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Here do I swear fealty and service to KHR 253.
Fact: I have not been so hopelessly in love with this manga since we first saw the Sistema C.A.I. Everything about this chapter is awesome.1. Dude. Okay, when a chapter opens with the main character's goddamn corpse, you know it's gonna be good.
2. FUCK YES, Byakuran used his crazy sci-fi knowledge of new technologies to help develop the box weapons. Ladies and gentlemen, this means I was officially ALMOST SORT OF right about ONE WHOLE THING. BEST TRACK RECORD EVER, yes, I know. Please try not to be jealous. sob.
3. Thank you, Reborn--at least I know I'm not the only one who had these sorts of questions on my mind after Irie's explanation last week. So Shou accidentally went back and further fucked things up (GOOD JOB THERE, SHOU) by activating Byakuran's ability even earlier in his life. That explains a lot (I'd been wondering how the hell he managed to rise to world-class dictator status in less than a year, parallel world weirdness or not).
4. OH MY GOD just when I think things can't get any more complicated. XD Everything about this page is so nuts I don't know where to start. So on top of time travel and parallel universes, we've also got to keep track of memory wipes now? WHAT KIND OF MANGA DID THIS TURN INTO ALL OF A SUDDEN.
5. Yay, we finally get an explanation for how TYL!Shou communicated with his younger self. |D I kind of expected something like this; it's nice to be able to say that about one detail, at least.
Incidentally, Irie bribing Little!Shou by waving the secret of his future crush over his younger self's head is perhaps the greatest thing to come from this arc yet, and that's including the wall. "There's a secret written on it, so I've got no choice but to do it..." AND WITH THESE WORDS, A LEGENDARY ARC IS BORN. Sometimes there are just no words for how much I love this series.
6. "What's ironic is that those were also the happiest moments in my life." Oh my God how can I be cracking up and tearing up at the same page. ;_;
I think I've been a broken record about this lately, but I once again I feel compelled to say just how much I love Irie lately. He is so fucking awesome. Finding out that your best friend is destined to become the greatest threat to humanity in history--and then on top of that finding out that you're the only one who can stop him--would be a crippling blow to most people. But he not only accepts that and deals with it, he resolves to put himself at tremendous risk by spying on this man. Now I've thought Irie was tremendously brave for doing this ever since we first found out he was a double agent (going on a year ago now, wow). But actually seeing the flashback and hearing it described in his own words... just... I don't know. Somehow it still has that much more impact on me, and more. What a strong character. I almost feel guilty for loving the main trio so much, because otherwise Shou would be making a really strong case to take over as my favorite. XD
7. Bawww Amano remembered Lambo exists. XD (Actually, Gokudera remembered Lambo exists, which is interesting if you happen to be as preoccupied with the whole "STORM AND LIGHTNING ARE LIKE BROTHERS!!1" thing as I am. XD) So they finally made the connection between 20YL!Lambo's angst and all of the angst we've seen in this particular future. Not that it wasn't already obvious, but it's still nice.
8. ...
Okay, if anyone saw that coming, congratulations. You're the next fucking Nostradamus. XD
Oh my God. Oh my God.
All I can say is, my face probably looks awfully Basilish right now.
9. Oh fuck you too, Byakuran. You know, up until now, he may have been a dick, but at least he was willing to play along and give the Vongola a "sporting" chance. In fact, he almost seemed to enjoy it. But now all of a sudden, despite the odds being overwhelmingly in his favor, he doesn't feel like indulging them with one last rematch? Maybe someone's finally starting to feel that there's still a slight possibility that he might lose after all. Ohoho.
That said, it's still no excuse for conveniently forgetting that prior agreement. You're the one who suggested this game, Byakuran--play by the damn rules.
10. HOLY SHIT UNI, you have the best timing ever. DID GAMMA CALL YOU?!? I can't remember the last time I was so happy to see a surprise character entrance. Mostly because the look on Byakuran's face in that last panel is so damn satisfying I feel like punching the air in victory. FINALLY SOMETHING YOU DIDN'T PREDICT, CRAZYBOSS.
