Kusuriya no Hitorigoto - Vol. 12 Ch. 63.2 - The Hunt (Part 4)

[alanala]

Jinshi and maomao doesn't feels right romantically, I can't see the two being together as a couple

 

[mgRdr]

Tbf, their relationship is already made analogous by the story to that of cat and owner, which IMO quite accurate. We’re here to see how the owner reacts to the cat and vice versa.
Perhaps if you approach it that way too, it’ll be more enjoyable?

It would've been, yeah, but I had misfortune of glimpsing at exactly one spoiler from the novel, and the cat is fine too, as it appears

 

[Sussudio]

Some of you might as well drop the manga if the Maomao/Jinshi pairing bothers you. It's not going to stop and probably will hate it even more due to certain scenes in the future... It's also funny seeing people commenting on Cat view towards Jinshi now when...

Spoiler: spoils

It's pretty much the same when they're actually together in the novel and she's casually asking him does he want to fuck. This is who cat is towards everything. She just juggles shit on a pain in the ass meter. Like the pain in the ass for them sleeping together is her maybe getting pregnant. The higher ups finding out and them both getting beheaded. Her solution, whipping up some chemicals to abort the baby...

 

[Hicleric]

That's because what you said is exactly what's happening. She could easily figure things out and she knows it, but she also knows that knowing or even suspecting it would put her really high on the shit list of many powerful people who will have her killed (or so she thinks, but the truth is not far), so she doesn't even wants to consider it or think about it.

Thing is, until last chapter that thought hadn't crossed her mind at all. The pieces have been dangling in front of her all this time (pun very much intended) and it's just now that the author decided the story couldn't put off the obvious conclusion any longer. Everyone has their blind spots to be sure, but given her distaste for the court generally it's inconsistent that she wouldn't have at least postulated the truth far before, oh, 60+ chapters in.

 

[Haruka]

In my humble opinion, Maomao x Jinshi "romance" is the worst part of the manga. Not that it is not well-written on inconsistent - it is completely in-line with what can be expected of romance in this universe. It's just that Maomao is explicitly not attracted to Jinshi and wants nothing to do with him, meanwhile Jinshi leverages his position to force himself upon her, and so there's nothing for me to root for

I wouldn't say she is 0% interested but it's definitely the weakest part of the story. It stall so much that any progress feel forced both on her and on the reader, like this whole thing just now.

Spoiler: LN spoiler (english release)

It get progressively worse every time, with the last event going as far as I'm not sure I want to read it any more even if I love everything else in this story. Promoting escalating type of SA on the "she wanted it since she didn't fight it" is just not the what I'm reading this for.

 

[alacaelum]

Frog comments apart... he done goofed... to put it lightly.

Maomao grew up in a part of the city where she could have been raped, she created a whole domestic way to be undesirable to most to avoid that... and even then the possibility wasn't null because there are always creeps.

Annoyed or not by her comments... doing that shit was stupid.

And, after all he dealt at her side, he should understand why she didn't want to hear about his situation, he was forcing things that could get her and the people she loves in danger, he does NOT have that right.

 

[KajurN]

I think half of you need to re-read the manga, because you completely forgot at least half of it. Including Maomao's personality and pragmatism. To her up until now he was an eunuch, and what she did these past couple chapters wasn't nice either. Or do you think groping someone's 'frog' is not sexual harassment...

 

[Tds-PdV]

It would've been, yeah, but I had misfortune of glimpsing at exactly one spoiler from the novel, and the cat is fine too, as it appears

I read the novel too, so I totally get how Jinshi can be way too pushy, while Maomao just want to be a better apothecary. So I’m totally with you, there is more convenience in their relationship than romance.
But, at least their antics are entertaining.

 

[LucidDayDreamer]

Frog comments apart... he done goofed... to put it lightly.

Maomao grew up in a part of the city where she could have been raped, she created a whole domestic way to be undesirable to most to avoid that... and even then the possibility wasn't null because there are always creeps.

Annoyed or not by her comments... doing that shit was stupid.

And, after all he dealt at her side, he should understand why she didn't want to hear about his situation, he was forcing things that could get her and the people she loves in danger, he does NOT have that right.

