for the record I'm pretty sure this definition of normality is most specifically applicable to Japanese society

How so? The specifics of what is normal differ, but the overarching definition of normal doesn't strike me as applying more there than anywhere else

for the record I'm pretty sure this definition of normality is most specifically applicable to Japanese society

How so? The specifics of what is normal differ, but the overarching definition of normal doesn't strike me as applying more there than anywhere else

Have you never been to America???

for the record I'm pretty sure this definition of normality is most specifically applicable to Japanese society

How so? The specifics of what is normal differ, but the overarching definition of normal doesn't strike me as applying more there than anywhere else

Have you never been to America???

... Lol yeah you could say that. Could you explain why you think "normal is not getting in other people's way" applies more in Japan and less in America instead of just acting like it's obvious?

for the record I'm pretty sure this definition of normality is most specifically applicable to Japanese society

How so? The specifics of what is normal differ, but the overarching definition of normal doesn't strike me as applying more there than anywhere else

Have you never been to America???

... Lol yeah you could say that. Could you explain why you think "normal is not getting in other people's way" applies more in Japan and less in America instead of just acting like it's obvious?

Pretty much at the opposite the ends of the spectrum of society from the community first thinking of Japan versus the me first thinking of America. The rest of the world tends to be somewhere between the two.

... Lol yeah you could say that. Could you explain why you think "normal is not getting in other people's way" applies more in Japan and less in America instead of just acting like it's obvious?

Pretty much at the opposite the ends of the spectrum of society from the community first thinking of Japan versus the me first thinking of America. The rest of the world tends to be somewhere between the two.

That makes absolutely no sense, a definition of "normal" that is "don't get in anyone's way" literally makes more sense describing the ideal permissiveness of a "me first" society, compared to a more strict definition of normal for "community first", one of the ways libertarians define the boundaries of their ideal society is "you can do anything as long as it doesn't get in the way of someone else rights". Stop throwing out cliches please.
Also Japan absolutely does not have the opposite kind of culture to America, not since the 1940s at least. It's certainly far from the most "community first" culture as well. Remember that the character who proposed this definition of normality is a western-style monster, not like a traditional yokai or something.

It's kind of a strange definition because there's lots of things that lead to social exclusion that don't get in anybody's way, most obviously homosexuality. If I had to define "normal" I'd phrase it essentially in a political manner, "the things, traits, and people valued by those with power over society". One of the ways gay people have grown in acceptance in America is by arguing we're a) only a little bit different from straight people, functional to society to most ways, and b) a valuable market demographic. And it sucks I hate my rights being contingent on some cishet in a suit thinking I can make him richer lol.

For B.)
You probably know that the so-called rich suits in big corporations do not fking care about fighting or upholding any LGBT causes, they only care about it being marketable and being used to have cheaper loans like in some video games. Like you said (So-called 'Valuable' market demographic)
Example: Spiderman game removes lgbtq flag in the middle east due to not wanting to offense the people and religion there, plus wanting to make more money to sell to a wider audience (The modder got banned for removing the flag though...it basically shows just simple virtue signaling when they remove the flags when selling to other countries/regions) while Square enix FFXVI Dion being gay was banned there, they refuse to make Dion not gay I think was what I heard??? (The game is probably still being sell there in small stores and etc.)

'Owl house' cartoon would be a better representation that was done well and Japanese manga or stories would give more much better representation since authors/artist focus on creating their 'stories' to sell well. Big corporation only care about making money, they only use Lqbtq stuff to meeting quota to get cheaper loans for their video games/sales projects....Though they mostly end up annoying people and making things worst due to how forced they try to do it lol...

Though yes, there is still discrimination today against homosexuality from stupid people and yes racism still exist too but eh most 'normal' people would just shrug and go on about their lives...The year 2000 to Present time(Today) Probably had much less discrimination compare to the 1900-1950s. But if you want to make people do something besides saying 'huh, well that's cool I guess?' when seeing some representation or people working for a cause then you will be met with backlash because people are lazy!!!! They do not want to put in time & effort to do other stuff (Most depends if they have free time and lot of income= the more money and time you have the easier it is to care about that kind of stuff and lend your help...)

