Kusunoki's Flunking Her High School Glow-Up - Vol. 1 Ch. 2

[notkazman]

Nigga is over reacting cuh. The reaction when looking at beautiful girl eyes because of trauma is reasonable and all but when he started running away when in the class and shouting because of being paranoid pissed me the fuck off.

 

[Gobilu]

MC is a pussy

 

[Extreme-Tactician]

Keisuke's now has more motivation to change his social perception, but it seems Kusunoki isn't helping with that, because she really wants to have friends. So the top girl hounding on to him won't let him be the middle kind of guy. But he promised to help her, so now he's in a big dilemma.

Personally, all he's doing is gonna make people think they're already together, but he's just too shy to admit it.

 

[Triparadox]

My otaku senses are warning me of a "harem" and "tsundere male" tags. But seriously this unfortunately is a formulaic development which not every author can pull off. Gotta bite the bullet and keep reading just in case.

No, please don't jump in front of the angry mob like that. You might have to change your username to ItsThatDeadGuy

We need to change names into in before that guy dies

 

[Triparadox]

I'm pretty sure every man who hate the mc hate him because they see themselves in him and don't want to admit it

What are you smoking? If I can project to him, I'd love the series and would be able to totally relate to his decisions. No, I cannot even see myself in him. I don't even know how you can craft that argument.

-Even though he achieved what he wants, there is still a scar left that scare him, which is accurate as fuck, trauma is not easy to forget.

Yes, trauma isn't easy to avoid. People don't have issue with the boy being intimidated when the boy sees the girl who once 'uses' him or toys with him. That's not where people start to become pessimistic.

-He won't know that the girl likes him just because she acts friendly with him because SHE fucking asked him on how to be friendly with people and asked him to help her practise.

You can argue that, and we can try establishing that as the basis for the sake of argument. The way he interacts with her is absolutely bonker.

First, he wants to improve. In fact, he's been doing that for months before he starts his high school debut. At this point, his self-esteem, while may still be easily swayed from trauma (e.g. meeting with former bullies), should be relatively adequate or normal compared to most people when interacting with just normal people.

Second, he knows exactly who this girl is for probably years. If he can be friend with a complete stranger when he enrolls in this high school (he has friends now), then it does not make sense if he is this terrified befriending someone like her.

Third, if you want to make an argument that he does not want her to turn against him once she's properly established, then that is fine. However, if that is his true intention (and not just some 'excuse' he prepares to justify himself), then he can easily either reject or maintain 'acquaintance' stance while being firm. We don't mind if the MC is being careful against women in his class specifically because he is still in trauma. But, his action right now feels silly at best, and can be considered generic at worst. Something easily predictable (the other dude probably forecasted the next 30 chapters content if there's ever gonna be that many). Just a copy paste with different artstyle and character names.

Most of the people who complain aren't asking for the MC to suddenly turn into giga chad or a very alpha male. If the author wants to make a reasonably normal standard high schooler boy, make it normal. This kind of 'denseness' is abnormal. It's basically just a trope. A more normal approach would be to have MC be at least on a neutral stance, if not slightly happy, as he gets a friend.

 

[Pandacyborg]

I’m genuinely baffled at people getting angry about the mc and his “denseness”. Is this people’s first romcom manga? Half the time the girl could straight up confess her undying love and the guy would still wonder if she likes him. So just chill out everyone we’re only 2 chapters in, this is all pretty normal

 

[DylanGTech]

I find it funny how the gal just acts as though they’re closer than friends despite her claiming she has terrible communication skills. lol

Though to the mangaka’s credit I’ve found myself in a very similar situation before. Can’t really tell her no. Women are a mystery. Whether she’s flirting with you or not, you could certainly get used to it…..

If more women were like this AND especially if more men were more receptive to taking it somewhere, perhaps people wouldn’t be so crazy and lonely.

 

[altmaria]

I find it funny how the gal just acts as though they’re closer than friends despite her claiming she has terrible communication skills. lol

Though to the mangaka’s credit I’ve found myself in a very similar situation before. Can’t really tell her no. Women are a mystery. Whether she’s flirting with you or not, you could certainly get used to it…..

If more women were like this AND especially if more men were more receptive to taking it somewhere, perhaps people wouldn’t be so crazy and lonely.

It's interesting you say that women are a mystery and yet you find yourself relating to the mangaka, who is a woman.
There isn't any mystery here: people often see themselves very differently from how other people see them. That applies both to the female character, who underestimates her communication skills, and to you, who will overestimate how a woman is interacting with you, because you are physically attracted to her.

