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iamhereinthebg · 2 years ago

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A lot of theories have been out with the new tbhk chapter (101). And one I saw several times is the idea that Amane was a clock keeper of the present when he was alive.

It’s understandable to see that so many people think this with the new chapter which seems to go into a new clock keepers arc, who are probably for now, one of the biggest question marks of the manga.

In the new chapter, Amane is seen to repair a big clock. One which is now in a sealed auditorium. He was given the task to repair it, until the end of the festival.

The idea of memory loss is the biggest point here. Because Hanako even remembers stuff from when he was 4.

If Amane was a clock keeper of the present, how would he have forgotten everything about them? It is possible that every clock keeper of the present forgets anything related to supernaturals once their contract ends, hence why it was never really implemented in the rumor that one of them is a human.

Hanako is also far from being Amane, he is supernatural . Or there is the chance that he forgot all of his memories related to some stuff when he was sealed by Minamoto Grandma. He may have forgotten everything related to supernaturals involved with him when he was alive. Since we have no idea if he remembers Nene from when she traveled in time during the festival.

There are a lot of possibilities on why Hanako may have forgotten about all of this.

Time is also a theme which is recurrent in a lot of things that concern Amane/Hanako. And this new page seems to highlight it.

Hanako is a ghost, a being stopped in Time. Time being stopped has a lot of time been associated with death in tbhk. And he is obsessed with Time, the idea to stop and manipulate it, and he has been since a long time in the manga. His first idea to save Nene was probably linked to the clock keepers, and he has a strange interest in Akane and his powers, going as far as to try to blackmail him to have something out of him. He wishes to stop Nene’s time or time in general. To save Nene, to enjoy the present, and to prevent his friends from moving on without him.

Amane is the only human who got his fate changed. Aoi and Nene were about to have it changed too. I strongly believe that a supernatural being/occurence needs to be here for a fate to change. It’s not a stretch to imagine for Amane, that all those back and forth in time altered his fate. With Nene going back in time to see him twice, stealing a key in the first memory, and making him accidentally make a wish to see her again in the second. Tsukasa also has been back in the future and back to his time, and a supernatural thing was always the cause of it.

So did the clock keepers change Amane’s fate or at least push him into this direction?

Even if Amane wasn’t a part of the clock keepers, there is a high chance that this clock is still linked to them. If the clock he was repairing was the clock keeper’s, then he would have had his time taken away, as the rumor said.

But it’s heavily implied that Amane killed himself. I personally don’t think it’s the clock keepers’ clock, because the one presented in the mysteries meeting is way closer in terms of imagery to the clock keepers’ clocks. It may be though, the clock keepers’ clock from the rumor.

The clock we see during the mysteries’ meeting is probably in a boundary, so far away from human’s eyes. The one people may have seen may be the grand clock Amane is repairing. Amane may have been known for trying to fix this clock, and he died. People definitely knew he did, a (probably) murder-suicide in school would have been talked about between students, resulting in creating or altering the rumor of the clock keepers. Rumors and Legends always have a part of truth, but a lot of things in the rumors told by humans are wrong. About n°2, n°4, n°6 and even °7. Even if this is a stretch I still think it’s interesting to point it out.

There are a lot of question marks around this plot tbh or if this is even a real theory. There is also a lot which doesn't really add up for Amane to be part of the clock keepers.

The first one is the most obvious. The lack of reaction when Hanako met the clock keepers. Even if Hanako is really good at hiding stuff he doesn’t want people to see, his reaction to the clock is absolutely not controlled. Hanako never talks about himself, or at least tries not to divulge information. When he talks to Nene here, it’s mostly from shock, because he knows something happened, but he can’t remember what and why he was asked to take care of this clock. He fears not remembering things because he has no control over it. He acts like this in all his encounters with Tsukasa for example. When he meets the clock keepers, either in flashback or just meeting Akane, he has absolutely no reaction contrary to the way he is in front of the grand clock in the auditorium. If he was part of the clock keepers for 1-2 years (since he died at 13) I think he would have some reaction if it was such a big part of his last years of life.

The mysteries are absolutely awful at socializing but they still recognize and know each other, even if from far away. Some of them know what has been going on, and who has each seat. Yako and Hakubo still instantly recognized him as number 7, even if Hakubo clearly isn’t the type to go out often and Yako hasn’t seen Hanako in a long time. The only one who is not well known is, understandably, Akane who has been here only for 3-4 years.

The only character who knows absolutely everything that is going on, is number 5, Tsuchigomori. Who is also Amane’s teacher. I think their relationship would have been different if Amane was involved with supernaturals. He calls him Yugi and not by any number and he acts a lot with Amane, playing the role of the teacher, which he rarely does when he is known to be supernatural by the person in front of him. I am pretty sure Tsuchigomori and Akane know each other from far away, Tsuchigomori dropped the biggest set up about Akane not being fully human after all when talking to Nene.

