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I wish I would've noticed this earlier, but Kokoro changed hair pins again, which likely signifies another change to her mental state.
Destroy It All And Love Me In Hell! - Vol. 3 Ch. 15 - A Shadow's Call
- Thread starter MangaDex
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The true worst case I can think of is that she actually met Kudou, knows about the hotel and everything Kudou said to Naoi, and now believes that Naoi has the ability to this with Kurumi (versus simply bringing out repressed desires but not causing any desire in particular). That would certainly spur her into action, as it would seem to confirm her previous theory about Naoi causing everything instead of Kurumi changing on her own.
I like this theory that the hairpins say something about her mental state / level of sanity.
We have rabbits (delusional past focused Kokoro)
Plainer bow shaped pin (Unsure Kokoro)
No pin while staying home (Depressed, unengaged Kokoro)
And now flower pin (Current Kokoro)
This would suggest she has at least not regressed to Rabbit Kokoro, but she has some framework she's adopted that's expressed by the flower. That or Akane just gave her a flower pin or something like that, but if she wore it to Kurumi's house that would still express she is pursuing multiple types of connections with people at the same time now.
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That... makes a lot of sense, now that I think about it.
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I wonder if it's meant to symbolize "Flowers of Evil". The famous saying that denotes beauty intertwined with darkness, moral decay, or the darker aspects of human nature.
Plus, there was Kuwabara's character concept posted on twitter that sounded like Kokoro's character concept. "Selfishly admires another woman, selfishly creates her own mental image of that woman, selfishly feels betrayed, and then spirals out of control".
This would imply it's not related to Kudou at all, but over Kokoro's own shattered image of Kurumi. Also the phrase "selfishly" was repeated 3 times in the description, so it feels like Kokoro being chronically stuck in her own head is pretty much confirmed.
So, Kudou's role is likely that of a Joker, to add chaos to the situation, so that Kurumi and Naoi teaming up to get Kokoro to back down cleanly early on doesn't happen. If Kokoro and Kudou both get told off early on, then them teaming up to get back at Kurumi and Naoi could happen, or they both become desperate to drive a wedge between them. For example, Kokoro likely still has the copy of Kurumi's shoplifting video that Naoi sent her. That could create issues with their teacher (she did it while in school uniform) and be how Kurumi gets dragged back into the Isanuma plot. After all, Isanuma always accuses Kurumi of doing things for the teacher's attention.
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I wonder if the volume 3 extras will have any foreshadowing, like the volume 1 and volume 2 bonuses appeared to?
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I reread the first two volumes and I feel like I understand the characters a lot more, eg, the whole thing with Isunama.
In terms of Naoi motivations, here are some quotes.
Chapter 1, when she starts harassing Kurumi:
"Compared to someone like you who seems so perfect, I must be utterly beneath you."
At which point she is all smiley. Later on in the chapter when she punches Kurumi who collapses:
"I like it, y'know. Watching someone who can do what I can't, who seems perfect, writhing around like a bug."
Then, when Kurumi starts laughing while smiling, Naoi looks disdainful like with Kuduo and calls Kurumi a freak. In chapter 2 Kurumi is back to looking overwhelmed rather smiling and Naoi is back to being smiley most of the time. Conclusion: Naoi is finds it gross for someone to be smiling etc in these situations. That's presumably what she dislikes about present Kuduo, whereas she likes how Kurumi becomes overwhelmed and quiet.
After this, when she looks disdainful to Kurumi, it's always because she's annoyed by Kurumi suffering to meet other people's expectations of her. This is when she starts to identify with Kurumi and like her more seriously, rather than seeing her as entertainment.
Chapter 4 we get the "When was the last time I was this excited to go to school? No... This is the first time," which I interpreted her as comparing Kurumi with Kuduo.
In chapter 6, we get to see her abusive dad, who blames her for her mother leaving them. She acts disdainful and indifferent again. Conclusion: People who look down on her remind her of her dad. She likes to use violence to regain her dignity in these situations, so that she is no longer "below them" but the one in power. This being something she has in common with her alchoholic dad is probably something she is all too aware of.
