Thread:Shanethefilmmaker/@comment-397235-20140801024539/@comment-397235-20140806233215

It was Takako who Kouichi tackled, and who kneed him in the crotch. The only person who could've calmed her down is Izumi, but her sudden loss of sanity was shocking enough for Izumi to be stunned. She did go looking for Takako later, but managed to get to her right after she died. I've always figured that's why she went after Mei: she couldn't accept she'd failed her best friend, and for her it's easier to decided "She died because of something someone else did."

I've always seen izumi's blame shifting as a coping mechanism. I agree it's neither healthy nor particularly noble, but it's also human nature not to accept responsibility for your failures (especially when you're fifteen and those failures, depending on the adaption, include her best friend[s] and her brother). I see that in Congress all the time; I assume this isn't a phenomena unique to my side of the border.

It occurs to me Izumi's something of a tragic...well, hero isn't the best word for it, but you know what I mean. She really is trying, but her greatest strengths (her sense of duty and her need to protect her class) ensure A, she doesn't ever trust anyone else to help her, and B, every time she fails due to A, she'll become increasingly bitter and angry, which just brings us back to A. What Izumi needed was someone who could tell her no, but she never had that. Even at dinner, all it would've taken was for one of her own people to tell her she was full of shit and needed to shut up, but her group at this point consists of an extension of her own personality who doesn't even speak when Izumi's not around, a shy, quiet girl who's in way over her head and doesn't realize it, and  someone who doesn't even have lines. Arrayed against her are  her misguided crush,  a jackass, and  someone who's easily manipulated. This isn't exactly an epic battle of wills.