Ch. 57 Summary: A reporter investigates the dragon children. Shiina’s mom meets Akira. Sudou plots something terrible.
Ch. 58 Summary: Shiina investigates Mishou, leaves home, and runs into Mamiko.
Ch. 59 Summary: Shiina and Mamiko ride bikes together. Mamiko reveals that the entire earth is her shadow dragon. Japan launches ICBMS at America.
Ch. 60 Summary: People look for Shiina. Cities are destroyed by nuclear weapons. Many dragons appear in the sky.
Ch. 61 Summary: Sudou launches more nukes. Hoshimaru picks up Shiina.
These final chapters of volume 11 are mostly setup for the epic conclusion volume 12 has in store for us. Yeah, that’s right, nuclear winter is just the beginning of this. It’s going to get much worse.
Sheol as the Earth
So the entire Earth is Mamiko’s dragon child. Which she named “Sheol”, the abode of the dead. More specifically, Sheol is a land of darkness, cut off from light and from God, where all the dead go, both the righteous and the unrighteous, regardless of their deeds. And Mamiko identifies Sheol with the Earth.
And Sudou is working to make it just that, the land of the dead. (Kitoh’s style, filled with the detail of debris, works great for these kinds of destruction scenes.)
Mamiko and Sudou don’t see this as sad even. They think the earth would be better off as Sheol.
I mean, sure, the Earth wouldn’t be sad, the Earth doesn’t really have feelings. But… what? Basically Sudou’s logic is, people don’t treat the earth well? So we should start a nuclear war and destroy all humans? I don’t entirely understand him. I also like how he accuses mankind of becoming too arrogant, while he unilaterally judges them and arrogantly decides that it’s in the earth’s best interest for him to bring about their extinction.
And somehow Bungo goes along with this plan because he thinks they need a uniform society of law and order? I suppose the lack of any society whatsoever would fit these conditions, but… Teenagers are dumb I guess. I’m guessing their logic isn’t something we were supposed to think too hard about.
Shiina’s Mother
We’re forced to reevaluate Shiina’s mother a bit here. She seemed like a terrible mother (and she is). But she has changed her entire career and life for what she sees as Shiina’s sake. Shiina may be afraid she’s a replacement for their previous daughter, but it’s not nearly as simple as that. Both her parents certainly care for Shiina deeply.
The Dragon Children
We also get this interesting tidbit about the dragon children. The dragon children come to those who ask for their help, even subconsciously. Why and how have the others wished for the dragon children’s help?
So Sudou is the executor and Mamiko is an observer. Recall that Tsurumaru earlier told Shiina that her role was to observe. Is he another executor paired to her observation? (By the way, my Japanese sucks, but I think the translation above, “the one who makes decisions” is not correct. That doesn’t make sense— the executor makes decisions, not the observer. I believe a better translation is “the one who judges”.)
Finally, note how the dragons appear in the sky after the massive death toll, and how Shiina feels sick.
