Soara Onodera (小野寺 ソアラ, Onodera Soara) is the son of Yuuichi Onodera and Midori Ookuma who was born on July 7th, indicating the beginning of a New World.
Appearance[]
Soara is a caricature bird, like Punpun Onodera and all of his blood relatives.
Personality[]
Little is known about Soara, but he is probably similar to Yuuichi Onodera and Punpun Onodera since he is haunted by the Dark Spot, or God, as they were.
Plot[]
Around New Year's when Punpun Onodera is 20, he and Yuuichi speak on the phone for the last time before Punpun goes missing. Punpun tells him he would like to introduce him to Sachi Nanjou and is very happy when Yuuichi tells him he and Midori are pregnant. One day during rainy season, on the day Aiko Tanaka and Punpun decide to visit Mitsuko Tanaka, the weather reminds Yuuichi too much of his encounter with Yagi and he comes home early from his walk, where Midori is first revealed to the audience to be pregnant. Midori takes a much-needed nap, while elsewhere, Aiko and Punpun deal with the aftermath of a murder. Yuuichi speaks to someone on the phone about how differently his life could have turned out had he ran away with Yagi. When Midori wakes, he asks her about baby names. She
birth certificate
suggests Kametarou or a girl and Soara for a boy. Yuuichi thinks the names are ugly and suggests Kibou, meaning "hope". After Punpun goes missing with Aiko, Sachi, who is recently pregnant herself, begins her search for him by visiting Midori and Yuuichi at their cafe. Midori tells her her plans of expanding the cafe after the baby arrives. On July 7, or Tanabata, days after Aiko's suicide, Punpun decides to keep his promise to spend Tanabata with Aiko and returns to the miso factory of their childhood. There, he confronts God for the last time and stabs a knife through his eyeball, thus killing God. That night, during the meteor shower, Yuuichi kneels down at the hospital before his newborn son, Soara. Just as he feared, the hope is overwhelming. Inside Soara's eye is a small God, identical to the one Punpun just killed.
Relationships[]
Yuuichi Onodera[]
Yuuichi decides he wants to name the baby Kibou (Hope) after realizing that he avoided a downward spiral by ending up with Midori instead of Yagi. Although his son is ultimately named Soara instead of Hope, Yuuichi is still overwhelmed with hope after his birth. These strong emotions frighten him, likely because they can so easily turn into disappointment. He hopes the best for his son, but it is implied that Soara will struggle with dark emotions from God, just as Yuuichi did.
God[]
God in Soara's left eye.
After Punpun kills God, Soara is born with an identical God. The killing of God coincides with the end of the world, and the rebirth of God through Soara indicates the start of a New World. As Pegasus stated, his mission was never to stop the apocalypse, but to make sure the world got a harmonious start afterwards. The New World, according to Pegasus, is not a guarantee for better times, but a test that humanity will either pass or fail. The epilogue, namely Harumi's students, show that history repeats itself. This, combined with the fact that God and the Dark Spot still exist in the world, suggest that this New World will become just as disharmonious as the previous world. Soara will likely share many of Punpun and Yuuichi's struggles.
Etymology[]
- Soara's surname Onodera means "small" (小) (o), "field, wilderness" (野) (no) and "temple" (寺) (tera/dera).