One series. Three books. and one hell of an adventure!

It’s been a while since I read the series, but I still remember the feelings I had on each page of the books, for how memorable this saga has been to me. A heartfelt thanks to author Karen M. McManus for giving such a thrilling mystery with characters that have become so dear to my heart.

Before I continue, return if you don’t want [SPOILERS!!] for the GOAT of a series this is.

The first book, One of Us Is Lying, and strictly the book (apparently had been adapted into a show…but following Netflix adapting tradition, they fucked it up.) is the most enjoyable and thrilling of books with an ending twist so good, it left me staring into the void for a good while while reading the book, lol. If I were to leave any complaint, perhaps it’s the name? cause I started reading the name and description, and thought: someone among the four would be responsible, right?

And when the book presented first-person narration of all the accused characters, I kept thinking: maybe one of them is lying…? And maybe we, as the reader, need to filter them out? Which would be exciting as of itself, but halfway through the book, I distinctly remember praying to God to save all my precious Bayview four! And God, (in this case author herself!) answered my prayers with the twist I least expected.

Simon Kelleher has thus become one of my favourite villains in all of fiction fr, bro orchestrated the biggest mystery and almost ruined 4 lives, all of it after dying in freaking chapter one! Nah, this twist was…. even more rewarding for me cause except for saving the Bayview four from the crime’s guilt, it did what I wanted for so long, a character so cunning that his own death doesn’t stop the plans. The last I saw was Light Yagami, even though he didn’t die, but midway lost all his memories.

Let’s talk about the continuos POV Shifting between the protagonists, and how that itself mystifies the air more, with the reader left on a cliffhanger on every page. It’s probably a better model for telling mystery stories than one single POV that we often find in other books. The other part I liked the most was the diversity of character problems- an all-arounder student with a colored background, a dashingly handsome guy with a downtrodden, poverty-inflicted criminal life, a jockey with the best prospects coming out of the closet risking to lose it all, and a school princess who wants to overcome many internal guilts and become something more. How they started as separate trails, almost parallel to each other, and slowly but surely, overcoming their own shortcomings, biases, and the hurdles imposed by their families and peers from society, which suspect them, and coming together to unite as the Bayview murder club!

The other antagonist, Jake Riordan, was a good addition too. A sociopath who, well, I understand cheating isn’t right, and he was betrayed, but seriously acting all calm and normal while playing such a devious game just to ruin a life? Maybe what took me out after the reveal was his earlier breakout at Addy’s confession, like bro knew and yet? That’s some A-grade acting right there.

The other two books, i.e, the sequels, are amazing journeys in themselves as well…and that will be a serious disservice to these masterpieces to not have their own reviews, so let me continue my review of this GOATed series in PART-II.

A hero. A time loop. A heroic journey to take down the demonlord. Same old boring stuff, that you would expect if you haven’t seen New Saga! This new anime really blew my expectations for the genre.

Who says the MC gotta be a demon lord or some small-time assassin with overpowered stats? Kyle the hero proves that this boilerplate plotline can be as interesting if done right!

Ok..so a little for the story. Kyle, the hero, loses all his friends and allies in the ‘Great Invasion’ of demons by humans. After a scornful journey and more losses, he kills the demonlord. The story starts from here, as he then gets his hands on a mysterious object that sends him 4 years back! He returns to the past- to his mother, master, friend, lover: all of it! Blessed with a new beginning, he now vows to get stronger and strategise smartly in order to prevent any and all losses in the upcoming war!

So, does he go around being another all-knowing OP protag? This is where the new saga flips the game. Yeah, he knows a bit here and there, but the overlaying problem he faces and the mystery surrounding it are still big enough to be important to the plot.

Spoilers from here on:-

The first strategy to save the princess and get funding for their aim kickstarts the new journey. And I would be lying if I didn’t accept my disappointment when Commander Zentos was killed in battle. Like he was shown in flashbacks to be a part of the OG Suicide Squad, so I hoped he would be part of the story for longer…rather than being killed off at the very start.

And cheers to the comically cruel and cunning of Seran in those fights, like damn, that leaves a bitter but funny taste on the tongue 😂

But my point is how the author makes the plot interesting by making Kyle not an OP MC, but a clever one. He gets his hands on the hero title and royal support, simultaneously eliminating the corrupt king and making the princess queen.

(Btw, I know it was supposed to be a plot twist, but that one close-up scene of the king’s face spoiled it for me, honestly 😂😂)

Then the story shifts to Karan’s arc: one with multiple overlaying mysteries. Mysterious disappearances, a lost holy sword, and an ‘old’ ally. It very well introduces us to demons in the story, while commenting throughout on the mystery that surrounds them.

Like they’re strong, but not as fearsome as Kyle remembers. Their king wants peace with the humans? And that it’s a she!? The plot twist of the current demon lord being a different one from the one he fought did kind of baffled me!

