Confrontations about on Memesis this week. It may just be me, but it feels like Yagyuu's art was a little off this week? Of course he's permitted to have off weeks like any other person --and his scenery porn is still the best the magazine has to offer if the spread below is any indication. Though it feels like, I dunno the artwork for the characters themselves seems weird. Maybe I'm just over thinking it. Rose finally meets up with Leon, and the result of this is....pretty mellow. It's not really surprising considering how flighty she is. Though she is admirable for asking about her friends upon not seeing them first before settling things with Leon who says they're in a safe location. It really does feel like however that Memesis might be ending soon --especially with the third volume in a row failing to really make a splash with readers in Japan. With Leon here the events really can briskly move toward defeating the demon king. I hope if this is the case that we get a good amount of closure for all of these characters. I still can't quite peg Leon even this week --he heals Ash and Kijira's wounds and even unlocks everyone's latent abilities which results in Rose looking like...that, haha. Of course Ash and Kijira can't possibly thank Leon for his help --no, it's completely unnecessary! Though again, other than for a few laughs what does he really get out of helping them I wonder? Hm.
And again as if Yagyuu is trying to tell us subtly that the series is heading toward some sorta climax, we get a scene like this with the advancing Demon world troops all hell bent on destroying humanity. It's impressive artwork (as to be expected from Yagyuu), but yeah I can't shake the overwhelming feeling that Memesis like Marry Grave is on the chopping block as unfortunate as that would be.
Although we've known they're siblings for the last few weeks, it's only now that Makoto and Seiichi really are reunited. Via flashback, we also get a glimpse of their childhoods along with the children that now attack them. Fujita's great at these flashbacks --they really don't serve to be unique in the sense of groundbreaking new story material both in and out of the work itself, but being thematically satisfying invoking a sense of importance for the characters themselves. His single focus on the Souboutei and the time traveling shenanigans probably have left Seiichi overwhelmed, but now he does remember his little sister Makoto.
And it's because of the flashback being brillantly placed that we do get that emotional pay off --that attachment to what the characters care about. In this case a boy that Seiichi used to play with is one transformed by the evil of Shino and the Souboutei. He has to make the choice between slaying this enemy and saving his sister, and it's thanks to Fujita's evocative artwork that we can see how pained he is to finally leap into action for Makoto's sake. It's a tough choice that is met with a happy ending for the duo --ah, even I was moved a bit with Seiichi telling his sister not to cry because then he'd start crying too.
Meanwhile it's been some time but finally Sakamaki and Kurenai are back in the picture. There's something about not hearing from them in a while due to covering this weekly that makes this reunion more satisfying...hm. Sakamaki asks Kurenai to model for him all with the knowlege that she intends to kill him. Yet, he doesn't seem to fight against this, rather he says after she hears him out and models again she can kill him if she wishes. I wouldn't be surprised of course if Sakamaki is saying this because he knows she can't kill him, though.
Some rare humor from Xeno as the "Baron" arc opens up. Though more than being funny, I enjoy what this means for Xeno and Ayla's characters. They've now come around to a point where they can naturally be themselves around each other and it's truly rewarding to watch. I've said it before that I really only stuck with Xeno (the series) because I found Ayla to be interesting, and I'm glad my intial instincts bore out. This time, Xeno is off to meet Baron who owns a shady club called "Purgatory" home to a Casino. Xeno immediately gets immersed into gambling and much to Ayla's horror, begins gambling away her wages along with his own money, hah.
Comedy aside, Baron is an interesting existence in Xeno --being betrayed by someone, the shady mogul wants Xeno to find out who would dare commit this high act of treason so that they can be "eliminated". Baron deals in information, and so is well aware that there are people who would love to see the mogul in a casket. Xeno's able to rightly identify three such people, and Ayla (as seen above) able to stop a third proving their mettle in this situation. Though there's a snag in this --Baron makes Xeno an offer he can't refuse (Or really shouldn't, at any rate) for the information he seeks in regard to his past, he will need to identify the traitor for Baron all while knowing full well that when their identity is known that they will be killed. Is the Detective okay with stepping on corpses and using them as a support to his goal? It's definitely a scenario filled with a tension unheard of in this series, and I look forward to seeing how it all shakes out.
