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king-paimon · 2 years

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Houseki no Kuni Chapter 98 Thoughts: In the eyes of the beholder....

Sorry for the long delay. I had a lot of important life stuff going on that needed my attention, so writing my thoughts on the newest chapter was a last priority. I actually wrote most of this post last month but things kept on popping up so I had to delay finishing this even more. Again, sorry for the delay. With that being said... Wow. Both to the chapter and the fandom’s initial reactions.

It’s been a while since I’ve seen the fandom have such varying opinions about what happened in a new chapter. The main opinions I’ve seen the most thus far are fans not liking how the story progressed nor do they like the messages Ms. Ichikawa is seemingly projecting through Phos. It’s understandable why these fans feel this way. It’s also understandable why there are also fans who love the chapter and/or like Ms. Ichikawa’s interpretive message. It’s clear that this is one of those special chapters that are impacted by personal beliefs and interpretations. An “in the eyes of the beholder” chapter that doesn’t offer a clear cut answer for whether what happened in the chapter was good, bad, right, or wrong. To me, this is an interesting way of storytelling, though I can understand why this can be frustrating to some. I’ll try to talk about this further in this post.

The first thing I want to talk about is Phos, their prayer, and what I think it means.

BTW: This post is based on my own initial reaction to the chapter and everything that transpired in the fandom. Some thoughts I had hear may be different now after seeing some of the other posters’ thought and I’ll make sure to add them.

Phos’s prayer: Finally Free

This was the action many fans were hoping Phos wouldn’t do as a form of defiance again Aechmea and the others. And even in this chapter, Phos verbalized their anguish and desire for retribution, which I’m sure some of the fans would have liked to see. But in the end, that’s not what Phos did. They wished to join everyone in turning into nothingness and prayed.

I can understand why people are upset with the chapter. I’ll go more into this in the next section but I just wanted to mention how I’ve already seen a few posts talking about how upset they were with this chapter and the events leading to it, and I won’t say that what they are feeling is invalid. It’s a reasonable reaction.

For me, I will admit that part of me was not entirely pleased at first. Even though I had a feeling this was going to be the direction that it was going to go, I part of me did want to see Phos defy Aechmea and deny the prayer.

But I also realize that doing that wouldn’t solve anything. Phos and everyone else have been in varying states of limbo throughout the course of the story, and refusing the prayer would put everyone in another state of suffering limbo. Even if refusing prayer prevented everyone else from being free, as a form of retaliation, it would have prolonged Phos’s own suffering even longer and they’ve already suffered enough. Phos has had enough of that.

No more of that.

They are truly done with everything.

No more sadness, anger, hatred, or anything...

They don’t care.

Phos is choosing to let go.

They are choosing to be free. Of everything.

After the initial shock, Phos’s actions made more sense to me. Even if it means that Phos is giving Aechmea and the others what they want, this was Phos’s way out. Which leads me to my very hot take...

Forgiveness Vs Just Letting Go (Hot take!!)

I don’t see Phos’s final act as a show of “forgiveness”, “mercy,” or “being the bigger person” for the others, or at least not fully. This action feels like...some form of relief for Phos. It reminds me of this mentality of forgiving a wrongdoer, even though that person may have seriously hurt you. Some people do this as a way of showing kindness to the wrongdoer as part of their religious or personal beliefs. To take the moral high ground essentially. But I know some do it more so for themselves rather than the other person. The action of forgiveness in the later case, is a way of absolving oneself from the connection they would have to the wrongdoer. An action that frees oneself from eternalized torment that is intended or unintended by the other party. Affectively breaking the chains built by often justifiable anger and resentment.

To me, this was one of the main reasons why Phos chose to pray. By praying, Phos finally freeing themselves from the cycle of suffering by severing their tie to everyone and everything. Phos is letting go of all of the pain and hatred that once drove their actions. Phos is letting go of the negativity that they once harbored towards others and themselves. They prayed for the others so they can be free. Yes, it means that Aechmea got what he wanted in the end, but that doesn’t matter to Phos anymore. They don’t care.

This form of “forgiveness” is one that I’m very familiar with and its a mentality that I sometimes find myself conflicted with, especially if the forgiver ends up getting hurt more as a result. I can understand why some people choose to forgive for this reason, though there are circumstances where I can’t really agree with their logic. But in the end, it’s up to personal views on the concept of forgiveness.

I’m wondering if this belief is also connected to Buddhism teachings, but since I don’t know enough about this, I won’t go into it much further and leave it to people who know more than I.

Long story short for this section, I’m essentially saying that while Phos did do the prayer, I think Phos did it more so for themselves than everyone else. Yes, Phos’s actions show that they’ve taken the moral high ground but as far as I can see, that’s not their motivation. They are freeing themselves from this cycle of pain and hatred towards others and themselves.

Perhaps this action is Phos’s way of ending the cycle. "The Burning the bridge” request from the nihilistic Professor during her last moments. Maybe it’s up to interpretation. Speaking of which...

