This change also bothers me because it doesn’t fit Yozo’s character either. She adds a second later, “I’m happy,” because this implies that unlike her husband, he returns for her. The anime makes the curious decision to render Tsuneko as a somewhat faithful woman yes, she indulges in a one night stand later on with Yozo, but there’s a clear motive behind this action consistent with her portrayal: In fact, she has given up on him, resolving to never visit him in prison again. This is a big shift in character from the novel where Tsuneko’s husband isn’t missing at all but in jail. The owners cast furtive glances as she hurries up to the dressing room. She arrives late at the cafe because she was busy looking for her husband. The anime seemingly wants to make a sympathetic character out of Tsuneko. The novel, on the other hand, is quasi-autobiographical from the start, excepting the short prologue. The anime begins in the middle of the story and, most notably, the spotlight is on Tsuneko, the hostess that would later attempt to commit double suicide with our protagonist, Yozo. Spoilers for the first episode and first half of the novel. I had written before that I wouldn’t touch on No Longer Human again until I had read the novel and also seen the arc in Aoi Bungaku, but after getting about halfway through the novel, I felt compelled to note the drastic differences between the two.
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