#mafumom wanted her to stray away from that because she learned the hard way that men are at the top of society

[thedandelionthief]

i want to explore mafumom’s character more! when we write her off as a 2-dimensional abusive mother, we ignore a lot of crucial points of her character.

one time i saw it pointed out that mafuyu’s parents pushed her into a more traditionally masculine career, while her aspiration was more “feminine”. this completely changed the way i viewed mafuyu’s arc. for context, in japan, approximately 76% of doctors are male, while around 92% of nurses are female. when you combine this with the two things we know about mafumom personally, it starts to paint a different picture.

1. mrs. asahina is a housewife 2. mrs. asahina is well-respected in the community FOR her duty as a housewife. it isn’t a stretch to say she is seen as inseparable from her husband and especially, her daughter. she isn’t even given a name! despite having a model, voice, and being narratively important, we know her only by her family name, likely because she is seen as just an extension (or servant) to her family. hm. even parents like ken or shinei are given names and their own backstories in-game, while mrs. asahina gets nothing. again, hm.

i believe mafuyu’s mom has lost her own identity as a result of becoming a housewife and mother, and with the knowledge that she Does genuinely care for mafuyu in some aspect, it makes sense that she wouldn’t want that for her child. she pushed mafuyu into a typically masculine career as a way to ensure she never loses herself and becomes a victim to the patriarchal society as she did. it does not excuse the horrific emotional abuse towards mafuyu in any way, but it does give context for her actions. mrs. asahina wanted to create a better, successful life for her daughter, instead of wasting away her talents as nothing but a wife for her entire adulthood. similarly to shinei, she wanted to stop a cycle of hurt, but ended up perpetuating it herself (mostly because of her inability to actually listen to mafuyu or recognize her own trauma).

of course, the latter half of this post is all speculation. we will probably never know exactly what goes on in mrs. asahina’s head, and i think that’s the point! but it doesn’t hurt to try and understand her reasons for hurting mafuyu.