Interesting that Komachi has been all her life demonized for her apparent lack of empathy, yet she empathized with the villains in that movie bc both the hero and the villains would hurt each. She may not fully understand death but she does understand pain and hurt

Seo was ultimately a sociopath, she always was, and it is pretty sociopatic to go from "Who even cares about being good again" and "let's bomb this school"

The problem is that the timeline for this does not match up, Seo would have had to set the bombs up before the "who even cares about being good again" - moment. Sociopaths are about low impulse control and short-term actions, not macgyvering half a school to explode in case someone might tick them off that day.

The best explanation I can come up with for Seo's actions is that there's some non-linear storytelling going on, and her revelation actually happens when she get hosed by the other students/hears about Prez's latest attempt to kill her.

Anyway, Chapter 82:

rip akira :(

I am shocked by how much the Satsuki/Komako ship has grown on me. Like, I thought for sure that Komako was just going to be a bait love interest, but the past couple of chapters have shown that they actually compliment each other really well. Satsuki rizzing the hell out of Komako doesn't help things either.

Man, this chapter packed an emotional punch. Not quite Enies Lobby levels, but still a wallop. "Don't you know I can't lie?" is such a perfect line.

rip akira :(

I am shocked by how much the Satsuki/Komako ship has grown on me. Like, I thought for sure that Komako was just going to be a bait love interest, but the past couple of chapters have shown that they actually compliment each other really well. Satsuki rizzing the hell out of Komako doesn't help things either.

TBH despite all the hand-holding in this chapter, I still don't see Satsuki/Komachi as a ship. The two of them are now bonded extremely tight, maybe even stronger than Satsuki and Akira (thanks to supernatural shenanigans), but I don't really see a romantic spark there yet. It's the difference between, respectively, a found family and an old married couple, as far as I can tell.

last edited at Apr 4, 2024 4:52AM

Damn that was a sweet chapter. And so fitting for both of them - Satsuki accepting Komako despite the deaths happening around her because she's obstinate and stalwart, Komako seeking acceptance like how she accepted others.

I'm also a lot more invested in the relationship between Satsuki and Komako than I ever was with Akira. The latter are close but without the spark, without a special connection or signs of progressing towards a confession. On the other hand, Satsuki and Komako seem to be destined together, both interacting with the other's abilities and having experienced hate because of them, looking after others and seeking a connection despite being more often than not rejected by those around them, and being pulled in by bad people like Prez and Seo.

The "live our lives together", the hug, and the "hoping for the best" parts were really nice, especially with how much they would need to rely on each other (Komako with someone to counteract her ability, Satsuki with how much she refuses to let anyone die knowingly).

I find the exchange "Did you help Seo attempt to blow up the classroom?" "Yes, because she had nobody else to turn to." "Wow, you're so nice!" to be supremely funny.

SATSUKI KOMAKO ENDGAME

what a banger chapter

page 2 is amazing, the way shes drawn komachi goes from being scary and an unknown for 80 chapters to this tiny girl who cant handle anything anymore contrasted by the always large and powerful satsuki

the i cant lie was smooth as all get out

i was a tiny bit worried about this reveal as its extremely rare for such a full series question to be resolved in a reasonable and fulfilling way but they absolutely nailed it, this works so well and recontextualizes so many interactions

also komako a super cute, satsuki won (sorry akira)

Even though I'm warming up to the pair, I still do think that Komako is a worse option than Akira. While Satsuki and Komako have backstories and powers that almost perfectly mirror each other, their emotional relationship is kinda lopsided. Satsuki is nothing short of the world to Komako, while to Satsuki, Komako is her first friend... and that's kind of it. Even their single date together is about making amends with Akira, and the thing that affects Satsuki the most is when Komako reveals that the reason she helped out during the last case was because Akira was concerned about Satsuki.

Compare this to Akira. Satsuki supports her by convincing her to solve her family issues in a non-violent way, and also by challenging her belief that some people deserve to die and making her see the value of a peaceful solution. Akira even admits that her own emotional state is heavily affected by Satsuki's. In return, Akira consistently supports Satsuki at the lowest points in her life: she's the first person to actually help Satsuki in her efforts; she helps Satsuki move past her failures with her mom and Michinaga, and teaches her to value her own life; and she even reaffirms what Satsuki taught her about how saving "bad" people can lead to a better outcome for everybody when Satsuki herself loses faith in that idea.

Unfortunately, my hopes for an ending with Akira have cratered ever since someone pointed out to me that there are only two students who don't wear socks in the series, and one of them is a decapitated corpse in the cold open. The only things stopping her chances from being 0% for me are that the arm sling is missing, the sleeves don't match and Miho very occasionally takes off her socks as well.