One way to circumvent this is to pay attention to how you perceive people that you aren't attracted to when they talk to you, and use that as reference. At least it worked with me, I quickly realized the flirting was all in my head... most of the time.

 

[hafizrosly]

Real weird combo for this manga, mc got that weird symptom that will serve nothing for the story progression. At first he says that he overcome his shortcoming in middle school but doesnt seem so in this ch. Welp looking forward to better development. Kinda hoping some real good romcom

 

[ysil69]

FMC is too good for the spaz MC. I really hate Spaz MCs.

 

[DylanGTech]

It's interesting you say that women are a mystery and yet you find yourself relating to the mangaka, who is a woman.
There isn't any mystery here: people often see themselves very differently from how other people see them. That applies both to the female character, who underestimates her communication skills, and to you, who will overestimate how a woman is interacting with you, because you are physically attracted to her.

One way to circumvent this is to pay attention to how you perceive people that you aren't attracted to when they talk to you, and use that as reference. At least it worked with me, I quickly realized the flirting was all in my head... most of the time.

Let me be clear with what I’m saying: I am not relating to the mangaka. I am giving her credit. I also would like to point out that I have/had little real question over whether I was being flirted with because in the end it did not matter.

Guys are the ones to initiate flirting, mainly as a way to invite affection and attachment while dancing around uncomfortable questions and sudden moves that would scare a woman off. Gives her time to consider and accept or push you away before becoming too serious or attached.

This is an important thing guys need to learn.

 

[altmaria]

Guys are the ones to initiate flirting, mainly as a way to invite affection and attachment while dancing around uncomfortable questions and sudden moves that would scare a woman off. Gives her time to consider and accept or push you away before becoming too serious or attached.

That's an extremely limited way to see interactions with women. It almost sounds like you are talking about a wild animal you need to tame, not fellow human beings. If this is the only way you interact with women, it's no wonder you think they are a mystery.

 

[Doutorfunga]

Keisuke's now has more motivation to change his social perception, but it seems Kusunoki isn't helping with that, because she really wants to have friends. So the top girl hounding on to him won't let him be the middle kind of guy. But he promised to help her, so now he's in a big dilemma.

Personally, all he's doing is gonna make people think they're already together, but he's just too shy to admit it.

Agreed.
And I hope you don't mind a slight derailing, but this manga reminds me of how much the whole "schoolboy having a life motto" trope weirds me out. Hyouka and this manga are just two examples (Oregairu takes this to a laughable extent).

 

[Oobaka-san]

What are you smoking? If I can project to him, I'd love the series and would be able to totally relate to his decisions. No, I cannot even see myself in him. I don't even know how you can craft that argument.



Yes, trauma isn't easy to avoid. People don't have issue with the boy being intimidated when the boy sees the girl who once 'uses' him or toys with him. That's not where people start to become pessimistic.


You can argue that, and we can try establishing that as the basis for the sake of argument. The way he interacts with her is absolutely bonker.

First, he wants to improve. In fact, he's been doing that for months before he starts his high school debut. At this point, his self-esteem, while may still be easily swayed from trauma (e.g. meeting with former bullies), should be relatively adequate or normal compared to most people when interacting with just normal people.

Second, he knows exactly who this girl is for probably years. If he can be friend with a complete stranger when he enrolls in this high school (he has friends now), then it does not make sense if he is this terrified befriending someone like her.

Third, if you want to make an argument that he does not want her to turn against him once she's properly established, then that is fine. However, if that is his true intention (and not just some 'excuse' he prepares to justify himself), then he can easily either reject or maintain 'acquaintance' stance while being firm. We don't mind if the MC is being careful against women in his class specifically because he is still in trauma. But, his action right now feels silly at best, and can be considered generic at worst. Something easily predictable (the other dude probably forecasted the next 30 chapters content if there's ever gonna be that many). Just a copy paste with different artstyle and character names.

Most of the people who complain aren't asking for the MC to suddenly turn into giga chad or a very alpha male. If the author wants to make a reasonably normal standard high schooler boy, make it normal. This kind of 'denseness' is abnormal. It's basically just a trope. A more normal approach would be to have MC be at least on a neutral stance, if not slightly happy, as he gets a friend.

Might I be allowed to shift that person's assertion just a bit? Two groups of people are hating on the hero: people that are like him, and people that are like Hebikawa.