Between that and events like finding Golem’s OG Designer and blackmailing an ambassador to be an ally, the new saga really brightens up its place in the hero’s journey genre. And with its smart pacing, characterisation, and mysteries, it holds its own against the majority of the ‘time loop’ genre.

All in all, it was a fantastic watch, and I’m eagerly waiting for Season 2!

So, let’s start from the beginning. Turning Points. These are events in the life of Rudeus that, if missed, would have led to a completely different life for him. These alternate timelines are pretty interesting by themselves, and usually, a small event snowballs into these timelines.

So, let’s discuss all the Turning Points and what alternative outcome that would have occurred if they were missed!

Turning Point 1

This happens on Rudeus’ 10^th birthday with the Mana Calamity. This was a pretty big event by itself. As per the chapter ‘Prologue Zero’, (which will be too much of a spoiler to explain here) it seems the calamity was inevitable. It was to happen as long as Rudeus would exist.

But in case this wouldn’t have happened, the entire story would never be set in motion. Rudeus would have probably married Eris and with Philip’s help headed the Boreas Household. His family at Buena would be safe, and things would have turned out more or less as he envisioned. Also, Nanahoshi wouldn’t be here.

Interestingly, Hitogami would’ve never recognized his existence and no ill would’ve befallen him.

Turning Point 2

His meeting with Orsted and near-death experience is the next Turning Point. This was an essential event in Rudeus’ life. If he hadn’t met Orsted or Nanahoshi, Rudeus would’ve married Eris and eloped. This was of course what was to happen if Eris didn’t leave him; which was because she felt she was a burden to his life following her powerlessness against Orsted.

While still a strong swordsman, she would’ve been much nearer to the ‘Red Lion’ title rather than to the title ‘Mad Dog’.

Also, this would’ve prevented the entire ED arc, so Rudeus wouldn’t have met with Sylphy or anyone else back at the academy. Hell, he wouldn’t have even come to Ranoa, or known about teleportation circles either!

Turning Point 3 (Heavy Manga And LN Spoilers)

One of the most recent events in anime, was when he received a plea for help from Paul from Begaritto Continent. We do know that he disobeyed Hitogami’s advice here, but what if he hadn’t?

Then he wouldn’t have married Roxy or Eris, but Linia and Purusena in their places later in life. This would’ve obviously changed a lot; but most importantly, Paul would be alive! Paul’s party would’ve successfully rescued Zenith and be alive as well…but sadly without Rudeus, Roxy would’ve died, thus the hero of the sequel won’t be born!

Turning Point 4

The most important event in MT, the basement door arc. The entire thing is LN spoilers, and the diary chapters do detail what would’ve happened if he fell for the trap, but to explain shortly, if Rudeus had opened the basement door and let the poisonous rat in, with time, Roxy and Sylphy and also Eris would’ve died, along with Cliff, Zanoba, Aisha, Ariel, Luke and many more. Essentially Rudeus would be completely destroyed, and in revenge, he would become a fearsome mage who would be an enemy to both the Asura Empire and the Milis Church. Also, in this timeline, he would be a horrible person as Olddeus (Rudeus’ fandom-given nickname in this timeline) was. This is also known amongst the fandom as the ‘dark timeline’.

Turning Point 5

This was essentially the end of LN where Rudeus defeated the Fighting God and Orsted defeated the North God. While this chapter is more of a conclusion to his story rather than a beginning to something else, one could say the ‘in cannon’ life of Rudeus Greyrat would be different without this Turning Point.

Turning Point 0

Although no such title is mentioned within the LN/WN, by Orsted’s other time loops; that is the alternate history he experienced, we know of 100 timelines where Rudeus didn’t exist.

The most important changes will be: -

‘Rudeus’ would be a stillborn. Paul would have both Aisha and Norn regardless, although their relationship wasn’t known.

Sylphy would’ve been Roxy’s student directly without Rudeus in the middle. So, they would’ve met regardless just in different circumstances.

Eris would marry Luke Greyrat and be called the ‘Red Lion’ of Sword God Style, but she won’t be nearly as strong as she is now. Also, she would’ve followed Ariel in her war of succession instead of Sylphy.

Ariel would’ve had a 50% chance to take over Asura in this case.

And of course, we wouldn’t have a masterpiece of an Isekai!

Were they preventable?

Turning Point 0 is truly a play of fate. Prologue Zero explains that Rudeus’ birth and the entire MT timeline were a completely random event, which happened amongst countless other timelines for apparently no reason!

Turning Point 1 wasn’t preventable as far as I know, its relation is directly to Rudeus’ birth itself. This happened cause Rudeus was born.

Turning Point 2 wasn’t much preventable either. Hitogami’s future-seeing ability won’t act on Orsted, so fate was pretty strong here.

Turning Point 3 was probably the most preventable, but still, Hitogami mentions that Rudeus and Roxy have a strong fate, so the chances of it happening were much higher.

