Well, the misunderstandings of what a “reversal” is seem to have multiplied exponentially, so I will definitely give that up.

It’s certainly a novel idea that, in narrative terms, Uta’s decision that “I’m going to stay in love with Kaoru” and her return to Koaru’s house are completely unrelated, even though we see the scene where she says, “Even if I can never be by her side again, being able to love her from the sidelines is enough for me,” while she is literally in the process of rushing to be by Kaoru’s side.

Because it can start to smell. Most people wouldn't keep smelly, spoiled food in their freezer, (most likely through a move) and if the author intended her to be that messed up over her mom's death, they most likely would have shown the containers much more explicitly.

As it is, it's way more likely Kaoru just also buys ice cream sometimes.

Uhm... this may or may not reveal more about me than you, but I think you don't really know what spoiled ice-cream is like. You can keep ice-cream in the freezer years beyond the expiration date and literally nothing happens. It breaks down into a more crystalized state and tastes horrible, but it neither smells nor builds any fungi or similar things.

Well I can't say whether this was a subtle detail or not, but I think you can't categorically deny it based on expiration.

Actually, I've personally had ice cream go bad about a month after expiration and develop an unpleasant odor. Bacteria spread and give it a bad smell, and it can make you ill if you eat it. Maybe it depends on specific conditions.

Either way, I still feel like if the author meant this to be the case, they would have tried harder to make it explicit.

As it stands now, we don't even know that Kaoru's mother didn't eat that Haagen daas herself: It is explicitly stated that her passing was the year -after- the hospital visit, And she was still hiding her condition at the time of the scene we were shown, which suggests that she probably wasn't going to be in the hospital from then until her death. If she wasn't ever going to leave the hospital again, I don't think she'd be bothering to hide her condition.

So we have two possible explanations, if those are ice cream pints:

1) Kaoru was so traumatized by her mother's death that she kept expired ice cream in her freezer, (possibly through a move? its suggested she's been living on her own for awhile) because several months before her mother unexpectedly passed away, she told Kaoru not to touch the limited edition Haagen Daas. The her mother also didn't eat it herself between the time when she first decided to conceal her condition and when she died the following year.

2) Kaoru likes ice cream, which is a trait she would share with basically all humans.

So we have two possible explanations, if those are ice cream pints:

1) Kaoru was so traumatized by her mother's death that she kept expired ice cream in her freezer, (possibly through a move? its suggested she's been living on her own for awhile) because several months before her mother unexpectedly passed away, she told Kaoru not to touch the limited edition Haagen Daas. The her mother also didn't eat it herself between the time when she first decided to conceal her condition and when she died the following year.

2) Kaoru likes ice cream, which is a trait she would share with basically all humans.

OR

She buys and consumes limited-edition ice cream to honor her mother's memory.

OR

She buys and consumes limited-edition ice cream in (perhaps subconscious) defiance of her mother's ice-cream-controlling behavior when she was alive.

I suspect we shall never know for sure.

Actually, I've personally had ice cream go bad about a month after expiration and develop an unpleasant odor. Bacteria spread and give it a bad smell, and it can make you ill if you eat it. Maybe it depends on specific conditions.

Have you kept it in the freezer or in the fridge ? That's the major difference I can think of. Though I am not sure who keeps ice-cream in their fridge. Or perhaps there were some extra ingedients in there... pure ice-cream just doesn't do that.

Either way, I still feel like if the author meant this to be the case, they would have tried harder to make it explicit.

1) Kaoru was so traumatized by her mother's death that she kept expired ice cream in her freezer, (possibly through a move? its suggested she's been living on her own for awhile) because several months before her mother unexpectedly passed away, she told Kaoru not to touch the limited edition Haagen Daas. The her mother also didn't eat it herself between the time when she first decided to conceal her condition and when she died the following year.

2) Kaoru likes ice cream, which is a trait she would share with basically all humans.

Well, surprisingly there are some subtle visual details in this manga, even if certain people are trying to completely deny any competence whatsoever. I don't think it's impossible to have something like this happen here.

