Hello again, everyone. No idea when this post is coming out, but I’m starting this no sooner than when I put out the recent Black Clover post. It litearlly hasn’t even been a full 10 minutes since I put it out there, and I’m already on to the next post. Is this what people are talking about when they say “Work Ethic?” Or is this just my OCD going into Overdrive, not letting me do anything other than make this post? Probably best not to think about it. But as you can tell from the title: We’re talking about Hiro Mashima’s “Dead Rock.” I know the last handful of posts for this series haven’t been some of my best work- nor do I think the last few chapter reflect what Mashima is capable of at his best. But the last few chapters have been a “return to form” for the series– especially that last one I talked about before going on hiatus. So I decided that- of all the series I dicuss– to talk about this and Black Clover. And I picked this one because I’m seeing that people aren’t really liking it like that. I’m seeing comments on the site I read this on about how Mashima’s art has “gotten worse” or that these character are all “flat and one-dimensional,” and that he “lost sight of what he was doing.” And: I’m not gonna say they’re wrong, because I think that chapter 1o was kind of boring. And chapter 11 wasn’t all that “amazing,” either. So I think that Mashima is somewhat struggling here, much like he did towards the end of Edens Zero. 

THAT SAID: This is something “new” to him; a type of series he’s experimenting with. So I’m trying to “grade it on a curve” as it were. There are still some valid criticisms; I’ll admit that the character’s haven’t really “displayed” themselves beyond their initial introductions- no one’s really “grown” or even displayed more to their character’s beyond their gags. “We KNOW them, but we don’t know them,” you know what I mean? I get that it’s still fairly early on in the series, but once again: This Was Meant To Be A “Short Term Serialization.” Monthly, but short- maybe not even double digits in terms of Volume count. So these characters- at this point in the series- should be more or less fleshed out completely so they become a believable cast. But they’re not. And people are starting to lose their patience. I’ll talk more about this later, but keep all this on your mind for a minute. ‘Cause we gotta start the post already. 

Chapter 13: “Class F vs Bren“

Picking Up From The Last Chapter: Yakuto- using the “Luculaseram” Curse he placed on himself– he seals the White Calamity within himself, becoming a “White-And-Black Dragon-” a creature only spoken of in the Demon Realm’s Creation Records. He becomes a White Version of his Full Dragon form we saw at the Death Arena, with only his right arm(the arm he was left with after Lilith took his power). And he hasn’t gone berserk, able to speak clearly to his friends. And he picks up the fight with Bren in earnest, knocking the Gigant flat on his @$$ and blasting him with a Mouth Blast. But Bren isn’t one of the 4 Demon Teachers and Vice Principal of Dead Rock for nothing- he gets back up and starts barraging Yakuto with attacks. So Mikoto uses a spell that empowers Reisen enough to damage Bren, and Zelecia(as a Yatagarasu) takes Frey high enough for her to punch Bren dead in his one eye. It leaves Bren open Yakuto to charge him before returning to his normal form. 

He only took that Full form to complete the sealing process on the White Calamity. And now that he HAS, he can return to a state that’s easier to fight in. And with Hani’s help, Yakuto flies past all of Bren’s Mouth blasts and hits him dead in his eye, killing him and avenging Hien. After the battle, Magoo Magee asks a few questions about why the Vice Principal and students from Dead Rock were fighting. Reisen blames Yakuto, who does apologize for the damage and for taking the White Calamity like that. Zelecia goes full fan girl mode, but Magee is more concerned with Yakuto right now, asking to see his body. He shows them all the curse, having progressed to consume most of his left arm. Not that he cares; he changes to the subject to getting her to unseal the “God Roots” book. But she still warns the boy he’s only got about a year left to live. But again: Not A F*ck Does This Boy Give, so long as he accomplishes his goal. 

But God is well aware of what just happened to Bren. So he decides that this year, they’d be holding their Field Day Massacre……………

Chapter 14: “Dead Or Alive“

Some time has passed since that day; Magee has agreed to help them as a “Thank You” for getting the jack@$$ that messed up her house. There might also be something about Yakuto and Zelecia that’s piqued her interested, seeing as Zel decided to spill the beans of their backstories. She implies that she went through something “similar” to what Yakuto did. Which is telling. But unsealing this book is going to take some time; it was sealed with the power of God himself- she normally wouldn’t even be allowed to touch it. But she’ll do what she can. As for Class F and the rest of the students at Dead Rock: They’ve made it another month. God has called them into the courtyard to congratulate them, as well as encourage them to continue to study in pursuit of becoming Demon Kings. Which brings to mind the OTHER reason he called them all here: He Tells Them About Bren’s Fate. Class F is worried they’ve been caught, but God instead praises everyone for being able to take down a Demon Teacher- either pretending not to know or knowing and being a d!ck about it. So to “celebrate,” they’re going to be holding their Field Day: “Dead Or Alive.“

The Teachers are all completely into it; the students are completely shocked; and Class F just thinks the name is stupid. Which it is. But it’s clear that their little stunt has clearly gotten the Principal’s attention. Student Dorm- Bone Rampage: Class F is discussing the events they’ll be put through tomorrow, ultimately assuming that they’re about to be in some kind of “Death Game.” Yakuto is undeterred in his goals, while Reisen admits to his reason for wanting to be a Demon King- at least the part about his sword being cursed. Something’s you gotta keep “close to the vest.” As for Mikoto: She came to die. Though she passes it off as a joke. But Yakuto isn’t convinced……………….

