Alright. Um... I would want to apologize for that self-advertisement incident from 28th January... And also to apologize for barging in with this off-topic post... Now, due to time constraints, I didn't read the beforehand posts, so, that's an additional layer of apology from me... But, I really wanted to just explain myself... After that self-advertisement incident, I got back to my self-punishing ways (because old habits die hard, apparently), and, so, deleted the post I advertised, and then decided to bar myself from entering the forums, fanarts and comments on Dynasty Reader for 8 days (29th January though to 5th February), while giving myself only one opportunity to see if there were any new chapters for the entire duration of those 8 days... I didn't have luck and there were no new chapters on any ongoing mangas I'm following at the time I decided to use the opportunity I gave myself. Those 8 days were basically a self-inflicted agony... and I can not say I didn't deserve it... Now I know how those drug addicts feel like when they go through withdrawal...
If I am to summarize what I said above in one (admittedly, run-on) sentence, that'd be: "That annoying Balkans guy is back, and, what with much (but not all) of his self-trust lost, he can only hope he can constrain himself, as, IF he does, he wouldn't screw himself over and annoy the shit out of everyone else.".
What a sentence!
I sincerely apologize.
And as for that post I advertised and deleted... I will re-post it, but, to avoid this being interpreted as self-advertisement, I won't be doing it any day soon.
Once again, most sincere apologies from me to you, for bothering you.
Peace.

K.
I've read the many posts I missed, and I kinda feel like @Clueless1 on this. I can't say something that hasn't been said already.

They are teenagers. Teeeeeenaaaagerrrrs.

Seriously, I know I can be an asshole sometimes, but come ON. They're CHILDREN. They are allowed to not get it perfect right away.

I get so indescribably frustrated when people come into a story about kids learning "how do I work relationship" and going "WHAT THE FUCK WHY AREN'T THEY INSTANTLY PERFECT AT THIS".

Literally the entire point of the story is them learning -how- to have a healthy relationship, and that frequently begins by starting in a less healthy space, especially when one of the pair has a significant childhood trauma to deal with.

I feel the same. Characters are allowed to be flawed and have hangups that they need to get over as the story progresses - that's what makes following stories so interesting, and what makes characters feel realistic and relatable!

So, I've always half-wondered what the deal is with the chapter-opening-page 'mottos,' or sayings, or whatever they're called, and the difference between the translations of the one for Chapter 38 finally makes me ask: what is the status of these things? Are they included in the tank versions (I'm away from my shelf at the moment)? And what's the gist of this one?

Other trans:

If it's now / It's because it's now.

4s:

I can now. / And so I will.

The subjunctive ("if") in the first one is pretty notable as compared to the strongly declarative second one.

I get the "I will change now" part, but both of them seem a little cryptic in phrasing. (This isn't about the accuracy of either translation; I'm just wondering if anybody has any comments on these intro phrases in general.)

I'm pretty sure they're added by the editor. They never keep them in the compiled volumes.

"Ima naraba, ima dakara" seems like the kind of "guess from the context" phrasing Japanese is fond of. I would personally translate it as "I can do it now; it's now that I must do it", which is pretty close to the version on Dynasty.

last edited at Feb 6, 2019 10:55AM

So, I've always half-wondered what the deal is with the chapter-opening-page 'mottos,' or sayings, or whatever they're called, and the difference between the translations of the one for Chapter 38 finally makes me ask: what is the status of these things? Are they included in the tank versions (I'm away from my shelf at the moment)? And what's the gist of this one?

Other trans:

If it's now / It's because it's now.

4s:

I can now. / And so I will.

The subjunctive ("if") in the first one is pretty notable as compared to the strongly declarative second one.

I get the "I will change now" part, but both of them seem a little cryptic in phrasing. (This isn't about the accuracy of either translation; I'm just wondering if anybody has any comments on these intro phrases in general.)

