Tensei Shite High Elf ni Narimashitaga, Slow Life wa 120-nen de Akimashita - Ch. 31

[AnotherDuck]

I miss the oddball elf.

 

[BlackElite]

What can you do? It would be collecting information. There's nothing else other than that.

 

[Kathartes]

It's because he's a high elf that he still remember his past life clearly. All living beings reincarnate, and when it happens their old memories will be wiped clean. However the soul of high elf is the same as spirit, indestructible by nature, so the wiping process couldn't carry out.

Spoiler: Spoiler

In fact he's not the sole exception. Every millennium, there would be one or two high elves like him appeared, and they all eventually left the forest to venture the outside world. He thinks he did a good job pretending to be normal high elf, but the elders knew all along that he isn't.

 

[spectralSpices]

I think it's a bit...odd that he isn't more shocked at JUST HOW CAPITAL J JAPANESE this other world's culture is. I guess everywhere else can be pretty fuckin european, though...and he WAS just in...China...
...
Hey, are we sure he isn't on a hyper-far-future Earth or something? Because a vague mental map of these areas and the cultures within match up pretty directly to Earth.

 

[ErikTheRed]

Casually considering cleaving a country in two. As you do lmao

 

[K_Takuya]

here comes the EDO DICK STROKING ARC

 

[Insert_Feelings_Here]

dudes like 200 years old how does he remember Japanese things.

He doesn't. Eating the food and the general atmosphere dug up faint recollections of a life long gone. He only has ghosts of a memory, like a faded photo so weathered by time that it's been discolored and the faces can't be seen. He also literally said that eating the food stirred faint and dim recollections

 

[le3]

This is gonna sound weird but that Shungo picture of that Oni boning that woman was hot as fuck. I dont know why.

You must be bottling up down there, just find something with 'orc' tag and treat yourself

 

[Diagus]

Next Boss

 

[alexandergc]

He's probably closer to 200 years at this point, if not older 🫡


Also did MC just casually suggest to cleave the whole ass island in 2 😶

Bro has that Kyoshi in him.

 

[macewolf]

I think it's a bit...odd that he isn't more shocked at JUST HOW CAPITAL J JAPANESE this other world's culture is. I guess everywhere else can be pretty fuckin european, though...and he WAS just in...China...
...
Hey, are we sure he isn't on a hyper-far-future Earth or something? Because a vague mental map of these areas and the cultures within match up pretty directly to Earth.

That's mostly because it's hard to make up entirely new maps and cultures. so most authors just base it on some period on earth and move the map around a little bit.

 

[wagnogi]

He's probably closer to 200 years at this point, if not older 🫡


Also did MC just casually suggest to cleave the whole ass island in 2 😶

Most of the time we just get the "X years later" snippets, but as of his arrival at Balm (Chapter 25) we know he was 209 years old.
By adding the following "x years later" snippets, he should be around 222 years old now.

(I have tried adding all the x years later snippets together, but IIRC that only came up to 180-something when he arrived at Balm. (a lot of the travelling isn't really given as a specific amount of time leading to the discrepancy.))

 

[xyzzy]

I must say that the manga adaptation is doing quite a good job following the novel, but as a novel reader myself, I'm quite saddened that they didn't adapt the extra parts (excerpts and side stories) which include continuations of past stories that some of you guys might want to know.

Aww man if only there was an easy way for folks to read that content

Not cutting the country into two because of the possible tidal wave from the process…

Should have learnt from Bugs Bunny and used a saw instead to cut the territory. (Not as old as our MC, but yes this makes me feel old)

I think the parallels to Japan are interesting. Outo is obviously supposed to be a parallel to Kyoto. The island being split between civilization in the South and hairy barbarians to the North was a real thing in Japanese history. The Japanese - Yamato Japanese, that is - conglomerated in the South of Japan with Kyoto - Heian-Kyo - being relatively far North to the major population centers of the time. In the North, there were the Emishi, a race of notably hairy Asians that even the Chinese were weirded out by (the Japanese sent some Emishi slaves to China as a gift).

