#tpn 005

[fullscoreshenanigans]

[Original Post @cureskies]

Ough one of the many beautiful facets of post-escape RayEms,,,,

(Chapter 121 | Chapter 122 | Chapter 123)

These panels are especially great for the parallel composition in chapter 114 (@just-like-playing-tag has a lovely edit of it here).

Further underlining how similar they are.

I've seen people lament a shift in Ray's personality post-escape, but that's more to do with the narrative not allowing for as many opportunities for his impish side to surface. The tradeoff is that with Ray's vow to Emma in chapter 38, there's more focus on how he's just as family-oriented as she is now that he can express his affection and care without fear of retribution.

The burden of being the eldest of the escapees weighs more heavily on them now that the safety afforded by the familiar prison of Grace Field is gone. Even Emma isn't immune from the toll it takes on her.

(Chapter 109; excellent panel composition on Demizu's part to have that giant block of text all in the bottom right as opposed to splitting it across multiple panels so it dwarfs and looms over Emma)

And despite living on in part for him, the loss of Norman was devastating for both her and Ray.

(Chapter 64)

Their best friend effectively rising from the dead is nothing short of a miracle, but their time apart has sharpened his ruthlessness.

(Chapter 121)

Like Ray, Emma is logical, even if she's more inclined to entertain ideals. In the face of everyone's joy and relief at Norman's plan, she can't bring herself to speak up. Not with how pragmatic it is, not with how dire the circumstances are. Like Ray, she's willing to put herself last for the people she loves, even if she'll carry that regret the rest of her life, because this is the best way.

(Chapter 122 | Chapter 32)

She does everything she can to squash her feelings down, framing the issue around herself. She's the problem.

(Chapter 121)

If Norman hasn't changed, then they're still on the same path heading toward the same goal, and any qualms she has are irrelevant.

But when Ray offers her sanctuary for honesty, she relents. If there's anyone for whom the ache of Norman's absence and the elation at his return would mirror her own, it would be Ray. If there's anyone who would understand Norman's point of view and all the intricacies and benefits of his plan, it would be Ray. They're both so much more strategic than her, and it's one of the many things she's admired about them.

(Chapter 5 | Chapter 88)

Emma knows Ray has all this in mind, and he's still giving her the space to share her true feelings without judgment or reprimand.

(Chapter 123)

Reminding her that even if there's a deep self-loathing snaking through her veins, paralyzing her with indecision, it's okay to advocate for yourself and the ideals you hold in your heart.

(S2 Episode 1)

[fullscoreshenanigans]

BELOVED FULLSCORESHENANIGAINS UR TAGS NEVER CEASE TO MAKE ME SMILE!!! Ty for your analysis on The for the last time trend :D I’m glad you think i encapsulated the self sacrificial aspects they all share especially with Emma being the best liar since she learned from the best (Isabella raised them well lol)

[Regarding this post]

EVERYONE PLEASE WATCH GRAPHX'S ANIMATIC ON THE TRIO'S M FUCKING O IT'S LOVELY

Panels I think about a normal amount:

(Chapter 5 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 25)

But fr fr she learned from them she learned from theeemmm

(Chapter 88 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 178)

Always wild when people will frame Emma as the dumb one of the trio for convenience when we see her phenomenal acting prowess early on even when under immense stress

(Chapter 3)

and she's stated to be on equal footing with Norman and Ray from the get-go while each has their own strengths and weaknesses (further articulated here).

[fullscoreshenanigans]

unpopular opinion that each arc should have changed POV based on who it was centered around (aka escape arc was ray, goldy pond was emma, imperial was norman etc.) cuz it would have balanced out all of their development more than just focusing on emma

ty for carrying this fandom on ur back :D

If we're narrowing it down to a single person carrying the fandom, it's definitely @1000sunnygo for not only compiling the most comprehensive masterlist of materials for the English-speaking fandom, but also translating countless fanworks purely out of love for the series. The thought is very sweet, though! 💖💝

I don't entirely disagree with what I think is the underlying sentiment behind this ask of wanting more insight into the characters because switching the main POV for different arcs of a story can shake things up and be engaging, but assuming we're working under the same chapter/time constraints, I'm not sure what new development could be gained and balanced by this with how much POV swapping we already do between chapters and within single chapters? Other than potentially more insight into the specifics of Norman's time at Lambda and post-Lambda escape, including the Ayshe-Norman conflict branch that Shirai consciously cut to streamline the story.

Would swapping POVs mean we're firmly locked out of any other character's internal monologues? Or would we see monologues like Emma's feelings toward Isabella, Emma saying she wants to be like Norman and Ray, Norman saying he wants to be more like Emma, Norman's incensed vow that he won't lose to Isabella, and Emma's reflection on how Norman's apparent death hurt her retooled later on in their respective POV sections?

(Chapter 3 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 14 | Chapter 31)

Granted, the anime cut all of those too, but that's one of the main criticisms I've seen lobbied against it, even with how it reflects some of the essence of them in other ways. Still, I feel like the escape arc is balanced near perfectly in the amount of focus each member of the trio is given and at what point insight into each of their psyches is explored. That balance is what I would have liked to see replicated in subsequent arcs, specifically during the imperial capital battle arc.

