Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 56 - Her absence has left me feeling strangely off

[MrPP118]

And it's been months since then, she does know that she likes him now, Moe confided in her, why didn't she tell her afterwards that she likes someone too? She should've told her immediately that she's in love with the same guy as More, but she didn't. Hebikawa did the right thing by telling her as Kusunoki clearly has no intention of doing so, despite More telling her the truth herself.

That's completely correct but it's not as if Kusunoki is being malicious by hiding the truth from Moe, she literally has trauma about this exact situation, Hebikawa did do the right thing by making Moe see but that was never to help Moe, she just wants to escalate the situation for her own intentions.

It's interesting that the situation isn't completely black and white, both Kusunoki and Hebikawa have flaws:
Kusunoki is anxious, evaise, relies upon grok to help her out of situation.
Hebikawa has a twisted worldview that makes her act in a single-minded selfish way without considering the consequences.

Then you have Moe, who's just sweet and incredibly straightforward about what it is she wants and is going to be caught in the crossfire of Kusunoki not being able to be honest about her feelings and Hebikawa using her for her own agenda.

 

[Darklight99]

That's completely correct but it's not as if Kusunoki is being malicious by hiding the truth from Moe, she literally has trauma about this exact situation, Hebikawa did do the right thing by making Moe see but that was never to help Moe, she just wants to escalate the situation for her own intentions.

It's interesting that the situation isn't completely black and white, both Kusunoki and Hebikawa have flaws:
Kusunoki is anxious, evaise, relies upon grok to help her out of situation.
Hebikawa has a twisted worldview that makes her act in a single-minded selfish way without considering the consequences.

Then you have Moe, who's just sweet and incredibly straightforward about what it is she wants and is going to be caught in the crossfire of Kusunoki not being able to be honest about her feelings and Hebikawa using her for her own agenda.

I understand that Kusunoki is wary because of her past, but she genuinely wasn't interested in the guy back then while she really does like him now, at which point her two options were to either give up on Keisuke for Moe's friendship or tell Moe the truth and compete without hiding anything. She did neither, she is still as close to him as before and clearly shows jealousy when he's with other girls but won't tell Moe the truth, so what's her endgoal here? Tell Moe after Keisuke confesses to her? "Hey Moe chan, I'm dating the guy you love, hope you're happy for me!"???

 

[Misticsan]

I dropped that one specifically because it was so frustrating that Sunao seemed to just instantly set his supposed big deal trauma aside completely, and the closest Lemon ever got to dealing with it was musing to herself that it was unfortunate, because it was a lie from the start. It just seemed way too unrealistic to me that it didn't get addressed or even much mentioned.

Yes, even as a fan of the manga, this was always a sore point for me. I mean, it was key to the initial premise. The very title in Japanese references it (the original title is more or less Hope You're Happy, Bitch).

If you want to check, the "return to the old home + flashback" arc covers chapters 54 to 68.

 

[MrPP118]

I understand that Kusunoki is wary because of her past, but she genuinely wasn't interested in the guy back then while she really does like him now, at which point her two options were to either give up on Keisuke for Moe's friendship or tell Moe the truth and compete without hiding anything. She did neither, she is still as close to him as before and clearly shows jealousy when he's with other girls but won't tell Moe the truth, so what's her endgoal here? Tell Moe after Keisuke confesses to her? "Hey Moe chan, I'm dating the guy you love, hope you're happy for me!"???

It's a messy situation either way, giving up on Keisuke for Moe's sake won't end well since the one Keisuke likes is Kusunoki and it would just be a repeat of her past except this time she likes the guy back, likewise hiding the truth is making the situation worst and exactly what Hebikawa will take advantage of.

Kusunoki still isn't a malicious person, so I can't see her confessing to Keisuke or even dating him without telling Moe, it's just a question of how the truth comes out, whether Kusunoki blurts it out or if Moe or Hebikawa pushes the truth out of her.

