#4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Was gonna sit down and write my weekly Jump reviews but uhhh

Hey buddy...how ya doin'...

Just uh...gonna watch me type?

You...need a juice box or something?

Oh dear god...

#tumblr #one piece #opla #netflix one piece #one piece live action #buggy the clown #i do like the wanted poster background though it's pretty neat #but the completely stationary buggy shimeji is abjectly terrifying #...it is completely stationary right? #4y1a reviews #sorta #scopophobia

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.202 thoughts

[Wake-Up Call]

(Contents: battle analysis - Language/Ichico/Nico, speculation - Feng)

NO! DIGNITY! FOR! FENG!!!

I don't care what happens in the rest of this fight, Feng getting dragged in half-naked, unconscious and drooling is the funniest thing that could have possibly happened in this moment, and I love it. Keep pushin' this man down the stairs, Tozuka, you'll only make me love him more

As much as I want to go on a tirade about how endearing L101 Feng is compared to the psychopath from L100, there's a good handful of details in this chapter that I want to focus on

For me, the detail that stuck out the most in my mind is the fact that Lan created a loophole to circumvent the "N" rule in Shiritori. So long as the Japanese word doesn't end in "N," it's fair game, and I'm willing to bet that even if she does end with the Japanese "N," she'll say that she still has a valid move with the other language word, so it's valid. With this knowledge, the already unbalanced game has tipped even further in Lan's favor, which rang a very familiar bell for me: "You're a UMA and you can't even follow the rules?" Nico once praised UMA conceptually for their adherence to rules, that they must abide by the changes to science that they embody, and yet both Ghost and Language have demonstrated that they aren't above cheating, both in regards to Nico specifically

Lan's ability to conjure things that don't exist with properties that they otherwise shouldn't have (Shenlong is a storm dragon, and yet she made it breathe fire 🙄) pretty squarely lands her among the category of "unscientific Rules," which L100 Nico bluntly declared were "an enemy to science and to [him]." Basically, Lan can just make up whatever she wants; things don't have to be accurate so long as she can imagine them working in her favor. Sure, it's better if she can justify a thought, like creating the Lance of Longinus rather than just a regular lance, but even then, the Lance of Longinus is really just a regular lance that was used in an important moment. I guess maybe it's an Artifact with special properties, but it's noticeably lacking the stylized Fu (不) kanji that is typically indicative of Artifacts, so I think she's deliberately basing it off the legend and attributing special abilities to it because of its notoriety

In short, Lan can just headcanon whatever she wants into existence as long as she can justify it contextually. She mentions the Shinto concept of "kotodama," the idea that words have power in and of themselves, and is using it to enhance her concepts. In the first round, she created a meteor and specified that it was made of iron so that it would have maximum offensive output...for a normal meteor. If, however, she had the opportunity to say a word like, oh, I don't know...Chicxulub Impactor? She would still be summoning a meteor, but she'd also be summoning the meteor. The prototypical idea of how dangerous meteors can be, the accepted cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs! Now, maybe she wouldn't have been able to summon a meteor with quite that much destructive power, or she'd be worried about getting caught in the blast, but theoretically that would have been pretty much a game-ender

Picking a word with a clear definition is one thing, but picking one with a specific connotation? In a fight between imaginations, word association is a powerful tool, which I think is why Ichico's Umibozu ended up being such a weak defense against Shenlong. She was just scrambling for any mythological creature, but she doesn't seem to have any idea what an Umibozu is or what it's capable of. Dragons are associated with destruction and fire and invulnerability, and just about anyone can tell you that, but Umibozu are pretty specific; they sink ships. Ichico doesn't seem to know that, and in fact didn't even imagine the generally accepted shape of an Umibozu, instead making something that looks more akin to an oni or maybe a namahage. Some fans have speculated that Ichico, living in Britain, may be a diaspora and unfamiliar with her Japanese heritage, but regardless, she's definitely unfamiliar with her peoples' mythology. If she had been, not only could she have at least made an Umibozu that was the right shape and size, she might even have chosen something more appropriate for fighting a dragon - from Shen Long's [G], Ichico would have been better served summoning [G]rass Cutter, or Kusanagi no Tsurugi, a weapon associated with the slaying of Yamata no Orochi and which was said to have been used to control wind in order to divert flames, giving it a clear advantage against both Shenlong's scales and fire breath

Buuut that's not what happened, and Ichico's inability to think of a proper word had the narrative utility of A) showing that she could participate too, B) showing how souls can be damaged during this game of Shiritori, and C) giving Nico a bit of a push towards being able to perceive souls. The idea that the imaginary can be made manifest in this game is clearly starting to have something of an effect on Nico's perceptions, and Ichico summoning a knock-off Umibozu without his being aware of it is the most concrete evidence he's gotten so far that Ichico is present at all (aside from moving the Psycho Pods last week). The more evidence he has of her presence, the more willing he'll be to believe in souls, and eventually he'll just accept them and be able to interact with them normally

Once Nico fully accepts souls, he'll have a much easier time damaging Lan; we've already established that hitting her with lightning won't cut it, so nearly any other physical attack is going to similarly fail. However, damaging her soul will be much more effective, since that's a more direct source of her life and power. In fact, she practically told us that her soul is her weakness: "kotodama," the soul of words. The words she summons with her imagination carry her soul in them. Beast summoned, controlled, and assimilated beasts by extending his soul to them and devouring parts of theirs, so it would make sense if Lan's words aren't just summons, but constructs made of her very soul. I'm sure it's a bit more complex than that, since none of Nico's words hurt himself and the meteor's destruction didn't hurt Lan, but at the very least, things that don't already exist seem to tie directly to the user's soul. Feng defeating Shenlong will likely prove this hypothesis next week

Speaking of Feng! While I'm sure many people are upset that Tella didn't end up teaming up with Nico, there really isn't anyone more perfect for this fight now that we understand the mechanics of it

Sure, Feng doesn't really seem to be the imaginative type, nor does he have literally any linguistic capabilities beyond Mandarin, but A) he's the best hand-to-hand fighter in the entire series, making him excellent for both offense and defense against whatever Lan is liable to throw at the team, and B) he's the only other character outside of the current arc to ever acknowledge souls. If the main goal of this fight is to further the collective understanding of souls, then giving Nico access to both of the L101 Negators with explicit understanding of their souls is absolutely the ideal path. Not only will Feng likely give Nico a method of actually communicating with Ichico, but we're also most likely finally going to understand what L100 Feng meant by "I've got the hang of this soul thing." Even if the current Feng hasn't actually learned it though and his line about "having a firm grasp on [his] soul" was unrelated, this is still a fantastic opportunity for him to retroactively learn that lesson

Also! Going back to the idea of kotodama, one common application of the concept that you're all likely familiar with is the kiai, the spirited shout that martial artists perform during strikes. As near as I can find, Chinese martial arts don't have a term for it, but the custom is still practiced, the idea being that the shout invigorates the attacker and intimidates the defender, increasing the power behind the attack. Stating attack names also fulfills this purpose, so even if Feng doesn't understand the core concept of kotodama, merely giving his strikes a name should exponentially increase their effectiveness against Lan, as their identification should give Feng a clearer image of their intended outcome. A Zessho Hohou should be able to pierce right through her body no problem, and a Hakkai Zanko would probably send her to meet Luna

Again though, this is just speculation, and things will likely end up going much differently. Still, if I've illustrated anything here, I hope it's that Feng's presence has a lot more potential beyond "strongest fighter defends physically weakest fighters." Honestly, the thing I'm most excited about beyond the power development is seeing how Feng interacts with Nico specifically, cus that's a duo I never expected to see and I have zero clue how it's going to go down

