This adds so much to Niehara's character, especially as it relates to their gender presentation and the roles they take on. The first time they became human, they took on a very visibly feminine form. But the man who found them abused them because he recognized that them not being what most people would see as a human woman made them acutely vulnerable—they didn't have recourse to escape. Now, in the present, they present fem only when interacting with Itou, who they want to be close to, but take on the form of a man (and a man in a position of power—a teacher) to exert authority over others. It doesn't seem like a form they prefer, just one that they feel they need to be safe after being the victim of violence for such a long time. AND the whole thing about not being able to let anyone know their real past, having to make things up for their own safety and to be accepted, etc...
There is SO much to discuss regarding a transfem reading of Niehara.

That is a good insight. We can't yet rule out that Slenderman simply lack a strong attachment to gender in terms of personal identity. If they do have one, it seems like it would be a female identity. Adopting a female form with Itou say a lot about their level of comfort with her, though I think this is still partly because it will make Itou more comfortable and therefore is most useful.

They also chose to replace a sexual predator who was abusing kids when they could have killed anyone. They are planning to predate on the kids in a different way by killing them, but there is likely some antipathy toward sexual predators in particular.

This makes the foiled rape attempt from chapter 11 (https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/normality_and_monsters_ch11#16) stranger, but I interpreted this as an attempt to draw out to draw out the worm and to establish the hidden monster's identity. There is also a long history of emulating different people that might make it natural to act this way while acting as Niehara. To Slenderman, it's already a threatening form associated with this type of behavior and they do not feel they can treat themselves as morally pure.

Now I have to figure out what pronouns to use for Slenderman. Female pronouns might make more sense than gender neutral pronouns, now that we know this the "original" human form that was initially comfortable. I still don't have a better name than Slenderman since the real Niehara was a living character in the story, unlike Takahashi. Using Slenderman with she feels wrong though.

I wonder if the female form used with Itou is also an imitation of a real person or if it was invented by Slenderman, possibly for Itou specifically. It will be interesting to see if the flashback version ever makes an appearance.

^ I mean, it'd be they/them as usual, no?

The worst he can say is no, ri— ah.

^ I mean, it'd be they/them as usual, no?

This would be incorrect if we interpret them as a female identifying person trying to pass as male for safety, which is the case JuniperPengold was making.

Yeah I don't feel sympathy for moth girl/man whatever it is. I still can't stand her and he legit just killed that chick in broad daylight in the middle of the street right? Uh let's make sure someone calls 911.

I hate this Mister N character, or whatever official name they have. From an interesting thing of another monster in the bunch, to a villain in a story that didn't really need one, and ending as... This. Whatever this is. Someone to spell out the whole premise to the dummies in the back row seats who hadn't yet gotten what this whole manga was about.

I know that from the start, this manga wasn't very subtle about it, but this really is just beating the audience over the head with it.

And I'm not sure if I should feel bad for that part about being beaten by that one guy, because it really felt like a cheap emotional grab.

"Your honour, surely you must understand that the outfit was very ugly"

Feel pretty bad for the girl that just got murderized, the sense that the cast is a bunch of people trying to live normally while unbeknownst to them at least two grizzly bears (with ursine sensibilities towards violence) live among them is tangible.
...I'm. Hesitant. About taking a transfem reading of Niehara TOO literally, given how they're swimming in a bit of a Themes Of Being Explicitly And Intentionally Predatory Soup, can border on pejorative iconography if handled bad, but its hard to deny the connotations? This is one of those fields where horror themes interact strangely (IMO uncomfortably but other people seem to like it) with Queer narratives even when stories AREN'T being deliberate in their coding, it'd feel like a mistake to not bring it up xp. As much as that flashback did tell us I'm left wondering what their broader context is, since (as with Takahashi) we know very little about what their life was like BEFORE assuming the human disguise. How much of monster behavior is instinctual versus learned to begin with is kinda up in the air, whether monsters have some sort of "society" of their own, that sorta thing. I think it could do a lot to inform broader readings of them as (directly) analogous to IRL social situations. Not sure the narrative as it stands even NEEDS to explore in that direction though, it'd just make trans readings taste better or worse lol. Theres definitely something being said with the way Niehara uses gender (and age?) as a tool to manipulate the "context" of their relationships & their own image though.

