I guess I have a pretty crappy ticket, then 
I really can’t write hahahaha
So, chapters 9 through 14. Here goes.
So we get yet another glimpse of Yuri’s cunning and evil ways in how she tricks Chaa, as well as Kanade’s expected intervention to prevent any harm in their shoot out showing her kindness once again. We find Chaa, in Kanade’s disappointing room (according to Yuri), as he prepares for orders from Yuri when he recovers from getting shot in the head for the hundredth time because he’s an honorable fellow it seems.
It’s here we learn that he was a married man, even though he was in highschool, and him and his wife were separated and died as they ran in search for a paradise for the two of them… The issue he has is that he’s alone. Upon being taken into the group, however, tears come as he realizes he’s been completed so easily once again. I think we can take from this that Chaa is a simple man at heart.
Next up- BEST GIRL OH M- Okay I’ll keep this simple…
Enter Masami :3
Basically, we find a girl who lived to sing and rushes to do so as soon as she finds out that she can speak. If it wasn’t ever apparent that this girl is strictly focused on her passion for music, I’m not sure how you could overlook being in a completely unknown place and doing things you could no longer do in life to track down a guitar and sing your heart out as soon as possible. xD
Running again and again from the staff and Kanade, she meets the girl who changes her life and who’s life she’ll change- Hisako. Hisako plays some sick, Sad Machine-esque tunes (she says it’s her unique style -3-), and draws Masami into the idea of the two of them grouping up. Thus, Crow Song is written- A song that can be considered one of hope and guidance in the mysterious world of supposed dead. A light in the dark. When they play their concert together, they have influence over all of the NPCs in that world who would otherwise seems so lifeless.
Other notes are their clear importance to one another. Both Hisako and Masami overcome their fears with one another. Masami, her fear of friendship- Hisako, her fear of doing what she loves. We get hints of Hisako’s history too, which she feels comfortable telling Masami after fearing losing her- A story that implies a very lonely existence in her final days. And, lastly, they agree to finally be a band and to be there for eachother always, having more fun now then they ever had. Kanade hears this- And walks away, leaving them to enjoy themselves. Poor Kanade. :c
Bonus: Why Crows? Because the Crow in Japanese mythology is a messenger of god- Divine intervention. Life guidance, similar to how music or other works of art influence the hearts of those who appreciate it. May the Crow’s Song guide you~ <3
I certainly missed and cut things for the sake of space. There’s always so much to take from these for me. ^^ What do you all think?
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So out of the band members we have the victim of domestic violence and the caretaker of an emotional lead guitarist/vocalist. That’s one attitude that I got out of that sector. The second? I loved their original meetings and onward. They painted Hisako almost like a delinquent gangster on first meeting and then the “fight” was with music? coughcoughyuriOTPcoughcough
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Hisako is such a badass. Love her. She’s also very… Charismatic…? Er, capable of making people believe her. I can’t think of a word at the moment lol. It almost makes you think of Masami as impressionable at first, but that’s in total contrast to how she acts towards Kanade. Could be Hisako’s ability to influence- could be Masami’s love for music. Who knows! I think it’s a bit of both, because we already know Masami to be partly stubborn towards anything and anyone who suggests to her what she’s ‘supposed’ to do.
Oh! And yes. The OTP is the strongest here than anywhere haha
I’d say it’s Hisako’s ability to influence. Her enthusiasm can get really contagious, I reckon!
Seems like the only person who can see through her powers is Sekine. :3
(This is found within Track Zero’s bonus chapters on the GDM)
Hello again. I bring words. Words on chapters 15 through 22! ^^
We get to see a few more ‘firsts’ in this set of chapters, so we get an idea of how long some characters have known some things, as well as meet some more new (old) faces. I find countless things interesting in here, so this’ll be long, as always. Sorry, this is what procrastinating gets me.
After doing… Whatever Yuri was having them do- Chaa agrees to explain how he ‘brought’ guns into the afterlife. They seem to like using the term ‘Alchemy’. Chaa brings the crew into the base of a hollowed out tree that leads into a sort of cave system, which as far as I can assume is the same system of caves the guild is at the bottom of in the anime, all of which are connected. At the entrance lies a sort of room that Chaa had been living in with the hopes of constructing a home for his wife and himself whenever she arrived. In his efforts to build a house, he needed nails, which led to him trying to use… Dirt? But the dirt… Became… Nails? Talk about luck. He explains that you must know each part of the whole thing you wish to make, and something like a gun, at this moment for him, takes up to 170 hours to make.
Chilling in the weird little workshop of sorts- The group (Yuri) gets to making stuff, and they (Yuri) manage to make a nail and a pinwheel, seemingly planning to make one for all of them. The pinwheel is adorable.
