I just realize something. We haven't been told "it's a secret from everybody" since the first beach chapter.

In fact, I'm pretty sure the author never uses it again.

Maybe this means something, maybe she just finally got sick of it.

I don’t know what anybody’s problem with that was—lots of series have taglines that become unnecessary for regular readers. (Like Yamada’s “Kase-san is cool and kind of boyish . . .”)

But they’re, you know—taglines.

I mean, it was pretty minor, but that also annoyed me after awhile? So take that as you will. ;p

Am I the only one that feels a bit sorry for Igarashi? It seems to me like her feelings for Chidori were real, but she thought it was impossible. That isn't super uncommon as a trope in manga. It's also pretty common in real life for people who are gay to be afraid of accepting that about themselves. Yeah, she messed up and broke Chidori's heart, but she broke her own, too. She thought a relationship was impossible, but she still worked up the courage to give her valentine's chocolate and try to work it out anyway.

I could easily imagine a series where the protagonist falls in love with a girl, is depressed that she thinks they can't be together, goes along with her childhood friend that says he likes her because she thinks it's "normal", but ultimately decides to try and win over her crush after all. I'm pretty sure everybody here would ultimately be rooting for that girl.

I feel like her story is pretty tragic, and I kinda wish she would find someone nice to date now that she's had it reaffirmed that such relationships can exist. My sympathy is provisional on her not trying to break up the happy couple, but for now, she has my sympathy.

It would be easier to sympathize with Igarashi if she hadn't told Chidori that she loved her, she clearly was aware of her feelings. However just decided to mess with Chidori.

Karma is a bitch, so I feel like even if she broke her own heart by denying her own feelings she got what was coming to her. Now just hope she moves on.

Anyone else think that "shut up" will have consequences? I say yes!

Igarashi: B-but that’s forbidden love

NANOHA IS EPIC

Called it long ago. Igarashi just didn't have the courage of her preferences.

Am I the only one that feels a bit sorry for Igarashi?

Well I can't speak for everyone else but I certainly don't. I would have done if she didn't decide to process her issues by being a selfish bitch.

Igurashi is weird as hell, she went with society's status quo and made chidori feel like a freak for being a interested in her, then she confessed so at that point I figured she had just realized her true feelings for chidori. And now she's still saying stuff like, "but you're both girls?" The only conclusion I can draw is that she thought chidori rejected her because being gay is against the status quo, while in reality she found herself a better girlfriend

Imagine that their friend or classmate were there and now they just openly admitted their relationship.

Wat

Am I the only one that feels a bit sorry for Igarashi?

No. I feel a little sympathy for her, though she could have been written more empathetic.In the end it was all about herself, her feelings and not about Chidori, whom she just hurt. She never truly thought about anybody. Maybe she learnt from it.

I lean toward the “Igarashi arc is not over” theory, if only because otherwise her character makes no sense, and this author has not seemed to be slipshod or careless in story and character construction.

The whole arc consists of the following elements:

• Igarashi’s flirtatious behavior with Chidori, and Chidori’s reaction
• Chidori’s confrontation with Igarashi about the boyfriend and their subsequent estrangement
• Igarashi’s “not just friends” Valentines chocolate and Chidori’s rejection of it
• Igarashi’s return in the recent chapters

All of these are consistent with her “I was just joking around/two girls can’t really date/just checking in on my kouhai” gambit except for the Valentines chocolates.

Either she meant those chocolates (or more precisely, the note that came with them) sincerely, which means her “only joking/playing around” excuse is just bullshit, or they were a malicious attempt to continue to string Chidori along after the confrontation about the boyfriend.

If Igarashi were to return, perhaps something might be revealed that could theoretically make me more sympathetic to her, but as it stands: fuck her. If you actually care about someone, you don’t go out of your way to make them feel bad.

Besides, comparing her to Nanoha the Great, the only real question is if Igarashi is a malicious piece of shit or a pathetic one.

So senpai served this purpose..ok

I like this manga but...why do they never kiss?

MacySan posted:

I like this manga but...why do they never kiss?

Because that'd be too gay.

I like this manga but...why do they never kiss?

Chidori would have a stroke and faint out of sheer embarrassment.

Near as I can decipher Igarashi originally intended to try and reconnect with Chidori, possibly even romantically, but clued in on there being something going on between her and Nanoha about as soon as the latter arrived on the scene - just about everything she says and does thereafter appears to be trying to feel out the nature of the relationship between the two. And once she gets her answers (in the most unambiguous terms possible to boot) she apparently resigns herself to the facts, bows out and quite noticeably proceeds to lie through her teeth about her past history with Chidori for the latter's benefit; the way she spins it seems calculated to wrap up as many loose ends, and pre-emptively defuse as many possible causes of tension, as possible in the circumstances to leave Chidori a clean slate with Nanoha.

We also never learn what she meant with those Valentine's chocos and that whole "mistake" line; apparently she summarily scuttled whatever plans she had to elaborate upon those as soon as she learned Chidori's now in a serious relationship.

