the most sociopolitically astute chapter so far, on both a more abstract philosophical level and a practical one: ryukishi is fundamentally a behaviorist, ethically and psychologically, and remains committed to absolute understanding, empathy, and trust rather than the simple pleasures of condemnation and the attendant voyeurism (with the exception of the overarching antagonist who is, as of this chapter's ending, a scenery chewing freak in a rly fun wild way). the hanyuu stuff is great and very moving, echoes of codependency with two characters trapped in perpetual pre-adolescence, one's loneliness making her determined to change and do nothing and the other's driving her to desperate attempts to escape the stultifying world of repetition and isolation. so much rage at the way liberal-democratic systems fail vulnerable people and hide behind the cheap excuse of bureaucratic process, while it complexifies the understanding of collective direct action and political resistance which was explored in previous chapters, reinforcing the duality of who "counts" as a comrade and how the, to some degree, fundamentally conservative nature of hinamizawa's political organizing can be modulated and overcome. plus the climax just goes apeshit. what the fuck even