Apparently there's no Shounen Jump next week, so we'll all have to band together to survive during this difficult time. That said, this chapter was so thoroughly amazing I almost don't care; I feel like I could float right through the next two weeks entirely on the high I got from reading this.
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That's been circling around in my head after every page of this chapter. I can't stop smiling -- TYL Tsuna, Uni's appearance, Byakuran's "oh shit" expression, Shouichi's persistence... I'm so happy. *swoons*
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*SWOONS WITH*
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I REALLY, REALLY WANT A ROUND 2 THAT INCLUDES HIBARI AND RYOHEI AND LAMBO AND CHROME AND SLADJGLSDJFLASF MUKURO NEEDS TO MAKE A REAPPEARANCE.
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Omg yes, if the rest of the guardians don't get to fight and Mukuro doesn't finally FUCKING SHOW UP ALREADY I will be a sad Makeste. Maybe for the final round, they'll just have an all-out brawl, Tsuna's guardians versus Byakuran and all six Funeral Wreaths. It's about the only way than can squeeze all the fights we want to see into the remainder of this arc. XD
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They were soiled.
I'm with you. This is a good enough high for the next two fucking weeks.
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It really is. Though all the same, I'm glad it's only two weeks. XD
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Poor Gokudera. Put through all that angst for no reason, lolz.
And I'm agreeing with you on Shou. He's quickly becoming my baby, and I just want to give him a hug. Although I love how Tsuna was practically like, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME THIS BEFORE, IDIOT?! SO I'D ACTUALLY CARE ABOUT SAVING THE WORLD." Tee Hee!
For some reason, I was really surprised that the Lightening Match was supposed to be the ONLY one. I guess I thought it would be more like the Varia Ring battles, and their would be numerous fights, I guess? I dunno. It surprised me for some reason...
(Speaking of which, am I the only one who REALLY wants the rest of the Varia to show up and kick ass? It would be nice and beneficial for our Vongola homies...)
And regarding #9: I was actually pleased that we didn't have a dumbass villain for once. After all, Xanxus did the whole "fighting" chance thing after he got the Sky Ring, but let the ring battles continue, and look where it got him? His bitch ass FROZEN. It was nice to see that Byakuran wasn't going to take any chances.
Byakuran is still a dick, of course, but he isn't a STUPID dick. Manipulative bastard. D:<
Until Uni showed up and was all: "SUP BITCHES? WE PLAY FAIRZ NAO, K?!"
All in all, this was an AMAZING chapter. I'm still squeeing!
And WUT?! No SJ next week? DDDD:
(SORRY FOR THE NOVEL! D:)
♥
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But oh my God did you see Gokudera's face on page 11 when he realized? "Tenth... is still alive." Bawww that expression just killed me. ;_; Better to go through the angst and have a happy ending then to believe that no matter what you do, even if you do win the fight, the future that you're currently in can never be a happy one again. (Though now I wonder if anyone other than Irie knew that Tsuna wasn't really dead--did TYL!Hibari know that much too? If he did he really is a jackass, lol. XD)
Heh, yeah, even as I was reading this chapter and thinking "OMG!!!" and "SHOU YOU ROCK" over and over again, I couldn't help but agree with Tsuna that it might have been nicer to have this all explained ahead of time. Sure, the pressure would have been phenomenal, but they've done well enough under pressure before. (And at any rate, they couldn't have really done much worse, considering that they still lost. XD)
I WAS SURPRISED TOO. I had this idea that there'd be multiple matches--probably because of the way the Varia arc played out, like you said. And also because it would make no sense if only three of the main characters actually got to fight after all of that training. (And no, you're not the only one hoping that the rest of the Varia show up; I for one am wondering if Squalo really came alone. >_> Though maybe the Italy battle at the arc's halfway point was Amano's way of including them in this arc.)
I was just surprised because it seemed to contrast with what we'd seen of him so far, I guess. Up until this point he's been more than happy to dick around. Like I said, I take it that his sudden refusal now means that he might be feeling a bit less confident than he let on (and well, who wouldn't be after listening to Shouichi spill that whole master plan), which I definitely have no objections to. But it was still annoying. :P
And yeah, I still can't stop squeeing over it. I wonder if I ever will. ♥
(LOL, no problem; as you can see, I can't really stop myself from typing on and on about it myself. XD)
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XD you're so good at theorizing, the only thing I nailed was that Shouichi's dream was to become a musician XD AND EVEN THAT PROVED TO BE A BAD IDEA
But AHAHA OH MAN, I wanna see rocker Shouichi now XD DID YOU SEE HIS BAND MATES (?)
