The content explores the profound concept of "breaking oneself" not as an end, but as a transformative process that leads to growth, self-discovery, and the emergence of a truer, stronger self, often through pain, loss, and introspection.
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question.
Have you ever pushed yourself to the
edge, breaking both physically and
mentally to discover a different version
of yourself you didn't know you had?
There is a silence that follows every
fracture. A pause between who you were
and who you might become. In that
silence, something stirs. A faint
rhythm. A pulse beneath the ruin. the
echo of your soul learning how to
breathe again.
You may try to hold yourself together to
mask the cracks, but breaking isn't the
end. It's the sound of truth finding its
way out. In Japan, they call it
kinitsuki, the art of mending what's
broken with gold. Not to hide the
damage, but to let it shine. And in Zen
Buddhism, they speak of mu, which
translates to nothingness, [music]
a space where illusion falls away. And
from that emptiness, something true
begins to take shape.
It's tragic. It's haunting. But in that
ache, that pointless stillness remains.
And in it, you learn how to be whole
again. You learn the art
>> Look back is a film based on the one
>> Tatski Fujioto. The movie challenges our
understanding of creativity and
ambitions. Bringing together themes of
friendship, rivalry, passion, and even
self-destruction. It follows a girl
named Fujino who all of her life has
been told she has this gift. Her friends
praises her. Her classmates ask for
autographs, and her family thinks she
could even become an artist with her
skills. In school, she draws weekly
manga for her fourth grade class. Every
week, her manga is selected and put on
the top of the paper. One day, her
teacher calls her into his office and
asks if she's willing to give up one
slot to this girl named Kiomoto.
Reluctantly, she agrees. As in her eyes,
a person who never attends school would
draw good.
Uh, okay. There's levels to this. Got
it. When you put the two drawings next
to each other, the difference in skill
is obvious. From the shading to the
textures, it resembles that of a pro.
And it was at this very moment that for
the first time, Fujino's art is seen as just
ordinary.
She practices day and night. Weeks turns
into months. Months turns into years.
and we watch her burn through sketches,
books, anatomy, and watch her sacrifice
time with her friends and family all so
that she could get better. She's now a
sixth grader and just like before, the
weekly paper is out. And in that paper,
there's yet again a clear difference in
skill. Despite the effort she's put in,
it just wasn't enough. So,
she decides to quit.
From here on, the story shows a
different side of Fujino's life. Up to
this point, her days has been entirely
consumed by art. But now, she's
exploring a more social life, hanging
out with friends, going to karate with
her sister, and watching movies with her
family. But throughout this entire time,
there's like a void in her eyes, like
there's no thought or life behind them
at all. Graduation arrived, and she
started a new chapter in her life.
Before she could leave, her teacher
called her into his office again, but
this time for a different reason.
Kiiamoto never arrived to pick up her
diploma, so he tked Fujino to take her
to her house.
She rings the doorbell, but there's no response.
response.
The door is unlocked, but all the lights
is off. There's a noise in the background,
background,
hinting there's someone home. She turns
the corner and she's met with stacks
upon stacks of sketchbooks.
Before she could leave, she noticed a
strip of paper. And despite her not
drawing for years, the singular paper
pulls her in, demanding her to draw. So
[crying and screaming]
>> having noticed what happened, she runs
out of the house in a panic to escape
only to be followed. The girl who
followed her is Kiiamoto and it's
revealed she has been a massive fan of
Fujino for the longest of time. She read
every weekly manga strip that came
[music] out and looked forward to each
new release, but noticed her manga no
longer appeared on a weekly paper. So,
she asked Fujino one simple question.
Why did you stop drawing manga? [music]
which is an obvious lie. The scenes that
follow is a quiet eruption, a glimpse to
someone who's always wanted to draw, yet
held herself back, convinced she could
never be good enough. Each moment builds
like pressure beneath the surface. Years
of frustration and longing collapsing
all at once until she finally breaks.
She sprints home through the rain,
bursts into her room without even
stopping to dry off. And for the first
time in years, she begins to draw again.
Look back initially seems like a story
about Fujino and her difficult journey
with art. But it soon becomes a tale of
two girls. Their lives, their bond, and
how they come together to create a manga
while quietly exploring a few deeper
themes along the way. Near the end,
tragedy shatters everything, turning the
story into something far deeper than it
first appeared. But I'll leave that for
you to experience yourself since this
video's focus isn't on that particular
part of the story. Fujino's story is a
quiet tragedy about ambition, guilt, and
the painful beauty of growth. At first,
she's a symbol of confidence, the kind
of young artist who believes talent
alone defines warf. But everything
changes the moment she meets Kiomoto.
