Shounen no Abyss

[frubam]

Well, hilariously, this isn't anything new . I didn't know which way the Gen situation would go, but I am not surprised he ended up being a simp for her once again(if he ever stopped). Reiji put into words what he dared not say, and thus, Gen could not help but acknowledge it in the pivotal moment of the confrontation. Now I wonder what her next move will be? How will she use Gen once Reiji comes back to have that final talk with her?

Shame about Yuri though; looks like she'll miss Reiji again as he's taking the train back to town while she's taking the cab to Tokyo. Still, her thoughts kinda teeter on that hope that she and Reiji will still be a thing; that they'll have escaped the town and can do whatever they wish with nothing shackling them. She said she has no idea how she'll respond when she sees him, and that very response will truly reveal whether or not she really cared about Reiji's well-being over her own, or if everything she's done(getting Kazu to leave, taking care of Yuko, etc.) was for the sole intention of keeping Reiji to herself.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for 123:

Well, well, well. That didn't quite work out for Yuko. She made a rookie mistake mentioning Reiji this fast, it was a dead give-away she gives no shit about Gen (which was obvious to us, but perhaps not to him). I hope she won't draw another reverse UNO card next chapter...

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for 123:

Well, well, well. That didn't quite work out for Yuko. She made a rookie mistake mentioning Reiji this fast, it was a dead give-away she gives no shit about Gen (which was obvious to us, but perhaps not to him). I hope she won't draw another reverse UNO card next chapter...

There ain't no way Gen's going to follow through. He's already proven he doesn't have the guts, like in the bathroom. Or she will reverse UNO() Gen back into submission. This is Yuko we are talking about; has she ever failed to turn the tides back into her favor? Even with Yuri, who has unarguably been the one that has opposed her directly thus far, was wavering against the mind games of Yuko. Plus there's no one around; no random interruptions or anything to stop them like Yuki last time(well there is Reiji's grandmother, but not sure what she could do against a near-grown man).

Still, I don't get why Gen didn't see this coming. He knows she cares the most about Reiji; at least he should by this point. Seems like he is going back to self-deluding that he loves Reiji instead of Yuko, maybe as a deflection that she doesn't really love him back.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by frubam

There ain't no way Gen's going to follow through. He's already proven he doesn't have the guts, like in the bathroom. Or she will reverse UNO() Gen back into submission. This is Yuko we are talking about; has she ever failed to turn the tides back into her favor? Even with Yuri, who has unarguably been the one that has opposed her directly thus far, was wavering against the mind games of Yuko. Plus there's no one around; no random interruptions or anything to stop them like Yuki last time(well there is Reiji's grandmother, but not sure what she could do against a near-grown man).

Still, I don't get why Gen didn't see this coming. He knows she cares the most about Reiji; at least he should by this point. Seems like he is going back to self-deluding that he loves Reiji instead of Yuko, maybe as a deflection that she doesn't really love him back.

Obviously he won't kill her, but he might choke her into unconsciousness and then bind her so he and Reiji can have their final "face-off" without her interference. Might even use her to play mind games with Reiji. And maybe with her, too.

I'll be disappointed if she manages to get him back on her side after this.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Obviously he won't kill her, but he might choke her into unconsciousness and then bind her so he and Reiji can have their final "face-off" without her interference. Might even use her to play mind games with Reiji. And maybe with her, too.

I'm not exactly seeing what Reiji can do there in that situation. That is to say in what form the "face-off" will take. Reiji can't beat him in a fight. But then again, I'm not sure what Yuko's plan is; how is(or was) she planning to use Gen?

I'll be disappointed if she manages to get him back on her side after this.

My friend, I feel that disappointment awaits you .

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by frubam

I'm not exactly seeing what Reiji can do there in that situation. That is to say in what form the "face-off" will take. Reiji can't beat him in a fight. But then again, I'm not sure what Yuko's plan is; how is(or was) she planning to use Gen?

Gen might force him to choose between killing Yuko or killing him (or someone else), it's something like that I have in mind.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for 124:

Yuko-sama, I kneel.

