Anybody else find it suspicious how their friends did not react at all to Chidori's obvious blunder? Like, you'd think they'd tease her about this obviously romantic sounding line she dropped without thinking and yet they completely ignored it? Either they didn't hear it (which I doubt) or they know smth bc why else would they not react at all?

Pending further evidence, I stick with my previous theory that the friends are always so friend-lovey-dovey among themselves and they know that Chidori and Nanoha have a special "best friends" relationship that the "stay with you, Nanoha" comment just sounded to them like more of the same. And keeping a poker face is not exactly the gang's specialty.

But I will also admit that at this point the complete lack of evidence that anyone among the group knows about their relationship is starting to feel a bit like evidence that they've known all along.

All that said, bad cliffhanger. Bad.

All that said, bad cliffhanger. Bad.

Amen.

Also, sorry for jumping back a chapter, but why has no one heard of taking a teaspoon of granulated sugar to stop hiccups? I'd never heard of drinking water or holding your breath until I moved to the U.S., and I gotta say, neither of those are half as effective.

Anybody else find it suspicious how their friends did not react at all to Chidori's obvious blunder? Like, you'd think they'd tease her about this obviously romantic sounding line she dropped without thinking and yet they completely ignored it? Either they didn't hear it (which I doubt) or they know smth bc why else would they not react at all?

Pending further evidence, I stick with my previous theory that the friends are always so friend-lovey-dovey among themselves and they know that Chidori and Nanoha have a special "best friends" relationship that the "stay with you, Nanoha" comment just sounded to them like more of the same. And keeping a poker face is not exactly the gang's specialty.

There's also the possibility that it isn't so obvious in the original Japanese.

But I will also admit that at this point the complete lack of evidence that anyone among the group knows about their relationship is starting to feel a bit like evidence that they've known all along.

Yes! I've been on board the "friend group knows everything" train for a long time now.

All that said, bad cliffhanger. Bad.

Amen.

Also, sorry for jumping back a chapter, but why has no one heard of taking a teaspoon of granulated sugar to stop hiccups? I'd never heard of drinking water or holding your breath until I moved to the U.S., and I gotta say, neither of those are half as effective.

We do have those solutions here in Italy as well.
Holding your breath one also includes to keep your head higher as possible while you have to drink water in 10 gulps or more.
They worked for most cases but scaring is always the most effective.

Im guessing one of the friends texted "what was that comment"

That actually makes a lot of sense! It's probably Kumako then. Though sadly I still think it'll most likely be college related. We can hope though! (T^T)

They should tell their friends, hope this get them there

I'm guessing Chidori has decided to tell their friends about them being a couple .

Or her parents.

Pending further evidence, I stick with my previous theory that the friends are always so friend-lovey-dovey among themselves and they know that Chidori and Nanoha have a special "best friends" relationship that the "stay with you, Nanoha" comment just sounded to them like more of the same. And keeping a poker face is not exactly the gang's specialty.

Agreed.

Im guessing one of the friends texted "what was that comment"

That actually makes a lot of sense! It's probably Kumako then. Though sadly I still think it'll most likely be college related. We can hope though! (T^T)

I have been wondering if these were flags or not: here, here, and here. And whether they were related.
Am curious if we were going to get the 'going to different schools' story arc for a while now, but it's just a guess.

Im guessing one of the friends texted "what was that comment"

That actually makes a lot of sense! It's probably Kumako then. Though sadly I still think it'll most likely be college related. We can hope though! (T^T)

I have been wondering if these were flags or not: here, here, and here. And whether they were related.
Am curious if we were going to get the 'going to different schools' story arc for a while now, but it's just a guess.

Whatever the actual context of the text, it's pretty clear that the "friends find out" and "leaving high school" issues are closely related--the series has been pretty methodical about signaling the passage of time (unlike some "in high school for eternity" manga series), and the reveal to the friends has been the Sword of Damocles development hanging over the series since (checks notes) Chapter 1, page 10. In other words, these are the key developments that have been in the cards all along (well, that and them actually having sex, but I don't expect that's what the text was about).

This situation is ripe for the "studious Chidori goes to university, feckless Nanoha goes to vocational school" resolution, or, in the alternative, Nanoha figures out that the thing she wants to do requires college as well.

I just don't want the "previously unseen relative wants Chidori to live far away for her last year of high school" trope. Do we even know why only-child Chidori lives with her grandma? Are her parents alive and absent, or gone permanently?

Im guessing one of the friends texted "what was that comment"

That actually makes a lot of sense! It's probably Kumako then. Though sadly I still think it'll most likely be college related. We can hope though! (T^T)

I have been wondering if these were flags or not: here, here, and here. And whether they were related.
Am curious if we were going to get the 'going to different schools' story arc for a while now, but it's just a guess.

