Tonari no Jii-san - Ch. 15

[MangaDex]

 

[EchoGirl]

Happy Horrormas

Plot aside bc I have no Interesting theories/analysis, I can totally imagine someone “quirky” saying Bonjour on the phone no matter who’s on the other end

 

[ISingTheBodyElectric]

Our dude is jumping to crazy conclusions faster than we come up with theories.

 

[biologist]

If parasite source is the water then why only few of them can actually grow the parasite? 14 people in 4 year is kinda low. Does parasite need another condition for it to grow?

 

[Astriasa]

If parasite source is the water then why only few of them can actually grow the parasite? 14 people in 4 year is kinda low. Does parasite need another condition for it to grow?

My current working theory is that this parasite does work on everyone. However, the catalyst for the actual growth is a person's desire to leave the town. Otherwise it doesn't grow but still affects their perception of the town.

Re-read a few chapters (specifically 10-13). It seems the brainwashing has to do with both sight and sound. Chapter 10 there's an odd emphasis on the old man's ears. Chapter 11 the scientist lady was confused as to why the two saw the bobbleheads but didn't stop seeing them directly afterwards. Chapter 12 she snaps her fingers before them and plays a frequency that she claims should affect them, but doesn't. Chapter 13 after the taxi driver sees the bobblehead we can see it vanish from his eyes.

As a sidenote, the three bobbleheads we've seen so far have all said the exact same line before their departure. Could be something deeper, could just be a gag, but it's an interesting note.

 

[EchoGirl]

If parasite source is the water then why only few of them can actually grow the parasite? 14 people in 4 year is kinda low. Does parasite need another condition for it to grow?

i guess mc is 'immune'(?) b/c she doesn't need headphones but i guess if it is in the water, it'd be hard to avoid b/c if you're born/grow up in that town i don't think you can actively avoid it tho probably best to give it to the children who wouldn't question/suspect their own parents as opposed to ppl who 'suddenly see' the balloon heads and gently suggest like "Oh you must not be feeling well, ill make you some tea, dear" or so

My current working theory is that this parasite does work on everyone. However, the catalyst for the actual growth is a person's desire to leave the town. Otherwise it doesn't grow but still affects their perception of the town.

I assume there's something to do with sound as well, considering that the two 'scientists' are wearing headphones.

As a sidenote, the three bobbleheads we've seen so far have all said the exact same line before their departure. Could be something deeper, could just be a gag, but it's an interesting note.

Makes me wonder what would happen if someone simply just temporarily took a trip/vacation because even if they're not too deep in 'the sticks/boonies/middle of nowhere" i'm sure some young kids/teens would love to "go to the big city" if not like, Korea/other countries , esp if they have access to smartphones and can see vids of all the tourist youtubers/vloggers showing how beautiful other places are , if not 'some runaway' or young kids going on an 'adventure' and not realizing where the city borders are or whatever and if they'd see that old man if they went into the station by themselves

Tho i wonder if they'd have some advanced robot if not some body cam live streaming to the gov or whatever they work for at all times since even if it affects humans i don't think it'd affect electronics and those newspaper clippings the baseball teen had saved of the information

 

[EarlofMillenium]

If parasite source is the water then why only few of them can actually grow the parasite? 14 people in 4 year is kinda low. Does parasite need another condition for it to grow?

Perhaps the "genius" part isn't an exaggeration. Our two "immune" characters also are/were talented people too.

 

[EchoGirl]

I guess it'd be pretty rude to do so, but i wonder if any of the towns ppl will try to force his headphones off

Perhaps the "genius" part isn't an exaggeration. Our two "immune" characters also are/were talented people too.

Wasn't the sister headed to america b/c she was skilled? or just ambitious or whatever job she wanted to do

 

[Astriasa]

Perhaps the "genius" part isn't an exaggeration. Our two "immune" characters also are/were talented people too.

Maybe the parasite chooses to grow specifically in 'talented' people because they have the highest chance of leaving the town? Aka walking into the deathtrap that is the old man.
Feels like this will be a story where is takes 50 chapters for us to get a solid theory

 

[Pagemistress]

Okay, so... Does anyone else think the old guy saying they should market it as water that makes geniuses is suspicious?

