“Survivor’s guilt is a mental condition that occurs when a person believes they have done something wrong by surviving a traumatic event when others did not.” [x]
And that’s all you need to know why “Earl Ciel Phantomhive” came to be born while our!Ciel’s true identity died with his brother: survivor’s guilt made our!Ciel believe that his brother died in his stead, his brother whom he saw as the strongest for a long time and who wanted the power to protect the two of them.
So he acquired more power than anyone else through contracting Sebastian and that’s how “Ciel Phantomhive” could be reborn even after he died in his little brother’s stead.
So I just saw the raws for the whole ch136 and, even if I don’t get a single thing in Chinese, it seems that our!Ciel really didn’t (in any way or form) sacrifice his brother, as I had previous guessed here, which means that this…
…was most likely just triggered by the vision he has of himself ever since what happened in ch136 due to survivor’s guilt.
Secondly it also means that, most likely and sadly, our!Ciel sees the contract to Seb as the punishment he thinks he deserves for being such a horrible human being…
who didn’t die in place of his brother. ;_;
Hey, you know, I have been headcanoning about it for years because of what Yana once said (quoted below)…
There’s that old saying “One’s foster parents have more influence on the child than one’s real parents.”: Ciel became an extreme sadist due to Sebastian’s education in the last three years and it seems like the evil blood in him [*the evil side of his personality] was completely awakened [by Sebastian].
But if we consider the possibility that Vincent might have been brought up by Tanaka-san, that old guy must be quite…… oh I’d rather stop here. [x]
…but I think I am just realizing that, besides her words, it was foreshadowed quite obviously several times before that Tanaka definitely is the one who stepped up as the “parental figure” after Claudia died.
but it also means that no matter who Claudia’s husband/Vincent & Frances’ father was (Cedric K. Ros or whatever), he wasn’t around when Claudia died (most likely dead, probably even before Claudia).
which means Tanaka witnessed the same situation happening for the last two generations: a young Watchdog succeeding to his predecessor who died rather abruptly and having almost no one left to rely on at first.
Of course, there are a few differences (Seb is in charge for Ciel when Tanaka was for Vincent, andVincent still had his sister after their parents were gone while Ciel has the Midfords) but overall same situation really, which emphasizes the notion that the Phantomhive family is cursed.
Imagine how Tanaka must feel now that the twin is back and not really okay in the head… gosh I really fear for his survival during the current arc. ;_;
BONUS: okay, I actually wrote what’s above, like, 2 months ago (yes I do plan and save Kuro content for when my dash doesn’t provide any), but I still feel this so much because…
Tanaka is such an amazing character, servant, parental figure, caretaker in Kuroverse that I can’t believe anyone would vouch that he might be ready to (or already did) betray this family!
I give Yana-san and her staff major kudos for their depiction of Sebastian’s demon form… what little of it we have seen. I have a feeling there’s more to it than what’s been shown before AND what’s been added with ch136. It’s very reminiscent of depictions of demons and angels from grimoires and biblical texts.
@t-stray and I were just talking about this, actually. The main idea being that humans (the human brain) can only visualize or make sense/handle parts of the true form/shape; some things are truly beyond human grasp/comprehension, and angelic/demonic form is one of those things. When angels appear to mankind in scriptures, etc., they often say things like “Be not afraid”, because they can take a form that defies description, and even forms that can be well-described are generally awesome and terrifying.
Even Yana-san has explained (you can probably find what I’m talking about by searching @akumadeenglish blog for translations of blog posts and tweets) that she thinks of such entities as inter-dimensional beings. And she’s definitely not alone in this….
It’s however you interpret it, but to me it’s like tar. Tar with multiple eyes (with slitted pupils).
And, oh my word… animated…. Yesssss, please.
I’m 100% on board with this. I also love the way he appears in a pillar (to me it looks like darkness and black fire) that fills the room up. Really reminiscent of how heavenly beings are sometimes accompanied by a ‘pillar of fire’ though in this case it’s hellfire. I can’t wait for the cleaned up pages to be available because it also looks like he plucks up one of the cultists with a giant, clawed hand, which implies that his initial form was huge before he formed himself into something less mind-fucking as he narrows in on our!Ciel being his summoner.
Overall A++++. Yana really outdid herself and despite all of the other horrible stuff in this chapter with the twins, the ending has left me giddy.
honestly, Yomo would be absolutely obsessed with Touka’s baby and watch over them like a raven hawk
I can’t stop picturing a version of this omake with Touka walking in on Yomo sitting by the baby’s crib whispering words to them, trying to teach them to talk
Touka wants to strangle him when their first word is ‘Yomo’
Or when they’re naming the baby
Yomo whips out a name straight out a shounen manga
or even better
a parallel of this scene *LIES ON FLOOR*
in summary, Grand-Uncle Yomo would be cute af
This baby is going to get so much love, I am so happy. Everyone is just so hopeful for it to be born, I hope Touka realizes that since she’s so afraid to lose it (because she, too, loves it already).
