Toaru Kagaku no Mental Out - Vol. 3 Ch. 18
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Page one is the difference between someone who admires you and someone who understands you. XD
KIHARA!? OH SHIT!
KIHARA!? OH SHIT!
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Definitely was not expecting a Kihara to show up. Curious of what she'll do in this spinoff
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A new Junko shocked image... Mental out truly is the gift that keeps on giving..
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Isn't she the doctor that helped the child before
If any of you non-novel-readers are unaware of what the Kiharas are, I guess I can go over in some detail. There's been a few in the anime and manga, but I don't think any of them have really gone into what exactly the Kiharas are and what they represent. They've been around since the Academy City Invasion arc, but I don't think they were properly realized as a concept until the currently unanimated Baggage City arc.
The Kiharas are a very large family of scientific researchers (there's around 5000), mostly living within Academy city. Though they are more akin to a mind virus than a family, however they are all apparently of a single bloodline. They are all very VERY intelligent, to the point that it is ludicrous. They are scientifically brilliant in a variety of bizarre and advanced fields, many being leading specialists, as a result many hold positions of power in academy city (however none seem to be on the Board of directors). And, most of all, they are all pure evil. They represent the very worst of the Science Side, completely lacking morality, respect for life, and any concept of limitation on what they can or should do. And worst of all, they feel attracted towards doing things in the worst and most destructive ways possible.
In all of Toaru, where most villains are given some sort of sympathetic motive, the Kiharas are a major exception. They seriously are just evil for evil's sake, and on top of that being evil by nature, not nurture. Kiharas are probably the most dangerous individuals in the entire Science side. Just a single one is an incredible threat if they put their mind to it. If Board Chairman Aleister didn't have them on a leash, they'd spread into the world like a cancer and wreck everything.
All you need to know about this Kihara Yuiitsu without spoiling too much of New Testament, is that she is an important character in NT, being introduced in NT4. She's more of a stringpuller and less direct than most of her family at this point in the story, however with her involved there is a big chance multiple other Kiharas are involved as well. We already know Noukan is involved.
That being said, this has officially left the scale of something Shoukuhou and co. can deal with. Kiharas are in a way the natural predators of espers, from a scientific point of view, in the way that lab mice are the prey of researchers.
TLDR: The Kiharas are a scary family of mad scientists on crack. One is a talking golden retriever who smokes cigars and has a mech.
The Kiharas are a very large family of scientific researchers (there's around 5000), mostly living within Academy city. Though they are more akin to a mind virus than a family, however they are all apparently of a single bloodline. They are all very VERY intelligent, to the point that it is ludicrous. They are scientifically brilliant in a variety of bizarre and advanced fields, many being leading specialists, as a result many hold positions of power in academy city (however none seem to be on the Board of directors). And, most of all, they are all pure evil. They represent the very worst of the Science Side, completely lacking morality, respect for life, and any concept of limitation on what they can or should do. And worst of all, they feel attracted towards doing things in the worst and most destructive ways possible.
In all of Toaru, where most villains are given some sort of sympathetic motive, the Kiharas are a major exception. They seriously are just evil for evil's sake, and on top of that being evil by nature, not nurture. Kiharas are probably the most dangerous individuals in the entire Science side. Just a single one is an incredible threat if they put their mind to it. If Board Chairman Aleister didn't have them on a leash, they'd spread into the world like a cancer and wreck everything.
All you need to know about this Kihara Yuiitsu without spoiling too much of New Testament, is that she is an important character in NT, being introduced in NT4. She's more of a stringpuller and less direct than most of her family at this point in the story, however with her involved there is a big chance multiple other Kiharas are involved as well. We already know Noukan is involved.
That being said, this has officially left the scale of something Shoukuhou and co. can deal with. Kiharas are in a way the natural predators of espers, from a scientific point of view, in the way that lab mice are the prey of researchers.
TLDR: The Kiharas are a scary family of mad scientists on crack. One is a talking golden retriever who smokes cigars and has a mech.
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I don't think Yuiitsu's had any appearances in any of the manga yet. Can you be more specific? You might be mistaking her for someone else. There are a good number of characters that look like her.
Fed-Kun's army
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Before you panic, remember the timeline. They haven't been thrown to the hounds just yet.
