#jshk 129

[kermitbread]

it's not even funny anymore dude these two are so doomed im gonna explode

[venxomi]

TBHK Chapter 129 Analysis - The Trolley Problem

I'm going to start this thread by crediting @/VibingLemonArt (on Twitter) for this chapter's translations! (As MangaUp hasn't yet released the official translations at this time)

The details I've spotted last chapter are paying off just as I expected a month ago, and now Nene has to take a painful decision. If you haven't read my chapter 128 analysis, I heavily recommend reading it before this one because they're pretty closely tied together!

1. Self-hatred and guilt instilled since youth

1.1. Warped self-perception

The chapter starts with Amane being harsh to his 4 year old self, picking him up by the collar and addressing himself with "this guy", and "hey, you", obvious harsh tones as well. The darkness dominating the panels on this page is like a burst of negativity, a calm anger directed at the toddler, further emphasized with a look of clear contempt.

The following conversation is, on the surface, meant to scare the toddler into sticking with Tsukasa so he wouldn't go missing anymore, but it carries much, much more depth than that. The start of the conversation being "Do you love your little brother?" signals this, and when the 4 year old nods in agreement, he responds as if he doesn't trust him on it.

Of course, if he trusted his own feelings, he wouldn't have needed to ask that question in the first place, would he?

This is the most important part of their one-sided conversation. Amane addresses his younger self by his full name, "Yugi Amane", an acknowledgement of his identity. When he questioned him if he loved his younger brother, it was "this guy", it was "you." It was a separation of identity, someone he doesn't know.

But when he says that he's a murderer that is there to kill his 4 year old brother, it's "Amane Yugi", it's none other than himself. An intentional play of words that reveals that he holds so much hatred towards himself because he considers that Yugi Tsukasa's "death" was caused by none other than "Yugi Amane".

And as he plasters the iconic smile that hides emotions he barely holds in we've known the entire series, he specifies that he, Yugi Amane, would kill Yugi Tsukasa the moment Yugi Amane takes his eyes off him.

For further evidence that this conversation isn't surface level, Amane is emphasizing on the fact that Yugi Tsukasa will never come back, which ties in later with him believing that the real Tsukasa died when he disappeared, and the brother that returned was a fake.

I do have to say though, Amane proclaiming himself to be his brother's murderer when in less than a year he would literally proceed to do so is... very malicious irony from Iro's part.

1.2. The abuse behind it

Amane later explains to Nene that his brother had disappeared on his 4th birthday and returned 6 months later only for him to turn out to be a fake, which is immediately followed by depictions of his family falling apart:

A thing that pretended to be his beloved brother. His mother transforming from the figure that stood by his side when he was ill to one that hurt him. His father who decided to run away from it all. Then finally him, an anguished boy who had no one anymore, looking at a picture from when he felt like he had everything. When he didn't wait for his last day, and when he was surrounded by a loving family.

A family that was no longer his.

Unable to find any other reason for his ruined life, he came to one conclusion: His brother must have died all those years ago, when he lost sight of him, when he should've stuck with him. It was his fault, wasn't it?

A bit of side note, there's people who think that the child in the second panel is Tsukasa, and I'm not going to outright deny it because there's a lot of reasons why one could assume it's him.

However, the intention of these 2 pages is to show how Yugi Tsukasa's "death" made an impact on Yugi Amane, as he's present everywhere, also emphasized that no one's faces are visible except his when he reached his present self, a painful contrast to the faces full of happiness in the old picture stashed in a drawer.

It is also a very sorrowful callback to the Red House arc, where Tsukasa claimed that his sacrifice would bring Amane happiness, clarifying that it brought the exact opposite.

In the 1st panel, the thing possessing Tsukasa laughs and points at Amane, who "appears" as the one whose perspective the reader sees.

In the 3rd panel Amane appears again (as shown by the astronomy book he's holding) as he watches his father leave him in the shadows of his home. (Yes, even the lighting is intended here)

In the fourth panel, Amane is shown ruined, holding up a picture of the 5th panel, an Amane that had what he missed having.

So, it would really only comes to reason that the child in 2nd panel is also Amane. It can't be a 1st panel situation either, since the perspective's eye level is too high for a young child.

1.3. Salvation as a form of redemption

But... He was offered a chance. A chance to fix it all, a chance to bring his brother back. A chance to save the "real" Yugi Tsukasa he lost all those years ago.

He missed the old days, he missed it when his family was still his. He missed it when he wasn't alone with people he loved yet felt like strangers. He missed Yugi Tsukasa.

Hence, he thought, that if he saved Tsukasa, if he stuck with him like he should've and didn't let him out of his sight, then everything would be alright. His family would still be there, smiling together, loving each other. Everyone would be happy.