A criticism I've seen toward this portion of the story, and one that I assume is one of the main inspirations for this ask, is how Ray comparatively fades into the background/feels like he's on unequal billing with Emma and Norman despite his prominence in the beginning. The series' Japanese logo even features three parallel lines that represent each member of the trio (minus chapters 30 and 31 when Norman's line was removed to fake out Japanese readers)

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 1 | TPNManga Tweet)

So for a lot of people to see him not be as engaged with his own agenda feels kind of jarring.

I don't mind him aligning with Emma's position at this point despite his personal reservations given the conclusion of the escape arc has his entire worldview being thoroughly reconstructed, but I would have liked more reflection and insight that we see crop up in the bonus pages since we have small moments like Emma taking some time to speculate if a person losing their memories constitutes death in the story proper.

(Chapter 159 Bonus Scene | Chapter 169 Bonus Scene; I'm very happy both of these scenes are included at all, but they're unfortunately among the casualties of Shirai trimming branches that don't feel as integrated into the narrative in the last few arcs due to the accelerated pacing.)

I also feel the story would lose some cohesion by displacing Emma as the main character given she's the main driving force behind the idealism that permeates the series and thus serves as the strongest unifier to keep that theme front and center. Similarly, I'd hate to lose out on how beautifully foiled she and Isabella are during the escape arc and having such a powerful and heartbreaking mother-daughter dynamic as a focal point of a shounen jump series.

(Mystic Code Book Chapter 2)

That said, this is another topic where I'm at odds with Sugita as I would have very much been up for more time spent developing the secondary cast.

[fullscoreshenanigans]

I have the headcanon that Leslie lived until 11, even if he had not super good scores, because he was a little genius of music.

Not everyone can create a song, not everyone can learn super quickly to play a music. I don't remember which song he wanted to learn before his deparature, but i think that it was a difficult one (we don't see him train a lot in the story too) and he plays it before going to the gate, without any partition to help him and without doing any mistake.

I headcanon that she demons keep all the little genius, even if they not have good scores and are genius in other ways, because they think that it worth to keep them.

A kid has not good scores but it a genius with drawing and creates super beautiful things? It's worth to keep him until the age limit.

Leslie is super good in music, learn quickly song and has not need of a partition when he plays? it's worth to wait until he's 11 (close of 12). It could also be a kid who has a beautiful voice ansd sings super well for exemple.

etc....

Norman was a genius in studies and stuff so they keep him beyond 12 by sending him to lambda but people can be genius in other ways that in studies. A genius can be super good in something but kinda bad in another things.

I feel like this is essentially canon, no?

The only birthdays mentioned in "The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List" are Isabella's twelfth birthday and Ray's sixth birthday, so contrary to what the wiki currently says, it doesn't look like Leslie was shipped out exactly on his twelfth since they don't celebrate or even mention it.

(Leslie's page on the TPN Wiki | TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List” Chapter 1)

They are among the oldest though since Isabella turns twelve within a year of his shipment while not being physically able to jump atop the wall as we see her do in chapter 37/S1 episode 12 yet due to the sprained ankle she sustains over the course of the light novel, in addition to spending weeks to months writing him letters that never received a response and what finalized her decision to make the jump in the first place.

(S1 Episode 12 | TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List” Chapter 8 | Chapter 9)

But it's still soon enough that she discovers the truth of the house during the night of the first snowfall of the year, which could be anywhere from late October 2025 to January 2026 (since the full score trio deduces in chapter 5 that Grace Field is located in [the demon world equivalent of] the northern hemisphere, in addition to "The Guiding Star" short story mentioning them planning on using Polaris to find each other again after they go off to foster homes, winter would be during this time of the year).

I'm inclined to go with January 2026 since we don't see snow on the night of January 15, 2046, and also because I feel there's some poignancy in what would have been Leslie's twelfth birthday month getting to Isabella as the final push to make her seek him out. He surely would have written her in response to the birthday wishes she mailed him. (This is also why I feel his shipment was after September 9, 2025 because him not sending her any birthday well wishes would have tipped her off sooner, too).

(TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List” Chapter 9)

This could be an oddity in the translation, but Isabella also mentions how her her twelfth birthday was close enough that they could mark it on the calendar while the snow was piling up outside. Assuming they put up a new calendar at the start of January, she discovered the truth only in 2026, and then spent over half a year trying to come up with some sort of plan to escape (and isn't there a wealth of potential there, thinking of the adversarial atmosphere between her and Sarah during those few months and how that would be replicated in the next generation between her and Ray, although not 1:1.)

I don't remember which song he wanted to learn before his departure, but i think that it was a difficult one (we don't see him train a lot in the story too) and he plays it before going to the gate, without any partition to help him and without doing any mistake.

He learned to play Nocturne No.2! Though the translator, c72684, wasn't entirely certain what larger body of work it belonged to.

(TPN Light Novel 2: Moms’ Song of Remembrance - “The Starry Sky and Leslie’s List” Chapter 2)