Every chapter I always feel nervous, afraid that the abuser who caused Kyouko's trauma will come back.
When I Returned to My Hometown, My Childhood Friend was Broken
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Only problem is the end where it felt a little rushed
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If you’ve read the masterpiece that is ‘Ri-chan’ this is basically a carbon copy, including the single page chapters. Not even sure which came out first, but both are equally enjoyable imo.
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Don't talk about your mom like that.
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This manga was read by me in one sitting, and ngl this was one, if not the most wholesome manga I’ve ever read. The character development was perfectly executed by the author by showing that even the deepest wounds can be healed. It almost made me spill a tear(it never happens when watching a movie or reading). It’s sad that it cannot be rated higher than 10.
11/10. Highly recommended.
11/10. Highly recommended.
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It's a very heartwarming manga, and the emotional beats do hit hard, but I need to discuss something about this manga that has been bothering me a lot since I read it. Giant spoiler wall incoming.
I'm really not a fan of how Kyouko acted in this story, and I don't think the mangaka really handled a character dealing with the trauma of rape and sexual assault well.
So early on in the manga, we see a hint of an intimate scene with Touma and Kyouka, a page of just their arms, fingers interlocked on a bed. I thought it was weird at the time because the timing of it was so off, and Kyouko is really still not okay in this part of the story, so I thought "Oh, this must be a little vision of what's to come, very nice." since the characters acted completely straight like absolutely nothing happened between them at all.
But then it happened again. And again.
So you realize that they've been fucking this entire time, and basically one chapter later, they drop the reveal that Kyouko was the survivor of a brutal sexual assault case. This event obviously completely destroyed her, and you see the aftermath of it everywhere. But that's not the issue for me, the issue is that she hasn't found any way to cope with her trauma in any meaningful or healthy way, can barely hold herself together in public, her self-image is completely destroyed, is unkempt, lives in a stye because she has no motivation to even wake up in the morning, let alone clean, but somehow has the confidence to pretty much immediately put herself back out there and have sex with a childhood friend? Like, are you kidding me?
Looking back at some of the panels in this manga earlier on into the story, it really actually does seems like Zyugoya is trying to glorify and fetishize sexual assault and the horrific, lifelong scars it leaves on one's psyche, with shots of her boobs, or her in revealing pajamas, little things like that.
I am NOT trying to accuse Zyugoya of this or that, since he (she?) has written other manga that deals with similar themes where this particular aspect of Broken Friend is completely absent (Crybaby Neighbor). I wholly believe this is just a case of them liking big tiddy sad girls (me too) and just failed to fully analyze potential implications of the story when they drew Kyouko's body front-and-center. Regardless, it still really rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't know who will see this and want to read it, (certainly not Zyugoya), but whatever, here you go.
I'm really not a fan of how Kyouko acted in this story, and I don't think the mangaka really handled a character dealing with the trauma of rape and sexual assault well.
So early on in the manga, we see a hint of an intimate scene with Touma and Kyouka, a page of just their arms, fingers interlocked on a bed. I thought it was weird at the time because the timing of it was so off, and Kyouko is really still not okay in this part of the story, so I thought "Oh, this must be a little vision of what's to come, very nice." since the characters acted completely straight like absolutely nothing happened between them at all.
But then it happened again. And again.
So you realize that they've been fucking this entire time, and basically one chapter later, they drop the reveal that Kyouko was the survivor of a brutal sexual assault case. This event obviously completely destroyed her, and you see the aftermath of it everywhere. But that's not the issue for me, the issue is that she hasn't found any way to cope with her trauma in any meaningful or healthy way, can barely hold herself together in public, her self-image is completely destroyed, is unkempt, lives in a stye because she has no motivation to even wake up in the morning, let alone clean, but somehow has the confidence to pretty much immediately put herself back out there and have sex with a childhood friend? Like, are you kidding me?
Looking back at some of the panels in this manga earlier on into the story, it really actually does seems like Zyugoya is trying to glorify and fetishize sexual assault and the horrific, lifelong scars it leaves on one's psyche, with shots of her boobs, or her in revealing pajamas, little things like that.
I am NOT trying to accuse Zyugoya of this or that, since he (she?) has written other manga that deals with similar themes where this particular aspect of Broken Friend is completely absent (Crybaby Neighbor). I wholly believe this is just a case of them liking big tiddy sad girls (me too) and just failed to fully analyze potential implications of the story when they drew Kyouko's body front-and-center. Regardless, it still really rubbed me the wrong way.
I don't know who will see this and want to read it, (certainly not Zyugoya), but whatever, here you go.
