I don't if it's just me but I found the "conclusion" of Lisa/Imuri's relationship to be disturbing and oddly mean-spirited. I guess it depends on whether on not we'll see Lisa again and if that last page is meant to be seen as foreboding but idk Lisa's both lives end with her being infinitely forgiving/encouraging towards the person that got her killed (the second time on purpose), a person that just barely cares about her and seemingly never thought of her again after she burned at the stake. Maybe it has to do with the fact that Imuri's thoughts on Lisa are barely touched on and so surface level but it just feels disturbing to me, like Lisa's only purpose in life is to be a stepping stone. I don't know maybe that uncomfortable feeling could be mitigated if Lisa is somehow allowed to participate in the continuing chapters, but I have a feeling she will be quickly tossed away and forgotten about until her plan against Satan takes place and the quickly forgotten about, again.
It's definitely not just you. If this Lisa's conclusion is meant to be taken as beautiful and final it says something really unsettling about the work's view on women. It's not that there aren't problems here and there, mainly with how Imuri's character is handled, but it's salvageable depending on this specific arc. And it just goes destroying every other female character, and then has Imuri grow a little bit as a compensation. Lisa died as a stepping stone in every meaning of the word. The negotiation with her paints the pope as a virtuous martyr. Her revolution unites the Vergilius witch faction and the church against Satan. The battle with her elevates Marco Belphegor and Mikhail, two misogynists and an ignorant priest, completing the first two's character journey and fleshing out the latter's philosophy. Her uterus and plan for Satan are Chekhov's guns. Her status is a literal stepping stone for Satan's final boss. And in her dying moment, she doesn't even get to think about her revolution or the result of her hundreds of years of effort. We're supposed to accept that Lisa, who criticizes Joshua for choosing Imuri over the world and ultimately chooses to kill Imuri to take out Belphegor, accepts her end with the only accomplishment for women being Imuri accepting herself so she doesn't ruin her newest boyfriend. Imuri during the entire fight is rendered to the background, one panel to seem worry for Lisa, and her first thought in this chapter that compels her to act is still about Joshua. No self reflection on her treatment of Lisa in the past after literally walking through it, most of the reactions and effects of seeing Lisa's backstory are again from Joshua. Imuri comes out still insensitive to Lisa's suffering and barely understands or cares about Lisa at all, if she does then it's barely shown. Lisa is never her priority, she even lamented about it twice, and she remains never a priority till the end.
Imuri's sacrifice in "The Finale", JoshImuri's happy ending in "All's well that ends well" and Joshua's death in "The End" can be fake-outs but somehow "The Final Battle" where the main heroes consist of female members as supporters and the male members as leaders who take the main stage gathered with a redeemed villain to defeat the wicked witch with the help of the heroine's charm in the last moment and the hero dealing the final blow with a sword isn't, a fake-out? This is pure shounen slop I know this is a shounen but spending your entire manga subverting common tropes just to have your feminist strawman defeated in the most shounen battle to ever battle is insane. Please tell me this is all Satan's script because anything this guy explicitly meddles with feels superficial and fake like Joshua and Imuri's relationship.
Wrote your lesbian rape and femicide victim character to be a Gamergate caricature of a feminist whose sole purpose is to be constantly "humbled" and overpowered by the men around her (two of them raging misogynists, three of them part of the institution that raped and killed her) to show how morally virtuous they're compared to her and spend her dying moments as an unloved stepping stone solely meant to teach the girl she loves how to love her boyfriend better.
From the moment Lisa was introduced, she just got bonked at each step of the way leading to her ultimate suffering by the hands of the conservative status-quo. So happy she gets sent to the gehenna of the one who had her raped by several men I guess? (no)
There was so much possibilities, so much to do with this kind of character, and here she was just used as an absolute plot device, a conservative strawman, archetype of "the evil feminists who just want to destroy the world bouhou." like "Look at these women, so hysterical, so angry! They don't understand they're actually acting for their self-destruction bouhou!"
Lisa didn't even get a catharsis on her own, she was reduced to feeling happy for Imuri's choice to the very end (even FUCKING Asmodeus got a catharsis like pls) (I guess Imuri's charm is that strong, it makes characters empty themselves of all substance, just for her)
Now, the only thing that remains is watching Satan act moe and silly like I care (sorry, I couldn't find the football game interesting. Maybe danverge will help with this situation somehow).
