Toukyou KINOKO: Sekai Ranking 1-i no Komyu-ryoku Saijaku JK - Ch. 10 - Understood

[WatermelonPlease]

Next chapter prediction: Kino is gonna break free and draw blood herself to feed whatever it is and summon it, then goes on about how rare and precious the summon and kills to eat and share with everyone.

And then she starts a new cult

 

[DrunkinDonut]

What's breaks disbelief isn't that Kino is this stupid - because people are - but that someone that stupid isn't already part of a crime gang, a cult, or both.

Like, someone this fucking dense is exactly the sort of idiot that becomes a Flat Earther.

Also, the cultists are idiots for not thinking of demanding that their intruder prove her identity by calling up her status. Because it really is that easy, they don't have to be guessing.

The way the story has been introduced, their family hasn't even been in the area for around a week? She hasn't been around long enough to be tricked into a Monster Based Gang. Chapter 2, explains that was her 1st day in class. And at the very least, her little sister has enough brains to tell her to stop if she thinks she's doing something bad.


And for everyone complaining about Kino in front of the cult, she's totally panicking and not even noticing anyone else. She hasn't spoken to anyone other than family for 10+ years. Even assuming extended relatives, she's exceedingly shy. She couldn't even return the toy to the break dancing child in Chapter 1, without panicking. The only way her mind is working in this instance is to just tunnel focus on singular people, so she isn't noticing anybody. That monster they're trying to awaken? She doesn't even consider it a danger, she hunted S-Ranks to extinction.

 

[AsteroidCreator99]

I'm crying because this shit is so ass

 

[AzrefReza]

She went full ******. You never go full ******. You know the quote..

If you know the quote then just write it, bro.

I think Kinoko doesn't realize what is going on because she underestimates herself all the time, she doesn't realize how truly strong she is, and she has likely been too strong for weapons in ages, so she probably thinks they are just playing around.

After all, if they really wanted to kill her or hurt her, it would hurt...or they wouldn't use such fragile weapons, she has become so strong that murder attempts genuinely don't register as murder attempts.

This. You wouldn’t acknowledge an ant trying to kill you as attempted murder.

 

[Dust_pile]

Thanks for the chapter!

no matter how stupid you are surely different people trying their hardest to kill you would be something you register
I really hope this stupid part ends asap, this scene is unbearably annoying for me

ty for the tl

I don't think Kinoko realizes that they are trying to murder her. In her mind they are just trying to water a plant with blood, a totally normal activity where she is from, and are doing their best to draw blood from her (she probably thinks that this organisation has hired them to draw blood from them, so this is the work she is supposed to do) and she just accidentally keeps breaking company equipment.

What's breaks disbelief isn't that Kino is this stupid - because people are - but that someone that stupid isn't already part of a crime gang, a cult, or both.

Like, someone this fucking dense is exactly the sort of idiot that becomes a Flat Earther.

Also, the cultists are idiots for not thinking of demanding that their intruder prove her identity by calling up her status. Because it really is that easy, they don't have to be guessing.

Kinoko is extremely antisocial and was literally unable to talk to anyone until like a week ago. She also hasn't lived here long enough yet.

It's a comedy insofar as the main character is invincible and superpowered, but is oblivious to this and is also a complete moron.

The setting she's in is very much not a comedy. Civilization is in active danger, people have already died on-screen, and every other character is acting to ends that indicate real peril and drama.
The single exclusion is Kinoko, and all of the comedic elements are built around maintaining her idiocy and naivety at all costs.

And we even have an actual stated goal from the main character herself - she wants to move beyond the very thing that is injecting any sense of comedy into the series at all. So what happens once that occurs? Or, is it allowed to never occur, and the world increasingly bends itself around keeping Kinoko in the dark, no matter how outlandish or contrived the rest of the characters and the setting itself have to behave to make that happen?