If he could save his brother, he wouldn't need anything else. It's as if it's an ironic repeat of Hanako's dilemma before this arc: He killed his younger brother and his guilt destroys him from the inside, but he wants to fix everything, he wants to save him. He wants the real Tsukasa by his side, not the "fake" he couldn't comprehend.

2. Only an alien could erase this loneliness

The bench scene is a callback to the Tanabata Festival arc, a reflection of their first meeting when they shared meals, but it's much deeper than that.

Both times when Nene appeared before him, Amane was by himself, and over their shared meal, Amane was able to express his loneliness to Nene.

In their first meeting, Nene gave Amane all of her slips in hopes his wish would come true, therefore save him, and in their second meeting, Nene tells him that she came to save him, too. Both times, she came from the future.

For Amane, who immerses himself in his love for stars, even if he knows that's not the case, Nene is an alien. Just as a species that does not belong becomes part of Earth's history once they step on it, Nene is a foreigner, an unknown variable that shouldn't have anything to do with him, who suddenly became part of his life.

A being from the outside that comes to impact and change a world that couldn't have changed from the inside. In a barren, lonely world where only Yugi Amane exists, Yashiro Nene crashes in, and one person becomes two, soothing the solitude in Amane's heart.

A thing that also applies with his post-mortem self, Hanako, who endured 50 years of loneliness and prepared to endure even more until a girl summoned him and saved him, even if temporarily, from his isolation.

So even if not in a literal sense, Yashiro Nene is indeed an alien. In Yugi Amane's heart, that is.

3. Yashiro Nene's trolley problem

When Amane tells Nene that he came from the future to save his younger brother, she realizes that she has to stop Amane from saving Tsukasa, hence why it's a trolley problem.

The Trolley problem is defined as a series of thought involving stylized ethical dilemmas of whether to sacrifice one person to save a larger number.

Of course, we all know how the New Present ends up and it's definitely much worse than the original timeline, but let's put it into a slightly different perspective.

If Nene stops Amane from saving Tsukasa, nothing will change. Amane will be lonely, neglected, abused, Tsukasa will never be the same at the hands of the Red House/pit god, their family and relationships will deteriorate until in the end, Amane will kill Tsukasa and then himself. And after the end, Amane, now Hanako, will only be further isolated for half a century.

And yet, it's something she has to do. Otherwise, everyone will meet a miserable fate.

All is for the sake of everyone else's lives.

Nene realized that returning to the old present meant that Amane would not be able to grow up and still kept her path because an Amane that had grown up was a disaster, but now the reality fully sets in- Because she is the one who has to prevent Tsukasa from being saved. Because she is the one who has to make sure Amane dies at 13.

Because she's the one who has to make it happen.

4. Final Thoughts

The theme of acceptance and denial of one's self is also present in this chapter, which my friend @/lexuswexus_ on Twitter made a neat analysis on, so please do check that one out as well!

I'm also pretty surprised that so many fans were so shocked at the fact that the twins' mother was abusive... Wasn't it foreshadowed since the Red House arc from Nagisa's flashback of the mother? Her literally saying "That is not my child"?

All the same, from her perspective, imagine that your child just miraculously recovered from a fatal illness, and you finally taste peace for a moment before your other child disappears... And when your heart is filled with relief that he's back, you come to the conclusion that it's not the son that you lost. That the son you wanted back so much is, surely, dead. It must've really driven her crazy.

And it's not as if Amane and the Yugi mother were delusional, since even if they didn't acknowledge that Tsukasa is still Tsukasa, it's also true that the pit god took a firm hold on him, so...

I hope you guys enjoyed my read! See you next month!

[d4xn4v]

does it just how

ever drive fast the

you crazy night changes

x

[kaeyaswifefromsnezhnaya]

So, is Tsukasa now a victim of domestic violence? His mother didn't just abandon him, she hated him and beat him? How much more will he have to endure? (I feel really sorry for Amane too, it's a complete nightmare in that chapter)

And he still remembers his mother and and takes an example from her care for children. I'm not okay

[nanabansama]

Hello! What's your opinion on the new chapter, and who do you think was the twin shown being beaten? Since a lot of people unanimously agree that both twins were probably abused, but are quite decisive on which twin was actually shown this chapter.

Tsukasa, but I suppose it's possible Amane took beatings for him, too? Either way, I think that if their mother did hit Amane, it would only be because she thinks he is Tsukasa or because Amane defended Tsukasa.

Plus, I'm still of the opinion that the wounds Tsuchigomori treats are from Tsukasa... This recent chapter has certainly called that theory into question, though! If it wasn't Tsukasa, I'd always suspected it to be someone Amane is close to -- him forgiving his mother hitting him would make sense for similar reasons as to why he would forgive Tsukasa.

