#hnk 99 spoilers | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

king-paimon · 2 years ago

Text

Houseki no Kuni Chapter 99 Thoughts: Chasing Unrealized Wishes

Hello everyone. I hope you are doing alright. These past few months have been strenuous in many parts of the world and I hope you are all doing alright and staying safe.

To be honest, I didn’t expect to see the latest chapter of Houseki no Kuni so soon. I thought it wouldn’t be until December that we’d see another chapter, but this was an interesting surprise to see today.

I just finished reading the chapter and I’m going to be honest with you: I think I liked it more than I thought I would. It’s funny because not much happened in this chapter; it was mainly dialogue between Phos and the new rock lifeform. But the revelations that Phos made through this simple conversation was what really did it for me. I’ll try to elaborate on this a little more.

I must also say, after what happened in the last chapter, Ms. Ichikawa has once again did a good job subverting my expectations when it comes to her story telling. Whether it’s a good subversion or not... that’s up to you. For now, I’m currently leaning on it being “good.” I’ll also talk about this a little in this post.

Anyways, this post will be much shorter than my long posts because despite me liking the chapter (for the most part, I didn’t have much to talk about here. Sorry that it won’t be as in-depth like I normally write them. This may change in time, so I’ll add more to this post some time later if I make new revelations. For now, I hope this is good enough.

As always, please feel free to share your thoughts. Here we go!

Phos: I will never be satisfied

There are many things I liked about this interaction, but the following pages are the ones I want to focus on. Here’s Phos, who’s offering the new rock all things they believed they needed to thrive in this new world. Limbs, so the new rock can move at their own convenience. Eyes and ears, so they see and hear the world around them.

But the rock didn’t need those things. The rock is content with what they had and didn’t have any desire for more. The rock knows what it is and is aware of it’s imperfections and limitations, but that doesn’t matter to it. They’re happy the way they are.

An exact opposite to Phos, and Phos realizes this.

And it’s here that Phos makes these realizations: They never really realized what they really wanted and why. And because of that, Phos was never going to feel fulfilled, no matter what they gained or sacrificed. They were driven by their knowledge and their ever evolving desires, but they all came at great costs to them and everyone around them. They could have turned back at any point, but they didn’t. They kept pushing and pushing, even when it meant destroying themselves and everything they once knew. Yes, it was all orchestrated by Aechmea, but Phos still kept the momentum, even when they knew they were being used and manipulated. It didn’t matter to Phos because to them, they were making progress towards something they thought they wanted, even though that “something” never truly comes to fruition in the way Phos originally expects.

So because they never really figured out what they wanted, Phos was never going to be satisfied with anything, no matter what they’d do. They always strived for more and even when they thought it was enough, it was never enough. One can even say that while some of Phos’s past actions had selfless intentions, they are also driven by lowkey, insatiate selfishness for an unmaterialized and intangible goal. This endless pursuit costed everything, and now Phos has nothing left. Part of me thinks that’s what Phos also realized here.

Now, I can see how some fans may feel conflicted about this revelation. I haven’t seen the posts yet, but I can imagine some seeing this as Ms. Ichikawa backtracking the character development Phos had until that point and may even see the author somewhat condemning Phos in some way. For those of you who feel this way or don’t agree with what was said in the chapter or my post, please feel free to share.

(And please let me know if I’m reaching; I was trying to think of the possible reasons why someone may not agree with what transpired in the chapter and I could be overthinking here)

Regardless of what fans may think of this chapter, this is a very bold admission for Phos to make. But I think this revelation needed to happen. Heck, this conversation as a whole needed to happen for Phos because they needed to hear this new point of view, especially from someone/something who was not directly part of the past events. Why? Because even after the dust had settled and the original source of Phos’s suffering is no longer there, I don’t think Phos would have ever realized they were in yet another never ending cycle of personal suffering.

Sometimes a complete outsider’s perspective is all one needs to get the big picture and helps one appreciate the little things that were once overlooked. And what a better option to get that perspective from than a specimen who is both similar and nothing like you. This interaction, even though it ends with Phos having a bittersweet mentality about everything, I think this interaction was lovely and helped with their character development in more ways than one. I’m sure it’ll care on to the next chapter. Speaking of next chapter...

Edit (I wanted to quickly add this after rereading the end of the chapter): I was thinking about Phos and the rock’s comments about the white dwarf star and I needed to double check my research on the lifespan of stars. A white dwarf is one of the final stages a star can go through when it depletes its fuel. If that dwarf is the original sun, that means it’s going to “die” and become a black star. I wonder if this little tidbit is intended to be foreshadowing for what will happen to the Earth and to add onto the many symbolisms of this story. Please let me know what you think!

The Story From Here On Out: What happens now?

It’s funny how a few predictions I and several others had made in the past have somewhat come true in this chapter, though clearly not in the way I’d expected:

Phos being the one left behind in some way

Phos finding new gems/ specimens and starting a new society

Phos taking over Adamant’s old position in more ways than one

Phos will have a bittersweet end to their story (Still to early to call but everything is leading to this direction)

After the last chapter, I didn’t think anything of these old predictions to happen because honestly, I wasn’t sure if Phos was even going to still exist after their prayer with how it all looked. I’m glad and sad that Phos still existed afterwards. But now the question is... what happens now?

Will Phos continue to find other rock or inorganic life forms to create a society with? Or will they let them just exist in their own way, just like their new rock companion? And will Phos just continue to exist without any reason or goal anymore? Who knows.

But I think now that the remaining human remnants are gone and Phos no longer has direct connections to them, Phos will now properly be able to decompress and reflect. This will not be like the times before where Phos was completely alone for thousands of years or buried alive or left in a coma. This time, Phos isn’t alone and is with a being who offers them a much needed fresh perspective. I mean, this simple conversation was able to help Phos in a unique way. Maybe future conversations with this rock and any other species Phos comes across will help them more. They might be able to find a new happiness where they are now.

(Also, isn’t it funny how this rock lifeform that barely knows Phos showed more care to Phos than most of the past characters that grew up with Phos? I’m not surprised)

Wow. This story really went in directions I didn’t think they’d go in. I reread the first chapters of the series and yeah, if I were to go back in time and reread the story from start to this, I wouldn’t have predicted most if not all the events that happened. (BTW: The blackout out pages in this chapter were a very cleaver call back to the first chapter. Someone else made a post about it and I thank you for making the connection)

But beyond the small predictions I just made, I don’t know where else the story can go from here. And I can’t help but think it won’t go on for much longer. With how everything is paced and the fact that the 100 chapter will be released next month, I honestly think this story is going to end there. I know many people believe that it’ll end on chapter 108 because that number is relevant in Buddhism and maybe they’re right. But I just wonder... what else could happen? Despite the many loose ends that have been mentioned by myself and many others, I don’t think they can be resolved now. Maybe Ms. Ichikawa has another plot twist up her sleeve somehow. I don’t know. I’m not going to think too hard about this right now.

But one thing’s for certain though; this crazy ride of a story is almost over and I’m still sticking to it to the very end because I need to see how it all ends. There are still many things I feel iffy about when it comes to some of Ms. Ichikawa’s decisions with this story, including characterization and pacing. But despite my criticisms, I still enjoy this story and even if the ending doesn’t meet my expectations, I know I won’t regret staying with it to the end. I know not everyone feels the same way, but to each their own.

Sorry that this post isn’t as insightful as my past posts. Maybe I’ll come up with a follow up post later after having more time to think about it. Anyways, thank you for reading and please feel free to share your thought! Stay safe!