It's funny how we've been strung along enough at this point that we can follow her twisted logic.
I wonder who'll be left standing by the end... if anyone.

Awesome, to me, it made all the sense in the world what she said, I mean, not all of it, but that one's happiness doesn't depend on others, yeah totes. An excellent way to go, I was beyond ecstatic watching/reading that scene, you could say I even sorta felt happy for her, even tho it's not exactly that. I loved this, I hope this gets licensed to buy the shit out of it. Thanks, translator-san!!!

I've heard when a suicidal person decides to commit suicide sometimes they might seem happy in the short time they have left, is this a myth or is it true? I wonder if this is what happened to Tokiko or if she was lying to herself about being happy. That final bonus chapter is gonna hurt.

so this is half-true, most people who commit suicide do so after a long period of depression, when they're starting to recover. This is because while you are at the height of depression you just will not have the energy to do anything, so when you start recovering and all that energy comes back. You will suddenly have the energy to go out and commit suicide. As a result of this it does seem like people are happier in the weeks or days leading up to their suicide but that is mostly because they are in the middle of recovery and are thus going up from rock bottom.

It's also because of this that it's generally recommended to keep an eye on and support people who are in the middle of recovery more heavily because that is paradoxically when they're most vulnerable.

I mean, his argument about: Can you disprove it is? completely bullshit. The burden of proves lies with the one making claims. He should have said instead, that statistically, the amount of deaths in close proximity to her - not intentionally caused by her - compared to the average is like 20 sigmas.

Scientifically, this would definitely prove that the claim: 'Tokiko is surrounded by death'. Still, whether you interpret it as a curse or some other thing is up to debate. Although that's also more semantic rather than anything.

I mean, his argument about: Can you disprove it is? completely bullshit. The burden of proves lies with the one making claims. He should have said instead, that statistically, the amount of deaths in close proximity to her - not intentionally caused by her - compared to the average is like 20 sigmas.

Scientifically, this would definitely prove that the claim: 'Tokiko is surrounded by death'. Still, whether you interpret it as a curse or some other thing is up to debate. Although that's also more semantic rather than anything.

Although I do agree with you that the whole occult angle always seemed weak to me, here it works because assistant guy doesn't care what kind of nonsense or sophistry he has to spit out, as long as it convinces the detective. For him it's entirely personal and as such wholly emotional. It kind of works in this scene, because there's no need for rational reasoning anyway

Also, i finally figured out what the title means after this chapter.

last edited at Jun 15, 2022 10:38AM

I mean, his argument about: Can you disprove it is? completely bullshit. The burden of proves lies with the one making claims. He should have said instead, that statistically, the amount of deaths in close proximity to her - not intentionally caused by her - compared to the average is like 20 sigmas.

Scientifically, this would definitely prove that the claim: 'Tokiko is surrounded by death'. Still, whether you interpret it as a curse or some other thing is up to debate. Although that's also more semantic rather than anything.

Although I do agree with you that the whole occult angle always seemed weak to me, here it works because assistant guy doesn't care what kind of nonsense or sophistry he has to spit out, as long as it convinces the detective. For him it's entirely personal and as such wholly emotional. It kind of works in this scene, because there's no need for rational reasoning anyway

I didn't mean that the occult guy had no point. He simply argued wrongly. But yes, from a human standpoint, it is probably that he just wanted to convince the detective and was too emotionally involved to get out proper arguments.

this whole series has been such an upsetting ride. i love it. will definitely be one of those things i read on here that ill still think about years later, like qualia the purple.

Seems like every time someone tries to enforce their will on Tokiko, they end up dead. Will to kill her? Dead. Will to see her happy? Dead. Will to understand or accept her? Dead. It's fitting that she only dies when she finally feels that she's the one in control of her life.

But what did the poor pigeon try to force on her??

Probably tried forcing her to accept the monarchy if I had to guess

I can definitely see Natsuki being in love with Tokiko, though Tokiko being a psychopath who lacks empathy means Natsuki's affections were likely not reciprocated, though she was clearly the 'most important person' to Tokiko after her sister. Maybe in another reality they would have started dating, or perhaps Tokiko wouldn't see/understand the point in being lovers and they would simply remain close friends.

So going back to this, and the latest two chapters. I think Tokiko may have actually reciprocated Natsuki's feelings to some degree, just how she responded to Natsuki's death and where that lead Tokiko herself leads me to believe that Tokiko perhaps thought of her as more than a friend.

Detectives need to do things by the book, and not dole out justice by their own tough code of the streets! This is not right!

-Blastaar

last edited at Jun 15, 2022 5:44PM

Detectives need to do things by the book, and not dole out justice by their own tough code of the streets! This is not right!

-Blastaar

Yeah, nothing screams "Blastaar" as much as "This is not right!", that's totally what a Blastaar would say! ;)
Nary a day passes wherein Blastaar doesn't take to the streets to condemn all the characters' wrongdoings, since Blastaar's of the righteous conviction that they should all be perfect role models at all times!

