Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 37 - I thought I'd have my lady check to see if it looks weird

[tekkenshu7]

Time for a romcom war, I guess (calling MC will be forced to take on the lead male role for their stage play)

 

[essensue]

She 100% will need to be saved, the step-dad chapter is a huge Chekhov's Gun. The "redemption" I said on a previous comment is about her conception of herself, because it seems to me she sees herself as rotten and is why she is initially suspicious of Kusunoki, like "no way a girl like her can exist!". Chapter 17 is a strong indication this will turn into a "harem" manga, though I'm still hoping it won't. So yeah, expect some melodrama.

The only reason this remains a fear rather than a certainty in my mind is how effectively the series has abused foreshadowing techniques to mislead readers so far. The stepdad thing is so heavy-handed that I'm hoping there's going to be more to it than we would normally expect.

I think you're right about her self-image (that line on the bus where she looks out the window and says she knows better than anyone how bad her personality is... oof) and I wouldn't be surprised if her deal is actually that she's way too hard on herself, which we're kept from seeing by the story always wrapping her in fake villainy. As far as we've actually seen, her flaw is learning to play the same game as the other girls, putting up a front, and being calculating about how to make everything socially work for her. Other than the first page of the story and when she drives off her elementary bully, we never see her use this power to even be mean to anyone. Twice she barks at her own friends, and both times it's when they talk shit about Kusunoki.

Trying to take a teenage girl who's closed off her heart to protect herself and make it karmic justice that she be sexually imperiled would be so, so disappointing from this series. The "fallen woman" shit they've sprinkled around and paid dating red herring, etc., really don't need to be here, either.

This story shouldn't be the male lead literally saving her from a rapist, it should be Kusunoki metaphorically saving her from loneliness and superficiality by accepting the Hebikawa that got sealed away in elementary school when she was rejected by all her friends.

 

[CulR]

Why not just make the text cut-off like the original Japanese text? lol

 

[GregoryFregory]

truth nuke: this chapter was only made so the author showed that she didn't forget about Moe at all, even giving her some image improvement to show that the author slightly cared about her but eventually she's just not interesting and adding nothing to the story.
she came to the story as Kusunoki's fan from the get go and got confused why Kusunoki turned out the way she did now in high school, but until Kusunoki finally opened up why she turned into a loner in a middle school (which would basically act as climax of the story), she doesn't offer anything else.
Running out of ideas, author decided to make her developing some crush for Shizuki but that itself shouldn't be enough why we should take her seriously. she doesn't show any part that needs 'saving' by Shizuki (which is a common theme like how he encountered Kusunoki and then eventually Hebikawa in the later part of the story).
now Irie on the other hand, while I do think this manga is much better if it's just Kusunoki vs Hebikawa, she'd be a much better 3rd girl because she'd totally be in line with the 'saving problematic girls' theme with Shizuki. her first appearance was calling her classmates 'pathetic' for being wishy-washy about cultural festival, and then after taking upon herself the writing duty and eventually the directing part (which annoyed a lot of his classmates due to her harsh 'my way or the high way' treatment for them) you'd immediately know she has a massive personality issue.

Spoiler: also from the newest chapter

now with the cultural festival day has arrived, it's found out the girl who's supposed to play the beast has fallen ill and taken to the hospital so the class was left scrambling for her replacement. Shizuki wanted to be her replacement but that's impossible because the beast custome was already tailored for the ill girl's size so the only option left is Irie herself who knew every nook and cranny about the play but she got cold-feet and ran away, so that adds up that she also has a fear of being under the spotlight, which prompted for Kusunoki to run after her to convince her to take the role.

my point is Irie as a potential 3rd girl works better than Moe because she has a lot to fixing potentially by Shizuki

Spoiler: also another point

she has huge breasts so that's another plus point

 

[LeonsamaX]

Destined to lose

 

[oryzas0]

Shadow is a fucking legend I would say

 

[tbax99]

Me knowing that the tanned tomboy and the Snake girl will eventually lose:

Good. Kusonoki is the only one that truly understands MC.

 

[GregoryFregory]

Good. Kusonoki is the only one that truly understands MC.

