OnS Chapter 157 & 158 - Personal thoughts
Hey everyone! Last month was a bit of a really tough month so, I didn't feel the motivation to pop around... but well, I'll share up my thoughts about these chapters given that we're heading to the climax of the story which will be next month.
With chapter 157, we finally start with the ending of the story itself; it's the final battle, the end of everything or rather, the beginning of which path the story will finally end towards; Shinoa's path or Yuu's path.
The battle goes all out; and as expected, each time is going with all their power; we see Yoichi boosting Mitsuba, a clear sign of their bond and trust all together; we learn about Mitsuba's past, how despite being surrounded by guinea pigs, she has been keeping her rhythmn in order to fight by their side.
As a reader, these kind of panels are clear sign everything's going to turn south; but let's focus on the chapter progress.
We see how Yuu and Mika realize the squad is going serious against them; to which of course, those two go all out along with Saito in order to fulfill their goal which is to take the Sinful Keys from Yoichi and Kimizuki.
Ultimately, this battle; this kind of strategy set by the Squad, while it was good, sadly, Saito had the upperhand to shift things against them, and of course, the 1st loss was Mitsuba as one anon pointed out.
Her death was, in all honesty an utter waste, because it feels like wasted potential like @distinguished-slacker pointed; many including myself expected a lot from her only to meet her demise under Yuu's ambitions.
And in the moment each leader hesitated, such as Yuu having inner turnoils about killing his friends just like Shinoa losing spirit upon Mitsuba's death; Yoichi stood; he stood bravely and told Shinoa to stand. Which in parallel, Mika did. I heard that some were surprised to see Mika tell Yuu he had to kill; however, Mika long gave up advicing Yuu. Nevertheless, they're at a war, they no longer can hesitate and so the battle resumed with today's chapter.
As a reader, I'm proud of Yoichi because in contrast to the rest of the squad; Yoichi was the only one to confront Yuu with brutal honesty. Even in the JP version of this chapter, Yoichi's words come way more straightforward than the softer tone the EN version handles, then again, the translation is good, there's nothing to complain here.
Moving on, Yoichi shone like a shining star in the space going all out against Saito and Yuu.
We were able to see him using his seraph powers taking Saito by full surprise; however, as much as they were going all out; there was one member of the Squad that hesitated.
Making a small note here, as the reader, it feels a bit anticlimatic to make Kimizuki hesitate after giving a moral speech back in chapter 156; along making him go through the stages of grief, facing Mirai back in chapter 155 only for him to end up betraying Yoichi at the end. Ultimately, Kimizuki's death held no impact.
I'll be honest here, I didn't feel pain or sadness seeing Kimizuki getting turned into a Sinful Key. Given that all that possible development he could have was at the very end used as a contradiction, it didn't feel meaningful.
However, with Yoichi, his death felt impactful not because I believed he was doing correct or wrong; but rather, because of all the cast in the story; even if his role wasn't as prominent as other charcters, he evolved way differently to the point he chose to stand bravely against adversity.
Him hacking Saito was a master move up to the end given that Saito was never expecting to see him pulling such trick. However, what it did feel disappointing was Urd acting normal with Rigr's actions. It felt like Urd had a massive emotional dependance on Rigr which makes it feel not so meaningful. Though, the only thing I can give credit is the fact that the time you spend with someone makes life meaningful is something real. The message is there, sadly, the impact is not.
At the end, even on his dying breath, Yoichi was concerned about Shinoa to the very end.
Now, it all goes down to the main protagonists. Shinoa vs Yuu & Mikaela.
The final clash of ideals between the lover hero vs the tyrant hero.
I liked the chapter but it did have its odds; it all feels rushed but it's somewhat understandable why. There's no more planning, it's throwing everything they've got.
I feel disappointment that Mitsuba was a truthfully wasted character. Kimizuki could have shone with the very fact that he had a sinful key along triggering that seraph trait he had; sadly, that never happened. Urd as a vampire was a character I admired but sadly, his character too wasn't exploited.
On the bright side, Yoichi and Shinoa polished a bond way beyond anything I could ever see; Yoichi used his powers wisely and because of that, he had the best development that could be seen in the whole series.
Perhaps if the story had been managed in LNs, we could have been able to see more about them.
Those are my thoughts, what about yours?
I'll write a neutral review of today's chapter!
