Nyanta to Pomeko: Imasara Shinjiteiru to Iwaretemo Mou Teokure da
Nyanta & Pomeko: I Believe In It Now It's too Late to Be Told

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After reading the two reviews complaining about this series, I felt strongly like I've never felt before to contradict them.

It's one thing to get depressed and emotionally broken by stories about suicide, rape, bullying, and cheating. These are generally recognized as typical cases where it's not that hard to empathize with the emotions involved.

But the story here resonated with me in such a degree that I'm a blubbery mess by the end of chapter 8. Not everyone can fully contemplate the gravity of emotions involved in this story. Four classmates that betray you one after the other after treating each one decently. I daresay not ... many people know how it feels to open up your heart only for the other person to stab it, and this happens multiple times. Then a stepmom and a stepsister that refuses to believe your side. Nowhere to run to, no friend at school, no family at home. You'd think anger would be his primary motivation. But no. The emotion he has here is terror, and I feel that. He's afraid of doing... anything, of saying anything to anyone, hence his overly formal speech patterns.

The story also shows the ugly truth that sometimes, the apologies we make are really to make ourselves feel better. It's incredibly insulting.

I get that people think this is an exaggeration, and yes it is. But what they don't get is that a lot of stories are an exaggeration. It's called a premise. You're supposed to buy the initial premise and take it at face value. You're not supposed to overanalyze and reject the premise from the onset. Otherwise, you might as well not bother reading stories at all.

If you do read this with the intention of trying to genuinely relate to the MC, if this doesn't break you by the eighth chapter, then you have serious empathy problems. To the author, thanks.

Nyanta to Pomeko is the answer to a classic trope found in many manga and anime: the misunderstanding. It could be anything from accidentally walking in on someone changing, accidentally tripping someone, accidentally falling on top of someone, etc. These incidents are then misconstrued to make the character in-question seem bad. Oftentimes, it is a gag that's played for laughs, but this manga tries to show the consequences of repeated misunderstandings that are not taken as jokes. Although the execution starts off as overly depressing and hard to read, it transforms into a wholesome story that changes its characters for the better.

The main character, Makoto ... Shinjou, seems to draw inspiration from edgy, narcissistic, cynical, society-hating loner characters like Hachiman Hikigaya. A series of misunderstandings in primary and middle school destroyed the few relationships he was able to make and caused the people around him to spread rumors that completely destroyed his reputation. He became seen as "the person who ran away from an injured girl" or "the person that pushed that girl to the ground," and so whenever people talked to him or confessed to him, it was only to trick and betray him. All of these experiences have molded him into a cynical loner who goes out of his way to not only avoid human connections but ensure that nothing he does could possibly spread false rumors or cause misunderstandings. Initially this appeared as a self-insert or a misunderstanding of how long people hold grudges, but I do acknowledge that this is a genuine way tat people think after being tricked numerous times.

For some people, it might be easy to sympathize with him. However, he is initially so overly negative and gloomy to the point where the story becomes hard to read. I understand that people can carry trauma and resentment for past experiences for a very long time, but I would think that (in the broader timespan) simple traumatic events and betrayals that happened many years in the past could be forgiven or forgotten about. It is very unrealistic for Makoto to not be willing to engage in even simple conversation with his sister or mother because they refused to believe him regarding an incident that occurred many years ago at this point. If their relationships are this dysfunctional then it is hard to believe that Makoto has not become a shut-in or a recluse already. Maybe it is just hard for me to understand considering that I have not gone through similar experiences, but this setup is very hard to believe.

However, after a while of depressing chapters, it was refreshing to see the story focus more on developing the relationship between Makoto and Anri Shinozuka, who instantly hit it off. Although a little formulaic, I do much prefer it to the edginess of the previous chapter. However, the rather quick change made me feel as though it was a little rushed. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but there was potential for a more gradual development of the characters over the course of a longer story. This would have made more sense considering how overly depressing the setup of the story was; in reality, it might have taken a longer time for the story to progress the way it did. Furthermore, the need for a quick change rendered the subplot of his little sister and two past crushes completely irrelevant, as it is never utilized in the story. Regardless, the character development shown in the story is pretty amazing, and the main characters are practically different people compared to how they were at the beginning of the story.

