I'm also still annoyed at this. I thought I will get a story about trying to forget about your love/learning to deal with it. Instead we are clearly building for yuri ending

What's the problem with yuri ending? If you want unrequited loves that never become requited, check real life lol

Am I the only one who likes Kaoru x Uta? lol

Nah, I think they'd be sweet and cute together, and Kaoru deserves somebody that actually loves her. Reiichi should seriously just ask for a divorce and go back to Risako.

agree

I'm also still annoyed at this. I thought I will get a story about trying to forget about your love/learning to deal with it. Instead we are clearly building for yuri ending

What's the problem with yuri ending? If you want unrequited loves that never become requited, check real life lol

I'm personally tired of that kind of ending

last edited at Feb 28, 2019 12:08AM

I'm also still annoyed at this. I thought I will get a story about trying to forget about your love/learning to deal with it. Instead we are clearly building for yuri ending

What's the problem with yuri ending? If you want unrequited loves that never become requited, check real life lol

Mostly that as things stand with this series it's rather looking like that ending would be rather contrived, forced and artificial rather than something developing "organically" from the narrative. Pandering to audience wish-fulfillment (*poignant stare*) and good storytelling are quite separate matters and only too readily and often in direct conflict.

I'm also still annoyed at this. I thought I will get a story about trying to forget about your love/learning to deal with it. Instead we are clearly building for yuri ending

What's the problem with yuri ending? If you want unrequited loves that never become requited, check real life lol

Mostly that as things stand with this series it's rather looking like that ending would be rather contrived, forced and artificial rather than something developing "organically" from the narrative. Pandering to audience wish-fulfillment (*poignant stare*) and good storytelling are quite separate matters and only too readily and often in direct conflict.

Maybe one could imagine a story that sets up a situation where a whole complex of internal and external circumstances are keeping the main couple apart, and the story reaches a point where no solution seems even remotely possible, and then suddenly whoosh, all the seemingly intractable obstacles are overcome, perhaps even in just a single page of silent panels so that readers aren’t even told how they’re overcome, and then there’s a glorious wedding scene of the main couple, in color, and there’s not even the slightest inkling of, for example, who’s going to take over the Aihara school.

But perhaps I’ve said too much . . .

My heart won't stop pounding. I'm getting so nervous just to talk to her. I've never felt like this before.

This sounds like signs of attraction, which is very weird, since that would mean that Kaoru was never truly attracted to Reiichi romantically. Then again, given their past and his constant rejections of her, it seems there might not have ever been a genuine romance there. They were both just seemingly using each other to fill a void (Kaoru's loneliness) or role (Reiichi probably wanted a mother/sister figure for Uta). They were childhood friends with issues, but that might have been all they've really ever been to each other.

Heavensrun posted:

It's clear the main focus and story was supposed to be about Uta's love toward Kaoru. Hence even the official english title focuses only on that. Sadly that is not the manga we got.

As far as I know, this hasn't been picked up for western publication, so there -isn't- an official english title. The "Secret Crush On My Sister" we see in various places is a subtitle.

As h3x said, it's official english title. It just was made by japanese publisher instead of english one when translating it. It's pretty common for japanese to translated titles into english themselves. Like "Shingeki no Kyojin" was translated into "Attack on Titan" (which is a incorrect translation of title) or "Otomodachi kara Hajimemashou" to "Let's Begin from Friends". So even if there is no official english translation/release, it's still a official english title and in case someone picks rights for it, they'll use it.

Risako. (Not being snarky, just pointing that out, I messed it up myself awhile back)

I didn't really remember her name, but I think I saw someone writing Ritsuko. Or I just messed it up.

I doubt it'll be as neat and tidy as you make it out to be, either, but we'll see.

Well I didn't get into detail so obviously. I was just summarizing it.

But how is that contrived? a little less than a quarter of men admit to having cheated on their wives. That's one in four!

You see. It is called expectations. From title and description of the story I thought I was getting myself into completely different thing than plot ultimately evolved into. I thought it will be story about Uta's angst, not everyone's and their mother's angst. You're not the first to point out there were subtle hints about Reiichi possibly cheating. But most people (definitely me) wanted to believe Kaoru and Reiichi are actually happy together. Because if they are then Uta's feeling would be truly hopeless and there would be nothing she can do about them other than deal with them or try to forgot. She could consider confessing, but what it would achieve? There is no way Kaoru would return her feelings. And trying to destroy her happy marriage would be the last thing on Uta's mind. That is some very powerful source of drama and angst. I wanted to follow Uta's struggle and see how she'll deal with it.