Turning Point 4, finally, would be the greatest planned butterfly effect in MT with the dark timeline being the absolute nightmare, but the fact that it DID HAPPEN and still Olddeus prevented Rudeus from repeating this via time slip makes the question a bit tricky to answer!

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Also, what rank does Millis hold?

If this question sounds silly to you, great! You already understand how Godhood works in Mushoko Tensei. But hey, I guess there are many, who just came across these in Mushoko Tensei, and are like…what is the deal with these?

So, with minimal spoilers from the light novel, here is a guide to Godhood in Mushoko Tensei!!

Broadly, Gods in Mushoko Tensei are of three types:-

• Strongest warriors

• Divine beings

• Worshipped entities

Strongest warriors:

The title God is used in many senses in Mushoko Tensei. First of all, to mark the strongest amongst a group. For example, Sword God is not some deity of swords, but the strongest warrior of the Sword God School of sword style: the sword style which focuses on offence and aggressiveness. Similarly, Water God is the strongest warrior of the Water God School; which employs defence and counters as the main focus of swordplay. I accept it was dumb for me to think of Water God as some deity of water when I first came across it. Similarly, North God is the strongest of the North God style. And yeah, there’s no South God…

This just doesn’t stop here. The greatest dwarf blacksmith is called the Ore God. There is also the Ogre God: the strongest among the Ogres. Death God falls under the classification as well!

Divine beings:

Now, divine beings do exist (or rather existed in the past) in Mushoko Tensei. The world they inhabit is called Six-faced World and is like a cube. Created by the Creator God before beginnings itself.

Now Creator God himself was a ‘divine’ entity if he ever existed, but being very old by the time he started creating Mushoko Tensei's world, he created one distorted world after another, and putting six such worlds together like a cube, he balanced them.

Yet, to help its inhabitants, in his dying moments, he created six divine beings from his body for the six worlds. Each of them was akin to a God, not only having a divine lineage but being the strongest amongst their respective worlds and helping the races prosper! They were:-

• Dragon God

• Demon God

• Human God

• Beast God

• Ocean God

• Sky God

Each ruled over a different world, (not just a different continent as in the story) until an evil plan from Hitogami led to the destruction of all worlds except the human world. Thus the current world we see with all its continents and multitude of races are in fact refugees in the human world.

This also means that Dragon God, Demon God, etc. have lost their divine position (although they remain the strongest amongst their respective races). Only the Human God, which is Hitogami, has divine powers, which we do see in the main series.

Worshipped beings:

Worshipped beings simply include Saint Milis, who is worshipped in Milis Faith, or the mountain that the dwarfs worship…or Roxy Migurdia if you are Rudeus Greyart!

_________

The Seven Great Powers

Now, there are many ‘Gods’ and other strong warriors in Mushoko Tensei. But the strongest amongst them are the Seven Great Powers:-

1. Technique God

2. Dragon God

3. Fighting God

4. Demon God

5. Death God

6. Sword God

7. North God/ Mage King

History follows that after the death of the 1^st Dragon God and Demon God, Laplace; a half demon half dragon became the Dragon-Demon God due to being the strongest amongst both races. He wanted to avenge the 1^st Dragon God, but Hitogami used the Fighting God to split him into two to stop him in his tracks. Thus, two Laplaces came into being:-

Technique God: He was the dragon half. He remembered his purpose and techniques passed down by the dragon race, but he had no mana. Thus, he became the technique God rather than the Dragon God. He lost some memory, but to accomplish his goals created the seven-power system.

Demon God: As the strongest demon alive, Laplace’s demon half became the Demon God. He remembered that he needed to kill humans (rather than Human God) and he also retained the mana of his; which is the largest mana pool after Rudeus’!

These, along with the Fighting God, have remained unchanged since the system’s conception.

Fighting God: Badigadi is called the Fighting God. He is of the immortal demon race and is ranked above the Demon God! A demon stronger than the Demon God? How? Well, his title is connected to the Fighting God Armor, which when worn, makes him the Fighting God; otherwise, he is weaker than Laplace.

Dragon God: There have been many since the 1^st and Laplace after him. The last was called Urupen, one of whose indirect disciples is Orsted, the current Dragon God. He is also the reincarnated son of the 1^st Dragon God, destined to slay Hitogami.

Death God: It’s a title that came to be later on, and isn’t part of any sword style. The current, Randolph Marianne, defeated Laxus, his predecessor to inherit the title. As of Jobless Oblige, Rudeus’ son Sieghart Saladin Greyrat became the Death God in the future.

Sword God: There have been many Sword Gods, mostly humans. Due to their short lifespan, there have been many Sword Gods. During the main story, it was Gal Farion, but near the end, Jino Britts defeats him to take his daughter’s hand in marriage and thus becomes the new Sword God.

North God: The first North God Kalman I was human, but due to his marriage to Immortal Demon Lord Afotarte, his son the second North God Kalman II lived a long life. As of the main story, he still lives but passed on the North God title to his son Kalman III

Mage King: After Kalman III’s defeat in the hands of Rudeus Greyart in the Superdia Subjugation War, Rudeus became the 7^th great power in place of the North God and was called the Mage King.

