#skip and loafer analysis

[youuuimeanmee]

The dark cloud effect on these panels is kinda unsettling, it's like it's there to show Shima having dark thoughts and emotions; though, I don't neccesarily think it's a bad thing; everyone can have dark thoughts and that's normal.

I'm just intrigued to learn what Shima might be feeling right here.

"I want to perform this role better than anyone else. I want to show everyone that no one knows this role better than I do. I want to show everyone that deep inside I am broken and lonely like this monster. I want people to wonder how do I get so good at this role that they would wonder if I experience the same thing. I want people to know I am not the perfect Shima Sousuke they knew. I want to scare them a little. I want them to think twice about me. I want them to take a glimpse of the real me."

... or at least this is how I read Shima; the reason why he wants to perform this role better than anyone else. Maybe I'm overreaching.

I think he started to think like this after the summer vacation, after Mitsumi inspired and encourage him to be himself, just the way he is. He always tried to show his good side to everyone, but thanks to Mitsumi and this new role, he probably wanted to go a little... rough? Messy? (there's gotta be a better word for that, ugh). To throw people off a little. Maybe also to test Mitsumi's words, that people won't instantly dislike you just because you show a weakness or two; though, I don't think he realized it yet.

It's kinda like a self projection. Shima resonates with the monster's struggle, I think performing this role is his new-found way to express himself, to learn to lay himself bare; which is great!

So far, Kanechika is responding positively to his acting. I wonder if his peers feel uncomfortable because they couldn't keep up with Shima, but judging by the looks of it, it doesn't seem like the theater club is reacting negatively to Shima's great acting. I think, partly because of that, Shima is able to enjoy his time in the theater club.

Funny enough, in the next panel, we're shown with this.

I know Ujie's words is from a completely different topic and just happen to fit Shima's narrative timely, but 🤣😭

Not only it implies it's a bare minimun of wanting to do your best, it also implies it's the bare minimum of showing your real self to people. Which... stings? because not everyone can do that.

What do you think?

[sliceofdyke]

it's crazy how shima and frankenstein's monster are alike in so many ways. both were held to high expectations by their creator/parent to become an ideal that they ultimately failed to fulfill. both were perceived a certain way by society so strongly they eventually surrendered to it. both have never been seen for who they really are for their whole lives. both are alone, miserably alone.

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 62 analysis // spoilers

skip to loafer reiterated its message of "i love you as a person" in a soft and fun chapter. and with that, takamatu-sensei prepares us for a new arc that promises to be full of unforgettable moments.

(since the translation is still very fresh, i'll try to focus more on using the raws not to spoil anyone. i hope you understand that!!)

honestly, i find light chapters like this the hardest to analyze on their own, especially ones like chapter 62 that brings back several loose ends in order to tie up another knot before continuing the journey. so, instead of analyzing the chapter itself, i'm going to bring back some old debates and fit them into this new phase of each character.

even though friendship was the main point of the chapter, in my opinion mika also deserves her own spotlight since, in one way or another, she basically served as a bond between the two groups.

in the case of the boys, her name is brought up when shima reveals that he invited her to his travel group, without much thought of the consequences. this causes a certain amount of anger in mukai, who was the person who witnessed very closely mika's reactions before and after the confession (and even later, when she was talking to nao by the beach). however, he’s also one of shima’s oldest friends, so he knows exactly what he been through, which is te exactly reason why he acts impulsively. 

it's as if he were between two different oceans, not knowing which way to go, since both are too turbulent for him to navigate. it's hard for mukai to completely side with his friend, since mika's feelings are still very vivid to him, but he knows all the difficulties that shima went through regarding her own internal terrors, that’s why he holds himself back to not curse him or anything. what he ends up choosing is the safest rote, which is to scold him with an open heart, making sure to show that what he did was wrong. in the end, he won’t explain it to shima the exact reason why he’s mad because he knows he doesn’t have the rights to speak for mika, that’s why the message gets a little confusing for shima, who’s still learning and growing (and honestly, the reacting of stop to understand where mukai was coming from is actually a big step for him, which i appreciate). 

in the case of the girls, mika is also the only one who, up until now, knows about the events before and after the confession. she can see the sincerity and kindness behind shima, who continues to respect and see her as a friend, but it's hard not to assume a protective position when the new person to be affected by the same feelings is mitsumi, someone who she became so important to her. and that's where her growth as a character is slowly revealed.