I love how this started off as a cracky chance encounter with Lambo (so early on in the series too!) and just totally snowballed/blizzard-ed from there. XD Amazing.
And all those encounters with Byakuran x333 just. uwahhhhhhh
XDDD I TOTALLY WANNA KNOW WHO SHOUICHI WAS CRUSHING ON AHAHAHA (I wonder if it's a character we know) XD EPIC LEVERAGE IS EPIC
6. ;_; this. god, that panel feeds the 10051 shipper in me so much...@_@ and I thought I was getting over that pairing...TAT /end slashy talk
I feel bad for being kinda 'meh' about Shouichi now, it's like how Gokudera and Tsuna said something like 'I don't understand the importance' until Shouichi explained it to them...it's like they voiced what everyone was thinking, because, really, the future arc just became a lot more intense.
XD I loved that panel with 20yl Lambo, ahhh~
8.
.....
Let's say I did think they might have killed Tsuna on purpose, but HE NEVER DIED?
>.> well.
XD I was totally expecting Byakuran to be all 'fufufufufufu I ACCEPT fufufufu~' But then again, he IS unpredictable... XD
OH MY GOD UNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII 8DDDDDDDDD AFKJDAGHKL I FANGIRLED HO SHIT
as if I wasn't already over Tsuna and Shouichi and Byakuran and sdlkfhdgAND WHERE UNI IS, GAMMA IS CLOSE BEHIND YES?
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lol, I'm good at coming up with theories/predictions that never come true, anyway. XD
I seriously can't wait for Shou's character single to come out now that we know about his musical aspirations. It should be pretty hilarious. 8D
I KNOW. It makes you wonder just how far back Amano started planning all of this. We have proof now that she had this arc in mind at least as far back as when 20YL!Lambo showed up in the Varia arc, and maybe it goes back even farther than that. Did she know when she firsted introed Shou that she'd be bringing him back as the time-traveling catalyst of THE APOCALYPSE like a hundred chapters later?? HOW CRAZY IS THIS WOMAN?
Pretty much every scene with Byakuran was epic or creepy or foreshadowing somehow.
I really wanna know who Shou's crush was, too. I hope it wasn't just something he made up to blackmail his little self. XD
6. I went from hardly shipping 10051 at all to shipping it like. Full-blown now. XD SO TRAGIC BAWWWWW. ;_;
He's come a long, long way as a character; I don't necessarily feel bad for
hatingnot liking him before, but I'm really awed at how Amano's revealed all this stuff about him little by little. The whole thing was just masterfully done.8. I had thought TYL!Tsuna might have gotten himself killed all martyrishly somewhat on purpose, but I never in my wildest what-if thoughts imagined that the whole thing might have been faked. (And you know, even if Shou didn't want to tell the others the truth about Byakuran's power, you'd think he could at least have mentioned that little detail to them once he joined their side, God. XDDD)
SO WAS I, maybe that's why I was so pissed off when he refused. He went from being a 8Dy dick to a >(y dick all at once. WHAT.
I HOPE GAMMA ISN'T FAR BEHIND; an appearance from him is possibly the only thing I can imagine that would make me fangirl over this series even more. Man, I can't wait for next week.
