Ever run into someone like this in real life? Their mouth is vicious, every word dripping with nitpicking. But they also read the room, and the moment they sense you’re about to blow up they shut it down fast. Sensitive and perceptive enough to know if you’re genuinely pissed or just in a bad mood. They care what you think of them, adjust their talk based on your mood, yet they never actually back down—still keeping up that sharp-tongued high ground. They cut themselves off from others, from every little circle, from socializing altogether. But they’re scared of being alone, scared of being misunderstood, they want friends, yet they can’t let go of whatever’s stuck in their craw………… They want to get close to people, but they’re afraid of being gotten close to too easily. Contradictory creatures, through and through………… Japanese has a word for this: porcupine syndrome (ヤマアラシ症候群). Because they’re afraid of getting hurt, they hurt others. Their inherent kindness makes them not want to hurt anyone, but they can’t stop hurting people anyway. So they sink into self-blame and contradiction, sometimes doing ridiculous, absurd things that cause even more damage. That’s the so-called bad side of porcupine syndrome. In modern society there are actually quite a lot of these people. But they’re pitiful too, because deep down most of them aren’t bad at all—they’re kind. It’s just that fear of being hurt turned them into the “vicious loudmouth villain” on the surface, carrying a reputation they don’t deserve. Like a porcupine: afraid of getting hurt, so it stabs others, curls up and refuses to show itself, leaving nothing but spines for everyone else. Actually, these people can be saved. They can shed others’ preconceptions—all they need is someone willing to pull them out. And that person needs the capacity to withstand the “porcupine’s” attacks. Put bluntly: they have to get hurt, and not be afraid of getting hurt. So Zannen na Ore-tachi no Seishun Jijou. (残念な俺達の青春事情。) is, roughly, that kind of story.