I don't think Kiyo is such a bitch... Being homosexual in that time was hard and that time was so hard in general. I don't think "Micchan is right and Kiyo bad" or the other way around, I just feel a deep pity for both characters :(

Damn, that last page.

Is Failure to Die a real book?

Why am i still here just to be sad? :(

I don't think Kiyo is such a bitch... Being homosexual in that time was hard and that time was so hard in general. I don't think "Micchan is right and Kiyo bad" or the other way around, I just feel a deep pity for both characters :(

Exactly, a lot of the criticism is coming from a very modern perspective. Nowadays it might be true that somebody like Kiyo is just way too cowardly and that you shouldn't spend time on her, but in 1960s Japan things were different. That's not to say that Mitsuko wouldn't have benefited from getting some distance and moving on, but it is kind of unfair to be so hard on Kiyo imo. The social consequences for even just being unmarried, not to mention lesbian, were extremely severe. Criticising someone for not willing to go that far is a bit naive I think, realistically most people would do the same (and they did IRL)

I don't think Kiyo is such a bitch... Being homosexual in that time was hard and that time was so hard in general. I don't think "Micchan is right and Kiyo bad" or the other way around, I just feel a deep pity for both characters :(

Exactly, a lot of the criticism is coming from a very modern perspective. Nowadays it might be true that somebody like Kiyo is just way too cowardly and that you shouldn't spend time on her, but in 1960s Japan things were different. That's not to say that Mitsuko wouldn't have benefited from getting some distance and moving on, but it is kind of unfair to be so hard on Kiyo imo. The social consequences for even just being unmarried, not to mention lesbian, were extremely severe. Criticising someone for not willing to go that far is a bit naive I think, realistically most people would do the same (and they did IRL)

Yeah, and speaking of social consequences and being realistic, let's not forget about lavender marriages, when a gay and a lesbian married for convenience. People tent to forget how shitty the society used to be to queer people, they weren't coward, it was just the only option they had to live their lives

And so in the next chapter, Micchan will turn into the Joker

last edited at Aug 18, 2021 9:21AM

While I don't think Kiyo made the right decision, it's very much an understandable one. She didn't want to be ostracized by her family, and she wanted a sense of meaning and purpose in her work, and for that to be recognized by society. Being a wife and a mother provided that. It just didn't make her happy.

Also, it's not like Kiyo owes Micchan a relationship. She's got a right to make her own decisions in life, even if they're the wrong ones. Micchan also crosses some boundaries at the end of ch. 4 and the start of ch. 5. She says, "you're still mine", as if Kiyo is in some way her possession, and tries to initiate sex Kiyo is clearly not into.

Poor Micchan, what a trash first love of her. I don’t know why Kiyo-chan is so shameless showing her face and go on trips, killing the mood of telling she had sex with her fiancé and unknowingly got pregnant. Fucking slut. But well, she got what she deserves choosing an asshole husband fucking with a long time affair and while she sulking in pain of her wrong decision.

Slut shaming is sexist, please don't do that.

Furthermore, Kiyo wasn't "killing the mood". Micchan wanted to have sex and Kiyo didn't.

I can’t stop reading this even though I know there’s just pain and more pain in the end. This is so good to read.

I want to jump out of this ride but I can't. Story is too beautiful yet sad

I don't think Kiyo is such a bitch... Being homosexual in that time was hard and that time was so hard in general. I don't think "Micchan is right and Kiyo bad" or the other way around, I just feel a deep pity for both characters :(

Exactly, a lot of the criticism is coming from a very modern perspective. Nowadays it might be true that somebody like Kiyo is just way too cowardly and that you shouldn't spend time on her, but in 1960s Japan things were different. That's not to say that Mitsuko wouldn't have benefited from getting some distance and moving on, but it is kind of unfair to be so hard on Kiyo imo. The social consequences for even just being unmarried, not to mention lesbian, were extremely severe. Criticising someone for not willing to go that far is a bit naive I think, realistically most people would do the same (and they did IRL)

Yeah, and speaking of social consequences and being realistic, let's not forget about lavender marriages, when a gay and a lesbian married for convenience. People tent to forget how shitty the society used to be to queer people, they weren't coward, it was just the only option they had to live their lives

Honestly figuring out how to have a “lavender marriage” would probably be one of the best options back then, because at least your husband might respect you

Remembering why I tend to avoid reading depressing as fuck tagged manga, and now I'm too far in to give it up

I... Im not sure what to say right now....

At the end of this chapter I got the feeling that I must've read it inattentively and missed something horrible, but maybe it's just a light interlude before things get heavy.

Why am I under the impression that these two women are slowly dying inside?

Hello darkness my old friend.

Why am I under the impression that these two women are slowly dying inside?

Because they both are dealing with the traumas of experiencing world war 2 in their youth and the trauma of growing up queer in a heavily repressive patriarchical society?

They were both likely born in 1933-34 and so literally came of age during a time of societal collapse from rampant fascism/war and then saw everything rebuilt completely differently while hastily brushing over the legacies of their past without much regard for everything that happened.

How can a chapter be so cute and so heartbreaking

When this is complete I'm definitely gonna reread it backwards. Loving every chapter

please, not a credits page without the sauce for the cute image! can someone identify the sauce?

I love that the further we go back, and the more we see them in somewhat happier/less-totally-defeated moments, the more it hurts to read. Like others, I plan to go back and reread this in reverse order, but part of me thinks it'd be somehow less painful that way. In reverse, it'll be a standard, steady descent into pain, rather than a steady climb out of it (but retroactively contextualizing the bleak future in a more impactful way).

What are they supposed to be seeing on the first pages? Is it a river full of blood?

The author’s decision to tell this story in reverse is such a great one. It makes everything 10x more painful. Even cute moments like Kiyo kissing Mitsu and the latter blushing are bittersweet (honestly more bitter) because we know how everything falls into (the wrong) place. Kiyo ends up not being strong enough to pursue a gay relationship with the one she loves and forever resents herself for it. This pain lingers in their relationship up until the very day Mitsu passes away.

This manga fucks me up.

What are they supposed to be seeing on the first pages? Is it a river full of blood?

My first thought was a lesbian couple that drowned themselves but on second look, I honestly have no idea.

please, not a credits page without the sauce for the cute image! can someone identify the sauce?

i gotchu

What are they supposed to be seeing on the first pages? Is it a river full of blood?

I think either they both fall in, or see themselves drowned.