Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 55 - I don't dislike that about him

[Niviik]

It's not just her flaws that make her more interesting than Kusunoki. If she were to become a serious and mutual love interest for Keisuke with character development, she'd still be more interesting than Kusunoki because she actually does stuff. Remember the beginning of the manga when she didn't actually remember him yet? She seemed to like him at the time, we can't say that it's just "why does this guy puke when i'm with him?", she actually acted interested (read the chapters again if you don't believe me). Back then, she actually did stuff to actively pursue him. She didn't plan on keeping it to the grave like Kusunoki. She didn't give weird mixed signals like the completely stereotypical tsundere Otobe did, whom Keisuke also currently has no romantical interest in (and i don't see how he would develop it either). She does stuff. She tries. Even if Kusunoki were to start doing things now, she's still too slow, she still falls far behind Hebikawa in how much effort she puts into romantic opportunities.

Edit: Though, this may also be a bit of a matter of preference, as it depends on whether you like a FMC who confidently teases the MC or the one that is shy, but i also think that a shy FMC can be done better than Kusunoki.

You're right, she is the most active character of all. That's why I said that she is the one putting the story in motion.
She was interested in him at first because he was an anomaly, someone whe couldn't figure out. She lost interest in him the moment she realised he was someone she had already discarded (read the chapters if you don't beleive me).

She only took interest back in him to try to seduce him to force Kusunoki to have a reaction because she understood that she is in love with Keisuke. She tries to seduce him (and hilariously fails) to make her jealous and force her to show her dark side.

I can't see her winning because her role in the story is to watch Kusunoki being everything she thought was impossible to be : an honest person. As she is now, there is no way Keisuke considers her as a love interest. And like I said, the character developpement that could make her a potential love interest would be to make her become like Kusunoki. That is pointless as Keisuke has already recognised that he has feelings for her.

However, Kusunoki still has moments when she is active and pushes the story forward, like the play during the school festival. Everytime she does, she is superior to Hebikawa, simply because she a true nice girl.
People remember Hebikawa more because she is in the story to create drama, Kusunoki solves it. So yes, she is boring, but she is the healthy romantic interest of the story.

Sadly, Moe has "losing heroine" written in all caps in each scene she appears since she has fallen in love with Keisuke. Her only purpose in the story is to be a roadblock for the romance between Keisuke and Kusunoki because she doesn't want to get in the way of the romance of her friend like it happened when she was younger.

 

[jayaikhoje]

Correct me if im wrong, has she apologised at all yet for talking shit behind his back? Its hard to like her when she hasnt owned up to anything and is still scheming and using him..

Bro its one step at a time everything won't happen in one chapter unless its rushed and sloppy

 

[jayaikhoje]

This is why I'm in the Moe Gang, because she's complex, interesting, and better-written than Kusunoki while also not being a massive snek. Best of both worlds. (Plus tomboy.)

Lol, she is the one who's most definitely going to lose. She may even lose first

 

[StLL]

snek took out a "snake"

 

[Argon2409]

Correct me if im wrong, has she apologised at all yet for talking shit behind his back? Its hard to like her when she hasnt owned up to anything and is still scheming and using him..

A Mr Darcy arc doesn't start with him apologizing, it requires self reflection first, spurned on by rejection.

 

[Asheron]

This is an amazing chapter, but if you showed someone these last few, they'd definitely think Hebikawa was the main girl, or at least that it was pure-harem with no main girl. Is that a good thing or not? I dunno, but I do like the snake, so...

Doesn't have harem tag yet. If it goes that way it would be interesting to see if they take reader polls, like JK Yuzuhana and Nisekoi. Takae, Onodera, Hebikawa... I am always cheering for the raven-haired beauty over the gal!

 

[azudai96]

Bros in the trenches like

 

[MadScientist666]

This chapter looks like character growth on the surface, but when you take a closer look, nothing has really changed.

Yes, Hebikawa called Keisuke for support. Yes, she's starting to realize she's developing feelings for him. Yes, Keisuke offered to be there for her. On the surface, all of that feels like progress.

But here's what's still missing: she hasn't abandoned her original plan. She hasn't thought, "I was wrong to think about using him." She hasn't realized that everything she's been doing so far has been wrong. At her core, nothing about her character has actually changed.

And let's not forget that she got herself out of a dangerous situation that she created. She knew exactly what kind of person she was dealing with. Keisuke had already stopped him once before. She admitted she knew he was a predator. Even so, she still chose to meet him, deliberately provoke him, and then coldly drop the act. Luckily, she got out unscathed.

