destiny allowing him to win vs Baku's belief in taking actions for oneself to win in the form of Marco who is stopping the missiles on Baku's instructions.
Baku telling Kaji that what he is pursuing (later to be revealed Hal) is something his life can never equate to
The arc ends with Hal not confiscating Baku's life yet again which leads to Kaji asking Baku what’s driving him. Baku responds that he is pursuing something so outrageously stupid that even his life would never equate to it, so gaining Hal back means more to him than even his own life, which he proves by leaving it up to Hal multiple times over the course of the story. It goes against Baku’s identity as a gambler to put his future and life in something as unpredictable as Hal’s hands, something Hal himself points out later in Surpassing the Leader (“you left the most important part of your plan to destiny, you didn’t achieve it with your own hands”) but his trust and love for Hal overshadows his existence as a gambler in the same way that it goes against Hal's existence as Leader to take an interest in the memories of his past with Baku and keep sparing his life.
Labyrinth[]
In the next arc, Baku gambles against Yukiide Kaoru, the person in charge of the Labyrinth Game at the Metropolitan Police Department, a duty that previously belonged to his father. Yukiide is the opponent who is most similar to the Hal that Baku cherishes and is specifically trying to revive, so there is an obvious contrast in Baku’s previous harsh treatment of Sadakuni as his opponent and the way in which he treats Yukiide, going so far as to even save his life. At age 12 Yukiide was diagnosed with encephalitis lethargica with his condition worsening at age 15, and because of that, he lost 10 years of his life in a coma. Notably, 15 years old is the same age when Baku and Hal met each other in 1998, and Hal, (like Yukiide lost a period of 10 years), also forgot about Baku for 10 years. Yukiide then woke up from his coma 2 years before the gamble and is shown to have been completely changed and bound by his father's ideals of order, again just like Hal and his ideology of order within Kakerou, as Souichi is bound, something instilled in him by Tatsuki.
Baku sharing his memory of Hal
Due to the decade gap in his life, players offer a memory to Yukiide in exchange for money, and depending on the date and how much a person values the memory, a judgement is made on what it is worth. The motif of memories is one that is very centric to Hal, as he himself suffers from memory loss and Baku is striving to alleviate Hal of that very burden, making Yukiide an important parallel to Hal, and opponent to Baku. During the gamble, Baku bets a memory of Hal, and for the first time we hear Baku mention him by name. He tells Yukiide that he killed his friend Haru on November 23rd, this is the date when Japan celebrates National Labour Day. Hal “dies” ironically on a day where the country celebrates the hard work that citizens put in despite Hal himself wanting to be freed from that burden of work and fails, instead being pushed into taking on the role of Leader when he awakens with memory loss. Baku however, recognizes this desire of Hal's and his entire gamble is working towards helping Hal to lessen that burden because of his care for him. When betting the date Baku tells Yukiide that the memory of Hal dying is an important to him and so he would never use it bet it twice, showing Hal’s importance to Baku.
Hal contradicting his beliefs because learning about his relationship with Baku means more to him
The arc cuts to a brief scene of Hal playing golf with his attendant Touya Masateru, and they discuss Baku. The presiding referee of Baku's match with Yukiide, Kadokura Yuudai, had given a call as per the Kakerou procedure where if another referee is uncertain how to proceed with neutrality in a game, they should contact Touya. Kadokura and Touya talk about how Baku is an unprecedented anomaly, and that he is the only person in the world to have his collection abandoned by Leader, emphasizing Hal's innate attachment to Baku that prevents him from taking his life, even if it defies Kakerou's longstanding tradition. This is shown again when he says to Touya that "the past it's no different from a cheap book" that one should "just throw it away after reading it." As Hal, his relationship with Baku as a concept contradicts his self imposed nature when he is Leader, since he says that the past should be discarded, yet his bond with Baku means too much to him so he cannot bring himself to do that, even while doesn't remember him and he later wishes to know the truth about his past with Baku as seen in Air Poker.
Yukiide and Hal's parallels which indicate why Baku is more compassionate with him out of all his opponents
Towards the end of Yukiide's storyline, Baku is shown visiting him in hospital and he has reverted back to his 1998 slicked back hairstyle after saving him. Baku is surrounded by cherry blossom petals which indicate spring or 'Haru' in Japanese (Hal’s name) and the “welcome home” of the mechanic bird left at Yukiide's bedside symbolize words that Baku craves to tell Hal as his goal is to revive him from the depths of Kiruma Souichi and have him return back to him, in a shared place of belonging. Marco also leaves drawings for both Yukiide and Hal in the hospital which depict them in wheelchairs, further mirroring the two together.