NEXT DAY: “Dead or Alive” Will Now Commence. THE RULES: Kill Each Other ‘Til The Clock Runs Out. Every body you rack up is added to the class total, earning them a point. Taking down a Teacher will score them 10. But God admits that he won’t be involved. And to the Winning Class: An Audience With God. Which excites Yakuto immensely. But he’ll have to make it through some tough competition according to Hani: 

• Class 1A’s(Didn’t We JUST get out of 1A) Eiji The Werewolf and Dest The Gargoyle 
• Class 1B’s Setsuna
• Class C’s Lloyd
• 2nd Years Virgio and The “Head Of The Delinquents” Ares

Yakuto’s not all that worried, focusing on getting that meeting with God. Games Begin, with a hole opening in the ground that reminds the students of the Antlion Pit from the Entrance Exam. What’s more: They’re blown apart by wind, sending them in random directions and through random Level Gates. But on the way down, we catch a glimpse of Bevel The Hecatoncheir doing a rather complex math problem on the walls of the cave. Yakuto gets up in between 2 giant statues, being attacked by another student before he could even get his bearings- but dealing with the problem as soon as it arose. Taking in the White Calamity is letting him fight like before, more or less returning his original state. Either way, he just earned Class F a point. Mikoto earns another one by seemingly just punching a guy out. But she doesn’t get the chance to take it in before Boltogar The Kraken Of The Four Demon Teachers appears out of the water. He says their meeting is “Rotten Luck” on her part, but she sees it as “a stroke of good luck.” Because she came to Dead Rock With the Sole Purpose of Seeing Boltogar DIE. And something tells me she’s plans to make that happen even if it means her own demise………………….

REVIEW

Man There Is A LOT That I Want To Talk About From Just These 2 Chapters. I’ve been saying this ever since the story began, but there’s a lot of potential for this series- about as much as My Hero had. And I even bring up the similarities between Yakuto and Tomura Shigaraki in my notes. There’s so much this series can do with the world its slowly building in the background through concepts like the Luculuseram Curse, the White Calamities, the WB Dragon’s, the lore behind God, and several other concepts. And I don’t think that Mashima has any intention on delivering on HALF of it. Some, but not all. And that sucks because he has over a hundred chapters worth of content to work with. I like this series- really I do. But I can kind of see what people aren’t enjoying about it. It’s a departure from Mashima’s usual style of writing, and thus it takes a period of “adjustment” for him to get used to. But he didn’t have to abandon everything he’s used to; he clearly HASN’T. One of the things that he seems to be “foregoing” with this one is actually his Strongest Spot as a writer: His Character Writing.

Say what you will about “Fairy Tail” and “Edens Zero,” but know that we know way more about Witch, Juvia, Laxus, Sister, Drakken, Shura, Ultear, Meredy, Hades, Zero- we know them; their character’s are fully fleshed out within the first handful of chapters they appear in. We’re already on 14 of this- over a year deep- and still don’t know d!ck about these characters beyond their motivations. And that’s not enough; that’s actually what ruined the character of Dabi in My Hero Academia. I’m hoping that all these “establishing” chapters will wrap up here so we can get to the “main” stuff, seeing more of their character’s beyond why they came to Dead Rock. ‘Cause I don’t think this series is ending any time soon- unless Yakuto’s obsession gets the better of him. Which is what I’m talking about: Yakuto Has Thus Far Been “One Note-“ all of Haru, Natsu, and Shiki’s determination(and character designs), but none of their “depth;” he’s them if the goal of the series was all they were about. But I think he has potential.

Right now; his “Determination” is single minded, to the point of obsession, really. But I think that we’re going to start to see that mindset change for the better. And it started with that scene of him seeing through Mikoto’s lie– knowing her original phrasing of her goal was the truth. Because he’s the same way; he’s willing to let this curse consume him if it means that he will be able to destroy God, just as Mikoto has something that she’s fighting for with her life. In that way, I think they have common ground, and I think Mikoto knows as much. But she hasn’t the time to be wrapped up in someone else’s story– she’s on her own quest. If nothing else, Mashima has made sure to give these character’s autonomy- they all feel like they’re making their own choices, rather than just falling into to Yakuto’s Quest for revenge. He said in chapter 1 that he plans to kill all of the Teacher’s along the way to God, and Mikoto already said that she would help Frey kill Louzen. She’s already involved, but is about to do whatever it takes to take out Boltogar. And that’s where I think Yakuto comes in.

