I was also expecting the flashback to be ending this chapter, but I guess it will be next month. The scene with our!Ciel taking back the ring from his brother’s belly will be in the next chapter definitely!
I’m also glad we got some introspection for Ciel, I mean, it’s time for some serious character development, that’s what this arc is leading to through the twins confronting each other in my opinion, so it was very important to be able to read our!Ciel’s thoughts about why he chose to become his brother now that it’s addressed again in present time.
Right now, after ch137 I strongly feel for our!Ciel ❤ but at the same time, I know it’s going to be his chance soon to confront most of his trauma and probably feel better afterwards. So let’s support him till then!
Hi! No offense though Anon, but I’m not sure if you’re shitting on the story in general, or just expressing your feelings about the newest chapter and Seb clearly deserving to go home hungry?
If it’s the former then I’m afraid I disagree.
If it’s the latter though, then let’s build a shrine to Nina and Frances, in hope that they will keep on annoying Seb until he goes home hungry. 😀
Here, take some tissue for your feels :3 and have a nice day!
Apparently, it’s something a part of the fandom still has a hard time grasping, despite Sensei herself being rather clear on the subject (in my opinion of course), so personally when it comes to Seb I’m always in the “what did you expect? he’s a demon after all” mood.
¯_(ツ)_/¯
As always, people are free to like and ship whatever dynamic they want in the story, my blog is not here to argue about shipping except where my own preferences are concerned,
but still, I think it’s important not to expect any positive development from Seb on this aspect, even if he’s the main protagonist. So I doubt demons can become any better, it’s not in their nature, just like butterflies don’t poop rainbows.
For me, this chapter mostly was “unexpected” in the idea that Seb clearly didn’t spare Ciel from any aspect of the psychological trauma after his brother’s death. So it was really painful for us, Ciel’s fans, who do feel for the poor boy, but I agree we can’t really say it’s unexpected considering what happened during the green watch arc, just because Seb was fed up with PSTD!Ciel.
That guy is a dick, but what did we expect, he’s a demon after all. 😉
Thanks for passing by and have a nice day Anon. :))
Hi Anon. 🙂 Well, he’s a demon so he’s naturally stronger than humans even if I agree that it’s not obviously shown in his physical disguise of “Sebastian Michaelis”.
But hey, it’s probably to avoid some humans figuring how strong he is + he would probably appear less handsome to most humans if he was a huge bara character with big muscles everywhere in sight. xDDD
So yeah he’s slender, thin and doesn’t appear to be particularly muscular even if he’s probably physically stronger than 98% of the cast. :))
I hope it answers your question, have a nice day Anon! :3
Hi Anon! OMG, I’m happy you gave it a try and enjoyed it, even if I don’t remember recommending Monster to anyone in particular xDD (must be my head tho, I kinda had a rough day so far due to partying a lot last night lmao).
Anyway, Monster is one of the few series I was rec’ by people IRL and that I really was fond of myself so I’m just glad if I could make other people try it. 😀
About Nina and Johan now, I do agree with your interpretation of Johan’s dynamic with his sister! The thing is, Johan was quite shaken by what happened during the last “experiment” (when they took Anna and Bonaparta killed everyone in his mansion) and that led to him wondering all his life about what his mom’s choice meant regarding how much she loved him and his sister.
After that, their mom told them to run away before disappearing on her own, so yeah, I think Anna really was all that Johan had left and mostly she was his twin (his double, as he called her sometimes), so he probably felt they had this very important connection (and actually it was confirmed in Another Monster that they did have a mental connection)
and that no one would ever understand him better than Anna did, especially after everything they went through.
In my opinion, his bond with Anna was so significant to him that it explains why there were some really creepy allusions from time to time (like “I was born to smother you with flowers”, frankly this isn’t something a brother should say to his sister but moving on), as well as why he managed to impersonate her while manipulating Suk without anyone ever having the slightest suspicion.
However, for Nina herself, I don’t agree that she hated Johan. I think she was definitely scared of him, and understandably so, when she realized that he had killed all the adults who took of them after they ran away, which is why she ended shooting him when he asked her to, because she was lost as to what to do or think.
Then there is when the truth about the red rose mansion finally comes out about Nina (and not Johan) being the one who witnessed it all and, upon remembering the event, Nina says to Tenma that she “couldn’t shoot him but [she] knows Johan will destroy himself”. That’s why in my opinion if she had truly hated him, she would have managed to shoot him a second time and wouldn’t have been able to forgive him at the end.
To be honest, overall I really liked their dynamic! It’s part of why Monster was so very interesting, because Anna was Johan’s only weakness and even in Nina’s case, while she was never free from the shadow of her brother it became some kind of protection, since everyone knew that she had an influence on Johan.
