Ch. 16 Summary: Shiina and Akira follow Tsurumura to his and Koga’s building, where they discover Koga creating what looks to be other dragon children.

Ch. 17 Summary: Akira hears about Tomonori’s death on the news. Because he disappeared his mother starved to death. Everyone talked about what a great, loving child he was who dreamed of becoming a doctor.

Ch. 18 Summary: Akira goes to leave flowers at Tomonori’s house. She encounters Sudo and they run from the cops together. Explosions ensue.

Ch. 19 Summary: Miyako and Satou discuss their plans in the car.

Things are slowing down a bit as we establish the villains. There’s less to say so I’m combining more chapters into a single post.

The Chase

The scene in which Akira (with Hoshimaru) chases Takeo was much more amusing the second time reading it, due to the additional knowledge I had.

When Akira feels Shiina holding her through Ein Sof and begins to blush, the expression on her face is so adorable. She imagines she’s holding Shiina but… yeah. This scene takes on a whole new light the second read through.

Takeo is such a player. Although I guess given extra knowledge the second time through, his immediate interest in Akira makes a bit more sense. Still totally creepy though.

Lives of Contradictions

Tomonori professes his belief that the weak should perish, especially intelligent people like doctors. But now we discover that Tomonori had been taking care of his sick mother all by himself: when he disappeared, she starved to death. As the icing on the cake, his neighbors say he wanted to become a doctor. Which is the real Tomonori?

It’s hard to say for sure, but I’m going to assume that neither of his faces was a lie. He was resentful of his mother and the fact that he had to take care of her. But at the same time I imagine he must have loved her.

Sudo is also a man of seeming contradiction. He claims he is a protector of the earth. Yet he is part of a group that wants to kill off the weak, and he just finished with seemingly killing some police officers. Is being a protector of the earth simply his delusion?

Let the Dead Bury Their Own Dead

Sudo is odd in that Akira feels safe and protected around him, yet he is already a criminal and intends to become a master murderer. All while viewing himself as the protector of the earth.

I think some of what motivates him is revealed in his conversation with Akira. He asks Akira why she brought flowers for Sudo, and tells her that the dead have no need of them.

Sudo has no empathy for the dead, because, as he points out, they don’t even realize that they’re dead. Death is meaningless to the dead: it only has meaning to the living who remain. So perhaps this is why Sudo doesn’t appear to view killing as unethical. If the dead don’t care, then what’s the problem?

Compare Sudo’s words regarding flowers and Akira’s delivery of flowers to Tatsumi and Satou’s delivery to the dead policeman. Akira delivers flowers for the dead. Sudo sees flowers as for the living. Tatsumi and Satou appear to deliver flowers for themselves and their own pursuit of power. As adults, they’ve become used to death and don’t think about it much. Just as another adult told Shiina earlier.

 Further Thoughts

So adorable.

Kitoh has such great attention to detail in his drawings. His drawings of machinery and of junk are particularly breath-taking. Drawings of junk like this have always amazed me. You need such an eye for detail and so much patience to draw all this stuff.

When Shiina says that what Norio has made are just puppets, he says she doesn’t know everything. Which she of course doesn’t. Keep this scene in mind later on.

As usual, the machinery is beautiful. This and the elongated bodies are the hallmarks of Kitoh’s style.

Love the facial expressions too. That look from Sudo is perfect.

Pay attention to Tatsumi’s nationalism. Getting pissed because some random guy on the highway doesn’t have a Japanese car. That’s a bit extreme.