I won't go into discussion over translations but the Japanese text for that line is literally (and I mean literally):
If now, because now.
Make of that what you will I guess, the sentence is already ambiguous in Japanese so people need to look at context.
My interpretation (feel free to debate): For Touko, if the time has come, and because it's already here, she needs to think and make a decision (about Sayaka, Yuu , her life in general, basically the themes of this very chapter). Sayaka and Yuu have changed and now it's her turn.
Another possible translation: "If the time is now, because the time is now..."

Regarding your question about the "mottos": they appear at the beginning and end of a chapter, and are added by the editor of a series (you must have noticed by now that plenty of manga have them). Yagakimi volumes don't have said mottos, it's just a thing of the magazine version.

last edited at Feb 6, 2019 11:06AM

I get the "I will change now" part, but both of them seem a little cryptic in phrasing. (This isn't about the accuracy of either translation; I'm just wondering if anybody has any comments on these intro phrases in general.)

I won't go into discussion over translations but the Japanese text for that line is literally (and I mean literally):
If now, because now.
Make of that what you will I guess, the sentence is already ambiguous in Japanese so people need to look at context.

Thanks. I get the feeling that if I were trying to do such translations (never happen, though) I’d constantly be yelling, “Can I get a g*****d PRONOUN around here, please?!?”

And the answer would be: blank looks.

I get the "I will change now" part, but both of them seem a little cryptic in phrasing. (This isn't about the accuracy of either translation; I'm just wondering if anybody has any comments on these intro phrases in general.)

I won't go into discussion over translations but the Japanese text for that line is literally (and I mean literally):
If now, because now.
Make of that what you will I guess, the sentence is already ambiguous in Japanese so people need to look at context.

Thanks. I get the feeling that if I were trying to do such translations (never happen, though) I’d constantly be yelling, “Can I get a g*****d PRONOUN around here, please?!?”

And the answer would be: blank looks.

Lol. I need to make a countryball animatic from that.

Thanks. I get the feeling that if I were trying to do such translations (never happen, though) I’d constantly be yelling, “Can I get a g*****d PRONOUN around here, please?!?”

And the answer would be: blank looks.

Welcome to the land of translating Japanese. It especially sucks in song and poetry. :p

I won't comment on whether the leaf actually represents love or not since that one isn't as obvious so the meaning is more speculative. However, I do want to point out that the use of autumn as the backdrop to emphasize the theme of change is most likely intentional on Nakatani's part. Even back in ch 34, this page specifically, the connection is established. What Touko said in the original Japanese is "I like autumn, wouldn't it be nice if we could remain in this kind of season forever?" It very much parallels her wish for their relationship to not change as she later expressed here. But we know how that went. Their relationship changes for good after Yuu's confession & now, here we are in ch 38, still contemplating about changes in autumn.

Yeah, I didn't even get into intra-textual pattern formations (a lot of us have been calling them "callbacks" at various points).

There's also the "shots of legs and feet on the way to and from big confrontation scenes" thing--we should have known as soon as we saw Touko wearing trainers (like Yuu in Chapter 34) and Sayaka with clunkier shoes (penny loafers, I think) that Touko was going to (figuratively) run away. lol

One of my favorite things is the stone path across the river where Yuu commits to the relationship with Touko, and later where she gives her confession. because of the construction of the path, it both provides a connection between them and separates them. It limits how close they can get to each other without risk, but it also provides a way for them to approach each other. In the confession scene, Yuu is forced to throw Touko literally off balance in order to get close enough to initiate a kiss. It both acts as a symbol and restricts the blocking of the scene in ways that compliment the relationship.

Once the the whole thing's finished, oh, the walls of text we shall have!

But then...where will we go after that?

(for the paranoid among you, no, that does not mean I'm contemplating suicide. ;p )

One of my favorite things is the stone path across the river where Yuu commits to the relationship with Touko, and later where she gives her confession. because of the construction of the path, it both provides a connection between them and separates them. It limits how close they can get to each other without risk, but it also provides a way for them to approach each other. In the confession scene, Yuu is forced to throw Touko literally off balance in order to get close enough to initiate a kiss. It both acts as a symbol and restricts the blocking of the scene in ways that compliment the relationship.

