Was that the lyrics on the blackboard? I'd imagine if they were something that important they'd be translated, so I guessed that was class stuff. Also ooh Mitsuki wrote a love song...?

They translated the lyrics with their phones and wrote them on the chalkboard I think

I have no idea what posses someone to turn into a anime villian like this and arbitrarily decides to ruin the life of someone they don’t know and had zero prior interactions with like that just seems like completely psycho shit to me, but bullying is just sorta like that I guess

Could it be a bit of a misunderstanding? Old memories of bullying mixing with the current situation? Maybe the theory of them wanting to invite her to a band are true.

I get the impression the last page isn't literally happening, but is instead how she feels.

...If that is indeed literally happening, then those kids need a practical lesson on the definition of defenestration.

Oh okay. So he's just a classic bully? I can deal with that. At least he didn't steal her song and call it his

last edited at Jul 14, 2024 12:19PM

The title “Catalyst” feels so ominous… I’m scared

you were right

I get the impression the last page isn't literally happening, but is instead how she feels.

...If that is indeed literally happening, then those kids need a practical lesson on the definition of defenestration.

I also think it isn't really happening, since it's in black and white(as opposed to the partial color of the rest of the manga) and the classmates are shown as sinister-looking shadows, which are often shown when someone imagines their tormentors.

a practical lesson on the definition of defenestration.

That's a great quote - I just might have to steal it, lol

Ah..... as I feared. Poor Koga :(

i hope aya shows up just in time and defends mitsuki ;-;

I have no idea what posses someone to turn into a anime villian like this and arbitrarily decides to ruin the life of someone they don’t know and had zero prior interactions with like that just seems like completely psycho shit to me, but bullying is just sorta like that I guess

They might not mean it that way. It's already been brought up, but I doubt the last page is literally happening, she's just upset that they're judging and putting labels on her metaphorically and it's causing a panic attack. Whether or not they're being intentionally mean or just careless is hard to say without a larger pattern of behavior. They wrote the lyrics on the board, was that to shame or embarass her, or was it just because they were working on translating a song in a language they don't understand fluently? They're needling her with commentary, is that because they want to put her down or are they just being thoughtless? Doesn't really matter to her trauma, though. I do hope Aya comes to the rescue, but this is something Koga needs to learn to deal with if she's going to keep putting herself out there as an artist.

ITT, everyone forgets what visual metaphor and unreliable narrators are. orz

I'm not saying it's unrealistic (because it's not), but thinking back on it kids tend to bully each other for really dumb reasons. "This person can make music, let's point and laugh".

(If they're even trying to bully her, this might all be in Koga's head).

ITT, everyone forgets what visual metaphor and unreliable narrators are. orz

NANI?! You mean the class isn't literally crowding around her and taping a bunch of notes to her?! /s

I can't believe there's even a discussion about if that's actually happening. Geez...

last edited at Jul 15, 2024 9:59AM

I have no idea what posses someone to turn into a anime villian like this and arbitrarily decides to ruin the life of someone they don’t know and had zero prior interactions with like that just seems like completely psycho shit to me, but bullying is just sorta like that I guess

They might not mean it that way. It's already been brought up, but I doubt the last page is literally happening, she's just upset that they're judging and putting labels on her metaphorically and it's causing a panic attack. Whether or not they're being intentionally mean or just careless is hard to say without a larger pattern of behavior. They wrote the lyrics on the board, was that to shame or embarass her, or was it just because they were working on translating a song in a language they don't understand fluently? They're needling her with commentary, is that because they want to put her down or are they just being thoughtless? Doesn't really matter to her trauma, though. I do hope Aya comes to the rescue, but this is something Koga needs to learn to deal with if she's going to keep putting herself out there as an artist.

Yeah, the full implications of all this are pretty ambiguous at this point. Has it been established that Koga has previously been bullied? Or is her personality just inherently introverted and highly self-conscious? (Not that there’s anything wrong . . .)

To me the really ominous part of this is Koga’s apparent takeaway that her new group of friends don’t really understand her—the general population is just proving to be the threat they’ve always been assumed to be, but here she’s on the verge of taking a huge step back, socialization-wise.

