Shadows House (Official Colored) - Vol. 4 Ch. 45 - General Evaluation

[Zypex]

I wonder how long it's going to take to learn of the outside world if there's any

 

[Oeconomist]

Had Ram tried to carry Shirley piggy-back, then Shirley might have been doubly saved.

But

Spoiler

if the Shadows could indefinitely sustain themselves as independent beings, then it isn't clear why they would overwhelm their faces.

Spoiler

Perhaps the Shadows will prove to be of two sorts, those that are capable of independent existence, and those that cannot live except as parasites.

 

[DANDAN_THE_DANDAN]

Alright, new questions:

Who kidnaps the humans? Living Dolls start from children, how many panicked parents are there?
"Great Grandfather" implies the fourth generation, dies this have to do with floors? Does third floor mean the Great Grandfather's children?

 

[Althevia]

So the ripped up portrait on the cover is of the great grandfather

 

[Aniseverse]

Alright! Finally some answers!
Looks like Shirley was weak from the start. The Shadows are actually just soot creatures like the soot monster from earlier (ghost?)
Ngl I find it super creepy how they just abduct children and then those soot fairies mimic them and finally they merge together. Yikes.
I feel like we might have some folklore elements here.

 

[Azhotype]

Shirley's lack of personality has been foreshadowed quite a lot, not just by her lack of soot, conversation, and by her relationship with Ram, but also in particular by the chapter covers of chapters 22 and 24, which show the Living Dolls and the Shadows in sitting position. These covers have some interesting details.

The Dolls all have the same posture. The boys hold their hands in exactly the same way and their legs have the exact same position, almost closed with the left foot going forward and the right foot going to the side.
The girls also hold their hands in the same way and their sitting position and leg are the same.

This doesn't happen with the Shadows. John has his arms crossed and legs open, Patrick has one hand on his chest and one leg slightly raised. Louise sits with one leg crossed and her hands on her knee. Kate has her hands on top of her legs and she's sitting with her legs sideways. Shirley, however, has the exact same position as Ram.

These details really show the difference in personalities the Shadows have and how (supposedly) the Living Dolls have no personality of their own.
The only exception is Shirley, who just like the Living Dolls, has no personality.

As a side note, the Shadows being influenced is a bit of a word play that is lost in translation. The word influence in Japanese is written with the kanji 影, which is the kanji for "shadow".

 

[johnfox7]

Spoiler

To those wondering where the children come from and what the outside world looks like, you won't have to wait long, because these next chapters are plot and lore heavy and will explain those parts.

Mod Note: Please use spoiler tags when talking about chapter-specific or future events.

 

[kuma]

wait, then who are the person they meet when they investigate snoot leaks?

 

[Vinpupx]

Huh, if unification is supposed to occur after gaining soot control, then Kate is way ahead of the curve compared to the rest of the house.

 

[dArkus_Orion]

So we actually got details on the nature of their parasitism earlier than I thought we would. This is interesting as hell.

Also these shadow ladies are making me think some thoughts.

 

[Oddish250]

Wow we learned about the nature of the shadows way earlier than expected

 

[Stuartmari]

I still wondering what is ryan’s gender ?

 

[Borderline]

Watch out for Ram already merged with Shirley.

...This is pure assumption.

 

[KhalE]

Honestly all I'm curious now is if there are other shadow houses too and if they both are at war 🤔🤔

 

[stray_dog_]

Im gonna be pissed if they completely wipe the dolls' memory of the debut and erase like 20 chapters worth of character development. Just when i was starting to like my man ricky

 

[Oeconomist]

@Borderline—

Not impossible, but extremely unlikely given Ram's inner monologue.

 

[hanamore]

that's fucked. i was really hoping Shirley and Ram would meet everyone again, but Ram's fate now is...

 

[thegiantpossum]

Why is this so good? Another commentor mentioned that this reads like folklore, and I agree. Little soot ghosts that steal the bodies of children and become powerful monsters. But monsters may not be the right word, as some shadows seem to be decent people, if a bit callous to the suffering of others.

One question that I have is what happens to all the adult shadows. I imagine that this unification is difficult and drops quite a few out, but we've only seen seven adults in total and about a hundred children. Do the adult shadows go and lord over humans in other lands? How much of the world to the shadows control? Where do their supplies come from? Why is "great grandfather" so obsessed with making more shadows and forging them into a powerful force? And if unification takes so long, how did great grandfather get that in the first place?

 

[tblst]

@kuma i believe the author is laying groundworks for a mole among the high-rank shadow folks. The unknown shadow was evidently plotting something unbeknownst to the rest of the house; whether his motives align with Kate's is unknown, but it shows very early on that the Shadow House is not a monolith despite the facade of a unifying allegiance to Grandfather

 

[flyingpig]

@tblst I definitely agree that the unknown shadow will be dark horse that the Great Grandfather least expects. Though the unknown shadow did say that they were neither ally nor friend when we first saw them on page 3 of Chapter 19, you can see the unknown shadow's portrait grouped with the portraits of the living dolls rather than the merged adults in the latest cover. This makes me think that they're on the side of the living dolls (both figuratively and literally), or at the very least, opposed to the way things are currently run.

EDIT: I just noticed that a shadow is cast across a portion of the portraits in the linked cover. This includes the star bearers, the 3^rd floor members, and the unknown shadow. They might not have been lying when they said they weren't an ally.