Ookami no Musume - Vol. 3 Ch. 14

[MangaDex]

 

[eviljackspicer]

Still don't like this white wolf.

 

[Wildtale]

Tsukina-chan, darling, could you please be a little more... Consistent? Communicative? Something?
It's rather tough seeing you flip-flop like this and just not say anything. x.x

Not to say Kirito's in the right or anything - he seems to have a hard time understanding others - but I feel like things would be a lot better amongst the three of them if our girl was more up front.

Also... Wolves don't hunt like that. That's how big cats hunt.
Wolves hunt by chasing and biting prey to wear it down and bleed it out.
Though I guess it's different for werewolves who hunted with humans...

 

[ringabell33]

i was screaming while reading this entire chapter cuz WHAT ARE YOU DOING TSUKINA??? you're already in an unsafe environment with kirito and then decide to go hunting in the wood with him? plus she just stays for two extra days instead of leaving. kirito only said that it wasn't safe to leave at night(which it is) but the only thing stopping tsukina from leaving at dawn or something is the fact that she just DOESN'T?
i get why she didn't leave from a storytelling perspective, hayate needed to show up to "rescue" her but that decision feels like it takes away agency from tsukina. so it feels like it'll just end up being tsukina getting taken back and forth like a capture the flag between these two men. i'm sure it won't fully devolve into that and this whole kidnapping plot-line will get resolved eventually but if tsukina doesn't learn anything about setting and keeping boundaries after this then there's a chance it might actually turn into capture the flag.
i do have high hopes for this story, i really like the premise of it but these last few chapters have really gotten under my skin and i wish i didn't have so many thoughts about it honestly.

 

[havelmom]

white wolf guy is too good for her lol

 

[Keykrion]

i get why she didn't leave from a storytelling perspective, hayate needed to show up to "rescue" her but that decision feels like it takes away agency from tsukina.

I don’t know. Tsukina has been consistently agency-less, that’s her character. For the majority of her life she has spent that time doing what other tell or imply her to do. She has difficulties with making a choice or doing something herself, that’s why her father didn’t push her to leave the vineyard, as he understood she has made her own decision on the matter. Is this a step back? Yeah but falling into old habits is fairly common.

Tsukina is also very immersed in connecting with wolven heritage at the moment and through the vineyard has been connecting with the black wolves, with Kirito being her only connection to white wolves it makes sense she is hesitant to damage it further than it is. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying Tsukina is completely to blame for the current situation, but I didn’t feel anything wrong, from a storytelling perspective, this chapter.

 

[Wildtale]

i was screaming while reading this entire chapter cuz WHAT ARE YOU DOING TSUKINA??? you're already in an unsafe environment with kirito and then decide to go hunting in the wood with him? plus she just stays for two extra days instead of leaving. kirito only said that it wasn't safe to leave at night(which it is) but the only thing stopping tsukina from leaving at dawn or something is the fact that she just DOESN'T?
i get why she didn't leave from a storytelling perspective, hayate needed to show up to "rescue" her but that decision feels like it takes away agency from tsukina. so it feels like it'll just end up being tsukina getting taken back and forth like a capture the flag between these two men. i'm sure it won't fully devolve into that and this whole kidnapping plot-line will get resolved eventually but if tsukina doesn't learn anything about setting and keeping boundaries after this then there's a chance it might actually turn into capture the flag.
i do have high hopes for this story, i really like the premise of it but these last few chapters have really gotten under my skin and i wish i didn't have so many thoughts about it honestly.

I don’t know. Tsukina has been consistently agency-less, that’s her character. For the majority of her life she has spent that time doing what other tell or imply her to do. She has difficulties with making a choice or doing something herself, that’s why her father didn’t push her to leave the vineyard, as he understood she has made her own decision on the matter. Is this a step back? Yeah but falling into old habits is fairly common.

Tsukina is also very immersed in connecting with wolven heritage at the moment and through the vineyard has been connecting with the black wolves, with Kirito being her only connection to white wolves it makes sense she is hesitant to damage it further than it is. Now don’t get me wrong I’m not saying Tsukina is completely to blame for the current situation, but I didn’t feel anything wrong, from a storytelling perspective, this chapter.

