Chiikawa — How Japanese Fans React

After the movie I overheard someone go, like, "wait, is Chiikawa actually a horror franchise?"...

鑑賞後 「ちいかわってホラーなん？」みたいなことを言ってた人がいた…

When the islanders hesitate and suggest making a plan first, he just instantly fires back "Huh?!" — way too cool.

作戦立ててから行った方がって島民が躊躇するところで　即「ハァ！？」で返すの男前すぎる

The scene where the sirens actually nurse Chiikawa, Hachiware, and Usagi back to health and apologize for the mix-up is such a low blow, honestly. It says a lot that they're clearly the type who'd apologize properly if they realized their mistake — though of course apologizing wouldn't have changed anything by that point...

セイレーンたちがちいハチうさを介抱して間違えてごめんねって謝るシーンあるのなかなかずるいよね。ヒトフタに気付いてたら全然謝れる子なんだろうな。まぁ謝ったところで状況は変わらないんだろうけど。。。

Early in the movie there's a fallen sign, and he just quietly picks it up and resets it somewhere sturdier — that's when I started clocking him as competent.

映画序盤の倒れてた立て看板をすっと持ち上げて、もっといい場所にしっかり立て直してたのは出来るやつ感が大分でてた

The villagers' tears of pure hatred after force-feeding the siren that Carolina Reaper curry are genuinely hard to watch…

セイレーンにキャロラインカレー食わせた後の島民たちの憎しみの涙がお辛い…

If he stopped dragging trouble along he'd basically just be a perfect romantic hero at that point. On the island he's clearly prioritizing keeping Chiikawa and Hachiware safe the whole time, and when the group gets split up he's obviously worried the entire time.

トラブル持ち込まないうさぎはただのスパダリになってしまうからな。島ではずーっとちいかわとハチワレを守ることを最優先してるし、途中でちいかわがモモンガとヒトハ・フタバで別れてしまったときとかずっと心配してたと思う。

I genuinely think this'll end up printed in a school morals textbook someday.

将来は道徳の教科書に載ってると思う

His personality and competence are great and all, but what I honestly love most is when he just lets out some unhinged battle cry for no reason — weirdly satisfying every time.

キャラの性格や有能さもたしかに魅力的なんだけどそれ以上に 意味のわからない奇声張り上げてキチゲ解放してるところが爽快感があって好き

The only solution left is for those two to be punished. Even if the siren really is the reason the mermaids get eaten, there's no way to prove it — there's no evidence. It's just the weak getting devoured for the convenience of the strong, no real reason required. That's basically the law of the world Nagano-sensei draws.

解決策はあの2人が罰を受けることしかないんだよ。人魚が食べられる原因を作ったのがセイレーンだったとしても、それを証明する手段も証拠もない。ただ弱者が理不尽に強者の都合で喰われていくだけ。まさにこれがナガノ先生の描く世界の摂理なんだよな。

I was shocked that Chiikawa actually yells "heave-ho!" while rowing lol

オール漕ぐちいかわが「オーエス」って発声してることに驚いた😂

"There's no paradise waiting wherever you run to." That line alone is basically the moral of this whole episode.

「逃げだした先に楽園なんてありゃしねえのさ」 この話のオチはこれに尽きる

There's honestly too many moments here to just chalk up to fans reading extra meaning into a character they like. He genuinely seems to be quietly sizing up every situation and doing the best possible thing. So yeah — competent.

推しによる有能さのこじつけだけでは説明できない挙動が多すぎるんだよな 常に俯瞰して見て自分にできる最善の行動を密かに行ってる印象 つまり有能

Usagi's rap verse, on the other hand, was way too smooth for its own good.

うさぎのラップパートがメロすぎました

People keep saying "yeah, but he's also the one who drags them into most of these messes" lol. Which, fair — but that's basically the only thing anyone can actually hold against him.

複数回「でもコイツ問題持ち込むの多いよな」言われてて草 逆に言うとそれくらいしか突っつけないんだよなうさぎって

And they're loyal enough to go all the way to revenge for the mermaid's sake, so when nobody rats out the culprit, the sirens read that as everyone protecting them out of solidarity. So it's not even that they're evil-natured, exactly…

しかも人魚の為に復讐をするレベルの仲間思いさだから犯人が見つからない＝庇って黙ってると思い混んでるからな。性格が悪い訳ではないという…