u/Key-Competition-7489
Ok, so new chapter of Apoc R6, lore drop on Death/Grim Reaper, and some more drama again. Nice, cool, cool.
I’m sure everyone else is tired of this back and forth, so I promise this will be my last post regarding the matter before I leave it alone. But first and foremost:
Disclaimer:
Nakimov, the head of Illiterate Scans, recently reached out to me, admitting that Grim Reaper was right but still thinks Death is clunky to use, and thus chooses to continue using TGoD.
I accidentally pressed ignore message, so I couldn't reply back.
While I still feel TGoD is the clunkiest option out of the lot, though after reading the latest chapter, I would now choose to use Grim Reaper more. I still stand by the fact that Death is in no way inaccurate
Now, whether I feel her words are sincere or not doesn’t matter. She has said what she wanted to say and admitted she was wrong, thus this post is not targeted towards her or her team specifically.
I will still, however, go over the latest chapter because I still see other folks insisting he is not Death/Grim Reaper and I just want to lay it all bare once and for all.
The Chapter Itself
So the current biggest evidence right now that Death/Grim Reaper isn’t The Grim Reaper comes from these pages below:
Ignoring the butt-ton of Grim Reaper visuals, the chapter title and his signature attack being called: ‘Faux de la Mort’ The Grim Reaper’s Scythe—What this tells us is that the term 死神 in Record of Ragnarok is a shared term used for gods in the Underworld who guide humans to Heaven.
‘But since there is so many 死神, that means that he can’t be The Grim Reaper and has to be an OC? How can he be The Grim Reaper, famously the universal omnipresent personification of death if the term is shared by so many others like him?’
Except, and just a reminder. It was established in the previous chapter, and emphasized in this one that he became the only one synonymous with the name. Meaning that out of all these 死神, he has somehow risen to become THE definitive 死神.
I would also like to point out that in RoR and Apocalypse of the Gods as series, we have had:
- A Buddha whose take on the teachings of Buddhism in this universe allows for him to feel great hatred in his heart and indulge himself in excess with candy.
- A Nezha who did not reincarnate from a Lotus flower, fight the Dragon Kings, or have Daddy issues. But is instead a God-Droid created to hunt down Outer Gods.
- A Zhuque who is not a guardian of the cardinal directions. But is instead some dude from the slums who became an assassin.
- A Shiva who is not an all-powerful being who destroys universes by opening his third eye, and instead used to be a lazy bum before rising to lead his pantheon in a series of brawls and turf wars.
- The Seven Lucky Gods are actually split from one singular being, and are not seven individual gods hailing from various cultures that have been gathered together in one group under Japanese beliefs.
- A Thor who carries a Mjolnir which he has been shown to be able to hold with both hands.
- Apollo who in fact, did not slay Python, and was actually good friends with him.
- A Heracles who is not the illegitimate son of Zeus, and was not driven to madness by Hera to kill his own family, but is instead some random human who drank Zeus’ blood.
- Round 12 where KINTOKI, The JAPANESE Folk Hero shares a connection and ties to ODIN, The Supreme God of The NORSE Pantheon.
- HADES, The GREEK God of the Underworld, plays a MAJOR role in BEEZLEBUB, the ABRAHAMIC Demon Prince of Gluttony’s backstory.
Knowing all that, it isn’t out of place that The Grim Reaper in this universe used to be one of MANY other grim reapers serving under Enma, before becoming THE Grim Reaper gods and humanity thinks of.
The Grim Reaper in other media
Another argument I’ve seen is that Apoc’s Death/Grim Reaper looks nothing like the traditional Grim Reaper. And to that I have to say… seriously? A character not looking like their myth counterpart in RoR?
Even then, Death being a gaunt man in a business suit is probably the second most common portrayal of the figure.
Meet Joe Black, Supernatural, Have A Nice Death
His weapons and kits also have a lot of references to The Grim Reaper specifically.
There is, of course, his fighting style’s name. Contrary to a certain user’s rebuttal about the scythe being a symbol of many other Death Gods, Death/The Grim Reaper is the only one in mythology who is mainly associated with it.
Thanatos from the Hades games was given a scythe and hooded cloak to make him look more like The Grim Reaper, while traditionally he wields a sword and has wings
His fighting style which incorporates strange and unsettling contorted poses may also be a reference to the Danse Macabre from Late Middle Ages, which primarily depicts the personification of Death summoning representatives from all walks of life to dance along to the grave.
And finally there is his coffin, specifically a toe-pincher coffin, which comes from Europe where the Grim Reaper hails from as well.
Reiterating from last month
Again, the term 死神 is the Japanese localization for Death/Grim Reaper. Similar to how La Mort also means Grim Reaper/Personification of Death in France. Many other countries have similar examples, some even portraying Death as more feminine.
Shinigami is how a Japanese person would pronounce 死神, The God of Death is the literal translation of 死神, and Death/Grim Reaper is the actual localization when it is translated to English.
If we just took the literal translation: ‘The God of Death’ at face value, that would make these two the brand new OCs for The Garden of Gods anime: “The God of Lightning and The God of Wind”.
Because by that logic: 雷神 and 风神 should also be literally translated at face value same as 死神. Without regard that there are multiple examples in other media where the term is localised as something else (Raijin and Fujin in this case)
The End
To conclude all of this. Yes I know most people with lives feel this two-month long drama was petty and a nothing burger, and it was. All this argument and ego over the name of someone who would likely get folded by Enma by the end of R6, is inconsequential to the grand scheme of things.
If you wish to call him Shinigami, Death, The Grim Reaper, or TGOD, go ahead nothing wrong with that.
....
Anyways, I will just leave you all with these screenshots provided by my friend who asked Otsuhiuko Naruse, author of Apocalypse of The Gods himself, who surprisingly took the time to actually reply and answer the definitive English translation of the character 死神’s name in his story.
Thank you and that’s all for me on this subject.
u/Key-Competition-7489 — 16 days ago