I would also like to point out that the hunting sequence clearly shows that Tsukina still lacks a great deal of understanding about her wolf form. Her perspective is still very much from that of a human's view.

If she knew more/ was more comfortable, she should have had no problem using her wolf form to follow the scent of the truck back home - or at least back to civilization.

 

[Brightamethyst]

Tsukina has been consistently agency-less, that’s her character. For the majority of her life she has spent that time doing what other tell or imply her to do. She has difficulties with making a choice or doing something herself, that’s why her father didn’t push her to leave the vineyard, as he understood she has made her own decision on the matter. Is this a step back? Yeah but falling into old habits is fairly common.

Yeah. It's easy for us as the readers to go "why is Tsukina such a weak, wishy washy character!?", but honestly that's way more realistic and believable than her becoming a super confident badass overnight.

 

[Hicleric]

While I'm still conflicted over the whole kidnapping thing...I'm with the "Kirito did nothing only a little wrong" crowd since a) it's clear he doesn't know anything about human customs or communication, and b) it's not entirely clear how much of his threat was real or credible. I agree that Tsukina is being super wishy washy about taking agency for her own well being, but she's a teenager who's spent her entire life forcing herself live a lie. It could take her decades to get through that. On the plus side of the current situation, at least she's getting a little education about subsistence. Not bad skills to learn (first rule of swinging the axe is DON'T) and it will make her appreciate what she has a little more.

Hope the next chapter pulls some of her issues out clear into the open. It would be better for her to be forced out of hiding for once

 

[Felkin]

This whole arc is basically Twilight Remember, kids, kidnapping someone and forcing yourself on them is A-okey, as long as you also take care of their basic needs such as food. "Damn, my sexy captor can hunt, guess I'll swoon now, please hunt me next".

Actually, beyond the obvious bullshit of this storyline, what I find very annoying is also how forced the 'good qualities' of the dude are. Like the mangaka is going through a checklist here 'reliable, caring, assertive'. The other guy showing up wounded and our saint captor immediately trying to help him just feels like the mangaka wants to quickly build some extra rapor with the reader. "Please please please like him, since I, the author, am so turned on by this sort of behaviour and I don't want to feel weird. You all should be down for this too, he's just misunderstood see?"

 

[eviljackspicer]

I'm honestly getting really annoyed. It makes the "overly protective" mom look good and the dad "who wants the daughter to spread her wings" look really stupid with the FMC having practically no personal agency.

 

[rubba_dubdub]

So conflicted, thx 4 ur hard work!!

 

[darksociety]

IMO. Like, objectively, Kirito is a "nice boy". He has some few loose screws when it comes to the "rights and wrongs" to society. But the reason why he's accommodating and nice to Tsukina is NOT because the author is trying to sway us into liking him for being "a nice kidnapper"... his character overall is suppose to be "nice". When Hayate/Tsukina say they're mates, he basically backs off on that front. It's only when they find out he lied to them is when he was angry cause... he may be nice but he ain't a doormat. I believe what's mostly keeping Kirito from "returning" Tsukina is his anger at the situation he uncovered (being lied to) and his "instincts" to keep his potential mate close to him (and away from other mate candidates).

But also... Hayate ?? His weird adult guidance on being a werewolf is basically way too lax considering that HE KNOWS Kirito is an unsocialized, basically wild and instinctual wolf that is trying to make Tsukina his life partner/mate. Instead he lied to him, didn't stay away from him (???), and then went Suprise Pikachu when Kirito was—rightfully—upset when he found out. Then, shortly being found in a lie, Hayate's family threatened Kirito, who rightfully is ready to defend himself... because Hayate has shown himself to be a liar. They knew Kirito was a lone wolf and had a fixation on Tsukina. Like why were they even befriending him??

 

[Felkin]

IMO. Like, objectively, Kirito is a "nice boy". He has some few loose screws when it comes to the "rights and wrongs" to society. But the reason why he's accommodating and nice to Tsukina is NOT because the author is trying to sway us into liking him for being "a nice kidnapper"... his character overall is suppose to be "nice". When Hayate/Tsukina say they're mates, he basically backs off on that front. It's only when they find out he lied to them is when he was angry cause... he may be nice but he ain't a doormat. I believe what's mostly keeping Kirito from "returning" Tsukina is his anger at the situation he uncovered (being lied to) and his "instincts" to keep his potential mate close to him (and away from other mate candidates).

