Spoiler Free
Dream of a place where an attractive girl with beautiful black hair exists. Now dream, over months that all admiring black hair slowly changes to white. Add a little extra spice and make the reason this change occurred was not by her own distinction but the result of aggressive and persistent bullying from a person in her class. Congratulation, you have successfully thought up an all-original story known as Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu, er kinda.
So I picked this book up with a slew of other Yandere stories in search of being able to write the best guide possible of how to live through the very real threat of catching a Yandere. Finding a strange tale about bullying to the extreme where everyone just wants to beat the shit out of everyone else and poor ol Shirosaki can’t catch a break.
The story following main, Nakajima, a seemingly ordinary guy that’s sole purpose in life is to bully Shirosaki to any extreme possible. Somehow getting cover by the class and completely ignored by any administrator within the school Nakajima has full rein over whatever he wants to do to his victim, and carries it out without prejudice.
Oh, I guess I should mention he has to.
The actual tension point in this story isn’t the bullying that Shirosaki receives but more the abuse Nakajima received if he fails to bully her properly. Oh and naturally the one bullying Nakajima for failing to bully Shirosaki is, well, Shirosaki. I did say this was a Yandere story after all.
What follows in a morbid, cringe, awkward tale that had me taking breaks from time to time just because it was simply too much. It is a cluster of odd and unneeded elements while being dashed with strangely heroic moments, though none of them cute. Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu is quite literally a story about a girl who gets off on being bullied by the boy she is into and Jesus Christ is it a strange thing to watch unfold.
What starts as a white knight trying to protect the Shirosaki quickly turns into others wanting to fuck with her and everyone standing in the way of Nakajima who just wants to live the event. This book isn’t good, and I think it would be easy to write it off as bad but what it really is, is just fucking weird.
The world makes no sense, the story makes no sense, the ability of the characters to pull off what they do makes no sense. Added with the fact this poor motherfucker Nakajima not only has Shirosaki to worry about but other yandere’s as the story plays out.
The first impression I can take from this is it is unlike anything I have ever read before. It is strange, seemingly counter to anti-rape storytelling. It is a sadist, masochist flip from one to another based on how pleased she is, and honestly, it is pretty uncomfortable to read.
As far as ideas go, this is a new take for me personally, I have never seen a story play the whole “bullied is actually the bully but also is turned on by it” though the counterpoint is a guy just wanting to play the role as some dude without the stresses of being a bully. Where Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu shines is its strange take on the yandere role as well as high school life.
It forces bullying first and foremost but fails to hold the impact it really causes. This is something that this medium does with another horrible event, rape. It takes something that isn’t a joke or a plot point on its own but somehow makes it fine. Bullying isn’t okay, either way, neither is rape. Rape at no point, for any reason, should lead to relationships or couples. Look I know I am making a very aggressive comparison but it just disappointed me most of all.
Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu bizarre take on this angel of storytelling shows why it is a rare one. It isn’t a good take on paper and how it is portrayed doesn’t help its cause. Sexism to me, at this point, isn’t a driving point of a plot but sadly Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu, ignoring the fact the “strongest” character is a girl still shines a light that Shirosaki should be a sub-human in the world she exists. (irrelevant if it is due to her own choice)
All and all this story is a mess, a disaster of narratives that fail to add up in the modern world. It tries to be edgy over and over again to the point where it defeats even the smallest of purpose. Ijimeru Yabai Yatsu isn’t a good story, and I’m confident in saying it is rather bad, cultivating a rare 4/10 from me only due to the left-field of the story its self.
Be prepared for more Yandere stories, especially in the manga side of Otaku Post. As for anime I am currently watching Demon Slayer and will try to finish it up sometime this week. Need For Speed Heat has me addicted for some reason but I am trying to get back on track.
Thanks for the read!
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