Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Hahahaha!!!!

Love this manga so much. Seriously one of my favourites so far.

I’m definitely getting a lot of self-loathing/internalized homophobia vibes from Hinako though. Which is why she’s refusing to believe these feelings she has could be “normal.” I have a hunch this might be related to her relationship with her mother as well since they keep hinting back to that.

And interesting how some people are perceiving Subaru’s attitude towards Fuuka as a crush. To me it seemed as though she was incredibly distrustful of her and her motives towards her sister. Since she’s seem to be portrayed as somewhat as a player maybe?

“Why don’t you go see your girlfriend”
“Which one?”
“You’re the worst”
——

It’s been pretty obvious that Subaru is rooting for Hinako and Asahi and is hoping Hinako will be the one to “free” Asahi from her so she can live her own life. So it’s not like she’s ultra possessive of her sister. You can tell she feels immensely guilty about the sacrifices her sister has made to provide and care for her. So my question is - what did Fuuka do in the past to end up on her shit list?

you see, that part where she says "you are the worst" is what sold me on Subaru maybe having a crush on Fuuka, she is not protective of her sister here, she is actually jealous of Fuuka, we saw how happy subaru was when she visited before. I think Subaru supports and roots for Hinaku and Asahi not because Hinako likes Asahi, because Fuuka already did that, but because for the first time Asahi is showing interest in someone that isn't Subaru herself, so she thinks this is a chance for her to discover what is love.

Lol, poor Hinako, the way she was describing her feelings, she very much wants to do those things but it's too embarrassed to do it or admit it. I hope she comes to terms with it in time.
loved the new character, gave some new progress to Hinako.

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

I highly doubt that, what is most likely is that this is a reflection of Hinako's own internalized homophobia, like the other user said, still refusing to accept that she can love a woman and coupled with the fact that she remembers that phisical contact with men made her sick, Asahi doesn't make her sick, but maybe she is not sure that her touch and affection won't be a bother to Asahi like the phisical interactions she recieve in the past were a bother to her.

in the end of the day all this is wild speculation, but I find it highly entertaining to discuss such things, we cannot predict what is to come, that is only for the author to say.

Nah, she definitely desires her
She wants her but she's scared at the idea of wanting her
But she wants her all the more

I don't get the asexual angle
Reminds me like of the early days of Bloom

I'm also wondering if this goes back to the disgust Hinako has/had for people who lusted after her. More self hate, she doesn't want to make Asahi feel the way she's always felt being thought of like that. Hesitant hand touching and jerking away have both been a thing this entire series, I think trying to show they both have different issues with physical contact.

I look forward to finding out more. In two months, if then. TuT

What makes you think so? To me it looks like Subaru sees right through her and barely tolerates her.

Well, let's see: how she remembers Fuuka's ring and saw the need to fix her hair before answering (author saw the need to show us that too) ; her expression and that bg the author drew when Fuuka gave her what she likes; how Subaru clearly adored her when she was younger; how she saw the need to mention how she changed as well when Fuuka reminisces (when said to an older character, almost always a sign from a younger character to their crush to say "don't see me as just a child anymore"); her rare lash out when she talks about how hard Asahi works for her (hard to listen to your crush talk adoringly of her own crush and not noticing your feelings in the process).

I mean, c'mon. Join the Dark side.

last edited at Sep 29, 2020 12:07PM

really best friends.

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

No, it's real easy to understand conceptually, but it is pretty hard to relate to. Though you can say the same thing for almost any category in the LGBT+ spectrum if you aren't also in the same category.

Anyway, I totally think the author could go an asexual route here, and it would be fine if they did. However, I suspect she's just running from the real problem in her case, which is that she has a load of trauma from bad romantic experiences.

The dream bit at the end shows that she still does have lustful thoughts, but she just immediately gets defensive and starts telling herself she can't do it. She's sort of been conditioned to respond to both physical and emotional love with hostility because in the past it has only brought her misery.

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Not really. I'm not ace myself, but ace people only don't experience sexual attraction. They can still engage in or even enjoy sexual acts.

Credit for me knowing this goes to r/AskReddit.

LESBIAN FRIEND
Join the battle!

thank god for this btw.
i don't got the ace vibe, but thats kinda nice too. sweet

I keep forgetting how dark (to her) Hinako’s backstory is, and as the chapters go on I think about her as the usual useless lesbian who just needs to get clued in about her feelings. But then I recall how bereft and despairing Hinako was when Shiho found her on the street and realize she’s not going to simply go, “Oh, I’m gay! So I’m going to go for it with Shiho!”

She starts out thinking of herself as a “defective human,” and that doesn’t just go away overnight.

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Not really. I'm not ace myself, but ace people only don't experience sexual attraction. They can still engage in or even enjoy sexual acts.

Credit for me knowing this goes to r/AskReddit.

