Harapeko Oyako to Motokare Yanushi - Ch. 22

[havelmom]

my theory is the most unhinged of them all
she killed her father and this is a thriller murder-mystery manga

 

[havelmom]

I feel like Kyou got SA’d. It could explain the sudden break up, vagueness about the father and his family, and her having to drop out. Just the time frame doesn’t add up and the fact that they “met” after she broke up with him. Maybe it’s the same guy and he saw her again at work. Hopefully we get a chapter that goes in depth about the father.

this feels like the case, unfortunately
specially considering how she recalled that flashback of what was possibly (most likely) of him

 

[Takuma_Aki]

I assumed the story would either avoid the subject of the father (since it's bound to be controversial) or come up with some bullshit to make it so MC was the dad after all.

Instead, they not only confirmed he existed and wasn't MC, but also hinted there was something odd going on. Not to mention making him play a big part in the emotional conflict of the story.

I was only half interested on this and mostly following to get a laugh at the comment section meltdowns, but now they got me invested.

My theory was they never legally married, because that's the only way I can think of for it to be difficult for her to put his name as Minori's dad. If they had legally married and she became widowed after his death, Minori's birth would be in the grace period the law would assume to be his child and putting his name in wouldn't be too difficult. If they never legally married though, that could be a hell of a hassle to do so - and this might hint at her not being on a good term with his family, too?

 

[drepurp]

I dont need the writer to pull a "shes actually your daughter" I just need him to understand his feelings for her and not make the same mistake twice. Become the father she never had a chance to have, get your woman back and just be a family.

 

[UdenEmpati]

My theory was they never legally married, because that's the only way I can think of for it to be difficult for her to put his name as Minori's dad. If they had legally married and she became widowed after his death, Minori's birth would be in the grace period the law would assume to be his child and putting his name in wouldn't be too difficult. If they never legally married though, that could be a hell of a hassle to do so - and this might hint at her not being on a good term with his family, too?

Also, she never once refers to him as her husband, or even by name - always "Minori's father".

Maybe it could be said that Kyou is being sensitive to Takaharu in not labeling her relationship during the period they were apart, but it's so consistent in the narrative that it feels like an important implication.

We also get two different shots of his left hand in flashbacks, and there's never a ring. Not saying that's not potentially incidental, but this series actually does do small details quite well, to the point it feels intentional.

 

[Boomthorkell]

I realize I loathe Post-WWII Japanese occupation culture. It's just demented and unnatural. No man in this circumstance wouldn't be having sex with her. Additionally, being this level of beta is sad and weird. Also, having a girl pregnant in college is an absolute win.

It's just so...fake. It's very fake.

 

[Rafalga]

My biggest issue with the story is probably Takaharu himself. Not his inability to asking questions but him being mentally stuck with a girl he dated for like 5 months when he was like 18-19 for almost 20 years. And as far as we can see from their past flashbacks, it wasn't some over the top telenovela tier relationship either. If anything, it was pretty much a nothing burger. She left. Didn't even contact him once for 17 long ass years but dude is still in the exact spot she has left him. Both mentally and socially. Way too convenient just to make the bait part of the bait and switch applicable since he apparently doesn't even care.

She is probably the luckiest woman on earth to land a backup like this in such a short period of time.

 

[UdenEmpati]

My biggest issue with the story is probably Takaharu himself. Not his inability to asking questions but him being mentally stuck with a girl he dated for like 5 months when he was like 18-19 for almost 20 years. And as far as we can see from their past flashbacks, it wasn't some over the top telenovela tier relationship either. If anything, it was pretty much a nothing burger. She left. Didn't even contact him once for 17 long ass years but dude is still in the exact spot she has left him. Both mentally and socially. Way too convenient just to make the bait part of the bait and switch applicable since he apparently doesn't even care.

She is probably the luckiest woman on earth to land a backup like this in such a short period of time.

Except we get some justification for that side of him in the story.

In chapter 14 when he's sleeping and dreaming about Kyou, we get the flashback to when she broke up with him, and part of him realizes it's because he was so focused on his artwork that he neglected her ("neglected what was actually important").

