Aisai no Ura Aka

[UROD-PC]

I haven't read Tokyo Neon Scandal but i will begin shortly, thanks for mentioning it!

I see, and a lot of potential too, just like we have some red herring on the story as of now.

Terauchi is this story( and Sousuke's) call to action. I think the authors know that he's gonna be important, but haven't thought how much yet. Because, him being jealous of Sousuke is one thing, but pointing directly to Momonga is another, very suspicious one.

I've been...around some cheating people myself. Sadly, is inherent to a lot of relationships throught the world, only changing the time of discovery. I think this story's arcs are shaped around crime -> fall -> Catharsis -> Redemption. Though, theres a contrast between the positive character development type( mainly the "bad guys") VS the constant Negative character development arc( mainly Sousuke);

Matsuo Jin became so desperate to pay his debt, he lost sight of important things close to him, mainly his wife. In the end, his lie broke, he understood her importance over his debt, they make up in the closet, and learn to cherish one another.

Kamizaki went so far as to fall for Shiratori's trap, believing it was an "only way". The lie was broken and we later see him trying to move forward with his wife.

Shiratori is a classic case i've seen a lot. Person who cheat doesn't like being cheated on. When he understood the evil he has done, how much damage he did to everyone, including Mitsuzuri, his lie of "not having anything to worry about being discovered" broke and he later try to fix things with her.

Shingo, the most pathetic, believed he was only relevant if being seen by all. His lie that he had "nothing to worry about" and he could keep his image, broke. He saw that not only he wasn't, truly, as "watchable" as he thought, Momonga wasn't failsafe, and he easily lost the attention he so much thought. We don't know how he turned out to be, but i guess Mitsuri is gonna be keeping him in a tighter leash.

On the other hand...

Sousuke has been going through a negative character development arc in a constant, with his lie( that he could catch "the man who stole his wife") putting him in worse places than before.

After Matsuo, he ended up failing to catch her AP( affair partner) but found out she had A LOT of cash, for how much she lended to Matsuo and how she said it "wasn't a problem".

During his meet with Kamizaki's wife, he couldn't get an erection, because of how much stressed and tied to Rika( physically and emotionally) he was.

During Shiratori's confrontation, he found out Rika was the one responsible for the guys thriving success, his "master" in the bussiness.

During the happening bar, he managed to see a side of her that was far from what he envisioned or ever saw.

During the trip, not only did he almost fall for Akiba, Mitsuri's point was proven right: SHE was the one who approached Shingo. This made Sousuke's lie "break" as there was no stealing. And she managed to run from him.

His "new lie"( i presume) is that he can reach Rika if he tries hard enough. But how much damaged he will be until then, that remains to be seen...

Unfortunately, I’ve experienced NTR in my own life.

So the protagonist’s feelings are very familiar and understandable to me, even though I wasn’t married.


The only thing that stops me from identifying with Sousuke is his absolute purity. He loves his family too much, and he has no trace of egoism in him, which, to be honest, pushes me away from his character.
Maybe that’s why I’m not affected by the author’s attempts to mislead readers who take infidelity very personally - I just don’t empathize with him.


As for Neon Tokyo, it has similar themes and story beats. Around the midpoint there’s even a villain escaping the clutches of justice, just like here.
There’s also a “double” villain - a pair where a small, fragile woman acts as a manager for a huge man who assaults women. His messenger avatar, if I remember correctly, is a white horse.

Punishments in that story follow a classic karmic pattern: one evil deed = 200% retribution and humiliation for the villain, with the protagonist usually not participating in this process at all.


And unfortunately, the villain’s motivation (as far as I remember) turns out to be simple boredom - described almost at the level of Light Yagami.

 

[Kalimaman]

Unfortunately, I’ve experienced NTR in my own life.

So the protagonist’s feelings are very familiar and understandable to me, even though I wasn’t married.


The only thing that stops me from identifying with Sousuke is his absolute purity. He loves his family too much, and he has no trace of egoism in him, which, to be honest, pushes me away from his character.
Maybe that’s why I’m not affected by the author’s attempts to mislead readers who take infidelity very personally - I just don’t empathize with him.


As for Neon Tokyo, it has similar themes and story beats. Around the midpoint there’s even a villain escaping the clutches of justice, just like here.
There’s also a “double” villain - a pair where a small, fragile woman acts as a manager for a huge man who assaults women. His messenger avatar, if I remember correctly, is a white horse.

