#and mostly filled with personal intepretation-

[n41r]

Stray Thoughts and Rambling about the Story from Oreca Battle Chapter 6: "The Desolation of The Poisonous Swamp"

Following the previous ask about the lore from each chapter, I suddenly wanted to share some lore about Chapter 6 and New Chapter 6 that I learnt from reading Demizu Posuka's Oreca Battle manga, some tidbits from the Japanese fanwiki, and some fan theories I heard and read about from Pixiv and twitter

Please do take caution since this post is mostly based on speculations and fan theories from other fans, and along with the fact that EN localization for any other New Chapter series after New Ch. 3 doesn't exist

There might be wrong speculation, wrong character names spelling, and such Please proceed with caution, thank you!

So, let's start from the established main story of what started Chapter 6

Chapter 6 story started with the appearance of Demon Emperor Tokaji who wanted invade the world of Oreca by spreading his poison throughout the land with his army of the undead

And then comes our protagonist, Shining Guardian Dia who have been blessed by the light from Heaven She went unto the journey to fight against Tokaji to save her homeland from being overrun by the army of undead

Even though the fight have ended with Dia's victory, the aftermath of the damage from the poison that Tokaji spreads on the land are very severe and left the world of Oreca in dire state

Because of this, the Heaven sent two angels to observe and help clean the land from the poison that are spreading, and to decide what is needed to be done to what have happened These angels are Clay, our main protagonist from New Ch. 6 and Camael, his best friend

And this is the start of New Chapter 6

Along their journey, Clay and Camael start to have differing opinions regarding the fate of the land and taking on different paths

Clay and Dia is on the side of who wants find a way to save the poisonous swamp without needing to sacrifice the remaining denizen

While Camael is on the side of King of Light Elysium, who wants to "purify" everything on the land back into nothingness

It is also stated on the JP Fanwiki that Elysium is actually the one who granted the power of Light to Dia on the beginning of Chapter 6

And from this conflict, we finally come to the final fight that will decide on the fate of this land

According to someone's theory, Clay and Dia are fighting for the sake of the remaining people who are still alive on the poisonous swamp, and their victory should've been able to let the people live on

Regardless of who came out as victorious from this battle, it doesn't change the fate of the swamp because of how severe the poison that have already spread throughout

And so, Chapter 6 ended with the inevitable fate of the swamp from being purified into a desert

But even after the desertification, there are people who are still living and surviving on the land Perhaps the remaining people who live in this desert is the result of Clay's and Dia's victory?

But even within the desert, a new threat looming over their fate as a demon king appears and imprison a lot of warriors of the land

And thus start the story of Chapter 2, following the adventure of Gunner Dartan and Jeanne to fight against Demon King Saqqara's tyranny

Aand, that is the end of my personal interpretation of the story that take place in Chapter 6, New Chapter 6, and their connection to Chapter 2

There are also the side story of Infinite Musketeer Dartan trying to defeat Demon Tyrant Abusir to free the people on Chapter 2 from Saqqara's future tyranny, and the side story of Saint Marshall Hughes and High Cleric Cliff in trying to find Sage Solon to fight against Demon Emperor Tokaji (this story is depicted in the Vol. 1 of Oreca Battle Monsters Adventure)

I know this was pretty lengthy, the story is just that complex after all- And that is also the reason why I actually really love New Chapter 6 despite the chapter not having localization version yet-

[floorpancakes]

i refuse to let clamp off the hook for underutilising himawari's fucking fascinating character setup and traits but on a less serious level im obsessed with the concept of her as an instigator of chaos.

like she's way less airheaded than she seems and it doesn't come off like Default Airhead Girl Behaviour or even Default Girl Companion That Ships Her Friends primarily (like not as hard as some other series by comparison I mean she's very I KNOW WHAT YOU ARE by default) specifically she just seems like someone that thoroughly enjoys being a little shit in a sincere way and giggling at her dumbass friends and has a shade of high emotional intelligence about it all. like she's just girl of all time. she's i don't know where im going with this just take this low effort meme from when i watched the holic stage play on youtube this isn't a coherent thought it's like 2am ill come up with better thoughts later

[codenamesazanka]

What are your top ten Shigaraki ships (and if you've got time for it: why)?