Making Reiichi not really loving Kaoru and even cheating on her cheapens all of that. It's very easy to write a story where husband cheats on wife, so she feels betrayed and goes for MC instead. There is not many where situation is actually hopeless for MC. Reiichi became the definite bad guy, so we don't feel bad about prospect of Kaoru leaving him anymore. There's no longer any ambiguity or stakes. It's pretty straightforward and black and white. The weight of the story is just not the same anymore. Suddenly Uta's love is no longer so out of reach. But sure, you can still write story like that and make it good. There is more issues though. There was idea of Kaoru being bi and having some past lesbian relationship, but nobody really delved too deep into it, there wasn't enough evidence and good way to fit it into story. More relevantly, people seriously suggested that Kaoru was subconsciously in love with Uta all along and she was pursuing her together with Reiichi. To be precise she values both of them equally and sees them as indistinguishable. She might even pursue Reiichi only to be part of family with him in order to be close to Uta, without even realizing it. And there are hints for that as well. Kaoru used to be very touchy feely with Uta before her personality changed and in general tries to be close with her. There were even people suggesting reversal. Reiichi actually marring Kaoru so he can secretly get her and Uta together and when both of them realize their true feelings for each other, he will play the "bad husband" role, giving Kaoru a reason to divorce him and stop relying on him, so she can be with Uta who can truly support her.

Of course at the time, I said both of those ideas are ridiculous and reaching, but honestly, at this point, I'm starting to think that is how this story will actually end. When Uta finally confessed, I wanted to say based on Kaoru's reaction, there is no way she was actually totally secretly in love with Uta without realizing it, considering how foreign the concept of not only Uta loving her, but 2 girls loving each other in general is to her. But then I thought that someone is totally going to argue "that's the point", "she doesn't realize she's secretly gay for her", "her body and mind are at odds", "people are complex, hypocritical creatures, so her being taken aback by idea consciously and being all in subconsciously, make perfect sense!" and stuff like that. So I was like, fuck it, all of this is true. Kaoru always wanted to bang Uta. Reiichi always noticed Kaoru's feelings for Uta and now Uta's feelings for Kaoru. Once Kaoru stop denying reality and consider Uta's confession seriously, she'll realize she actually wants to be with her. Then when she'll go to confront Reiichi about cheating and wanting to divorce, he'll play his bad husband act till the end, sacrificing his good image for yuri their sake. Or applaud them for finally getting together, say keikaku doori, give them his seal of approval and then move out to live with Risako as fast as possible, if we want to go with additional comedy bit. And story even goes out of it's way to make it a better solution. It's pretty clear Reiichi doesn't love Kaoru and is only with her out of some guilt/pity, so he's miserable too. But there's some girl he likes/waits for him, so it looks like story is even trying to set up a way to redeem him. After all if he did it all for Kaoru x Uta, then he's secretly a good guy. And we don't need to feel bad for him being painted as evil and left alone. He has his own girlfriend, he actually loves. So win:win for everyone.

Yes, this manga broke me in some way.

I went into this story with completely different expectations and it did start very strong, but then the story itself was steadily, but surly taking away all the elements that made this premise engaging and interesting to follow in order to make the titular love more and more plausible to reach and even made it seems like only reasonable option for how this story can end.

Surely a girl falling in love with her sister-in-law in the first place is way more contrived than a guy cheating with his ex girlfriend.

I don't see how falling for sister-in-law is contrived though. Kaoru spend a lot time with Uta since she was young and showed her plenty of affection and attention, so I don't see why Uta couldn't develop feelings for her.

Heavensrun posted:
. . . Sorry, you know I respect you, B, but I'm just not seeing it. They're just different clothes. The art between those two pages is indistinguishable to me. At best, maybe the linework has gotten a bit heavier, but styles change over time.

I'm not going to make case for entire art, but me and most people commented specifically about character's proportions. I'm not invested enough to go and look for examples though. Sowwy.

all in all the shift in wardrobe actually feels more like attention to detail to me.

For japanese paying attention to seasons and cloths is common thing, so I wouldn't praise it too much. Finding manga that actually doesn't pay attention to way characters are dressed is actually harder to do.

I suspect you guys are letting your frustration with the story progression color your perception of the art.

