#ons chapter 156

[lostsoulaltair]

well I don’t read JP version of the this chapter, so those things you mentioned get lost in the translation 🤔

You know there’s the possibility Shinoa is laying when she promises the squad. Yuu is number one, if he dies she will just brings him back.

There's a reason why Yoichi was tasked with looking after her.

And also why they're pretty much set on halting Yuu and that's it. That's the end of the mission. And as for that, Shinoa knows she got her back covered aka someone making certain she won't lose her path.

Too much power can also affect the mind. As for whenever she's lying or not let's dig in:

English translation is good by the way. With these analysis that come, I have no intention of saying "it's bad" or something like that, if anything, translation is complex considering you have to deliver a message that stil retains the meaning of the original language. Contrast to spanish that has more flexibility and ways to portray emotions, english tends to a bit colder. Let's start from here:

This is right when Yoichi goes inside her heart

When Yoichi appears inside her heart, Shinoa actually uses a much more casual language, making it sound a bit colder.

She's surprised but not in a tone of: "wow!" Which the english translation team does really well, she takes it as unexpected but not something to cause her a reaction.

She asks "なんで隠してたの"(なんで　かくしてたの) the question itself is more of curiosity of why Yoichi chose to keep that ability hidden.

Yoichi explains that his memory was erased by her sister and he only just recalled it. He also explains how his sister tried to protect him by keeping that power hidden.

Now. Here plays a rather interesting difference:

In contrast to the tone in the english version, in the japanese she sounds colder when she asks why he's there.

In the eng ver:

"Well, why are you here then?".

In jp: で なにしにきたの

"well, what did you come for?"

There's a huge difference playing in how you deliver the expression. Shinoa's not the type to enter and pry other people's hearts, so in the JP ver, it reflects like she feels a bit invaded.

Now, let's take another panel:

In this panel, Yoichi explains what Guren went through with his friends. How they were 16 when the world ended. And now they too are 16.

Here Yoichi asks if they're going to do the same as them. Shinoa actually adopts here a more polite or softer reply. Instead of being in a defensive or cold stance, she's understanding that they're concerned about her.

Hence her reply "姉さんはするなと言ってましたよ". She's saying her sister told her to not do it.

Yoichi of course says if she were to lose control in a situation on which Yuu died... he'll take all her powers.

Now. Let's jump to other panel

Yoichi here upon seeing Shinoa's using again that polite but not extremely polite language, he adopts it too.

"孤独だめなんだ でもみんなで助けて合っていけばいいと思います" he tells her here her loneliness is what could make her lose herself. But if everyone's there for each other, it'll be ok.

Upon this. Shinoa's tone softens more to the point she welcomes Yoichi's security measure

She says: じゃお任せします

In EN: I'll trust you then.

In JP: I'll leave it to you/I'll be under your care/I'll leave it in your hands.

There's a difference in there. She's accepting that he'll be there to halt her if anything were to happen. While in english, it makes it sound like she was distrustful but chooses to trust.

Now. Final page cause checking page after page would be waaay too much

Here she goes right to what they settled.

We kill Rigr. (In the JP she's telling him but keeping that polite tone on her way of talk)

Then she says she'll take away the powers of the 1st from Yuu and Yoichi says "僕ら二人で奪う" meaning both will take away the power of the 1st from Yuu.

And when she opens her eyes to be with the whole squad, her language remaind decisive.

"We win".

It plays a huge difference between both language haha, so yeah, Idk what'll happen in Ch. 157, so, depending on said chapter, anything could happen. But for the time being, she's willing to cooperate and not break that promise.

Though, if her squad were to die considering Yoichi is like a really bad choice considering Yuu is aiming to kill him... if the scenario were to be on her winning, Yuu alive. She'll likely break because even if she loves Yuu, I don't think she'll take it kindly if he kills their friends.

[lostsoulaltair]

Could I ask you about Saito and Mikayuu scene, the difference between the JP version and English translation whenever you have time, since the translation isn’t that reliable apparently 😔

It's not about not being reliable anon 😅

It's more about how you convey the message. The EN translation team does a good work you know. It's considering the character they're going to translate the lines of. How that character usually behaves.

I won't compare many cause it's a bit too much anon but I'll set some examples.

Yuu's lines are even more energetic which is something the EN version captures pretty well.

He says it'll be like a bazooka and the sun will go boom pretty much.

Mika: いいのかなぁ

Will that even work?

JP: Will that even work?