That is a good one, although I’d probably consider it as more of a parallel or analogue than a full-fledged symbol (or, put another way, more on the concrete end of the symbol spectrum than the abstract one).

As you say, Touko is both physically and emotionally knocked off balance by the same action, so there’s very little conceptual difference between the two aspects that readers need to supply.

The ducks, on the other hand, really do stand in for Touko and Yuu and their relationship, although there’s nothing innately duck-like about the characters. So to perceive that equivalence requires more interpretation of first Touko’s reaction when she sees the duck-couple and later of Sayaka’s thought process as she watches the ducks while pondering her lost opportunity with Touko.

And this is of course rank speculation, of course, but that particular staging you mention strikes me as the kind of thing that need not be fully intentional in every detail (that is, Nakatani saying to herself, “OK, I need to put them down in one of those culverts so those stepping-stone paths can symbolize the connection/separation of the two characters, so then I can have a second scene where Yuu has to try to stand on the same stone as Touko, etc., etc. etc.”), but just more like “this feels right—it works,” at least initially.

(I don’t know how people feel about reading these wallso’text, but if I didn’t write them I’d never experience the pleasure of writing phrases like:

“there’s nothing innately duck-like about [Yuu and Touko],”

and my world would feel smaller and more impoverished as a result.)

last edited at Feb 6, 2019 9:36PM

And this is of course rank speculation, of course, but that particular staging you mention strikes me as the kind of thing that need not be fully intentional in every detail (that is, Nakatani saying to herself, “OK, I need to put them down in one of those culverts so those stepping-stone paths can symbolize the connection/separation of the two characters, so then I can have a second scene where Yuu has to try to stand on the same stone as Touko, etc., etc. etc.”), but just more like “this feels right—it works,” at least initially.

I beg to differ. That entire scene is dissectible panel by panel & same goes with its parallel in ch 34. There's a reason why it was given the amount of attention it did in the anime (which some already did frame by frame analyses on). I'd love to break it down but that'll take a while & I currently don't have the time yet.

last edited at Feb 6, 2019 10:19PM

And this is of course rank speculation, of course, but that particular staging you mention strikes me as the kind of thing that need not be fully intentional in every detail (that is, Nakatani saying to herself, “OK, I need to put them down in one of those culverts so those stepping-stone paths can symbolize the connection/separation of the two characters, so then I can have a second scene where Yuu has to try to stand on the same stone as Touko, etc., etc. etc.”), but just more like “this feels right—it works,” at least initially.

I beg to differ. That entire scene is dissectible panel by panel & same goes with its parallel in ch 34. There's a reason why it was given the amount of attention it did in the anime (which some already did frame by frame analyses on). I'd love to break it down but that'll take a while & I currently don't have the time yet.

Well, that’s why I started with a caveat, and said “initially” at the end. That is, that first scene could theoretically take place in any number of those “public but private” locations I mentioned. (I could imagine that chapter 10 scene returning to the nearby “ambush kiss” train crossing and having a train separate (temporarily) the two when Touko marches off after her “the play is happening” ultimatum). But I certainly could be completely wrong about how it came about.

It’s just that most of the fiction writers and cartoonists I’ve talked to personally don’t tend to start by consciously choosing from an array of possible symbols or meaningful settings but by starting down one possible path and discovering either that more and more elements fall into place with what they’re doing (“it works”) or it else doesn’t pan out and they have to back out and try something else. (In one example from a prose writer, an image that seemed to be the central idea that held everything together—and even supplied the title—was one of the last parts they came up with, after trying several really different things.)