Long story short, the Yamato Japanese essentially wiped out the Emishi, unifying Honshu and then spent a millennium working on conquering the Ainu in Hokkaido. The guy who finally conquered the Emishi became the first Shogun of Japan. The title, Sei'i Taishogun would be shortened to Shogun and wielded as a title by Minamoto no Yoritomo who became the real leader of Japan after winning the samurai civil war.

It’s funny how people keep going “I DON’T WANT TO SEE POLITICS IN MY MANGA” when like half of manga is based on Japanese political history

But man, what did hairy people do to get Japanese people so angry at them

 

[TNT261]

I just realized in all this traveling, language barrier has never been a problem. Makes sense considering the focus of the Manga (learning a new language would take a lot of work to write well each time and just using magic would feel cheap and exhaustive), but there wasn't even a one time explanation AFAIK about auto translation magic like the TARDIS or something. Residents have also not trouble communicating with the MC and we saw Wynn live in multiple countries (including one with an actual different race) and not have trouble either. Meaning the real implication is that everyone is speaking the same one language which is kinda insane. Like this chapter pointed out that this "totally-not-Japan" basically never gets travelers as far west as the MC. We also have differences in style of clothing and food (which makes sense because of differences in material) and obviously differences in culture. Language is something both influenced by and that influences culture but it's not really brought up here. Mostly just a nitpick (doesn't hugely impact the story), but I think in another timeline if done well it could make the story even more interesting. Like there's so much to learn from just learning languages (including about your own language). I could really see the MC eating that up along with all the crafts and skills he picks up.

In terms of this chapter, I love the MC putting so much more thought behind all of his actions. This is hardly the first time, but he is constantly becoming more aware of just how much influence his power can have over the world (though he's definitely always known that in theory). The whole last arc must have really put things into perspective. Dude nearly ended the world just because it's that rare for his people to get out of the forest. I like that this isn't just a battle Manga or something when threats pop up. Dude and the plot know he's OP with hax powers. Instead it focuses on the consequences following "how" he solves a threat.

I think he is finally becoming aware of what he truly is and why is kin usually isolate from the world. Starts to really put things into perspective, when you recall the reverence the elves gave him upon first meeting.
He truly is essentially a demigod of legends walking the world. Wouldn't be surprised, if his exploits eventually inspire a bunch of stories and myths like Beowulf or Gilgamesh. Wouldn't even be surprised, if at some point in the distant future, he'd be worshipped as a god.

What's great is that his race is already a god-like figure. We were reminded of that just last arc with the calamity dragon. Other immortals treated him with high respect and there was literally a prophecy that it's his (someone from his race) job to basically start ragnarok. Most humans just don't know about the higher order of beings at all or even the very mythology/religion like creation stories surrounding them. The humans really can't even tell Aesir apart from a normal Elf. On the other hand, The reverence the elves showed him already basically was like worshipping a God. Actually think about how insane it was for Irena. Like imagine if an Olympian descended from mount Olympus and on their FIRST DAY meeting you tried to give you a golden apple or some ambrosia. 🤣🤣🤣

It'll definitely be insane once Aesir truly moves on from this world or passes away and there's no one left alive that directly interacted with him. When all that's left of him are stories. They'll also just quickly turn into myths with a Canon to follow (unless he leaves behind an autobiography which becomes the holy text 😂). Definitely wonder how descendants of his friends will all look upon him too. Like would Wynn's family line be revered because he's Aesir's adopted son? Kaeha already has a whole myth with how Aesir came into her life, healed her mother, and helped her revival a dying school and turn it into one of the most thriving. Not to mention her tragic love for an immortal. I very much see the dojo revering Aesir like a patrón god a generation or so after the grandkids of Kaeha's he met pass away. Then even the dwarves have crazy tales about him helping their king rise to power and probably bringing about the most prosperous age ever (I mean knowing the guy involved I bet his reign will itself be legendary) and ending hatred between dwarves and elves

I hope the author gives us an epilogue that revisits everywhere Aesir traveled and live following Aesir's passing (or if he just returns home and retires considering how long he'll actually live; could also be neat though if this is done through his view after becoming a spirit). Let us see it through a third person lens and how much impact he has on the world generations later. One thing that seems a little sad is that he doesn't really seem to realize (or maybe acknowledge is a better word) that he's SUCH a positive influence on others. Like I remember him downplaying his impact on Kaeha at first. My man, that woman was nearly an orphan (and I'm pretty sure she was under 20 then) with a crumbling dojo and no hope. Aesir doesn't need to move mountains literally to change the landscape of a town, country, continent, or the world. Who knows how far Kaeha's dojo and teachings will travel now. Like I probably wouldn't enjoy it if Aesir made a big fuss out of every little thing he did, but it is giving that every little thing he does is a big fuss.