Throughout the film, we watch her shed
versions after versions of herself,
chasing [music] something she can't
quite put a name to. When her ego
cracks, what seeps through isn't
weakness, but it's truth. Envy fades
into admiration, rivalry into
connection. And through that, she
rediscovers what it means to create
again. By the end, Fujino isn't the same
girl we met at the start. She's someone
reborn through the act of breaking.
Someone who faced emptiness without
flinching and rebuilt herself not as who
she once was, but as who she became.
That's the art of breaking yourself. to
lose, to grieve, to rebuild, and to
realize that the cracks were never a flaw.
flaw.
Many stories over the years have told a
similar tale. Works like Blue Period,
Breaking Bad, Whiplash, The Climber all
explore a similar truth. The art of
shedding your old self to emerge
stronger, wiser, and more whole. They
remind us that transformation is rarely
easy, and that growth often comes
through struggle and persistence. These
type of stories always resonate with me.
They feel the most relatable and
inspiring because I can see the same
passion, [music]
same struggle, the same drive reflected
in the characters. As you can probably
tell, I watched Look Back very recently.
I I'm a
little bit late, but the themes in this
story really got me thinking about other
works that explore a similar idea. So
today I'm going to talk about some other
stories that dive into the art of
>> Villain Saga is a manga turned anime
about a kid seeking revenge on his
father's killer. The story covers a
plethora of themes from political
violence to human struggle, slavery,
growth, atonement, and many, many more.
At its core, it explores the destructive
cycle of revenge, showing how obsession
and hatred can consume a person, shaping
their identity around violence. Beyond
revenge, Villain Saga delves into
forgiveness, redemption, and a deeper
meaning of strength. Dorphin, the main
character, embodies the art of breaking
oneself. His innocence, ego, and moral
compass are shattered through trauma,
forcing him to confront the emptiness
within. Throughout the entirety of the
first season, we watch him develop into
this young innocent kid into a ruthless
killer. Having witnessed his father
death right in front of him showed him
just how violent the world really is.
And in this moment, he made it his
personal life mission to be the one to
end his father's killer's life. To do
that, he joined Ascalad's band of
mercenaries with guaranteed
opportunities to have a 1v one had he
achieve something grand in a battle. The
story skips from when he was a kid to a
teenager all the way to when he becomes
an adult. Under Ascalad, he hones his
skills as a warrior, enduring brutal
battles and is exposed to the lowest
form of humanity. Initially, Dorfin is
driven by raw anger and obsession,
seeing every fight as a step towards
retribution. Yet over time, his
experiences alongside Ascalad exposes
him to complexity, strategy, and even an
unexpected mentorship. He begins to
understand the nuances of leadership.
Despite this growth, his path is still
defined by hatred and he remains trapped
in the cycle of violence. The moment
Ascalad dies marks the apex of this
transformation. Dorfin's longheld
purpose vanishes, leaving him empty and
directionless. It's here at the
crossroads that Dorfin's old self
finally breaks. His vengeance fulfilled,
yet his soul hollow, leaving only the
fragments of who he once was. And from
those fragments begins the slow, painful
[music] process of introspection,
reflection, and ultimately the
rebuilding of a new identity. One not
forged by hate, but by understanding his
past sins and choosing a life where he
has no enemies.
When you hear the name Takahhiko in
Noei, the first scene that comes to mind
for most are his works on Veabond and
Slam Dunk, which makes sense. Those two
are really good manga. But one series
that often is left out is his manga
titled Real.
Real is a manga that centers around
three protagonists, each whose lives has
been profoundly shaped by two things:
physical disabilities and basketball. As
their paths unfold, each of them faces a
devastating lifealtering event that
shatters their sense of self. What
follows isn't just recovery, but [music]
a deeply human journey of growth, of
learning to live, and to find meaning
again in the aftermath of loss. [music]
The concept of breaking yourself takes
on its most human form and this story.
The manga doesn't glorify pain or
redemption. It lives in the quiet, messy
spaces between them. Every page feels
heavy with regret, longing, and the ache
of trying to move forward when life has
already taken so much. Nia was once a
promising athlete. Yet, a single mistake
led him into an accident that paralyzes
an innocent girl, leaving him with guilt
that fers for years. He quits school,
isolates himself, and drifts through
life haunted by a past he can undo.
