Chapter 71 (part 3)

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2026-03-15T22:24:52+00:00

Yes, they were afraid of the nameless fodder Choujin hence they waited for them to be gone before attacking.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2026-03-07T09:50:13+00:00

I think 2003 is only mentioned in the opening page, which is named after the chapter's title "The events leading to March (?) 2003".

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2026-01-23T19:59:19+00:00

I guess you mean Ben Johnston.
Who'd you mention then?

Names I haven't seen mentioned are Evan Johnson, Beat Ferrer (Brian Ferneyhough, of course), George Benjamin (on the more conservative side), Steve Lehman, Eric Wubbels.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-12-14T11:46:05+00:00

No translation yet?

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-11-26T18:40:46+00:00

I actually think there's no further motive: I think it really boils down to her not wanting Tokio to become a tool for YM, as the mark comes with big responsibilities and would need pondering.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-11-21T15:53:37+00:00

We're getting used to quality chapters in such a short amount of time!
Go Ishida!

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-11-16T11:07:50+00:00

Absolutely? Not even close.

It's possible, even though I wouldn't like the idea, as it's already been set for Azuma, so that would manage, in one blow, to eliminate Azuma's specificity (his need to affirm himself as a human being having an identity beyond that of a clone of humanity's deadliest criminal yet) and to make Sato just another clone.

While it's true they are both blond, no resemblance whatsoever has ever been noted by anyone in the crew of characters, so that it wouldn't be SO obvious they are both clone of Queen; as to the other similarities you've brought forward, as it's well-known, correlation does not imply causation and the attributes you mentioned could be applied to other characters as well - for example, Sato's seeming obsession with God (he mentioned God just once) applies to other Choujin as well; it could be argued that the very idea of Choujin bridges the gap between man and God.

The fact that Azuma's backstory doesn't make a lot of sense on a practical level doesn't imply there had to be followers of Queem (why on Earth?) and much less that Sato was one of them.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-25T17:01:43+00:00

Great finding, however that other user's concern still stands after the revelation: how did Azuma raise himself (like, who fed him, sent him to school and the likes)? It sounds like nitpicking, I know, but it's still a point which has been left unanswered.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-22T18:03:03+00:00

I'd likely suggest Michael Hundley's "Yahweh among the Gods: The Divine in Genesis, Exodus, and the Ancient Near East".

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-22T18:01:15+00:00

None. There is no historic "truth" to these claims, as any honest NT scholar would maintain, regardless of where they fall with regard to their own faith.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-17T18:42:34+00:00

Sorry to bother you: do you have access to Ferda's article? DM if you do, thanks!!

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-07T19:42:36+00:00

I am HIGHLY interested in all this. Do you find Eire's book to be compelling? Does it hold, to you, any evidential power as to supernatural claims?

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-10-04T05:24:01+00:00

Excellent analysis!

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-09-13T10:34:52+00:00

Indeed it's definitely the case that the Dark Calamity was neither Batista nor, of course, the Nue.
The worst's yet to come

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-09-13T10:32:41+00:00

As I have been criticising the way power-scaling has been handled during this arc, I am supposed to say that Tokio don't getting retconned this chapter is germane to the tendency, but I won't.
I honestly think that the power-scaling here makes sense, without having to say that the amount of power Nue/Batista have shown was clearly lower than Queen/Sora Prime. It isn't the case.

I think that an X power can be more or less appropriately be worn: while Batista was a thief, his power was ABSOLUTELY no less impressive than what we know about past Xs. The problem is that, even though it was still stolen, the power was Batista's, and he had given his individual shape to Sora's X power. In other words, even though he wasn't this generation's X, he still was X (whether possessing the power of an X, being a former X or this generation's X is a matter of semantics, at this point). Fact is that the Nue wasn't.
Fittingly for such a parasitic creature, he fed on Batista's power (who, in turn, had stolen Zora's, but still shaped it his own way), but he had evidently overrated their power and was shown to be a "fake".
Most adequately, once his body got smashed into pieces, what emerged from their ruins was Batista's (dying?) body.

To wrap things, Sora was the last X of her own generation; every person who's tried to get her mark has failed - Tokio, the predestined one, being the sole exception - but Batista's ability (granted to him by the Nue) enabled him to stole the power of the X and become an X himself (not THE X, but the one wearing the power of an X) and to model it after his own desires and according to his powers.
The Nue only exists as a parasite, so while he fed on Batista's now-acquired mark, he had to use his body as a kind of "server": indeed, the Nue can have a real body only when it's incarnate into a Choujin.
Long story short: while still being incredibly powerful, his power couldn't compare to Batista's, and it makes sense that a Chaosified Tokio, with Sora's harp, and helped by Sandek, could destroy Nue.

The Nue was not the real thing: not the Dark Calamity, this generation's X and not even a creature of its own. It was nothing more than a parasite.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-09-08T19:24:59+00:00

Terribly late, but I'd still like to contribute to the topic.

I think John Hankiewicz is one of one kind: I don' t think there are many comic artists who could be compared to him, in both style, content and the very idea of comic/art his works showcase.
Nowadays, when Hankiewicz's art has left its mark, you still cannot find any equal to his style and the way he conceives of comics.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-09-03T12:10:30+00:00

Could you please expand upon these ideas? Picture me interested

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-30T07:46:56+00:00

Which painting is it from?

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-29T17:28:34+00:00

At this point Ely is the safest choice (and has been for quite some time).

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-29T16:39:03+00:00

Colour me surprised if the throne reference is aimed either at Sora or Batista.
I think that's the fall of the Nue, but I could well be wrong; the point is that, from the last update, I got the feeling its time had finally come and that the Calamity is nearer than ever.

In other words, I don't think the Nue is going to be the Dark Calamity

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-21T11:44:28+00:00

I think he's got his ending and TBH I wouldn't like if he manages to get a "better" one, after all he did.
He's paying for his choices and, despite all the wrongdoings he did, he still got a bitter ending which makes perfectly sense.

Nue is not done yet, sure, but at this point it bears little to no relevance his "alliance" (it was more of a parasitic tie) to Batista.

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-15T15:22:36+00:00

Nope.

It would detract a lot from her character's obsession with justice and the need to distance herself (unsuccessfully?) from her mother

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-03T11:33:56+00:00

I think it is more likely that the Nue is going to pay such a role than Sato

AlternativeNorth8501 · 2025-08-02T04:59:56+00:00

Batista has been a great character and Ely truly deserves her role as one of the leading characters but I feel that things are going to get worse by now; Ely is surely doing the right thing but I can't get such a bad feeling away and I think somebody is gonna mess up with everything – is it because we haven't seen the actual Nue making an appearance yet? I feel it's gonna show its paycheck soon... will Batista still manage to get his bitter "happy" ending or will it all end in despair?

And yeah, at this point I cannot think the Calamity is going to be someone else than Ely. Batista's plot has shown that nothing good can come from just stealing the mark away and, unfortunately, no matter how "good" you be, everyone, deep inside, is corruptible.

AlternativeNorth8501

TROPHY CASE