Punishments in that story follow a classic karmic pattern: one evil deed = 200% retribution and humiliation for the villain, with the protagonist usually not participating in this process at all.


And unfortunately, the villain’s motivation (as far as I remember) turns out to be simple boredom - described almost at the level of Light Yagami.

I'm... sorry for your experience( read the pre-edit, but don't worry, not gonna talk about it here). Mine was...pretty pathetic, tbh.

And agreed about Sousuke. A reason why a lot of japanese comments and even i( early on) wanted to believe Rika was innocent all the way, was the sharp contrast between how we see her, how Sousuke see( and wants to see her), and how she presents herself.

Rika's entire image, until now, seems too...black or white, for some people. It wouldn't be wrong to say she's a villain, but at the same time, too easy to pin everything on her. And that's why people want to believe she's either a victim, or at least not a cheater.

Her adultery seemed to be more than cheap, her red flags were becoming blatant, and the moral dilemma of Sousuke finding out more horrible stuff about her, lying to himself that things were gonna be set straight, but not falling into adultery himself( by denying advances from other women)...he seems too pure to understand the shades of gray that the story has been painting so far.

True, he managed to better the living of some couples, but that lead him to misery.

 

[UROD-PC]

I'm... sorry for your experience( read the pre-edit, but don't worry, not gonna talk about it here). Mine was...pretty pathetic, tbh.

And agreed about Sousuke. A reason why a lot of japanese comments and even i( early on) wanted to believe Rika was innocent all the way, was the sharp contrast between how we see her, how Sousuke see( and wants to see her), and how she presents herself.

Rika's entire image, until now, seems too...black or white, for some people. It wouldn't be wrong to say she's a villain, but at the same time, too easy to pin everything on her. And that's why people want to believe she's either a victim, or at least not a cheater.

Her adultery seemed to be more than cheap, her red flags were becoming blatant, and the moral dilemma of Sousuke finding out more horrible stuff about her, lying to himself that things were gonna be set straight, but not falling into adultery himself( by denying advances from other women)...he seems too pure to understand the shades of gray that the story has been painting so far.

True, he managed to better the living of some couples, but that lead him to misery.

Moments about Sousuke’s characterization that make it hard to believe this story.

From the very beginning, the situation shown is a very realistic one - something that happens to people who suffer from NTR: the attempt to hide even the suspicion of infidelity because of shame and a sense of personal weakness.
But then I saw how the main character very casually reveals his secret to the first person he meets.

And that’s when I realized that Sousuke has no one to confide in. He doesn't even have a real friend - Terauchi is unreliable at best.
He doesn’t communicate with his own mother until the moment 62 chap.
And most importantly, he knows absolutely nothing about his wife - not even things that have nothing to do with her secret activities.

His wife is active on social media, but he shows no interest in her life. They barely talk at home, aside from the moments when she sees him off to work or greets him when he returns. And that made me think - does he really love her? Why? What is it that he values so much? Is it an idealized image from the past, or does he simply find it comfortable to have such a “compliant” woman by his side? I don’t feel any love between them, and I doubt it even truly existed in the past.

He loves his daughter, but he didn’t even try to spend time with her or use her as a way to learn more about Rika’s life. Shiho spends a lot of time with her mother and could have offered at least some small clue.

In the end, what I got was a collection of novellas about repulsive characters who feel as if they were pulled straight from hentai visual novels or light novels, with Sousuke moving between them in hopes of finding an answer to the same question that torments the readers - why is any of this even necessary? And it’s only the hope that, in the end, all of this will have at least some kind of meaning, maybe even just an interesting finale, that keeps me from giving up on reading.

---

 

[Mukola9191]

Что касается понимания архетипов и тропов, Акиба не фигурирует в роли злодея, по крайней мере, пока. На эту роль подходит Рика (злодей — это противоположность героя, создающая ему препятствия и трудности).

