#ane theory

It's no news that I'm a big fan of Kato-sensei's writing [x][x][x] but the current arc is full of great examples that she specifically rocks dynamics between her characters. :D

Starting with the tumultuous friendship between Izumo and Shiemi that really blossomed throughout the story, ending on full sorority and support from one girl to the other.

But also Izumo's friendship with Shiemi helped her getting closer to the other members of the Exwires, which really gives a different vibe to Izumo's character compared to the beginning of the story.

Obviously, the fact that we targeted her family issues during the first Illuminati arc is also part of the explanation, but Sensei spent a lot of time giving focus to Izumo's developing friendships (and love of romance and drama haha) since then.

Then, we finally reached an understanding between Rin and Shiemi vis-à-vis their romantic feelings for each other and how they have so much on their shoulders and riding on who they are (origin wise) that it always takes a long time for them to fully confront each other, eyes to eyes.

Considering, where we started, with a bigger bond between Yukio and Shiemi than Shiemi and Rin, Kato ends up speaking throughout the story about youth pressure in a very adult world, but in the end, true feelings prevail and war matters less than love.

Rin even asking for consent, what a guy ! (◕‿◕✿)

Thanks Mephy for good advice for once !

(could have fooled me)

And lastly, the complex but beautifully heartwarming bond between Rin and Yukio. Personally, reading the chapter, I was particularly glad about two things.

First, Yukio realizing he's not jealous, because he's not in love with Shiemi (anymore ? never was ? it's probably hard to define) :

In my opinion, there has always been a genuine friendship between Yukio and Shiemi but, because Shiemi was his first real friend with whom he could be himself and with whom he found understanding, he put a lot expectations on how special it was to him, without realizing that what he needed was to find more friends to lean upon and share his burdens with (because, despite all his achievements, he's still 16).

So what Yukio probably mistook as romance was simply enjoying the friendship of someone who could appreciate who he truly was, when he was starting to immensely detest himself. In this chapter, after everything he went through, I'm very glad he realized that he's not hurt nor envious and that he can be happy for Rin and Shiemi, because he's a good guy.

Second thing, a part of me actually wonders whether or not Rin probably didn't understand what Shiemi was trying to say at first because inwardly, and probably unconsciously, he was scared it would hurt Yukio and their latest reconciliation :

But when Yukio told him "actually I'm not angry at all", Rin became emotionally available to finally truly listen to what Shiemi was trying to say (even if she did indeed try harder to confess to him, haha, good for her ! What a Queen !).

It's all up in the air, but I enjoy this idea that Rin was scared to understand what Shiemi meant if that led to more conflict with Yukio, because sibling love is different but as important as romantic love, and Rin was never going to be happy if it came at the cost of Yukio's own happiness (again, they're 16 and they went through a lot).

It's like, for a chapter or two, the battle against Satan going berserk and the Illuminati doesn't matter anymore. Well done, as always, Kato-sensei !

To quote Izumo & Mephy:

they're such a #mood

And very important last panel :

Chapter 1 vs chapter 165

The fact that the first person to recognize that Rin's goal is changing is the first antagonist of the series and that he's helping Rin achieve it, in spite of his profound hatred for Satan, really is symbolic as hell.

(Late to the party but) I have so much to say about the end of Shima's mini arc. It definitely did not entirely go the way I thought it would (which is great because it means Kato-sensei is not done here).

First of all, it's interesting that this mini arc started with Bon in ch159 who's shown a lot of development about friendship and betrayal, enough to try reasoning Lightning about killing Angel, his friend (and also Lucifer's next vessel, I'm still dying on this hill).

The story then moves on to Shima who has to face Homare and we discover that they have very similar paths, family-wise : being entrusted with the family's main curse, one because she's the only woman left of her family and the other because his older brother happen to die. Does this mean Homare truly hates Shima or admires him, given their similar circumstances and Lucifer boldly asking Homare to train Shima as her replacement ?

What an asshole !

