Only writing nerds are going to get this, but this story is a great example of why I like Armless Maiden narratives more than Hero's Journey stories.

I had to look that up and ended up reading an interesting essay on what an Armless Maiden narrative was. They had links to some examples that I think I'm going to check out.

Probably Midori Snyder's, which is excellent by the way. I'll link it here for other folks who might be interested.

http://www.midorisnyder.com/essays/the-armless-maiden-and-the-heros-journey.html

The whole "retreat and heal" structure really pleases me.

This woman is completely adorable in the way Bocchi is, and Tomoko sometimes is.

I wish her well too but idk, I didn't find her mental illness to be very cute

I didn't either, she's just adorable. Part of that is the brave way she struggles.I feel like we've been through this with Watamote about a million times by now, Bocchi is crippled by shyness which is only reinforced by Japanese saying "it's normal for a girl to bee too shy" mentality. So is this real-life example of SAD. I am not saying SAD is her only problem - far from it - but it's an obvious one.

People complain that in the US and Europe they overprescribe psych meds. Well, in Japan, they simply don't acknowledge most mental illness, still, let alone emotional illness. It's not something you talk about. The supposition is by talking about it, you open a person already struggling to social stigmatization on top of that. So her experience not having a satisfactory treatment plan for 10 years is very common.

last edited at Apr 9, 2017 8:21PM

What a satisfactory ending :)

I didn't either, she's just adorable. Part of that is the brave way she struggles.I feel like we've been through this with Watamote about a million times by now, Bocchi is crippled by shyness which is only reinforced by Japanese saying "it's normal for a girl to bee too shy" mentality. So is this real-life example of SAD. I am not saying SAD is her only problem - far from it - but it's an obvious one.

I didn't feel like her Depression was seasonal but more just Major Depression in general? But then i didn't pay notice to the seasons through the story. Will have to re-read.

last edited at Apr 9, 2017 8:35PM

Who moved my cheese/nectar?
Doesn't matter,find the new one on your own.

Who moved my cheese/nectar?
Doesn't matter,find the new one on your own.

There's another metaphor I can really identify with. After I stopped being able to do personal support work (bad knees, alas), I turned to art. But when I burnt out in animation school I was left unable to find my "nectar" any more. It took me a while, but I've become more confident in the nectar that comes from writing. It's not the same nectar and it comes from somewhere else, but the important part is that it's there at all.

Really great manga.

I wish her well too but idk, I didn't find her mental illness to be very cute

Of course not. The story does an excellent job of portraying depression as the terrible and harrowing experience that it is.

The character is constructed well enough to elicit a great deal of sympathy from the audience when subjected to that experience, and the story effectively satisfies the reader's emotional investment when she overcomes it.

This woman is completely adorable in the way Bocchi is, and Tomoko sometimes is.

She, along with the other two characters listed, is a good example of the original definition of moe in that she elicits a strong desire in the viewer to protect her from suffering.

last edited at Apr 9, 2017 11:33PM

I hope the author keeps on living her life off this sweet nectar, and I hope all and every one who is passing through a rough time finally catch a break. I speak mostly out of my own experience when I say it gets better. What a read, really

hmmm I'm not excited for after high school now because I still want that sweet nectar that comes from my friends....
wait, that came out wrong didn't it?

hmmm I'm not excited for after high school now because I still want that sweet nectar that comes from my friends....
wait, that came out wrong didn't it?

That sounds totally wrong for dirty minds, my friend.
On another note, I'm glad by how the author's journey turned out to be. And I feel like I can relate even more. My sweet nectar is something I want to do - my dreams I'm pursuing. I understand how sweet the existence of friends are, but at the end, something that comes from within yourself is better...for me, at least.
I hope the author can continue feeling happy and free.
By the way, where does Bocchi character comes from?

last edited at Apr 10, 2017 9:38AM

I didn't either, she's just adorable. Part of that is the brave way she struggles.I feel like we've been through this with Watamote about a million times by now, Bocchi is crippled by shyness which is only reinforced by Japanese saying "it's normal for a girl to bee too shy" mentality. So is this real-life example of SAD. I am not saying SAD is her only problem - far from it - but it's an obvious one.

I didn't feel like her Depression was seasonal but more just Major Depression in general? But then i didn't pay notice to the seasons through the story. Will have to re-read.

In this case, I mean social anxiety disorder (taijin kyofusho). Clearly she also has depression, though, agreed.

Im happy but I also wanna cry. This manga was just great and relatable.

How is this depressing as fuck again? I get that tag was there since ch. 1, but the first chapters weren't exactly depressing either.

