Already won

I like that last panel so much (°◡°♡) Probably only because I love the idea of Robert casually throwing dried bread at Ada when she ‘turns-off’.

Hm, what to report this week. I’m behind on the pages since I’ve been working on the secret project too much hehe… But I should catch up soon and the secret project will stop being secret in a week or two. After that, I’ll post all the new drawings here. You maybe won’t see the sketches and WIPs or maybe I’ll share those later on Twitter or something… For the curious. If you can’t wait this long please throw $1 at me and enjoy the feeling of being special! Some people joined last week, thanks a bunch! I’m super happy you are willing to support Replay \(-ㅂ-)/ ♥ ♥ ♥

And I’ve been to Tanabata festival yesterday~ I was there last week as well but we managed to see different performers this time, even though the decorations stayed mostly the same (they are still fantastic). I’ll be posting some photos on my silly Instagram account (which lately got filled with photos of stray cats that come to visit me when I draw and desserts I eat lol). But if you want to stalk me a little go ahead and follow me! I’ll be happy!

If you haven’t watched Saenai Heroine no Sodatekata and want to find out how creator’s thought process looks like – do! It’s fun and I find it amazingly relevant. Plus I’ve started Shingeki no Bahamut: Virgin Soul since I’ve remembered it aired last season and it’s well done and cute and I love it so far so if you don’t know this series you are missing a great fantasy story~!

99 comments on “Already won”

  1. bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

    That can’t be safe, Robert! ;-p

    Trying to second-guess the author, here, but I’m going to reckon that the higher beings (probably Angels, just to balance against the Demons, but Angels in the sense of being exceedingly powerful, eternal Beings, not cute little piggy babies with sparrows’ wings) are returning to assist against demons again; that’s why the magic based on invoking them is beginning to work again.

    Or, I could be completely off-base and Ada is just an incredibly special human. ;-p

    • JW Reply

      On the other hand, if the angels were the pudgy baby types, it explain why they’re all gone. The demons ate them last time. 😛

  2. Jindra34 Reply

    Third future theory: They already have returned and are helping. For all we know Ada, YOU could be one of them (Which one of course would be the question).

    • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

      Uriel, the Angel who stands at the Gate of Eden with a sword of flame. (Hey, why not? It kind of matches up with Ada’s langschwert, and her fiery temper. Plus, Uriel is of the cherubim, who, thanks to Renaissance artists drinking far too much sour wine and having funny ideas, are now portrayed as cute little babies with wings instead of as the terrifying soldiers they originally were. It could work, right?) ;-p

  3. NiWo21k Reply

    I just love the last panel, not only the bread fling from Robert against Ada, but also that he blushes when he does it.
    And somehow i think nobody did think about the part you mention in the hover text – at least not Robert 😀

    And the part about the demons already won:
    First, its still a little weird hearing this from Laura, but even if they still exist at this point of the vision (even if we dont know if these are just possible outcomes or not) – second if they had, then i dont think there would be more chaos at this point (ok granted there is a lot of chaos and death already).

  4. JW Reply

    Oh Robert, don’t waste food.
    You should’ve just taken a magic marker and drawn a mustache on her face 😛

    • NiWo21k Reply

      mmmhhh at first i wanted to write if you think he is sucidal, but after thinking about it…. if he had one he might tried it out….but on the other hand…..
      Ok lets just say its good it only had some bread on him, who knows what kind of second apocalyse he might have triggered 😛

      • JW Reply

        Well, if they don’t have mirrors, it might take a while before she finds out. Especially if everyone plays along and doesn’t say anything.
        Heh. it’d be funny if everyone ends up wearing marker-mustaches and they all think it’s only all the other people.

        • NotImportant Reply

          This whole idea reminded me of one of the sketches I posted on Patreon some time ago lol
          A little peek:

          Ada

          • JW

            Heh, she looks positively villainous, and a bit 17th century. 😛

          • JW

            She’s the mirror-universe Ada.
            Good thing Laura didn’t accidentally summoned her.

        • NiWo21k Reply

          But you will always have this one killjoy and if Ada found this one person than it would be the mustachelypse 😉

  5. JW Reply

    It would be funny if the summoning circle are for huge mecha, and the second half of Replay is all mecha battles 😛
    Ooh Ada in a plugsuit, yay!

