Owari no Seraph - Chapter 153 Analysis & Review
Hello everyone, heck, it's been so long since I last posted something. There will be mixed opinions, but personally speaking, I loved the chapter. Maybe you didn't see fights or follow up plans, but instead, the chapter focused on the inner struggle along breaking patterns.
As a brief review, the chapter starts with Shinoa & Mahiru talking within Shinoa's heart. They discuss the meaning of life, then an actual talk between the sisters and how Mahiru views Shinoa, as a girl much better than she could ever be. Mahiru tells Shinoa to not pity them, to move forward. To walk the path she wants.
Then Shinoa returns to the outside world, and we finally see what she dreams of. She has the same kind of mind set with Urd Geales. The reason why humans walk under the sun is because their life is ephimeral.
Then we have the squad, the squad she treasures so much. Kimizuki wants to follow up the plan, but Shinoa finally enters an inner debate, lie to them or be honest. And this is the 1st time a character breaks a patter, a cycle. For all we've seen in the manga, Guren, Mahiru, Yuu & Shikama have lied to everyone in order to pull their plans into action. Yet Shinoa recalls what her sister told her "You're more amazing than I was" and this doesn't merely sticks to talent and intelligence, but overall, decisions & morals.
Then following up, the guys notice Shinoa's not ok, except Kimizuki, Kimizuki is set on his goal which is not bad, it's his character after all. Yoichi of course tells him that it's not the time to rush since Shinoa saw how Guren & Mahiru died. She feels it because they were the ones to take care of her. But then, we go through the main dish.
Shinoa doesn't want to revive humanity, but rather, she wants to live the present, being grateful for being alive, being grateful for having the friends she has, she wants to rescue Yuu but she doesn't even think of being in a relationship with him, she only wishes to spend time with them until she dies. But she knows that even if that's her dream, her squad has different goals. And she enters in an inner monologue. "Lie, use them or being honest?". Ultimately she chooses to be honest, she chooses to tell them what she wants even if she knows that will set them apart.
She shows them the last punishment, that she doesn't want to sacrifice them for bringing humanity back. She tells them she's fine with taking the punishment if it means they can be happy. Which she ends up holding a vote. Whoever wants to resurrect humanity or everyone like Yuu, they're free to do it. She's not going to stop them. But she wants to enjoy life because life is brief, it has its radiance precisely due to this.
Of course, Mitsuba supports her but Yoichi enters in a huge dilemma because he too doesn't want to sacrifice someone but he wants to see his sister. However Kimizuki who's entering the phase of denial, gets angry, a natural reaction.
Now, let's head to the analysis.
Even if the chapter is mostly chit chat, it's pretty much about the meaning of life, there's something that perhaps we might dismiss easily, what do I mean?
"What's the message itself?"
When I read the chapter both, in japanese and english, I couldn't help but remember Kouhei Kadono, creator of the Boogiepop Light Novels.
Mahiru tells Shinoa that life is like a flash of light. Then she tells her that human life is short, people live & shine for an instant. Which is why then she tells her "Live. Live for the now. We don't want any sympathy. We lived to the fullest. Guren & I have no regrets".
With this, it doesn't mean she's glad she slaughtered people or anything of the sort, that's a misconception. But rather, even if they had to take harsh decisions, they fought with all their might, they fought to ensure humanity could see another day instead of getting wiped out entirely.
Then Mahiru tells Shinoa "Live how you want. Love how you want. Enjoy life with everything you've got".
This doesn't mean she has to get carried away or anything. Mahiru tells her she has to create her own path, to choose what she likes, who she loves, to define the way she loves the way she wants to, it doesn't mean she has to take by force but simply, to live in the present. To treasure the very fact that she's starting to live.
Then of course Shinoa hesitates about her strength but Mahiru reasures her, an emotive moment between the sisters. Shinoa would have loved to spend more time with Mahiru but it was impossible, Mahiru's fate was sadly set in stone but Mahiru ensured Shinoa could have a pen & a paper so she could write the fate she wanted or the story she wanted to live.
This is a fragment from the 1st Volume and it's pretty much what Mahiru was aiming to convey pretty much.
One of the things Kouhei Kadono portrayed so much is the fact that life is brief, we know no tomorrow, we often hear that slumber is the step before death, because we never know whenever we'll face a new tomorrow or not, but the very fact we're alive is a treasure itself. That's why, make the utmost with the fleeting moment called life.
Now, the next part of this analysis is Shinoa expressing her wishes. Which is simple, she doesn't want more sacrifices nor punishments.
Her whole life, she was protected, her sister sacrificed herself so she could live. Guren gave away his happiness because he understood what Mahiru always aimed and instead of ditching it, he chose to follow her because very independent of Shinoa being Mahiru's little sister, he too had people he treasured. And so, he never regretted it.
She knows her friends want to resurrect humanity, Yuu wants to save lit everyone, way more than just humanity. But for her, she just wants him back not to love him or whatsover, but simply, because she's satisfied. Even in chaos, even in their destructed world, she found satisfaction, she found friends. She found a treasure that didn't shatter. And the only thing she wants is for them to live. But even this, she knows that her friends might think different.
