From the New World, end – If there has been one theme running through every episode of From the New World from the beginning, it’s been that there is always another way to make the situation even more dystopian. And if there is a second one, it’s been how Saki is able to keep standing up and dealing with it somehow. Even now, when salvaging what’s left of her society means condemning both Kiroumaru and the child who is all that remains of two of her best friends to death.
I think it’s Kiroumaru who emerges as the biggest hero, ultimately– not only is he willing to sacrifice himself for both his queen and Saki, but it’s his talk with Saki last episode that laid the groundwork for her to be able to really listen to what Squealer is saying.
All in all, it’s been a solid story, and it came to a great conclusion. I’m impressed that it managed as happy an ending as it did. For a while there, I was imagining future Saki writing her memoirs as the last human left. Final verdict: strongly recommended. I’d also love to read the book sometime.
Hunter x Hunter #72 – Let us all take a moment to consider Biscuit Kreuger, and Gon’s extraordinary luck in finding her as a teacher. She’s the only one who emerged from the dodgeball game without so much as a bruise. She scored the easiest out of the game. When everyone else was reacting in awe and horror and the monstrous, unbelievable amount of power Gon was able to summon, she was thinking about how she reached that level thirty years ago.
And now we learn that her signature power is being able to summon a construct which is not only intelligent but can use magic itself. And sure, it’s not much use in combat, but as someone who’s played a few online RPGs where the only class with healing power is so tedious that hardly anyone plays one and you have to wait around forever for one, I personally agree that being able to conjure up your own healer at will would be an incredibly useful power.
Meanwhile, with Hisoka and some of the Phantom Troupe… In the previous story arc, Hisoka joined the Troupe for a while, but was never loyal to them– he just wanted a chance to fight Chrollo, their leader. Now he’s led them to Abengane the exorcist so that Abengane can remove the curse which was placed on Chrollo, and Hisoka can then have his fight.
Since Abengane is still wearing that robe and hat, we can presume that he still has the eldritch abomination which was a side effect of removing one of Genthru’s bombs wrapped around his body. Even assuming he’s willing to help out one of the most notorious criminals in the world, this could prove to be a complication.
To make things more complicated, Battera, the man who hired Tzesguerra, Gon, Killua, Biscuit and dozens of other people (most of whom are now dead) to beat Greed Island has apparently lost interest. It was never revealed why exactly, just that he wanted a certain card from the game and it was “a matter of love”. Love, it would seem, has died.
Oh yes, one other impending complication: Hisoka’s replacement is Killua’s little brother, still firmly in the family business of assassination last we saw him.
Space Brothers #50 – Mental illness or anything resembling it are a source of great familial shame in Japan. I mean, sure, it’s not exactly without stigma in the English-speaking world, but it’s much, much worse in Japan. Nitta has not acted unusually by first claiming he didn’t have a brother and then refusing to come clean about why he’s been allowed a phone.
Next episode: the exciting walk back to camp! Space Brothers really is the antithesis of the action-packed skiffy adventure show, but it always manages to keep the trip interesting.
Love the reference to the old text-based Adventure game.