Well, damn, that sure took a turn there... What a way to manage your stress.

do I have cis disease because Slendy doesn't read as a trans allegory so much as BPD or something. Narrativizing, taking on roles for safety, being abused in infancy, etc

I understand that seeing fictional characters as allegories for supersets of mental or neurological disorders isn't exactly socially appropriate, but that's the point of this entire manga so I get to "pathologize" all I want

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 4:31PM

I think a transfem analysis of Niehara could be very interesting, but I think it needs to be informed by a similar analysis of Takahashi, who I feel is much more clearly transfem since she seems much more committed to presenting as a girl.

do I have cis disease because Slendy doesn't read as a trans allegory so much as BPD or something. Narrativizing, taking on roles for safety, being abused in infancy, etc

I understand that seeing fictional characters as allegories for supersets of mental or neurological disorders isn't exactly socially appropriate, but that's the point of this entire manga so I get to "pathologize" all I want

The subtext to me is that monsters are like minority group members who have become radicalized, at least on an individual level. They adopt the posture as an enemy of society after being consistently treated as so. Slenderman considers Itou to be a monster. A corollary implied is that someone who has come to uphold the social structure is a human, even if they are, say, a giant worm.

Slenderman even accuses Takahashi of being too human-like last chapter. This makes sense, as even a human will kill to maintain their survival. A human-like posture is Takahashi keeping the death at a minimum or outright eliminating it when an alternative presents itself. While Takahashi can never fully integrate into wider society, this avoids challenging the social structure as much as is possible.

Being cautious about real world attributions is sensible, given "[Insert minority group] is like a serial killing urban legend" is not the type of statement people generally want attributed to their group. The actual content of the story still deals with it in a sensitive and unproblematic way, at least by Seinen comic standards.

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 4:45PM

Clearly you have already forgotten Slendy's flawlessly argued villain monologue from the beginning of this volume. Being mean on the internet and all.

Anyway, I don't think this is meant as a trans allegory. (Interpret whatever you feel like, but really, the edgelord-misanthropist lizardperson?) It's backstory was a pretty blunt reiteration of the "always masking, always being what other want you to" concept: the man wanted vulnerable fuckdoll to abuse as is par for the course, so it became just that. The classmate wanted her flirty teacher, and so it morphed to that. Something something being moulded into roles "like an actor in a film".

As PineconeJuice up there mentioned, we're just beating the audience over the head with it at this point.

Oh, did I mention that this complaint somehow comes from a MIMIC MONSTER? SOMETHING INTRINSICALLY BORN TO ADAPT? Golly gee, I sure do hate my own bodies adaptability to different light levels and temperatures, and not just that, I am going to make it everybody else's problem! Brilliant!

Can Takahashi just put it out of its misery? The sooner the better.

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 5:46PM

I think a transfem analysis of Niehara could be very interesting, but I think it needs to be informed by a similar analysis of Takahashi, who I feel is much more clearly transfem since she seems much more committed to presenting as a girl.

you're so right

And I'm not sure if I should feel bad for that part about being beaten by that one guy, because it really felt like a cheap emotional grab.

I don't think the author wants you too feel too bad for the mimic, given what they did immediately after that backstory. Rather I think it shows it's species doesn't know much, or anything, about humanity by the time they first take human form. Her/his first experience with a human was an abuser obsessed with movies. And now the mimic thinks nothing of hurting others while obsessing over acting out it's own movie.

Even a mimic as articulate as Mr. N is still operating off a mimic logic. I think that's the point of the backstory. You can say "monsters don't operate off the same logic as humans", but this chapter shows how one type of monster develops and what it takes from its experiences.