Usoyama should absolutely spill the beans to Kinoko after this, whatever selfish reasons she had for not doing so before. Her own life was put in mortal peril because Kinoko's a moron and is incapable of reading the situation before her, however overt it maybe should appear. If she doesn't say anything, then she's implying that the same situation can arise again because that's less important than Kinoko gaining awareness of herself and her situation.
Kinoko's sister is also complicit, and if she finds out what Kinoko was wrapped up in, that other people died, and still says nothing - then that's another point in the "the world's logic is thrown out in favor of keeping the protagonist's gimmick intact" category.

That absurdity can work, but it works were the stakes aren't so final for the world at large. Looney Tunes gets away with tons of violence because no one perma-dies and everything resets next episode. That sort of comedy doesn't work where the setting can be destroyed and you can just have the cast walk off being eaten or having a building dropped on them.

This formula can work, as demonstrated by one punch man. I think it's just that the stakes are currently to low and the reader isn't invested enough yet to have a dragged out arc like this. They should have probably waited untill chapter 10 or so to start this arc.

 

[UdenEmpati]

This formula can work, as demonstrated by one punch man. I think it's just that the stakes are currently to low and the reader isn't invested enough yet to have a dragged out arc like this. They should have probably waited untill chapter 10 or so to start this arc.

i don't recall Saitama being this antithetical to operating in a society, though. He has his moments, sure, but he knows he's strong and has some amount of situational awareness when dealing with a crisis or with others.

This takes the gimmick and turns it up to 12, seemingly.

And while you could be correct about the author simply jumping the gun on when they introduced this arc, the degree of Kinoko's "issues" mean that, for them to persist and carry the gag, everyone around her will have to keep secrets - from her and from the world at large, and will have to twist their words and actions in favor of maintaining her idiocy, even if doing so would countermand their usual behavior.

Because look at how many witnesses there were to this. And so when Usoyama's uncle shows up, do they just capture everyone, and sequester all information from the rest of the government and the public at large?
Usoyama wanted to keep this a secret so she could milk Kinoko for training and advice. Doing that has nearly gotten her killed. Is she going to decide others need to know, because Kinoko's obliviousness is a clear danger to those around her? And I ask the same of the sister, once she's made aware of what transpired.

And the more people who find out and bend themselves around perpetuating this gimmick, the harder it will be to care about any of the proposed stakes that we've been presented, including Kinoko's own stated goal of overcoming her social anxiety.

 

[tremor3258]

I'm really Nadeshiko in this one. I hope this is going somewhere soon, the joke is thin.

 

[wanfai]

It's a comedy insofar as the main character is invincible and superpowered, but is oblivious to this and is also a complete moron.

The setting she's in is very much not a comedy. Civilization is in active danger, people have already died on-screen, and every other character is acting to ends that indicate real peril and drama.
The single exclusion is Kinoko, and all of the comedic elements are built around maintaining her idiocy and naivety at all costs.

And we even have an actual stated goal from the main character herself - she wants to move beyond the very thing that is injecting any sense of comedy into the series at all. So what happens once that occurs? Or, is it allowed to never occur, and the world increasingly bends itself around keeping Kinoko in the dark, no matter how outlandish or contrived the rest of the characters and the setting itself have to behave to make that happen?

Usoyama should absolutely spill the beans to Kinoko after this, whatever selfish reasons she had for not doing so before. Her own life was put in mortal peril because Kinoko's a moron and is incapable of reading the situation before her, however overt it maybe should appear. If she doesn't say anything, then she's implying that the same situation can arise again because that's less important than Kinoko gaining awareness of herself and her situation.
Kinoko's sister is also complicit, and if she finds out what Kinoko was wrapped up in, that other people died, and still says nothing - then that's another point in the "the world's logic is thrown out in favor of keeping the protagonist's gimmick intact" category.

