I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...
Tbh I hope it's that so I can get my lewd yuri ending xD

Yes, the series then can be seen as a failed quest to achieve Reiichi, the character the series explicitly asks about several times, “What’s so great about this nothingburger of a human being?” and nobody ever has an answer.

Jesus Christ Karou's time in high school is pretty depressing.

I do hope Uta picks up. If she doesn't I fear Kaoru might harm herself. Risako and Reiichi are ruining her life and I think her getting away from them with Uta is what she really needs.

I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...
Tbh I hope it's that so I can get my lewd yuri ending xD

Yes, the series then can be seen as a failed quest to achieve Reiichi, the character the series explicitly asks about several times, “What’s so great about this nothingburger of a human being?” and nobody ever has an answer.

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...
Tbh I hope it's that so I can get my lewd yuri ending xD

Yes, the series then can be seen as a failed quest to achieve Reiichi, the character the series explicitly asks about several times, “What’s so great about this nothingburger of a human being?” and nobody ever has an answer.

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

And he’s got a cute, smart, and reliable little sister, which brings us full circle to the initial question, “Who or what is this series actually about?”

I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...
Tbh I hope it's that so I can get my lewd yuri ending xD

Yes, the series then can be seen as a failed quest to achieve Reiichi, the character the series explicitly asks about several times, “What’s so great about this nothingburger of a human being?” and nobody ever has an answer.

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

And he’s got a cute, smart, and reliable little sister, which brings us full circle to the initial question, “Who or what is this series actually about?”

Wasn't about unrequited love ?

Any Japanese speakers who can help out with the actual title?

Whether the love is “unrequited” or ”won’t reach” or whatever, is it singular “my love” or “our loves”?

Any Japanese speakers who can help out with the actual title?

Google Translate give "Even if it's impossible" as "Tatoe Todokanu Ito da to Shite mo" translation

Edit : Also the official name for the physical release is "If i could reach you"

last edited at Jan 20, 2020 6:46PM

I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...
Tbh I hope it's that so I can get my lewd yuri ending xD

Yes, the series then can be seen as a failed quest to achieve Reiichi, the character the series explicitly asks about several times, “What’s so great about this nothingburger of a human being?” and nobody ever has an answer.

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

And he’s got a cute, smart, and reliable little sister, which brings us full circle to the initial question, “Who or what is this series actually about?”

I think it's about Uta ending up with that +1 in her friend group who had the crush on her teacher.

kaoru really be on that dumb shit huh

Raws for chapter 30 https://m.imgur.com/a/s6XcDYz
I'm really starting to not trust Reiichi and I still have my doubts about Risako. We'll have to wait for translations and what happens next to confirm things.

Oof. I might actually start feeling bad for Kaoru again.

Raws for chapter 30 https://m.imgur.com/a/s6XcDYz
I'm really starting to not trust Reiichi and I still have my doubts about Risako. We'll have to wait for translations and what happens next to confirm things.

Wow, that last page is depressing as heck.

Yuki_mi46 posted:

I've just come to a realisation while reading the few last chapters (waited before reading them cuz thos cliffhangers are killing me) idk if anyone has come to this conclusion, or if it has been stated before, but I was quite proud of me lol.
What if the title of this series "my unrequited love" isn't about Uta not being able to reach kaoru, but karou that was never able to reach reiichi ...

The idea that "unrequitedness" apply to all main characters was rise few times before.

Blastaar posted:

Any Japanese speakers who can help out with the actual title?

Whether the love is “unrequited” or ”won’t reach” or whatever, is it singular “my love” or “our loves”?

I mentioned it before already. The literal title is "Even if it's a string that won't connect" referring to the red string of fate. Title can be interpreted as "Even if we're not fated for each other, I'll still love you" or something like that. And obviously it seemed like the title was about Uta's love for Kaoru, but considering how this manga developed it seems it could refer to everyone's love for people they wanted to be with, but seems to not be destined to.

EDIT/ Japanese technically doesn't have plural, so whatever it's 1 string or few strings, depends on the context. It still can fit if every main character in the story is saying that line about themselves.

last edited at Jan 21, 2020 6:33AM

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

And he’s got a cute, smart, and reliable little sister, which brings us full circle to the initial question, “Who or what is this series actually about?”

