Well, this was…something. I need to get my thoughts in order, because my impressions changed a lot as I was reading further.
I have quite a lot of things I’d like to mention, so instead of unsightly spoiler tags, I’ll hide them under cuts. Assume there’s spoilers for this week from here on:
Natsuki's worldview
What an interesting, chilling, yet weirdly accurate description of society that was. And how sad that an eleven year old can already have such a cynical worldview. I really like that she’s a fighter though. She’s figured out how society works (in a gross overgeneralization, but it’s a workable model), then decided to work hard to secure her place in it, in the role that she feels is more fitting for her. I’ve got to admire her spirit, while at the same time wanting to hug her and tell her she doesn’t have to feel this way.
I also love how she’s observant enough to realize that even adults get judged, and get called names, even when they’re doing all they’re expected to do.
Mother
It’s becoming more and more apparent that the mother resenting and scolding Natsuki is her default behaviour, regardless of what Natsuki is actually doing. Where that comes from is not yet clear. But judging from the pharmacy scene, she is a bitter woman in general, not only towards Natsuki. I wonder what she has had to deal with to be this way. Whatever the mother’s reasons, Natsuki’s trash can comment broke my heart. And it’s obvious she too lives in fear of being thrown out of her house, just like Yuu. I can definitely see where both their escapism comes form.
Sister
The sister was very passive in what we’d read so far, but her brief appearance here made her seem more like a bully herself. It’s common for people who are the target of bullying in one environment to actually be bullies themselves in another, but it was hard to watch. I still wonder whether she has some special sensitivities though, because a phone call shouldn’t have disturbed her so - unless she was just being purposely mean of course.
Language, culture and general questions
I’ve often read how in Japan it’s expected to put yourself (and yours) down in a conversation, while praising the person you’re talking to. So at first I wondered whether the mother’s constant criticising of Natsuki in public wasn’t as bad as it seemed in my Western eyes, but rather in accordance with Japanese good manners. But the people present at such scenes seemed taken aback by the intensity of the criticism, and it seems to also take place exactly like this in private, so I assume it was extreme even by Japanese standards?
When the sister interrupts the phone call, someone says "邪魔”. Is this Natsuki or Kise? Is it sort-of-polite like お邪魔します as Kise entered the room, is it “You’re being a nuisance” from Kise to Natsuki, or the same from Natsuki to Kise because of the kick?
What exactly is a 塾? It seems to be cram school to prepare students for upcoming admission exams, but Natsuki goes to a normal class for students not preparing for exams. What does that mean, not preparing for exams? Is it just because she’s fifth year and she will change classes soon, or is it something else? And now that I mention this, how much time has passed exactly from the beginning of the chapter until the end of this week’s reading? I didn’t notice much indication of time passing, and at first I thought it was all happening days after they came back from the interrupted Obon, but then by the end Natsuki doesn’t see much of Igasaki (just eww) any more, and it’s only a two-digit number of days until she expects to see Yuu again.
Igasaki (really, I have no words) says to Natsuki when we first get to meet him: 「奈月ちゃん、社会よくなってきてるね」. Does this mean, “Natsuki, you are becoming a good member of society?”
Igasaki again. When he’s requesting things from Natsuki, he’s using ごらん and あげる for himself. As far as I understand, these are words reserved for you superiors (out of politeness or because of actual status), yet he uses them for himself. Is this common for teachers and superiors, to speak in honorific language about themselves to pupils or subordinates? I’m still trying to wrap my head around this honorific/humble language thing.
As for the essence of what’s going on in that cram school. It’s very hard to say no to a figure of authority, even more so for a child, and even more so for a child who’s getting no positive reinforcement or support even at home, but could she really not call him out, or report him? How would that play out in the Japanese system? Would she get support, or would she be even worse off after doing that?
I’m sure I still I have much more I’d like to discuss, but I’ll stop here for now.
It is cynical, yes, but to someone who has been repeatedly told she is ‘useless’ and ‘a burden’, I guess it makes sense to look at the world from the position of ‘how to be a useful member of society’.
So the whole point of it is believing that it is there.
(Is that my favourite word this week?) I think that that right there is one reason why the mother acts like that (Natsuki is simply the next one in the pecking order), although I’m also expecting that we’ll learn more about クラッシュボンバー’s past later. And I think there is also a bit of the old pick-on-the-second-child thrown in.
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