For me quality of art and quality of story are 2 separate thing. In fact, I'm sucker for good art, so I can appreciate good art, even if story is mediocre. I'm just telling how I see it. In last chapters there were few panels with very questionable proportions.

matsuri_wins posted:

I'm also still annoyed at this. I thought I will get a story about trying to forget about your love/learning to deal with it. Instead we are clearly building for yuri ending

What's the problem with yuri ending? If you want unrequited loves that never become requited, check real life lol

And here goes the greatest no-argument ever. I understand most people read fiction for escapism and fluff. I'm pretty much the same way too. But that is not a reason to project your feelings on everyone else. Usually I want to read happy stories, but sometimes I'm in the mood for some drama or angst. Being able to experiencing different things and emotions is like the entire point of the media. Reading happy stories is nice, but only reading happy stories sooner or later gets boring, no matter how good they are. Some just like having options and variety. Some even specifically want to read stories with bad endings and uncomfortable stuff, because they enjoy them. Or because they actually didn't experience it and want to get a glimpse in safe environment. So they want to have stories to read too. And even authors have different preferences cough Kodama cough, so not everyone will write happy stories. You can't expect every author ever to cater to your specific personal taste. I wish every manga ever made was made specifically for me too. Especially exactly fitting the mood I currently have. But that's not possible and never will. Existence of those kind of stories doesn't make all the happy stories disappear. You can still read them. And not read unhappy ones for that matter.

There's no issue with yuri ending in and of itself. I just simply happened to be in mood for some angst and story about girl being in one-sided love with her brother's wife sounded like interesting concept and could provide some strong emotions to explore. And I went into it fully expecting love to not be returned, so I was prepared for bad ending. So when then manga went back on basically all the initial promise it showed, I felt betrayed. As a matter of fact, when I first heard about this manga, I decided to not read it specifically because "it sounded way too angsty and not my kind of thing".

Seriously, I get that you read stuff rooting for main ship to get together and doesn't care about drama, as long as they end up together. But the fact you consciously started reading manga called "My Unrequited Love" where MC is in love with her brother's wife and still wholeheartedly expected it to end in yuri, because according to you "only option for yuri manga is yuri ending", is seriously worrying. I guess for you quality of manga really doesn't matter if what decides whatever story is trash or not depends only on whatever girls become a couple or not.

Blastaar posted:

Maybe one could imagine a story that sets up a situation where a whole complex of internal and external circumstances are keeping the main couple apart, and the story reaches a point where no solution seems even remotely possible, and then suddenly whoosh, all the seemingly intractable obstacles are overcome, perhaps even in just a single page of silent panels so that readers aren’t even told how they’re overcome, and then there’s a glorious wedding scene of the main couple, in color, and there’s not even the slightest inkling of, for example, who’s going to take over the Aihara school.

I feel if someone had told that story, it would become incredibly popular and held as yuri masterpiece by many.

There is so many great yuri and we barely have published like 7 titles. But because this trash is so popular, we're getting it published this year from all other possible titles. Just why? I guess we did get Bloom Into You as well, but still...

last edited at Feb 28, 2019 1:01PM

^ Look at the Nevster—goin’ for the gold!

I personally don’t think there’s anything inherently more interesting or desirable between a story about an unrequited love that ends up being requited and one that stays unrequited.

There is a huge difference (to me, anyway) between a story that seems to know where it’s going (even if the readers don’t) and one that doesn’t seem to be very sure about what story it’s telling or where it’s going with it.

When I started reading this I took the title as potentially meaning either “My Love, Which is Unrequited At the Start But May End Up Being Requited,” OR “My Love Which is Never Requited.” But the story so far has seemed to waver between those two and to drop hints in favor each of them while also making either of them seem like less-than-satisfactory outcomes.

Having seen “the author is executing a secret plan that will make everything fall into place in retrospect” theories disproven too many times, I’ve pretty much stopped believing in them.

But maybe this time will be different.

Blastaar posted:

Maybe one could imagine a story that sets up a situation where a whole complex of internal and external circumstances are keeping the main couple apart, and the story reaches a point where no solution seems even remotely possible, and then suddenly whoosh, all the seemingly intractable obstacles are overcome, perhaps even in just a single page of silent panels so that readers aren’t even told how they’re overcome, and then there’s a glorious wedding scene of the main couple, in color, and there’s not even the slightest inkling of, for example, who’s going to take over the Aihara school.

