I Found a Kitten

Ok guys stop being mad now kitten got a new pin let's talk about how cute she is okay. Ain't nobody gunna ban this place okay

To add to that it is black comedy, shock humour at worse. Just because you are offended by it doesn't mean it isn't a joke or it isn't humour, contrary to the popular opinion of our increasingly subjectivity policing world.

 

And before anyone says "oh it is out of tone of the series!" well that is how comedy works at a very basic level, subversion of expectation. Another very basic aspect of humour is that it is tribal in nature and as such is meant to be divisive, not inclusive. Some people will find it funny, others won't and that's the point. 

 

And before anyone else starts; it is NOT about a lack of empathy. You can be empathetic and still find black comedy funny. The purpose of black comedy is to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter.

The tone of the series is heartwarming. People read this for that effect. Not only is the joke out-of-tone with the rest of the series, the tone of the series means that dark humor won't be appreciated by most of the readers, since they read this to forget that the world is shit.

When people say, "This isn't a joke," it's just a harsher version of "This is a bad joke." And quite frankly, I'm really not sure what's funny about it myself, but it was clearly meant to be humorous. I just think this shows a great disconnect between author and audience. Most people who read shit like this just want to read about cute, heartwarming moments and be left alone, so the idea of having the protagonist taken by the police for being with his niece will not be taken well.

I will agree that you can be empathetic towards the MC and men in general and still find the joke funny, I just think that most readers of such a moe series which is meant to give a desire to protect wouldn't like the MC being denied protection over his cute niece due to being betrayed by a childhood friend.

I mean, there wasn't even any character development by the childhood friend, and this certainly didn't make her a more endearing character.

People a little too sensitive about the joke.  In a comedy context, the *prank* was a single panel joke that is perhaps on the same level as some MC getting bashed by jealous tsundere with a spiked bat.  No one complains about that kind of "domestic violence", why does anyone complain about the old *suspicious man with a young girl must be a kidnapper* gag?  It's a comedy, loosen up your a**holes please.

To add to that it is black comedy, shock humour at worse. Just because you are offended by it doesn't mean it isn't a joke or it isn't humour, contrary to the popular opinion of our increasingly subjectivity policing world.

And before anyone says "oh it is out of tone of the series!" well that is how comedy works at a very basic level, subversion of expectation. Another very basic aspect of humour is that it is tribal in nature and as such is meant to be divisive, not inclusive. Some people will find it funny, others won't and that's the point. 

And before anyone else starts; it is NOT about a lack of empathy. You can be empathetic and still find black comedy funny. The purpose of black comedy is to make light of serious and often taboo subject matter.

I don't know how so many people could be so offended by this gag unless they or someone they know has had this happen to them in real life or they're going too far with their self-insertion.

Also, this manga has always been part comedy just not a straight-up gag manga.  Sure it has some drama and is somewhat realistic (not completely, especially the spin-off) but a joke of this level should have been in line with what could be expected.  Sure it was a dick move by the childhood friend (not the author like some people are saying) but so what? It's not like it's happening to you so get a few laughs in at the expense of the MC and move on.

Haha, he got treated like piece of shit when he's helping out his sister raise his niece! What a loser, he deserved being considered a pedophile or kidnapper and ditched by a girl whom he considered a friend...

There was nothing humorous about it.

People a little too sensitive about the joke.  In a comedy context, the *prank* was a single panel joke that is perhaps on the same level as some MC getting bashed by jealous tsundere with a spiked bat.  No one complains about that kind of "domestic violence", why does anyone complain about the old *suspicious man with a young girl must be a kidnapper* gag?  It's a comedy, loosen up your a**holes please.

I don't know how so many people could be so offended by this gag unless they or someone they know has had this happen to them in real life or they're going too far with their self-insertion.

Also, this manga has always been part comedy just not a straight-up gag manga.  Sure it has some drama and is somewhat realistic (not completely, especially the spin-off) but a joke of this level should have been in line with what could be expected.  Sure it was a dick move by the childhood friend (not the author like some people are saying) but so what? It's not like it's happening to you so get a few laughs in at the expense of the MC and move on.

Yeah buddy, that was real funny.

I don't know how so many people could be so offended by this gag unless they or someone they know has had this happen to them in real life or they're going too far with their self-insertion.