1 — Верно, но это можно объяснить некоторые причины.
2 — Верно, и она начала с ним сближаться. Однако взгляды у них расходуются. Акиба хочет, по крайней мере, эмоциональной связи с Сосукэ.
3. На самом деле, она не одержима, а сексуально неудовлетворена (главы 2–4 объясняют это). Позже она переключается на Соске и полностью отдаётся ему;
4 — В целом проблема сложнее. Она не знает, насколько это глубоко (она много раз видела это с разными парами) и кому это может нанести вред (семьям и детям). Кроме того, если кто-то заметит, что это она, они могут отомстить.
5. Она сделала это из-за своей одержимости Соске. Пожертвование собой и всё такое проявляется скорее в эмоциональной зависимости.
6 — Уже упоминалось. Это может быть связано с причинами, включая ее обязательства с действиями Соске и (предложение) даже с тем, что Рика снова ее шантажирует.
7 — Верно. Я бы даже сказал, что одержим. Но то, что он женат, на данный момент уже не так важно, поскольку у них есть доказательства в видео видео, которые Рика сняла с Синго.
8 — Серьёзно? Когда это случилось? Совсем забыл.

На данный момент, если только история не вытащила идиотское оправдание (вроде «это была не она, мы просто сделали так, чтобы другой человек был похож на нее, хотя бы в минимальных деталях» и Синго не сказал: «я сказал, что это мое секс-видео с ней, но это вовсе не она»), мы сторонники «фактов» о том, что на видео была Рика, она сделала это с Синго, Синго не стала этого отрицать, и теперь она в бегах уже 3 недели.

We can't ignore Akiba's interest in Soska. She has reasons for Rika and Soska to divorce. Also, we can't ignore the fact that Akiba has been following Soska for a long time. Why would she do that? As for Mori, he also didn't say that he had sex with Rika. Mori wanted Soske's family to break up and wanted to take Rika away. Why didn't he do it then? He was afraid of his wife, but she already knew that he was cheating on her. Maybe he knows something more. And why was Mori so sure that she would be with him by showing Rika's betrayal of her husband? After all, if you look at it from the outside, she's already with him.

 

[Kalimaman]

We can't ignore Akiba's interest in Soska. She has reasons for Rika and Soska to divorce. Also, we can't ignore the fact that Akiba has been following Soska for a long time. Why would she do that? As for Mori, he also didn't say that he had sex with Rika. Mori wanted Soske's family to break up and wanted to take Rika away. Why didn't he do it then? He was afraid of his wife, but she already knew that he was cheating on her. Maybe he knows something more. And why was Mori so sure that she would be with him by showing Rika's betrayal of her husband? After all, if you look at it from the outside, she's already with him.

There's different ways( that eventually converge) to express a character:

• How they are perceived through others;
• How they talk;
• How they think;
• How they act;

An important character HAS to be shown the last 3 for a better understanding of them.

We can't, and aren't, ignoring Akiba's interest in Sousuke. It's merely letting it flow to see how it goes. As far as the points go, we know she's obsessed with Sousuke, she'd sacrifice herself for him( as for the happening bar), barely know her outside of this, nor how everyone else see her outside the main party( Shiratori, Matsuo and even Shingo don't suffer from that).

As for Shingo: we know he's perceived through overall public as handsome, with a lovely family, sweet tooth and operates a beauty saloon with his wife. He talks sweet in public, but very confident in himself, and also bad at bluffing( when he was caught). We know he's attention starving( abandomment complex?) and would do anything to fulfill his desire of being seen( narcisism). As for act, while merciless, he showed us how toughtless and impulsive he is, easily being tricked by Rika into being a bait with a "fake" SD card.

So yeah, while Shingo was a first threshold( Hero's journey), he was pathetic, idiotic, and frankly difficult to input in him anything more than what was shown raw in the story.

Rika, on the other hand, has contrasts and has been criticized for this in the story. We perceive her differently from both the characters and Sousuke. We saw how she talks with Sousuke and other characters( saying, blushing, that she loves Sousuke VS being manipulative towards Akiba VS how "cruel" she is in the happening bar, saying how forced, almost r*pe, is good for engagement, because a lot of women enjoy). How she acts is still pretty cloudy, we know her M.O, but we don't know how far it goes. That's why we can't discard her having sex, as well as not imply it either. And the biggest critic, from everyone, towards her? We still haven't seen how she thinks, her views, her goals.

So yeah, while not discarding theories, it's difficult to settle ANY instance towards her, because she's not a closed, solid, character. She's just that open to input anything.

 

[UROD-PC]

There's different ways( that eventually converge) to express a character:

• How they are perceived through others;
• How they talk;
• How they think;
• How they act;

An important character HAS to be shown the last 3 for a better understanding of them.