I have no idea what posses someone to turn into a anime villian like this and arbitrarily decides to ruin the life of someone they don’t know and had zero prior interactions with like that just seems like completely psycho shit to me, but bullying is just sorta like that I guess

They might not mean it that way. It's already been brought up, but I doubt the last page is literally happening, she's just upset that they're judging and putting labels on her metaphorically and it's causing a panic attack. Whether or not they're being intentionally mean or just careless is hard to say without a larger pattern of behavior. They wrote the lyrics on the board, was that to shame or embarass her, or was it just because they were working on translating a song in a language they don't understand fluently? They're needling her with commentary, is that because they want to put her down or are they just being thoughtless? Doesn't really matter to her trauma, though. I do hope Aya comes to the rescue, but this is something Koga needs to learn to deal with if she's going to keep putting herself out there as an artist.

Yeah, the full implications of all this are pretty ambiguous at this point. Has it been established that Koga has previously been bullied? Or is her personality just inherently introverted and highly self-conscious? (Not that there’s anything wrong . . .)

I think like "established" in the form of direct bully, it was not? Sure, they talked bad behind her back of her when she was a kid, all that came later with her friends situation and future decisions Koga made. But something more direct like face to face insults or even physical no? not that we know I think.
But if we take in cosideration a more indirect way of bully, then I would say yes, mostly for the part of the bad-mouthing and well, what we saw here, the "labels" that even tho here are just a metaphor of what Koga is feeling, she was previously been seen like "strange" probably (always talking when she was a kid here, right now I dont remember much of her current situation).
And for this chapter itself.....Im not sure if this is bully or not, teens normally act like that but they dont differ for good or bad wording sometimes. And the "it's a love song!?" is a classic question, and in my teens, it was to have fun with someone to see how they reacted, but we knew each other so we knew that the question was harmless

OK, I did a little re-reading, and the key passage on the “bullying” issue occurs back in Chap. 37.5, “Rhythm B.” Earlier than that, in a one-page character description, we’re told that Mitsuki has only one “childhood friend” in another class. In Chapter 37,5, we see young Koga and that friend, Sakiko, chatting about clothes and Mitsuki realizing that her own tastes are really different from everybody else’s, that she has “a different beat.”

Then a group of “popular girls” pressure “everybody” to wear skirts the next day, and Sakiko begs Mitsuki to play along so they don’t “get targeted,” but Mitsuki doesn’t have a skirt and doesn’t want one, so when she wears pants the next day, it’s Sakiko who gets bullied when the girls spill ink on her clothes. That breaks up Sakiko and Mitsuki, and makes Mitsuki determined to stick to herself and try her hardest not to stand out at school in any way going forward.

On the other hand, even before she meets Aya, Mitsuki clearly says that she doesn’t mind going to school, as long as she can go her own way. In other words, it seems like that past incident of indirect bullying reinforced her extreme introversion, but it didn’t cause it. And in general school is not depicted as primarily a scene of trauma for her, but it is the place where she wants to keep her “different beat” under wraps.

last edited at Jul 15, 2024 9:51PM

There's no Green as soon as things turn mean, I'm pretty sure that's to show her gut reaction and what she's bracing herself for

I don’t even care whether they had good intentions or not—

You don’t touch other peoples shit without consent. You don’t read through other peoples notebooks without consent.

It’s in a foreign language for a freaking reason

i feel so bad for koga san T^T hope things get better

Bullies....

Mama bear.

I gotta stop listening to anime music when reading manga cause some times it fits just to well. Right when I clicked on the second page of chapter 94 the Pillar Man theme 'Áwaken' came up in the rotation, and it felt just right. Good thing her uncle wasn't there, or he might have chosen violence. After seeing Mitsuki shedding tears I'm not gonna say that's wrong, but it wouldn't have been good.

Kick him

Yeah don't tell Joe about this, he'd take the jacket off and one-man his way through all those jackasses.

I wonder if this is gonna set Mitsuki back, 'cause she had just finally started to peek out from under her shell a little. This may send her back under unless Aya can do something...