I feel like you severely misanalyzed what the show was trying to convey in this episode. It seems like you are interpreting Oniyasha's desire to find his own form as him being selfish and disregarding his group responsibilities. From my standpoint, it's the exact opposite: he is seeking his own form because he wants to perform correctly and pull his weight.
This kind of self-realization isn't inherently selfish, it's a necessary step that ultimately benefits everyone around the protagonist. We see this all the time in anime; Ichigo from Bleach had to accept every raw, disparate part of his soul to wield his true blade, and Naruto had to confront and accept his inner malice before he could truly cooperate with the Nine-Tails. Oniyasha isn't running away from his task, he feels paralyzed because he realizes that without truly understanding his own voice, his dance remains a lifeless imitation. He wants to find his form so he can actually breathe life into a performance that matters.
As for the punch, I have to disagree. Oniyasha already received a definitive, heartbreaking reality check through the death of the Shirabyoshi. The narrative made that impact unquestionably clear. In this instance, the punch didn't come from a place of righteous correction because Oniyasha was "slacking off." It came from raw envy and jealousy from a peer, which is an intention I can't really get behind. The pressure of this massive assignment is weighing heavily on him, and punching someone who is conceptually blocked doesn't magically give them artistic focus.
- Younghoon2 weeks ago3
I suppose I am placing the expectations on an adult to someone who's clearly not one, as my first thought while reading your first point was "he could've tried finding his form while also still attending the rehearsals, or at least inform the people in his place that he wasn't going to attend instead of making them worry and search for him." Rethinking it a bit, I suppose nobody would've let him go to see the mating dance if he asked for permission, but since that experience was integral to him in discovering himself, I also can't imagine it being removed from the story entirely or approached through other ways. He can find his own form this way, I never minded the examples you mentioned either; I just wish that process didn't end up causing trouble for the others... but I suppose there's nothing that can be done about it considering my rethinking. I think I operated with the belief that "finding your own form is secondary, just focus on attending the rehearsals first and don't cause any further trouble for the others," which after a bit of thought would've backfired on him since attending rehearsals despite his inner turmoil wouldn't have been as helpful either; he would've performed poorly and the pressure would only grow bigger.
I still think the punch was needed, though, even if the reason may not be as pure as "righteous correction because Oniyasha was slacking off." I knew that the punch wouldn't have somehow magically given him artistic focus, but I wanted the punch to give him this moment of realisation that he should also still keep others in mind throughout the discovery of his own form, especially with how others would've done anything to be in his position. This can definitely backfire and add to more pressure, but how else are you meant to instill the importance of keeping others in mind to a character like Oniyasha? Still, I suppose I worded my original post poorly - me only saying "pulling his weight" as the reason why I found him thinking about his own form right after getting punched off-putting was bound to be misinterpreted as that's not really a good way to convey what I just wrote; thanks for the second opinion.