She's still a Kihara, and a rather clever one at that. I get the feeling that her unassuming appearance and fairly affable personality will make Shoukuhou and co. not suspect her. Though maybe I'm wrong. I'm not sure how much Shokuhou knows about the Kiharas. She knows about Kihara Gensei for sure, but it seems like the common understanding in Academy city is that the Kiharas are just a prestigious family of researchers. Shokuhou has a healthy knowledge of the Dark Side, so maybe she'll know something. There's no way a Kihara would just walk up to a Level 5 who can read her mind without a plan.
On another note I am hoping that Kumokawa Seria shows up in this so that she can take up her rightful role as Shoukuou's main rival. Now that a Kihara's involved this is reaching a scale where she might get involved. We've already brought in multiple characters that anime-onlys won't know in this and Astral Buddy, so I don't really see the issue. It would be fun seeing Kumokawa-senpai interacting with all these rich sheltered middle-schoolers.
Noukan had a cameo in the Cube's flashback along with Aliester last chapter. So he might be involved. It's basically a guarantee we have a Yuiitsu/Noukan scene where he lectures her either in present or in a flashback.
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Dex-chan lover
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What, even the dog?
I made a mistake since Kihara Noukan's a bit of an exception. He's a creation of one of the original 7 Kiharas, of which he is the only trace remaining of their legacy. He's actually 80 years old. The Kiharas were seemingly originally not a family lineage, but are now for whatever reason.
It's somewhat implied that the Kiharas are an unintentional creation of Aliester using the Archetype Controller to create the idea of a science side. By the way, if you're unaware the idea of there being science and magic existing seperately is bullshit in a world where magic demonstrably exists and affects everything. There's a magic side based on occult knowledge and a magic side based on the study of natural concepts and magic with scientific-sounding jargon slapped on it to make it seem like it is not. It's obvious early on in Toaru, but it isn't spelled out to the reader until late New Testament
Being a Kihara isn't a genetic thing. It's more of a phenomenon that is a tumor within the science side, that is currently taking the shape of a family.
Here's some excerpts on the Kiharas from New Testament. Spoilers, though most things spoiled will make no sense to non-novel readers.
“What do you think the Kiharas are? Please don’t give me some hackneyed response about them being an elite force created by Academy City.”
She pushed a few of the documents aside with her index finger to reveal another document buried beneath them.
She summarized what it said.
“It is a type of side effect. When people wish to misuse a field of pure science, someone appears to actually do it. That is what a Kihara is. Currently, most of the world’s cutting edge technology is held by Academy City. That is why the Kiharas are concentrated in Academy City. By concentrating them, they can be controlled.”
“You…don’t mean…”
“But if that concentration in Academy City is destroyed and science is scattered throughout the world, Kiharas will naturally start cropping up all over the world. They are currently bound to a single bloodline, but that is not a necessity. If you Anti-Academy City Science Guardians expand, the world will be overrun by Kiharas along with the technology. Academy City will be unable to control that.”
There was one simple example.
The heretical Kihara that had appeared in Baggage City. Kihara Kagun, the member of Gremlin who had gone by the name Bersi.
It may have been because he joined with Gremlin that they had an environment that allowed them to use scientific technology.
But it may not have just been that.
Kihara Kagun may have been destined to join Gremlin for the very reason that Gremlin planned to reinforce their magic with scientific technology.
“Now then, old man. The Anti-Academy City Science Guardians were created in the name of not allowing Academy City to continue with its tyranny, but are you prepared to stick with that ideal of yours even if it creates a world that will be swallowed up by tons of naturally occurring Kiharas?”
She pushed a few of the documents aside with her index finger to reveal another document buried beneath them.
She summarized what it said.
“It is a type of side effect. When people wish to misuse a field of pure science, someone appears to actually do it. That is what a Kihara is. Currently, most of the world’s cutting edge technology is held by Academy City. That is why the Kiharas are concentrated in Academy City. By concentrating them, they can be controlled.”
“You…don’t mean…”
“But if that concentration in Academy City is destroyed and science is scattered throughout the world, Kiharas will naturally start cropping up all over the world. They are currently bound to a single bloodline, but that is not a necessity. If you Anti-Academy City Science Guardians expand, the world will be overrun by Kiharas along with the technology. Academy City will be unable to control that.”
There was one simple example.
