I think people are missing the true reason behind the MC feeling so guilty for helping his sister win. In a later panel, we see a young MC sitting in front of a piano with the caption reading "because I experienced the emptiness of hard work not paying off." With this context its pretty easy to fill in the blanks.
MC busted his ass in a competition and lost, and his parents berated him for losing, even though he performed well, and by helping his sister win the election on a whim of "might as well", he pushed a this one girl (and likely more) into that same position of their hard work and being second place meaning nothing to the family all because they didnt win. So MC, knowing that feeling directly, chooses to never push anyone into that position again, even unintentionally.
At least thats how I understood it and was surprised at how many people seem to not realize it.
either he feels guilty making the NPC lose or feel guilty knowing he could've made a difference helping his sister win the election who was under pressure from her side of the family
so after all that fiasco he chose the 3rd option of being a nobody so he wouldn't feel guilty anymore if someone loses cuz of his actions or have anyone else lose expectations from him
I really don't like MC. Why did he got so affected by the glasses girl? Isn't it normal that if one wins then the others loses? Didn't he won the campaign because he wanted to help fulfilling the wish of his "unfortunate" sister? And then he dared to say that he feels guilty for doing that? He then arbitrarily left his sister, and stops helping her ever since. What a scum.
It's not the sole reason, it's just the straw that broke the camels back. He's had a bunch of experiences like that throughout his life and it was this one that made him make a decision.
I think you misunderstood what was being said though, he didn't leave his sister nor did he stop helping her with things. Unless you're referring to the election in high school? Kind of a kneejerk reaction to call him scum all because he's no longer interested in school politics
I think people are missing the true reason behind the MC feeling so guilty for helping his sister win. In a later panel, we see a young MC sitting in front of a piano with the caption reading "because I experienced the emptiness of hard work not paying off." With this context its pretty easy to fill in the blanks.
MC busted his ass in a competition and lost, and his parents berated him for losing, even though he performed well, and by helping his sister win the election on a whim of "might as well", he pushed a this one girl (and likely more) into that same position of their hard work and being second place meaning nothing to the family all because they didnt win. So MC, knowing that feeling directly, chooses to never push anyone into that position again, even unintentionally.
At least thats how I understood it and was surprised at how many people seem to not realize it.
It's not that he lost he actually won, much to his regret at the time after seeing a similar situation as the girl who lost the election, only this time at a far younger age.
It's because him doing well and winning at anything he did was "as expected" of him. He started to receive less and less praise to the point where he was no longer praised at all. Especially from the person he wanted praise from the most who had also begun to acknowledge his presence less and less as a whole.
Absolutely. He has lots of growth and its overall a very childish and unhealthy mindset for him to have. But acknowledging where he's coming from and saying "he needs to grow up." Is better than "what a stupid reason" that most people are saying.
I expect we'll get more backstory and FL will help him grow past his trauma response.
I'm in the "what a stupid reason" camp, but it's directed at the author, not the character. It just seems like lazy/bad writing. I kind of wonder if something got lost in translation - either the literal translation, or a lack of understanding of Japanese culture - but it just seems like a huge leap to get from "the other candidate cried because she lost" to "I'm going to do the bare minimum to get by in school/life and I'm also not going use my skills and talent to help anyone else".
The MC is portrayed as being very smart (and not just book smart, but street smart too), but he can't figure out that logically there can only be one winner for student council president? He can't imagine that if he didn't help his sister, then she might not have won, and then she would be sad? And also, it's not like he's going around trying to one-up people on purpose - he was helping his sister. Maybe if it was him that won president but he was only doing it for the title/he didn't really care, then I could see it having more impact, but right now it seems like it was a low effort way of explaining the MC's attitude.
Also, even if the author adds a compelling backstory in later chapters, I still think it's bad writing. I think it should have been built up beforehand so that when we see second place girl crying, we see how that could be the last straw that finally breaks him. Right now, we just have a panel or two of explanation? I think that's why everyone is like "...wtf?". I think everyone was already thinking before this chapter that "he needs to grow up", but then it turns out this is the cause of his attitude? Like ikevins77 said, it just seems forced.