That absurdity can work, but it works were the stakes aren't so final for the world at large. Looney Tunes gets away with tons of violence because no one perma-dies and everything resets next episode. That sort of comedy doesn't work where the setting can be destroyed and you can't* just have the cast walk off being eaten or having a building dropped on them.

I mean, you’re right. It’s bad writing. Yes the setting doesn’t allow for it. Which is why it’s also a bad story. A decent comedy, but definitely bad writing and plot.

Props to TL group for working on this, im not criticizing your work, but as far as the story goes this is definitely a situation where the setting and the plotline is mismatched fully. Which is also why this only works as a comedy. The chapter she gets ‘common sense’ is the chapter when the story gets a countdown for when the story will end, or should end at least. Once she gets common sense this story becomes no different from every other overpowered MC in fantasy tokyo, and theres a couple of those.

 

[dcdfvr]

You and me both Nadeshiko, as well as alot of other people

 

[Dust_pile]

i don't recall Saitama being this antithetical to operating in a society, though. He has his moments, sure, but he knows he's strong and has some amount of situational awareness when dealing with a crisis or with others.

This takes the gimmick and turns it up to 12, seemingly.

And while you could be correct about the author simply jumping the gun on when they introduced this arc, the degree of Kinoko's "issues" mean that, for them to persist and carry the gag, everyone around her will have to keep secrets - from her and from the world at large, and will have to twist their words and actions in favor of maintaining her idiocy, even if doing so would countermand their usual behavior.

Because look at how many witnesses there were to this. And so when Usoyama's uncle shows up, do they just capture everyone, and sequester all information from the rest of the government and the public at large?
Usoyama wanted to keep this a secret so she could milk Kinoko for training and advice. Doing that has nearly gotten her killed. Is she going to decide others need to know, because Kinoko's obliviousness is a clear danger to those around her? And I ask the same of the sister, once she's made aware of what transpired.

And the more people who find out and bend themselves around perpetuating this gimmick, the harder it will be to care about any of the proposed stakes that we've been presented, including Kinoko's own stated goal of overcoming her social anxiety.

I was mostly referring to the way the entire world is aero but the protagonist being a gag character that turns the world comical.

You are right in that Kinoko is the Aspects that turn Saitama into a comical character turned way up (Saitama is somewhat oblivious and he is slightly antisocial (living in an abandoned part of the city, getting annoyed with everyone wanting to hangout at his place) but he doesn't have a problem with interacting with people. As you said this does cause problems, as her amount of obliviousness and shyness is not maintainable in the long run.

 

[Angry_Aguri]

peak density. if she were any denser, her skull would collapse into a singularity.


I love it

 

[Silfir]

I just found and binged this one (not that there was much to binge) and I pretty much have to agree with the naysayers on this one.

The One Punch Man comparisons are obvious, but do people still know Mr. Bean? Who is in every way like a normal human being, except he's literally an alien dropped into modern day England trying very hard to act human, and comically failing in direct proportion to how hard he is trying?

That's Kinoko. She's got the common sense of Mr. Bean, crippling social anxiety, and is the most powerful being on the planet, possibly the multiverse. That's too many things that are off. Even to someone who could otherwise relate to the crippling social anxiety and would enjoy the power fantasy aspect... it's impossible to tell how she comes by her anxiety if her thought processes are this alien. It just feels arbitrary.

Perhaps another misunderstanding the author fell victim to: Saitama isn't a comical character. He's the straight man. He lives in a completely insane world populated almost entirely by parodies of battle shounen tropes doing utterly insane things. As much as a reader may roll their eyes at him being lazy and listless... most of us have been there at some point in their lives. It's the human condition.

The closest this manga has been to the human condition was the bonus chapter about the healing tank, when the insanely rich ojou-sama described the business model she's envisioning for it. I installed a new printer this year...

 

[darkesword]

This is so tonally off. They're playing the whole thing for comedy but that one innocent guy absolutely got murdered. Doesn't feel right to drag out the gag like that.

