When I Returned to My Hometown, My Childhood Friend was Broken - Ch. 22

[Psyvolt81]

Are the work hours weird to anyone else? Three shifts, two 12 hours shifts, one of them for students (how's a student going to work 12 hours), and the night shift is 8 hours. That leaves a four hour gap when no one is working.

 

[Valitoral]

gyat

 

[slyss]

The author is just building enough suspense for us to keep us coming back. Striking the right balance.

I genuinely believe that rather than "building up suspense"... this is more of a cultural difference.

English readers are genuinely terrified of the idea that she was in the night business, even with all the signs at hand (A Japanese girl dressing like her over "Just depression"? Also, her reaction at Karaoke), and want confirmation that this isn't the case, and while there are a few Japanese readers who do wonder about this (There were more at the beginning), I don't see as many as on the English side of things.

And the reason could be simple:

Even IF she was part of that industry at some point, that would still make her story (A girl trying but falling to fit in, especially with how cruel Japanese society can be, joining the night business, and then struggling) super, SUPER common in Japan (Their sex industry is huge after all), more than you could ever imagine, so I can imagine the author not wanting to expand on something that is widely known over there, because there isn't much of a reason to so, after all, the manga isn't about her past, but rather about her future, same as with Ochiai-san. (And many Japanese comments he gets are all about the little changes she has been experiencing, like how the Japanese she has begun using is more casual, or less restrictive, her expressions, etc etc)

(Of course, it could also be, like someone pointed out, that the author is simply using "Fear of the unknown" and want to let this to the reader's imagination, this is all just my opinion after all)

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that she WAS part of the industry, I personally wish she wasn't, but my point is, the story is all about her future.

 

[Chronigan]

I genuinely believe that rather than "building up suspense"... this is more of a cultural difference.

English readers are genuinely terrified of the idea that she was in the night business, even with all the signs at hand (A Japanese girl dressing like her over "Just depression"? Also, her reaction at Karaoke), and want confirmation that this isn't the case, and while there are a few Japanese readers who do wonder about this (There were more at the beginning), I don't see as many as on the English side of things.

And the reason is simple:

Even IF she was part of that industry at some point, that would still make her story (A girl trying but falling to fit in, especially with how cruel Japanese society can be, joining the night business, and then struggling) super, SUPER common in Japan (Their sex industry is huge after all), more than you could ever imagine, so I can imagine the author not wanting to expand on something that is widely known over there, because there isn't much of a reason to so, after all, the manga isn't about her past, but rather about her future, same as with Ochiai-san. (And many Japanese comments he gets are all about the little changes she has been experiencing, like how the Japanese she has begun using is more casual, or less restrictive, her expressions, etc etc)

Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that she WAS part of the industry, I personally wish she wasn't, but my point is, even if that was the case, that would still make her story a common case, so why expand on it?

The story is all about her future.

(I personally know someone from Nagoya that went thro this in her 20s, thankfully she did found her happy ending and is now married in her mid 30s with kids)

So why have all those stories set in highschool?

Something bad happened. The mangaka doesn't want to go into it. Somone said that when you know exactly what the monster looks like it becomes less scary. It's always scarier when it is left up to your imagination.

 

[favine]

I just want her to be loved and to be happy.

 

[vmman]

from 10 am to 10 pm????!!! As highschool student???

AND they earn less

 

[stavekoff]

she's taking steps to being happy, i'm really glad. it's nice that his simple presence was enough to make her feel better

 

[slyss]

So why have all those stories set in highschool?

Something bad happened. The mangaka doesn't want to go into it. Somone said that when you know exactly what the monster looks like it

So why have all those stories set in highschool?

To create a contrast with her current self, and the long term goal of the manga.
Especially as the story is mostly told from the MCs perspective outside a few selected chapters, he doesn't know what happened during her downfall, but does know how she was before it, and those flashbacks are used to drive the MC's main goal:

What's important is to make her happy from now on, not what happened to her.

