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stellas-and-tonitruses · 3 months

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Everything we know about Project Apple (and, by extension, Anya's past) thus far

thought i'd compile all of that now while endo's on break Just In Case the next chapter happens to start anya's backstory (i don't Think it will but endo likes surprising us LSDFKLFS)

important disclaimer that project apple and the organization in charge of anya's experiments have not been confirmed to be related! there's evidence that they have things in common, in particular employees, but that's our only real connection between the two thus far. still! worth looking into

more under the cut!

so, starting very strongly with the very first mention of anything related to the project: anya's introduction in chapter 1

despite her being a main character, we know very little about her past at the moment, and this little blurb at the beginning makes up a very big portion of what we know.

things to note here:

as an experiment, her name was "Test Subject 007". important to note that the notation differs between her and bond: she was Test Subject 007, bond was Subject 8, no zeroes in there;

she had been made thus by accident, the phrasing itself implying quite heavily that she was just a normal child before said accident (but this is the translation! i don't know japanese so i can't cross-reference with the raws to clarify if the phrasing changes anything, but the fanbook uses the word "gained" to describe her powers too);

because her mind-reading is an unintended consequence, that means the scientists were presumably not, at least initially, trying to achieve cognitive enhancements in humans, and were instead trying to achieve something else, whatever that might've been;

she escaped from the facility and then moved from institution to institution, looking for a family.

so, crucially, through this little introduction we learn that there is an organization, government-funded or otherwise, that is or was conducting human experiments for unknown purposes. we also learn that whatever family anya had prior to being involved in the experiments is more than likely unreachable, at least as far as she knows, and so she has settled for finding a new family to take care of her instead.

in terms of the facility itself, here we see they clearly drilled it into her that she can't ever reveal her secret (and the darn plush is there too -- in the anime it's even more emphasized, as you can see in the gif i made)

through her reminiscing though, we get our very first look at the scientists that were in charge of her! they're in the gif above but here they are in the manga too. it's so interesting that the anime actually shows their eyes behind the glasses though, fascinating choice.

the insistence on world peace is important, as it explains her own personal obsession with it and shows that it's not just because of twilight's own focus on preserving the peace. i also don't think twilight ever really talks about "world peace," only about "preserving the current peace between westalis and ostania" -- anya seems to be the only one talking about WORLD peace (even in the very first scene where either of them mention it in proximity to each other in ch 1, loid says "understanding the other party is the first step towards peace" and anya's interpretation is "understanding me makes world peace?") but take this with a grain of salt because i might be wrong! going through every single mention of peace in the story just to fact check this one little trivia fact is a bit much i think so i'm not doing it JSDFKLSD

but yes

remember mr hair strand and baldy, we'll see them again. not her though, ig she wasn't in charge of bond

now, fast-forwarding to chapter 19, we finally get a name and a premise for the experiments:

"but oana," you might say, "this is talking about animals only! how do we know it's the same project as anya's, which involved human experimentation?"

i don't think it is, is the thing! i think it's related to the experiments anya was a part of, which is evidenced by the same scientists being featured in project apple too, but there's more going on that we don't know about. there wouldn't be such adamancy on keeping the two separate in every official mention of them if they were just the same thing, imo!

back to the evidence, we learn that the project, conducted and funded by the previous ostanian regime (meaning donovan's related to it one way or another, since he was prime minister), was marked by franticness and desperation -- a prime place for accidents like anya's telepathy and bond's future vision.

we also learn that the project was sacked by the new administration and that the former test subjects ended up on the black market.

(this makes it very important, imo, to learn when anya escaped the facility vs. when the project was sacked. it's clearly no longer in function, but while we've heard nothing from them thus far, i'm willing to bet the shady dealings around the desmond group are NOT related to the war, as W.I.S.E. has been led to believe, but rather to reignite project apple. that is speculation however so i'm going to refrain from theorising much on why the desmond group is focused on acquiring pharmaceutical companies!!)

ok speculation tangent over, back on track

so, that's already a decent amount of info! but moving to chapter 22, when bond is finally home, and we finally see some familiar faces

behold! baldy and mr hair strand!

and 2 other guys we don't know but will see again in another bond flashback!

that's 2 out of the 3 scientists we've seen thus far from anya's own time as subject 007, confirming that there IS a connection between anya and bond's experiments, regardless of whatever the project anya was a part of might've been named.

this is also the chapter in which we learn that bond himself was subject 8 (or, if we take it from the fanbook, subject #8. still, diff notation from anya!)

in chapter 31, we learn an interesting tiny piece of trivia. we don't get any further info on it, but it IS mentioned as something that is known by W.I.S.E.:

ostania is rumoured to have done human experimentation! and W.I.S.E., and by extension loid, are aware of that.

do i know how them knowing may be important later? not really!

the next droplet of info we get is in chapter 40. we see that project apple had collaborators that are still functioning unhindered.

of course, born industries is only rumoured to have been involved with project apple, but regardless of whether or not they actually were, the rumour itself implies that the project likely pulled scientists from various other companies' R&D departments.