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 6:06PM

I think a transfem analysis of Niehara could be very interesting, but I think it needs to be informed by a similar analysis of Takahashi, who I feel is much more clearly transfem since she seems much more committed to presenting as a girl.

you're so right

Takahashi's line about how she likes wearing her school uniform because it gives her a label to belong to feels quite poignant

It's a pity that I can't blacklist everything that I think doesn't relate to yuri, even if it makes up 95% of all content here.

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 7:22PM

I see this story as being like The Matrix, which could be a metaphor for almost anything if you wanted. The themes are more general. In this case, it's about social norms, why people uphold them, and what it means when someone is unwilling or unable to conform to what society sees as unacceptable.

That means parts will be very similar to a particular real world minority group, but might remind a different person of a different minority group, and then the next part is similar to a third minority group. The author may or may not be pulling inspiration from these groups, but they're writing something broad enough that almost anyone could relate to some part of it.

At the same there is going to be an internal logic to the story that is completely unaligned with the real world, because we aren't really literal meat farms to power robots or man eating worms hiding in skin suit. This can be be interesting because it creates situations we would never encounter in day to day life, but strains making direct comparisons to real world groups in any consistent way.

last edited at Apr 2, 2026 10:40PM

JESUS FUCK

Well, now I kinda feel sorry for the-

Nevermind.

I wasn't expecting a back story for Niehara. Seeing, it does make me feel bad their first interactions with humans was a cruel man who forced them into being an abused wife situation. Following a lot of horror movies where the weaker victim gets revenge.

The way N is only a girl around Itou but a man to everyone else even though i think the other students saw them in girl form. It is interesting how this reacts to how N is a predator in almost every sense of the word. And his misantropic (terminally online) monologue to Itou. N hates/views humanity different than Takahashi san who seems mostly indifferent to humanity as a whole.

^ I mean, it'd be they/them as usual, no?

This would be incorrect if we interpret them as a female identifying person trying to pass as male for safety, which is the case JuniperPengold was making.

In fact, I still use they/them for Niehara the most part, though sometimes I use she/her due to my aforementioned interpretation. There's ultimately no contradiction between a transfem interpretation of Niehara and one that has them using they/them pronouns; I know other transfems IRL who only go by they/them.

do I have cis disease because Slendy doesn't read as a trans allegory so much as BPD or something. Narrativizing, taking on roles for safety, being abused in infancy, etc

I understand that seeing fictional characters as allegories for supersets of mental or neurological disorders isn't exactly socially appropriate, but that's the point of this entire manga so I get to "pathologize" all I want

There's nothing wrong with various interpretations! And gunning for totally unproblematic readings is just missing the point, IMO; if you relate Niehara to real life mental illnesses, why pretend otherwise? It's how you're connecting with the story, it doesn't mean you see mentally ill people as monsters. Like, I'll be the first to say that there are tons of 'problematic' elements to my transfem reading of a character whose story presence is largely them preying on teenage girls, but I don't wanna worry about that. My sympathy for Niehara doesn't hurt people; it's all a story. That's why I think you're fine :) (also re: 'cis disease,' I would call it that if you tried to totally dismiss the transfem reading, but as far as I can tell you're just offering a different view, which is chill)

last edited at Apr 3, 2026 10:46AM

i think can see the tranfem reading of neihara in this context- how they morph their gender identities/outward expressions based on different social situations and expectations- etc, being a young girl when talking to itou while being vulnerable feelings wise and stuff, but being a man as to hold more power socially and structurally. i also agree with the commenters who said this could be a reading of bpd, or honestly anything you want to.

but i think i resonate with the bpd/mental illness reading of neihara more- to me, their origin story (being physically abused and manipulated by a man obsessed with movies and eventually killing him, then being obsessed with creating a movie/being an 'actor' of their own in real life) mirrors a traumatized perspective/mindview of a victim, particularly one who has experienced repeated severe trauma (in this case physical beatings and emotional manipulation) but then uses what they have 'learnt' or gathered from their own logic to articulate their abuse which permanently changes their behaviour, mindset, ways of dealing with life and trauma and stressors, etc- similar to c-ptsd or personality disorders. but realizing later on they were wrong- in the form of unhealthy coping mechanisms or flawed thinking (acting and making up stories, molding into different roles that fit certain scenarios to produce specific results), then realizing how mentally taxing and damaging it was. but even so, it doesnt seem like neihara is trying to change or stop morphing/lying, again, similar to actual victims who often realize but don't act to improve.