The Field Day Massacre(that name is so lazy and stupid I refuse to say it; that’s probably the least creative name Mashima has come up with for ANYTHING in ANY of his manga) presents Yakuto with the chance to face off with Lilith, who’s taken his original power.  Be it just beating her up ’til she pukes or just outright killing her– taking her down will get him his original power back, adding it on top of the power he got from sealing the White Calamity within himself(or, since both the Black Dragons and White Calamities were “one,” anyway- who knows what kind of monster he could become) and becoming stronger. BUT: Mikoto- being a potential friend just as Hien was- and being a powerful ally in her own right, is about to risk her life to fight a Demon Teacher- someone of the same rank as the guy they only beat because the guy went crazy and broke the Level Gate, releasing the White Calamity. She might just get outright killed without accomplishing anything. And Yakuto KNOWS this, having been reminded of the gap between himself and his own goal. So he has a CHOICE To Make: Does He Go Off And Search For Lilith, Not Knowing If He’s Even Strong Enough To Kill Her? Or does he go and help the rest of Class F in hopes of getting aid in taking out Lilith? 

Like I Said: Yakuto has shown to have a “one track mind” thus far, to the point of him not thinking these situations through- he sent Maxwell to a teacher’s meeting and was found out the moment God arrived; he went Full Black Dragon and lost control just to “prove” something; he basically came into Dead Rock without a solid plan. He’s reckless, and his semi-open rebellion against God got Hien killed by Bren. So his goal in the series is likely to grow into the “Avenger” type role he’s going for- this is the story of how he Becomes the Man who’ll avenge the Black Dragons, rather than the Boy who aims to kill God. Choosing to save Mikoto here would be a step in the right direction. And that’ll be 4 allies in Class F- 2 who have someone that’s along the way; one who’s totally sympathetic; and one who implies that she’s been through the same story. All that would leave is Reisen, who has to stick with Mikoto if he wants to continue to “live.” Though he’ll likely b!tch and moan the whole way. 

………………………. I’m not “upset” with what I just wrote out. But I’ll say that that was mostly about chapter 14, almost completely ignoring the chapter before it. And throwing off my talking points a little bit. I think the recent Black Clover post came out really well, in large part due to how I choose to talk about everything I was thinking: As if they were bullets points I was reading off to you. I think I have more to say on this notes, but let’s “take it back” a bit.  One of the things of note to come from chapter 13 being the fact that Mikoto is able to give her Zombies a power boost, showing that she can do more than just reanimate corpses. Enough to damage Gigant Bren, but I doubt that was the most she could do. The fact that Yakuto was able to cast a curse on himself would imply that the use of Spells is something rather common, rather than something specific to any root; she could definitely have more spells she’s hiding. Maybe that’s what she used to knock that guy out in chapter 14. 

But the MAIN Thing to come out of chapter 13: Yakuto has functionally become a Jinchuriki, needing to become a WB Dragon(seriously, it feels like Mashima isn’t even trying with naming the stuff he’s coming up with. He could have called them something campy/2000-esque like “Calamity Dragon” like a d@mn Yu-Gi-Oh! card, and instead he just called it “White-And-Black?” That’s the BEST you can do 4 series in? It’s stuff like that that makes me think Mashima isn’t putting his “Best Foot Forward” with this series, which is why I said he’s probably not gonna deliver on a lot of what I’m going to be saying here. “But A Man Can Dream,” right?) to complete the sealing process. He was likely letting out that “excess energy” as the full thing, allowing him to seal it within his body properly. But that’s the thing” The Luculuseram Curse is now confirmed to allow him to absorb things- absorb other creatures. It ties back to the deal with Lilith: Who’s to say what would happen to all that Black Dragon power if her killed her? It could just be gone forever, and he’d be back to “Square 1” in the most literal way possible. And like I said: His goal as a character is to think this process through. So I came up with another idea: Yakuto sealing Lilith within himself as well. Her interactions with the White Calamity aside, there’s what that could do for Yakuto. He could get his original power back, adding it to what the power he got from the White Calamity. Or…………… maybe his power will even multiply since the Black Dragons and White Calamities were originally one and the same. 

But then there’s the possibility that he gains all of Lilith’s powers, including her Power Draining, not to mention all the powers she’s likely drained from others. Yakuto could seriously end up becoming the new “All For One.” And that ties into an actual Character Trait of Yakuto’s: His Unyielding Hunger. Credit where credit is do: Yakuto does have an actual character trait- though only recently revealed. He showed in his desire to fight Cougar and surpass him that he has a “hunger” for more power- that he seeks to grow stronger in the pursuit of his goal, to the point of even consuming a Dragon just to crawl up to Bren’s level. So him being able to literally drain the enemy of their powers would be a fitting ability for him(ignoring the implications of her being a “Succubus” and what she did to Yakuto). It might even reduce the usage of his curse, extending his life a little bit. Although using it again in that capacity would probably speed up the process, resulting in him having less time in exchange for more power. And that itself depends on how the curse works; did it let him absorb the White Calamity because it’s a Dragon, or can he just seal anything he wants within his body? Though that gets into how the Luculuseram Curse works itself; how he both used it to bring out the full extent of his Black Dragon roots, as well as bring in the White Calamity. 

