Neko no Te datte Yaku ni Tatsu - Ch. 123 - Self-interest

[TroubleFait]

And she says she hates being treated like a cat, so...

She doesn't hate being treated as a cat...

She hates being treated only as a cat, by the MC. She wants him to see her as a human but he's only interested by the cat, that's why she's upset.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

S

She doesn't hate being treated as a cat...

She hates being treated only as a cat, by the MC. She wants him to see her as a human but he's only interested by the cat, that's why she's upset.

She specifically hates being treated like a cat. MC is the only person, according to her, who she's fine with treating her as a cat.

The entire conflict about the cat cafe is that she makes this gigantic deal about "being Human", and then immediately runs off to be treated like a cat for hours at a time for money, while specifically denying MC Cat Time.

If the Translation is off (I've seen changes made. Some of them outright fabrications), that's a different issue.

 

[Hikineet]

Thanks for the chapter.

 

[himi-cat]

• Don't worry. I won't fuck over your entire race.
• Because that would be a horrible thing to do?
• Because I wouldn't gain anything from doing it.

Nice save distracting her with the petting comment before she could consider his reply at any depth.

He didn't say he wouldn't have anything to gain from doing it, he said he has stuff to lose - not getting to pet his kitty.

Appealing to self-interest is generally a more reliable way to get people to do the right thing than appealing to morality - nothing wrong with it at all. And in this case his self-interest is aligned with her self interest - he wants to pet her, she wants him to pet her. So doubly nothing wrong with it.

Sure it's not as pretty to look at as the noble "I shall do the right thing, because it's right!", but ethics (as opposed to morality) needs to be grounded in pragmatic reality otherwise it's just a bunch of philosophers in a big circle jerk.

 

[himi-cat]

S

She specifically hates being treated like a cat. MC is the only person, according to her, who she's fine with treating her as a cat.

The entire conflict about the cat cafe is that she makes this gigantic deal about "being Human", and then immediately runs off to be treated like a cat for hours at a time for money, while specifically denying MC Cat Time.

If the Translation is off (I've seen changes made. Some of them outright fabrications), that's a different issue.

I'm pretty sure she's just internally inconsistent, largely driven by emotions, and generally confused about what those emotions actually are . . . as well as being in lurve and not knowing what to do about it.

So, you know, a typical teenager?

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

He didn't say he wouldn't have anything to gain from doing it, he said he has stuff to lose - not getting to pet his kitty.

You're both right.

I'm pretty sure she's just internally inconsistent, largely driven by emotions, and generally confused about what those emotions actually are . . . as well as being in lurve and not knowing what to do about it.

So, you know, a typical teenager?

The story went for "hypocrite". She's been extremely clear that she hates being treated like a cat by anyone else. The story outright has her snap at a fellow cat monster thing for calling her a cat. Which flies in the face of the cat cafe thing.

The only truly inconsistent thing with her about the whole issue is her letting MC treat her like a cat. On the one hand, she likes it, but on the other, she wants to be treated like a person, and then on a third one, she's trying to use her cat form as a way to get closer to him as a person, which is also impeding her getting close to him as a person. Hence this arc now.

 

[AnacondaHL]

that right there is the face of a girl who knows She Succeeded

 

[himi-cat]

The story went for "hypocrite". She's been extremely clear that she hates being treated like a cat by anyone else. The story outright has her snap at a fellow cat monster thing for calling her a cat. Which flies in the face of the cat cafe thing.

I think that's a pretty strong reading of the way she's presented in the story - sure, "hypocrite" has an objective meaning that maybe applies, but it's a word with very strong negative connotations which I don't think are at all justified in this case.

Mii-chan has a very clear pattern of blowing up about something, and saying and doing things that are quite obviously driven by her strong emotions rather than any rational decision making. Almost immediately afterwards she realises she's not acting rationally and . . . well, most of the time she ends up doubling down on it (though occasionally she does back off a bit), and then later on she ends up dealing with the consequences.