Outside the rankings, other ‘Gods’ are Reida Reia and Isolte Cruel (Water God) and Malta (Ogre God).

__________

Hitogami

Hitogami is sometimes called the Human God, but there’s a mystery to his identity. He was born in the void, the realm of the six-faced world between the surfaces (basically inside of the cube). The word Hitogami translates to ‘Man God’. While he is the only divine being left, it is believed he is assumed to have killed the original Human God to take his position and is a usurper, who orchestrated the fall of the other worlds.

While the name Human God is well known to all, ‘Hitogami’ or ‘Man God’ is a name only his apostles know of.

______________

I hope anyone who came across this confusion can be helped by this article.

Thanks for reading!

Naomi Misora. She is well known as one of the greatest characters of Death Note; although she appeared for only a few episodes! She almost found the identity of Kira, but was killed off by sheer ‘luck’. Her tragic character has been subjected to various theories by the Death Note fandom. One of the most popular theories is that if she reached L, the story would end much earlier! Many consider her being killed off was by sheer plot armour!

Is that REALLY true though?

In episode 2, L confronts Light in their TV battle and corners him. Now that his location and powers are revealed, Light is forced to play a game of mice and cats with L. In episode 3, L deduces that Kira can kill anyone with a heart attack; all he needs is the names and faces of his victims. He also deduces that Kira could be a student as the killer’s timings somehow match the free time window of an average Japanese student. This however reaches Light, through hacking the computer of Soichiro Yagami, his father and the chief of police leading the Kira investigation case! He thus, willingly changes the time of deaths.

To change the time of deaths just after L’s deduction is not wise, after all, it gives away the fact that Kira is connected to the police. But Light calculates that L, now will be forced to investigate the police, leading to a fall in their already shaky relationship! His plan, to dismantle the police’s trust in L works when L brings FBI agents from the USA to investigate the families of the police.

Later, Ryuk finds out that a mysterious man has been tailing Light. He informs Light, and Light quickly secures his position trying to find the identity of the ‘spy’

In episode 4, Light executes a plan. He pretends to go on a false date with one of his classmates and boards a bus. The spy boards the same bus. It all seems normal, until a criminal hijacks the bus! He threatens everyone with a gun and asks for ransom from authorities. In the back, Light somewhat loudly proclaims his plan to jump the guy; but is stopped by the spy. He acts as yet another passenger on the bus and advises Light not to act hastily. But Light tells him off saying that there’s no proof that he isn’t an undercover comrade of the hijacker.

Seeing Light adamant, the spy decides to blow his cover as already he has judged Light to be innocent (believing if he was Kira he could kill the hijacker with a heart attack). He gives his ID to Light, where his name is revealed to be Raye Penber, an FBI agent.

However, soon the hijacker goes mad after seeing a monster, which in fact is Ryuk himself (Light subtly made him touch a piece of the death note), and emptying his gun he stops the bus and gets off, only to be hit by a car and die.

In episode 5, Light covertly corners Raye Penber without revealing his identity. He forces Raye to board a train and write the names of his boss as well as colleagues in some ‘mysterious’ papers. Unknowingly, he writes it in the very pages of death note. When he is done, he is told to leave the train. Just as he leaves, he gets a heart attack. Dying, somehow he turns around to see Light Yagami collecting the papers, who bids him ‘farewell’.

This should’ve done with the threat, except it doesn’t. It is revealed that Raye had a fiancée, a former FBI agent Naomi Misora. Naomi breaks down over her fiancé’s murder and decides to investigate alone. She remembers a conversation with Raye who told him partially about the bus hijack and that he revealed his name! She finds the bus, and after learning about the case, deduces that Kira can kill even without heart attacks. She deduces Raye’s murder immediately after the incident meant whoever he gave the name to was Kira, and that such a violent criminal died in such an unceremoniously manner only tells that the bus hijack was a farce to force him to reveal his name. Since the hijacker died in an accident, then if it's Kira’s doing, he can kill without heart attacks!

Naomi thus deduces the following:-

Kira is whoever Raye Penber was following and he can also kill without heart attacks.

Then Naomi decides to visit Soichiro Yagami, head of the police investigating Kira, but unfortunately, is unable to. You see, Light’s earlier plan worked accordingly as many suspected L and just quit. The remaining, including Mr Yagami, are called by L to a secret location. Naomi is thus unable to contact him and later runs into his son, Light Yagami

Though by sheer luck, Light meets Naomi; and decides to kill her after hearing her deduction, fearing it would be a major blow to his cover. Through episodes 4 and 5, Light tries Naomi to give up her name. He is almost fooled once, but later calmly he tricks Naomi into giving up her name. Then he uses this opportunity to write her name in the death note and makes it look like a suicide. It’s too late when Naomi realizes and when she walks away, Light even taunts her. This was truly a heartbreaking moment.

