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Isn’t there something in Revelations about a head injury that’s healed?

At least this is finally something she’s making Imuri hear. Prince Charming fairy tale theming etc etc.

There’s a focus on the idea of men though as the one’s she’s going to harm, both in the English and Japanese. It’s interesting that there’s a continued line drawn between the men Imuri has been with whose death’s she’s caused and her relationship and destruction of Lisa. Was the relationship non-romantic from Imuri’s perspective? Is this some sort of writing oversight? Idk.

Lisa’s not entirely a human any more but she’s also not a demon. Will this permanently kill her? If so, is this the first time Josh has permanently killed someone who was once a human being, as opposed to the demons who are just returned to hell? Thou Shall Not Kill and all that. Wrath and all that. Something something Josh not wanting to become masculine through acts of violence and all that. (Edit: I forgot that the plan involves resealing. One of these days I need to get around to finding a way to reread chapters since I can’t at the moment lol. I wish there was at least an ebook purchase available in English. C'est la vie)

I don’t know what I was expecting from this chapter, but I wasn’t expecting Marco backstory LOLL. Mother Rosa mention… please come back…. We also now have a better approximation of Marco’s age, since he’s clearly still a child but older than 12 when Josh was 12.

Lisa seems to be actively in the process of dying for more power. “We have no interest in arguing with you” and the focus on methods I find interesting. In previous arcs and and specifically recently with Charlotte, the idea of violence as a tool to get to the negotiating table has been brought up. However, here we can see that even now there is no negotiating going on. Interestingly, there is also no focus on what methods they do think she should use. There’s a complete disinterest in engaging with her on any level. They neither agree nor disagree with her ideas, and while they disagree with the extent of her violence, there’s no expression of what outlet they do think should occur for her expression of ideas. Barbara and Leah both have been shown to understand gender based oppression, and oppose it, but they’ve also been uninvolved in enacting any sort of systemic change. If violence is a no go, or at least this extent of violence, what is the appropriate level of violence or alternative methods that they hold should be used? Again, none of the cast outside of Lisa has expressed what they specifically think an ideal world should look like, and what the appropriate methods for accomplishing that are. Whether that’s a weakness of the story or a purposeful critique, I’m not sure yet.

I had thought that there had been a direct reference to the Hammer of Witches, but hadn’t screenshotted it and forgot it was Marco! It’s kind of incredibly fitting. The Hammer of Witches, or Malleus Maleficarum is one of the most influential texts on witchcraft in Europe. It was written by Heinrich Kramer, a Dominican Priest, who was misogynistic to a degree that was notable even in the 15th century when he was alive. Like, he was so misogynistic that other theologians were condemning him in his time, including a bishop. One of the Popes did like his work though. He deeply disliked women, and the Malleus Maleficarum is one of the works most influential to tying ideas of witchcraft to women, and specifically women’s sexuality. Ideas of women have shifted over time, and in this specific time period misogynistic constructions of women held them to be excessively sexual and insatiable, and also more easily susceptible to sin as they were held to be less capable of reasoning then men. Heinrich Kramer did not disagree, and the Malleus Maleficarum is a deeply misogynistic text that is obsessive about women’s sexuality in much of the same manner that Marco talks about Imuri. That it’s the weapon he uses against Lisa is immensely charged, whether on purpose or otherwise.

The Japanese word he uses for aspiration also translates to longing, but it is a different word than the word used for longing in the chapter title. Idk enough about Japanese to make any commentary about that, but if anyone who does has any thoughts I’d be interested in hearing them.