Holyland Chapter 182 Discussion

Murc said:


As much as I want to believe that he survived, I really don't think he did. Start by looking at the end of chapter 181, after he was stabbed. His life on the streets flashes through his mind, then we see his bloody footprints leading toward the light. He speaks of what his Holyland really is, like upon death, he reached a moral epiphany. If he truly believed that his Holyland was his friends, then at the end, wouldn't he be with them?

When you spoke of page 14, I think his girlfriend was really just listening to the gossip about her brother. Also, this guy that has done all the reading about Yuu's legend, needed Yuu to be there at that time in order for him to also find his Holyland.

When Masaki is getting ready to fight, they speak of how they wish Yuu was there, then when Masaki is going out into the ring, he says that he knows Yuu will be watching him. The way they are all acting, it seems like they know that he died. And, if he did survive, wouldn't Masaki know that he's stills dating his sister?

It seems like the Author just wanted to show that his spirit lived on, by showing him fight those guys at the end. It's kind of like the way that at the end of the Dragonball series, when Goku Jr and Vegeta Jr are fighting at the world martial arts tournament, Pan looks across the arena and sees Goku enjoying the fight. Both Yuu's spirit, and Goku's spirit were seen doing the things that they enjoyed.

Of course this is all my theory. Like I said, I would have rather seen a happy ending where Yuu actually survived and became a vigilante. But, as you said, this is a realistic manga. After the fight, when he told the kid that he wants to meet him again on the streets, he disappears. Where did he go? And how did he just vanish?

greyfox said:
He is definitely alive, you guys all missed it, chapter 182, page 14 in the 2nd box you see him walking to his girlfriend across the street from the boy he rescues.

alcurad said:
Yuu is very much alive, here's the breakdown:

-The guy who stabbed his was a wimp, he couldn't have done much damage and Yuu was able to kick the knife out of his hand immediately after plus he got up and walked all the way to the open street.

- Masaki's match already ended when Yuu appears as you can see two girls talking about it in page 14 and one of them tells the other she taped it.

- Still on page 14 you can see Mai standing and looking at her watch, she looks like she's waiting for someone but more importantly notice the direction she's facing, then look at the panel right underneath where Yuu is walking towards Mai from the opposite direction.

- Yuu is 'white' because he no longer wears black clothing which he used as camouflage before, he's already graduated from the streets and instead of beating those thugs up he just scared them away, he doesn't need to wear black for an advantage as he's that good + it signifies how he went from the dark and low place he was in to a brighter one with so many friends by his side.

- You can clearly see his scar with stitch marks in page 20, what's a ghost doing beating thugs with stitch marks on his side? The manga doesn't really lean to supernatural.

In fact it has always had him come back after a defeat, the tone overall is a very optimistic one. This chapter especially was all good news as all the bad guys are defeated, Midorikawa gets released, Masaki is champion etc the author was being creative and wanted to end it by making people worry, but my conclusion based on all the previous evidence & the overall tone of the manga leads me to believe that Yuu was very much alive in this last chapter.

- Finally, Yuu couldn't possibly have kept doing his old routine for those 3 years anymore, he was going to meet Mai and chanced on the thugs, quickly dealt with it then went to her.

Perhaps he isn't with his friends in the ring being pro because he's doing what Masaki used to? i.e. waiting for someone to take his place? That's weakened by the fact that people were talking about his legend and mixing him with other people etc but still..

I like happy endings so that's what happened either way but come on guys, there is too much evidence that he is alive, how could you conclude he died instead:?

anyway you interpret this ending, I think it was a rush job or at least not properly executed, tbh that stabbing felt like an attempt to make things more interesting as the fights were getting stale towards the end, I mean Yuu was already a beast and his fight with Masaki wasn't as exciting as the others.

This in addition to another gripe I've had from the moment Mai showed up; the story could've been improved a lot by having a solid romance going on even as a side show, but she appears then disappears for months and it's like she never left, they get closer then kind of forget about each other etc, this is difficult to put to words but the romance bits left me unsatisfied.

But despite all that, those are just minor points, this manga is really awesome in the end, I couldn't stop grinning whenever Yuu improvised like when he kicked Taka or when Midorikawa went all ""dark arts" on his opponent, it's a good read and I'd recommend it to anyone.

CrimsonMoon56 said:
it is one of the best mangas ever !

amateur said:


Not even close.

Hentaicheg said:


I agree that it's a bit far off being the best manga overall, but it's 100% sure my favourite martial arts manga at the moment of the post.
A manga where stamina of a person is actually considered, martial arts are pretty accurately describen and shown, MC is not some plot armor'd freak destined to win every single fight, romance is actually based much more logically than all those fan service crap nowadays..

If I had something to compare it with - it most likely would be vagabond, but vagabond is mostly pure kendo, so I wouldn't count it as martial arts manga.
As someone interested in martial arts - holyland is surely something that I would suggest reading even to someone, who isn't into manga but is into martial arts. Most of facts are close to truth and actually are helpful tips.

deon89 said:


I agree too, and also one more thing, from the beggining the text of holyland (what I mean that text that begins "Between the adult world...") is in past tense, especialy "He was, without a doubt, there", I mean "He was", that is past tense. It is sad, very sad for everyone, especialy Mai.