Ri-chan - Ch. 101.5 - Fanbox Extra

[shinshom]

I think it just means she felt she was ruining Rin's life seeing her getting in happy and not being able to do anything besides work herself to death.

Seeing that she is more cheerful and that her happiness is not her responsibility anymore ended up being a weight took from her in a good way, seeing Rin is moving on from her past.

 

[jonnywarlock]

Ah, Mama... Please give them your blessing. And give Ri-Chan a hug. 🥲

 

[RinascimentoIT]

As a fellow parent, I understand the concern for a child who is struggling so much to find his or her way in life.

The way I see it, with Ri-chan finally having a clear idea of what to do and with a boy she loves there to support her, the mother is relieved of the burden of worrying every day about seeing her daughter suffer more and more, in danger of getting hopelessly lost in the spiral of depression. This is something that, in the long run, wears down not only the child but also the parent (who realizes that there is nothing he can do to help her concretely, since it's a psychological disease that is very difficult to manage) and can justify the distance that now characterizes their relationship.

A really good chapter.

 

[Sagara-Sousuke]

I don't think it's weird that the mother feels freed, I get her and she doesn't mean anything bad by it, it's more like she found someone else to care for Ri if something ever happened to her

 

[mister_nobody]

New primary objective: A new partner for her mother.

May I introduce myself?

 

[cryum]

Mom: WHERE ARE MY GRANDCHILDREN???

Yeah just send her off with, like, a 3 year time-limit for a grandchild. I think that's long enough to be half a joke.

 

[Eternalcakes]

The author left this message on their fanbox: (my translation. Brackets are my notes.)

Regarding the mother:
This is the first time Tatsu-nii's real name has been released.
I wanted to separate them, but both Ri-chan's and Tatsu-nii's real names were mentioned by Mama.

(Re: 101, "Is Tatsumi still the same kid he used to be?")
'If he hasn't changed, then I can leave you to him' -- the proof of Mama's trust.

Re: 101.5.
Because I don't believe that raising a child is only happy memories, I drew what I imagined to be the true feelings that might come from these sorts of moments. We won't know the answer until we become parents ourselves...

The author has tried to express the ambivalent feelings of parenthood -- the love, joy, responsibilities, and burden of having to raise a child, especially as a single mother. There has been little of Riri-mama, likely because of page constraints, but in the little we've seen, she has shouldered the burden of being a single mother, worked hard and long hours, and not really known how to relate with her child's dreams, nor how to care for her when those dreams are broken.
We also see that Ri-chan harbours heavy guilt over her own burdening of her own mother, expressing it in giving herself painful piercings, changing character, giving up dreams of piano to work for money.

I think we are meant to withhold judgement on Riri-mama, and empathise with this ambivalence: to understand both the joy and the pain of being a single mother, and the shock and relief that comes from the child leaving home.

 

[Coldlight]

A meaningful extra that deserves to be part of the main story.

I'd agree with your interpretation. The way I see it, her mom's words are about being freed not from a burden, but from worrying over her depressed daughter, who now has her smile back and who's starting to find a direction in her life instead of aimlessly drifting as a freeter like before.

Mama's really just a stoic woman who's awkward at expressing herself and is blunt about it when she has to. But she cares about her daughter and that's another consistent thing I find about her, even when she doesn't know exactly how to go about it. I still remember the early scenes when she told Riri to eat healthier, and that time they were both peacefully eating dinner together which was a scene that somehow really stuck to me.

If she gives them her blessing, I hope to see at least two things: that she have a little talk with Tatsumi, who's taking her daughter away, and that she hug Riri before she leaves. The last time I remember seeing them hug as parent and child was after her father left them after the divorce.

Finally, I hope the author gives her a name too. I like her mom enough that I think it's wrong that she's still unnamed at this point.
Right now my notes for the names in this manga only contain:

• Tatsumi Ashihara
• Riri
• Risa Alphard

 

[fettyman]

Ty!!

The author left this message on their fanbox: (my translation. Brackets are my notes.)


The author has tried to express the ambivalent feelings of parenthood -- the love, joy, responsibilities, and burden of having to raise a child, especially as a single mother. There has been little of Riri-mama, likely because of page constraints, but in the little we've seen, she has shouldered the burden of being a single mother, worked hard and long hours, and not really known how to relate with her child's dreams, nor how to care for her when those dreams are broken.
We also see that Ri-chan harbours heavy guilt over her own burdening of her own mother, expressing it in giving herself painful piercings, changing character, giving up dreams of piano to work for money.

I think we are meant to withhold judgement on Riri-mama, and empathise with this ambivalence: to understand both the joy and the pain of being a single mother, and the shock and relief that comes from the child leaving home.

 

[Kippithekappamancer]

I think it's guilt. It's possible that her mother is feeling guilty for not being able to provide normal childhood, on top of the divorce.

 

[crispy-whiskers]

my two cents as a proofreader:
i would have tried to see if i could fit it as "is it time to let her go?" which has much less of a negative connotation but still just as ambiguous

 

[fettyman]

my two cents as a proofreader:
i would have tried to see if i could fit it as "is it time to let her go?" which has much less of a negative connotation but still just as ambiguous

I don't mind the translation, but I think it can be interpreted as both,"RI-Chan is free" and "I'm free." She's specifically talking about herself feeling freed. I think the other thing is that the original word almost seems a bit negative, almost like it's been such an emotional struggle that she is almost "free" of the situation. I thought about it for a bit and I like the negative/positive meaning of freed. I think it captures the spirit of the author's intention.

I think your way is interesting though. I didn't think of it like that.

 

[jesuscristo]

That freed might have an angle of her finally forgiving herself for the divorce.

 

[ImNotCreativeEnoughtForThese]

No more goober, she is freed

 

[Elfteiroh]

My own way of seeing it migth be a bit more "long term" view, but for me, right now Ri-chan was VERY dependant on her mother. So the mother might feel "freed" from the worry of "what will happen to Riri when I'm gone?"

 

[matteomatteo23]

The best thoughts are those loaded with meaning

I feel like "free" in this context probably means a potent mix of "no longer burdened with being responsible for" and "my daughter has finally grown up"

I thought it meant more like "I thought me and her dad screwed her up with the divorce, I am a failure as a parent but she has found her happiness again..."

Basically she has been freed of her worries

 

[leoelawesome]

@fetmaybe you could use relieved?

 

[BurntToast]

Heyyy, I’m late to the party, but the JP bit shared at the end—「解放されたと思ってるのか、どちらのかしらね。」　I think could also be translated as, “I wonder which of us has been freed.” with どちら (which) referring to Ri and her mom rather than mom’s feelings.

I think that reflects the mom’s attitude really well, since she’s been relatively absent since the divorce, and was obviously emotionally unavailable, so Ri-chan probably felt like a burden to her. So mom’s freed. But on the other hand, Ri-chan is still her child and a source of unconditional love, so she was probably equally dependent on Ri-chan. Ri-chan does draw the winning straw, though, because now she gets to be free and enter a world of life and color.