Haimiya-senpai wa Kowakute Kawaii - Ch. 41

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I'm not making you out to be the bad guy. I'm not discussing the quality of the writing either. I'm explaining that the expectation of "we should have seen signs" is a flawed expectation because that isn't how trauma works. In some cases? Sure. Someone traumatized by nearly drowning would absolutely show signs and hesistation near water. But when it's something as vague as "someone expects something from me" it may not show up in daily life. Or do you think he should have been trembling anyone asked him to take out the trash because that's an "expectation"?
Expectations were put on him THE MOMENT THEY TOLD HIM TO JOIN THEIR BAND FOR THE FESTIVAL. That is exactly when he would start showing signs and hesitation, even if he powered through it AT THAT TIME, until at this moment it became too much and overwhelmed him because it was too similar to his traumatic event. You absolute nincompoop.
 
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Expectations were put on him THE MOMENT THEY TOLD HIM TO JOIN THEIR BAND FOR THE FESTIVAL. That is exactly when he would start showing signs and hesitation, even if he powered through it AT THAT TIME, until at this moment it became too much and overwhelmed him because it was too similar to his traumatic event. You absolute nincompoop.
There's a difference between "Come play with us" and "You're our guitarist" and you aren't the one with the trauma so you aren't meant to understand why "we'd love for you to play with us" isn't triggering and "We're glad your our guitarist" is.

As I, and others, have described. Trauma isn't always a pressure cooker with a long buildup into a panic attack. Sometimes trauma instantaneously leads into a panic attack with no warning, you "absolute nincompoop."
 
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The problem was the execution leading up to the break, not the break itself. He wasn't just outwardly fine, but inwardly fine, which is something as readers we uniquely have access to. And THAT is what the problem is. He wasn't feeling any build up of pressure that would cause him to react like this suddenly.
That's my problem here. Sure, this can happen irl, the problem is making something realistic doesn't necessarily make it good for a story.

At this point I'm more curious with what's gonna happen, but I still don't think this has been a good way to present this problem.
 
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Holy... whatever happened in the past, bro got absolutely dumped hard.
Whatever trauma that causes a literal switch in your own head to flip and boom, you see the world to be more fcked up. I'm very scared to learn what kind of childhood hell he suffered through.
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Except... No trauma was ever hinted from the very beginning of this story... This story didn't even have a psychological tag to begin with :worry::notlikethis::notlikethis:
There is one hint tho.
jOkCISN.png

Back in chapter 35.5, a before the new volume chapter on page 21, this is shown. So the story will talk about his past and it was about time it did, I guess.
So I guess this is just how we're gonna transition to that.

Ngl tho, doing sudden PTSD like this is good and it actually has a real medical term. It's called delayed-onset or delayed-expression PTSD. You can literally live a normal life for years but one single, specific trigger, whether it be through sound, sight, feel, a specific word or sentence, or in Kurose's case this scenario can trigger someone's trauma.
 
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Hopefully, despite disliking this jarring tonal shift I still want to see more of Haimiya, but I expect a dip in readers, those 400k people picked up the manga for the romcom and introducing forced drama might put a lot of people off.
if it getting dragged unnecessarily long, It might have a decline internationally but I highly doubt that will happen in Japan. Just look at Kaoru Hana or rent a girlfriend, they still sell a lot of copies despite all the bad-writings, dramas and unnecessary fillers. I believe Japanese people have a different taste in romcom compare to global.
 
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See? The author really can't develop this character without Haimiya's intervention LOL

And now she comes to save him from his trauma, again
 
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Yeah. I'm dropping this stupid manga.

Author now just bringing up pointless drama into this. They did this with Haimiya. Now with male MC.

Like it was just abrupt drama and it happened extremely random too.
 
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If we need drama, we plenty have in real life. People loves romcom because it's fluff. Because it feels good to read for few moments when your entire world is burning outside.
It amuses me to no end how strongly people react to any hint of drama while readily eating up the same poor writing when it was just romcom. Apparently, any mangaka gets a free pass as long as they’re writing mindless romcom fluff, but the moment they introduce some sort of drama, they immediately become a hack.
 
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Ngl tho, doing sudden PTSD like this is good and it actually has a real medical term. It's called delayed-onset or delayed-expression PTSD. You can literally live a normal life for years but one single, specific trigger, whether it be through sound, sight, feel, a specific word or sentence, or in Kurose's case this scenario can trigger someone's trauma.
Except no, it doesn't. Delayed-onset/delayed-expression PTSD still has at least minor signs of coping mechanisms leading up to the moment of breaking point; Things like tension in similar situations (or even just a constant low-grade tension at all times), sleep disturbances, or minor avoidances that often are ignored or get blamed on general stress for months (or even years) before intensifying. None of which were manifest here. He's not depicted as coping with anything, internally as well as externally. It was poorly executed.

That's my problem here. Sure, this can happen irl, the problem is making something realistic doesn't necessarily make it good for a story.

At this point I'm more curious with what's gonna happen, but I still don't think this has been a good way to present this problem.
It's NOT realistic. That's the point I've been hammering at this entire time.
 