Isnāt there something in Revelations about a head injury thatās healed?
At least this is finally something sheās making Imuri hear. Prince Charming fairy tale theming etc etc.
Thereās a focus on the idea of men though as the oneās sheās going to harm, both in the English and Japanese. Itās interesting that thereās a continued line drawn between the men Imuri has been with whose deathās sheās caused and her relationship and destruction of Lisa. Was the relationship non-romantic from Imuriās perspective? Is this some sort of writing oversight? Idk.
Lisaās not entirely a human any more but sheās also not a demon. Will this permanently kill her? If so, is this the first time Josh has permanently killed someone who was once a human being, as opposed to the demons who are just returned to hell? Thou Shall Not Kill and all that. Wrath and all that. Something something Josh not wanting to become masculine through acts of violence and all that. (Edit: I forgot that the plan involves resealing. One of these days I need to get around to finding a way to reread chapters since I canāt at the moment lol. I wish there was at least an ebook purchase available in English. C'est la vie)
I donāt have much to say on this one. Iām glad at least Imuri got some development. Marco talked too much this chapter for my tastes. Is the Church members protection of the Demon Lord of Sloth against a witch who critiques them for not moving fast enough supposed to mean anything? Idk. Does defeating Lisa defeat all of Baba Yaga or does it destabilize the control of the hundreds of wrathful souls making up Baba Yaga who will now be unleashed upon the world? Weāll likely move onto Satan next is my guess.
Rip babygirl, wish you were in a well written arc that actually cared about you as a character and not a conservative strawman whose sole purpose is to be brutalized and killed off for the sake of the other character's comfort<3
NOW THAT'S THE SHIT. HELL YEAH. YOU'RE THE HERO OF YOUR OWN STORY, TAKE THE REINS OF IT AND GUIDE WHERE YOU WISH. BE HAPPY WITH YOURSELF FIRST BEFORE WISHING TO BE HAPPY WITH SOMEONE ELSE
Tbh the whole exchange is very Strong (Cinderella 2015) it's kind of funny if they take inspiration from that too given how Vasilisa is Russian's Cinderella.
It's playing in my face they're just saying the doom posting memes word for word I can't do this anymore I WAS HOPING THEY WERE JUST A JOKE. THERE'S NO SUBVERSION ok fine I give up. This manga has always been very straightforward with its messages, Imuri's āI'm a woman but women are not meā is the first and Barbara's āmind your businessā is the last nail in its stance on Lisa. She's meant to be the feminism gone too far criticism and I'm tired of trying to justify it.
THANK YOU LISA she's still the best written character this arc please if she's going to die who will carry this bum ass arc. With the way it treats female characters that aren't Lisa Satan's wife is going to be irrelevant unless it's for Satan's characterization isn't she.
Also Mikhail just straight up doesn't have any connection to Baba Yaga and is just a weird exorcist who is extra brutal to witches for some reason. Period. Mikhail you have two chances and ruined them all wtf. Honestly I don't know how to take the part where he said Lisa has a cute face after saying she's the most uncute like, twice. On one hand maybe it's a kind of mockery because she hates it, but what he said later also supports the reading that he thinks she should cherish herself more and hopes she can move forward in life? As in a way to show sympathy and acknowledgement?
And Lisa is still right what now? It says shits like this and continues villainizing her.
Imuri actually thinking Lisa is cool this time around, the same way Lisa thought Imuri was cool hundreds of years ago, is touching. I'll give them that. There's been zero Imuri's interiority for the last half of Wrath and her first thought we're shown is "Lisa is so cool" and that she doesn't want to judge her as evil or foolish and even saying Lisa is right about something. Kind of confirmed that Imuri has not been living true to herself despite being so selfish because she's just been chasing after a fantasy and acting according to it to turn a blind eye to reality. And Yes Lisa is cool Imuri glad you finally notice.
new mtefil chapter is not as bad as it could be. josh does give the centrist speech ive been dreading but its pretty cleanly dismissed by lisa for being empty. satan having her uterus is an odd choice because i still dont think it makes sense for lisa or the narrative to value her uterus that way. i do not believe lisa would care about her ability to have children, and if the story wants to challenge her biossentialism, it cant put as much value in that ability as it seems to
the real issue is that the manga still wants you to pretend mikhail is a real character. his little speech about valuing yourself doesnt function as a meaningful rebuttal to lisa's comment about "cute" being what you call things you see as beneath you. having more self worth would not have helped lisa when she was an abused sex worker being out to death for witchcraft. and since the manga refuses to interrogate mikhail's relationship with gender beyond him being cute, refuses to understand him as transfeminized. we are still stuck with the actual women in the church acting as sidekicks to the guys.
imuri being moved by lisa not shirking culpability for anyone shes killed makes sense. her being equally moved by mikhail feels so forced.
