Wait what there's a chapter out on Wednesday.
That's like a record for IEM. They must have been tripping over themselves in the rush to scanlate this. XD
1. Ooh, nice. When Amano skips the standard color page in favor of jumping right in and there are already this many speech bubbles happening, you know it's going to be a talky chapter, which is my favorite kind (not to mention hella refreshing after all of that shounen hoopla toward the end of the Byakuran fight). So here we go--time to see if we can wrap up all of the lingering loose ends in less than seventeen pages.
LOOSE END #1: Why didn't they jump forward the full ten years? Well, friends, it looks like we finally have the answer; the 7^3 was messin' around with space-time. Thanks for that, Verde you smug, smug fellow. Seems like we're off to a good start!
2. LOOSE END #2: FAREWELLS. And the first one doesn't disappoint. Man, it's good to see Yamamoto being Yamamoto again. Really good. Just looking at him standing there infuriating Squalo with his |D face makes me very, very happy. And he sure didn't quit baseball for very long, did he? I suppose it would take an intervention or something for him to actually go cold turkey. XD
P.S. is it just me or is Squalo not wearing a shirt. (ETA: Nope, I'm just blind... or I am only seeing what I want to see.) How not-at-all-homosexual of him. And there he goes, vanishing into thin air. See you, TYL!Squalo. And say goodbye to your flying shark for me also.
3. LOOSE END #3: RYOHEI'S GIRLFRIEND! WAIT SINCE WHEN DID HE HAVE A GIRLFRIEND?? Clearly someone (ME) has not been paying attention...?!! And my God, but his face is entertaining.
And I'm glad they mentioned Hana, even if was just a brief aside. She pretty much saved Kyoko's life way back at the beginning of the arc, so it's good that Kyoko left her a letter presumably thanking her and letting her know everything turned out well. IT'S THE POLITE THING TO DO.
4. LOOSE END #4: RESIDUAL ANIMOSITY BETWEEN M.M. AND CHROME. So is M.M. just lying through her teeth or is she bitter that Chrome is clearly much better bffs with Mukuro than she could ever be, or does this warning actually have any factual basis to sit upon? Because from everything I've seen of TYL!Mukuro, he is a total Good Guy, and no amount of "BUT I'M STILL GOING TO TAKE OVER TSUNA'S BODY, AND TOMORROW, THE WORLD!!!" will ever convince me otherwise. And the little we saw of TYE!Mukuro back during the Varia Arc (DECADES AGO) was much the same.
...Yeah, somehow, I just don't see it. Yes, he's totally just using her. That's why he's radiating about as much affection as I've ever seen on his deadpan little face ever. Sure. :P
Side note: I love that Hibari and Kusakabe's farewell took all of three panels, and Kyoya didn't even bother to say anything. XD HE DOES NOT CARE.
And I see my baby boy is playing hide and seek with his big sis just like the good old days, which brings me to...
5. LOOSE END #5 (THE MOST IMPORTANT ONE): BIANCHI HAS SOMETHING TO TELL YOU, LITTLE BRO.
Oh my Jesus what is happening. GOKUPAPA WASN'T ACTUALLY A TERRIBLE PERSON (well, to be honest the possibility had occurred to me, but I hoped it wouldn't prove the case because I preferred the explanation with maximum angst XD)? AND HIS MOM REFUSED TO MARRY HIM BECAUSE SHE WAS SICK. OH MY GOD. WORLD IS SHATTERING. HIS ENTIRE ANGSTY PAST TORN TO SHREDS IN A MATTER OF SECONDS. That's a hell of a lot to take in.
I'm not sure whether or not to be pleased; on the one hand, there go like a zillion fanfic canons (this is even worse than that time when Shou turned out to not be evil), but on the other hand... well, I can't not be glad for him. AND YET I'm still a little saddened at the same time because in spite of this new revelation, between poison cookies, crappy role models/mentors, and (I'm going to assume) really neglectful caretakers (no matter what he overhears, an eight-year-old boy isn't just going to up and run away one day unless there are a hell of a lot of other issues going on. I can't help but wonder how Bianchi's mother treated him, considering his father's affair...), not to mention GROWING UP ALONE ON THE STREETS (and if his father really gave a shit then why didn't he ever track him down? He can't have been hard to find), he still had a really crappy childhood. The fact that his dad didn't murder his mom after all hardly wraps everything up in a neat little package. And yet, it is a start.
As an aside, I really hope his mom's illness isn't the kind of thing that runs in the family. All the more reason to stop smoking, kiddo. XD
6. Since we're on the subject of death--brb, dying. XDDDD
Okay, between the revelation about his parents and the off-the-charts hilarity of that top right panel, this chapter is easily my favorite for Gokudera since he got all Robin Hood on us back in 266, and maybe even beyond that. Seriously, that is the greatest panel in history. I almost don't even care what's on the rest of this page, or even the rest of this chapter for that matter. THAT IS A LIE, BUT STILL.
Anyway, LOOSE END #6: SPANNER WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU. Now we know. Missing out entirely on the epic battle because he was busy building something useless (though I can't really say that, because it proved all too useful in the end. That panel was seriously a work of genius).
7. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO. ;_; LOOSE END #7 MAKES ME TERRIBLY SAD. I wanted them to keep them! Uri! Nuts! Jirou! SISTEMA C.A.I.!!! PLEASE SAY IT AIN'T SO.
I... I... I need a moment. Uri, you'll live on forever in my heart and headcanon.
Oh, and also, LOOSE END #8: KAWAHIRA. "Lol, we never did find out who the heck he was, eh?" Damn it, Basil, don't just say that with such a cheerful face. Please be a villain in the next arc, please be a villain in the next arc... >_>
8. Shouichi. ;_____; I think I'll miss you most of all. Keep on shining, you crazy diamond. I hope you and Byakuran get your Good End in some parallel universe a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away.
9. OH WHAT FUCK YEAH. Revised Loose End #7! So they just reinvented the boxes back in the past! SWEET. I am a happy panda. And it's nice that they also went and caught up everyone who didn't get to participate in Future Arc Funtimes. It's also nice that they even addressed that, because I hadn't even thought of it. Good on you, Amano. She's not leaving any plotholes without a fight.
Awww, Tsuna, it's okay to hug your mom, geez. XD Especially when you haven't seen her in... however the hell long it's been. Who even knows. BUT IT IS NO REFLECTION ON YOUR MANHOOD FOR YOU TO CARE ABOUT YOUR MOTHER, LAD.
Good to be back.
10. And last but not least, Loose End #9. The moment we've all been waiting for.
...it is not quite how I pictured it. XD I guess the future guardians got updated too? So much for the tearful reunion I may or may not have been anticipating.
Still, all the same, I really love this last page. Back where it all began. But it's all fixed now. They did it. They won.
Aaaaaand, roll credits. Fare thee well, Future Arc.
Now bring on the next one. And with the door wide open to all kinds of possibilities, I fully expect to see next week's chapter out bright and early too. Because there's no way I can be the only one who's this excited. :D