Overall, Nyanta to Pomeko is a great (albeit short) story about trauma and trust, and I have gained a new appreciation for it as it ended. Even though it starts off as overbearingly edgy, it transforms into a story that makes you genuinely sympathize with the characters and want to see them overcome their obstacles. I would recommend anyone who was initially turned off by the pure depression that was this manga to give it another try now that all the chapters are out.

At first glance, Nyanta to Pomeko appears to draw inspiration from the jaded socially lonesome outcast protagonist narratives of the likes of Oregairu and (to an extent), Hyouka. Nyanta to Pomeko details the story of our outcasted protagonist, Makoto, who in the past, had experienced a series of unfortunate and easily misinterpreted incidents due to happenstance which pushed him down the spiral of life and into a position of ostracisation. This is due to the poor and thoughtless responses from his family members and friends which sadly twisted the nature of these incidents and implicated our sad protagonist as the perpetrator. Now, in the present ... day, Makoto has become moulded into a jaded outcast who refuses to form meaningful connections in fear of being implicated as an antagonist in the situation of unforeseen 'unfortunate incidents' or in fear of being made fun of by his classmates (due to his poor reputation).

While Makoto's backstory is indeed rather depressing and his response to his circumstance is, to an extent, justifiable, his self imposed outcasting goes into extreme proportions to the point where it is a little hard to take the story seriously. The story attempts to paint this guy as being so absurdly jaded to the point where he downright refuses to even entertain or make small talk with his sister (who is attempting to get him to open up again), not even attempting to hide his hostility in any way. This is despite the fact that the traumatic incident in which his sister was involved was during his childhood, many years had already passed. While I understand that the beginning of his misfortune started with his family, and relational betrayals can eat people for a long time, it is incredibly difficult to believe that the two have such an absurdly precarious, tense and dysfunctional relationship with no form of stability despite having lived with one another for so long. It would be a lot more believable if he were to hide behind a facade of decency while dismissing any attempts at reconciliation or perhaps, even more interestingly, where both step-siblings have little association with and desire to communicate with one another. Makoto's attitude continues even to his old childhood friend and classmates (although I have to admit this aspect, in view of the context given, is much more believable, but still a little overdone). What I am saying is that the story does not realistically take time into consideration when building and developing its main character. At its best, Nyanta to Pomeko's execution of its main character reads as the childish imagination of a recently wronged edgy teen who wishes to let his victimhood remain perpetual so that the 'world' knows how hurt he/she has been and that people will feel sorry for him.

Still, this is not inherently a bad thing. While Nyanta to Pomeko's has sadly failed to create a believable protagonist plagued by social anxiety and trauma (Shuuzou Oshimi's ​stuff or even Oyasumi Punpun is where you'd find that) the excessive victimhood of Makoto is still rather entertaining. As a reader, I enjoyed the overly edgy teenage angst victimhood thing going on. Though shallow, it was rather fun to read. Perhaps this may even provide some form of escapism for others.

Now returning to the other series I had named in the beginning, one thing that differs Nyanta to Pomeko (at the moment) from the likes of Oregairu or even Hyouka is that though all of these series embrace their outcasted, jaded protagonists and at times, even supports their jaded and cynical worldview, these stories always propose counter perspectives to critique these protagonists' insistent cynicism and lonesomeness. Nyanta to Pomeko is clearly not at that point yet, with the story still building the relationship between the two leads which may eventually lead to a more... even and realistic perspective of how society and people work. Yet, based on the main protagonist's exaggerated personality, I am at the same time sceptical to the quality of criticism or more measured takes of the main character's perspective within the narrative.

At the moment, I would say, Nyanta to Pomeko is an entertaining story that in its exaggeration of the protagonist's trauma and cynical perspective fails to enter dramatic and meaningful territory. Still, what the story has built here is decent enough to be a fun, escapist-esque read.

Edit: I'm not saying the premise of this manga or the emotions it set out to conjure wasn't an interesting or worthy one, I'm critiquing its exaggerated execution within the frame of what the author seemingly set out to do. Stories don't just exist in a vacuum, they can be and should be evaluated based on our personal experiences, and on others' rendition of similar ideas. A more measured, less sentimental approach to the emotions brought about by a story like this in anime and manga would be: Blood on the Tracks or Houseki no Kuni, and if you are a cinephile like me, The Hunt by Thomas Vinterberg or The 400 Blows by Francois Truffaut.