But--she was also a model for his work, and more importantly for his best work. One of his last conversations with Kyou was talking about how he'd have to work even harder to put together material for the gallery showing, because the rest of the group ditched him and Azuma. He had to use a bunch of pieces centered around Kyou as a result, and those were the ones that everyone who attended resonated with the most.
So he had all of the best qualities of Kyou, thrown back in his face over and over and over again. The very things he captured in his art, that strangers noticed and picked out, and they were things he himself missed in the real life person until she was already gone.

That sort of thing will have a lasting impact on a person. The best art he makes, the pieces that leave the biggest impact on those who see them, are the ones of Kyou. She is tied to him intrinsically, in the one manner with which he acts upon the world around him. And he can't talk to her, because he already let her slip through his fingers, only to be constantly reminded of her every time he puts pen or brush to paper or canvas, and every time someone comments on a piece that's either of her, or a product of her impact on him.

To me, him going 17 years with that following him around, makes perfect sense for why he never let go.

 

[parasquerl]

This guys way too much of a simp for this girl who dumped him, ghosted him, and found another guy.

Like, if her husband hadn't of died this dude wouldn't even be on her radar.

...isn't that how it usually works? By most people's standards, it's a good thing if she was faithful to her husband for his whole life....

 

[rei893]

After reading till this chapter, now I see why it calls Hungry mother, hehehe 😏😏😏😏😏

 

[tuges]

Reading the comments here made me think about the symbolism of food and dependence that was so inherent throughout. I mentioned it earlier but noticed in chapter 13, Takaharu warns Minori not to take candy from strangers, while in 19 the first image we see of Kyou's late husband is him offering her candy. The implication might be that they were together because of her need for someone she could depend on even though it was likely what lead to a pregnancy and more difficulties ahead (though at least it seemed he was willing to take responsibility).

Because of that I can't help but think that every chapter where Kyou is offering him some of her food is also her saying she wants him to depend on her as well, but he's not getting it and maybe the moment he does is the moment their relationship gets closer.

 

[NotSomeone]

I realize I loathe Post-WWII Japanese occupation culture. It's just demented and unnatural. No man in this circumstance wouldn't be having sex with her. Additionally, being this level of beta is sad and weird. Also, having a girl pregnant in college is an absolute win.

It's just so...fake. It's very fake.

I hope you either change for the better or have minimal contact with women throughout your life.

Also, she never once refers to him as her husband, or even by name - always "Minori's father".

Maybe it could be said that Kyou is being sensitive to Takaharu in not labeling her relationship during the period they were apart, but it's so consistent in the narrative that it feels like an important implication.

We also get two different shots of his left hand in flashbacks, and there's never a ring. Not saying that's not potentially incidental, but this series actually does do small details quite well, to the point it feels intentional.

He died before Minori was even born. For the timeline to make sense, she got pregnant less than a year after breaking up with Takaharu. We know that at the time, she was fragile and she was seeking comfort and attention. I wouldn't go as far as to say the guy raped her, but (as @tuges pointed out, there's a parallel with the guy offering her candy and Takaharu's warning to Minori) I would argue he definitely took advantage of her. Maybe he would assume responsability but he died before that ever happened.
So yeah, I think the guy showed up, took advantage of this chick who was alienated from her family and in desperate need of human comfort, got her pregnant, and died before he could either run away or assume the baby.

 

[UdenEmpati]

I hope you either change for the better or have minimal contact with women throughout your life.


He died before Minori was even born. For the timeline to make sense, she got pregnant less than a year after breaking up with Takaharu. We know that at the time, she was fragile and she was seeking comfort and attention. I wouldn't go as far as to say the guy raped her, but (as @tuges pointed out, there's a parallel with the guy offering her candy and Takaharu's warning to Minori) I would argue he definitely took advantage of her. Maybe he would assume responsability but he died before that ever happened.
So yeah, I think the guy showed up, took advantage of this chick who was alienated from her family and in desperate need of human comfort, got her pregnant, and died before he could either run away or assume the baby.

