Oooookaaaaay That was... over the top.

I mean I get the concept of a character being redicuiously dense for comedy. But that was just sad.

Edit: I am really glad it worked out though. At first I thought that Ookuma would stubbornly stick to her delusion that Kanda was a boy. Then at the end, when Ookuma was getting undressed, I had the surreal thought that she would end up being a guy. It all made sense in my head. The really old fashion ideas on staying chaste during dating, The whole weird issue of Ookuma having problems identifying genitalia. I thought for sure it would turn out that Ookuma was a boy and that Ookuma's parents raised her/him as a girl for some strange reason that would only make sense in a manga. Ookuma's wacky parents would be introduced in the next chapter begging Kanda to not tell Ookuma the truth. Thus starting the next story arc.

last edited at Jul 10, 2020 1:25AM

Oooookaaaaay That was... over the top.

I mean I get the concept of a character being redicuiously dense for comedy. But that was just sad.

I would be willing to bet, given the nature of the rest of the scene, that at least some of that was an act because she wanted to get a close look at her lover's naughty parts.

Edit: I am really glad it worked out though. At first I thought that Ookuma would stubbornly stick to her delusion that Kanda was a boy. Then at the end, when Ookuma was getting undressed, I had the surreal thought that she would end up being a guy. It all made sense in my head. The really old fashion ideas on staying chaste during dating, The whole weird issue of Ookuma having problems identifying genitalia. I thought for sure it would turn out that Ookuma was a boy and that Ookuma's parents raised her/him as a girl for some strange reason that would only make sense in a manga. Ookuma's wacky parents would be introduced in the next character begging Kanda to not tell Ookuma the truth. Thus starting the next story arc.

A few people have suggested this idea, and I could see it happening if this wasn't a Mochi story. Mochi usually doesn't have guys at all (like it's honestly kind of novel that Kanda has guy friends,) and I think if a Mochi book had a male-sexed protagonist, it might be something like a divide-by-zero error on the entire universe.

Oooookaaaaay That was... over the top.

I mean I get the concept of a character being redicuiously dense for comedy. But that was just sad.

I would be willing to bet, given the nature of the rest of the scene, that at least some of that was an act because she wanted to get a close look at her lover's naughty parts.

That thought had crossed my mind as well.

Edit: I am really glad it worked out though. At first I thought that Ookuma would stubbornly stick to her delusion that Kanda was a boy. Then at the end, when Ookuma was getting undressed, I had the surreal thought that she would end up being a guy. It all made sense in my head. The really old fashion ideas on staying chaste during dating, The whole weird issue of Ookuma having problems identifying genitalia. I thought for sure it would turn out that Ookuma was a boy and that Ookuma's parents raised her/him as a girl for some strange reason that would only make sense in a manga. Ookuma's wacky parents would be introduced in the next character begging Kanda to not tell Ookuma the truth. Thus starting the next story arc.

A few people have suggested this idea, and I could see it happening if this wasn't a Mochi story. Mochi usually doesn't have guys at all (like it's honestly kind of novel that Kanda has guy friends,) and I think if a Mochi book had a male-sexed protagonist, it might be something like a divide-by-zero error on the entire universe.

As strong as that setup was, I wonder if that was what the reader was suppose to think. A little misdirection to build suspense. Give the reader a little got ya moment.

Now let's pull up a chair and have a conversation about "rape culture".

There is no point so you can put your chair back where you take it.

The notion that "if you do x I won't be able to control myself and will sexually assault you" is a lie made up by people who either want to excuse rape or put the blame for it on the victim. Empowering rapists is what I would call a problem of rape culture.

oh my god, are we really gonna have a discussion about this? it's obvious that kanda wasn't implying that, she would never try and do something without consent. you literally see her ask "can I touch you" in one of the last panels. pls, go back to Twitter and use that energy on real rapists.

lol, no. Just because a work contains no actual rapists, it doesn't make parroting of pernicious rape apologia beyond criticism.

I contest the suggestion that "all men are wolves" or "if you get naked I won't be able to control myself" are "rape apologia. There is a fundamental difference between telling someone, before they decide to disrobe, that if they disrobe you will want to have sex, and using someone's dress or behavior after the fact as an excuse for rape. One is a means of establishing consent, the other is an attempt to excuse acting without it.

Context matters in language.

