pro cannibalism individual

This scene takes place in S root. we know this because sanemitsu gets into the taxi here, and at the start of Die With Me, Seodore mentions that they're getting out of the taxi.

We also know that there are at least another person inside the taxi already, because sanemitsu gets in the front of the taxi instead of the back.

it's 'too little, too late' because Sanemitsu has failed to hold onto the one person he's been trying so desperately to hold on to - Reiji is dead, and killing Seodore here is the only thing he can do to try and save him.

He hesitates, and he runs away, and he fails to commit. And thus, he lost everything.

This is 'death'. Not only is this a murder-suicide, but in doing this, this version of the timeline will reset.

Seodore knows exactly what this will do, and this is just an endpoint. This had to happen, because it was only on this branch that the circumstances would align enough for Atou to accept the love of god, and change things enough for the new timeline to lead to S+.

There are a handful of things at play here:

Seodore is the lime azure (he's the Damn Rock)

Sanemitsu's Pen has fragments of the Lime Azure (artbook)

Seodore's Respawn ability means that when he is killed, he either respawns, or the world will rewind to the last safe point. (artbook)

Lime Azure can harm Lime Azure, and thus snmt's pen can harm seodore

Sanemitsu knows that his ability can affect things in this way, and talks about it throughout DLC.

edit: I want to mention Sanemitu's ability because I realized I forgot to include it here - we know throughout DLC that Sanemitsu and Seodore both know the kind of thing that his ability can do. I've included the descriptions from the artbook of both the pen and Sanemitsu's ability, as the two are similar.

■Ability Mineral Manipulation (assumed) Type: Manifesting Ability Source: Empyrean Cells (From Origin(assumed)) Catalyst: Mineral Level: D Mineral Manipulation (assumed)  It’s unsure when he developed this power, but as of 2018, the assumption is that this ability is connected to the ‘sword creation’ mentioned in the next entry and allows him to manipulate and transform minerals. However, the only time this ability has actually been seen in practice was in 2015, right before God’s love was accepted and the page was turned. ??? Type: Special Source: Sephirah/Malkuth Catalyst: Fountain pen, Lime Azure Level: Impossible to measure The ability he showed during his confrontation with Utsugi. It’s assumed that the medium he was using was the fountain pen, and, currently, there’s no other way to explain it other than ‘the rainbow light was changed into a sword’. It’s often confused with the ‘sword creation’ that was mentioned earlier, but it’s actually something completely different from an ability.

Both Sanemitsu and Seodore know full well what's going on. And the transition between S and S+ is a part of that.

The circumstances of "Sanemitsu kills Seodore" have to be avoided. Sanemitsu's Pen is one of the few things that also can deal permanent damage in this way, as it ALSO has pieces of the Lime Azure inside it.

Timeline resets, and Atou goes through the game one more time, experiencing all the post S changes along the way. We as the player dont start our POV until late, but it's important to note that Haruki Atou does live through the events of the post-S timeline. So this version of Atou never saw any mention of seodore's name, for example, and the photograph he saw didn't include seo. (You can find more post S changes here) Whatever happened during die with me seodore cracked things open enough for things to Change.

Seodore wants the world to be on the S+ timeline not just because its the root where everyone lives, but it's the only timeline that will continue past 2015. He tells us directly in his message to YoUser.

So, This endpoint is the only one that has a future. S+, This path that leads to DLC, the path that will continue onwards from there to Interlude and CoM. And we'll have to see what will happen next.

The hand thing:

I would like to point out that Sanemitsu's scarred hand is ONLY in the S+ timeline, and only after the events of Path to Empireo.

you can see in S root that he does not have the scar.

And it's not from 1999, because we see his hands there, too, and he doesn't have it.

But by the time 2018 rolls around, he and Seodore both comment on that scar.

I want to highlight that it's sanemitsu's RIGHT hand, his dominant hand, his Writing hand that has the scar.

My general interpretation is that it's the backlash from Die With Me Seodore. It had an emotional impact, and scars will remain. Like Tina's bite marks when Shinano didn't remember - even if we don't remember it, it still leaves an impact on us.