I feel if someone had told that story, it would become incredibly popular and held as yuri masterpiece by many.

My, whatever might you be referring to? Sounds like a story I need to get acquainted with !!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

Blastaar posted:

Maybe one could imagine a story that sets up a situation where a whole complex of internal and external circumstances are keeping the main couple apart, and the story reaches a point where no solution seems even remotely possible, and then suddenly whoosh, all the seemingly intractable obstacles are overcome, perhaps even in just a single page of silent panels so that readers aren’t even told how they’re overcome, and then there’s a glorious wedding scene of the main couple, in color, and there’s not even the slightest inkling of, for example, who’s going to take over the Aihara school.

I feel if someone had told that story, it would become incredibly popular and held as yuri masterpiece by many.

My, whatever might you be referring to? Sounds like a story I need to get acquainted with !!
( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

I believe it was called Happy End.

And even authors have different preferences cough Kodama cough, so not everyone will write happy stories.

You are right, Kodama is in fact the answer to all your desires lol Go read NTR. (which is my favourite manga on this site and is seriously underrated in my opinion, so am saying this non-ironically)

Seriously, I get that you read stuff rooting for main ship to get together and doesn't care about drama, as long as they end up together. But the fact you consciously started reading manga called "My Unrequited Love" where MC is in love with her brother's wife and still wholeheartedly expected it to end in yuri, because according to you "only option for yuri manga is yuri ending", is seriously worrying. I guess for you quality of manga really doesn't matter if what decides whatever story is trash or not depends only on whatever girls become a couple or not.

Why is it worrying? My work life is too intellectually intense, so I'm here for the makeout scenes and to see entertaining comedic or dramatic stories of girls getting together :P Not to experience complex emotions and plots. Real life is complex enough. And I sure as hell don't want the guy to get the girl in any story.

Maybe it's more like: you seem to be looking for French food in McDonalds. But I'm in McDonalds looking for McDonalds lol

Besides Yuri Hime has that rule of no het endings. Kaoru ending up with Reiichi is a very het ending. Why would you ever think this is going to end up with Kaoru NOT being head over heels over Uta?

last edited at Feb 28, 2019 10:47PM

Some people thought that the story was going to be Uta getting over her feelings for Kaoru and falling in love with another girl who she could end up with. But then the heavily implied cheating happened and the most recent chapter has Kaoru's thoughts about Uta implying she may be attracted to her.

I think one big issue here is people who see Kaoru/Uta as The Main Couple. I'm not sure the author is really going for a Main Couple kind of thing; this isn't really a romance. It's more about the themes than anything else.

Some people thought that the story was going to be Uta getting over her feelings for Kaoru and falling in love with another girl who she could end up with. But then the heavily implied cheating happened and the most recent chapter has Kaoru's thoughts about Uta implying she may be attracted to her.

But all the initial chapters had strong hints of Kaoru's attraction. Maybe people are confused because of all the nonsense chapters in the middle.

Some people thought that the story was going to be Uta getting over her feelings for Kaoru and falling in love with another girl who she could end up with. But then the heavily implied cheating happened and the most recent chapter has Kaoru's thoughts about Uta implying she may be attracted to her.

But all the initial chapters had strong hints of Kaoru's attraction. Maybe people are confused because of all the nonsense chapters in the middle.

Yeah, the whole initial setup was about how Uta and Reiichi were sort of interchangeable in regard to Kaoru (even literally) and about Kaoru’s unusually strong affection for and emotional dependence on Uta. In fact, I thought the major point of the beginning was that Kaoru’s feelings for Uta were more clearly on display than was Reiichi’s affection for Kaoru.

That didn’t necessarily indicate romance between Kaoru and Uta, but it certainly laid the groundwork for the possibility.

K, I only discovered this manga yesterday, after watching some YouTube video, and after I found it here, the description given threw me for quite a few loops. Will check it regardless, though.

Those extras were pretty cute

OK... I don't know how to comment on this, now that I've read all that was thus far made... I'm looking forward to the next chapter, as this is quite an interesting manga, and I like it, but... despite the many differences to a certain manga that'll be mentioned later this post, I'm getting a bit of deja-vu here... One of the MCs falls in love with the other. That other MC eventually finds out. The other MC falls in love (or at least appears to do so) back, but isn't aware of that herself yet.
Is it naive of me to think there are some parallels between the plots of "My Unrequited Love" and "Girl Friends"?

