Wombs

I read 'Epilogue' as the latest chapter of Vol. 5. Does this mean this is the last tank of the series?

Thanks for the release!

I re-read the entire thing. Still as haunting as the first time.

One thing bothers me though : Nurse complies to making Oga as a brain dead tool. Strange for someone trying to smuggle life saving medicine out.

Was Nurse brainwashed? See chapter 18 pages 29-32.

Had a look at the raws for vol. 5, and I'm really confused by how surreal this series can be. I have yet to understand if the coordinate space is some sort of mental world, a parallel reality or it's OUTSIDE reality (kinda like the Event Horizon from the eponymous movie).

Still, Gundam could learn a thing or two from this manga, they tackle the subject of 'spatial awareness' much better than Tomino's lame KONO PRESSURE.

Reading Jahiliyyah's comment : that's how I feel too!

The manga shows an example how a dystopia treats citizens. Oga is forcibly drafted, experimented on, forced to work past exhaustion, lied to again and again. The result : she loses her mind. To a dystopia, human are just ressources, nothing more.

Thinking that this manga is pro-whatever doesn't make sense. It shows how horrifying it is.

Didn't they show the seconds sterilizing the conquered firsts' newborns? I thought that medical staff was the seconds. If that is not the case and the doctors were firsts forced to do it, then there is a good chance the seconds are an AI. Perhaps they're conquering the place and building cities for the REAL seconds to arrive as part of an automated expansion program.

You can never tell what's propaganda and what's reality. The differences between the Hast and Seconds is basically irrelevant when there's a draft. What other option is there but to fight? Abandon your countrymen and surrender yourself to the mercy of people who have been firebombing you for two decades?
 

I'm confused.

The women in this comic seem to me to be a reference to war-time sex slaves conscripted from organized territory of the Japanese Empire. Being forcibly impregnated by alien tissue at the hands of the military "for the good of your country" conjures the image of rape at the hands of the military "for the good of your country". Unfortunately, as this series goes on, it seems more and more militaristic. The 1st wave of colonists are righteous, and the sexual abuse of conscripted women is necessary to further their cause and fight off the barbaric invaders. The more I read, the more similar it seems to the English-language pro-fascist military sci-fi of the 40s and 50s. Maybe the tone will change, but so far the militarism dominates. War is presented as an evil, but as a necessary evil, requiring the sacrifice for the good of the people and for the good of the state. The enemies commit needless atrocities, while the "good guys" commit atrocities only for lack of any other option.

Can you not see how it's critical of that? It's clearly painting the Hast government in a negative light considering we see first hand the horrors a transfer corps soldier endures. Did you think Apocalypse Now or Rambo were pro-Vietnam? No it's all to illustrate how dehumanizing and unjustifiable war is, and in the mire of blood and conflict no morality, no justification; no "for the greater good" stands up.

If anyone wants a similar comic to this with maybe less body horror, try The Forever War which had an amazing Belgian graphic novel adaptation. It's more Sci-fi heavy and the Vietnam analogies are a little more overt.

Admittedly it could turn out in the end that the Hast are in the right and every horrible thing the Second's have done has been intentional but consider that we've only seen the actions of the Second's AI and machines and all their colonists are apparently in cryogenic sleep. The Second's AI ambassador doesn't even seem to regard Firsts as humans. There's also the other First's governments that surrendered. What exactly was their relationship with Hast 20 years ago? We never see any of them other than rumors about how the Seconds treat them. Then there's the Pan-Human Alliance which seems to be a much larger UN like organization that negotiates disputes between colonies. Why are they so much more receptive to the Seconds? Was the Alliance only formed after the Firsts who were cut off from the rest of humanity? Perhaps the Firsts weren't on the best of terms with the rest of humanity in the first place?

I don't think any of these questions will be answered because they're in the end irrelevant to Mana Oga or any of her comrades lives.

That nurse is creepy. Don't trust the nurse!

We got to see the mother of the red-haired boy! Is she still alive somewhere in the the physical space?

So many updates! <3 the translators!

Wtf.. Pro facist, where did that one come from?

The confusions about history found in many of the young, perhaps.

I tend to read through comments before diving into possibly-problematic series and this one really made me hesitate on giving it a try. But (spoilers up to chapter 10):
​​

Spoiler

I'm glad I did. Granted, I'm only a third of the way through what's released at the moment, but thus far I don't see anything "pro-fascist" in the author's writing. But that's probably because the characters - especially Oga, our main POV - seem like VERY unreliable narrators. The first several chapters rather meticulously show us the horrors that, to them, are normal parts of their society that have shaped them since birth: Forced drafting, propaganda, heavy censorship, teenage girls desperate enough to avoid serving as a "host" to a mysterious alien species that they'd rather have the child of a guy they don't like... the list goes on. 
 