In a situation where Moe confronts Kusunoki after Hebikawa's words then I can see things starting to backfire for Hebikawa, we've already seen how quickly her plans can fail, like when she approached Keisuke with "friendship" only for Keisuke to ask her what's she up to, she tried teasing Keisuke with a kiss only for Kusunoki and Keisuke to share an accidental kiss (which still remains a secret) and now more recently things nearly took a bad turn with the guy Hebi's mom was dating.

All of this is to say that I think in the end when the confrontation between Moe and Kusunoki happens, I don't think it will destroy their friendship like Hebi is hoping, there's definitely going to be some tears and some tension but in the end we'll probably get that trope of "let's compete for him honestly."

On the otherhand if this does break up their friendship (temporarily) then it can still be a hollow victory for Hebikawa when Keisuke backs off from her, considering she is starting to develop real feelings for him, I'm curious to see how this will all develop since in my eyes, I'm not really reading this series to see Keisuke and Kusunoki get together, that's just the end goal, I just want to see how Kusunoki gets over her problems and how Hebikawa changes her worldview and begins changing as a person.

 

[Ragnolock]

Finally for once in your life you accepted that you lost the argument.

I totally lost yeah. You got me man good job. Now give your mom back her iPad while the adults talk. Clearly I am talking to a child who does not understand sarcasm.

 

[Darklight99]

It's a messy situation either way, giving up on Keisuke for Moe's sake won't end well since the one Keisuke likes is Kusunoki and it would just be a repeat of her past except this time she likes the guy back, likewise hiding the truth is making the situation worst and exactly what Hebikawa will take advantage of.

Kusunoki still isn't a malicious person, so I can't see her confessing to Keisuke or even dating him without telling Moe, it's just a question of how the truth comes out, whether Kusunoki blurts it out or if Moe or Hebikawa pushes the truth out of her.

In a situation where Moe confronts Kusunoki after Hebikawa's words then I can see things starting to backfire for Hebikawa, we've already seen how quickly her plans can fail, like when she approached Keisuke with "friendship" only for Keisuke to ask her what's she up to, she tried teasing Keisuke with a kiss only for Kusunoki and Keisuke to share an accidental kiss (which still remains a secret) and now more recently things nearly took a bad turn with the guy Hebi's mom was dating.

All of this is to say that I think in the end when the confrontation between Moe and Kusunoki happens, I don't think it will destroy their friendship like Hebi is hoping, there's definitely going to be some tears and some tension but in the end we'll probably get that trope of "let's compete for him honestly."

On the otherhand if this does break up their friendship (temporarily) then it can still be a hollow victory for Hebikawa when Keisuke backs off from her, considering she is starting to develop real feelings for him, I'm curious to see how this will all develop since in my eyes, I'm not really reading this series to see Keisuke and Kusunoki get together, that's just the end goal, I just want to see how Kusunoki gets over her problems and how Hebikawa changes her worldview and begins changing as a person.

Yeah I don’t think it’s malicious either, it would be more interesting if it was malicious actually. But she needs to make sure what she wants to do now.
Hebikawa’s BS can only end bad for her but I don’t think she wants to destroy Moe’s and Kusunoki’s friendship, Moe is just an afterthought who’s there, she just teased her with the truth because she’s a mean girl.

 

[Zeffaso]

SNAKESISTERS WE ARE GROWING TOO STRONG FOR OUR OWN GOOD

 

[Darklight99]

I totally lost yeah. You got me man good job. Now give your mom back her iPad while the adults talk. Clearly I am talking to a child who does not understand sarcasm.

How smug you must have felt writing that. Even if you ignore me, everyone else you call adult is also insulting you, so I guess you’re just a masochist who gets off on being insulted.

 

[Ragnolock]

It's sad to see the way some snek fans act, there's even one guy who made a new account now mass reacting to everyone's posts, I find Hebikawa interesting but she's certainly not a unique character and yes, I completely agree with your point about her upbringing.

Hebikawa's upbringing and her current worldview need to be addressed, she's using her own circumstances to mess with the people around just to "justify" that her worldview is correct, this is why she needs to be humbled.

