Hello, all. I’m in the midst of another post for another series I’m adding to the roster of series we discuss. I had work most of the week, and by the time I was able to sit myself down and work on the first chapter- it was Friday, and the next chapter releases Sunday. So I’ll just lump those 2 together as a “First Impressions.” But I WILL be talking about it right up to its end- be that at chapter 18 or 280(preferably the latter). I’m hoping you all like it, too; the artist of the series deserves your support. You’ll see when the post comes out. For now: This month’s chapter of “Dead Rock!” I say it all excited, but I honestly debated on whether to do this or a One Piece “Catch Up” post. 1) I just plain miss talking about it, and 2) I have some colorings I really want to show you guys!! You can find them on both of my Facebook pages, as well as my twitter page. I’ll find a way to show you here- I promise. But I decided to get to this month’s chapter of “Dead Rock” because I’m seeing people react positively to the series for a change! So I HAD to strike while the iron was hot.
I’m glad to see people coming around on the series- but more than that, I’m glad to see that Mashima seems to be getting to “the point” already. I said it in the last post I made for the series that Mashima might have been dragging his feet with what was going on- and yet still trying to hit every beat he already has in mind. If I were to have 1 complaint about the series, it would be that; the “tempo” is all off- hitting the notes at random times instead of “in sequence.” I honestly didn’t think we’d be dealing with the Demon Teachers this early- let alone that we would start with taking out the Vice Principal of the school- the person here who you would think was second to none but God himself. Between Louzen for Frey and Lilith for Yakuto, you’d think those would have been some of the first we’d be dealing with. Or heck, even Boltogar. I was genuinely surprised with the immediate follow up on Bren. And then there’s the lore dump we got through the Monochrome Dragon– the introduction of the White Calamity and its subsequent absorption by Yakuto all in one chapter is all at once cool, and yet I feel like we could have gotten more time to sit on both the Calamity and Monochrome Dragons. And heck; Magee, while we’re at it.
From the reactions I’m seeing, it seems like Mashima is starting to find his footing in this new type of series, and that fans are coming around to it. So maybe my problems will be resolved sooner rather than later, which is always a good thing. And I’ve run out of things to say- Let’s Get On With It. Dead Rock Chapter 15: “Ghost.”
Overview
The opening of the chapter is just a recap of the Field Day Massacre Event “Dead Or Alive:” Students participate to kill one another- a fellow student gaining 1 point for the class and a teacher 10- in pursuit of the goal of an an audience with God himself. Frey and Hani gain 2 more points for Class F(and Frey is loving it), while Yakuto looks at the class’s point counter go up. He’s confident that- with all the enemies in front of them- they can get up close to God in no time. But- he finds himself confronted with Ares– 3rd Year and Head Delinquent at Dead Rock Academy! Yakuto’s about to move in for an attack, but finds himself frozen in place the moment that Ares raises his hand. Thankfully, Ares didn’t come to box- he came to talk. He admits to knowing about Yakuto’s exploits since coming to Dead Rock- about Maxwell, Chef Ogre, and even Cougar and Bren. This gives Yakuto cause to pause, replying that Ares “Isn’t a Normal Student Himself” for knowing about all of that. But Ares says that his goa is to keep things “Nice And Chill” for his last year here, trying not to “stand out” too much. As such- he plans to put Yakuto in Cougar’s place.
Before Yakuto can ask what that even means, he finds his fist moving on its own- striking Ares in the face, gaining Class F another point and taking Ares out of the massacre(though it’s clear he could keep fighting after that). We then see Reisen take out another student, putting Class F at 6 points. The others around him are surprised to see him in the world of the living after what happened Day 1, but he warns them that Class F has a “Monster” by the name of Mikoto. Speaking of: She’s starting her fight with Boltogar “The Kraken” in earnest. He makes sea puns, by the way. He takes out her Zombie hoard with hydrokinesis in an instant, and he uses his tentacle hair to drag her into the water. She summons a hoard of Fish Carcasses to fight back, but Boltogar blows them all away, and shocks Mikoto with “Plasma Squid Ink.” It leaves her clothes tattered, making Boltogar think that she’ll “sell” for a lot. And that wakes her right up, summoning Corpses from under the water, channeling her power through them to blast Boltogar out of the water.
Now he’s p!ssed, but Mikoto comes up to inform him of what she knows about the Demon Teachers:
- Vice Principal Bren had a temper problem and took it out on students he didn’t like.
