Nekomori-kun no Himitsu no Tobira

nathandouglasdavis May 14, 2020

4

Nekomori can see into people's heart-doors and see their inner thoughts. For most people (well, actually for everyone other than Ritsu), they outwardly portray themselves in ways which are appropriate but inwardly think very differently. I have a few issues with the way this world is portrayed. The first issue is that Nekomori has only run into people who hold their true feelings back out of duplicitous or self-aggrandizing motives, so when fe hears Ritsu's rationale of anxiety and insecurity fe finds it endearing. Which is weird, since obviously there should be plenty of people who hold themselves back out of a sense of insecurity. In fact, I would guess that most people's primary motive for not opening up would be because of insecurity and a fear of being hurt. And also, we never see anybody holding themselves back to avoid offending or hurting other people's feelings, which is definitely a reason people stop themselves from just spouting what's on their minds. The second issue is that Ritsu is portrayed as literally the only person fe's ever run into who has integrity between feir inner thoughts and outer words. And I realize that this a manga, so they're gonna exaggerate. And saying "fe's the tenth person I've run into" is a lot less dramatic than saying "fe's the first person I've run into." But in this case, the dramaticism ends up making the author look like fe's a misanthrope with a bleak and cynical view of human nature. I just want to pat fem on the back and tell fem that not everyone in the world is a two-faced liar with ulterior motives--there are a decent number of people out there who value openness and honesty. But at the same time, I want to scratch a chalkboard right next to the author's ear for trying to simplify the complexities of human nature down to these black and white ideas. The third issue is how it correlates openness and honesty with bluntness. All the people who are dishonest are shown as being reserved, and the one honest person is shown as immediately saying what's on feir mind as soon as it pops into feir mind. This implies that being reserved is inherently dishonest, which isn't fair. It doesn't take into account self-reflection. Honesty is about accurately sharing what you think, but sometimes you need to process and ponder your thoughts in order to be able to most accurately put them into words. And openness just means that you're not hiding things; it doesn't mean you have to share everything immediately. Sometimes, the outward context and timing make it so it's most appropriate to wait for privacy or fewer distractions in order to have a conversation.

angelsreviews Jul 31, 2013

6

Well this is kind of a cute little idea for a manga even if it is a one piece. Again like Wild Kiss, this is a little longer then some of the other one shots that I have read and as such is a bit more detailed in the story. The concept of having someone who can always tell what’s on someone else’s mind is a cool concept and a little jarring if it was in real life. Some of the things that the other characters are thinking about are really funny like the teacher in the first part of the story. Ritsu is also another interesting character who seems to change right as she meets Ai but never stops being really open until later on when she sort of closed the door a bit. Still, it was cute to see a person just be honest with the person he liked. Though there are misunderstandings, it’s a nice that they are ironed out fast. The artwork is very cute and pretty much a shoujo threw and threw. The characters are well detailed and the boy is rather girly. I don’t really mind the cutely look though it is a little over done sometimes.