I really love the art, and the editing choices match it so perfectly, I'm impressed. Content-wise, random comparison that presumably nobody will get - Goodbye Geist by Ryo Hanada, in that it's another doujin I had to read slowly, or a few times, before it really started making sense. Cool story, but a big too vague, all things considered.

Also, don't really wanna add Subtext to this? But like, maybe I should. I dunno.

last edited at Aug 9, 2021 5:53PM

I'm gonna need to reread this a couple time cause I have no fucking clue who's lying or who's not in this mess

Pretty much how I felt, I wasn't sure If I was just dumb ^
Albeit the way I understand it both are kinda lying ? Mami was indeed dropping those on purpose to get attention, but I doubt she did spread gossip about her old group of friend ?

Edit : After rereading, I do think she did invent bullying rumors about her previous group of friend

But I can't get myself to see Mami as the bad person, and I'm kinda glad she's getting Taka on her corner. She definitely have some unheatlhy behavior, but I hope she can grow out of it.

last edited at Aug 9, 2021 6:28PM

Reading this feels like looking at abstract art. I can tell it's got a meaning, and there are sort of vague ideas I have about it, but when push comes to shove I'm terribly confused. It's too information dense for me to tell more than everybody is hurting something awful.

pseudo-artsy bullshit, wouldve rather spent my time staring at the ceiling. good emotional range on faces tho, well drawn

okay so what I'm reasonably sure of is that Mami didn't get bullied the way she did. Instead, the thing is she feels like she can't connect with people and the way she acts always drives them away, so she tries to get every last drop of pity and sympathy she can out of them before they decide not to be with her anymore (or she decides she can't be with them, because it's not giving her what she needs) and she leaves, and the last time she did it she spread rumors to get in with her new group.

Meanwhile, it seems Taka has her own sort of unhealthy attachment issues: she gravitates toward pitiful people like Mami that have something wrong with them and need her. I think Yuki was the previous person she did this with, given that she seems to have strong insight into how Taka works and knows that Taka'll leave them because there's nothing wrong with them, and it seems she's hit with strong feelings of abandonment. Taka has that sort of deadpan expression because it looks like she had managed to get somewhat stable with Yuki and her other friend, but seeing Mami the way she is she sort of relapsed to her old habits. That scene where she takes their hands, is her saying goodbye, and that she really wants to stay with them but she's already lost to her attachment issues.

Shit hurts.

I think that Mami might be bipolar. I thought that might be why she worries about something that happened to her and repeats it and why she needs someone to validate her or pay attention to her, bipolar people also worry that they might be annoying or irritating to others. Yuki mentions that they told a lie to Taka, maybe it can mean that they knew that they were exaggerating about Mami and that they found it uncomfortable to be with her.

For Mami, the simple act of kindness from Taka just made her a little less worried. Was really glad that Taka hugs her at the end there, Mami needs a genuine person like her.

I'm gonna need to reread this a couple time cause I have no fucking clue who's lying or who's not in this mess

Everybody lies

okay so what I'm reasonably sure of is that Mami didn't get bullied the way she did.

Meanwhile, it seems Taka has her own sort of unhealthy attachment issues .............................................................. it looks like she had managed to get somewhat stable with Yuki and her other friend, but seeing Mami the way she is she sort of relapsed to her old habits. That scene where she takes their hands, is her saying goodbye, and that she really wants to stay with them but she's already lost to her attachment issues.

That is quite a stretch. Taka didn't have any suggestive traits of having attachment issues. If she hangs with two of her friends at a coffee shop, it is pretty much a very healthy friendship (my bar for friendship might be low). The thing is that Mami might have mood swings, again it is symptomatic with bipolar people, since she sort of brings up her worries at random points with her classmates. From a strangers perspective, it is uncomfortable to hear negative things from even a classmate, since she isn't well acquainted with her new group. She receives mixed messages from people, because they show the bare amount of sympathy when she is crying but then dismiss her worries when she isn't. That sort of confuses her need to vent her sadness with anyone she just met. That is why such a small act of Taka helping her makes her repeat that moment since it is very heartwarming for her......

Excellent.

the art style was already angsty enough

Linter's interpretation is what I vaguely suspected, but like others I was also confused by the pacing and vague antecedents. I also like Surya's thoughts about it too. Thanks for sharing.

Googled "Medalist". Looks a bit creepy. Grown adult man with a 10 year old going to the Olympics? What the.

last edited at Aug 9, 2021 10:22PM

okay so what I'm reasonably sure of is that Mami didn't get bullied the way she did. Instead, the thing is she feels like she can't connect with people and the way she acts always drives them away, so she tries to get every last drop of pity and sympathy she can out of them before they decide not to be with her anymore (or she decides she can't be with them, because it's not giving her what she needs) and she leaves, and the last time she did it she spread rumors to get in with her new group.