[music] But beneath the self-loathing,
there's something deeply human. The
desperate desire to be forgiven, even
when you can't forgive yourself. [music]
His story isn't about redemption through
success, but through acceptance. [music]
He breaks himself not through ambition,
but through remorse. And it's in that
pain that he begins to understand
compassion and tries to live a life
seeking to be a better person. Toggawa,
on the other hand, represents another
kind of breaking, [music]
the loss of identity. Once a runner, his
leg is amputated due to an illness,
stripping him from the one thing that
defined him. His response isn't
peaceful, but is instead filled with
rage. He channels every ounce of pride
and bitterness into wheelchair
basketball, obsessing over competition,
as if victory could make him whole
again. But as the story unfolds, his
ignorance and anger begins to crack.
Beneath the facade of control lies the
fear of being ordinary, of never being
enough again. Then there's Tekashi, a
once golden boy now confined to a
wheelchair. His life, once built on
talent and popularity, collapsed in an
instant. His journey through
rehabilitation mirrors a psychological
descent. The grief of losing your body,
your status, and your sense of purpose.
But it's through that grief that he
learns something profound. That worth
isn't tied to ability or appearance. His
struggle becomes an exploration of
dignity. For me, real stands as in no
way's most powerful and personal work. A
story I constantly find myself returning
to, even long after finishing it. Having
played sports for much of my life and
still doing so occasionally today, I can
deeply relate to the same passion,
discipline, and quiet desperation that
drives its characters forward. It's a
story about redemption and
transformation told through the
perspective of three individuals, each
fighting their own battles. yet all
striving for the same sense of purpose.
What makes real so captivating is how it
shines a light on people often
overlooked in fiction. Those living with
disabilities in a medium where strength
is usually shown through power or
perfection. Real flips that idea on its
head. It challenges the common
misconceptions that disabled people are
limited or helpless. instead portraying
them as the ones with the deepest
resolve, the strongest spirit and the
most unshakable will to keep moving forward.
Attack on Titan is probably one of the
Many of you seen or read the manga, so
there's no need for me to go too in deep
into this. [music]
[music]
Instead, let's just focus on a specific
character that fits the concept of this
video. Honestly, there's there's a lot
to choose from. You got Aaron, Levi,
Irwin, Histori, and many, many more. But
for today's video, I'll do a little
Rhiner's arc revolves around an intense
internal duality. He was trained from
childhood as a warrior candidate for
Marley, instilled with a sense of duty
to infiltrate Paradise Island and commit
acts that would ensure his people's
survival. But once he becomes embedded
among the scouts, living among the very
people he's been sent to kill, he
experiences a profound split. One
identity as a loyal soldier of Marley
and another as a friend and comrade to
those he is meant to betray. This split
creates a deep psychological breaking.
Unlike physical trauma, Riner's pain is
sustained and invisible. He develops
dissociative tendencies. At times, he
addresses one persona as if the other
isn't present. A clear coping mechanism
for the unbearable tension between duty
and consciousness.
He carries the lives of his people on
his shoulder. The expectations of Marley
and the consequences of every kill. Each
act of violence further corrods his
identity, but he cannot escape it.
Reiner's body is strong, but his
identity is under siege, showing that
breaking isn't just physical or
external. It can be a slow, grinding
process of moral, ethical, and emotional
conflict. While some characters break in
order to rebuild and find a new
identity, RER breaks under external
expectations and moral conflict, [music]
showing the psychological toll of living
in a state of enforced duality. Breaking
yourself isn't always about physical
loss or trauma. Sometimes it's the
internalized burden of being forced to
live a life that contradicts your true
self. His arc is tragic yet super
realistic. He's one of the most
interesting written characters in all of
Attack on Titan, and I find his
character dichotomy to be really
fascinating compared to most of the
other cast.
Breaking yourself isn't about
destruction for its own sake. It's about
facing the parts of yourself you've
ignored, shattered, or denied, whether
through loss, ambition, guilt, trauma,
or physical limitation.
It's painful, it's messy, and it's often
lonely. But it's also where growth,
understanding, and true strength are
born. From Fujino's quiet heartbreak and
look back to Dorphin's journey from
vengeance to peace to Reiner's endless
internal struggles in Attack on Titan to
Nomia, Togawa, and Tekashi confronting
their own bodies and limitations and
rail. These stories show us that
breaking isn't the end. It's a
threshold, a space where the old stuff
dies and the new stuff begins to emerge.
So next time you feel lost, overwhelmed,
or broken, remember this. It's in those
cracks that your story begins to take
shape. That poignant stillness is what
remains. And in that stillness, you find
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