What do you think of Nomiya?

[Katie]

There might have been lots of Nomiya discussion in the early days of the forum, but I haven't seen the old man discussed much during my time as a poster/lurker. >.> So here we are.

[Comrade]

So handsome.
Didn't care that much about Rin anyway

[Steinherz]

"I like him, he's an asshole but an endearing one"

That needs to be an option for a poll on Jigoro.
Jigoro's an asshat, but one you come to love because he's funny while being an ass.

[KeiichiO]

He seemed like an alright guy at first, but he was revealed as being a pure asshat. There's nothing likable about him whatsoever,

[forgetmenot]

He seemed like an alright guy at first, but he was revealed as being a pure asshat. There's nothing likable about him whatsoever,

Agreed. He's the overbearing father figure to Rin, pushing his own dreams onto her because he was never talented enough to achieve them. Kind of pathetic, if you ask me. If he wasn't ok with casually causing a mental break in an eighteen-year-old girl, I'd feel sorry for him.

[Potato]

Nomiya's a twat.

[OtakuNinja]

Hello, Katie!

I chose 'other' because we don't know very much about Nomiya and his reasons for pushing Rin so hard. He comes off as a somewhat bad person, but I can't really say that I dislike him. Not that I'm particulary fond of him either... He's a class of his own.

[Potato]

Hello, Katie!

I chose 'other' because we don't know very much about Nomiya and his reasons for pushing Rin so hard. He comes off as a somewhat bad person, but I can't really say that I dislike him. Not that I'm particulary fond of him either... He's a class of his own.

I'd say the game gives us a pretty picture of "Unfulfilled failure attempting to live out art dreams through his students".

[Mirage_GSM]

Agreed. He's the overbearing father figure to Rin, pushing his own dreams onto her because he was never talented enough to achieve them.

Well, he does it because he truly thinks this is for Rin's best as well, misguided though this conviction might be. It's not like he knows she'll have a breakdown down the road.
I can't really bring myself to fault him for failing to understand Rin.
When reading Rin's route we have the advantage of Hisao spending a lot of time with her, and he still has a hard time understanding her, even though she tries to open up to him. Nomiya probably sees her mostly during classes and art club sessions...

[KeiichiO]

I can't really bring myself to fault him for failing to understand Rin.

Maybe not, but you can fault him for being a complete dick.

[Guest Poster]

Well, he does it because he truly thinks this is for Rin's best as well, misguided though this conviction might be. It's not like he knows she'll have a breakdown down the road.
I can't really bring myself to fault him for failing to understand Rin.
When reading Rin's route we have the advantage of Hisao spending a lot of time with her, and he still has a hard time understanding her, even though she tries to open up to him. Nomiya probably sees her mostly during classes and art club sessions...

Kind of this. Sure, the results of his actions are pretty bad, but that's only partially because he's so focussed on making Rin a star that he forgets to pay attention to her emotional state. The other cause is the fact he doesn't understand her. Well, Rin is difficult to understand, even for Hisao and Emi who are her friends.

Yes, Nomiya is misguided, but at the same time let's look at things from his point of view. The point of view of a teacher at Yamaku. Mutou states that the school's goal is to try and prepare its students for a rather independant life in a world where the deck is already stacked against them. I assume that would include helping them figure out where their talents lie and then pushing them to try and excel in them. Let's take a look at Rin's situation.

- Rin doesn't strike me as the academic type who gets good grades. She's kind of forgetful and not overly responsible. Due to the chaotic nature of her mind, I imagine she'd have difficulty studying. That kind of rules out an academic career.
- She's a girl and in Japan it's still relatively common for females to work until their middle-twenties and then get married and become a homemaker. But Rin doesn't really fit in well with the traditional image of a Japanese wife either. Even if people aren't turned off by her lack of arms, her behavior would almost certainly turn heads...away from her.
- But she can paint. And she's really, really good at it. Good enough to make a living out of it if she gave it her all.

If I were a teacher tasked with preparing her for the future and I didn't know her well enough to know that the pressure would eventually erode her to the point of self-destructiveness, I'd probably immediately go for option 3 myself. Because it really would be the best chance she'd have. And it's not like students trying to get into an upstanding university aren't faced with similar excruciating pressure and stress at the end of their 3rd high school year.

Of course, Nomiya had the whole "live my lost opportunities through my student"-thing going on, but even if he didn't, he'd probably still be doing the same. His greatest fault is his ignorance of Rin's mental state.

Often, people compare Nomiya and Jigoro as worst characters. And Jigoro often gets off the hook because he gets some great one-liners. Personlly it's the opposite for me. I realized Nomiya was a bit of a twat, but I still liked him because he was a well-written character. Nomiya was clearly human, unlike the extremely exaggerated Jigoro. And I always appreciate human characters in a story, even if I don't agree with their actions.

[Atario]

As a teacher, it's his job to teach, and his calling to encourage. That he gets a little wrapped up in the potential he sees in Rin only makes him human — and like any human, he has flaws. That doesn't make him an asshole. And given how frustrated and pissed-off at her Hisao gets, I'd say Nomiya's outburst (if that's what's meant by "being mean to" her) is par for the course.

Plus, he freely admits his own shortcomings as an artist, so I don't see him as a wholly uninsightful person either.

[Potato]

he's so focussed on making Rin a star

I'd say this is one of his biggest faults. Rin has never shown any interest in stardom and stardom is a far cry from simply encouraging a student's talent. It all just screams "I'm trying to forcibly live out my dreams of art stardom through other people!", and his last big outburst screams it even louder. "IF YOU'RE NOT GONNA BE A FAMOUS ARTIST, WHAT AM I WORKING FOR?!" - How about honing her talent like a teacher is meant to, ya flamboyant douche? Famous exhibits aren't the only avenue for artists, it's just the one he always wanted for himself. The fact that he knew somebody who suffered a meltdown just like Rin, who was an artist like Rin and even holed up in that very same room like Rin, yet still continued to pile pressure onto her without a single thought of "Gee, this ended really horribly for that other guy, maybe I should back off.", really doesn't help his case in the slightest.

He's still better than Jigoro though.

[Guest Poster]

Rin has never shown any interest in stardom and stardom is a far cry from simply encouraging a student's talent.

To be fair, Rin has also never shown any interest in her future beyond Yamaku. That doesn't mean it's not important. For the sake of making a living with a talent, rather than merely dabbling in it like the hundreds of fan artists on the web, merely encouraging it may not be enough.

Famous exhibits aren't the only avenue for artists, it's just the one he always wanted for himself.

What other avenues are there for artists like Rin if exhibits are to be ruled out? Sure, there are artists who design art for websites or posters, but it seems Rin's paintings are what make people turn their head and sets her apart from the crowd. You could argue that people like Rin need every advantage they can get. After all, not many people will be likely to hire an artist without arms unless she's already proven herself.

[Oddball]

I'd say this is one of his biggest faults. Rin has never shown any interest in stardom and stardom is a far cry from simply encouraging a student's talent.

Rin doesn't show any interest in eating most of the time. That doesn't mean it's not important for her to do so.

Rin has show interest in her art. That's pretty much it. More importantly, she's good at it. Nomiya, Hisao, and to an extent, even Emi thought that the exhibit would be good for her and she NEVER at any point said "no. I don't want to do this." If anything, she did the exact opposite. She pushed herself to do it. No, Nomiya didn't lock her into an attic and force her to starve herself. That was all her.