mika has always created her own barrier and has had difficulty opening up to the girls. and that didn’t start recently, since she have been dealing with her insecurities for as long as she can remember. mika spend most of her childhood alone and had a hard time to make friends when she started her teenage years, which led her to have a very abrupt start when she met mitsumi, yuzu and makoto. for her, it has always been very difficult to see herself in a group of friends and to be comfortable with herself to the point of expressing her mind clearly. 

as the story go by, we can see how comfortable mika is now with the girls, but old habits are hard to erase. even with all her conversations with nao and the peace she feels around her friends, there are still a lot to be unfold and a lot to grow. 

however, for her to grow, she needs to keep trying. and that’s when she choses to shine in this chapter: she finally manages to open up to mitsumi and reveal the secret that corrupts her so much. 

ever since mitsumi confessed the relationship she and shima had, mika has been struggling with indecision about whether to open up or keep the event forever as a bad memory from the past. it's hard for her, since she doesn't want to lose mitsumi's friendship or the other girls', but she also needs to accept what happened in order to finally say goodbye to them. it's not that she doesn't have her feelings cleared up inside her or that they still have a chance to blossom again. what really hits her is the fact that she's hiding something she considers important from her best friends, which might results in a awkward situation later on. 

the moment mika admits out loud that mitsumi is much more important in her life than any past crush, mika is finally saying goodbye to this weight she's carried for so long and can finally start another chapter in her life. now, she no longer has anything hidden or needs to walk on eggshells — the love she embraced and the love she receives are enough for her to stand tall. 

the development of skip to loafer's friendships is indeed something that needs to be celebrated. throughout the narrative, we are constantly reminded that the story itself is built on the idea that love doesn't need to be romantic to be true, it just needs to be felt. loving someone is accepting their flaws and understanding their scars, like mukai and shima; loving someone is being vulnerable, like mika and mitsumi; loving someone is going out together to buy clothes for a trip they've been waiting for.

it's beautiful to see how the girls care about mitsumi and her feelings, but still root for her happiness and are excited for her. it's beautiful to see how they're always together in difficult times, whether they're big or small (or even medium, like what's the right outfit to wear on a date. that's very important for a teenage girl). 

and for shima and mitsumi, it’s cute to see how shy they are around each other and how they are allowed to slowly understand their feelings. the narrative doesn’t force them to anything at any point or rushes them to a resolution, what it does is explore the nuances and difficulties of dealing with your first ever romantic love, specially when you were never allowed to explore your own feelings in the first place (like shima), and the fear of losing a best friend that you cares so much (like mitsumi feels). 

i don’t think this is the calm before the storm, but i do believe takamatsu-sensei is getting us ready for what’s coming next. i do believe this will be a very decisive arc for a lot of characters, but it will also birth many more plots for us to explore.

thank you so much for reading 💛 don't forget to support the author if you can and also thank the translation group!!

and if you're interested, i wrote a while ago an analysis about skip to loafer's "i love you as a person" message. just click here to find it!

[catmitsumi]

small thing i kind of hope happens in the future with egashira and nao is if they connect over fashion design. it's a passion that for the both of them is closely linked to their identities, their pasts, their growth and self expression, and it would be really wonderful to see the two bonding over it.

like one of the things takamatsu mentioned (i believe) is that she had no clue how much thought kids put into their outfits. One of the root, core reasons egashira gets so into researching how to style her clothes is because she was rejected for how she looked so much growing up and wanted to be seen as an equal. as she evolves over the course of the story she starts to find value in people accepting her for who she is---but even as that core reason for getting into fashion fades, she still clearly retains a strong interest in it.

and it would be really beautiful that if, as she grows, finding more intrinsic self-acceptance, her remaining passion for fashion is also given space to bloom alongside her into something even more powerful. like nao introduces it to her and its like this whole new world has opened to her you know. do you see the vision

[blonding]

sukirofa posting on main again but i just read the new chap today and i can't stop thinking about it, but specifically about just how happy mika looked..... so much so that mukai even remarked on it. well maybe "happy" is the wrong word but i think she's begun to internalize that there is relief in letting go.

i feel like this realization and also self reflection has helped her a lot, especially because she's also now accepted that shima is out of her reach- something i think she's known that from the very beginning. although, his rejection provided her that closure and ability to move on that she both needed and wanted. and i think she's glad about that.

feeling like this is setting her on the right track to accept that she doesn't need anyone or any relationship status to "prove" her worth, and that she's been worthy since the very very beginning-- mika is an extremely intuitive & smart character when it comes to those around her, but her lack of self worth and reliance on others to make herself feel wanted was disallowing her from accepting herself.

but i think she's realized that, and i think she's known that for a long time too, just unable to make a change-- but shimas rejection must have been that change she needed.

she doesn't regret a thing. she's glad she was able to fall in love with shima. but now it's her turn to fall in love with herself. oh mika....