I won't comment on whether the leaf actually represents love or not since that one isn't as obvious so the meaning is more speculative. However, I do want to point out that the use of autumn as the backdrop to emphasize the theme of change is most likely intentional on Nakatani's part. Even back in ch 34, this page specifically, the connection is established. What Touko said in the original Japanese is "I like autumn, wouldn't it be nice if we could remain in this kind of season forever?" It very much parallels her wish for their relationship to not change as she later expressed here. But we know how that went. Their relationship changes for good after Yuu's confession & now, here we are in ch 38, still contemplating about changes in autumn.

Yeah, I didn't even get into intra-textual pattern formations (a lot of us have been calling them "callbacks" at various points).

There's also the "shots of legs and feet on the way to and from big confrontation scenes" thing--we should have known as soon as we saw Touko wearing trainers (like Yuu in Chapter 34) and Sayaka with clunkier shoes (penny loafers, I think) that Touko was going to (figuratively) run away. lol

One of my favorite things is the stone path across the river where Yuu commits to the relationship with Touko, and later where she gives her confession. because of the construction of the path, it both provides a connection between them and separates them. It limits how close they can get to each other without risk, but it also provides a way for them to approach each other. In the confession scene, Yuu is forced to throw Touko literally off balance in order to get close enough to initiate a kiss. It both acts as a symbol and restricts the blocking of the scene in ways that compliment the relationship.

Once the the whole thing's finished, oh, the walls of text we shall have!

But then...where will we go after that?

(for the paranoid among you, no, that does not mean I'm contemplating suicide. ;p )

Paranoid who’s paranoid?

I won't comment on whether the leaf actually represents love or not since that one isn't as obvious so the meaning is more speculative. However, I do want to point out that the use of autumn as the backdrop to emphasize the theme of change is most likely intentional on Nakatani's part. Even back in ch 34, this page specifically, the connection is established. What Touko said in the original Japanese is "I like autumn, wouldn't it be nice if we could remain in this kind of season forever?" It very much parallels her wish for their relationship to not change as she later expressed here. But we know how that went. Their relationship changes for good after Yuu's confession & now, here we are in ch 38, still contemplating about changes in autumn.

Yeah, I didn't even get into intra-textual pattern formations (a lot of us have been calling them "callbacks" at various points).

There's also the "shots of legs and feet on the way to and from big confrontation scenes" thing--we should have known as soon as we saw Touko wearing trainers (like Yuu in Chapter 34) and Sayaka with clunkier shoes (penny loafers, I think) that Touko was going to (figuratively) run away. lol

One of my favorite things is the stone path across the river where Yuu commits to the relationship with Touko, and later where she gives her confession. because of the construction of the path, it both provides a connection between them and separates them. It limits how close they can get to each other without risk, but it also provides a way for them to approach each other. In the confession scene, Yuu is forced to throw Touko literally off balance in order to get close enough to initiate a kiss. It both acts as a symbol and restricts the blocking of the scene in ways that compliment the relationship.

Once the the whole thing's finished, oh, the walls of text we shall have!

But then...where will we go after that?

(for the paranoid among you, no, that does not mean I'm contemplating suicide. ;p )

Paranoid who’s paranoid?
(https://i.postimg.cc/FFYN4JFb/Capturefgfdgdfg.png)

NO, DON'T DO IT.

last edited at Feb 7, 2019 2:14PM by Nezchan

Sorry Sayaka, boat wasn't gay enough.

Heavensrun posted:

On the topic of "professional vs fan translations". We got first volume released here and they made a blatant mistranslation, which changes context quite a bit. And of course there is no option to release fixed version. The advantage of digital translations you can always update.

What is the mistranslation, out of curiosity?

Chapter 3, page 28
Our translation:
"Why did she say that is enough?"
"She is"
"such a liar."
Actual line:
"So why did I tell her I don't mind?"
"... This really is."
"unfair of her."

It implies Yuu saw through Touko's facade as soon as chapter 3.

