Needless

[Homura7]

I laughed my ass with the last page.

Spoiler for spoiler:

She certainly is different than the one from the one shot.

However I don't think this is exactly a retcon. The brains of both fused, so who knows what might happen in 2 years. Progressive loss of memory?

[Noda]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

I laughed my ass with the last page.

Spoiler for spoiler:

She certainly is different than the one from the one shot.

However I don't think this is exactly a retcon. The brains of both fused, so who knows what might happen in 2 years. Progressive loss of memory?

Spoiler for Retcon?:

You could actually explain it in the framework of Needless as presented. Just say that when Yamada and Saten went into Blade's fractured memories the future was changed and that particular Adam N. was changed into this one that is more Blade than Eve. With all the timeline tomfoolery going on, it's as plausible as anything else.

[Solace]

Originally Posted by wcthesecret

I don't loathe all of it, when it's done right, it can work, for example, ranma 1/2, he can change back into a guy whenever splashed with hot water, he just changes when he's splashed with cold water. Now here. I don't like it because it was forced on the kid. He was forced to dress likes girl. He was changed into a girl against his own free will. All of this happened without him having any say in the matter. Do you see where I'm getting at here?

I do. Nothing stopped Cruz from dressing as a guy again. It was just convenient for him not to do so, since it functioned as a running gag and had actual plot use (like getting into the city and lab as a Killer Girl). Plus, he might have protested occasionally, but it was never serious, and for the most part he was shown to not mind dressing as a girl at all. By the end of the story, for all intents and purposes he was pretty much "Yamada, the girl", and not "Cruz, the boy".

Blade making it permanent is both the culmination of the joke, and a completion of that plot element, for now. I'm sure we'll get more gender jokes in Needless 2.

My issue here with how you speak of it, is that you post about it far too seriously. I understand that people can be uncomfortable with gender bending in stories. It's not everyone's "thing". That said, it's just a story, and it's used for (mostly) comic effect. If this was a full blown drama and Cruz depicted as an actual victim cruelly forced into something not of his will, I might sympathize with your anger. But it's a fantasy comic that rarely takes itself seriously, so I just can't see a reason to be angry in this case.

Spoiler for Ann speculation:

About Ann, it's possible the merging is unstable and that will create an urgency to restore them back into individual people. So perhaps the one shot can be explained like this:

Black Madam joins the group at some point. The other important characters are out on a trip. This leaves Ann alone at the Church, bad memory and all, and Cain shows up. We'd still need an explanation about the new Needless Hunt though, but with 666 and Ishiyama surviving, that wouldn't be difficult.

We'll see though. I expect some level of retcon, even if the basic points of Needless Zero make it into the sequel.

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by Noda

Spoiler for Retcon?:

You could actually explain it in the framework of Needless as presented. Just say that when Yamada and Saten went into Blade's fractured memories the future was changed and that particular Adam N. was changed into this one that is more Blade than Eve. With all the timeline tomfoolery going on, it's as plausible as anything else.

Spoiler for :

Although, I doubt Blade is gonna start calling himself Neuschwanstein. In that case, is AnN only a character that exist in the oneshot, and only her form will be used in Needless II?

[Solace]

Originally Posted by Kurohane

Spoiler for :

Although, I doubt Blade is gonna start calling himself Neuschwanstein. In that case, is AnN only a character that exist in the oneshot, and only her form will be used in Needless II?

Spoiler for .:

It's possible that by that point in time, the "Eve" and "Blade" personalities have become so mixed/unstable that a new name is required. Ann would effectively be a new personality. You can't call her Blade or Eve if she no longer recognizes those names.

It's also possible the name is used as a cover, since the Needless Hunt has resumed.

[Homura7]

Spoiler for spoiler:

Her memory is messed up, she calls people by other names like Eve, does the signature pose like Blade and the only thing that doesn't fit is her current personality.

But if you check Imai's website and search the timeline you'll find a section where he asserts the Needless original story ties with Needless 1.5

In the end it will happen what is said here:



The two sides can't come apart.

The soul fuses into one.

And at certain moments they return to being two.

Gido wasn't that crazy afterall.

[Xiammes]

Spoiler for 114:

So the timeline has to be seriously fucked up depending on how time flows. Blade and Eve helped Cruz in the past then they likely saved Cruz again during the PF incident. I can't even begin to explain how fucked up the timeline has been.


I assume there is some Japanese behind the On and Da, Yamada and Uchida being the names Eve remembers.

I wonder how big of the limbs of the Second Christ will play a part in part 2 since they seem like the only way for Blade to return his holy power. I assume we might have Triple 6 guarding them or some Needless are using the parts for themselves. Also Adam Z has to return, Satan showed us that he can regenerate from a chunk of brain then so can Adam Z. The reason his corpse didn't revive because I assume the conscious part traveled across the gate.