We can't, and aren't, ignoring Akiba's interest in Sousuke. It's merely letting it flow to see how it goes. As far as the points go, we know she's obsessed with Sousuke, she'd sacrifice herself for him( as for the happening bar), barely know her outside of this, nor how everyone else see her outside the main party( Shiratori, Matsuo and even Shingo don't suffer from that).

As for Shingo: we know he's perceived through overall public as handsome, with a lovely family, sweet tooth and operates a beauty saloon with his wife. He talks sweet in public, but very confident in himself, and also bad at bluffing( when he was caught). We know he's attention starving( abandomment complex?) and would do anything to fulfill his desire of being seen( narcisism). As for act, while merciless, he showed us how toughtless and impulsive he is, easily being tricked by Rika into being a bait with a "fake" SD card.

So yeah, while Shingo was a first threshold( Hero's journey), he was pathetic, idiotic, and frankly difficult to input in him anything more than what was shown raw in the story.

Rika, on the other hand, has contrasts and has been criticized for this in the story. We perceive her differently from both the characters and Sousuke. We saw how she talks with Sousuke and other characters( saying, blushing, that she loves Sousuke VS being manipulative towards Akiba VS how "cruel" she is in the happening bar, saying how forced, almost r*pe, is good for engagement, because a lot of women enjoy). How she acts is still pretty cloudy, we know her M.O, but we don't know how far it goes. That's why we can't discard her having sex, as well as not imply it either. And the biggest critic, from everyone, towards her? We still haven't seen how she thinks, her views, her goals.

So yeah, while not discarding theories, it's difficult to settle ANY instance towards her, because she's not a closed, solid, character. She's just that open to input anything.

Regarding Rika’s characterization.

Honestly, it’s a pity that a character who is clearly skilled at manipulating others, controlling herself and her emotions, and capable of running a network of covert operations is, for the most part, engaged in rather risky and low-profit activities, constantly putting herself at risk of exposure.

We’ve seen that she can earn money and enjoy the process without directly interacting with incriminating evidence, yet throughout the entire story she gives so many reasons to doubt her competence that it creates the impression of a strange combination of “criminal brilliance” and outright stupidity that jeopardizes everything she’s involved in.

The riskiest moment is the meeting in the bar.
How could she even meet Shiratori after his business collapsed?
So many dissatisfied and disgraced families - especially considering that at school everyone knows who was responsible for issuing recommendations before all that happened.
Is it really possible that none of the victims ever decided to take revenge? It’s hard to believe.

And after all this, meeting with him in a place that completely compromises everyone who goes there, while being a married woman - that’s pure idiocy and a form of suicide.

What I mean is that her business is a level of risk that simply isn’t worth the final payoff.

 

[Kalimaman]

Ch 63 dropped. We ALL saw it coming...(also a little more proud of myself for using less the translator).

Spoiler

Sousuke is in the train bullet, heading to his hometown, after Rika's parents. He remininsces that he couldn't meet them, as they only came when he was working/travelling( visual that only Shiho saw them). During the trip, he meets Shirozuka Misato, an old classmate of both he and Rika's( weird nerdy girl at the time, turned out to be a real beauty years later, but still weird).

They talk a little about themselves and Sousuke asks her if she knows anything about Rika's whereabouts. She says she doesn't.

He says it's okay, he's really going to her parents house.

She becomes surprised that he said that and shows him why.

Turns out, Rika's parents house was an empty plot of land for sale.

According to Shirozuka, they moved over 10 years ago( might be lost in my translation, but it never said they died or anything of the sorts). This breaks Sousuke, and makes him wonder how much did Rika lie about her parents, including that IF the people he met with her, during their weeding period, WERE her parents.

Shirozuka says that she will be having a class reunion this weekend, and since Rika was in her class( and her invite never showed that she accepted or declined) there was a chance she could appear.

The only issue was what Sousuke would do until then. His naivety reaching new levesl, as the last bus has left, saying that he would go to a hotel( there was none in such a backwater place) and later camping( not happening, as there were wild dogs in the area).

Shirozuka prompts him to stay with both her and her sister, in a trailer. Just the 3 of them.( might be a mistake, but they can't go into her parents house or something).

 

[eren760]

Ch 63 dropped. We ALL saw it coming...(also a little more proud of myself for using less the translator).