Yakuto being able to make his “Dragon Frames” is a result of his curse and not something explicit to his kind. The curse seems to allow him to bring his roots out to their fullest, but I’m not sure the method for “sealing” something within himself. Maybe something like “Bringing out your roots, and taking in new ones,” giving him “WB Dragon Roots” instead of just “Black Dragon.” So bringing in Lilith might let him use Succubus roots. Something like that. Though that gets into another part I brought up in my notes: God And His Parallel To Yakuto. I don’t know what kind of antagonist Mashima is going for with God– be he the “Reflection,” the “Inner Turmoil” type that challenges Yakuto’s world view(whatever that may be), or if he’s “Just The Bad Guy” and he’s just gonna be “cool.” In the last instance, I think Mashima needs to hurry up and start showing off his “cool factor-” people are starting to lose interest. They’re still reading, but not for much longer. But I think there’s a parallel to be made between Yakuto’s Blackening left arm- and God’s Blackened Left Eye. 2 LINES OF THOUGHT: 

1. God used the Luculuseram Curse on himself to bring out the full extent of his “God” roots, using it to usurp all other Gods in creation and sealing off everything that came before him, on some Void Century type sh!t. 
2. This guy sealed “God” within himself with the Curse, doing the same thing at the end. 

Another type of Antagonist God could be: The “Cautionary Tale-“ the antagonist acts as the “Worst Case Scenario” of the Protagonist. In This Case: “God-” whoever he is- may have had Yakuto’s same “Hunger” for power in pursuit of some goal of his own- be it something entirely selfish to the point of gluttony, or if the Gods like Selt mentioned in chapter 4 did something similar to what he did to Yakuto, choosing to climb to their level through the Luculuseram Curse and killing them all for wronging him. To fight this guy and WIN- would make Yakuto the Most Powerful Character In This Series, from everything we’re told. He could just as easily take over the Demon Realm or even all of them as a Full Fledged WB Dragon, with no opposition. But if he finds out about God’s past, and it IS in fact somewhat like his- will he choose to take his place? Or- just as he said in chapter 2- “Restore The True Sovereign?” The way he’s written, it’s not as if he’s evil– just “determined to the point of obsession.” So No; he’ll likely just restore the “True God” and go about the rest of however long his life has. 

There’s also he, Zel, and Magee revealing his curse. If nothing else– whether they believe his backstory or not- they now realize just how determined he really is. Hien was the only one who actively opposed him, while Reisen just warns him to stay out of the way. And Mikoto just plain didn’t seem to believe or even care enough. She was curious, though, as chapter 2 showed us towards the end. So now she and Reisen are in a position where they at least know that Yakuto is Deathly Serious about opposing God, even if they don’t think he can do it. And as I speculated: Yakuto might be coming to help Mikoto at least survive her encounter with Boltogar, if not help her outright kill the b@stard. With him out of the way, that’s 2 less Demon Teachers they have to deal with, and she can focus her attention to 1)Surviving This Psycho School 2)Graduate and become a Demon Lord 3)Help Frey with Louzen- or so I would think her priorities are ranked at the moment. And Yakuto helping her would mean that she owes him. Honestly, there’s too much here to say that Yakuto will choose to help her- there’s so much logic to it that it’s a foregone conclusion. Which is fine. 

Though…………………. God’s knowledge of Bren’s defeat means that he knows when the Demon Teachers are defeated- might even explains how he knew that Maxwell was a Zombie. So……………… taking out Boltogar here might just…………….. he’s about to come after Yakuto and Class F, isn’t he? The Field Day Massacre is a rouse so that he can attack Yakuto and the others directly without anyone ever knowing- to keep up appearances. Can’t let the students know that there’s a book out there with his weakness! Or that it got out of the Library. Or that a students has it. He’s coming for blood. And unless Mashima plans to just “scrap” this project here by having them die(Dear GOD don’t that be the ending), then………… he’s about to send the Whole School their way. If they weren’t “marked” before– between taking out the Head Chef, them being “special cases” in regards to being in Dead Rock, Yakuto’s rampage, and everyone now being on edge knowing a pack of students took out The Vice-Godd@mned-PRINCIPAL– they sure as here WILL BE by the end of Field Day. Which- as all those who read my last review for Boruto- Naruto Next Generations would know- I F*cking LOVE: The idea of character’s trying to defy the entire World; fighting against everything that comes their way for the sake of each other. 

