Synopsis: Everyone is surprised by the sudden appearance of Horlock and even more surprised when he just as suddenly disappears along with Velou. Cursa thinks that she saw a puff of smoke for a moment, but then they were gone. She theorizes what could have happened, but the only conclusion she can reach is that whatever happened, there are very few people who can use magic that powerful. Bonkers and Tylty wonder what in the world is going on. Debonair and Grimm receive a surprise guest in the form of Cinderella, who says they need to talk. Debonair isn't interested, but Grimm asks how someone from the List is so close to HQ due to the barrier. Cinderella says that Velou created an opening, and tells them that they need to set aside their grudge for a moment, as she claims that the world is about to end. Horlock reiterates again his story that dragons once flew the sky until the Hunters exterminated them, and says it's a story he wrote 500 years ago. Dutt points a gun at them and demands to know how he and Velou got in, but the gnarled-handed figure tells Dutt not to bother as it would only be a waste of ammo. Horlock greets the figure, referring to it as the 'legendary Red Hood', and Red Hood in return greets Horlock by his real name – ex-Hunter and the second Red Hood, Ludwig Geppetto. This takes Dutt and Velou both by surprise, with Velou asking the mayor if he really used to be a Hunter and who everyone else in the room is. The Red Hood explains that the book before him is the True Book that was gifted to them by higher beings as a device to build the world. Everything written on it's pages happens, and the room it's kept in is known as the scrivener's room. They further explain that the duty of the Hunters Guild is to add scenes to the book and bring story to the world. Geppetto claims that the guild has penned countless stories of hope, but also stories of despair, calling it unforgivable, but the Red Hood objects and says it's necessary to maintain the world. Debonair grabs Cinderella by the throat and demands that she explains before she snaps her neck like a twig, and Cinderella sputters that that's what she was trying to do. She says they first need to detain Velou, claiming that he was built to destroy the guild. She explains that Hech Horlock (though she now doubts that's his real name) is a sorcerer who used to work for the guild, close to the Book no less. He grew sick of the stranglehold the guild held on the world, and thus erased his name from the records and turned traitor, but not before swiping a handful of pages from the book. He then joined the List, as their cause was also one of freedom from the guild. He then used his powerful magic combined with the pages to create a power capable of nullifying the book's scenarios, the power to nullify fate itself. The Red Hood surmises that Geppetto was the one that stole the pages years ago, and says that what he's done is very troublesome, as Grimm was a prime candidate to become the next Red Hood. Geppetto says the Red Hood is very calm about all of this and asks if they plan to resist, but the Red Hood says that now that they've come to this room, they doubt there's anything they can do. First however, he asks Velou if he'd like to read what's in the Book and see for himself the truth of the world in it's pages. Cinderella says that Debonair has no doubt already seen signs of the truth in Grimm, as she's spent the most time around Velou. Grimm looks on in confusion, and Cinderella says that itself is proof as Grimm didn't used to be this slow on the uptake. She explains that there's a magical energy field around Velou that nullifies the story threads around him, and that spending enough time around him frees you from the story threads, the very chains of fate, written in the Book for you. She says that by working together, Horlock and the List were able to use all their powers to create a living puppet in the form of Velou for that very purpose. Debonair objects and says magic of that sort is taboo, and Cinderella scoffs and says it was the guild that made up that label to put up on it. Cinderella compares their plan to that of thinning soup, dripping water into the broth one drop at a time until little by little, Velou's presence would have diluted the influence of the guild's written scenarios if they allowed him to join, allowing the List to finally strike when the time was right and eliminate both him and the guild itself. Now however, the plan has changed. Velou finds himself set in bed with Red Hood, as Dutt brings hot milk for the other three. Velou is confused, but Red Hood explains it's easier to relax this way and asks Velou to treat this as being read a bedtime story. Red Hood opens the first page and shows Velou a bunch of writing that he can't read, with the Red Hood explaining that it's the language of the readers, shadows of words projected from another dimension. Cursa and Tarpan storm into Debonair's room to tell her about Velou's disappearance, but are surprised to see Cinderella there. Debonair tells her to ignore that for now and asks about Velou, and Cursa explains that he disappeared along with an old man before any of them could react. Cinderella says that sounds like his teleportation spell, a power that can't be detected without magic of your own. Debonair wonders where he would go, and realizes with horror exactly where that would be. The Red Hood explains that the Book was first found in caves underneath the island, and when the first person found it, the Book's discovery was already written in it's pages. The laws of nature, time, and living creatures were all already written within it as well, so the Red Hood shows Velou what was then written next – the names of various supernatural creatures, such as dragons, giants, demons, mermaids, witches, and even werewolves. The Red Hood explains that the guild works with those concepts to build stories of fate, otherwise known as fairy tales, filled with cautionary stories and heroic legends. Everything that happens, from monsters eating or destroying villages, and the heroes that hunt and destroy those monsters while rescuing others, are all scenarios that have been written in the Book. Cinderella says that Velou has the power to nullify the Book's scenarios, and says that it's not Grimm's memories that have been erased, but her very character concept in the book that's been eroded away by being near Velou for too long. Velou thinks back to everything he's seen or heard about up until now, remembering how Bonkers' hometown was destroyed by giants, and how people like Porschen, Migael, and the others are trying to become Hunters so they can change the world, and asks if he's really being