Whatever the actual context of the text, it's pretty clear that the "friends find out" and "leaving high school" issues are closely related--the series has been pretty methodical about signaling the passage of time (unlike some "in high school for eternity" manga series), and the reveal to the friends has been the Sword of Damocles development hanging over the series since (checks notes) Chapter 1, page 10. In other words, these are the key developments that have been in the cards all along (well, that and them actually having sex, but I don't expect that's what the text was about).

This situation is ripe for the "studious Chidori goes to university, feckless Nanoha goes to vocational school" resolution, or, in the alternative, Nanoha figures out that the thing she wants to do requires college as well.

I just don't want the "previously unseen relative wants Chidori to live far away for her last year of high school" trope. Do we even know why only-child Chidori lives with her grandma? Are her parents alive and absent, or gone permanently?

God, the old '' I have to go away for a while, will our love survive that ? '' trope would feel so wrong to me in this story (^^) . I really hope the author doesn't go that route.

last edited at Nov 7, 2021 11:31AM

I just don't want the "previously unseen relative wants Chidori to live far away for her last year of high school" trope. Do we even know why only-child Chidori lives with her grandma? Are her parents alive and absent, or gone permanently?

God, the old '' I have to go away for a while, will our love survive that ? '' trope would feel so wrong to me in this story (^^) . I really hope the author doesn't go that route.

Don't get me wrong--I don't expect this author to get trite at this late date. But trying to imagine what Chidori's text is about did make me realize that we don't know anything about what happened to her parents.

This situation is ripe for the "studious Chidori goes to university, feckless Nanoha goes to vocational school" resolution, or, in the alternative, Nanoha figures out that the thing she wants to do requires college as well.

That would be another item to make me think this is so much like 'Girl Friends', and I don't mean that in a bad way.

I just don't want the "previously unseen relative wants Chidori to live far away for her last year of high school" trope. Do we even know why only-child Chidori lives with her grandma? Are her parents alive and absent, or gone permanently?

You know, I always thought that Chidori's parents were around, just busy. So she naturally spends more time with her grandmother. I think there was a time when she got a ride somewhere and said it was one of her parents dropping her off while taking her grandmother to an appointment? But I don't remember her ever mentioning her mother or father specifically, or either of them even showing up. Now I'm going to have to go reread the whole damn thing again to check...

Edit: Okay, found something. Her mother and father both make brief appearances on this page. That exchange "Dear, do you want some watermelon?" "Sure" is between the grandmother and father, or possibly between the mother and father (I had to check the raws to make sure, since as you can see, I wasn't able to convey that very well in the translation).

last edited at Nov 7, 2021 3:26PM

I just don't want the "previously unseen relative wants Chidori to live far away for her last year of high school" trope. Do we even know why only-child Chidori lives with her grandma? Are her parents alive and absent, or gone permanently?

You know, I always thought that Chidori's parents were around, just busy. So she naturally spends more time with her grandmother. I think there was a time when she got a ride somewhere and said it was one of her parents dropping her off while taking her grandmother to an appointment? But I don't remember her ever mentioning her mother or father specifically, or either of them even showing up. Now I'm going to have to go reread the whole damn thing again to check...

Edit: Okay, found something. Her mother and father both make brief appearances on this page. That exchange "Dear, do you want some watermelon?" "Sure" is between the grandmother and father, or possibly between the mother and father (I had to check the raws to make sure, since as you can see, I wasn't able to convey that very well in the translation).

Excellent catch--"Your mom says she got a really sweet one."

Not that it helps us to suss out Chidori's mystery text, but that confirms that the parents do exist, and they're local (so no, "Chidori moves far away at her parents' insistence." Probably).

And the translation is fine; it was just easy to miss the implied existence of two characters who have never been seen on-panel.

Are we finally getting to the arashi part of the story?

Excellent catch--"Your mom says she got a really sweet one."

Not that it helps us to suss out Chidori's mystery text, but that confirms that the parents do exist, and they're local (so no, "Chidori moves far away at her parents' insistence." Probably).

And the translation is fine; it was just easy to miss the implied existence of two characters who have never been seen on-panel.

While looking for this scene, the first chapter I checked was this one, which really freaked me out. The bottom panels show Nanoha with her family... while Chidori and her grandmother visit a gravestone. But no, it was a false alarm. Unless Chidori's parents died over summer break, and presumably she would've mentioned something like that.

Are we finally getting to the arashi part of the story?

The "arashi part of the story" is every time they're about to make out but then someone walks into the room, they smash their heads together, or Chidori is too hungry.