I know it doesn't really seem like much, but it isn't even like translator tried to convey the same meaning by using different words or thought that it would sound more natural. It is blatantly just changing what character said to something else, because they thought it sounded better or whatever reason for it was. And even if Yuu did see through Touko already back then, that is not what original text said. Sure I'm more for faithful translations in general, but I understand that sometimes you have to change some stuff and what or how you need to change is very subjective and hard. This on the other hand is just a very simple sentence that was changed for no other reason that "I felt like it." And stuff like that make me lose trust in translation and get paranoid how many other little changes like that that are there.

Btw. Whenever I find stuff like that, it reminds me of guys like you, who overanalyze every single line and craft meanings and theories from them, while all this time they could be mistranslated or rewritten (and some translations here actually have this issue).

Since I'm already writing, on topic on symbolize and whatnot. I personally prefer to avoid deriving meanings etc. from symbols and outside influences, unless author is blatantly referring to them and/or clearly builds a connection. I'm much more in favor of theming and building own icons and symbols, than just blatantly borrows them from other sources. And sure, they can use existing symbols, but they should still properly integrate them into the story instead of just expecting people to know them already and draw the connection. And yea, sure, stuff can have deeper meaning, the way scene is set etc. can also be meaningful, but sometimes you need to know when to stop and see that boat is just there so they can have some privacy. Or because Nakatani got tired of drawing backgrounds.

I guess our school system just totally burned me for any interpretations etc. of literature/poetry, using general symbols and meanings, because all I was ever taught was that there is no room for interpretation. Author always means it only 1 way and any other interpretation is wrong. Even if author themselves disagree with what our teachers think the interpretation of their work is. Also you need to follow the right steps in interpreting their works. After all there is only 1 proper way to arrive at the conclusions you will arrive, because there is no other conclusions to arrive at other than the right ones.

last edited at Feb 9, 2019 10:01PM

I guess our school system just totally burned me for any interpretations etc. of literature/poetry, using general symbols and meanings, because all I was ever taught was that there is no room for interpretation. Author always means it only 1 way and any other interpretation is wrong. Even if author themselves disagree with what our teachers think the interpretation of their work is. Also you need to follow the right steps in interpreting their works. After all there is only 1 proper way to arrive at the conclusions you will arrive, because there is no other conclusions to arrive at other than the right ones.

Wow, that is a truly terrible theory of interpretation to teach people. If it were true, that would make most art and literature a mere parlor game, where the audience was supposed to guess the one true meaning, or a form of perverse communication, where the artist had one thing to say but buried it under a bunch of coded symbols so people would know they were supposed to receive a message but rarely if ever understand what the message was.

Art does many things, but one thing it can do is to create a kind of analogue to human experience, where meaning is bound by context (authorial intention being one aspect of context) but relevant context is (potentially) boundless.

And insisting on “one true meaning” when looking at works from a culture that absolutely revels in, in fact defines itself by, a deep love of ambiguity, multi-layered allusion, oblique communication, and known but unstated assumptions?—that’s positively criminal.

I guess our school system just totally burned me for any interpretations etc. of literature/poetry, using general symbols and meanings, because all I was ever taught was that there is no room for interpretation. Author always means it only 1 way and any other interpretation is wrong. Even if author themselves disagree with what our teachers think the interpretation of their work is. Also you need to follow the right steps in interpreting their works. After all there is only 1 proper way to arrive at the conclusions you will arrive, because there is no other conclusions to arrive at other than the right ones.

Wow, that is a truly terrible theory of interpretation to teach people. If it were true, that would make most art and literature a mere parlor game, where the audience was supposed to guess the one true meaning, or a form of perverse communication, where the artist had one thing to say but buried it under a bunch of coded symbols so people would know they were supposed to receive a message but rarely if ever understand what the message was.

I'd say that's rather less teaching a theory than indoctrinating a dogma; "one true meaning" is the principle of religion, not science - as well as ideologies bastardized into secular religions by totalitarian regimes (which are unfailingly and universally insecure about their legitimacy). Anyone teaching like that is quite missing the point and either blatantly attempting to push a specific agenda or (in the spirit of "never ascribe to malice what can be explained by incompetence") grossly half-assing it, likely because they're in the wrong job altogether or at least covering the wrong subject and CBA to go to the trouble of teaching the whole complex topic to a bunch of kids most of whom probably aren't terribly interested anyway.
I've had teachers like that.
Thankfully those were back in Elementary and the ones covering the same subjects at the higher grades were far more on the ball with their jobs.

last edited at Feb 9, 2019 9:29PM

I really hate it when I read a conversation, and want to join it, but I don't know what to say...