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews #this ended up being a pretty long one and I still feel like I forgot something

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.204 thoughts

[Lord Forgive Me But It's Time to Go Back to The Old Me]

(Contents: Parallels - Nico/Feng/Ichico, Character development - Feng, Power system development/speculation - Souls, Character speculation - Sun/Luna)

Well! I guess we didn't need to worry about Nico staying a non-Negator after all, now did we? So much for keeping Nico "Unforgettable-free" eh, Ichico? Still, I feel better knowing that my prediction that they'd trigger it on purpose was correct, even if the exact method was a bit off

As usual, Tozuka continues to impress me with his ability to compose iconic panels. Nico's face when he absorbed all of the memories from Acopalypse is simply Unforgettable, particularly since it so immediately reverted him to his classic L100 appearance. What's really fun about that is that it's probably not that his body just suddenly remembered all of the stress and sleepless nights of Unforgettable, but rather it's the logical extreme of Artifact-based memory influx. We've seen characters develop headaches and nosebleeds from it before, most notably from Fuuko digging through an huge box full of Artifacts, so for Nico to absorb presumably ALL of Apocalypse's stored memories (stated to be the most of any Artifact), it makes sense that even the capillaries under his eyes would all burst at once from the pressure

The question now is whether or not this is a permanent change. I imagine not, since his previously haggard appearance was indicative of his suffering, the haunting knowledge that his most sacred memories would soon fade and be permanently replaced with the most wretched. L100 Nico had the opportunity to create new pleasant memories but actively rejected the possibility out of fear of losing the old, while in this world Nico is going to be able to embrace the support of others as he won't have lost Ichico this time. Honestly, no wonder Tozuka waited to introduce Mico to this world; he wanted to make sure Nico would be able to make room for her in his heart rather than keeping her at a distance

I wonder if that's another reason Tozuka chose Feng for this fight; not only is Feng's current focus on making himself unforgettable to future generations, but he's also a good parallel to Nico's role as a father. Both L100 Nico and Feng prevented themselves from properly forming attachments with their children, and L101 has given both of them the chance to make right on that. Shen explicitly acknowledges that he loves Feng as his father, and Feng even calls Shen his son, so while Feng may not be the best or even a good role model for fatherhood, he does make a compelling argument for parental redemption. If Nico really does have complete knowledge of the previous Loops now, the significance of this change won't be lost on him, and he'll be certain to make sure Mico can grow up happy and loved

Speaking of, Ichico's final speech in this chapter remind me a lot of Nico's in L100. She tells Nico that she knows he can save her because he's the first person she's ever loved, while as Nico was dying in L100, Ichico asked if he thought Mico could handle saving Fuuko's life and he replied "she's our daughter. She doesn't make mistakes." Both of them have absolute faith in their loved ones to pull through when the chips are down, and both of them hold each other in extremely high regard. These two really have such strong chemistry, I'm excited to see the sorts of interactions they have now that the cat's out of the bag

Now that I think of it, Nico's refusal to let Mico into his heart was pretty ironic since Ichico explicitly wanted to make sure that Nico wouldn't ever feel alone. Just like Leila asked Rip and Latla to find love in each other, Ichico wanted Nico to fill the void she left with Mico, and just like them, he couldn't let go of the past and move on. Leila and Ichico were also both in poor health and believed that since their lives were short they held less value, and instead sought to leave as much of an impact as possible in the time that they had, even if it was just to make the people closest to them happy

Looking at Ichico in that light, we can see another fun parallel to Feng! Feng's Unfade made him believe that he had all the time in the world and that he didn't need to leave anything behind because he'd always be there, while Ichico's Unsleep made her believe she had no time and had to leave as much behind as she could. Both of them, however, had adverse effects on their families, as Feng believed his children to exist for him to become stronger and Ichico believed her child to be an adequate replacement for herself, when in reality Feng should have focused on raising someone to surpass him and Ichico should have focused on preserving her life to be present for her family. Heck, Unforgettable manifested in Nico both times specifically because he saw Ichico's last moments and thought something to the effect of "I don't want her to die, I want to remember her." Doomed by the narrative, indeed!

Man, I'm so glad Tozuka used Feng here, I had no idea there was so much connective tissue between all these folks! I bet we still would have gotten something cool if it were Tella, but damn this is such juicy stuff!! I hope Tozuka keeps throwing all of his toys together in fun combos that get me to think this deeply in the other Master Rule fights too

Feng's inclusion here also continues to demonstrate how far he's developed, forcing him to put his money where his mouth is and sacrifice himself for someone else for a change. He was a bit incredulous at first that Ichico was suggesting he should die, which is pretty hypocritical coming from the guy who just last chapter said "you should sacrifice your wife to get stronger, it'll be cool." Once he realized that dying would help him understand souls better and that Nico could save him AND bring him back to life, Feng was all for it, and may well come to understand that being with people provides more opportunities for growth than treating them as expendable ever could

I am very interested in seeing how his death will improve his understanding of souls, though. The damage he took from Luna's soul blast as well as the damage he dealt to Sun (who Language stated has a physical body) with his knock-off Kamehameha both prove that souls can directly interact with the physical plane, something that Ghost previously stated couldn't be done. This may be a matter of interpretation, though, as Ghost also stated that Andy only couldn't move his limbs after having those parts of his soul cut off because he believed he could move his body using his soul. Ghost's interpretation was that souls couldn't touch physical matter and vice versa, so only a physical attack coated in soul could harm him by ensuring it didn't matter which form he was in

Luna's attack seems to be pure soul, so by that logic, she shouldn't have been able to deal damage to Feng's body, and yet she did. Is Luna's interpretation that a soul attack damages the soul and reflects its state on the body? Probably not, then one wouldn't be able to detach their soul for attacks in the first place, as that would cause the body to change shape (see Mahito's Idle Transfiguration in JJK). Does Luna interpret souls as having different properties at different concentrations? Is she coating her soul around the air to create physical pressure when launching her attack? Or is it something entirely different? Whatever it turns out to be, I think it will have pretty drastic implications for how battles are fought going forward

Finally, I want to touch on an interesting line from Language. She referred to Luna and Sun as "the Pinnacle of the Spiritual and the Pinnacle the Physical" respectively, and given Luna's hazy silver appearance, it does track that she is literally made of soul, but then does that mean Luna doesn't have a physical body at all? And in fact, if Luna is only a soul, then how did she exist prior to UMA Soul's creation? Is Soul really the Rule that allows souls to exist, or the Rule that allows other souls, existences like Luna, to be?

And if Luna is a soul without a body, then...is Sun a body without a soul? Can soul-based attacks work on Sun, or does the Union need to focus solely on physical attacks? Or, does defeating Sun require that Luna be defeated simultaneously, just like Ghost, because Luna is Sun's soul?

I know I say it all the time, but Tozuka really is following Oda's footsteps incredibly well. They're both so good at sprinkling in hints that make me ask questions rather than just spoonfeeding me answers, so while I desperately want the answers, the time I get to spend chewing them over and looking for them myself makes the questions stick with me and leave that much more of an impact. I sincerely hope that other mangaka are taking notes, cus I want to see so much more of this in Jump's future!

