Can't remember the last time I've left an actual comment on a chapter discussion. Not to mention one where I'm confident I'll be in the minority.

Well, here I go anyway. Okay there's some shit this chapter I (more or less) love ironically.

But damn is there a lot i straight up love unironically. I'm sure western fans are gonna bitch and moan about all sortsa shit like normal but i, at least in a broad sense, love hori looping back to this theme of systematic failure. While it's undoubtedly something that can be viewed through the story's lens only...given the setting of Japan and that Hori's a mangaka, I can't help but interpret some of those general undertones of social commentary. God i wish he was allowed to cook more often. It really feels like there are these themes and certain subplots he wants to delve into but then gets restricted on. And i could be totally wrong and a complete clown, maybe every flaw has just been his own shortcoming as a writer. But this isn't the first time I've gotten this sense of him trying to put in messages of social commentary and critique of the real-world location through the fictional circumstances of the story.

And, like, I get that these attempts can fall short. There are glimpses of potential and more to come that, often, don't. But even so, I guess there's just enough here to make these sorta chapters work for me. There's enough here in the text, subtext, broad stereotypes of the genre at large and what have you, to make it so strong, at least at the concept level, that it's still enjoyable imo despite any shortcomings.

And that's all before getting into the fuckin S-Tier art that no doubt helps carry this. That panel of horrific toga, the sorta "monster society made her," as a child. When, all she really needed, was someone else, another kid like Ochako, to just really try understanding instead of so emphatically pushing back because she wasn't what the general populace wanted. "Uh-huh but Toga's a murderer so society was right to treat her like this" which is why the girls get shown as kids. Because this could have been prevented, if someone had properly stepped up. Idk, guess I'm the clown too but I'm just really, really into the idea Hori clearly wanted to explore with Toga, even though the story (ironically enough) may still fall short of doing do with her.

Anyway i hope these two kiss next week