I never made a case for it being the same ice-cream anyway, I just found your reason for refuting it weird. If I had to play devil's advocate I'd point out that Kaoru didn't take care of herself and didn't seem to enjoy any pleasures in life, so the likelihood that she would buy ice-cream for herself is incredibly low.

Actually, I've personally had ice cream go bad about a month after expiration and develop an unpleasant odor. Bacteria spread and give it a bad smell, and it can make you ill if you eat it. Maybe it depends on specific conditions.

Have you kept it in the freezer or in the fridge ? That's the major difference I can think of. Though I am not sure who keeps ice-cream in their fridge. Or perhaps there were some extra ingedients in there... pure ice-cream just doesn't do that.

I've seen overly-long refrigerated food start developing the modest beginnings of a mold (a grandmother lived through the wartime shortages and never shook the resulting hoarder tendencies) but that took like many years. Also I had some serious doubts about both her overstuffed freezer itself and its settings... Such excesses aside a well-working refrigerator set to proper temperatures is a terribly inimical environment for your average microorganism (what with, y'know, being essentially lightless, very cold and acutely short of liquid water to use in metabolic processes) so you're getting more gradual chemical breakdowns etc. than anything, and even those are heavily slowed down by the sheer lack of energy.

Case in point, a month or two back I finally got around to finishing off a half-eaten pack of ice cream I had originally bought during the hot summer two years ago. Other than the usual frost, crystal ice and slightly gummy surface texture opened ice cream now develops over extended refrigeration periods it was perfectly fine and edible.

last edited at Apr 12, 2020 4:34PM

Case in point, a month or two back I finally got around to finishing off a half-eaten pack of ice cream I had originally bought during the hot summer two years ago. Other than the usual frost, crystal ice and slightly gummy surface texture opened ice cream now develops over extended refrigeration periods it was perfectly fine and edible.

Pretty much the same observation Blastaar and I made. Frozen food with high contents of sugar and little air/water contact usually can last ridiculous amounts of time.

The conversation seem to have gone on a tangent...

The conversation seem to have gone on a tangent...

No doubt some would say, thankfully so.

So what exactly is the rationale, precipitating event or epiphany that sparks that reversal? It's not the realization that Kaoru really needs her, or her heart welling up when she learns that Kaoru is in deep distress back home--she makes her decision before she knows anything about that. No, it turns out that the whole business about her oppressive parents is N/A, and she has plenty of time on her hands, so, once she thinks about it, she really still is love with Kaoru, so what the hell--she'll go with that.

Realistic? Sure, people do that sort of thing all the time. Even moderately adequate literary craft? As executed here, the author might as well have just written, "Yadda yadda yadda--Uta's back in love-- here's huggy-feels!"

So your problem is that the author didn't "ham it up" enough?
(in an Aristotelian lit crit sense.. but he was a philosopher, of course he thought a good story needs reams of introspective philosophical self-gratification)

If you are looking for an epiphany you are looking in the wrong place. As others have pointed out Uta hasn't changed so there is no need for one. She has already said, many chapters ago that she doesn't regret loving Kaoru. Even her separation "plan" involved staying apart long term (implying she never really thought she was going to "get over it"). Once she was off the painful emotional rollercoaster her struggle to avoid pain subsided and she reverted to type (that "stay in love" flashback was probably weeks before Kaoru called).
As for running back, she didn't decide to do it, even as she is doing it she doesn't really understand why (emphasised by the flashback to her "love from a distance" resolve), just that she is compelled to. That epiphany hasn't happened yet.

It feels like you are trying to critisise not just in the hopelessly limited frame of rigid adherence to the forms and concepts underlying formal lit-crit (difficult since those concepts aren't rigid themselves), but further limited to the particular way you have decided that those forms must apply.
Conflating the reversal in the storytelling frame (separation ending) with the reversal in Uta's story (still coming).

The complete misunderstandings of "reversals" in narrative continue unabated.

No, I'm not looking for the author to "ham it up." I'm just looking for something a little more sophisticated than, "Welp, time to drag Uta back from the limbo where she's been cooling her heels--the plot needs her again."

Obviously I'm looking in the wrong place--I guess I should just be grateful if author-san doesn't get distracted by Miyabi & Co. again.