Heavensrun posted:

On the topic of "professional vs fan translations". We got first volume released here and they made a blatant mistranslation, which changes context quite a bit. And of course there is no option to release fixed version. The advantage of digital translations you can always update.

What is the mistranslation, out of curiosity?

Chapter 3, page 28
Our translation:
"Why did she say that is enough?"
"She is"
"such a liar."
Actual line:
"So why did I tell her I don't mind?"
"... This really is."
"unfair of her."

It implies Yuu saw through Touko's facade as soon as chapter 3.

I know it doesn't really seem like much, but it isn't even like translator tried to convey the same meaning by using different words or thought that it would sound more natural. It is blatantly just changing what character said to something else, because they thought it sounded better or whatever reason for it was. And even if Yuu did see through Touko already back then, that is not what original text said. Sure I'm more for faithful translations in general, but I understand that sometimes you have to change some stuff and what or how you need to change is very subjective and hard. This on the other hand is just a very simple sentence that was changed for no other reason that "I felt like it." And stuff like that make me lose trust in translation and get paranoid how many other little changes like that that are there.

Interesting. I don't have the raws, so this is speculation based on what I know about Japanese, but I suspect they just got the subject association mixed up on the first sentence ("why did I say that", as opposed to "why did she say that"). which gives a different implied meaning to the accusation of unfairness. In the former, Touko's being unfair because she cornered Yuu in a lie, in the latter, Touko is being unfair because she -is- lying, so "You liar" is a fair translation in that context. The first mistake begets the second. TLDR: It's probably an honest mistake. The Seven Seas English translation is pretty close to the one on the website here, so I'm guessing this is some other release. is it also in English?

Btw. Whenever I find stuff like that, it reminds me of guys like you, who overanalyze every single line and craft meanings and theories from them, while all this time they could be mistranslated or rewritten (and some translations here actually have this issue).

When I find stuff like that, it reminds me of sloppy readers who misunderstand what they're reading because they aren't paying attention to the details. ;p

But seriously, my goal is just to understand the work and see if I can figure out where it's going to go in the future. Sometimes I read too much into a line. (Or panel structure. Anybody remember when I thought Yuu had kissed Touko before the play??) But so what? Sometimes when you're solving a maze you run into a dead end. Being wrong isn't bad. Refusing to admit when you're wrong is when it's a problem.

Since I'm already writing, on topic on symbolize and whatnot. I personally prefer to avoid deriving meanings etc. from symbols and outside influences, unless author is blatantly referring to them and/or clearly builds a connection. I'm much more in favor of theming and building own icons and symbols, than just blatantly borrows them from other sources. And sure, they can use existing symbols, but they should still properly integrate them into the story instead of just expecting people to know them already and draw the connection. And yea, sure, stuff can have deeper meaning, the way scene is set etc. can also be meaningful, but sometimes you need to know when to stop and see that boat is just there so they can have some privacy. Or because Nakatani got tired of drawing backgrounds.

I mean, I think Blastaar already nailed my thoughts on this pretty well? Symbols can be used deliberately or subconciously, they can mean different things, and sometimes they're just set dressing that happens to line up in a neat way. Tons of this is entirely subjective. Even in your own sentence up there, you say "unless it's blatant" but what's blatant to one person is obtuse to another, and even if two people agree that a symbol is blatant, they might disagree on what it means.

