I absolutely loved the image of Kurokawa comforting her inner child, and truly beginning the healing process. Fujishiro is amazing and supportive, but this really shows that, even if you have support and love from others, self-acceptance and self-love are just as important. Comforting and consoling your inner child IRL is not always an easy task, and this chapter tugged on my heartstrings.
There is an image like that on the title page of Chapter 13. At first I thought it was Kurokawa’s mom holding her daughter and looking sad because her little girl was hurt by someone’s cruelty, and I really got the impression from that image that she wants to take the pain away from the child.
When I went back and looked at that page again after reading chapter 36, it clicked with me that the dress the woman was wearing is the one Kurokawa bought when she went to Shibuya 109 with Fujishiro, so yeah it’s Kurokawa cradling her inner child in the present day, that child is still crying, and she wants to comfort herself but doesn’t know how. Enter one Fujishiro Nanaki - a fearless, and fiercely loyal girlfriend who never stops looking at what’s ahead of her.
Ajiichi laid the groundwork for the scene in 36 quite nicely.
I think there are other things like that within the story as well. Like after you find out just how much Kurokawa idolized Fujishiro, her own words to Fujishiro “Anyone would feel sad if their crush said such terrible things to them” take on a whole new meaning with regards to Kurokawa’s own heart. Their meaning at the begining of the story isn’t fully apparent until the end.
last edited at Jul 13, 2021 12:23AM