We find out the tunnels are at least 27 floors deep. On their journey into the caves, they find Noda. Noda- His obvious crush on Yuri aside- says some interesting things. He explains that a man told him that if he ‘wanted the game to end, he would have to defeat him’. One assumes that this person is the girl at the end of the tunnels. Shiina, who is very clearly a woman. Of course, it is dark… But- Looking closer, Noda very clearly knows who she is when he’s told about Yuri and Hinata going to ‘fight the boss’, the others not knowing it’s a girl. So… Who’s the guy Noda spoke to? Good question. I don’t have an answer www
Back to Yuri and Hinata, though. Hinata gets stuck in his thoughts about his possible feelings for Yuri- But he chooses to ignore them. In fear of Yuri throwing him to the curb, he speaks up and the group is split with them to go fight the boss and for Chaa and Ooyama to go get Noda, who’d ran away. There’s a nice argument where Hinata disrespects Yuri’s strength… But in the end Chaa is a bro and lets them go together. Finally alone together again, we get some character development with Hinata. He mentions that he doesn’t care about himself. Defending himself isn’t a good enough reason to give fighting his all. But- Yuri tells him to shut up, and gives him her pinwheel as a good luck charm.
Finally at the bottom, they find the boss sitting in her throne. Very quickly they learn that talking isn’t an option- And Hinata learns to NOT shit-talk this girl. [Blood and gore intensifies.]
Drifting in and out of consciousness, Hinata is dragged by Yuri in hopes of retreating from the cave. DREAM TIME. This is really bizarre. In this dream, Hinata is told by Yuri that she only wishes to make everyone happy, and that if this dream existence was all there was- She would be fine with that. But, in this dream, Hinata states his discontent with Yuri’s loneliness. This description of Yuri goes hand in hand with Brave Song almost perfectly. He vows to never make her cry and to protect his leader- No matter the cost. He regains his consciousness, and his arm, and defeats the boss like a total badass. But he dies again in the process.
Awake at last, the boss is tied up and everyone is together again. Chaa calls Hinata out on his complete blindness to understanding a girl like Yuri properly. Seemingly content with this distance- Hinata and Yuri finally share a perfect moment as friends, with the pinwheel, and it’s damned adorable. Hinata says something interesting here- that if Yuri can at the very least smile in this world, then it’s enough. Oh, and the Afterlife Battlefront is formed. About time. Pretty big deal. They gather weapons that are sitting around in a random room (not weird at all) and proceed get the hell out of the caves while fighting off the boss, who escaped. Yuri shows off her sick dual sword skills though!
They make it out an get back to the school where they meet the boss yet again- Only this time Tenshi shows up to protect the Afterlife Battlefront and the school, and they start duking it out. The AB regroup and form their first real mission- To defeat this chick once and for all. Being put where Yuri wants her by Noda, Chaa and Tenshi (they helped Tenshi fight, this is certainly new), Yuri commands from the roof for Hinata to fulfill his destiny after all this time- To jump from the roof with a sword and deliver a fatal blow to the boss- Seemingly having all the times she kicked him from the roof being training for -this- moment.
“A monster. A spirit appeared. This must be mind reading. Just now, the ghost named Yurippe was staring at me. Otherwise, I could never in my life feel such chill down my spine.” - Hinata, Track Zero.
Wait, what? push
Hinata slices the boss in two and passes out. Rekt. GGNoRe. Back to the LN- “Hey, bitch… It’s my victory.”
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Yuri giving some great advice on how to jump from fatal heights.
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Now for my strange thing to come out of nowhere with. This sector of the manga is what reminded me why I couldn’t like Shiina primarily. Excellent archtype without a single bit of promise since the only person she could fight was Kanade. So here we had her actually showing some promise and finally gaining her throne of my favorite AB character.
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She’s a beast and only gets more interesting. A route I really can’t wait for.
Also must add that this is literally ‘Why you must read Heaven’s Door.txt’.
“I’ve never fallen from such a height!”
Don’t believe the lies.
You see it’s moments like these that make Hinata my idol, and probably my favorite Key character. It started with the Yui scene in the anime, and the manga just raises his epic levels up to 11.
Most meta moment in the manga, I swear. I introduced a friend of mine to the manga and he found the roof-kicking pretty hilarious. I hinted the importance of that event, but I guess he hasn’t reached that part yet
Isn’t he amazing in the manga? I really, really freaking like Hinata. He’s a legend. Also that meta moment is absolutely bizarre. Track Zero makes it -extremely- freaky. Hinata freaks the hell out and Yuri just becomes this really frightening presence.
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Precisely. As mentioned earlier either here or from the Skype group, this world has so much that can be done with it, and the manga shows some of it.
Specifically Yuri’s tactics and now Noda/Shiina’s skills. We’re getting a bit more.
I’ve been saying it since I saw the anime and was deeply confused by its countless loose ends.
Finally caught up with the Manga, so I’m able to participate in the discussion now are you upping the chapter limit soon?
Something like that~
Should be at the end by the end of the month at the latest.
Discussion is now open up to chapter 26.
If what sells best is what’s good then the best ramen in the world is instant ramen
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Shiina is unexpectedly hilarious. She just seems to operate on a different wavelength to everyone else.
