Sousou no Frieren - Vol. 2 Ch. 14 - Articulate Monsters

[James_Oliver]

This just doesn't stop getting better each chapter!

 

[Thoxi1026]

@phil777
Well, in the first place, I don’t think frieren would even say something like that, could just be my wrong depiction of her character tho.

 

[Meridis]

Kinda reminds me of some research I did for a linguistics class some time ago. It was the results of many attempts to teach different animals some form of language. It was the strangest thing, the human's response that is. No matter what the animal did, the researchers would insist on something that makes their response less than human. Monkeys would learn sign language, figure out the details of the signs to create new and compound words, and teach them to their offspring. However, the researcher would still say it wasn't the same as humans as "they only initiated conversation with a goal in mind", that they wanted something or to do something. Thing is, human communication now is done to satisfy some goal, probably a primal one that the method to achieving has gotten more complicated through the lens of societal constraints, like how feeding yourself now entails many things like finding a job and doing it well. In a similar token, it doesn't really matter if demons are monsters deep down as the difference between human's and animals is much less innate than one would think. That's why we have feral children, because society is what makes a "human" and these demons could be the same as "humans" if sufficient power and pressure is applied to their society to shape it.

 

[phil777]

@Thoxi1026
I don't know. She's relatively cold and aloof. I think something along those lines would fit her. =/

 

[Thoxi1026]

@phil777
I don’t know, I think she’d be the type to just say “ok”, she doesn’t necessarily seem cold to me but so emotionless that rather than her pushing away other people, other people themselves distance theirselves from her (because of how uncomfortable they would feel). Although I guess there are times when she distances herself from others.

 

[slypy]

god damn

lovin it

 

[TheH]

@Meridis that's some beautiful stuff right there

 

[purplelemondoesstuff]

@Meridis Very well put.

 

[phil777]

@Meridis
And I had a linguistics class that proved that Pokémons, despite saying only their names, fulfilled all the caracteristics of language. So heh. =/

 

[sirflimflam]

You know, I'm actually genuinely curious if there really is nothing that can be done about demons.

Sure, they act like predators. They speak the human tongue to deceive them into a situation that benefits them, like any predator with a trick to hunt their prey. But the fact that they're high thinking means there's a chance for them to realize co-existence is possible. They lack the notion of common sense from the view of a human. The young demon killing the village chief in order to placate the one woman still actively hostile to her seems like it could work when you lack the understanding of humans. After all, she said it herself; she just wanted to live peacefully, but the grieving mother was still showing her malice to the girl thus triggering those feral senses to placate the threat.

Whether it would be possible to get demons to understand humans more than their need to consume them is definitely a question with no answer a the moment, but Hammel, and those villagers may be right. It just wasn't the right conditions...

 

[ORAORAORAraki]

Im waiting for her to pop off one day!

 

[Porg]

The demons in this are just as inhuman as the elves, so not inherently "evil" but they are predators

 

[SanyaNya]

@beperov I beg to disagree regarding the classification of "terrorists". Terrorists are most importantly self-proclaimed. You can't be a terrorist if what you're doing is not with intention to cause terror. Yes, it can be even "terror for good means", but that's where the difference lies.

 

[tuatara1]

I really hope that the message isn't going to be that Frieren is right and there's no way to achieve peace with the demons. Not because I want these demons to have some secret redeeming qualities, but because that sort of message is fundamentally xenophobic. There's enough fear of the other as it is.

 

[Vofuro]

Love this fresh look at the demons - we've got the flesh-eating, but none of the they-are-like-humans-stuff. Also really, really love how this chapter played with my assumptions. Because yes, obviously, those messengers of peace are truly just demons who want to co-exist with humans and are just well, bit different human-eating humans. After all, time passed, longing for peace came! And obviously elven girl is prejudiced because of the war and will learn that they are actually nice, upgright people - then demon girl came and with it the systematic crush of my stupid assumptions.
Love it when stories do that.

 

[AnotherRat]

Thanks for the chapter!!!

 

[werewolf914]

Ooooooohhhhhhhhhhhhhh! It's on, it's on now, finally we gonna see some of her powers!

 

[MonkBonkie]

Yo this manga is horrible i mean who would ever read this in a millions years lemo lmao

 

[Karakuri1812]

The comment section ia full of weird stuff but we all agree on one thing: thank you for the update! And Frieren, unlike humans who have a fleeting moment of life, would really know what demons truly are cause she has experienced the demons firsthand and learn from it, not from books or what other people said.

 

[Darktowerinc]

Its quite the dark turn. This world's humans seem pretty lame, reaching that level of society without wiping out your natural predator is pretty weird