When this scene is shown earlier, Fujino says her dialogue before writing the comic, but in this version, she says the lines after the comic slides under the door, hmm.
Love that Kyoumoto went to art school regardless!
Feel like 工具 is one of the very early Wani words I forgot about!
見下す - to look down on
Page 109 English version: the man’s dialogue is totally different - nothing about stealing a painting or it being uploaded to the internet. The man just says Kyomoto must think he’s an idiot and tells her to shut up. The second caption says he was “hearing voices insulting him during a paranoid episode.” On page 111 of the English he does claim plagiarism though.
From Wikipedia: “On August 2, 2021, it was announced that a scene depicting a man having a “paranoid episode” going into an art school with an axe, claiming plagiarism from a student, was altered post-publication due to reader feedback. This was due to concerns that portraying a schizophrenic man as a mass murderer could stigmatize the mental illness. An article on the English-language website Anime News Network implied that some Japanese readers also objected to the similarities between the scene and the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack.”
So I wonder if the print or the English (I’m reading along on the Shonen Jump app) were altered.
Maybe art IS useless compared to a kick to the chest, lolll
I read this in English when it first came out and it really holds up, I still love it
Yeah, I do understand the temptation, but I’m gonna be strong and resist.
Well, I mean, in the original version, Fujino wrote the comic before it slid under the door. It’s timey-wimey something-or-other. The significant difference here is that in the original timeline, Kyoumoto makes a noise - drops something, or somesuch - which is what causes Fujino to actually come inside the house. In the revised timeline, Kyoumoto, presumably spooked by suddenly getting a piece of paper reading “don’t come out!”, remains silent, so Fujino leaves.
The vocab listed on the vocab sheet appear to match the “I uploaded it and you stole it” translation, and not at all what I’ve got written in my Japanese copy. (Frankly, I rather think “having a psychotic break” makes for a better reasoning.)
If people are interested, here’s an article about the translation changes: https://www.cbr.com/chainsaw-man-look-back-edit/
“The edits, which as of this writing have only been made to the original Japanese publication and not the English translation available on Manga Plus and Viz Media’s Shonen Jump website”
The article depicts only one of the two pages we’re talking about here, but I notice that it’s different from my English copy, so I guess they did change the English translation after all.
The “Keep Reading” link at the bottom points to this article, though it describes the story as a whole, so posting it might’ve perhaps been better saved to next week. For a not-spoiling-anything-past-this-point summary: Look Back was released on the two-year anniverary of the KyoAni attack and fire, which along with the characters’ names, has lead people to suggest this scene of Fujino saving Kyomoto from the attacker is actually a wish-fulfilment fantasy of Fujimoto saving KyoAni. And, uh, a number of people were… unimpressed.
I honestly wondered why you finished your post with this, but the article also points out that the word “Don’t” appears in the top-right corner of the very first page, and “In Anger” are in the lower-left corner of the final page, so considering that the entirety of “Look Back” appears in the space between…
It’s interesting because I was definitely aware of the KyoAni attack when I read this in 2021, but I didn’t really make the connection until people pointed it out. I’m sure it hit a lot harder for JP readers and people in the mangaka community, but I wonder if there’s any way Fujimoto could’ve done this kind of storyline at all without people going “oh this is like KyoAni.”
edit: sorry I wrote this before reading the article that Belthazar linked and see that’s totally on purpose - story hits hard in a different way now!
I’m not sure if I’m just bad at reading a not-straight-forward manga, but I’m a bit confused at what is happening in these pages. Is this supposed to be some sort of alternate timeline? I read just a little bit ahead and They seem to not know eachother now? I just want to make sure I’m not missing something here.
That’s my interpretation. Based on what I’ve read around the place, others have interpreted it differently.
(For a while I’d gotten the impression that Kyoumoto remembered the original timeline, which bugged me a bit considering the loop was triggered by Fujino’s regrets, but on closer reading, I don’t think either of them do.)
I’ve only read to where we stopped so this is based on what we have there only, but yeah the way I read it we’re now viewing a world in which their initial encounter went differently, and what followed changed as a result of them never having talked back then. I think what’s important is that it’s the product of Fujino’s deep desire, but the mechanics (at least at this stage?) are whatever you want to make of them. Alternate reality? Elaborate daydream? Something else? Sure!
Anyway while I’m here I’ve been quiet cause I haven’t really had too much to say that felt substantial for a couple weeks but I definitely did not anticipate anywhere this has been going, heh.
Oops, I had no idea there was only 1 week left in this bookclub. I wasn’t keeping track and this week’s pages made me think there was a lot more to go!
Yeah I just wrapped this weeks reading and while there’s a lot going on, it more than anything just feels a bit incomplete! Looking forward to wrapping things up next week
