Spiritually, a distant relative of Duke Devlin/Ryuji Otogi.
Demon characters are a bit harder with how many cool designs Demizu came up with.
The Grace Field Boss Demon only shows up at the beginning and end of the series (barring S2 teasing me by having him show up during the Cuvitidala Arc), but he's such an imposing figure in that initial appearance when the kids are the most vulnerable that he stands out to me, particularly with the tubing that looks like it's from a gas mask. Gives him a clinical feel.
(Concept art from The Promised Neverland Art Book World | Chapter 176 | S1 Episode 1)
Yverk has such a grand, regal bearing to him and one of the sickest mask designs.
(Concept art from The Promised Neverland Art Book World | Chapter 147 | Chapter 7 | WSJ Issue #41 2018 Popularity Poll for Chapter 102 | Chapter 131)
I wish he got to be at the forefront more, but I can appreciate him as a constant background presence maintaining the status quo for over a millennia.
Bayon Sr. continues the trend of having one of the coolest mask designs, and I like how spindly he looks.
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Rambled about this before on this post, but I really wish they would explained how the search party is able to see out of their masks, even if it was a single panel of Emma pointing out something like nearly imperceptible eye slits.
(Chapter 147 | Chapter 149 | Chapter 150)
Older, classical masks like those of the elder Bayons (compared to those of Bayon II's wife and children), Yverk, and Geelan's clan incorporate a pair of symmetrical, horizontal, and frequently vacant eye holes among their designs.
In the chapter 90 bonus sketch, this is mentioned as respecting tradition, which I interpret as a holdover from the days of demons hunting humans, and the intention of that incorporation was to play on pareidolia-enhanced fear among humans who, out of habit, would look toward the horizontal pair of eye holes first when gazing upon demons in combat and would frequently be treated to an unflinching, menacing abyss. It's a good subtle tactic to unnerve them before they take in the rest of the mask.
Once the farm system was instituted and demons weren't regularly warring with humans anymore, it became unnecessary and seemed to fall out of style among the general population who weren't banished like the Geelan clan.
I assume this is the main reason the kids don't opt for horizontal eye holes. There's also the issue of demons potentially catching sight of their human eyes, but there has to be some black cloth to work with in the bunker that could have lined the masks if they couldn't get whatever magic Bayon and Yverk use for no other eyes or skin to show through their horizontal mask sockets.
Either way, it's one less thing to make them stand out from the crowd when they're already contending with their comparatively short statures, human hands and feet, and having to wear perfume.
I wonder what would have done Emma if Mujika and Sonju were just special, that there had not magical blood to save all the demons from the consequence to stopping to eat humans.
She already ask to the demon god to take all the humans in the human word + definitly close the passages between the worlds. She couldn't have been able to ask one more thing. Asking two things was already a lot. Or she could have but them the reward would have been higher :/
By the way, why they didn't ask that when the first promise has been made: create two world + protect demons from degeneration so they would not need to eact humans anymore. Maybe it wasn't possible, because i can't believe that nobody thought about it. Or they were rather lazzy gluttons who couldn't think to a such promise or accept to stop eating humans? Who know.
In the manga, at the end, when Leuvis explains the situation, the demons accept quickly the idea, they think that being protected from degeneration forever is better that depending of food for stay smart, even if they are like the said food.
But I guess that king and his royal court were just a bunch of selfish lazzy gluttons. Even Sonju who doesn't need to eat humans anymore want to eat them just because he wants and can't wait to be able to hunt again :/ And unlike Leuvis who was a antagonist from the beginning, he helps the heros/save Ray's life. (ok theorically Leuvis help them at the end too, even if its more his brother that he saved :/)
Because i find that "Mujika's blood is magical and drinking it protect demons for degeneration" is a little a "nice/easy" situation to not force Emma to take a decision who would be bad for demons.
what do you think?