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unlcuk ch.186 thoughts

[Just Like Mama Used to Make]

(Contents: thematic analysis - artistic expression)

Before I say anything else, I just want to note how hard that one bystander saying "what the fuck?" made me laugh. That killed me. With how much wild shit the Union gets up to, it's refreshing to see someone not only witness it, but actually acknowledge it. I still wonder how the audience for Feng's martial arts tournament reacted to all of the weird fights

I also want to point out that in this loop, Enjin's iconic ripped hat look is created from him being thrown through the wall of his mother's hospital room. I'm sure there was some cool story to it originally, but nope, this time he just...biffed a landing, s'all. As usual, no dignity in this series

Onto the chapter, I figured that this chapter was going to continue to expand on the idea of togetherness using food as a symbol like last week, but nope! We're movin' on! Instead of examining how the act of eating can deepen bonds, this week we're examining the difference between mass appeal and individual experience

Enjin's ramen, made with refined technique, is "objectively" good food that pretty much anyone will say is tasty, but aside from the opportunity for custom orders like "extra toppings" or "light on the X," the overall dish is always the same. Without any direct input, Enjin will always produce the same meal, with the expectation that it's so high quality that no one could possibly dislike it. This approach is not necessarily wrong, as consistency is an important factor in food service, but it does mean that if there's any one factor that any one customer doesn't like, they won't end up enjoying it because it doesn't match with their personal taste

It's kind of like if a manga starts out with one of the main leads sexually harassing the other. Sure, the manga as a whole may be great, possibly even the best among its contemporaries, but some people just aren't going to be able to get past that initial bad taste in their mouth. No matter how good the end product is, someone is going to slip through the cracks

Someone isn't going to be able to stand how hot the broth is, someone isn't going to like the mushrooms or the bamboo shoots, and someone isn't going to appreciate seeing a girl get groped by a man whose dick is flopping in the wind. This is an unavoidable truth in the creative process: there is no such thing as perfect. There will always be flaws, and there will always be detractors, but there will also always be fans willing to stand by the art and declare that it's their absolute favorite

This is where Fuuko's ramen comes in: even if only two people out of...what, fifty people(?) liked it, what matters is that the person it was meant for liked it. The point was to show Enjin that no amount of refinement would be able to capture everyone's hearts, but any amount of consideration would capture the heart of the one person it's meant to. Luckily there was another person present who fit in that same niche to drive the point home, but even without that child, I think Enjin would have gotten the point

When it comes to art, you sometimes need to ignore the instinct to try to appeal to anyone and instead focus on creating the thing that you want, the thing that will make you happy. You will run the risk of alienating basically everyone, but by being honest and forthright in how you express yourself, you'll eventually find someone who your work truly resonates with

Fuuko's touch-starved isolation, Andy's hedonistic depression, Billy's stoic responsibility, Rip's dual loves...these aren't things that everyone can relate to, even if they can sympathize. But to someone who feels isolated, who tries to fight against crushing despair with a plastered smile, who bears the weight of the world on their shoulders, or knows what it's like to love more than others say they should, these things will all ring true, and make that reader feel like someone, somewhere finally understands, like someone said all the things they wish they could if they only had the talent or the time

To me, this chapter isn't about cooking, it's about the act of creation. It's about the act of sharing your soul with the world around you and knowing that you resonated with even just one person, and knowing that that one person's world has changed for the better. It's about the act of receiving a piece of someone and being able to smile back at them, telling them that the message has been received

Maybe this won't be what anyone else sees. Maybe this chapter will come across as lukewarm to somebody, maybe even to most people. Maybe it was mediocre at best to someone and they'd prefer something with a bit more of a kick. But someone, maybe just one person, was able to really sink their teeth into this one and savor all of the ingredients, the love and the care that went into creating this piece. Someone was moved to tears, and someone looks at the world just a little differently now thanks to this chapter

Until next time, let's enjoy life

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.197 thoughts

[Rider Kick!!!]

(Contents: speculation - Haruka, thematic analysis - life)

Tozuka, we need to talk about your sense for chapter titles. It's "ready, get set, go" not "get set, ready, go." Maybe it's different in Japan?

Anyway

HARUKA DEVELOPMENT!!!

Seeing that Haruka's soul is still her child self from her original backstory, I wonder if we'll be seeing a flashback of how her tragedy was averted. Given Isshin XII's statement that Haruka's heart hasn't matured, my supposition last week that Fuuko's soul resembling her appearance from when she just joined the Union symbolizes that she's the same person at heart seems to have been correct. The shape of a person's soul is a reflection of who they are; Andy is an old soul, Fuuko is a member of the Union, Lucy is a free spirit, and Haruka is a scared child. Cowardice has been a core trait of Haruka's the entire time, and while this arc seemed to suggest that she'd grown out of that between loops, this moment implies that just because she's braver doesn't mean that she isn't scared

Presumably the circumstances of her becoming Unbreakable contributed to her soul taking that shape, a moment in her past that she can't move on from. I doubt her father died the same way this time if at all, but even if it was just the shock of seeing her grandfather die of natural causes, I could see that rooting Haruka's heart in a particular time. It would also be interesting if Tozuka uses that plot point to elaborate on why Haruka got into cobbling, what inspired her to make that choice specifically, and how her relationship with Top developed after she saved his friends. I don't know if that's a story that Tozuka is interested in telling, but it's one I'm interested in reading, for sure!

The other major element of this chapter was Isshin XII's advice to Haruka. "Use the power of those who never merely live and die." Therein lies the thesis statement for this arc and possibly the entire series: "[humans] never merely live and die." We aren't alive just because blood pumps through our veins (Victor's original view) or because we have thoughts in our heads (Andy's original view); we're alive because we can form connections, because we can leave an impact on the world, because we can create

A beast lives on instinct. A beast kills and eats to survive and breed, and one day dies so that something else may feed and survive. As UMA Beast said, beasts do not desire coexistence. I would argue that they don't desire anything, their biology simply compels them to eat and procreate, even if they don't have what we would call an "understanding" of the purpose of their actions

A human, though, can eat to survive, but doesn't have to. Eating can be a purely utilitarian experience, just a way to fuel up the body for the next day, but people don't typically do that. People cook, they maximize the taste of the dish as well as the nutritional value if they even pay attention to it in the first place, and they partake of their meals communally. We do understand the purpose of eating, but that purpose is of secondary concern to anyone outside of a life-or-death scenario; instead, the priority is to enjoy our meals, whether it's through the company we keep, the flavor of the dish, or even simply the joy of creation

And that, I think, is where Unbreakable's true power comes from. Unbreakable isn't slapping two scraps of metal together and calling it a shield, it's an artform, a craft that one dedicates their life to, the culmination of skill and pride passed down for generations. It's not enough to simply know how it works; watching a knitting tutorial on youtube isn't enough to create a beautiful quilt, you have to understand the materials and the tools and the techniques intimately

There's no pride or craftsmanship in Beast simply growing Unbreakable armor. Does a tortoise build its own shell and take pride in it, or does it simply happen to grow around an otherwise oblivious reptile? As I've said a thousand times, Undead Unluck is a series about "the proof of a life lived," and the mastering of an art, the inheritance of a legacy, is just another in a long line of angles that Tozuka has chosen to tackle this theme from

Haruka's new Unbreakable, seemingly able to reconfigure her armor to match someone else, suggests that she has achieved that mastery and pride. Unbreakable is not about rigid conformity to one shape, it's about the ability to adapt to the scenario; "the reed which bends in the wind is stronger than the oak which breaks in a storm." Beast has no understanding or appreciation of the effort that forged Unbreakable itself, much less the armor it creates, and thus does not have the pride nor conviction to allow for it to be flexible or adaptable

Beast has Unbreakable, but he does not have the spirit to create. Beast devalues that which proves that one has lived, and that will ultimately be his undoing

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.196 thoughts

[Lucky Number Seven]

(Contents: speculation - power system/lore)

"I'll talk about Unbreakable vs. Unbreakable next week," I said, "surely it'll wrap up then," I said...I say it every few weeks, but I really need to stop trying to predict what's going to happen next...ah, am I Untrust?