[roboticsorcerer]

shima_moment.png panel redraw from ch.53! i am very normal. pls reblog and click for better quality

[analysisn3rd]

Shima Sousuke

Personality

I find Shima’s personality to be incredibly interesting, which is mainly because he hides himself behind masks, which makes his character a bit difficult to understand at times, and I find that interesting.

One of the most notable traits about him is that he’s quiet. He doesn’t really talk much to others and it’s usually other people who start the conversation with him. 

Much like what Mitsumi thinks of him, Shima’s a kind person. I find this to be quite clear because, even though she treated him terribly and blamed him for something that he hadn’t done, he’s still friends (somewhat) with Ririka and he still genuinely cares about her. Another example of his kindness was how he was concerned about Mitsumi when they first met, despite not knowing her at all and despite her being a complete stranger to him.

Shima is someone who people-pleases a lot, where this manifests in many different ways within his interactions with others. He tells people exactly what they want to hear from him, as to not repeat his mistake and upset people, even if it would mean that he would be lying to them. He also forces himself into situations, like the first year class play and dates, that he finds uncomfortable, just to make people happy. I think that the initial reason for him developing those tendencies was of how his mother made him believe that he hurt her when he refused to act anymore; something that she regrets doing now. This has led him to think that he should do what’s asked of him, even if it makes him uncomfortable and even if he doesn’t want to do it because, if he doesn’t do it, that means that he’s selfish. 

He’s also an introvert and he doesn’t like people all that much. Alongside that, he doesn’t really know how to properly interact with others. He wants to tell people what he truly thinks of them without hiding his personality behind a mask of people-pleasing and forced smiles, but he doesn’t know how. He doesn’t know how to talk to people normally without fearing that he’s going to hurt, like he believes he did with Ririka, where she blames him for something that he hadn’t done, and he accepts the blame because he still cares about her and because of him feeling that he needs to make her happy with their friendship, or embarrass, like he believes he did with his mother, where she called him an embarrassing child, those that he talks to and befriends. Him wanting to not hurt, embarrass or upset those he befriends has led him to seeming distant, which is something that Mukai and Shima’s younger brother have felt, and unapproachable. However, this is also due to Shima hiding his personality.

I mentioned this previously, but Shima hides his personality, and I can’t seem to understand why. Perhaps he fears being considered weird for how he really is. Perhaps he thinks that, if he hides his personality, people will like him more. 

He doesn’t understand his emotions that well, and I think that it takes him a while in order to identify how he’s feeling, which we’ve seen in regards to how he feels about Mitsumi. He also bottles up his emotions a lot, especially negative ones, and I would say that he probably feels shame around showing his emotions.

Overall, Shima’s an incredibly interesting character, who I found a bit hard to read at times.

Insecurities and fears

I think that Shima’s fears make a lot of sense in regards to his personality, and I find that they’re all connected with one another, which I’ll elaborate about shortly.

He’s terribly afraid of hurting his loved ones. I consider this another reason for why he’s a people-pleaser and why he tells people what they want to hear from him. He doesn’t want to hurt them because he knows that, if he does, he will lose those he loves, and, although it’s not talked about much in the series, he has probably experienced loss, through his parents’ separation, before and doesn’t want to experience it again.He holds his close relationships in a special place, even if he tries to hide that, which makes him afraid of hurting those he loves and, thus, losing them.

Because he’s so afraid of losing those he loves, he’s afraid of disappointing his loved ones. He knows that, if he were to disappoint them, they’d no longer think highly of him and they would eventually leave him or he’d somehow lose the close connection that he had with them, like he did with his mother. This is probably why he continued to act; he didn’t want to disappoint his mother and he wanted to make her proud of him.