told that everything is nothing but one big setup by the guild. When the Red Hood confirms this, Velou angrily asks how they could do something like that, but the Red Hood insists it's for the good of the world. Cinderella says that everything that forms the structure of their world is written in the Book, and asks what they think will happen if Velou comes in direct contact with it. As Geppetto watches on from Velou and Red Hood's side, Cinderella surmises that he doesn't just want to destroy the Book, but the entire world along with it. Review: So, remember how last chapter I said that we were having a ton of things thrown at us out of nowhere, and compared it to Chapter 5? Well...this chapter throws even more at us, and while every single bit of it is wildly interesting, I don't get nearly the same good feeling out of it this time around. Everything about the wild reveals we're getting, and how they're coming one after the other with about two more lined up just behind that, feels like we're in the endgame now. It feels like Kawaguchi is rapidly burning through series concepts they had planned to trickle out over a much greater period of time in the series, and given that the series has continued to be in the lower rankings of Jump's readership (oftentimes in the very last spot)...this doesn't bode well. At all. If the next chapter isn't the last one, then I don't think it'll be too much longer beyond that. Rather than wallow in that disappointment for now however, let's talk about what this chapter brings to the table, and man is it A LOT. The sight of Cinderella suddenly coming to talk with Debonair and Grimm is a shocking one, but one that feels like it's being robbed of a lot of it's gravitas by how short-lived our getting to it is. Cinderella was built up as one of the biggest witch threats the guild knew of, but without the proper time dedicated to showing us exactly how and why she's such a big deal, this just feels like it doesn't impress nearly as much as it should. This is doubly a shame because what she reveals is as major as it can get, but even it's reveal is knee-capped by how lackluster this sudden change of pace unfortunately is. Basically, every reveal in this chapter is tied to Hech Horlock, or rather Ludwig Geppotto (geez this guy burns through names quickly). The 'mayor' of Velou's village has turned out to be a far more important character than anyone could have predicted from the start, going from an important footnote in Velou's history to seemingly the “final villain” of the entire story almost instantly upon the reveal that he was still alive. He's truly a man with far more to him than initial appearances, and it's a shame that so many of the grand reveals about his true nature are thrown at us in such quick succession. Just thinking about a more strung-out narrative, where we found out about his past as a Hunter, his true name, his role in eradicating dragons, and his plans regarding Velou little by little...we're absolutely being robbed here. That said, there's still plenty about this character that hasn't been revealed yet that I'll be interested to see if we find out in the remaining chapters or not. How has he lived this long (something to do with his strong magical powers if I had to venture a guess, but still)? How long was he the second Red Hood before he decided that things needed to change? What caused him to decide that the world needed to be destroyed? These are all questions that I'm extremely interested in the answer to, I just hope we actually get to find them out. That of course leads us to the big reveal about Velou himself, as well as is role in the narrative. We've already seen many times over how Velou is a character that defies fate and heads whole-heartedly towards what he believes in. Rather than this being a feature of his personality however, it now appears that that is literally a function of his very existence. On the one hand, this is a little bit reductive, and makes how he reacts to things a little less interesting. On the other hand though, holy crap does this open up a whole new level of explanation for everything that's happened so far, as well as making us wonder what else we could be seeing (or could have seen) in the future. How much of what we've seen happen so far was caused by Velou's fate-defying powers? Was it written in the Book that he would just live out his days in the hamlet, until Geppetto decided to change things up quicker than expected? Or was he written in the book at all? Was the fact that Grimm was the one who came out to the hamlet all part of the plan as well, so that Velou's powers would immediately begin taking effect on her, and if so, was it even her idea in the first place to invite him to join the guild, or was she merely acting as an agent of either Geppetto's writing on the pages or Velou's own alteration powers? There is a lot that could be dived into here, and this intricately meta take on fate and stories is one of the things I've enjoyed most about this series so far, even if a lot of it is being thrown at us too fast to really dig through. And of course, Velou isn't even a real human either, but a sort of living 'puppet'. Suddenly the mayor's real name being Geppetto makes a lot more sense too, as this effectively makes Velou into Pinocchio. The level of love for Grimm's fairy tales and research into how to make those concepts his own that Kawaguchi has put into this story's planning is astounding. The biggest question of all is the Book itself however. Where did it come from? The Red Hood says it was given to humanity by higher beings, but they also say it was just found sitting there under the island the guild's base is built upon. Given everything else in this series so far, is the higher being just a Fairy Godmother, perhaps? Was the Book meant to be used in the way that it is, or is even the way it's being used now, or was there something else in mind originally? And related to that, if Geppetto is over 500 years old, how old is this seemingly original Red Hood, and were they the person that found the Book originally? All these questions and more will hopefully be answered before things very likely wrap up soon, as I get the feeling we're about to either find out what happens when Velou comes in contact with the Book, or we're going to see him defy fate once again, this time against his own 'father' as it were. Until next time! Favorite Panel: Next Time: Chapter 17
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About the AuthorAspiring author and big anime/manga fan, just trying to do my best in the world. For more details, go to About Me. Archives
September 2022
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