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

Spoiler for spoiler:

Her memory is messed up, she calls people by other names like Eve, does the signature pose like Blade and the only thing that doesn't fit is her current personality.

But if you check Imai's website and search the timeline you'll find a section where he asserts the Needless original story ties with Needless 1.5

In the end it will happen what is said here:



The two sides can't come apart.

The soul fuses into one.

And at certain moments they return to being two.

Gido wasn't that crazy afterall.

Even more reason why the others just wouldn't just watch this happen. They would find a way to separate them before that happens.

[Noda]

Spoiler for color insert:

While I'm at it.. Way in the back there, isn't that the main character of that paranormal(?) series Imai Kami also created? What's he doing there for Needless 1's goodbye?

[Homura7]

Spoiler for spoiler:

I just checked vol. 9 because I recalled there was some mention of Needless 1.5 by Imai in the Black Madam profile.

If we go by his words, Needless 1.5 is indeed canon, but he never said it woul start without questions, right? Plus we are talking about a time skip of 2 years, no less.

Dang, the anticipation is killing me.

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

Spoiler for spoiler:

I just checked vol. 9 because I recalled there was some mention of Needless 1.5 by Imai in the Black Madam profile.

If we go by his words, Needless 1.5 is indeed canon, but he never said it woul start without questions, right? Plus we are talking about a time skip of 2 years, no less.

Dang, the anticipation is killing me.

1.5 is two years, who knows how long before Part II starts? Plus, knowing Imai-san, the beginning chapter is going to be having us ask even more questions. Like, "what on earth happened between Needless I and II?"

[wcthesecret]

Originally Posted by Solace

I do. Nothing stopped Cruz from dressing as a guy again. It was just convenient for him not to do so, since it functioned as a running gag and had actual plot use (like getting into the city and lab as a Killer Girl). Plus, he might have protested occasionally, but it was never serious, and for the most part he was shown to not mind dressing as a girl at all. By the end of the story, for all intents and purposes he was pretty much "Yamada, the girl", and not "Cruz, the boy".

Blade making it permanent is both the culmination of the joke, and a completion of that plot element, for now. I'm sure we'll get more gender jokes in Needless 2.

My issue here with how you speak of it, is that you post about it far too seriously. I understand that people can be uncomfortable with gender bending in stories. It's not everyone's "thing". That said, it's just a story, and it's used for (mostly) comic effect. If this was a full blown drama and Cruz depicted as an actual victim cruelly forced into something not of his will, I might sympathize with your anger. But it's a fantasy comic that rarely takes itself seriously, so I just can't see a reason to be angry in this case.

Spoiler for Ann speculation:

About Ann, it's possible the merging is unstable and that will create an urgency to restore them back into individual people. So perhaps the one shot can be explained like this:

Black Madam joins the group at some point. The other important characters are out on a trip. This leaves Ann alone at the Church, bad memory and all, and Cain shows up. We'd still need an explanation about the new Needless Hunt though, but with 666 and Ishiyama surviving, that wouldn't be difficult.

We'll see though. I expect some level of retcon, even if the basic points of Needless Zero make it into the sequel.

He was forced to by blade and everybody else, he could've dressed as an old man, or something like that. and also, how was he the girl fully, because he was being manly? No, him being manly meant that he was a man, and I'm pissed because this guy helped them throughout this whole entire thing and this is the thanks that they give him, the hell man, the *u**i** hell. And I take it seriously because I really liked this manga, and then that happened. That actually pissed me off when that happened. That, has NEVER HAPPENED TO ME BEFORE!!! I mean, what if the kid ends up like the guy that was forcefully changed into a girl from the movie memory run?

[Sayo A.]

Originally Posted by Ynot

^ The colorspread more than makes up for that. Look at Yamada and who's holding her hand....aaaaww! So cute!

Also note who's clinging on to Yamada's other arm. Seems Disk, at least, isn't picky when it comes to gender...


Anyway, it's nice to finally get something right for once.

Spoiler for what I got right, and other stuff:

Originally Posted by Sayo A.

Colour page features ANn, obviously.

And naked with gloves, no less.

I got something else right about ANn too, but I'm not going to labour the point now that it's all come to pass.

What I wasn't expecting, with only one chapter to finish things off, was another flashback. There couldn't possible be room for that! And yet, there it is, and not only does it help to resolve the situation, but it also shows us why Eve's memory for names is so bad. Imai never fails to surprise the readers...

Also, I thought it was interesting to see the scar on Onda's neck - it reminded me of something:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

That's Cain from the BLACK SPOT doujin, btw. His scar is due to having his head exchanged with that of his sister Abel (now there's a forced gender swap to complain about), but there's no explanation for Onda's. Yet another unanswered question for part 2?