    • NiWo21k Reply

      And the first what she would do is smash al of the people in the face who wanted it – and it turns out that someone has misread the title of summonings circle and it meant wish circle 😛

      • JW Reply

        Wait, is she smashing people in the face that want her mecha, want to see her in a plugsuit, want to be smashed in the face, or all of the above?

        • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

          Poor NotImportant, she’s stuck with us believing Ada is violent …

          So sorry, but we still love her 😉

          • JW

            In part because we believe she’s violent, and we’re all secretly masochists 😛

            Actually most fictional girls plain scare me if I ever had to encounter them in real life (But not Kato; or Kobayashi <3 ) . But I always consider them in their fictional universe where guys are made of sterner stuff. Maybe not as much of a trope as it used to be, but anime girls used to punch guys through the roof and/or over houses, and they'd be up and walking a minute later. Under those conditions I might consider it.

          • NiWo21k

            For me there isnt just on art of violence – and Ada is a master of all of them 😛
            She knows how to use it for defence, she knows how to use it against people who are just creeps and also in the way that people think she would use violence even if doesnt want to – so yeah she mastered in some way the art of violence without using it XD

          • NotImportant

            You are going to wait and wait and wait… and I’ll finally believe you and make her violent lol xD

          • JW

            You guys know this song?

            I don’t think I knew that one. Is it actually from the show, because it’s years since I watched Ranma but it sounds like Akane.
            It’s one of the few shows I started watching but didn’t watch through to the end, because it just has sooooo many episodes, but gets a bit repetitive and off-the-wall.

          • NotImportant

            I didn’t watch anime at all, just read the manga, but that song is something my friend would sing a lot lol She loved that show haha~ And I think they published several discs with songs by the original voice actors and that song was on one of them. But I’m not sure…

          • Dragon Master
          • NotImportant

            Haha sorry, spam filter caught you!

            Those are good lol Luckily for us the city is already pretty much devastated by the demons (and the army fighting them) so we can kick ass without any care in the world!

          • JW

            Well, magical girls is one thing. It’s not like there aren’t guys with powers (or weapons) that let them blow up a planet. But even those guys wouldn’t want to accidentally walk in on a girl changing, if they value their health.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Not sure if it’s foxglove, but maybe…? To be honest I saw such flowers in the neighborhood and liked them a lot. People in Japan tend to have dozens of flowerpots in front of their houses lol it’s very cute. One granny on the corner has cherry tomatoes too, very handy.

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      It’s funny how people know the names of plants 😉
      To me it’s mostly just flower, grass, bush, tree … might add colour to the description.

      • JW Reply

        Good people to have around in case of an apocalypse, though. More useful than those that can put a name to celebrities and sportspeople 😛
        But until the end of the world comes round I’m also mostly ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ except for my own areas of special interest. (Well actually, lots of random useless trivia. Not very specialized.)

        • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

          I do know the names of a few celebrities, to an extent like I can remember the names of the cast in comics I read 😉

          Now you made me start thinking about abilities that would be useful during an apocalypse – now I feel like Filip 🙁

          • JW

            Well, if you can’t think of any, you should have some time (probably) to develop apocalypse-appropriate skills.

            Hmm, maybe I should take up archery, sounds like fun and could be useful for hunting/defense.

  7. Adriano Reply

    There’s a bird on her knee! Omfg so cute!
    Robert is just feeding the bird, obviously

    • NiWo21k Reply

      He is lucky that his aim is not that bad when he fights demons with his sword – or better never give hime a throwing weapon if he isnt even able to through a piece of bread to a bird 😉

      • JW Reply

        I think the bird is pretty happy not to be hit by bread so stale it goes “toc”

        • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

          Dangit, I didn’t see that one, or rather was mesemrized by Ada’s eyes again. But I did see the flower.

          So, that vision was longer than we might have thougth. Birds don’t tend to sit on moving people.
          Google says this looks like a Rufous-bellied thrush or an American robin.

          • JW

            I’d go with a European robin. On the one hand because that’s the only one I know, but also considering the size. According to wikipedia the Rufous-bellied thrush is twice the size, and the American robin has a black head.

