Tsumi to Batsu no Spica - Ch. 15 - Nameless Malice (4)

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It honestly doesn't even seem like Spica wants to punish him? Her expression looks more concerned than judging there at the end.

Actually, what if he never really killed anyone? She can read his memories and such, so what if the confusion there is because she doesn't actually see any memories of him killing people? Where it's more like he feels guilty for considering killing people rather than actually killing them. Don't know if we'd have spent 3 chapters on fake memories, but it's possible! This hasn't really ever been a "real" mystery novel, after all.
 
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This is so good. I like how this manga explores different scenarios instead of just building up some twist villain and having Spica punish them every time. How will she deal with this situation, a serial killer with dementia... A family man who, despite being a heinous criminal, lived a full life.

I think no matter what she does, it would be justified, or perhaps they may choose to leave motivations ambiguous. I'm really interested in what the authors come up with next.
 
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It's weird. She can't necessarily kill him as that's not justice, maybe have him confess? I don't know in this case.
 
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Generally I don’t see the point in going after somebody by the time they’re already one foot in the grave, but that’s a matter of practicality instead of justice.
I’m more willing to let it slide if it’s a Shawshank redemption thing (they arrested the guy irl and even if not innocent, his parole violation was more years than his original crime) than if it’s a serial killer or Nazi thing.

Just as I’d charge a person for murder if they killed a dying elderly person, I still consider an unrepentant geriatric murderer to be deserving of punishment.
 
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Is Spica gonna punish a senile old man too?? 🤔 I mean, he's already suffering enough as is
Hoping my sarcasm radar is just faulty and I fell on your trap cause what do you mean he's suffering?

He never suffered at all. Got to live a full life with a family, see his kids and grandkids grow who are now taking good care of him.

Punishing him now may seem pointless tho since his victims were troubled ones who didn't seem to have anyone who cares for them. Tho i mightve remembered wrong.
 
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Punishment inbound, i suppose.
This will be interesting to see how Spica will handle this situation. She wants to correct missubuttoned things.
But this old man is no longer able to hurt anyone but also is he even able to understand what he had done? To even feel guilt? Cam Spica find a way to give a closure to the victims if he erased evidence?

Well he maybe could show her were he burried them.
 
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Thanks! Lol that toy car was bigger than i thought/wasn't expecting it to sit on it/expected it to be a smaller car he would've just grabbed with his hands like normal toy cars

Is Spica gonna punish a senile old man too?? 🤔 I mean, he's already suffering enough as is
well she did have a 'three strike rule' but maybe we'll find out that she was targeting other ppl before she ran into him since there'd be more 'current threats' if not try to dispose of him discreetly or maybe end up meeting his family and handshaking them or so to make sure the 'urges' don't run in the family (though his was caused by trauma as opposed to being born a sociopath or so)

Imma say Tsumugi lost this one. Man's senile, and barely remembers his evil. He's lived a full life with his children and grandchildren. Even if she DOES punish him, he already accomplished everything he wanted in life. Cajoling him to drive(I assume this will happen, like u\TheMode said) one more time to get him to do evil when he's at the end of his life is a rather hollow punishment.
Imagine if it's something in the flashback we never saw that was another 'spica' reveal like he secretly had some accomplish that helped him get rid of the bodies but idk if they'd do that at this point

Or maybe she'd somehow manipulate him to hurting someone 'bigger' in like a nursing home or so (even tho it'd prolly be harder at this age)
Spica never killed for justice, she kills because she feels like killers were out of place. The issue is whether this old man can even do/think of evil three times so she feels like she can kill him.
i think at this point he's passed the three strike rule (unless it only counts 'after' she meets/connects with someone) but maybe it'll be more about chara development for Spica depending on how this old man's arc ends

It's weird. She can't necessarily kill him as that's not justice, maybe have him confess? I don't know in this case.
i assume the thing he burned earlier in the flashback was that photo album? so even if he confessed idk if there'd be ppl believing him/proof or so if not just seen as the ramblings of a dementia patient

though it would be interesting if some more moral dilemmas popped up, what if she came across someone that happened to kill more than one person in self defense (though it'd be pretty unlucky/kinda a red flag if you came across someone 'innocent' that caused the death of 3+ ppl even if those ppl maybe 'deserved it') or some criminal/someone like a yakuza who kills under someone else's order, idk if they'd deal with someone outwardly dangerous b/c Spica doesn't seem to have 'other' powers to where someone couldn't still hurt her, but while i'm sure some yakuza do also hurt 'innocent ppl' i wonder if she'd consider it a 'misbutton' if a yakuza thug is just being an assassin/kinda part of 'society' even if it's the dark underside as opposed to a solo serial killer. Or, someone with 'split/multiple personalities' who doesn't know what's going on , or maybe someone mentally ill that has like intrusive thoughts and hallucinations/delusions to where it might seem like they're a killer but they haven't hurt anyone unless Spica does more research into a specific target/finds corpses and such to where that'd be unlikely
 
