Saikyou Series

Jinrui Saikyou no Jun"ai –Nisioisin
p. 8-11

After it was all over, that is,after it had died, I recalleda conversation I had with somebody at some point—that’s certainlynot to say that had I remembered, had I more properly thought thingsthrough, then itwouldn’t have met with such an end; I wish things were that simple,but anyway, that doesn’t change the fact that I recalled it.

“Aikawa-san.What would you think if someone died, or suffered an avoidabletragedy, because of you?”

Huh? What kindof a question is that? I don’t get it. You mean, like, “How does itfeel when you kill someone?” You’d be better off asking our oldfriend Zerozaki-kun, if that’s the case. Though we probably all knowhow he’d answer.

“No,um, it’s not that direct, or rather, I’m not talking about somethingpremeditated. Setting aside the proper usage of premeditated,that is…”

So, when youkill someone by mistake? When you inadvertently ruin someone’s life?Accidents and errors and stuff?

“Not quite. Idon’t mean accidents and mistakes, where you don’t feel remorse…Perhaps it would be easier to understand if I gave an example. Um…there was a trendy argument a while ago, wasn’t there, about childrencausing trouble, or getting caught up in trouble, due to badinfluences from manga and such?”

Oh, there was,wasn’t there. I mean, it’s still around today. So that’s what you’retalking about? But didn’t that have no statistical basis, and it wasjust prejudice from adults? You can grow up to be a fine person likeme only reading manga, you know.

“Somehow thatlacks persuasion…”

Did you saysomething?

“I didn’t sayanything. And personally, I don’t think I’m one to hold anyone toaccount for the bad influence of manga on children. Although, it’snot so simple as only being a good influence and never exerting a badinfluence… Well, this isn’t what I’d like to discuss.”

So,what do you want totalk about? You’re so roundabout.

“What I meanis, violent language and cruel stories, and s.e.xual ill.u.s.trations too,aren’t they a pretty powerful stimulus for children who can’t yetjudge between good and bad? But that’s not it—well, I’ll keep usingmanga as an example since it’s easy to understand. Say there’s anationally renowned manga artist who grants dreams to children. Someof those children won’t be satisfied just reading the works they’reoffered, and they’ll be influenced to want to become manga artiststhemselves, right?”

Definitely.Sure. You can’t blame them for looking up to someone.

“Butthe world is harsh. Half those children—rather, nearly all of themwill have their dreams crushed. They’ll experience failure that theynever needed to experience. All the effort and hard work they diduntil their dreams were crushed will be no different from playingaround. What do you think about that, Aikawa-san?”

Hmm? Looking upto someone, and failing? Could happen, wouldn’t happen… no, you’reright. And there’s another thing; maybe they weren’t directly aimingto become a manga artist, but they had read manga and were inspiredto be an athlete. After becoming a pro player, they give an interviewand say, “Actually, it’s all thanks to the manga I read as achild,” and it all seems pretty moving, but that one person’sinfluence crushes the dreams of a million readers. But really, sowhat? It’s pointless to get on your high horse and pick apart amoving story like that.

“True.But there’s a more extreme scenario. Speaking of sports, let’s saythere’s a child who looks up to a top-cla.s.s Olympic gold medalist,and wants to follow in their footsteps—”

And has theirdreams crushed?

“—Havingtheir dreams crushed would be preferable. A tragic future may verywell await them, where they take a wild pitch to the head, or inmartial arts they get an injury so serious that they can neverrecover. When the star athlete is told about that… should the starfeel any sense of responsibility? Even if they’re not legallyresponsible, should they feel morally responsible?”

Automobiles areuseful, but they kill a lot of people in accidents, right? Thatcriticism is more constructive, but it’s also destructive at the sametime. If you start the blame game there, you’ll box yourself into acorner.

“Right… Theblame game? What about the ones being blamed?”

Well, naturallybeing blamed is annoying too, but I just thought that the ones doingthe blaming would get hedged in as well. I didn’t mean much by it. Inany case, arguing about something that doesn’t work as an argument isas unproductive as it gets.

“Indeed, thisis unproductive… If you start talking like that, you’ll have a hardtime just walking down the street.”

Special peoplehave a special influence—I can understand how someone could believethat, but ultimately, isn’t it nowhere close to the influence ofparents and friends and stuff? That’s how it was for me.

“Like yourfather?”

Yeah, like myfather. Like those pieces of garbage. No doubt, if it weren’t forthem, I wouldn’t be here—and it’s not like I never blamed them. Uh,what were we talking about originally? Not this general stuff; youhad something to ask me, right?

“Yes.Say there’s an idiot who looks up to you and fails. They want to belike you, they try to look good, and they die an ugly, pointlessdeath. But isn’t all of that completely separate from yourintentions and actions, Aikawa-san? Even if they’re as ma.s.sive a foolas someone who tries to become a bird and jumps off a cliff to theirdeath; could you simply call them a fool and cast them aside?”

Mmm.

“Aikawa-san?”

I have only onething to say to you right now, user of nonsense: Don’t call meAikawa-san. Only enemies call me by my last name.