Toz Manga - Tumblr Posts

One of the many great much needed little things in the manga that help clear up a lot of undeveloped/unexplained or outright confusing/contradictory elements in the original game.

Here, in volume 2 (which I’m cheekily getting for Christmas along with volume 1 and 3) Sorey and co. have just purified the drake in Marlind and gotten the blessing of the Lord of the Land, Rohan. 

In the game we don’t really see the effects of the blessing outside of the boons Sorey and the team gets. Yes, the area itself is cleared up of the dark malevolence, even though sources of malevolence within the area can still exist (e.g.: Bartlow and cronies). 

The blessing means that hellions can no longer enter the area, but we never see this happen before in the games. There is more emphasis on the malevolence already existing in the area, generated by the people within its confines. The most we see its effecting outside that perimeter is in the boons Sorey and co. get.

Here, we see Lunarre actively trying to enter Marlind, but he can no longer do this thanks to Rohan’s blessing. The blessing is shown in action as a barrier, in a way that actively expands on things established previously, e.g.: Lunarre’s pursuit of Sorey and the others, AND sets the groundwork for others, e.g.: Lunarre’s alliance with Symonne.

From this we can connect Lunarre’s inability to enter areas guarded by a seraph’s blessing (e.g.: Pendrago later in the game, under the protection of Morgrim) to his partnership with Symonne - right from this early stage. With no malevolence, Symonne can enter areas he cannot, and (presumably, somehow) help him do the same despite the barrier.

Also Lunarre doesn’t just fuck off and reappear again suddenly ages later, hurray!

I got Volume 3 of the Zestiria manga today...

IT’S AWESOME!

Jesus this was dark. Never expected to hear something like this from Lunarre. I was struck by the immediate assumption that it was Simone was the one saying this, though it is clearly Lunarre because he is the focus of the panel and his lips are parted in speech.

It struck me - because family is Lunarre’s fixation, the thing he loathes. His next words (“Family, how disgusting” etc.) and the rest of his bitter dialogue tell us as much.

This speech sounded like something Simone would say. This made me think - did Simone further entrench Lunarre in darkness with her own views? Did she impart her own nihilistic worldview onto an already bitter and vengeful individual? It would certainly go a ways to explaining how and why Lunarre suddenly ended up at SImone’s side, working alongside her under Heldalf for his own ends.

If this is true, then could Simone be responsible for driving an angered Lunarre to malevolence before the start of the story? Was it she who had him become a hellion? Or did Lunarre seek her out, or come across her, and hearing that she could give him power - something Lunarre craved back then - willingly heed her words or do her bidding so that he might attain that power (as in, become a hellion)?

If Lunarre didn’t meet Simone before he went rogue, then it make sense that Simone would have approached and recruited Lunarre some time after the confrontation in Ladylake between him and Our Heroes. What did she reel him in with? Promise of more power? Promise of a definitive plan to destroy the people and things Lunarre hated?

Back to the speech itself, it appears Lunarre is regurgitating Simone’s beliefs in order to justify - or validate - his current state of loneliness. The idea of family still rankles him, and causes him immense pain, but he repeats Simone’s nihilistic ramblings because it momentarily hardens his heart against the pain. He doesn’t enjoy what he says - the mad grin he usually wears is replaced by a darkly solemn expression, as if he’s trying to convince himself.

I GREATLY look forward to where the manga takes my favourite fox boy!!