MamaYuyu Chapter 16 Impressions + Handling Battle Depictions in Manga (Jump Issues 4/5)

All images posted in this article are cited from the 2024 Weekly Shonen Jump Issues 4/5 combined edition "MamaYuyu" (Yoshihiko Hayashi). All copyrights and portrait rights belong to their respective owners.

Click here for the next (Chapter 17) impressions

The subtitle is "Running away is shameful but..."
Starting from this time, I will adopt a style where the subtitle is not included in the article title.

Elishia's character has really deepened...
After showing a core strength she hadn't revealed before, the gap in the final scene has sent Elishia's stock price to the limit high.
The charm of the characters knows no bounds.

Damn! Because I said the previous chapter was my favorite, if I say this one is my favorite, it'll sound cheap!
But this one was also the best! Please count it as a tie for first place!

Every line was so intense that I could write a long essay just by picking them out one by one, but I've picked out the ones I particularly liked.

"There's no way you'd understand"

Everything Elishia says from here on, once it's revealed that Kuptura's goal is the resurrection of his child, is great.
I struggled quite a bit with which one to use as the main heading, but I chose this word of denial that symbolizes Elishia's strength.
In the ending "daro" (right?), I feel the pride of someone who has lived facing reality even in the depths of despair.

I can understand the sadness of losing family itself.
What there is no way to understand is clinging to an easy hope without accepting it.
It is leaning on a clear malice that defies the law of the world that lost lives do not return.

For 10 years, I lived with only one person as my anchor.
The wound of losing that mother never fades.
Running away at age 9 and losing her mother 10 years later means she met Coreo about 5 years after Ariashia's death.
Even after 5 years had passed, the sadness she confided to Coreo was about losing her mother.
The core of the self she reveals remains her mother.
I lived dragging my feet for 5 years.

In such a world where no hope is visible, no matter how painful it was, I lived facing reality.
I lived without forgetting my mother's words to find a reason to live.

There is no way I could understand the feelings of Kuptura, the very person who created this situation, trying to get his child back alone without accepting the sadness of loss. I don't even want to understand.

"Don't run from reality, you coward"

This scene, which shook Kuptura's sense of purpose, is far more exhilarating than a scene where a finishing move is landed.
Emblems respond to a sense of purpose.
The reason they were able to bridge the gap in ability with the Demon King who ended the era of humans was, in addition to numbers and tactics, undoubtedly because Elishia's words, which shook his sense of purpose, were effective.

Until I read this, honestly, I hadn't fully grasped Elishia's character.
She's cute and interesting, but she somehow seemed empty to me.
I wondered if she sought meaning in life from others because she lacked a core of her own, and if that was why Elishia's story was a set with Coreo.

That was fine in its own way. Because being able to look forward only when with someone else is one way for a person to exist.
I was convinced by this answer I brought up last time, and was actually moved by it.

But the Hero, who lived desperately even while being crushed by the rain of despair, properly had a core as a Hero.
She properly possessed the strength to face a cruel reality.
Even if she lost Coreo, Elishia would likely accept it, even while suffering.
Coreo, who properly saw through that, is also hot.

"Elishia is much stronger than someone like you!"

So hot!!!
I love scenes where "someone who has been watching properly acknowledges or praises someone's hidden efforts, suffering, or essence".

Even outside of the first chapter, there's Luffy's "Shut up! Let's go!" or Zatch Bell's "You've become a man who can even punch a King" said to Barry, well, the list is endless.

Coreo's line this time is exactly that.
He was really watching Elishia properly.

She kept running in a world of despair for 10 years.
Coreo, who lived in a peaceful world, cannot even imagine those feelings.
However, Coreo can understand the fear of standing up to an opponent who pushed them into that situation and whom they cannot match in power.
Because it was because he cowered in that fear that MamaMa's arm was lost.

Even so, Elishia perceived Kuptura not as a target for revenge, but as a "sad Demon King".
She possessed a brave heart that could choose to stand up rather than run, and to stop him rather than defeat him.
Because Coreo has been on the verge of breaking, he is the one who understands Elishia's strength in not breaking.
Elishia, who declares her determination while trembling, is far stronger than a self-centered coward.
I wanted Elishia to hear these words!

It's no surprise that Elishia likes Corleo, but the fact that this outburst is the first time we see how Corleo feels about Elishia is just irresistible.
He's acting so much like a boyfriend that you can practically see the implied '(my)' in 'Elishia is way stronger (than you)!'

