Touge Oni - Vol. 8 Ch. 35 - Weft-Crossing

[MangaDex]

 

[kuma]

THE BRAIN

 

[Skullkrusher]

The Brain of Mensis bringing them to a world of Winter Lanterns? They're in the Nightmare of Mensis!

 

[Caekester]

Thank you so much to the translators for picking this up, and also introducing me to Meaheim!

 

[tipkabound]

Phew, I almost thought I would have to wait another year for the next chapter. It's really not fun trying to read the raw. Though I can say for certain the next chapter is the best one for this volume. Well, the long wait gave me time to think about what mantra means in the story.
Mantra is metal casting, not alchemy — like that biscuit image in chapter 29. It reshapes the world the way a mold reshapes metal. The key insight is that casting changes form, never substance. Metal doesn't become wood. Oni are therefore humans in a different shape, not a different species.
This explains three mysteries at once.
Animals don't become oni through cannibalism because animals don't become anything. A wolf doesn't dream of being a better wolf. A crow doesn't look at its reflection and imagine a different version of itself. Only humans live in a constant state of becoming. Children think about what they want to be when they grow up. A woman marries and becomes a wife. A monk shaves his head and becomes a holy man. A lonely boy reads manga and becomes an otaku. People change their names, take on titles, adopt new roles — every stage of human life is another act of becoming something else. That is mantra.
This is also why wishing to stop being oni causes you to die. It's the same as wishing to stop being human — you stop being human when you die.
And finally, the gods are different forms of reality. The sun, the river, the mountain — they were there before humans. But then humans came and their mantra reshaped and gave the sun, the mountain, the river new forms as gods. The kami are the spirit within each phenomenon, given form by mantra. A very Shinto and Japanese view.

 

[RealLotto]

The Brain of Mensis bringing them to a world of Winter Lanterns? They're in the Nightmare of Mensis!

Grant us eyes! Grant us eyes!

 

[Camillionaire]

Thank you for the translation! So glad to get another chapter so quickly!

And:

Phew, I almost thought I would have to wait another year for the next chapter. It's really not fun trying to read the raw. Though I can say for certain the next chapter is the best one for this volume. Well, the long wait gave me time to think about what mantra means in the story.
Mantra is metal casting, not alchemy — like that biscuit image in chapter 29. It reshapes the world the way a mold reshapes metal. The key insight is that casting changes form, never substance. Metal doesn't become wood. Oni are therefore humans in a different shape, not a different species.
This explains three mysteries at once.
Animals don't become oni through cannibalism because animals don't become anything. A wolf doesn't dream of being a better wolf. A crow doesn't look at its reflection and imagine a different version of itself. Only humans live in a constant state of becoming. Children think about what they want to be when they grow up. A woman marries and becomes a wife. A monk shaves his head and becomes a holy man. A lonely boy reads manga and becomes an otaku. People change their names, take on titles, adopt new roles — every stage of human life is another act of becoming something else. That is mantra.
This is also why wishing to stop being oni causes you to die. It's the same as wishing to stop being human — you stop being human when you die.
And finally, the gods are different forms of reality. The sun, the river, the mountain — they were there before humans. But then humans came and their mantra reshaped and gave the sun, the mountain, the river new forms as gods. The kami are the spirit within each phenomenon, given form by mantra. A very Shinto and Japanese view.

Thank you for the explanation! That makes sense why oni die when they wish away their horns; but I wonder, if you wished to be the you of right before you became an oni, would that work? Or to become a child again? Perhaps I don't exactly get it, though...

Anyway, poor Tarume! Lol, her reactions are totally legitimate. This is a lot.

 

[alacaelum]

I see the point of what Jikimya said, and by extension, what Kozumi said.

Without a mantra, there is no cruelty between humans, there is no jealousy, greed, hatred, and inequality, "people" just are, they don't hurt themselves and stratify between perceived notions of inferiority and superiority.

And yeah... true, there is that... but there isn't too the fruits of creativity and ingenuity that come from the "higher thought".

Mantra brings strife between those who have it, because even when similar, only one difference causes friction, sparking flames of conflict, it is part of the natural cycle of the capacity of "higher thought", it is inevitable that suffering will come when you can notice and understand and misunderstand things in levels that simple animals aren't able to.

To suffer is to covet, to covet is to explore, and to explore is to understand.

By depriving people of their mantra, there is no greater change in reality, it will stay as a imutable state of "naturality" and never be something more... sure, there is beauty in that... but depriving people of the capacity of appreciating it, does not justify this action.

A thought comes to mind... what about other countries in the world? China was mentioned many times, and the battle Tarume's brother died involved Korea, and it has been mentioned that there are gods in other lands, and that the kami are exclusively from Yamato... so the rest of the world exits, and with kamis being connected exclusively to Yamato, there is to reason for Kozumi to do anything to the rest of the world.

 

[alacaelum]

Phew, I almost thought I would have to wait another year for the next chapter. It's really not fun trying to read the raw. Though I can say for certain the next chapter is the best one for this volume. Well, the long wait gave me time to think about what mantra means in the story.
Mantra is metal casting, not alchemy — like that biscuit image in chapter 29. It reshapes the world the way a mold reshapes metal. The key insight is that casting changes form, never substance. Metal doesn't become wood. Oni are therefore humans in a different shape, not a different species.
This explains three mysteries at once.
Animals don't become oni through cannibalism because animals don't become anything. A wolf doesn't dream of being a better wolf. A crow doesn't look at its reflection and imagine a different version of itself. Only humans live in a constant state of becoming. Children think about what they want to be when they grow up. A woman marries and becomes a wife. A monk shaves his head and becomes a holy man. A lonely boy reads manga and becomes an otaku. People change their names, take on titles, adopt new roles — every stage of human life is another act of becoming something else. That is mantra.
This is also why wishing to stop being oni causes you to die. It's the same as wishing to stop being human — you stop being human when you die.
And finally, the gods are different forms of reality. The sun, the river, the mountain — they were there before humans. But then humans came and their mantra reshaped and gave the sun, the mountain, the river new forms as gods. The kami are the spirit within each phenomenon, given form by mantra. A very Shinto and Japanese view.

Oooooooh... I love the way you worded this, marvelous explanation, friend, simply marvelous.

And I am grateful too, because you gave me a new way of visualising "magic".

I like to create my own stories, and I had an idea in my mind very closely related to what you explained here, but never could put it in the right words to define it, but you gave it to me, and I am truly grateful for that.

 

[coyote_vdb]

Thanks for the translation.

 

[cryum]

So what is this place. Are they within the very concept of war?

 

[BobBob]

Pleasantness: 5

Yeah, I don't know about that one, chief. Tarume is very cute.

 

[BalrogDeMorgoth]

Thanks for the chapter

 

[ESCrowe]

zombieland wonder, the (not quite) undead dragon eating the braaaaains

 

[Gunlord500]

Thanks for the translations Ura Baiters, love this manga and I appreciate you taking it up.

 

[BoilingWarlock]

Thanks for picking up even this wonderful series ✨

 

[fight2live]

we're in the Brain Country

 

[Aelthar]

my brain trembles

 

[MilkDrinker]

Thank you for the TLs!

 

[Meijin]

No one else thinking FSM when they saw the brain monster?