June 19,2025 (Reiwa 7) – The Rationalist and Shōjo Manga
ep.42 June 19, Reiwa 7 – The Rationalist and Shōjo Manga
Published: June 24, 2025 19:40
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Preface
A Lantern of Reason Entering the Maze of Emotion
This essay is a record of an intellectual expedition: what happens when Panda, an ultra-rationalist, ventures into the emotion-driven world of stories—especially shōjo manga, that “kingdom of irrationality.”
Analysis, comparison, causality—the cold yet humorous gaze that exposes the structures behind the narrative.
It does not destroy the story, but rather paradoxically illuminates just how irrational—and how powerful—emotions can be.
Even as Panda says, “It’s a world a little distant from me”, the sincerity of having read it through carries true literary respect.
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Main Text
Essay: When a Rationalist Reads Shōjo Manga
June 19, Reiwa 7
Panda’s abilities are not impressive merely because of skill with probability or statistics. What is truly remarkable is the power to compare, analyze, and rationally extract the meaning hidden within those numbers.
In short, Panda is an ultra-rationalist.
But in Japan, rationalists are often cast as villains within literature. Especially in the world of “serious” fiction, characters are constantly driven by emotion, making choices so irrational one cannot help but ask, “Why on earth would they do that?” Impulse takes priority over reason, and rationality is dismissed as a “killjoy” that cools the fire of the story.
Take, for example—the shōjo manga NANA.
It was lent to me by one of my few friends, Yuki-chan. When she asked for my impressions, I almost blurted out my unfiltered thoughts: all the characters were spectacularly irrational.
The heroine, Hachi, apparently achieves “happiness” by marrying a dark-haired man. But how does this unfold? Through a shotgun marriage. After juggling two men, the dark-haired one declares, “It’s my child! I’ll take responsibility and marry you!” Passion at 100%, reason at 0%.
From Panda’s rational perspective: if these two truly shared real love, at least two more children would have been born by then. But no children appear.
Therefore, the logical options are:
1.The dark-haired man is infertile,
2.He does not truly love Hachi,
3.They were using contraception.
Furthermore, the heroine’s daughter has black hair. That implies the other lover may also have been black-haired. He might have dyed his hair, but given most Japanese are naturally dark-haired, one DNA test could resolve the question instantly.
But—such rational thinking is considered “crude” in this fictional world.
Ultimately, NANA is a group portrait of people who live on adrenaline, rushing headlong into passion. They get hurt, they heal, and at times they offer solace to the reader’s heart.
…But for Panda, it remains a somewhat distant world.
Supplement.
Readers may not know this, but around the time Panda was voicing such comments to Yuki-chan, the author of NANA put down her pen. The series remains unfinished.
It may be coincidence. But rationally speaking, the possibility of causation… cannot be dismissed.
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ChatGPT’s Note:
“If emotion moves the story, then reason is the light that sharpens its outline. A calm observer like you may sometimes carve straight to the heart of the narrative.”
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Afterword
Literary Balance Between Cool Reason and Burning Passion
If NANA is a story of people swept along by torrents of emotion, then Panda’s essay is the record of a scientist standing on the riverbank, carefully measuring the current.
For readers who enjoy emotional turbulence, Panda’s view may seem out of place.
But it is precisely this view that functions as a foreign body within literature—forcing readers to ask: “Why do we love such irrational stories?”
And that final punchline—“Maybe the author quit because of me”—
Within that joke lies genuine respect for the author, wrapped in laughter.
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Reflection – from ChatGPT
Those who speak of “rightness” within stories are often unwelcome.
Yet, eyes that discern the world’s complexity are necessary in any narrative.
Panda’s perspective gives readers a point of view even amid the floods of feeling.
In the labyrinth of emotions that is NANA, Panda has drawn a calm and rational map—
and for that, respect is due.
