Yep, that settles it, Komachi has the makings of a psychopath.

I don't think that's true. She's passively suicidal and doesn't understand people, but she's not evil. She isn't what the word "psychopath" implies, and I don't think she lacks empathy entirely.

Yeah she's obviously not uncaring, just coming from a real dark place. She's far from a psychopath, her care for others is actually the only thing keeping her alive by the sounds of it, and she's repeatedly shown care for Satsuki, Akira, and the class president girl. But clearly whatever is eating her is getting worse and I think there is a clear hint what in this chapter: she thinks a child or teenager dying causes less suffering than an adult dying due to having "a family and a job". That's an extremely abnormal perspective because for most people it's obvious the grieving of parents is no less than any other relations... But it would be understandable coming from someone who personally has reason to think their parents wouldn't care if they died, right?

"the story will not be yuri"
Yeah, uh-huh.

There's a lot of people, Japanese lesbians especially, who have problems with "yuri" as a genre and the term's all encompassing use and the trope baggage it carries. There's a lot of people who feel the same way about calling any m/m story "yaoi". I don't think there was ever any chance this story wasn't gay, considering the author and everything about their twitter profile ("I love the love of women" in the description, almost all the art is of two women kissing or otherwise being romantic, etc), not to mention everything that's been happening in the story at every turn lol. It's just not being told within the predefined box of a specific genre.

She's also fought with that teacher over her "bad behavior" in the past, Akira's introduction to the manga is her storming out of his class and kicking the door down on her way out.

I also wouldn't be surprised if the teacher dies this arc, it's too "convenient" for Satsuki to have a source of authority on her side, especially with how relatively easy he was won. And that would definitely be a turning point the pace couldn't return from. Prez has a history of killing teachers, too.
Actually speaking of that: it sure is a major hole in his argument for non intervention that he's deliberately used his premonitions to kill people at least twice. I bet Satsuki realizes that at some point.

I was proven correct, although it doesn't feel all that good because damn, poor Komachi. :(
I would suspect Komachi is something like a redemption for Tokiko. Tokiko was always portrayed with a sympathetic lens but the last word in Walk in Death is given to someone who fundamentally blames her for what happened, making that feel like the Word of God on the issue. That never sat right with me, because implicitly advocates abandoning a moral responsibility to help people by going "well if it's their fate then who are we to disagree". Now that we've got that exact same perspective being put in the mouth of the principle antagonist it feels even more to me like this is a relitigation of that framing.
My prediction: the narration from the end of the first chapter is not Satsuki at the end of the story but Satsuki before the climax of the story, in her darkest hour before she rallies, goes "actually fuck the class president and fuck fatalism," and forces a Good End to happen. And then Satsuki with live happily ever after with her 3 girlfriends (Komachi. Akira, and Miho) :)

last edited at Apr 21, 2023 2:32AM

I keep thinking about the concept of a ghost turning into an "evil spirit" that's in lots of manga and ghosts, typically tied to refusing to pass on long enough and/or harming the living. Aizawa is doing both, although only on a minor scale did far. But she's escalating over time, seemingly without any conscious ill intent: she's gone from ripping up that script and making Michi bleed to slamming Michi in the head with a soccer ball to even possessing someone, even if that last one could be justified. She seems to be going down a bad road for a ghost to go.

Also, we seem to have seen two manifestations of Michi having power in this chapter. She projects her child self to yell at freaky eye ghost, but also she seems to possibly have pushed Aizawa out of her possession, as she pops out of Kasumi right after Michi shoves her back and yells "What the heck are you doing!?"

Edit: actually, I find it super strange how, when Michi first sees that ghost waiting in the storage shed, her response is to make an excuse to get Kasumi away and then go in alone. Why did she do that? There's been no indication that ghosts are more dangerous to those ignorant of their presence, the opposite actually. Michi doesn't think much on it either, was it some kind of unconscious instinct? A subtle command from an external influence? Hard to imagine it was a deliberate action when Michi immediately acts normal after Kasumi leaves, entering the shed to put stuff away.

last edited at Apr 14, 2023 5:38PM

I really don't think Komachi is "evil," I think she just has the darkness of depression in her heart. She's got suicidal ideation but cares too much about potentially hurting or inconveniencing the people around her to do anything with it, so she carries on just for their benefit at the expense of her own mental health. The scene of her describing someone else's concern as an "unwanted present I don't know what to do with" really hammered this interpretation home for me upon rereading it recently. I don't think she has any ill intents for any other person besides herself. Even her one big scary moment, mistakenly attempting to help Satsuki kill herself, makes sense in the context of her viewing suicide positively. She wanted to reassure Satsuki that she would not begrudge her choosing to die because that's what she wants from others. She's not a killer, she's just a twisted read on things because she's in dire need of therapy and some good medicine. One page in particular with a subtle moment that sticks out to me, look at her face at first before Satsuki turns around.
https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/723665409793982534/1094878615415574558/Liar_Satsuki_Can_See_Death_-_Chapter_7__Misconception_1_-_5.png
She's got a relatively neutral face and sad, downcast eyes, but turns on the smile when it's time to "perform" for the benefit of someone she cares about.