Nikubami Honegishimi - Vol. 2 Ch. 4.3 - Devouring Specters, Distorting Divinity (Latter)

[looc64]

I hope they'll go back there and deal with the situation more permanently, a big shame of horror and supernatural stories is that everything end up open ended (and not in a good way, in a 'you only got half the story' way) and you end up with so many 'unstoppable' entities on the lose, the setting stop making sense as to why humans even still exist.

To me it's less, "why do humans still exist," and more, "why is human society still relatively functional?"

I think so far it's been "fine" in this story because the entities they've come across are all localized to relatively small areas. Like the one in this chapter has been in that village for a while* and erases the existence of the people it catches, so it isn't disrupting modern human society too much.

*Maybe the "land descent" ritual did sorta work? It didn't stop gerai from eating the villagers but it might have stopped it from moving somewhere else.

 

[izumabakumatsu]

So... Asama has a childhood friend who got the Nikubami Honegishimi. The way he seems to remember her in the middle chapters seems like he's afraid or at least uncomfortable with her, even if what he was seeihg currently was really her ghost.

The hints are dropping but it's not a full picture yet.

 

[izumabakumatsu]

I hope they'll go back there and deal with the situation more permanently, a big shame of horror and supernatural stories is that everything end up open ended (and not in a good way, in a 'you only got half the story' way) and you end up with so many 'unstoppable' entities on the lose, the setting stop making sense as to why humans even still exist.

I prefer not to. Esp when it's not a direct fantasy story but more towards supernatural horror. The unresolved cases becomes seed of anxiety as Masaaki Nakayama calls it. Also, as you probably should've noticed, the 2 MCs aren't exorcist or anything like that. Asama eventually becomes one but at least during these few cases he wasn't.

Humans exist because we learn to either ignore, appease or protect ourselves from those entities. And it's obvious even within the microcosm of the story that these are isolated incidences that often happen to people whom have some sense of the supernatural. Human's life expectancy was very low until modern times when medicine and clean water became easily available. Humanity survived because humans made sure there were more humans born than there were deaths. It's why back in history old people were revered. They were survivors whereas most people died by their mid30s. And in this story's case... who's to say those deaths weren't caused by these supernatural entities.

 

[BalrogDeMorgoth]

The unresolved cases becomes seed of anxiety as Masaaki Nakayama calls it

They don't, they become big fat 'who cares? It's the 40th this month, it's not doing anything since humanity still exist and we don't know shit about it'.

Insisting nothing must be resolved because 'it's horror' while completely ignoring the investigation and research part of the story is just like insisting Kindaichi Cases should never be resolved because 'it's mystery'. You just removed the climax of the formula

appease or protect ourselves from those entities

Notice how doing either of those would require an actual conclusion instead of 'we left'?

 

[friendly]

can't imagine why he'd lie about the thing that made your aunt die a horrible death