Chapter 158 Discussion - =p digi

I still wonder if Hoshino isn't going to give us SURPRISEPLOTTWIST and reveal that Cyril/Sheryl/that guy isn't actually a Noah. Technically, he could just be a very well-informed human in their "inner circle", unlikely as it may be. After all, we never saw his Noah side, or had anyone confirm it... :3 Nah, it probably will be him. I do wonder if maybe a number of Noah are still newly awoken, and will therefore not be in the spotlight for a while since they need time to adjust. (There weren't fourteen seats at the table in chapter 18. It's been three months since that scene, and Road said that the Earl hadn't started his "scenario" yet or whatever, so perhaps he doesn't have all the Noah yet.)

I agree; it was nice to see more of the setting. I wonder if we'll see more of the world and the unrelated (not Exorcists/Noah) people in it because of this war...

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Originally Posted by Digital_Eon

I still wonder if Hoshino isn't going to give us SURPRISEPLOTTWIST and reveal that Cyril/Sheryl/that guy isn't actually a Noah. Technically, he could just be a very well-informed human in their "inner circle", unlikely as it may be. After all, we never saw his Noah side, or had anyone confirm it... :3

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Even though you state it probably isn't the case, saying that about Sheryl would make a lot of sense. While Sheryl states to have adopted Road, Tyki says that in order to do so (and, in Tyki's mind, his main reason being to do so was to adopt Road), he had to get married. If that's the case, that would mean Sheryl's wife Tricia was technically Road's mother/legal guardian (probably the latter). This could mean Tricia is one of the Noah, but Sheryl isn't. At the same time, though, Tricia herself could simply be human despite Road being a Noah, and Sheryl ended up marrying Tricia after awakening as a Noah. I guess what I'm getting at saying is that for Sheryl to have HAD to get married in order to adopt Road, Road needed to have already been in the custody of someone else. Otherwise, Tyki stating him as having to marry in order to adopt Road is utterly unnecessary, as he could have simply ADOPTED her if she hadn't been in someone's legal custody. The Earl also stated to having no problem with the Noah marrying, and thus, Sheryl could simply be a high-ranking human member of the inner circle, and eventually ended up marrying Tricia.

There's also the fact that a lot of Sheryl's dialogue aimed at Tyki seems a lot like the jostling of a brother in law and not simply a brother. But then again, I could be mistaken.

And I loved that we've gotten a small look at the Noah. It's nice to see Hoshino giving them some form of humanity, or at least expanding on it. It's especially nice to see her showing that Road isn't simply a sadistic psychotic, which I love since Road is one of my favorites of the villain characters. Hell, I'm especially happy that she's giving signs of humanity to the Earl, especially emphasizing his role as the "patriarch" of the Noah clan, and showing small human emotions from him (wanting to simply enjoy the rain, apparently buying flowers, ect.) I really am hoping by the end that Hoshino (Hoshina? crap, I'm too lazy to check my volumes right now) shows a fairly gray sense of morality at the end of the story. The Noah, and possibly even the Earl, don't seem explicitly evil, though their goals may seem evil to us (though, at the same time, we can't claim to yet have a full understanding of them or why they're going for the goal they've set). And, let's face it; no one who we view as evil in reality actually thinks of themselves as evil, and very few are truly stark raving mad monsters. The Noah (and, again, possibly the Earl) may think that they're actually taking the best possible route that can be taken.

Bleh, I keep getting off track, so I'll finish quickly. I'm glad that the Earl and Noah are being fleshed out more, and aren't being shown as some sort of explicitly evil monsters, but rather as humans who are on "the other side" than the one WE'VE been following. I found it an interesting chapter and, apparently unlike most others, enjoyed it, especially from the perspective of a writer.

It's also fueling my desire to get to work on a set of theories I've been thinking of, so I just might do that (and increasing my belief that the whole "boy loved by God" thing may mean Allen is supposed to act as the bridge/form of reconciler between the exorcists/rest of humanity and the Noah). But I'll do that later.

A few more things:

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Originally Posted by Kolox

The chapter, instead of giving us much answers, created new and just confirmed what we have suspected or knew

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I can semi understand your displeasure with this, but I don't really have a problem with the current pacing. I thought the chapter was a fairly good one as it added to characterization. Not every chapter has to reveal something about the plot per se, as long as it reveals something about the characters, no matter how (perceivably) miniscule.

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Originally Posted by Digital_Eon

We've known Road is back for a while, but it looks like killing popular Noah might be more difficult than we thought. Tiki's okay despite Allen's sword-wound, and Road appears to be completely normal.