furthermore, the whole attempted rape scene at the start i think could be symbolic of how victims of trauma usualyl become the abusers (cycle of abuse) or internalize/normalize the abusive behaviours that have happened to them- making them feel like a monster, different, disgusting, etc. which could also be why neihara is so attached to itou- usually mentally ill/traumatzied individuals often connect much more to others who they can relate to or assign ideas to people in their head, with the whole attaching/latching onto an individual/projecting like neihara was doing.

the whole ideas of monsters being intrinsic/hidden in this society, whether they're born or created or monsters because they act different, kill, or other things, who is in the right, how similar humans and monsters are and who is in the wrong, is also symbolic to the discussions around trauma/morality to me.

last edited at Apr 3, 2026 11:01AM

furthermore, the whole attempted rape scene at the start i think could be symbolic of how victims of trauma usualyl become the abusers (cycle of abuse) or internalize/normalize the abusive behaviours that have happened to them- making them feel like a monster, different, disgusting, etc.

You seem to be confusing the original Niehara eaten by our favorite worm with the monster who replaced him.

RIP Hiraizumi...But hey good news it was a red herring like I suspected in chapter 15....Mr.N or slender-chan (They/them) monster was the one who killed her in the end (They/them since there is no clear evidence state of what gender/sex they identified as and they likely have been switching from female to male to female constantly their own live [LIKELY AT LEAST 5-6+ YEARS] Since 1000 movies per day means at least 3 whole years. or at least 1.5 years if 2 movies per days?)

Yeah...I doubt anyone here would be rooting for a MC X slender-chan here unless they have a domestic abuse fetish....Slender-chan here is too distorted and trainted by her/his/their past experience from their first human interaction of domestic abuse plus years of constantly living a stressful life of pretending to be dozens of different people. MC is truly unique person...Too bad she still want to be normal and experience a happy casual 'normal' life with normal friends instead of accepting her uniqueness and weirdness like her grandma...Though I guess most people want to have a happy normal life with friends at her age.

Also doesn't help that MC just saw them killed one of her new 'casual' friends.

Takahashi-chan/Worm-chan here though...: "Oh look a dead body...Oh darn body is too messed up and useless to use...welp anyways let's go to the parade :)

Chapter 19

'Together forever'...Well technically together for a good 3-4 years at most before worm-chan ditch your skin...But I guess you will be remember as the very unique weird girl for at least a good 6-7 years at least inside worm-chan's memories (I kind of still want to see worn-chan eat MC and slowly start to regret loosing one of her favorite 'true friends' afterwords)

RIP for Ero itou for creeping out Worm-chan with her untended weird 'slightly' lovely dovey yandere words and action.

furthermore, the whole attempted rape scene at the start i think could be symbolic of how victims of trauma usualyl become the abusers (cycle of abuse) or internalize/normalize the abusive behaviours that have happened to them- making them feel like a monster, different, disgusting, etc.

You seem to be confusing the original Niehara eaten by our favorite worm with the monster who replaced him.

If they meant chapter 1 then you be right since there was 'attempted'. But if they just meant start of the latest chapter 20 then there was no 'Attempt'...There was at least dozen of forced R@ped though....though technically Slender-chan kind of accepted them by not saying no...but also didn't say yes...kind of a dubious moral gray since slender-chan was still gathering information and playing it 'safe' to see and test the waters before killing off it's domestic abuser after realizing the human is not very strong, 'special' or talented. Though it lean more to non-consented since the domestic abuser trash was taking advantage of a innocent defenseless girl who need help from his perspective...

But yeah...The domestic abuser didn't help slender-chan build a good starting foundation of human interaction...The movies though probably help her/him/them learn human interaction better than that piece of trash scum though...