Look Back: Tucker Report (Patreon)

Tucker's episode notes (including name pronunciation/meaning) for our Look Back episode

Characters:

• 藤野 キョウ, Fujino Kyō
• 京本, Kyōmoto
• Both “Kyo”s in the character names are long syllables (two beats)
• The names don’t really seem to have significance this time. Going for realism, I guess.

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OTHER NOTES:

• It was announced on August 2nd that the scene with the man attacking the art school during a “paranoid episode” would be altered due to feedback from readers. This is due to its similarity to the 2019 Kyoto Animation arson attack and because of concern of the portrayal of the man contributing to the stigmatization of mental illness in Japan.
  • I guess the English version posted in the Discord by David is pre-change? Not sure how it will be changed.
• There doesn’t seem to be much info about this in English, but apparently the 2007 “Kyoto Seika University Student Street Demon Murder Case” is also likely an inspiration for the attack (mentioned in the Japanesese version of the wiki article). https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E4%BA%AC%E9%83%BD%E7%B2%BE%E8%8F%AF%E5%A4%A7%E5%AD%A6%E7%94%9F%E9%80%9A%E3%82%8A%E9%AD%94%E6%AE%BA%E4%BA%BA%E4%BA%8B%E4%BB%B6
• The art school is modeled after Tohoku University of Art and Design in Yamagata: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tohoku_University_of_Art_and_Design
• When the gradeschoolers talk about Kyoumoto being a “truant,” they were probably using the word “不登校児” (futoukouji). Word literally means “not-going-out schoolchild.”
• This phenomenon is becoming more common over time. Not quite the same as hikikomori, since futoukouji just refers to refusing to go to school, but it’s feared by some that this is a fast track to becoming full-fledged hikikomori.
  • Article by BBC on futoukouji: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-50693777

“So why are so many children avoiding school in Japan?

Family circumstances, personal issues with friends, and bullying are among the main causes, according to a survey by the ministry of education.

In general, the dropouts reported that they didn't get along with other students, or sometimes with the teachers.”