Minori's 14. (ch.3 p.9)
Kyou and Takahari were apart for 17 years. (ch.1 p.3)

We aren't given birthdays or dates of when they broke up, but that gives at least 2 years, at most 3, for Kyou and Minori's father to have been together before he died and Minori being born.

I'm not saying that it's impossible that Minori's father wasn't a good guy, but this series also has a habit of "inverting" things. Takaharu warns Minori against taking candy from the random lady at the gallery, but he himself gave Minori a green tea latte back in chapter 3, and they were still very much strangers at that time.

We also know that Takaharu has historically been closed off, and was even neglectful of Kyou to at least some extent which in part lead to their break-up. Kyou wanted comfort and validation, and I have to wonder if that flashback of being offered the candy during that remembered conversation, was a symbolic act of "someone actually giving Kyou comfort and validation", via food - which is a main feature of this series as a whole in establishing safe, comforting places in which the characters exist.
(After all - Minori warms up to Takaharu in part because of the food he gives her. During Kyou's fever delerium, she worries over being able to feed Minori - indicating food insecurity when it was just the two of them. "Food = love & safety" is a theme of this entire series, and that piece of candy could just as easily be a representation of that.)

Basically - I definitely don't think Kyou was raped, but I don't think she was taken advantage of, either. Whatever the extent of her relationship with Minori's father, I suspect it wasn't a bad one, but that Kyou's life in general at that time was hard. The father could have just as well been a point of safety and security for her, and when he died she lost everything--and it was just her and Minori, until she finally returned to Takaharu.
We obviously can't say for certain at this point, but there's also the general tone of the series up to this point. It's definitely "adult" and mature it is themes and the handling of the relationship between Kyou & Takaharu, but rape/abuse/controlling feels out of place with the tone of everything else the author's established--not the least of which would be the art style itself.

 

[NotSomeone]

Minori's 14. (ch.3 p.9)
Kyou and Takahari were apart for 17 years. (ch.1 p.3)

We aren't given birthdays or dates of when they broke up, but that gives at least 2 years, at most 3, for Kyou and Minori's father to have been together before he died and Minori being born.

I'm not saying that it's impossible that Minori's father wasn't a good guy, but this series also has a habit of "inverting" things. Takaharu warns Minori against taking candy from the random lady at the gallery, but he himself gave Minori a green tea latte back in chapter 3, and they were still very much strangers at that time.

We also know that Takaharu has historically been closed off, and was even neglectful of Kyou to at least some extent which in part lead to their break-up. Kyou wanted comfort and validation, and I have to wonder if that flashback of being offered the candy during that remembered conversation, was a symbolic act of "someone actually giving Kyou comfort and validation", via food - which is a main feature of this series as a whole in establishing safe, comforting places in which the characters exist.
(After all - Minori warms up to Takaharu in part because of the food he gives her. During Kyou's fever delerium, she worries over being able to feed Minori - indicating food insecurity when it was just the two of them. "Food = love & safety" is a theme of this entire series, and that piece of candy could just as easily be a representation of that.)

Basically - I definitely don't think Kyou was raped, but I don't think she was taken advantage of, either. Whatever the extent of her relationship with Minori's father, I suspect it wasn't a bad one, but that Kyou's life in general at that time was hard. The father could have just as well been a point of safety and security for her, and when he died she lost everything--and it was just her and Minori, until she finally returned to Takaharu.
We obviously can't say for certain at this point, but there's also the general tone of the series up to this point. It's definitely "adult" and mature it is themes and the handling of the relationship between Kyou & Takaharu, but rape/abuse/controlling feels out of place with the tone of everything else the author's established--not the least of which would be the art style itself.

You're right, Minori is 14, and that changes things. I somehow remembered her being 16 when writing my comment.
I guess it's an effect of reading the manga as chapters are released, it's been more than a year since I read chapter 1.