- Louzen kidnaps students to be his slaves.
- Lilith. Okay, she doesn’t say anything for Lilith, and admits that she doesn’t HAVE anything on her. But…………. Succubus.
- Boltogar kidnaps students as part of a Human Trafficking Ring, under the guise of them being “Lost To The Sea.”
He admits it- he’s making loads of money off of selling em. That was his mistake: Mikoto Is Part Of The Demon Realm Secret Service Agency “Ghost,” sent here to execute Boltogar! AND HE’S SH!TTING HIMSELF OVER IT. Ares realizes that Ghost has made their move, alerting Yakuto that something else is going on here………………… Dead Rock Chapter 15 END!! I genuinely did not see that coming!!
REVIEW
The 2 Big Take Aways From This Chapter Are OF COURSE: Mikoto’s A Cop and Yakuto’s Being Built Up. Mikoto is hot, so we’ll start there. She’s a F*cking COP. I saw someone on twitter talking about how this might be Mashima retooling the character of Amira from Edens Zero– the idea of a “Fem Fatale/ Spy” character as an actual story element, rather than something he came up with on the spot; actually exploring that kind of faction. I would have liked to see the Space Government of “Edens Zero” play more of a role, but I think it could work here, too. Specifically because it implies that- while God is the Ruler of the Demon Realm- there’s clearly a separate Governing body in charge here. He might be the Ruler in “Power” alone– everyone just “knows better” when he gives an order. But Ghost’s presence at Dead Rock implies that he either doesn’t know that they’re working in Dead Rock- which I doubt if he knows about Bren’s fate and Yakuto– or that he simply doesn’t care- which is the most likely option. But would honestly make God seem like a dumbf*ck for letting Yakuto live, amass power, and at the same time letting Ghost get information on him. I don’t know if Ghost is standing against God, but the fact that they’re trying to take out the Demon Teachers would imply that they are at least not with him like that.
It also paints a picture of why Mikoto is opposed to helping Yakuto:
- That’s not her objective here- her aim is to execute Boltogar at the moment; they’ve taken out Bren, which seemed like a priority; she’s already promised to help Frey with Louzen; and he doesn’t have information or evidence on Lilith, but she implies that she’ll be doing some digging from here on.
- God is the Top Dog In The Demon Realm; Ghost is just an organization that seems to be in charge of taking in and/or executing criminals. The 2 have no reason to interact, nor is Ghost stupid enough to pick a fight with God before getting his weakness- which may change the perimeters of her mission.
It’s also made clear to us that killing Boltogar has enough “weight” to it that Mikoto is ready to put her life on the line to make sure he’s dead. So he likely kidnapped someone close to her, thus adding another layer to the promise she made with Frey to help her kill Louzen: Her situation is the same. And yet it STILL makes me question why she’s against working with Yakuto; he said from the get-go he planned to kill the Teachers and staff along the way to God. Working with him seems to do nothing but help her in the long run. Maybe it goes back to what I said in the previous “Mass Review:” Yakuto’s too impulsive and narrow-minded to actually think about a plan. Maybe she’s thinking that working with him will end with her being killed without accomplishing her mission. In which case, I think she’s making the right choice- at least at the moment. I think the meeting with God might knock some sense into Yakuto……………..
Side Note: I like how Mashima isn’t saying what Lilith is doing- even though we know. Bren was just a guy with anger issues, and Dead Rock provided him with an endless supply of “stress relievers” to take his anger out on; Louzen is a cartoonish bad guy who turns students into mindless drones for his own amusement- implied to be ^@9#ing some of them; Boltogar’s a smuggler who runs a Human Trafficking ring; but Mikoto has NOTHING on Lilith? Seriously? I get that the magainze he’s working in has some “limits,” but…………… She’s doing exactly what we think she’s doing. With some cartoonish twist as we see with Yakuto– but it’s happening all the same.
And then there’s Yakuto and Ares. Mashima might give this guy the roots of “Aries, God Of War” from Greek Mythology- somewhat like Hani and Thor- giving him the ability to like “control ‘violence'” or something to that effect, explaining why Yakuto was able to attack him until he was made to; Ares could control any enemies body so long as they try to attack him first. Which would further go to show that Yakuto isn’t thinking his actions through. Though that’s just my own speculation based on what we’re seeing. He could also just have psychic powers. But that’s not his only power; he also has “Influence And Information-” 2 abilities afforded to him as the “Head Delinquent.” He has enough “sway” in this school to get the the lowdown on everything going on- to the point of even knowing about Yakuto’s exploits against Bren. Which- I don’t like. Because it makes no sense. Who would he have gotten this information from? The only one’s other than Class F who were there were Saru, Magee, and Bren himself. Who would have told him; who was there to relay this information to him. I can at least argue for Maxwell and Ogre, and Cougar’s underlings probably spread it around that Yakuto defeated him. All of those make sense. But not Bren.
