**SPOILER ALERT - DON'T READ IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW THE ENDING**

Shiina managed to defeat the group of the Shadow Dragon controllers who aimed to start a world war and in the process, managed to lose her father (he sacrificed himself to take down the angel like shadow dragon).

The fight itself seems to be one sided as Bungo (angel shadow dragon controller) died when Shiina's father rammed his fighter jet kamikaze style, Sudo committed suicide by hunger strike, Akira was hit by a bomb shrapnel and went into comma.

Apparently Shiina's Shadow Dragon is not merely Hoshimaru (the star shaped dragon), but the whole World itself. She's also partnered by another girl who call herself Shiina's "Shadow" ("You're the light, I'm the shadow")

Shiina returned with injured Akira, and apparently lived normally for a while until certain extremist group of the society killed Shiina's mother, her lover, and throw unconcious Akira off the hospital window.

Shiina's Shadow ordered the world (which is a Shadow Dragon) to destroy humanity. It wiped out everyone and the whole planet is empty but for the shadow dragon, Shiina and her shadow.

And both Shiina and her shadow are pregnant, watching a totally empty world filled with flying shadow dragons on the sky.

The whole feeling I have in reading this series is that the mangaka's view of the world is much worse than Kafka. It is a world full of bullying, rape, murder (with explicit mutilations and torture) and continous deaths and suicides. The ending is even worse than all, it portrays mankind as evil, pure evil, who have to be eradicated from this world.

I have a feeling that the manga has deeper meaning that this totally "twilight zone" sci-fi idea of destroying mankind (ala X-1999 or Evangelion), but I can find understand any of it. At least in X-1999 or Evangelion you can clearly see the "Good" and the "Evil", while here, I feel like the whole story is a random fight between people who are, more than anything, are VICTIMS

It seems that every single one of the Dragon kids are broken - loss their will to live. Akira was scared of the world (and probably raped by her dad - her mum commented once that her dad "loves her too much" and Akira's first murder was to kill her dad), Hikari was bullied and totally pressured by her parents to excel in her studies, and even in the end, Shiina (the only person in the whole series who is totally cheerful and full of will to live) loss her parents (both murdered), her lover (murdered) and her friends (murdered, or killed by her).

It is a very depressing read to me - and I can not, for the live of me, associate or find meaning to the whole series.


Last edited by whartanto at 5:53 am, Mar 23 2008

havent actually read it, but the description looked interesting so thnks for the inadvertent referral

i thought it was a nice ending >.> lol i personally thought the author' view of the world/human nature are pretty accurate... sure... the shadow dragon or what ever u call it part may not be.

human are capable to a great deal of kindness like Shiina, but >.> we humans are also capable of great evil... but in reality... there is no good, or evil... nothing is that simple...

and to point out... the world IS full of bullying, rape, murder (with explicit mutilations and torture) and continous deaths and suicides. after all... humans are selfish and violent people... and we are full of envy, lust, greed etc... why do you think there are still war/hunger this time of age x.x

over all.. should human be eradicated from this world?? well i dont know >.> im a coward and am afraid of death, but... sometimes i think it might be good if that were to happen :O to end all suffering etc. if you ask me... if the human deserve another chance like the ending in the manga?? haha... hell no.. that would be my answer... after all... humans are doomed to repeat their mistake

I felt like that part where the world turned out to be Shiina's shadow dragon was a complete and utter surprise. I mean, there wasn't really anything leading up to it. Also, why on earth did Naozumi die? That wasn't really explained, and I felt it just came too suddenly.

While I'll admit that the mangaka does have a poignant message about the destruction of humanity, I felt that the story could have been fleshed out and explained a bit more. I mean, it honestly shocked me to see Kuri as the shadow when there wasn't really anything relating Shiina with Kuri.

Then again, these confusions might have resulted from reading the first half of the series with the Dark Horse version of the manga, then reading the second half with the scanlated versions.

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i think he died because
he failed to see the beauty of humanity...didnt he say "destruction leads to nothingness"(or something along the lines)
he hated alot of things,hell he even said hes "beyond sexual desires"
too much hate ,he wanted to destroy the world
but in the end he destroyed himself
didnt he say "but what i hated most of all was myself"?


i think this manga is really symbolic
the mangaka is kind of warning us
its kind of like a wake up call
the world is full of hatred , cruelity and sorrow
but there are also things worth living for
things worth sacrificing for
i think the whole "light and darkness" thing means there are 2 sides to everything
theres no such thing as "good" or "evil"...theres a thin line seperating the 2 and one cant exist without the other
we just have to appreciate the light,a world that fails to see the light is doomed to destruction


Last edited by sarah-eats-cupcakes at 5:12 am, Sep 3 2011