Obviously I'm looking in the wrong place--I guess I should just be grateful if author-san doesn't get distracted by Miyabi & Co. again.

Hey - at least their storyline isn't a janky mess...

Then again it also isn't the purported primary narrative of this series either; make what you will of the difference.

kaoru really needs uta but like it's kinda torture for uta- she better be in love with uta. i'm an emotional wreck. tho i feel the sex scene coming.... or a kiss. but it's gonna be messy as heck after

Agreed, Also is that pf Pic from a Manhwa? sauce pls.

last edited at Apr 12, 2020 11:09PM

^The Love Doctor.

When we look at the situation, I tell myself that it would be extremely easy for uta to convince Kaoru to love her... Kaoru is so shocked and anxious, that if uta promises to always stay with her, to take care of her, to always love her and never cheat her, in her present state Kaoru would surely accept.
But this is not the kind of uta if she can keep a cool head in front of this opportunity.

Recent discussions while frustrating, got me thinking about what might be pivotal moments for Uta's character evolution.

It seems like Uta is about to do something

Up until now Uta has been extremely passive, focusing on changing her own attitude rather than her situation, the most proactive thing she has done is confess her feelings to Kaoru. She has accepted that it is better not to "rock the boat" (which I suppose is the polite Japanese default for uncomfortable topics).
But finding Kaoru crying alone curled up in a ball, especially after Reiichi's confident assurance that everything is ok, seems likely to be her limit.

Uta's past form would suggest that she just reaffirm her promise to be there for Kaoru, adn try to find the least obtrusive way to do that, but I think she will want to go further this time.

It will depend what Kaoru does, but rather than romance it seems likely Uta's first impulse (after comforting Kaoru) is going to be to give her brother a boot up the arse, metaphorically, or possibly literally, to get him to step up. Kaoru will presumably try to stop her, and that will get interesting.

You guys are missing an important detail. Haggen Dasz comes with a plastic seal under the lid.

last edited at Apr 14, 2020 1:46AM

I know people have their issues with this series and the writing and while I do understand unnecessary drama is annoying and a bad cop out. Without fail, I always feel bad for Uta, I'm just happy to be reading something that really tugs at my heartstrings

For real. My expectations were already set with the title "My Unrequited Love" after all.

If Reiichi died it would be acceptable, even expected, for Kaoru and Uta to live together afterwards (evil laugh)... though I doubt the story is going to go there, since it seems more like a Risako move than Uta or Kaoru.

If Reiichi died it would be acceptable, even expected, for Kaoru and Uta to live together afterwards (evil laugh)... though I doubt the story is going to go there, since it seems more like a Risako move than Uta or Kaoru.

In this case, it's better to read Living with my brother's wife

I can't wait for the NSFW Uta x Kaoru sex scene.

Obviously, it's Utatop.

My vote is for Kaorutop. I think Kaoru is going to totally lose it at some point, her dam of repressed emotions towards Uta is going to explode and will not be contained.

i cant believe they skipped kissing and went straight to pussy eating

The conversation seem to have gone on a tangent...

No doubt some would say, thankfully so.

The great ice-cream argument of 2020 will be one for the history books!!!
Also, I'm on the "it doesn't spoil" faction.... There's currently a half tub in the freezer that moved from the previous house getting close to 9 years ago and it looks fine.... apart from all its frost bite (that icey shit that grows on stuff in the freezer)

new chapter just got released
get the fuck over yourself kaoru

The conversation seem to have gone on a tangent...

No doubt some would say, thankfully so.

The great ice-cream argument of 2020 will be one for the history books!!!
Also, I'm on the "it doesn't spoil" faction.... There's currently a half tub in the freezer that moved from the previous house getting close to 9 years ago and it looks fine.... apart from all its frost bite (that icey shit that grows on stuff in the freezer)

My legacy.....

I still think it's important to point out that since we know that the specific brand mentioned is Haggen-Dasz, we know that that ice cream would have had a plastic seal under the lid. This means that even if this was some weird ice cream that spoiled and started to smell, there would have been an extra barrier keeping the foul odor from permeating the freezer.