Seriously who the fuck can stop her?

[frubam]

Well unsurprisingly, Gen folds to Yuko once again. He tries to purport that his life is dark. In general standards, it is, but compared to Yuko, his life is like him relaxing on a beach resort, without having a care in the world.

I wonder if the curtain closing means they had sex. A 46 y/o with a 16 y/o seems a bit much, but considering its Yuko, who is still(supposedly) beautiful, AND her past(a juxtaposition of her current situation in terms of the ages of participants), its understandable. They did this with Sensei and Reiji near the beginning of the series(it wasn't a curtain, but similar foreshadowing of the event).

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for 124:

Yuko-sama, I kneel.

Seriously who the fuck can stop her?

Honestly, I kinda hated that Gen rescinded. I mean, I thought it was inevitable he would, but doing it so quickly made the chapter feel a bit pointless(although it serves to show Gen "his place" beneath Yuko, we, the readers already knew what it was).

Only Reiji can... or so we assume. But Gen trying to do something at this point to Reiji would just be an interference, since he already slapped Gen with the truth(don't love Reiji; loves Yuko). Sensei leaving I think was a good thing. With Reiji coming back, it really feels like it'll be the first time Reiji confronts Yuko head on, and really have a thorough discussion. About what exactly, I'm intrigued to know, but can't exactly venture a guess =0v. But he was able to exude his true, unapologetic feelings to Esemori; and I can't wait to see him do the same with Yuko. Hopefully, Gen won't be a f"kn tool and try to interject(or that Yuko won't have some stupid plan like let Gen restrain him while Yuko prepares the double suicide =01), giving them an ample enough time to air their laundry out.

If they do, then that'd leave Nagi and(maybe) Chako left to finish up this manga.

[Kanon]

Given that Yuko encouraged Gen to keep bullying and beating up Reiji, she might just have him do that to him as soon as he arrives. After all these chapters I still have no idea what goes on in that mind of hers. At least we got an answer why she tried to kill herself by jumping in front of Yuri's car. It wasn't a moment of clarity or anything, she was trying to get Reiji to follow her in death out of guilt.

She's probably in my top 2 female antagonists of all time. The other is in Chainsaw Man. I guess I like twisted women.

[dark44]

next chapter is too much seeing your best friend doing your mother thats NTR plot

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by dark44

next chapter is too much seeing your best friend doing your mother thats NTR plot

Unless I missed a page you're jumping to conclusions. And Gen being Reiji's best friend? He's like his worst enemy. His best friend is Chako.

I thought the conversation between Reiji and Yuri was really nice.

[frubam]

So thereby ends Senseibowl. I do think this gives closure to Yuri's self-delusion that she'll be Reiji's sole savior and that she had a chance at starting a romantic relationship with him.

His first thought when Yuri stated she got the grandmother and Kazu out of the house was that Yuko was all alone. We readers all know the climatic moment after he stabbed himself where Reiji tells Yuko that he hates her, but the way he ask certainly had a dose of concern for her well-being. I do very much enjoy the duality of his feelings. Yuko has been saying that he can't abandon her because its the way she made him to be, but I feel at this point, he's already assessed who that person(the one he wants to be) is and genuinely has his own perceptions about the situations that are happening around him. I don't think he's been led solely because its how Yuko crafted him.

On another note, Reiji is still broken up about Chako. As a Chako shipper, I'm glad, but looking at it objectively, it shows that he's still very concerned about her. Regardless of the ethical concerns of her recent actions, to Reiji, she still was a shining light for him for many years, and her cheerfulness helped carry him through the darker times of his life, so its good to see him not completely toss her aside just because her mentality has changed.

[frubam]

Spoiler for 125:

*reaches last page

What the f*k???

[Kanon]

This is the most messed up chapter in the entire series. And I'm not even talking about the last page.