Conclusion

Shima is a character that I relate to partially, especially the people-pleaser part, yet I think that we’re so alike yet so different. I think this is because the reasons for our similarities are very different. I mentioned this before, but I had a hard time understanding him at times, and I think that that’s because of how complex he is; he’s incredibly well written. It’s something that makes him quite human, which I really appreciate. He’s quite like the people I know, where I can read their character and understand their mannerisms to a degree, but there are still some parts of their personality and character that are a complete mystery to me. I truly hope that I did him justice within this character analysis since he’s one of my favourite characters within this series.

[quyqyart]

I thought it was gonna end with "summer break is over" to conclude a sweet and chill chapter but a Takamine x whathisname arc??? So excited for what the author is cooking I always thought those two got good chemistry/ are eachother narrative foil

Kazakami his name is Kazakami oops. I'm excited for what his development would be. He's been a foil to Takamine (and by extension Mitsumi since Mitsu and her senpai are the same type of harworkers/go-getters) since the last culture festival. Kazakami is a bit like Shima. He has charm and natural people skill but he does things not because he want to but out practicality. I don't think he's a people-pleaser like Shima but I think he will have an arc mirroring Shima's wanting to act again. In the last culture festival Shima was drifting aimlessly while Kazakami was going about his highschool career in a very purposeful but passionless way.

His stationary smile is fascinating it's fake as hell. My prediction is it gonna break in this arc

In terms of side characters' development I'm also hoping for something Sayaka related soon, she's the most interesting to me

[misoshio]

Skip to Loafer Anime Episode 1, Part 1 - Thoughts and more thoughts? (Part 2/3)

Here is Part 1 of my Part 1 LOL

NOTE: these posts do contain manga spoilers/ spoilers to episode 1 of the anime

6. Nao's Introduction

When I was looking at my side by side comparison with the anime to the manga, I was REALLY surprised to see that THIS was a difference. Where in the anime, Mitsumi says something along the lines of “Nao is my dad’s sibling”, I was really surprised that the manga translation introduces Nao as Mistumi’s dad’s younger “brother.” I’m really glad for this change, because character-wise it just makes SOOOOO much more sense that Mitsumi would use a gender-neutral term in her perspective that introduces Nao to all of us.

When I was looking at two translations that are up on mangadex, I noticed that one had brother italicized, while the other doesn’t HM. Not too sure which one is the official one, but the italicized brother does give a different meaning than the one that isn't!

I’m really curious as to what the original Japanese translates to in the intro of Nao, and would love a confirmation as to what the official english release translation of it was if anyone can send me any info in regards to that!

Edit as of: Fri, April 7, 2023~

The lovely Millie on discord has let me know that the official english release translation is true to Nao's identity! Millie has also provided me with a photo - thank you Millie :))) So that's awesome for me to see that Nao's intro really isn't a change from the manga to the anime.

I'm still curious as to what the Japanese official manga translation is/ what the dialogue actually translate to in the anime, cause I think that'd give me far more context as to how the intro of Nao is adapted in the anime being introduced as "Nao is my dad's sibling", so if anyone has any info on that, I'm all ears and would love to know :)

Edit as of Friday, May 12th, 2023

The wonderful @li-changge has kindly explained the original Japanese translation. Please refer to the replies in this post :)))

7. Cute and cuter! Animals are the best.

I just thought it was so cute how we can see more of Mistumi’s lock screen in the anime! Honestly, I completely missed this when reading the manga

8. More Cherry Blossoms - they're falling for me, and I'm falling for them even more than I already am!

More cherry blossom action, but what’s cool is in the anime, we actually see it in action - LOL I love seeing anime doing its anime thing, but that's too bad in my screenshot.. you don't see any of the anime thing, so this is your sign to watch the episode again

9. Huh? She's stuck to it.

I love how we get to hear the little “huh?” that Shima does! In the manga, it seems more so that Shima notices Mitsumi, with no spoken reaction!

Also, in this sequence of “girl stuck on the wall” we literally see a crowd part before we see MItsumi which i think only adds to the humour of this moment. Also, hearing the characters say these lines and how the voice actors have delivered them so freakin' well only makes the dialogue of Shima and Mukai even funnier HAHA

10. Sound Rolling, Camera Speeding, Me Laughing

These moments were SO great to me on all senses - sound, visuals, my stomach muscles moving so I could ha ha ha

First of all, whatever gurgling sound mitsumi is doing in this moment made me topple over LOL

and then the moment of reveal when mitsumi looks at shima for the first time with the sound effects? Also, the anime throughout has SUCH a great use of realism and when to really exaggerate the dramatics which only makes things all the more funnier - and this moment before mitsumi turns, then having that bg music hit and the visual background turn dark, and then close up of that eye  is one example of this anime’s great use of realism vs. heightened realism for effect 

11. This Mitsumi Face

We get to see more of droopy mitsumi face in the anime and i’m here for it! This chibi-guilty face rocks my world and i’m very happy we get to see it, as it’s not really clear in the manga

12. A little mix and match

This next moment, the anime and manga actually swapped/combined together some visuals from different moments and put them in one and the way they used it imo is really cool!