It’s that type of thing that makes me think that he has some kind of power of “conflict-” that he can sense when someone is in battle and see what’s going on. Something like the War Devil in “Chainsaw Man” I guess; he draws his power from “conflict” itself, making him potentially the Strongest Character in this series of than God himself. Though what he’s actually after is a mystery at the moment. He says that his goal is to “lay low” and not stand out in the graduating crowd, so he’s trying to prop up Yakuto to keep the attention off himself. On the one hand: He’ll have all of the influence that Cougar likely had, having access to the same information network. Though it’s not enough for him to just “have influence” here; he has to be able to back up any threat he’s up against- student or teacher. I’ll say that I think- had Yakuto not had his strength drained by Lilith- he might not have struggled against Cougar like he did. And since absorbing the White Calamity just brought him back up to that original level- he is back to being the strongest in Class F. Or, well; it’s now made clear that Mikoto is holding back somewhat- she was able to take out an enemy in a single physical attack prior to the fight with Boltogar, and she’s trying to keep it secret that she’s a member of Ghost. So we really don’t know the upper extent of what she can do.
And Hien seemed confident in his abilities when up against Yakuto, but- he’s not here anymore, now is he? Reisen couldn’t take Ogre when Yakuto managed in one hit, so he’s no threat. Frey MIGHT, but then Yakuto wasn’t really taking her seriously during their mock-battle. I’ve always considered Mikoto to be Yakuto’s second in terms of power- through sheer numbers. But now we know that she’s still got more in her back pocket- but probably still below Yakuto at full strength. Especially in his Full Monochrome Dragon form. And when he gets his power back from Lilith- that’s all she wrote. There won’t be any debate as to who’s the strongest in this class. Though there might still be some friction between he and Mikoto. Reisen’s a non-issue at this point; Mikoto’s “Zombie” and not strong enough to take Yakuto, anyway.
In Any Case: I think Yakuto moving into Cougar’s position in the school is a safe bet. But why does Ares care so much? So much so that he had Yakuto take him out of the Massacre. Could it be that he also plans to disappear just like Bevel? So he’s not just trying to give Yakuto Cougar’s position- but his as well? What would be the point? Do he and Bevel have some kind of vendetta against God as well? Zelecia implies that she had a similar ordeal to Yakuto, meaning that God potentially wiped out the Black Wizards as well- possibly other roots that he deemed to dangerous to his rule to be allowed to roam free. Maybe Ares- his roots being that of a God himself– may have a similar origin. Looking at the God Saves flashback, it’s definitely clear that someone in Bevel’s family was a God Save- one that “God” likely killed around the same time as the Black Dragons. Though why he never wiped out those of “Thor Roots” like Hani would throw a wrench in the idea. It might be that Ares either has a different reason for wanting to take out God- or he doesn’t want to take out God at all, and really doesn’t have any ulterior motives in what he’s doing………………. that we know of. He could be planning to prop up Yakuto simply to keep some kind of “Status Quo” at the school after he’s gone; putting Yakuto on top as “The Strongest” and that being his gateway into “Head Delinquent.”
………………………. There’s not a lot that I can gleam from what we got in the chapter, alright? He seems to know about Ghost, meaning that he 1)Knows about their presence in Dead Rock(that must be SOME information network) 2)Likely isn’t a member, based on the way he’s talking about them, and 3)Doesn’t seem to have any plans that involve them. I seriously can’t think of anything else to say about this guy.
Conclusion
This could have been a Short Review. I had an idea to talk about Mikoto “spreading her power through her zombies” as we saw her do underwater, but…………….. what would be the point? We REALLY don’t know the full extent of what she can do now, so I don’t see the point in discussing it any further. And in all honestly, this post drifted too far into speculation. So I’d rather just end it here. Ah……………… I don’t even really have something to say at the end here. Ah…………… Seriously, not anything. I’m gonna start working on a One Piece post, for what it’s worth. Let me know what you guys, think. ‘Til next time, all………………..