If the author had a pro-fascism agenda, I don't see why she(?) would include those early-chapter scenes of Oga's nightmares (subconscious discomfort?) and that poor woman being shoved out an aircraft to serve as a human weapon. With so little information about the Seconders, I was under the impression that the 1st wavers were just as bad, if not worse. o_o
 
As to why the author would make use of unreliable narrators, at the risk of her message being misconstrued... my only guess is that the story's plot doesn't seem to center around a revolution, so it's important to understand why our main character would submit to such a regime. As Teriguu mentioned earlier, the author seems to focus more on empathy, rather than sympathy, for the characters. So, while a reader's gut reaction may be to pity them and wonder why in the world they're so driven to serve a country that treats them like disposable pawns (for reasons besides fear), seeing things from Oga's point of view makes it easier to understand why she and her fellow soldiers are so motivated. 

I tend to read through comments before diving into possibly-problematic series and this one really made me hesitate on giving it a try. But (spoilers up to chapter 10):

​​

Spoiler

I'm glad I did. Granted, I'm only a third of the way through what's released at the moment, but thus far I don't see anything "pro-fascist" in the author's writing. But that's probably because the characters - especially Oga, our main POV - seem like VERY unreliable narrators. The first several chapters rather meticulously show us the horrors that, to them, are normal parts of their society that have shaped them since birth: Forced drafting, propaganda, heavy censorship, teenage girls desperate enough to avoid serving as a "host" to a mysterious alien species that they'd rather have the child of a guy they don't like... the list goes on. 

 

If the author had a pro-fascism agenda, I don't see why she(?) would include those early-chapter scenes of Oga's nightmares (subconscious discomfort?) and that poor woman being shoved out an aircraft to serve as a human weapon. With so little information about the Seconders, I was under the impression that the 1st wavers were just as bad, if not worse. o_o

 

As to why the author would make use of unreliable narrators, at the risk of her message being misconstrued... my only guess is that the story's plot doesn't seem to center around a revolution, so it's important to understand why our main character would submit to such a regime. As Teriguu mentioned earlier, the author seems to focus more on empathy, rather than sympathy, for the characters. So, while a reader's gut reaction may be to pity them and wonder why in the world they're so driven to serve a country that treats them like disposable pawns (for reasons besides fear), seeing things from Oga's point of view makes it easier to understand why she and her fellow soldiers are so motivated. 

Happy to be on board with you, ma'am. 

*Stuff about comfort women*

The women in this comic seem to me to be a reference to war-time sex slaves conscripted from organized territory of the Japanese Empire. Being forcibly impregnated by alien tissue at the hands of the military "for the good of your country" conjures the image of rape at the hands of the military "for the good of your country". Unfortunately, as this series goes on, it seems more and more militaristic. The 1st wave of colonists are righteous, and the sexual abuse of conscripted women is necessary to further their cause and fight off the barbaric invaders. The more I read, the more similar it seems to the English-language pro-fascist military sci-fi of the 40s and 50s. Maybe the tone will change, but so far the militarism dominates. War is presented as an evil, but as a necessary evil, requiring the sacrifice for the good of the people and for the good of the state. The enemies commit needless atrocities, while the "good guys" commit atrocities only for lack of any other option.

I tend to read through comments before diving into possibly-problematic series and this one really made me hesitate on giving it a try. But (spoilers up to chapter 10):

​​

I don't think we ever saw a single seconds human. Only various androids and robots. Kind of omnious.

Didn't they show the seconds sterilizing the conquered firsts' newborns? I thought that medical staff was the seconds. If that is not the case and the doctors were firsts forced to do it, then there is a good chance the seconds are an AI. Perhaps they're conquering the place and building cities for the REAL seconds to arrive as part of an automated expansion program.

It doesn't seem like there's anyone in the city, or are things just moving to fast to notice?

I don't think we ever saw a single seconds human. Only various androids and robots. Kind of omnious.

It doesn't seem like there's anyone in the city, or are things just moving to fast to notice?

The brass would do well to pay attention to what goes on with that 'single soldier', wouldn't want to lose one of your most important assets.

Man. This is going to go south real fast, isn't it?

Crazy series, just gets more intense as you dive in.

Glad I didn't skip over this.

Too much fishy stuff going on with the "Firsts" so I am expecting a twist of some sort. Of course a real twist to me would be "there is no twist".

This manga was nominated in the category of Comic of the Seiun Sci-Fi Awards 2017

http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2017-04-11/shin-godzilla-your-name-kabaneri-erased-nominated-for-seiun-sci-fi-awards/.114648

This series is really amazing.

So far, grand!   As good as any of Heinlein's best! 

NOOOOO. Doctor, you more than anyone should know you shouldn't get emotionally attached to your test subjects. Even the soldiers that deal with all the mind screw shenanigans are aware of that.

Thank the scanlators for that, fortunately not everyone who's into scanlating does so for mainstream titles like Naruto, niche titles like Wombs also deserve some love (and often end up being better than mainstream stuff, which says something about contemporary mainstream quality).

as a woman this makes me incredibly uncomfortable.

but i'll keep reading