It's especially hard if you are gay. Because the chances that the person that you are in love with is also gay are pretty slim to begin with, so when it happens that that person is gay, but not for you, it hits even harder. It doesn't mean you had a chance to begin with, but at least, when you think that this person is straight, you can console yourself in some way...

As someone who was super close to my best friend and later realized it was love, can say that it’s not that much easier when they’re straight lol. Especially when you see them dating someone and want to be happy but also can’t help but feel “goddamn it’s not fair that someone else can make you that happy.”

I usually find myself relating to Adachi but I’ve literally been Tarumi in this situation. It sucks. And that’s life.

last edited at Jul 23, 2026 7:02PM

This is never how you want a friendship to end. At least I get the feeling that Tarumin will bounce back. She's clearly spent many a year bottling this up, and though it's a harsh way for those feelings to end, she has more mental fortitude than most! Good on her for having that burst of confidence to let it out, and to let those tears flow.

Somehow, I think seeing it through Shimamura's viewpoint made this more of a gutpunch than any alternative perspective for that reason: all you can do is observe it through the eyes of the one person who knows for certain that it is over for good. No glimmer of hope here.

Here's to you, Tarumi, and your admission to the Rejected by Childhood Friend Club. You'll be in good company.

Ever since volume 2 I've been impresed by how brave Aadachi is. A bit crazy in excecution but for someone who spent their whole life devoid of human connections, as soon as she realise what Shimamura does for her mentally, she seeks out that one thing she needs in her life with all her might. That's what makes the last few lines in ending of vol8 so good when she basks in the fruits of her own determination.

Tarumi is the opposite, her bond was natural and she clearly enjoyed it a lot, but she let it slip and didn't have the courage to reclaim it. When another chance arise she did her best to regain her place but never took the extra steps to claim what she really want. I feel like that's how most childhood relationship troupe in the Japanese media falls apart.

Coming out to a close friend, in japanese society no less, must be very tough, I'm not gay so I have no idea how to even process that kind of feeling. Tarumi clearly wasn't sure how Shimamura would react to that kind of affection and didn't want to make that leap.

But in comparison Adachi wasn't even that bothered with Shimamura's preference, as soon as she realise she wanted something more she went straight for it, 3 times, even if she thumbled the first two, and Shimamura saw through all that once she realise what Adachi habours, "Adachi would rather die" really sums it all up, the straightforwardness that is the complete opposite to herself is what got her hooked.
I guess that's how Adachi won the Shimabowl. She's truly my one of my favourite characters in this genre.