Thanks anon! My response to that is it should be blindingly obvious to any reader that Touken was intended from the start, so there would be absolutely no need to force it. It’s not like Ishida logged onto tumblr one day and was like “Waiiit, people ship Kaneki and Touka together? Better write it in quick to get some $$$”. He’s been building up their relationship for ages now. And it’s not like Ishida’s afraid of creating conflict in his manga – that we should all be well aware of. No, Ishida’s not at fault here, it’s just that the fandom has been misinterpreting characters again.
While Hide is certainly devoted to Kaneki, romantic love has not been suggested – well, until Ch 148 anyway but that came after Touken was made canon. If you were to argue that Hide being fine with the Touken marriage in 151 was Touken being forced, then why would he have introduced Hide’s feelings for Kaneki only a few chapters before when the Touken train was already full steam ahead? Why would he throw such a spanner in the works? Because of that conversation, I don’t believe Hide’s feelings to Kaneki are romantic anyway, but if they are, then he’s lying to Touka – in either situation, Touken’s not being forced.
But the louder outcry is over Shuu. We all know Shuu was obsessed with Kaneki – first as a meal, then as a…what, exactly? Once it became clear that Shuu no longer considered him as a choice ingredient, many people assumed that his fierce devotion to Kaneki was love. I think that the reason Shuu’s feelings for Kaneki were so strong was because it was the first time he’d ever met someone he loved as a friend. He seems to have cared for his family, but everyone else was to him, in his own words…
Shuu’s understanding of human relationships as the hunter and the hunted, the strong and the weak, the master and the servant, made him unable to appreciate the value of having a friend who was his equal. Even Chie he wouldn’t call a friend, but a pet.
As ever in TG, Shuu’s violence-soaked mentality made him blind to the value of love, especially with a family and servants that loved him so unconditionally that he must have taken it for granted. In his own way, perhaps unaware of it from being used to it, his existence must have been quite lonely.
We can see how clingy he was with Chie, the first person who he started to have Emotions™
around, though the transformation would only enter full swing with Kaneki. This connection with Chie was probably because of her own similar emotional distance from everything, while his connection with Kaneki, conversely, was because of how emotionally invested he was; an outlook he couldn’t understand at first but eventually brought him round.
So, as his passionate speech in his defence in Chapter 149 demonstrates, Shuu admires Kaneki’s values, principles and empathy, because they were what managed to make him feel a real connection to another person. While Kaneki, as the first, is still obviously his favourite, Shuu’s floodgates to friendship have been opened to all. His rescue in Chapter 58 of :re illustrates quite nicely who these friends are. He doesn’t look at them condescendingly or mock them, he is simply awed that they care for him, and speaks of them with that same care.
As someone who changed his life and outlook so dramatically, Shuu obviously cares a great deal for Kaneki.
However, as this panel proves, there’s no need for it to be romantic.
Touken was intended from the start. The evidence is there: it’s not Ishida miswriting, it’s us misreading.
I mean, I know. I’m impatient too. But Touken took about 272 chapters to become canon and it was foreshadowed since chapter 1. Akiramon was foreshadowed since chapter 81 and took 182 chapters to become canon. Ishida’s in no rush when it comes to ships; even with all the hope and happiness lately he’s gotta leave some things unanswered for the time being.
But I think it makes narrative sense how the confrontation went down–not perfectly since I wanted Urie and Saiko to acknowledge their flaws then, but it isn’t completely nonsensical. It reminds me in some ways of Touka’s “I’ll see you later, okay?” to Kaneki which jarred him into reconsidering his suicide plan, and his memories of Hide turn him away from suicide.
Urie here told Mutsuki he wasn’t going to let him die no matter what, and Saiko acted on it to thwart Mutsuki’s suicide attempt.
Touka could have told Kaneki I’m in love with you right then–it might have been her last chance–but she didn’t because crisis management =/= not the time. Therefore it actually makes some sense to me that Urie does not tell Mutsuki then. The time isn’t now.
I do think Urie telling Mutsuki will be highly, highly important to him overcoming his flaw in the end, but that may not happen until later on, post-Dragon–like, say, if Shirazu returns. Considering all of Mutsurie’s parallels with Ayahina, and how Akiramon and Touken parallel each other and Akiramon and Touken became canon around the same time, I wouldn’t be surprised if these two ships get resolution around the same time… sometime before the end of the manga, lol.