          • Klorix Camp dweller

            That was my first guess, but then I thought the belly is red too far down…
            Ok for the head argument.

            The size is also a good point.
            But I did further research and apart from the size this also looks like a Brown-headed thrush, which can also be found in … Japan. 😉

          • NotImportant

            Yes, it’s an european robin, same one that woke Stefen up at the end of the first chapter 😉 I’m reusing the actors, makes the production cheaper. Or something.

          • JW

            That was my first guess, but then I thought the belly is red too far down…

            Eh. Well, maybe it’s been bathing in the blood of its enemies. 😛

            I’m reusing the actors, makes the production cheaper.

            Especially if you pay ‘m peanuts. Which should be fine with a robin.

        • NiWo21k Reply

          I am not so sure, even animals have their food problems in such an apocalyptic world…. but to be fair i think this bird was more happy to maybe found some new nest (ok, only if Ada stood still for the rest of the birds life).

          • Klorix Camp dweller

            As long as the demons leave animals be, it looks like there is little reason yet for animals to have problems finding food. The forest looks lush and there’s water.

            Once the world turns into the red desert, though… Or that place we just saw now.

          • JW

            If the bird was looking for a nest, wouldn’t it have gone for the head? I mean, that hair looks so nice and soft.
            Hmm, maybe Robert just chased off another bird that was already there.

          • NotImportant

            It was aiming for the tail but stopped on the knee to make sure it’s safe ;P

  8. Adriano Reply

    Oh yeah btw I finished ep 6 of Saekano last night, it’s funny and cute and interesting

    Megumi best girl

    • JW Reply

      I concur. Megumi rocks.
      I mean, sure, I’m infatuated with any of the heroines while their on-screen, but I’m still in love with Kato when the episode’s over.

    • Dragon Master Reply

      If you liked Saekano, try: Sakurasou no Pet na Kanojo (The Pet Girl of Sakurasou). It has similar themes, making a game, “raising” a girl, coming of age and mental growth. In this case the “raising” part is far more interesting than Saekano. This isn’t the best description but I highly encourage you to take a look and see for yourself.

      • JW Reply

        I can highly recommend it as well. (Though not really because of a similarity to Saekano.)

      • Adriano Reply

        I saw it already lol

        I loved it. Very cute, and the heroine is just adorable.
        And it was touching and made me cry lmao I’m so stupid

        • NotImportant Reply

          Now I want to see it too… I wonder if it beats Toradora. I think Toradora was the most touching anime I’ve watched. Okay, there’s Kimi no Na wa too…

          • JW

            Hmm, for most touching, I’d probably go with “Usagi Drop” or “Aishiteruze Baby” (despite its poor animation). I guess I have a soft spot for men stuck taking care for of a young girl.
            There’s also “Kotoura-san” (girl isolated because she can read people’s minds finally get friends) and “One Week Friends” (girl that forgets everyone at the end of each week gets a friend — hey another theme (wait, is a sample of two enough to call it a theme?) ).
            Actually, there’s probably quite a lot, and it’ll be hard to decide once my memory starts working properly.

            towatchlist.append(“Kimi no Na wa”)

          • NotImportant

            Damn I don’t know any of those and they sound interesting… And Kimi no Na wa is a movie but it’s superb, really.

          • JW

            Ooh, I finally got round to watching “Kimi no Na wa”! It was really good, thanks!

            (NB Only here in the past to check what anime recommendations I’ve made before :P)

          • JW

            Oh, and of course Elfenlied. That really pulled a few heartstrings as well.

          • NotImportant

            That one I watched and loved and also read the whole manga. Ending was… eh, not what I would like, but maybe it was best for the story.

  9. SKy Reply

    I half expect Ada to just hand him the dirty piece of bread with the comment “no wasting food” next week.

  10. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    *LOL* Robert…
    Don’t waste the bread, though.

    Love how you draw Ada’s absent mind 🙂

  11. Onceller Reply

    Something no one seems to have considered is that these other beings might not be “other” so much as different. They might just be demons of a different faction who like humans as allies more than as meals… Just an idea though, and maybe one of y’all mentioned it and I just missed it.

