To deny something you've been told?


I've come across the following sentence in a book:

あの様な、って言われてもなぁ……俺は特に何も思わなかったぜ？

From what I've come across on the internet, correct me if I'm wrong of course,
言われても means "even if told/even though I was told" whilst implying that you are
rejecting or denying what you've been told. So considering this when I try to
translate the above sentence, the latter part of the sentence doesn't seem to
fit because it's a question.

I think the above sentence translates as "even if I've been told he was like
that…… I didn't think much of it?"

(For context the person is replying to a question that goes something like
this "was he always like that from the start"")

The fact that the sentence is apparently a question confuses me 10x more. Is
the person saying the above sentence indeed trying to deny what they've been
told?




> 「あの様{ざま}な、って言{い}われてもなぁ……俺{おれ}は特{とく}に何{なに}も思{おも}わなかったぜ？」

You are confusing yourself by thinking that the second half is a question; It
is not. Look closely at its structure and it should start looking like a
statement. 「ぜ」 is a masculine, statement-emphasizing, sentence-ending
particle.

What is the question mark for, then, you ask, right? That just means that the
second half is to be read with a rising intonation at the end.

Why a rising intonation, then? That is because the speaker's opinion on the
matter clearly differs from that of the listener (or whoever said 「あの様な」) and
the speaker is just a little bit confused or uncertain, causing him to make
that statement in the way (= using a rising intonation) he could express that
small amount of confusion and uncertainty.

You could say that the speaker is denying what he has been told, but it is not
such a strong denial. The speaker knows that he has a different opinion or
impression but opts to leave some room for discussion by using a "question-
like" rising intonation at the end.

> "Even though I was told he/it was like **_that_** , I myself didn't really
> think much of it (, you know?)"