But also... Hayate ?? His weird adult guidance on being a werewolf is basically way too lax considering that HE KNOWS Kirito is an unsocialized, basically wild and instinctual wolf that is trying to make Tsukina his life partner/mate. Instead he lied to him, didn't stay away from him (???), and then went Suprise Pikachu when Kirito was—rightfully—upset when he found out. Then, shortly being found in a lie, Hayate's family threatened Kirito, who rightfully is ready to defend himself... because Hayate has shown himself to be a liar. They knew Kirito was a lone wolf and had a fixation on Tsukina. Like why were they even befriending him??

I would fully agree with this if the story was just a story. But this is not the case - any writing of this nature is always going to be a story that also carries a message from the author. It may be conscious, it may not be, but it's always there. The criticism is that the story is carrying a very poor message here and the author is either painfully ignorant or has some really funky ideas in regards to power abuse and grooming (the far worse issue with this manga, but not the topic of these chapters).

Of course, I should note this is from a westerner's POV. Here this sort of stuff is a very hot topic, since misogyny is something that is currently being heavily fought against.


Also, it's not about how he acts or his intentions. It's about how the FMC reacts. If this story was taking it seriously, she should be extremely uncomfortable in this situation, yet is being presented as swooning for him. Is that what you want the male audience to take away? That the girls secretly like when you are forcing yourself on them?

The 'she doesn't know any better' argument only holds weight if the author makes it abundantly clear she is getting herself in trouble here. A narrator pointing out this is all turbo fucked up is necessary. (Usually in the form of the author self inserting commentary via a 3rd character) But it won't happen and you know it. I've read this author's previous works, she doesn't operate like this.

 

[earlbay]

Also... Wolves don't hunt like that. That's how big cats hunt.
Wolves hunt by chasing and biting prey to wear it down and bleed it out.
Though I guess it's different for werewolves who hunted with humans...

Pfp checks out 😁

 

[earlbay]

i was screaming while reading this entire chapter cuz WHAT ARE YOU DOING TSUKINA??? you're already in an unsafe environment with kirito and then decide to go hunting in the wood with him? plus she just stays for two extra days instead of leaving. kirito only said that it wasn't safe to leave at night(which it is) but the only thing stopping tsukina from leaving at dawn or something is the fact that she just DOESN'T?

Hayate, who is arguably stronger and more adapt in his wolf form, got injured trying to find this place. We're lead to believe that this isn't a place that just anyone can access, hence why they take the animal path.

While she has put herself in a precarious situation, Kirito has never made threats or done anything to insinuate harm in any way toward her, nor does it look he'd want to.

 

[earlbay]

I would also like to point out that the hunting sequence clearly shows that Tsukina still lacks a great deal of understanding about her wolf form. Her perspective is still very much from that of a human's view.

If she knew more/ was more comfortable, she should have had no problem using her wolf form to follow the scent of the truck back home - or at least back to civilization.

I think that's easier said than done. Hayate knows the village that Kirito lives around and yet it still took him days to find her. Kirito lives deep in the mountains and would probably take Tsukina, who has zero survival skills, days to find where there's even other people.

We also have to remember that there are other creatures native to the woods of Japan that someone like Tsukina would not be able to handle.

 

[earlbay]

Yeah. It's easy for us as the readers to go "why is Tsukina such a weak, wishy washy character!?", but honestly that's way more realistic and believable than her becoming a super confident badass overnight.

You get it

 

[earlbay]

This whole arc is basically Twilight Remember, kids, kidnapping someone and forcing yourself on them is A-okey, as long as you also take care of their basic needs such as food. "Damn, my sexy captor can hunt, guess I'll swoon now, please hunt me next".

Actually, beyond the obvious bullshit of this storyline, what I find very annoying is also how forced the 'good qualities' of the dude are. Like the mangaka is going through a checklist here 'reliable, caring, assertive'. The other guy showing up wounded and our saint captor immediately trying to help him just feels like the mangaka wants to quickly build some extra rapor with the reader. "Please please please like him, since I, the author, am so turned on by this sort of behaviour and I don't want to feel weird. You all should be down for this too, he's just misunderstood see?"

Yikes! What a take 😬

 

[huntercheco]