Then, in Chapter 9, Kurumi tackles her into the pool to recover some papers and tells Naoi there is nothing between them. Afterwards, Naoi is thinking about in the park:
"What do you mean there's no us? ... I don't care. If I'm just killing time, anyone will do. That's right, that girl Isanuma seemed fun."
So here she is essentially planning to continue going through haughty girls, using them as a source of fun and entertainment. My reading here is that she had this type of relationship with Kuduo, essentially using her to try gain a sense of fun and self worth through violence. This likely would have been one of the most positives relationships in her life at the time. Kuduo eventually being that desperately into it would have taken away that sense of power, as she was now just conforming to what Kuduo wanted again. That, combined with Kuduo not coming to school, would have led to her trying to find it elsewhere with Kurumi, back in chapter 1.
At the end of volume 2, we have Kurumi suprise Naoi by telling Isanuma off, at which point Naoi runs off with a more self actualized Kurumi. That brings us to Naoi's current arc of trying to figure out who she is, what type of relationship Kurumi wants to have with her, and what she wants in this situation. The part of her that likes feeling powerful and sees violence as a valid method to get what she wants has largely been lying dormant, but likely is still there. Probably there is not really any issue and it will be fine when Kurumi and Naoi talk to each other, but Naoi would be having a lot of fears and self doubt for the time being.
Edit: Then in chapter 14, we see the flashback where Naoi's mom tells her that people who retaliate with violence are the same as the person who started it. She then explicitly asks Kurumi if she resembles her dad - she likely feels like she was abandonded due to being similar to him.
Later she is happy Yoshizawa/Kurumi is also socially isolated. Naoi places her hand on Kurumi's neck while thinking about that she can't leave Kurumi, which she is doing while Kurumi is asleep. I think that's really driving home that she feels like she is hiding this part of herself and trying to act like the person she thinks Kurumi wants, but only expects it to last until Kurumi finds someone better. She believes she is playing along until she gets abandonded again.
Then, of course, Kuduo shows up again, which has been discussed plenty in this thread.
In terms of Naoi motivations, here are some quotes.
Chapter 1, when she starts harassing Kurumi:
"Compared to someone like you who seems so perfect, I must be utterly beneath you."
At which point she is all smiley. Later on in the chapter when she punches Kurumi who collapses:
"I like it, y'know. Watching someone who can do what I can't, who seems perfect, writhing around like a bug."
Then, when Kurumi starts laughing while smiling, Naoi looks disdainful like with Kuduo and calls Kurumi a freak. In chapter 2 Kurumi is back to looking overwhelmed rather smiling and Naoi is back to being smiley most of the time. Conclusion: Naoi is finds it gross for someone to be smiling etc in these situations. That's presumably what she dislikes about present Kuduo, whereas she likes how Kurumi becomes overwhelmed and quiet.
After this, when she looks disdainful to Kurumi, it's always because she's annoyed by Kurumi suffering to meet other people's expectations of her. This is when she starts to identify with Kurumi and like her more seriously, rather than seeing her as entertainment.
Chapter 4 we get the "When was the last time I was this excited to go to school? No... This is the first time," which I interpreted her as comparing Kurumi with Kuduo.
In chapter 6, we get to see her abusive dad, who blames her for her mother leaving them. She acts disdainful and indifferent again. Conclusion: People who look down on her remind her of her dad. She likes to use violence to regain her dignity in these situations, so that she is no longer "below them" but the one in power. This being something she has in common with her alchoholic dad is probably something she is all too aware of.
Then, in Chapter 9, Kurumi tackles her into the pool to recover some papers and tells Naoi there is nothing between them. Afterwards, Naoi is thinking about in the park:
"What do you mean there's no us? ... I don't care. If I'm just killing time, anyone will do. That's right, that girl Isanuma seemed fun."
So here she is essentially planning to continue going through haughty girls, using them as a source of fun and entertainment. My reading here is that she had this type of relationship with Kuduo, essentially using her to try gain a sense of fun and self worth through violence. This likely would have been one of the most positives relationships in her life at the time. Kuduo eventually being that desperately into it would have taken away that sense of power, as she was now just conforming to what Kuduo wanted again. That, combined with Kuduo not coming to school, would have led to her trying to find it elsewhere with Kurumi, back in chapter 1.