It’s my favorite part of “Fairy Tail-“ the fact that everyone in the guild is ready to Wage WAR on WHOEVER because they make their family cry. You wanna wage war  on Fairy Tail? The Straw Hats? That’s your godd@mn funeral, buddy. I very much hope Class F comes together in that same manor. Well; not “the same” because those groups are basically that way from the moment you join them- Class F actually has to want to come together like that. And not all of them do. But they’re probably not gonna have a choice after this……………

I also wrote that Magee’s choice in helping Yakuto in his endeavor was peculiar. Just that look in her face when Zel told her their backstories implies that she’s either been through something similar to them, and instead chose to hide in the Deep Cry Forest(eh; not THAT stupid a name), or- at the very least– she’s curious about something. She knew about the WB Dragons, so maybe she’s interested in seeing Yakuto’s development. Then again, she could also just be curious about God’s weakness herself. She’s getting something out of helping them is my point; I just can’t sus out what……………

God doesn’t care about his subordinates- that’s nothing we didn’t already figure. But it again makes me question how much he knows about Yakuto’s rebellion, considering he knows that Bren was defeated. And that Yakuto is a Black Dragon. He “put 2 and 2 together,” if he didn’t know from the start. So Yakuto defeating Boltogar and potentially Lilith here might be playing into God’s hands. Like Zel told us in chapter 2: God Is The Most Powerful And Evil Man In All The Realms. No one would be surprised if the Winning class just up and disappeared after their meeting with God. And that itself depends on if God considers Yakuto an actual threat. He was able to deal with Yakuto’s Full Dragon form like it was nothing, and he’s only back up to that original level now. And if he REALLY saw Yakuto as any type of threat- this series wouldn’t be happening right now. Unless he’s being cartoonishly sadistic and he’s enjoying watching Yakuto try. I would honestly hope not; that kind of “Evil For The Sake Of The Plot” just comes off as stupid and contrived. So there has to be some reason he’s not going after Yakuto directly at that moment. Maybe he wants to keep 1 Black Dragon around to be his subordinate, considering how powerful they are. How he plans to get Yakuto under his control, though, is anyone’s guess.

And then you have what’s going on with Bevel. I won’t even pretend to know what kind of complex math he’s doing on the walls of this cave- I just know it’s some kind of math. And seemingly in a different language. Not gonna pretend to know or look that up, either. What his goal is with it- is also unclear. It’s a quick panel on the 1 page in one of the chapters we’re talking about- there’s not much I could gleam from what’s going on. Just that he’s OBVIOUSLY the “Meticulous” type. He could either be planning to usurp God, or he’s like Yakuto and out for revenge(one of the Silhouette’s of the God Saves looked to be a Hecatoncheire, so it looks like that’s the case), but I think it’s safe to say that he’s firmly against God. I think I said this once before: That he’s probably going to act as a reflection/foil to Yakuto, having a different set of tactics in what he’s trying to accomplish- tactics Yakuto likely won’t agree with because- although he’s still a Demon- he’s closer to Haru, Natsu, and Shiki than people give him credit for. But to “alter” that some: It might be that he acts as Yakuto’s foil rather than his reflection, going about fighting God with a “Super Calculated Plan” as opposed to Yakuto’s Brute Force idea. But his way isn’t wholly perfect, either- God is powerful. Stronger than Yakuto and whatever plan Bevel can concoct. 

But Yakuto and Zel are going to learn God’s weakness at some point. And Yakuto’s has the chance to get his original power back on top of his White Calamity abilities. Put it all together, in addition to Class F’s help, and they might actually get far- close enough to God to see if they can actually take him on. So…………. I think he’s going to start moving soon. Maybe during this Field Day Massacre, since this is the best time for him to meet with Yakuto- away from Dead Rock and God. There’s a lot that can and is going on during this particular event- I don’t know if you can label what we’ve been having up ’til now “arcs,” but I think this might be the first legit story arc in the series- multiple chapters building on the story going forward, but relatively self contained. And with everything I’m saying, I’m reminded of arcs like Foresta in Edens Zero or the Tenrou Island arc of Fairy Tail; story arcs that have multiple, moving pieces, setting up character interactions as well as setting up future confrontations. And long time followers of mine remember how much I LOVED the Foresta content– the sheer “chaos” of what was going on and the build up to future events was very well handled. I’m hoping that’s the case with this arc. I’d personally just leave the name as “Field Day Massacre,” but whatever. 

Which brings me to something kind of “Off Script.” So: I think I’ve said in the past that I try not to watch reviews on Youtube for the chapters I talk about, such as One Piece– I won’t watch a Tekking101 or Joyboy Theories video on the chapters until after I’ve finished the post; I want everything I talk about to reflect my own thought process, and not just relay to you what these other guys are thinking. I’ll tell you about some of their ideas if I think they’re relevant, but I try to make sure that I put in my own little “2 cents” on the idea. I broke this rule, recently; in my curiosity to see what people were saying about this series, I looked up videos on Youtube reviewing the chapters. And watched the chapter 14 review from “The Greek Weeb.” I wanted to know if he made the “style” of video I really like- stuff like Tekking101, Joyboy Theories, Geekdom101 back when he did reviews for episodes and chapters of Dragon Ball Super, or stuff of that nature. They were fine; I think I just need to get used to his voice and the format. 

