Shy - Vol. 18 Ch. 154 - Thanatophobia

[MangaDex]

 

[mlch31l3-3120]

This group is my actual saving grace😌🙏

 

[Passerby_RLY]

From Ch.120 Page.21 :

 

[cybeast21]

I didn't expect Qwabara just... do it to herself like that

 

[PechWild]

Best way to convey feelings properly: a punch.

The Dai-Gurren Brigade approves!

 

[Blackspace_2]

From Ch.120 Page.21 :

awesome, now scale her against wally west

 

[Wowkin]

I would have liked Shy to have her own special attack tho

 

[Passerby_RLY]

I would have liked Shy to have her own special attack tho

Shine's moves are light/energy-themed
The fire-themed moves are Shy's own abilities

 

[NotSomeone]

This manga keeps tackling heavier and heavier themes, but I keep feeling like the work lacks maturity and sensibility to properly talk about stuff like self-harm, prostitution and suicide.
There seems to be no real concern or effort to treat these extremely complex themes with honesty and sublety, it feels like someone's creating a traumatic backstory for a villain to be saved from by the hero
And while that works for some things so far in the story, like a mother and child's quarrel and lack of understanding of eachother, it definitly feels flat when things are not so black-and-white.

I keep using "It feels" and "I feel like" because, evidently, that's my impression of things. Maybe the author did research and work their ass off here and it just flew over my head.

 

[Panana_Fone]

Persona 3 reference 🗣️

 

[FlorianGran]

So...what are Shy's powers now

 

[DoboDoboDobo]

So...what are Shy's powers now

She has the ninja powers, her fire powers and Shine's powers. I might be missing one though

 

[deltahalo241]

Did Shy just kill Quabala? The little speech about crying because she's unable to save her soul followed by the punch to the chest makes it seem so, I don't recall her ever defeating a villain through such means, prefering to talk them down. I guess we'll find out next chapter.

 

[Descendent]

This manga keeps tackling heavier and heavier themes, but I keep feeling like the work lacks maturity and sensibility to properly talk about stuff like self-harm, prostitution and suicide.
There seems to be no real concern or effort to treat these extremely complex themes with honesty and sublety, it feels like someone's creating a traumatic backstory for a villain to be saved from by the hero
And while that works for some things so far in the story, like a mother and child's quarrel and lack of understanding of eachother, it definitly feels flat when things are not so black-and-white.

I keep using "It feels" and "I feel like" because, evidently, that's my impression of things. Maybe the author did research and work their ass off here and it just flew over my head.

While it does feel like we're cutting off from each of these topics and character arcs rather abruptly, I think it would get too depressing to linger too long on these themes. This series doesn't seem to want an overall dark tone, despite being full of tragedy.

Those topics are complex enough that you could dedicate an entire series to a single person's journey of healing. The most I would expect from a series like this one is to check-in on the characters every-now-and-then to see how they're doing. We're probably going to get more follow-up with Sekilala in particular, since she's featured on recent volume covers from the raws.

You can also think of this series' focus on heroes as being more like following the work of paramedics or trauma surgeons, who save people from the initial crisis, and get their condition stable enough for the long healing process to begin. It's just a matter of what the story's overall focus is. Instead of focusing on the challenges faced by people who suffer from those specific topics, it's focused on the challenges of being a superhero who's trying to (and sometimes failing to) save others.

 

[NotSomeone]

While it does feel like we're cutting off from each of these topics and character arcs rather abruptly, I think it would get too depressing to linger too long on these themes. This series doesn't seem to want an overall dark tone, despite being full of tragedy.

Those topics are complex enough that you could dedicate an entire series to a single person's journey of healing. The most I would expect from a series like this one is to check-in on the characters every-now-and-then to see how they're doing. We're probably going to get more follow-up with Sekilala in particular, since she's featured on recent volume covers from the raws.

You can also think of this series' focus on heroes as being more like following the work of paramedics or trauma surgeons, who save people from the initial crisis, and get their condition stable enough for the long healing process to begin. It's just a matter of what the story's overall focus is. Instead of focusing on the challenges faced by people who suffer from those specific topics, it's focused on the challenges of being a superhero who's trying to (and sometimes failing to) save others.

That's exactly my criticism: due to the overall tone and pacing, the series can't afford to give these complex topics the treatment they deserve. It's what I mean when I say the manga keeps trying to tackle these themes without the maturity to deal with them in earnest.
I don't want to blame demographics because I believe you can talk about these themes with a younger audience if you're mature and know what you're doing.

But Shy feels childish and shallow, like when a teenager tries to write their OC's tragic and gruesome backstory.
So you either have fewer villains so you can work them out better, or you just don't tackle these topics because it's obvious you can't do them justice.

 

[Baddtraxx]

wait so was actually undead the whole time???

 

[Karretch]

wait so was actually undead the whole time???

to some degree or another some of the Amalareiks are "undead", whether a real body or a creation of Stigma's powers. Pepesha's mom was the first shown. i'd like to make the assumption they all are, but Love girl gives me pause. Also Mei, the ninja girl, i can't recall if she was a proper member or not nor her state of being.

 

[gamria]

This manga keeps tackling heavier and heavier themes, but I keep feeling like the work lacks maturity and sensibility to properly talk about stuff like self-harm, prostitution and suicide.
There seems to be no real concern or effort to treat these extremely complex themes with honesty and sublety, it feels like someone's creating a traumatic backstory for a villain to be saved from by the hero
And while that works for some things so far in the story, like a mother and child's quarrel and lack of understanding of eachother, it definitly feels flat when things are not so black-and-white.

I keep using "It feels" and "I feel like" because, evidently, that's my impression of things. Maybe the author did research and work their ass off here and it just flew over my head.

With Stigma's whole Neverland schtick, I think "childishness" and immaturity is part of the point.

Based on Ch 117, we can speculate that perhaps all of Amalareiks are Shine's regrets taken form. Of her failures to save someone, of her inadequate wisdom that failed to avert the tragic outcome. "If only I had or hadn't done this, they could've been saved."

Part of Shy's journey is the discovery that her perfect superhero sister... wasn't so perfect after all, with all the mistakes she's made as a girl who no longer has a parental figure for guidance. A lost child who doesn't always know the right thing to do.

 

[NotSomeone]

With Stigma's whole Neverland schtick, I think "childishness" and immaturity is part of the point.

Based on Ch 117, we can speculate that perhaps all of Amalareiks are Shine's regrets taken form. Of her failures to save someone, of her inadequate wisdom that failed to avert the tragic outcome. "If only I had or hadn't done this, they could've been saved."

Part of Shy's journey is the discovery that her perfect superhero sister... wasn't so perfect after all, with all the mistakes she's made as a girl who no longer has a parental figure for guidance. A lost child who doesn't always know the right thing to do.

I am not saying the work is immature like we're seeing these things happen from a kid's POV, or that the villains' motives are too childish (they are, but that's the point). I am saying that the work is immature because it seems like it was written by an immature writer.
There are great works of fiction that are exactly that - bad things happening and we're seeing it all from a child's POV, how they internalize and work those things inside their head.
That's kind of what this manga is trying to do, but the author is out of their depth - be it for reasons of time, pacing or experience, they never build enough depth for these characters and stories.