Eventually, as she loses, Homare says she hates him as she also admits being a liar, so from my point of view, we don't really know. Either way, it doesn't matter because this arc gave us plenty of Homare's thoughts, whereas Shima still hasn't faced his own issues. Like he said at the end, "he's no better [than liars]", because what's eating him is still in there.

Compared to most characters in the story, Homare and Shima have always known they're pawns in a bigger game but, unlike Homare who gave up on trying to save herself, Shima still tries to move pieces on both sides of the chess game, so that he won't be swallowed by both sides.

I saw people in the tags said "it's hard to trust Shima, still, after this arc", and I agree completely. He doesn't let anybody, friend or foe, pick into his doubts, he trusts mostly himself and the only genuine feelings we can rely on, as far as he's concerned, are 1) his kindness to girls and 2) his friendship with Bon and Koneko :

So we still can't be sure of where his character is headed, because confronting Homare who's so similar to him, did not allow us to read more into the main issues he has (which are still, in my opinion, family oriented and which fit the series' main theme).

Lastly, his popularity rose a lot after that fight which was broadcast on TV and...

...I do find it worrying that we seem to be heading right into The Terrible Future we got a glimpse of, with Paku's predicament.

In this Future that Mephy saw, idol!Shima along with Angel possessed by Lucifer (look at the damage on his body) are on the Exorcists' dictatorship side, while Rin became known as the Demon King by fighting against them...

In other words, Shima being an idol is a hint that we could be heading towards That Future and, in that case, Shima being on the Exorcists' side in That Future is bad news, as far as his character is concerned.

TL;DR despite the intro with Bon's inspiring confidence in his friends, confronting Homare did not allow Shima to open up about his troubles. Sensei really gave us a red herring here and I love that she did.

Shima still believes he's on nobody's side but his own, which is worrying, especially with him now becoming an idol, which hints at The Very Bad Future of ch139-140, in which he seems to be on the Very Wrong Side of the story.

Me : Lightning is such a cautionary tale for Ryuji’s character, it’s actually insane writing.

See ch 159 and him stopping Lightning from killing someone Lightning considers a friend because of #politics #religion and basically #war

Vs Ryuji’s reaction a hundred chapters ago upon discovering Shima is a spy

He’s come a long way, both from accepting Shima’s own enjoyment of his double spy role, but also from seeing just how far people, like Lightning, are sometimes willing to go on hurtful paths, even if it’s for “the right reasons”.

So yeah, Lightning is not just a mentor to Ryuji, who’s been on an honorable path since the beginning (as in, he wants to kick Satan’s ass to restore his temple’s reputation and he’s doing so by becoming the best exorcist he can) : he’s also an example which is not always good to follow and I think Ryuji is showing that he’s truly learning that lesson.

Hi Anon ! Sorry for the delay, I was away !

Well, I think Shiemi's mom suffered a lot, just like Shiemi's grandma, so she conveyed it as best she could considering the general circumstances of their bloodline, in my opinion.

I mean, these women don't even have proper first names : they're either Shemihaza or Saio Shiemi for every mom/daughter duo and I think this furthers the idea that the dehumanization of the Shemihaza family because of the Uzai family is meant to be targeted in the plot eventually.

I think Shiemi's mom also conveyed in the past that she wanted a way out of this system for her daughter...

...but she's also realistic about a free future for Moriyama women, all because of the iron grip that the Uzai family has over them.

As I said before though, I definitely think Shiemi is the Saio/Shemihaza who WILL put a stop to whatever the Uzai family is up to (and Amaimon will help). But before she can do that, she needs to address why she feels so useless and so much like a puppet.

It's exactly why she broke down, soon after that talk with her mom, in ch87...

Basically, I think Rin is right : Shiemi's wanting to help everyone is initially a good thing but, considering her current disregard for her own safety and happiness and how obsessive it gets, it's become a flaw. Shiemi's mom has noticed it too...

...and I can't help but think it all comes back to her dad's death.