The heretical Kihara that had appeared in Baggage City. Kihara Kagun, the member of Gremlin who had gone by the name Bersi.
It may have been because he joined with Gremlin that they had an environment that allowed them to use scientific technology.
But it may not have just been that.
Kihara Kagun may have been destined to join Gremlin for the very reason that Gremlin planned to reinforce their magic with scientific technology.
“Now then, old man. The Anti-Academy City Science Guardians were created in the name of not allowing Academy City to continue with its tyranny, but are you prepared to stick with that ideal of yours even if it creates a world that will be swallowed up by tons of naturally occurring Kiharas?”
But he knew the people who had transformed him from a normal dog into what he was now. They were the ones who could be called the original Kiharas.
Not even one hundred years had passed since the category of Kiharas had taken clear form. A similar concept had likely been spread around like the roots of grass, but only recently had it been gathered together to form the Kiharas.
Even the creation of Academy City was the work of that “human” when he had used the confusion of reconstruction after an old war to arrive here, so it was not hard to imagine the concept of the Kiharas had also been created quite recently.
The original seven had been mere humans who both laughed and cried like normal people.
It had not been known what a Kihara was at the time and that had caused more suffering for them than anyone else. Even as they despaired at how completely insane and mad they had become, they had been unable to stop themselves from continuing down the path of science. That was the type of people they had been.
The one who had provided the golden retriever with his intelligence had always patted the dog’s head while apologizing in human language.
As normal people, their reason had caused them to suffer, but as researchers, the reports of successful experiments had brought them joy. Their faces had always contained a complex mixture of emotions.
“If everything in the world can be explained with scientific formulae, then the world will contain nothing but resignation and despair. Doing that would be much like summoning Laplace’s theoretical demon.”
That was true, but had the hand rubbing his head contained a softness not found in a completed Kihara?
“But at the same time, it will mean the arrival of a kind world in which the unreasonable side of the world will eternally lose all opportunity to kill people. Now, which view is correct?”
Those original members were gone now.
They had used themselves to define what a Kihara was, summed it up in a way that anyone could understand, and then left the world behind. Even as they grew madder by the day, they had constantly fought the unreasonable side of the world using human intellect. That had led to the completed Kiharas of today.
Not even one hundred years had passed since the category of Kiharas had taken clear form. A similar concept had likely been spread around like the roots of grass, but only recently had it been gathered together to form the Kiharas.
Even the creation of Academy City was the work of that “human” when he had used the confusion of reconstruction after an old war to arrive here, so it was not hard to imagine the concept of the Kiharas had also been created quite recently.
The original seven had been mere humans who both laughed and cried like normal people.
It had not been known what a Kihara was at the time and that had caused more suffering for them than anyone else. Even as they despaired at how completely insane and mad they had become, they had been unable to stop themselves from continuing down the path of science. That was the type of people they had been.
The one who had provided the golden retriever with his intelligence had always patted the dog’s head while apologizing in human language.
As normal people, their reason had caused them to suffer, but as researchers, the reports of successful experiments had brought them joy. Their faces had always contained a complex mixture of emotions.
“If everything in the world can be explained with scientific formulae, then the world will contain nothing but resignation and despair. Doing that would be much like summoning Laplace’s theoretical demon.”
That was true, but had the hand rubbing his head contained a softness not found in a completed Kihara?
“But at the same time, it will mean the arrival of a kind world in which the unreasonable side of the world will eternally lose all opportunity to kill people. Now, which view is correct?”
Those original members were gone now.
They had used themselves to define what a Kihara was, summed it up in a way that anyone could understand, and then left the world behind. Even as they grew madder by the day, they had constantly fought the unreasonable side of the world using human intellect. That had led to the completed Kiharas of today.
“I appreciate your high opinion of me, but you are wrong. Besides, the Kiharas cannot defeat the ruler of this city.”
“Oh, you mean because of the Archetype Controller? That’s just cheating!”
Archetype was a psychological term for a common understanding or sense of values that developed as each member of a race or group dealt with an identical problem in the same way. These included religious concepts such as the palace of the gods being above the clouds and the prison for sinners being below the earth. In an extremely broad and shallow sense, the idea that the Japanese loved rice and Americans loved burgers was an archetype.
But what if you could control those?
What if you could create them, send them out into the world, and even destroy them?
