i think its very intentional and poignant that a little girl is shown to be the person who have to swallow back every anger and bitterness and let it destroy her from the inside…. the self-harming tendencies of “restraining” your feelings is literalized by kotoha hitting herself… because what happens when you “swallow” your anger is that you must rationalize and accept why you were harmed — the type of things your body alerts you to via anger — and just accept their excuses at the cost yourself. because then your side of the story is completely erased in favor of theirs. you are never heard— what you need is never addressed and actually rectified, and you just have to accept the mistreatment over and over again.
sometimes, its easy to forget. sometimes, its incredibly difficult to— and you are left stewing around with nothing but your anger (who said swallow anger means it will actually get digested or resolved?), injustice, self-pity, and whatever that was missing that you were trying to get in the first place?
and how poignant it is that a young girl is the representation of this injustice and feelings. girls who must be gentle; girls who must be kind; girls who must be gracious and sympathetic and “understand” the situation or the other person’s feelings. girls who must not be violent. girls who must be mature — look at how hard your mom has it, why cant you try and tough it out for her?
wind breaker is a manga about (male) delinquents: the demographic notable for not mincing words, nor their anger, not their feelings towards injustice, and inherently identified as a mistreated/“discarded” group. isnt this piece fits into the puzzle nicely? girls and boys — or, more pertinently in wbk, individuals experiencing difficulties in different social structures — face different struggles, but there is a similar theme underneath: heres the self-destruction from trying to suppress your injustice and identity to fulfill other people’s expectations. how beautiful it is that an aspiring delinquent is the first person to hear kotoha out.
anyway im krilling myself looking at this pic ok. the otherworldly sketchiness — the intensity of the moment — ume’s hand being kotoha salvation and how he so gently wrap her hand in his as she does hers; kotoha allows herself to fall down for the first time (she has been STANDING!!! for all her backstory thus far!!!!); dawg……… DAWG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