(this makes the desmond group's acquisition of glooman pharmaceuticals shadier, but anyway)

as a side note, twilight is emoting so much at just his wrong assumption that bond is seeking revenge against the scientists. imagine how he's going to react when he finds out about anya JKSDFKLFSD

and now aaaaall the way in chapter 58, we see the bald guy who anya also knows, the two scientists from bond's previous flashback, and one whole new guy!

and thus ends our current knowledge of it all!

the only other thing worth discussing is anya's knowledge of classical language

but plenty people have already discussed these scenes, especially recently, so here are some links: 1 | 2 | 3

the only thing i can add is that i'm fairly certain that classical language is a lot more likely to be latin than old english, because it's a very common language to learn in school (in europe at least, and ostania is based on east germany so it makes sense to me. i learned mandatory latin in school for a few good years too, even if i wasn't that good at it lol) and because one of the most common modern usages of latin are in medicine and science, it would make sense that she'd be better at it due to exposure.

a possibility is also that the scientists would think in latin to conceal their thoughts from her, and that's how she ended up learning so much. she's not fluent in latin, she's just well acquainted and that cicumstance would explain the how.

BUT THAT'S SPECULATIONNN

also i don't think "ANIA" is an acronym, nor do i think anya's been misspelling her own name out of lack of knowledge. "ania" is a polish diminutive of anna and an alternate transcription of Аня, so i think it's far more likely that anya isn't ostanian or westalian than it is that her name comes from an acronym.

now,

TL;DR!

what we know about project apple (and the "mysterious organization"):

project apple was funded and conducted by what appears to have been donovan's regime and, from what W.I.S.E. knows, aimed to create highly intelligent animals for military purposes;

W.I.S.E. is aware that ostania is at the very least rumoured to have dabbled in human experimentation;

the project is presumably no longer on-going, though it is likely there are efforts behind the scenes to revive it;

it is rumoured but not confirmed that project apple had collaborating companies that are still functioning perfectly fine;

the same scientists who were in charge of bond were also in charge of anya, signalling that there is a very significant connection between project apple and the "mysterious organization;"

based on what they were telling anya, they were/are very focused on "world peace";

their experimentation methods include but likely aren't limited to electrocution.

and what we (vaguely) know about anya that relates to this:

she is at the youngest, 4 years old, and at the oldest, 5 nearing 6. we don't know her real age, all we know is she definitely lied about being 6;

she is very fixated on specifically world peace while twilight is focused on peace between ostania and westalis. the scientists are the very first we see talking about this, so it's likely their fault;

she is unreasonably well acquainted with classical language;

she has escaped the facility at LEAST 1 year ago;

and, one tidbit from the fanbook (page 29): "Anya has been reading minds for as long as she can remember," implying that her memory of a life before the lab is muddy at best and absent at worst.

that's all we know that i know of!!

if you got this far, thank you for reading :D hope any of this was interesting or sparked any theories >:] have a good day!

#sxf #spy x family #manga spoilers #project apple #anya forger #bond forger #sxf manga #spy x family manga #sxf manga spoilers #spy x family manga spoilers #analysis #meta #I DIDN'T OWN THE FANBOOK WHEN I FIRST MADE THE DRAFT FOR THIS BUT THEN I BOUGHT IT well my brother bought it for me #bless his heart #AND SO I WANTED TO READ THE ENTIRE THING BEFORE CONTINUING ON!!! didn't find much out in relation to this post specifically but #there's quite a lot to infer on how anya's powers work #and there's a distinction between what she reads (internal voices vs mind reading which would be digging into someone's subconscious)#so that would be super interesting to talk about but uh not in this post KLSDFJSDKL since it has little bearing on the project itself

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beneaththetangles · 1 year

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Cats in palaces, witches in boarding school, human heroes in the demon realm…it seems that our reviews this week feature plenty of protagonists dropped in unlikely places, and that’s not even considering a shy superhero (SHY) and an isekai’d hero (Konosuba) in two other volumes. But what should you expect from these stories of unexpected encounters and adventures? Dive in below to find out!