I hope I answered your question. 🙂 Thanks for passing by, have a great day! :3
Ahhh I agree, Anon! 😀 And yeah my mom really likes it, I think she’s about to meet Martin actually!
Funny story but I’m just like you: I intend on reading more from Urasawa-sensei because I know he’s done other amazing series besides Monster, it’s just that I have to wait until I have more free time (probably next year) before I lose myself in a new series. xDD
I don’t think I only have one favorite character in Monster though, I mean it’s all so complex and there are so many interesting characters that it’s hard to choose. If I had to make a choice though, then I’d say….
Wolfgang Grimmer, beating Tenma by a very small margin. I just… I loved him so much for his humanity and his bond with children, despite the horrible upbrining he had. Also witnessing him learning how to feel and express his emotions was just… incredibly moving.
The ending nearly annihilated me however, no matter how many times I read it or watch it I’m sure to always cry, so I think it’s really one of the best and most emotional death scenes I’ve ever watched (because it’s even sadder in the anime with the music and voice acting).
Other favorite characters besides these two are Nina, Johan (see above) and Eva (I did a full 180° on her character: I used to despise and dislike her so much and then the arc with Martin just… oh my God, very emotional moment as well).
Anyway, you’re welcome Anon, thank you for passing by and I hope it answers your question. :3 Please have a nice day!
Hi Anon! To be honest, the plot twist about the “two identical little girls” creeped me out pretty badly until the truth was revealed. x) You can totally blame the Kinderheim 511 for messing up with Johan’s memories and Johan’s actions are to blame for his sister’s amnesia, which explains the swap indeed, but boy was I glad when we found out the truth.
Anyway, Nina’s wish to become a lawyer “to save the life of many people” is precisely why I think she never hated her brother and how she was able to forgive him at the end. It went with what Bonaparta told her after the killing at the red rose mansion, about being careful not to become a monster after everything she and her brother went through. Except that Johan never heard that.
In the end, despite all the many horrors he caused, Johan was simply a victim at first. It doesn’t excuse what he did, but I agree it makes sense that his sister, who was able to forgive him, would move on by focusing on helping others as a lawyer. 🙂
Thanks for passing by Anon and have a nice day! ❤
Hey Anon and omg, not at all, at least not from what I remember of Tenjho Tenge? :// I think I went through a third or half of this series before dropping it 5 or 6 years ago (the plot and art were not my thing), but frankly I don’t recall any real similarity with Monster when it comes to the plot.
To be honest, it’s hard to find something that’s even slightly similar to Monster in terms of plot in the first place, mainly because it’s a story that isn’t bound by most general reductive tropes or narrative ploys in manga. But anyway: from what I read, I don’t remember Tenjho Tenge to be comparable. Sorry. :3
There is a reason (besides #plot) as to why Ciel doesn’t know anything about her and that is because Vincent probably didn’t like to mention his mother, similarly to how our!Ciel doesn’t particularly mention his parents either after what happened:
So the same must go for Liz and Ed:
because if Frances was so adamant about Lizzie training so hard for her future as Countess Phantomhive in the first place, and if she looked so sad in Lizzie’s memories while implying how dangerous that life would be (when Vincent was still alive), it might be because Claudia was killed too.
In the end we can’t be sure yet, but I just wouldn’t be surprised if Frances and Vincent always had a hard time talking about their mom because something happened to her, just like our!Ciel currently doesn’t really like to talk about his dead family.
TL;DR I don’t think Liz and Ed know more about Claudia than Ciel does, but I can be wrong. 🙂
Have a nice day Anon!
Hi Anon! Please look above, I already answered your question a little while ago. :3
To develop a little further though, to be honest I have no idea who will tell Ciel about Claudia in canon, especially since…
it really seems he doesn’t have the slightest idea about her being Vincent’s predecessor xD so there is probably quite a lot to share about her.
For me, there are three possibilities as to who will speak to Ciel about Claudia, whether or not he’s the one who ends up asking them or if they decide they need to: UT, Tanaka and indeed Frances herself.
As of right now, I don’t think whoever discusses the topic first really matters, but if it turns out to be UT, I am not ready to trust him with being as neutral as it should be needed, so I hope Tanaka and/or Frances will also end up speaking about this with Ciel.
I do like the idea of Frances being the one to address the subject more though, for two reasons:
it would probably give us more to understand about Frances’ character too, since for now it’s really hard to say what she knows/doesn’t know and how involved in the plot she truly is.
besides, she knows what it’s like to lose family to the Watchdog duty since she lost the exact same family members as Ciel, so I totally need her and Ciel to talk.