Good or Bad Story Telling?: A Fandom Conflicted

When I first saw the leaks, I had the feeling that fans weren’t going to be happy. After several days since the translation, this was proven correct. Like I said at the top of this post, I totally understand. And I can even understand why some fans are discrediting Ms. Ichikawa for how she progressed her story. Now, while I can still understand these feelings, I can’t. Not yet anyway.

One thing that I found interesting was how I saw a few posts from people still hoping Phos would still seek revenge against everyone after everything they went through. And yeah, I can see the appeal. It sounds nice and poetic.

But... I think it’s been made clear that this isn’t the type of story Ms. Ichikawa intended to convey. From what I can see, Ichikawa showed how that the violent type of vengeance can only go so far and while the feeling it would bring to Phos/audience feels good and cathartic... it’s only temporary and it doesn’t solve anything.

So as satisfying as it would been to see Phos cause some kind of damage to Aechmea or the other human remnants, this would just continue to feed into the cycle of pain and self-hatred Phos was in and it wouldn’t end. Yes, the others would have suffered to an extent, but would it have been worth it if it meant Phos’s suffering had to continue? To me, that would have been pointless. I understand if you don’t agree with this sentiment; this is just how I’m trying to rationalize this part of the story. I could be completely wrong and I’d love to hear your thoughts about this.

Other than that, the dissatisfaction many fans have felt is very apparent. Again, their reasons and feelings are valid, including how some felt that the other characters were getting rewarded thanks to Phos’s sacrifice and mistreatment. But what did surprise me was how there were a good number of fans who loved the chapter! They too had very good reasons for doing so. Like I said at the top, seeing these differing opinions fascinated me as much as the chapter itself did.

I think this chapter, as well as the overall direction the story has taken, just shows how atypical this author is when it comes to her story-telling. This is not a typical action or “shounen/shoujo” story where things are clear black and white and the hero gets the best imagined ending. From start to finish, this story was filled with characters in varying shades of gray and all have committed acts that can easily change how the reader sees them; though I think many can agree that Aechmea belongs on the far dark side. It really shows how Ms. Ichikawa does a pretty good job creating a divisive story, which can be very difficult to do and I commend her for that at least.

HOWEVER, this positive view of her storytelling style greatly depends if this was her intention or not. Since it seems that the next update may be the last, I want to reserve my true final judgement by then and since it looks like it’ll be a while until then, I have plenty of time to really think about it.

Side Note: I also remember seeing a few posts from fans who were in complete denial about what happened and were either claiming it was a dream sequence or were holding hope that the author was going to do another twist that would lead to Phos taking vengeance again. Sorry guys... it did happen. But if by some weird chance this chapter was a dream...then I would rethink Ms. Ichikawa’s writing, because that would be straight out cop out. I’d be so disappointed if this happens.

Now, despite my fascination of this chapter and the fandom’s split response to it, there are some things that weren’t clear that did bug me...

Personal Criticisms and Inquiries

While I’m with the few people who don’t hate this chapter and story’s direction in general, there are still some things that are not addressed that leave me not satisfied. If anyone has answers to these or their own interpretation of an answer, please feel free to comment because I would love to hear them.

Adamant’s and Aechmea’s so-called “Gift” for Phos:

What exactly was Aechmea's and Adamant’s solution to Euclase’ request in chapter 96? Was it having everyone appear to them in their enlightened form?

Everyone’s knowledge of what’s happening:

Was everyone aware of why they were there? I know Aechmea, Adamant, and a few of the gems were aware. But what about everyone else, including the Admirabilis? Did they know that they were going to Phos so that they could pray for them? It seemed like this is the case but part of me isn’t sure...

Adamant: Despite the rollercoaster of conflicting emotions Ms. Ichikawa has made me go through when it came to this character, I still wanted to believe in him. Believe that he had something planned that even Aechmea couldn’t predict. But I’m left asking myself...what was it?

Was there a plan? Was Adamant following through the Professors last command? Was what transpired in this chapter part of the plan? Or...was all of this wishful thinking? I still don’t know.

Lastly, I’ve stated in previous posts how I felt the pacing in these last few chapters felt oddly fast. Some of you gave your opinions on what I wrote about this and you guys made some solid arguments. After reading this chapter, I guess I don’t feel like it’s as rushed anymore, but it seems clear to me that Ms. Ichikawa is about ready to end this story.

How will this all end?

I have no clue. After everything that we’ve seen thus far, I can’t fathom how this story will end. And you know what? I’m glad. Surprise me in a good way.

I’m positive many fans have mentally checked out of the story now because of this latest chapter and I can’t blame them. But regardless, I said I was going to stick to it till the bitter end and I fully intend on doing so. Because despite my personal grievances with the story and even the author, I still enjoyed it a lot. And I enjoyed being in the fandom, even when I didn’t agree with the majority when it came to the story and characters.

I want to see how this ends, regardless if it ends beautifully or crashes and burns.

And unlike before, I’m no longer worried about what’s to come.

Lay it in me, Ms. Ichikawa. You monster.

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