Funny thing about this week's chapter: last week, I had the thought completely unprompted:

"Huh. y'know, even with their Rules, there isn't any good reason that the Negators are superhumans most of the time. Like just because Andy can't die, that's no reason he should be able to control the flow of his blood. Shen and Feng's martial prowess and inhuman strength are completely unrelated to their Rules, same with Billy's trick shots. I wonder if maybe their non-Negator abilities are somehow tied to their souls"

And I considered bringing it up last week, but it didn't really seem super relevant to what was going on, so I omitted that section cus I didn't want to get super sidetracked, especially with something that was just a wild shot in the dark

AND NOW IT LOOKS LIKE I'M JUST TAKING CREDIT FOR A PREDICTION I NEVER MADE!!! TOZUKA, YOU'RE MAKING ME LOOK LIKE A JACKASS FROM ALL DIRECTIONS!!!

Anyway...this is such a sick development!!! It's a subtle change, but the difference between using one's will to activate their abilities and using one's soul carries such a significant implication for how the power system will develop going forward

For one, the ability to manipulate, shape and project the soul changes the meta drastically since it adds a completely new wrinkle to how battles are fought, basically adding a new tool to everyone's kit in addition to things like Artifacts and teaming up with UMAs while also adding a potential new weakness to every encounter

I get the impression that souls are meant to be immortal since people get reincarnated between loops, but Ruin said that anyone he kills as a Regulator is removed from the loop, implying he can completely kill souls. But is this a unique trait to him, or is it something that anyone can do if they're able to target souls and he's just familiar with the technique?

Then there's the fact that Fuuko was able to impart Unluck without any tools, simply using her raw soul to go straight to meteoric levels. What can everyone else do to augment or circumvent their Rules? Could Chikara project his vision through his soul to lock down enemies from multiple angles without needing to worry about his eyes drying out? Or could he see a target's soul and prevent them from using their powers entirely?

Can Rip damage souls directly and keep them from recovering? Can Billy learn how to copy Rules better by witnessing them directly? Can Shen get a better read on his opponent by seeing their soul's intentions? Can Haruka harden her soul into armor OR harden her body since it's technically external to her soul? Can Sean make his soul Unseen or project parts of his soul to turn others invisible at a distance?

It'd be pretty boring if everyone just started generically making soul chains and soul guns, but if everyone is able to level up their Rules in unique ways, that'd be a great way to further develop the power system beyond what we've seen so far! I honestly wouldn't be surprised if we found out that Juiz has been using her soul to read peoples' visions of justice this whole time, and we'll probably see that in more detail when Julia gains Unjustice

As fun as it is to develop the power system, though, the real question for this chapter is who were those souls with Fuuko? I think it's fair to say that most if not all of us have concluded already that they're the previous holders of Unluck, who have presumably followed Fuuko to watch over her, but that raises a bunch of questions in and of itself

We know that Juiz and Victor never had families, so their continued existence between loops changed nothing (side note: this is a good indicator that Ruin has in fact been present since Loop 1 since he claims to have been created by God directly, which just further goes to show how hard he sucks as a villain), and that Juiz's eventual death led to her soul being incarnated as the child of a childless couple. From this, we can conclude that because Fuuko did not die in L100, her parents didn't have children in L101 as her soul was not present to be born. If these other six Unlucks have been staying with Fuuko this entire time, then that means that none of them were born in L101, as the chain of succession for Unluck could not be reset. How sad! Their ultimate fate was to not be able to live the lives they wanted even in the final "perfect" world! I guess that's still true of any given Negator prior to the current lineup, though, but still, that's tragic in and of itself, isn't it??

Secondly, though, what do they mean they chose Fuuko? All this time, I thought God picked the Negators based on what would cause the biggest tragedy for them: the world's greatest doctor inflicts irreparable wounds, the world's greatest psychic can only tell lies, the world champion ends his career by killing his opponent, a child drops his only living family from a cliff, a husband's only memory of his wife is her death...you can't tell me that these are because of the previous Negators!!! The Gods making those choices makes sense because they're both sadists, but the Negators themselves??? No, there's something more going on here

The Isshin family makes sense, at least, since their ability doesn't carry tragedy in and of itself, though it's possible that they're just maximizing its effectiveness by keeping it exclusive to smiths. I suppose the previous Untrust going for Latla also makes sense in that regard since giving it to someone with inaccurate predictions wouldn't change the trustworthiness of their conclusions. Unrepair is best used in the hands of someone with an understanding of anatomy, Unstoppable is best used by someone with good reaction time, Unchange is best used by someone with a strong desire for consistency, etc.

I think what it might be is that the previous users are also trying to find who can best make use of their powers in the interest of defeating God in the long term, it's just that God still decides when the power is transferred. I don't know what the previous Unlucks saw in Fuuko, but I highly doubt they said "that girl sure loves her parents; wonder how good she'll get with Unluck if we kill them." No, they probably heard her say or saw her do something that implied an interpretation of luck that they saw potential in, and didn't anticipate just how much destruction that she'd be able to cause

Bear in mind, there's no indication that Juiz ever executed any of the previous Unlucks, nor was she particularly worried about who would get it next after Fuuko. This implies that Fuuko's potential for Unluck is uniquely dangerous; the ability isn't a threat, she is, and whatever it is that made her that way is what made the Unlucks choose her

This brings us to the matter of the loop itself: why do the same people get the same abilities every time? My original thought was that either A) God designed the system that way for consistency so the looper would be able to make decisions based on experience, or B) once someone became a Vessel, the Rule was inextricably tied to their soul, so it would be drawn to them specifically if they were available when the ability next transferred. There may still be some truth to these ideas, but with the understanding that the previous Vessels have at least some say in the line of succession, it seems likely that upon reset, the first user gets it back and then deliberately passes it on to their chosen successor upon their death because they know it'll eventually lead where they want it to

This in turn further suggests that memories are carried in the soul. We've seen this multiple times, with Julia remembering Juiz's life and Sean/others choosing to be born earlier/later, but for the Vessels to consistently choose the same successors, it gives the impression that once they revert to being souls they remember everything and know what they need to do next. I wonder if they communicate with each other at all to coordinate their reincarnations and selections?

If nothing else, we can conclude that Remember probably accesses the memories present within the soul rather than psychometrically reading their past or storing the memories itself like other Artifacts do. I wonder if Remember's reverse ability actually erases memories or just suppresses them? I'm inclined to the latter, since one could feasibly use the obverse in a later loop and get erased memories back as well, and Victor's memories weren't actually erased. That said, Victor may be a fringe case since losing his memories completely could be a form of ego death, and therefore would be negated by Undead. Victor's not a very good sample for understanding the mechanics of Remember, is the point

I won't guess how long it will be before Tozuka revisits this concept and explains it in more detail, since again, I'm always wrong in these things, but I'm very excited for when he does! I've seen a lot of people concerned about the implications that the Vessels are responsible for the tragedies, and I would like that misunderstanding cleared up ASAP

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.183 thoughts

[Rip Has Two Hands]

(Contents: polyamorous gushing, thematic analysis, Latla analysis)

WHOO!!! THANK YOU, TOZUKA!!!

