36 - Ch. 24 - STEM

[MangaDex]

 

[themanthemyth]

meilang is so hotttt

 

[skywardgem]

oh baby it's that Generational Trauma... Yui and Anzu both seem like the type to not let that be used as an excuse for what they do to others but, it certainly colors a lot of previous interactions. Especially fascinating that Yui was apparently willing to let Anzu stick with the band before she even called Natsumi back in chapters 17/18, there's a few panels touching on it here but it must have been a hell of a feeling for her to see Anzu come back and slip back into the abuse so readily

and Meiling... she said after that concert that she wanted to stay under the spell of the music she heard there just a bit longer, it's incredibly sweet that she found her own way to do so with the studying abroad. It's fun how this conversation between her and Kishibe feels a bit like a reverse of their first convo now that Meiling's got some proper direction in her life while Kishibe's stuck in the blender that is the Shibusawa Family Dynamics... I do hope she gets the chance to catch up with Anzu eventually tho......

also love that Miyako hearing from Meiling is what probably inspired her to give a Anzu another chance on that Christmas Eve. It's to be expected with a music-focused manga like this one but, I can't get enough of how Miyako's feelings on Anzu seem to ebb and flow with her music. After passing on Meiling's message Anzu literally tucks her in with Wiegenlied, and last chapter she decided to help Ikoma out after listening to The Happy Meals' concert again. If Anzu's music is her soul laid bare, that's the Anzu Miyako can't tear herself away from lol, it's real nice to see

these characters are just So good lol, wasn't expecting this lil rewind but it makes the eventual band reunion all the more exciting

thanks for the chapter!! Always stellar work, and I'm especially appreciating the song credits tonight, having Wiegenlied on while writing this out had me a lil mushy lol

 

[outinthegardener]

Every chapter of this story is dense with little details. Is there symbolism in the three depictions of classical music? (Kishibe wakes up to Rachmaninoff to feel cultured. Yui was a classical pianist as an abused kid, and now she hates all music? Anzu singing Wiegenlied makes Miyako cry?) Not sure how to read it, or if I should read into it.

And that montage from the 19th to the 24th. Was that crime dad in a laundromat, aka not in prison? Anzu hit Natsumi, such a dick move. Yui stabbed a teddy bear with a chef's knife! Such intensity, buried in single panels, leading up to the spookiest context for Brahm's Lullaby ever.

I think the one word summary of this chapter is "Dread." Hopefully Meiling is safely out, on a beach, talking to the terns and the manta rays.

 

[DMan_chine]

Well, everyone has said everything already.

But boy is it shit when you have a chain of grudges. Anzu's mom hates her mother for being shit to her, decides she probably has to do better than her, but she ends up overcorrecting into forcing Anzu into have the life she would have wanted. Anzu has simply given up to what her family situation is... a controlling mother with money to spare on private investigators that double as law enforcement officers (police). The mother likely knows she's acting like pure shit to her daughter but she really thinks this has to be for the better because it wasn't for her when her mother neglected her entirely. Issue is probably everyone realizes just how terrible the situation is, more so Anzu, but she has to pretend she's okay, because if she finally gives up and accepts she's miserable, she's going to collapse. Everyone here is just balancing on a thread that could snap at any second...

Mei Ling is out. She said fuck everyone else, I'll do what makes me life enjoyable. I wonder if that's gonna make Anzu resent Mei Ling.

 

[grimdotmp4]

Was that crime dad in a laundromat, aka not in prison?

Pachinko parlor / casino. Though that particular panel during the montage from December 20-22 would have been before Ikoma encountered his crime dad, which was on the night of the 22nd.