Tower of Karma[]
This arc is pivotal for Baku as it results in the death of Hal's father and previous Leader, Kiruma Tatsuki, that is caused at the same time as Hal's memory being reset. Baku encourages his referee Yakou to take part in a ranking battle with Tatsuki for the title of Referee 0, as one of the conditions of playing Surpassing the Leader is for your exclusive referee to be number 0. Yakou defeats Tatsuki and kills him which presumably leaves no one left in the world alive who knows about the full extent of Hal's memory loss and how to deal with it, sending the referees in a state of panic. Typically when his memories had entered a state where they get reset, Hal would follow his caretaker Eba's advice and go to a bookstore where he would find the book 'The Prince Bee' and so Hal, after losing his memory, escapes from the referees surrounding him and leaves to make his way to the bookstore, something that Baku had accounted for as he also makes his way to the bookstore afterwards to meet Hal.
Baku smiling even though he is injured while thinking about how he's closer to gaining Hal back
Once his gamble with Suteguma Satoru concluded with Baku's victory, he is rescued by Kaji as he is heavily injured, having been attacked by Suteguma and stabbed in the eye. Despite his grave wounds, Baku is still seen smiling and saying "Kiruma Souichi" in his head showing that he is thinking about Hal even while in a near death state, this also happens again in later arcs like Air Poker and Surpassing the Leader too. The narration on the panel is "you can bring back the people who left" which is exactly what Baku is trying to do in wanting the Hal who left him in 1998 back, and he is smiling in spite of his injuries because he is one step closer towards achieving this, especially because Hal has now entered a memory reset and is on his way to the bookstore where he first met Baku.
Baku is later seen recovering from his eye injury when Marco gives him with his usual groceries which includes a copy of the film, 2001: A Space Odyssey. This is the film from where Baku created Hal's name, revealing the extreme importance of Hal in Baku's life yet again despite them being estranged, since he keeps a copy of the film close to him all the time. Baku is then shown, now alone, watching the film on his hotel room's television and next to the television is also a picture of the famous painting Primavera by Italian painter Sandro Botticelli. Primavera in Italian means Spring, which is translated in Japanese as Haru (Hal's name). The painting is often associated with being a celebration of romantic love, peace and prosperity, which are emotions that can be a pointer to Baku's own feelings and his envisioned future with Hal.
- Love: Baku's love for Hal
- Peace: Baku's true gameplan which made sure that Kakerou, gambling and his relationship with Hal are able to co-exist peacefully
- Prosperity: a new Prince Bee duo forms at the end of Usogui as Baku and Hal strengthen their bond and Kakerou as an organization
This thread here goes in more depth about the symbolism of the painting in regards to Baku and Hal's relationship.
Baku addressing Hal that he will meet him again
Baku sentimentally addresses Hal internally and says "don't worry, no matter if it's before we go back" (with the panel focusing on a Space Odyssey, indicating their shared past), "or after" (with the panel focusing on the Primavera, indicating their shared future) and he ends the speech with “we will meet each other again for sure.” This displays Baku's drive and sheer conviction in his plan to have Hal by his side which is a feeling he proves time and time again during the manga by betting on Hal and their connection just like the conditions of Surpassing the Leader where you must bet everything you have including your bonds and connections.
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Tatsuki saying Baku is Hal's karma and makes his son's life entertaining
Also in the arc is a scene where Hal's father, Tatsuki is shown after his death, on his way to be cremated. He thinks about those who are left alive and remembers his son's memory loss problem, however, despite the issue, Tatsuki is not worried but is instead jealous of Hal's life because he has Baku in it to make it interesting. He urges Hal to find the meaning in the timing of his own death and Hal's memory loss happening at the same time, implying that he is aware that Baku has orchestrated his death, this is also indicated when earlier in the arc Tatsuki tells Baku that no one likes it if someone is too persistent since Baku has not given up the desire to have a rematch with Hal even a decade later, hinting that he is aware to some degree that Baku’s intentions go deeper than simply wanting to be the next Leader of Kakerou. Tatsuki also in his death mentions karma, an ideology that aligns with Baku's, with both believing in curating your own actions and the results (or karma) are the consequence of them, unlike their partners Eko (Tatsuki's wife) and Hal who believe in a person's destiny. Therefore, Baku and Hal's relationship directly parallel Hal's parents, something that becomes increasingly more clear as the story goes on, and each pair prove that affection can still exist even in a difference of ideology.
