Jinrui Saikyou no Jun'ai –

Nisioisin

p. 8-11

After it was all over, that is,

after it had died, I recalled

a conversation I had with somebody at some point—that’s certainly

not to say that had I remembered, had I more properly thought things

through, then it

wouldn’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 avoidable

tragedy, because of you?”

Huh? What kind

of a question is that? I don’t get it. You mean, like, “How does it

feel when you kill someone?” You’d be better off asking our old

friend Zerozaki-kun, if that’s the case. Though we probably all know

how he’d answer.

“No,

um, it’s not that direct, or rather, I’m not talking about something

premeditated. Setting aside the proper usage of premeditated,

that is…”

So, when you

kill someone by mistake? When you inadvertently ruin someone’s life?

Accidents and errors and stuff?

“Not quite. I

don’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 children

causing trouble, or getting caught up in trouble, due to bad

influences from manga and such?”

Oh, there was,

wasn’t there. I mean, it’s still around today. So that’s what you’re

talking about? But didn’t that have no statistical basis, and it was

just prejudice from adults? You can grow up to be a fine person like

me only reading manga, you know.

“Somehow that

lacks persuasion…”

Did you say

something?

“I didn’t say

anything. And personally, I don’t think I’m one to hold anyone to

account for the bad influence of manga on children. Although, it’s

not so simple as only being a good influence and never exerting a bad

influence… Well, this isn’t what I’d like to discuss.”

So,

what do you want to

talk about? You’re so roundabout.

“What I mean

is, 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 yet

judge between good and bad? But that’s not it—well, I’ll keep using

manga as an example since it’s easy to understand. Say there’s a

nationally renowned manga artist who grants dreams to children. Some

of those children won’t be satisfied just reading the works they’re

offered, and they’ll be influenced to want to become manga artists

themselves, right?”

Definitely.

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

“But

the world is harsh. Half those children—rather, nearly all of them

will have their dreams crushed. They’ll experience failure that they

never needed to experience. All the effort and hard work they did

until their dreams were crushed will be no different from playing

around. What do you think about that, Aikawa-san?”

Hmm? Looking up

to someone, and failing? Could happen, wouldn’t happen… no, you’re

right. And there’s another thing; maybe they weren’t directly aiming

to become a manga artist, but they had read manga and were inspired

to be an athlete. After becoming a pro player, they give an interview

and say, “Actually, it’s all thanks to the manga I read as a

child,” and it all seems pretty moving, but that one person’s

influence crushes the dreams of a million readers. But really, so

what? It’s pointless to get on your high horse and pick apart a

moving story like that.

“True.

But there’s a more extreme scenario. Speaking of sports, let’s say

there’s a child who looks up to a top-cla.s.s Olympic gold medalist,

and wants to follow in their footsteps—”

And has their

dreams crushed?

“—Having

their dreams crushed would be preferable. A tragic future may very

well await them, where they take a wild pitch to the head, or in

martial arts they get an injury so serious that they can never

recover. When the star athlete is told about that… should the star

feel any sense of responsibility? Even if they’re not legally

responsible, should they feel morally responsible?”

Automobiles are

useful, but they kill a lot of people in accidents, right? That

criticism is more constructive, but it’s also destructive at the same

time. If you start the blame game there, you’ll box yourself into a

corner.

“Right… The

blame game? What about the ones being blamed?”

Well, naturally

being blamed is annoying too, but I just thought that the ones doing

the blaming would get hedged in as well. I didn’t mean much by it. In

any case, arguing about something that doesn’t work as an argument is

as unproductive as it gets.

“Indeed, this

is unproductive… If you start talking like that, you’ll have a hard

time just walking down the street.”

Special people

have a special influence—I can understand how someone could believe

that, but ultimately, isn’t it nowhere close to the influence of

parents and friends and stuff? That’s how it was for me.

“Like your

father?”

Yeah, like my

father. Like those pieces of garbage. No doubt, if it weren’t for

them, 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; you

had something to ask me, right?

“Yes.

Say there’s an idiot who looks up to you and fails. They want to be

like you, they try to look good, and they die an ugly, pointless

death. But isn’t all of that completely separate from your

intentions and actions, Aikawa-san? Even if they’re as ma.s.sive a fool

as someone who tries to become a bird and jumps off a cliff to their

death; could you simply call them a fool and cast them aside?”

Mmm.

“Aikawa-san?”

I have only one

thing to say to you right now, user of nonsense: Don’t call me

Aikawa-san. Only enemies call me by my last name.