In the manga, mitsumi has this post-train ride reflection moment. For the first time, it happens right before she meets shima

and the anime plays each sequence out in its own scene.

Then later, after they got off the train and shima asks mitsumi if she wants to run to school, mitsumi’s has her post-train ride reflection a second time. In the manga, it looks like this:

but in the anime, we just stay on her face

i think what’s cool with this choice of using the different vignette scenes only during the very first post-train ride relfection - the being lost, being in the wave of people, etc. is that with the funny bg music, the added visuals only make it more funny.

Then by having her second reflection only focused on her face with no background music at all, really makes us feel like she’s reflecting on what happened in a different way, with more seriousness, and more gravity, and we can feel that through the simplicity of just looking at her, no sounds aside for her inner thoughts

-

Link to Part 3/3

[batgirlsay]

Also, get you a girl whose love language is handing you a crab 🦀

Get you a man who knows your limits in the summer heat:

[championofravens]

Skip to Loafer and Transgender Role Models: A Brief Analysis

To any who watch or read Skip to Loafer, Nao-chan is a presence you immediately can not ignore. The protagonist’s aunt, she is the primary adult we interact with in the series and one of the main characters of the supporting cast. Our first introduction to Nao-chan does not immediately reveal her transgender status- we are instead introduced to her as a kind, nurturing, caring and protective adult in Mitsumi’s life. We learn later about her being trans through negative whispers from strangers and immediately the tone is set: instead of having Nao-chan hear the gossip on the train, she is instead immediately given a small gesture of love and support from our protagonist Mitsumi. It is a simple but deliberate scene and seems to offer a quiet promise that Nao-chan is as deserving as happiness as anyone else in the cast, an overarching theme that becomes more and more powerful for many characters over the course of the story.

I specifically want to talk about Episode X from the anime and a few scenes from it. For anyone who hasn’t watched it, I will summarize as best I can:  Mitsumi asks permission from Nao-chan to invite her school friends over for a slumber party and she happily agrees. However, she also says that she wishes to tell her friends she is biologically male “just in case”. No reason is directly stated why but many can easily spring to mind. We cut then to Nao-chan dressed in a more masculine style than normal, serving Mitsumi’s friends and being referred to with male honorifics. As Nao-chan leaves, however, our beloved supporting cast all pipe up to compliment Mitsumi’s stylish and kind aunt. We see Nao-chan listening from outside the door, joyfully tearing up.

Later, Nao-chan reappears in her typical feminine attire and makeup to the girls, informing them she’s stepping out. Mika ends up following Nao-chan out, the two having somewhat of a repertoire from earlier in the episode, and Mika confides in her reasons for leaving the slumber party early. Nao-chan immediately is able to relate to Mika’s anxieties and fears based on her own experience growing up, the viewer given a quick shot of her younger masculine self. Before letting her leave, Nao-chan offers advice and urges Mika to return to the slumber party, imparting an important lesson about embracing being genuine to yourself her (with some briefly hilarious word choices).

At this moment on our first watch, my husband turned to me and said ��God, if only I heard that growing up.”

It can’t be overstated how shocking the amount of respect and affection Nao-chan gets in the story is. First, the story’s way of choosing to address her being transgender while keeping consistent with it’s happy and airy tone is done masterfully. Nao-chan makes a very realistic choice for her situation in wanting to present as male to Mitsumi’s friends and the narrative respects that. But it also doesn’t linger on the issue either by having Mitsumi’s friends immediately address it positively to the viewer. I think my favorite thing however is that the story lets Nao-chan hear the praise and kind words. We get to see a transgender woman in a moment of maximum gender euphoria. She is respected as a character and as her gender at all times, whether she is there in the moment or not.

