The Bugle Call: Song of War - Vol. 8 Ch. 25 - Rite of Passage

[MangaDex]

 

[mrboxeater]

One of the most the cruel cliffhangers ive read in awhile. What the fuck is up with the father? Also really curious about Zoeys pov, shes seeing both the Father and Lucas as massive twisted branches...

Lucas has always been non-dense as an MC when it comes to asking questions, feels like this event is going to cause him to become extremely vengeful and single minded.

thanks for the TL!!!

 

[Sinussi]

Glad to see you're still keeping up with the translation ^^

Can't wait to see what happens next!

 

[TestAddress]

I thought he graduated from being a Wizard.

 

[zanonyn]

Thank you so much for continuing with your high effort translations for this godly series, and the explanation of how the author used the original language in specific artistic ways (and how you interpreted that). The attention to detail by the author is a core part of what makes this so good, and it's great to see it covered.

More world building teased at here, with character growth continuing all around, both individually and in terms of relationships and the group. Really good to see it all gelling so organically.

What the fuck is up with the father?

It sure seems to be hinting that he's from the Old World too, just like the tower admins, and has some sort of related though distinct power. Maybe he was a prototype, or the whole Rami system was created by one set of old world countries/organizations (EU?) and he's an outsider completely. At any rate he's apparently also a lesser immortal and the centuries would presumably wear at him just as it has the others. If he came from a civilization like ours or near-future ours and saw it all fall apart to a twisted middle ages that'd also probably be a tough pill. Perhaps his power also screws up the mind, being able to see so many possibilities that the future itself becomes tired. Granted could be he was always somewhat twisted, but could also be taking on a sort of really cynical/psychopathic/super in-the-present ("find fun in the inevitable") pov is how he's coped with it mentally.

 

[Ernergeycey]

in the other translation there was a guy that made a theory about the garland dad being from another world
I think he is right bc all character so far had european names but the garland dad name his daughter kayano which I believe is a Japanese name and in the extra chapter of the other translation it was revealed that his name is akira which is also a japanese name
moreover in this chapter the garland states that him and lucas are connected by spirit and that he resembles his wife so maybe lucas is also from another world

 

[Ernergeycey]

lucas did not read on mangadex...

 

[agramo]

Yooo the very 1st and last panel really contrasted with each other (for kinda spoiler reason)

 

[gamria]

in the other translation there was a guy that made a theory about the garland dad being from another world
I think he is right bc all character so far had european names but the garland dad name his daughter kayano which I believe is a Japanese name and in the extra chapter of the other translation it was revealed that his name is akira which is also a japanese name
moreover in this chapter the garland states that him and lucas are connected by spirit and that he resembles his wife so maybe he is also from another world

We already know his name is Akira from Ch 20; and as for Japanese names, we already had Miura since Ch 3, so we already had reason to believe something funny was up with these societies.

---

Ch 25

Good news is that the imminent attack on Galia has been terminated, one goal achieved. Bad news is that retreat is impossible (or at least be far too costly) with Akira present, so Zoe must engage him.

As I remarked in Ch 20, and this issue only reinforces the notion, but Akira's brand of Prediction is pretty much the same kind as Jin's Side Effect "Foresight" from World Trigger: able to extensively see how different futures can play out based on what actions are taken before committing to something in the present.

The difference though is down to how they're portrayed:

• in World Trigger, we hear about the contents of Jin's Foresight, but we're never shown how they appear to him, so we never get misled on whether events are transpiring in the present or not
• In Bugle Call, we do get to see the contents of Akira's Prediction, as part of the authors' narrative. You thought a scene was in the present? Nope, it's a Prediction of something that can happen. And if anyone is disappointed or frustrated that's the case, good, you're supposed to, that's just what the authors want - so that when it can be surpassed, it's extra satisfying.

Is Bugle Call's way of presenting its brand of future sight wise? Questionable, but I think so long as we keep in mind that absolutely no actual time rewind or manipulation is in play, it's acceptable.

---

I must say, Zoe's pure melee style is a bad matchup against Akira. You kind of need something more magical like the Skyfall's gravitational sphere to make headway against the guy.

Character-wise, I'm still trying to make sense of Akira. It's so tempting to think he's the actual Emperor of their Tower, and how Zoe saw him with the branch-crown doesn't help to dissuade that. And yet, everyone's dialogue and behaviour (even the Pope) seems to indicate that they are two separate entities.

On first read, I didn't think we'd wind up with both Zoe and Lucas isolated from the rest of their allies. I didn't think Lucas and the Garland's meeting would be him at a disadvantage. I didn't think the handmirror (still with 2 3 charges of Portal) will fall into enemy hands And I never thought the boy would get so wrecked physically and mentally.