Battle Depictions

Alright, everyone who had even a slight bit of anxiety about the battle depictions in MamaYuyu, raise your hands!
The teacher won't be mad!
Also, raise your hands if you thought the way Cuptura defended himself was a bit one-note.

Yes! That's me, I'm sorry!

Sorry, Hayashi-sensei.
The fact that what I thought was a flaw—that if he can freely create ice, there must be ways to avoid attacks other than 'making a wall,' or ways to counter-attack—was actually his weakness all along, really exceeded my expectations and felt incredibly satisfying.
His weakness wasn't an inability to break the status quo, but a cowardice that always chose the path where he wouldn't get hurt.
Because we knew he would create a wall, destroying that wall would create an opening.

Furthermore, regarding the thought, 'Corleo, wouldn't it be faster to shoot that slash at Cuptura instead of the wall...?'
1. Elishia wants to finish it herself.
2. Given how fast he reacts by creating a wall when attacked, a direct attack might be blocked by a slash.
So, Corleo destroying the area that was becoming a safe zone from a distance to create an opening for Elishia to strike is perfectly sound both emotionally and strategically.

On the handling of battle depictions in manga

I've written so far that the battle depiction is perfect, but personally, I don't think the essence of a manga's appeal lies solely in whether the battles are interesting, even though I do love ability battles.
It's tough to carry a story on the strength of battle interest alone unless you're at the Hunter x Hunter level... or rather, I can't think of any manga other than Hunter that does that. Hunter is always firing on all cylinders outside of battles, too.
Even One Piece doesn't have a strong appeal in the battles themselves.
Ultimately, whether an opponent falls from a punch is entirely up to the author's discretion.
Of course, there is a certain fun when that balance clicks perfectly with the conditions presented beforehand, but there's also fun when it doesn't. I thought it was interesting when Higuruma's cursed technique was applied to a cursed tool.
In the end, what's interesting is seeing a character's strength, intelligence, charm, bonds, and the way they overcome obstacles through battle.
I know there's a demand for art with movement. The battle scenes in Sakamoto Days and Kagurabachi are cool, but personally, I don't place much weight on that.

In that sense, this battle was the best development for showing the trust and bond between Corleo and Elishia.
Elishia, who had decided she would 'stop' him, was the one who first suggested running away to Corleo last time.

It was Corleo's passion that brought her back to her resolve to stop him.
He melts frozen bodies with flames and burns trembling hearts with resolve.
The two of them are no longer wavering in their purpose.
It was their words that made the cowardly Cuptura waver in his purpose.
Through a Crest Art battle, the two heroes show their strength to the Demon King.
By pointing out his cowardice and landing a clean hit, they also break his spirit.
It couldn't be more interesting.

'Because there's no way Corleo-kun would tell me to obey him'

You added (my) before Corleo-kun, didn't you!
Get married already!
I was already full from the battle alone, and then they hit me with this at the end...

That sweetness really gets to me.
It's not a tsundere thing, though. She hasn't been cold even once.
But it's also not quite the same as the vulnerability or 'amae' shown by a character whose base is a dignified strength.
The 'rin-dere' style of Medaka-chan from Medaka Box didn't particularly strike a chord with me.
It's good when a character who already shows vulnerability and admires the protagonist shows their strength and then returns to their usual self.
It's good to see a girl who seems soft show strength, which makes you re-evaluate her, but then you feel relieved when she returns to her original stance and think, 'So this girl has this kind of strength too.'
Yeah, writing out seriously why 'this girl is good for this reason' sounds so creepy.

Anyway, it was the best episode that showed from every angle that Elishia is the true heroine.

Summary

I hate to say it myself, but recent impression articles are quite interesting even when I read them myself (excluding the Elishia analysis part just now).
Of course, this isn't because I have great writing skills, but because of the expressive power of the manga medium that allows for reading between the lines, and Hayashi-sensei's skill in distilling situations into compact, passionate dialogue.
If you write impression articles in a style that fills in the gaps, I think anyone could make them interesting, even if the output is different.
That's how god-tier the recent developments have been.
I think it's an invincible work that makes the most of the manga medium, cherishing every single panel.
It was interesting this week too.
Don't forget to fill out the survey!

Past Episode Impressions

Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Episode 5 Episode 6 Episode 7 Episode 8 Episode 9 Episode 10 Episode 11 Episode 12 Episode 13 Episode 14 Episode 15
◆Special Edition: The Appeal of MamaYuyu