I'm in the "what a stupid reason" camp, but it's directed at the author, not the character. It just seems like lazy/bad writing. I kind of wonder if something got lost in translation - either the literal translation, or a lack of understanding of Japanese culture - but it just seems like a huge leap to get from "the other candidate cried because she lost" to "I'm going to do the bare minimum to get by in school/life and I'm also not going use my skills and talent to help anyone else".
The MC is portrayed as being very smart (and not just book smart, but street smart too), but he can't figure out that logically there can only be one winner for student council president? He can't imagine that if he didn't help his sister, then she might not have won, and then she would be sad? And also, it's not like he's going around trying to one-up people on purpose - he was helping his sister. Maybe if it was him that won president but he was only doing it for the title/he didn't really care, then I could see it having more impact, but right now it seems like it was a low effort way of explaining the MC's attitude.
Also, even if the author adds a compelling backstory in later chapters, I still think it's bad writing. I think it should have been built up beforehand so that when we see second place girl crying, we see how that could be the last straw that finally breaks him. Right now, we just have a panel or two of explanation? I think that's why everyone is like "...wtf?". I think everyone was already thinking before this chapter that "he needs to grow up", but then it turns out this is the cause of his attitude? Like ikevins77 said, it just seems forced.
He later begins to interact with the election-losing pair more regularly and more closely, coming to realize what he saw from the failed presidential candidate was her fears, not the actual situation (turns out, her parents were encouraging her efforts and not trying to force her at all) and causes him to begin rethinking his practice of self-imposed guilt. Just a little.
On one hand, I can relate to not wanting to put effort into things, especially after not being rewarded for it, but on the other, there's that kind of guilt. Not worthy? That just means you consider everyone else's opinions far above your own. Or rather, what you imagine everyone else's opinions. It means you buy into what those people say who throw everything out that isn't a victory and berate people for "not succeeding". It's the "sorry for existing" kind of mentality that's far more severe than what's been shown here, including spoiler comments.
I really don't like MC. Why did he got so affected by the glasses girl? Isn't it normal that if one wins then the others loses? Didn't he won the campaign because he wanted to help fulfilling the wish of his "unfortunate" sister? And then he dared to say that he feels guilty for doing that? He then arbitrarily left his sister, and stops helping her ever since. What a scum.
I think it really comes down to that latter point. I was going to pull some excepts from Wikipedia, but I think it's far more useful to just link the passages in full:
Education in Japan: Criticisms
[As an update to the information about suicide rates, the data is from 2019 at 14.60 per 100,000 compared to the US at 14.70. The most recent data the OECD provides is for 2020 for those countries and has Japan up again at 15.40 vs 14.10]
and Kyōiku mama: The education system
And while those are just the specific blocks I wanted to reference, the articles as a whole may be helpful.
No one has or had any expectations of him he says, pretty aure his sister had and still has expectations. So does Alya, what is with thia weird complex he has. It's not like he ruined that girls life by dirty tricks and pulled her down, no he just pushed himself up. Sigh, this is frustrating
MC busted his ass in a competition and lost, and his parents berated him for losing, even though he performed well, and by helping his sister win the election on a whim of "might as well", he pushed a this one girl (and likely more) into that same position of their hard work and being second place meaning nothing to the family all because they didnt win. So MC, knowing that feeling directly, chooses to never push anyone into that position again, even unintentionally.
At least thats how I understood it and was surprised at how many people seem to not realize it.
Well, maybe it's because I more or less knew what had actually happened, and it's actually different from your understanding. So your realization is wrong.
MC never lost. He actually astounded the audience with his amazing performance into silence instead. So his parents wouldn't berate him because of that. Though they still fight with each other because that's how they were, fighting all the time. He misunderstood about the silent audience and everything else because he's still a child, and he left the family because of that.
But it's been years since then. A lot of people would have approached and told him that he actually did amazing back then, including his sister, and he could also easily find out the result. And it's not like he's not often thinking about it all. Also, MC actually knew that he's actually quite capable because he realized that it was his help that made the glasses girl lost. Yet in chapter 19 he still said that he can't do anything. At this rate he's just being selfish.
