We Shall Now Begin Ethics - Vol. 4 Ch. 18 - Confession

[CursedLight]

@Xxjuggernaut
What phrase ?

 

[Doomroar]

So you are just going to bail out of the promise of taking that other girl out to a mixer with 3 of your other friends?

She really got over her gang rape quite quickly.

 

[Xxjuggernaut]

@Doomroar what do you mean quickly? It's been a year

 

[Doomroar]

@Xxjuggernaut i was being sarcastic, I was expecting a follow up to her character exposition or development, since it didn't happen while she was studying, i assumed it would happen after she graduated, but nothing happened, it is almost like the chapter didn't exist.

So yes it has been a year, but the only thing that we know from that entire year is that the following day after going to karaoke she was back to acting like she always did, hell she was back to her old self by the end of the same chapter.

We never got an internal monologue from her, and the topic was never addressed, all we got was her outer facade which remained unchanged for the entire series, she of course was never a main character not even when we learnt what happened to her, but then after that she became practically a background character, and i was hoping for the opposite to happen.

Some extremely important changes must have happened off-panel (i assume, it has been a year) to the point that whatever they talked on that rooftop is now not worth bringing back, that or...

Maybe she never took his words at face value, the key things that day were the intentions behind Takayanagi's words and not the contents, the promise itself was never important, and it was in that very moment with the power of good humor that she moved on from her assault, she understood that she was not damaged, that she had value beyond her body and experiences, that there was more to her life and that regardless of what happened people still appreciated her and thus that she should appreciate herself, it all happened in that one moment, and then she went to karaoke to get some catharsis and complete her mental recovery... i don't believe in the second option, i believe that she went under a lengthy process.

So what happened In that year? did she bury what occurred to her an her worries and is now living in denial? did she wait for a year to the mixer with Takayanagi? or did she got over that promise, or did she never took that promise seriously? what is motivating her to keep on living now? what did she found to sustain herself? is it her new found friendship with Miyuki? did she went through the proper channels to report her rapists? did she got herself checked for possible STIs? has she gone to therapy to deal with the violent event that occurred to her? has she started dating again after her first boyfriend ever gang raped her and drugged her? Were the after class talks with Takayanagi and the other girls her only form of counselling? does she still want to become a bride or is she aiming for something else in life?

When i say quickly, i don't mean that she recovered instantly that day, what i mean is that we didn't got to see how this girl dealt with what happened to her, the way the story is presented it never focused on her.

 

[AnacondaHL]

That marriage and kids play was absolutely brutal. Savage AF.

 

[Hellewise]

Taka sensei needs a hug! ⊂(・﹏・⊂)

 

[jouyato]

aizawa still best girl. hope she grows up wonderfully and happy. congrats to everyone for graduating!!!!!!!

 

[shadowknight007]

@jtpetino the author is a woman by the way

 

[Blobina]

I hoped sensei was only divorced. It could have been way worse. Like how he was so traumatic about other's too much neediness fir affection and suicide.

 

[Hikoshii]

F

 

[levyoasu]

wow the disgusting face that both girls make, they still young to understand what real life is

 

[Deathhappens]

This is a big oof chapter. More like an audible huff, really.

 

[doniharley]

is a wonderful chapter
that the most intelligence person who wrote this
know how harsh the society was
the manga, it keep me beyond expectation

 

[AINFER]

whoah, and I thought she has become more mature.

 

[Irze]

Aww that Cinnamon roll of a teacher, and that aizawa girl, nothing dirty about that kind of view

 

[kuro0102]

Come on, he could've handled it better

 

[lobsterboy]

Maybe he read some antinatalist books, and just thinks that maybe, having children is morally wrong.

(I agree)

 

[Radicool21]

Upon rereading, I feel like "grown-ups are so unfair" might have been a better translation, or "grown-ups play dirty," since she's talking about how he trapped her with that question. Still a heartbreaker. Hope we get to see more of her later on.

 

[Wastucar]

So I just got up to this point, and have two takes. Take 1 is if he had feelings for her, take 2 is if he didn’t. Regarding take two, he would be following his own words of advice that he had given to the Physics teacher in Vol(1) and that would make sense. He’s shown that he sticks to his ideals, and in this scenario he does. However with scenario 1, in which he does have feelings for her, not only does he not follow his previous advice but he breaks his own ideals with which his character has been built upon up till this point. Honestly I feel like Scenario 1 is more likely not solely because of that last panel, but the overall amount of growth that he’s seen in the Gal. He originally told her in chapter one to become like the Creme of the Crop prostitutes from eras gone by, and we’ve seen that transformation (minus the sex worker part, in fact it’s practically the opposite) to what he stated in chapter one. That makes this not only a powerful and defining moment for his character, but one that leaves a foul taste in my mouth. As others have said, I love the Gal character and hope we see more of her.

 

[nicklablue]

oof