In the EN ver: are we really sure this is smart?

The EN version localizes a bit, but it's loyal given that Mika is the one with the brain. So him questioning Yuu about their actions is on spot.

Mika tends to address Yuu softly with the typical Yuu-chan.

Yuu is more causal toned.

Another interesting point is how Mika addresses Shinoa.

In the EN ver:

"You know she grabbed 70% of the 1st's power..."

However in the JP ver Mika says:

"あの女"

"That woman/girl"

Which is very different from "彼女" which lit translates to "she".

The way Mika talks about making him sound somehow distant with them in contrast to when he was a vampire. But this could be given the current situation. They're about to face each other.

Once again, the EN official translation is good, it saves up words and the message remains clear.

Saito is more carefree but he keeps that politeish tone when he talks so, there's not much difference between EN & JP version. However, with Mika it goes different.

In the EN: I don't trust him

JP: つか僕(ぼく)こいつ信用してない

"I don't trust that guy"

It feels more aggressive, it's derogatory, it's not even on friendly term. Mika is suspicious as hell about Saito.

Here the difference is simply the tone. Translation is fine.

Another line about Yuu sacrificing. Mika here says:

JP: But, Yuu-chan. You promised you wouldn't sacrifice yourself, didn't you?

EN: But didn't you promise you wouldn't sacrifice yourself?

A bit diff from the official EN translation but it goes about proper typesetting so the EN is fine. It delivers correctly the message the official version.

Now, regarding Yuu's line:

もっちろん

Usually, that word is written as: もちろん however, Yuu's tone goes between playful or like assuring he won't do something.

Mika: ほんとかなぁ

Mika asks "are you sure? "/I wonder

And Yuu: ほんとほんと

It's assuring he won't. In EN to avoid repeating they went with:

"I won't. I promise"

Soo, there you have anon, those are the differences but, at the end. The EN official translation is good, it's just about localization.

[lostsoulaltair]

OnS Chapter 156 - Analysis & Review

Well, hello everyone. It's me again hehe... kinda gloomy after knowing this long journey is coming to an end.

When the final two chapters come. I won't post more theories or analysis, except small reviews because it's the great climax.

Soo the chapter starts with the Shinoa Squad. They are fully aware they're getting tracked along the fact that Yuu's aiming to sacrifice themselves.

Within this heart to heart conversation, we see that even despite the resolution they reached, there's one member for the love she holds, she doesn't mind becoming the sacrifice.

True. She's in love with Yuu. She loves him because for the 1st time, it's not about the end of the world, it's her first real feeling within the short life she has had. Just like the rest, they must have feelings about something they dream about very independent of sticking like the family they are. After all, that's what it means to live.

Now, maybe some might find upsetting the talk about "love" being a reason or a meaning to her life; however, this trope is very common in old tales. Even in current stories, love is ultimately the force that pushes forward for some sort of miracles. It depends how it's polished to make it shine.

Now, back to the topic. We see that Kimizuki gives Shinoa a rather harsh reality. What happens if they die? They know they can be killed since they'll face Saito, Yuu and Mika. Ironically, Yuu is aiming to kill Yoichi and Kimizuki for the last sinful keys they possess to do all that massive spell. Kimizuki wants the endless cycle of curse and getting cursed to end.

This point touches something the manga has been trying to convey for so long. The whole story is set upon resurrecting, or rather, the fear towards "Death". That fear is something way more common than what we tend to think. However, in this story, death should be viewed as what it is, a phase all living beings go through; hence why, the most important thing in the world is to make the most with the time we have; just like Kimizuki states: "The dead should stay dead. The living musn't bring them back."

With this, Kimizuki too wants to be certain Shinoa will fulfill a promise just like he's doing. Because indeed, the long curse they've been wrapped on is all about resurrection, yet they're not Gods to do that. They're mortals and he wants to make certain Shinoa realizes that too. Given that Shinoa is facing a really harsh reality that she could lose everything, even if she won't attempt madness, there's a "bug" inside her that could go against that wish. Hence why Kimizuki requests Yoichi's aid. Thanks to Yoichi's ability of "hack", he goes inside of Shinoa's heart.

Shinoa of course is surprised to some degree. (Which she shouldn't considering what happened back in chapter 154 and 155 along her being able to peek on people's hearts). Yoichi in this case, wants to be certain Shinoa won't deceive them. Shinoa lets him see through her and of course, Yoichi takes a small part of the 1st powers along catching a glimpse of Shinoa's strong emotions.

