I’m definitely right with you when it comes to the feelings of disappointment and frustration. This manga introduces a lot of intriguing concepts that I want to see pay off properly, but the longer we’re strung along the less confident I am that those things will be fully explored. Especially when the characters who represent different aspects of these themes disappear for months at a time. Like Shinya who has a defining trait of not getting riled up and acting on his desires. That’s part of the reason I did genuinely want to know your take on Mahiru’s goals bc I think looking at the characters is a good way of analyzing different positions on the spectrum of things. Although bc a lot of characters seem to have contradictory philosophies, even if they can all agree that God’s way is wack, I can’t see them all agreeing on how their world should look. Generally they don’t wanna be controlled and don’t like the current state of things, but if they all band together and succeed in making a change… then what? Do we resurrect ppl willy-nilly without consequence? Is everyone immortal now? Is it wrong to let someone die if you resurrect them after? Basically, a power vacuum and a shit ton of questions emerge once you get rid of the current rules. Even so, I’m still hoping for a satisfying conclusion even though it’s hard to imagine getting one within the next century 😐

True enough I suppose, but I still feel bad.

Exactly! I feel like that feeling of 'will this even get properly explored' is just intensified with how much we jump around. In general, I'd say we always tend to circle back to concepts and plot threads that get mentioned, BUT the roundabout way we often get there can just be frustrating.

Oh, I agree with all of that. Characters are undeniably the strongest point for this series as the plot itself is WACK af and all over the place, but as you say, it can be a bit hard to pin them down when they keep popping in and out of the story and ESPECIALLY when you look at Vampire Reign in its own bubble separate from C@16, whether that be because one hasn't read it or just for analysis sake. Again, a story should be able to stand on its own without side content imo, and it's sometimes crazy to think about how much weaker OnS's story gets without the added context C@16 brings. A talk for another time though. But yes, all their separate goals and viewpoints. I agree with what you're saying. It's why I feel so unsure about how the story is going to go. In concept, everyone teaming up makes sense since that's kinda just a standard trope-y thing, but they have different views on how they want the world to end up like you said. I'd imagine Yu's view would win out since he's the protagonist, but the other main parties' philosophies are strong and have been in the making for long periods of time. They're not just going to toss everything to the wind and join Yu because he says he'll make sure everything works out... or at least they SHOULDN'T if the story is going to be a satisfactory one, and that's what worries me. It's hard to imagine getting a satisfying ending with what we have now. Things will have to develop a lot to get there, which is why your last comment here is so true lol. We have no hints that OnS will be ending any time soon, so there's time, but if we keep wasting chapter space with pointless banter or information that we've already seen multiple times, I'm going to lose it. We're never gonna get there lol. I've said it before, but while I'm usually all for character-building banter and recaps/reminders (when relevant and necessary for the later here), I'm approaching my wit's end when it comes to Kagami wasting chapter space. Maybe "wasting" is harsh, but how many times have we talked like this and had a "another chapter spent not really accomplishing much of anything/moving the story forward :/" conclusion? Too many.

Anyways, I am curious to know what you thought and if you have any predictions on what the plan is. I feel like you have a better grasp on more characters and their motivations bc you read Cat16. Like when Mahiru was mentioned as a player I realized that I truly don’t know what she wants in the grand scheme of things.

P.s. I was having trouble with my asks going through, so I don’t think you got my follow-up to your response last month. Basically it boiled down to theorizing if the Yuu orb is sentient and whether og Mika’s soul was created by taking a part of the orb like it did to act as Mikaela. In which case, they’d share an original soul that is supposedly hidden from God

First, I’m going to address the PS and say sorry again I missed that message! That response is out so I’ll just let that speak for that portion of this ask. Now the rest of this.

Oh I completely understand. To be honest, I think this chapter was a big waste of space for the most part. I think your summation of this chapter just being review that made things more confusing is perfect. I’m incredibly disappointed and hoped we were past these kinds of chapters. ESPECIALLY since the last chapter ended with a flashback that is YET AGAIN going nowhere for the time being. Instilling intrigue into your story is fine, but to again and again taunt the audience with answers only to snatch those answers away time and time again gets irritating. You can only yank the audience around for so long before they determine that it’s not worth it. Sure we EVENTUALLY get the answers, but that doesn't change the fact that we're getting yanked around. That we're promised interesting bits of story only to have it ignored until Kagami decides it's relevant again.

It all felt pointless!! How do you, not but two chapters ago (last chapter even!!), straight up have one of the characters say “I am Mikaela” only to have him contradict that now? I get Yu isn’t supposed to be the sharpest tool in the shed, but we were told outright via flashback that Yu and Mika were supposed to trade names/roles in order to hide Mikaela’s intentions. Why would that suddenly not be the case now?? It IS confusing, but I feel like having Yu and Mika sit down and talk about it like they did here just made things worse in that regard? I’m not entirely sure what Kagami was hoping to accomplish here with that.

Now the angels vs humans resurrection thing? That at least felt like it had merit in being brought up. It IS confusing and I’m honestly not sure I would even know where to begin with that one. I think it, along with the “who is Mika and who is Yu” question, boils down to “what defines who a person is?” Is it the memories and experiences that they have or is it whatever the original form was? Does the fact that the current humans identify as humans and only have experience as humans make them human, so that’s how they should be revived, OR does the fact that they were originally angels mean that they’re angels and should be revived as such? It’s a deep philosophical question that I think could make for interesting debate. I’m sure everyone has slightly different opinions on it. I don’t think OnS will properly explore how interestingly deep that question truly is unfortunately, but I think it’s cool it’s present.

I too appreciate that the story is acknowledging this cycle of desire/obsession and sacrifice/punishment. I think it’s the heart of the story and one of the big draws of it. Maybe it’s getting a bit old since pretty much every character except maybe a couple fit in here, but it’s interesting. It HAS to stop somewhere and our protagonist being the one to stop it is just obviously how the story will go, and given that Yu and Mika are ALSO part of that cycle (even still I would say) it could make for an interesting dilemma. We’ll have to see if Yu (or Mika) is put into a situation where he has to let go of something to finally end the cycle or if they’ll be able to just push through and get everything they want without punishment, therefore ending the cycle (I feel this is more likely). It’ll be interesting to see how it plays out.

I have absolutely no idea what the plan will be. Team up with all parties and defeat God to ensure they can’t be punished? That’s the best shot in the dark I got. Could be completely wrong though. After all, even though Sika Madu and Guren have essentially the same goal, they're kinda wanting to revive people as two different things. It ties back to that philosophical question I brought up earlier. I would think this would cause them to have conflicting goals, but maybe it won't.

Yeah of all the characters, Mahiru has been the worst in terms of her character being explained here in the main story. Her ultimate goal is pretty simple I’d say? She doesn’t wanna be anyone’s pawn since she was essentially raised to be Sika Madu’s host or whatever. She wants to live her life how she wants to live it, to fall in love and be a simple girl. Don't you think were asking for all that though so sorry if you weren't. Thought I'd throw it out there though just in case.

Ever since he became a demon, his personality has been getting more and more flat. It feels so unlike him, AND ALSO UNLIKE HIS OLD SELF. WDYM HE'S BECOMING MORE LIKE BACK THEN??? THAT'S NOT HIM.

The way he talks and even his expressions feel forced and extremely awkward. The only hope I have is that 1) Yuu's personality remains the same 2) he picked up on his personality change, so there is a very small chance of there being an actual reason for it. Oh, and by very small I mean like 1%, 1.5% at best given the latest writing.