MC still hasn't understood Kusunoki though while he understands Hebikawa's situation more

 

[cheesecakegood]

All praise the genius of shadow-sama

 

[Joe17mama]

The only reason this remains a fear rather than a certainty in my mind is how effectively the series has abused foreshadowing techniques to mislead readers so far. The stepdad thing is so heavy-handed that I'm hoping there's going to be more to it than we would normally expect.

I think you're right about her self-image (that line on the bus where she looks out the window and says she knows better than anyone how bad her personality is... oof) and I wouldn't be surprised if her deal is actually that she's way too hard on herself, which we're kept from seeing by the story always wrapping her in fake villainy. As far as we've actually seen, her flaw is learning to play the same game as the other girls, putting up a front, and being calculating about how to make everything socially work for her. Other than the first page of the story and when she drives off her elementary bully, we never see her use this power to even be mean to anyone. Twice she barks at her own friends, and both times it's when they talk shit about Kusunoki.

Trying to take a teenage girl who's closed off her heart to protect herself and make it karmic justice that she be sexually imperiled would be so, so disappointing from this series. The "fallen woman" shit they've sprinkled around and paid dating red herring, etc., really don't need to be here, either.

This story shouldn't be the male lead literally saving her from a rapist, it should be Kusunoki metaphorically saving her from loneliness and superficiality by accepting the Hebikawa that got sealed away in elementary school when she was rejected by all her friends.

Both of your lengthy, effort comments are so good, you analyzed Hebikawa's motivations and actions in an unbiased way, as opposed to so many others here who simply write her off as a bitch without much reflection, forgetting the fact that they're teenagers who would obviously be shaped by the incentives/consequences of their environment.

In retrospect, Hebikawa is really not even 20% as malicious as she was made out to be earlier in the story. I think most readers simply end up identifying with the protagonists (as it is easy to do) and fail to have any theory of mind for the antagonistic characters (since their thoughts aren't shared with the readers as much, it requires more effort to judge them objectively, which most readers just aren't willing to do).

 

[ArroganzSensei]

Damn I love that look on her 🙏

 

[zHIST]

Me knowing that the tanned tomboy and the Snake girl will eventually lose:

Your tears warm my heart

 

[zHIST]

Current personal rankings:
1. Kusunoki: Former introvert gone faux extrovert, you love to see it. Genuine sweetheart, great chemistry with MC, had struggles and shows improvement.
2. Otobe: Cute mini dark skin tomboy, kind of annoying at the start but has undergone some character growth and has a fun balance of shy and mischievous.
.
.
.
99. Background character 37: They have a pulse and havent done anything wrong
100. Hebikawa: Bitch with a sad girl backstory, has done nothing to show any personal growth or improvement, shitty motives and personality

You forgot that the snake is being molested by her step dad and is enjoying it.

 

[Imur]

Nahhh…. Shadow is cool.

 

[Skyknight2003]

Don't do it MC, Snek route is a trap! Tomboy route might be fine, might even combine with the Awkward girl route. But do not trek on the Snek route.

 

[Dark1400]

You forgot that the snake is being molested by her step dad and is enjoying it.

You're watching too much hentai

 

[essensue]

-snip-
I think most readers simply end up identifying with the protagonists (as it is easy to do) and fail to have any theory of mind for the antagonistic characters (since their thoughts aren't shared with the readers as much, it requires more effort to judge them objectively, which most readers just aren't willing to do).

In all fairness to the haters: You're supposed to hate her. Her job so far has been to be a mysterious and unpredictable threat circling the main characters.

And critically reading manga for villain ToM is a questionable use of anyone's time when you could get like 85% of titles done and sorted by just writing "big fan of rape."

 

[absoldestiny]

Moe is so fucking cute

 

[GregoryFregory]

you people aren't ready for the convo that Kusunoki isn't what you usually think. we hebischolars are still gathering the evidence.

 

[animan095]

It's funny you think the protag has any feelings left for the snake bitch

It's so much more entertaining this way! I don't read rom-com dramas for the elementary student romance. I read to see them suffer in their inner turmoil and make mistakes!