Things Get…Freudian? Exploring the Psychosexual in Blood on the Tracks Volume 5

4 min readOct 28, 2024

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The ending of the volume four left Seiichi at a crossroads, confronting his mother all the while still scared out of his mind. Yuiko was there to stand up for him, but had it not been for her, who knows what would have happened. After all, its pretty obvious at this point that Seiko is not above violence.

Volume five picks up right where things left off, a now sullen mother walks off, defeated and on the edge. Yuiko suggests the two of them head back to her place so they can lay low for a while. Meanwhile, the young MC is still visibly shook, in more ways than one.

Yuiko x Seiichi

The nature of of these two characters has changed quite dramatically over the course of just five volumes. At the start, Seiichi looked like a lost puppy, excited just by the sight of his crush. However, he was also nervous and unsure of how too approach her. Granted, the feelings seemed obviously mutual, but Seiichi was never gonna figure that out on his own. Oh, to be a middle school boy…

However, as the two began to talk with each other, they quickly realized how much they had in common. Abusive parents, shitty home life, and a desire to make it all go away. At least, Seiichi thought that’s what it was. However, as the volume progresses, the pages reveal to how large of an extent he is trapped by a fascination with his mother.

The two do spend a night together, young and in love, hiding out in Yuiko’s room. Seiichi gets so excited that he…uh…has a bit of accident in his pants. Despite being with his crush, however, he can’t help but keep seeing Seiko in all of his interactions with her. Even as Yuiko climbs on top of him under a bridge literally asking for him to love her, Seiichi is paralyzed by his mom who isn’t even there.

Seiko x Seiichi

Saying that this mother/son relationship is messed up at this point would be a bit like asking why someone wasn’t more careful on the stairs while they are actively trying to stand up on a broken leg. Seiko was clearly not in a good place, further evidenced by her interaction with Yuiko’s mom, where she says her son is all she has left and that, without him, she might as well die.

Her unhealthy obsession also seems to have rubbed off on Seiichi. As previously mentioned, he spends the majority of the volume thinking about his mom, even while in intimate moments with Yuiko. This results in him being literally paralyzed in fear, and leaving her under a bridge to go home. Seeing her not only commit murder but get choked out by her for being disobedient has clearly had some psychological repercussions, ones that might even get into uncomfortably sexual territory.

The end of the volume features a journal entry from young Seiichi, one in which the first line talks about his mom touching him a lot. Now, one line probably isn’t the best foundation for definitely saying that is where there relationship is headed, but given the manga’s generally lower dialogue and the framing of intimate moments with Yuiko reminding him of his mom, I don’t know that it would take too many more pieces to complete the puzzle. It is uncomfortable to, say the least, but Oshimi has never been one to care about how comfortable the readers are.

Silence

Though I have talked about it with previous volumes, the part about Blood on the Tracks having a much lower volume of dialogue is worth repeating. So much of the horror of this series thus far has come not from environmental factors, but psychological ones. Having someone who is supposed to be a force for good and even a protector do acts of evil, including some directed at you can be a horrifying clash of viewpoints. Not knowing whether to feel stressed or relieved is its own kind of mental torture.

Seiichi starts the manga as an awkward teenager with a mom who’s a little too obsessed, and a family that’s annoying but otherwise ok. Life could be better, but it isn’t bad. However, seeing and experiencing so many awful things in such a short time has dramatically changed him for the worse.

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