I am tired of always talking about takes I have seen that I disagree with but sometimes, fandom makes it difficult and I keep seeing people complaining about why narratively speaking Shf felt the need to present Kotoyuki as a victim and I can't stay silent no more
I have already talked about Kotoyuki many times in the past, but I was merely going along the text's presentation of him, whereas I am now seeing people questioning that very decision as well as Hinako's clear sympathizing with him and it can be summed up by two big ideas
The empathy bit is very easy to get. Kotoyuki and Hinako are written to be foils. Both starts as "birds", Hinako being constantly associated to the image of a chick, as her name literaly means "baby bird" and in Kotoyuki's case, it's in Fujitori, his mom's name which he bore until he was taken by the Tsuneki, which contains the japanese word for bird, tori.
Kotoyuki already went through the transformation from bird to fox that Hinako undergoes during the wedding and complete in Fox Wedding, this means that he went through the very experience that terrifies Hinako.
She most importantly sympathize with two tragic aspects of his life : repression and loneliness. Hinako hates being told to do something and deprived of her liberty to choose but she grows more and more repressed as years pass, going from a cheerful child to a repressed teenager. Kotoyuki, on the other hand, went through this repression very young because of his mother's education, meaning that if Hinako has a strong sense of identity she tries her best to protect, Kotoyuki has none. Hinako also laments that her life feels a bit lonely, having already lost her biggest pillar of support (Junko) and having Shu as her only true ally, seeing how she feels less secure with Sakuko or Rinko. She has big trust issues steming from her father which are also reflected in her relationship with Kotoyuki. Girl's big issue is she feels lonely and yearns for someone to understand her, that's why she feels safer when Kotoyuki is nearby walking with her hand in hand, because she feels someone is with her. So naturally, imagining someone having to deal with something that she is afraid of herself, seeing how Fox Hinako remarks to Fog Hinako that if they don't make a decision, they might end up alone forever, it would hit close to home.
Hinako is already characterized as pretty empathetic given how she expresses questioning regarding some of the monsters in her diary. So, if she is faced with someone who went years prior to her to the exact same change that terrifies her and suffering all the consequences that she fears, why on earth would she not feel pity ?
Even in the ending where she fights him, Hinako manages to understand what he needs and wants where he failed to get it. Ryukishi in the interviews talks about every characters going through their own hell, Kotoyuki's hell is reminding Hinako of her own. Because of this, she is able to understand him, one of the core theme of the game is reaching understanding first and foremost.
As for the reasoning as to why this exists, it's the realization.
Something that needs to be reminded over and over again until people finally get it is that Hinako is not a reliable narrator.
We are talking about a young woman whose under the influence of powerful drugs and thus cannot see reality for what it truly is, still views herself as a high schooler and is incredibly stubborn. This isn't to dismiss her point of view, far from it, it's to remind you that the game is expecting you to be somewhat critical of Hinako since the whole point of the NG+ suggesting a loop in diegesis a la when they cry is because Hinako grows out of the point of view she expressed in first playthrough.
If our protagonist is learning more and more things that help her change her views, than maybe, maybe, we are meant to understand that not everything Hinako perceives is necessarily true, right or at least worth questioning.
Hinako's vision of society in NG is very cartoonish and black and white, but most importantly, it informs of a very gendered idea of how abuse works : men are necessarily abusers, all of them, whereas women are all victims, all of them. And if she, Hinako, surrenders even for a moment to the idea of being a woman, she will ended up as nothing more than a victim. Because all women are necessarily nothing but victim, and all men are secretly monsters who are just waiting to take off their masks to shows their true face. The way Fox Ancestor describes the Tsuneki ties directly into this idea : unlike the femme fatale baka kistune, we are presented with male foxes who deceive women to seduce = men hides their true ugly nature to trap women and once they are married, they reveal their true monstruous nature and the woman is forever blind to her own suffering.
My point is that Hinako has some internalized misogyny, but because people think being misandrist is fun, they are blind to this. Because Hinako is seemingly validating the idea that men are inherently abusive and irredeemable and monsters and that women are all oppressed.