But as I said, I only bring up what was discussed when it’s relevant. This not that relevant. Just something I wanted to bring up. He talked about the dumb @$$ translation for the “White-And-Black Dragons,” and how the name was probably “Monochrome Dragon” in Japanese. Can’t read Japanese- don’t know where to get the original scans of the chapter without doing something that costs money or would be too difficult to undo- don’t feel like it, neither. Just know that we’ll being calling it “Monochrome Dragon” from now on. Better than “WB Dragon,” and more fitting than “Calamity Dragon.” Though I think that name is cooler and has more implications to it. But that would delve into the realm of head-canon. 

Though bringing that up reminds me of what I said earlier in regards to Yakuto being “The Jinchuriki of the White Calamity-” I’m wondering how “literal” that is. Not that I think Mashima intends for it to be a “Naruto” reference(or maybe he does; I’m not Mashima, nor do I know what that guy is thinking). I’m wondering if Yakuto “sealing” the White Calamity in his body is really a “seal,” as in……………. pretty much the Tailed Beast thing- the White Calamity is turned into some kind of “energy” that Yakuto is drawing on, or if this more like “absorption.” Thinking about it, Mashima will probably choose to portray it as absorption, just to keep things simple. HOWEVER: Someone did point out how Yakuto now having a Full Dragon as part of his being(PAUSE) is a Fairy Tail reference, in that(SPOILERS FOR LATE “FAIRY TAIL” UP AHEAD) Igneel- and I believe the other Dragons who raised the Dragon Slayers- were sealed within their bodies the entire time. Not gonna go into “why” because I’m not up to that point in the series just yet myself, but I’ll say that Natsu eventually does meet with Igneel again- within his body on some Naruto sh!t. So- MAYBE. Maybe this White Calamity- likely named “Weisslogia” just like the White Dragon in “Fairy Tail-“ WILL appear mentally to Yakuto to give him some information on what happened to the Monochrome Dragons and why they were split up. Maybe God had something to do with that, perhaps because they were the only forces in all of creation who could challenge him. 

Maybe it’s also some kind of “Dragon Ball” reference(I think the White Calamity is DEFINITELY one; that was the first time I think Mashima chose to draw an Eastern Style Dragon, and it came about a month or so after the passing of Akira Toriyama(May He Rest In Peace)): God/Frieza feared both the potential of the Monochrome Dragons/Saiyans- whether they had the power to rival him individually with the power of Super Saiyan/whatever the Monochrome Dragons were capable of, or an army of them attacking all at once. And if a 1/10 Monochrome like Yakuto was able to take out a Gigant like Bren, then I shudder to think what a Full Grown, Full Fledged Monochrome would be capable of- let alone a Fleet of them. If I were God(in this context)- I’d get rid of em, too. “Context Is King,” people. 

I also wrote in my notes the similarities in Yakuto and Mikoto- both coming to Dead Rock with every intention of killing one of the members of the Staff, even if it’ll cost them their lives. The Difference Being: Yakuto made his mission statement known to Class F from the get-go, wanting help because he knows he can’t do it alone- vs Mikoto who’s been keeping this Fury to herself, planning to go in alone. I’m drawing a lot of “parallels” with this series, I’m noticing; I guess I miss My Hero more than I thought I did. Anyway: I wrote down how this series is handling the “Team Coming Together” in comparison to the way that Mashima has done this before, choosing to establish them all as individuals and giving them their own goals before they ultimately come together. Because a lot of their goals align- Zel sought out Yakuto because she also wants to kill God, and Frey and now Mikoto are established to have vendetta’s against the strongest Teachers at Dead Rock, whom Yakuto already said he planned to deal with along the way. Hani just feels bad for Yakuto and wants to help him; Hien is dead; and Reisen is the only hold out, but he has to keep at least Mikoto alive if he’s to release the princess. Maybe that’s what the point of these early chapters are, and going forward we’ll actually see them all start to work together. 

I also wrote that Yakuto choosing to save Mikoto- and thus Reisen- will show Reisen that Yakuto isn’t a bad guy at heart- Obsessed, but not to the point where he’s just going to disregard the people he’s trying to get help from. If anything, it’ll prove that they have some similarities: Both just being 2 kids who came to Dead Rock for a specific reason- Reisen to save someone, and Yakuto to kill. I don’t know what happened to that guy who sealed the Princess in his sword, but I imagine that Reisen wasn’t able to kill him- not that that seems to be his top priority. That guy is probably gonna make an appearance soon, probably once Boltogar and Lilith go down. Gotta bring some “New Staff” to replace the one’s dropping off, right? And EVERYONE works for God, so he’ll likely come in as some kind of “Replacement” or something. And then Reisen let’s his emotions get the better of him- just as a Musica, a Grey, or a Weisz would(he said there wouldn’t be a “Main Heroine” this time around like Elie, Lucy, and Rebecca, but I think Reisen can fit properly with “Bad Boy With A Heart Of Gold” motif that those other 3 do)- and end up in fight he can’t win, nor has the “luxury” of getting out of through death. And that’s where Yakuto and the rest of Class F come in to help him. Something simple and more in line with what he’s done before, but quite effective. “Tropes Are Tropes For A Reason,” or so I heard my brother say once in the past…………………………