 

[Yuuen]

this whole thing is just trash, there's writing a dumb character, there's writing a character that's supposed to be the dumbest and then there's whatever this crap is where it makes zero sense for someone to be this dumb and oblivious and the author is just as dumb for thinking any of this is funny or works.

 

[jump90008]

This is what it feel like playing “expert lobby” in among us

 

[dontprepublish]

The chapter she gets ‘common sense’ is the chapter when the story gets a countdown for when the story will end, or should end at least. Once she gets common sense this story becomes no different from every other overpowered MC in fantasy tokyo, and theres a couple of those.

While I agree with the statement in theory I don’t think it’s nearly as restrictive as you’ve framed, the entire goal of the MC is to be normal so letting her actually learn over the course of the story and slowly stripping away her debilitating incompetence while maintaining her odd demeanor would work fine and give plenty of room for gags and stupid “oops i one shotted and super strong monster” nonsense to keep the series identity intact.

Besides that, I agree with those who say this story jumped the gun, it is WAY to early to be introducing antagonists of any kind and making it someone this dangerous only exacerbates the issue, now the story has to either sacrifice its immersion by allowing kino to get away with being this stupid or sacrifice its tone by her getting a stern talking to by all the people she’s endangered with her stupidity and forcing her to act with some base level of tact moving forward, an issue that could’ve been completely avoided had the arc not happened or kino just decided to call 911 or the Japanese equivalent when a bunch of people passed out in a vehicle like anyone person operating above a kindergarten level

 

[welcome2atlantis]

It seems her defense value is very high.
What is she, a Maple? She eats gross things too! Maybe she can transform into a kaijuu later!

 

[leaveomelas]

I do think there's a point wherein a person can be such an imbecile and so critically unaware of what's going on around them, that it breaks any sense of immersion for the story and risks ruining any investment in the story on the part of the reader.

So while Kino's effective invincibility and exceptional social & situational idiocy are the focal point of the gag of the story, we also have a supremely serious situation wherein a cult is slaughtering people in the name of bringing about more powerful monsters in order to overthrow "a tyrannical government". And we see people being murdered prior to Kino walking in and allowing herself to be tied up and then struck with multiple weapons under the guise of "this way I won't be fired".

Which I hope means that Named Characters are also allowed to die, and not just the "bad guys" - because otherwise life is worthless in this story because the one person who could save everyone in the room, and more broadly Japan at large, is an oblivious moron. I cannot in good faith believe that she would assume that being struck by weapons like this is "just part of the job", especially if she took two seconds to spot her friend also tied up in her same position and put "2 and 2" together about how her friend would also ostensibly be getting this treatment after her.

That said - the friend's uncle who ...didn't want to believe that No. 11, who forcefully cut ties with his organization and went awol to start "a religion (why the fuck is it not classified as a cult)"? Should not be allowed to keep his job. I don't care how circumstantial the evidence may be, he admitted that he didn't move sooner because "I didn't want to believe he'd do that".
So blood's on his hands now, too.

I guess I'll see this particular arc through. But I suspect this is just going to become "people will be allowed to die except for "the good guys with names" and random innocent civilians whose deaths would invite bad reviews from readers (like the little girl in the first chapter), and everything will be fine because Kino the Strongest Dumbass will show up and, after misunderstanding until the 11th hour, proceed to accidentally save the day and learn nothing from the experience". And while I'm sure there are a good number of readers who will enjoy this, I guess it means I would have one less title to try and keep up with.

I'm definitely taking this too seriously, but the tone of the manga when it's not centered on Kino being an idiot kinda reads as such, and that dissonance bewteen the protagonist and everything else around her is going to make this more and more of a slog to read the more the world is bent to accommodate Kino's continued naivety.



But thank you for the TL. Your work remains quality and isn't reflected by the quality of story being told.

I would have accepted her being very stupid up to a point. The point where a civilian dies, and there goes the light comedy