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There goes the status quo. Dorothy wasn't kidding about this being a turning point in the manga.
After all the post-volume 5 talk of "beginning the answer part" I had 2 fears: that it would still be resistant to major changes until everything fell into place at the end, and that the answers would come rushing in unsatisfyingly all at once. Basically that it would feel both too slow and too fast. This chapter put both to rest. Dorothy has been uneasy over potentially not getting enough chapters to tell the story in full and not knowing how many chapters that's going to take, with how much is left to resolve. But that's normal for such a milestone. At this rate we might not leave Sayaka's room before volume 7.
Kasumi
While this feels monumental (after Michi spending half the manga beating herself up over doing nothing for Aizawa it damn well better) it might not change that much? It's clear even as pieces are moving there's plenty being reserved. Kasumi is kicked from the group, and though Sayaka's grandma will likely tell her something, she's not getting the same revelations just yet. There's a separate plan for her. And how kind of Kasumi to be worried more about Michi than herself when Michi didn't want Kasumi hearing what came next. She really might be the most empathetic character in the cast.
Tear
Dorothy said next chapter got out of hand with its page count yet its importance demanded that length. That it's funny, exciting, and painfully sad. It's implied to be the entire backstory of DeLphi from Tear's perspective. That's important to note because I doubt Tear has any answers to the big questions. Two things up front: she doesn't know Aizawa is a ghost and doesn't know Aizawa knew Michi. She didn't recognize Michi like Non did, so Aizawa never shared that with her. Her shock at Aizawa still being around is proof Karasuma didn't let her in on that.
It was hinted Tear saw someone die, but I suspected to be Nagi. I didn't think Aizawa might have died at work. If Nagi was responsible, I suppose it's more evidence Nagi is bound to DeLphi like Aizawa is bound to school. I don't think Tear will know anything about Nagi's connection to Aizawa - those 2 seemed to keep it secret - or much about the supernatural circumstances. But she saw something supernatural, enough to suspect Ange isn't really Ange and contact Karasuma. Still, we might get our first glimpse into Nagi's sudden disappearance.
Like I said, as significant as this development is, Tear shouldn't have the answers we're looking for. But she'll bring home the tragedy at the heart of it all. It's easy to forget, with Aizawa being silly in the background, the emptiness she left behind. It certainly explains Tear's behavior at the start of the manga. She was shaken the most by Aizawa's death.
Karasuma
What kind of rock and a hard place are you between?
None of this is particularly new: we'd already seen Sayaka's grandma barely tolerates her and Karasuma's overprotective of Michi in her own way. But it's expressions like this middle panel or top right that stand out to me more than maybe anything else this chapter. We've never seen the wacky exorcist lady like that before, so unsettled and reluctant. As much as she doesn't want Michi being part of this Karasuma recognizes she can't stop her.
And while Karasuma's being freaky about Tear she's clearly making Tear stay because Tear needs to hear this. Maybe as a last test of Michi's resolve, but it's not fair keeping those closest to Aizawa from knowing what's happened to her when Tear's already agonizing over DeLphi's haunting. As strange as she is, Karasuma has been highly considerate from the day we met her. And Michi really does mean a lot to her.
I'll repeat my patchwork theory: Karasuma possibly trained under Sayaka's grandma (Sayaka's grandma has the ghost eyes and teaches calligraphy, Karasuma's crows have an odd calligraphy brush style and she hangs around the Horimitsus, Karasuma taught Sayaka to mix her blood into calligraphy to form a barrier) but at some point she became the bad student. Perhaps by class-swapping into ghostpuncher. Karasuma may have been working with Michi's mom, who likely also had a deep connection to the spiritual side. Things went wrong again and Michi's mom died, which Karasuma blames herself for. But this introduced her to Michi and may have inspired Michi to take on Aizawa's ghost problem. You guessed it, things went wrong x3 and now Karasuma's picking up the pieces while trying to keep Sou's daughter out of it.
But while Karasuma surely has the most answers here, she's not going to tell us anything without being forced to.
Michi
It's always gratifying seeing how far she's come. Her growth has been slow and steady, from stuttering walking anxiety attack to someone capable of telling one of her idols that her dead friend is still with them. And at the heart of it all has always been Aizawa giving Michi the drive to keep going. I'll even make the bold claim it's the best yuri romance between two characters who have never spoken a single time*. I just hope it can work out for them, against all odds. I don't doubt Karasuma's warning that there's lots of pain ahead.
Speaking of Michi's burgeoning social skills, it was pretty slick of her to manipulate Sayaka into confirming Aizawa is at school before Tear could think she's crazy, while sidestepping Sayaka not knowing what the heck they're talking about. These 4 have a lot of ground to cover.
Overflow
- It's nice Honda and Masaki aren't completely kicked to the wayside after their arc is done. I expect their b-plot to tie back into the main story at some point.
- As for Mini Michi's non-interference this chapter, she only seems to act when Aizawa is directly involved. And she's so weakened at this point she doesn't have much to spare anyway. She also seems to stay at school and not with Michi.
- Going through silly Aizawa's for the credits page I realized they've been pretty rare lately. We either get chapters without Aizawa or with Aizawa suffering. And that doesn't seem likely to change.
- I'm sorry Ange I know you're going through a hard time but KarasuTear is kinda fun.
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