This exactly. It is frustrating to see people actively shifting the blame on the victims of her jaded world view. Using a bad upbringing as a justification for her not acknowledging her bad behavior. That is why so many of the hebikawa fans to me come off as idealistic. Similar to her they are not willing to acknowledge her flawed worldview.

 

[MrPP118]

SNAKESISTERS WE ARE GROWING TOO STRONG FOR OUR OWN GOOD

The snake grinneth and the snake loseth the grin.

 

[Ragnolock]

How smug you must have felt writing that. Even if you ignore me, everyone else you call adult is also insulting you, so I guess you’re just a masochist who gets off on being insulted.

No I just don't take people who insult me on the internet seriously. They can't defend their argument without peppering some form of personal attack. To me if someone immediately goes to some personal attack I have already won, and to people who are not blinded by their ship they also agree with me. I just don't take you seriously because every reply you have done has either insulted me, or tried to diagnose me with a mental health disorder. You are not worth taking seriously. Don't worry I don't block people on this site who are not pedophiles. You are free to reply to me as much as you want, but don't expect me to ever take you seriously.

 

[ItsThatBriGuy]

"You poisoned our water supply, burned our crops and delivered a plague unto our houses"
The wise snake:

Note that the last LI to do alla dat (more or less) won. Not that I'm thrilled about it there or here.

 

[Darklight99]

No I just don't take people who insult me on the internet seriously. They can't defend their argument without peppering some form of personal attack. To me if someone immediately goes to some personal attack I have already won, and to people who are not blinded by their ship they also agree with me. I just don't take you seriously because every reply you have done has either insulted me, or tried to diagnose me with a mental health disorder. You are not worth taking seriously. Don't worry I don't block people on this site who are not pedophiles. You are free to reply to me as much as you want, but don't expect me to ever take you seriously.

So my guess about you being a masochist who gets off on being insulted was correct after all.

 

[Ragnolock]

So my guess about you being a masochist who gets off on being insulted was correct after all.

Totally what I said. Glad you understand. Really glad you are good at reading between the lines.

 

[Darklight99]

Totally what I said. Glad you understand. Really glad you are good at reading between the lines.

I do not wish to help you reach an orgasm anymore, ask someone else to join in on your perversion.

 

[Ragnolock]

I do not wish to help you reach an orgasm anymore, ask someone else to join in on your perversion.

Oof you made this really weird. Sorry I don't want to engage in such dialog on the internet with a minor. I think it is time to give your mom back the ipad.

 

[jojoka]

That said, while I think she's the best character in the series, I also don't think she's well written. I think she's still a pretty one-dimensional character, just less so than the rest - "manipulative bitch with difficult upbringing" isn't exactly an uncommon character archetype in manga, and the author here doesn't really deviate from the trope much. What does bug me though, is when people point to that upbringing as a way to absolve all of her past and present behavior.

She's probably the more well written of the cast though tbh. She's a simplistic archetype too but done well and she's obviously got a gap. She's obviously a shitty person but also a scared teenager in over her head, the fact she has that whole thing about not believing in good natured people as a character motivation that has been defining her actions is a core part of good writing she has over the other heroines.
Another thing is how active she is like last chapter when she went out to get comfort from the MC I thought about that and if the other girls similarly in that situation would not find comfort in him and he would have to notice it. I think the fact snakey is far more of an active character than a reactive character is part of the reason she's the more popular character.
Even in this chapter she was the one to point out Kusunoki clearly liked the MC too instead of Kusunoki telling Moe or even having Moe put the obvious together.

 

[Darklight99]

Oof you made this really weird. Sorry I don't want to engage in such dialog on the internet with a minor. I think it is time to give your mom back the ipad.

You already used that one, come up with something new this time.

 

[Ragnolock]

You already used that one, come up with something new this time.

Again you must have misread what I said. You are not worth my effort. I will just keep not taking anything you say seriously.

 

[Darklight99]

Again you must have misread what I said. You are not worth my effort. I will just keep not taking anything you say seriously.

So you got nothing huh? Alright then.