thank you for the awesomeness... I mean chapter. Well it looks like the next chapter will come down to the final 3 forbidden techniques of Raiden vs 2 armed Shiva, yeah I know one is kinda janky at the moment but I'm certain that through sheer will and the power of h.pantheon friendship he will be able to use it to some degree, and his cosmic dance. I'm guessing it will be an endurance contest whether Raiden can kill Shiva with his final techniques or outlast Shiva or Shiva being able to take Raiden down before Raiden techniques or his own dance ends him. So it will be sorta a reverse of the Zeus and Adam final slugfest except Raiden knows to some degree using his move long term won't work out well for him. I'm loving this fight I don't know who will win and unlike at the start of the match I'm fully on team Raiden after the cheesiness and double standard that got applied to Shiva during this fight its just really hard to root for him at the moment, he's cool, he's funny, and even likable to a degree but he isn't the same god we saw earlier through out the series. I'm sorry, no disrespect, but him landing that palm strike at the end was a massive Hell Yeah moment and if Raiden wins cool, I still think Okita will lose his match, and if he loses maybe someone else I support on Humanity's side will succeed. But at least now I can understand and believe why Brunhilde originally intended for Raiden to fight Zeus.
While regardless what happens I don't think Shiva will ever forget Raiden I think this fight in particular should be a clear wake up call to both the gods participating as well as the pantheons the various gods are representing. They took this on because they wanted to go Mano to Mano with humanity and thought that by stooping to ou...the humans level they would be able to flat out curb stomp them that the gap and difference would be to great so they didn't need to use their normal tactics. That's their biggest disadvantage for almost all of the gods shown so far has been their pride despite how many times the human reps have proven otherwise. Yeah they could likely display more power but that would also demolish the veneer the gods were sarcastically trying to set up and maintain when they agreed to Brunhilde's proposal that these would be "fair fights" between men and their creators. After this round win or lose the gods will be regretting it and will need to reconsider their individual tactics.
As for Raiden's change in personality I find the good to his momma and hometown develop endearing does it massively contradict or or contrast with how he behaved when he was introduced well I look at two things 1) the dude's been in heaven for centuries living it up after how his life went and especially his earlier years he's like a famous sports star/athlete in retirement so he may be acting differently in the afterlife then he would while alive. 2) We don't know what he did in his off time between matches and he may have been keeping some pocket money at the time for his usage when he wasn't training etc. also Raiden was a massive celebrity and it was shown frequently he was very popular with the female fans.... so that could lead to things. I see the the flashbacks in this chapter demonstrating why he sealed certain techniques and his beginnings in sumo and his feelings towards his family, hometown, fellow man stuff necessary to demonstrate he was a good guy and show contrast with the previous human representative which the flashback accomplished. I honestly hope we see his momma in the crowd in the next chapter. It would be full circle her getting to finally see her son doing what he loves, at peace with his body, and finally able to use it to its fullest upholding the very teachings she instilled in him when he asked her that question in his youth. Anyways viva la Raiden.
