Man I wish getting a job was that easy.

I feel you.

It kind of hurt me while reading "thanks for buying neeko wa tsurai yo" , if only i could buy manga.
Also i have mixed feeling about the next chapter , i want to see how it goes but at the same time i dont want to feel super bad if neeko get a mental breakdown again , if she gets so bad to the point her stomatch hurts then i dont know what would happen to her here.

So, the anxiety issues are there to make her more sympathetic, but the author still sees Neeko as just a spoiled NEET like originally devised? That'd explain a lot on the tone shifts.

Real question : if Neeko's social issue is as bad as some people think it is that her mom's "surprise" might lead her to an actual breakdown/meltdown or even suicide, wouldn't her place be in some sort of mental health institute, like psychiatric hospital or something else ? And no, I don't mean that in a bad way, just that if it's really that bad, then she does need help (as in actual medical/psychiatric help) rather than just staying comfy at home playing her game.

So a "throw them in the water and hope you can swim situation", eh? Either you drown or you swim. Hoping the latter for Neeko's case, because I believe it really would help her self esteem. I believe her trauma is mainly based on her interview failures caused by her anxiety, I don't think working would be a problem. She seems to be capable in doing many things, such as making those leaflets or making friends. We see that she used to be an outgoing and cheerful girl, so I think her problem doesn't lie with social interactions but her personal self-doubt. Her repeated failures in entering the "adult world" has caused her to develop an aversion to the idea of working, so by showing her that she is capable of thriving in the "adult world" through working, she may be able to overcome her trauma. However if she fails again, it'll only worsen and lead to worst problems such as distrust and a possible dislike to society in general. Well that's my take on it.

This manga hits close to home for me. I've been unemployed since my company shut down early last year, and it hasn't been fun to go from being a valued employee to someone who frequently gets lost in the shuffle among potentially dozens of other applicants. While I feel as though I have a good grasp on interviewing, and do well in mock interviews, I don't like how interviewers tend to keep their cards close to their chests, making it hard to tell whether I actually made a good impression on them. The job search process always seems to favor the employers, since they get to take their pick of many equally desperate competitors, which is why I resent people seeming to think that it's easy to get a job, and that unemployed people are, as a rule, lazy.

I'm waiting to read the next chapter like I'm waiting to watch a trainwreck.

I can't believe her mother thought this was the best way to cure Neeko's anxiety problems.

You can do it Neeko! Find your dreamjob!

yeasss be a slave to the system

She did good!

This is starting to feel like a turning point akin to Watamote. It does feel like we're overdue for a sharp relapse, though.

audience grumbling slightly

glad she did well but her mom shouldnt just get off the hook so easily for such an awful stunt

That's still a dick move from Mom. What do you mean "not any other options" ? I know you're desperate about her but baiting her like that is not the best solution and if it's the only you have come with then i'm seriously afraid. You're lucky that work this time.

Get yourself a job that lets you afford a Switch with one day's work.

It didn't though? They all pitched in together to get her one for the remainder.

I"m glad they put a positive spin on it, though she only worked 2 hours, a full shift and sh'e probably not make it to be honest.

Oh so she's working on the back... i feel baited, and I don't like it, and all that talk about the heat was for nothing too.

Gets a switch for half day of work
Neeko: ooh... but where's my payment?

welp!

Not gonna lie that was basically me my first day of work too, wondering when it will end and cursing under my breathe when I was getting tired. It was part time over the summer in high school and it was just moving boxes onto a conveyor belt, very similar to Neeko's job too lol

I actually applaud the mom for that stunt. Smart move since the girl obviously needed a push. Sometimes a kick in the arse is better than a slow prodding. Specially since the previous attempts following the gentle approach only built up anxiety in the girl

This brought back bad memories from when my mother found me a job in customer service for a couple of months. I thought I could potentially pull it off, but I really wasn't ready to deal with people back then.

Well, at least Mama Niito was aware of the huge risk she was taking and Imoko was innocent all along.

That's still a dick move from Mom. What do you mean "not any other options" ? I know you're desperate about her but baiting her like that is not the best solution and if it's the only you have come with then i'm seriously afraid. You're lucky that work this time.

What other options do you see in a country where seeking psychiatric help is a much more massive taboo than almost anywhere else, and where companies are infamous for gross mistreatment of their rank-and-file employees while comparatively coddling manager-level ones to the point that the language has a specific word for "death by overwork" and divorce almost always comes hand in hand with ruining your career prospects?

last edited at Feb 13, 2020 4:26PM

I actually applaud the mom for that stunt. Smart move since the girl obviously needed a push. Sometimes a kick in the arse is better than a slow prodding. Specially since the previous attempts following the gentle approach only built up anxiety in the girl

There's no way this would have ended that way given the circumstances of the story to date. Given her fear of responsibility is one of the main things that drives her into a corner, having it just shoved onto her and her being able to handle it is puzzling. I get the angle they were trying to tackle; namely she's working so hard she doesn't even have time to think about her anxiety, but that's just not how it works. Especially for Neeko.

I'm actually perplexed the author decided to make this scenario work out so well. It's like they wanted a reason for us to look at the mother less cynically, since she has always been perceived as the typical well-meaning parent who doesn't understand there's really a real problem.

Well, at least Mama Niito was aware of the huge risk she was taking and Imoko was innocent all along.

That's still a dick move from Mom. What do you mean "not any other options" ? I know you're desperate about her but baiting her like that is not the best solution and if it's the only you have come with then i'm seriously afraid. You're lucky that work this time.

What other options do you see in a country where seeking psychiatric help is a much more massive taboo than almost anywhere else, and where companies are infamous for gross mistreatment of their rank-and-file employees while comparatively coddling manager-level ones to the point that the language has a specific word for "death by overwork" and divorce almost always comes hand in hand with ruining your career prospects?

It's true that Japan has taboos against psychiatric help, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the "do it yourself" remedies that people suffering from psychological problems and their caregivers try will necessarily work. I'm in the camp that believes that Neeko being suddenly thrust into a part-time job (as a result of her mother lying to her, no less) and coming out better off for it is highly improbable, and the entire experience could very well have worsened her issues.

I'm so glad it ended up happily and not with her being traumatized forever

Good thing she was working backstage.

I still have no idea how she even landed the job, isn't there supposed to be an entire interview process. If I could just show up somewhere and be employed I'd have done it by now.

There are things like temporary staffing agencies that will hook you up with a single-day's part time job. Stores will use them to get emergency help on big days (like the day of a major release).

I think the fact that Neeko didn't have to deal with customers was a big reason for her success. That, and the short shift time!

I still have no idea how she even landed the job, isn't there supposed to be an entire interview process. If I could just show up somewhere and be employed I'd have done it by now.

It reminds me a bit of the job application process in the Persona series. You pick up an application, make a call to the manager, and if your stats are high enough*, you can start work immediately, and work whenever you like; you're free to quit** whenever you're done with the social link and don't need money/stat points. As much as I enjoy those games, I know that part-time jobs don't work that way.

*Depending on the game, this can be easy or very difficult; for example, the tutoring job in Persona 4 requires maxed out Understanding, making the Tower Social Link difficult to start.

**That said, in Persona 4's Tower Social Link, the boy you're tutoring tells you he doesn't need your services anymore at the end of the social link, so there's a justification for why you don't need to show up to work any longer.

Well that was a crap chapter. It was an unrealistic outcome even considering she didn't have to deal with the hell that is a customer service job during a sale. (Those are bad enough under normal circumstances. Customers are crap.) It was very unlikely that things would turn out as successfully as they did and the mother shouldn't be let off the hook for something that was very likely to just make things worse.