Dandadan (Vol. 2) • Helck (Vol. 1) • Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book • Kowloon Generic Romance (Vol. 1) • My Gently Raised Beast (Vol. 1) • Secrets of the Silent Witch (Vol. 2) • SHY (Vol. 1)

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SHY, Manga Vol. 1

Superheroes suddenly manifest all across the planet! Each nation has its own! Britain’s is a Bowie-Bono-esque rock star; America’s, a classic clean-cut lycra-donning costumed hero; Russia’s, a drunken voluptuous nee-san type; and Japan’s…a diminutive middle-schooler terrified of her own shadow? Ah yes, the trials and tribulations of being a shy hero! The premise may be simple, but this opening volume is so full of energy and defining character moments—not to mention ridiculously rich artwork—that it’s a strong start to what promises to be a solid superhero comedy-action-drama with plenty of character growth and interesting dynamics between the cast. The pacing is fantastic, with Teru Momijiyama (aka Shy) experiencing an entire emotional arc in this volume alone. It feels neither rushed nor cursory, but instead allows the MC to process a traumatic incident step by step—poorly at first, but ultimately stronger and better connected to community (both heroic and civilian) by the end. With more action than gags, Shy is nevertheless a delightful read in the vein of Bocchi the Rock, reveling in the superpower that is in-kya. Introverts of the world, take heart! ~ claire

SHY is published by Yen Press. Also, an anime has been announced, yippee!

Helck, Manga Vol. 1

After the great demon lord was defeated by a human hero, the Demon Realm decided to hold a tournament to find his replacement. And one competitor is proving himself far stronger than all others. The only problem? He’s a human, too. Thus begins a fantasy adventure centered on the titular hero and Vermilion, the Elite Demon Lord who is overseeing the tournament and concerned about this OP human. Volume one was an unexpected and delightful read for me, full of humor (typically in the form of OP jokes but with some tsundere laughs thrown in) and mystery, as well. Is Helck really trying to help the demons? Is he as good-natured as he appears to be? Who are the true enemies in this story—is it the humans? The human hero? Another entity? It’s certainly not the demons, who prove themselves to be kind and humble, both the ordinary ones and the strong characters at the heart of the story, the latter of which are easy to love and root for. These pages end on a cliffhanger, but I was already sold enough on the laughs, characterization, and mystery to return for volume two to see how this well-crafted tale continues to transpire. ~ @animepopheart

Helck is published by VIZ Media. Volume one releases on January 10th.

Konosuba: God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book

Just prior to Konosuba’s final volume being released in Japan, Kadokawa published this fan book to celebrate the series. It’s similar to other compendiums developed as companions to beloved series, though I wonder if the audience for this one is too narrow. While such works are often fun to read because of the fascinating worldbuilding that goes into those franchises, the Konosuba Memorial Fan Book isn’t sustained by quite enough depth to be engaging. With a multitude of character profiles, lots of illustrations, and setting pages that remind me of elementary school projects to create a fun profile for a locale one is studying, the book is a good resource for the franchise and more fun than a Wiki, but it doesn’t provide a whole lot more than a good Wiki would. The most notable exceptions are a humorous and insightful back-and-forth interview between the series writer and light novel illustrator, and guest illustrations at the front of the book from other well-known illustrators. Neither of these elements would be enough for a beginner to the series like myself to purchase it, however, and I think all but the most ardent of Konosuba fans would probably feel the same.~ @animepopheart

Konosuba God’s Blessing on This Wonderful World! Memorial Fan Book is published by Yen Press.

Kowloon Generic Romance, Manga Vol. 2

Kowloon is nostalgia. Nostalgia is love. These are two of the very few rules that are established in a world where none of us, much less high-rise realtor and protagonist Kujirai, really know what’s going on. The mystery of what the floating cube floating over Kowloon is (think Ramiel in Evangelion), and why Kujirai has changed personality, only expands in volume two. Right from the opening chapter, we get a glimpse into her “original” personality in a flashback, while the outer mysteries, presumably connected to her own, grow as the manga progresses and a possible villain is introduced. These mystery and sci-fi elements set against the background of a crowded Chinese city based on the real Kowloon are what’s most intriguing about the series; but it’s also carried by a generally light and humorous tone, punctuated by optimistic characters and the fun dynamic between Kujirai and her crush/senpai-cum-former fiancee/kohai. This series is addicting, and it’s just getting started. On a side note, it comes shrink-wrapped and with a warning about adult content—thus far, though, there’s no more of it than in any usual young adult manga. ~ @animepopheart

Kowloon Generic Romance is published by Yen Press. Based on only this release and the previous one, it made our honorable mention list of Best of 2022 Manga!

