We don’t know exactly how Yoshida joined or was made to join PS but I wouldn’t be surprised if Makima becoming Nayuta is also the variance point for that, and without it he could just have a normal childhood.

Aki starts Part 1 with like two years to live. Nayuta replaces Makima, thus PS doesn’t propagandize the Gun Devil in the same way (assumption), Aki finds a healthy way to grieve and move on with his life without throwing it down the gutter chasing revenge on a nonexistent bogeyman.

I think a slightly more gradual transition during Church and Facility would probably smooth it a lot. Her inner monologue stops at a pretty decent time for her all things considered, which makes reading into her and understanding her trajectory harder when it contrasts with that last impression.

Probably similar case to Aki. Their happiest lives are somewhere far far away from public safety in any form. One must imagine them happy. Wouldn’t be surprised if the anime turns this into one full episode and lets us see some what other characters are off doing in their new lives.

Her interiority literally falls off a cliff as soon as she joins the chainsaw man church in 135. Part of the point? Sure, but it’s messy and leads to her just stumbling between plot points for most of Act 2.

I agree with most of this, I think there were perhaps better ways to execute the middle of this arc though. I think a version of Church, Facility, and Aging that centered her more could have led much more cleanly to the resolution she reached in the original worldline and better into the new one.

Yoru as a mother-phantom shadow-self to Asa, as a representation of guilt, intrusive thoughts, a worst-case scenario playing out in real time is just a hundred times more captivating than hand number 500 on the Denji pain crank and a fairly blunt critique of the USA.

Yoru was simply way more interesting as Asa’s villain than Denji’s and I think she should have remained that. Death and Barem would make a compelling antagonistic force for Denji were they not reduced to braindead morons for the sake of letting Yoru take the main villain role.

This could have been avoided in the worldline where Meli-Melo doesn’t EoS after 11 months

Red alert: chapter changed to “to be continued” on SJ app, take as you will

I want to *just* love this but I can’t without very large asterisks

This is where I’m at. I can’t follow fuji to the extremes of how some characters and plot threads were treated in the name of ambiguity and anticlimax and pointless cycles.

I think he works very well for this scene.

this guy I’m 99% certain was really just a human the church was using to gain legitimacy and followers, plus to prove to Asa that they’re trying to help csm. him being identical to the two npc’s behind him is I think the story’s way of saying “he’s just a guy”

This being an imperfect answer that can’t map cleanly onto a real world moral lesson isn’t lost on me, I’m just a little confused as to what emotions the story is trying to elicit from me at this specific juncture.

part 2’s ending hasn’t established a firm enough tone (in my reading experience) for me to read into it whether or not this is meant to follow in the same vein or whether we’re supposed to be taking these moments without as much skepticism.

Of course, I simply wonder whether or not that’s the direction this will go or won’t go. Part 1’s ending had enough hesitancy in it to reasonably convey that the conclusion Denji reached was one that works for him, but isn’t necessarily healthy or a good standard.

So torn between “this is a bad thing and that’s good” and “this is a good thing and that’s bad” because so many plates are in the air with this series right now

Also I have to blow up this other fucking teenager because I’m bored

what a COMPLETE moron. “chainsaw man will listen to me and eat Yoru and Asa (who his host has a fondness for and I know this because I let it happen unobstructed for months) because hmm.. hm. uh.”

I think it’s a way more interesting question to ask if he would ever go on to kill someone if he had to get his hands dirty

You can’t even denote this by series or anything. I like maybe half the gunvolt games and the other half range from disappointing to not worth playing

this means world of final fantasy is 40% of the way to a day

The last time a character died and prompted his transformation into BCSM, immediately upon returning to human form, in Aging’s World, we got a lot of his very honest thoughts and feelings about his own personal failures, so I think we could get something similar here.

Whether that new context is fucked up like Aki (more likely) or heartwarming like Power I think that second recontextualized appearance needs to be after Denji has been allowed to come to terms with however he felt about Yoshida under the impression that he’s gone.

oh, and I think there’s a purpose behind the two-part format here too. It’s so Denji (when we next see him in his human form) can be honest about his feelings about Yoshida now that he’s truly dead and gone (as far as he knows) and only after that point can Yoshida re-enter in his new context.

I think Rank-Up Magic was meant to be something similar in terms of evolving Xyz monsters but they kind of stopped that design space after the anime ended

the other panels that shatter me

it's don't kill yourself thursday. repost to don't kill yourself

here’s what i said on twitter, basically i feel like fujimoto is keeping stuff that actively needs to be addressed in a box for “Yoru is the villain” without considering how it makes Denji look like a rapist and Asa look like she doesn’t actually perceive Yoru as having done as much wrong as she has