Okay so the 5 leaf stuff is basically what I was talking about when I said the arc redeemed the first chapter for me. Because at first, it felt kinda desperate to me how it was basically like "Yuno's so special look he has a 4-leaf no one's got that!!!" and then it one ups itself soon after with Asta like "omg he's got a 5-leaf he's special-er!!!". But now we know what those mean, we've seen what it looks like when a 4-leaf becomes a 5-leaf, the suffering one has to go through for that and the lengths the word devil went to in order to do that not once but twice. Like, that simple grimoire transformation is tied to some much tragedy in their kingdom. Now that its long-term implications are clearer, I look back on that first chapter much more positively than I used to.
Also it suggests some interesting stuff going forward because there's only one 4-leaf user left and that's Yuno...and 2/3 of the other 4-leaf users suffered to the point of their grimoires transforming.
Yeah, when that came up I thought of you talking about the recontextualization of the first chapter. In a vacuum, it's true that it is quite generic and by the books, but, once things take their place, it's actually quite neat.
I honestly hadn't thought about Yuno going through the same despair, even if it's incredibly obvious. He's a character that escapes me somehow, and I can't really say which path he's going to take. For as much as I hate the hammering down of rivalries and "it's me who's gonna be Wizard King", his relationship with Asta is refreshing and so is his role in the story. So detached, which is only something that happens with rivals when they're going through dark places, and that's not the case with him at all.
How do you feel about the demon plot in relation to the humans' actions now? Because the way I see it, it doesn't really absolve those old royals because the demon's obviously bad but he took advantage of the how terrible and corrupt those royals already were, with them already doing the magic-based discrimination and being racist towards the elves.
I was quite glad because, as you say, it's just that they were happy to be pushed by the demon. As in, you have to be quite fucked up to begin with to do that, and there's no mind control here. You just were given a chance to fulfill your corrupt ideals. No absolution whatsoever.
And really, that corruption is still something that the kingdom thrives on, seeing as recently as the trial. So yeah, I like how no side here is totally evil/good (except for the demon, sure) and how it all comes down to individuals and you can't generalize.
Love Nero. I like how she's basically like Patry but on the human side, being a witness to the events of the past from another perspective now in the future and working for her partner's goal.
She should have some valuable info from the past that I expect the author to bring up every now and then, so that's cool. We admittedly know very little of the world's history.
This is what I was most curious about, haha. Julius' return got people talking, to say the least. Personally, I was happy from the start cause I love Julius and felt there was enough to make it plausible he'd come back. Then I learned more and more of the long ass setup that went into his whole story and now I'm way into it. And I like most of the stuff that's been done with him since, from the worldbuilding and sending the bulls away to the reactions of the few people who knew he was dead. The only thing I don't like is how he's seemingly not punishing William much but I gotta see more of how that goes, it's not too clear what'll happen with William and the Golden Dawn right now.
Lol I'm ultimately fine with it because, yeah, Julius is great and there's also the fact that there were grounds set for this to plausibly happen. It's not an asspull and the way to go about this was kinda cool (I really like how he's only got a page now of his weird-ass Grimoire). I'm just a bit sad because his death was great and it was really high stakes.
However, even if at first I was like "oh, no repercursions after all", he's been heavily depowered and his image could potentially take a hit seeing as he's just a kid now. So Clover Kingdom is still in the same situation really when it comes to them having lost their most powerful figure. We already see Damnatio making those statements.
Regarding William, I feel the same. Not out of hate, but I want to see him punished. Like, I get where he's coming from, but there's a difference between what Julius' side and what Patry wanted. I guess it's quite the link the one that he had with the latter, but still. Although we don't really see what's going to happen with William exactly, just the way he's personally treated by Julius. Who knows.
I think the Golden Dawn could be disbanded honestly and a new team emerge. They've had their captain pulling that stunt and also some messes before with Langris (what's going to happen with him?). Although I guess the likeliest option would be a new captain, which should be exciting on its own.
Same. I'm looking forward to what comes next. As for where we're going first, well the mission is primarily to learn about devil stuff and yeah Spade Kingdom is the devil place so it seems logical but they just feel so endgame to me lol. And I want to go to Diamond first since there's been more setup for that. I'm curious about how the travels will be handled.
At any rate, I'm happy you're up to date and enjoying it!
Yeah, Spade Kingdom's description sounds ominous as hell lol. Diamond could be interesting (and I want to see Fana and Mars again) due to their militaristic focus and the lack of resources there. It looked quite dry. Heart is intriguing as hell, wonder what kind of magic they'll have there.
And yeah man :B I'll be finally posting here every week, feels good!
So yeah for the Yuno half-crown thing, there already kinda is an explanation we could accept for that, which is simply he's the reincarnation of Licht/Tetia's son who is half-royal so Yuno has a half-crown as a nod to that. If that's all there is to it, I'm fine with it but with Yuno and Asta's origins being a mystery, Yuno having a fancy necklace that turned out to be a magic stone, the likes of which a current royal also had (Fuegoleon), Yuno having noble/royal-level magic and now two people tied to the Kira house having a hair color similar to Yuno (Damnatio and Langris' fiancée), I think Yuno may be related to that house in some way (the obvious answer would be illegitimate son sent away like how William grew up in the Forsaken realm). It's far from something I'm convinced of because there's not much to go on and I don't know how Asta would tie into all that but for now it's something I'm keeping in mind for when it's time to learn about their origins and who left them at the church.
I can't believe I didn't catch that (the half-crown significance, I mean) and, while I had the theory that Yuno was a noble as well, I honestly hadn't really thought of him being part of the Kira family (I guess I didn't give it much of a thought, too many things happening), even though he's obviously linked to Tetia and Litch's kid in that way. I mean, Tetia's line could also be traced back in the Silva and Vermillion lines, but he really doesn't fit there. Can't believe I didn't think of that, also despite the fact that I actually took notice of Damnatio's hair (and overall look) being so different from the bum that's king lol.
Regarding Asta, I'm fine with him being a regular ass person whose lack of power is just out of coincidence. I love the fact that he's special due to the fact that he's not special at all, as said in the Witch Forest arc. But I can see it being deeper than that, almost certainly.
I doubt he'd be a noble if Yuno's to be that, yeah. Maybe part of a squire family or whatever?