My Gently Raised Beast, Manga Vol. 1

Do not be fooled by the soft cover art and gentle pastel color scheme, my friends. This one starts with a great deal of peril! And from the frying pan into the fire, as the saying goes, when our plucky protagonist, eleven-year-old orphan Blondina, seeks to break free from her abuser and ends up…in the palace? Turns out she’s the illegitimate daughter of the Emperor, who takes her in, not out of any affection but for some other, as yet unidentified reason—though you can be sure it is nefarious. Sure, Blondina may now be a princess, but she’s surrounded by nasty elites every which way she turns. But never fear, for in chapter two, she comes across a very cute cat! It’s important to have allies in life. And cuteness. Especially the furry kind. But wait, since when could cats talk? Turns out that Amon is not actually a cat, but rather an as-yet half-grown fearsome mystical beast that can transform into a cute nine-year-old…boy? Cue the romance, though please wait until after the time skip (which is coming in the next volume) because eleven and nine are a bit young for that sort of thing. Plenteous boops ensue: paw boops, nose boops, all the boops. And some pretty expressive tail thrashing too. But what really carries this volume is not so much the cute cat action as Blondina herself: she excels at the tastefully suave putdown and has a surprisingly cunning streak that rises to the fore when interacting with her cruel half-siblings. She may frequently don raiments of purplish blue, but a shrinking violet she is not! Yet neither is she inhumanly fearless. Instead, Blondina quite sensibly becomes frightened in terrible situations, while remaining a grounded, savvy young girl with a strong sense of fun and easy affection despite her tragic back story. In short, she offers a fresh twist on the “clever heroine amid scheming royals” genre, a staple of Webtoons (of which this is one). The pacing is likewise excellent, with plenty of character development and worldbuilding gracing this volume, in addition to a steady plot. Altogether, this is a delightful first volume, and the glossy color printing makes it all the more appealing. ~ claire

My Gently Raised Beast is published by Ize Press, an imprint of Yen Press.

Dandadan, Manga Vol. 2

Dandadan ditches the most memorable elements from volume one—heavy fanservice focusing on heroine Momo and penis jokes at hero Okarun’s expense—in favor of building out the relationship between the protagonists and moving on to the next story in the series about supernatural curses and sex-crazed aliens. It’s a good move, because volume one was gross, using those transfixing elements to cover up for weaknesses that admittedly remain in these chapters (the most obvious of which is how the action jumps too quickly from panel to panel at times, leading me to occasionally flip back and forth and wonder if I’d missed a page along the way). Having toned down some (the sex jokes are still there a bit), Dandadan turns toward the story, concluding the turbo granny piece, bringing in a new (old) sassy character, and starting a love triangle, while also continuing the budding if totally wish-fulfilling romance between the leads. Still, this is a stronger volume than the first and almost has me interested in reading more. Almost. Because of its weaknesses and tendency to rely wholly on the action and a cute lead, it’s still not particularly compelling for readers like me and probably most others who aren’t teenage boys. ~ @animepopheart

Dandadan is published by VIZ Media. Volume two releases on January 10th.

READ: Dandadan Vol. 1 Review

Secrets of the Silent Witch, Light Novel Vol. 2

Two volumes in and Secrets of the Silent Witch is shaping up to be one of the most satisfying light novel series I’ve read. The setup isn’t anything extraordinary—Monica, a powerful and genius mage, infiltrates a school to protect a prince (and student council president), though her incredible power is countered by her extreme shyness. However, volume two demonstrates how the series delivers so perfectly on this premise. Monica’s assignment continues to challenge her, especially her new position on the student council, which lead to new friendships and other interactions that push her to grow in endearing ways. The romance is cute but not too saccharine. The humor is pleasant and frequent, the story steady and believable, the mystery tightly woven and thoughtful. And the action is a pump-your-fist kind of exciting, much like the conclusion to volume one but even better. I was only left wondering where the evil behind the veil in volume one went, and how much it was connected to the antagonists in this book. But even without that answered, I’m wholly entranced by Secrets of the Silent Witch and eager for more and more to be revealed. ~ @animepopheart

Secrets of the Silent Witch is published by Yen Press. Based only on this release and the previous one, it made our list of Best 2022 Light Novels!

READ: Secrets of the Silent Witch Vol. 1 Review

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“Reader’s Corner” is our way of embracing the wonderful world of manga, light novels, and visual novels, creative works intimately related to anime but with a magic all their own. Each week, our writers provide their thoughts on the works they’re reading—both those recently released as we keep you informed of newly published works, and those older titles that you might find as magical (or in some cases, reprehensible) as we do.

Read or dieeeeeee

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