Saying she didn't want to be treated like a cat was one of those cases where she blew up and doubled down on it, and she's been suffering from the consequences ever since. Confessing to Takase was another, and when she doubled down on that by kissing him it basically blew everything up; all the other, less impactful, cases are similar. That's not behaviour that, to my mind, justifies the negative conntations associated with hypocrisy - it's not self-serving or dishonest, and the only person it's really hurting is herself. It's stupid, sure, but as I said, it's also "yeah, she's a teenager".

We really don't know anything at all about why she's working at the cat cafe - maybe she's just doing it for the cash, maybe there are family reasons, or maybe there's something compelling her to work there; regardless, it's clearly a job, and one she had before any of this stuff happened - it's a bit unreasonable to accuse her of hypocrisy because she doesn't immediately drop her job after an emotional outburst . . . She did continue to insist that she wanted to be treated as a human rather than a cat, but that was very clearly because she wanted to be in a "proper" relationship with Takase, which obviously wouldn't be possible if the only thing between them was him wanting to pet her cat form. The longer she kept insisting on that while keeping her job the more it does seem like hypocrisy, but I don't think it did last very long - it's hard to tell, though, given there's not much in the story to give a sense of time passing, and it's definitely no longer the case.

So I would definitely dispute your characterisation of her as a hypocrite. The worst you could say is that she has poor impulse control and isn't necessarily all that rational - pretty much synonymous with being a teenager, particularly a teenager in love.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

I think that's a pretty strong reading of the way she's presented in the story - sure, "hypocrite" has an objective meaning that maybe applies,

It's the story's take so far. We're supposed to take it that way, MC takes it that way, and Mio, at the very least, understands exactly how bad she looks. If there's some wonderful backstory that perfectly explains why she's doing the cat thing despite the obvious, deep-seated complex about being a cat monster, we haven't seen it yet, and she shows no signs of sharing it any time soon.

It's important to take the story as it comes. Speculation is fun, but, especially for series like this, with simple themes, and short arcs, it shouldn't paint your view of what you've seen. Chances are that any additional information was thought up post hoc.

Mii-chan has a very clear pattern of blowing up about something, and saying and doing things that are quite obviously driven by her strong emotions rather than any rational decision making. Almost immediately afterwards she realises she's not acting rationally and . . . well, most of the time she ends up doubling down on it (though occasionally she does back off a bit), and then later on she ends up dealing with the consequences.

So she'll say something, realize she's not being perfectly reasonable, but then make it clear that she really does mean it.

Saying she didn't want to be treated like a cat was one of those cases where she blew up and doubled down on it, and she's been suffering from the consequences ever since.

Right. We have no indication that she didn't mean it. She said it, she snapped at her own kind about it, and she walked it back a bit specifically for MC, but made it clear she still thinks of herself as Human, despite that.

We really don't know anything at all about why she's working at the cat cafe - maybe she's just doing it for the cash, maybe there are family reasons, or maybe there's something compelling her to work there

I said it before, but I'll say it again: If there's some deeper explanation, it was almost definitely thought up after the fact.

She did continue to insist that she wanted to be treated as a human rather than a cat, but that was very clearly because she wanted to be in a "proper" relationship with Takase

You're getting confused because of how weird she's been about it, and how long ago this thing was. She doesn't like being treated like a cat. MC is the exception. She then decides to go back and forth on the cat thing with MC because she wants him to think of her as a person... while also enjoying him treating her like a cat. This is her being emotional. She wants to have her cat and pet it too.

Outside of that, everything points to her being genuinely upset by being thought of as a cat. She's clearly got a serious complex about what she is, and her resolution is to insist she's Human.

The longer she kept insisting on that while keeping her job the more it does seem like hypocrisy, but I don't think it did last very long

Pretty sure there was a whole thing where he was too busy to actually interact with her for a while.

 

[himi-cat]

It's the story's take so far. We're supposed to take it that way, MC takes it that way, and Mio, at the very least, understands exactly how bad she looks. If there's some wonderful backstory that perfectly explains why she's doing the cat thing despite the obvious, deep-seated complex about being a cat monster, we haven't seen it yet, and she shows no signs of sharing it any time soon.

It's important to take the story as it comes. Speculation is fun, but, especially for series like this, with simple themes, and short arcs, it shouldn't paint your view of what you've seen. Chances are that any additional information was thought up post hoc.