Unless Chidori's parents died over summer break, and presumably she would've mentioned something like that.

That would be pretty hardcore stoical even for Chidori.

That is an odd scene, though--that's the traditional "parents are dead" obon scene, with the young person and the caretaker elder at the grave. If the author just didn't feel like coming up with character designs for the parents, they could have still been indistinct figures in the background.

Or maybe author-san just lost the plot about the parents a little bit, like when Chidori was both wearing her school uniform and it was drying over the railing simultaneously.

EDIT: No, I'm totally wrong--Chidori's mom appears in a relatively extended sequence when Chidori is experiencing reality-re-entry after the fireworks kiss:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch49#7

That next chapter can't get here soon enough . . .

last edited at Nov 7, 2021 5:04PM

Either something completely random and unexpected is about to happen or the friends circle is gonna be like "when you two gonna quit pretending like we don't already know you two are dating?"

I hate cliffhangers, even though i'm fairly sure it's nothing bad.

Unless Chidori's parents died over summer break, and presumably she would've mentioned something like that.

That would be pretty hardcore stoical even for Chidori.

That is an odd scene, though--that's the traditional "parents are dead" obon scene, with the young person and the caretaker elder at the grave. If the author just didn't feel like coming up with character designs for the parents, they could have still been indistinct figures in the background.

Or maybe author-san just lost the plot about the parents a little bit, like when Chidori was both wearing her school uniform and it was drying over the railing simultaneously.

EDIT: No, I'm totally wrong--Chidori's mom appears in a relatively extended sequence when Chidori is experiencing reality-re-entry after the fireworks kiss:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch49#7

That next chapter can't get here soon enough . . .

I'm pretty sure that's her grandmother again. She has the same hair as in her other appearances (her wrinkles grow more or less intense depending on how hot it is). Plus, she's the one who calls her Chii-chan.

Re: Chidori's "gaffe." In Chapter 77, after the return from the school trip, Rei-chin tells Mai about Nanoha and Chidori's fight, and says, "I was seriously worried that they'd split up for good."

So obviously everyone already thinks of the two of them as "together," so Chidori's "If I stay with you Nanoha," really is par for the course. (Or you could read it as that at some level everyone else knows already.)

I mean, it's not that big a leap from super-bestest pals who pat each others' butts and ogle each others' boobs to super-bestest pals, etc., who kiss for real in a lesbianic way, but I for one would be disappointed if the reveal, if and (most likely) when it comes, doesn't get the "Eeeeeeh?s" and "Kyaa!s" that it deserves.

EDIT: No, I'm totally wrong--Chidori's mom appears in a relatively extended sequence when Chidori is experiencing reality-re-entry after the fireworks kiss:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch49#7

That next chapter can't get here soon enough . . .

I'm pretty sure that's her grandmother again. She has the same hair as in her other appearances (her wrinkles grow more or less intense depending on how hot it is). Plus, she's the one who calls her Chii-chan.

No, you're right--the "Chii-chan" is the grandma tell. But earlier Nanoha asks, "Does your family call you Chii-chan?," and Chidori replies that only her grandmother does, implying that there are other family members who are close enough to potentially do so, but don't.

Families are present in this series but don't ordinarily play a huge role, so it's no surprise that details on Chidori's family are a little sketchy. But that obon grave scene, which I hadn't noticed at all before, still seems a little odd without the parents.

But that obon grave scene, which I hadn't noticed at all before, still seems a little odd without the parents.

Oba-san clearly lives alone, so I assumed the grave was Jiji-chan.

But that obon grave scene, which I hadn't noticed at all before, still seems a little odd without the parents.

Oba-san clearly lives alone, so I assumed the grave was Jiji-chan.

But she doesn't live alone--she and Chidori definitely live together. And as schuyguy showed us, in that scene from Chapter 37, Chidori says over the phone, "My family's around," and grandma says to Chidori "Your mom got a really sweet [watermelon]," and then the mom's voice offers some to the husband, who accepts.

So sure, the grave could well be the grandfather's, but Chidori's parents definitely exist, but are oddly elusive. Again, family members in these series often are--we've seen Nanoha's mom and sister, but she also has a dad and an older brother who both seem to exist only in the distant dimension of salarymen. But I'm now pretty sure I got the mistaken impression that Chidori's parents might be dead from a buried memory of that grave scene.

EDIT: Chidori gets a ride to school from her parents (unseen, in a tinted-windowed car) on a snowy day in Chapter 97.

last edited at Nov 7, 2021 7:14PM

I'm at chapter 48 right now and I don't know if I dislike Chidori's senpai or I sympathize with her...
Also I know I'm commenting on a very old chapter, considering, but well. ;@;