Ok, so some of you are looking at the title of this chapter and think: Oh god he's boosting his own ego, what an arrogant prick.

And I don't blame you.

However, I've been meaning to do a form of CCEU analysis for a long time, and I strayed away from my works (Cray's Collapse, Z World, The Forbidden- okay maybe not that one) because I already know the hidden details and meanings, plus it'd be actual ego-boosting.

When looking over the remaining works, I decided Thunderous Rebellion and Shadows were pretty cut and dry, without much to analyse. The other big novel, Spiral Terra, had something I did want to peek my head further down into. Originally, this was going to be an analysis of how important Renji is to the story, and how Hikaru and Ichigo grow as characters because of it, but when researching for that topic, I found something more interesting to cover.

By the way, spoiler warning for Spiral Terra. Please check out the story if you want to understand this analysis.

Perhaps I was being unreasonably biased, but the scene where the defeated Hikaru hands his Dimension Police deck to Taira has so many layers behind it. The scene is relatively easy to dissect, and the full-frontal meaning (Hikaru's departure from Vanguard, his former life, and giving up on being King, while Taira gets a "powerful deck" to fuel his obsession of slaying protagonists) is cut and dry. It is when we look deeper that we find something implied.

Okay, let's rewind and talk about Hikaru first, since he is the crutch behind Taira's hidden narrative.

Hikaru's the character with two sides. A common trope, but an effective one. The story sets up a trap, presenting Hikaru as this overly eager, joke making, laid-back person who guides Ryuuga in the Vanguard world. We get hints he's stronger then he truly is, but generally we are lulled to think nothing of Hikaru.

It is when we come across the fight between Hikaru and Ichigo inside the washing machine shop, we get to see Hikaru's true nature. All of what had been established was a facade, a rouse. Unlike Ryuuga, who stripped away his former self for a better version, Hikaru stripped away his former self for not a better version, but rather his true self. A cynical man who became King to fulfil his dead friend's wishes.

This duality affects everything around Hikaru, and is probably what makes him one of the strongest written characters in the book. He turns everything, the status quo, on it's head, and drags Taira, the unassuming protagonist slayer, into his actual slow narrative.

Let's take a detour to look at Taira.

He is just a carbon copy of his father, Fubuki Ansei, when you boil it down. He plays vanguard, he gets angry, he shouts, he's good comedic value. Yes, there's nothing wrong with that, but there is the equal opportunity for the comedic character to have a deep and meaningful narrative, like Hikaru did. He's not a deep character - in fact, he's pretty surface level. He shouts out his goals, he has the determination and passion, and reminds me of the loud mouthed best friend of most shounen series.

But, Taira not only mirrors his father, but also Hikaru too. This is why Hikaru is important to Taira's character.

The first thing I'd like to point out, is Hikaru's nickname for Taira. While Hikaru's nicknames for his friends are things such as "Emomon" or "Queenie", Hikaru's nickname for Taira is "Orange Kacchan". Now, this looks pretty surface level too, but the "Orange" shows that Hikaru paid attention to Taira more, and his first impression of him was his angry personality, and orange hair. This shows Hikaru's perceptiveness, and how he feels that maybe Taira nickname should stick out more then the rest - because Taira is someone to remember.

Secondly, Taira is shown to want power. He wants to get power through constant fighting, and claw his way up to the top. This reflects Hikaru's true self - he wants to be King, but the way both characters go about it is different. Hikaru forces his way to the top by beating Akira, but Taira is ready to sink time to slowly move up the ranks. It's when he becomes Jack to Hikaru, Taira has to accept that things aren't going his way (despite Kaminari saying otherwise), and his chase for strength felt empty and meaningless.

This shows Taira is someone who cares for his hard work, and wants it to be seen; he doesn't want anything given to him, yet when it is, he has to unwillingly accept, due to an outside influence or self-acceptance. This is a respectable trait, and if Hikaru is perceptive (his true self is) as he seems, then he would notice Taira's personality and morales, especially during the cardfight he had. While Taira did not participate in Regionals, Hikaru did see his cardfighting self, and by extension, his true self.

One thing to note, that a "truer self" comes out during a cardfight. This is what a Vanguard battle is all about. Your cards do the talking, which is why Cardfights are great metaphors and spectacles. Taira's regret after the fight, losing as bad as he did, showed Hikaru his personality and morales, and also that his deck wasn't as strong as he truly believed. Yeah, Aqua Force isn't as good as Dimension Police. Hikaru caught this, and this would lead to probably the biggest action that sparked the hidden narrative idea.

The mirror doesn't stop there. Hikaru is fighting for Renji, a person who is tying him down. In the beach chapter, Taira reveals (through the truth brownie) how he just wants to live up to his parents, and how he wants to make them proud. Again, another person (rather, people) who is (are) tying him down, and fuelling the character. Hikaru can probably relate to Taira, and understand him better as a result.

While I have been pushing for the similarities of the two boys, there are also differences. Hikaru is secretive and gets angry when the buttons get pushed too far. Taira is quite open, and gets angry whenever he wants, shouting as much as he can. Hikaru got the girl he wanted. Taira didn't (though it's not too important concerning the characters but damn it I love my ships). It's these kind of contrasts that differentiates the characters and helps build their narratives, despite being similar. But, we're not here to focus on the differences.

No, we're here to examine the scene Hikaru gives Taira the deck, and how it's probably the high point of Taira's narrative.

When Hikaru is stripped from everything, he has no reason, no being, to act or lie. He can't play the facade, because he's too drowned in his own sadness. His subconscious is doing everything for him while he wallows in his own despair. That's why, while the scene is short and quick (it represents Hikaru wanting to move on, run away, not look back as fast as he can on the mess he created) it's meaningful, because out of the three strong cardfighters there, he chooses to pass on his Dimension Police deck (which represents his true self) to Taira, because of everything he's noticed thus far.

A subconscious decision that tells us a lot about Hikaru's stance on Taira. This is the "nudge" he is trying to give Taira to just go out there and get what he wants. He sees the potential in him, not Hisano or Kaminari, not Ryuuga or Fujiko, or even Emon or Akira. He knows those guys are truly "honest" to themselves, and thus can be at their best, while Taira stuffs down his mental pressures and screams out he'll be the best and slay protagonists like his old man to mask it. He's giving the "true self" to Taira to help make him realise that he can become strong (with this deck), and that he can become the person who lives up to his parent's standards.

Of course, it crumbles away quickly, as Taira loses with the deck constantly, but the metaphor and message gets passed on regardless. Hikaru's kicking off Taira's eventual rise to the top. He placed him as Jack, higher then Kaminari. That shows his belief in Taira, despite using AqF at the time. While Taira has not realised it yet for himself, I feel like he will look back on his past events, think about what Kaminari said about everything going everyone else's way, while Taira, who struggles and works hard everyday, gets nothing in return.

Now, Taira isn't the type to discard it all so easily. Instead, he'll work harder, struggling more. This will be how he reaches the "top". He will become something better then he is right now... IN THE SPIRAL SEQUEL THAT I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT'S ACTUALLY CALLED!

Or maybe, I'm just reaching for straws here, and Taira will forever stay as comedic relief.

Thanks for coming to my TED Talk, and my next analysis will probably be on Apex... or whatever else gets entered into the CCEU down the line.