Hige wo Soru. Soshite Joshikousei wo Hirou.

[Kraco]

Well, all of the pieces are here now. Did it work for you? It more or less did for me. The sympathetic friend suicide is a trope that gets me more often than not, and it comboed well with the mother's callousness.

It was already heavily suggested in an earlier episode that Sayu's friend would kill herself, so it wasn't any big surprise. I suppose this was quite a textbook background. Still worlds above any incest shit, though.

Brother was a bit too permissive for someone that holds a steady job... Give her cash and tell her to call you if she "thinks she's in danger"? Nah, she can stay at a local hotel if the objective is to give her distance from her mother.

I'd say that was the brother's, and also the mother's, personality problem. Those two are most likely quite similar personalities: emotionally stable, not thinking too much about anything useless, goal-oriented, efficient, not too sympathetic by nature in their practicality. So, when shit hit the fan in this sort of manner, they didn't really have any tools to deal with it, since nothing like that could ever happen because of their own actions. My theory is the brother just thought Sayu needs a bit of space, but he had no idea how emotionally damaged she was because it would be alien to his own nature. I reckon he really thought she would live for a week or two in a hotel, then come back as good as new once the money was all gone. Because that's likely the extent of his imagination and everything he himself would have needed.

On another note, how miserable is the depiction of the average Japanese man? It is that special to find someone who doesn't demand sexual favors for humanitarian aid of a minor?

Most people don't want to get involved in anything strange looking and simply pretend they didn't see anything. Another big portion would get it sorted out through the officials. A small minority would get personally involved. I reckon that city street might have even been close to some dubious parts of the town, so the portion of those wanting to get personally involved with unwholesome aims would be larger. After that first time, I'd go as far as saying Sayu was specifically looking for suitable types to allow that kind of living.

[MFauli]

I'd say that was the brother's, and also the mother's, personality problem. Those two are most likely quite similar personalities: emotionally stable, not thinking too much about anything useless, goal-oriented, efficient, not too sympathetic by nature in their practicality. So, when shit hit the fan in this sort of manner, they didn't really have any tools to deal with it, since nothing like that could ever happen because of their own actions. My theory is the brother just thought Sayu needs a bit of space, but he had no idea how emotionally damaged she was because it would be alien to his own nature. I reckon he really thought she would live for a week or two in a hotel, then come back as good as new once the money was all gone. Because that's likely the extent of his imagination and everything he himself would have needed.

I'd say it is more an author's problem rather than any of these characters' problems. And you're totally throwing the brother under the bus. He has been reasonably supportive.

Most people don't want to get involved in anything strange looking and simply pretend they didn't see anything. Another big portion would get it sorted out through the officials. A small minority would get personally involved. I reckon that city street might have even been close to some dubious parts of the town, so the portion of those wanting to get personally involved with unwholesome aims would be larger. After that first time, I'd go as far as saying Sayu was specifically looking for suitable types to allow that kind of living.

Let me drop some truth bombs here:

The reason why netflight's primary expectation of people letting a stranger girl stay with them without "benefits" is fault, is because that simply wouldn't ever happen irl. I wrote about this at the beginning of this series: When a stranger girl tells you she's run away from home and doesn't know where to stay, you call the police/other services to help her. Yes, she would hate that and all, but she's a runaway teenager, she doesn't get to pick and choose at this point. More importantly even: YOU are an unrelated adult. So at NO point in this chain of events would you invite a stranger girl into your house, and for several days, too. That's because 1.) it's inappropriate, 2.) you don't know how mentally stable she is, 3.) she might be a crime victim that needs to be investigated, 4.) maybe she's tricking you and will steal or even murder you in your sleep, 5.) and so on.

The scenario of this anime is 100% fictional and unrealistic. It only works because Yoshi is a mix of dumb and helpful to a fault, and literally EVERYYONE he knows is okay with this shit, too. Even if you are like Yoshida, chances are the first person you tell about it irl will be outraged and force you to tell the police or else they will do that.

Which brings us to the "miserable depiction of (Japanese) men":

First of all: If a runaway teenage girl asked me for help, I'd call the police so that things can be taken care of. That's not me being heartless, that's me doing the best for her. As someone who suffers from mental illness (depression) himself, I've been to several psychosomatic hospitals and you will absolutely meet this kind of cute, helpless girl in such institutions. I've been involved with these situations myself and matter of fact is: YOU cannot help them. You can be nice and all, but to make real change, they have to get real help. That's why they're in the hospital to begin with, lol. And someone like Sayu clearly needs professional help. She's got a trauma for sure from watching her friend commit suicide. She has a difficult relationship with her mom. And she's run away and had sex with lots of stranger men. GET HER PROPER HELP.