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      So, the ones Adam struck a bragain with? :p

      I don’t think anyone (at least recently) said anything like that. Interesting thought.

    • Refugnic Reply

      Funny thing is, that I had just a thought very similar to yours, just in a bit of a different direction.

      I was thinking about this ‘If they never existed, why would we have summoning circles to summon them?’
      The underlying counter-question to be asked here is, why are there even summoning circles (or whatever Adam used) to allow the demons into our world?

      I mean sure, some people think they can control them to obtain the powers their ‘holy counterparts’ would deny them (because they’re too dangerous and not for the hands of mortals and all that jazz), but where do these summoning circles come from in the first place?

      Assuming that the demons/angels do require some sort of gateway into our world (which is questionable for the angels, seeing how they’re supposed to be the good guys and the victors of the last angel/demon war, which sealed the demons to hell), how would people ever figure out how to breach the barrier, if nobody ever told them?

      This on the other hand implies, that both demons and angels have their ‘methods’ of influencing/contacting the mortals and showing them how to open the gateway to the realm of choice and unleash whatever is on the other side.

      Heh…come to think of it, Faust might actually be (at least partially) innocent in this whole gig.
      I’m currently remembering the ending of Diablo II…I’ll just drop a single quote that should say it all:

      ‘Ah yes, Marius…I am not the archangel Tyrael.’

      • JW Reply

        Summoning circles might just be something inherent to the structure of magic. So if you explore magic you’ll inevitably stumble upon them.
        It’s like how if you explore physics, you’ll eventually discover how you can make a single bomb blow up an entire metropolis. (Except in that case it’s rather more obvious what gateway to hell you’re opening.)

        Another option is that the demons had previously always been on this world, until someone discovered a way to send them all away. So “summoning” circles (transport magic) wouldn’t so much be a way to call angry hordes of demons to do your bidding, but (had been) the means to get some peace and quiet.
        Some do look a bit like they might’ve been descended from dinosaurs, just sayin’.

          • JW

            Might be for the best. If they were too creative we might either not recognize them as demons, or go insane the moment we saw them.

        • Refugnic Reply

          Hmm…I guess that is one way to look at it.

          Heh, well, that’s definitely a possibility, though quite honestly if demon attacks were a frequent occurrence back then, I would imagine that humanity only arrived later, cause let’s face it: Humanity can hardly make a dent into them now after thousands of years of experience in warfare, how would civilizations before our current one deal with them?

          They’d be huffed out in an instant…unless of course they had help from equally powerful creatures.

          I’m looking at the ‘myth’ behind Assassins Creed here (or Mass Effect, same difference), where a powerful and advanced civilization existed way before the first monkey decided that the ground looked like a good place to walk on.

          This advanced civilization had found ways to harness the energy of what we perceive as magic now…however, then something happened.
          Let’s say there was a…disagreement between two factions on where to go with all their power and all their knowledge.
          War happened and at the end of it they removed themselves from the face of earth.

          They became what we know as ‘Angels’ and ‘Demons’, masters of powers beyond our understanding, but trapped in self-made prison from which they cannot escape, unless someone from the other side opens the door, helplessly needing to watch how a new species rises through the ranks of wildlife to conquer the world they had left behind scarred and empty…damned to watch them repeat their own mistakes, step by step while they strive for more control over their world and for more power.

          Some would seek to guide them, to not follow in their footsteps, lest history repeats itself.
          Some would seek to destroy them, unbelieving in their ability to learn.
          And some just went plain bonkers, no longer anything but savage beasts. I imagine that being stuck in the ethereal plane for a few million years would do that to you.

          And all of them just wait for one thing:
          That someone finds the key to their prison and opens the door to what they think to be the solution of all their problems.

          Jar of Pandora anyone? 😀

          • JW

            how would civilizations before our current one deal with them?

            Magic 😛
            I mean, that magic sword of Robert’s cuts through demons like butter. While our current civilization is ill-equipped to handle the demons, a past one with access to magic might have little problem dealing with them.