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KFASHFUAUFHASFUGASJAHSFSFHASFGAKFHAK
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*FLAILS WITH*
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It just seemed strange to me that he supposedly died, because it must have been really recent due to the fact that the coffin was still above ground and yet not holding the stench of his body's decomposition. And if it was like only a day ago (and it must have been, considering how fresh the flowers he lay on were), how the hell did they get a coffin, the flowers and everything that quickly while "running/fighting for their lives" because of the Millefiore? Obviously, he must have known he was going to be killed and prepared this in advance, and if he knew that he would be killed, why the hell did he let it happen in the first place? It just didn't make sense, especially since they'd need embalmers to fix his body up after death, and that takes time as well, doing all of this in the space of one day just didn't seem possible to me... Maybe I was just thinking too much about it, I have a tendency to do that. X'DDD
And Uni! Look at her! Girl is up to something! 8D
This chapter was awesome! And with all the fail that's been going on lately, I was glad to finally see some win. XD
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I can't wait to see what Uni does in the next chapter. They still haven't explained how Byakuran convinced her to join the Millefiore (that's one thing his power doesn't explain--at least, not without us knowing all the details), so it should be really interesting. :D
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I've never been very fond of Uni, until now. I finally see her as something other than a decoration. XDD (Though I did think something was odd with her as well, why would she suddenly switch personality when Byakuran doesn't seem to have mind controlling powers? Now it seems that she was planning something and was therefore lulling Byakuran into a false sense of security. Awesome little girl, I must say.)
belated reaction is belated
In conclusion, god these chapters were so much fun, and yay Uni, and also yay for Byakuran being an asshole and being an intelligent villain because they are so rare, and I am just waiting in gleeful anticipation for fandom to take a spin on Shou and Byakuran's adventures in university, 'cause it'll be awesome.
belated response is even more belated XD
Lol, yeah, I predict a huge influx of 10051 fics in the very near future. :P
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TYL Tsuna is actually freaking evil!!! He's even got Reborn's rape smirk going on! How did he change from the adorable little shouta boy we know and love? T___T He set all this up, and didn;t care, and, and....sigh.
I'm in the same predicament with Irie becoming my favourite character orz. Her's probably third now. =___= He's just so cool....and brave....And the panel where he's collapsed and breaking down because he remembers all his memories is just so sad! His best friend.....
And THAT LAST PANEL OF BYAKURAN!!! Is that a sweat drop I see? >333 You're going down now. Uni will be un-brainwashed and rematch shall be Vongola's. What a cheater anyway, denying Shou like that. I was wondering where Gamma was, considering he was skulking around and all. Do you think it would be too much to ask for him to join the Vongola team? And I was thinking, am I the only one who thought there was always going to be more than one choice battle? n__n;; I mean, the complicatedness of it all suggested epic-ness, but I guess this arc is drawing to a close..? Maybe? D:
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I think this one reaction sums up all of my feelings on the last few chapters. XD
LOL, he does look a little evil in that panel, now that you mention it, but I think it's the fluffy Byakuran-esque hair more than anything else. It would probably be a far more Tsuna-ish smile if we could actually see his eyes, but as it is, from that angle he does look rather villainish. MAKING SNEAKY PLANS FOR THE GREATER GOOD and all that.
Oh, Irie... I just can't gush about him enough. SO AWESOME.
I'm very much looking foward to more Byakuran-actually-looking-nervous! panels; each one is more satisfying than the last. :P And I sure hope Gamma shows up; they showed one brief little panel of him right before the Choice battle began, so it's definitely not out of the question, especially with Uni's arrival now. And no, you're definitely not the only one who was expecting more than one Choice battle; it only made sense, considering how many characters there are (and of course, after all that training and build up we have to see them all fight). I was pretty shocked when for a moment it looked like there wouldn't be a next round. XD
It does look like we're heading into the grand finale, though, especially since almost everything has finally been explained now.
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(I was a little shocked to hear that Irie was the one that shot him. Considering Irie was probably already on his side by then - well he was, they did all that sneaky planning together - and that must have been really hard to do as well, even though he knew that it wouldn't kill him.)
No wonder Gokudera asked everybody to kill Irie. =_____=
UNI'S APPEARANCE < THE LOOK ON BYAKURAN'S FACE.
... Seriously.
He is shocked and surprised and it's a nice emotion to see from the man who knows everything about everything that ever was. Literally.
NO SHONEN JUMP THIS WEEK?
I MIGHT HAVE TO CRAWL INTO A CORNER AND CRY. AT LEAST I CAN START WATCH THE ARCOBALENO ARC FROM THE ANIME.
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Agreed, I'm loving Byakuran's OH SHI--! face quite a lot. I look forward to seeing many more expressions like that. He's had them coming. :P
Sob, I may just have to join you. I should finally start watching the Arco arc too. XD