Shin Megami Tensei Series

So I found this blog that apparently reveals what the giant eye monster near the end of the Raidou manga is supposed to be. I'm not entirely what it is though.

The most I understood with google translate was Clarion.

edited 5th Sep '14 12:40:31 PM by OmegaRadiance

Okay, going to start from scratch in Digital Devil Saga.

what little of the first paragraph i tried to translate...

well, all it really told me was that clarion was some kind of eldritch being/celestial body... 'that exists on the other side' and can travel large distances across the universe...or something?

something involving loneliness, and something about eating stars. its an existance at the top of the food chain or something

"he is a massively powerful being that resolutely opposes raidou" and then...

fuck if i know.

2nd paragraph largely seems to be a description; you already know it- big eye jutting out its enourmous face, tentacles, etc.

3rd paragraph...yahveh appears to be involved. also something about atlus and an avatar tuner seraph(?)

im a little confused at this point.

edited 5th Sep '14 1:16:56 PM by Tarsen

The mysterious sun that appeared at the end of the planet's lifespan. In truth, it is a life form from the very depths of the universe. "The one on the other side", Clarion.
A lonely entity who has been wandering the vastness of the cosmos for time untold.

This spirit that latched onto the newborn planet as a parasite, and had been awaiting the chance to emerge, is the cause of the incident. A cursed, poisonous parasite at the top of the food chain, ready to deavour the planet.

That's what it says it is. But the language used is a bit...strange. Par for the course for Megaten.

Thanks for translating. They also blogged the other chapters as well. At most from what I get from those other ones is that Shouten becomes Behemoth after eating Rakshasa and his fellow demons, and is then sacrificed to summon a Snake God.

Not sure what kind of snake god it is. Only that it's the one Susano-o defeats and gets beaten before Clarion appears.

Yamata-no-Orochi?

No not him. Some other obscure Japanese Snake God.

Clarion I think is supposed to be based on an alien race theory.

Oh wait, I got it: Clarion was hiding on the other side of the sun, apparently. It latched itself on the twelth planet of the solar system, called Yahweh. They were convinced it was the one and only god.

The blogger thinks that Seraph's Atma from DDS was also a "Clarion". Honestly, there's a lot of speculation in there, so I'm not sure what to give you as factual. Is that web novel/manga anywhere?

edited 5th Sep '14 1:51:03 PM by lu127

/smtg/ has a link to a site where one can download all the raws for The Lone Marebito and other SMT/Persona mangas.

English or Raw? If former, PM me.

The Raidou manga is cursed to never be translated beyond chapter 7-8. That's always where they end up stopping.

Twelfth planet? Even counting Pluto, that's still only nine.

guess its an alternate universe.

incidentally, the penultimate paragraph begins with "to travel to a similar universe" i think?

and wait isnt the PHANTOM SOCIETY a soul hackers thing??

edited 5th Sep '14 2:09:38 PM by Tarsen

Again, the blogger thinks the leader of Phantom Society may be related since it's an entity that traverses the cosmos.

ah.

speculation is hard to pick out in japanese... :/

... So, I'm playing Raidou 2, and I just gotta ask- Is there any rhyme or reason to how and when Victor has those freak-out sessions and asks for gems to make Evil and Fiend demons?

Every multiple of seven. 7, 14, 21, etc and must be done during a New Moon. Otherwise you'll get a Evil Order demon.

... Ah, that explains it.

Seven is exactly long enough for one to lose track of the fact that that could happen.

Oh wait. Now I get it. But to understand what I'm saying, you have to keep in mind there is a capton of alternate kanji readings at work here, so I'll try to explain them best I can.

There's this guy, Abe Seimei (who is a descendant of the actual Abe no Seimei) who apparently is the one behind the Lone Marebito business. The creature existed within him long ago, and at the moment Raidou purifies him, he thinks he doesn't want all the sacrifices he made go to waste, so he surrenders everything to Mr. Huge Eyeball that looks like SMT 2's YHVH. He says that Onmyodo began from their Confucian and Taoist ancestors in the mainland. Then it evolved through the work of Hindu astrology and Mikkyo, only to finally be merged with Japan's religious beliefs after absorbing some of the West's Christaian beliefs. So as a perfect fusion of all religious systems, Seimei summons a huge Behemoth Magnetite that is supposed to be the true form of onmyodo. Raidou stabs Seimei, wbut the Behemeoth transforms into a huge sun. The Behemoth helped amplify the "Poisonous Magnetite", and Seimei used it as an...intermediary (sorry I'm not familiar with Kuzunoha terms) to summon this demon. Raidou can't summon because that thing is absorbing energy, so the huge YHVH head-thingy appears and blots out the sun. Seimei says that people's misery, the feelings of loneliness and superiority will one day become a "poison" that will destroy mankind (and the shot behind him shows a certain nuclear explosion we all know). He wants to gather all those feelings to create a perfect harmony, which he believes is the way to salvation.

Sun-head starts raining meteors down (the attack is called "Lament of Creation"), and says he was looking for a human to corrupt a human's body. Sunhead guy came from the infinite space a long time ago. The long journey exhausted him, so he hid on the other side of the sun, and sent his mind and a piece of his body to the earth. His consciousness became a parasite in Abe Semei's body. Human ego, however, is strong, so he didn't manage to corrupt Seimei until a very emotional moment, where he surfaced and imparted the twisted philosophy of "Sacrifice the weak, to protect the weak" in Seimei's head. That's when Seimei's ego started to crumble. Seimei kept him back as long as he could, but when Raidou pierced his heart, the parasitic eye was free to emerge and take over. Sunhead wants to dissolve human ego on the planet and make them a piece of his body for absolute peace and salvation, which is why the sun is absorbing everything. Its name is Clarion.

Now, the alternate readings:

Seimei's name is 星命, which means "the planet's life".

Marebito is a weird word. It's written as 客人, which just means guest, but when read as Marebito, it signifies a superstitious, celestial entity that may take a human form.

The title of the story is "The Lonely Marebito" (孤独の客人). However, it is also written as 蠱毒の客人. These two are pronounced the same, but while 孤独 means loneliness, 蠱毒 is an old superstitious word about cursed insects and parasites that poison their host.

Clarion wants to return everything to the Colony, which is written as 故郷 (homeland). Clarion's non-kana name is "The one on the other side", since he was hiding on the backside of the sun.

huh.

that sounds remarkably more convoluted than it really needed to be.

thanks for the indepth translation, lu.

'He's got friends on the other siiiiiiide.'

x3 Thanks for translating all that. I can only guess that Abe Seimei was infected when he was murdered by a woman in the flashback.

There is one thing I wish to ask. Do they mention what the name of the giant creature with the snake headed tentacles coming out that fights Susano-o?

Holy shit Mikaboshi

It's like if Sukuna-Hikona could teleport and only took Scratch Damage

edited 7th Sep '14 6:13:54 PM by Pulse

Masakado is harder. A lot harder.

Masakado is also a Bonus Boss!

Mikaboshi is a required fight! At the end of Chapter 5!