Time Loop
Hi! It’s been a while since I last posted here oof. Sorry about that.
Ok so in today’s chapter we all spotted that damn time loop which pretty much confirms that the one with most control over the situation is Mephisto. Lucifer can try and use all his fancy research, but he himself is still rotting away. Soon enough, his body won’t be able to handle his power anymore and he won’t be able to do his funky little head transplant anymore. (I mean, I don’t think that’s happening any time soon, we still need to know wtf is gonna happen with Satan and he’s gonna want all his sons to be there).
So this post will be pointing out the differences between these two specific time loops, though I’m already thinking of others throughout the story.
The first big difference is the way we see the Dominus Liminis’s destruction. In 125, we see the crash from the inside in the twins’ point of view as Rin jumps off, holding onto a ‘temporarily Satan-less’ Yukio and lands them safely.
Meanwhile in 126 we get to see Izumo, Bon and the others’ points of view from the outside as the ship crashes.
In chapter 125, regardless of Yukio’s temporary freedom and the repercussions the crash landing of the Dominus Liminis might have on Lucifer’s plan, the twins keep fighting. When Yukio threatens to concentrate his tenth shot with the Armumahel guns, Rin’s reaction is his typical comic relief wide eyes and open mouth.
Rin: “Yukio…”
Yukio: “I’ve fired nine shots with this prototype, yet the battery remains two-thirds charged. What do you think will happen… if I pack that whole charge into one shot?”
Yukio shoots, and barely misses as Rin propels himself in the opposite direction. Here we realize those previous shots have weakened him, yet it’s still not enough to kill him.
This entire scene happens way differently in 126. I can almost picture Mephisto yawning as he sees the twins go at it again and again, perpetually chasing their tails. He must feel like the benevolent big brother pulling on their ears over and over again until they finally get something right.
In chapter 126, right after Rin manages to temporarily burn Satan out of Yukio’s eye, Rin has some sort of miraculous epiphany. He looks up and sports some kind of weird light, and it’s like something finally clicks in his troubled mind. This light-thing can literally be either nothing but pieces of the ship flying around or Mephisto’s God-like glow slapping him in the face.
Either way, he realizes he can tame his demonic self and figuratively locks that part of himself in a cage, stating that he’s no longer afraid. I wonder, how good can someone as emotional as Rin tame such a beast…
He seals this part of himself back inside the sword, and man isn’t that so beautifully satisfying? Rin, someone who’s a very visual/hands-on learner has something physical to hold on to.
Now, him and Yukio are standing on a surface somewhere between the Dominus Liminis wreckage – the exact same spot as before.
Yukio asks if it’s Rin who save him – not the scary, demonic ‘monster’ from before but his actual big brother, the human Rin and Rin as always doesn’t really understand what Yukio’s really asking. You can hear my heart breaking even more.
Yukio points out how, now that they’re both freed of their demonic shackles, they can finally have a fair fight. He pulls out the Armumahel gun, and threatens to do that tenth concentrated shot. Yet, this time around, Rin’s reaction is almost completely different. There’s still that comical shock that’s so quitescencially Rin-like, yet I would argue it looks much more mature. It’s like he finally understands a tiny bit more (and is it just me or does he kinda look like Shiro in that panel?)
And here’s where we see that Rin’s overall attitude might’ve drastically changed, but Yukio’s still going apeshit. We see him react the same way at the mention of ‘the chip on his shoulder’ in both 125 and 126 (though it does look like he gets that Rin’s taking this more seriously in 126, so there’s that).
After this we get Yukio’s heartbreaking confession (?), but that’ll be a whole separate post since this is already too long.
Please let me know what your opinion is on Kato-sensei finally showing us much more explicitly how Mephisto moves his chest pieces around. Also, what do you think about Rin going back to black hair? I mean I love both, but he did look pretty badass with white hair…
Edit: Wow i’m so sorry for the shitty quality screenshots I have no idea why they look like that oof
hmm so far it seems that the timeline hasnt been split off at all.. so I feel like this is just Kato changing it up a bit? I’m curious of the redrew will still exist in the volume edition. It would certainly be a different direction if they decided to go back and change the outcome of stuff but it would not be as satisfying maybe??
