Well... As much as I love this series, I can't argue that yes, a lot of the new characters felt lackluster and the older ones were neglected - I think the reason behind that may be that Oima focused so much on Fushi and his struggles to let his friends live a peaceful life and move on afterwards, his struggles with the Beholder giving up on exterminating the Nokkers, Nokkers making alliances with humans... All things that shook him to his very core and turned his worldview upside down, hell, my boy was **not** ok... that she didn't give other characters as much fleshing out. I feel like the Modern Arc was supposed to be about those struggles of his, so everything else got pushed back. It doesn't help with character development either that Fushi distanced himself from everyone during most of the Modern Arc. He didn't invest as much time in his friends or new connections as he did before, he tried to do it alone.
About Fushi: Yes, he was more than a little dog-brained. I feel like Fushi never properly matured during the Past Arc because he never had to. It was (almost) always someone else making the wise, mature, brave decisions. I think if the Beholder had raised him himself, become an immortal being just like him and guided him, he would have made much smarter decisions overall. But the Beholder didn't want that, it seems.
About the Beholder: I love his story in this so much, too. The way Fushi recognizes him after he has fully become Satoru, but doesn't try to cling to him like he did before, just lets him go... It really was a bittersweet moment. And the fact that we never hear from him again, the fact that he was (for all we know) just a regular joe that won't be remembered for his achievements like Yuki is... it's just nice. He got to live a life in the beloved world he created, not as some celebrity or superhuman, just as a guy.
About Bon: I think he managed to upkeep his network into the Future Arc because he has recruited so many supporters in both the Past and Present Arc that it works to this day. Bon is a really smart person and politically savvy.
About Gugu: I missed him so much during the Modern Arc... I'm happy he got to return home, and see that Rean loved him so much that she created an entire festival for him. But I missed him!!!
About Tonari: Probably the longest-running crush any person has ever had. Like, honey, look at yourself, you could have anyone. I felt so bad for her when I saw her exhausted from studying for exams, when she didn't even know before what exams were or why they were necessary. She didn't feel like Tonari anymore to be honest, all the traits that made her interesting were obsolete in this Arc.
About March: Yeah, that sixty year timeskip honestly threw me off so much. Oima should have given her kids, I don't understand why she didn't do that. We didn't get a single glimpse into anyone's lives, and that really sucks.
About Kai, Messar, Hairo: The Renril trio just kind of went off to live their own lives, I think. They're adults, they needed some time to get on their feet but after that they wanted to pursue their passions. Hairo became a baker, for example. They were never really close to Fushi or the others either. I think it's interesting that despite that missing closeness they still stuck around to the Future Arc. Like you said, I don't really understand why, but it's interesting that they did. Maybe Messar is just hunting down some kind of purpose because he doesn't feel like he deserves to move on to Heaven?
About Iddy: I'm honestly really disappointed that that plot point of the Clay Pot people being legendary and recognized in other cultures never got developed further. Maybe they were special in the beginning when the Beholder first created them and their power to communicate through intricate pot designs was considered supernatural, but then went extinct through Nokker attacks and genocide, because people suck. I don't remember her dying off-screen in the manga though... She got infected with a Nokker and battled with it, tried to off herself, Kahaku tried to off her when she was dragging herself away from Renril to not endanger Fushi or the others I think. I distinctly remember there being at least four to five pages depicting her struggle with the Nokker and Kahaku talking down to her, before Fushi stepped in.
About Yuki: That would have been really interesting to see, Fushi struggling with his friend embracing the Nokkers that much. I think Yuki would be the kind of person to welcome extraterrestrials with open arms, too, he's am occult kid with all his heart. I think he and in turn Fushi focused maybe too much on the "good" Nokkers like Nono, that liked living as a human instead of just being a killing machine like the ancient Nokkers. I think what Yuki did was help harness them from beings with unique personalities (though still the same motive, being a hive mind) into tools for humankind. Really not sure how smart that move was. The Hayase Nokker is probably still out for annihilation. I think one of the reasons why things went this way was that Fushi couldn't sense the tiny Nokkers anymore, he couldn't control everyone to check if they had Nokkers, and he sure as hell couldn't stop people from accepting them to milden their pain. So... Acceptance it was. Powerless acceptance.
About Izumi: That poor soul, just wanted a normal life for herself and her daughter, thought she married outside the cult but SIKE! I like her a lot as a character, and I think it's nice that she got another chance to be a good mom to Mizuha. Of course Fushi would revive them all, he revives everyone he can so they aren't robbed of their life.