Shiemi's mom explained that Shiemi witnessed her dad's murder and, no matter who the culprit was (since I believe it was probably Jeremiah), the fact she was unable to do anything to help her dad (because she was a kid) probably generated a subconscious trauma, which now makes her adamant about being helpful to others.

My evidence is Amaimon's aversion to Shiemi when she tamed him in that alternate timeline :

Because, like Shiemi's grandma said, familiars draw upon the exorcist's spirit and Shiemi's lack of confidence is what Amaimon can't stand at all, since he's supposed to be Shemihaza's familiar despite being one of the Baals.

So I'd say Shiemi wants so badly to be useful to others

because she lacks confidence,

because she witnessed her dad's murder and wasn't able to do anything to save him,

because she was too young

(and because the attacker was probably someone from the Uzai family and not simply "demons").

And I think she's very close to understanding why she feels like that, meaning close to remembering what exactly happened to her dad.

TL;DR Shiemi has so many reasons to want to break down about this unfair situation : she has no say in her future, deep down she feels useless because of how her dad died and she has to step into her mom's enormous shoes, without being able to mourn her death. That's fucked up.

I'm glad her friends are there with her !

(Follow up to this post)

For the record, I don't believe we are in the final arc of AnE yet.

5) For Rin to experiment or explore Gehenna and maybe meet Yuri's ghost (?) and for Takara Nemu to be revealed to be Armumahel's Nephilim

I talked about Rin going to Gehenna before and same for Nemu as a Nephilim.

Bonus point if Yukio is the one going to Gehenna instead of Rin, who wants to understand Satan's view, to parallel Rin going to the past instead of Yukio, who wanted to understand their origins so badly.

4) Shura, wielding Rin's sword, vs Arthur.

(Kind of similar to their fight during the first season's final, now that I think about it)

Arthur, as a Paladin "saved" by the Uzai family and as Lucifer's clone, is an unfortunate pawn to both the Uzai family and the Illuminati.

Whereas Shura, who recently escaped her family curse (so she can relate to Arthur's section 13 background), was never persuaded by Mephisto's bullshit as an exorcist, was Shiro's apprentice (the one clone who rebelled against Section 13 and the Order) and Rin's mentor.

Bonus points for a fight involving possessed!Arthur by Lucifer vs Shura entering a temporary contract with Mephisto (or one of his strong kins) to beat him (would echo nicely with the whole Lucifer vs Mephisto theme).

As for Shura using Rin's sword, it's simple : she's a Knight and yet her sword is almost out of massive attack possibilities, after she fought against the lust guy. So maybe she'll need to use a different sword, temporarily (and besides if Rin's ego is going to Gehenna, he'll need to leave his sword to someone he can trust).

3) Renzo rescued by Bon, Koneko and his brothers +/- Mamushi.

Because, between the Order and the Illuminati, Renzou will always choose the Myo Dha and, despite what he thinks, he's not Takezou's replacement to his family nor is he only a protector to Bon and Koneko.

Anyway, they all care so much about him, at some point he'll have to believe it, if they show him strongly enough.

I'm just not sure about Mamushi because, while I would love for her to be there and to confront Todo directly or through Homare, this might be a lot to make happen at the same time, narratively.

In any case, Juuzo is definitely worried about his brother (and not just about Bon & Koneko) in ch 152.

2) Amaimon + Shiemi vs the Uzai family from the Shemihaza faction

Because Amaimon is treated like a pawn by Mephisto & the Shemihaza faction, as much as Shiemi is a pawn to the Uzai family and the Order.

Also the whole Amaimon subservient to Shemihaza thing ? It's gotta go, it's too far in the past.

I say Shiemi is the Shemihaza who finally frees him, which would echo nicely with her gaining her own freedom for the first time after so many of her foremothers sacrificed their lives for the Order.

1) Yukio & Rin teaming up, similarly to the Yuri/Shiro incredible team during the Blue Night

I don't care if it's meant to be destroying Satan, the Illuminati or the Order (best choice would be all 3), but bonus points if Rin and Yukio also tell Mephisto & the Order to butt off, like Shiro did, when he took Yuri away.