 

[UdenEmpati]

You're right, Minori is 14, and that changes things. I somehow remembered her being 16 when writing my comment.
I guess it's an effect of reading the manga as chapters are released, it's been more than a year since I read chapter 1.

No worries - I've been re-reading it during discussions on the most recent chapters to try and cite which chapters I'm pulling information from, so that's why it's so fresh in my mind.

 

[kaikuro]

tbh, i still don't get why she broke up with him, and not only that but broke ALL further communication channels with him, too. That hasn't really been explained well, imo. Her parents got a divorce, she freaked out and left... I just don't think that's enough to stay 15 years on radio silence with, as was shown, a fairly good and loving relationship. "Japanese people be like that" is the only reasonable explanation for her behaviour. Although i do not remember if it was ever told that he looked for her at some point.

her parents divorce and she seem to be have financial problem, and she did not want to involve him hence the radio silent from her part. As for his, he did contact her (previous chapter show he did call her) but she push him away saying she is fine and so he did not push any further.
What I wonder is why she married in the first place, is she found new love with Midori's father or is it just married with benific. Also there another woman in the picturer of 3 of them which got me wonder is Midori really her child? or Midori is her sister child or something, and Midori's real parents die in an accident.

 

[UdenEmpati]

her parents divorce and she seem to be have financial problem, and she did not want to involve him hence the radio silent from her part. As for his, he did contact her (previous chapter show he did call her) but she push him away saying she is fine and so he did not push any further.
What I wonder is why she married in the first place, is she found new love with Midori's father or is it just married with benific. Also there another woman in the picturer of 3 of them which got me wonder is Midori really her child? or Midori is her sister child or something, and Midori's real parents die in an accident.

Kyou actually never once uses the word "husband", and so it's not been made clear if she ever actually married Minori's father.
Every scene in the 22 chapters thus far that shows him, and where we see his hands, he never has a ring on his left. And, neither does Kyou.

That's not indicative of them never having married, but the current state of things is that 1) Kyou has never said the man's name; 2) Kyou has only ever referred to him as "Minori's Father"; and 3) we don't know the "legal status" of their relationship, only that he died before Minori was born.

I think a question that should be asked from there, is why would Minori need to not be Kyou's daughter? What benefit does the story gain from Minori being her niece, that it would lose with them being parent and child? Because there's currently no reason to assume it's anything other than that. Even the photo with the other person alongside Kyou and Minori's father that we see in chapter 19 doesn't prove or disprove anything - that could be a photo from her work where they met, and that was another colleague. That could be her mother, or his mother, or a sibling, but we just don't know yet.

But that doesn't mean that Minori's parentage is suddenly called into question, because nothing about their relationship or the sequence of events or history that we've learned up to this point points to that sort of "twist" being appropriate for the tone and flow of the story to date.

There's been no surprise reversals at all, only missing pieces that have filled in the larger picture of the narrative timeline - but nothing that says "actually what was said here was wrong and it's actually this." And there's an important distinction between those two forms of storytelling.

 

[kngpjn]

her parents divorce and she seem to be have financial problem, and she did not want to involve him hence the radio silent from her part. As for his, he did contact her (previous chapter show he did call her) but she push him away saying she is fine and so he did not push any further.
What I wonder is why she married in the first place, is she found new love with Midori's father or is it just married with benific. Also there another woman in the picturer of 3 of them which got me wonder is Midori really her child? or Midori is her sister child or something, and Midori's real parents die in an accident.

Yeah, that another woman is a new mystery.

 

[Tinker_OwO]

I'm so glad for this batch of chapters, it really painted a much more complete picture of the situation

And honestly, it made me deeply regret my initial feelings of the first impressions I got from the series... but hey! feeling cringe at my old self means I've grown loll

I am now absolutely love with this series, and can't wait to see just how everything is going unfold

 

[Trevoga]

you know, this thing really picked up once the author decided to stop spinning the wheels in place and actually let the story progress
unfortunately it does seem like the daughter is not as much of a priority as their past and present relationship drama, which isn't necessarily bad, but sure does feel like lost potential