If it got addressed in the manga itself I fear it's going to be Joshua saying "But isn't this just the weak get silenced by overwhelming power again" with a solemn face after Lisa's defeat and one of the church kids/Daniel/Heisenberg/all of them would explain how this is different because "reasons". That'd be the end of discussion and it'd never be brought up ever again. Or to the extra files it goes. Or it'd never make it to the storyline at all. Like this arc so far seems so superficial because problems are either ignored or dismissed by the most hollow shallow preach imaginable and everyone eat it up. With the story's framing are we really supposed to take Mikhail brushing off Lisa's speech about systemic oppression as "too complicated" as a good thing? Because it sure feels so. Sometimes I wish this arc were the intermediacy between Pride (church) and Wrath (witches) before actually entering Wrath through Satan but this is officially Part 7 Wrath arc so there goes my hope.
I donāt know what I was expecting from this chapter, but I wasnāt expecting Marco backstory LOLL. Mother Rosa mentionā¦ please come backā¦. We also now have a better approximation of Marcoās age, since heās clearly still a child but older than 12 when Josh was 12.
Lisa seems to be actively in the process of dying for more power. āWe have no interest in arguing with youā and the focus on methods I find interesting. In previous arcs and and specifically recently with Charlotte, the idea of violence as a tool to get to the negotiating table has been brought up. However, here we can see that even now there is no negotiating going on. Interestingly, there is also no focus on what methods they do think she should use. Thereās a complete disinterest in engaging with her on any level. They neither agree nor disagree with her ideas, and while they disagree with the extent of her violence, thereās no expression of what outlet they do think should occur for her expression of ideas. Barbara and Leah both have been shown to understand gender based oppression, and oppose it, but theyāve also been uninvolved in enacting any sort of systemic change. If violence is a no go, or at least this extent of violence, what is the appropriate level of violence or alternative methods that they hold should be used? Again, none of the cast outside of Lisa has expressed what they specifically think an ideal world should look like, and what the appropriate methods for accomplishing that are. Whether thatās a weakness of the story or a purposeful critique, Iām not sure yet.
I had thought that there had been a direct reference to the Hammer of Witches, but hadnāt screenshotted it and forgot it was Marco! Itās kind of incredibly fitting. The Hammer of Witches, or Malleus Maleficarum is one of the most influential texts on witchcraft in Europe. It was written by Heinrich Kramer, a Dominican Priest, who was misogynistic to a degree that was notable even in the 15th century when he was alive. Like, he was so misogynistic that other theologians were condemning him in his time, including a bishop. One of the Popes did like his work though. He deeply disliked women, and the Malleus Maleficarum is one of the works most influential to tying ideas of witchcraft to women, and specifically womenās sexuality. Ideas of women have shifted over time, and in this specific time period misogynistic constructions of women held them to be excessively sexual and insatiable, and also more easily susceptible to sin as they were held to be less capable of reasoning then men. Heinrich Kramer did not disagree, and the Malleus Maleficarum is a deeply misogynistic text that is obsessive about womenās sexuality in much of the same manner that Marco talks about Imuri. That itās the weapon he uses against Lisa is immensely charged, whether on purpose or otherwise.
The Japanese word he uses for aspiration also translates to longing, but it is a different word than the word used for longing in the chapter title. Idk enough about Japanese to make any commentary about that, but if anyone who does has any thoughts Iād be interested in hearing them.
Chapter ends with Lisa offering up her uterus, her reproductive organ, which also feels incredibly charged on a gender level. Sheās been tied to ideas of pregnancy (c section headless woman, the story of the curse of Eve, swallowing the fetuses, her status as a lesbian in a time period and society that valued her primarily in her availability to men including in the range of reproductive labor). Really wondering where thatās going to go.
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