Spoiler

Sousuke is in the train bullet, heading to his hometown, after Rika's parents. He remininsces that he couldn't meet them, as they only came when he was working/travelling( visual that only Shiho saw them). During the trip, he meets Shirozuka Misato, an old classmate of both he and Rika's( weird nerdy girl at the time, turned out to be a real beauty years later, but still weird).

They talk a little about themselves and Sousuke asks her if she knows anything about Rika whereabouts. She says she doesn't. He says it's okay, he's really going to her parents house.

She becomes surprised and shows him why.
Turns out, Rika's parents house was an empty. According to Shirozuka, they moved over 10 years ago( might be lost in my translation, but it never said they died or anything of the sorts). This breaks Sousuke, and makes him ponder how much did Rika lie about her parents, including that IF the people he met with her, during their weeding period, WHERE her parents.

Shirozuka says that she will be having a class reunion this weekend, and since Rika was in her class( and her invite never showed that she accepted or declined) there was a chance she could appear.

The only issue was what Sousuke would do until then. His naivety reaching new levesl, as the last bus has left, saying that he would go to a hotel( there was none in such a backwater place) and later camping( not happening, as there were wild dogs in the area).

Shirozuka prompts him to stay with both her and her sister, in a trailer. Just the 3 of them.( might be a mistake, but they can't go into her parents house or something).

Looks like this misato girl also likes sousuke and probably both of them will try to seduce him.what if Rika sent misato by getting travelling information from sinho and wants him to cheat to blackmail him.

 

[eren760]

Rika's parents moved even before the marriage meaning at the wedding they were fake parents probably hired using money.Also what's with female shinjo?

 

[Kalimaman]

Looks like this misato girl also likes sousuke and probably both of them will try to seduce him.what if Rika sent misato by getting travelling information from sinho and wants him to cheat to blackmail him.

She really went hard into this Hinata Hyuuga persona. And yeah, not discarding an "Akiba-sensei 2" scenario here, or even a blackmail attempt from Rika.

 

[Kalimaman]

Rika's parents moved even before the marriage meaning at the wedding they were fake parents probably hired using money.Also what's with female shinjo?

Probably because Misato's high school appearance looks somehat nerdy, with glasses, and unappeling, just like Shingo.

 

[eren760]

Probably because Misato's high school appearance looks somehat nerdy, with glasses, and unappeling, just like Shingo.

I was talking about the blonde sister

 

[Kalimaman]

I was talking about the blonde sister

Ah, yeah! Probably a tomboy target for Sousuke to also cheat on. The way she talks( even her dialogue box) seems to imply someone really brute/raw( no refinement whatsoever) and direct. kinda opposite of Shingo, personality wise, but a good waifu potential to us.

 

[UROD-PC]

younger sister (the blonde one) seemed very similar in type and clothing to the female character from the bar, the one Morosato from the PTA tried to strike up a conversation with.
Although personally, I would like to see more horror elements in this arc.

For example, when Rika and her parents were killed 10 years ago, and their place was taken by a woman - a maniac who underwent plastic surgery, the money for which she borrowed from the yakuza, and she runs her business to pay off that debt. And during the trip, Sousuke would simply find his wife’s grave while camping.

 

[VishalWW1]

I think Mori Shingo's wife
Mitsuri Mori and Rika working together
They are the same age 31

 

[UROD-PC]

I think Mori Shingo's wife
Mitsuri Mori and Rika working together
They are the same age 31

I don’t think that having a similar age is a sufficient reason to justify their connection.
As we’ve seen, Rika has dealt - at least in business - with people both older than herself (Shiratori) and younger (Shingo).

 

[UROD-PC]

I have some questions regarding Chapter 63.
Maybe I misunderstood or mistranslated some things.

1. If the house is listed for sale, where is someone supposed to go to buy it? There isn’t even a realtor’s number. Is there some kind of marketplace where this would be posted?
   On the other hand, as I understand it, Sousuke doesn’t know Rika’s current address, and he was led to the house that was sold by an old friend. Is that even the right house?
   Why didn’t Sousuke visit the neighbors and ask for the landowner’s contact information under the pretext of wanting to buy the property? (That’s just absurd.)
   There’s no mention of the owner’s name or any other details.
2. I didn’t fully understand what happened to Sousuke’s old house. From what I gather, it was sold two years ago. Is Sousuke’s mother really unaware that Rika’s parents have been gone from the village for ten years?
3. How does Misato know that Sousuke is married - and specifically married to Rika - if he moved away from the village back in middle school, and Rika left even before her marriage to the protagonist?
   Either she’s been in touch with her, or there’s something off here.

