perfectwitchcrown

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we finally have both sides of the priestmuri confession life is so beautiful

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so do we think. dante is awake.

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okay.

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omg my sweetiepies...barbara and leah and mikhail!! I missed them so much!!!!!

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euripides simply is that good actually

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lisa peterson and denis o’hare, an iliad

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update to my post about the extras in the latest volume bc I was incorrect!! Also bc now they've been translated so I was able to actually read them all the way through so I have some thoughts on a couple yayyy

File #75: I've been thinking that Marco's specific brand of misogyny reminds me of something, and I finally realized that it was reminding me of this one character from a play from the Restoration period (Horatio from Nicholas Rowe's The Fair Penitent. Heed the content warnings on this one) so like. The brand of misogyny you find in the 18th century.

Separately, I am so interested that it seems there's been a bunch of adult exorcists who are more battle ready now. This also comes up in File #77. I wonder if they'll show up when everyone gets out of hell.

File #76

Ok I was incorrect about who is against Verge it’s Manon not Charlotte but omg… can’t wait to see where this is going…. I really am so intrigued by Charlotte and Vergilius's relationship. She's an older witch than him, but he took on a higher position of authority, and she has that crush on him that he's definitely aware of and has fed into before for his own purposes but he does also seem to care for her, as he does the witches. She and the other witches also seem to genuinely like Beelzebub, whereas Verge absolutely was just in it for his own reasons. I really just can’t help but wonder how Vergilius met the witches first, especially Charlotte, and I will definitely be interested in seeing how Verge is going to have to face the witches now.

I kind of love too have the journals we've gotten from Becu show that even though she's the young new witch (who gets used for exposition often lol) she's also pretty astute at reading people, and has a pretty accurate read on Vergilius in both of the files we've gotten from her. I really like her and hope we continue to get stuff from and about her.

I'm also interested that she states that because Vergilius cast the spell for Baba Yaga without following procedures, she won't be able to be revived on that year's Walpurgisnacht. That lines up with the prophecy that Verge will lose control of Baba Yaga next year, suggesting it'll probably be almost immediately after summoning her. I am curious though if it means we still have another year in series to get through before the end. We only have Satan left to get through of the seven demon lords. I'm also not entirely sure how much time has passed since the beginning of the series, but it's been at least several months I believe since I want to say there's a mention of that sort of time passing at some point and we see the seasons change at one point.

And then this is completely unrelated, but I was going back through some of the early chapters to see how specific they are about what part of the year the series starts in, and instead I found out that there's a black cat watching the house Imuri and Priest are in in chapter 2.

I’m not sure if anyone’s pointed this out before, so my apologies if so! The two butterflies are interesting too, I think I saw a post awhile back pointing out Rofocale and Catherine’s association with butterflies, especially after the most recent volume cover (I tried looking for it and wasn’t able to, but if that sounds familiar please feel free to share it in the comments/replies 😭). I’m not sure if this specific panel is relevant to Rofocale and Catherine, it could be totally innocuous, especially considering the fact they don’t know each other until later. But at the same time, after the extensive belphegor snail foreshadowing I’m keeping my eye out lol. Watch there be a time loop or something haha

omg the ekuoto vol 12 extras kinda go hard… I’m very excited to see them translated fully….

spoilers under the cut:

Like I’m so curious how the journalist is going to fan out… also it seems there’s more adult exorcists now…. And it seems Manon v Char fractured witch’s Sabbath over Vergilius having betrayed Beelzebub a few times but it’s seems it’s Charlotte who’s against Vergilius ?? Wow omg

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I’m sure the snake has something to do with Satan (like that he’s maybe listening in or smthing and this is meant to convey that this was part of his plan or something) but it also stressed me out bc like Verge please you and Dante already have the Lot’s Wife look back taboo we don’t need the snake bite Eurydice Orpheus to the underworld one as well. Fewer trips to the underworld for everyone involved please

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miserable. crossed legs. drinking a beer. my guy

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Something about helen saying she recognizes all the Greek leaders and knows them by name but not finding two, her own brothers, and assuming they didn’t want to bear the embarrassment of being her kin so they stayed at home

And the very next stanza moves to the omniscient and reveals that they are indeed both at home, buried in Sparta

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hey uh. in retrospect. what the hell did asmodeus mean by mikhail “used to be friends” with a friend of hers.