Evans litterally jumped into a burning building for his porn last week and I'm not really sure how this arc can top that, though Kuriyama is certainly welcome to try. In seriousness, Evans isn't even trying to hold back his duplicitous nature in this chapter, hah. Like he lies and says that the case Nona and Ted have is filled with drugs just so they won't open it, (though It's implied Nona might know better.) And he while trying to rescue the two leaps into action. Of course Evans does care about his assistant and his would-be-girlfriend. I mean look at the signs and how long Nona's been around. Kuriyama's clearly got something planned for her to essentially make her part of the main cast. Of course this might be wistful thinking on my part... Things get more complex when Nona does figure out that Evans is lying, though even she can't quite figure out why. Ted figures Evans has filled the case with a dummy and intends to fool Ed Williams with it, so he hands it over in exchange for Williams promising not to kill anyone. Oh how the misunderstandings are so beautiful in this. Williams intends on taking what he wants and isn't willing to deal however, which is enough to spur Evans into action and give the bounty hunter a fist of his own. Meanwhile Pheebs is just collecting the wanted posters for herself and it really is crazy, how everyone is just doing what they want. Evans is still up for the Porn cause until he remembers a flashback with his dad which states the obvious. "What you need is real experience with women....not porn." So when Pheebs is in a jam, Evans chooses her over porn and thus the day is saved.
Getting the cool phrase at the end after being anything but cool throughout the arc is pretty much the trademark of this series and even here that's the case. "Giving up the case/dummy is worth it if I can protect you." Evans says to Pheebs, and none the wiser she falls just a little deeper for Evans. You could argue that she really shouldn't fall for someone like him, and I almost think that Kuriyama is making that point in a subtle way. Love is really what we make of it, and that's not always realistic or well, even sane. Though it can be a lot of fun. Next week is the finale of this arc and of course the question on most Evans readers minds (I assume) is will they or won't they?
That number above brings with it more despair than the snake king could ever hope to offer --there are three chapters left of Marry Grave. I've seen a bit of a movement on twitter after Yamaji answered an overseas fan that the series could continue if there is more support from people. I don't think he necessarily lied when he said that as there have been cases now of works continuing with enough consumer support be it through kick starter or simply the author letting fans know the situation as Yamaji has, but it's also pretty clear with most of these publications that endings are decided on well in advance --sometimes up to six months. So Marry Grave might already be in it's final resting place as far as Yamaji is concerned, but who knows --maybe a surge of support afterward might be the Deadman's recipe it needs to soldier on for another battle.
So for the chapter itself, I wouldn't say so much that nothing happened as quite a bit did occur Most of it beneficial to the Snake King. But as for forward momentum there really wasn't much of that --interesting for a series that's pretty much announced it's at death's door. In another work that's going on for a bit longer I wouldn't have blinked an eye at this turn of events (or lack thereof), but really the most that happened is Sawyer and his party are pretty much owned by the Snake King, and Dante encased in stone has his heart begin to move remembering his meeting with tiny Sawyer and Rosalie and how after he met them he became acquainted with many others and now isn't alone anymore. The highlight of course being Rise and Sawyer teaming up for some intergenerational magic, but that not even being enough to stop their enemy as Dante slowly begins to awaken. Next week is the second out of three final chapters, and I don't think it's unfair to be rather concerned with how rushed this ending will be in two weeks....I just hope that maybe Yamaji is going to keep things open ended in the vain chance that he might be able to continue the series down the line.
This week's Youkai giga features the "Uwan" which is a disembodied voice that hangs out in abandoned temples and homes. It doesn't have a physical form and thus isn't actually dangerous, and only yells "uwan" at people who enter abandoned places.
For this week's Youkai Giga, A girl --Yae feels the need to apologize, but not to her friend Tae, but to an Uwan she's known since she was a child. She's been aware that it's livelihood (And I really like how a lot of these stories have the fact that Yokai scare people as a part of a way to earn a living rather than just being natural behavior.) is based on scaring people but she had forgotten about it yesterday. She really wants to apologize to it and asks her friend to come with her. She finally convinces her to go and the two visit the Uwan of which she's made a sweater for? Yes somehow this girl has been able to knit a sweater for that which has no form. Consider that for a moment. Moving along, Yae apologizes and the Uwan explains while it was trying to scare her from the outset, after some time it realized it kind of grew to care for her instead. She's so moved by this that she begins crying and her friend (along with most of the audience including me) are kind of confused on what's going on here. That's your Satou twist to folklore though --sometimes love can come in a shape that's really incomprehensible to anyone else.
And that's it for the editorial this week! It's the final one of this year, so let me say Happy New Years to everyone and thank you so much for following along this year! I hope that 2019 in the blog sees more friends, more series, and of course more Sunday! I couldn't have done this blog without all of you all reading this and I truly appreciate you coming along to spend a bit of time with me. Hm? Where's Saike's final chapter? You ask? Stay tuned....
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