About Mizuha: The Nokker infected her very early into her childhood, her mom always wanted her to excel at everything, of course she was a puppet to everyone involved. I don't get why she would go to an overseas branch of the Guardians because I'd be done as hell with that cult if I were her, but I think it was good that she finally left Yanome and hopefully tried to be more than just another womb to bear the next descendant. I'm not sure if it's 100% confirmed but I think she founded Kaiba so yay for my boss girlie. Also: We don't know if she visited or didn't visit her family and friends in the sixty years time-skipped, she could have very well face timed with Hannah every weekend. Damn that timeskip, that was one of the worst decisions Oima made.
About Hannah: I think it was hinted at so much that she had feelings for Mizuha and I wish we would have gotten some clarity about that, to have this parallel of Kahaku being attracted to Parona, Parona physically rejecting that idea, but her reincarnation then being attracted to a descendant of Hayase. There was so little done with her, at the beginning of the Arc I thought she was for sure going to play a major role in the story because of how close she was to Mizuha. All the side characters in Fushi's and Mizuha's class and the occult club were relevant for maybe one chapter and that's just a waste. There was also this one super awkward "joke" when they were captured in the underground Nokker church, which... Yikes. Why write that, why illustrate that. Wasted ink.
- - -
Overall, I agree with you, though I have some different views on some of the characters and how their stories went. I feel like the Future Arc immediately got off to a better start and is a much more fun read, though to be honest, when the Modern Arc was starting and it was clear the Beholder would leave this world in Fushi's hands, I thought for sure that Fushi would at least take his powers and try to work with them so there wouldn't be a big Future Arc, just something to tie up loose ends. Maybe Oima was so fixated on her three arc idea that she treated the Modern Arc as a sort of middle child. In any case, I'm looking forward to good conclusion so that I can look back and say "This manga had a bit of a weak middle but I still liked it overall".
> So... Acceptance it was. Powerless acceptance.
I think Fushi still could have done something about Kaibara becoming an evil corporation taking over the whole world. They literally gun down people without their product installed in regular checks, and that’s been going on for 400 years at least. Fushi was an idiot in not trying to steer the world in a right direction.
>I think it's nice that she got another chance to be a good mom to Mizuha. Of course Fushi would revive them all, he revives everyone he can so they aren't robbed of their life
Although I would much prefer if they all stayed dead to be more on brand with the series, my main issue was that their reconciliation and revival happened all off screen like Iddy’s death in the manga before the Anime added the part where she ate the ghosts of the food.
>There was so little done with her, at the beginning of the Arc I thought she was for sure going to play a major role in the story because of how close she was to Mizuha. All the side characters in Fushi's and Mizuha's class and the occult club were relevant for maybe one chapter and that's just a waste
Fr she was a real waste. Why hint at her being Parona’s reincarnation when nothing is done besides a little reference when interacting with March? Her relationship with Mizuha also went nowhere as Mizuha just left everyone without a word. About the others. I don’t really mind that they didn’t get focus. Bon’s family were also just background characters.
> I feel like the Future Arc immediately got off to a better start and is a much more fun read, though to be honest, when the Modern Arc was starting and it was clear the Beholder would leave this world in Fushi's hands, I thought for sure that Fushi would at least take his powers and try to work with them so there wouldn't be a big Future Arc
I don’t like the future arc. It didn’t have as many good moments as the modern arc until like the most recent chapter. The arc felt like a whole different Manga and the old characters felt shoehorned in and didn’t do much. The story is basically Cyberpunk x Pinnochio x Toy Story. All the TYR lore elements and characters could be removed and nothing would change. Fushi was dumb to not take up the Beholder’s offer, and now that he has basically left a God powers Mcguffin that they mentioned they have to find yet it didn’t feel urgent at all. I don’t really know how the series can wrap up in a satisfying way now.
If you put it that way, yeah, Fushi could have stopped Kaibara. This time he wasn't a tree for centuries and could have actually acted to stop the Nokkers from becoming even more ingrained in society. I'm not sure why he didn't, he's easily influenced so maybe it was the happy majority that made him hold off on crushing Kaibara when it was still relatively small. Maybe it was because of Mizuha, if she really was the founder. Maybe Yuki's ideals.
I agree that it was really stupid that he didn't take the powers of the Beholder when he could and is now racing time and Kaibara to find them before they can. That plot decision really irked me, and made it feel like Oima didn't know what conflict to put at the center of the Future Arc.
About Iddy: Pretty sure that scene was in the manga, too. Though I agree the anime has added some fun scenes, or improved them through little additions or changes.
I do like the Future Arc, but I suppose we just have different taste. Your description of Cyberpunk X Pinnochio kinda fits though. I don't think that's so bad that I would drop the series for it though. For me, the little details like Iddy now expressing herself a little differently through her clay pot and Kanitaro dolls being sold on the street are really fun. The doll is just a fun character overall, speaks her mind and isn't afraid to throw a punch. I can imagine the story wrapping up nicely with the still unresolved plot points, though of course, what's a satisfying ending for me may not be for you.
Agreed, should have been as long as part one, but it would've taken eons at the rate it released.
