Kusunoki's Flunking Her High School Glow-Up - Vol. 4 Ch. 24 - I was hopelessly in love with you

[Tr2607]

I really don't get the conflict here... Kid was a loser when he was younger and can't move forward, that isn't everyone else fault.. dudes projecting his own bullshit on everyone else instead of just owning up and moving on, he seem like a genuinely annoying person I wouldn't want to be around irl

You seem full of empathy.

 

[odannyc85]

🐍=1
🤓=0

 

[Mangamoz]

He really needs some form of professional mental health, holding on to a grudge from childhood for so many years is not healthy.

But it's Japan so forget about that, just shut up and bottle it up until you blow up and go to the forest next to Mount Fuji.

 

[Erbakhan]

What did she do again to make him traumatized...?

 

[ArcLife]

What did she do again to make him traumatized...?

Basically in middle school wen he was being treated as shit by everyone she befriend him so to him it was like he found an oasis in his shity life only to later overhear her talk shit about him behind his back and that she was just being nice to make herself look good

 

[Guralub]

Feels like the cool thing this month is to like the mean girl.
Hebikawa is certainly no big villain, but she is doing things to her benefit at the cost of others.

But with the way things are going, I'm pretty sure that by the end of this manga she'll reform and be buddy buddy with everyone.

 

[Substitution]

What did she do again to make him traumatized...?

She was polite to him so he immediately fell in love with her.

Then she made a derisive comment one time when they were little.

It was really hilarious to read 4 pages full of people calling for her to be murdered a few chapters ago when you can go read Chapter 1 and find she didn't do anything noteworthy.

This chapter the comments are the exact opposite.

 

[Yuiko]

Yeah, I'm with Hebikawa on this one. Dudes acting really pathetic.

 

[Hcoregamer]

The cat was manipulative, her kindness back then was not genuine and more just feeling better for herself. As we can see from her actions now, everything she does is a means to an end. She isn't evil per se, but she is just a psychopath, the kind of person who is everyone's boss at work.

With that said, the main guy could have handled his situation better, putting a weak front in front of her was not a good idea. You don't want to project weakness in front of a psychopath, at all.

 

[DR-ZOIDBERG]

You guys... go read the first ch. again..
This bitch is no good, call the guy "he is just disgusting" out of nowhere.
Mc have every right to hate her, his only fault is not calling the bitch out before all of this.

 

[Andigo]

I'm always surprised how many people fail to understand betrayal, especially for a kid.

Keisuke was alone, he had almost no social contact, and was extremely vulnerable. His identity relied on having at least someone at school who proved his value as a person. And when a fragile person is hit directly at their weak point, or a child is hurt by someone in a place of trust, losing that foothold or pillar of support causes a total upheaval of daily life, which in turn causes trauma because their brain is forced to operate at extremes. He was at peak love hormones with nothing else to show for himself, barely convinced he wasn't worthless, and took a heavy blow. He's a brat, but at least the trauma is slightly realistic.

It's lazy reading to take Hebikawa at her word either. Of course she would see herself as innocent, they were such a small part of each other's lives and she holds him to the same standard of people who had support systems. How can you not see past rote victim-blaming? Her transactional mindset and way of evaluating everyone's worth means she's likely to hurt or push away people who can't navigate that. Kusunoki's innocent friendship seems to have struck a chord with her, somewhere. I find Hebikawa's interactions with Keisuke annoying or deranged, but she's not a psychopath, just weak and prideful.

 

[Orenji-kun]

She said one ugly thing about him. At some point you need to stop victimizing yourself.
That doesn't mean she didn't say ugly thing to him or that he started it - but his reaction to it was extreme and it clearly did affect his life badly. I am just describing the situation.

I have CPTSD. I have developed countless dysfunctional coping mechanisms to survive the years of constant abuse I endured. It wasn't until I realized that what I experienced was abuse and not just the natural consequences of my failures that I realized the root of my dysfunctional coping mechanisms and I was able to start healing them and developing healthier behaviors. I was constantly told by my abuser and even by some terrible therapists not to victimize myself and that unless I was suppressing my emotions which left me acting like an emotionless husk of a person, my reactions were too extreme. It's invalidating and disrespectful, and it does nothing but signal to people that it's not safe for them to be emotionally vulnerable and authentic around you or make any kind of progress in processing their trauma around you.