I remember initially reading chapter 47 and thinking it was a cop-out how there were two worlds and how they could easily flee (relatively speaking) to the human world without having to sort through the arduous process of humans and demons establishing an integrated society and further exploring the intricacies of demon culture, ecosystems, and geopolitics. (I still think that, but I'm less bummed out about it now lol)
Like for a day between finishing the first season and getting this far along in the manga, my interpretation of the S2 poster was Mujika was either The One Yverk and Krone talked about, or someone up high enough in the current world order that Emma and the kids would have to confront and have a battle of wits with to reaffirm their right to exist in the world. Sonju was her enforcer and after chasing the kids around for a bit would eventually escort them to a dinner she was hosting where Emma, Ray, Don, and Gilda would wax philosophy about why the world was the way it was before Mujika posed them with a moral challenge to conquer that would eventually win her and her faction over to the kids' side as their "in" to the wider world of demon politics. Would've been down for something like that.
By the way, why they didn't ask that when the first promise has been made: create two world + protect demons from degeneration so they would not need to eat humans anymore. Maybe it wasn't possible, because i can't believe that nobody thought about it. Or they were rather lazy gluttons who couldn't think to a such promise or accept to stop eating humans? Who know.
In the manga, at the end, when Leuvis explains the situation, the demons accept quickly the idea, they think that being protected from degeneration forever is better that depending of food for stay smart, even if they are like the said food. But I guess that king and his royal court were just a bunch of selfish lazy gluttons.
I do think the answer Shirai provides of those in power not wanting to concede anything that could set a precedent and rob them of their class power and material comforts they feel they're entitled to (because hey very topical), but a scene of Julius Ratri speaking with Yverk or the other human ancestors would have helped here to show they at least considered this, even if the justification for why it would fail was faulty, especially if it was coming from Yverk.
The general demon populace quickly getting on board with permanent prevention of degeneration makes sense with the comfort it affords them, knowing they aren't a few meals away from losing their entire sense of self.
(Chapter 158; there's something to be said about the anthropocentric idea of humans being the pinnacle of intelligence that demons strive to maintain, but it's something that I can accept given the target demographic of the series and the symbolism of those in the upper classes of a hierarchical society needing someone beneath them in order to define their sense of self and worth in relation to the world around them to avoid cognitive dissonance and doxastic anxiety)
It's just Leuvis being the vehicle for introducing it that's convenient and grating after we hadn't seen a hint of what he was doing since Goldy Pond.
Even Sonju who doesn't need to eat humans anymore want to eat them just because he wants and can't wait to be able to hunt again :/ And unlike Leuvis who was a antagonist from the beginning, he helps the heros/save Ray's life.
Reading chapter 159 after reading chapter 50 and thinking about how Sonju has spent less than two weeks in the presence of these kids after centuries of looking forward to eating humans again.
(Mystic Code Book Chapter 7)
Given the feats they accomplish in that amount of time and Mujika rubbing off on him, it's not implausible to see this change happening. There's just a sense of feeling cheated for me in the same way as feeling cheated over the resolution of the Ayshe-Norman conflict. Both introduce the tantalizing potential of conflict among characters ostensibly on the same side until it's revealed they hold convictions that put them directly at odds, teasing expectations the audience would be privy to, that rising tension and eventual emotional climax of resolution, only for a reminder of said conflict to be brought to the forefront of the reader's mind and then have the conclusion expedited. All on top of Shirai rushing the ending for understandable health-related reasons, but the story still suffers for it.
Because i find that "Mujika's blood is magical and drinking it protect demons for degeneration" is a little a "nice/easy" situation to not force Emma to take a decision who would be bad for demons.
Likewise I don't find the magical blood to be a problem when considered in isolation if it results in worthwhile tension and conflict. It's the way it's executed in tandem with the ending being rushed and side branches to the story being chopped off that lessens the magnificence of its potency.
(ok theorically Leuvis help them at the end too, even if its more his brother that he saved :/)
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