That's such a reductive vision of how gender violence works, but Hinako's environement feeds directly into this : on the one hand, she is rejected by other girls for not subscribing to a strict definition of femininity, but on the other hand, she is also subjected to the violence of her father and hearing about the other women of the village talking about their husband. You also have the notorious letter that might or might not have been written by Junko, which would count as evidence to Hinako that her fears are right : men are all monsters, women are all doomed to be victims unless they reject femininity.
That's why she takes refuge in her childhood and her relationship with Shu, as it's the only space where she can exists without having to care about gender since Shu doesn't view her as a girl, but because this is in big parts due to their young age, they need to remain this way. Moreover, she also doesn't want to view him as a man because if she does, then she might lost trust in the only ally she has.
The problem with Hinako's thinking is that it showcases a form of internalized misogyny that most people are not going to ever question because of the way gendered violence as been seen for quite a while : because when it comes to gender based violence, the biggest cases across the world and history shows that women are the victims while men are the prepetrators, because patriarcal societies have always given men the power over women, then it's easy to draw the conclusion that all men are inherently abusers and women victims because of the system.
The problem is that this thinking that all men are terrible and all women are necessarily victims is that it's not true at all, and most importantly, that women like Hinako views it through the lenght of monsters. However, monsters is something you fear. And if you fear something, especially this is tied to your future, how are you to ever live ?
ShF takes the time to adress the values transmitted to both men and women that lead them to perpetuate this cycle : a father must be the provider, but he must not appear weak, he must appear strong, be feared, revered. A mother must be the nurturer, she must support her husband, bear children and there is not greater happiness than getting married, and no grater blight than never getting married. If you add to this confucianist and collectivist traditional japanese values into the mix, these weigh even more in the balance. But in order to make it clear to the audience, F is also forced to deconstructs, not its premises, but every single of Hinako's misconception : no her mother doesn't quietly sit taking Kanta's abuse, no she wasn't sold just to pay off their debts and no, her father isn't a big giant monster that she must fear for the rest of her life.
The point of humanizing Kanta and Kimie is to give Hinako a clear reason as to why she shouldn't fear her parents anymore. Even if you personally think as an audience that they are monsters, you do you, but the problem is that in Hinako's mind, they are clearly showing something she is pathologically afraid of. By dehumanizing her parents and viewing them into monsters and believing it's their true face, by denying entirely their humanity, she is locking herself in her own fears, thereby sabotaging her own future.
And Hinako's surroundings don't help with these misconceptions at all, as she records in her diaries regarding the monsters, it all showcases how Hinako came to be convinced of that notion. She is basically seeing red truth everywhere, proof that she is right, that her fears are confirmed and her future out of reach, almost as is she is looking for excuses to not grow up.
That's why Kotoyuki's status as a victim are important : they can completely shatter the idea that Hinako had, that her future husband was necessarily hiding big bad evil monster and was just waiting to reveal himself and instead realize that he too was a doll.
Shf subtlely deconstruscts the idea that because of systemic realities, then your gender necessarily determinates whether you are the prey (bird) or the predator (fox) since Hinako's rejection of womanhood is tied to a deep seered anxiety that she might end up a victim too if she embrassed it, like her mother. She says the same regarding Junko, convinced that her sister was sold and that her mother forever ruined her sister's life. And so she believes the same is awaiting her.
However, that's not what happens. Instead, Hinako becomes like Kanta : a drug dependant shell of a human being whose loud and violent. Keep in mind that ending 1 is mandatory first ending and that getting the others requires a lot of efforts, which is meant to reflect the efforts that Hinako have to undergo in order to change her way of thinking and reach a different conclusion. The fact that the easiest ending is ending 1 speaks clear : that would be the most likely conclusion that Hinako would face. In short : if you don't grow up and challenge your real issues, you end up losing yourself forever and ever, becoming like your dad.
That's important to point out because Hinako NEVER states that she is afraid to become like Kanta. No, she always says she doesn't want to end up like her mother and when she is little, she even says "I want to be a boy" at some point despite boys also snobbing her (except Shu and Kotoyuki). If this doesn't scream "Hinako believes women are only victims (derogatory)" I don't know what does. This necessarily comes with the caveat that men are necessarily abusers, which she proclaims she does fear several times in the game.