In the end, it mostly about having the group's majority vote and acceptance that can help to lead to changes in society...Witch hunts and gladiator fights to the death was accepted hundreds of years of ago in the past but would be very very much less accepted if someone tried to do it today XD

Each country and society has certain regulation and cultures, heck some of the TV cartoon show (6Teen) episodes in America were banned due to being too risqué or inappropriate for the so-called younger audience and due to minor homosexuality stuff shown or mention lol... In the end it all come down to the majority rule (People votes/opinion) or the people in power/control (People with social and money power). Now today it would be easily accepted in America to shows those episodes~

(Discussion about this manga)

Though I do want the MC of this manga to learn how to become normal but yet keep her unique personality and traits, learn how to be proud of her unique individuality...To me I think the MC only wants to be normal since she does not fully understand what is normal and didn't have many 'friends' due to being too (weird/unique/quirky).

Once MC has a taste of being normal and experiencing have bunch of normal friends, hopefully she will end up going "Huh, so this is what a normal school life is like...This is nice but I think I am fine with being myself too...Especially since I have my monster friends too."

Japan is a land full of natural disasters so they learned that if you want to keep everyone safe, you have to not fall out of line and act in the interest of the group. That means don't act selfish, don't bother people expressing your concerns, suck it up so the harmony won't get disturbed. There's a reason why so much crime doesn't get reported, mainly sexual harrasment. They learn to keep their mouth shut and act the way that's expecting of them.

If you don't follow the social norm and attract attention, chances are high you get bullied and higher ups won't like you. Always listin to the teacher, what you seniors says goes, even if they are incompetent and just a year older. Japan has a highly oppressive society where appearances are more important than your happiness as an individual.

I love how the monster mentioned the backpack. I kid you not, students have to carry all their books no matter how heavy, they are not allowed to leave some at school like we did with lockers. People were against the idea since it's good for character building and they also had to do it, so those kids must do the same. Its a crazy mentality and young people are fed up with it. But they can't do much against japans huge elderly population and politicians catering to them to get elected.

It's no wonder japanese media is the most expressive and extreme. It's crazy how diverse japanese entertainment is, not to mention all the insane things you can do in the sex industry. People need ways to cope with the extreme pressure and escape their harsh reality.

Tldr what the monster defines as normal is to just act like a good productive sheep for a healthy society, or you will be shunned.

last edited at Nov 2, 2024 6:10AM

Japan is a land full of natural disasters so they learned that if you want to keep everyone safe, you have to not fall out of line and act in the interest of the group. That means don't act selfish, don't bother people expressing your concerns, suck it up so the harmony won't get disturbed. There's a reason why so much crime doesn't get reported, mainly sexual harrasment. They learn to keep their mouth shut and act the way that's expecting of them.

If you don't follow the social norm and attract attention, chances are high you get bullied and higher ups won't like you. Always listin to the teacher, what you seniors says goes, even if they are incompetent and just a year older. Japan has a highly oppressive society where appearances are more important than your happiness as an individual.

I love how the monster mentioned the backpack. I kid you not, students have to carry all their books no matter how heavy, they are not allowed to leave some at school like we did with lockers. People were against the idea since it's good for character building and they also had to do it, so those kids must do the same. Its a crazy mentality and young people are fed up with it. But they can't do much against japans huge elderly population and politicians catering to them to get elected.

It's no wonder japanese media is the most expressive and extreme. It's crazy how diverse japanese entertainment is, not to mention all the insane things you can do in the sex industry. People need ways to cope with the extreme pressure and escape their harsh reality.

Tldr what the monster defines as normal is to just act like a good productive sheep for a healthy society, or you will be shunned.

Lmao this is all true about so many more countries than Japan. Even the thing about lockers, they took lockers away in most schools in the US after Columbine and they continue to shrink with every infamous school shooting. The main difference here being that they ALSO in a lot of places took away the backpacks, or mandated transparent ones, or installed metal detectors and police searches to check them.

I’ve been enjoying this.

