I don't know if this was always the plan, or if it's a pivot after realizing how unfair it would be to Yamada to honor the original bet

We still have the aspect of passing up the earlier apartment, as Mikawa calls out in the current chapter.

You have to be really unlucky to get motion sickness on a train... That said, I don't think I've even seen vomit bags on flights in the past few years.

last edited at Jul 24, 2023 9:58PM

I've never seen a bus with 3 adjacent seats across like that, though I won't say they can't exist. OTOH it's the common economy seating for airlines.

"pervert!"
"no!"
"oh. what a shame."

The image is also, as always, uploaded on Dynasty.

Is upper right girl wearing a facial mask on a flight?

To be fair to Narita, that's some amazingly violent turbulence implied. Like, "plane dropping out of the sky" level.

Is upper right girl wearing a facial mask on a flight?

To be fair to Narita, that's some amazingly violent turbulence implied. Like, "plane dropping out of the sky" level.

Marriage interviews by themselves aren't bad or problematic. It's like slow speed dating. It's telling Makino that she has to get married that's bad.

Arranged marriage overlaps with forced marriage (wouldn't all forced marriages be arranged, technically?) but needn't be bad. If the individuals can veto really bad partners, if the cultural expectation is of "making a marriage work" for economic (or political) reasons rather than True Love (and the individuals involved accept that) then you avoid the full harm of forced marriage. There might still be harm, but then True Love relationships don't always work out either.

Anis throwing up was likely from (a) being outright gay, so being with a man isn't something she could work herself up to, (b) having someone she already loved, and (c) having a very modern attitude due to her isekai nature.

Makino's situation isn't 'arranged' per se, but forced interviews and intent to force some sort of marriage. So is bad. I don't think anyone here has been defending it.

last edited at Jul 23, 2023 3:53PM

She’s 16 for Christ sakes

Where did you get that idea? In chapter 1, she's just failed college entrance exams, and her friends will be in college in the spring. And later she's suspected of taking a gap year. So she's at least 18.

Side couple often progresses faster than the main one, but here they're already a couple...

with gun related crime being the smallest form of crime in the US

Most murders in the US are done by gun (mostly handgun). Lots of muggings, too.

Sure, guns are a small form of all crime when you count stuff like shoplifting, thefts from empty cars, speeding[1], or copyright violation. But they're a major form of violent crime, and to the perception of danger by civilians and by the police. (US cop culture is terrible, but I'm willing to grant that the belief that any American they stop could be armed doesn't help with their trigger-happiness.)

[1] Basically all American drivers are habitual lawbreakers.

And age gap of 18-4x is the extremest I would be legally allowed to have a relationship in!

Legally? An 18yo can date a 120 year old if they want. I think I mis-understand you.

last edited at Jul 20, 2023 2:18PM

Oh, an unregulated paramilitary force that uses excessive violence as a warning is sure to respect the right to a fair trial. Not even going to discuss the morality of literal medival punishments, but merly consider the fact that a significant portion of the convicted are surly innocent. There is a reason why we have police instead of villaige justice

For a lot of people, the issue isn't "is this perfect" but "is it better than doing nothing?"

Given the resources available to the refugees, even if the vigilante force was elected by the refugees, very little might change.

I wonder how many refugees there are. They have at least a few dozen 'offenders' in cages at once.

I noticed one of the kids is given a knife, "Oh it's me!" Going to stab the kid (because he stabbed) after beating him? That seems impractical... then you have to take care of him after a supposedly non-lethal punishment.

last edited at Jul 19, 2023 5:56PM

People don't commit crimes because they think it's a fun hobby to get into, they commit crimes because their pushed into a corner and feel they have to.

Who pushed them into a corner, why, and is that not a crime itself?

A lot of crime is situational, but it can't be abuse all the way down. Some people are just bad people. Or make very bad choices, at any rate.

Sure, a single mother stealing food for her kids is sympathetic. How about a person who abuses or rapes one of those kids, or the mother herself? What "material condition" should be addressed there?