Oh man! idk if I have enough - if there even is enough - Shigaraki ships (in the traditional romantic sense) to fill ten. Plus I hadn’t ship Shigaraki much with anyone because it wasn’t until recently that he got all this screentime and developing relationships with other characters. 

But going with interesting dynamics and relationships of all types, platonic or romantic or enemy or cautionary or imaginary/fanon (because I’m a sucker for my own imagined potential of a relationship) or canon(ish), and which ones intrigues/affects/impacts me the most? and then ranking them??? impossible hmm

(using the names and honorifics the characters call Shigaraki for some variation and also because I’m a weeb) (also ranking is suspect because I’m bad at making decisions)

10. Shigaraki and Bakugou

I didn’t actually like Bakugou until his Remedial Course mini-arc, and so didn’t pay attention to him much. So I was surprised when Shigaraki wanted Bakugou for his League. It wasn’t until I understood Shigaraki much better and finally took the effort to consider Bakugou’s side of things that I found myself wishing they had more interaction during his kidnapping. Because here was Shigaraki going 110% to woo Bakugou into joining him, he had honestly thought the boy would make a good Villain. And there was Bakugou who was adamant about being a Hero despite not being very Heroic. We could’ve had a great look (if Bakugou ever talked) into Heroes and Villains and motivations and more stuff about how they’re two sides of the same coin… or so I wish, making this a purely speculation about a battle of ideas and these two enemies coming to a grudging respect. But that’s all over now. 

9. Shigaraki and Twice

Shigaraki took off Twice’s mask to shut him up (sorta), then put it back on for him! If that isn’t the most warmhearted mean thing to do. Twice is very much invested in the League and I wanna see Shigaraki appreciating that. Is Twice the first member to get to touch Shigaraki’s hands? To measure them for a clone? Very big deal. Not a very intense dynamic, but good fun downtime Villain Out Shopping fluff. 

8. Shigaraki and Mr. Compress

Gotta say it’s @happojin’s ficlet about these two scheming over personal revenge on Overhaul that got me intrigued in this no-ideology partnership-in-pure-villainy. Mr. Compress is the exact type of chaos-loving dramatic criminal that’s right up his boss’ alley, though I can see too much of it getting onto Shigaraki’s nerves - which makes for good, mischievous conflict. These two would blow up buildings purely for fun and I wanna see that joy on their faces. But also! Not yet knowing the reason for Mr. Compress join the League makes for great speculation - like maybe he’s just enamored with Shigaraki’s spirit and youth (that makes him feel young himself???) that he’ll be okay with losing an arm and poverty and getting kicked around by a giant naked mountain man for a month. We see Mr. Compress with Shigaraki in chapter 114, calling Toga (for Shigaraki?) and I want to think it’s Mr. Compress fancying himself as Shigaraki’s (all) right hand man. 

7. Doctor and Shigaraki

The Doctor is creepy and I’m iffy about him cuz, well, he’s creepy but he sure is making the plot move forward and now he’s the guy who will be giving the League zany inventions like some episodic comedic cartoon. If it wasn’t so horrifying that they’re Noumus. But mostly, this is a guy who knew Shigaraki from childhood, who preserved (and maintained???) the hands, who Shigaraki is familiar with but also knows nothing about. What stories can you tell us about Shigaraki, Doc? I wanna know. I’m scared, but I wanna know.

6. Giran and Shigaraki-san

How long have they known each other??? (Consider - middle-aged seen-his-shit-in-the-underworld-and-now-respected-broker Giran having to be polite to a sulky teenaged Shigaraki and needing to address him as ‘san’ - idk, maybe I’m getting the nuance there wrong but… hilarity) What other dealings have they done? Giran sure is a champ to lose five fingers for Shigaraki and the League - is the League his best customer? Did Shigaraki ‘inherit’ the use of the broker from AFO? Has Giran met AFO? I guess this is just me wanting to know more about Giran, and Shigaraki is the proxy for that. But I wanna know! I wanna see them interact when Shigaraki rescues Giran. 