Things are taken a step further in the next scene, going beyond simply supporting Nao-chan as a transgender character in the story but also as an adult role model too. In a time where radical rhetoric says transgender women can never understand the struggles of cis women, the story shows the exact opposite. Not only do a group of cis young women all think Nao-chan is beautiful and kind, they also see her as a safe person to confide in and a person who can relate to their feelings. Mika’s short time with Nao-chan earlier in the episode was of a more slapstick variety yet her honesty with Nao-chan feels organic when it happens. We can understand how the two would find common ground on their feelings, even if they lived completely different lives. In fact, it is implied that Nao-chan’s feelings are uniquely pulled from her experience growing up assigned male.

Part of this is contributed to the fact Nao-chan breaks the curse of transgender characters in much of anime by being surprisingly “sexless”. Not once is a perverted joke made at her expense or does she slip in a strangely blunt reference to her body. Part of this is thanks to the genre and overall tone of Skip to Loafer which is incredibly comfortable and chaste.

I was inspired to write this after realizing that there would be a chance that this character and this story’s handling of her might slip under the radar. Though she is not the focus of the story, she is present constantly within the narrative just as anyone else and her presence only enhances the experience. When I see the same examples being passed around of what qualifies for good trans rep in anime, it makes me burn to think she may not be included in these lists.

[sliceofdyke]

shima sousuke, chapter 61

mika egashira, chapter 24

[mapoeggplant]

skip to loafer chapter 64 analysis // spoiler

the desire to be loved that distances her more and more from people: we are finally starting to understand a little more about yasaka's past.

unlike what I thought, the first spark that gave shape to the kyoto arc didn't come from shima or the girl groups, but from one of the most enigmatic characters in skip to loafer: yasaka.

we always knew very little about her and how her story unfolded. all we had was the understanding that she was a very lonely person with a complicated family situation and someone who sought people's love. and now, together with mitsumi, we are starting to understand more about where she was going with when she said that mitsumi had always been too loved to not care about what others thought.

yasaka clearly has a great desire to be loved, but she doesn't know exactly how to make people create stronger bonds with her. she believes that by being a person who is liked and desired by everyone and making these people feel good, she will get everything she wants — and this illusion may have been the result of a troubled relationship with her father, something that I believe is possible due to the small flashback she provides us.

she wants to be loved, she wants people to look at her with affection and not disapproval. being loved, pampered, praised is the way she understands love, something probably the result of a strict upbringing, where demanding anything more would result in a disappointed look. to escape this, yasaka always acts like a good girl, who gives double meaning answers and only says what others want to hear. the superficiality of the love she receives is enough to soften her ego and feed her well-being and the superficiality of the love she gives is enough to protect her from getting hurt.

but of course all of this is just a time bomb that is very close to exploding. yasaka puts on this persona of someone who does not want to be completely understood, but is unable to separate her frustration from the desire to form more meaningful relationships. she is not only shielding herself from people forming more mature relationships with her, but also doing her best to maintain superficiality so that her mask doesn't fall. another thing that solidifies this for me is the central page of yasaka surrounded by “affection” and gifts, showing exactly the loss of her childhood and the desire she still carries within her.

and what I like most about all of this is how mitsumi, someone completely opposite to her and who barely knows her, tries at all costs to cross this barrier that yasaka places between her and the world. by not allowing her to leave and insisting that she stay with the group, mitsumi is basically confirming to yasaka that it's okay for her to have her flaws and receive disapproving looks: her presence is still required and she is still a person who complements the group as a whole.

I really like how sensei is always willing to put two completely opposite characters so that they can externalize their flaws and fight against their barriers — and the relationship between mitsumi and yasaka is exactly another great example of this. on one side we have mitsumi, who grew up surrounded by love and affection, that’s why she’s so sure of herself and doesn’t need to seek validation on others. on the other, we have yasaka who craves affection so much to the point that she will drown herself in any small glass of it.

another thing i want to point out about this chapter is how being in love can blind you for flaws of the one you admire so much. when ujiie realized that yasaka isn’t the perfect girl he always saw, the first instinct he had was to deny it: of course his goddess wouldn’t have a flaw!! she’s 100% that girl he idolizes and loves so much. but what if this was all something he made up inside his mind?? how will ujiie deal with this heartbreaking of a confession?

another month blessed with another gorgeous chapter. sensei keeps surprising me more and more and can’t wait to see what she’s keeping as a secret from us. thank you so much for reading 💛!!

