Yipeee, that's gore!! Gore of my comfort character!!!Aikawa's torture arc is finally commencing, I've been waiting for so long!
It's difficult to capture how viscerally gruesome this scene is only with still images because of the excellent sound design and voice acting. I enjoyed hearing Aikawa's cries while he was begging and puking his guts out, which sounded disgustingly realistic. Then there's the flesh tearing, and the wet gurgling while Kai's head was emerging... all accompanied by organ music!
I've seen this being compared to witnessing a live birth and I have to agree. This guy is experiencing the pain of childbirth at least once a week.
This scene was one of my favourite dream sequences in the entire manga and it's also highly significant for the themes of identity loss and change, so to see it adapted like this after all these years brought a genuine tear to my eye. The environments and art direction have been consistently excellent this season, and here they've managed to capture the surreal horror and oppressive atmosphere of this mental space perfectly.
I have to say, the squelching sounds that Ai makes are totally adorable, I didn't expect him to sound like that.
I'm a bit late but I wanted to share some of my thoughts on Maru's character, the Kalyan situation and also Modulo as a whole now that it's finished.
I've talked about this before, but I find Maru's inner struggle very intriguing, particularly in relation to his twin, so I was looking forward to seeing how that plot thread would ultimately be resolved. I certainly didn't think it would develop in this way, and while I do think it is thematically coherent, the execution itself wasn't quite there for me.
I won't go into much detail now, but Maru's warrior mentality has been a source of emotional turmoil for him for most of his life and it's also the cause of the distance between him and Cross. Even though he knows on a subconscious level and the role of a warrior that was forced on him is merely a burden that has done nothing but hurt him and his twin, he has been stubbornly clinging to it for all these years. It's gotten to the point where his obsession manifests as an external voice that's pushing him to act against his own nature.
Tsurugi's decision to let go of his weapon during their duel is what allowed him to finally break away from it. Maru should've interpreted his gesture as an insult, he was so concerned with Dura's pride as a warrior that he couldn't even grieve his death normally, but instead it provided him with clarity. It made him realise the futility of his role and that he doesn't actually have any idea what he should do. I believe we should've seen Maru's thought process after this moment of hopelessness and how he came up with the plan to eliminate cursed spirits. That progression doesn't seem natural to me even though I understand how it happened conceptually.
Maru then dismantled the societal role of a warrior by making it so none will be born in the future, and he only managed to do that with Cross by his side. This amended their bond and you can visibly tell that the tension that was constantly present in their interactions before is now gone. Despite that, I was disappointed that we didn't get a final conversation between Maru and Cross like I was anticipating. It bothers me because their inability to openly talk to each other was a very important aspect of their relationship, so it felt needed.
This also brings me to the Kalyans. I'm inexplicably attached to these creatures so I was kind of devastated when they suggested that they might have to slaughter all of them, so I'm relieved that didn't happen. I was also concerned about the narrative implications of the Rumelians being forced to give up such an integral part of their culture, so I prefer the more nuanced conclusion that they will continue to live alongside Kalyans because they are family and an essential part of their lives, not just a religious symbol.
Regardless of my personal gripes with it I am very glad that Modulo exists, I had a lot of fun with it. I do think it is fundamentally different compared to the original in a lot of ways, but it offers a satisfying conclusion to the story in its entirety in ways I wouldn't have expected.
I've been hoping for Fujimoto to be freed from the clutches of Chainsaw Man for years at this point so he can go back to writing one-shots, and then this guy goes and erases the concept of "Chainsaw Man" itself from existence before rage quitting his own manga. Fairs.
I experienced this portion of the story for the first time in 2021 when it initially came out and I haven't revisited it since then because I honestly thought I couldn't handle it emotionally. I've been in law school for almost three years now and it's become clear that I was right in assuming that Higuruma's backstory would affect me differently now that my perspective on the subject matter has changed so much, especially with such an exceptional adaptation.
It's very difficult to articulate how much this has personally impacted me, but I do want to bring up a few things. I think the way they rearranged certain moments worked particularly well in this episode. These changes further emphasised the similarities between Higuruma and Yuuji, how they are both unable to leave things alone when they believe what's happening is wrong, while Amai turns away from the injustices happening around him so he can continue living comfortably.
I was initially worried that including Reggie's introduction in this episode would take away from Higuruma's story, but it was actually the opposite. He sees potential in the Culling Game because he sees it as a greater force that punishes those who break the established rules without any room for error. It is an unbiased program that isn't affected by self-interest, unlike the corrupt justice system that he abandoned. Higuruma wants to completely lose himself in that and finally close his eyes to all the unbearable nuances of the "real world". Reggie shatters that illusion by revealing that it's all a facade, and he knows that because he can see behind the curtain. He's well aware that this is all playing out according to the whims of one individual.
It's quite adorable that Mahito seemed to be genuinely happy to see Yuuji again. I'm aware that it's mostly because he thought he could finally reincarnate without being instantly vaporised, but I think a part of him was eager to talk to his mirrored self again. Mahito hasn't changed one bit, he is completely incapable of moving on (unlike Yuuji who wasn't affected by their reunion in the slightest). I like how that's reflected in his appearance too, he has that same look of a horrified prey animal he had during his final moments. It's fitting that he is about to be put through the same kind of torment that resulted in his death in the first place. In the contraption you go! He's about to get probed by an alien while his enemy stands there and watches.
I'm so curious to see how a cursed spirit like Mahito would interact with a Rumelian. We know (or at least it's implied) that curses become docile around them, but it gets more complicated when they possess human intelligence. Those kinds of cursed spirits aren't entirely driven by instinct and they can act contrary to their base desires, so this might not be so simple.
listening to a man break up with his partner on the train and the first sentence I heard was "I just don't appreciate you cheating on me six different times, once with my own father."
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