VERY LAST THING: The Oracion Seis group. I was totally joking with those other 5 I speculated, but that Ares guy? “Head Of The Delinquents” in a Demon King Training Academy? AND he’s a teenage boy? The “main” group in his little gang would be called something cheesy like “6 Demon Generals” or something just as campy!! Them, or the Replacement Teachers God will bring in to deal with Class F. Who knows, Saru may even be the first one of the Seis introduced in the series, tasked with watching over Class F and reporting to God on Yakuto’s movements. I honestly don’t have much left to say about it– this post has gone on for a while. And there’s not much left to say about the topic: They’re either a group working for God, or a pack of students- either the Top 6 like Cougar was or a band of Troublemakers that manage to keep off of God’s radar. It’s a series about DEMONS- after 3 Weekly Series of using that group, only to use a series about actual Demons and he chooses to forego using that group just to “make it stand out?” My brother Ajay already says this series is Mashima “trying to be different for the sake of it,” and I try my best to prove him wrong. Because this series- if nothing else- has Potential(I wouldn’t have talked this long about it if it DIDN’T). But I think him not using the term “Oracion Seis-” would be a sign that Ajay’s right. And that would suck. I still gotta live with him…………..

Closing Thoughts

Okay, so this area might come off a little “weird” because my usual “status quo” is being disrupted- both in my day-to-day and when it comes to working on my blog. Sight went down again, in a completely new way this time. So I’m actually starting this part of the post on the Document I save back ups of my posts. I started saving copies after the LAST TIME the site went down(I can’t even find what posts I started doing this because the whole site- admin and reader page- are down), and I don’t delete the images until a few days after the post comes out anyway. Hopefully I didn’t lose anything from this, and hopefully I can just pick up with the section after my dad gets the site back up, but for now- you just gotta bare with me. And my life status quo is very personal so I won’t go into details. Just know: I’m in the middle of an assignment at work that’s keeping me busy Monday through Friday from 5:30 in the morning to about 4:40- 5 pm in the afternoon. And it’s exhausting the h#ll out of me, so my grandmother is having everyone else help with around-the-house jobs. And that’s causing friction. ‘Nough Said.UPDATE: Sites back up, and I’m working on this section back in my “correct” environment. So I think I can sort out my thoughts a little bit better. 

It’s been about a week since I last edited this post(I’m writing this post Saturday, August 24, 2024, around 4:24 pm); I got an assignment at work that had me going back all week, from 5:30 in the morning to about 5 in the afternoon. By the time I get back, I don’t really have the “energy” to work on my blog like that. That and watching series with my brother’s at night so I try to keep my computer charged so I don’t get back on my computer past a certain time. But IN that week, I thought a lot about what I want to say about this series and these chapters. But I forgot a lot of it. I don’t write down my “general thoughts” like that for this section like I do for the “Review” part of the post; this is just meant to be the random thoughts I had while reading these chapters. I know that ONE of the things I wanted to discuss was the topic of “Potential.” LOOK: This series– as well as My Hero Academia– have a LOT of potential. This series can be everything that even “Rave Master” wasn’t– be the thing that redeems Mashima from the stigma of Fairy Tail and the fallout of Edens Zero; the series that makes people see Hiro Mashima in a whole new light. I’ve written about the minute levels of characterization even I didn’t notice the first time reading all of this- where these character arcs could be going- what these characters and their WORLD can become. The potential for some One Piece level Worldbuilding, with all the character writing of Death Note right up to(SPOILER ALERT) L’s Death. It can be great. 

And That’s The “Kicker” There: “Can.“

This can be a great series with some of Mashima’s best writing since “Rave Master.” But…………………. that’s not what this is. It’s………… Mashima’s little “Experiment.” He just wants to see what he can do with this type of series. And while I will die on the hill that chapter 1 was really solid- I can also admit that…………. I don’t think he’s doing this right. He’s all at once “rushing the series” and “dragging his feet-” all at the same time we’re knocking down the Demon Teachers- the people we assume to be God’s most important minions in the series- and yet it doesn’t feel like anything is actually “happening” anymore. At least- it feels like Mashima is missing that “Hype” factor when it comes to the battles in this manga. We don’t have “Natsu vs Laxus;” “Haru vs Lucia;” “Musica’s Wrath;” “Shiki vs Drakken;” “Shiki vs Shura-” we’re lacking that same “Build Up” to “The Big Bad.” He’s gone out of his way to introduce us to the series Main Antagonist/Main Goal from chapter 1, and gave us the Demon Teachers- his current “Main Guard” as early as chapter 3. But we’re knocking them off as fast as we’re facing them. Boltogar I predict will meet his end here- leaving him alive would leave Yakuto and Mikoto in a dangerous situation. And we don’t have his “personality” to say whether or not it’d be better for him to live. We need stuff like that. Then again, we still don’t know much about God as a person- he’s just…………………. Evil. And maybe that’s the point.