The idea that people, especially men, have no control of themselves when they get horny is a myth with negative social consequences, and noting when a piece of media reinforces that myth is entirety fair. This doesn't mean the person noticing it is offended, or looking for something to be angry about, it just means they are looking at the media they consume with a critical eye. Which is good.

This doesn't reinforce anything of the kind, though. If anything, the opposite is true, because she says she doesn't think she'll be able to control herself, but once Ookuma starts to undress, what's the first thing she does? ASK. She didn't have to ask at that point, Ookuma had already pretty clearly stated enthusiastic consent. But she did, because she -isn't- out of control.

This also doesn't mean mean that liking this makes you a bad person. I still like it. I enjoy tons of problematic shit. That's okay! If it weren't, there'd be basically no media we'd be allowed to enjoy.

But there is a point at which the overzealous labeling of things as "problematic" has deleterious effects. There's a "boy who cried wolf" effect that comes into play. The alt-right explicitly uses overzealous criticisms to dismiss and discredit the entire conversation so they can radicalize people in the other direction. I've had perfectly rational, intelligent people in my life who I've had to reverse engineer out of awful views because their first exposure to a progressive topic was overblown mania.

Being critical is great, being overly critical is counterproductive.

Context matters in language.

Context matters in everything.

and I think if a Mochi book had a male-sexed protagonist, it might be something like a divide-by-zero error on the entire universe.

Oh well

and I think if a Mochi book had a male-sexed protagonist, it might be something like a divide-by-zero error on the entire universe.

Oh well

lol.

Context matters in everything.

What is this, a Matt Easton video?

Context matters in everything.

What is this, a Matt Easton video?

No, it is not. In fact, it is not a video of any kind.

Please make a note of it.

^^ Oh, hey! Long time no see, Zormau!

Hey BV, been a while. I'm always cycling through various forms of media. Play video games for a few months, get bored with that, watch anime for a few weeks, get that appetite sated, move on to reading manga for a few weeks, and the cycle continues. Since I've now taken to at least five ongoing manga, I'll probably show up more frequently again.

@Blastaar I think we missed each other's point. I was just referring to a meme about a very niche YT content creator whose favourite word is more or less "context". I was not referring to your link at that moment, if that's what you were thinking. Besides that, I'd misread your previous response to my inquiry as agreement, not as a valid counterpoint.

I'm still not a fan of lightly making connections between "violence"-related words and imagery, and "vanilla" sexuality. Don't get me wrong, I get that it's a sensibility of mine that many people won't share (while others absolutely will), but for me "pseudo-violent" aspects of sexuality require a lot of context and ideally co-text to not come off as overreaching or downright disgusting, especially when injected via outside narration. The degree of explicit consent and chemistry that we have in this very case, combined with the inexperienced and clumsy characters makes it totally work out okay for me - they're being playful at this point.

Hey BV, been a while. I'm always cycling through various forms of media. Play video games for a few months, get bored with that, watch anime for a few weeks, get that appetite sated, move on to reading manga for a few weeks, and the cycle continues. Since I've now taken to at least five ongoing manga, I'll probably show up more frequently again.

@Blastaar I think we missed each other's point. I was just referring to a meme about a very niche YT content creator whose favourite word is more or less "context". I was not referring to your link at that moment, if that's what you were thinking. Besides that, I'd misread your previous response to my inquiry as agreement, not as a valid counterpoint.

I'm still not a fan of lightly making connections between "violence"-related words and imagery, and "vanilla" sexuality. Don't get me wrong, I get that it's a sensibility of mine that many people won't share (while others absolutely will), but for me "pseudo-violent" aspects of sexuality require a lot of context and ideally co-text to not come off as overreaching or downright disgusting, especially when injected via outside narration. The degree of explicit consent and chemistry that we have in this very case, combined with the inexperienced and clumsy characters makes it totally work out okay for me - they're being playful at this point.

The concept of being "a fan" (or not) of connotative verbal connections between sexuality and violence is rather alien to me, since emotional intensity and metaphorical violence of all kinds (i.e., lust as fire, etc.) have been connected since time immemorial without necessarily implying lack of mutual consent or approval of actual physical violence--my individual endorsement or condemnation of one of the longest-lived human verbal tropes seems rather beside the point.

Hence my emphasis on context--some uses of the trope endorse toxic contemporary cultural attitudes and others do not. I have yet to hear a convincing argument that this one does.

Hence my emphasis on context--some uses of the trope endorse toxic contemporary cultural attitudes and others do not. I have yet to hear a convincing argument that this one does.

