I think it’s really neat how the original trilogy lawyers and the new trilogy lawyers think about secrets differently.
On one hand, you have Phoenix and Edgeworth. To them, secrets are an item, kept in a box and locked within your heart. In order to figure out what it is, you have to locate the box, find the key, and unlock it. Whether that’s with evidence and bluffing (psyche-locks) or logic and contradictions (logic chess) you use concrete details to unlock the truth.
On the other hand, there’s Apollo and Athena. They view secrets as a feeling, hidden behind a wall. Something that you repress but still seeps through, however small. They use more subjective tactics based on psychology and an understanding of people as emotional beings. They find the cracks in the wall, and they knock the wall down. Perception finds where the nervousness slips through, and the Mood Matrix sees a person’s emotions as they truly are, not as they intend them to be.
I haven’t quite worked out how this relates to their characterization and worldview yet, but I know it makes sense in Edgeworth’s case, having been raised in a household where emotions were a weakness, evidence was everything, and logic and perfection always ruled.
Can we talk about Lucifer’s wish for a durable vessel? This is from ch102:
and the following is from ch104, before
and after Amaimon got his own functional new vessel…
as well as when Satan finally possessed Goro:
I find it’s quite interesting that Lucifer is presented as having a lot of faith about “being rewarded for his suffering” and that one day some sort cosmic justice will give him what he deserves (which is a new functional vessel) when, back then, he was thought to be the highest and most powerful demon to the two worlds of Assiah and Gehenna.
Then Satan finally possessed a vessel and developed an ego but no one (Mephy aside because he exists everywhen) knew who he was at first, yet look at how Mephisto and Amaimon explain Gehenna’s hierarchy now, 20 years later:
So you know, it’s as if… before Satan even technically gained an ego and started to really exist as who he is, Lucifer already believed that there was a greater being (a God) above all of them and he kinda gained the proof of that (the reward to his faith) through Satan’s possession of Goro, 20 years ago.
That eventually led to the creation of the Illuminati, once Section 13 was destroyed (most likely during the Blue Night), and the pursuit of the goals he already was mentioning to Shemihaza which are…
…starting with making sure both he and Satan get a vessel because “it’s fair and there shouldn’t be an Assiah/Gehenna limit”.
So Lucifer, as Gehenna #2 (just like most of the Baals actually), is very faithful to that God that he already believed in before Satan was even conscious of existing & being significant to others + he believes he understands others and that bringing peace to everyone in the form of equality is The Answer.
Facing him in comparison tho’, you’ve got Mephisto, who’s probably jaded about Satan being his Father/God/blahblah, because he’s seen this shit in idk how many timelines and his only priority is for Assiah not to disappear, because humans are interesting and he doesn’t see the point of not being able to enjoy what Assiah and humans can bring to him.
In other words, he’s an absolutely selfish jerk who can casually say that “yes you all are my pawns but you are only worms to me so it’s only fitting I treat you as such”, as well as pretend wanting to give Rin to Satan while also claiming to want to use Rin in order to take down Lucifer. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
And Mephy + other powerful demons created (and are still leading) the True Cross Order, an organization that’s supposed to be about Protecting Humans While Fighting Against Demons but that’s also actually about giving strong vessels to more powerful demons.
So it’s literally
because the contrast between Lucifer & Samael, Illuminati &True Cross Order is huge on every aspect, so honestly I love what Sensei is doing with it, because it’s a total mindfuck (I get why Shima has so much fun spying for both sides, with both sides fully aware + why Yukio said “fuck all of them” xDDD).
I still think that
Jenny will be relevant again later in the flashback, because being mentioned twice when she supposedly moved on from her old friendships is beyond weird?? Maybe once Yuri gets pregnant, in three years, since she’s said to be an elite and all?
Also, I think we can all pretty much agree that Rick will probably die a sad death around the Blue Night :// rip in advance and I fear his wife and son may end up similarly T_T
I personally think it is a very selfish ideal and that despite Asirpa recently wanting to find out more about him, she will have to reject him in the end and move on. At this point it’s hard to say what exactly happened with the gold and who killed the Ainu, but one thing that’s sure for me is that Wilk shouldn’t place this kind of burden on Asirpa. I’m with Sugimoto on this one, he shouldn’t just train her to become some Ainu Joan of Arc war leader from her childhood and do all of that with the gold, he is not taking responsibility himself, he is forcing all of that responsibility onto Asirpa who is still just a child despite her maturity. She really is just a kid and the fact that shes getting mixed up in this mess, because of her father is not okay.
In this manga the older generations and their obsession with war and conflict is a thing that makes the younger generations suffer they are only expendable things to be used and then discarded. This shows in everything, in Sugimoto’s war trauma, in the way Tsurumi manipulates Tsukishima and the rest of his men to work for him, how Asirpa is currently being tricked and used to find the gold, how the army system and Ogata’s father caused him to become the way he currently is… that especially works as a good example, because it and Ogata’s foiling with Koito shows how questionable this
It’s particularly interesting that Koito’s father’s speech here seems to be heavily influenced by Hanazawa’s suicide letter when we know that he never committed suicide, he was killed by his own son and Yuusaku didn’t really die in the battle either since he was killed by Ogata too. It’s not clear if that letter was written by Tsurumi or Ogata, but the line “his brave act preserved the honor of his utter fool of a father” is quite telling. It’s not Yuusaku’s responsibility to preserve the honor of his father, especially when we know that Hanazawa was the type of man who abandoned his other son to only care for the other so that he could be used for his own gain in the army. The entire backstory of Ogata is quite obvious criticism of the army system since his father sticking to it is what caused the unfortunate series of events to happen and it is the root of Ogata’s issues and trauma to this day. So basically Koito’s father speech about sending your child to the war and thinking it is a good thing to do is entirely based on a tragic tale of a selfish father and the army system ruining the lives of his family. If that wasn’t enough, he even references Wilk right after it:
Like sorry, but… that’s exactly what using someone is like unless they actually fully agree with your ideals, are not being tricked, manipulated or pressured and are given other options to choose from. Of course something has to be done about the Ainu situation and all the other issues in the world, but I doubt the message is that Asirpa should become a war leader. Asirpa is someone who is exactly the opposite of these older generations, she is against the idea of killing and cruelty and is the most empathetic person of the bunch. Asirpa basically embodies the optimistic themes of the manga with what she does and how she influences the people around her. This especially shows in her relationships with the two people completely ruined by this world, Sugimoto and Ogata, and how she is an inspiring positive and healing influence to them, she is the one guiding them away from the path of bloodshed, violence and their past trauma. I feel like Wilk’s idea of Asirpa being the future is meant to be a bit ironic since she will not be the future in the way he thinks she will be. I genuinely believe that despite currently being used to find the gold and wanting to find more about her father, she will eventually reject everything. My ideal ending would be the gold being left in the ditch where it currently is actually, because if it is found, I doubt it will be used for anything remotely good
I don’t know if there’s another good solution to the problems in the world, but then again war isn’t a good solution either. I’m pretty sure the message though is to condemn the idea of Wilk using Asirpa for his own gain and the same applies to all the other people like Hanazawa and whoever wants to use the younger generations cruelly like this.
midnight-in-town 