Usogui - Vol. 49 Ch. 538 - What Was Coming

[BossCrab]

It does make a bit of sense - remember that when Kyara is recalling his first time meeting Baku, he says Baku has nothing to offer but his body. He may have simply done the same and lost an earlier gamble, and got saddled with the bad heart.

 

[thyfucketh]

he looks way more surprised at the joker card than whoever that guy is lol

 

[drmnenerik]

Can anyone explain what i just read

 

[saxifraga]

Wow, so some of you were right about Baku's weak constitution. I honestly didn't buy it, but I guess I was wrong. Haha

A lot to process here. I guess my biggest question would be who actually was that person who flipped the card? Baku didn't seem too surprised, but the others were in total shock. Someone Baku knows?

Also, I can't believe there's only one chapter left. What am I going to look forward to once the translations end? So sad, I'm gonna cry.

 

[marcyvq]

What is even happening here, did baku just fucking die off-camera?

 

[Ghetsis]

I was so excited for this chapter I felt like I was going to have a heart attack!!!!!!
The one time Anoma can't predict what the other is going to say, haha.
And ooh, the Kyara illusion ;_;
Also love the cute photo of Marco, Hal and I think Nobuko(?) on Hal's desk! Reminds me of Yukiide's hospital room. (Now that I remember that, my Japanese friend once told me there's a fan theory that Hal and Yukiide are staying at the same hospital)

https://mangadex.org/chapter/1008553/18 Also, I found this while trying to look for something!!!!

I also have been wondering when the Donor Game takes place. My guess at the moment is that it was before he met Hal, because of this page https://mangadex.org/chapter/704547/11 (he's even clutching his heart ;_
https://mangadex.org/chapter/713885/10 Also here there's panting by whoever turned on the lights, which is probably Baku (though this might be less credible evidence, because the distance/time it would take for him to get to the building im sure would make anyone tired)

Also I have no idea if Vehizoma starting 10 years ago plays a role into it (so it most likely formed after Baku and met Hal I'm guessing, or like right before?). Though the organizations associated with it must of existed before that.

Thoughts abt the Donor Game itself:
My ideas for why Baku did not receive any help: Maybe because it was one of the "prices he had to pay?" A reminder of his loss (so he wouldnt lose again)? Or a handicap to enhance the thrill/need to live his life to the fullest?

Though I don't think its ever specifically stated that Baku actually lost the bet, only that he lost his heart. The details of the bet were never specified. Or he could of lost on purpose like Stl1 because he wanted this kind of handicap all along.... Hmmm maybe I'm looking too much into it.

@RapidLord
Ok I'm glad someone else also brought up page 8, it read really weird to me too. I think it's supposed to be interpreted as "thanks to your life, I'm doing great," like you mentioned. But there's a reason he specifically phrased it as "your life"! (idk how obvious the reason is, though another comment got it correct)

Also I understand where you are coming from with the whole Eko thing, but remember what Fukurou said https://mangadex.org/chapter/1041747/14 (and the next page), haha.
I always saw it as she did have some sort of special power, but also conned ppl (such as the people who over-estimated her abilities).

https://mangadex.org/chapter/1008553/11 I do wonder what she means here by "rare instinct".....

And I agree about Abi, one of my fav character designs too!. So sad we might not be able to see the rest of the Vices ;_;

 

[fire]

What a great chapter

 

[rennov]

Fixed.

This manga has the highest number of Chekhov gun with the finest subtlety...

If Baku's life ends here... he will become the bestest mc ever...

 

[Rodemu]

Damn time flies started reading this manga late 2017 and here we are with 1 chapter left. One of the best mangas ever created imo.

 

[Moonbunne]

I think he'll relinquish the leader role to Hal, not Souichi, Hal. And I don't think he actually lost at all since the gamble was already over when the other guy picked the card so it really was just a "if you had gone any further you would have lost" scenario

 

[DoctorMckay]

Seeing what is going down so damn near the ending I dunno if I want Toshio to continue writing Batuque or I want to start praying so he comes back to Usogui.
Does anyone know what the author had to say about continuing/ending Usogui?

Also, and dunno if I'm the only one, but I've been reading Usogui since almost the very beginning and I always had the feeling Kaji was a truly relevant character (pre Sawakuni arc I was convinced he would eventually become the protagonist) but never had the script in his favour. I want him to shine. Kaji and Marco VS Vices, Kaji, Marco and Hal VS The World.

 

[Potatoman4000]

My personal theory, which in all honesty is probably wrong but i really want to see, is that Kaji is the one who drew the joker card. That would explain why baku let out such a smile and why the referees were so shocked. The hair seems to match as well.

Eh but that's probably wrong. The mouth of the person who drew the joker doesn't match Kaji's at all. It looks like someone old. Could it be Arata? Doubt it.

But there are still a lot of gaps missing, like who is the person saying "welcome back madarame baku" in chapter 537? Welcome back to what organisation? Is the meeting of Anoma and Abi a flashback? Who is Anoma waiting for in the coffee shop? Where is Hal headed?

And what do we do now that this God tier manga is ending :'(

 

[maede]

Could he be Kiruma Tatsuki? The facial features and hair match, and he bet his life (and lost) in the past. We did see him get cremated though... just putting it out there, the returning king may not be Souichi but Tatsuki (by some plot contrivance), which utterly shocked the referees present.

