Happy Kashiiki - Oneshot

[MangaDex]

 

[darekpawlo]

What?

 

[Slownding]

Did she get lobotomized

 

[Slownding]

Someone please explain it to me

 

[moonvenlight]

I don’t understand what is happening in this manga too, but as I look closely at Hikari’s environment starts getting dark and dark after Kage says she definitely can make Hikari happy and starting for the next day, they are gonna search for happiness, but because of Hikari doesn’t believe she can find her happiness with Kage then Kage decided to send Hikari to the hospital to help her to remove all of her memories and start her new life without her (Kage) and finally it’s success and Hikari can feel her happiness again with her new life.

 

[GoldenGummy]

Part of me thought it had to do with blindness since she said things were getting dark but that doesn’t make sense for most of what happened. She said the house is far away from happiness and it is full of garbage and seems to be in disrepair so that is probably related to the source of the sadness. Thought about this being a trans allegory, but again I feel like there are some parts that don’t do. I hope someone else has a good take on what it could mean

 

[alastormanga]

It's just a very well written book about depression.
The ending might be a reference to how strong medication can help you feel better but it's just fake happiness achieved by hacking your brain with chemicals instead of addressing the underlying issues.
Kage was probably on meds the entire time and that's why she was able to stay happy in her disgusting living conditions, and why she took Hikari to the hospital even though she knew it's not a solution.

 

[sssr]

I realize this is hard to do, but read the Medical Certificate in the biggest panel on page 38. It explains what happened to Hikari.

 

[DavidianMillerian]

damn...

this hit too close to home to me for some reason...

 

[Yuri_Enjoyer_Deluxe]

Wait what...

DId she actually get lobotomized? I knew she was depressed but psychotic? Had me.

 

[Yuri_Enjoyer_Deluxe]

I realize this is hard to do, but read the Medical Certificate in the biggest panel on page 38. It explains what happened to Hikari.

Psychosurgery... 100% lobotomized

Edit: Also on second read, the background gets darker and darker as it goes, then becomes white again after the surgery, likely a symbol ofnthe building depression... sheesh.

 

[Lunkli]

Why do all these depressing things always have such cute art?

 

[deunuts]

is Kage even real? Her name too is a bit on the nose.
My theory is she is the manifestation of depression or an entity only perceived by depressed individuals, since Hikari didnt know who Kage was in the beginning, and seems to have forgotten her in the end. Kage knows the way to treat Hikari's condition isn't simply fooling around but actual medical intervention. She knows she'll be wiped from Hikari's memory, cue "Please find me again, nya"(p38), and distraught Kage (partly bc she wished it hadn't come to this) (p39).
That begs the question, what abt her sisters and what should be made of the trash house? Idk maybe catgirls' role in their society is unpaid mental aid and since no one but ppl in crises can see them they're getting abused freely lol I'm running out of steam

 

[Niewaznekto]

This manga and this comment section is a great argument against metaphorical writing, no one is sure what it's supposed to mean and whether the cat girl is even real or symbol of sth else.

She is a black cat, who is named cats shadow, so my guess is that her name in japanese has some kind of hint suggesting what happened.
The operation might symbolise medication, lobotomy or maybe some kind of cancer (shadow visible on medical scans, little siblings are cancer spreading)
Or maybe she is real, and she just wants to help her? Who knows.

 

[Tcof]

It's just a very well written book about depression.
The ending might be a reference to how strong medication can help you feel better but it's just fake happiness achieved by hacking your brain with chemicals instead of addressing the underlying issues.
Kage was probably on meds the entire time and that's why she was able to stay happy in her disgusting living conditions, and why she took Hikari to the hospital even though she knew it's not a solution.

reread with this in mind i feel like it still didn't add up to the whole picture.

the hospital is not solution not add up, if go to hospital = get medication. then the whole going on to find happines is real, that they are trying. But she said she actually didn't try to find it.

If it just "not addressing the Issue" then why like still missing something with the whole story show here.
I don't see the connect of the sister invite her to their house like invite her If it depression, that only take surgery, why

 

[HeyJudas]

I guess this is one of those where you dont need to actually understand but get the point. Maybe black cat girl is the only one in that world who dont get happy surgery, considering her weird love of only two things the sparkly road (which is visible only in darkness of depressed people) and the stone. Seeing a friend who also gets depressed, she wants to be friends with her. However she realized that the girl cannot handle depression like the black cat girl did so she sends her to the hospital just like everyone else. After getting the surgery, the black cat girl is alone again. Maybe the black cat girl cant get surgery because shes not human, dooming her and her siblings to be depressed everyday.

 

[Ven-20]

From my understanding, Hikari can notice stuff others don't only when she loses her happiness, including Kage, so Kage just wants to spend time with a friend (possibly only one apart from her sisters), until Hikari reaches her breaking point.

Still stuff I'm not sure about, like why would Kage get yelled at if she cleans her place, or how does she know how to "fix" her (does it imply this was not the first time they've done this? Are all the other medical records hers too?)

 

[BakedBanana]

I realize this is hard to do, but read the Medical Certificate in the biggest panel on page 38. It explains what happened to Hikari.

"Psychosurgery is a type of surgical ablation or disconnection of brain tissue with the intent to alter affective or cognitive states caused by mental illness."

 

[jrocker]

So she got lobotomized to force her to be happy. I'm assuming Kage was real but is a loner in class and because of Hikari's depression she was staying away from everyone and Kage used that as a chance. Kage seems to be living in a not great situation where her and her sisters are in squalor (and Kage even always having a bandage on her face). This is why Hikari had to run since it made her feel worse that she didn't even have as much to feel unhappy about. After the surgery Hikari is "fixed" and joins the more normal girls but it means that Kage and her sisters go back to where they were before without any friends and only each other.

 

[shelliana]

Small thing that can affect interpretation: On page 35 in the raws, Kage says ハッピーなんて探してもないんだ which is literally like "Even if you search for it, there's no happiness anywhere" or could be reworked as "Happiness can't be found by searching for it".