And secondly, IF for whatever reason I didn't do the above: Yes, I would totally have sex with her, too. Assuming she's of legal age and let's me do it, then I'd be an idiot not to. That doesn't make me "miserable", it makes me reasonable. She needs a place, I offer it to her, she gives me something in return. And while it's hard to judge from anime artstyles, she doesn't look like a child, nah, she's hot, we've seen that much.Is it still morally questionable? Sure. But that's only because at that point I already failed to do the morally right thing which I explained above.

Yoshida chose to do an in-between: Not give her proper help, BUT let her stay with him. Basically, he's a dumbass, because he's neither helping her nor getting something in return. He's just further messing things up.

[Kraco]

I'd say it is more an author's problem rather than any of these characters' problems. And you're totally throwing the brother under the bus. He has been reasonably supportive.

The game is over if you need to start criticising the author instead of the story. This series hasn't gotten that bad, at least not yet, in my opinion. Besides, the brother is a whole lot better person than I thought he was. He just isn't a people person, nor is the mother.

Let me drop some truth bombs here:

The reason why netflight's primary expectation of people letting a stranger girl stay with them without "benefits" is fault, is because that simply wouldn't ever happen irl. I wrote about this at the beginning of this series: When a stranger girl tells you she's run away from home and doesn't know where to stay, you call the police/other services to help her.

You ain't dropping no bombs here. I've written about the same thing, though it might have been at Mangadex in the manga discussion. However, it's just one of those settings you need to accept for there to be a story at all. This is still more believable than a space alien dropping on your lap, mysteriously being exactly like a really cute human girl, only with a tail, some weird powers, and scifi technology. If you can't accept that, you simply can't real great many a manga/watch their animes. This is no different, basically, only no laws of physics, population genetics, and such are broken.

Yes, she would hate that and all, but she's a runaway teenager, she doesn't get to pick and choose at this point. More importantly even: YOU are an unrelated adult. So at NO point in this chain of events would you invite a stranger girl into your house, and for several days, too. That's because 1.) it's inappropriate, 2.) you don't know how mentally stable she is, 3.) she might be a crime victim that needs to be investigated, 4.) maybe she's tricking you and will steal or even murder you in your sleep, 5.) and so on.

Actually a person who has suffered a lot in their own life, like a refugee, a victim of prolonged domestic abuse, etc, could do it. They might have lost their faith in the government and officials at least partially, but could still be a really good human. They would also be more likely to recognise another real victim, not just some scumbag looking for easy robbing targets. An outlier in the society, nonetheless. That being said, not even most of them would do it, but some might. Of course Yoshida is nothing like that.

The scenario of this anime is 100% fictional and unrealistic. It only works because Yoshi is a mix of dumb and helpful to a fault, and literally EVERYYONE he knows is okay with this shit, too. Even if you are like Yoshida, chances are the first person you tell about it irl will be outraged and force you to tell the police or else they will do that.

It's still a million percent more realistic than meeting a group of space aliens that look like super cute human girls, and they all fall in love with you, one after another.

First of all: If a runaway teenage girl asked me for help, I'd call the police so that things can be taken care of. That's not me being heartless, that's me doing the best for her. As someone who suffers from mental illness (depression) himself, I've been to several psychosomatic hospitals and you will absolutely meet this kind of cute, helpless girl in such institutions. I've been involved with these situations myself and matter of fact is: YOU cannot help them. You can be nice and all, but to make real change, they have to get real help. That's why they're in the hospital to begin with, lol. And someone like Sayu clearly needs professional help. She's got a trauma for sure from watching her friend commit suicide. She has a difficult relationship with her mom. And she's run away and had sex with lots of stranger men. GET HER PROPER HELP.

She seems to be doing much better already than in the beginning. I doubt she's going to keep selling herself anymore, and she's starting to think about her own future. The most well known Japanese mental health institution is a high building with an easy to access roof and poor fences around the edges. Sure, it would have solved all of Sayu's problems, just like it solved all of her best friend's problems, but I prefer her getting better by living with Yoshida for a while. He's probably the first decent adult who hasn't been too busy with their own business all the time, has tried to understand and encourage her, yet still being sure to set her limits and demand that she thinks about her own situation and be prepared to face the reality in the near future.

