- Apr 24, 2020
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While there may be some of wanting to "toughen up" Futaba in her motivation, or at the very least it might be how she's justifying it to herself, I don't think it's a matter of pure intentions and horrible execution. As mentioned, she had to survive among the Yakuza. She probably learned early that centring out someone else is a good way to avoid being targeted yourself. It's probably at least partially a survival tactic on her part. Furthermore, Futaba's got both parents, and while they're overseas, they still regularly send her money, and she obviously has a loving relationship with them. There might also be some jealousy thrown into the mix.
I don't think Yumi is a bad person at heart. I think she's broken, like pretty much everyone in the story (still waiting to see how some of the people are broken). I like her, when looked at on the whole, as a character for the VN, and look forward to seeing more of her. However, I think there's more to her bullying than simply trying to toughen Futaba up.
We don't really know what happened in the previous detentions. It's possible previous Senseis were as bad or worse than this one, and they could've been unjustified detentions, and were excuses to abuse her. It's equally possible that they were justified and the other Sensei was kind and dedicated to helping her. Everything anyone says about them at this point, beyond the fact that they happened, and Yumi didn't like them (and really, who likes detention?), is pure speculation.
I've just finished the first beach vacation, so I haven't yet seen the later material. The idea that there have been others residing in the Sensei body does make sense. Maya has seen many many more cycles than the current resident. I can imagine with all the Happy Times, many residents are broken and destroyed by this experience.Minor correction: We do know from Maya that nearly every version of Sensei has fooled around with one or more girls, though we're never given much information on what happened or with whom.
When Maya says, "You've changed," it come be an aspect of "You're different," but as his monologue shows, he's not 100% corrupting. He is caring for the girls. Perhaps this is what will allow him to survive the cycles, which might actually free both he and Maya from the wheel.
I expect once she lets go of her self-image problems, she will become quite passionate--probably leaving Ayane far behind.Futaba is cute. My only issue with her, is that her personality is rather bland, compared to practically all the other girls, but I like her. And her appearance is fine. Not every girl has to look like flavorbeam over there.
I can't help but wait to see what Selebus has planned for all the characters.Variety is the spice of life, right?
As far as skipping characters, come on people. Selebus has a detailed story for everyone he wants to tell, don't you want to see it? Even if a character isn't your favorite, see what lies in store for her. When you read a book, do you flip past 20 or so pages every time a character you don't like shows up on the story?
If you really can't stand a particular character, which seems strange to me, because I like them all in their own way, use the control key.
That reminds me. I came across the mention of "Stations of the Cross" in the happy scene, and was taken aback. Maya's definitely definitely doesn't match what I was taught in the Roman Catholic Church. Rather than being a symbol for the Holy Trinity, it was about 14 key events on the day of the Crucifixion. Of course, that's what it means in OUR world....
A young/girl woman living on the streets would likely be subject to a lot of sexual abuse and emotional pain. But yeah, I was abused by an uncle when I was 6-7 years old, and it affected me in a lot of ways growing up.But the fact that Yumi is fighting back tears in the last scene she appears in tells me that there's history there beyond what we've seen. She is acting like someone with a history of being sexual abused, and her outbursts remind me very strongly of people I know who've been abused trying to cope with the fact that they have to see their abuser on the regular.