Umibe no Onnanoko Chapter 20 Discussion

Litrydow said:
Welp, the ending was certainly stupid and underwhelming, though the rest of the manga was great.

8/10

Stellio said:

One particularly interesting conflict though, is Isobe's clashes with his inner thoughts and society. He's a coward. He's quite frankly unmotivated to do most things; a dormant contributor to society. One could even say his personality is so banal that he's easily replaceable. However, I think Asano did an exceptional job to implicitly express his inner frustrations with silent, still scenes that conveyed his helplessness, and his dead brother's impact on him. Sato had sex with him because of his passive personality, and loved him for being like so as well. And why is that so? because he was there for her, no other essential reasons really.

ClawViper7 said:
Short but great story. It's really sad - I wanted Koume and Isobe to end up with each other, but by not making them end up with each other, the author managed to make the story realistic in this way. I'm glad that Koume has finally found someone she thinks she loves, and she finally gives her kiss. I wish I knew what happened to Isobe - Was the couple who kissed when Koume was halfway talking to Kashima at the end Isobe and his new love? Difficult to tell.

RMI said:
Can someone explain what happens from Ch.13-ending? My shoujo-filled brain can't comprehend.

Stellio said:
A thing I love about Asano is how willingly he is to challenge the fairy-tale romanticization of love, relationships, and sex. Instead of an ultimate resolve, he greets us with pessimistic, bittersweet, and profound lessons that deal with human issues within a modern-day context. In this case, it's that casual sex is a selfish excuse for both partners, and perhaps even a small commitment from the start is the difference between saving the relationship or not.

A bittersweet lesson from Asano is the best. Always eager for more.

Stellio said:
Asano you are going to kill me one day with the sheer impact of your works. Sex is but a complicated issue and the subject of sex with high schoolers is of even more turbulence, ambiguity, and loss: and Asano manages to capture the scope of this seamlessly. I'd have to say this manga personally resonated with me just as equally as Punpun did, and I'll definitely look back on this manga with fondness.

One particularly interesting conflict though, is Isobe's clashes with his inner thoughts and society. He's a coward. He's quite frankly unmotivated to do most things; a dormant contributor to society. One could even say his personality is so banal that he's easily replaceable. However, I think Asano did an exceptional job to implicitly express his inner frustrations with silent, still scenes that conveyed his helplessness, and his dead brother's impact on him. Sato had sex with him because of his passive personality, and loved him for being like so as well. And why is that so? because he was there for her, no other essential reasons really.


The ending was certainly contentious in how self-sacrificing Isobe was depicted to be, and how the relationship ended up being. However, more than anything, it was overwhelming and even heroic in how much effort Isobe was willing to put in to incite Sato's gradual change. I think Asano meant to imply that Isobe was also deeply in love with Sato, and if they had gotten together, Isobe saw no future for themselves (considering their casual sex relationship as well). So he wanted for Sato to move on, and a hard pill to swallow it was for him too.

A thing I love about Asano is how willingly he is to challenge the fairy-tale romanticization of love, relationships, and sex. Instead of an ultimate resolve, he greets us with pessimistic, bittersweet, and profound lessons that deal with human issues within a modern-day context. In this case, it's that casual sex is a selfish excuse for both partners, and perhaps even a small commitment from the start is the difference between saving the relationship or not.

A bittersweet lesson from Asano is the best. Always eager for more.

adam04 said:
koume is such a bitch if she didnt start this game of sexuel realitionship if only she gve him a chance ,, they would have been together but after all isobe changed and it was too latefor koume to confess her love ,, i think she stated to love in the begging of their sexuel realitionship but she noticed it in the end

i dont know if isobe's feelings changed or whatever why he rejected her ,, she deserved it, it was the best choice for him ,, there is no futur all what koume have done to him she was treating him like a useless animal and in the end she came to love but it was too late he already gave up on her and when he did she loved ,, girls are weird

i just finished the manga and i feel tired and confused by this ending
i think honetsly its stupide ending i wanted isobe and koume to meet after their goodbye and see their reactions but i got disapointed, really..
i dont know what is the meaning of this end ,, each ending in any movie ir anime or mange they must have a meaning but i dont know what's with this ending

Filippos_Yeah said:
I have one question in the end Satou and Isobe are together ?? Is Ishobe and the dude name Katsutoshi Otsu the same person i just read the whole manga and i am super confused

Farabeuf said:
This ending is a bit abrupt. I'm missing some closure for Isobe. I'm still not buying his transformation after we've seen how messed up he was.

redwarlock said:


He said he was going to die, and he did die, mentally. He had a psychotic breakdown after his violent outburst. His old personality died, and he's left as a hollow shell. Koume followed suit on the pier, dying inside at his final rejection, emerging a shallow shadow of her former self.

Isobe and Kouma were never on the same page at the same time, it just didn't work out, and the dissonance they each experienced at different times left them empty and emotionally broken; much like it happens to real people who suffer traumatic heartbreak or tragic unrequited love. They would never be the same.

Odysseas said:
I read the manga yesterday, and i can say i loved it. But there is one thing i am trying to understand. The main line of the manga is : “In town, there's a tiny beach that's never busy, not even in the summer.

I used to like walking there, looking for stuff.

Like old fireworks.

Or kelp.

A hat knocked off someone's head by the wind.

You basically never find what you were expecting to.

And maybe you weren't expecting to find anything right from the start...”



What does the author means by that ? . And also in the end koume says that she finally found what she was looking for....the sea? pls help xd :)

jacinta said:
Does anyone have an answer to this?
I don't know if I'm looking too much into this but I believe that Isobe might have been the cause of his brothers suicide. I feel like no one's really touched this issue because it seems really subtle.
But in Chapter 19 Isobe is stopped by two police officers, he was said to have been seen at the video club on September 10th, it doesn't specify why he was stopped, but that date is 5 days before his birthday. Also the 5 days before his brother committed suicide.
Also in his letter to the forum fan in Chapter 12 he mentions that "The police simply wrote off his death as an accident."
Also on the last page of Chapter 19 Isobe agrees to go with the police and his character looks a lot more like his rugged depressed self, rather then the happier version of himself at the start of the chapter.
Does anyone know what the police might have wanted to ask Isobe about? Or why he would have been at the video shop?
To me it seems like it would have had something to do with his brother, he seems to have a lot of guilt from his brothers death. Maybe he was really fucked up before his brothers death, and wanted him to die?

Lease_of_Life said:
This is the craziest fucking manga I've ever read. Not because it is outlandish or ridiculous, but because it isn't. The thoughts that cross the characters' mind and the situations they face are, bizarrely, relatable even to non-fucked up people. This manga left me deeply disturbed and frustrated, just as it was supposed to.

The plot had some minor flaws but was very solid overall. As most of you, I disliked the ending of Isobe's arc - that came out of nowhere and is probably the least realistic thing in this story. Sato's ending was better - it was still somehow lazy but it was interesting to know that in the end she stayed a shallow, stupid person. But aren't we all?

Farabeuf said:


Makes sense and I agree with your insights. I just wish it could have been shown over a longer period of time in the story and not left up to the last chapters like that.

BTW, you've been in MAL for seven years and only post now to give me some clarity? I'm honored, LOL.