I have a feeling the message of these last few chapters has been that the thing Kaoru most loved about Reiichi was Uta.

Up until the recent Kaoru focus the series has been very tightly focused on Uta - other character's stories are only there because they are being seen by or recounted to Uta and are providing a context for forming her strategy for dealing with her feelings (and also helping the reader understand her actions). Without all the context Uta's decision to confess and to basically end her sisterly relationship with Kaoru would have seemed random or selfish.

Now the story has been giving more attention to Kaoru (which isn't really off target - Uta is the central character, but Uta's feelings for Kaoru are the central theme). You can see it in this comment section, up until now people didn't really understand Kaoru's motivations or her relationship to Reiichi (and Uta). Finally in the flashback chapters weren't actually Uta free: she is right there supporting Kaoru.

We've learned a lot
* Kaoru isn't as helpless as she might seem, she was quite self sufficient at home due to her mother working long hours
* Uta was supporting Kaoru long before she had a meaningful relationship with Reiichi, ironically Uta probably gave her the strength to keep pursuing him as long as she did.
* How one sided Kaoru's pursuit of Reiichi was - we've had other characters mention it, but "telling" didn't really do it justice. He barely noticed she was alive until her mother died.
* Kaoru's relationship with Risako is even more complex than we saw in the present (I will leave that for another post).

From a storytelling perspective all this info is likely to come into play, both giving us a better understanding of where characters are and their decisions in the coming chapters.

It is quite likely Kaoru is about to do something that might seem crazy or arbitary without the background. Her connection to Uta runs very deep. Kaoru clearly had very a lonely home life and Uta was basically her only emotional support. It is likely she pursued Reiichi because she associated him, through his family, with family and emotional security - except it turned out his parents are a train-wreck and Reiichi is a flake. (Not exactly selfish - it was clear from the start Kaoru wanted to "be there" for Uta in return)

Uta didn't do it deliberately, but when she made her confession, and refused to "go back" to being sisters she basically set up a situation where Kaoru may feel she has to choose. If Kaoru has just realised that the only thing she really wanted from her marriage was Uta, she is setup to make a choice no one is expecting. She will probably try to win Uta back, beg, confess or maybe even try to seduce her.

In summary I'm feeling pretty exited about what might happen post flashback.

I have a feeling the message of these last few chapters has been that the thing Kaoru most loved about Reiichi was Uta.

You have a good analysis, but I don't see this particular point. In the flashback of the past chapters we saw her having a crush on Reichii without Uta being involved in any way.

I have a feeling the message of these last few chapters has been that the thing Kaoru most loved about Reiichi was Uta.

You have a good analysis, but I don't see this particular point. In the flashback of the past chapters we saw her having a crush on Reichii without Uta being involved in any way.

Which chapters were you reading? In ch28 p9 she is there in the flashback within a flashback giving Karou a birthday present when Reiichi forgot (ie picking up his slack, as usual), and in ch29 she has a major role. 29 p9 Uta meets Kaoru on the way home from her first day of second year HS, neither act like it was unusual (Kaoru smiles as soon as she recognises her) - it probably happened regularly, and in the past too since they live in the same neighborhood and neither would have just changed schools. Uta comforts Kaoru who says just being around Uta makes her feel better, and Uta promises to be on her side forever. and on p22 showed Kaoru was running to Uta when upset by Risako flaunting her relationship with Reiichi, with the implication that it happened many times (yet she says she can't stand to be around Risako because she is reminded of Reiichi).

Kaoru does talk about how he cared for her when they were in elementary school, but we only have her recollection to to on there, and don't know the context or his motives - eg there is a good chance Reiichi was taking care of Uta at the time (he is much older and their mother worked = much babysitting) and was looking for help, or even nagged by Uta wanting to check on her oneechan. Their mothers are friends and they live in the same area, friends of the family - Kaoru was used to seeing them as a package deal.

Which chapters were you reading? In ch28 p9 she is there in the flashback within a flashback giving Karou a birthday present when Reiichi forgot (ie picking up his slack, as usual), and in ch29 she has a major role. 29 p9 Uta meets Kaoru on the way home from her first day of second year HS, neither act like it was unusual (Kaoru smiles as soon as she recognises her) - it probably happened regularly, and in the past too since they live in the same neighborhood and neither would have just changed schools

In chapter 28 Uta is nowhere around and Kaoru keeps being sad about her unrequited crush on Reiichi. She appears in one shot (that was also a flashback) but that doesn't even count because it's normal to have a flashback involving Uta and Reichii at some point.