I might meet somes extreme cases of ace then. They really have zero tolerance for sexual act, and this is not something post traumatic like, total natural. If you force them to, they found it disgusting and prefer to avoid it, even how hard they love your body and want to touch your parts. But it just stop at cuddling, and end. I dont know if someone who doesn't experience sexual attraction but does enjoy sexual acts can firmly call themself ace. I just can't class them on ace representative, i might say that they have low libido, but that's all.

last edited at Sep 29, 2020 4:02PM

This author is really really talented, I haven’t disliked a single one of their works. And this series is just so refreshing. In a sea of samey stories, this slow and quiet story about coworkers falling in love somehow just hits different.

last edited at Sep 29, 2020 4:00PM

TL;DR - Subaru is all tsun an' shiet towards Fuuka because the latter A) pines for Asahi (so Subaru's chances are poor to begin with) B) apparently fills the resulting emotional void with lots of casual relationships (not including Subaru) C) refuses to view her as more than BFF's cute lil' sis, friend and sort of honorary sibling.

No shit she acts all exasperated and prickly, the kid's stuck in a very frustrating unrequited crush.

I can't believe so many people seem to subscribe to this Subaru crush theory. I dunno, maybe I'm dense, but all I'm seeing is being extremely annoyed at an old friend of the older sister which now only visits them once in a blue moon.

Like, it's not that weird that younger kids like people that behave all cutesy and friendly, but Subaru now "smartened up" and sees through that shit immediately. Subaru changed, Fuuka did not, she just wants to have a romantic relationship with Asahi, she admitted to that herself when talking to Hinako. Subaru also very much doesn't like being reminded about how much Asahi sacrifices herself for her, she already expressed that sentiment multiple times in previous chapters.

I honestly don't see anything supporting that theory... but who knows. I'm certainly eagerly awaiting the next chapter, as you all do, to see how it pans out.

last edited at Sep 29, 2020 5:06PM

I can't believe so many people seem to subscribe to this Subaru crush theory. I dunno, maybe I'm dense, but all I'm seeing is being extremely annoyed at an old friend of the older sister which now only visits them once in a blue moon.

Like, it's not that weird that younger kids like people that behave all cutesy and friendly, but Subaru now "smartened up" and sees through that shit immediately. Subaru changed, Fuuka did not, she just wants to have a romantic relationship with Asahi, she admitted to that herself when talking to Hinako. Subaru also very much doesn't like being reminded about how much Asahi sacrifices herself for her, she already expressed that sentiment multiple times in previous chapters.

I honestly don't see anything supporting that theory... but who knows. I'm certainly eagerly awaiting the next chapter, as you all do, to see how it pans out.

Really? For me I got the whiff of it in the last page of chapter 9 when Fuuka came to the door
Subaru was flustered and trying to fix her hair before opening the door
In my point of view Subaru has changed and wants Fuuka to recognize her as a woman and not just the kid sister of the girl she has the hots for. Fuuka being really ephemeral about her relationships making it that much harder for Subaru to get a leg in.
I dunno it could very be what you just described so I guess only time will tell

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Zero interest in sexual acts. We can still have sex, we just don’t have desire for it.

I honestly don't see anything supporting that theory... but who knows. I'm certainly eagerly awaiting the next chapter, as you all do, to see how it pans out.

Really? For me I got the whiff of it in the last page of chapter 9 when Fuuka came to the door
Subaru was flustered and trying to fix her hair before opening the door

I mean, when all we had is that one panel at the end of a chapter then maybe that was a possibility, but after the next one it's pretty clear to me that's the face of "oh no not her again". People get uncomfortable for more reasons than having a crush on a person :P

Suddenly this comment section got so serious

last edited at Sep 29, 2020 8:56PM

I'd like to see this be some good ace rep. I just don't expect it to.

¯\ _ (ツ)_/¯

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Zero interest in sexual acts. We can still have sex, we just don’t have desire for it.

This make me think a lots. It's very interesting, yet very puzzling. I try hard to dig deep into how you can enjoys someting yet not have any desire for it, without being on the puritans side.

I'd like to see this be some good ace rep. I just don't expect it to.

¯\ _ (ツ)_/¯

I feel like this is going more a Bloom into You route. To me, it seems like Hinako is scared about what it means to love someone, based off of her past experiences (or trauma). Though we could still have ace representation with Asahi, who seems to never have even been interested in a sexual relationship. We don't really know much about how she feels, whether she's had attractions to others and kept them to herself (highly unlikely imo), or she really doesn't understand how it feels to love someone romantically ( she could be a-romantic for all we know). I honestly think that this romance is just going to take all the time it needs to develop properly, though an ace relationship is something that I would for sure like to see somewhere.

"Which one?" lmao

Or she could be the rarely-if-ever portrayed asexual lesbian and being thrown off by the tired old love = sexual desire bullshit. As if romance has to involve sex.

The Puritans got your back.

Ya’ll really can’t understand the concept of someone not being horny all the time, sad

"Not being horny all the time" isn't asexual definition at all. Asexual from my point of view is a zero tolerence for sexual act. It's very different

Zero interest in sexual acts. We can still have sex, we just don’t have desire for it.

This make me think a lots. It's very interesting, yet very puzzling. I try hard to dig deep into how you can enjoys someting yet not have any desire for it, without being on the puritans side.

I mean sexuality is a spectrum, so not every asexual person will have the same feelings about sex.
And I don’t know if this analogy would make sense, but it’s kind of like a person who doesn’t necessarily like desserts, but can still enjoy eating a slice of cake once in a while.