            I’m looking at the ‘myth’ behind Assassins Creed here (or Mass Effect, same difference), where a powerful and advanced civilization existed way before the first monkey decided that the ground looked like a good place to walk on. […]

            That whole story feels awfully familiar, but not from Assassin’s creed or Mass effect (neither of which I know, except of name); nor even Babylon 5 which has a dose if it as well. I can’t quite put my finger on where else I might know it from.

  12. grahamf Reply

    *beeep beeep beeep* The summoning circle you just drawn is no longer in service.

    • JW Reply

      Man, that’s the worst thing to hear when you’re dialing the equivalent of 911

      • NiWo21k Reply

        I thik i would be more concerned if i heard something like the opposite of what i wanted to hear – i want to hear something like: “What is the emergency and how can we help you” – but instead you get “You have dialed the number of hell, how can we destroy you” O.O

        • NotImportant Reply

          “You have reached the demon hot-line~ If you are ready to sell your soul please press #6 three times. Thank you.”

          • JW

            “If you want to speak to a telemarker, press #1”
            “If you want to speak to a telemarker, press #2”
            “If you want to speak to a telemarker, press #3”
            “If you want to speak to a telemarker, press #4”
            ..

          • JW

            Let’s pretend the misspelling is part of the torture…

          • Dragon Master

            Reminds me of a prank I once pulled on a telemarketer. IIRC he was trying to sell me some sort of insurance. I’d repeatedly asked before to be removed from the call list but I kept getting calls anyway. So this time I decided I’d do something about it myself. So I asked for details and pretended to be interested. Then about halfway through the schpiel I suddenly shouted “OH MY GOD HE’S GOT A GUN!”, dropped the phone, then started slamming my door open and shut rapidly. I hung up next. Never got a call again. My friend who was over at the time, literally fell out of his chair from laughing so hard. I can’t help but wonder if the hysterical laughter might have helped sell it.
            Another thing I once did when it was voting season and kept getting calls from different organizations trying to get me to vote for them. “This is Bill’s Morgue, you Kill ’em we Chill ’em. How may I help you? We are currently offering a discount for bulk purchases, would you be interested?” I got a slightly panicked reply of sorry wrong number.

          • JW

            I got a slightly panicked reply of sorry wrong number.

            It would have been even funnier if you got a slightly interested “How much of a discount?” 😛

          • NotImportant

            That’d probably mean they didn’t believe in the advertisement 😛

          • Refugnic

            How funny, these stories sound so very familiar. I believe someone somewhere told them to me previously.

            Either that, or I finally managed to obtain the power of premonition…but quite honestly, I think it’s the ‘heard it before’ option. 😛

        • JW Reply

          “What is the emergency and how can we help .. to make it worse!”

          Actually, that reminds me of when people say something or other is the worst thing that could ever happen to someone or other, and my mind immediately jumps to ideas for how it could be made worse.
          Course, you can’t really say that in those situations. In itself, that would tend to make things worse.

          • antrik

            Eh, sometimes, a bit of perspective is just what’s needed… 😉

  14. Sinner12 Reply

    that last panel was very funny to me. plz keep the story coming. this comic is why i dont hate mondays. i also just wanna say i love the art work an how it it has evolved over time. getting better and better, more in depth. thank you very much for the great art, and story. i wish i could create art half this good.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Ahh thank you! Glad you like it! And as you have noticed it did take me a while to improve heh, but making comic really makes one learn fast. I hope you’ll be happy with your art soon, I’m still not where I want to be either, just need to keep practicing..!

  15. JW Reply

    You know, to be honest, I’m surprised we don’t see more incoherent ranting/spam here.
    Is there really good filtering/flagging, or have we just been lucky so far?

    • NotImportant Reply

      There’s a good filter but sometimes things slip through. I probably just need to update the plugin with the newest spam-list~

    • NotImportant Reply

      And we’d be starting with a group of survivors hidden in a church lol

      • JW Reply

        If the demons were vulnerable to holy water the whole apocalypse would be over pretty quickly if you combined Ada’s spell to summon heavy rain with a priest to bless the rain 😛

    • Dragon Master Reply

      Oh god, you get a spray bottle with holy water in it. And you use like you would to squirt a misbehaving cat. “Bad Demon!”*squirt, squirt*

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