 

[EchoGirl]

Okay, so... Does anyone else think the old guy saying they should market it as water that makes geniuses is suspicious?

i'd assume that a lot of the 'town leaders' probably know if it wasn't somehow whispered in his ear by a darker force or so

That said , Japan is susceptible to cults, and buying some 'smart water' given how hard some parents are on their kids studying probably would buy it just to give it a try

Not the mention ppl going to shrines and drawing fortunes but idk if that's more of a serious religious belief as opposed to 'tradition'/superstition and hoping it works (when you get good luck at least)

Tho with the sensei? living in France, doesn't it mean that some ver of them is still alive as opposed to "My balloon head got eaten after leaving town but i felt empty inside so my life was ruined b/c i didn't keep chasing my goal" or something like that

But feels like it'd be easier to have some tourist group visit a village than exporting the water but i don't know how much work it'd go into bottling the water for distribution unless the "scientists/researchers" are backed by some millionaire company

 

[ngubaoson]

thanks for the chappy

 

[Cool.Ice]

Is this even a parasite?
Cause this feels more like sound.
Cause then the immunity of the two mcs can be explained

 

[EchoGirl]

Is this even a parasite?
Cause this feels more like sound.
Cause then the immunity of the two mcs can be explained

i think we need more info on the past 'victims' b/c i don't esp think they really had an extreme personality change after leaving or at least it's not revealed to us yet, because they aren't aware that it's happening to them as well with that old man, tho if the station is run down, and they're eaten i'm not sure who the ppl are that was talking on the other end of the phone in this chapter and when the mom called the sister unless some strings are pulled to where the ppl left are also replaced or cloned or so

 

[Cool.Ice]

The parasite premise reminded me of another manga - Poisoner house
The fmc is an insect which looks like an human
The first few chapters hooked me up
Unfortunately… there is no translation

 

[Cool.Ice]

Maybe the parasite chooses to grow specifically in 'talented' people

Or what if… the parasite grows in them, so they decide to go out of the town. Kinda like irl parasite, which controls the host out of the colony and kill the host to lay eggs (Zombie ants).

 

[biologist]

I don't know if any of these are red herring.

-The people who seem to know something are wearing headphone. Sound based? Frequency? Experiment?

-there are worm-like creatures in the victim. Parasite?

-Village leader mentions water. Waterborne?

-Outsider taxi driver start to see the illusion same as villager after someone from village "correct" him about train station. Hallucination? Power of Suggestion?

-Old legend, a literal old man humanoid creature at the village exit. a plain and simple case of supernatural? Ghost? Curse?

-Past "victim" presence outside village from phone call in this episode. It's either fake phone call from someone in the experiment team or is it the same reason as why villager see ruin of train station as the new one? Does that mean whatever that cause all of this can do auditory hallucination too? Or past "victim" is not a victim at all and it all inside fmc and baseball boy head???

Probably many more that I miss.

 

[ErikTheRed]

I recently read Glukhovsky's The Outpost and that got me wondering if a similar kind of neurolingvistic programming is at play in this village as well.

​

 

[fatto_catto]

I don't know if any of these are red herring.

-The people who seem to know something are wearing headphone. Sound based? Frequency? Experiment?

-there are worm-like creatures in the victim. Parasite?

-Village leader mentions water. Waterborne?

-Outsider taxi driver start to see the illusion same as villager after someone from village "correct" him about train station. Hallucination? Power of Suggestion?

-Old legend, a literal old man humanoid creature at the village exit. a plain and simple case of supernatural? Ghost? Curse?

-Past "victim" presence outside village from phone call in this episode. It's either fake phone call from someone in the experiment team or is it the same reason as why villager see ruin of train station as the new one? Does that mean whatever that cause all of this can do auditory hallucination too? Or past "victim" is not a victim at all and it all inside fmc and baseball boy head???

Probably many more that I miss.

I think the folk tale Kobutori Jiisan is some kind of a clue to headphones or the origin of people wearing them. When the heroine and her friends realize the festival is about the other old man that ends up with two lumps, the guy with headphones just had to point out one can't just remove lumps and put them back on, that "lump" must mean something else, and the next image is of his face framed so that you notice his headphones on either side of his face, similar to old man's two lumps. It's also important to point out that first old man was very talented in dancing, while the other was not, and it's always talented people that get eaten.

 

[friendly]

Hm. I definitely dont think the old man is 'creating' the head-syndrome. The manga brought up a lot of specific instances of parasites where the parasite turns the host body into some form of bait, or otherwise causes the body to die to get to where it needs to be. So that would indicate the old man is in some way the next stage of it's reproductive cycle....

so then where, from there, does it start infecting people.....? it has to go from the old man to... somewhere...