Some people thought that the story was going to be Uta getting over her feelings for Kaoru and falling in love with another girl who she could end up with. But then the heavily implied cheating happened and the most recent chapter has Kaoru's thoughts about Uta implying she may be attracted to her.

But all the initial chapters had strong hints of Kaoru's attraction. Maybe people are confused because of all the nonsense chapters in the middle.

Yeah, the whole initial setup was about how Uta and Reiichi were sort of interchangeable in regard to Kaoru (even literally) and about Kaoru’s unusually strong affection for and emotional dependence on Uta. In fact, I thought the major point of the beginning was that Kaoru’s feelings for Uta were more clearly on display than was Reiichi’s affection for Kaoru.

That didn’t necessarily indicate romance between Kaoru and Uta, but it certainly laid the groundwork for the possibility.

i think that´s reaching, yeah it´s true, the firsts chapters featured a lot of scenes of kaoru and uta but i think it´s pretty clear that the purpose of those secenes is to highlight how hard and painfull is to spend time with kaoru for uta, the first chapters also featured a lot of reichi and kaoru scenes where they have dinner kiss etc wich kaoru describes as true happines so argue that they´re hints of kaorus subconscious love for uta is just insane

is also true that when reichi neglects kaoru she goes to uta but that´s probably because she doesnt want to be alone and uta is right there for her she doesnt choose uta for any particular reason, to me it looks like kaoru just wants to be with someone, there´s also the fact that kaoru feels resposinble for the divorce of utas parents and her later depression i feels like everything she´s doing is out of guilt, i also see kaoru getting attached to anyone that spend time with her whenever reichi rejects her, when kaoru and uta are together it feels more like a mother-daughter relationship than a romantic one

i don´t really know maybe nevri is right maybe i´m just crazy and everything is just keikaku doori, maybe the author
draws manga with her right hand and wirite names with the left and ink with the left,,,, then she takes a potato chip....and EAT IT

last edited at Mar 3, 2019 5:26AM

^
The above only makes sense if you define all “love” and “affection” as “romantic love.” Otherwise it’s all your projection.

Of course Kaoru loves Uta—as a long-time close friend and family member. “She doesn’t choose Uta for any particular reason”—no reason except she’s close to her and Kaoru likes and trusts her.

You throw words like “crazy” and “insane” around a lot—feel free to self-diagnose, since you know yourself best, but please leave me out of it.

last edited at Mar 3, 2019 7:26AM

Blastaar posted:

I personally don’t think there’s anything inherently more interesting or desirable between a story about an unrequited love that ends up being requited and one that stays unrequited.

Oh I didn't mean to imply unrequited love that stays unrequited is always better than one that reaches. I meant in this particular premise, I felt like it would make for both the stronger story and more unique take on it.

When I started reading this I took the title as potentially meaning either “My Love, Which is Unrequited At the Start But May End Up Being Requited,” OR “My Love Which is Never Requited.”

I'll admit I really got fixated on the "unrequited" part and assumed it means it'll stay this way, especially considering it's the title (which I didn't know was loose translation and now it annoys me) and completely forgot there's no real reason things can't change over the course of story and said unrequited love can't end up being requited. With the setting I thought this manga will have though (both Kaoru and Reiichi love each other and are happily married) making it requited wouldn't be easy and simple though, which as I said before, I felt like was the biggest strength of exploring this premise.

matsuri_wins posted:

You are right, Kodama is in fact the answer to all your desires lol Go read NTR. (which is my favourite manga on this site and is seriously underrated in my opinion, so am saying this non-ironically)

I actually don't understand people's hate for Kodama. Sure her stories are hit or miss for me, but what I really like about her is that she explores scenarios other writers don't even dare to touch and I like having that kind of variety for yuri. There are sad stories, there are happy stories and then there are Kodama's stories, which are somewhat in between. In fact I'd say she's really good at writing more complex and deep characters. Anyway, the thing is I'm very picky about my drama, I only like very specific kinds and this specific premise catch my attention as something I can mentality prepare for (love won't be requited) and might give me the specific drama I was in the mood for. I wasn't prepared for all the drama of other characters and then the premise that I thought this manga will explore turned out to not exist.

Why is it worrying?

Because it seemed like your life was such big mess, you are desperate for any yuri story you can get your hands on, even if the chance of it ending in yuri seemed very slim. Well I'm glad I was mistaken then.