Meanwhile, it seems Taka has her own sort of unhealthy attachment issues: she gravitates toward pitiful people like Mami that have something wrong with them and need her. I think Yuki was the previous person she did this with, given that she seems to have strong insight into how Taka works and knows that Taka'll leave them because there's nothing wrong with them, and it seems she's hit with strong feelings of abandonment. Taka has that sort of deadpan expression because it looks like she had managed to get somewhat stable with Yuki and her other friend, but seeing Mami the way she is she sort of relapsed to her old habits. That scene where she takes their hands, is her saying goodbye, and that she really wants to stay with them but she's already lost to her attachment issues.

I think this is the most accurate take. Mami and Taka are people who look for validation from others, albeit in different ways. Mami looks for pity and attention, while Taka looks to "save people" hoping they'll be grateful. I guess this is about the two finding their perfect match.

I believe Yuki's lie is, "Looks like she's in the middle of causing some more trouble." in order to convince Taka not to associate herself with Mami.
I think Taka's main lie was when she denied realising the reason Mami dropped her items for. This lie caused Mami to hastily pick up her items and breakdown. When Taka's friend came over, Mami feared that they would reveal her true intentions to Taka. Mami catches on Taka's lie and it's as if Mami's fear had come to life. At this point she realises her goddess, Taka, is not perfect. I believe this is what Taka was referring to while she and Mami were hugging.

I like linterdiction's theory about Taka having attachment issues. It has been hinted that she is drawn to those who "have something wrong with them". Perhaps Taka wants to be around those who believe that she is a goddess. Also I agree with the theory that Yuki could have also been someone who previously had "something wrong with her" and had thought of Taka as a sort of 'saviour'.

Taka has the fixer syndrome aka savior complex.

Seems to me that Mami has BPD or something similar. What Taka said about seeing her as either a "goddess" or a liar sounds like textbook splitting.

I liked the art, the story was kind of confusing but I think I got it in one read since Linterdiction came up with the same interpretation as me. Except for Taka's diagnosis, I'd say it would be a savior complex like shialzsan said, not attachment issues. She was able to abandon Yuki very easily since she there was nothing wrong with her anymore. She liked that fact that Mami thought highly of her ("goddess" in her words) for doing something so small.

Well... I almost do think Mami was bullied. It's just that Mami couldn't talk about anything but herself. We all have that one friend, right? Or knew someone like that? It gets pretty annoying. But I also believes that she likes the attention.

This manga is a little confusing.

Edit: Now that I think about it. Taka's friend, near the end, did she they tried to lie to her. Maybe their lie was that Mami was "not" getting bullied when she actually was and they were trying to get her away from Mami so she doesn't get bullied too.

Whatever that was written on the phone is confusing because it also looks like someone jad admitted to burning Mami with cigarettes when at the beginning it was said that it was self-inflicted.

last edited at Aug 10, 2021 8:27AM

SONORAI posted:

I believe Yuki's lie is, "Looks like she's in the middle of causing some more trouble." in order to convince Taka not to associate herself with Mami.
I think Taka's main lie was when she denied realising the reason Mami dropped her items for. This lie caused Mami to hastily pick up her items and breakdown. When Taka's friend came over, Mami feared that they would reveal her true intentions to Taka. Mami catches on Taka's lie and it's as if Mami's fear had come to life. At this point she realises her goddess, Taka, is not perfect. I believe this is what Taka was referring to while she and Mami were hugging.

This, to me, is much more what the story was about than anything else, though I think you've only described the biggest lies. I really enjoyed the smoking rumours background story, which seems to illustrate this broader theme of mixing up lies and truth. By the end, it's difficult to tell where the lies started and where they end. Maybe, as pages 17 and 20 suggest, there was never any truth there to begin with.

Maybe, as pages 17 and 20 suggest, there was never any truth there to begin with.

Not that we can truly trust the teacher's words either, we've learned again and again that they are prone to pretending a problem doesn't exist in the first place to avoid the school looking bad (and that not just in Japan either).

I love seeing all the thoughtful analysis on here.

Mami has trouble relating to the other girls in ways that remind me of me, tbh. Her friends are having all these conversations, and it just doesn't feel like she has anything to contribute, probably because their topics seem without purpose. (Maybe I'm projecting?) Yes, she lied (as did nearly everyone at some point in this story), but she doesn't strike me as devious so much as needy. It wouldn't at all surprise me if the stories started out true and got embellished as she realized that they garnered attention, which makes it all the more difficult to tell where the truth ends and the lies begin. Taka giving her attention at the end is powerful precisely because she realizes that she doesn't need to tell a story or drop her books; she just needs to be herself.

One question though: am I missing a footnote or something to the star in the fourth panel?

One question though: am I missing a footnote or something to the star in the fourth panel?

Considering the way the star looks, it's probably just her bright personality.

This is confusing. I am interested but I don't fully get who is the danger here. I wish there was more chapters.

This is just messed up and I love it

princesses with personality disorders