"Adequately confident" on its own is kind of ridiculous. Self-esteem isn't that easy to build up, at least not through things like physical changes. All of his confidence right now is based entirely on the fact that he looks good and is accepted by other people. In other words, his confidence is dependent on the opinions of others. And it's still very shaky, and understandably so, given how wary he is of the "top-rung" guys. He sees his self-worth as dependent on his status, and that status as a very thing that can be easily toppled by the slightest antagonism of the top-tier individuals. This isn't helped by his conviction that those on the top rung are not only aware of their status but also hold nothing but contempt to those "below" them. A truly confident person would recognize his own worth, but for someone who'd decided he needs to "fix" himself and just managed to "succeed" at this, that is not really a possibility. All he has is a sense of security that he can in normal circumstances avoid being ostracized. Confidence will take a lot more time.

Also, just because he knew her in junior high doesn't mean he "knew" her back then. Neither of them interact in a way that suggests they'd actually talked or interacted. Just because they were both outcasts and often ended up in the same place doesn't mean either of them had the self-confidence to actually form any kind of real connection. I mean, she acts like he might not remember who she even is. As far as he's concerned, she's a stranger who may have some awareness of the pain of the bottom but was still of "higher status" and would eventually behave accordingly.

On top of that, honestly I'd say that her behavior is stranger. It takes some serious lack of awareness to get so close to a member of the opposite sex without any realization that this could lead to people thinking certain things. She doesn't even seem to notice the looks the guys are giving Keisuke or the whispers of the girls. He may be (understandably) over-sensitive of these things, but she's completely lacking in this area, thus his frustration with her and her behavior, which is again driven to greater heights by his tension over whether he'll be able to keep his "position".

On a different note, there's one thing I was very happy to see: Ririsa actually remaining a part of the story. In a lot of stories, once the jerk who traumatizes someone has succeeded in leaving that scar, they're removed from the story and either never return or only make the briefest of appearances near the end without any real resolution. I'm hoping at the least that she'll suffer some kind of embarrassment or comeuppance, but what I really want is to see her actually regret her past behavior and apologize for it. I practically never see that, and I honestly find it very satisfying. Not to mention that it'd be a good step, even a final step, in helping him heal and gain confidence to see the one who convinced him that those at the top would only laugh at those below them recognize that she was wrong to do so.

 

[Haezer]

The only thing I hate with this template MC is they always SHOUT like every damn time. What's even worse is that they sometimes shout to other people they talked to. Like wtf is wrong with you bruh? Cuz up till now, I haven't seen someone do smth like that irl, but if it does happen, God that'd be so damn annoying.

 

[HunterCO]

MCs can be such odd entities also holy shit I don't think I've seen everyone use backpacks in a highschool manga what sorcery

 

[DeOneChester]

I'm pretty sure every man who hate the mc hate him because they see themselves in him and don't want to admit it. Like:
-He tried his best to change himself.
-Even though he achieved what he wants, there is still a scar left that scare him, which is accurate as fuck, trauma is not easy to forget.
-He won't know that the girl likes him just because she acts friendly with him because SHE fucking asked him on how to be friendly with people and asked him to help her practise. (Even I don't know if the girl like him or not, like, someone tell you that they want you to help them practise being friendly with people and they start being friendly with you, if you then assume that they're being friendly with you because they like you, how down bad are you?)

This is all I can say because there're only 2 chapters rn, but I won't stand for it if someone hate on him for some bullshit excuses.

I hate him because he's kinda sexist, and extremely dumb. People whispering about you and causing you anguish over misunderstandings is such a stupid way to create drama. He has all the tools to live a peaceful life, he's just too frustratingly focused on imaginary social constructs to see it.

 

[altmaria]

I hate him because he's kinda sexist, and extremely dumb. People whispering about you and causing you anguish over misunderstandings is such a stupid way to create drama. He has all the tools to live a peaceful life, he's just too frustratingly focused on imaginary social constructs to see it.

That's what I don't get about this mangaka. She's making a manga that is supposedly shoujo, but she manages to cram in these harmful stereotypes typical from a shounen.

She did the same with her previous work. It's supposedly josei, but reads like seinen.

 

[Remocracy]

Geez author you could have waited at least a few more chaps of development for the main couple before throwing dumb drama so early.

They barely even know each other yet and already they are throwing drama tropes that usually appear dozens of chaps into the story.

On the bright side maybe it’ll finish fast?

 

[Mindself]

When the nerds try to become normies it never ends well...