Questions, questions and more questions (READ THE OP FOR ANSWERS)

[Arete]

That's her original, living self during Heian era, serving as courtesan for Emperor Toba. EXTRA also delved a little on that as one of her Matrix conversations.

I'm confused, wasn't Emperor Toba about one hundred years later? Correct me if I'm wrong but LB5.5 takes place in 1008 AD while Toba wasn't even born until 1103 AD, 95 years later. Is there some sort of weird time period merging thing going on here like we got with Okeanus? Or did they just change up Tamamo and Toba's timelines? And didn't that chapter take place in the capital of the time anyway? So shouldn't she be nearby? Do they give a reason why she doesn't involve herself in the story?

Sorry for several questions at once. I'm not trying to be a bother, just a little confused at it all, and the translation I saw was very vague about it.

[Comun]

I'm pretty confident that "crown position" is just another way of saying Grand Servant/Class, others can feel free to check again (like castor asks).

Yes. Crowned mage = Grand Caster, crowned bowman = Grand Archer, etc.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

I'm confused, wasn't Emperor Toba about one hundred years later? Correct me if I'm wrong but LB5.5 takes place in 1008 AD while Toba wasn't even born until 1103 AD, 95 years later. Is there some sort of weird time period merging thing going on here like we got with Okeanus? Or did they just change up Tamamo and Toba's timelines? And didn't that chapter take place in the capital of the time anyway? So shouldn't she be nearby? Do they give a reason why she doesn't involve herself in the story?

Sorry for several questions at once. I'm not trying to be a bother, just a little confused at it all, and the translation I saw was very vague about it.

It's okay, It also encourages me to research some plot points and fact-check them. In the LB 5.5 proper, she went by the name 尊子 (Takako?) and claimed to be a courtesan serving the then-Emperor. From wiki (yes, not the most reliable source, though there're references) she served Emperor Toba during 794-1185. The time gap isn't far-fetched when you take her inhuman nature into account. It's possible she was serving other Emperors during that gap, and was only made famous when her true nature was found out by Seimei, who was similarly long-living, at the end of Heian era.

[Arete]

It's okay, It also encourages me to research some plot points and fact-check them. In the LB 5.5 proper, she went by the name 尊子 (Takako?) and claimed to be a courtesan serving the then-Emperor. From wiki (yes, not the most reliable source, though there're references) she served Emperor Toba during 794-1185. The time gap isn't far-fetched when you take her inhuman nature into account. It's possible she was serving other Emperors during that gap, and was only made famous when her true nature was found out by Seimei, who was similarly long-living, at the end of Heian era.

Gotcha, that makes more sense, though does raise the mystery around her and Seimei a bit more. That does make her feel a bit more like she deserves her status as a great yokai rather than just bothering the one emperor once. Doesn't that chapter take place at the capital so shouldn't she be nearby?

And what was the purpose of the sword regalia in the chapter? I know Douman ditches the idea of using Ibuki but from the visuals it seemed he still needed the sword for something.

[OnesFleetingGlory]

Gotcha, that makes more sense, though does raise the mystery around her and Seimei a bit more. That does make her feel a bit more like she deserves her status as a great yokai rather than just bothering the one emperor once. Doesn't that chapter take place at the capital so shouldn't she be nearby?

And what was the purpose of the sword regalia in the chapter? I know Douman ditches the idea of using Ibuki but from the visuals it seemed he still needed the sword for something.

Tamamo was there, in the palace. She was trying to keep a low profile as to not be noticed by the Onmyoujis, especially Seimei. She even told Guda to keep her nature a secret, since she's not who they were after.

By sword regalia, you mean Ibuki's sword, Kusanagi? That wasn't Douman's doing, but Ibuki separated Kusanagi from the Fantasy Tree so that Kintoki's robot could use it to cut down the tree along with Douman.

[Arete]

Tamamo was there, in the palace. She was trying to keep a low profile as to not be noticed by the Onmyoujis, especially Seimei. She even told Guda to keep her nature a secret, since she's not who they were after.

By sword regalia, you mean Ibuki's sword, Kusanagi? That wasn't Douman's doing, but Ibuki separated Kusanagi from the Fantasy Tree so that Kintoki's robot could use it to cut down the tree along with Douman.

Right thank you. It kinda shows that Seimei might not be as powerful as first thought if Tamamo escapes his notice for over a hundred years. Unless he wasn't concerned about her cause she (presumably) wasn't doing anything bad while she was hidden.

I suppose the question then becomes, why was the sword in the tree in the first place? Was Douman using it as a battery?

[Lobo]

I suppose the question then becomes, why was the sword in the tree in the first place? Was Douman using it as a battery?

Douman had the tree absorb Ibuki, but she resisted being consume 'cause she's a Divine Spirit. So she lend the sword (that's her NP) to Kintoki and co. Douman wasn't using the sword but Ibuki herself

[You]

I suppose the question then becomes, why was the sword in the tree in the first place? Was Douman using it as a battery?

She recreates the legend of when Yamata Orochi lost, the sword is released and bestowed upon someone.
The point of the sword is that it's yet another thing that Douman overlooked.

Something something at high levels a battle of magecraft becomes about which rules have less holes.
He didn't anticipate that if he was to use Ibuki as fuel for the tree, the legend meant her sword became available.

[Menwearpink]

It’s not as cool a info dump when you don’t have Rin and Bazett staring at each other or Caren in a church tho.

tbh it felt like Ibuki barely actually existed and she was there just for selling a new 5* servant and to give Kinmech a sentai power up to win the day with.

but I feel liketotally not a normal filler event/arc it’s a main chapter guys 5.5 was largely pointless and didn’t do much either in general.