I get what you're saying, but here's the thing. Not all victim's of sexual assault recover or process in the same way. I'm not an expert in the psychological aspects of a person dealing with that kind of trauma, but I have been to a lot of incidents involving the aftermath of that trauma having just occurred, and I've seen instances of people years down the road that have suffered that trauma. Some victim's can't stand the thought of sex or any type of physical romance....Some victims develop a hypersexual sex drive, seeking multiple sexual partners, cheating in relationships, excessive masturbation and so on. The fact that she wanted to have sex doesn't surprise me.
As far as her looks, she said it herself, she dyed her hair pink and got ear piercings because she wanted to appear tough. Again victim's react in many different ways, some start dressing down while others react the same way Kyouko does. You also notice she does wear baggy cloths to hide her body at times.
I also imagine she was in an extremely dark place, but she saw the one thing that remained safe and reliable in her life, her best friend Touma. This is the person she grew up with throughout childhood up until Uni, her best friend. I think its reasonable that Kyouko would open up to him.
I write this wall of text that probably wont be read to say this: I don't think sexual assault was glorified in any way, and I don't think Kyouko acted out of character for a victim. She shut down in her life, she self harmed, she was probably hypersexual, whether it was with partners or not, she felt comfortable with Touma. Zyugoya didn't have to dig into the actions of the perpetrators, didn't have to go into details of what happened for us to SEE that Kyouko was fucked up from the incident. We know what happened, and we moved on and focused on Kyouko's growth instead of the trauma.
I think Kyouko was very well written. Just me .02 cents.
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Just read this entire manga in one sitting and yes...
No glorification of rape here and very believable that she would seek sexual comfort in someone that she trusts and loves. Plus, it just seems that people get gunshy about rape victims being seen as sexually attractive as that may be part of what made them a target. It's futile and ultimately insulting to the actual victim to treat them like they should be forever timid and covered up. Sort of similar to the Twitter freakout over Sexy Anya from Mouthwashing. Think about it this way. A guy gets his ass beat. So then he should never be looked at as tough or get to try and present himself as strong or work to be so because he was a victim of an ass-beating? Doesn't make sense now, does it?
Back to the actual story. My only problem with it is that it just kinda goes on with one note after that chapter 31 reveal. We didn't need to see what happened in gross detail, but this story needed more drama. It needed to show her actually talk to him about it and face it with him. That scene of her seeing him stand up for her isn't really enough. That's actually my problem with the way that the entire story was presented. Things are glossed over. Implied. Seemingly to keep things tight with it's rigid 4 page per chapter limit. Even when they first sleep together. I don't need a sex scene, but I want to see more details of what led to it.
Then there's Chekhov's gun in that of his mother. Why show that scene of him making excuses when he's going to see Kyouko in secret if you're not going to do anything more with that? No conversations with his parents about his relationship with her and they conveniently skip a wedding ceremony to not even have to bring that up. All to probably keep him from being told earlier about what happened to Kyouko as it was apparently big news in their town.
And again. After the chapter 31 reveal, it's just casual life steps until marriage and a baby. No drama. And that's kinda boring. There would be more struggle in him having to deal with her trauma. Regardless of how good and patient of a man he is, it would be tough. Mangaka just didn't seem to know how to tackle such details or had no interest in that and that's truly a shame. Could have gotten at least one more volume if the story was more fleshed out. I guess, maybe I should just be reading a novel then, haha.
Overall, it was a very tender and wholesome manga. Beautifully drawn. A pretty/ugly style to it that fit very well. However its lack of story detail and jumping around left me wanting. 8/10
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The Nekrotaku translation of the new Valentine's Day special is....oof. She wasn't some girl thay couldn't handle college and became a sponge as your translation suggests MAJOR SPOILER
Context is important! Thank you for translating though! You're a champion!
she was raped in college and was/is working. You make her sound like an awful person.
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Man this author really went down the rabbit hole with this one...
we get it, you like submissive, low self esteem, big tittied short stacks with the "i can fix her, then f*** her" tag and a slice of trauma...
it's litterally the third one, maybe fourth if you count side characters in his (much) better mangas!
This one's too much... Thanks for the spoilers guys/gals, because i'm skipping that one.
i'm done with this artist for a while.
we get it, you like submissive, low self esteem, big tittied short stacks with the "i can fix her, then f*** her" tag and a slice of trauma...
it's litterally the third one, maybe fourth if you count side characters in his (much) better mangas!
This one's too much... Thanks for the spoilers guys/gals, because i'm skipping that one.
i'm done with this artist for a while.
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