Wow this is getting tense! The moment when Nousu’s face changed from distraught to chillingly frightening! The last few chapters the kids have felt fully in control and one step ahead of the monsters, but suddenly everyone looks very vulnerable. Also the full page picture on page 3 seems to foreshadow a blood bath…
I must admit I hadn’t paid much attention to the names of the GP humans, there were so many of them! But the list of characters at the start of this volume was helpful, and I paid closer attention to who is who an where they all are on the battlefield. The summary of the state of play at the end of the chapter was helpful too. Although, I spent a few seconds staring at the unknown kanji at the bottom of that page before realising it was simply “15”!
I like that rather than being shaken by Nousu’s grief, Sandy thought about the hypocrisy of mourning Nouma after killing so many kids as a sport. He’s pulling a Neo dodging bullets though, so things aren’t looking good. Baion wandering around instead of being engaged by the group assigned to him also looks pretty bad.
On a different note, I wonder why demons never started using firearms, and stuck to melee weapons. It seems like their physical prowess, speed, and regeneration would be just as useful in a firefight, and the humans truly wouldn’t stand a chance.
The title page was interesting this week. I deliberately didn’t put a picture of it in the weekly post, as it felt like a massive spoiler for the chapter (although technically only the second page!). But then it seems that the scene of them both being simultaneously speared is just in Nigel’s imagination.
I mean, it does feel like they are probably dead if Bayon is wandering free, and there is a lot of blood on his weapon. But theoretically one of them could still be alive…
It’s funny that 90% of the dialogue in this chapter was inner monologues, with only a couple of spoken lines. They were all up in their feelings, but it makes sense given what happened!
The way the story has specifically avoided mentioning what happened to them makes me 99% sure one or both of them are alive and will swoop in heroically to join these two. The blood is probably from the guy who’s always getting hurt, and he’ll probably keep going despite being injured.
The other guys is probably helping him get patched up.
Great chapter again. One of those moments where understanding the sound effects helps understand what happened on the last couple of pages. Penultimate page - bottom left ダンダンダン - bang, bang, bang. Final page - top left ドサ - thud.
I enjoyed Bayon’s backstory, one thousand years of getting back to farm to fork. I think he’s dead? Hard to know with these creatures - I’m prepared for him to get up again next week!
I was surprised he survived for as long as he did! Usually they drop as soon as they’re shot in the central eye. He fell eventually, so I guess it was his final bit of strength, but at first I thought he had something up his sleeve to cheat death.
I really liked the bit about him not being able to use the spear in such a tight space. That’s tactics! And then he broke it in half to be able to use it. That’s also tactics!
The one thing I was unclear on was what Lucas did to Bayon to give Oliver and Nigel the opportunity to shoot him. Did he slash the back of Bayon’s knees with a blade?
The cavalry is here! It was hard not to read ahead, but I held!
It was hard seeing the state of the kids going up against Nous (not sure how to romanize his name). The sniper girl is normally so cool and collected, but when everyone else is wiped out like that, I can’t blame her for being as shaken as she is.