Calling someone when you're scared is a moment of vulnerability. It isn't the same thing as growth. You can develop feelings for someone and still use them. You can trust someone in one moment and still manipulate them in the next.

Right now, Hebikawa is simply someone who had a frightening experience and turned to the person she felt safest with. That's not character growth. That's a natural emotional reaction.

Real growth would mean recognizing that what she was doing was wrong, taking responsibility for it, and changing her behavior. None of that has happened yet. Her feelings may be new, but her plan is still there. Her worldview is still there. The fundamental conflict driving her character is still there.

I think a lot of readers will treat this as though she's already changed, when in reality she hasn't even begun to. This chapter sets up the possibility of growth, but it isn't the growth itself.

The reason is simple: that's not what Hebikawa's character arc is about. If this were Kusunoki, whose arc revolves around self-understanding, an emotional realization like this could count as growth. But Hebikawa's arc is about accountability. It's about whether she'll recognize the harm she's causing, both to others and to herself, take responsibility for it, and choose to change. Until that happens, she hasn't grown. She's just had a moment.

Thanks for the chapter!

Totally agree!

But it's a start, a first crack in her world and I hope, she begins to realise just how wrong she was in many things and begins to change for the better.

Anyway, we will see what the future brings.

 

[Callidus]

Whatever change that might happen will happen later and the crumbs to that path are being placed, her conversation with Keisuke is another crumb. It would be the biggest hack writing if she just did a 180 on her personality right now. No one expects that.

What do you think of A Christmas Carol?

 

[bigcat00]

snek chapter let’s goooo

 

[mug3n]

What do you think of A Christmas Carol?

Scrooge goes through 3 reckonings in the story and as the ghosts show him the results of his decisions, he is more and more regretful until the end where he changes. Is like you are implying Scrooge repented and changed after Marley's visit and that's it XD

 

[Rafalga]

The unending butthurt of romcom addicts only makes her stronger.

Keep seething at a fictional character (that keeping this whole thing from getting axed)

 

[Callidus]

Scrooge goes through 3 reckonings in the story and as the ghosts show him the results of his decisions, he is more and more regretful until the end where he changes. Is like you are implying Scrooge repented and changed after Marley's visit and that's it XD

You said that it's hack writing for a character to do a sudden personality change. Could someone not describe Scrooge's personality change as "sudden"? It certainly is sudden for the other characters in that story.

 

[DrarRV]

Isnt that shirogane papa from love is war? 😆

 

[CulR]

WTF AI slop in manga comment section

is it slop if the AI is still correct?

 

[Funky_Cosmonaut]

Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's AI.

IMPOSSIBLE! People don't THINK about the media they ingest! They need someone else to form opinions for them!!

Thank AI Jesus for telling me what to think! 🫡

 

[nadhir10]

amm so, we are going to be good friends and forget how she treated him like nothing happened huh....
and the comments already forgot, did the FMC suck so bad that you can't hepl but support the snake? but there is the shorty girl tho 😔

 

[mug3n]

You said that it's hack writing for a character to do a sudden personality change. Could someone not describe Scrooge's personality change as "sudden"? It certainly is sudden for the other characters in that story.

But like I said, his change is not sudden at all. The process of him changing is described throughout the story, is not like Marley appeared and he got convinced by him right away. What are you doing here, trying to make a gotcha because other characters in the story haven't seen it? It's ridiculous.

 

[Darklight99]

Why are people behaving as if Hebi was a villain who tortured and bullied the MC? She called him a fat loser once and that’s it. Her shell around him already broke when he saved her from the pedo the first time and then when she had period cramps on her birthday, by now they are both natural around each other more so than anyone else.

 

[Exarch-of-Sechrima]

Complex? Moe? What complexity does she even have? We know she is into sports, and that she likes the MC. There is no complexity there. Are we reading the same manga?

Sure. She has lots of self-confidence issues stemming from her height and her boyish appearance, but that conflict and desire to be perceived as feminine also contrasts with the fact that she LIKES tomboyish things like sports. She has a view of what being a girl is "supposed" to look like through her friendship with Kusunoki, who she idolizes, and feels self-conscious about not meeting those standards. But rather than completely shun the things that bring her joy and try to fit into a feminine mold she tries to explore her femininity in her own way through her crush on the MC.
To me, that's complexity. It's not some epic characterization that redefines the feminine archetype but Moe does have a complexity inherent in her primary conflict in the narrative. And that doesn't even touch on the fact that she's faced with the prospect of losing the target of her affection to her dearest friend.