The build-up for Mutsurie is so strong, as is the build-up for Ayahina, that it has to be paid off at some point. If I had to venture I think they’re likely endgame, but it’s also true that payoff for build up doesn’t have to mean that, so you never know. (The other ship I think might get a canon moment is Uihai, if Hairu is revived, and I think the Seiaki build up needs to be paid off as well, though I am not optimistic about Seiakimon so more likely one will be endgame and the other won’t be.) At the very least, Urie and Ayato are not going to just forget that they had feelings for Mutsuki and Hinami respectively.
is either meant in the sense that she’s super brave, strong, amazing and a true friend who doesn’t give a shit about Yukio being possessed by Satan, so the dude is impressed
or it’s meant to be a throwback to the fact that she’s not a regular human/exorcist.
Also maybe I’m reading way too much into this, but since Amaimon was watching over Shiemi several chapters ago when her mom told her that super important thing and she was very upset…
I wonder if him hitting her was not because she was interrupting Satan but rather because Amaimon didn’t want Satan to attack her?
If you remember the charts about Gehenna’s power structure from vol19, Amaimon considers himself to be neutral but follows Mephisto’s orders because he owes him. So, since I still doubt that Mephisto is really Satan’s ally considering that he seemed to be against Assiah’s destruction, I wouldn’t be surprised if Amaimon was supposed to be keeping an eye on Shiemi during the current crisis, by Mephisto’s orders.
After all, Mephisto releasing Amaimon at the beginning of this arc and making him a student in Shiemi’s class is probably not a coincidence either. So, all that to say that maybe that’s why Amaimon made her stop, because
he is supposed to keep her out of harm’s way but he isn’t strong enough to beat Satan if Satan/Yukio had decided to hurt Shiemi for getting in the way.
As I said though, maybe I’m reading way too much into this. xD Anyway, I loved this chapter!
Oh, great points! It’s true I only considered the situation for Shiemi, but yeah maybe you’re right and Amaimon’s intervention can be read as useful for both Rin and Yukio too, but useful as in “according to Mephy’s plans” surely. xD
I just meant to insist that Amaimon was probably tasked with keeping an eye on Shiemi in particular, and seeing Mephy, there must be a reason for that. He’s the perfect guy for the job anyway since his behavior (whether it was meant to protect her or not) didn’t particularly shock anyone considering that, you’re right, he’s generally not a nice guy (hence the reactions of Suguro and Izumo). xDD
but I’m not 100% certain. We can see their dad when he introduced the girls to Vincent but that’s basically all we have about their parents. Due to the thing I highlighted I always considered that Lord and Lady Durless died after the twins were born, but I could be wrong. 🙂
Have a nice day!
Hi! It’s true the current flashback is certainly hard to read and hard to write as it was conveyed to us that Yana, too, had her difficulties with showing this part of her story.
It’s probably almost over though, this month’s chapter is harsh, the next two might also be, but I’m sure she’ll be able to take care of herself afterwards. ^_^
She’s doing a good job by delivering us Kuro every month and I’m sure she knows her fans support her 😀
U doubting me and Cor-chan, Anon? I’m shook :(((((( lmao, just kidding, here:
From :Re ch38, I know it’s initially not that visible because of Uta’s floor also having a checkerboard pattern so, despite it being in the foreground of the panel, Sensei really managed to hide it. 🙂
So yeah Uta is/was playing chess with someone and this person might be Hide just like it might not be (we considered Hide since he apparently left his headphones (?) at HySy but nothing is certain for now).
Have a nice day Anon!
Hi Anon! Have you read all the posts I linked to in this recap post? 🙂 Because this isn’t just one theory, it’s different crack theories working around a similar basis, namely trying to imagine what Sensei might be hinting at with all these characters.
For example:
“Apparently related covers for Hide and Uta (+ same headphones?)”
=> why? what’s a possible link between Uta and Hide?
“One of Sensei’s drawing shows Hide and three dots while similar dots can be found on the clothes of the underground kids, as well as on Itori’s mask”
=> is this significant? could there be link between Itori, these kids Ayato found and Hide?
“In The Penisman by Sensei, the MC’s mom was looking a lot like Itori and his bro a lot like Hide”
=> could this be an idea that Sensei reused in TG somehow and so could there be a link between Itori and Hide?
So you see, it’s just me associating different hints and ideas to see if I can reach general conclusions about some TG characters who are still very mysterious. I haven’t reached one conclusion in particular, it’s just different ideas that I might continue to associate if Sensei gives us more hints.
It’s just little things to keep in mind about these characters that’s all, because we can’t be sure whether it’s going to be significant or if Sensei is just messing with us. Personally though…
I think there might be something linking all of them, but too many things are not clear enough yet to propose a real conclusion. :3
Sorry if that’s not helpful, just let it be for now if it doesn’t make sense. :))
Hahah, well Anon, it’s true Hide seems to have been a fan (for those who don’t know, this is the song he’s listening to, below) xDD
So yeah, maybe Uta listens to Backstreet Boys if these are the same headphones! Personal headcanon but I think this song in particular would please him somehow. xDDD
midnight-in-town 