That's exactly what this entire chapter was about, Hebikawa invalidating Keisuke's experience and disrepecting him by saying "you were just dreaming of that on your own" as if she didn't manipulate him for her own public image and "it wasn't a big deal" like the pain she caused him doesn't matter.

You may not give a shit, but I hope someone reads this and realizes that just by acknowledging someone's trauma and victimhood and holding space for them, they can help them immensely.

 

[RiseOne]

Why is he so scared of her again? I've already forgotten.

 

[Litreara]

He really needs some form of professional mental health, holding on to a grudge from childhood for so many years is not healthy.

But it's Japan so forget about that, just shut up and bottle it up until you blow up and go to the forest next to Mount Fuji.

It’s translated into Spanish up to chapter 31 on Tumangaonline

 

[Veruschka]

Snake eye hot 🥵

 

[Guralub]

Why is he so scared of her again? I've already forgotten.

First page of the first chapter.
Friends "Why do you talk to that guy? Isn't he gross?"
Hebi "Yes, he is gross" while looking in the direction of Keisuke
Hebi "But if I'm kind to people that are below me, my reputation will build up on its own, won't it?"
Friends "Wow, so black-hearted"

 

[freedomseekr]

Kid was a loser when he was younger and can't move forward

Calling him a "loser" feels like an understatement to me. I might have to go back and check on how earlier chapters portrayed his middle school life, but from my point of view, it seems to have been pretty darn bad.

People also forget that the main relationship of the story is between two people who were social outcasts in middle school (Shizuki "for his appearance" (or rather, how his appearance was the excuse his bullies made for their behaviour) and we don't know what Kusonoki had going on between elementary and high school except the tomboy childhood friend hinting she was happier and more outgoing back then) and how the events that drove a pretty formative chunk of their lives back then and how even after reshaping themselves in a new period in their life that's still going to haunt them because that's unfortunately just how shit works...

 

[himesaminako]

Of course she doesn't owe it to him to be nice. But don't be nice to someone and then talk shit about them behind their back. That makes you a shitty two-faced person.

I'm not saying she's a super villain; of course she isn't. But all these comments of "dude she's really not that bad", what? This chapter has just reinforced what we already knew, that she was two-faced in middle school. Whether the MC's trauma or extreme reactions to her are justified is a totally different issue. The fact is, she was two-faced towards him in middle school. And she's not apologising for that. She said it herself that she doesn't even remember what she said. So she was two-faced and considers that such unremarkable behaviour that it's not worth remembering. Definitely a much shittier person than Kusunoki, and worse than MC.

This really is crazy though. Like, this chapter didn't reveal anything new about Hebikawa. I don't understand how this suddenly changes people's opinions of her. She has been the same as she always has, shitty and two-faced. And then she's putting the blame on MC saying "he wasn't seeing her for who she is", which is shitty and two-faced.

I mean, when you're actively deceiving someone by treating them nicely when in reality you find them disgusting, how are you going to blame them and make them think it's their fault that they misunderstood that? Isn't this textbook gaslighting? What? Hello everyone? She doesn't owe MC anything obviously but she sure as hell cannot tell him he never saw her properly when she was actively deceiving him for her own benefit

 

[Freestyle]

Blackmail using the fact that he used to be fat?
I'll chalk it up to teenage insecurity.

Character is in high school and bozos like you are comparing him to an adult, like seriously use your brain its not hard

 

[BlackHoxton]

This really is crazy though. Like, this chapter didn't reveal anything new about Hebikawa. I don't understand how this suddenly changes people's opinions of her. She has been the same as she always has, shitty and two-faced. And then she's putting the blame on MC saying "he wasn't seeing her for who she is", which is shitty and two-faced.

I mean, when you're actively deceiving someone by treating them nicely when in reality you find them disgusting, how are you going to blame them and make them think it's their fault that they misunderstood that? Isn't this textbook gaslighting? What? Hello everyone? She doesn't owe MC anything obviously but she sure as hell cannot tell him he never saw her properly when she was actively deceiving him for her own benefit

Feels like people are just lashing out at other commentors or something instead reacting to the actual manga