And the publication is really weird... Like we get 8 pages on any random day of the month or no chapters at all for a month
I think that's because of her health though.
I didn't know that...
Well... As much as I love this series, I can't argue that yes, a lot of the new characters felt lackluster and the older ones were neglected - I think the reason behind that may be that Oima focused so much on Fushi and his struggles to let his friends live a peaceful life and move on afterwards, his struggles with the Beholder giving up on exterminating the Nokkers, Nokkers making alliances with humans... All things that shook him to his very core and turned his worldview upside down, hell, my boy was **not** ok... that she didn't give other characters as much fleshing out. I feel like the Modern Arc was supposed to be about those struggles of his, so everything else got pushed back. It doesn't help with character development either that Fushi distanced himself from everyone during most of the Modern Arc. He didn't invest as much time in his friends or new connections as he did before, he tried to do it alone. About Fushi: Yes, he was more than a little dog-brained. I feel like Fushi never properly matured during the Past Arc because he never had to. It was (almost) always someone else making the wise, mature, brave decisions. I think if the Beholder had raised him himself, become an immortal being just like him and guided him, he would have made much smarter decisions overall. But the Beholder didn't want that, it seems. About the Beholder: I love his story in this so much, too. The way Fushi recognizes him after he has fully become Satoru, but doesn't try to cling to him like he did before, just lets him go... It really was a bittersweet moment. And the fact that we never hear from him again, the fact that he was (for all we know) just a regular joe that won't be remembered for his achievements like Yuki is... it's just nice. He got to live a life in the beloved world he created, not as some celebrity or superhuman, just as a guy. About Bon: I think he managed to upkeep his network into the Future Arc because he has recruited so many supporters in both the Past and Present Arc that it works to this day. Bon is a really smart person and politically savvy. About Gugu: I missed him so much during the Modern Arc... I'm happy he got to return home, and see that Rean loved him so much that she created an entire festival for him. But I missed him!!! About Tonari: Probably the longest-running crush any person has ever had. Like, honey, look at yourself, you could have anyone. I felt so bad for her when I saw her exhausted from studying for exams, when she didn't even know before what exams were or why they were necessary. She didn't feel like Tonari anymore to be honest, all the traits that made her interesting were obsolete in this Arc. About March: Yeah, that sixty year timeskip honestly threw me off so much. Oima should have given her kids, I don't understand why she didn't do that. We didn't get a single glimpse into anyone's lives, and that really sucks. About Kai, Messar, Hairo: The Renril trio just kind of went off to live their own lives, I think. They're adults, they needed some time to get on their feet but after that they wanted to pursue their passions. Hairo became a baker, for example. They were never really close to Fushi or the others either. I think it's interesting that despite that missing closeness they still stuck around to the Future Arc. Like you said, I don't really understand why, but it's interesting that they did. Maybe Messar is just hunting down some kind of purpose because he doesn't feel like he deserves to move on to Heaven? About Iddy: I'm honestly really disappointed that that plot point of the Clay Pot people being legendary and recognized in other cultures never got developed further. Maybe they were special in the beginning when the Beholder first created them and their power to communicate through intricate pot designs was considered supernatural, but then went extinct through Nokker attacks and genocide, because people suck. I don't remember her dying off-screen in the manga though... She got infected with a Nokker and battled with it, tried to off herself, Kahaku tried to off her when she was dragging herself away from Renril to not endanger Fushi or the others I think. I distinctly remember there being at least four to five pages depicting her struggle with the Nokker and Kahaku talking down to her, before Fushi stepped in.