 

[Veshv]

@Ghetsis
November 23rd, 1998 is when Hal "died". Given what I've pointed out in the past regarding the year, it can only be 2009 in universe currently, so you're right that Vehizoma showed up around the time Hal and Baku first met.

Regarding the Donor Game, if the Kariume stems from Baku trying to avoid heart failures, this page would imply that it happened before Baku even got involved with Kakerou, so at least a while before the meeting between Hal and Baku.

Could you clarify what you mean by the mystery person specifying the "your life" part? Is it just a nod to the fact that this person has Baku's heart, and in a sense, his "life"?

 

[Ghetsis]

@Veshv yup, and Eba records that Hal disappeared on the 20th iirc (so the time they spent together really was short....).

And yea what you said is correct! Wow, such a heartless way to rub it in Baku's face, haha.

 

[drmnenerik]

So Baku was defeated by a faceless man?

 

[Doomroar]

How you gonna go and drop that beast of a page 5 and then end the manga one chapter later!? come on man!
Man i know i wanted a best of 3 for surpassing the leader, but i guess it is not gonna happen.

Edit: @Ghetsis Thanks for answering RapidLord's questions, you are the MVP of the comment section, however i am kind of disappointed with the idea of Eko actually having supernatural powers and being able to see into the future, and fate being a thing now.

Eko has been appearing more and more in these last chapters, and i still don't get her character, at all.

Before these chapters i was assuming that she was just a con artist taking advantage of people's superstition and desperation, fate was not a thing and it was proven with how she lost her own gamble that involved her getting stabbed by some of the people she conned, Souchi was just being misled by his mother's words and being proven wrong by Baku after losing surpassing the leader 2. And since she knew that fate was not a thing it would make sense for her to attempt a gamble that would change fate.

But now it turns out Baku went and re-enacted an entire prophetic book down to the smallest of details, after being influenced by Eko herself!? So what does this make of all the gambles until now? were they even gambles at all if Baku already knew how it all was gonna play out not thanks to his meticulous preparations, but thanks to some book and a video?

This also changes the type of con artist Eko was, if she could see the future, but knew that it couldn't be changed, then every single one of her clients was conned, because she never had the power to change the future, she could only see it, she took everyone's money, but whenever she saw someone's whose future changed for the better all she had to do was take credit for the positive changes, while for negative changes or the "hopeless" cases she would tell them that she couldn't change their fates.

Which would also mean... that her gamble was not a gamble, it was an elaborate suicide in order to kick-start a self fulfilling prophecy linked to the future of the next leader of Kakerou, which also means Tatsuki was going to have an early death anyways, and the entire thing of attempting an abortion for his sake was either a lie, and excuse, or misinformation (after all Tatsuki had a long enough life for him to grow bored become a referee as a way to entertain himself).

It also means that perfect Souchi was also able to see the future, he knew he was going to lose his memories, he knew he was going to lose surpassing the leader 2, and he knew he was going to survive, and that Baku was going to have even worse heart problems https://mangadex.org/chapter/1008553/18 because he already knew he had hearth problems https://mangadex.org/chapter/991447/18 .

 

[Moonbunne]

@drmnenerik The gamble was already over, it was a "for fun" draw so not technically a defeat xD

 

[JacobWhorne]

Ok, there's a lot things going on here.

Firstly, welp Billy is definitely dead. I wonder if the Japanese audience were like us who believe that Billy is somehow alive so the mangaka show us this to tell us "yeah... he's definitely dead".

Also Eko is somehow a prophet? And it seems like the Prince Bee book is kinda like her prophecy. Like how does that work? I thought this whole time she was faking it so she can control the world (which she mentions at the last chapter). This is getting to the supernatural territory, usually there's some scientific basics to all the crazy superpowers. Can she echolocate to the future somehow? I think the mangaka probably just wrote himself to a corner so we just have a person that can somehow see the future now.

Also kariuma is medicine? How? Is the medicine disguise as a kariuma? Surely the kariuma is not the actual medicine cause of that time in Protoporos they were selling real kariuma. Kyara even ate one so it's definitely real. How did Baku even hide the medicine in his kariuma in Protoporos (since I remember it was mostly Champ & others who handle all the kariuma packaging stuff) and no one notice?

And... Baku died? Consider there's quite a lot of fake death already I'll reserved from making a conclusion until the next chapter. Though I actually don't mind if Baku dies here. I mean throughout the manga we been told time and time again that a gambler that keeps winning does not exist. And after Baku won against Kiruma there's nothing else to do. Dominating the world would be cool, but Baku's goal in this manga have always been to surpass the leader. Now that he finish that goal everything else just seems like extras.

Also I love the introduction of Abi. Sako Toshio always have a knack making unique and interesting characters. The scene where he have his arm around half-Billy and half-Lalo made him my Top 10 Usogui characters. Would love to see more of him, I hate that there's just one more chapter left. I'm not ready to let go of Usogui.

And is there some translation issue in pg 8? "Thanks to you, your life is going great" doesn't make much sense. Is it "Thanks to you, my life is going great" since that man just won against Baku?

The way I read it is that Baku and Hal lived out Eko's story rather than the other way around. It's also possible that they retrocausally create the story.