#daremoine

So far she seems like wasted potential. There is a lot of interesting stuff about her, from the way Jeanne's storyline ties into her to the dynamic she has with HonHon. Like, they definitely feel like they are becoming bickering friends and they feel like the members of the Daremoine team likeliest to redeem and switch sides. Again, I feel like the series should have focused on this more then the Daremoine/Illimunati plotline. For example, the Patch that protect the Daremoine. Did we honestly need that stuff? Like, it's nice getting a glimpse of Hao's time as a Patch but it honestly didn't feel necessary. The Patch are always second in importance to the actual contestants, and I feel like there is so much going on the contestants of the YVS team are barely fleshed out and we still need to be introduced to 6 more teams! It's the same problem I encountered when reading Marcos. The story is so all over the place with so many people to focus on that its hard to keep track which defeats any emotional attachement. In regards to all the various new characters, it means their potential got completely wasted and we'll never love them as we could have had. How am I supposed to care and invest in Black Maiden, when she gets so little screentime and we can predict this to continue in the future just by remembering we need to introduce 6 more teams, their Patch guardians, the whole moon arc and the aliens. There is so much shit introduced as well, like talking about the aforementioned Patch, why do the Patch of the YVS have an aesthetic? As in the fact they were all insect spirit users. The Patch of the original series used plants and animals alike! Their spirits weren't a cohesive aesthetic like the previous Patch were, so again it feels like its part of how they are retconning the original series to be more aesthetic based like we were already shown with Alumi's 'stylish' oversoul. The original series literally had this line about oversouls not needing a style or aesthetic because it was the pure bearing of their soul and emotions, etc. And then we get the sequel, were we suddenly get more aesthetic cohesion and style... It's as if the writing itself is telling us the sequel is all about style and no substance.

I don't want to say Hao did the kids a favor by killing them, but they definitely did need to escape that orphanage ASAP.

Now this is an excellent question! Well, when they were first introduced, I was surprised yet I wasn't. I hadn't expected the Tao family to be involved in a clanwar but with the way they clearly had enemies that caused them to go into hiding it didn't felt out of left field. I really would like to hear their story and why they feel justified to go after the Taos despite the fact they never suffered that much as they said they've been involved with the Daremoine for centuries. They're not oppressed or anything, so why should I root for characters who kill innocent bystanders just to keep their power? In that regards, I wouldn't care if they were to die. Especially Yonhon, he really is a snake that deserves hell. How he manipulated his sister and the Black Maiden is just unacceptable. I don't care how much he loves his momma and wants to keep her out of the fight. The fact he even put his mom in a forced coma is an act of abuse. The Dong mother deserves her bodily autonomy. The girls from the Dong family are more likable to me. Shahon doesn't seems to care for the war, she seems more of the long-terms kind of schemer and I love those kind of antagonists. If you were to ask me which characters I would like to peek into their minds and I had to chose between Shahon and Yonhon, I'd definitely choose Shahon. I'd love to know what she's up to. HongHong seems redeemable, and I'd really like her to run for the hills with lightning speed. She deserves a better family, and she definitely feels like the Dong clan's version of Iron Maiden Jeanne back at the start of the Shaman Fight, when she was ignorant and brainwashed by the X-Laws. I found the Dong family's plotline way more likable until they started developping the Illimunati plotline. Not only does that seem total fanfic-y, but it distracts from the interesting questions. I mean, I'm way more interested in the Dong family then Manta's old butler having his Iron Man fantasy, something that also actively undermines the original story. Because if the Daremoine controls the world, and its a Shaman run organization with non-Shamans working there and at least having knowledge about it, then why the fuck was everyone so upset when the island was discovered by humans through the X-satellite? They already have the world's governments in their pockets, they should already have known it exists and be closing a blind eye to it! I swear, the Daremoine plot kills the actual interesting and cool new stuff that has been introduced. Tamao had her awesome cloud form, yet the technique is still not being taught to the characters or is it something they are talking about achieving. Compare that to how in the original story, new techniques were introduced. If the characters didn't learn them immediately, it would be hyped up and mentioned various times throughout the story by characters like Hao's minions taunting the main cast they were taught his techniques. I can only wonder if Daremoine's power ritual will be explained in the next manga or if it will never be mentioned again.