[frubam]

Yeah. Interesting. And crazy. Lots of crazy. So Gen killing Masaharu had nothing to do with saving Reiji; in his mind, he wanted to erase that ultimate moment of embarrassment in that closet, which he would be reminded of every time Reiji would get a beating. So he killed him. I mean, it freaking crazy that Yuko manipulation was to this extent. Even giving him a handjob in the closet to get his adrenaline pumping. But even after killing Masa, he still couldn't forget, esp when the neighborhood boys bring it back up or Reiji giving his thanks and appreciation for it. I gotta admit, when Reiji called him out a couple dozen chapters back that he didn't love him, but instead, loved Yuko, I thought Gen was done; Reiji gave him the psychological slap that he'll never recover from. I'm actually impressed the author was able to pull even more insanity from his story. He's still no more likable than before, but it does paint him in a more sympathetic light.

I'm guessing due to the trauma of killing Reiji's dad and Yuko's manipulation throughout his life finally broke Gen; and now that has harbored such a fixation on Reiji due to all that I'm assuming he has some feeling of wanting to replace Yuko as the thing Reiji is returning to. Speaking of Yuko, where did she end up at the moment?

People thinking Yuko dead, but I say there is no way that Yuko will go down without Reiji getting that confrontation. Being the most direct influence to all the events he's been through most of his life, not to mention all of the s**t she's fenagled through, I can't see her going down just from this; its likely she's hold up in her room and might play the damsel in distress when she re-reveals herself.

[Kanon]

There are people actually thinking Yuko is dead?
She hasn't even told us her past yet. Esemori's account isn't enough to tell how exactly she ended up this twisted. Personally, I think her story will end with her telling Reiji everything and him doing what she thinks is impossible: forgiving her.

As for Gen, Yuko fucked him up real good.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for 127:

That certainly shed a new light on Gen's character. He was never in love with Yuko, he was entranced by her beauty and dreamed of becoming like her.

He claims to have killed Yuko, but there's no way. Now there is one more person asking Reiji to die with him.

I'm not sure that was the intent but Reiji just trying to silently leave the room after seeing Gen made me burst out laughing.

[frubam]

Originally Posted by Kanon

Spoiler for 127:

That certainly shed a new light on Gen's character. He was never in love with Yuko, he was entranced by her beauty and dreamed of becoming like her.

He claims to have killed Yuko, but there's no way. Now there is one more person asking Reiji to die with him.

I had mixed feelings about this at first. I don't completely buy that Gen wanted to become Yuko, but when I thought about how many times the author did this kind of heel drop/turn, it seems feasible. I do take into consideration how these "truths" can seem true when spoken by the character, but later come to find out otherwise. When Reiji was in Tokyo with Gen, he said that Gen loved Yuko, and all the signs pointed to that made sense. Gen had that shocked pikachu face and said nothing to refute it.

Yeah, also not buying Yuko dying. In addition to what I said last post, it is impossible she'd die off-screen, and without ever confronting Reiji. That would be super-anticlimatic. The author wants to burrow these characters in despair as far down as possible, and there's just no way that can happen if Reiji doesn't confront Yuko face to face at this point.

Spoiler:

I'm not sure that was the intent but Reiji just trying to silently leave the room after seeing Gen made me burst out laughing.

Lol, I thought the same thing; boy was literally like "....Nope. Not dealing with this...", . Hilarious.

[Kanon]

Spoiler for 129:

I'm so proud of Reiji

He faced Gen head on and headed up saying all the right things. And for the first time, he's expressed the desire to live!

Seems pretty clear now that Yuko was trying to get Reiji to kill Gen in order to shackle him to the town once more. That failed spectacularly.

[frubam]

Spoiler for 130:

Nope not believing it; not until I see her rotting corpse, I can't believe she's dead !

I didn't think Reiji could do it, but he managed to talk-no-jutsu Gen into giving up and turning himself in. I'm kinda shocked that it feels like he turned the other cheek. There was this sort-of hope in the tone of his voice that's different from that moment he turned his back on Gen when they were in Tokyo. I think its because for the first time, he has clear goals and is no longer being the 'abyss' that pulls people in; but rather, the ray of light that pulls people out. I guess both Chako and Nagi are next... and possibly, at some point, Yuko too.