While it’s definitely fundamentally about neurodivergence, I’ve been reading Takahashi as relatable from a trans perspective, specifically:
1. The feeling of a need to blend in, and to prove useful to others as a defensive mechanism. This is a huge drive - being useful and “valued” is safety.
2. The real exposure to violence, contempt, and extermination if clocked. In some ways things are better now in America than 10 years ago, but in some ways they are actually imo worse, with increased awareness of trans issues and use as political wedges driving my perceived risk of violence much higher. (Also agree with poster above discussing how corps pay lip service to LGBT support without it being real.)
3. Feeling of transformation/change/shelf life of my physical body and drive to alter it. This probably varies a lot from trans person to trans person. For me, modification and alteration drives are a control thing for sure.

Probably not the most flattering comparison, but I’m happy to have a giant murderous worm girl I can relate to and who speak to how I sometimes feel ~

Takahashi best girl, hope she and Itou hit it off now that they are being more honest with each other.

Hadn't kept up since ch 1 its really funny

Just fully accepted her as your girlfriend, eh?

we're so back

Probably not the most flattering comparison, but I’m happy to have a giant murderous worm girl I can relate to and who speak to how I sometimes feel ~

...Yeah, I feel that. In spite of having a phobia of worms, even. (I still can't look at any annelids without an intense fight or flight response, but I have managed to improve a bit over the years. Used to be that I couldn't even read the word "worm" without feeling ill.)

Yay for the rescue, don't let this creep steal your meal

It is too funny bringing up comment sections to justify humanity being evil. I would absolutely agree if i was an alien that humans shouldn't be saved since I'd believe the worst sides of ppl on a niche part of the internet represent all of a race.

A monster obsessed with hating those capable of fitting in, who reads youtube comment sections and is familiar with American culture, as indicated by the Slenderman reference? I suppose it's only inevitable it ended up influenced by incel thinking in the end.
Still, what a shame. What a waste of a great character design in the gyaru chameleon. </3

Thank Madoka for the swift rescue. And it's too bad, the gyaru chameleon design could've gone places :(

This is inappropriate but I lost my shit at the "I can make only my upper body a woman if you want"

Haarlep moment, I think.

I don't really have a problem with the idea of Japan being more rule abiding. It seems to be somewhat true (albeit I'm simplifying it to the point of absurdity) that following the rules is seen as the way to show respect in Japan, whereas in US it's by letting people do whatever they want.

Despite that, I would agree everything about normality also applies to the US. The standards of the group are simply different (despite significant overlap between all cultures). Sometimes the standards of normality in the US precisely relate to giving people the space to do what they want, even if it's selfish or not strictly a good idea.

Also, I didn't know this one was on dynasty. I'll have to read through the comments at some point.

Edit: I think people may have misunderstood the concept of not getting in people's way to some extent. If, for example, someone sees heterosexual relationships as both standard and correct, having an openly gay relationship challenges their understanding. This manifests as unease - getting in the way of how they want to see themselves and society. Hence you can get in their way simply by existing.

Since people have mentioned trans people, this is really evident in the US right now. Most trans people just want to live their lives. However, if trans peoples' needs and experiences are acknowledged, it invalidates a lot of the traditional understanding and choices around gender. This leads to trans people being subversive by their nature, even if they'd very much prefer to be seen as normal (or even as uninteresting, as far as their gender status goes) and embraced by society.

Many people are trying very hard to change the norms for this very reason, to allow more inclusion and acceptance to a wider range of people. People who don't want to change their understanding feel angry and threatened for this reason, despite generally not being materially threatened in any way.

last edited at Feb 22, 2025 12:50PM

this manga called me repulsive, i never knew it could get this peak, this manga is like the melting pit of 2000's edge and shock factor, i love it

Hmmm, Not sure there were any incel comments (Sexist vulgar comments made by man child or dumb 10 years old) but there were definitely dumb idiots in the comment section shown. lol I had already lost faith in most of humanity when I discovered that war and world pollution + other horrible stuff exist at the age of 9...I mean there are still many good decent people in humanity but eh...Humanity is going to be doom in the next 150-200 years if no talented amazing people did something to change that.

