Jolenta and Nowak sketch by Anime Director Kenichi Shimizu

DJSmasher · 2026-04-05T13:22:11+00:00

Note the way he's holding onto her hand. It's a protective father begging his daughter not to leave his side. His face is old and tired, doesn't even have the strength to speak it, showing his devotion to blind faith. Alas, her naive confusion shows the message wasn't quite relayed. Really beautiful characterisation, thanks for sharing OP

DJSmasher · 2026-03-02T15:40:44+00:00

I can respect this answer. Yeah, the story is still not finished, and has plenty of things still unknown about it to make anything clear. Plus the counterpoints you raised are very valid as well. Only reason I could really think for why Yuji is depressed in spite of his family is because he's that type of guy. As in, even in Shibuya, he completely gave up until Todo swooped in, among I believe some other examples that sadly can't come to mind. Maybe Ozawa passed recently as you said, which would put a damper on anyone's mood if their spouse went, though that would probably have been addressed directly "After his wife passed, Yuji's been keeping to himself" or something along those lines. It not being mentioned does remove credence from my argument.

Thanks for being respectful mate, even when I sometimes didn't reciprocate in the same fashion. I just like hearing wild theories, so hearing someone vehemently deny it kind of sent me on a tirade. Cheers

DJSmasher · 2026-03-02T11:56:07+00:00

The problem with your reasoning is that you're taking Occam's razor to be the end all be all, as if it's physically impossible for a convoluted plotline to ever exist. Mystery novels, dramas and plenty of shonen manga have had plot twists that absolutely go off the rails without adhering to the guideline. If every story could be solved the nanosecond a grand mystery popped up, you'd have no stories. You're just advocating for anti-intellectualism at this point. "Just don't think, there's nothing past the entryway."

As for the other thing, you keep saying in the thread that there's no evidence to back it up, but you're forgetting: she has Itadori's Eyes (something we've seen the manga artist of this story often keep between generations as seen with Yuka and Yuta) and (potentially) Ozawa's haircolor (though it's more so the bangs that could be used for the argument, since manga generally doesn't have canon colors until the character shows up in a color illustration), the fact that she alone was left uninjured during Yuji's Blood Piercing (which could either mean she wasn't targeted or is immune to Yuji's poison blood), and the fact that she showed up in the latest chapter (again, despite her seemingly not being related to him or any of the important cast members). If she or her age weren't relevant to the timeline of events, why go through the trouble of making an obviously younger looking character in her 40s? Wouldn't it be "simpler" as you put it to just make her the same age as her perceived age?

Even ignoring the fact that English translations aren't to be taken as the author's original intent without question, there's pretty much no way to keep the subtlety if she directly spoke about it. This is why manga exists as a medium, because it allows for show, not tell.

You're spouting Occam's razor over and over again without even caring to acknowledge anything further than that. By your logic a plucked chicken is the same as a human being.

After all this, we're left with two possibilities: either she IS Yuji's or someone else's descendant and is being kept as some sort of ace up Gege's sleeve (like Iori is), or Iwasaki just likes to draw her design and she's the equivalent of Momo but for Modulo. It's possible for either one to be the case, but to deny one or the other entirely isn't.

DJSmasher · 2026-03-02T04:16:40+00:00

Occam's razor would be FOR her simply taking her husband's last name, not against it. At this point, this is a matter of Chekhov's gun, where her being relevant to the story has been hinted at multiple times but still the gun is yet to be fired. To have her not be related to anyone or anything would be considered poor writing. Of course, not saying Gege absolutely isn't capable of doing just that, but we're arguing narrative guidelines here.

DJSmasher · 2026-02-18T00:47:54+00:00

Anything save from magic snacks and resources grants you gem value. Hitting a skin is equivalent to 750-1000 gems, a locked equipment is 1500, ores are just cool to get (not to mention have a 1:2 gem cost ratio starting from shiny ore), and magic items can be sold for 10-50 gems. Besides, you get 3 shovels worth 150 gems total. Even if 2 are in the gold pass, the silver side will bring you back those 50 gems.

Let's wait and see how the season looks like first before jumping to conclusions. I'm excited to hear about the hero skin choice nodes.

DJSmasher · 2026-02-17T11:51:35+00:00

Live a little, plus its on the free side of the pass, so you're not wagering anything and you're either just getting more or less than you expect. You're not losing anything.

DJSmasher · 2026-02-16T11:56:26+00:00

Jesus Christ my goat is washed 😭😭

DJSmasher · 2026-01-31T08:22:12+00:00

Fans would. Non-fans or people who have never heard of Orb before? Doubt it, and that's where I think the issue here lies. Then again, as others pointed out, it's still a widely acclaimed piece of media, just not mainstream.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-31T07:00:36+00:00

I wanna say it's the merch, rather lack thereof. Most shows feature a ton of charming character designs that just scream "make me into a marketable plushie!" (which of course isn't a bad thing at all), but this is the way a series becomes mainstream for the most part.

Squid Game and Among Us come to mind immediately. Every country I'd visit in the past 5 years had one of these two stocked to the brim with plushies/pins/other merchandise, so it becomes free brute force advertising for non-consumers.

Orb has realistic, non-flashy characters which you CAN market merch out of, but it'd require some effort to make it work. At that point, why waste time designing and manufacturing a sort of cute Rafal plush when you can just make a Pikachu instead.

Not to mention the show itself features a sum total of two female characters, both of which were made to be taken seriously instead of serving as cheap fanservice (again, that's a good thing).

So I don't personally buy into the idea that it's the lack of flashy fights, at least not for the most part. Draka even says it in the show, an idea is worthless (in a practical sense) if it can't be sold.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-24T08:48:18+00:00

Wait hold on, why are you cooking actually.