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The only punishment I can think of is to expose the truth without any room of doubt and excuse. I'm not sure how she is gonna do that though.

Really, this one is interesting because I don't know how to conclude this in a satisfying way for the readers.
 
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Dementia that bad huh? Honestly, if she killed him it would probably barely seem as a punishment, almost freedom of his horrible illness. Plus, unless he openly confesses to things he probably doesn't remember the exact details of anymore, there's no proof if he actually did end up torching that old photo album.
 
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Dementia that bad huh? Honestly, if she killed him it would probably barely seem as a punishment, almost freedom of his horrible illness. Plus, unless he openly confesses to things he probably doesn't remember the exact details of anymore, there's no proof if he actually did end up torching that old photo album.
you can see some of the raws on the official site if you wanna read ahead, but at this point i'm ready for it to move onto the next arc

idk if that chuuni boy is gonna show up again i half expected him to be one of his grandchildren tbh lol
 
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Misbuttoned: She may still regard him as "misbuttoned" regardless of whether he remembers, or if he'll feel any punishment. As for punishment... Even with dementia he'll still feel the pain of being dragged to death behind a car, so that's fitting. Also, he may have dementia, but he certainly hasn't forgotten killing people.

What can she do? Well, kill him obviously. But aside from that, she could reveal to the world that he's a murderer. That would bring resolution to families of the victims.

Wife: The way the wife looked at him burning the pictures... it suggests that she knew. Maybe further, she enjoyed looking at the pictures herself, and so didn't like that he burned them.

Justice: Spica is not quite about justice, but as for justice here... At minimum: Reveal the murders.
Then try him and lock him up. He can live his remaining dementia ridden years in prison confinement. (Though IDK how the JP penal system would handle a person with severe dementia.)
 
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Misbuttoned: She may still regard him as "misbuttoned" regardless of whether he remembers, or if he'll feel any punishment. As for punishment... Even with dementia he'll still feel the pain of being dragged to death behind a car, so that's fitting. Also, he may have dementia, but he certainly hasn't forgotten killing people.

What can she do? Well, kill him obviously. But aside from that, she could reveal to the world that he's a murderer. That would bring resolution to families of the victims.

Wife: The way the wife looked at him burning the pictures... it suggests that she knew. Maybe further, she enjoyed looking at the pictures herself, and so didn't like that he burned them.

Justice: Spica is not quite about justice, but as for justice here... At minimum: Reveal the murders.
Then try him and lock him up. He can live his remaining dementia ridden years in prison confinement. (Though IDK how the JP penal system would handle a person with severe dementia.)

ppl say japan's pretty strict on their jail system but idk if they'd have a separate facility for elderly ppl; tho it's usually spica doing the punishment so maybe she'll find a way to poison him in a hospital/old folks home lol

maybe at some point, unless spica does more research versus 'power', that her ability will 'evolve' to the point that she's able to make ppl 'surface' up their thoughts rather than just slowly coaxing it out of him
 
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Even if she gets him to remember what he did, what’s the point ? He already lived his full life, managed to see his grandkids grow up. At this point his family will get more hurt than himself, being related to a serial killer will be a great stigma for everyone else… I’m really curious about what she’ll do :thonk:
Thanks for the translation
Im curious about the author's thoughts on the matter. I would think if nothing else managing to expose the crimes or victims list under the moniker of a serial killer would at least give some peace to the victims families.
 
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most interesting setup yet. no idea what spica gonna do, exciting
 
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Crucial bit of character development for Spica this chapter: she now knows that it's possible for somebody to conceal their murder thoughts from her.

Now think, Spica. There's somebody else you've met who's got a curious hole in what you can see of his thoughts. Almost like his mind is an unscannable torus. Some might even call it... doughnut-shaped.
 

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