Being in a polyamorous relationship, it means so much to me and my family to see a scene like this. My wife runs a blog dedicated to polyamory in manga (@polyamanga), and so often potential triads or quads or whatever else will dissolve right at the end because of any number of excuses, like one character realizing that they see the love interest as like their mom, or something, or a harem protagonist insisting that polyamory is morally wrong even though he's too spineless to actually make a choice. It's endlessly frustrating, and even a lot of series that are centered around polyamory still miss the mark in certain ways. Kanojo mo Kanojo, for example, has every single character decrying the act of two-timing consistently despite the fact that that's the lifestyle that they agreed to live! Even the main dude calls himself a scumbag constantly, like he's a monster for actually being honest with his girlfriend and continuing to do something she, again, agreed to!

I don't know what Tozuka plans to do with this relationship, whether it's going to get a lot of focus or if it's going to mostly be a background detail or what, but just getting to see a character actively decide to enter a polyamorous relationship and be met with love and acceptance for that decision is extremely refreshing and exciting. I do hope we get to see them actually acting like a triad and that it doesn't devolve into jealous bickering, but from what we've seen of this group, the bickering that does happen is likely going to be mostly playful. More than anything, though, I hope that we get some more detailed characterization for Leila, as one of the major complaints I've seen is that she's just been generically smiley and supportive, not unlike Ichico in Nico's flashback

But what's wrong with that? Two different characters acted in a similar way in a similar situation, asking for their partner to be happy in the event of their impending death? That's not lazy writing, that's theming! Undead Unluck is about finding happiness through sorrow! Would Fuuko's parents have wanted her to kill herself after she found out that she was responsible for their death? No, they would have wanted her to be happy! Did Isshin's dad want her to lose faith in herself after her armor failed to protect him from a UMA? No, he wanted her to know that she had saved the rest of the village!

While plenty of characters enforce despair on themselves, no one in Undead Unluck deliberately enforces despair on anyone else except for God and the UMA, who represent that very despair. "I have to atone for what I did/this is my cross to bear/I deserve this." Those are all self-imposed rules! And if there's one thing Undead Unluck has taught us, it's that rules are meant to be broken!!! If a rule doesn't benefit or protect those it restricts, then it's just a tool that someone else is using to control them!

And that's exactly what we're told here, too. Society tells us that we have to pick one partner, even if it means someone's happiness has to be lost, but why? What purpose does it serve to compromise on what would make us happy? Sure, if one partner would be unhappy with that outcome, then it may not be worth pursuing, but Latla's objection isn't that she'd be unhappy, it's that other people will judge them for their choice

"Why do you always worry about me?! Why won't you just leave me be?" Latla has already decided that she doesn't get her happy ending because she wants Leila to get hers. She thinks that their happiness is mutually exclusive, so she resigned herself to finding happiness in Leila's happiness. But that's a fallacy. They aren't mutually exclusive, they can have their cake and eat it too, and they'll be happier for it because neither of them needs to think that they've deprived the other of their happiness. Do you think Rip and Leila would be satisfied knowing that Latla was hurting? That she was crying behind a tree while they kissed? That she was slowly backing away and would eventually be gone from their lives if they didn't literally drag her back?

Latla chastised Rip in both this and the previous loop for going out on his own and leaving her behind, but in her own way, Latla was doing the exact same thing. Rip was literally distant, but Latla was emotionally distant, refusing to allow herself to indulge in the happiness that would otherwise be lost to her sister. If she and Rip hadn't held each other at arm's length in the previous loop, how differently would their lives have gone? How happy could they have been? Better question, was happiness even possible for them at the time without Leila? Were they being disrespectful of Leila's wishes, or was the hole too great for them to fill on their own?

Nico couldn't fill the Ichico-shaped hole in his heart with Mico, even though that's what Ichico wanted, for fear that doing so would erase what little was left of her in his heart. Perhaps it was hopeless from the beginning that Rip and Latla would be able to move on without Leila, much like Rip and Leila wouldn't be able to smile knowing that Latla was crying

Undead Unluck is about joy and freedom, and its cast finds joy in living freely. Fuuko fell into despair because she couldn't touch anyone, but found joy when she met someone she could touch freely. Juiz was trapped in a never-ending cycle of loss, but found joy when she met someone who she trusted could break the cycle. Rip and Latla fell apart when they lost Leila, but now can laugh and smile without reservation or guilt because they can be with her forevermore without anyone telling them they can't. And who are we to tell them they can't be happy after everything they've been through?

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Oh, another cool thing I forgot to mention about this week's episode

In the manga, piercing Burn with the Unbreakable Pile Cannon was fairly straightforward, they just kinda did it. The Unluck seemed to be that Burn was already in position

In the anime, the Unlucked caused Burn to start falling after he got frozen, and THEN the pile misaligned with the track, causing it to fire at an odd angle; these two events together bring Burn into the correct position to be pierced, making the whole thing feel a lot more unlucky than it did originally

It wasn't necessary at all, but it was exactly the kind of thing I've been asking for: expanding on and elevating the concepts from the manga to help pace out the story

More of that, please!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #uu anime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.191 thoughts

[FOUR YEARS AND AN ANIME!!!]

(Contents: Celebration, predictions)

WE DID IT, EVERYONE!!! As of this week's chapter, Undead Unluck has officially been running for four whole years!!!

I don't recall, though, did UU take an extra week off at some point? It should be at 192...Ah well, it's not super important! We've officially hit the goal I've been asking for since day one, and I'm over the moon about it! The hashtag is no longer a wish for the future, but a celebration of success!

At the time, I did expect that it would end around now rather than merely approaching the final phase, but hell, I'm not complaining! I don't know if I necessarily want UU to hit the eight-year mark, it might start to feel like it's dragging by that point, but I also can't really imagine it doing that anyway

If we assume that we have five arcs left before Ragnarok (Top, Tatiana, Kururu, Backs, Ruin) and we generously assume that each is 10 chapters (only Rip and Latla's arc has lasted more than 10 since the loop), we should have at most another year until the final battle, though it likely won't even take that long since most of these recruitment arcs are more like 3-5 chapters per recruit. From there, the previous Ragnarok arc was about 40 chapters, so we'll overestimate again that the next one will last a full year

In other words, depending on how much Tozuka decides to take his time, I think we should be seeing UU running until June 2025 or January 2026! It's a bit sad to see the writing on the wall like that, but as far as I'm concerned, we're playing with house money right now! I'm glad that my favorite series turned out to be such a hit, and that it should get to resolve itself as it pleases! So few series get to go out on their own terms, I can't be upset when one of my favorites becomes one of the lucky ones!

Onto the chapter itself, this was such a cool fight! Andy holding off all ten of the Superior Rules by himself for three minutes is such a badass display of how far he's come, and shows us some cool ways he can use his soul techniques! We've heard of him using his soul to move his body before, using it to overcome Nico's copy of Unmove, but seeing him actively replacing his lost body parts with his soul?? Now that's sick!

100-Twist Vortex Bullet, Soul Vulcan, Soul Road...it's all derived from what we've seen, but all on a whole new level! Even the soul chains are taken straight from his fight with Ghost. It's like a perfect showcase of how far Andy's come in the last four years of serialization!