Yoichi knows Shinoa loves Yuu too much, that the only thing Shinoa seeks is that Yuu gets to live in the present with them. But because that love is so huge, he is concerned Shinoa might go berserk and lose her way.

This alone talks hugely about him given that the Squad must reassure each other that they're no longer alone. That they're a family and as long as they stick together, they can pull it off.

The conclusion they have at the end is that they'll fight Saito and only Saito.

The next part is focused on Yuu, Mika and Saito. They are fully aware that Shinoa is coming their way. They're fully aware Shinoa's more powerful than them and of course, they'll pull the fight for their plan to succeed.

Given Saito's speech, the death flag on his head is extremely huge. And given that the whole story revolts on a final battle between humans. The end of this long tale is set between Yuu, Mika vs the Shinoa Squad.

At the end with them, Yuu reveals he is the angel Mikaela which is why the 1st and Saito failed utterly. Saito at the end has nothing else to lose hence why he's going to be the back up in case Yuu and Mika lose the battle. Saito of course, is going to fight with everything he has just like Yuu and Mika. Along this, Yuu informs Saito that Shinoa knows how their battle against Guren, Ferid and Mahiru went like; which of course is not convenient for Saito at all.

Then we go back to the Squad jumping into action, we know Shinoa's casting a massive sigil spell (for what, mayhaps halt Yuu) since the end goal is finish Saito and drain Yuu's powers.

Given that Saito spotted them, for the first time in ages, Mitsuba jumps into action.

Given that Mitsuba will finally head on. There's a chance we see Ky Luc as a demon.

As for the analysis, at this point the only thing I can say is; that even if Yoichi is setting counter measures against Shinoa, Shinoa got the look of a massive death flag. Even if Yoichi counter measures her, there's something off in there for how she allowed him to see what he wanted to see.

The battle will likely be interesting against Rigr but given the time limit in terms of volume... I do hope chapter 157 is long enough to cover a good ending.

Remember, even if the author said he was fond of happy endings or good endings, we must wonder "what counts as one".

As a very side note:

How did I come with so many posts?

The answer lies in music, the manga panels, facial expressions, the emotions each character line holds... all of them come into one and ultimately, I choose one track that resonates the most. That's how I came with so many theories & analysis.

[lostsoulaltair]

Kagami will probably let Yuu win by pulling the Mikaela card or just doing something like the spells from his small fight with Guren and Shinoa's squad. He was supposed to be a big dumb dumb with spells, he never payed attention yet managed to fool even Guren or Shinoa who'd been using them since she was 8 or earlier. She might be one of the "monsters" that Kagami mentions, but he will let Yuu win for sure, somehow a twist will happen. Winning the battle does not mean happy ending tho. Hopefully I'm wrong. I'm on shinias boat

Who knows.

And it's fine whichever side you support anon 😅 I mean, we all have our faves and what not, it's a story we grew up with in a way.

Regarding your thoughts it's a possibility at the end of the day. We don't know 100% what Kagami will pull out in the remaining chapters.

I can only say next chapter will be the final battle for Rigr Stafford, but of course, it's not the last battle against the Squad and Yuu together.

I think, Shinoa's very aware of the tricks Yuu can pull so it'll be up to her to fill the title of Squad Leader. Her mission after all, is to protect them and lead them to victory.

However, there's one thing I discussed with my bestie over other another social platform. And you're welcome to join along whoever reads this because I think there are many interesting questions or puzzle pieces left.

Very independent of "who" wins, the question remains:

What'll happen to the active demons?"

We so far saw the closure of Guren's squad in chapter 147

That was all death flag needed.

Same concept applied to the vampires that were bound to become demons (even if one met an end with Shinoa, the other with Rigr & the remaining with Ferid) and this of course was in chapters 143, 146, 147, 150.

This too was Ferid's courtain call.

Ultimately, all of them become demons but then, what about the remaining active ones such as:

Kiseki-O & Gekkouin

Tenjiryuu

And Mikaela

True, Yuu has claimed that he'll save everyone, however, the 1st mentioned something and this is considering his spells are set on stone; they've been analyzed but not modified:

So far, that's almost done.

Soo the question remains. If Yuu were to bring back angels, progenitors and humans alike, how would you remove the curse the demons are set on; the 1st made certain that the demons would remain as that for eternity with no will; thus meaning they'll become hollow.

I do wonder how the author will answer that.