Hell, even the girl's flashback have been akin to "Do I deserve happiness?" rather than a straight up "That's the reason why I'm like this"

 

[Mirzak007]

Isn't that like $9 an hour usd?

yes

 

[Chronigan]

To create a contrast with her current self, and the long term goal of the manga.
Especially as the story is mostly told from the MCs perspective outside a few selected chapters, he doesn't know what happened during her downfall, but does know how she was before it, and those flashbacks are used to drive the MC's main goal:

What's important is to make her happy from now on, not what happened to her.

Hell, even the girl's flashback have been akin to "Do I deserve happiness?" rather than a straight up "That's the reason why I'm like this"

The post I was replying to said there was no point in telling her tragic story because it was a common one. My comment was about all the manga that takes place in highschools since that is infinently more common. Sorry if that was unclear.

 

[slyss]

The post I was replying to said there was no point in telling her tragic story because it was a common one. My comment was about all the manga that takes place in highschools since that is infinently more common. Sorry if that was unclear.

Thing is, many romance/comedy/drama stories in High School can be done as reminiscence of a "better time".

Japanese society as an adult can be crushing (Their suicide rates are there for a reason) and for a lot of Japaneses (or more like in general lol) High School was the last time they felt enjoyment in their lives, or had the opportunity to be truly happy, and a lot of manga is used to capture this same feeling.

Of course, we also have the opposite, mangakas who felt that time wasn't as magical as people remember them, and then we have darker themes.

(Obviously, these 2 are just that, 2 reasons out of the thousand that could possibly be)

Something I do agree is that I expressed myself incorrectly, I didn't mean to say that this was for sure the author intention, that's why I said "I can IMAGINE the author..."

But what I wanted to say is that I could see is how this kind of situation being common could be a factor on the author's decision to reveal what happened or not, but at the end, it could also be, like you said, that the author is simply using the "fear of the unknown" to instigate intrigue, which is a common writing technique, thought that "unknown" isn't exactly a mystery because, again, of how common those stories are, but, at the end, is all up to the reader's imagination.

 

[doctagon]

 

[Mangamoz]

We all know what happened to the elf in her flashback. I hope its not similar. Is the author connecting two of his works together? I think in different series she also works part time at a general store. And finally i am at the age where i can't take a heart breaking story(25).

Zyugoya(this author) is not a double faced rape fetishisht like Gibachan is.(author of raped Elf healing manga)

 

[Deszera]

y'all need to learn to read, in chapter 18 it's already briefly explained what happened, she got in over her head at work etc. and couldn't quite make it

 

[danklamp]

Zyugoya(this author) is not a double faced rape fetishisht like Gibachan is.(author of raped Elf healing manga)

I'm still mad over that lmfao.
Like I liked the healing part, but when I saw the prequel on the panda web I just felt disappointed in the author.

 

[screamdoom]

Yeah, It's been long time she "slept" through the night.
That's confirm it.

 

[Mangamoz]

I'm still mad over that lmfao.
Like I liked the healing part, but when I saw the prequel on the panda web I just felt disappointed in the author.

I'm not forgetting that the author of Raped Elf Manga never showed a detailed vanilla sex scene of her and the MC, yet he COLORED the entire rape flashback in HD.

MF was probably planning to have the bandits at the end rape a ton of elves at the end arc before he decided to rush the ending.

 

[doctagon]

the hours could just be "we need people to work during this time period" as opposed to "work 12 hours"

 

[Quern]

Yeah, It's been long time she "slept" through the night.
That's confirm it.

Confirmed... What, my guy?
That she has depression instigated insomnia? Sure, that checks out. Definitely a lot of solid evidence towards that, based on what's actually been shown thus far.

the hours could just be "we need people to work during this time period" as opposed to "work 12 hours"

More than likely, yeah. I remember asking a similar question to some friends when I was over there, and they said that it depends on the place, but typically it's just the general business hours being listed.
That said, their work days ARE a lot more extreme, so for full-time adults, it could in fact be a 12 hour shift.

 

[raltzero]

It would be cool if this is the same conbini as "A Divorced Crybaby Has Moved in Next Door" and the two series get a crossover.