im also not a fan of how the dad in hgsn goes from being intimidating and yoshiki not having a positive image of him, to the manga kinda presenting him like an awkward goof or sympathetically pathetic? the narrative seems to be babying this adult man, and ditched the initial depiction of his father being cold. i still think his past actions foreshadow things relating to yoshiki and hikaru, but him as a character felt a little annoying in this chapter, like it was a retcon.
yoshiki's mom is repeatedly fed up with the dad for his inaction and refusal to communicate, where he usually throws a tantrum and leaves the conversation, which happens over and over. yoshiki sides with her, and blames him for being embarrassed by neighbors knowing about their relationship troubles.
Here, she might have heard him praise her when he doesnt know she's there, or that he told yoshiki to make sure to tell her, too, but I don't think he does much that deserves a reward (his favorite meal being made), especially compared to his previous actions. In this scene, he doesn't resolve that he'll try to speak/listen to the mom, nor does he say that he should be acting better, so I don't think there's a reason for the mom to feel any less annoyed. In fact, I think if I was the mom, who repeatedly tried to broach important topics to him, he wouldn't step up, and I heard him having the opposite attitude not around me, i'd feel baffled, or at least annoyed, not subtly wanting to reward him for not even doing the bare minimum.
The main conversation is abt him sharing the past, but him suddenly complimenting her felt a little forced, like to make us believe he actually isnt that bad, even though he's not fixing his behavior. There's also no indication at the end of the scene implying him trying to do something different. Yoshiki gets info that he can't get anywhere else, so he's glad for that, and can relate considering the indoh situation and focuses on that, but also i'm not sure how he gets that info in the first place.
Another weird thing about the dad is that him helping Yoshiki is supposed to raise our opinion of him, but I'm honestly not sure why this happens. His main flaw that creates Yoshiki and his mom's low opinion of him is his failure to connect as part of the family, he struggles to speak to his own son casually and can't speak to his own wife (who he apparently won over to convince her to leave her own hometown) about serious issues. Yoshiki is understandably not interesting in engaging with someone who at best can offer some distant small talk, and I can see the mother also being frustrated that he can now share personal info here, when she's been trying to talk to him forever.
here, Dad does the same thing he always does, ask why the topic is being brought up, yoshiki similarly doesn't attempt to provide a reason, and inexplicably the dad continues on as if he's an NPC in a telltale game where the "..." dialogue choice effects nothing. Normally, I'd say maybe if Yoshiki attempted to be vulnerable, in turn the dad might reciprocate, but clearly at this point, the father is not interested in that. I think if Yoshiki actually pressed, the dad mightve felt threatened and resisted more, and yoshiki saying nothing I think... shouldnt have done anything. The father is mentioned to flee eventually after sitting like a scolded child, silently brewing in anger, so I don't really know what brought him out of his room he apparently hides in and made him talking abt what was needed beyond it being necessary for the plot. This is his first actual appearance, so I'm not sure what couldve worked to make him change his behavior, but I feel like I would've taken anything beyond it happening as easily as Yoshiki finding that Gehenna art (it damn near jumping out at him).
His depiction in ch. 25 just feels unfair to yoshiki and his mom's characters at that point. It gives too much leeway to the dad, as if he's not an adult, and almost makes yoshiki's previous feelings towards him feel silly, like "wow, he hates this guy??" and maybe one could point out the bonus comic is a version of his mother who thought his dad was endearingly silly (instead of anything being signs of a problem), but the dad's flaws just arent seriously acknowledged by the narrative. He comes across as both a victim, and a cold authority, which doesnt make sense.
Honestly, it reminds me of the opposite of this dunmeshi comic w laios' father. The father isn't evil, but his lack of communication hurts laios, and the fandom interpreted this as laios being overdramatic bc they compared him to... his sister who thought her mom's crazy tactics to "cure" her daughter were fun. ryoko kui does a good job of making characters complex, and the dad is portrayed objectively here, but mokumoku len definitely makes yoshiki's dad not seem very serious, like we're supposed to think there's smth serious going on, then no, he's just a poor man baby whose scared of his wife
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random midnight ramblings but.... its tragic how difficult it is to effectively pull off a jealous!mikan plot in au fanfics, not bc mikan hasnt been jealous (bc she HAS and HOW) but bc natsume is so devastatingly a one-girl-only kind of guy that its hard to put him in a realistic situation where mikan would be jealous in a meaningful way.