 

[TNT261]

I think the parallels to Japan are interesting. Outo is obviously supposed to be a parallel to Kyoto. The island being split between civilization in the South and hairy barbarians to the North was a real thing in Japanese history. The Japanese - Yamato Japanese, that is - conglomerated in the South of Japan with Kyoto - Heian-Kyo - being relatively far North to the major population centers of the time. In the North, there were the Emishi, a race of notably hairy Asians that even the Chinese were weirded out by (the Japanese sent some Emishi slaves to China as a gift).

Long story short, the Yamato Japanese essentially wiped out the Emishi, unifying Honshu and then spent a millennium working on conquering the Ainu in Hokkaido. The guy who finally conquered the Emishi became the first Shogun of Japan. The title, Sei'i Taishogun would be shortened to Shogun and wielded as a title by Minamoto no Yoritomo who became the real leader of Japan after winning the samurai civil war.

Well yikes that got dark. Not that most of the world isn't equally awful looking back historically, but still. Can't help but for bad for the people that were enslaved and eventually genocided. Presumably just for being hairy (I mean I really hope that wasn't just the reason but again world history shows a similar track record of massively mistreating entire people's for their appearance).

 

[Kathartes]

I just realized in all this traveling, language barrier has never been a problem.

Probably because language came from a single source: the Creator. If people developed on their own, it would undoubtedly result in multiple languages. But if they were taught, then everyone would speak the same.

Other immortals treated him with high respect and there was literally a prophecy that it's his (someone from his race) job to basically start ragnarok.

In the latest translated volume, it turned out that the ragnarok

Spoiler: major spoiler

never meant to happen, nor it should be anyone's responsibility. It's a makeshift system that the five ancient races devised to control the damage caused by young gods' blunder, while waiting for the Creator to wake up and fix the world for real.

 

[Assaultsquirt]

Well yikes that got dark. Not that most of the world isn't equally awful looking back historically, but still. Can't help but for bad for the people that were enslaved and eventually genocided. Presumably just for being hairy (I mean I really hope that wasn't just the reason but again world history shows a similar track record of massively mistreating entire people's for their appearance).

It's not necessarily BECAUSE the Japanese hated hairy people but because the hairy people were different. The Japanese didn't necessarily kill all of the Emishi. To this day, people in northern Japan have a higher rate of growing beards and moustaches because of Emishi blood flowing through their veins. Normally, Asians have a hard time growing full beards, the Japanese included, but in northern Japan it's rather common.

Essentially, it was a genocide, but it was a genocide in the same way humans genocided the Neanderthals. Europeans and Asians have between 2 and 5% Neanderthal DNA because we bred them out of existence.

 

[0neDragon]

that spirit was all to ready to act upon the "split this country into half" part

 

[spectralSpices]

That's mostly because it's hard to make up entirely new maps and cultures. so most authors just base it on some period on earth and move the map around a little bit.

Fair. It's just-you have to ask these things. It's the most obvious subversion of Isekai I can think of-that you never left Earth, Earth just left you behind.

 

[AnotherDuck]

Essentially, it was a genocide, but it was a genocide in the same way humans genocided the Neanderthals. Europeans and Asians have between 2 and 5% Neanderthal DNA because we bred them out of existence.

I don't think that's quite the apt comparison. Humans and Neanderthals coexisted for many thousands of years. It's closer to normal evolution than genocide. We don't even know how much they fought, or if they just avoided each other most of the time.

The "extinction" in Japan took only a fraction of the time, and was much more political, and probably much more violent. The label "genocide" might not be absolute there, but it's at least an approximate term.