5. All Might and Shigaraki(Shimura Tenko)

I love my Shimura Tenko gets a father figure in All Might AUs! I’m writing one lol. But I acknowledge this is less about the characters themselves and more about the exploration of a legacy that ties them together. Cuz I love that shit. I love the idea of All Might being such a loyal disciple that he would do anything for the grandson of Nana - except it’s just that, he’s only chasing after a reminder of Nana. What would he do with Shigaraki/Tenko himself? And I love the idea of Shigaraki/Tenko deciding how to incorporate the tale of the sordid Shimura family into his life - if he chooses to do so at all. Lots of family/identity drama. Also completely in headcanon territory. Ah well.

4. Toga and Tomura-kun

The recent chapters have really up my interest in the friendship/siblinghood/whatever admiration Toga has for Shigaraki. She calls him Tomura-kun, which yes it’s expected of her as a cute high schooler; but no one else has ever called Shigaraki just his first name besides AFO. And Shigaraki seems to have a soft spot for her? He’s been very nice to all of the League, but for someone who immediately hated her at first sight cuz she was a ‘brat’ who didn’t make any sense, that’s the biggest attitude change. Right now, they’re confirmed to be the youngest and closest in age of the League, and I like the idea of them being able to be ‘young people these days’ together and relate to one another. Toga is very loyal to Shigaraki, but not above stabbing him should he be a jerk. Like with Twice, I wanna see Shigaraki be appreciative, or rather, I wanna see another scene where he’s really nice to her (the first one being, of course, that Overhaul arc flashback). 

Also they were in an omake drama CD being silly and if that isn’t the best thing.

3. Kurogiri and Shigaraki Tomura

Hmmm I’m lazy and I already planned a whole post dedicated to analyzing their relationship, so I’m gonna skip this. I’ll edit with the link to that post later!

2. Shigaraki and Spinner! In danger of being an OTP for me, which isn’t hard cuz I don’t have any other

The only romantic relationship on this list. Spinaraki. Like I said before, though Shigaraki was really the only option after Stain, Spinner was so clearly ready to believe in Shigaraki, to follow him, because he wanted the League to change the world. That’s a lot of faith put onto someone who is Shigaraki (I mean, look at him, he’s a skinny NEET goth), so much so Spinner, implied to have not been a criminal before joining the League, is ready to kill (and does). That’s intriguing enough, and then comes his month long observation diary about his leader. Who he still stays with after knowing Shigaraki’s very-not-Stain-like-nor-revolutionary plans. And now we wait for the climax of his journey of wavering loyalty. True, a lot of it is my own hyped-up imagination but I’m enjoying it. If Spinner stays and become Shigaraki’s most loyal follower, that is so my shit I’m going to die. I’m gonna die anyways whenever they interact in the near future chapters. 

1. All For One and Tomura

What is there to say about…. this? It haunts me. It’s number one on this list cuz it’s the dynamic that I think about most, has impacted me most (Chapter 222 was a lot to handle), and it’s like trying to untangle thorny vines. Gotta say, in my intepretation, it’s a very accurate portrayal - from Shigaraki’s side - of caring about someone who has hurt you a lot, and you know it. But it’s the person you knew best and depended on when there was no one else, and you’re always going to have their influence - of which includes positive things. It’s one of the very few portrayal that gets all the paradoxical messy details while being explicitly clear to the reader it’s wrong, Shigaraki doesn’t deserve this. It’s also clear that while AFO may have affection for people, that doesn’t matter. He’s a monster. Still wrong, and cruel. And I think that’s important to show, important to depict and an important message told well. Now all that’s left is to wait to see what Shigaraki will do now and how this bond will break. 

This to be absolutely clear, this isn’t a ‘ship’, it’s a portrayal of an abused child solider that is now flourishing away from his guardian and I’m hopeful for the future. And it’s so poignant to me, that a story is tackling this. Gets it. Its a dynamic I’m invested in because it’s a story of survival and I will see it through.

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Honorable mentions? I wanna see Shigaraki and Hawks. That should be interesting. 

I used to like ShigaDabi, but mostly because it was available. I’ve got no opinions about it now. :/

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Thanks for reading!