Otr of the Flame - Ch. 27 - Fylgja's Memories

[MangaDex]

 

[brndndss]

oh, Cholerio was a guy? they androgynous enough i didnt realize.

---

also hit em with the blood bending, that was cool. as it should be, water is very OP

 

[SuperRobotSolo]

It finally hit me, Fylgja's name. A fylgja, yes, singular, is a type of benevolent spirit, usually in the form of a woman, that will LEAD you out of danger. However, the word fylgja has multiple meanings in Norwegian. One of these is etterfølger, as in "descendant" "follower of kin", but can also mean etterfølger (one that follows after [you], a stalker). To "følge etter" means to follow after.

 

[fight2live]

let's goooo Khuteiiiiinnnn

 

[GhostOfBiki]

Love to Khutein flexing. Kinda obvious that Fyl and Otr will be on the path to mastering Hyoi Gattai! and probably using it to fry up Cholerio. Execution continues to be really good.

 

[detarameMangadex]

I can't tell with Otr whether the pacing is intentionally rushed or not: it's like the manga is simultaneously rushing ahead and going nowhere. We're getting a flashback to solidify Otr's personality and past, but at the same time we are also halfway through the 4th arc at 27 chapters. Reading this manga every week feels like getting an impression of a manga by skimming through it, except this impression is the manga here. Chapters in the Suruld arc's end and the Doadoa arc are probably the best-paced chapters, since the series probably just got past a Shueisha serialization meeting around then, so I think Kawaguchi-sensei is rushing through things to avoid the axe. I hope Otr survives, but at this point, I worry that there aren't enough plot points to keep the story going without dragging things out.

Anyways, I look forward to Otr's past being revealed. Otr could be such an interesting character thematically, but we've only seen bits of his complexity so far in Chapter 1, the Suruld arc, and the Doadoa arc. He is a very altruistic and kind kid who is also a fan of sagas, which preach self-sacrifice through the virtue of "heroism." He ends up rejecting this in chapter 1, instead choosing to keep on living for others. His naive ideals are further challenged by Suruld and Doadoa. In the former, he has to defeat someone honorable, making him wonder why they are even fighting in the first place. In the latter, Doadoa tried to prove that nobody was a good person at heart. I like this characterization; it reminds me of Deku, who also started out naive but gradually became more aware of the nuances of "fighting for justice."

Sorry for the ramble. I just feel like Otr of the Flame could be so much more if Kawaguchi-sensei actually had the time to explore these ideas and characters.