... /s

last edited at Jun 15, 2022 6:09PM

Detectives need to do things by the book, and not dole out justice by their own tough code of the streets! This is not right!

-Blastaar

Yeah, nothing screams "Blastaar" as much as "This is not right!", that's totally what a Blastaar would say! ;)
Nary a day passes wherein Blastaar doesn't take to the streets to condemn all the characters' wrongdoings, since Blastaar's of the righteous conviction that they should all be perfect role models at all times!

... /s

I sense doubt in your heart. But worry not, that's a direct quote.

Since it's tagged supernatural am gonna make a wild guess:
Detective finds out Tokiko's origins (born with the curse that killed her mom and sent her to the orphanage), and after he communicates something else weird about her birth to Akiyama, is then accidented to death. Aki realizes the curse is still in effect and finds that Tokiko has been reincarnated into a new baby (who's mom promptly dies), and sets out to care/study her going forward.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I...

Detectives need to do things by the book, and not dole out justice by their own tough code of the streets! This is not right!

-Blastaar

Yeah, nothing screams "Blastaar" as much as "This is not right!", that's totally what a Blastaar would say! ;)
Nary a day passes wherein Blastaar doesn't take to the streets to condemn all the characters' wrongdoings, since Blastaar's of the righteous conviction that they should all be perfect role models at all times!

... /s

I sense doubt in your heart. But worry not, that's a direct quote.

Since there seems to be some confusion about what Blastaar is saying, please allow me to clarify:

Narrative tropes in fiction are not fucking instructional guidebooks for real-life behavior.

So even though I have no moral (as opposed to aesthetic) objection to the "renegade but hypercompetent detective who does things his own way" in stories, if a real-life detective is investigating a crime in which I or my family are victims I do not want all the evidence against the criminal thrown out of court because that detective "did things his own way."

Thank you for your attention.

Booo, it's funnier out of context. Now the magic is gone and the bit is over.

To clarify myself, I thought it'd be funny to point out that we finally have a morally unambiguous story so there's no chatter about using it as a template for real life. And I've been holding on to that quote for a chance to post it and we finally have a detective who almost meets the criteria!

Booo, it's funnier out of context. Now the magic is gone and the bit is over.

To clarify myself, I thought it'd be funny to point out that we finally have a morally unambiguous story so there's no chatter about using it as a template for real life. And I've been holding on to that quote for a chance to post it and we finally have a detective who almost meets the criteria!

Um, tell me what "by the book" detective work actually looks like in this storyworld . . .

Booo, it's funnier out of context. Now the magic is gone and the bit is over.

To clarify myself, I thought it'd be funny to point out that we finally have a morally unambiguous story so there's no chatter about using it as a template for real life. And I've been holding on to that quote for a chance to post it and we finally have a detective who almost meets the criteria!

Um, tell me what "by the book" detective work actually looks like in this storyworld . . .

Ultimately I guess like this? Wasn't he kind of a "by the book" guy?

I'm no expert on law enforcement or solving crimes, but Yashiro and Koga seemed relatively orthodox in their approach to the job, at least by the standards of fictional detectives.

I'm looking forward to the last two chapters. We're probably past the climax of the series, but the last chapters may resolve some of the unanswered questions.

Welp, I finally decided to catch up on this manga and hit chapters 29-30. Fuck that, dropped. See y'all later.

Welp, I finally decided to catch up on this manga and hit chapters 29-30. Fuck that, dropped. See y'all later.

But it's just 4 chapters to the end

Welp, I finally decided to catch up on this manga and hit chapters 29-30. Fuck that, dropped. See y'all later.

But it's just 4 chapters to the end

Yeah, really should have stuck around until at least the start of chapter 32. Just re-read 31, so good.

And here we are at the end. I didn't expect anything super major to happen after we've already been past the climax but it was still weirdly.... low-key in a way? Huh.

Not sure if I'm a fan of comparing the way Tokiko processes and shows emotions (which can very well be read as neurodivergent) to being literally dead (inside) but maybe the conclusion the characters come to about her is just going over my head a little. Oh welp.

Well that bonus definitely hurt a lot.

Interesting denouement. Not what I was expecting.

Not sure if I'm a fan of comparing the way Tokiko processes and shows emotions (which can very well be read as neurodivergent) to being literally dead (inside) but maybe the conclusion the characters come to about her is just going over my head a little. Oh welp.

Occult dude pointed out that even though the way she felt her emotions was different from most people, she still had emotions and was capable of expressing them. Nevertheless, the people around felt a strange and vast distance from her, like she was just wrong somehow that you can’t really describe, kind of like an emotional uncanny valley. The inhuman impression she gave off couldn’t really be explained away as just her just processing emotions a bit differently, which occult boy claims as evidence for his theory. Who knows if he’s right tho.

That’s my understanding of it, at least.

last edited at Jun 23, 2022 10:08PM