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This as fuck, wish I could spam the 💡emoji on y'all's comments. I'm so glad you other dumb fucks never experienced or know any who has experienced panic/trauma attacks, BUT THIS IS LITERALLY HOW IT GOES! YES, WE HAVEN'T SEEN ANYTHING TO SUSPECT IT, HE WASN'T ANTICIPATING IT EITHER BECAUSE THAT'S HOW IT IS IRL!!!
The problem doesn't lie with him having trauma, or even with the sudeen onset of a post-traumatic response.

The issue is that this mangaka isn't using this element in a way that feels justifiably connected to the overall story. In fact, it's been executed so poorly that it paints him in a horrible light.

He's already done harm to Haimiya with his avoidant behavior and should have learned this lesson already. That makes it so much worse that he would then once again prioritize his own fears and insecurity, even going so far as to immediately abandon someone being vulnerable about how he's helping her overcome her own trauma with abandonment.

His character growth could have been displayed by having him open up about his fears and past, as Haimiya already asked him to do in the past. You can tell from his behavior that he knows he's hurting them too.

It's terribly selfish. This dude sucks.
 
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lol...such a loser...will show how garbage he is to haimiya...fuck u author out of ur damn ass u pulled out a bs drama
 
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Ngl tho, doing sudden PTSD like this is good and it actually has a real medical term.
As someone who works in trauma research: No, it is not good. Y'all are killing me here.

The author is using trauma as a plot device, not as a defining character history that has been steadily overcome or challenged throughout the story. It reinforces this stereotype that PTSD episodes are all overwhelming, jumpscare anxiety attacks instead of approaching it with maturity and nuance.

The author is using it as an instant pity and angst card, and it's awful for his character. Honestly, Kurose has no character other than occasionally saying something nice and being avoidantly anxious because he's selfishly insecure. That's all we ever get from him.

I despise trauma being used as a contrived plot device to push the "conflict before climax" trope.
 
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Except no, it doesn't. Delayed-onset/delayed-expression PTSD still has at least minor signs of coping mechanisms leading up to the moment of breaking point; Things like tension in similar situations (or even just a constant low-grade tension at all times), sleep disturbances, or minor avoidances that often are ignored or get blamed on general stress for months (or even years) before intensifying. None of which were manifest here. He's not depicted as coping with anything, internally as well as externally. It was poorly executed.
Thank you so much. I really needed to see this comment. My psych focus is in trauma and chronic stress, so I have been losing my mind seeing so many people describe this as a realistic depiction of trauma.
 
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It's NOT realistic. That's the point I've been hammering at this entire time.
That I don't know, I don't have the knowledge to tell if it's true or not, seem you are more knowlegeable about it. I can only talk about my experience and I found strange Kurose was willing to participate in something that was related to his trauma and have the chance of remembering it or living the same again, I wouldn't have gone near them in a million years even as nice as those people are. And if it was himself forcing it I think we would have seen signals as you said, is still a stressful situation.
 
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What's up with the sudden forced trauma like I get that something probably happened in his past and this is just so Haimiya can help his past it but it feels just put on the spot like they didn't even try to build it up.still a great chapter.sad that Haimiya wasn't in it though
 
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Except no, it doesn't. Delayed-onset/delayed-expression PTSD still has at least minor signs of coping mechanisms leading up to the moment of breaking point; Things like tension in similar situations (or even just a constant low-grade tension at all times), sleep disturbances, or minor avoidances that often are ignored or get blamed on general stress for months (or even years) before intensifying. None of which were manifest here. He's not depicted as coping with anything, internally as well as externally. It was poorly executed.
You're conflating "triggered trauma response" with "delayed-onset PTSD". A trauma trigger, by definition, is an unexpected response to an external stimuli that leads to the physiological reaction.

What is a Trigger?​

A trigger is a situation, memory, object, location, or person that prompts a strong or unexpected emotional reaction or causes someone to experience memories of previous trauma.² Anything can be a trauma trigger—a specific sound, song, clothing item, smell, or place can cause a reaction. Triggers are unique to the person who has experienced trauma, so what may trigger one person may not trigger another person with trauma. For instance, for someone who survived a fire, the smell of a smoky grill could be triggering. A touch on the back can trigger someone who was attacked from behind. The anniversary date of a traumatic event, such as September 11, can be a trigger. The sound of fireworks are a known trigger for many combat veterans and shooting victims.³

What Happens When Someone Encounters a Trigger?​

Being triggered is more than just a brief emotional disturbance. For people who have experienced trauma, a trigger sets off a series of bodily and mental reactions that replicate the initial trauma and induce the body’s “fight or flight” response. Symptoms can include a rapid heartbeat, sweating, a panic attack, an overwhelming urge to run or escape, physical tension (such as clenching the jaw or fists), outbursts of anger or sadness, a flashback, or an intense feeling of fear—or a combination of these. Essentially, the person feels as though they are reliving the traumatic moment, including its associated distress and terror.
Source: https://www.waldenu.edu/online-mast...seling/resource/understanding-trauma-triggers

For a TL;DR:
But for people who have experienced trauma, triggers cause thoughts, memories, and feelings that generate an unexpected and often intense emotional or physical response. Triggers can make a person feel as though they are in danger or are reliving their past trauma.¹
 

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