yeah i don’t think he says that majima didn’t hit mirei, just that he wasn’t fully satisfied with the way the translation went. and because i like kicking hornets nests I’m gonna say some other stuff about my take on this subject.
*DISCLAIMER: I WILL NOT BE DISCUSSING THE ETHICS OF THE SITUATION. MY OPINIONS ON THAT MATTER CAN BE FOUND HERE. I WILL ONLY BE TALKING ABOUT MY INTERPRETATION OF THE MATERIAL AND NOT MY APPROVAL/DISAPPROVAL OF CHARACTERS’ ACTIONS*
I don’t actually think majima hitting mirei is out of character.
Do I think majima thinks abusing women/one’s partner is acceptable? no! do I think majima hates women? no! in fact i think he has a more positive attitude towards women than men but thats a topic for another day. What I do think is that during the 90s majima was incredibly messed up. More messed up than we tend to emphasize. And given the life he led it is not at all surprising that he reacted with violence when he was shocked with news that upset him. Majima was steeped in violence. That can slip into the home life at the worst possible times. And the mad dog persona was literally designed as a way of practicing a lack of impulse-control; he trained himself to react in dramatic and hyper-violent ways without thinking about it. And that’s what he did.
I think Majima’s hitting her was an irreparable and irredeemable slip-up, and I think he knew that. His deep care for other people, and his respect for women - which I think ARE important parts of his character - come out in his reaction to hitting mirei: he realized, wow, I thought I could keep my craziness separate from the woman I love, but I just hurt her. And so he leaves. I don’t know if that was the best possible solution, maybe it was more self-effacing than actually helpful to mirei, but he did something to make it so he would never be able to hit her again.
And like… if you’re still thinking “majima would never assault a woman!!!!!” guys. we have a video of that. Majima has a strong moral compass, but in between 1989 and Shimano’s death… that compass was really out of whack. Not destroyed, but a lil messed up. Maybe not his fault, because majima himself was put through some horrible things. but he does some horrible things, too, and I don’t think an isolated incident of domestic abuse is so unbelievable. Inexcusable, and tragic, but not unbelievable.
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