She's less hateable, but this chapter felt kind of awkwardly done? Here's hoping Koto goes somewhere with full-on growth!

Sheesh. Someone get this girl some counseling. At this rate she'll end up in a spiral. But at least she recognizes her faults

I always hate this type of character. The female who's a lesbian who is allowed to sow discourse through everyone's relationships in the story, then suddenly we have a chapter specifically for her that dumps exposition on us and tries to make us feel bad for her. I've never seen this character done well.

From what I saw in the chapter it's not that something happened to her that was caused by boys and that is why she hates them, I mean she went to the wedding when she was a kid and directly said she wanted a bride instead of being it. I think this is more like what the scientific explanation for why people are homosexuals or identify themselves as the opposite gender of their bodies says. According to it there might have been some sort of unnatural mutation in their brain that makes them think like that or something like that. Now about her hate for men my guess is it's not acutually directed at them but at herself for not being normal but without her knowing it and so she thinks of it as hate of men because her body rejects interacting with or touching them.

@noguza Isn't that the truth....

@DracoInduperator As we all do, that's why we seek works of art that resonate within us :)

As it turns out, they all have issues.

I assume Koto doesn't hate men because she hates men, per say, so much as because she's expected to like them. If it weren't for that expectation, men would basically be irrelevant to her world and she wouldn't mind them so much.

That's my take, at least.

e: The fact that the girl she was into went out with a guy probably didn't help.

@smolbaka

"Did something happen in her early life (that we don't know of yet) that caused this fear of men?

Knowing your best friend looks like a girl but is in reality a male couldve made her feelings more confused.

Like she's lying to herself because deep down she does like him but since he's not the fitting image of what a boy should be it'll be weird to admit she has a thing for girly boys.
Plus the fact he doesn't even understand his own feelings of his body which adds to her confusion."

I think you misread something somewhere. Kotone is a closeted lesbian, and she quietly grew resentful of men because of that. Her current mood is because of guilt and frustration at not being able to love Mogumo regardless of gender (she deep down thinks of Mogumo as a male), not being able to accept Mogumo's gender identity (nonbinary - neither female nor male), and being born a lesbian (and the fear she'll be forever alone because of that).

She absolutely does not like girly boys. She doesn't differentiate between them and other guys. As a matter of fact, she seems to be a little disgusted with them. She's a girly girl who likes girly girls.

So Mogumo is just an outlet of her suppressed feeling?

I can understand some of her "man hate" now, but sheesh she should definitely try and seek a better way to manage her emotions, though I understand it can be hard for someone whose in the closet like her. I guess she's less of a hate able character now.

So this "genderless" dude became unsure of how to feel about his own gender because of his upbringing?
That's fucked up.

yeah she's kinda not great as a person but woof, that chapter hurt and I totally get where she's coming from now. Plus, by interacting with more of the guys at the cafe (as well as probably becoming the transgirl's GF), she'll learn to co-exist with men more easily.

I don't feel bad for her

@noguza Big agree over here.

When deep in the closet, it's real easy to lash out at others and be generally hateful. Before I realised I was trans, I was a real resentful jerk with a ton of misogyny. It was super easy for me to project my issues with my body image and sexuality out as "god fuck all these women and gay people who get to be happy with who they are".

NB: Presuming all homophobes to be closeted queer people is obviously a misguided and incorrect line of thinking that has only lead to more hurt in the LGBTQ community, but this experience isn't exactly uncommon.

Kotone has been really shitty to Mogumo and everyone else, yes, but she is as real and flawed a human as everyone else in this manga. It's not fair to write her off completely.

I dunno how I feel about a whole chapter dedicated to her backstory tbh. I'd rather they took it slow instead of dumping an exposition like that. She still feels like the least likable character is the series.

Girl, you can be a little more normal if you just learn to not hate boys.

I didn't like much Kotone before this chapter but now I strongly do.

After reading all the comments posted so far I'd say maybe it's harder for "normal" people (as people who grew up in a healthy environment) to get why she dislikes "males" like she does if you're het or grew up in a, let's say, healthy environment.

In the flashbacks it's portrayed pretty well how she has built up frustration and hatred not for men as men but towards "males" as people she feels are totally alien to her.

When you don't like girls yet get pressured in getting into a relationship with one for years and it gets worse when you turn 26 with people seriously worrying about you and your future, it's, I'd say, almost logical that you'd develop a sort of certain attitude mixed with irritation towards women. And not because you hate women as women but because the label gave you so many negative emotions throughout the years.
Is disliking women in general for this reason totally wrong and shitty? Indeed it is. Because before being women they are firstly individuals deserving of respect.

Man, I so felt Kotone in this chapter.

What I'm trying to say is that, this is very relatable if you've been there but it doesn't mean that it's not shitty how she behaves but I can totally see why she would be this way so I'd not blame everything on her but I'd like to see her mature and have a bit of happiness as well.

Did something happen in her early life (that we don't know of yet) that caused this fear of men?

Knowing your best friend looks like a girl but is in reality a male couldve made her feelings more confused.

Like she's lying to herself because deep down she does like him but since he's not the fitting image of what a boy should be it'll be weird to admit she has a thing for girly boys.
Plus the fact he doesn't even understand his own feelings of his body which adds to her confusion.

Man, what a crock of shit. It's really hard to feel compassion for Kotone when she's been written as this man-hating princess who feels physical revulsion from being touched by men or fucking hell, even someone she perceives as a man. Especially when you've got Tetsu who's willing to accept being ostracized for liking Mogu and is willing to fully accept them.

And the whole chapter was taken by her backstory, jeez.