At the end of volume 2, we have Kurumi suprise Naoi by telling Isanuma off, at which point Naoi runs off with a more self actualized Kurumi. That brings us to Naoi's current arc of trying to figure out who she is, what type of relationship Kurumi wants to have with her, and what she wants in this situation. The part of her that likes feeling powerful and sees violence as a valid method to get what she wants has largely been lying dormant, but likely is still there. Probably there is not really any issue and it will be fine when Kurumi and Naoi talk to each other, but Naoi would be having a lot of fears and self doubt for the time being.
Edit: Then in chapter 14, we see the flashback where Naoi's mom tells her that people who retaliate with violence are the same as the person who started it. She then explicitly asks Kurumi if she resembles her dad - she likely feels like she was abandonded due to being similar to him.
Later she is happy Yoshizawa/Kurumi is also socially isolated. Naoi places her hand on Kurumi's neck while thinking about that she can't leave Kurumi, which she is doing while Kurumi is asleep. I think that's really driving home that she feels like she is hiding this part of herself and trying to act like the person she thinks Kurumi wants, but only expects it to last until Kurumi finds someone better. She believes she is playing along until she gets abandonded again.
Then, of course, Kuduo shows up again, which has been discussed plenty in this thread.
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I've read many of Kuwabara's untranslated series and character concepts and I get the feeling Naoi's arc is going to a bit different than people are thinking. First of all, Kuwabara tends to make the Naoi-like characters into the sub in the relationship. While the Kurumi-like character eventually develops into the dom. Kind of like what happened in chapter 5. Naoi wants someone she can be comfortable feeling vulnerable with, like how she started leaving her scar exposed when her and Kurumi are alone together.
There's also a character concept Kuwabara posted where the person is extremely aware of and uncomfortable with unwanted lust directed at them, with the character getting a feeling comparable to being sexually harrassed by a boss at work. Then calling the person showing lust at them "disgusting/gross". This is likely to some extent what's going on with Naoi at the moment. Kuwbara even posted a sketch on twitter of Kudou looking and sounding hot for Naoi with the caption mentioning how Naoi is looking displeased. So, even though Kudou is technically the one receiving the aggression, she's still the one controlling what's happening much to Naoi's dismay. With Naoi even feeling molested by it all. Her receiving some money for her trouble doesn't change this.
Also, I get the feeling that Naoi and Kudou's former interactions were rather shallow. Kudou is aware of Naoi's poverty but is likely completely unaware of Naoi's abuse by her father. It's even debatable if she knows about Naoi's burn scar, or thinks it was due to simple cooking accident if she does know about it. I also get the feeling that Kudou comes from a rich family due to all the money she has. And Naoi likely wrote her off as a spoiled rich girl. Many of the Japanese reader comments I've seen view Kudou as treating Naoi like a toy, using her for entertainment without regard for Naoi's wellbeing. Like for example if Kudou's stunt of getting Naoi to put her foot on her head outside the hotel could've gotten Naoi in trouble with the police if anyone reported the incident. Naoi also gets a scholarship to attend her school. Misbehavior such as that could get it taken away and ruin Naoi's chance of getting an education.
I think Naoi's mother's words to her about saying sorry to people she's had conflict with is another point of Naoi's arc. Her mother was trying and failing to convey that Naoi should avoid the "crabs in a bucket" mentality. Tearing someone else down and them tearing you down in turn only makes things worse for them both. Kudou likely had other issues in her life besides Naoi's abuse, but it's easier for her to pin the blame all on Naoi and get some entertainment out of her in turn. It's likely leading to Naoi simply apologizing so she can move on for both their sakes. Kudou using Naoi as an excuse to be a failure isn't healthy for her either. Though Kudou could also start moving past it on her own side of things depending on how the story develops.
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Not 100% sure about all of this, other than that Naoi probably mainly just wants someone to accept and support her despite her bravado. However, this quoted part about Kuduo does seem very clearly what's been depicted I think, with some of Kuduo's behavior essentially being sexual harassment.
In the foot on the head scene, we also see people staring at Naoi looking uncomfortable with her. The series is very thoughtful about when and how "the crowd" is depicted, with them often being faceless. Showing us their expressions was very intentional and likely to let us see how Kuduo is controlling the situation. It seems likely Kuduo was never passively being bullied and was active in shaping their dynamic.