Anyway, in the first panel, that's clearly Tsukasa. And the last panel has to be Amane, since he's holding an astronomy book. So I can see why there's confusion as to who's in the middle. I wonder if this ambiguity was intentional? Still, I think it has to be Tsukasa... these panels show a sequence of events:

First, Tsukasa exhibits strange and creepy behavior. Second, he is punished by his mother. Third, their father begins to shirk his home life in favor of work. Amane is an onlooker in an all of these situations, not the focus. I think this interpretation makes the most sense. If it were Amane being hit, I feel as though we would be seeing that from a first-person perspective...

Plus, Amane only starts displaying heavy injury during middle school. This event where their mother hits one of them happened at a very young age. That's not to say these beatings couldn't have continued as they got older, but something about Amane's wounds in middle school are just... extreme...

And let's not forget it seems he was attacked at school:

So... yeah. Perhaps Amane was assaulted by multiple people including his mother in his lifetime, but I don't think she's the main cause of his injuries in middle school.

As for my thoughts on the new chapter, I enjoyed it! I'm interested to see how Nene will go about fixing the mess Amane made. I'm hoping she can find some way to save or help Tsukasa while still returning the timeline back to normal. I think that by undoing what Amane did (scaring his younger self into not leaving Tsukasa's side) she might learn something to help the twins back in their original timeline. But that's just my hope, really... I'm still hoping AidaIro will give us a happy ending.

I think the saddest part of the chapter was all the misinformation about Tsukasa though... The way Amane believes Tsukasa is an imposter of himself. And the way Amane still loves and wants to meet Tsukasa, yet refuses to understand that Tsukasa has always been right there in front of him... 🥺 Romanticizing an ideal Tsukasa that doesn't exist. Of course, while it is true that Tsukasa was changed for the worse after his disappearance, it's still him! And it's just tragic that Tsukasa, who fully believes no one loves him, is only further validated in this belief by coming home to a family who totally rejects him...

[scarlettiana]

I kinda had the feeling that Nene had to be put in a tough situation in which she had to choose between accepting a future in which Tsukasa is saved vs returning to the old timeline (merged Tsukasa and the entity)...

I have the feeling that she would choose to sacrifice herself. The deal is made anyway, so someone has to sacrifice. What if the only way is that before Tsukasa sacrifices, she's the one who jumps to the pit? So that way the Yugi twins would live happily...

[kaeyaswifefromsnezhnaya]

You know what I think. It's impossible to figure out which brother exactly is being beaten by their mother. It's all just speculation. I'm leaning toward Tsukasa, because he was the one cursed, and the mother beat him out of hatred or in the mad hope of "beating" the evil spirit out of him. It's just the simplest and most obvious option.

On the other hand, of course, Amane could be the one being beaten, for example, if his mother believed he was guilty of something (but I don't support that theory; it would be important for the plot, meaning Amane could remember that the reasons were connected to him, and that's important for the manga format). Well, who knows, maybe it really is Amane?

But my main take is that whoever it was on that page, while the twins are still clearly young, it has nothing to do with Amane's beatings at 13. I just don't think it was his mother, and people so easily made connections like, "So that's who was beating him!" But when? Why was Amane, at age eight, without any signs of abuse, during Tanabata, just like in middle school, as we see him now, as we saw him in the flashback with the clock at the beginning of the arc, without any bruises? Someone started torturing him specifically in 1969. And his mother isn't the most obvious candidate here, because why would she left the abuse for ten years, without touching Amane specifically, and then suddenly start again? Moreover, the signs of abuse on thirteen-year-old Amane are scratches, rope marks, and bite marks, and it's very crude handwriting, and I doubt his mother would have been so sophisticated in this process. She simply slapped the child across the cheeks in the early 1960s. And whoever it is on this page, I believe it has no connection to whoever beat Amane again at 13. I'll note that I haven't read the Japanese translation yet, so perhaps the text highlights some subtleties. In any case, this is basic logic, and it should work without the text, because claiming that these slaps to an unknown brother (!) are directly connected to Amane's wounds in 1969 is rather hasty and superficial.

[kaeyaswifefromsnezhnaya]

Or is it really Amane, not Tsukasa, who's being beaten, and are these frames sequentially linked? Tsukasa doesn't just make his pointing gesture, but points at Amane, saying it's all because of him; the mother hits Amane, "who ruined everything"; the father sees this chaos and runs away.

And the most disgusting thing is the father who abandoned the family. Again, the man couldn't take it anymore and ran away 😔 💅🏻 (apparently, he don't feel sorry for his sons who are being beaten, and it doesn't matter how an insane wife will live in their time either). And yet he was also shown as such a kind guy. In the end, he could at least have sued her for the children if "this woman went crazy," as it happens (I don't know the translation yet), but like... well, let everyone else be on their own there, I'll leave 🤩