I found Shuukura fascinating because of its unique and disturbing concept, where a character buys his classmate every week. This raises profound questions about the nature of human relationships and about power dynamics. The mixture between the absurd and the real creates a disturbing atmosphere that captivates, even if some aspects of the story are morally difficult to digest. I would like to know what others think about the way these themes are approached.
This applies up to where I am in my translations.
I don't know, I think the 5k yen is exactly as the title says: an excuse for them to spend time together. Rather than creating a power imbalance for the sake of abuse, both of them use it as a wall to hide behind in order to avoid getting hurt. Miyagi's orders and behaviors are pretty eccentric and cruel, but nothing she does is to inflict pain on Sendai (even if it ends up being the result sometimes). None of this is really to justify Miyagi's actions, in that Sendai absolutely has every right to leave her. She's simply afraid of being abandoned, and a common tactic is to "hurt before you can get hurt," which is exactly what Miyagi tends to do.
But I digress. I think the 5k yen / buying her classmate part is actually one of the least morally questionable parts about their relationship, lol. It's simply used as an easy excuse to deny their growing feelings of attachment to each other and a tangible way to show this wall between them. They're both unreliable narrators, but they both realized early on that Sendai isn't coming over to Miyagi's place for the 5k yen. It is, however, the foundation their very relationship exists on. Even Miyagi issuing her orders isn't necessarily because she thinks, "I paid for it, therefore I'm entitled to it," but because she believes Sendai doesn't value their relationship the same way - there's no reason for her to. She may not be in it for the money, but there was something she wants that Miyagi can't (or won't let herself) figure out.
Miyagi's orders are both her way of keeping Sendai to herself and so she can hold "control" over what they do. It makes herself feel safe that she can "control" how Sendai will react. It (surely) wouldn't hurt as much if Sendai abandoned her because Miyagi did something horrible to her rather than have Sendai leave for no reason. Miyagi wants to be the one to "decide" when that happens and how that happens, because it's (supposedly) always easier to deal with loss when you know it's coming.
last edited at Sep 27, 2024 7:23PM