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You're falling into the trap of assuming they even will die. While it's common for shonen manga to kill every villain because, hey, "they're evil, hur hur hur", there is the possibility that Hoshino will (hopefully, in my mind) eschew that. I don't doubt that a few more of the Noah will die, but I don't know if Tyki and/or Road will be among them. There are several other ways Hoshino could end it, including if Allen is a Jesus/Messiah figure in it, like you yourself have postulated, he could end up being responsible for saving the Noah from their believed fate of being "sacrifices to God" as stated by the Earl. Jesus himself had said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." I'd think the Noah could fit that bill fairly well, karma-wise.

New guy is most likely a Noah, the translation i read stated that a New Noah appears.
It would also be interesting if the human form of the Earl has a position within the order.
I'm glad they are giving us more insight on the Earl. Could he possibly have 2 personalities? Since he doesn't remember why he didn't kill Allen back then.
Akuma were created from where humans were. Humans use innocence. Turning humans into weapons. Innocence uses human life force to gain power(parasite), Akuma use human spirit as energy. Akuma are weapons. Akuma evolve. Innocence evolves. They are one in the same.
Is the Earl's goal to create his own type of innocence? Probably to reach some sort of goal. Besides the worlds destruction.

Earl is Mana Walker !!

"Luke..ekhem, Allen ! I am your father !!"
"No waiiii"

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Originally Posted by Einhander

You're falling into the trap of assuming they even will die. While it's common for shonen manga to kill every villain because, hey, "they're evil, hur hur hur", there is the possibility that Hoshino will (hopefully, in my mind) eschew that. I don't doubt that a few more of the Noah will die, but I don't know if Tyki and/or Road will be among them. There are several other ways Hoshino could end it, including if Allen is a Jesus/Messiah figure in it, like you yourself have postulated, he could end up being responsible for saving the Noah from their believed fate of being "sacrifices to God" as stated by the Earl. Jesus himself had said, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick." I'd think the Noah could fit that bill fairly well, karma-wise.

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I suppose. It was really just a comment on how difficult it would be to kill a Noah at all, whether it be within the plot or because Hoshino doesn't want to kill them off, but it's entirely possible that some will survive. If Allen's sword ever works the way it's supposed to, some Noah wouldn't need to be involved... although they may lose their sense of purpose after that. (I wonder if that'll happen somehow: Allen exorcises a Noah, former Noah suicides, Allen realizes he can't exorcise either since it still leads to the deaths of humans?)

Also, I loved your post. ^_^

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Originally Posted by Ryoga_sama

New guy is most likely a Noah, the translation i read stated that a New Noah appears.
It would also be interesting if the human form of the Earl has a position within the order.
I'm glad they are giving us more insight on the Earl. Could he possibly have 2 personalities? Since he doesn't remember why he didn't kill Allen back then.

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I can't really see the human-Earl being within the Order, particularly after his speculation about the Heart in this chapter. It's difficult to see him in a low-ranking position (he's just too intimidating) and if he had a fair amount of power and knowledge, I think his plan about the Heart would be very different.

As for the personalities: It's doubtful. The Earl remembers that time; he just doesn't know why he didn't kill Allen when he had the chance to. Obviously, since Allen has proved to be a little more dangerous than a twelve-year-old kid with no family and a deformed hand who was spending his time sitting in front of a grave and crying...

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Originally Posted by Kolox

Earl is Mana Walker !!

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I'd find that amusing if it wasn't so obviously untrue... they've appeared in the same scene together, remember? =P

I thought that Lenalee is the host of the heart but after reading this chapter its actually Allen.

There is still very believable theory that heart consists of two parts.

For random, I downloaded latest episode of anime of DGM...yeah, the level is still the same. They were fighting Jasdevi now, Krory got his ass kicked, feels like there is a lot of less blood in anime than in manga.

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Originally Posted by vincent

I thought that Lenalee is the host of the heart but after reading this chapter its actually Allen.

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Errr.... why?

Now that we know there's a "fake Heart", whose Innocence has been more obvious about its weirdness?

Of course, things could still go both ways. Lenalee's Innocence's flashiness could be to draw attention from Allen's, or it could be the Heart trying to pretend to be the fake - if the Earl knows there's a fake, would he go for the obvious one, or the not-so-obvious one? It's really hard to say right now, but I do worry it'll be Allen (which would suck, because that's what happens in every shounen manga...).

From what I hear, the anime hasn't had fillers for, like, twenty episodes or something. Amazing. New record. Unfortunately, the same may not be able to be said about the manga...

Its just a suspicion from these statements

Duke : It's tricky always hiding itself and waiting for an opportunity
Duke : I know the "Heart" has awakened its alive and breathing somewhre in this world
Sherrill : It must be hard for the one in hidding

and remember the shadow that only Allen can see, I think he is the "heart" or I might be wrong.

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Originally Posted by reinard-fox

Errr.... why?

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