amsterdamn's manga / #slice of life(12)

ending kind of shows up out of nowhere, leaving little tied together, but considering the very visceral telling of the fat experience right in front of your eyes, i don't really care about that. was a huge eye-opener, it revealed the world of living as a fat woman in the modern day and modern workforce in a very brutally realistic way, while also showing what it's like to live for the opinions of other people; men, conventionally attractive women, seniors at work, etc. i liked that there was no 'voice of reason' type of character... tabata-san, who seemed to be the only one on noko's side, was moreso just obsessed with some sort of 'grand justice' against mayumi, and less so on sympathising with noko or being her friend. even the woman selling Noko the weight-losing program was sinister. i didn't mind the lesbian cameo, but i feel like a lot of this story is mostly about how the fat experience is shaped by cishet society and expectations... noko is so fuelled to lose weight under the guise of wanting to be beautiful for her boyfriend, but in reality, he only likes being able to exploit the weak, pitiable 'stupid fat woman' who cant think for herself. i liked that there was no sympathy for mayumi, although a deeper history into her motivations and why she dislikes fat people so much could have been interesting? but in reality, skinny fatphobic people are usually just that and nothing else; sinister, selfish, deserving of a good kicking in the teeth, but are too caught up in their patriarchal views which are just confirmed and reinforced by the same prejudiced society that taught it to them in the first place. they'll never receive real punishment for it, or face some sort of divine justice that transforms them into kinder people... even while suffering under the same hurtful societal expectations they enforce!!

i cant keep doing this man