I feel that in the end what I disliked about this series was actually the premise itself. Just why would the author go and introduce traditional gender roles in a same-sex relationship?! Even though it did serve to create some fun situations, I felt that such a plot only reinforced these stereotypes (e.g. the father being the head and protector of the family). Perhaps it would've been handled better if it hadn't been axed, but even in the final chapter the conclusion we get is basically "everyone continued to live in their place in the family". How beautiful.
And this leads to the second major issue I had with this series: the characters' relationships felt manufactured. I mean, they were... but not only were they created because of the system, they also felt manufactured. Let me elaborate on this:
We have a love triangle of sorts, between father, mother and daughter; and I'm calling them that 'cause that's what they were treated as. We have Yukari, whose relationship with Haruhi started as that of manufactured "husband and wife". Then we have love-at-first-sight Ayumi, with an also manufactured father-daughter relationship. And lastly, Haruhi herself, who honestly didn't seem to have much interest towards either for the duration of the series lol. And what do we get in the end? A girlfriends...? husband and wife...? relationship between the husband and wife, and a father-daughter relationship between the father and daughter. Interesting.
Am I just bitter because my ship sunk? I sure am, but it's more than that. What annoyed me is that Ayumi never stood a chance because she was the daughter. Honestly, my frustration over this was the main reason I rooted for her.
The one point were a character really broke out of these ridiculous restrictions was Ayumi's confession. And for me that was one of most satisfying confession/rejection scenes I've seen in any (yuri) manga. But why was Ayumi rejected? You might say, because Haruhi didn't like her back. And well, you'd be right. But why was Ayumi's love never seen as a possibility? Because she was the daughter.
And then we immediately move on to the —admittedly very beautifully drawn— confession/kiss scene between our respected husband and wife. With Ayumi actually witnessing it and being reduced to some comedic background character, 'cause why not? She was the daughter anyway, she should know her place.
I'll finish with this:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/opapagoto_ch16#51
Haruhi and Yukari kiss. And what do they get? A fifty point card. But what would happen if Haruhi and Ayumi were to kiss? A fifty-minus point card? Expulsion from the program? Death?! (okay probably not)
Which all leads us back to how this manga used traditional family roles to... Validate them? Very innovative.
TL;DR: I'm bitter about my failed ship This manga assigned stereotyped roles to the characters with seemingly no intention to subvert them. The characters were trapped in those stereotypes, and even when they supposedly break out of them, I don't find it convincing since everyone is basically still continuing on with their roles.
P.S. I'm really sorry about this wall of text, but every time I tried to shorten it I just got angrier and added more...
last edited at Jun 28, 2021 9:47AM