At the time, I was so ready to see what kind of crazy Flowering (?) he'll present to us to turn things around

 

[Kushikime]

Thanks for the chapters !!

 

[gonn92]

damn that dude is way too op

 

[Lehw]

The chapter name is rites of passage, and I think Lucas is going through in one of those moments in life where some random asshole just shit on your dream and beat on on you for daring to change or have hope for yourself or this world

It's definitely a part of growing up where you meet a curmudgeonly old man who fucking hate you for somethings that are out of your control and fucking hate you for trying to do something about it

 

[TestAddress]

in the other translation there was a guy that made a theory about the garland dad being from another world
I think he is right bc all character so far had european names but the garland dad name his daughter kayano which I believe is a Japanese name and in the extra chapter of the other translation it was revealed that his name is akira which is also a japanese name
moreover in this chapter the garland states that him and lucas are connected by spirit and that he resembles his wife so maybe he is also from another world

Isekai villain is very interesting especially if they gave him a Trump or Hitler personality!
I welcome this villain! Plus having him sliced in half made it more... chef's kiss! Mwah!

 

[ThreeWolfMoon]

Jesus that last part was harrowing to watch. I think this is the darkest chapter yet. I guess things can only get better from here, right?
Gotta say thought "We're not the crazy ones, what's really crazy is this era and all of its people" was a really good villain speech.

So. The Empire wants to replant their wilting Tower using either Lucas or Zoe. That's what being a sapling candidate means, isn't it? Oh god.

 

[ThreeWolfMoon]

It sure seems to be hinting that he's from the Old World too, just like the tower admins, and has some sort of related though distinct power.

During his fight with the Skyfall, we saw that he's made of branches just like the Mirror's fake daughter was. My current interpretation is that he's a Tower construct of someone from the previous(?) era.
What's interesting is that we know that these Tower-copies of people can't grow or change. He's stuck with this mentality. I think that's the cause of his fatalistic view of things. "This era is violent. There's no way to change it, just fit it and perpetuate the violence" is because he himself is unable to change.

 

[Giguv]

I think Akira is the Empire's tower. In the previous chapter the Pope mentioned that the tower is in itself a Ramus. My (admittedly bad) guess is that to be a sapling candidate you need to have a power that's overarching enough - like Lucas's control or Zoe's time manipulation or Akira's prediction. That and a good dose of suffering or something.
The panel where Zoe looks at him and sees a tree rather than the usual potato - I'm pretty sure that's what it hints at. Although, Akira himself contradicts this theory when he says that he isn't exactly a Ramus...

More thoughts after a reread: throughout the chapter, Akira's visions of the future are shown through these "camera film" panels with thin rectangles on the side. When Lucas is lying down wondering where he went wrong and suddenly starts seeing a possible future with Zoe, those panels have the same "film" effect. Could it be that becoming a full-fleged tree is what gives one the power of viewing the other possibilities?

Okay, okay, here's a better crackpot theory: "When I look closely, Lucas, you somehow resemble my wife". Could it be that Akira's wife was the Ramus that became the Empire's tower?

Man, this manga is great in how it keep dropping hints, but still keeps me guessing. Rereading it after it concludes is going to be a hoot.

 

[nougette]

Two chapters in a row let's go, thanks WS!

The gouging was brutal. I knew this was the "krillin killing moment". Causing that much harm to the main character is always the moment for a power up... therefore I was not surprised that much... let me forget the tropes dammit!

 

[danbellucci]

While zoe was fighting the white haired guy, why didn't the all-seeing ramus and the telekinetic ramus fire long distance homing arrows at the garland?
Also, how was teh white haired guy able to keep up with the speedy ramus? isn't speedy ramus the fastest? even if white haired guy can predict where he will run, he souldn;'t be able to reach that location in time.

 

[gamria]

While zoe was fighting the white haired guy, why didn't the all-seeing ramus and the telekinetic ramus fire long distance homing arrows at the garland?

No time to do so with enemy troops in pursuit. Here, you can see even while the Papal forces are retreating further up the castle, Poppy's been busy firing heavy rounds against the pursuing army. Besides, even if they could send an arrow that far, the soldiers protecting Kayano will take the very visible arrow for her, if they don't outright shield or shoot it down first.

Also, how was teh white haired guy able to keep up with the speedy ramus? isn't speedy ramus the fastest? even if white haired guy can predict where he will run, he souldn;'t be able to reach that location in time.

While not necessarily speed per se, considering that Akira was able to leap from the church in the centre to the citadel's outer walls in one swoop, it's within his capabilities to cover great distances quickly.