“He was the one that used the terms Academy City, esper, and science side and tossed them inside a framework that could be called mankind’s worship of science. To go a step further, the category of the Kiharas is another example. That is why we cannot defeat this ruler. If he wanted to, he could cut us off from our surroundings using the archetype of heretical science and cause the very definition of our existence to vanish into thin air. We might manage to survive, but we would become defanged cowards. And I shouldn’t have to explain what happens to a defanged and declawed beast that’s thrown out into the wild.”
(On top of that, he brought glory to the archetype of modern Western magic during the Golden period and it is still strongly influenced by him. He could always use that archetype to affect the very foundation of today’s magic side.)
That was why Kihara Noukan had no particular grudge against the magic side.
That was why the golden retriever had no interest in the solid yet kind world that the original members had hoped for.
“Don’t worry.”
Scientific knowledge may not have been able to prove the existence of heaven.
The laws of physics may not have been able to measure the weight of the soul.
But the large dog still spoke.
“Even if you have left this world, the Kiharas you left behind are still here.”
The golden retriever gave an instruction in his head and the countless trucks loaded with ejection containers all gave the initial roars of ignition. A storm of headlights filled the entire scene.
A mass of metal sat there.
The collection of armor known as the Anti-Art Attachment followed Kihara Noukan’s movements as he turned around.
He stared into the infinite darkness outside and carried countless lights with him as he spoke in his heart.
Focus on nothing but being a Kihara.
With that wish, he began to work for the people who had transformed a dog into a true being with a heart of his own.
“Oh, you mean because of the Archetype Controller? That’s just cheating!”
Archetype was a psychological term for a common understanding or sense of values that developed as each member of a race or group dealt with an identical problem in the same way. These included religious concepts such as the palace of the gods being above the clouds and the prison for sinners being below the earth. In an extremely broad and shallow sense, the idea that the Japanese loved rice and Americans loved burgers was an archetype.
But what if you could control those?
What if you could create them, send them out into the world, and even destroy them?
“He was the one that used the terms Academy City, esper, and science side and tossed them inside a framework that could be called mankind’s worship of science. To go a step further, the category of the Kiharas is another example. That is why we cannot defeat this ruler. If he wanted to, he could cut us off from our surroundings using the archetype of heretical science and cause the very definition of our existence to vanish into thin air. We might manage to survive, but we would become defanged cowards. And I shouldn’t have to explain what happens to a defanged and declawed beast that’s thrown out into the wild.”
(On top of that, he brought glory to the archetype of modern Western magic during the Golden period and it is still strongly influenced by him. He could always use that archetype to affect the very foundation of today’s magic side.)
That was why Kihara Noukan had no particular grudge against the magic side.
That was why the golden retriever had no interest in the solid yet kind world that the original members had hoped for.
“Don’t worry.”
Scientific knowledge may not have been able to prove the existence of heaven.
The laws of physics may not have been able to measure the weight of the soul.
But the large dog still spoke.
“Even if you have left this world, the Kiharas you left behind are still here.”
The golden retriever gave an instruction in his head and the countless trucks loaded with ejection containers all gave the initial roars of ignition. A storm of headlights filled the entire scene.
A mass of metal sat there.
The collection of armor known as the Anti-Art Attachment followed Kihara Noukan’s movements as he turned around.
He stared into the infinite darkness outside and carried countless lights with him as he spoke in his heart.
Focus on nothing but being a Kihara.
With that wish, he began to work for the people who had transformed a dog into a true being with a heart of his own.
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Fed-Kun's army
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Not quite.
The fabric of reality in this setting is made up of layer upon layer of changes. The most fundamental of these changes can appear as a result of changes in mass conception, as is the case for the existence of Imagine Breaker, World Rejector, and magic.
Magic has the side-effect of applying a further such change whenever someone casts a spell. Just like how a Magic God can completely rewrite reality by applying a whole new coat of "paint", so too do mortal spells rewrite a little bit of it one splotch at a time.
Aleister lost his family as a result of such a change, and so came to hate magic with such intensity that he sought to destroy it. That is the purpose of the science side; to completely erase the very layer that allows magic to exist. And that is why Aleister's plans revolve around Touma and the Imagine Breaker, because the Imagine Breaker has the unique ability to revert these layers of change, and turn reality back to its default state.