Yeah. I know Jinshi wouldn't do anything to hurt her, and even if I do ship them, at the moment Mao Mao doesn't feel the same way. So knowing how she grew up it was such a bad move on his part. This superior who turns out to not be a Eunuch like you thought suddenly pinning you down and putting you an a very compromising position with no one to help you???? Horrifying.
Sure, her groping him was bad, but that's different since she wasn't aware of what it was and promptly let go once she found out

 

[uwaktere]

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO THERE'S NO SEGGGGGGSSSSSSSS 😭😭😭

 

[AnotherDuck]

Jinshi hasn't forced her into anything that doesn't involve her work as a poison tester or cunning into finding clues.

And she likes being a poison tester. It involves tasting tasty dishes (which is a plus) and potentially eating actual poison (which is also a plus for her).

He has been far more patient for someone his position and this is just his move made in frustration to make her acknowledge his intention although a wrong approach on someone like Maomao. A move that would make a lot of girls happy but not her.

She also thought herself that she'd pushed him too far. Considering her current station, she could get into far worse trouble than whatever he thought of doing. Though part of why he likes her is because she's not afraid to let her mind loose on occasion.

Multiple times throughought the manga he has made it so that she either has to work for him or otherwise be around him. Sure, that's stretching the definition of "forcing", more of a "worming himself into her life", still quite a shitty way of acting around her. The "forcing" part is quite more literal in the last two chapters however, and I don't see him acting upon his frustrations as a good excuse.

I agree about the last part, but the former is exactly how things worked back then. She's a servant who got told to do servant things by someone who liked having her around. You also have to remember that she's also more free than other servants, and has taken steps so she wouldn't have to leave the palace, which means it's implicitly a chosen work place for her.

Thing is, until last chapter that thought hadn't crossed her mind at all. The pieces have been dangling in front of her all this time (pun very much intended) and it's just now that the author decided the story couldn't put off the obvious conclusion any longer. Everyone has their blind spots to be sure, but given her distaste for the court generally it's inconsistent that she wouldn't have at least postulated the truth far before, oh, 60+ chapters in.

It's entirely consistent for her to not care about things that are a pain in the ass, or could easily be. It didn't cross her mind until then because nothing had forced her to think about it, and she'd actively been avoiding the subject.

And, after all he dealt at her side, he should understand why she didn't want to hear about his situation, he was forcing things that could get her and the people she loves in danger, he does NOT have that right.

Morally (by our standards), no. Legally, practically, or socially (by their standards), yes, he does have that right.

 

[Angoldd]

So frog-man is just Biggus Dickus's brother?

 

[IvanDFakkov]

So their country has matchlocks then? And flintlock is new to them?

 

[flameshadowwolf]

It’s a shame since the anime is finally scheduled to come out but I think I’ll drop this series if the romance scenes start outweighing the mysteries. Maybe if it was a dynamic I liked then I could overlook the bad matchup but mature girl/immature boy just leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

Slow burns can be hard to handle but if they included scenes of Maomao actively seeking out his company for fun rather than cause she was told to then it would have worked out a little better.

A shame they made a character with a detailed backstory and consistent motivations and actions only to include a romance that isn’t that well written.

 

[Aliamus]

It's getting harder and harder to avoid the subject I do wonder for how long she plans to skirt around the sausage, so to speak.
​

 

[Bullfrog]

Happy to get a shout out in this chapter

 

[Maplefield]

The frog is poisonous. It can potentially cause some... swelling

 

[Seinvolf]

Thank u always for ur great work...
^^...

 

[alacaelum]

Morally (by our standards), no. Legally, practically, or socially (by their standards), yes, he does have that right.

I understand your point... but he really doesn't, because I am not talking about standard concepts... I am talking about empathy.

And the "standards" only hold because he is royalty and I don't give a fuck about what those types think is their right.

Maomao has said before "as lower class, her life is expendable", she said this to his face.

If the other high-ups that have any "stakes" on Shinji's situation discover that a lowly maid knows about who he is they will kill her, they won't even need a public excuse, that is how expendable her life is in the game of politics... and he knows that, and as someone that loves her he should exercise caution, but he is letting his pampered prince side show up because of his pride, and by doing that he is putting her life in danger in a way that could go way past any help he could give.

I won't hold it against him for long, Shinji still is a very good person, but what he did here is wrong.

 

[Lightbrand]

So everyone is aware on this fun hunting trip just now there was an assassination attempt on one of the guest right?

Like the whole thing is called off and FBI is called and heads will roll or a national scandal right?