So she'll say something, realize she's not being perfectly reasonable, but then make it clear that she really does mean it.

Right. We have no indication that she didn't mean it. She said it, she snapped at her own kind about it, and she walked it back a bit specifically for MC, but made it clear she still thinks of herself as Human, despite that.

I said it before, but I'll say it again: If there's some deeper explanation, it was almost definitely thought up after the fact.

You're getting confused because of how weird she's been about it, and how long ago this thing was. She doesn't like being treated like a cat. MC is the exception. She then decides to go back and forth on the cat thing with MC because she wants him to think of her as a person... while also enjoying him treating her like a cat. This is her being emotional. She wants to have her cat and pet it too.

Outside of that, everything points to her being genuinely upset by being thought of as a cat. She's clearly got a serious complex about what she is, and her resolution is to insist she's Human.


Pretty sure there was a whole thing where he was too busy to actually interact with her for a while.

Yeah, naah . . . this is clearly not going anywhere - we're reading this very differently and nothing is going to change that.

But I think this does need addressing:

It's important to take the story as it comes. Speculation is fun, but, especially for series like this, with simple themes, and short arcs, it shouldn't paint your view of what you've seen. Chances are that any additional information was thought up post hoc.

I suggest you go read the other long story this author has published - it's the same kind of single-page format, and at various times it seems like it's got the same "made up on the fly" nature to it, but reading through in one go there are a bunch of cases where things that are just there in the background earlier on in the story end up being meaningful later on. Unless the author was somehow going back and changing things in those earlier chapters and then somehow getting random fan translation sites to pick up those changes, those hints were there from the start, and the story has to have been plotted out in advance with enough detail to put them in.

Obviously we don't know if that's the case here, but it's definitely not ridiculous to assume the author has a good idea where things are going and how they'll get there.

 

[Highorse]

c

And she says she hates being treated like a cat, so...

But she's working at a cat brothel, where she lets people treat her like a cat for money...

cat brothel is wild bro

 

[Jatopian]

People think the cat cafe work is hypocritical because she hates being treated like a cat. But lots of people will do something they hate if it's easy money. Ya gotta make a living somehow. Of the various ways one could sell one's body, this seems like one of the easiest.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

People think the cat cafe work is hypocritical because she hates being treated like a cat. But lots of people will do something they hate if it's easy money. Ya gotta make a living somehow. Of the various ways one could sell one's body, this seems like one of the easiest.

That's called being a hypocrite. I don't know why you thought describing textbook hypocrisy would make it not hypocrisy.

"People think him taking stuff from the store is hypocritical because he hates thieves. But lots of people will take stuff because they don't want to pay for it if they can get away with it."

 

[Jatopian]

That's called being a hypocrite. I don't know why you thought describing textbook hypocrisy would make it not hypocrisy.

"People think him taking stuff from the store is hypocritical because he hates thieves. But lots of people will take stuff because they don't want to pay for it if they can get away with it."

Man why does this seem to you like something to be hostile about?

Anyway it's not comparable. She hasn't advocated some general principle of not treating bakenekos like cats. She hasn't said it's morally wrong like theft.

 

[BuyVelomobiles]

Man why does this seem to you like something to be hostile about?

Because everyone thinks I'm angrier, and more hostile, than I actually am. This is a recurring thing with me, and I've come to accept it.

This is a 0 out of 5 on my hostility scale.

Anyway it's not comparable. She hasn't advocated some general principle of not treating bakenekos like cats. She hasn't said it's morally wrong like theft.

Yes, analogies tend not to be perfect.

 

[cksn]

people out here writing comments with more words than the entire manga

 

[TroubleFait]

Yes, analogies tend not to be perfect.

The analogy shows you don't see the situation the same way we do.

In your example, a thief hates thieves, which can be hypocritical if he doesn't hate himself.
In the manga, Mii-chan says she hates being treated as a cat, but then go to a cat cafe. If she hates being at the cat cafe but does it anyway, then there's no contradiction.

However I don't think she hates being at the cat cafe. And I don't think she hates being treated as a cat. I think whatever comes out of her mouth she always be treated with suspicion. Not a hypocrite but a liar, who lies compulsively with no hidden nefarious intent. Just emotions running wild.