And she's not invalidating their opinions, if anything she went through a small inner conflict but thanks to Mahiru's words, she's not the same as her, she's her own person, one that has her dreams and longings no matter how small they may be. She might not wish for an explosive life but the very fact that she can spend time with those she treasures the most is enough.
When she opens up with the squad, she tells them about how they're starting to life, they haven't started anything yet. They've been focused so much on the army, on all the grief, on survival, that they've never got a chance to think about themselves.
And this by no means means it's selfish. On the contrary, if us humans ditched away what we wanted, then we'd be rather miserable.
However, among this, there's something else to spot. What is it? Correct. Fear.
Shinoa's lines might sound selfish to some but they're a reflection of fear.
She finally has a family, friends, a crush even if he doesn't answer back her feelings which she doesn't mind. She's relatively okay with how things are.
But of course, once she chose to be honest. Kimizuki, Yoichi and Mitsuba were shocked.
Shinoa tells them she doesn't want to be laughing around while one person she knows is literally being punished. And this heavily connects with her life. She lived, she laughed, she was ignorant of her surroundings until the harsh truth came.
Part of it is survivor's guilt but along this, it's the mere fact of seeing Guren and Mahiru carrying a heavy load on their backs, that it made her reflect that they'd repeat once again another pattern. And by this, it's not just their patter but also Shikama Doji's.
Which is why when Yoichi & Kimizuki say they'll take the punishment, Shinoa shows them the harsh punishment the 1st endured.
This of course was something Mitsuba, Yoichi and Kimizuki weren't expecting. They were thinking that the punishment was immortality, like Guren said at that time, but that immortality is the least friendly since it's literally burning for eternity.
With this, Shinoa of course states that she doesn't want anyone to go through that, however, if they want to keep with the plan, she'll willingly take the punishment because she simply couldn't handle that once again, she gets to live while other is in agony. For her it's simply unfair.
After this, she opens up that she wants to walk forward, which reminds me to one of the best written antagonists.
By this, it doesn't mean that you simply ditch them away, but rather, it's learning even through grief, that we have to move on, at a slow pace, no matter how long it takes. Which is the same thing Mahiru told her: "Focus on yours, you don't have to remember us".
This doesn't mean that she has to lit forget they ever existed, but rather, their lives bursted like a flame, but it was theirs, not something Shinoa had to live. Hence why she has to focus on her path.
Shinoa tells them how she feels about them, how she wants to spend time with the "ones who are still alive, the ones who are still in the present, the ones she can still share her joy, her laughter, her sadness". However, this doesn't mean she wants them to do what she wants. If anything, she knows it's inevitable to have divided opinions and she gets its. Which is why she was honest, and for once, instead of following what one person says, she tells them to choose.
Mitsuba easily supports Shinoa not just because Shinoa's her best friend nor because it's someone who truly cares about her, but because she's tired to see all the agony everyone has went through. She's fed up of it, and if it means sacrificing someone again, do you think she'll live with that?
Furthermore, Shinoa tells them that Yuu's going to sacrifice himself, which is something he has already lied to Mika. Even if Mika tells him he doesn't want him to sacrifice, Yuu never listens. Once he's set on his path, he walks through it.
His decision itself narrative wise isn't bad, he follows the trope of the sacrifice. But Shinoa is his antithesis, his opposite, she believes that sacrifices like that shouldn't be carried on.
Within this, Yoichi enters in a nice hesitation because he loves them, he loves his friends so much, but there's still his longing to see his sister again. It's the 1st time he has to face a choice, a harsh choice on which, in order to have his happiness back, he has to sacrifice someone he holds dear for that.
And lastly for Kimizuki, he's going through the most human reactions. He has never had the time to grief his sister, he followed Guren because there was a reward which was bringing his sister back. But now that he knows the price, even if he wants his sister back, he's in a real conflict, he has to choose sacrificing someone he treasures for the life of another.
Among this, I'd like to add that Shinoa despite being in love, she doesn't let that love rule her decisions. Otherwise she'd have followed Yuu no matter what. Instead, she chose to think, she chose to analyse, and as much as it's not the outcome she would have wished, she knows that causing more pain to the others is not the option nor going on about sacrifices.
As to why I said she was afraid, right now, she has found a safe zone, however the story must continue, right?
It's evident that if Yuu wants to resurrect everyone, he'll need the keys lying within Yoichi & Kimizuki. For that of course, they'll have to die, which ironically, Shinoa knows well. She doesn't want to sacrifice them either because it'd mean killing them, it'd mean repeating the same thing Guren, Shikama & Mahiru did.
But since the story must have a conclusion...I'm certain the end will be something unexpected. There are 3 possibilities:
-Yuu sacrifices himself. Has a low rate of possibility since the current opposite party holds more power than hum.
-Shinoa sacrificing. Has a 50/50 of odds due to scenarios incoming.
But. What if there's a new path. After all, let's recall this:
Quite long huh? What do you think dear readers? Let me know!