I didn't either, she's just adorable. Part of that is the brave way she struggles.I feel like we've been through this with Watamote about a million times by now, Bocchi is crippled by shyness which is only reinforced by Japanese saying "it's normal for a girl to bee too shy" mentality. So is this real-life example of SAD. I am not saying SAD is her only problem - far from it - but it's an obvious one.

I didn't feel like her Depression was seasonal but more just Major Depression in general? But then i didn't pay notice to the seasons through the story. Will have to re-read.

In this case, I mean social anxiety disorder (taijin kyofusho). Clearly she also has depression, though, agreed.

Ah now i get you. I was used to SAD meaning seasonal affective disorder so got a bit confused.

I love this story so, so, so damn much. The best thing. ^ ^

By the way, where does Bocchi character comes from?

Htoribocchi series, she is so shy she can only talk to her best friend. (Which is Kuroki Tomoko's case, in Watamote - she can only talk to her best friend and her little cousin to whom she lies like Yazawa Nico lies to her siblings). Both Bocchi and Tomoko think they're doing fine until they have to try to live every day without their one friend. Bocchi fell apart doing an interview to get into the same high school as her best friend - failed to do so - just from being parted with her for AN HOUR. The friend threw up her hands and said if Bocchi didn't make friends with everyone in her new HS class they wouldn't hang out any more. Tomoko's friend has a vague idea Tomoko has issues but no idea that she went into a year's isolation as a hikikomori playing eroges - sexy visual novels - all day every day. Both Bocchi and Tomoko think it's a day they should put on their calendars if they can ask a stranger what time it is. Tomoko is probably more like this woman, as she has multiple emotional issues and some very wrong ideas about sex. She thinks the more boys she has sex with, not only the more popular she will be, but the more admired. She's never even held hands or talked with a boy (or a non-friend girl) for more than half a minute.

Bocchi is the light side of this situation, Tomoko the dark side, and this woman's real life is somewhere in the middle.

Too good. Initiating things is hard.

How is this depressing as fuck again? I get that tag was there since ch. 1, but the first chapters weren't exactly depressing either.

I also support the motion to move that tag from the series as a whole to just the first chapter. Is there a way to officially suggest this change to the mods?

I would support taking the tag from the last two or just the last chapter, but this was depressing, the whole thing talks about depression and disorders, the last chapter was happy but I won't forget how I felt reading the first ones.

The earlier part about her experience with mental illness is very engaging, but like most works about dealing with depression, the part about her improvement is insubstantial. I think this is mostly due to the nature of recovering from severe mental illness, where statements that hold life-changing significance for one person sound like empty platitudes to another.

She attributes a lot of her improvement to her newfound willingness to be honest to herself to be open about herself. But in her case, open honesty resulted in her receiving widespread external support and a publishing deal. The cynic in me asks: "does she feel better now because of inward change, or because her life circumstances have improved?" The epilogue as a whole feels somewhat self-satisfied and lacking in insight, a bland "what I learned" tacked on at the end of an otherwise deep and personal story.

last edited at Apr 11, 2017 8:04PM

The earlier part about her experience with mental illness is very engaging, but like most works about dealing with depression, the part about her improvement is insubstantial. I think this is mostly due to the nature of recovering from severe mental illness, where statements that hold life-changing significance for one person sound like empty platitudes to another.

She attributes a lot of her improvement to her newfound willingness to be honest to herself to be open about herself. But in her case, open honesty resulted in her receiving widespread external support and a publishing deal. The cynic in me asks: "does she feel better now because of inward change, or because her life circumstances have improved?" The epilogue as a whole feels somewhat self-satisfied and lacking in insight, a bland "what I learned" tacked on at the end of an otherwise deep and personal story.

I'm inclined to agree but until something that requires coping skills comes along and she successfully copes, we can't really tell if she's any better.

I just really like this series...
Somehow it's represent my life, well... it's different but similar

The very end does go a bit overboard with the Rosy Future and having it all worked out at last stuff, but I appreciate the metaphor and the sentiment. She might not actually have things figured out fully, and she's definitely going to run into hard situations to deal with in the future, but she's definitely found a coping mechanism and a fresh perspective to hopefully deal with those. So even if it's a little over the top, I'll accept it as valid.

I have a weakness for damaged protagonists who are beset by the depressing as fuck tag so I was also a little disappointed by the suddenness of the happy end but, since this is nonfiction, I wish her all the sweet nectar and am secretly hoping for a fluffy and rosy sequel where the author further sticks it to her parents by moving in with the prostitute.