Sensou Kyoushitsu - Vol. 14 Ch. 43 - A Little Tugboat

[Figtree22]

This manga is so underrated it actually pisses me off

 

[Trin4life]

A lot to unpack this chapter.

The Emperor turns out not to be a Futurist like all the other tree body people, but rather an actual Druid inhabiting an artificial body. It explains why the Druids have more presence in the Empire than the other nations, as they are actually running it. It hasn’t been made explicit yet, but it seems evident that all the tree bodies are made from the Druid trees.

I like how, in many ways, the series is science fiction disguised as fantasy. The towers being compared to radio towers, the horns of the rami being essentially receiving antennas, time travel, and now alien invasions.

The Emperor offering Kayano conquest and status, not understanding Kayano is not interested in such things, is a clear parallel to how the Pope tried to sell Lucas on the idea of being a great hero, which Lucas was similarly uninterested in. Also of note is that, in both of their cases, the “powers” we initially see them using are revealed to be side effects of their actual powers.

Speaking of parallels, the one between Kayano and Zoe has never been more evident. Both young girls, who didn’t know better, have been manipulated by fake parental figures into carrying out terrible things, only for both to want out once they comprehend the consequences of their actions. If any characters survive this series, I expect it to be those two.

Mira seems like a decent enough fellow, not telling on Kayano to the others, though I imagine he might also not be keen on the idea of an alien invasion. Either way, I doubt he will teleport Kayano back home. Akira might also not want that, as he seems to truly care about Kayano, despite his attempts at making her into a hedonistic, uncaring soldier.

I imagine the reason the Emperor doesn’t allow Akira to go all out with the Tower’s power is because it would accelerate its imminent wilting. I predict that Zoe is going to be captured, because as a sapling candidate, she has been established as an ideal new core for the Tower. I imagine this will cause Lucas to go attack the capital to save her, before his own flowering is done recharging, so he won’t just be able to make them kill each other like in Southampton.

I mostly agree, except for the ending conclusion. It's seeming more and more likely that the parallels between Mother/Akira/Kayano and Pope/Lucas/Zoe are in preparation for an inversion of the characters' roles/morals. Even if admittedly they don't perfectly line up.

Akira seems to have been trying to teach Kayano how to cope with what she does; alongside a first-hand understanding of what that entails, as evidenced by that festival chapter where he explains to her "this place is getting nuked anyways, what does it matter if we kill them now or later?". In retrospect, it seems less like he was grooming her into a weapon, but understood that in the current status quo she had no chance for another life and wanted to teach her how to survive said environment. Even the Druidic mother (don't remember her name) had been, comparatively, up front with her about who she was and what she was doing. Directly contrast that with how the pope/Lucas have been... taking advantage of Zoe's delusions, and actively manipulating her with her mother's face.

I might be reading too much into this, but the contrast in the way Kayano/Zoe react to their loved ones (and their loved ones react to them) at the end of the chapter seems thematically significant. Lucas seemingly attempts to convince Zoe with her refusing to face him, while Kayano immediately turns in Akira's direction, who proceeds to kneels down to hug and listen to her, face to face (despite already knowing what she would say).


Totally unrelated observation: since Kayano's ability is to call Druids down to earth, and the droods are a collective consciousness, isn't she essentially just calling for a mother figure?

 

[se4ring]

This series is truly phenomenal. We don't need a hundred chapters to tell solid compelling story. Absolutely phenomenal 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

To be fair, this manga would be over 100 chapters already if they followed the usual length of 20 something pages haha. It's been 14 volumes already.

 

[leo12345]

The druids backstory kinda remind me of the Beta from Muv Luv. Also, poor Zoe (and Lucas too honestly, poor kid has gone through a lot)

 

[Levankua]

Man...i too just want this bs war to end

 

[kosaya]

I like how they're facing the consequences of letting kids fight their war

 

[AquALynX]

Kayano slowing gaining empathy, and Zoe slowly gaining consciousness from her child-like mental state. Something Sad is about to happen.

 

[Bohrain]

All shall play the toot

 

[Baylordkin]

The gaslighting has failed now what

 

[AzureEvening]

The quality of this manga is insane, what a great chapter, one of my favorites.

 

[akenoisbae]

Sad that Lucas just took an absolute nosedive as a person.

 

[PhallusHydra]

This series is truly phenomenal. We don't need a hundred chapters to tell solid compelling story. Absolutely phenomenal 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾

Yes the pacing and chapter density is just superb. Author isnt terrified of story progression but they also let things play out over a few chapters instead of just expo dumping or ass pulling left and right.

 

[S1arburst]

Siccing Zoe on Kayano was a terrible choice. She's been becoming more and more aware of targets as people, at first with Lucas' encouragement. There's no way she wouldn't recognize a scared little girl and balk at that. Maybe Zoe'd fight a few more times if absolutely necessary to protect her friends and "family", but not attacking a kid who doesn't seem to be hostile. This is what Lucas and the Pope get for making Zoe fight constantly while ignoring her mounting unease. Also, do they have any idea that Kayano was trying to defect? Did they wonder why she was detached from the capital with a relatively light guard?

 

[AzureEvening]

Siccing Zoe on Kayano was a terrible choice. She's been becoming more and more aware of targets as people, at first with Lucas' encouragement. There's no way she wouldn't recognize a scared little girl and balk at that. Maybe Zoe'd fight a few more times if absolutely necessary to protect her friends and "family", but not attacking a kid who doesn't seem to be hostile. This is what Lucas and the Pope get for making Zoe fight constantly while ignoring her mounting unease. Also, do they have any idea that Kayano was trying to defect? Did they wonder why she was detached from the capital with a relatively light guard?

This is pretty dark but if you think about it, letting her defect opens her up to being retrieved (which would have likely happened, look at the teleporter Ramus). Meanwhile if they kill Kayano, suddenly they go from being the attackers to the defenders, as unless the Empire captures Lucas or Zoe, their Tower will just die and the Pope will autowin. It makes sense.

 

[S1arburst]

This is pretty dark but if you think about it, letting her defect opens her up to being retrieved (which would have likely happened, look at the teleporter Ramus). Meanwhile if they kill Kayano, suddenly they go from being the attackers to the defenders, as unless the Empire captures Lucas or Zoe, their Tower will just die and the Pope will autowin. It makes sense.

Oh it makes strategic sense to kill Kayano, but the tool they chose for that just broke on them. And like you said, kinda dark. Especially since Lucas has to be aware at this point that Kayano is a kid. I'm not sure at what point he learned that, but he was like offering to help Zoe pinpoint her, so I'm sure he knows now. Even with his "burn it all to the ground" mindset since Miura died, it's disappointing that Lucas seems totally blase about killing Kayano at this point.

 

[MangaField]

This manga is so underrated it actually pisses me off

It has a 9.39 here and a 8.47 on myanimelist. What more do you want? It‘s appropriately rated.
Unless you mean „not enough views“. But that‘s different than underRATED.