like in the sports fest arc, natsume is forced into pretending to date (?) luna. he holds her hand and spends all his time with her, meaning that mikan HAS to confront her feelings in a way she didnt have to before. its a pretty big deal in terms of her storyline, but natsume had to be forced into that situation for it to actually play out. otherwise, he'd never leave mikan's side.
and that's pretty much the biggest problem for fanfic writers who wanna explore that aspect of jealousy: how to realistically have that storyline play out in a world where natsume is not in the da class/a child soldier. how to get natsume, who is ultimately only interested in mikan when it comes to romance, to even glance at another girl without it being forced.
it's very weird to think about and i think it's part of the reason why i've never really liked the idea of natsume having ex-girlfriends who actually meant something. narratively, i'd honestly rather have natsume be a playboy and y'all know i dislike playboy!natsume so much.... at least if it's some sort of ridiculous serial dating without any real feelings involved it stays true to natsume's unique devotion to mikan. i still don't like it but ig if i had to choose...
so yeah it's a weird and tricky situation and i get it, fellow fic writers.... it's so hard. bc i LOOOOVE mikan's jealousy so much but it's so hard to make it come about in a natural way that stays true to natsume's character.
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why did u dislike stand by me? other than the art style
While you said aside from art style, I'll say it's worse than I thought it'd be. I hate when the characters open their terrible no tooth mouths, they do it so much it's hard to ignore and it's awful to look at. Aside from the uncanny factor though, the backgrounds and scenery look nice.
As for the movie itself, I feel like it just highlights everything I don't really like about the Doraemon series? From the Nobita and Shizuka """romance""", to the weird perverted jokes at Shizuka's expense. I'm also in general not a fan of the 'Doraemon leaves/April Fools' story they used at the end, so I wasn't happy to see it again and in a movie I could care less about.
It doesn't feel like anything changes or progresses, it doesn't make me believe Nobita ever grows to be his own person that can take care of himself, that they don't set anything up for any of the payoff it gives...
They throw in some dialogue about Nobita being depressed, they use sad lighting, and they use tears but they never are actually saying anything meaningful. It just feels like tools to cheat you into feeling sad but it really had the opposite effect on me, I just felt annoyed because the emotional moments do not feel earned.
When Nobita drinks the juice that makes people hate him and Shizuka fights against it to comfort him, that should be a moment that moves you... a triumph and instead I just sit there and don't feel very moved because it didn't feel like there was any progression in their relationship to earn this? Like the idea I like, it's sweet inherently but it doesn't play out in a way that makes me engaged in the story.
Everyone takes a backseat for Nobita's obsession with Shizuka which I think, is the worst thing you could make the focus. I know it's an important part of the plot but I've never liked it, I've already discussed how Shizuka doesn't feel like her own person but just a prize to be won by Nobita in the end... when movies, episodes, etc focus on it so much- it makes me believe in their relationship less and less.
I'm sorry but putting her in a weird outfit for your benefit, trying to force her to fall in love with you via imprinting, up-skirting her in public.... it doesn't make me root for him. Those things in the series have done the opposite of make me root for them, especially contrasted with how Dekisugi treats her. It makes me wonder why on earth she'd pick Nobita in any universe, but specifically this one?
Also something, something... how marrying Jaiko was not the issue and Nobita's misery is his own fault, but yeah sure let's focus on what wife this ten year old gets in the future.
It's especially horrible hearing her say, during the blizzard in the cave, "You need someone to take care of you." As a reason to marry Nobita, as a reason to say yes to the proposal... SHE'S TOO GOOD FOR HIM IN THIS MOVIE! Sorry to say. That is not a wife, that's a mother- it's not love it just feels like pity.
Nobita needs to learn some actual self love and not betting all his happiness on a marriage years from now. Putting all his points into one person for some distant goal is a bad idea, what about the now? What about building bonds with his friends, his family? What about fixing himself as he is now.
I get the point is that somehow earning Shizuka's love will help him, make him a better person, but it doesn't feel like it. It also just feels.... not good. I would talk about the reliance on gadgets instead of self help in any way, but that's always been a thing.
Anyhow, it's a movie that exists for people who are already a fan of the franchise to trick you into thinking it's emotional because your knowledge and feel for the characters already give you depth for them. It feels like it's trying to get cheap and easy tears out of you and I don't really care for that.
It's also a whirlwind of stories I already know, done a bit worse for some in a bad art style. It was doomed to be a movie I don't like. I just can't think of anything positive I felt from it that I couldn't get better in any other Doraemon movie, chapter or even episode.
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