[Zork Knight]

It offed Douman
A recurrying villain from Shimouse and the Lostbelts

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

As Zork said, it killed off Douman in glorious fashion. Go to hell, ya bastard.

[Seres]

There was no reason to waste an entire chapter on trash like Douman. He should have died to Pepe in 5. They just wanted to stall LB6 which is the real start of the second half of part 2 according to Maaya interview.

There is no doubt in my mind that Gyakkou is the main theme song for the second part of the film, but Nasu wanted a song that would represent a bit of a change of scenery. "He wanted to make the audience look forward to what happens next and to kick off the second half of part 2 with a bang with Chapter 6"

So that's the role of "Yakudou"...! "So the idea was to draw a theme song to match Chapter 6, so when you finish chapter 6 I think you will know clearly who the main character of Yokudou is."

[SirGauoftheSquareTable]

Pepe still has the chance to off Beryl.

[Arete]

Douman had the tree absorb Ibuki, but she resisted being consume 'cause she's a Divine Spirit. So she lend the sword (that's her NP) to Kintoki and co. Douman wasn't using the sword but Ibuki herself

Right, I was a little mistaken then. It seemed like the sword was coming out from the tree. There seems to be fewer translations of this chapter than for others. Is that just cause it's not a main one, or does it have to do with the complexity of all the Japanese terms?

Pepe still has the chance to off Beryl.

I've been thinking about that. I kinda expect he won't in the end, but Beryl will still die anyway. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Beryl's chances of making out of this Lostbelt though seem worse that us restoring humanity.

[AAM1232]

Right, I was a little mistaken then. It seemed like the sword was coming out from the tree. There seems to be fewer translations of this chapter than for others. Is that just cause it's not a main one, or does it have to do with the complexity of all the Japanese terms?



I've been thinking about that. I kinda expect he won't in the end, but Beryl will still die anyway. I suppose we'll find out soon enough. Beryl's chances of making out of this Lostbelt though seem worse that us restoring humanity.

That's because some translators weren't interested in translating a lot beyond summaries. That said, you can find what you want with some smart searching.

Wait till Beryl helps us restore humanity.

[fumei]

Is that just cause it's not a main one, or does it have to do with the complexity of all the Japanese terms?

It's because it's shit. See my post in the FGO story thread for more information.

[Arete]

It's because it's shit. See my post in the FGO story thread for more information.

Ah right, yes I had that open in another tab to read later but hadn't gotten around to it. Does fit with how I was feeling playing it, how most of the bosses were a one and done sort of deal. Pity about Tsuna and Medea, they seemed like a good matchup. I might not like either gameplay wise, but character wise they're interesting. The whole thing with Kintoki's mech felt way too contrived all up. Not to mention, we'd just had a giant mech support in the previous chapter. Wasn't very original at that point.

I appreciate the review. It's often helpful preparing for the chapters when they come out in English (didn't help with Septem but did with Agartha). I can at least appreciate Kintoki's costume, but they really should've given him that for a start.

One more question I have is why did Douman choose Ibuki to be the host originally? I mean beyond giving them another servant to push out.

[Zork Knight]

Probably because Ibuki is Orochi and Orochi is a great calamity dragon thing so close enough to a Beast?

[Comun]

Coincidentally, I just got the Tamamo scene in my personal playthrough of Heian. I think the scene can be broken down into three parts.

First, she passes by the party inside the imperial palace, and Murasaki introduces her as Takako, Emperor Ichijou's nyogo. This shows that the fox youkai had been doing some more identity-hopping in the 22 centuries between Daji and Tamamo no Mae.

Second, she greets Kintoki, saying this is the first time they meet "in this form". Kintoki doesn't understand, and comments that he was too young to tell a fox apart from a tanuki when then met in Sagami. I'm not sure what was the relevance of this part. It's either to say Tamamo spends time as a fox between her human identities, or maybe to show how much more trusting she used to be during the Heian era, because I can't imagine Caster dropping such open hints about her secrets.

Third, she greets Fujimaru and notices her illusion doesn't work on them. Takako is confused at first, thinking that Fujimaru'd need to be on Seimei's level to notice her fox ears. Wondering what's going on there, Takako figures that she and Fujimaru have a past connection. They agree to keep the secret and Tamamo leaves. This one is probably foreshadowing for Koyanskaya's endgame. Olympus reveals that her contract is Koyanskaya vowing not eliminate Olga and Olga vowing not understand Koyanskaya. She's clearly hiding some big, since she chose not be understood as her terms to the contract, and her stated archenemy is Holmes, the guy who exposes secrets as naturally as he breathes. Now that this interaction set precedent for Fujimaru's bond with Tamamo causing them to she through Tamamo's deception, I simply can't see this not happening again whenever Koyanskaya is ultimately dealt with.

[Hawkeye]

Second, she greets Kintoki, saying this is the first time they meet "in this form". Kintoki doesn't understand, and comments that he was too young to tell a fox apart from a tanuki when then met in Sagami. I'm not sure what was the relevance of this part. It's either to say Tamamo spends time as a fox between her human identities, or maybe to show how much more trusting she used to be during the Heian era, because I can't imagine Caster dropping such open hints about her secrets.

I'd say it's more likely that since Tanuki to my understanding aren't typically seen as malicious while Kitsune can be that Kintoki's probably saying he didn't recognise her as a threat back then. Though saying you can't imagine Caster dropping such open hints seems really weird since in her very first appearance she's notable for straight blurting out her true name like it was nothing while you have to wrench Nero and Nameless' stories out like you're trying to pull Caliburn from between Agravain's stony buttcheeks.