Now if Slender-chan saw the Tw*tter and Redd*t side of humanity...She/He/It would be utterly disgusted due to the stupidity of humanity....Lots of Radical left, Radial right in the politics [I hate Politics], Lots of extremists, lots of idiots that think they are smart and arrogant but are actually dumb.

Examples: like Innocent Japanese artist getting harassed on Twitt*r online and being accused of using A.I but in the end it was revealed that it was just jealous lame no talent artists trying to promote their work [Proof of their other art work and etc. like time-frame of their drawing....Too bad some of the japanese artist nuked their account and left online. It ironically because in about 20-30 years A.I can easily fool 80% of humans and the only way to know it is A.I if using an A.I tool online to check...Which the accuser didn't even do!!]

[RANDOM STUPID WORD TEXT AND SPILLAGE about Topic about normality and possible representation...Feel free to ignore my stupid words and paragraphs.]
I believe normality of not getting in anyone way is fine and best normal. Let people be gay, Lesbian, Bi, Trans...But when you rock the boat and annoy people too much then you get hammer down....Though you still get hammer down and beaten if your ugly or act weird lol...Reality and life is sad sometimes due to jerks and horrible people.

US stuff about Trans...Yeah I am not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole but the people representing them as a group in the court/City council...They need better well educated people to represent them...I am starting to think those people are just hired to make the Bi, Queer, Trans etc. group look horrible and stupid. There must be more better and intelligent people part of the LGBTQ group that can do a better job...

Honestly Japan does a better job at creating art/Media and better representation compared to the US...Yuri, Yaoi(The good kind and not the messed up kind but eh freedom of speech and expression...), Many Decent Trans characters [Too many to even name...Though some people do make mistakes and mistakenly think a character is trans but is not actually trans though...Gezz]
Love Me for Who I Am [Intersex], Symphogear (Cagliostro/Trans), SteinGate (Ruka/Trans).
Alice in borderland/Imawa no Kuni no Alice (One of the best character that I liked and enjoy is Trans.)
I Think I Turned My Childhood Friend into a Girl/Koisuru (Otome) no Tsukurikata (No the childhood friend is not Trans...He is fits more like Gender-fluid/Non-binary...The stupid localizer is a idiot and using it for her stupid culture war...You can prove me wrong though if Hiura actually claims to be a girl or wants to be one in any of the chapters.)
[Astolfo/ Haku/Nagisa/ dozen other character= Counts Trap characters]

The only decent Art/Media representation that US gave recently to me was OWL House and Final fantasy 16 Dion...I think there were more decent character but I can't remember...
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[End of talk about representation/ Apologies once again for annoying anyone with my thoughts]xxxxxxxx

Now Back to the recent Chapter of normality and monster.

Yeah no...Slender-chan you have lost any valid or moral argument about your so-called plan as soon as you tried that creepy horrible sh*t toward the Main character....It like Kira (The genius psychopath from Death Note) killing the random guy dissing and criticizing his action Which was a horrible mistake lol...That is crossing the line.

I would been fine with Slender-chan's plan if it was just replacing the very very horrible disruptive people like Delinquents that beat up and rob innocent old people or horrible bullies whom bullying border on physical and mental abuse (Physical injuries, property destroyed or freedom restricted) but if Slender-chan was planning to replace to the average nobody that isn't hurting anyone then yeah [You need a strict guideline and qualifications for the person replaced]...Slender-chan would have been just a crazy creature trying to plan god...

The main problem and issue with Slender-chan plan was...Where the fk is Slender going to find the other monsters to replace all those humans...Unless Slender-chan can split her/him/itself up into clones or asexually reproduced then that is main problem number 1 unless Slender-chan has like hundreds of monster friends willing to go to school...

2nd mistake from Slender-chan...Not letting our Main character leave and trying to convince her later dozen of times...Showing no hard feeling or grudge would have been the best option. Even trying to help MC to fit in and learn to be 'normal' (Can be subjective) might make the MC more agreeable to Slender-chan's plan later on if MC encounter any very horrible humans that she is willing to ignore for Slender-chan's plan.