They're in a boat, but they're not really going anywhere. That could be a metaphor for their relationship, but the boat also serves a story purpose in that it helps isolate them from their surroundings. It gives them privacy in public, but also, they didn't choose to do this themselves, so they're also forced to sit together and talk out their feelings. It's the "Trapped in a small space" trope. It's also possible Nakatani just went on a research trip to the place the kids were going to to, saw some boats, and was like "Ooh, I wanna draw some characters in a boat. That's kind of romantic!" Two people going out on a rowboat together in a park is also a pretty common date activity. It could be that any one of these things was a primary motivating factor, or that none of them are. It's often the case in writing a carefully crafted story that some combination of motivations go into any particular decision. The fact of the matter is, tho, that the author -did- choose to put them in a boat together.

Not that I think you were that serious with that line, but It's unlikely -just- because Nakatani got tired of drawing backgrounds, because if you don't want to draw a background, you just...don't? Like, there's tons of techniques for filling background space with tones, or framing panels so that there just isn't room for background details. Or you just ask an assistant to do it. But I doubt Nakatani-sensei gets lazy about those sort of things, given how much meticulous detail she puts into things.

But even if the author got lazy, or had writer's block and faced a deadline crunch or whatever other reason just used the boat as a shortcut to save on labor, The fact that it works anyway is still worth examining. Why doesn't it feel like the author was being lazy? Why does it feel like a deliberate choice?

I've definitely read manga where the backgrounds go away and it just feels like the author didn't take the time, but I've also read manga where the backgrounds go away and it definitely feels like a deliberate choice. So even if something isn't intended, the fact that it works is still worth examining.

I guess our school system just totally burned me for any interpretations etc. of literature/poetry, using general symbols and meanings, because all I was ever taught was that there is no room for interpretation. Author always means it only 1 way and any other interpretation is wrong. Even if author themselves disagree with what our teachers think the interpretation of their work is. Also you need to follow the right steps in interpreting their works. After all there is only 1 proper way to arrive at the conclusions you will arrive, because there is no other conclusions to arrive at other than the right ones.

I want to throttle your entire school faculty. That is absolutely awful and wrongheaded. Any actual breakdown of real literary criticism will immediately point out that there are many subjectively valued schools of thought on how valuable it is to, say, interpret the world according to the creator's direct commentary (worldbuilding by edict, author canon), interpret the work without the context of the creator (death of the author), interpret the work as an expression of the author's self (auteur theory), interpret the work as a subject of the culture that produced it (pop culture theory) and any of a dozen others, all can be given different weights as lenses to look at a work, and many literary critics think you can only get a full picture of a work by looking at all of them, sometimes including perspectives that are contradictory by nature. The idea that there's -one- way to do it -right- is...(shake head) STUNNINGLY arrogant.

last edited at Feb 10, 2019 7:17PM

Oh, and for the record, I don't pretend to be an expert in literary criticism. If I seem confident (or even arrogant) that's probably an artifact of my personality, but I know enough to know that actual experts don't talk about literature as if there's one answer to how to analyze a work.

i cry during every chapter now. this month was pretty okay though. feel bad for sayaka, blaming herself, saying that yuu took advantage of her silence. touko just chose the way she did because she's touko. its touko's fault for not noticing sayaka in the first place. i suppose if she'd made herself more out of reach touko might have fallen for her instead.

ahhhh, i just want everyone to be happy. i guess the three of them would probably make a pretty cute poly trio. i can see sayaka and yuu teaming up to get revenge on touko for all her bossiness. :P

last edited at Feb 12, 2019 4:06AM

ahhhh, i just want everyone to be happy. i guess the three of them would probably make a pretty cute poly trio. i can see sayaka and yuu teaming up to get revenge on touko for all her bossiness. :P

I think others have already said this many times before, but this simply isn't that kind of story...

its touko's fault for not noticing sayaka in the first place.

I wouldn't say "not noticing". She even points out right in this chapter that she was aware of Sayaka's feelings, but chose not to think about them. It's not a question of noticing, but rather Touko not wanting to be with anyone who had any such feelings for her, leading her to choose Yuu who at that time seemed unable to ever do so.