Also, this manga has always been part comedy just not a straight-up gag manga.  Sure it has some drama and is somewhat realistic (not completely, especially the spin-off) but a joke of this level should have been in line with what could be expected.  Sure it was a dick move by the childhood friend (not the author like some people are saying) but so what? It's not like it's happening to you so get a few laughs in at the expense of the MC and move on.

Yeah, your explanation for why that felt wrong in this manga was spot on. The exact same joke in a more comedy-focused manga would actually have been funny; it just didn't fit the tone of this series. Fortunately the next chapter recognized that it went a bit too far, although it kind of felt like the author was going "shit, shit, backpedal, backpedal!"

Has the triggering ended? 

Shit, not yet.

 

It's probably fine if it's in manga. But, if it's irl, I think the joke gets too far. And, it's done by someone who has "too-far in caretaking" problem. Really, if it's me, probably I will treat her as stranger at least for a week as she's the one who wants it.

 

yep, read both chapters again, and that bitch didn't even feel really guilty about what she did

so as Dijon said, the series was used in a realistic enviroment so in that context the author really fuck up

and someone comparing with Puchimasu further proves that point, cause that series is clearly a good ol' comedy, in this manga we had serious drama, it was the story on how the mc was taking care of her niece (that didn't even know he had one) and how he grow up and started to be more reliable and mature and then this shit happens, so far childhoohd friend has make it worse, it would have been better to only work in the sequel (spin off?)

Reading the comments was fun. Thanks everyone! Your entertaining me made me scanlate much faster than usual

Am I alone in thinking this would have been pretty hilarious? Also, like how Kasane's all "Let's see how this gag plays out."

This gag just highlights a very real problem with men being ridiculously scrutinized for merely being in the vicinity of a female child. I've had my own run-ins with the police while taking my kid sister to the park some 15 years back because some "concerned citizen" soccer mom called them and claimed there was a "random man" playing with a little girl in a park. The horror. 

I think this gag might just be a bit more triggering than usual especially considering the tone the manga has had thus far. 

First, you are confusing characters because that's not her mother.  Tsugumi is Atsuki's obsessive childhood friend introduced in 5.1.  I am curious where there this event is going because Tsugumi was framed as feeling very threatened by Kasane because she thrives on Atsuki's 'dependence' on her aid. But now she's isolated Kasane from him, and I cannot tell if she's going to try to reinforce dominance or if she's discarded Atsuki in favor of obsessing over Kasane.

 

Second, I feel like this entire comment section is grossly overreacting to one of the most cookie cutter of gags seen in every series that revolves around a man suddenly being the sole caretaker of a child.  Hell, it was a running gag even in Puchim@s, Producer was not allowed to be in public with a puchi without getting arrested, even when Piyopiyo was specifically looking for him.  Everyone's free to dislike it or be tired of it, of course, but the vitriol is a little much when it's such a standard gag in the industry.  What is slaying me most is that everyone was so up at arms and furious over Atsuki NOT being treated like a possible child molester in the initial premise of I Found Another Kitten.

It's simple, really.

Assuming innocence when one is innocent (edited for clarity) is harmless. Challenging one's suspension of disbelief regarding said assumption of innocence is harmless. Assuming guilt and that misplaced guilt being reinforced not merely by some other random person but by a person you trusted has real-world implications which are not harmless and it's plenty reasonable that it would evoke strong emotional reactions.

I'm not aware of any similarly life-altering stigma that can be placed on women for merely being accused of something. I suppose if a woman were a teacher falsely accused of having sexual relations with her minor students, and a trusted colleague reinforcing that accusation, that could be close. She could potentially lose her job, face some measure of jail time, and have her teaching license revoked. She could also be registered as a sex offender and face difficulty finding new employment, potentially. I'm not aware of any female sex offenders being as heavily shunned by society as their male counterparts but I'm sure it's possible. I imagine some of our female readers would be at least some degree of disturbed if such a situation were played off as a harmless joke.

Again, just because you cannot empathize with someone in a particular situation does not mean nobody else should.

That was fucked up.

Looks liks she's a Yandere for lolis. She might as well have stabbed him.

