Brother Noble, could you REpeat your TEStiMONY for those at the back of the Church of the DIvine VaNIla?
(Coughs) why did I go Southern Baptist, it shreds my vocal chords...
A deft hand telling a deep tale about realising (to borrow a turn of phrase from a certain chef) no, no you can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear. But you can make something worthwhile from a sow's ear.
Short version this time around: "Yo Dawg, That's Some Deep Shit!"
It's tricky to be sure whether the whole gist of the story is covered in only 20 pages, but part of the problem seemed to be that Ai was not getting much (if any) support from home in response to her being a victim of bullying and her refusal to attend school as a result. I have no statistics on hand with which to clearly ascertain if school bullying which sometimes shows up in Japanese fictional media is really as serious as it's made out to be.
In this case, it's fortunate that Ai has an ally of sorts in Hibiya-kun. Without revealing any spoilers, it's possible that if he weren't there at a particular time, things could have gone down a deep dark path. And at least he seems determined to press on with education, even via an alternate path. And as for wanting Ai to come with him, I say like a certain bounty hunter in "For A Few Dollars More": "Bravo."
Once More (IMO), it's not only about "T", "A" & "P" here at FAKKU; once in a while, something serious goes down. 🤔
It's pretty bad. And not merely a matter of tall poppies and odd ducks anymore. I'm actually begging reality the near half of students being targets I'm seeing from many sources isn't true, but...