I don't think what you say is impossible, but so far there is no evidence for that, just speculation and I personally don't see it. I mean yes, she did see Uta regularly too, that doesn't mean she liked Reiichi because of her.
If she had these lingering feelings from back then, she wouldn't react the way she did when Uta confessed.
She just desperately needs an emotional crunch and Uta has been there for her. But that's different from being in love or liking someone this way. If she gets desperate enough and loses Reiichi, I wouldn't put it past her to accept Uta's feelings so she won't be alone.

last edited at Jan 21, 2020 7:20PM

In chapter 28 Uta is nowhere around and Kaoru keeps being sad about her unrequited crush on Reiichi. She appears in one shot (that was also a flashback) but that doesn't even count because it's normal to have a flashback involving Uta and Reichii at some point.

I don't think what you say is impossible, but so far there is no evidence for that, just speculation and I personally don't see it. I mean yes, she did see Uta regularly too, that doesn't mean she liked Reiichi because of her.
If she had these lingering feelings from back then, she wouldn't react the way she did when Uta confessed.
She just desperately needs an emotional crunch and Uta has been there for her. But that's different from being in love or liking someone this way. If she gets desperate enough and loses Reiichi, I wouldn't put it past her to accept Uta's feelings so she won't be alone.

To clarify I wasn't trying to argue that Kaoru had romantic/sexual feelings for Uta this whole time, there isn't much sign she was after Reiichi for his sex appeal either. More that her connection to Uta is deep and profound and has been there for most of her life (and almost all of Uta's). Marriage is to a degree about choosing a life, and creating a family - and I think it is fair to say Kaoru implicitly assumed in marrying Reiichi she was marrying his family and would "get" Uta as a sister (and as I mentioned Uta has just broken that assumption).

In ch28 when Kaoru was trying to explain why she loved Reiichi she talked about him comforting her, and being there when she was lonely - but everything we've seen suggests Uta was the champ there - most of the positives she associated with him were probably Uta. The significance of Uta in the flashback is that Kaoru was talking about the good times with Reiichi that made her fall in love and in the one memory we actually see Uta was there, and there is reason to assume that applied to the others as well. Uta is such a constant Kaoru doesn't even realise she's there - eg in past chapters she had forgotten when she was panicking about her bad marks and trying to hide them she always went to Uta (and that is more reason to believe they usually walked home together since that would have been after school).

As for the lack of Uta in ch28: the entirety of ch28 was set in the high school, the one place Uta couldn't be, even then Kaoru and Reiichi barely interacted. Together at school was not the "normal" state of affairs - Reiichi was two years ahead of Kaoru and her friends, Japanese middle and high schools are three year so for 2/3 years in each they were in different schools. Kaoru was trying to rush into confessing at graduation because it was the end of the only year they would be in high school together.

I doubt Kaoru's interest in Uta will immediately transform to romance, but at the very least I suspect her feelings for Uta will be addressed as one of the treads in the series, with closure and maybe a confession of some sort, whether or not they develop into romantic interest.

As for Kaoru/Uta endgame... the practicalities are very much against them even if we admit the possibility emotionally... not sure how Japanese students usually fund their university studies, but Uta probably can't afford to burn her bridges quite yet.

It is hard to come up with a coherent driver for Risako's behaviour - but I recently had an idea that seems like it may fit.

It is clear that Risako does care about Kaoru - she was the only one of her friends that came when she was sick (likely Uta didn't know!). A romantic interest is seeming somewhat possible given the talk about jealousy, but her actions have been a decidedly mixed bag when it comes to getting closer to Kaoru vs hurting her.

We could pass that off as Risako being a clumsy teen, but it has continued even into the present when she is clearly quite poised and accomplished (and knows Kaoru very well, so likely can anticipate her reactions). When we look closely one thing is absolutely consistent - she has always been working to push Kaoru away from Reiichi, even at the expense of her own relationship with Kaoru or of Kaoru's feelings.