Battleship[]
Eba's warning to Hal that he had defied because of his attachment to Baku
The next arc, Battleship, instead follows Hal's point of view as he is on the run from the referees and is making his way to the bookstore. During this time he bumps into fellow collegue Oofuna Gakuhito, who works with him in the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office (CIRO) when he is Hachina Naoki, a public persona created for him to hide his identity as Kakerou's Kiruma Souichi. Hal's relationship with Oofuna is one of the two he forms separate from anyone in Kakerou, with the other being one he forms with Nobuko in Portoporos. Both of Hal's relationships with Oofuna and Nobuko are a reflection of the relationship he once had with Baku, showing that even with his memory loss, Baku's impact on him runs so deep that Hal projects the actions and feelings of their relationship onto others. An example of this is Hal giving Oofuna the name 'Gakuto' which derives from his name Gakuhito and is a reference to Japanese musician Gackt, in the same way that Baku had once given him the nickname 'Hal' which derived from his name Hachina and is play on the word Haru and reference to HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hal's caretaker Eba had even forbidden him from building too deep a relationship with anyone and yet despite this, Hal had defied the warning for Baku in 1998, forming an intense relationship with him.
In the arc, Hal's colleague Oofuna is caught in a gamble with Captain Lacy, who is the captain of a group of seafaring weapon smugglers that Oofuna was tasked to apprehend. Kaji and his ally Karl were also participating in the gamble too, in order to gain back the 50 billion yen that Baku had collected to play Surpassing the Leader that Kaji had lost. To help Oofuna out, Hal disguises himself and boards the ship where the gamble is taking place and fights Lacy's daughter Voja who bears a striking resemblance to him. Voja looking extremely similar to Hal is what allows him to go undetected as he wears a cap to hide his face, like Voja also wears, mirroring what a younger Hal did to hide his identity in 1998 which gets revealed in Bookstore, again showing that even while losing his memories Hal innately mimics certain actions.
Continuing the trend of Hal paralleling every ally or foe the story, he also shares parallels with Voja beyond their looks that tie into their respective relationships with Baku and Vincent Lalo. Both Hal and Voja were prodigal children who from a young age were cut out to be leaders (Voja in her orphanage and Hal eventually being Leader of Kakerou). They also hail from families who had only a father and the mothers dead, with Lacy also being eccentric just like Tatsuki was and in turn, Hal and Voja are much more reserved compared to their fathers. Hal’s mother Eko and Voja’s mother Nadia also have the exact same introduction scene with both saying “nice to meet you” however, Eko disregards this greeting and adds “well that is probably what I should be saying here,” indicating the difference in both mothers. Nadia had attempted to kill her daughter Voja, while Eko had bet on her son Hal to survive instead furthering the parallels. Voja herself recognizes the similarities between her and Hal and says that she has an illusion of being something special and having awareness like him, which is an ironic comparison considering Hal who while is said to be special, has currently entered another memory reset and has therefore no true awareness (he pointedly visits the bookstore after this arc).
In their fight, Voja puts her life on line to help Lalo and strives to please him in the same way Hal wanted to do for Baku but the difference is that Baku doesn't need Hal to be useful to him to simply want him in his life. Baku is separate from an organization that demands this of a person and he's not someone who conforms to Kakerou’s way of traditional thinking and doesn’t operate like Lalo does with his organization IDEAL. Voja also has contempt towards people because she can easily lead them to their deaths, without them being aware of it, which is the opposite line of thinking to Hal as this is something that he specifically finds attractive in Baku, the fact that Baku can make people, referees in particular, dance to his tunes and they're not even aware of it as shown in Bookstore.
Hal's tender expression when hearing Baku's name
At the end of the arc Hal has a phone call with Lalo and they discuss Baku, at the mention of his name Hal makes a complicated expression that borders on tenderness despite his confusion. He tells Lalo that they he will return the diamonds taken from him and they set up a meeting that will precede the Protoporos arc. Hal then meets up with Oofuna again, who has won the gamble against Lacy, and admits that he had initially planned to leave him for dead but he changed his mind, instead wanting to remain by his side as the Hachina he knows for a little while longer. This again reflects his relationship with Baku which he subconsciously projects onto Oofuna, as he in 1998 wanted reprieve from his role as Kiruma Souichi and desired to stay together with Baku as Hal forever.
Bookstore[]
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Hal walks past Baku in the bookstore
This is the most important arc in Usogui, with it being the core of the story and Baku and Hal's characters. The arc starts off with Hal finally arriving at the bookstore to pick up the Prince Bee book. When there, Hal starts to vaguely feel a sense of déjà vu and the arc enters into a flashback. A younger Hal had arrived at the bookstore in 1998 to collect the Prince Bee book he had ordered. He meets Baku for the first time who also wanted to own the book given its mythical status. Baku asks him his name and Hal replies with "Hachina Naoki" and in turn he asks Baku who he is to which he states his name "Madarame Baku," this starts off the pair's fated encounter. The story then cuts out of the flashback and back to the present where Baku is once again standing in Hal's way to the Prince Bee book, recreating their first meeting 10 years later. Hal walks past Baku and says "let me squeeze by," Baku in response looks on with shock then glances down sadly as the reality of their distance sinks in, with Hal forgetting their previous meeting in the bookstore in 1998. The scene then jumps back to their past where Baku challenges Hal over the Prince Book. Hal refuses and tells him to pay 1 million yen if he wants the book and says "let me squeeze by" while walking off (mirroring his actions years later in the present) thinking that Baku would not be able to pay such a huge sum of money, however Baku slaps a stack of notes in Hal's hand instead to his surprise.
