Oh my! I should’ve read the 11th chapter before ranting Yoshoika-san’s saying exactly what I was saying! Yoshioka-san, my hero!
Thank you for saying this, I stopped when I finished chapter 10 but upon reading this I'm now motivated to move on to the next chapter
Honestly, when she dared to show up with the man demanding to take Chizu away, my first reaction was remembering what my mom said to my father when he tried the same shit with the woman he cheated on my mom with. My mom looked him dead in the eyes and said "do you really think I'll leave my child with someone who abandoned her once already? You're out of your fucking mind. I may be struggling financially but at least she won't have to worry about me abandoning her. Get the fuck out of my house."
This may be a bit TMI but I think it's a fun anecdote to share: unlike Chizu's mother, my father tried to take me out of the country when I was visiting him for the weekends. Luckily I kicked up a huge tantrum at the airport and demanded TSA call my mom. He tried to pass off his girlfriend as my mother and that I have an active imagination but I kept rattling off my mom's address and phone number on repeat and demanding they call or take me there.
When Yoshioka talked about how Naoki knew next to nothing about this man, I was so relieved someone in this story had some common sense. You never know. Someone may seme alright to you but then do despicable things like kidnap their own child.
Thank you for sharing your story! Glad that your father hadn’t succeeded in taking you out of the country. And your mother is a great person!
Yes, I agree that Naoki's decision was bad in our eyes, but we need to see it through his eyes. That woman maid him think that asking for help was bad. He made him think as he was a bad parent. He didn't see the good in himself. You can even see that he didn't notice that they didn't came after Chizu in the amusement park incident. It wasn't after Yoshioka pointed it out he noticed. He only thinks of Chizu, and somehow that's he's weakness.
We also need to understand that this is also framed under Japanese culture. And if the man seems respectable, with a respectable job (a.k.a. an office job) then he's way better than Naoki, a mere cook.
Ah yes... The toxic side of social class... Im just happy that Naoki had people ready to support him.
I’ve just read chapter 10, and I’m kinda pissed. What the hell?! You think your wife who just left her own child easily and some random man you’ve seen for the first time in your life are a better environment?! Okay, the mother might not be so bad, but the guy might secretly be a pedophile, for Pete’s sake! And you say, ‘He seems like a much more reliable man than us’? ‘He seems’?! Do you trust some other guy you’ve never seen before more than yourself? Seriously?! (╯°Д °)╯╧╧