If Hinako ending up like her dad is meant to show that no, women can also become abusers, then it should be obvious that Kotoyuki's status as being a victim and one that went through the same transformation that Hinako is lead to undergo in Fox Wedding is meant to challenge the idea that Hinako had in regards to men being inherently abusive. Because when you think like this, then you are like Hinako, you are living in a ghost like town that is filled with nothing but monsters, you become even more isolated and you are stuck unable to find a way of living.
Again, the game is about Hinako's future, how is she to have any idea of a future if she is that scared ?
The game goes out of it's way to showcase that Hinako is in truth cowardly regarding a lot of things because the point it tries to make isn't that Hinako is wrong for not wanting to get married, but that she is terrified of it is the problem. Fear is a feeling of self preservation and isn't inherently negative, but it can become pathological and prevent you from advancing in life, and it's even moreso essential regarding the overcoming of trauma.
That's why Hinako standing up for Kotoyuki in ending 4 is such a huge deal : it shows she overcame the idea that men are all inherently abusers, that women are all inherently victims and that if she relinks to her feminine side which she clearly wants to be at peace with, then she'll become another victim like her mother. This is the culmination of Hinako's character arc and finally growing past her fears.
That's also why I need people to stop misunderstanding the Kimie and Kanta scene, because it, again, relies on the fallacy that because Hinako lived it like this then it MUST be instead of just Hinako being mistaken into believing something because her parents never took the time to do what they should have done : properly communicate with her. I am not saying this to invalidate Hinako's trauma, I am saying this because I know what it feels to be like this, to be tortured by demons for years only to finally find the courage to discuss of your fears with someone and realize it was all a misunderstanding. I don't think my experience is any comparable to Hinako, not even close, but this shows how crucial communication is when raising a child as these refusal on Kimie and Kanta's parts to actually reassure their daughters scarred Hinako so deeply she would lose herself in the most accessible ending, and at least, be at constant war against her own self and the rest of the world.
This scene between Hinako and her parents exists so that there isn't a remain of doubt or fear within Hinako so that she can finally escape her own hell. That's why Hinako only starts to show emotion when Kimie tells her about the full extent of her and Kanta's relationship, making her realize that she isn't forced to become a victim and have to give up on her identity or life for her husband. That's why Kanta's scene exists : instead of the imposing father that must be revered, he is prostrating, a position indicating humility and making it clear that in this conversation, he isn't above Hinako. This exists because, even if it's too late, even if it cannot repair anything, he finally understood his mistake was not being open to his family. He didn't communicate with Hinako properly once from what we saw in the game, he doesn't listen to her, he just screams louder to cover her voice. But here, he doesn't do that. The point is not to whitewash him, not to redeem him, not to forgive him : it's to show he finally understood the errors of his ways and show Hinako that there is hope for her. To quote his words "that she is free from his curse".
Like I am sorry, honestly Kimie and Kanta probably deserves their own post due to how many people miss the point of this scene or of how laters reveal, but I still don't get how you can't miss that when the scene is hammering the idea down your throat. Fog Hinako is advocating for Hinako to listen not to forgive him, but because she is tired. She wants to be free. She is ready to move on. The part of Hinako that doesn't want to grow up, her inner child, is ready to move on. She is ready to grow up.
That is insane character growth and yet all of this gets ignored all of this because people cannot stand the idea that maybe Hinako's early Black and White thinking was wrong and that if she wants to get out of her, she needs to self reflect and realize that the world is more complicated as part of her healing process, just because the men character aren't cartoonishly evil. This does more injustice to Hinako's character because it reduces her to a character that goes downrail for maturing and healing whereas she should have stayed with her 15 year old maturity in believing the world is black and white, never mind the fact she believes that women are and can only be victims while also looking down on girly things and all of that.
But yeah, tldr : Kotoyuki's being a victim too exists for ShF to showcase that the gendered values pushed unto individuals harms both men and women, that while men are majoritarly prepartror and women prejudiced, that doesn't mean either gender is inherently abusive or a victim and that it contributes to Hinako's character arc as these notions directly play into her trauma and biased understanding of life as well as her anxieties regarding her future.