 

[Kalimaman]

I have some questions regarding Chapter 63.
Maybe I misunderstood or mistranslated some things.

1. If the house is listed for sale, where is someone supposed to go to buy it? There isn’t even a realtor’s number. Is there some kind of marketplace where this would be posted?
   On the other hand, as I understand it, Sousuke doesn’t know Rika’s current address, and he was led to the house that was sold by an old friend. Is that even the right house?
   Why didn’t Sousuke visit the neighbors and ask for the landowner’s contact information under the pretext of wanting to buy the property? (That’s just absurd.)
   There’s no mention of the owner’s name or any other details.
2. I didn’t fully understand what happened to Sousuke’s old house. From what I gather, it was sold two years ago. Is Sousuke’s mother really unaware that Rika’s parents have been gone from the village for ten years?
3. How does Misato know that Sousuke is married - and specifically married to Rika - if he moved away from the village back in middle school, and Rika left even before her marriage to the protagonist?
   Either she’s been in touch with her, or there’s something off here.

Some are conjecture, but 3 was shown in ch 1.

1 - The plaque for sale is just a minor one. In some cases with lot, there's some of them around the plot of land, with a bigger one pointing out the seller's number and info.

• Sousuke knew the address, Misato pointed out that it was an empty land and went with him.
• Probably the sale has been outsourced or something. Likely, they sold the piece to someone, and this new someone is selling the piece. The Original contact numbers are the same as the one Sousuke had, or similar. It's really not uncommon.

2 - Could be they moved and let their old house for sale. The house was sold 2 years ago, but they hadn't been in contact with anyone in their town for years( not uncommon, too. Saw it very closely to myself some years ago);

3 - That's the easy one, since ch 1. Rika has a social network account( by the looks, i think it was a parody of instagram?) and shoots photos of her, she and Sousuke, and even the full family( with Shiho). It's not a kept secret. She even has some old photos with friends.

 

[UROD-PC]

Some are conjecture, but 3 was shown in ch 1.

1 - The plaque for sale is just a minor one. In some cases with lot, there's some of them around the plot of land, with a bigger one pointing out the seller's number and info.

• Sousuke knew the address, Misato pointed out that it was an empty land and went with him.
• Probably the sale has been outsourced or something. Likely, they sold the piece to someone, and this new someone is selling the piece. The Original contact numbers are the same as the one Sousuke had, or similar. It's really not uncommon.

2 - Could be they moved and let their old house for sale. The house was sold 2 years ago, but they hadn't been in contact with anyone in their town for years( not uncommon, too. Saw it very closely to myself some years ago);

3 - That's the easy one, since ch 1. Rika has a social network account( by the looks, i think it was a parody of instagram?) and shoots photos of her, she and Sousuke, and even the full family( with Shiho). It's not a kept secret. She even has some old photos with friends.

The main character didn’t even try to get in touch with the owner of the land.

Regarding the second point, it would be strange not to keep in contact with the parents of your son’s wife, wouldn’t it?

As for the third point, I agree.
But in those photos the faces were hidden for safety reasons, and there’s no guarantee that the account shows her real information or that the marital status refers specifically to Sousuke.
As for the school-time photos, those were from middle school, so marriage has nothing to do with it.

 

[Kalimaman]

The main character didn’t even try to get in touch with the owner of the land.

Regarding the second point, it would be strange not to keep in contact with the parents of your son’s wife, wouldn’t it?

As for the third point, I agree.
But in those photos the faces were hidden for safety reasons, and there’s no guarantee that the account shows her real information or that the marital status refers specifically to Sousuke.
As for the school-time photos, those were from middle school, so marriage has nothing to do with it.

He doesn't need to. It would probably lead to a dead end anyway( he doesn't even know if the present land owner are her parents, and they could have lost their phone numbers along the way).

Not really, it depends on culture and proximity. Both my parents's families know each other, but rarely meet( in fact, when they do, is by some great event, or even by chance. Heck, last time, both my uncles met( my mother's brother and my father's brother) was while travelling abroad, by sheer chance. That didn't happen even with they living in the same city for decades).

True, but since it's public, it would be difficult to not believe people who knew them otherwise wouldn't be able to find out. For instance, they could've censored the pics in a new account after Shiho was born, to keep her identity safe( not uncommon in japan).