Kimi wa Yotsuba no Clover - Ch. 43 - Wake

[Statyc]

Don't we know Mr. Utsu's backstory already. His mom and older sister told him to prioritize his family's happiness, and Mr. Utsu took it the worst way possible. It is clear he became complacent at some point with the downward spiral of his family, thinking he is good father and husband for giving his daughter money, giving his wife "words of encouragement" and giving attention to his son when he (Mr Utsu) is around, not seeing how he is enabling his daughter's laziness and selfishness, making his wife's mental health tank, and is so ignorant of Uichi's life he doesn't even remember his allergy information. We don't need to know more cause that is the theme of the series, people don't need to have complex backstories or personalities to be evil, they just need to have some bad trait taken to the extreme, be it aggression, jealously, laziness, despair or complacency.

Speaking of which, we know Mr Utsu has a sister but yet her family never appears in the funeral unless it was offscreen... makes you wonder.

I think some of us are dissatisfied with Mr. Utsu's backstory, as it shows exactly one panel with advice that acts as a catalyst for his subsequent behavior. All the following panels only show us how he misapplied that advice or how it distorted his perception.

What we want to know is why that one panel was enough to be a catalyst. Why that one quip was enough to make him a clueless person, or was he always clueless to begin with? How did he get a competent wife while being the way that he is? How does he keep his job?

The backstory for Uichi's mother and sister explain how they became suicidal and a lazy recluse, respectively. Mother and sister weren't always like that. I was hoping for the same with Mr. Utsu.

 

[dienstagHD]

So where's the god intervening or telling her the rules/limitations/equivalent exchange?

Her equivalent exchange is her evil twin itching for uichi to end it 😭

 

[ChaosMAX1268]

I think some of us are dissatisfied with Mr. Utsu's backstory, as it shows exactly one panel with advice that acts as a catalyst for his subsequent behavior. All the following panels only show us how he misapplied that advice or how it distorted his perception.

What we want to know is why that one panel was enough to be a catalyst. Why that one quip was enough to make him a clueless person, or was he always clueless to begin with? How did he get a competent wife while being the way that he is? How does he keep his job?

The backstory for Uichi's mother and sister explain how they became suicidal and a lazy recluse, respectively. Mother and sister weren't always like that. I was hoping for the same with Mr. Utsu.

I can see it leave some fridge logic questions, and I don't mind if we see more of how he was with the family before things went to hell but I feel the simplicity of his problem (and how it was made on a borderline whim) is kinda the point. Even with antagonists with more known backstory like Yae, their motive is still very simple and almost just bad luck rather than something profound, and think that is what the manga is meant to go with. If we do get more insight, even if Clover is somehow involved with his complacency, I hope its not something like a freudian excuse.