The monster from [Shotgun Boy] and Slender-chan would be in agreement about humanity's art and entertainment, probably would be talking about all the different entertainment that they enjoy lol...Too bad they are extremely dangerous for humanity (Especially for the average nobody talent less person that is just minding their own business and not hurting anyone).

Someone never learned the old wisdom: Do not read the comment section. At the very least, do not value the opinions of the comment section.

And hooboy, someone really became their mask... Can't say I feel bad about their demise.

US stuff about Trans...Yeah I am not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole but the people representing them as a group in the court/City council...They need better well educated people to represent them...I am starting to think those people are just hired to make the Bi, Queer, Trans etc. group look horrible and stupid. There must be more better and intelligent people part of the LGBTQ group that can do a better job...

You did, in fact, poke it with a ten foot pole.

I wasn't referencing entertainment media anyway, more social/political things like healthcare access, bathrooms, sports, etc. Most people didn't care that much about these topics 20-30 years ago. Of course, trans people didn't have access to what many now have access to it, nor can you call the police on a trans person for simply using the bathroom* in most of the US (except Florida). In the past, many carried around letters from their doctor so that they could explain why they were in the bathroom when the police got called on them. The cultural environment was very different.

None of this was a reaction to trans people per say. Things were set up that way due to cultural norms and legal precedent, which often had been set without being aware of trans people. That 'normal' got challenged once people started becoming more aware that trans people are a thing and once doctors realized there is medical evidence in favor of supporting transition. The average trans person was not trying to make a statement about gender politics, but nonetheless society became forced to consider it.

Edit: *I should say that people can and do call the police on people in the US for all sorts of stupid reasons, which sometimes leads to violence. Nonetheless, the response in the past would have been both more reliable and more reliably dangerous.

last edited at Feb 22, 2025 6:59PM

US stuff about Trans...Yeah I am not going to touch that with a 10 foot pole but the people representing them as a group in the court/City council...They need better well educated people to represent them...I am starting to think those people are just hired to make the Bi, Queer, Trans etc. group look horrible and stupid. There must be more better and intelligent people part of the LGBTQ group that can do a better job...

You did, in fact, poke it with a ten foot pole.

My bad, I end up poking it with a 20 foot pole I guess...It is a very emotional charge and somewhat complicated Topic to talk and deal with...There are probably people smarter and well verse in that topic that can explain all the details regarding those issues, intricacies and topics compared to a random nobody like me XD

Police topic...Police are often good people (35-49% of the time)...But sadly Police are humans...And humans are very flawed creatures...Flaw creatures make mistakes, very bad mistakes that hurt others. Example like innocent victims not being believed (2 Netflix film made for innocent female victims and 1 for innocent male victim) involving R*pe. Lot of innocent people in jail and later revealed to be innocent sadly...Need more accountability...

Hopefully society can change for the better in the future 10-20 years so everyone can learn to accept and be able to deal with each other in a peaceful manner (Excluding anyone or crazies calling for violence though.)

Hopefully MC here in this story can also end up learning and having a taste of 'NORMAL' before eventually deciding she is happy being unique/Abnormal with her future monster GF like I wrote in my past comment....Or we go the sad tragic route of MC being killed and eaten by her Monster GF where Monster GF then began to slowly regrets her choice of wearing MC's body as her new skin...Either or option is valid.

last edited at Feb 22, 2025 8:30PM

I agree that police often have good intentions, though what they always have is guns. Most of us have done something we shouldn't when scared or angry, maybe even convincing ourselves we were justified after the fact. There's a limit to how badly this can go if you're unarmed, which I make a habit of being partially for this reason.

Anyway, it does seem like this story is likely to end with the self acceptance route. We have the example of the grandma who is very strange but also considerate, which is something of a middle ground compared to our protagonist. Both the worm and protagonist don't seem very happy with themselves. It would be satisfying seeing them get to the point where they both are okay with themselves while having made their peace with society.

last edited at Feb 23, 2025 7:22AM