my question is simple: What are the emotions of ririka momobami in chapter 74?
I love this question. Spoilers for Ch 74, obviously, and also speculation about what will happen in upcoming plot arcs.
So here we have Ririka in Ch 74, watching Yumeko vs Mary from the sidekicks section with Suzui.
There’s a few things to consider from just these few panels.
It’s fair for Ririka to suspect Yumeko is being careless with Mary’s feelings, it’s the same assumption Ternao makes. But Ririka is wrong; Yumeko has a lot on her mind, but she loves gambling with Mary and she’s excited to go forward with her in the Election. So what aspects of Ririka’s worldview leads to her to misread this situation?
Rirka probably is very familiar with the feeling of not being seen. She is Kirari’s shadow, always present, but never the focus of attention. Even when she is looked at, she’s not seen. The mask hides her and objectifies her, it makes her less a person and more of a symbol of power (and not her own power, but Kirari’s power). Ririka must be used to living like this (”What I want? I don’t want anything”) but the idea of this kind of disregard being leveled at Mary makes the the pain and abjection of that treatment suddenly seem fresh. The idea that Mary is being made to feel the way Ririka feels all the time is extremely upsetting to Ririka, as indicated by the way we see her gripping her fists in the following panel, seemingly shaking and sweating with emotion.
We also learn in that panel that Ririka is particularly upset by the idea that Mary is being treated so cruelly by someone she considers a friend. On one hand, we can just take this as an example of how Ririka is envious of Yuemko and Mary’s close relationship (which is getting closer by the second in that Summary match game), and that Ririka thinks someone like Yumeko doesn’t deserve that closeness. But beneath that, I believe that Ririka is not really angry at Yumeko - she’s angry at herself, and is projecting her own guilt and shame.
Rirka is very concerned with what it means to be Mary’s ‘friend’. We all remember the legendary moment when Mary tousled Riri’s hair and said (in her begrudging, scowling, blushing, tsundere way) that she would be Ririka’s friend. But since then, Ririka has questioned whether she herself really sees Mary as a friend. She sabotaged Miyo so that Mary could win her semifinal match, which as far as we know Mary has not been told about. After that match, we saw Ririka wondering if this would have been the right thing to do if (if!) she and Mary were “heartfelt friends.”
Why did Ririka help Mary win that match? Was it because she wants Mary to reach her goal of becoming President? Is it because they promised to be partners? Or is it because even now Ririka is just an extension of Kirari’s will and body, and everything she does for Mary is just meant to secretly move her forward in some bigger plan that has nothing to do with what Mary wants?
Let’s take a closer look at the figure in Ririka’s fantasy of what an evil person Yumeko is for taking advantage of Mary while pretending to be her friend:
Is there perhaps something slightly mask-like about Yuemko’s face here? It’s not an exact replica of Ririka’s mask, but I think it evokes it. Ririka imagines that Yumeko is making Mary believe she is her friend while she secretly pursues her own secret goals. I think this is exactly what Ririka is actually doing, however reluctantly, and I think the guilt and shame she is experiencing about that subterfuge is starting to become too much to suppress. I have long suspectd that before this Election is over, Mary is going to experience a revelation about Ririka that leaves her feeling horribly betrayed. Mary works so hard not to trust anyone to avoid being betrayed, so that’s going to be rough. I think ultimately Riri will do the right thing, repair the damage, and will somehow end up Real Friends with Mary. But first all will have to be revealed and I think it’s right around the corner.
Last thing: in that moment in Ch74 where Ririka is clutching her hands, feeling so upset about how Mary is being treated, we should be reminded of another moment:
This was at the very beginning of Ririka and Mary’s partnership, when it was more obviously based on coercion and force. This was before Mary had read Ririka down about being weak and indecisive, before Ririka saw how inspiring and generous Mary could be, before Ririka proved herself in the War gamble, and before Mary called her a friend. I think at that at the start of all of this, Ririka may have really wanted nothing, and was just going forward with whatever plan had been given to her. But by chapter 74, she is probably reconsidering what she wants, and if what she wants is Mary, I think she’s going to have to make her choice soon.
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