Risako has talked about how she admires and envies Kaoru's ability to live passionately and follow her emotions. The series has touched on unconventional relationships - what if it is more like a excessive stage-mom/coach, she is trying to drive Kaoru to achieve her "living passionately" potential, and she is prepared to hurt her feelings in the process (protecting her from mediocrity, Snape style).

Looking at it that way, early on Risako decided Reiichi was bad for Kaoru (seems to have been proved right over time), initially just advising her to give up, then escalated to dating him (getting him to keep away from Kaoru as a condition), then rubbing her face in it when just dating wasn't putting her off enough, and more recently she has moved on to trying to fan her paranoia about Reiichi having an affair.

From her point of view Kaoru is suffocating in an empty husk of marriage.

Her reaction to hearing that someone younger had confessed to Kaoru was interesting - while the others were making comments she kept her face neutral and was watching Kaoru's reaction; when she did say something it was in such a way as to disparage Kaoru's attractiveness ("baby face and body like a stick")... which seems almost calculated to send her looking for affirmation from someone who finds her attractive... and Risako knows that isn't Reiichi. Afterwards it seemed like she made a point of raising the topic of her being with Reiichi.

If she finds out about Uta, her reaction will be pretty diagnostic - will she try to scheme against the competition, or will she try to encourage a scandalous passionate affair (with side benefit of really killing things with Reiichi).

Plausible post, circamoore, but could you say some more about how the apparent discrepancy between Risako admitting to Uta that she was at the scene of Kaoru’s accident and her denial to Kaoru of having seen Reiichi since the wedding fits into your theory?

It seems like both a clumsy and an arcane, overly elaborate way of establishing herself as a liar and possible adulteress to Kaoru. If she wants to drive a wedge between them, why not just answer Kaoru by saying something, “Sure, Reiichi comes to see me all the time to vent about his problems, like old friends do.” (Maybe not quite so on-the-nose as that, but something more straightforward than a casual admission followed by a denial.)

I mean, he's the only constant in Kaoru's life after her mom dies, so he has that going for him.

And he’s got a cute, smart, and reliable little sister, which brings us full circle to the initial question, “Who or what is this series actually about?”

I have a feeling the message of these last few chapters has been that the thing Kaoru most loved about Reiichi was Uta.

Up until the recent Kaoru focus the series has been very tightly focused on Uta - other character's stories are only there because they are being seen by or recounted to Uta and are providing a context for forming her strategy for dealing with her feelings (and also helping the reader understand her actions). Without all the context Uta's decision to confess and to basically end her sisterly relationship with Kaoru would have seemed random or selfish.

Now the story has been giving more attention to Kaoru (which isn't really off target - Uta is the central character, but Uta's feelings for Kaoru are the central theme). You can see it in this comment section, up until now people didn't really understand Kaoru's motivations or her relationship to Reiichi (and Uta). Finally in the flashback chapters weren't actually Uta free: she is right there supporting Kaoru.

We've learned a lot
* Kaoru isn't as helpless as she might seem, she was quite self sufficient at home due to her mother working long hours
* Uta was supporting Kaoru long before she had a meaningful relationship with Reiichi, ironically Uta probably gave her the strength to keep pursuing him as long as she did.
* How one sided Kaoru's pursuit of Reiichi was - we've had other characters mention it, but "telling" didn't really do it justice. He barely noticed she was alive until her mother died.
* Kaoru's relationship with Risako is even more complex than we saw in the present (I will leave that for another post).

From a storytelling perspective all this info is likely to come into play, both giving us a better understanding of where characters are and their decisions in the coming chapters.

It is quite likely Kaoru is about to do something that might seem crazy or arbitary without the background. Her connection to Uta runs very deep. Kaoru clearly had very a lonely home life and Uta was basically her only emotional support. It is likely she pursued Reiichi because she associated him, through his family, with family and emotional security - except it turned out his parents are a train-wreck and Reiichi is a flake. (Not exactly selfish - it was clear from the start Kaoru wanted to "be there" for Uta in return)

Uta didn't do it deliberately, but when she made her confession, and refused to "go back" to being sisters she basically set up a situation where Kaoru may feel she has to choose. If Kaoru has just realised that the only thing she really wanted from her marriage was Uta, she is setup to make a choice no one is expecting. She will probably try to win Uta back, beg, confess or maybe even try to seduce her.

