Zenbu Kowashite Jigoku de Aishite - Vol. 5 Ch. 25 - A Voice

[MangaDex]

 

[Mistilteinn]

It seems like Kudou actually assumed that Naoi wrecked the arch, which makes sense given the text she sent Naoi right before it happened. This is probably what she told Kurumi off panel, which started to re-seed Kurumi's doubts. This chapter really highlights how much Kudou doesn't understand Naoi at all. Even thinking that Naoi isn't experiencing any suffering in all of this. Well, seems like she's about to get a wake up call, though I doubt she'll change so easily. Plus, she's likely furious about Kurumi's confession and if Naoi breaks out of her downward spiral as a result.

As for Isanuma, she must really be shocked. Naoi being cleared means she has to suspect that Mine is the one that wrecked the arch. And now she's seen what a scumbag their teacher actually is. I have to wonder what will happen when the story goes back to the school. I suspect the teacher will behave like every other adult so far does when faced with a problem, which is to say he'll run away and leave Isanuma to deal with the fallout alone. After all, he has no way of knowing that Kurumi was likely bluffing about having a recording, due to her missing cell phone. Remember she planned to go home and call Naoi in chapter 23, meaning it still hasn't been replaced yet. If Naoi comes back to school after being cleared, then all of the class will likely see it as proof of the teacher covering for Isanuma, making her school life even worse. I doubt Isanuma will stop blaming Kurumi for her problems at this point either, especially since she'll likely view Kurumi as the reason why the teacher acted out like he did and then bailed on her. If nothing else, it feels like Isanuma's being set up to be Kudou's pawn. Having Isanuma become so isolated is the perfect way to make that happen.

As for Naoi and Kurumi, it's great that Kurumi finally acknowledged/realized her feelings and was able to voice them, which is likely part of what the chapter title is referring to. Though based on what was shown of Kurumi's thoughts, I think her actual first conscious realization was in chapter 23. Now, to see how Naoi reacts. I think it will help snap Naoi out of her recent behavior to know that someone sincerely cares about her and won't just abandon her when they think she's being inconvenient to them, but with everything going on with Naoi's life right now, she might not accept Kurumi's confession immediately, but we'll see what happens in November, since the series is on break next month.

 

[ErikTheRed]

Toxic love intensifies

 

[kkakasih]

Lets gooooo

taking a month break after dropping this chapter is pure evil bro

 

[Nosebleed]

They're truly perfect for each other.

 

[NinjaGoemon]

Kurumi finally saying what her heart's known but how long will it take for Naoi to feel worthy of it?

 

[KnightSpark]

Toxic love intensifies

 

[WeaverTVSC]

Yooo! I did not expect that she'd just go and say it! She's grown up so much

 

[layaaaaane]

Im so addicted to those series with toxic relationships T^T

 

[Eukene]

"You're lucky I'm kind of into this."

She admitted it! I mean, there was the love confession too, but mainly this.

After all, he has no way of knowing that Kurumi was likely bluffing about having a recording, due to her missing cell phone. Remember she planned to go home and call Naoi in chapter 23, meaning it still hasn't been replaced yet

It's almost certainly a bluff. She barely heard any of the conversation and focused on understanding what they were saying without being noticed, along with no recording device being shown. It wouldn't make sense for her to have recorded it even if she had a phone in her pocket.

This is very funny since it's the second time she's bluffed despite having intentionally destroyed her own phone. She's lucky no noticed besides Naoi and Kokoro, who aren't gossipers, as she's getting a lot of mileage out of this.

 

[UdenEmpati]

It seems like Kudou actually assumed that Naoi wrecked the arch, which makes sense given the text she sent Naoi right before it happened. This is probably what she told Kurumi off panel, which started to re-seed Kurumi's doubts. This chapter really highlights how much Kudou doesn't understand Naoi at all. Even thinking that Naoi isn't experiencing any suffering in all of this. Well, seems like she's about to get a wake up call, though I doubt she'll change so easily. Plus, she's likely furious about Kurumi's confession and if Naoi breaks out of her downward spiral as a result.

As for Isanuma, she must really be shocked. Naoi being cleared means she has to suspect that Mine is the one that wrecked the arch. And now she's seen what a scumbag their teacher actually is. I have to wonder what will happen when the story goes back to the school. I suspect the teacher will behave like every other adult so far does when faced with a problem, which is to say he'll run away and leave Isanuma to deal with the fallout alone. After all, he has no way of knowing that Kurumi was likely bluffing about having a recording, due to her missing cell phone. Remember she planned to go home and call Naoi in chapter 23, meaning it still hasn't been replaced yet. If Naoi comes back to school after being cleared, then all of the class will likely see it as proof of the teacher covering for Isanuma, making her school life even worse. I doubt Isanuma will stop blaming Kurumi for her problems at this point either, especially since she'll likely view Kurumi as the reason why the teacher acted out like he did and then bailed on her. If nothing else, it feels like Isanuma's being set up to be Kudou's pawn. Having Isanuma become so isolated is the perfect way to make that happen.