If Babylon hadn't started the vigilante force, the refugees would probably have formed one of their own. Or worse, multiple competing gangs.

It's a bad situation sure, and the government is at fault. But the vigilantes? Well, they're a response to the "material conditions" of not having any other law enforcement. It's an ugly solution for an ugly situation, but given that, they seem a decent gang from the little we've seen.

I note the leader is willing to take a lot of outraged interrogation from this new kid... I'd guess that Benika's accent and fluency mark her as obviously a native[1], so he's being cautiously polite in general and maybe taking the opportunity to get some word out, too.

[1] Or maybe they're all talking English badly.

There seem to be quite a few actually existing groups who are poor and oppressed, who nonetheless manage to emphasize community solidarity, restorative justice and stuff instead of fear and brutal punishment.

FWIW, we've jumped in at the "punishment" end of the pool; it could be that people are doing other things too, but Hibai brought Benika here, not to Refugee School.

But yeah, it'd be harder to build community if the refugees are from lots of different places, with different cultures.

Whether restorative justice actually has better outcomes is unclear; many studies say so, but selection bias is "rife", and reviews come to conflicting conclusions. Whether it's even doable in these circumstances is another question. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Restorative_justice#Research

Plus, what if someone re-offends after going through that process? You still need a backup.

Isekai can matter to justify the protag having a different attitude than usual for the setting, like a noble or princess who believes in equality and/or gay rights. Or for having extra knowledge from having played the game. Or from having been older before janked into a high school setting.

In MagiRevo, Anis's memories seemed somewhat hazy anyway. Conversely in the fanfic "Sanitize", the protag's medical knowledge is quite important.

In this case, Yvonne is making decisions in part based on her knowledge of the game, 'routes' and all, even though I have the impression she was just a beta tester and never played the whole thing, so she's overconfident. (Plus there's been deviation, like the 'mare' in chapter one.) Vs. IFTV, where Rei has a ton of knowledge and is specifically trying not to invalidate it before making her big move.

But Iori is the daughter of a servant and should know everything there is to know about things like cooking!

Just because Mom knows doesn't mean she got around to teaching her 14yo daughter. Maybe she's been too busy. Or hoped for something 'better' for her daughter.

Do kids not say 'footsie' anymore

And for me then to say "these people have blood on their hands" should not be controversial like, am I meant to be more sympathetic to the refugees who police and kill their own people or should I be sympathetic to the refugees who are getting beaten and executed by their own.

So if one refugee murders or rapes another, what should happen next?

...it's over? :(

Or they can have fun teaching themselves how to cook, together.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/soara_and_the_house_of_monsters_ch17#8

I like how even the big dwarf is throwing nigh pebbles, while Soara's ready to let loose with a couple of mini-boulders... probably good for the korporkkur that she didn't get to throw.

Twist: Benika reveals her own secret training and murders Hibai

Must ask: is "middle-school" lolicon? Or do we consider it already teenager? Seems to be a grey area...

Grades 7-9 in Japan, so ages 12-15 depending on a grade and when in the school year it is. Technically late tween at the low end, heading into early teens, mid-teen at the high end.

My brain always shortcircuits slightly when I see maid but no Zanka.

Heh.
OTOH it's a maid chapter that's more than 4 pages long, and will probably have ongoing plot, so that can't be Zanka...

Cannot believe Benika almost singlehandedly solved this entire crisis through the power of yuri. A shame that the two organisations didn't manage to make it eye to eye despite pretty much agreeing that things need to be better for the refugees.

Also I love that this story is turning out to at its core be about how refugees and immigrants need to be treated better by the countries that take them in, it's a really refreshing narrative in a political landscape where you pretty only ever hear the opposite.

Two different Knights Templar, who want to help the same people in different ways... and have a History.

I'd accuse them of being ex-es, but one of them is supposed to be a high level priest... (Not that that stopped priests in the old days, bunch of Popes who had bastard children...)