So yep, I’m hoping we’ll get to see Frances and Ciel speaking about Claudia, but for now I don’t think Edward and Lizzie know about their grandmother either. I mean, if somehow they do and Ciel is here like “???”, I will just die laughing at how Ciel is so so bad at simply asking other people about information. xDDD
Thanks for passing by and have a great weekend! :3
Hi Anon! And yep, we sure did. She watched s1 and s2 in the span of two weeks basically, so I can assure you it means she definitely enjoyed it. :))
(personal so under read more)
If I recall correctly, she was a bit confused at the end of s2 though, as we all were back then in the manga, especially since they added a few things like Ymir’s backstory, so she was really frustrated about not knowing more answers.
I think the thing I liked the most was her reaction about Eren using the Coordinate for the first time. You know, this scene…
Because when it rolled in, my dad was just coming home so it distracted her for like ten seconds and she went “wait, what? what? wait what happened? did I miss something? WHAT JUST HAPPENED? WHY ARE THEY RUNNING? WHO DID THAT?!” and I had to rewind back, haha.
Anyway, after she was done, I told her to read the manga (since I have it in French) but since s3 is for this summer, I think she’d rather watch it instead. However, seeing as she’s capable of watching 13 episodes in a row on the same evening (ep 9-22 for s1, I’m not kidding, I had to physically stop her at 3 am), I will probably wait until s3 is over before I let her watch it, lol.
She’s so cute tho, I mean, she had all these theories (all wrong xDD) and I was kinda forced to tell her a few things because she wouldn’t stop asking (about Grisha and the basement mainly); but since SnK is hard to explain without adding all the details, I doubt she really understood the few things I told her.
I think her favorite characters are Mikasa and Erwin, so what happened to Erwin at Wall Maria is /!classified info/!
for now, but I showed her Mikasa’s, Reiner’s and Eren’s new design last month when ch101 came out and she liked them a lot (”omg they’re all so beautiful”). :))
So it’s back on Urasawa Naoki’s Monster for now (she read half of it and now she’s watching the anime) + she started Psycho Pass recently, even if she’s not very far in the story (because I’m busy and she won’t watch it on her own since she’s not good with using electronic devices xD).
I hope it satisfies your curiosity! Have a great day as well. ^3^
Hello Anon 🙂 And if you meant my blog icon, then yep…
these three are characters from Tokyo Ghoul and this lil’ artwork was drawn by Ishida-sensei himself. 🙂
The guy on the left is the shadiest, biggest troll and probably the strongest as well as most mysterious character of the whole story (truth is, he’s one of my big faves). I think I have something like 20+ different versions of a general theory about him and I constantly scream whenever he shows up.
The girl cheering with him is as mysterious as he is for now, but I’m guessing she is probably less strong than him. I also do think she’s extremely hot despite probably not being that young.
Finally the guy sighing in the background is their friend, which sometimes seems super odd considering that they don’t have the same agenda at all, but who’s not mysterious or shady at all in comparison (which is why he’s sighing, because he’s constantly fed up with how much they’re trolling around).
A great trio really, and if they’re my blog icon it’s because I spend a large part of my time imagining what these two clowns…
and some of their other friends could be up to. :3
I hope it answers your question! Have a nice weekend :))
it’s most likely Polaris, “Sirius”’ butler or so he said he was in ch123, because the same knives can be seen in his room in ch117.
The question remains as to who Polaris really is, if he’s a new random character (brought back from the dead) or not, but we have no way to know for now (I was hoping the new chapter would confirm something so that I could make a theory but I will have to do without xD).
So we’ll have to see for his real identity, probably in a few more months seeing the pacing lately, but you can definitely consider that Polaris was Agni’s killer, acting on orders from Sirius aka real!Ciel.
Hi Anon! And good question. 🙂 I think the fact that Griffith didn’t finish his thought led to some awkward translation because the translator understandably didn’t have any way to know what Griffith meant.
However I think you’re close enough. 🙂 Upon finding the beherit again, Griffith remembered about what it meant…
…so I think he was ready to call them (remember that he was trying to kill himself just a moment before that, so he was really desperate because everything was getting out of his reach), although probably not knowing how, which is when Guts showed up.
I definitely think that a part of Griffith knew there would be bad consequences if Guts were to reach him because…
he knew of the legend surrounding what he was hoping to do.
Also, this is how Griffith was thinking about Guts, just before he was rescued:
so I think another possible interpretation would be to say that he was afraid that Guts would find a way to bring him back from the brink of despair he was currently drowning in and that, as a result, the Godhand wouldn’t answer his call.
One thing I think is very important to understand about Griffith’s character is that there is no doubt, even though he saw most of them as his pawns, that only a real and deep desperation led him to sacrifice all of his comrades, because that was the only way he had left not to let his dream get out of reach (Griffith’s dream >>> everything else).
You can also see this in how his feelings towards Guts drastically changed between when he was still human (see above), when he was about to become Femto…
As a human, he had the luxury to have mixed feelings because humans are always considered to be on the grey spectrum of characterization (they can waver between white and black). As a Godhand though (an “all black and no white” character), he had no doubt anymore, hence saying that he was “free” (as in, free from the possibility of Guts making him forget about his dream again).