Besides Yuri Hime has that rule of no het endings. Kaoru ending up with Reiichi is a very het ending. Why would you ever think this is going to end up with Kaoru NOT being head over heels over Uta?

Because I don't pay any attention to what magazine given manga is published it and what rules it has (had no idea there are some rules). It done me more good than bad, since I'm not setting my expectations based on it and just enjoy the story for what it is (when I'm not already reading it with some expectations from the get go). In fact way too many people pay too much attention to magazines and decides whatever series is even worth reading based on it. I had plenty people saying some subtext series is trash/won't go anywhere simply based on the magazine it is published in.

That's the same reason I don't really base my expectations based on the author. So many people gave shit Watashiya Kaworu for how Kodomo no Jikan handled it's lesbian character and concluded every other manga ever made by them can't possibly deliver on yuri front (because as we know, authors never change or aren't influenced by outside sources like, publisher and/or editorial) so when there were hints and eventually confirmation of lesbian character in Joou-Sama no Eshi everyone collectively cried that it's next lesbian character purely for fanservice and it won't go anywhere or won't be ever taken seriously. They must felt really stupid when manga ended with yuri ending. And not only that, she was handled very well and her feelings were never made fun off or made into a joke. I did like manga for it's humor regardless of that inclusion, so the fact it had such positive surprise was more of a cherry on the top for me and made me glad for sticking to reading it.

I'm seriously feeling less and less confident about discussing anything about this story though, because it was ages since I read first chapters, so I'm not remembering a lot of details and I really am not invested in it anymore, to even bother re-reading it. I'm checking posts out of habit and I'm glancing over chapters when people mention something interesting (like Kaoru and Uta finally having a conversation about Uta's feelings on screen), but at this point I probably should just stop.

last edited at Mar 3, 2019 1:45PM

(both Kaoru and Reiichi love each other and are happily married) making it requited wouldn't be easy and simple though, which as I said before, I felt like was the biggest strength of exploring this premise.

That first part is what I never can understand when people say it: at the start, Kaoru does seem happy to be married to Reiichi, since it’s something she wanted for a long time and thought she would never get (because he kept turning down her confessions).

But the very first thing we learn about Reiichi is that he forgets their first anniversary and comes up with a sudden out-of-town businesss trip. And soon enough we see that he’s either cheating on his wife or doing a damn good job of giving the impression that he is.

Maybe I just have a high standard for what counts as “happily married,” but in my book, “she’s often bored and lonely because he’s at best often absent and inattentive and at worst cheating on her with her old friend” isn’t exactly it.

Blastaar posted:

(both Kaoru and Reiichi love each other and are happily married) making it requited wouldn't be easy and simple though, which as I said before, I felt like was the biggest strength of exploring this premise.

That first part is what I never can understand when people say it

I said that's what I thought the story will be like. As you said, we quickly learned that's not the case.

Why is it worrying?

Because it seemed like your life was such big mess, you are desperate for any yuri story you can get your hands on, even if the chance of it ending in yuri seemed very slim. Well I'm glad I was mistaken then.

Well, you are also partially correct. Currently, I am what by conventional standards would be called "very successful", including relationship-wise. But it wasn't always that way: my early and mid-20s were a gong show, like Kodama+ level (makes me wonder if she gets her inspiration from her own life). And that, plus the lack of effort required, means I am totally OK with stories where it's guaranteed the MC will get the girl and the plot is brainless lol

Blastaar posted:

(both Kaoru and Reiichi love each other and are happily married) making it requited wouldn't be easy and simple though, which as I said before, I felt like was the biggest strength of exploring this premise.

That first part is what I never can understand when people say it

I said that's what I thought the story will be like. As you said, we quickly learned that's not the case.

Ah, sorry I misread you. Others have suggested that the couple are “in love,” though, and I thought that was where you were going.

Boy... I went through the arduous process of reading this entire thread. Even though I actually liked the manga (I even consider re-reading it), I have to agree, @Doctor_Hoot, reading the thread is more interesting. So many different opinions, perceptions and interpretations, some of which influenced my own.

EDIT:
I wanted to take a shot at predicting what might happen next, but I have school in the morning, thus having to go to sleep now, so I guess I'll just to it after breakfast and before dad and I head out of house for him to drive me and see me off to school.

last edited at Mar 4, 2019 4:19PM