As for Naoi and Kurumi, it's great that Kurumi finally acknowledged/realized her feelings and was able to voice them, which is likely part of what the chapter title is referring to. Though based on what was shown of Kurumi's thoughts, I think her actual first conscious realization was in chapter 23. Now, to see how Naoi reacts. I think it will help snap Naoi out of her recent behavior to know that someone sincerely cares about her and won't just abandon her when they think she's being inconvenient to them, but with everything going on with Naoi's life right now, she might not accept Kurumi's confession immediately, but we'll see what happens in November, since the series is on break next month.

Kudou going after Isanuma is an interesting take; would using Isanuma help her to continue targeting Naoi in some fashion? I suppose if she can convince Isanuma that Kurumi is "responsible" for the sensei bailing on her (I cannot wait for him to eventually be outed and fired/arrested, btw), Kudou could then point her at Kurumi like some sort of aggressive & tortured attack dog, thus distracting her enough for Kudou to make additional moves on Naoi.

I think that would depend on how Naoi responds to Kurumi's declaration, though. It is definitely out of left field, but I also think Naoi is fully in her own head about how worthless/hated she is, at present - so even if she has feelings/affection/love (of any kind) for Kurumi, I can't imagine this moment will simply "shock" her out of her ongoing tailspin.
It very much depends on Kurumi's resolve to hold fast to her confession through whatever fallout ensues, I think. In terms of the setup, Kudou's going to explode in some capacity; she already had a "what the fuck" moment when Kurumi kept pressing Naoi in this chapter, right at Kurumi's "why do you look like you're suffering? Your face is in pain, just talk to me" bit.
Kudou tried to recover by diminishing Naoi to "an inflictor" for want of a better word, but Kurumi broke through that again, immediately - so she seems to have the capacity to keep pressing Naoi to confront and look at her, which could see this scene resolve with Naoi walking away from Kudou's influence, if only for the moment.
Depends on if Kudou tries to get physical, herself - if she attacks either of them, Kurumi would likely defend Naoi, and if Naoi defends Kurumi, Kudou's on predilication of wanting abuse from Naoi might actually cause her to falter and flee. Don't know if that's how it'll play out for sure in November, but the line is there, I think, based on who each person is & their mannerisms, and the setup / energy of the moment.

I do think that any acceptance of the confession on Naoi's part will be incredibly tenuous though, and will require constant reinforcement on Kurumi's part, for likely a long period of time - which, with Kudou, Isanuma, Mine, the sensei, and Kokoro fully involved alongside the ongoing scandals of vandalism in the classroom (oh, and Naoi's dad), I very much don't seem them being "out of the woods" anytime soon - with much backsliding along the way.

 

[pyritepony]

Holy Jesus she actually said it, LET'S GO!!!

 

[Mistilteinn]

I do think that any acceptance of the confession on Naoi's part will be incredibly tenuous though, and will require constant reinforcement on Kurumi's part, for likely a long period of time - which, with Kudou, Isanuma, Mine, the sensei, and Kokoro fully involved alongside the ongoing scandals of vandalism in the classroom (oh, and Naoi's dad), I very much don't seem them being "out of the woods" anytime soon - with much backsliding along the way.

I think it depends on when the author wants to address things with Naoi's mother. Naoi's dad ran off, likely because he doesn't plan to live with Naoi now that he knows her mother is never coming back.

Kurumi and Naoi being a couple would have a stronger impact on a meet the parents arc, since she'd be meeting Naoi's mom, little sister, and future stepdad.

 

[Kagimizu]

People are calling this toxic, but while Naoi's tendency to lash out physically is problematic (which even she herself acknowledges isn't okay, rather than the story justifying it), otherwise? The two girls are if anything making each other better, bit by bit. It's ridiculously dysfunctional and started out as blackmail and animosity, but I mean...

How many shounen/shoujo series have started with the eventual love interest literally trying to kill the MC?

 

[UdenEmpati]

I think it depends on when the author wants to address things with Naoi's mother. Naoi's dad ran off, likely because he doesn't plan to live with Naoi now that he knows her mother is never coming back.