So, Naomi never reaches L and her deduction is ‘lost’. All this time seems wasted, and Light only meets her through sheer luck! Seems like plot armour, doesn’t it?

Except this theory has a problem. Later it is revealed that L knew of Naomi from a case he worked on earlier, and finds it hard to believe that she will suicide in grief since she was a powerful person. L thus deduces that Kira probably killed Naomi when she tried to investigate on her own, which mostly fits her character. So, if that’s true, and Kira can make her death look like suicide, then Kira can kill without heart attacks as well!

It is then revealed that she was Raye Penber’s fiancée, leading to L investigating his death much more thoroughly. Now, although never explicitly said in the anime, one can assume Raye’s death was much more different to the deaths of his colleagues simply due to his tense situation. This, along with Naomi’s death, brought special attention to his assigned target, Light Yagami!

So, unlike the popular belief that her death was wasted, her deduction that ‘Kira is whoever Raye Penber was following, and he can kill without heart attacks.’ reaches L even without her being present. This later leads L to focus the investigation on Light himself!

The only downside it seems to have is that Naomi would have been a great help to L. but it is overshadowed by the fact that while Naomi’s words alone would have been insufficient to support her deductions, her death ultimately guarantees her deductions to be true!

SPOILER ALERTS !!!!

This is my first opinion blog, or simply a rant you will, but if you have completed Solo Leveling and Dr. Stone, bear with me on this one. Recently I found an anime called Aiyou’s Secret Room, a mystery thriller based on escape rooms, and since the 1^st episode, it hooked me on itself. The characters, the plot, everything was thrilling! At that time, 15 episodes were released, and with each episode, I was awe-stricken, the mystery deepening, with no easy solution; made it all the more interesting! The hole of mystery dug in Episode 1 had become an endless abyss by then! So, I binged watch them in a day, and waited, for the final one to be released. The finale- where all threads of mystery will be untangled! And today, it was released. So, how was my experience? Well…now, I’m no author but lemme tell you, if you are writing a story and at the end of it you leave a major plot point unexplained…much less what is the centre plot around which the story revolves, and also move your protagonist back to square one, on the name of taking the story to a ‘full circle’, then regardless of how great and thrilling the story has been, it will all go down the drain. Unless there’s a season 2, but there weren’t any details to be found.

And here’s where I rest my argument. Regressions. The ‘back to square one’ trope. Sorry, but I hate them. Why? Cause going back to square one literally defeats the purpose of the story’s development! All progress is lost. Is it that hard to understand?

Let’s take Dr. Stone for example. The manga is finished, and when it was ongoing, I awaited every week for another fabulous chapter. The story may have a lot of cliché tropes, but it doesn’t disappoint on its very central theme- science in a stone world. How Senku develops modern science once again along with other scientists even in a world of primitives. Its science is top-notch, and so are the adventures. So, what about its ending? Well…

The plot is driven by the mystery of petrification itself, and with each turn it deepens. Until ultimately, in the final arc, it is revealed- that the petrification devices are aliens?! The entire moon arc was ‘maybe’ too rushed, and for the entire thing to develop into this, it also felt weird. But alright, this may be my opinion only, but man, when the in the last chapter Senku decides to create a FUCKING TIME MACHINE, trying to return to 5000 years in past, I lost it. Wait, so what about the present? What about Kohaku, Chrome or Suika? What about going to the future together? Won’t they just disappear? What’s the point?

Solo Leveling. It was thrilling. Every chapter. Up until the end, I remained in a thrill, what would happen, how will he win, will he die? But what our protagonist does? Reverses time itself so that everyone forgets his existence and he goes back to square one, of course with all his powers, so that he could redo it overall! I mean, from the audience’s point, all the development that happened, is lost. What makes Solo Leveling so thrilling is this growth of our weak protagonist, and now what? At the other end, he is just an overpowered ‘all-knowing’ protagonist.

This ‘all-knowing’ is so damn annoying. Now, many fantasy manga/manhwas start with the MC returning to the past to solve the problem all over. This leaves us with an ‘all-knowing’ MC and no mystery is left. A reincarnation is different; you go to a distant future. But overpowered cause you are a ‘know it all’?

Let’s compare it to an anime like, let’s say Tokyo Revengers. Regressions are its plot, the protagonist’s power. He corrects the past to get a better future, but mysteriously the future just worsens. Tokyo Revengers doesn’t put a ‘know it all’ ‘correcting the past’ MC on the plate, but an intriguing MC with some mystery entangling him and the past. Its plot is delivered well, unlike the other regression fantasies.

But that can just be my preference, cause these regressions to correct the past making a ‘know it all’ MC is still a well-received trope. But Dr Stone or Solo Leveling? Heck no! Pulling that shit on end, destroying all the ‘development’, back to square one, WHY?

This distaste that I held for these tropes is just reignited with Aiyou’s Secret Room, and unless anyone can confirm there’s more to the story, my advice: please don’t waste your time watching it.