First, you are confusing characters because that's not her mother.  Tsugumi is Atsuki's obsessive childhood friend introduced in 5.1.  I am curious where there this event is going because Tsugumi was framed as feeling very threatened by Kasane because she thrives on Atsuki's 'dependence' on her aid. But now she's isolated Kasane from him, and I cannot tell if she's going to try to reinforce dominance or if she's discarded Atsuki in favor of obsessing over Kasane.

 

Second, I feel like this entire comment section is grossly overreacting to one of the most cookie cutter of gags seen in every series that revolves around a man suddenly being the sole caretaker of a child.  Hell, it was a running gag even in Puchim@s, Producer was not allowed to be in public with a puchi without getting arrested, even when Piyopiyo was specifically looking for him.  Everyone's free to dislike it or be tired of it, of course, but the vitriol is a little much when it's such a standard gag in the industry.  What is slaying me most is that everyone was so up at arms and furious over Atsuki NOT being treated like a possible child molester in the initial premise of I Found Another Kitten.

Okay, yea I'm not following this well cuz the chapters are coming quite slowly. If this isn't the mother, then that just makes me hate the kid for not saying anything. I don't know who that girl is so I don't care but the kid has been portrayed as being fairly worldly and mature for her age and she should really understand the severity of what's happening. The reason why I want to hear the Japanese reception is because if they have no problem with it, then I'll assume our sensibilities are simply different and thus, it would just be something not for me.

But now that I know it's not the mom, I'm definitely dropping it cuz if it was the mom, maybe she could have come back after her time with her kid and just said "lol jk, I do know him tee hee". And then I could have brushed it off as just being anime. But now, who is MC supposed to go to to get out? He can't just call the mom cuz the cops don't know if the person he calls is the mom or not. And they can't prove that she's the mom anyway even if she gets there. This MC doesn't have the Producer business protection, he's fucked.

This gag is absolutely unfunny but at least it was less of a joke in idolm@ster which is why I say that idolm@ster did it better. It forced Dekoration to almost be late to their gig, and develop as a group. And it forced Mio to see Producer so that they could talk. They could have done it in arguably different ways but like I said, Producer has his business immunity.

...because on top of being just that joke from idolm@ster: cinderella girls but worse, it also just seems like weak-sauce writing. If the mother genuinely wants to just have a day with her daughter to prove that she can be a good parent, then just send him on a goose-chase errand or something and then run. That's fine, MC gets taken out of the picture and it's a mild inconvenience for him but nothing drastic like this. idk, this is almost worth dropping the manga for even though it was alright up till now.

First, you are confusing characters because that's not her mother.  Tsugumi is Atsuki's obsessive childhood friend introduced in 5.1.  I am curious where there this event is going because Tsugumi was framed as feeling very threatened by Kasane because she thrives on Atsuki's 'dependence' on her aid. But now she's isolated Kasane from him, and I cannot tell if she's going to try to reinforce dominance or if she's discarded Atsuki in favor of obsessing over Kasane.

Second, I feel like this entire comment section is grossly overreacting to one of the most cookie cutter of gags seen in every series that revolves around a man suddenly being the sole caretaker of a child.  Hell, it was a running gag even in Puchim@s, Producer was not allowed to be in public with a puchi without getting arrested, even when Piyopiyo was specifically looking for him.  Everyone's free to dislike it or be tired of it, of course, but the vitriol is a little much when it's such a standard gag in the industry.  What is slaying me most is that everyone was so up at arms and furious over Atsuki NOT being treated like a possible child molester in the initial premise of I Found Another Kitten.

Just my 2 cents, but: While I really don't like the last chapter either, no living people were harmed. Only our sensibilities, because the manga-ka threw in a random "joke" that insults our intelligence and makes us angry. (And that's assuming the worst, that there's no mitigating element lost in translation.)

When friends make idiotic mistakes that leave us feeling insulted, we have a few options: Shut them out of our lives, chalk it up to "everyone (including us) makes idiotic mistakes and I value our other experiences together", or sit down and talk with them to find out why (maybe there's something we don't know) and explain how we felt. Personally, I'd prefer the third option (and I think most people would) - but here, we don't have that choice.

I'd have no right (or desire) to judge anyone's choice, but I choose the second option. It sucks because it feels like it invalidates our feelings, but I still choose it. That's me. (But if becomes a pattern in the sequel, I'll probably feel differently.)