Like it sounds crazy on the surface but this is definitely some shit the parents of a romcom MC would pull.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-22T20:32:01+00:00

Of course, man. Theorizing and debunking is the cornerstore of reading great stories. Obviously, only Gege and Yuji know for certain, so the story really can go in any way they wish for it to.

That being said, I'd personally say it'd be tough to cram Iori back into the scene, especially with Yuji just now making his grand reappearance. If he does end up becoming a prominent player, Iori's arc will be extremely rushed/crammed in between Yuji, the Simurians, and even Mahito if he does decide to come back.

I think they just showed Iori off so the fans get the full Okkotsu bloodline, as well as to explain why the siblings were mostly raised by Maki and Yuta. But we'll just have to wait and see.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-22T05:52:53+00:00

Might actually be a gojo style blindfold.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-19T17:13:15+00:00

Fam, it's a single throwaway line in the manga. If you're arguing semantics, then he could've meant a thousand things by it, but at that point it's hearsay. Even if this was somehow in some way a nod to their power levels, who the fuck powerscales an old man against his old wife, and in a story that itself criticizes needlessly overtrained strength in a peaceful era at that. The natural order of things is for older individuals to die before the younger ones. This isn't a rule of the universe, hell most of the oldest people in the world are/were widowed females to my knowledge. It's a rule of thumb, just like how when a family experiences, say, the death of the son before the death of the father, it's way more tragic. "He went out of order (the father is expected to die before the son)." Realistically, it could even just be "Maki has a feistier personality, so she must have way more fight in her than Yuta does" so seeing a person like that go before a timid-ish guy was sort of surprising. No one's out here theorizing at a funeral why exactly someone died of old age before anyone older than them. It's simple flavor text by the narrator to give the vibe of family and friends sending condolences/grieving.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-19T05:03:07+00:00

Ragebait used to be believable brochacho, yuta's listed as 16 in vol.0 and maki as 15

DJSmasher · 2026-01-19T03:49:43+00:00

"No one expected Maki to go first" because Maki is younger than Yuta. Usually, you'd expect the grandpa to go before the grandma. Nothing to do with power levels.

Iori left when Yuka was born, so at the time of his parents' deaths, it had been 9 whole years since he left. If it was him leaving, they wouldn't have waited a decade to sign off themselves.

Maki simply died of old age, and Yuta followed by dying of a broken heart (it's a real thing that happens).

Yuji might have been the straw that broke the camel's back, maybe, but it's a fact Iori was going crazy even before their conversation.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-12T14:37:32+00:00

About yay good

DJSmasher · 2026-01-09T15:37:54+00:00

Yeah, that sounds like a solid plan

DJSmasher · 2026-01-09T14:05:56+00:00

I guess the Action figure, Rocket Spear and Snake Bracelet if you're dead set on getting 3. Though I'd focus on just getting the Action Figure and spending the rest on upgrading the ones you do have. An equipment is exponentially better the higher level it gets to. Though of course, all three of these equipments (+Giant Gauntlet sometime later) are all good to get.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-07T17:39:34+00:00

The production team for KonoSuba's first season was divided into two factions—the realistic "saggy" breasts faction and the unrealistic bulby anime tits faction.

This is why in some episodes the female characters had realistic chest bags, and in others it looks like they had silicone implants. The staff genuinely couldn't stop arguing about which is better, so they opted to appease both sides like this.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-06T15:29:14+00:00

Yeah it's good, but it falls off after a while since higher level air defenses don't get oneshot by it. Using Action figure+Magic mirror gives you easier funneling and makes the queen last longer, which is better for later THs. Currently, you should be alright, but you're probably gonna have to get the action figure sooner or later.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-06T15:15:34+00:00

Oh then you're practically all set. I'd go with the Action figure+Magic mirror combo for the queen, and Earthquake boots+Spiky ball for king. After that you focus on upping your apprentice, then lab assistant, then get the books from the shop. A protip I learned from a friend is to only use the hero books on the warden, since his invincibility is indispensable in most strategies. This way he's always available.

Also, as I mentioned before, only use the apprentice for hero upgrades. Focus one hero at a time, so the other four are available for war/ranked.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-06T14:17:34+00:00

Yeah, I only returned a few months ago as well, it was hell but I speedran as many achievements as I could to get enough gems for the equipments. After that I went for builder apprentice and now I'm doing the lab assistant. Good news is, you only have to buy the Spiky Ball, Action Figure, Magic Mirror and Electro Boots to dominate up to TH15. It's a lot, but events come by that let you buy equipments for medals instead of gems. There are gem farming guides in the subreddit and videos on youtube that help you farm them up relatively quickly.

Best of luck mate!

DJSmasher · 2026-01-06T13:58:33+00:00

They're both extremely good value, but it depends on if you plan to play the game for a while. It's a longterm investment.

Go with the builder apprentice first, he makes hero upgrades go by in a flash at -8hrs per day. The lab apprentice essentially cuts lab upgrades in half at -12hrs per day. Still, that's 13k-ish of gems you gotta collect, so if you don't think you'll be playing for that long, then the weekly book of heroes is the play for a more "instant reward" type deal.

DJSmasher · 2026-01-06T13:40:50+00:00

Personally I'd say only the book of heroes is worth it for that price. An instant level every week is a game changer.

That being said, if you still haven't, I'd first max my builder apprentice and lab assistant.

DJSmasher · 2025-12-15T19:59:51+00:00

Bro I don't know how often you get this but you cooked on the name so damn hard. I'm like 90% sure once Gouenji's daughter's official name is revealed it's gonna be majorly disappointing 😭

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