I agree, both in regards to context being key in the wider spectrum, as well as the conclusion about this specific case.

and I think if a Mochi book had a male-sexed protagonist, it might be something like a divide-by-zero error on the entire universe.

Oh well

(shit i forgot about that one)

(cough) I mean, Ah, but you see, Clearly Mochi and Majoccoid recognized the havoc that would be wrought by that story about a boy who was dressing like a girl to impress the boy he liked, and so therefore they created -this- series, about a girl who was dressing like a boy to impress the girl she liked, in order to cancel out it's effects!

So as you can see I actually remembered that one-shot and accounted for it in my calculations.

(nailed it.)

last edited at Jul 10, 2020 3:13PM

Context matters in everything.

What is this, a Matt Easton video?

Not enough sabers or falchions.

MACHICOLATIONS!
GAMBESONS!

I think the people who are reading too much into this are reading the English too literally and forgetting that this is a translation of Japanese and that English words are approximations of Japanese meaning. Even the translated title has different nuance than the English "Sheltered Girl". The Japanese title has "hakoiri musume" which is literally "daughter kept in a box". She's wasn't just sheltered, she was kept from almost all knowledge of the world and thus doesn't even know what genitals look like to tell male from female. This doesn't feel like a stretch to me.

People are similarly taking the "I might attack you" think too far as well by reading "attack" too literally. Love making is a very "vigorous" action. Just as "attack" is used in sports, it doesn't necessarily mean literally violent action.

last edited at Jul 10, 2020 6:20PM

You mean "let's bang" isn't about firing explosives at one another? Man, no wonder my last relationship didn't work out.

You mean "let's bang" isn't about firing explosives at one another? Man, no wonder my last relationship didn't work out.

No wonder you thought that's what it means. You're a physics major IIRC.

I know you meant that as a joke, and you know I meant this as a joke, right?

I think the people who are reading too much into this are reading the English too literally and forgetting that this is a translation of Japanese and that English words are approximations of Japanese meaning. Even the translated title has different nuance than the English "Sheltered Girl". The Japanese title has "hakoiri musume" which is literally "daughter kept in a box". She's wasn't just sheltered, she was kept from almost all knowledge of the world and thus doesn't even know what genitals look like to tell male from female. This doesn't feel like a stretch to me.

Thanks for the input about the original title, it's nice getting some background every now and then. No translation will ever perfectly replicate what the original provided, and I generally like to take what I get at face value rather than pine over what could have been.
I would say, however, that "not knowing what genitalia look like" is still a massive stretch at college age, and that "sheltering" her from that knowledge is absolutely irresponsible on the parents' part. Not that I doubt that there are parents that would love to do it that way, I just think it's not plausible for it to actually happen all the way into adulthood.

People are similarly taking the "I might attack you" think too far as well by reading "attack" too literally. Love making is a very "vigorous" action. Just as "attack" is used in sports, it doesn't necessarily mean literally violent action.

Yeah, it's an interesting case because it's actually stated as a warning by the characters, and thus (at first) used in earnest, fully aware that sexual predation and assault are not okay. In the first instances, it is definitely used in a non-romantic "I'll do things to you whether you want it or not" way. After that they start toying with the rhetoric, making it their own, which is cool and empowering. This is the turning point: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/handsome_girl_and_sheltered_girl_ch10#25

The more I think about it, it only bothers me if used willy-nilly as praise or romanticized, by an outside narrator. What the characters (or actual people) themselves say in bed is ultimately their own business, whether I like it or not. And if it fits in some playful dialogue, I probably won't mind at all. Chemistry and context.

You mean "let's bang" isn't about firing explosives at one another? Man, no wonder my last relationship didn't work out.

No wonder you thought that's what it means. You're a physics major IIRC.

You guys* made my night right there.

*or girls, what do I know.

last edited at Jul 10, 2020 7:26PM

Damn Kanda is a lucky girl. Praise mochi, we're finally in the clear.

^ I thought the same.

You mean "let's bang" isn't about firing explosives at one another? Man, no wonder my last relationship didn't work out.

No wonder you thought that's what it means. You're a physics major IIRC.

Sounds more like a chemist thing IMO... o3o

You mean "let's bang" isn't about firing explosives at one another? Man, no wonder my last relationship didn't work out.

No wonder you thought that's what it means. You're a physics major IIRC.

Sounds more like a chemist thing IMO... o3o

Where's that one post Heavensrun made in the Futaribeya thread months ago when I need it?