Not like she'd be in much of a position to try and challenge Nanoha anyway. On top of the starting handicap she has due to her previous sour-note parting with Chidori she's implied to reside out of town nowadays (presumably for college or such) which would make serious participation in some kind of love triangle a bit of a logistical non-starter...

last edited at Aug 29, 2019 12:19PM

@random^. That's a pretty plausible reading, and I wouldn't be shocked if we were to eventually get evidence (i.e., Igarashi's POV) to support some or all of it.

The reason it's not my own first-order reading, though, is that Igarashi's shocked reaction to Nanoha's claim-staking announcement really seems to be genuine--"Y-you're dating, as in a relationship? But you're both girls? . . . You're really, / Truly dating?"

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch46#15

Either she's a consummate actress, or that expression says that it's the first time she's actually considered a real same-sex relationship, which would definitely rule out any romantic intent behind her return to school.

(And of course, as I seem to be saying ad nauseam, it makes those "more than friends" chocolates highly problematic.)

EDIT: Just to clarify the overall point, my read is that we're still getting contradictory signals and until we get something more definitive, it remains up in the air as to what Igarashi thinks she is/was up to in regard to Chidori.

last edited at Aug 29, 2019 12:44PM

At least personally I found this arc to be weak. No actual resolution with growth for neither of the two people who could have used it (Chidori and Igarashi), and Nanoha ending up as an idiot white knight who burns down the entire closet because there's a bug in it, instead of trusting Chidori to take care of it herself.

Well there's 'trusting her to take care of it' and leaving your actual girlfriend to deal with such heartache all by herself...

So now that they've finally announced their relationship to someone don't you think it might be high time to stop keeping it a secret from your friends

I would not be surprised if all of them knew already.

Big plot twist! All their friends were hiding around the corner and heard every word!! lolz! And also: yeah they have known for quite a while now, I think...

Am I the only one that feels a bit sorry for Igarashi?

Well I can't speak for everyone else but I certainly don't. I would have done if she didn't decide to process her issues by being a selfish bitch.

Sorry for Igarashi? Yes as in 'Sorry you threw away your chance at happiness and now are all alone but you deserve it' sort of way... pity really.

I read Igarashi's last "but you're both girls" statement as her being amazed they managed to overcome this "obstacle" she got stuck on. More like a compliment than an insult, I think.

@random^. That's a pretty plausible reading, and I wouldn't be shocked if we were to eventually get evidence (i.e., Igarashi's POV) to support some or all of it.

The reason it's not my own first-order reading, though, is that Igarashi's shocked reaction to Nanoha's claim-staking announcement really seems to be genuine--"Y-you're dating, as in a relationship? But you're both girls? . . . You're really, / Truly dating?"

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch46#15

Either she's a consummate actress, or that expression says that it's the first time she's actually considered a real same-sex relationship, which would definitely rule out any romantic intent behind her return to school.

(And of course, as I seem to be saying ad nauseam, it makes those "more than friends" chocolates highly problematic.)

EDIT: Just to clarify the overall point, my read is that we're still getting contradictory signals and until we get something more definitive, it remains up in the air as to what Igarashi thinks she is/was up to in regard to Chidori.

Mind you, she could also just be flabbergasted by both Nano's brazen declaration and the bout of sitcom flirting/bickering that ensues... and ofc if she still had some faint hopes of restarting something with Chidori, well, she's probably experiencing a bit of a sinking feeling as the rug just got conclusively pulled from under those.
Somewhat uncertainly asking for an essentially redundant confirmation does not strike me as unreasonable behaviour for someone trying to hastily regain their bearings in such circumstances.

My interpretation of the way that following little sigh of hers and later quiet moment are framed is they're ones of resignation; "there's no room for me here anymore is there?" She then proceeds to apologize to Nano for her earlier probing and tells a few bald-faced lies to nip further drama in the bud before bailing; that reads to me like she can tell her ship's sailed for good and it's time to turn 360° andwalk away.

Guessing Chidori - who unlike Nanoha knows Igarashi was telling a pile of white lies - also rather wonders how much sempai originally intended to say but decided not to, though.

last edited at Aug 29, 2019 1:16PM

Well, Igarashi seems to be both preternaturally insightful (Nanoha set off her alarms just by being Nanoha) and equally amazingly slow on the uptake--sempai should have gotten the "no room for you" message at the "Thanks/no thanks for the chocolates, now fuck off" encounter with Chidori way back when.

We seem to paying all our attention to the Maybe-Sad Maybe-Lesbian, but I want to take a moment to celebrate Nanoha, who was her characteristic way-cool + maladroit self (that 'Shut up' will probably need to be paid for, but she got the job done).

last edited at Aug 29, 2019 1:39PM

I reckon she was ultimately mainly uncertain and confused about a whole lot of things, and her dropping by on Chidori in no small part had the goal of trying to clarify things for both of them (AKA sort out her own feelings and try to clean up the mess she made of her relationship with her "cute kouhai").

...Nanoha's pretty bold when she knows she doesn't have to keep it a secret from everybody for a change, isn't she? :v

last edited at Aug 29, 2019 1:58PM

What was the point of this character showing up?

MacySan posted:

I like this manga but...why do they never kiss?

Because that'd be too gay.

Sadly, this is legit the answer.

So.... at least now they can move forward and actually tell people?

bruh what was this for