TL;DR it isn’t particularly surprising to see Griffith having mixed feelings about losing Guts up until he’s presented with the megalomaniacal idea to achieve his dream more easily and quickly than ever before. He was only human and Guts was actually the only person he couldn’t see as just a pawn.
Sorry for rambling, I hope it makes sense! Have a nice weekend 🙂
Hello Anon, no worries at all. 🙂 Did you mean when I said this? [x]
Okay so, it comes from the fact that ever since Casca and Guts realized that it was okay for them to accept their feelings for each other before the Eclipse, things changed so much so quickly that basically everyone noticed.
Judeau, Pippin… even Charlotte (who basically indirectly told Casca “hey so, love totally changed you????”) did, so you can be sure that one year of horror wouldn’t have stopped Griffith from noticing that the dynamic amongst their little trio had changed too, because:
Griffith used to be the one Guts followed and the one Casca was clearly devoted to
then Guts left because he decided not to abandon his own goal for the sake of Griffith’s dream
but after vol9, it turned out Guts was actually very happy to follow Casca while Casca’s heart now belonged to Guts.
And Sensei really insisted on the fact that Griffith instantly realized things were different, by showing him staring very intently at his friends more than once, which was extremely creepy. Two examples amongst many:
or
Basically you see the current twisted sort of love triangle [Roderick => Farnese <= Serpico] and Sensei always drawing a panel of Serpico staring most of the time Farnese interacts with Roderick? It was the same back then with Griffith, except that I have high hopes that Serpico won’t become an Apostle over his codependency with Farnese.
Anyway, Griffith stared and stared until it led to this…
Fortunately, he was so weak that nothing happened at the time but it’s really impossible to misinterpret that he was basically trying to gauge or reenact Casca’s old devotion to him by showing some… affection.
If this doesn’t make a lot of sense, just think that Griffith was definitely aware of Casca’s feelings for him in the past but he never addressed them on purpose, because Casca’s devotion made her a skilled blade and right-hand woman and it also meant not giving her an opportunity to move on (at least until she herself fell in love with someone else).
So Griffith, who totally noticed how close Casca and Guts got, tried to see if he could shift Casca’s focus over Guts onto him again, which obviously didn’t happen and which led to…
another very pivotal moment.
Moving on to the Eclipse and to Griffith becoming Femto, in that aspect it’s not so surprising that, after becoming so very powerful and invincible, his prideful demonic ass decided to make Guts and Casca pay for excluding him out of their little trio (especially when he used to be the center of that trio) while he was being tortured for a whole year.
Call that pride, jealousy or whatever else you want, he suddenly had the power to make them pay for moving on without him and so he did just that.
From the moment he always made sure to give Guts a very clear sight of him hurting Casca when she herself was begging Guts not to look, that’s how you know the main point of Femto doing what he did was to punish both of them for choosing the other over him.
I hope it’s clearer that way. For a more detailed interpretation of what happened during the Eclipse, please check this post.
See, taking V down is very probably going to take some time, a time Sensei still has if he decides to take :Re until ch204 in my opinion, but not if he stops at ch164. In fact, most of TG’s villains so far have been about taking V down (and breaking “the equilibrium”) from the very beginning…
Kanou and Furuta teamed up a while ago in order to do that,
Kanou experimented with Rize and then joined Aogiri while Furuta joined the Clowns
Eto assisted Kanou in making more artificial OEGs (Amon, Seidou), to see who could inherit Arima’s position of the OEK when the time would be right
meanwhile Arima was keeping a close eye over Kaneki, with the same idea in mind as Eto
Furuta helped V destroy the Washuus so that he could also become the head of the CCG in order to turn Kaneki into Dragon…
…which then forced ghouls and humans to ally for the very first time in order to stop him.
So now that it’s probably going to be up to Kaneki and the rest of the cast to take V down next…
…you can be sure it will take a few more volumes after ch164, especially since we don’t know yet the real extent and influence that this organization possesses, since it encompassed the whole Washuu family.
So if Sensei ends :Re before Kaneki and the rest of the cast completely take V down, then I think a third part will be needed in order to finish everything (even if it doesn’t have to be as long as TG or :Re of course), but that’s just my opinion.
Actually, third part or not, in the end it’s about giving us all the answers and development before ending the story. 🙂 Sensei choosing to do this in :Re or in yet another sequel is not particularly important as long as he finishes what he started!
TL;DR maybe :Re ends with ch164, I have no way to be sure of that right now, but Sensei is definitely not ending Tokyo Ghoul with :Re ch164.
I hope it makes sense! Please have a nice day Anon. :))
midnight-in-town 