I won’t cross the idea that AidaIro just wanted to hide it if Amane was a clock keeper, but I still think it’s strange. Especially when we know that this memory we see in the 4pm bookstacks is coming from Tsuchi and not Hanako.

So except if Hanako has lost all memories of the clock keepers (which is a pretty weak plot point in my opinion) I don’t think Amane was the clock keeper of the present.

After all, what do we know about the clock keepers and especially the one of the present for now?

I think there is a possibility that Akane is the first human clock keeper.

Let’s only focus on what we know in the manga for now, it is pretty obvious that Hanako doesn’t know where the boundary of the clock keepers is.

And it leads to some questions: We can see that Hanako here is talking with two clock keepers, except if Mirai can change shape, it is safe to assume that those two here are the clock keepers of the present and the past.

Why would Hanako say this if he actually met the clock keeper of the present before? The first idea is that it is someone like Tsuchigomori, but Akane is human. Even if it makes sense for the representative of the present to be like this (he is living in the present with people contrary to all supernaturals) the idea that the present is a human, or at least, hiding as a student, is also a supernatural’s only rumor. This is something the humans who spread rumors never ever heard about.

Number 6 seems rather shocked/confused to see a human stopping time. Akane can’t hide his presence from other supernaturals even with his glasses. Hakubo didn’t check if he was related to the supernaturals or not when Akane was not even wearing his glasses. Was he even aware of the fact that one of the clock keepers was human in the first place?

As I said before, If the clock keepers of the present were humans even before Akane, the only reason I can think of for them to never say anything or just continue with their life is because they forget everything once the contract ends.

The fact that the Minamotos never interfered when they did with Number 7 in the past (Minamoto grandma) is also pretty strange. Supernaturals, especially the mysteries aren’t supposed to drag humans with them or hurt them. Teru said that the mysteries are a threat now after the story with Yako and how she put students’ lives at risk. The clock keepers endangered Aoi and Akane’s life. If they always used such methods to recruit each clock keeper of the present and then turned a human half supernatural, I think it’s enough to make n° 1 at the top of the ‘to exorcize’ list of the Minamotos. Teru even insists on the fact that he let things slide only because Akane is human.

Another big point, is the names. Even in a bonus Hanako doesn't hesitate to name a dog with Nene and Kou.

If the clock keeper of the present before Akane was human, they would have already given a name to them in my opinion. It’s a natural thing humans do, not caring/giving names is a really supernaturals thing. Hakubo never had a name before Sumire gave him one either, his master despite being his parental figure never had a name, the mysteries call each other only by numbers (or insults). Sumire gave him one because she acknowledges him as a person she cares about, contrary to all the exorcists who had to give him orders before. Mirai uses the name Akane gave her to name herself a lot, even Kako reacts when he is being called. Akane doesn’t even like the clock keepers, says that he doesn’t care about how supernaturals are called but he still gave them names because they didn’t have any before he became one.

Mirai is canonly stupid, like really stupid. Kako has more restraint so it makes sense for him to show absolutely nothing. But Mirai is really really attached to Akane, she doesn’t hesitate to jump on him or annoy him whenever she wants. And she is also the one who noticed Akane when he was only a first year to recruit him. I really think if Amane had anything to do with the clock keepers she wouldn’t be able to hide it. Especially if she gets attached like this to the clock keeper of the present.

Even if Akane is not the first human clock keeper of the present. I still hope we will have answers on what they really are and on how they are chosen, and where are the ones who were here before Akane, what happened to them?

We are close to a new clock keepers arc with all the clocks imagery in this chapter. The clock keepers also have the power that most people want to use and which is acknowledged even by strong characters as a real advantage/threat since the beginning of the manga. A power that both side has been trying to have (mostly Hanako vs Teru first and now probably the main characters vs the broadcasting club). They also are the oldest mystery, and Kako always appears to have a lot of authority even if he isn’t techically the leader.

Natsuhiko coming to see Akane at the end of the chapter is also for something. The manga has been building up the fact that Akane is the weak link of the three and he has been approached by nearly half of the cast at this point. And not to have his help as Akane, but clearly because he is n°1. He has less knowledges than the other two, and mostly he is human. He has weaknesses and is mortal, he is way easier to approach and blackmail than the other two even if he is as he says ‘the lowest of the clock keepers’.

The next arc will probably be about number 1, and the grand clock has something to do with them. The red house imagery having so many clocks and the Yugis having so much time travel in their story must be for something.

I also really wonder what will happen if the grand clock start moving again and what needs to be done for making it work.

I can’t wait to see what AidaIro plan to do with all these characters and how linked to the clock keepers the Yugi backstory will be.