Having a qualification does not always mean you can use it now

Shisa overhears a rumor that the Super Part-Timer system will end. The conversation also mentions the hard work of earning the qualification. Later, Shisa asks the Master whether the system will end, but says the shock meant not hearing the rest of the conversation.

This is still a rumor. The scenes do not show a qualification being revoked or an order to stop working. Even so, Shisa says that, if the system ends, Shisa wants to work until the last day.

Studying and earning a qualification do not give you control over the future of your work. That seems to be part of Shisa's worry. The Master even suggests working in armor if the system ends. We do not know whether the idea can be carried out, but their conversation goes beyond the qualification card.

Kurimanju is asked to show a license while drinking. Kurimanju tries to chase the lizard holding it, but receives a stamp on the forehead for not carrying the license and is told not to drink until the stamp disappears.

In the next post, Shisa delivers the license recovered from the lizard. The stamp is still on Kurimanju’s forehead. Recovering the license and ending the drinking ban do not seem to be the same procedure.

The person holding a qualification card does not decide every condition for using it. This resembles Shisa’s story in that respect. A drinking license and a work qualification are different things, though. A rumor about a system ending and a restriction lasting until a stamp disappears can also be read separately.

The stamp’s circle and letters gradually fade. When it finally disappears, Shisa is the one who celebrates that Kurimanju is allowed to drink again. Kurimanju makes tea. Shisa is surprised and asks whether that means they no longer need to drink. There is no speech bubble where Kurimanju talks about their feelings. In the next day’s post, Kurimanju is drinking plain hot water.

Being allowed to drink and wanting to drink turn out to be different too. A card or stamp does not seem to determine the reason for using a qualification. Shisa’s wish to keep working is also tied to time with the Master. Shisa was looking forward to having a drink together after work.

I read 10 posts here: 3 about the rumor and 7 about the drinking ban. Counting each post as 1 item, the return of the license and the disappearance of the stamp each appear in 1 post. These 10 posts show neither a qualification being revoked nor the system actually ending. This count does not cover every later story, so it cannot tell us that those things will never happen.

A socialist lens on everyday life makes me consider both individual effort and how to support the conditions that let people keep working. Shisa seems to have worked hard to earn the qualification, but no scene shows Shisa deciding alone whether the system continues. These 3 posts do not yet tell us who decides the system or how workers are consulted when it changes.

We do not need to treat Kurimanju’s drinking ban as the same thing as losing a job. Reading the conditions for using each qualification shows a difference between what someone can change and what requires waiting on someone else’s rules. Even after being allowed to drink, Kurimanju chose tea.