I agree with this conclusion. But the thing I find weird is that she would be trying to win Uta back for the wrong reasons. I don't think she loves Uta romantically, she is just emotionally dependent on her. I mean, could that be considered healthy? It would be best if she learns to stand on her own, and then, later on, decides on her own that she loves Uta, rather than out of desperation.

In summary I'm feeling pretty exited about what might happen post flashback.

does anyone believe uta and kaoru can still be endgame or am i just holding onto false hope

does anyone believe uta and kaoru can still be endgame or am i just holding onto false hope

In the first few chapters, it looked like a definite possibility, but ever since Uta’s confession the story seems to have been running away from that outcome as fast as possible, in several different directions.

I’m ten times more interested in finding out what’s happening at Uta’s mom’s house than in anything to do with what may be the dreariest love triangle in human history.

They’ve even piqued my interest in what Kuro and Miyabi might be up to.

does anyone believe uta and kaoru can still be endgame or am i just holding onto false hope

There still a probability so maybe. Ch.30 spoiler Well at least Kaoru call Uta at the end ofnext chapter so there is that

They’ve even piqued my interest in what Kuro and Miyabi might be up to.

God no. Never been fan of the side pairing being further in their relation than the main pairing, especially given the main pairing state for the moment.

last edited at Jan 22, 2020 8:06PM

Plausible post, circamoore, but could you say some more about how the apparent discrepancy between Risako admitting to Uta that she was at the scene of Kaoru’s accident and her denial to Kaoru of having seen Reiichi since the wedding fits into your theory?

If she is provoking suspicion, conflicting stories are part of it. She didn't admit it directly to Kaoru, and she didn't tell Uta her name. The most obvious explanation is that Reiichi made her promise not to tell Kaoru, she might even find using the loophole amusing. Alternatively she may just have known or guessed by this point that Kaoru didn't remember (someone called Reiichi at the hospital, presumably it was Risako) so bringing the phone herself instead of via Reiichi was a pretty effective way to make Kaoru suspect her presence, without making it seem deliberate (Kaoru has resisted "frontal" attacks before). Meeting Uta, she recognised an even better opportunity - she could make it seem like she didn't want Kaoru to know she was involved/didn't want to face her, but still ensure that she found out everything. If she hadn't run into Uta she might have used a different tactic, eg left the phone with a nurse, while making sure Kaoru found out.

Affair or not (personally I think maybe emotional cheating, but probably not physical), it would explain quite a lot if Reiichi has make Risako promise not to tell Kaoru they've been interacting... and by doing so he played into her hands (making it seem worse than it is, and making the lies his fault).

Looking at that scene reminds me of when it seemed that Risako wanted Reiichi for herself, and that Reiichi might have been cheating (I'd forgotten just how strong the implication was)... I still wouldn't rule that out, the "split up Kaoru and Reiichi" aim would be the same. Both could be true - she could genuinely feel Reiichi is unsuitable for Kaoru but suitable for herself.

Edit: .. or her ch 11 musings about "could have been me" with Reiichi were of the "phew, dodged a bullet" variety.

last edited at Jan 22, 2020 8:20PM

does anyone believe uta and kaoru can still be endgame or am i just holding onto false hope

I certainly wouldn't rule it out, the author is definitely keeping that option open. Kaoru's dissatisfaction with Reiichi is at an all time high, and she is starting to take a good hard look at her life, which will probably include acknowledging how much Uta had been supporting her before she left, and how little she is getting out of her marriage.

It also looks like Kaoru and Reiichi will probably break up ("making it work" is possible, but probably wouldn't be good for either of them. Their problems seem to be deeper than miscommunication, with a fundamental mismatch of personalities & expectations, so I don't think the story will go there). With Kaoru single, Kaoru/Uta becomes a lot more possible (I don't think Uta would be ok with cheating).

Communication about feelings and expectations has been a recurring theme in the series, and I think Kaoru and Uta have quite a lot left to do. Kaoru hasn't yet been able to fully and honestly express her feelings (whatever they are) to Uta, she couldn't even form words when trying to stop Uta leaving, and she hasn't really responded to Uta's confession either - we have seen shock and denial, but not a response based on processing it.

I think we will know a lot more about the intended direction when that conversation happens (we also don't know how Uta has been going with her "cold turkey" approach).