Magic has the side-effect of applying a further such change whenever someone casts a spell. Just like how a Magic God can completely rewrite reality by applying a whole new coat of "paint", so too do mortal spells rewrite a little bit of it one splotch at a time.
Aleister lost his family as a result of such a change, and so came to hate magic with such intensity that he sought to destroy it. That is the purpose of the science side; to completely erase the very layer that allows magic to exist. And that is why Aleister's plans revolve around Touma and the Imagine Breaker, because the Imagine Breaker has the unique ability to revert these layers of change, and turn reality back to its default state.
I know about Phases but I didn't want to get into that can of worms with laymen as well as spoil the existence of the Magic Gods to them. I'm more talking about the fact that Academy City is the new Temple of Thelema and the fact that esper powers are clearly Thelemic in nature. Not to mention the fact that It's completely against the basic ideas of science to reject the current observable and quantifiable reality and and declare it be the one where you have all the fucking answers. Science at it very basis is a process of learning about the world, not a doctrine to impose on oneself. Academy city is actually a fanatical religious organisation despite scoffing at the very idea of religion. Capital-S Science is their God and the textbooks of their city is their Bible. Long ago in the West, science was trying to understand God or the nature of the soul. God created the world, so understanding the world was understanding God. The great Greek scholars whom we now call mathematicians and scientists were philosophers and theologians. The followers of Pythagoras literally created a religion based on his teachings. The intellectual ancestor of chemistry is alchemy. I could go on. It's a bit more complex than that (especially with regards to terminology and categories of study) but until the Enlightment and the Industrial Era, there wasn't much of a clean cut between. The world of Toaru heavily takes from this concept, except in that world, the supernatural undoubtedly exists, which turns the concept on its head. Scantily clad nutjobs routinely fuck up reality to the point it is a convoluted mess. The fact that they are able to do this in the first place is a clear indication that the supernatural is naturally a part of this "default" world. Imagine Breaker just reverts distortions created by these already existing processes. And this function of Imagine breaker is clearly not its true power, as the story shows time and time again. That idea is presented as a tentative theory from the onset.
I should also mention the fact that imagine breaker is also not the only central part of Aliester's plan considering Aiwass and SYSTEM. Only Aliester truly knows what the fuck his plan was or what Kamijou even is, and just thinking about analyzing all the esoteric, vague, and possibly mistakenly translated stuff in Late New Testament and Genesis Testament as well as researching the texts of a drug-addicted attention-seeking degenerate edgelord for an argument gives me a headache.
I should also mention the fact that imagine breaker is also not the only central part of Aliester's plan considering Aiwass and SYSTEM. Only Aliester truly knows what the fuck his plan was or what Kamijou even is, and just thinking about analyzing all the esoteric, vague, and possibly mistakenly translated stuff in Late New Testament and Genesis Testament as well as researching the texts of a drug-addicted attention-seeking degenerate edgelord for an argument gives me a headache.
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Plus NT14 hasn't happened yet, so she's still technically not fully over the deep end with her full blown psychotic side merging with the mad scientist tendencies in her Kihara side lol
Especially since they've got the whole sensei-student/mentor-mentee relationship dynamic between them, with Yuuitsu going the crazy obsession route after NT14.
But you know for sure with Noukan's appearance, even in a flashback, and then Yuuitsu appearing in the present, those two are gonna have some kind of interaction at some point, along with Yuuitsu being involved in some way or another. It's far too convenient for Yuuitsu to just happen to be at that lab around the same time Misaki and Kuroko meet with Kokuchou and she brings them to Regeneration Corporation (lol that name though. Never change your hilarious naming conventions, Kamachi.), especially given Yuuitsu's track record, even before NT14/NT15 made her go into Kihara-Vengeance mode lol
That being said, @Degy good looks on the crash course on the Kihara clan. Saved a bunch of other people who are caught up and love talking about the series when they can from going through the initial work of explaining everything before getting into the main topic so even the anime-onlies can be on the same page and not be as lost as they usually end up because they still won't read the books haha
But anyway. Hot damn, it makes sense. You can't have a previous generation of Level 5's in a city that's existed since post-war-era Japan (post-WWII) and not have any Kiharas involved, so Noukan, being a creation of the original seven, and his student/mentee, Yuuitsu, being involved in some form makes too much sense for them to not be a major player or at least factor in this arc.