BUT! For how strong he is now, for how much stronger he apparently is than the rest of the team, he was only able to hold off the Superior Rules for three minutes. In other words, while you might think he's become an invincible one-man army that could do everything on his own, you would be absolutely wrong!!! He had to let the two weakest Superiors go to temporarily match #1 (who we can reasonably assume is UMA Soul), so while we can assume he'd be capable of facing Soul one-on-one, we also have to assume that Andy is still nowhere near Sun's level. It took everyone together to hold off Sun for 11 minutes, including Rebellion!Victor, and at least half of them died in the process. Andy, as he is now, could only hold off all ten Superiors for three; if he'd had to hold on for 11, they probably would have all escaped, and since we can assume that all ten together don't measure up to SUN, we can conclude that Andy is not so strong that he could solo Sun

Andy will be a tremendous asset to the final battle, but he will not be the single deciding factor. To beat Sun, it won't be enough to simply have everyone together, everyone will need to raise their level to be capable of at least soloing a Superior Rule like Andy did to Sick. In other words, Andy's display of power here isn't merely a way to tell us how strong Andy is now, but telegraphing how strong EVERYONE is going to be by the end!!! Even if they never quite make it to Andy's level, we can expect that our team is going to be absolutely made of monsters, and I! Can't! Wait!!!

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.15 thoughts

[Trauma Dump]

(Contents: immediate reactions - additions, analysis - OP/ED)

Only a chapter and a half this time, huh? If y'all hadn't wasted time with that recap last week, we could've gotten to the juicy bit as the cliffhanger this time...ah well, guess that'll just be how next week's episode opens

Despite the fact that this was pretty much just an exposition episode, I do think it was one of the better executed episodes overall, particularly because of my favorite thing: adaptational additions!

They were all pretty brief, but the little added bits of seeing Under up close rather than just really tiny in the background was greatly appreciated, and I think did a lot to help build up the type of threat they are

Juiz was also standing before the tablet, which, funny enough, has never actually been shown in canon! We've had it alluded to and represented visually, yes, but we've never actually seen a character in the same room as it. It almost felt like a hypothetical up to now, but nope, it's real and absolutely observable, at least in this adaptation

The real highlights of this episode are the new opening and ending themes, though. I'm really digging the new opening with how dynamic it is. I do miss the more abstract imagery, but what it lacks in symbolism it makes up for in intensity! Andy's limbs exploding into Parts Bullets, the meteor flying down to Earth, the title carved into rubble, Andy vs. Victor culminating in a frankly awesome shot of Fuuko staring down an oncoming meteor; it all looks so cool!!! My main problem is just that it ends kind of abruptly and the music and visuals feel kind of mismatched right at the end. I'm not sure how it could have been done better, but it leaves me with an awkward feeling upon finishing it

The ending theme isn't nearly as visually powerful as the first one, but I think it's meant to contrast it: whereas the first ending was about Andy's loss of self and search for death, the second one looks to be Fuuko's search for companionship. The first half of the videos features her alone on a bridge, possibly contemplating her death, until she sees Andy off in the distance and runs to him, with the two proceeding to walk through the autumn leaves with smiles on their faces. Andy woke up in the first ending to realize that he was with Fuuko, as if he had trouble accepting that as reality or was anxious he might lose her, while Fuuko is shown here actively spending time with Andy and the two enjoying each other's company. This is also intercut with Juiz and Victor sitting together in snowy ruins, a vision of days long since past vs. Andy and Fuuko's blissful, if destined to be short-lived present in the dying leaves of autumn

Overall, I enjoyed the new OP and ED, but they're definitely not perfect. I'll probably come to enjoy them more and more as we go, and I definitely look forward to seeing full translations of them (which I wouldn't be surprised if they already exist) so that I can understand the messages they're trying to convey

See you all next week, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #uu anime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.187 thoughts

[Just the Way I Like It - Extra Crispy]

(Contents: immediate reactions, small Andy analysis, speculation)

Ohhh, the DNA hair isn't supposed to represent chromosomes, it's supposed to represent evolution! You know Tozuka did that on purpose. He wanted us to think she was Sex so we'd be surprised when she was Change. And from what I've seen, all of us sure were

But that's not the most interesting part of this chapter, not by a long shot. No, the most interesting part has got to be, without a doubt, Andy

As always, Tozuka provides us with a shot that's instantly iconic, this time in the form of Andy's charred body sitting stalwart on the barren surface of the extinguished sun. The linework and shading here is phenomenal, it almost feels like something out of Berserk. In the hands of a lesser artist, Andy's body might just be completely blackened with a barely recognizable outline, but here, even through all that ink you can see every contour of his physique, almost like you could count the individual muscle fibers. It's eerie, it's haunting, it's melancholy, it's beautiful, and to top it all off, it's metal as hell

Understandably, everyone is terrified when they see Andy in that state; they've only seen Andy in action for the span of about a minute, so they don't quite understand the extent to which Undead really works. Seeing someone charred to cinders but still shockingly intact like that would definitely be unsettling, especially if you aren't used to seeing death the way that the previous Union members all were, but being told that he's still alive through that? Knowing that the heat you're feeling on the extinguished sun, likely a fraction of how it feels normally, is the sort of condition he's been stoically enduring for eons and somehow he's still conscious? That's pushing eldritch horror territory

But of course, Fuuko isn't even phased. She's seen her fair share of the things that Andy's had to go through, and she knows that however hard it was for him, he'll be able to bounce back better than ever. Seeing Fuuko run up to hug him and thank him, telling him that she learned to live as she does from him, is so heartwarming and sweet that you almost forget that Andy's a smoldering statue

Now, the whole time that Nico was talking about Andy's sensory nerves and organs being fried, I was thinking one thing: he doesn't really need them, does he? He was able to move his body with his soul even through the effects of Unmove, and we've seen him moving his body while the sun's flames were active, so we know he has some way to tell what's going on around him, so why even worry about conducting sound through his bones?

The first answer is probably that Fuuko didn't know that or couldn't rely on it. Even if he could hear her through his soul, it's best not to take any chances and guarantee that her message is going to get through. Secondly, though, it's way more dramatic to shoot him in the head and jam her fingers into his skull. It makes a beautiful parallel to the events of the Spoil arc, it cuts the tension of the movement by being surprising and funny, and again, it's a striking image. Not even just the gunshot, but Fuuko having her hands on Andy's head while she talks to him, almost like she's holding his face but in the macabre and disturbing way that only UU can provide

My concerns were then answered though with Andy not only raising to his feet, but also firing off a brand new move: Soul Boosted Parts Bullets! Whether it can actually deal damage remains to be seen, since we've seen in the past that souls can only interact with souls, but Andy also created a soul chain to hold Change in place, suggesting that he's able to interact with a target's soul while its bonded to its body, much like how Ichico gained the ability to force a target's soul out. This implies that Andy can in fact deal damage with this move, even if only to the soul, which would arguably be more effective than harming the physical body of a UMA since they can regenerate any damage that isn't to their core anyway

Andy leveling up to the point that he can weaponize his soul like this, coupled with Enjin having solar-level control of Unburn, suggests that Tozuka is nowhere near showing us the real ceiling of everyone's powers. I talked about it in my response to @buhbuhlmao's post the other day, but there really is a good chance that, while no one's going to be able to solo Sun, everyone's probably going to be able to operate on a scale that would let them at least hold their own if they needed to

That said, Andy's new ability made me realize something: Victor probably wouldn't have been able to hold off the Master Rules like Andy did. While Victor never believed that his mind was a necessary part of "being alive," he also was stated not to believe in the soul as a concept, meaning that if his whole body were charred inside and out like this, he wouldn't have a mechanism for forcing his body to move anyway - he wouldn't be dead, but he also wouldn't be able to regain consciousness until someone brought him somewhere he could heal, and he certainly wouldn't be able to use his soul to suppress the Master Rules. Andy's ability to pull off such a feat proves that he's surpassed Victor, or at least caught up to his level by traveling a different path. Honestly, if we ever do get to see Andy and Victor split, I hope that we get to see them using Undead in completely different ways to show just how much of an individual Andy has become

To cap off this stellar chapter, we finally get a glimpse of our last five members (excluding Ruin and Lucy). Bunny, Tatiana and Kururu are all how I'd expect them to be, and Top is a bit older looking, but the real surprise is that Juiz is clearly younger. Not only that, she looks remarkably like Fuuko. Twitter user Junebug pointed this out too, that Fuuko and Juiz's positions and appearances have switched: Fuuko went from short- to long-hair and has become the leader of the Union, and Juiz has become short-haired and naively bright-eyed. The impact that this will have on their characters remains to be seen, but I'm super excited for it!

