Date A Live Volume 16 Discussion

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Sep 29, 2017 10:46 PM

Zaphkiel_El_Rem

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Jun 2012

3795

Date with Kurumi is intensifying for Shidou!! All of those happy time for the two in spite of the violent stygian period in every 204 corner, really clever.

We finally get to see the full list of Kurumi's ability and her background and reasons for her vengeful attitude. I could now describe her as the strong, weak, naive and beautiful spirit.

And now hyping for what's going to happen next!

Apr 23, 2018 4:42 PM

Playcool

Supreme Tsundere

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Nov 2012

4019

Best volume by far. The writting was ingenous here...
First if anyone is seeing this before reading, SPOILERS ahead that shouldnt be spoiled, so dont read.

I think the prologue was genius, shedding some light on Kurumi's past before she was a spirit, and it gives alot of context to her whole nature even as a spirit (ojou-sama type), while a murderer, there were alot of times when she definitly shows a more refined posture afterall.

Previous volumes had little to nothing for Kurumi so I dare to say the fans got an overload here of quality content. I personally enjoyed Kurumi vs Shidou back and forth.
The whole chocolate scene was very amusing when you see Kotori and the rest giving their best and then Kurumi shows the fun for some teasing, it was good to see this interaction, since most of the times she never talked with others aside Shidou (that Origami's angel was a piece of art, knowing her, I m baffled that she didnt made a nude version of it in the end). Kurumi's date was also charming indeed (Kurumi love for neko-chan is adorable~~).

To this point I would say the volume was already highly enjoyable, and even shocking with Nibelcol making up for some rather shocking inducing experiences, like that dream Shidou which probably was not a dream at all! More on that later but damm, Wescott said it was about time to go real since Shidou had 10 spirits and you can clearly see he was letting them out easily to this point O.O

Samsara of Salvation comes, which really plays out well since a quick search refers it to be the endless circle of death and rebirth of life and the world... earlier this volume we already had some interesting info revealed, alot was foreshawdowed starting on vol3-4, you can see Kurumi wants to go back 30 years ago, that determination of hers is what shielded her from getting captured status by Shidou, we know she wanted to kill the first spirit, and the consequences resulting are that Shidou would have never meet Tokha and the rest, and would probably be living an happy life with Kotori, frankly it is an outcome that should be avoided... this were all my thoughts when the LN started to shed some light on Kurumi's motivates, BUT damm.

The real plot twist comes first when she reveals her past (In The Recent Sin, before Samsara's), I expected something, but I didnt expect this much fuckery. Kurumi goals to are way more reasonable now, she let herself fall in the madness of revenge and now is too late to stop, all this time she was doing this thinking that she could in the end reset everything, you can say the more "evil" she become, the bigger grew her determination to reach out towards the end of her dream and erase everything.
It makes sense the hatred she has for the First Spirit, and it was sweet to see herself finally opening like that to Shidou, he himself got some mindfucks there, you can say this only renewed his will to save Kurumi for such a path, but this is one she choose, and which the only real way to attone maybe preventing it for ever coming to, she already killed to many, if she stopped now, gives up on such a solution to make ammends, how will she make to avoid getting crushed by all this guilt? She may even go Invert for real!

It was a genius move from the writter, it took time to fully flesh it out (16 volumes), but the pay off is huge. Yet so far into the volume and there is still more...
Going back to Samsara, another big plot twist, that Shidou was supposed to be death, even since DEM decided to get real and Ellen first was going to ambush Shidou, what we saw at the beggining was actually the combined effort of Kurumi to save him... looping for about 200 times, indeed she could just have eaten him and get his powers, but of course she cant, she can be the worst most evil spirit, a girl that spells doom, but she was always first a very kind, a girl with a gentle heart, that got thorn over by getting caught in the middle of Mio's plan. Also more than never, it is visible she is growing some deep affection towards Shidou, the clones trolling her made for some cute scenes, they are her but they are also themselves, in the end they care for the real Kurumi and know alot of what dwels on her own heart, even the things she doesnt want to admit to avoid losing strength and motivation to see the end of the path she choose.
I got alot of vibes from Magical Madoka and Steins Gate here, with Kurumi going back to save Shidou over and over again, which each time her concious self getting more and more worned about it... I always found Kurumi a very mysterious and amusing character to read, but the lengths she goes over during this volume, what she experienced... that really stroke my heart, to the point is pretty hard to not say she is my main favorite, I share alot of love and adoration for Origami with vol 10-11, Tohka from the start, and Miku, and the others are also cute (Muku's and Natsumi are adorable, and I felt for Mia's past), but Kurumi clearly stands on a different level.