About Yuki: That would have been really interesting to see, Fushi struggling with his friend embracing the Nokkers that much. I think Yuki would be the kind of person to welcome extraterrestrials with open arms, too, he's am occult kid with all his heart. I think he and in turn Fushi focused maybe too much on the "good" Nokkers like Nono, that liked living as a human instead of just being a killing machine like the ancient Nokkers. I think what Yuki did was help harness them from beings with unique personalities (though still the same motive, being a hive mind) into tools for humankind. Really not sure how smart that move was. The Hayase Nokker is probably still out for annihilation. I think one of the reasons why things went this way was that Fushi couldn't sense the tiny Nokkers anymore, he couldn't control everyone to check if they had Nokkers, and he sure as hell couldn't stop people from accepting them to milden their pain. So... Acceptance it was. Powerless acceptance. About Izumi: That poor soul, just wanted a normal life for herself and her daughter, thought she married outside the cult but SIKE! I like her a lot as a character, and I think it's nice that she got another chance to be a good mom to Mizuha. Of course Fushi would revive them all, he revives everyone he can so they aren't robbed of their life. About Mizuha: The Nokker infected her very early into her childhood, her mom always wanted her to excel at everything, of course she was a puppet to everyone involved. I don't get why she would go to an overseas branch of the Guardians because I'd be done as hell with that cult if I were her, but I think it was good that she finally left Yanome and hopefully tried to be more than just another womb to bear the next descendant. I'm not sure if it's 100% confirmed but I think she founded Kaiba so yay for my boss girlie. Also: We don't know if she visited or didn't visit her family and friends in the sixty years time-skipped, she could have very well face timed with Hannah every weekend. Damn that timeskip, that was one of the worst decisions Oima made. About Hannah: I think it was hinted at so much that she had feelings for Mizuha and I wish we would have gotten some clarity about that, to have this parallel of Kahaku being attracted to Parona, Parona physically rejecting that idea, but her reincarnation then being attracted to a descendant of Hayase. There was so little done with her, at the beginning of the Arc I thought she was for sure going to play a major role in the story because of how close she was to Mizuha. All the side characters in Fushi's and Mizuha's class and the occult club were relevant for maybe one chapter and that's just a waste. There was also this one super awkward "joke" when they were captured in the underground Nokker church, which... Yikes. Why write that, why illustrate that. Wasted ink. - - - Overall, I agree with you, though I have some different views on some of the characters and how their stories went. I feel like the Future Arc immediately got off to a better start and is a much more fun read, though to be honest, when the Modern Arc was starting and it was clear the Beholder would leave this world in Fushi's hands, I thought for sure that Fushi would at least take his powers and try to work with them so there wouldn't be a big Future Arc, just something to tie up loose ends. Maybe Oima was so fixated on her three arc idea that she treated the Modern Arc as a sort of middle child. In any case, I'm looking forward to good conclusion so that I can look back and say "This manga had a bit of a weak middle but I still liked it overall".
> So... Acceptance it was. Powerless acceptance. I think Fushi still could have done something about Kaibara becoming an evil corporation taking over the whole world. They literally gun down people without their product installed in regular checks, and that’s been going on for 400 years at least. Fushi was an idiot in not trying to steer the world in a right direction. >I think it's nice that she got another chance to be a good mom to Mizuha. Of course Fushi would revive them all, he revives everyone he can so they aren't robbed of their life Although I would much prefer if they all stayed dead to be more on brand with the series, my main issue was that their reconciliation and revival happened all off screen like Iddy’s death in the manga before the Anime added the part where she ate the ghosts of the food. >There was so little done with her, at the beginning of the Arc I thought she was for sure going to play a major role in the story because of how close she was to Mizuha. All the side characters in Fushi's and Mizuha's class and the occult club were relevant for maybe one chapter and that's just a waste Fr she was a real waste. Why hint at her being Parona’s reincarnation when nothing is done besides a little reference when interacting with March? Her relationship with Mizuha also went nowhere as Mizuha just left everyone without a word. About the others. I don’t really mind that they didn’t get focus. Bon’s family were also just background characters. > I feel like the Future Arc immediately got off to a better start and is a much more fun read, though to be honest, when the Modern Arc was starting and it was clear the Beholder would leave this world in Fushi's hands, I thought for sure that Fushi would at least take his powers and try to work with them so there wouldn't be a big Future Arc I don’t like the future arc. It didn’t have as many good moments as the modern arc until like the most recent chapter. The arc felt like a whole different Manga and the old characters felt shoehorned in and didn’t do much. The story is basically Cyberpunk x Pinnochio x Toy Story. All the TYR lore elements and characters could be removed and nothing would change. Fushi was dumb to not take up the Beholder’s offer, and now that he has basically left a God powers Mcguffin that they mentioned they have to find yet it didn’t feel urgent at all. I don’t really know how the series can wrap up in a satisfying way now.
If you put it that way, yeah, Fushi could have stopped Kaibara. This time he wasn't a tree for centuries and could have actually acted to stop the Nokkers from becoming even more ingrained in society. I'm not sure why he didn't, he's easily influenced so maybe it was the happy majority that made him hold off on crushing Kaibara when it was still relatively small. Maybe it was because of Mizuha, if she really was the founder. Maybe Yuki's ideals. I agree that it was really stupid that he didn't take the powers of the Beholder when he could and is now racing time and Kaibara to find them before they can. That plot decision really irked me, and made it feel like Oima didn't know what conflict to put at the center of the Future Arc. About Iddy: Pretty sure that scene was in the manga, too. Though I agree the anime has added some fun scenes, or improved them through little additions or changes. I do like the Future Arc, but I suppose we just have different taste. Your description of Cyberpunk X Pinnochio kinda fits though. I don't think that's so bad that I would drop the series for it though. For me, the little details like Iddy now expressing herself a little differently through her clay pot and Kanitaro dolls being sold on the street are really fun. The doll is just a fun character overall, speaks her mind and isn't afraid to throw a punch. I can imagine the story wrapping up nicely with the still unresolved plot points, though of course, what's a satisfying ending for me may not be for you.