Yoshida chose to do an in-between: Not give her proper help, BUT let her stay with him. Basically, he's a dumbass, because he's neither helping her nor getting something in return. He's just further messing things up.

Results speak for themselves. Even the dense brother noticed Sayu has actually changed for the better in some ways, such as expresing her own will.

[MFauli]

We'll have to agree to disagree on most of this, Kraco, so I won't reply to every single paragraph. But the following I need to address:

It's still a million percent more realistic than meeting a group of space aliens that look like super cute human girls, and they all fall in love with you, one after another.

That's the same shitty argument SJWs (not saying you are one) love to make when people like me desire historical accuracy in video games, as much as that is reasonably possible. These people will then argue "oh, magic and dragons are fine, but gay and black people aren't?! Bigot!!1". What they're ignoring and what you just did is that there is an important difference between obious fantasy that's there as part of the sales pitch, and fantasy that nobody but activists would fantasize about.

For example, when I played Dragon Age Origins back when it released, I found it extremely silly that half of the soldiers during a big battle were women. That was clearly some activist agenda, because I didn't buy Dragon Age Origins for the fantasy-equality between male and female soldiers, I bought it for the dragons and magic fantasy. Some people complained about Kingdom Come: Deliverance not having black characters, even though the game was set in medieval Bohemia where black people (especially non-slaves) simply didn't exist back then and the developer strived to make a sim-like experience that's true to history. For that, activists called him a nazi. Because he refused to induce the kind of fantasy in their game that nobody actually wants from such game. Another example is Final Fantasy 10. I'm currently replaying the game and even 30 hours in, it has not once explained why people can breathe underwater. No explanation, it just is that way and it's extremely silly. Because I didn't start playing FF10 on the premise of "people that can breathe underwater", and since it's not explained, my mind hasn't changed on that matter. However, I have no trouble with all the magic, monsters and summons.

Which brings us back to this anime. I would indeed have less trouble accepting cute alien girls falling in love with some than what happens here, because alien girls falling in love with the protagonist would be the main hook of the show. Meanwhile, I started watching Hige o Soru under the mere premise of "girl seeks place to stay, guy lets her". I never expected that so many adults would be okay with what Yoshida does. And unlike the other underage-relationship anime from this season, this story is presented in a less light-hearted, more serious manner, so it's hard to just accept it.

Maybe some can turn a blind eye to that kinda fantasy easier than I can, but I find it terrible.

[Kraco]

That's the same shitty argument SJWs (not saying you are one) love to make when people like me desire historical accuracy in video games, as much as that is reasonably possible. These people will then argue "oh, magic and dragons are fine, but gay and black people aren't?! Bigot!!1". What they're ignoring and what you just did is that there is an important difference between obious fantasy that's there as part of the sales pitch, and fantasy that nobody but activists would fantasize about.

Which brings us back to this anime. I would indeed have less trouble accepting cute alien girls falling in love with some than what happens here, because alien girls falling in love with the protagonist would be the main hook of the show. Meanwhile, I started watching Hige o Soru under the mere premise of "girl seeks place to stay, guy lets her". I never expected that so many adults would be okay with what Yoshida does. And unlike the other underage-relationship anime from this season, this story is presented in a less light-hearted, more serious manner, so it's hard to just accept it.

Yeah, please don't ever call me an SJW. But no, it's not the same thing with what I was saying. I just used it to illustrate the fact that for this series to exist at all, the author has to throw away that aspect of realism. All of the central characters are smart enough and solid enough looking people, so there's simply no way for them to accept this all realistically. This is a simple fact. So, the author has to scrap that part of realism and the audience simply has to accept it's missing. It's exactly the same as in a harem series a totally ordinary, dull dude having a dozen hot girls love him passionately, despite the dude never doing anything to realistically catch anyone's attention, and in fact he never even seems to realise all those girls love him. All the girls mysteriously just keep hanging around him ad infinitum to catch him, not getting annoyed or giving up.

I guess it is easier to accept a really ridiculous setting than one otherwise realistic but that's just conflicting with realism in a specific aspect. Especially if the characters still act, more or less, as if the aspect still does exist. In this series they all do know Yoshida shouldn't keep living with Sayu, but they still accept it just like that, Yoshida himself included. Well, you could also view this as just one of those "sudden girlfriend appearance" series, which I was earlier jokingly referring to.