Mashima said in his Volume 5 extra’s for Edens Zero that he came up with characters like Spider and Muller for the sole purpose of being “Just The Bad Guys-” Villains that you don’t empathize with. To the point of being “Cartoonishly Evil.” Then you have one of my Favorite parts of the Final Arc: Lady Freyja of The Oracion Seis Galactica Of Universe 0. She was great; had a lot of “personality” for the 4 chapters she was in- she was showed herself to be playful, cutting up Homura’s clothes and stripping her naked; ruthless and bloodthirsty, bragging about singlehandedly massacring 1.6 Billion people upon creation; she’s arrogant, shown when she brags about her power after seemingly defeating Homura; she longs for a true challenge against a “True Warrior,” but couldn’t find one and thus decided to let herself be destroyed; she’d grown complacent in her power, never striving for more because- as far as she could tell- “She Was Already Given Everything She Needed To Be The Best.” ALL OF THAT we got from her in 4 chapters of something that was kind of “rushed” at the end there. And ALSO kind of lacked that “Oomph” factor in a lot of places. She was never made to be anything more than “The Villain.” And she worked. Because UNLIKE that NOBODY All For One– she left as soon as she arrived. It’s okay to make someone who’s “Just The Bad Guy,” but 1)They can’t overstay their welcome and 2)They have to have “presentation.” No antagonists in “Dead Rock” has had ANY of that.

God has no “personality” and he’s the “End Goal,” so we’re gonna be stuck with him for a while. If Mashima is going to give this guy characterization, then he needs to get that process started already. Cougar had the most “personality” of any antagonist we’ve seen, and we had about the same amount of time with him that we did Freyja, but his role was more about showing Yakuto’s Determination and “hunger” than anything else- he existed for the sake of Yakuto’s characterization. Bren was just a “Big Tough Guy” with a temper, who was an enemy for all of 4 chapters. We got less from him in the same amount of time as Freyja. Do you see what I’m saying? We either need more time with this series and with these characters to convey the story Mashima’s trying to tell- or he just needs to write this sh!t better. He has more pages and more time to work on this story- it feels like there should be no excuse for the guy who gave us Rave master, the Tartaros arc, the Belial Goer arc, and so many compelling characters should be writing something so………………… soulless. It feels like this series just has no “heart” in it. Which sucks because the concept of a series where you go to a school to learn to be a Demon King sounds like it should be ripe for things like character and worldbuilding. 

I don’t know: Maybe Mashima thought this was a good idea, and then…………….. just kind of didn’t want to work on it after he started. He’s been branching out into things such as making anime; game development; youtube; things other than manga. And………….. maybe he’s just starting to lose his “passion” for making manga- not many people get to make 3 200+ chapter series- let alone do many mangaka see success beyond their first big work. But Mashima’s second series is far and away more popular than his first- and he didn’t even have to go through the same process of getting “Rave Master” serialized that other mangaka had to. He…………………. “peaked.” At this point, he’s just kind of occupying his time by doing a job he no longer needs. I don’t know what that 5th series is going to be about, but……………. Not sure it’ll be that good. And I highly doubt that it’ll have the same popularity as Fairy Tail. Maybe I’m wrong; I don’t pretend to know what goes on in this guy’s head(especially not right now), but……………….. I’ll keep reading. I’ll keep following and looking to see what he does. But I think the 5th will be his FINAL Manga. And it sucks because I’ve come to enjoy his art style and some of his humor. And I think you lose a bit of that “charm” when translating it from manga to anime. At least- that’s how I felt about the “Edens Zero” anime. Ah……………… I just hope this series picks up soon, ’cause I really hate looking at the comment section for this series and seeing the sh!t people are saying about it. I think it has potential, but that can only take it so far……………………

Conclusion 

This post took longer to get out than I ever intended. There was a lot that got in the way of me doing this post- from family coming over and me being the “awkward” type was unable to focus in the middle of a crowded area, to this site going down again, to work and stuff. There was a lot. As such, this post will be coming out Thursday, August 29th, 2024, around 2:09 pm in the afternoon- after finally adding the images to the “closing thoughts” section and finally writing out this conclusion part. I thought I’d have more to say at the end here, but in all honesty, I want to put this one out before anymore “craziness” occurs. Ah……………. I guess if I had anything more to say about this series, I would say that I hope the next chapter is the “Turning Point” needed to show that this series is worth our time. ‘Cause I can’t say that it is. I’ll review it right up to the end, but……………… Look at “My Hero” and ESPECIALLY “Edens Zero.” I’ve got a lot to do, and not the environment or equipment to do it all in a timely manor. But I’ll try. That’s all that I can do. Until next time, everyone.