It is only normal she collapsed like that in the end. What a really selfish girl, wanting to keep all of that bottled inside, despite having done so much for him.
Also I came to fear alot Nibelcol this episode, when DEM get serious, fuck! I have to say though, I kinda hate the fact that Wescott had to get his hands on Beelzebub, even with Mia's intervention it feels like too much like a cheat guides, where is even Ratatoskr, for such a big organization, they are powerless, they have though it was sweet, they clearly underestimated DEM's reach and power, become if not by Kurumi, Shidou would have been really dead, hell, he can even choose, so many times in the spans of 6 days they tried, it is kinda overhelming.
Only someone like Kurumi could take up to this task, I bet it wasnt easy seeing that scene over and over again.

I have wrotten so much already but still, the volume waits till the end, to keep bombarding you with more plot twists!
Gotta confess I already knew this one, Reine was [Phantom], but more than that she is the First Spirit, everything makes sense with this, and the context this gives to all the plot that has been going on is tremendous, not only for Kurumi, but also for Shidou and the other spirits, if I wasnt spoiled already this would have been another fucking huge plot twist!

C.R.A.Z.Y...

3 huge plot twists this volume, coupled with the best writting for the series so far, alot of Kurumi's mixed with other spirits moments too (sweetness levels rising to warning levels), some real despair and shockings scenes here... I think it is safe to assume this is my favorite so far, to this point I had 7, 11 and 15, and couldnt choose between them, I still enjoyed those alot, but Kurumi's Refrain is the pinacle of the series and of the writter evolution and subtle hinting towards thist underlining plot involving the First Spirit.
What a read, this is a game changer, and if people already enjoyed Kurumi alot with S1 and S2 content, which IMO wasnt enough to give her this much hype, how can they take with such amazing arc? Obviously most will never reach here, I would love to see the anime reaching this point, it is unlikeable. :(

10/10 volume for me.
And it is only the first part, it continues on Kurumi's Ragnarok! Already have readed some, and it just makes everything more complex and suddently you cant say the First Spirit is all that evil. I was never expecting the series to reach this kind of plot quality, I was on the ride for the harem enjoyable cast, but my expectations were by far surpassed with this arc.
It really feels like were starting to get on the climax, I just hope the writter manages to keep the wave going.

So in short, with this volume I become a Kurumi's workshipper, I never understood it before but Kurumi is love, Kurumi is LIFE, for real.

What an amazing evolution this series has undergo, AMAZING!

DAL lovers, get to read this shit, it is like mandatory, if anyone enjoyed DAL series before, it is a shame not experiencing volume 16, sell your soul to the devil and start reading!

PlaycoolApr 24, 2018 6:48 AM

Apr 24, 2018 8:03 AM

Kerveros_Zero

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Nov 2015

Well, Kurumi is my favorite character.
in spanish:
todo confuso, pero explicado de un modo entendible, si surge otra duda, se puede releer.

Nos leemos

Apr 24, 2018 12:08 PM

Playcool

Supreme Tsundere

Offline

Nov 2012

4019

Kerveros_Zero said:
Well, Kurumi is my favorite character.
in spanish:
todo confuso, pero explicado de un modo entendible, si surge otra duda, se puede releer.

Nos leemos

Nah, you havent seen the real deal with Kurumi until you read her true arc... not even close. Even volume 3, only hints, but hints arent the real deal.

Apr 28, 2018 3:04 PM

Kerveros_Zero

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Nov 2015

well my memories are vague, but from the beginning I did not see kurumi as an enemy, her reasons had to do things.
Well with time the author has not revealed things, that among all is the one that most calls my interest.
Sonara stupid, of the characters created for this novel, for me she is the most human (?).

Nos leemos

Mar 20, 2019 6:39 PM

Syureria

Offline

Feb 2018

27102

Kurumi challenges Shido to a match in which whoever falls in love first loses; with the loser relinquishing their Spirit powers to the other.
DEM sets out to kill Shido, to prevent him from sealing Kurumi's powers.
Kurumi's past history as a human is revealed: having once been the daughter of a rich family, Kurumi was tricked into receiving the powers of a Spirit by Mio Takamiya - the Spirit of Origin.

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