Or any such story for that matter!

Ok, so I thought this was unanimously agreed upon by the entire anime community, at least those who watched the show, that Haruhi Shuzumiya, the main protagonist of the anime series: The Melancholy of Haruhi Shuzumiya was invincible and undefeatable! Like yeah, not Goku (Dragon Ball Series) nor Saitama (One Punch Man) can defeat her, neither Rimuru Tempest (Tensura) nor Anos Voldigold (Maou Gakuin), and not ANY overpowered characters like Ainz Ooal Gown (Overlord) or Wang Ling (Daily Life Of Immortal King) or the Dragon God (Mushoko Tensei)!

THEY DON’T HAVE A CHANCE!!

“Yeah, she can defeat them, but only in her imagination!”

“Exactly!”

I hope the fans get the joke. But for those of you who are pissed, I would like to say that until wherever I read these works or the research I did with the help of youtube and Wiki fandoms, I REALLY failed to find the way these characters can defeat her.

But in this yt short I came across, the comments mocked the Haruhi fans for this. So, yeah, maybe some character can actually defeat her?

HOW THOUGH?

Fact is they can’t, and I know this will piss many off. My judgment is unbiased, but if fans of other animes declare me biased and wrong, I would like to be corrected.

Thing is, I would go a step ahead to help them, by revealing the only time when our invincible Haruhi was DEFEATED!!

16^th of December, only a few days to Christmas, Kyon, our narrator wakes up ready to confront yet another day of Haruhi’s shenanigans. But he finds out the world has changed-Mikuru has forgotten Kyon, Yuki has become a shy bookworm, and worst of all, Koizumi and Haruhi have disappeared! Even worse, Asakura has returned!

 This is the situation in the movie Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, a movie even many OG fans hadn’t watched since the ‘endless eight’ disaster! But the movie itself became a classic, within the entire anime fandom simply for its brilliant writing!! But, how did this happen? Who could make Haruhi disappear?

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

It was later revealed that a malfunctioning Yuki Nagato ‘stole’ the powers of Haruhi herself, changing the world! But the Data Overmind which created her, how did they permit such a drastic change? Well, they didn’t. Yuki used Haruhi’s powers, already confirmed to be much more powerful and yet unfathomable to the Data Overmind itself, to destroy her own creators!!

She also rendered Haruhi herself powerless and even her memories are overwritten. In a sense, she was defeated!!

Kyon eventually restores the world, and I would be glad if anyone got interested would watch the movie. So, here’s the way, be an alien who can steal Haruhi’s powers and then, DEFEAT HER!!

Easy, ain’t it? Except…there’s a twist.

Haruhi Shuzumiya’s story continues well after the anime, through light novels and manga. And we are introduced to a new set of characters- Sasaki, Kyon’s old friend, Kuyou Suou, Fujiwara and Kyouko Tachibana. They are all normal on the surface, but honestly, except Sasaki, each of them are special- an alien, a time traveller and yet another esper.

Sasaki is also revealed to have the power- to form closed spaces! It’s the only thing similar to Haruhi, but she can’t alter reality. This doesn’t however stop the new trio from using her. The new esper claims she’s the true God, not Haruhi! And what about the alien or the time traveller? They are pretty mysterious, but they have the same goal, transfer Haruhi’s power to Sasaki’s. After a freaky kidnapping of Mikuru, they show up again with Sasaki, alarming Kyon. Kyon decides to help Sasaki knowing how dangerous they are. And that very evening, something strange happens- for us readers of course!! The story gets separated into α and β timelines, without any prior explanation, and runs parallel showing two different sets of events-

α timeline: Where they live carelessly without trouble. Even a new club member joins them!

β timeline: Where they are hurt in various ways by the new enemies until Kyon is trapped in Sasaki’s closed space by Fujiwara!

‘"Come on. Let's get going."

Fujiwara acted as our vanguard and began walking inside the school. The timid Kyouko Tachibana also began to place her feet inside the campus of another school. I continued as I normally did since I was familiar with this school. A few moments later I looked up and immediately stopped.

"What…What…What is this?" Both my eyes and my mouth were wide open. Nothing could come out of my mouth.

The sky…

It had become a clear sepia color with cream pitched in. The Venus that was shining brightly a few seconds ago had disappeared into this impossible phenomenon. It gave off a soft and sweet feeling. Quietly shining on all of nature with its lighting.

But I know this color. When Sasaki had called me to the coffee shop Kyouko Tachibana had brought me to this world.

No one inside. Nothing else around us. It's the exact opposite of Haruhi's closed space…

Throwing away any and all reflexes I had, I turned back to where we came from.

It was useless. I had assumed that the taxi went down the hill right after we left. But Sasaki wasn't there and neither was the taxi. We were only separated by about ten centimeters between the gate, but now we're in entirely different worlds.’

Fujiwara takes him to the clubroom for the sake of their plan. It is revealed that Fujiwara wants to destroy all timelines- past, present and future of each one (!) and create a new one, which can be done using Haruhi’s powers!