And the last page is pure gold.

[wcthesecret]

Originally Posted by Sayo A.

Also note who's clinging on to Yamada's other arm. Seems Disk, at least, isn't picky when it comes to gender...


Anyway, it's nice to finally get something right for once.

Spoiler for what I got right, and other stuff:

And naked with gloves, no less.

I got something else right about ANn too, but I'm not going to labour the point now that it's all come to pass.

What I wasn't expecting, with only one chapter to finish things off, was another flashback. There couldn't possible be room for that! And yet, there it is, and not only does it help to resolve the situation, but it also shows us why Eve's memory for names is so bad. Imai never fails to surprise the readers...

Also, I thought it was interesting to see the scar on Onda's neck - it reminded me of something:

Images

Sorry; dynamic content not loaded. Reload?

That's Cain from the BLACK SPOT doujin, btw. His scar is due to having his head exchanged with that of his sister Abel (now there's a forced gender swap to complain about), but there's no explanation for Onda's. Yet another unanswered question for part 2?

And the last page is pure gold.

...great, now I gotta kill two people and fix two things whenever I find some way to get into the world of needless.

[Homura7]

I don't know what exactly might have happened during those 2 years before Adam N. returned as a completely different person. Yeah, TOTALLY, Blade's personality is nowhere to be seen during that time.

The biggest mistery in the story remains to be Yamada. Pretty much all the loose ends about her have yet to give an answer.

Spoiler for spoiler:

- The striking resemblance with Eve and Kasumi.

- The color of her eyes that only Arclight noticed.

- Why Kana saw Blade in him.

- The angel Mio talked about, of course.

- The reason why Saten was so overprotective upon her.

- There's something about her body only Arca knew.

And a few more I don't remember. Quite a ton of stuff to explain, if you ask me.

[Magia]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

I don't know what exactly might have happened during those 2 years before Adam N. returned as a completely different person. Yeah, TOTALLY, Blade's personality is nowhere to be seen during that time.

The biggest mistery in the story remains to be Yamada. Pretty much all the loose ends about her have yet to give an answer.

Spoiler for spoiler:

- The striking resemblance with Eve and Kasumi.

- The color of her eyes that only Arclight noticed.

- Why Kana saw Blade in him.

- The angel Mio talked about, of course.

- The reason why Saten was so overprotective upon her.

- There's something about her body only Arca knew.

And a few more I don't remember. Quite a ton of stuff to explain, if you ask me.

If Kami doesn't make a sequel, then these can be easily be answered.

Spoiler:

- Mere consequence. No need to overthink on it.

- Arclight realized that Yamada was awakening her Needless powers. Maybe he even realized the type of fragment that Yamada had and that she was a stigmata holder to boot from how powerful the awakening was.

- Kana was recalling the similar experience she had when Blade helped her out. That's why she saw Blade reflecting on Cruz's back. Not to mention, it shows that Cruz became more brave and cool like the person he looks up to.

- The "angel" was probably Adam N. considering Blade and Eve hopping through time and dimensions and become one to help Cruz. I wouldn't put it past them considering how much Blade and Eve owe Cruz for even existing.

- Saten IS a part of the Adam series, so it's only natural that he'd be a loli/shotacon. Not to mention, Cruz was a pretty useful tool for him to realize his plans. It would've been a waste to kill him off.

- Arca was wanting to remove the chip in Yamada's brain.

I'm not saying I'm right, but these sound like the most logical answers with what we've been left with. If Kami does make a sequel, then hopefully some of the loose ends will be resolved in a tight little bow.

[Avvesione]

Just checked the UJ website and it doesn't have Needless listed for next month's issue (although the other manga that ended this month gets an epilogue, wish we were getting one, too!) Looks like the only thing in the foreseeable future will be a feature article titled "NEEDLESS History", though I'm not exactly sure what that entails. And the final volume will be out in late September (maybe it'll be coming back around then? Kinda strange that it's out in 3 months compared to the normal 1).

I guess the next best source of news will be Imai Kami's website, should it ever get updated.

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by K. Shiruto

I don't know what exactly might have happened during those 2 years before Adam N. returned as a completely different person. Yeah, TOTALLY, Blade's personality is nowhere to be seen during that time.

The biggest mistery in the story remains to be Yamada. Pretty much all the loose ends about her have yet to give an answer.

Spoiler for spoiler:

- The striking resemblance with Eve and Kasumi.

- The color of her eyes that only Arclight noticed.

- Why Kana saw Blade in him.

- The angel Mio talked about, of course.

- The reason why Saten was so overprotective upon her.

- There's something about her body only Arca knew.

And a few more I don't remember. Quite a ton of stuff to explain, if you ask me.

