Servamp Chapter 85 summary
So, if you read the raws without any context and have no idea of the predicament Kuro is in, now you do! Spoilers under the cut, but that should be obvious.
Many thanks to @svpages for posting the raws of Chapter 85! This chapter focuses solely on where Tsubaki is at the hospital. Yeah, that means no Mikuni vs Tsurugi or more onsen shenanigans…
Chapter starts off with Kuro carrying Mahiru towards the hospital.
Mahiru: I can see it! The hospital!
Kuro: Are you sure Tsubaki really did appear…
- Cue a giant explosion -
Kuro: …We’d better hurry.
(Cue gasp at how much character development Kuro has gone through for him, the Servamp of Sloth, to say those words.)
Cut back to Tooru and Iori facing off against new-makeover-with-abs Tsubaki.
Iori: Where’s [Sloth]?
Tooru: …He’ll be here soon…
Iori says it’s been a while since he’s fought on the frontlines, and laments The Disappearance of Touma Taishi. (Touma, where? This is the second time Iori’s mentioned Touma, Iori really wants you back LOL)
(The first time was last chapter when Iori was all, Tooru YOU’RE LATE if it was Touma he would have been here in 2 minutes, and Tooru was all, well if it was Touma he wouldn’t have come here in the first place!)
Iori mentions that 15 years ago the three of them were known as the Tokyo Branch’s strongest 3 idiots (literally 3 baka). Touma, where.
Then Tsubaki looks at Tooru and says, hmm… you… we’ve met before, haven’t we. Tooru apologises for not introducing himself at the sushi bar (way back in the early chapters of Servamp), since he was hiding his identity as a member of C3 from Mahiru back then.
Tsubaki: Shirota Mahiru’s family…
Next panel is just Tsubaki with a serial killer face: …He, too, must be grieving.
(cue the uh ohs.)
Tooru brandishes a stake not unlike Junichirou’s signature weapon, which Tsubaki comments on as familiar (having being caught in it during the Greed arc), and is Tooru the legimitate user?
Tooru: Junichirou is my chosen successor.
Tooru: The user of Mjolnir (read: this weapon), [The one who captures], Thor…
Tooru: Its predecessor is, I, Shirota Tooru! Because I’m Thor!
Tsubaki: That’s not amusing in the slightest.
Yup, you guessed it, Tooru puns on his name ‘Tooru’ and ‘Thor’ in the same fashion when he and Tsubaki met in the sushi place… To-ru dake ni na! Tanaka Strike even says they’ve been waiting for a long time (8 years) to use this one(1) gag in the manga… I’m so glad it’s finally here.
Iori stops Tsubaki momentarily with his barrier magic, apologising for Tooru’s ‘trademark bad puns’. And because new-makeover-with-abs Tsubaki is apparently an unstoppable force now, he breaks the barrier like it’s nothing. Iori stabs more keys into his arms (which activates his magic) but Tsubaki just button-mashes the slice-and-dice button and shatters them into pieces.
Iori, again, laments the disappearance of Touma. Touma, where?
Next, it’s Uncle Tooru’s turn to cast a giant magic spell. His first words are “Look at me, children of the sun.” The rest are too confusing to translate. Something about a castle, and a hero. Tsubaki tries to interrupt his spellcasting because no good demon king waits for the hero to finish casting a giant spell of mass destruction, but is blocked by Iori’s barriers.
Tooru raises his stake, and a swirl of lightning appears on its tip, and he ends the spell with: “My name is… THE THUNDER GOD.” Or the God of Thunder, whichever one you like. In Japanese, that's raijin, which also serves as the chapter’s title. Which is also a reference to Thor, the god of hammers thunder, if you didn’t catch that.
The end of the stake transforms into a giant hammer, and he slams it down on Tsubaki, shouting a fancy Japanese move name. And here’s the kicker: Because it’s Tooru, it’s full of puns too. The furigana 'Lion Reign’ is written in English, and the kanji 雷音礼印. In Japanese, separately, each kanji would read something like: rai/on/rei/in, which would sound, in Japanese, when read, like Lion Reign. Yeah. Translated to English the kanji would read thunder/sound/gratitude/stamp (like those you put on a document). Considering that he’s smashing that hammer down on Tsubaki like a rubber stamp I’d say Tanaka Strike’s choice of kanji is pretty spot-on. Tanaka Strike is a chuuni confirmed?
But of course, remember how Tsubaki got buffed up to cheat-level status? He catches Tooru’s hammer in one hand, and goes, “Oh, let me return the favour.” and stabs Tooru right in the stomach with his black katana. Smooth.
Tooru shouts for Iori to run but before he can even move Tsubaki slashes Iori in the chest as well.
Cue Mahiru and Kuro to arrive on scene. Mahiru, of course, cries, “Uncle!” and goes to his side. Kuro and Tsubaki have a glaring face-off. Mahiru keeps crying out “Uncle… Uncle Tooru…” but Tooru doesn’t reply, lying prone facedown on the ground. He’s been stabbed in the chest, after all.
Tsubaki: Hey there, nii-san.
Kuro comments on how Tsubaki’s gone too far in his mischief or something. This part’s a little unclear to me, to be honest. Tsubaki responds with ‘Is that so?’, ‘Because they’re human, they die when they are cut (the kanji for behead is used here for the word cut)’. (is this a fate reference)
Tsubaki addresses Mahiru, talking about how when you can’t save a life that’s about to die, you feel sad. Because it’s the life of a person that you treasure, you want to do something about it, right? An extremely universal and natural emotion. There’s nothing wrong with thinking that way. Right?
Tsubaki and Kuro get another face-off panel. We all know there’s a buildup. Something big is coming. And here it is:
Tsubaki: Hey, nii-san. Right now, Shirota Mahiru (furigana reads: your precious friend) is wishing for his dying family to continue to live for eternity.
“How about you bring back his uncle’s life by turning him into your subclass? He’s counting on you.”
“What will you do?”
And the caption at the side reads, “The cruelty… of Tsubaki!” Zankoku, like in A Cruel Angel’s Thesis, but I’m digressing.
…And dang, those last few lines were hard to translate. Tsubaki’s original words are more of the lines of ‘Why don’t you turn him into your subclass, and connect his life together (??? the word for ‘tie’ is used here, like string)? I’m/We’re/He’s (no subject here) relying/depending on you here…’
So, will Kuro break his vow of not making subclasses? Or will Tooru not die when he is killed and continue to live on? tfw when you bust out a super special move but the last boss takes no damage and one-shot kills you