I do hope that meeting Juiz will allow us to fully understand the mechanics of the loop, though it's probably not super important that we get that. I just really want to know myself. Was Juiz always supposed to be a child/teenager in the 2010s, or did her soul hold her off for a few extra years? Also, she looks completely different compared to her child self before, is this because this is her first reset in the loop after getting transed as many have theorized? Oh, and could it be that Sex isn't the one who made Juiz into a woman, but Change? There are so many questions, and I hope Tozuka deigns to answer them all in time!!!

Until next time, let's enjoy life

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ep.14 thoughts

[Deja Vu! I've JUST Been in This Place Before]

(Contents: critique - positive and negative)

YUKI YASE CAN'T KEEP GETTING AWAY WITH IT!!!

WHY WOULD YOU HAVE A RECAP OF AN ENTIRE SCENE IMMEDIATELY FOLLOWING THAT SCENE???

YOU BASICALLY JUST SHOWED IT TWICE FOR NO GOD DAMN REASON!!!

On some level, I kind of get it; I don't think that recap was long enough to complete the next chapter that they'd started if they hadn't done it, and if they'd done the narration during the battle, it might have slowed down the pacing too much, but...is it better to make us sit through the same thing again? Is it worse to be slow, or to be repetitive?

I personally think they could have done the narration just fine without harming the pacing, and then expanded Chikara's scenes at school to fill up the extra time. As it stands, those scenes were just still images, which definitely took away from it for me

But I don't want to be too down on this episode, cus the parts that were good? They were so good. It was admittedly kind of jarring seeing everything freeze for Unmove, in a way that I somehow never really anticipated, but the backgrounds and the attacks were all absolutely gorgeous, which is what I wanted out of it

Evidently the discussion on other sites is mostly positive with some confusion and criticism for the recycled scenes, so I think if it weren't for the recap, this could well have been the episode that gets a lot of people on board. It still might, but it would definitely be a harder sell

I really liked this episode overall, I just can't get over that extremely strange choice. I'm sure it was for the sake of filling time, but there were so many better ways to do it. I hope that future events won't end up being hampered the same way, but we'll just have to wait and see

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews #uu anime

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.190 thoughts

[100th Time's the Charm]

(Contents: Character analysis - Julia/Juiz)

If there's only one takeaway from this chapter, it's that we need to see at least one Quest from the first or second loop, cus apparently Juiz was a lot different before loop 100. She was so demure and distant in this past loop that, aside from the little glimpses we got into her real personality here and there, it's kind of hard to see her sharing a general personality with Julia here

Granted, a few hundred billion years and the repeated deaths and betrayals of everyone you've ever known and loved will probably do that to you, huh?

In a way, though, I think Julia is meant to be our glimpse into Juiz's real personality. This is who she would be if she weren't beaten down by the weight of eons upon eons of failure

If there's any doubt in anyone's mind that these two are the same person, though, this chapter should go a long way to assuage those doubts: just like Juiz, Julia did not let one single failure break her spirit, and instead persisted for 100 attempts, where in the end she cast aside her pride and instead entrusted the outcome to fate. It's a bit on the nose, but it's a microcosm of the struggles that Juiz went through in the first 100 loops, right down to culminating in relying on Fuuko's abilities as her final ray of hope

The fun part, and the irony, is that while Julia is fighting to learn what kind of person Juiz is, all she really needs to do is look in the mirror. Her willingness to throw herself away for her goals, risking her life and abandoning her pride, and pushing forward against a foe that so clearly outmatches her right up until the very end; that's all Juiz

But it's also Fuuko

Her insistence on finding a way to get what she wants no matter what, forcing her will onto everyone around her but without compromising their ability to all laugh in the end, and an overall refusal to let anyone keep her down or take her smile away. If Fuuko was a reflection of Juiz, then Julia is a reflection of Fuuko; Juiz's spirit and image filtered down through blind naivete and boundless optimism

I do wish we'd gotten more scenes of Fuuko and Juiz together over loop 100, I feel like that would have helped hammer in how much of an inspiration Juiz was to Fuuko, though Juiz's passing of the torch definitely establishes their connection perfectly well on its own. I wonder if the novels help with that at all...when will Viz give us the novels???

Anyway, after Julia manages to eke a win off of a Fuuko, Fuuko declares that she's going to be an inspiration to her the same way that Juiz was for Fuuko, buuut the way she goes about that isn't quite analogous...instead, Fuuko hops on Kinto'un and sweeps Julia screaming off her feet, laughing as she declares that she's going to show her amazing things all over the world

Sound familiar?

Just before Fuuko was stabbed by Ruin in loop 100, Andy said he would "drag [Fuuko] around the world and get into even wilder shenanigans." The wording's a bit different, but the spirit is the same: Fuuko's not emulating Juiz's leadership here, she's emulating Andy's lust for life. Poor girl doesn't even realize that she's going to make Julia fall stupid in love with her!

Until next time, let's enjoy life

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.194 thoughts

[Violence for Violence is the Rule of Beasts]

(Contents: lore)

Always appreciate a lore drop

So we've finally confirmed that not every UMA has a Negator, and not every Negator has a UMA. It does seem strange to me that Fuuko would say the pairings are rare when we've seen so many, though. Death, Change, Luck, Move, Stop, Burn, Tell, and possible Information with Unknown, that's 7 or 8 out of 28 Negators who have a UMA counterpart: that's between 25 and 30%, I wouldn't call that rare, and it seems likely that many other Negators do have UMAs like presumably Justice, Fade, Sleep and Break at the very least since those feel like the most restrictive

Maybe I'm misreading it though and every Negator does have a UMA, and the pairs are rare in the sense that it's rare to find a UMA that can be Negated directly. Still, the main point is there's no Unbeast, there may not be an Unsoul, there's probably no Unsummer/Unwinter/etc., and most disappointingly there's no Uncrab. I really wanted to see that one, too...