Spoiler for cruz:

Two of those can already be explained.
-The striking resemblance with Eve and Kasumi.
Coincidence. We can delve deeper that its something more, but that's probably all there is to it.

-Why Kana saw Blade in him.
Most likely she saw the resemblance from her perspective. Blade saved her from Solva and her gang. When Cruz stood up to face Hatfield, she mostly likely recalled the same heroism shown before.

"There's something about her body only Arca knew."
I always inferred that this relates to the pill Blade gave Cruz. Aruka only acted after learning something from Disk. That was why Disk was captured and chained.

Things to add:
-How she has such quick regeneration that even Doppleganger would be ashamed. e.g. survived Kafka's Kandata String and Strom's Ice attacks, came out of a cliff fall without a scratch, pummeled by rampaging experiments only to be fine moments afterwards, has head and brain drilled into only to have it completely healed in minutes.

-How Cruz is related to Riru's creator, because Disk interrupted to prevent Cruz from hearing that.

-What Disk told Blade and Eve related to Cruz.

-What Aruka's dying words to Cruz truly mean.

-Why the Black Madam so willingly helped Cruz. Those okay with others keeping secrets is because they have secrets themselves.

Once we get into Needless II, we'll probably only get references to 1.5, like for Sword of the Reaper. That way, we can tell it happened in a similar way, but not exactly from the one-shot. In order to reproduce 1.5 exactly:
-one of the monks has to have the Ice fragment,
-Teruyama will have to work as gatekeeper,
-the gate will have to have less security as shown in City arc,
-Needless would have already had to have been living in the city (since Cain's dad was a Needless),
-the Black Madam would have to meet the Blade, and
-everyone else has to leave the church for some reason for a limited time.

It's impossible to have things match that precisely at this point.

Spoiler for Onda:

I just heard this from somewhere else. I want to know what you guys think. We know Onda has a scar on his neck, the same place the Second Christ had. We also know each Adam clone was created from several body parts. Also, we know Adam 78 and 79 weren't created before Gido encountered the angel and injected himself with Eden's Seed, while Karin has already become Eve though at the time incomplete. Applying these facts, Onda may have in fact been the Second Christ, whose DNA runs through all Adam clones.

Originally Posted by Avvesione

Just checked the UJ website and it doesn't have Needless listed for next month's issue (although the other manga that ended this month gets an epilogue, wish we were getting one, too!) Looks like the only thing in the foreseeable future will be a feature article titled "NEEDLESS History", though I'm not exactly sure what that entails. And the final volume will be out in late September (maybe it'll be coming back around then? Kinda strange that it's out in 3 months compared to the normal 1).

I guess the next best source of news will be Imai Kami's website, should it ever get updated.

What's the manga getting an epilogue?

Needless History? A new timeline?

Looks like we'll have to wait a bit. Oh well, a good a time as any to go over Part I again now that it's complete.

[Kefit]

Spoiler:

Well, that was as much of a non-ending as I had feared. No time for anything at all except for the final Blade/Eve plot dump and the final battle resolution. There's some pretty great stuff this chapter, but I feel so unsatisfied. Needed a lot more Cruz, seeing as he's the central protagonist and all.

And Kami "oops I forgot about these characters" disease struck again with Setsuna+Kuchinashi in the chapter itself and with Hinata on the double page color spread. Poor girl, was never mentioned again once the fight in the St Rose arc started.

Looks like Kami ended this in such a way that it can be continued effortlessly, but also so that if need be it can stand on its own if you cross your eyes and hit yourself in the head with a hammer a couple of times. And judging by the fact that Ultra Jump's site has announced v16 as the final volume, and that this requires v16 to be 1.5x the length of a standard tank, I think it's safe to say that Needless isn't continuing in Ultra Jump any time soon.

With any luck Kami still has enough rights to his work to take Needless 2 to another publisher. It definitely feels like he's been unceremoniously booted from Ultra Jump, and it would be a damn shame for him and his fans if he wasn't able to continue and properly finish what has basically become his life's work.

Don't let us down Kami!

[Kurohane]

Originally Posted by Kefit

Spoiler:

Well, that was as much of a non-ending as I had feared. No time for anything at all except for the final Blade/Eve plot dump and the final battle resolution. There's some pretty great stuff this chapter, but I feel so unsatisfied. Needed a lot more Cruz, seeing as he's the central protagonist and all.

I know the feeling all too well.

Looks like Kami ended this in such a way that it can be continued effortlessly, but also so that if need be then so it stands on its own if you cross your eyes and hit yourself in the head with a hammer a couple of times. And judging by the fact that Ultra Jump's site has announced v16 as the final volume, and that this requires v16 to be 1.5x the length of a standard tank, I think it's safe to say that Needless isn't continuing in Ultra Jump any time soon.

Well, most anime/ manga end like that, so it's not surprising. Nothing we can do about it.