@hystericempress I kinda hope the "got infected by evil biocorp" angle turns out to be a red herring.

@minimink my guess on that is either:

A) her surgery and blood transfusion after the accident was a complete logistical fuckup and not an 'intended' result in the slightest

or

B) this actually IS something intrinsic to Michiru and a transfusion just ended-up awakening something that was already there

either way, both are decent reasons for Sylvesta scrambling to get a lid on it now that she's out-of-pocket.

@minimink my read on this situation is more that Sylvesta is planning to try and exploit this situation for a profit by offering a bogus 'cure' that is really just an attempt to reverse-engineer her abilities, and the eventuality that it isn't actually 'fixable' because there's nothing actually WRONG.

@hystericempress YES! And big bossman Sylvesta not knowing about Michiru beforehand does lend credence to this.

@minimink I also lean towards the 'intrinsic' reading because it's actually in her NAME; Michiru is written as みちる, which is 'to grow or mature' or simply 'to become' using the individual characters み and ち, 'body' and 'blood'; meanwhile Kagemori is written as 影森, 'wood shadow,' which is very on the nose for someone who 'accidentally' became a tanuki. my honest guess is she was ALWAYS like this.

@minimink Sidebar: all the characters are named like this. Shirou Ogami is a cognate of 'shiro okami', 'white wolf,' the Horners are activists with a surname that was used by town criers, Mary Itami's surname means 'pain' in the sense of 'pain in the ass,' and Alan Sylvesta literally translates from Norman english and latin as 'Noble of the Forest.'

@hystericempress Hm, now this is getting me wondering about 'intrinsic' vs 'artificial' and the merits when it comes to queer reading. On one hand, the intrinsic angle backs up the story as allegory for homosexuality.

I wonder if there's something to be said about the 'artificial' angle being linked to a transgender reading, and the validity of self-identification no matter how you came to be.

@minimink Like, I think a point the series is driving at is that identity is BOTH what you do and what you are; note that Michiru is essentially helpless without Shirou's aid until she starts embracing her own abilities, but that she's welcomed by the Horners and others regardless. she's in this boat with them no matter what, but she can do and BE more if she chooses to take joy in what she is.

@minimink sidebar to sidebar: I really like that the Horners are a chicken and koala that very specifically look like the mascots of KFC and Koala-brand snacks, because they're emotional comfort food.