"In that room is everything. All sorts of powers have combined in there, especially the one that will allow me to change the future. In there is every possibility as well as the possibility to stop anything. Both progress and stagnation are holed up together in there. Well, one would guess even the dead might exist as well."

But…

As they entered the clubroom, Kyon found his clone from another timeline and the new member. Things happened, and soon Sasaki’s closed space breaks down! How the author describes it is pure bliss:

‘The heavens were whirling about. In the pale, glowing, cream-colored sky, a dark light of blue-ashen colors intermingled as if a cluster of galaxies was colliding, painting a bizarre scene. Here and there, pale bright light and dim, dark gray tentacles wriggled about, as if scrambling to find their point of influence. Like colors dissolved in a container of Indian ink, a crazy artist was moving his brush around without restraint.

Everything in the world cut off by the rectangular window was being completely submerged by the two colors—the grass in the courtyard, the towering school building, the passageway, all the leaves of the cherry blossom trees…everything.

I still remember this world tinted by this array of light colors. It's a Closed Space that Sasaki unconsciously creates. As if competing against that Space, the other color was squirming about. Of course, I remember it too. The Closed Space that Haruhi creates.’

This allowed for the SOS Brigade to come over while the enemies obstructed, even the alien herself couldn’t interfere very far. Then Fujiwara came up with a new plan.

‘Fujiwara again pressed Kuyou. "End Haruhi Suzumiya's life! You said you could do it."‘

By killing Haruhi and taking her powers, aliens like Kuyou Suou could also change the entire existence. Similar to what Yuki did!

Except they couldn’t. The celestials saved Haruhi (and Kyon) and destroyed the enemies’ plans!!

In the end, it is revealed that Haruhi had subconsciously split the timeline itself to account for all the worst events that could happen in β timeline and countered them through the α timeline. She divided time itself the very moment hostilities emerged, not even allowing them an inch!

*************************************************************************************************************

This ends the second last light novel of the series. And if someone has read up to this part…what conclusion do you arrive at?

The only one who ever ‘defeated’ Haruhi was Yuki, and she only did it due to an unfortunate malfunction.  Sorry, but not even all aliens can harm her.

So, can any of the contenders or other characters…maybe Anti-Spiral from the Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann series can defeat her? Can they? Be honest. I would like to know the answers. Can Haruhi Suzumiya actually be…defeated? Tell me in the comments!

P.S.:- Anos can go beyond time, but would that help in fighting the timeless powers of Haruhi? Kuyou herself says:

"-----The past, the future, and even the present cannot exist here. Matter, quantum, waves, also willpower. The realization of reality. The future becomes the past, the past becomes the present…"

THANK YOU FOR READING!!

(Lemme live my anime dream :) )

But in the years of the series’ release, and even thereafter (still 17 yrs later!!), his death remains a matter of discussion, umm…sorry, heated debates. Could he have lived longer if he played his ‘game’ right? What else could he have achieved? Was the world better with or without him? An important argument is always considered in regard to the first question. Ryuk killed Light by writing his name in the Death Note after he lost the ‘game’ to Near and was heavily wounded though barely escaped. He had no future ahead, thus Ryuk showing mercy.

But if he had taken the Shinigami eyes, he could have killed them himself! So such ‘games’ were never a necessity! Ofc, the series would become boring…but realistically, he could have lived longer!!

“No, he wouldn’t, fools. He would have died earlier! Think back to the time Ryuk offered him those eyes. What did he say? It reduces the user’s life in half! So Light would have died halfway only!! Think about when Soichiro Yagami took the eye and died the same day. If he hadn’t, he would still die in two days! Light has lived his full life!!”

“If your total life is 80 yrs and lived to 20 and get the eyes, your remaining 60 yrs would reduce to 30…meaning you will die at 50. Get those again at 40 and of the remaining 10 yrs you get 5, so you will die at 45!”

Understood. But not quite. Remember what Ryuk said in Ep 1? The Death Note takes whatever life a human has and adds it to the owning Shinigami’s life!! So if a man was to live for 80 yrs and at 20 he gets struck down…umm sorry…a sudden heart attack out of nowhere, the Shinigami will gain those 60 yrs. This is, in no case, a NATURAL death! A human will die naturally nonetheless, but if not killed by a Shinigami, they won’t be going before their ‘time’.

So? Remember how RYUK KILLED LIGHT? He wrote Light’s name in the Death Note so that he could die before getting caught. Thus, Light had a life ahead, whatever it was, and it was cut short by Ryuk! Obviously, Ryuk isn’t to blame, he did ‘save’ Light in a way, but if this situation could have been avoided, Light could have LIVED LONGER.