Also, huh. Miho's previous behaviour towards Komako looks real shitty in retrospect. I kinda ended up writing it off at the time because Komako seemed super sus.

Damn okay Madoka

Also while irl Satsuki and Akira would make a better couple, this is fictional, and there are a lot of yuri relationships where the weight of feelings is imbalanced. It is, in fact, a staple, and somehow doesn't result in absolute disaster every time.

last edited at Apr 4, 2024 10:18AM

satsuki isn't immune to komachi's power, or at least it wouldn't make sense for her to be. this doesn't really work as a solution bc satsuki can't really save herself unless it's an accident or something like that. if she gets cancer or some other disease, it's joever.

Akirabros not like this…

rip Akira, NTR'd by Komachi at the finish line

Yes, love this, so good! Very gay and but also, Satsuki has two hands ;3 and i'm sure Komachi could also use an Akira gf who bonks some sense into her when she goes off the deep end, like she does for Satsuki :D

satsuki isn't immune to komachi's power, or at least it wouldn't make sense for her to be. this doesn't really work as a solution bc satsuki can't really save herself unless it's an accident or something like that. if she gets cancer or some other disease, it's joever.

I really don't think Komachi actually causes people to die. There's nothing about her story that strains a plausible non supernatural string of unfortunate experiences. It's easy to imagine her ability is predictive, not a cause, just like Satsuki and Prez. This relatively peaceful ending further implies that I think.

Also I'm pretty sure the event in the manga's cold open was what Seo had planned that Komachi overlooked, the explosion in the classroom that Satsuki had to push herself multiple times to discover and eventually threw herself through a window to disarm. The manga seems to be in a denouement now, so I'm not expecting major dramatic plot events a from here on

Huh. Not gonna lie, this ship caught me flat-footed. I thought for sure Akira was endgame. I'm not sure how to feel about this...

satsuki isn't immune to komachi's power, or at least it wouldn't make sense for her to be. this doesn't really work as a solution bc satsuki can't really save herself unless it's an accident or something like that. if she gets cancer or some other disease, it's joever.

I really don't think Komachi actually causes people to die. There's nothing about her story that strains a plausible non supernatural string of unfortunate experiences. It's easy to imagine her ability is predictive, not a cause, just like Satsuki and Prez. This relatively peaceful ending further implies that I think.

Yeah, I've got the same impression. The problem with Komachi's precognition is that she doesn't see how or when people are going to die, only that they will, at some point. Her precognition isn't actionable, unlike Satsuki and the late Prez's, which is part of what caused her to feel so hopeless. Also, her powers awakened much earlier in life than Satsuki's, so she has been conditioned by her experiences as a child (i.e. a helpless individual) to be passive about and to go along with them, unlike Satsuki, who was an outgoing teenager before that and was subsequently brutally conditioned by the asshole father of hers to ignore her own safety to save others.

last edited at Apr 5, 2024 6:14AM

I never really saw Akira as a "love interest" in this series to the point that I was thinking that the subtext tag was doing some heavy lifting in recent chapters but Komachi has entered that chat and it's some good food. SSS tier Yuri dynamic, the girl who (thinks she) causes everyone to die and the girl who stops everyone from dying. It's poetry.

I'd be fine with this outcome if Komachi didn't become irrelevant for half of the manga

last edited at Apr 5, 2024 9:50AM

Okay I gotta counter the revisionism saying Akira wasn't totally a possibility with Satsuki. There's some major butterfly moment romantic scenes between them, like in chapter 16 or 56. Satsuki's gay as hell for most girls who get close to her but consistently Akira and Komachi have been making her go dokidoki the entire series.

Wow, my ship sailed from no where.

It seems that we are heading towards a happy ending, but after Walk to Death I am afraid that what Ryouko-sensei may decide in the end.

What if the next premonitory corpse is Satsuki's and Komachi finally decides to sacrifice herself for her?

Dang, all the predictions that Komachi were the villain were completely wrong. We fell into the same trap her relatives and everyone else did.
With no villain in sight, it seems like we're speeding into the endgame. I loved the series overall. I'm glad I could experience it with the rest of you

Komachi is not Garou
Now THERE is a legendary crossover!

Dang, all the predictions that Komachi were the villain were completely wrong. We fell into the same trap her relatives and everyone else did.
With no villain in sight, it seems like we're speeding into the endgame. I loved the series overall. I'm glad I could experience it with the rest of you

I think the author mentioned it's winding down as well.