Baku discerns that Hal is of wealth from his attitude towards him and questions why he wants the Prince Bee, a picture book that only children would be interested in. Baku admits that he wants to have the book because he likes to collect rare goods, Baku’s hobby for collecting rare goods is ironically one that led to him meeting Hal in the bookstore by chance and gaining a rare relationship with him that became his destiny, a relationship that he ended up treasuring above everything else in his life. Baku’s reason for wanting the book is known but he wonders what the hidden agenda behind Hal wanting the book is and so decides to settle it with a bet where both he and Hal have to present the bookstore owner with a book and whoever has a book of higher value will get the Prince Bee. Hal agrees to the bet and asks Baku how they will decide who will take turns, proposing 'rock, paper, scissors.' This is a game that Baku is shown to play throughout the manga at the start of various gambles like in Hangman and Labyrinth meaning that he had adopted it from Hal. It also becomes symbolic with Baku's luck and how Hal is a representation of it, something this thread goes into more depth about.
Baku is reluctant and declines the offer to play the game and proposes they choose with page numbers instead. Hal informs Baku that earlier he had only given him 99 bills instead of the full 1 million yen which surprises him but also makes him grow more excited since Hal was able to pick up on it. He tells Hal that his noble kind of thinking pisses him off and they both proceed with the challenge over guessing page numbers to decide who will take the first turn. The pair are on equal terms and have a similar kind of sensitivity that even shocks the bookstore owner as they keep resulting in a tie, showing their synchronicity a notion that gets stronger the deeper they bond with each other. In the end, Baku wins and chooses his book first with Hal choosing his after.
Quotes[]
- “The blank spot in both of their hearts that had never been filled until now, had been filled up by each other.”
- — Narrator (Bookstore)
- “Let's win together Hal, I will bet on you.”
- — Baku (Air Poker)
- “I felt it when we first met. You and I were meant for a fate like this.”
- — Baku to Hal (Bookstore)
- “It was no wonder that I was attracted to his devilshness.”
- — Hal about Baku (Bookstore)
- “I understand that you two were drawn to each other so much...”
- — Hikoichi Yakou (Surpassing the Leader)
- “You should really stop if you are only lingering in a sentimental mood. This man and I are not the same.”
- — Young Hal's vision to Baku (Bookstore)
- “I’m glad I didn’t lose the most important thing.”
- — Hal (Surpassing the Leader)
Fanon[]
BakuHal are the most popular dynamic in Usogui in both the Western and Eastern fandom. They also have a daily account dedicated to them on twitter: bakuhalbot.
Fandom[]
- FAN FICTION
- Kiruma Souichi/Madarame Baku tag on AO3
- Kiruma Souichi & Madarame Baku tag on AO3
Trivia[]
- Baku's relationship with Hal was always planned right from the start as revealed with author Toshio Sako's tweet here, where he showed the initial pages for Usogui that he had submitted.
- In the official song released for the live action Usogui movie Live by B'z, the upbeat nature of the song becomes softer and more emotional when Baku is addressing Hal. The lyrics sung from Baku's perspective are "Your singing voice and your sobbing voice, I am chasing it, I am chasing it. Someday... I am reaching for you." They show Baku's intense devotion towards pursuing Hal and how much he wants to help alleviate him of his painful burden and have him back in his life.
- In the official Usogui poker cards Baku's cards are the Joker (representing his Usogui side) and
- Baku keeps a copy of the film 2001: A Space Odyssey on him all the time as a reminder of Hal, keeping Hal close to him always.
- Whenever Baku has a direct conversation with Hal as Leader, before he has regained his memories, he never calls him by his name that (not Souichi, Hachina or Leader) since Hal is the special name that Baku himself gave him. Baku will always use “you” or "omae" in Japanese which is used as a way to talk about someone without directly using their name. This is a stark contrast to Baku constantly addressing him as “Hal” in the Bookstore flashbacks and also internally, showing the extent to which Baku still cherishes the Hal side to Souichi. Omae is also used when talking to a close friend, especially if you are on very casual terms with them, indicating that Baku still views Hal as being close to him despite their estrangement.
- Baku has spent at the very least 100 billion yen on pursuing Hal, has bought the bookstore where he first met Hal and stated that money is of no importance to him, meaning that he is willing to spend any amount to have Hal back.
- Baku owns a romantic painting named after Hal's name called the Primavera which translates to Spring (or Haru in Japanese).
Gallery[]
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