I'm surprised to see a story show very specifically how shame arises from *within* kids. Not all kids who feel shame, guilt, and depression were directly bullied or shamed. Kids interpret things in their own way and then don't talk about it due to worrying they'll be shamed. And then as they get older it compounds and they carry it into adulthood if they don’t challenge those thoughts. Poor Seiji for comparing himself to a molestor, even though he didn't do anything wrong. Poor Hinata for what happened and the confusion he went through. The miscommunication, or rather none at all, made things worse. At least they came to an understanding when they were older. It's always worse in your head than things turn out in reality if you speak up. Also I don't think the SA was *just* a plot device. Feels like sensei specifically wanted to show how children understand SA when it happens to someone else, which is they don't understand it. They can only interpret it through their undeveloped lens. Seiji interpreted any boy touching boy = assault. You see more often in stories (and real life) kids' interpreting a girl getting molested by a relative means she's a whore. Or victims themselves believing they must have done something to deserve such a punishment and latch onto whatever comes first. If an adult believes any of those things... that's just ignorance now (￣皿￣)
I'm surprised to see a story show very specifically how shame arises from *within* kids. Not all kids who feel shame, guilt, and depression were directly bullied or shamed. Kids interpret things in their own way and then don't talk about it due to worrying they'll be shamed. And then as they get older it compounds and they carry it into adulthood if they don’t challenge those thoughts. Poor Seiji for comparing himself to a molestor, even though he didn't do anything wrong. Poor Hinata for what happened and the confusion he went through. The miscommunication, or rather none at all, made things worse. At least they came to an understanding when they were older. It's always worse in your head than things turn out in reality if you speak up.
Also I don't think the SA was *just* a plot device. Feels like sensei specifically wanted to show how children understand SA when it happens to someone else, which is they don't understand it. They can only interpret it through their undeveloped lens. Seiji interpreted any boy touching boy = assault. You see more often in stories (and real life) kids' interpreting a girl getting molested by a relative means she's a whore. Or victims themselves believing they must have done something to deserve such a punishment and latch onto whatever comes first. If an adult believes any of those things... that's just ignorance now (￣皿￣)