But, why did Ryuk do such a random act of kindness?? Wasn’t he supposed to be ‘detached’ from the entire ‘game’? But was he really not involved…like at all? Find out the TRUTH:

But blood is very essential to this world. Most societies and hierarchies (at least in Westeros) are based on blood relations, and the entire cause of the war of five kings was to dispose of a bastard born out of incest, a Lannister blood out of the Iron Throne (which rightfully belonged to Baratheons) and oh..Don’t forget how the Targeryans and Blackfyres also ‘rightfully’ have the Iron Throne ;)

But even when they are simply social constructs, we shouldn’t forget how ‘real’ elements like nature, magical laws of Planetos, are heavily dominated by blood. For example, take the Targaryen. They are dragonlords, such that their blood is prone to magic much more than most- they are empowered physically against diseases and harm if they are bonded with a living dragon. Also, even in the absence of dragons, prophesized dreams and visions never stop (even found in Blackfyres) and of course, their blood if sacrificed yields higher results. Same goes for Blood of greenseers (Jojen paste theory) and Kingsblood! Even bastards of King Robert were tried to be killed (in the books) by Melisandre (she actually sacrificed ‘King’ Stannis’ daughter in the show). Warlocks tried to kill Daenerys for dragonblood and kingsblood, and the dragons are literally born out of sacrifice of Khal Drogo and Mirri Mazz Durr (comparable to a king and a greenseer).

Yet, it has been the census of scientific community that blood or genes alone don’t make a person’s character. He is the product of his environment in which he grows. This has been contradictory to many religious views both in the real world and AWOIAF. Many believe that bastards are born of deceit. Daemon Blackfyre and Ramsay Bolton may have embodied that concept, but this is not the full picture.

But at core, AWOIAF hasn’t violated this consensus, and GRRM’s characters never disappoint.

Joffery (Lannister) Baratheon: even though it is very well established that he had a mental illness thanks to his incestuous birth, it is also noticeable that his viciousness and foolishness (inherited from Cersei) made it worse. But even though he really didn’t share any blood with Robert- he had deep love and respect for him, and disdain towards his dislikes, namely the Lannisters. We see how rudely he behaves with Tyrion, Tyrwin, Jamie and sometimes even Cersei.

Jon Snow (Ageon Targaryen): In the show, he was revealed to be son of Rhaegar and Lyanna, whose identity was given by Ned as his bastard! It’s not revealed in the books, but heavily implied to be the case. His case is really, very interesting. He is the living embodiment of Ned Stark and his honour. We see it at every step. Yet by Rhaeger’s blood, he is a descendent of Aerys II and Rhaella, thus still a candidate for Azor Ahai along with Danerys, who shares the same credentials. So blood does have power over their magic and fate, but not character!

3.

Tyrion (Targeryan) Lannister: it is strongly implied that he is actually the son of the Mad King, who r**ed Joanna, Tyrwin’s wife. Understandably, this made him angry, and even more when Joanna died cause of an unproven bastard’s birth. The famous line “…I can’t prove that you aren’t my son…” that Tyrwin said to Tyrion (when he asked for lordship of Casterly Rock) is essentially a manifestation of this anger.

Unlike in the show, books portray the Imp to be silver-haired with a single purple eye, like that of a Targaryen. It is also hinted he will probably ride a dragon and gain powers of dragonblood. Yet, he is nothing like them. Tyrion became like his father, who he despised but secretly hoped to be like so one day he could get accepted by him- cunning and smart; and even ruthless and unkind to commoners in the books.

Ok, so from episode 1, Ryuk makes it clear that he doesn’t want to get involved in Light’s plans, is a ‘God’ in the sense of being ‘detached’- watching, sometimes enjoying and sometimes bored, as if an average audience of the anime itself, us! Except this is not the case, for Ryuk is in the anime and is the cause of the anime itself, having started it to overcome his boredom.

Of course, he won’t help Light or reveal anything to him, and this ‘detachment’ forces Light to use his brain to find answers- a plot device making the anime more interesting and driving it forward. Also, Ryuk avoids the fate of both Rem and Gelus, who embody the fallen Gods who broke the iron rule of detachment.

But it is essentially foolish to think that, that Ryuk didn’t help Light at all. Avoiding this rule itself, Ryuk helped Light 3 times in the anime:-

1.   Spotting the spies

(Episode 3): Ryuk spots Raye Penber and reveals it to Light. Of course, he made Light and the audience remember the iron rule of ‘detachment’ he has, so this seems weak. But it is also to be said that Ryuk probably wanted things to get more interesting, even though he claimed he was uncomfortable.

2.   The plan

(Episode 24): Ok, hands down, Ryuk had come to grow fond of Light’s plans and his cunningness, to the point it’s no doubt he took part in the elaborate plan of Light to save Misa and him!

3.   Light’s death

(Episode 37): Probably the most convincing argument is that Light was killed by Ryuk! Wait, what? Yeah, think. Light would have SUFFERED HELL IN THE PRISON. Near planned to imprison him for life. By death, Ryuk saved Light just as Rem (or Gelus) saved Misa, except with death itself and without breaking this iron rule of Shinigamis.

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