Likely they are a parallel to Kokoro/Kurumi who have been bringing out the worst in each other the more they interact, with neither side coming out of the interactions better off. Hence why Naoi distanced herself from Kuduo to begin with, much like Kurumi has with Kokoro after giving Kokoro a number of chances to correct the unwelcome behavior. Kokoro's behavior is also more or less sexual harassment, for that matter.
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The flashback to Naoi remembering why she quit interacting with Kudou looked like Kudou had just licked Naoi's leg. So the sexual harrassment was likely why Naoi wanted nothing to do with her. Based on Naoi's dialogue she only remembered Kudou being a masochist after Kudou asked Naoi to treat her like dirt. It appears the memory disgusted Naoi enough to have actively repressed it. Unfortunately, Naoi not remembering that from the start made her vulnerable to Kudou's manipulations. Since if Naoi had known that she would've likely bolted when Kudou first approached her in the street.
If Kudou's done things like this before, I think it's only a matter of time until she tries to push Naoi past her comfort zone again. Especially if she gets jealous of Kurumi. I have to wonder how Kudou will react when she finds out that Naoi plans to use her money to fund her plan to move in with Kurumi after high school. Because that might be Kudou's breaking point.
Chapter 14 made Kudou's reaction to the aftermath of Naoi causing her injury a mystery. She was the only one that never gave a reaction during the meeting with their parents. It's possible Kudou's masochism was there since basically day one, but that she just got worse at hiding it over time, then Naoi mistakenly thought her bullying over time caused it. Kudou might only be playing into this belief to get Naoi to do what she wants in the present time.
The comparison of Kudou with Kokoro is an interesting one. It's possible Kudou doesn't realize Naoi's disgust is genuine and might only mistakenly view it as part of Naoi's sadist persona. So, there could be another round of disillusionment coming when Kudou realizes Naoi's disgust of her is real and that Naoi has feelings for Kurumi. Meaning that Kudou spent years of her life pining over someone who doesn't want her around. Because currently, Kudou talks about it like a relationship that Naoi just got bored of. And I noticed Kudou tried to minimize Kurumi's importance to Naoi, acting like she was just a replacement for herself. Of course, to Naoi it was none of Kudou's business, so she wasn't going to reveal that her and Kurumi have a more important relationship than Kudou thinks.
Given Naoi and Kurumi's talk in chapter 14, I have to think things will go much better than in volume 2, otherwise all their relationship development would seem to be for nothing if they don't communicate and support each other.
Sames, but Mistilteinn alleging that the author has other untranslated works makes me want to read those too. Sometimes I feel like I should drop Spanish in favor of Japanese, especially since I don't want to talk to anyone.
My thought with Naoi/Kurumi is that right now Naoi is trying to conform to what she thinks Kurumi wants her to be. Given the themes of the story, there may be some conflict over Kurumi not liking something Naoi is doing, Naoi gets mad about Kurumi telling her what to do, and then they are able to talk about it because they actually respect each other and don't want the other to conform to some idealized image.
Whereas Kokoro is just not willing to let go of what she wants Kurumi to be for her long enough to have a conversation, even though Kurumi has tried to have one and probably will try again next chapter. Your reading of Kuduo here makes to me - Kokoro wanted Kurumi to be a perfect kind person, whereas Kuduo wanted Naoi to be a kind of "perfect sadist" and isn't thinkng about the way Naoi needs or shows kindness.
And yeah lol, if you eventually react as Kuduo did to someone hurting you in middle school you probably had some level of that type of desire already, regardless of whether you had consciously processed it or acted on it yet. Naoi being the first person she felt that way with (a girl her age willing to hurt her repeatedly) would still be a lot of reason for her to fixate on Naoi. I guess again much like Kokoro, who was shown kindness and acceptance by Kurumi at a time in her life when she really needed that and then ignored any signs there might be more to Kurumi.
I think Kuduo could actually believe Naoi caused her to have the desire, given the young ages involved. If Kuduo was from a more sheltered background, she likely would not have experienced someone intentionally causing that level of pain before. It could therefore feel like Naoi is the source, despite the true source being Kuduo herself.
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Sadly, yes :/
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