With this revelation, we now know that the already dire disparity between Negator and UMA in this competition is much worse than it ever seemed. I never really considered the possibility of, say, every Negator and UMA lining up to square off against each other, but if our original concept of all Rules having one on each side were true, then it would be only slightly skewed in favor of the UMA since they're giant monsters with healing factors. Knowing that there are significantly more UMA than Negators, though, that would be an obvious loss for the Negator side as the sheer number of nigh-invincible monsters would obviously overwhelm the smaller force that can Negate at best a third of the opposition

However, I don't believe that Luna simply let Sun stack the deck in his favor completely unilaterally. The fact that there's never been a point where all of the UMA could attack at once and the rules of engagement allow for the Union to team up against them while also utilizing Artifacts means that Luna must have made a concerted effort to rebalance the game, though clearly she's the "challenger" since Sun is still undeniably the one with the advantage. That's a fairly standard rule in bets like this - the one who wants to usurp the throne has to fight at a disadvantage to prove that they're stronger or more deserving of it than the current ruler

It also just makes for more exciting storytelling for the main cast to be weaker than the enemy, as everyone loves an underdog story. Equal rivals are fun too, but uncontested beatdowns get stale fast, so it's for the best that the cast that the audience follows has to struggle. This is especially fun in series like UU since it requires that the cast gets clever with how they use their powers, like Andy stacking Unchange/Undraw/Unbreakable to squish Sick in under a minute

I hope that this ends up getting brought back up when we next fight Sun or talk to Luna, cus the nature of their relationship is probably the biggest hole left to fill here. Right now they're pretty nebulous gods; we know about their game, and we've seen that Luna has a surprisingly nasty personality for being ostensibly on "our side," but other than that we know next to nothing about either of them. What kind of life did they have before they started their game? How long did they exist? Were there other gods, or just them? Were they always enemies? Are they even enemies now? It looks like it'll still be a while before we get to answer any of these questions, but this chapter really helped contextualize exactly how their wager is set up

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.199 thoughts

[The Master Rules Strike Back]

[Contents: analysis/speculation - Gods/Master Rules]

I want to start this one with a quick note about last week's review: when Soul said that Luna gave people "potential," I assumed that was a built-in aspect to Soul's Rule. Based on what Soul says this week, though, it seems that human potential is a direct result of Change, not Soul. Perhaps there's still more to it that I'm not quite getting, but is it possible that Soul isn't the only UMA created by Luna? That would kind of reduce the impact of Soul's revelation, but I guess we'll find out sooner or later

The big event for this chapter is definitely the beginning of Language's offensive, but that's more of a transition into next chapter, so unless I want to speculate on where this is going, that doesn't give me a lot to work with (and I don't want to do that, you all know my predictions are always wrong)

Instead, what stands out the most to me this chapter is what Soul tells the other Master Rules as they mourn Beast: "we need to usher Beast into a validated world." I'm sure this ties back into what Beast said about God wanting the "greatest life of all." What exactly is the end goal? What interest does God have in creating a world with set rules?

I've talked about it before, but if God just wanted to torture humanity, there're definitely better ways to do that than to have a game with a set win/lose condition. I've long since believed that God (or at least Sun) is not doing any of this sadistically. UMA being ordered to make humanity suffer and Negators experiencing tragedy upon selection have both only fed into the Negators becoming more determined to fight and grow their abilities, suggesting that this is a calculated effort to groom them into worthy enemies for the Master Rules, trials to help them achieve their full potential

So what happens when the final world is created? When Sun has proven to Luna that humanity cannot reach the Gods and no longer gives them any means of fighting back? Will the Rules simply run rampant, killing humans for fun for all eternity? It's been made quite clear that Sun would one day grow bored of that, so what happens then?

I think that Sun has really just been experimenting with the Rules to see which ones make the most sense, which ones help the world run the most smoothly without simply giving humanity unearned happiness. The final world won't be a paradise, but it will presumably be one with clearly defined order. Perhaps human autonomy will be erased and the world will continue to loop, like Heaven in JJBA, or perhaps Sun will simply abandon the final world and move onto create another, a failed experiment that failed to meet his expectations. Whatever it ends up being, I get the feeling it will be presented as something good at first glance, true happiness on paper, only to fall apart upon closer inspection

The fact that the Master Rules, the most human UMAs, have been fighting as long as the Union has tells me that they have a vested interest in creating this validated world. They aren't blindly loyal to Sun like Ruin is, their happiness is set to be found in that world. Perhaps they will inherit the world, and they will be the new humans, like the end goal of the Curses in JJK? They have goals of their own beyond just trying to beat the heroes because they were told to, and that depth is definitely the puzzle piece that was missing in the early parts of UU

I hope that we'll get more insight here with the Language fight, since Language seems by her nature to be less overtly antagonistic. If Beast, a creature of instinct, was the expositor of the bare circumstances, then it would make sense that Language, presented as an intellectual, would be the expositor of the philosophical motivations behind those circumstances. Perhaps not, though, but hopefully we'll find out soon

Until next time, let's enjoy life!

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews

[tokiro07]

Undead Unluck ch.185 thoughts

[The New York Soup Stock Exchange]

(Contents: thematic analysis)

I've been thinking a lot about Tozuka's editor saying that Undead Unluck's slogan would be "let's enjoy life," and maybe it's a matter of translation, but to me, it seems like every word of that slogan has meaning

"Enjoy life" is easy enough to see the significance of, but I'm willing to bet most people who read that discount the "let's"

To me, though, that phrase isn't a command, it's an invitation: it's not telling you to go out and enjoy your life, it's asking you to enjoy life with others. We all should enjoy our lives, together, and this chapter illustrates that concept beautifully

In shonen battle manga, togetherness is most readily conveyed through standing united against a common enemy, but that's not really applicable to most people's lives. However, there is one way to show togetherness that I think pretty much anyone anywhere can relate to: sharing meals

Family gatherings, holiday parties, celebrating special occasions, or even smaller occasions like dates or regular lunch breaks, the number one way that people spend time together is just grabbing a bite to eat. Any given cooking manga, like Food Wars or Toriko, capitalize on this throughout their entire runs, but even manga without a focus on food like One Piece, Dr. Stone or even Cipher Academy often feature their cast savoring delicious food in each other's company

Undead Unluck is no stranger to this, like with the cherry blossom viewing as Spring died in the previous loop, but this is the first time that we've focused on the creation and consumption of a singular dish in this series. The cooking process is just as important as the dish itself, and while Enjin has experience, Fuuko has love: a group of friends who will face any challenge with her, and who she has a strong enough understanding of to be able to create something greater than the sum of its parts. In a way, that's what the Union is: a hotpot of disparate ingredients brought together and harmonizing to create something incredible

I've noted before that very few fights in Undead Unluck are one-on-one, but one-vs.-many is a pretty common setup: Union vs. Victor, AnFuu+RipLa vs. Autumn, and, most notably, AnFuu+ShenMui vs. Feng. Unlike Feng, Enjin definitely understands the concept of cooking/fighting with love, but just like Feng, Enjin operates alone, taking on every aspect of the cooking process by himself while Fuuko has split up the responsibilities based on everyone's strengths. This is exemplified best through his taste test, where the panel zooms out to show his single silhouette struggling to cool down his broth while Fuuko and friends continue cooking. The wide empty space and his one shadow vs. the Union's three felt so incredibly lonesome

I won't dig too deep into Enjin's mentality or reasoning just yet, as I'm sure the next chapter will give me more than enough to work with on that front, but it's plain to see that Enjin isn't just solitary, he's isolated. Just like Feng, just like Billy, just like Rip, just like Andy. Did he choose to be this way like the former three, or did he find himself here like Andy? Again, we'll find out next week, but I'm willing to bet it's a little bit of both - something happened that pushed him away from others, and he chose to continue on alone

I'm really liking this arc so far, but I think the clincher is going to have to be Enjin's backstory. I like his design and personality, but for him to solidify himself in my heart like everyone else has before him, his story needs to move me. With everything we've seen in these last two chapters, though, I have no doubt that Tozuka will do just that with ease

Until next week, let's enjoy life

#undead unluck #fouryearsandananime #4y1a reviews