Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 39 - I just... I don’t want to deny who I am

[MadScientist666]

Hebikawa is now obviously caught in something many people with self-esteem issues and too much arrogance experience: The realisation that maybe, just maybe, it is not all around them who are false, twisted, liars, but they're the ones who are fucked up but at the same time admitting it threatens to make everything they did to get to this point meaningless.

So, instead of embracing this realisation, they often end up denying it until it either becomes so comically stupid that nobody takes them seriously anymore or they finally give in and admit to have been wrong all along, which gives them the chance to self-reflect and grow as a person.

Let me guess: Hebikawa will eventually do the latter, accept that she was wrong and become "a good person", whatever that could be.

 

[MadScientist666]

Well, it's too late if Ririsa want to see Shizuka's dark side. I think Shizuka's dark phase is when she transitioning from elementary school to junior high. You know, at first she isn't introverted but when at junior high she become introverted. The transition is her dark phase and she already overcome it. So yeah, too bad Ririsa. I think she will never see what she want to see. And Shizuki isn't a guy that stirred up easily.

Ririsa is correct in seeing Shizuka as the opposite of her because, unlike her, Shizuka faced her problems and worked to overcome them, and it made her life better and herself a different, happier person.

Shizuka is the antithesis of Ririsa and all the facades and lies she grew to love over the years. It will be interesting to see if and if yes how and when she can't keep up the charade anymore and accepts having been wrong all along.

 

[MadScientist666]

I know this won't happen, but wouldn't it be so funny if she seduced MC and our girl was just like "O-oh, well best of luck to both of you!" because she never got to the love stage?

Actually, it wouldn't be out of character for her and, based on how these two girls are and act be the more logical resolution. Obviously, only after Ririsa sees how wrong she was and changes for the better, yadda yadda, you get the gist.

 

[Georgeorat]

Man it's hilarious actually. Seeing someone so sweet and pure and instead of reflecting you just double down.

It's like a pathetic dude seeing a chad and scorning chad for how successful he is instead of emulating him to some extent.

Wrong analogy, IMO.
Its more like a hobbit turns gollum, and when looking in the mirror, that would change them back, should they honestly face it, they instead smash it, so that they don't have to look at what they have become, turning even more gollum.

Actually, mine isn't that much better...
Whatever.

 

[PJSmooth]

She could have had an interesting moment of self reflection. Snake girl just had to double down on being evil lol.

 

[Luna-pyon]

BEGONE SNAKE

 

[Mangamoz]

Too bad that the author already spoiled it themselves that this is gonna become a harem.

 

[Desertking1]

I don't care what happens, Hebi is still the best girl in the series. This manga would be trash without her. And I bet its nothing of malicious she will do but she will end up falling for him even more. I like where this is going. Hope she wins.

 

[the_Bear_from_Bearcave]

I guess I'd call it "having her character sacrificed on the altar of the story every so often" because I think you nail it when you say "villainess role." Right now she's not doing evil for the sake of doing evil, or for personal gain, or malice, or through negligence. If the point is to protect her psyche, she's clearly smart enough to rationalize her way out of the problem. So we're left at "become the evil you're afraid exists in the world, to justify hardening your heart." And the result is "scenery-chewing villainess" instead of "realistically awful person."

It's very much the kind of motivation that's easy to arrive at in an armchair psychoanalysis fashion, and convince yourself it's true because it tells a complete story... but it's absolutely not the kind of thing a real person thinks to themselves ahead of time as their motivation to act. That's bananas.

When she isn't behaving like this, I think her characterization as a pragmatic not-that-mean Mean Girl is actually really well done, and it's so close to another possible version of her role in the story that I have to assume the author is avoiding it deliberately for some reason:

A version of Hebikawa that's naturally cynical and callous, and has fully accepted that nice girls finish last would see her younger self in Kusunoki and want to make her more snek-like to protect her from a world she knows is too harsh to accept that kind of defenseless naivete. One that would love to go through life like Kusunoki does, but has been burned way too many times. I'm not really sure yet why this path wasn't chosen, because it doesn't even need a radical change to come back around to the light side - apply one Magic of Friendship directly to the forehead and she'd be strong enough to not have to be afraid anymore.

It's a real weird choice.
Hebikawa totally has a Danzig poster in her room, though.

I wouldn't really call snake girl too smart to rationalize, she's the same girl that first started to go down the path of edgy evil villainy, because her oshi idol had a smoke after fucking her boyfriend, or something hilariously prude like that. She was always pretty dumb actually, she's just good at charisma and using people, because most kid her age are just as dumb, naive and prone to pressure due to lack of confidence. The writing didn't really change.

 

[BurnerAccount69]

I mean it's not hard. She said it herself, that she's shaken at the possibility that her entire lifes choices were a mistake. She's afraid. Not as much malice as it is denial that she herself is one huge fuck up. I'd she's pretty close to accepting that, just will need to get smacked down once more.

Not rooting for anyone honestly just wanna see how it all plays out.

I usually prefer to avoid red flags but that might be just me idk

 

[rayce]

I usually prefer to avoid red flags but that might be just me idk

Fair point.

 

[Friendly-Sentence710]

Aint no way bro get tf away from my boy 💀

I'mma fixin' to go full St. Patrick on her ass she do anything to our main couple.

 

[Thyme.Minister]

I predicted this chapters ago ,lol . She gonna try to woo mc in order to make fl jealous and try to isolate her ,but gonna fall for him in the process and gonna lose ultimately

its so clearly obvious that Hebi's ploy is going to flop miserably.

 

[Doutorfunga]

I know this won't happen, but wouldn't it be so funny if she seduced MC and our girl was just like "O-oh, well best of luck to both of you!" because she never got to the love stage?

She will. The attempts to make her jealous are exactly so she "realizes" she has feelings for the guy

 

[F3mb0I69]

Why is she so fucking weird about it?!!

 

[Castane]

Hard pill to swallow for Hebikawa fans, even she admits she's worst girl

 

[GregoryFregory]

hebi will steal shizuki away from kusunoki under pretense that he's the only one knowing her problem about her creepy mom's bf so she needs some protection and in the meantime she accidentally gets healed by him.
the thing about shizuki though, he's being denial that the way he just fell in love with kusunoki wasn't that much different compared to how he came to like hebi (being the nice girl at the right place) from chapter 26. i wonder if hebi will be a bigger person to commit her ploy by saying sorry first to shizuki, and suddenly shizuki's old feeling gets awakened again. Kusunoki started to catch some feeling but best believe she won't be the one to move the chess piece first.

 

[Nightazakus]

Y’all saying too much she’s still a child. Yes she knows what she’s doing and thinking is wrong, but due to lack of emotional maturity she’s still gonna do it. Stop holding children to adult standards that frankly most of us don’t even meet either.

 

[The_Lurker]

Damn snake, get away from the cat

 

[Skater901]

I actually like Hebikawa as a character... I feel like her motivations are relatable and understandable. This doesn't mean she's right or that she's doing the right thing, but I can empathise with her. Maybe I'd do the same thing in her situation.