[youuuimeanmee]

I think at the beginning, he only saw her as a harmless, chill person -- she doesn't seem to be interested in him because of his looks or status. So he didn't see her as a girl, or someone he needs to look out for. He just likes her -- on a surface level -- enough to casually jokes about dating. He didn't think of it that much because he feels safe around her. And that continues to be his blindspot later in the story.

It wasn't until Shima saw how flushtered Mitsumi is -- after she offhandedly tell him she likes him when he realized, "Oh shit, so she likes me that way." It was only then, I think, that his trauma is triggered. The fear for being abandoned if he couldn't live up to her expectation, and the fear for hurting his partner AND himself for ingenuine relationships for the mere sake of being loved. It's sad he only get to know she loved him unconditonally after they break up; just when he started to feel safe enough to love someone again.

And of course, Shima having the emotional maturity of a baby, probably didn't realize any of these.

I find it strange that someone like Shima - who had bad experiences in the past by agreeing very easily to date girls he didn't feel anything for and, since then, doesn't want to make that mistake again - is always the one talking about “couple stuff” in front of Mitsumi when no one else has brought it up.

Did anyone else notice this or is it just me ?

[marjustmar]

devouring all the new skip and loafer analysis n shit posts

[blonding]

my thoughts on shima sousuke, a (semi) short character analysis.

so recently, i’ve had the pleasure of catching up on the skip to loafer manga, which is a seinen manga with romance elements (i know better now than to call it shoujo!) but that aside, ever since the beginning when i started reading it a year or so ago, shima sousuke, the male main character, stuck out to me.

more under cut + various major skip to loafer spoilers are included

shima sousuke is like. well first of all he’s one of the characters of all time, but beside the fact i like him a lot, he’s a character i relate to in a way i never thought i would relate to a fictional character. calling him multi-faceted just sands down the realness of his character otherwise.

shima is very much the type of character that doesn’t want to “stick out or make a fuss” mostly due to childhood trauma and neglect, he feels as if he is already a burden while not realizing the cause as to why. but along with that, he also bottles everything up until the point where his numbness to genuine emotion makes him feel like interaction & intimacy is just the other party, and him, taking advantage of each other in different ways. and, while some of this may be true, in his head shima already knows that he has built up an invisible wall around him, so that even if someone really did want to actually get to know him, mitsumi for example, he couldn’t let them in even if he tried to.

take this screenshot from chapter 46 as an example ^

the writing in skip to loafer (especially the character writing) is incredibly real and dimensional, and while i’m just focusing on shima for now- how he handles his relationships with others, as if he “owes” others his compliance and kindness, in one of the later chapters he calls himself a ‘status symbol’ as if he doesn’t even really see himself as a person worthy of his own autonomy at all.

^ here you can see how he truly thinks about himself.

the cause of this, at least the main cause, is shown to the reader throughout the manga- due to the fact that he was abused as a child, and made to believe that he doesn’t have worth outside of what others can make of him and what he can provide- he has completely alienated himself (or at least his real self) out of a fear of being resented, and honestly, such is the feeling of a child who has only known fear and darkness, it’s probably only natural that he’s extremely afraid to even try to leave that.

on the other hand, even if it was without knowing at first, mitsumi is the constant in the manga that is thoroughly and constantly trying to break this pattern. her kind bluntness and truthfulness aids her in this. i feel as if the reason why shima partially lets mitsumi into his life, with or without realizing, is because of the fact she has what he envies most— love. whether shima realizes this or not- he is jealous of her. he is jealous that she is able to speak her mind as freely and truthfully as she wants, and he is jealous of the fact that she is clearly someone who has those who truly love her.

^ you can see that another character even outright tells her right here.

in a way, these characters are polar opposites of each other. shima wants what mitsumi has, and mitsumi wants shima to open up to her- something he feels he is incapable of.

but even with that being said, shima doesn’t want mitsumi out of his life either, even with his jealousy aside he does actually like mitsumi- after all, what’s not for him to like. she was one of the first people in his life to actually want to know him, and not just the idea of him, but the real, honest-to-god him.

obviously this is all just my own personal speculation, but i do believe that all shima ever wanted was to feel genuinely wanted, but now that he actually is wanted for who he really is, he has no idea what to do, and even less of an idea as how to tear down the seemingly indestructible wall that he has built up around him.

regarding shima’s character, it’s all very this image ^

anyways, i think that’s just about all i have to say for now, thank you for coming to my shima sousuke ted talk, i hope you enjoyed it at least a little bit!