That's why I said he's being a scum (though I admit that word might be too much but the resulting acts makes him seems like one), denying helping his sister because of his selfish thinking. I'm pretty sure that he must have stopped helping her (at least in major matters) because if he ever helped, then he would make more people lose achievement again, and isn't that a very bad thing for him? The problem is that kind of thinking should've makes him stop actively helping anyone else, but he whimsically helped FMC. Why didn't he also feels guilty about that?
Honestly, I think the author made a mistake in writing MC's personality.
I have to say: I get the MC feeling of "not wanting to drag down anybody else into the same shitty spot he was". Fortunately, I've grown out of that place. However, seeing him like this kinda hit close to home.
Was it stupid thing to do? Yes. Was there a better way to cope and to act out of it? Absolutely. Should you just stay in that terrible mindset and stay away from others? No, you can do better.
In the end, I hope the MC get a proper development and not wail in this childish, now that I looked back at it, mindset of "I will stay behind the limelight so as to not get others down with the shitty me".
You're different from MC. You're better than him. Your thinking stems from how unhelpful and incapable one feels about themselves. Basically, afraid of being a burden and dragging others down. Most likely was caused by failure(s) and/or the lack of achievement. It might seem the same with MC, but you changed because you wants to be more capable, be helpful, and not be afraid of failure.
In the other hand, MC regretted his action and felt guilty about it AFTER he actually succeeded in helping someone. Not because of his failure, not because he didn't achieve something, but because he - in his twisted superiority complex - felt guilty for being responsible for someone's loss. He actually knew that he's actually capable because he realized that it was his help that made the glasses girl lost, but that made him stop helping his sister and then stop trying again instead.
So you are clearly different. Btw, great job for getting out from your funk.
.....
What the heck am I doing psycho-analyzing a fictional character so seriously?
No one has or had any expectations of him he says, pretty aure his sister had and still has expectations. So does Alya, what is with thia weird complex he has. It's not like he ruined that girls life by dirty tricks and pulled her down, no he just pushed himself up. Sigh, this is frustrating
His sister actually doesn't have any expectations of him. Because he shouldered all the family burdens while she was too sickly to leave the house for most of her life before middle school, she's been absolutely happy to pick up for him so he can live freely. Indeed, she's glad he's working with Alya because it means he's finally found a goal outside the family to inspire him.
Alya once had expectations after he saved her during their middle school culture festival, then watched those expectations crash and burn when he returned to his old ways for the next several months. She's not sure what to expect at this point but, knowing what he's capable of when the mood strikes and being willing to do all the work herself if he's useless anyway, she's intrigued enough to give him another chance.
As for "that girl", he thinks he's forced someone else to go through the sort of hell his maternal grandfather would put him through for falling short in some way, which he's already feeling terrible guilt for (in his mind, anyway) pushing onto Yuki. As he begins to interact again with that pair, though, Masachika becomes aware that she wasn't in any trouble after all, that what he overheard were only fears she imagined, that her family was actually very supportive of her, and that she even became a fan of the Yuki x Masachika ship (to the point of being outraged over its breakup and Kuze's defection to Alya until her partner, who knew him back in the day, points out that the ship she stanned could never actually set sail). This change in understanding is a key factor in later allowing him to reevaluate how he values himself, even if he still hesitates to cut himself much slack.
I feel like we're on a Thomas the Tank Engine going up an almost 90 degree hill for this manga. Probably just need to forget about this manga and comeback when it has a ton more chapters.
Dude isn't anything more than 'an npc' either, so what's the difference?
He should still just do things for himself and those he cares about most, but it's not like caring about some stranger is inherently wrong.
Just gotta acknowledge that whether he interferes or not the same amount of people are succeeding or not. Maybe his idea is that his own vice position was a waste of someone's potential happiness, since it didn't even make him happy, but well, obviously he needs to work through that in a better way.
How I see the world: you are the main character and everyone else is npcs, the same thing applies to other people, Well not to a self-centered extent but yea.
I kinda agree with the rest tho