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trojan king SHOCKS greek warrior by begging him for the body of his son in perfect dactylic hexameter

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Ekuoto 97

I previously thought of the changing the world dreams thing in relation to this Octavia Butler short story, “Book of Martha” in the Bloodchild collection, but now with Priest’s whole thing in the latest chapter, I wonder if it’s actually another Ursula K. Le Guin influence. We’ve already had Left Hand of Darkness get name dropped and Omelas get heavily referenced, so I wouldn’t be surprised if Arima Aruma had read Lathe of Heaven too. I need to review my copy of the book, but Priest’s whole speech this last chapter reminded me of George Orr haha.

Also I really liked the last crowd shot, especially when thinking of how previously crowds of people have looked to Priest, yay Priest healing and growing happier :)

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We always talk about Achilles' "eat [him] raw" line in book 22, but I find Hecuba's later, similarly cannibalistic, line to be equally (if not more) compelling

In book 24, right before Priam goes out to retrieve Hector's body, he speaks with Hecuba, telling her where he's going and what he's doing. In response, Hecuba freaks out, telling Priam to stay and mourn Hector within the walls of Troy. During this exchange she says, "Oh would to god that I could sink my teeth in his liver, eat him [Achilles] raw! That would avenge what he has done to Hector--"

What I find most interesting about Hecuba's line is that it is so much more direct than that of Achilles in book 22. In his speech, Achilles adds a few degrees of separation between himself and the act of cannibalism: "Would to god my rage, my fury would drive me now to ... eat you raw." In Ancient Greece, mortal cannibalism was a serious taboo (duh), seen as the ultimate act of barbarity, one which fundamentally separated a person from their humanity. Cannibalism is an act so disturbing, so inhuman, that even Achilles, in all his rage, cannot bring himself to desire it (let alone commit the act!).

But Hecuba, Hecuba doesn't dance around it. "Oh would to god that I could sink my teeth in his liver, eat him raw!" This is a direct wish; were she were given the opportunity and the power, she would eat Achilles. At this point, what does she have to lose? She's already lost so many sons, Troy is in a state of constant distress, and now Hector is gone. Hector, her very own son. Hector, the protector of Troy. All Hecuba has left is rage, a hunger for vengeance. A Rage so potent that it can only be expressed through the most sinful and visceral act of devouring your enemy.

But Hecuba never actually eats Achilles. She doesn't have the outlet that he does; she can't go into battle, can't actually do anything to the man who has killed her son. And so Hecuba's rage, so intensely inhuman, stews within her. And maybe it's because of this festering anger that, in many versions of her story, Hecuba becomes a dog. A beast which, in the Iliad specifically, is so often used as a threat to soldiers and their bodies: "Sooner the racing dogs will eat him raw".

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omg the ekuoto vol 12 extras kinda go hard… I’m very excited to see them translated fully….

spoilers under the cut:

Like I’m so curious how the journalist is going to fan out… also it seems there’s more adult exorcists now…. And it seems Manon v Char fractured witch’s Sabbath over Vergilius having betrayed Beelzebub a few times but it’s seems it’s Charlotte who’s against Vergilius ?? Wow omg

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I found a little interview Fukayama-sensei and Arima-sensei answered for the Jump+ exhibition on Twitter. They're only two questions and they're rather brief, but I'm translating them anyway. Here's the source.

Translation under the cut.

Q1: How were demons' powers decided?

A1. Writer: Arima Aruma-sensei

Since the characters and their powers come together as a set, we decide the character's direction first. Next, we solidify their outward appearance and powers using literature, art and movies similar to that character's direction, and then, finally, we adjust these to be old JUMP-like.

Q2: In this manga, enemies that use hand-to-hand combat and enemies that are huge beasts have appeared; I'd like to know what was the most memorable battle for you, if any.

A2. Artist: Fukayama Masuku-sensei

That'd be the battle against Leviathan, one of the Seven Lords of Sin, the Demon Lord of Envy. It was very fun to draw Leviathan's gap between her young, cute and small form and her terrifying gigantic non-human one with entirely one-sided attacks. Her non-human form required many strokes to draw and it was quite troublesome, but I am still personally very fond of both of her designs.