Given that Risako just straight up admitted she lied about a bunch of stuff, I would not put much weight in what she says--but I'm not Kaoru. *rolls eyes*
This is an interesting difference between actual people in real life and characters as plot functions in fiction.
In real life, once someone is revealed to have been lying about something important like this, it’s rational to be distrustful of any such things they subsequently say.
But in this fiction, readers have known for a long time that Reiichi and Risako have been lying; we just haven’t known about exactly what until it was revealed in the latest chapters.
Once Kaoru confronts Reiichi (at long last), his demeanor doesn’t suggest that he is trying to minimize what he had done by claiming that there was no physical cheating. Similarly, Risako doesn’t appear to be trying to wriggle out of a tight spot—on the contrary, she seems to revel in revealing her previous manipulation of the situation, and so far from being distressed, she seems somewhat bemused by her own interest in Kaoru.
Basically, nothing would be accomplished for the story by the further revelation that the affair between Reiichi and Risako was physical rather than just emotional. Kaoru knows the truth about Reiichi’s feelings for her and about the shaky foundation of her marriage. What she does next is unlikely to be affected by finding out that Risako was a double liar rather than just a liar.
I don't feel Risaka felt she was in a "tight spot". Her behavior isn't surprising. I was never on the affair train, so don't care about a revelation on that point. I was curious about Risako's feelings generally and feelings toward Kaoru. Just because someone is low empathic (Alexithymic or something else) doesn't make them less human. They still have motives and intentions, however poorly they are able to express them or be understood by others.
What I was calling consistent is that we still only have a shallow view of Risako's motives; we only really know her through what she's said to Kaoru. And it seems less likely that'll change (now that my optimism has been squelched :D).
So what I wanted didn't happen, but this chapter was okay in terms of Kaoru continuing to move forward. I just felt she wasn't as strong here (communicating) as she had been in the previous two chapters.
Reiichi is not a unique character to me, so I don't really care much about his background and such being filled in... Nothing surprising in anyone's behavior to this point. If the story isn't distinct, I want the characters to be rich and interesting. Risako was the best bet for me, but ...oh well. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
The drawing is still decent.
P.S. People do respond similarly to how Kaoru has responded--in many situations she's faced--in real life. We have the luxury of being the observers to her unfortunate situation, but we don't have the (not) luxury of observing ourselves as we struggle. Yeah, these are characters in fiction, but they aren't 100% exaggerations.
P.P.S. Not trying to convince anyone to like Risako. (Wouldn't necessarily want to hang out with her in real life, but I just found her the least boring of the characters. Kaoru could've been if I had more tolerance for people not owning their own emotional responses. She's too offputting and not developed enough for me to like as a character.) Everyone has differing opinions about everything. And I'm grateful for it.
last edited at Jul 31, 2020 8:37AM