Kurumi and Naoi being a couple would have a stronger impact on a meet the parents arc, since she'd be meeting Naoi's mom, little sister, and future stepdad.

oh that's true - I'd forgotten that moment where it was effectively made clear Mom was never returning to them. So Dad..could very well be out of the picture, and I kinda hope that's the case; I don't see any sort of "closure" to be had in that relationship that would do any good for Naoi (he's effectively fully toxic/malevolent, with no "complexity" to his character to allow for further growth from what I remember), so him just fully disappearing from the narrative and never troubling her again might just be the best for her.

 

[Mistilteinn]

Kudou celebrating so much this chapter, thinking she already won is why I think Kurumi's confession is going to pull an Uno Reversal on the situation. Plus, volume 5 was pure angst, so there might be some more lighthearted moments in the eventual volume 6 to balance things out.

Naoi's dad is out of the picture for now. The teacher can't do anything, since he thinks Kurumi has evidence against him. Isanuma thinks the same. And Kokoro now has Akane and Azuma to keep her from spiralling out of control. So, right now the biggest threats are Kudou and Mine. Though there could be a curveball, like Kimura confessing to Naoi too.

 

[estrogenthief]

This arc truly had concluded well. The author did a good job giving us a lot of parallels between each girl. Kurumi starts off with a horrible shitty abusive household, a poor standing with her class, and gets into a coercive abusive toxic relationship that seeks to control her and cut her off. Naoi is the person who drags her out of each of these effectively. It starts out with her reaching out to kurumi. Now that kurumi has her shit handled we have to handle the same with naoi. Except her situation is worse. All the same themes turned up to 11. Her father is absentee and clearly hurts her. Her relationship with kudou is actually vile. Kudou is effectively emotionally abusing naoi while trying to cut her off from everyone and coerce her into acts that she gains pleasure from. Kokoro does too! But with her there was at least a pretense of good intentions. Same with kurumi’s mother. But with naoi both the abusive parties in her life are just outright malicious. And just as Naoi dragged kurumi out of the depths she was plunged into, helping her get away from someone who was coercing her into sex, now kurumi returns the favor and does the same but every part of it is so much worse. Both abusers feed off their victim’s parent’s mistreatment of their daughters so heavily. Naoi’s keeps her trapped in the same suffocating hell while further feeding into the violence and abandonment in her life. Kurumi’s plays into control and pretense of abuse in the name of something that’s less bad. Both abusers take advantage of their victim’s parent’s current state too. Kokoro was outright working with kurumi’s mother. Kudou swoops in right as her father is out of the picture filling his place. And now we have all the plot threads for Naoi’s issues coming to head and potential resolution in a single chapter. Her father is gone, her name is close to being cleared, and kudou is clearly on her way out of the picture. With all the ducks lined to end this chapter with a confession was really the perfect bow to tie it all off.

While this story is definitely toxic it’s toxic in a way we don’t often get, which is in handling abuse and mistreatment outside of the relationship and it being the primary barrier. And yknow what that on its own is refreshing in a way.

 

[estrogenthief]

Kudou celebrating so much this chapter, thinking she already won is why I think Kurumi's confession is going to pull an Uno Reversal on the situation. Plus, volume 5 was pure angst, so there might be some more lighthearted moments in the eventual volume 6 to balance things out.

Naoi's dad is out of the picture for now. The teacher can't do anything, since he thinks Kurumi has evidence against him. Isanuma thinks the same. And Kokoro now has Akane and Azuma to keep her from spiralling out of control. So, right now the biggest threats are Kudou and Mine. Though there could be a curveball, like Kimura confessing to Naoi too.

Tbh idk if Mine is even a current threat. She’s played up as a later issue to resolve more as a result of Isanuma’s realization and honestly acts more as a side character couple parallel to the main cast. Isanuma also has an isolating shitty toxic person in her life that feeds into her worst qualities as a person just like the other two. The difference is she previously had no way of even figuring this out and it’s clearly been going for a while. All three girls are inexplicably tied to each other to escape the worst parts of their lives even when they don’t quite realize it. Also on volume 6 Naoi has effectively paralleled the entirety of kurumi’s arc with her mother, Kokoro, and her class standing. And in this chapter we just tied all 3 up nearly. So next volume is going to be resolutions, tying up loose ends, going into Mine, plans for the future, and finally confronting parents as a proper issue instead of a temporary one.

 

[Mistilteinn]

Also on volume 6 Naoi has effectively paralleled the entirety of kurumi’s arc with her mother, Kokoro, and her class standing. And in this chapter we just tied all 3 up nearly. So next volume is going to be resolutions, tying up loose ends, going into Mine, plans for the future, and finally confronting parents as a proper issue instead of a temporary one.

The author said in a recent interview that the manga isn't close to ending soon, so odds are at least some of those things are a ways off.

 

[Ohin]

Toxic love intensifies

Naoi and Kurumi's love is about the least toxic thing in this manga, compared to the adults and the other kids at school around them.