I don't know what to think of this story anymore. Personally, I liked it better in the earlier chapters. As this story progresses, Adachi seems to lose more and more agency. It's all "Shimmura" this, "Shimmura" that. As much as I understand that this IS a romance story, I feel that Adachi's character has suffered greatly from this approach.

Normally, in comparable plotlines, the protagonist contextualizes their feelings and their romantic interest through the lense of their preexisting motivations and experiences. And this was the case in earlier chapters - Adachi was much more introspective back then.

The core of the issue then, is that there's a fundamental lack of characterization in these later chapters. Everything Adachi thinks and is shown to do is so heavily centered around Shimmura that Adachi themselves has become hollow in nature. Who even IS Adachi outside Shimmura? I don't even fucking know anymore. It's all like a shitty version of the co-dependence trope without the "co" part. I have the impression that to some people this might be a realistic interpretation of their crushes as a dumbass, moody teenager, but from a narrative perspective I feel that this is a serious decline in quality compared to its more humble beginnings.

And this latest arc just ices the cake. Adachi has what could only be described as the Gayest God Damn Panic Attack I Have Ever Yet Seen. As ludicrous as this moment is, the newer characterization of Adachi being a hopeless-blubbering-homosexual makes this moment quite understandable. And then, of course, Shimmura has to act as insensitively as possible to this breakdown. Is Adachi being stupidly unreasonable? Yes. But it would take not even half a braincell to register, at least by tone, that someone isn't exactly in the best state of mind for rationality.

Curses! The self-absorbedness strikes yet again!

Ever since Adachi has lost their agency outside Shimmura, I've been really on-off with following this series. It's a shame.

Holy crap. She broke down and I couldn't handle reading all of it 'cause I was only thinking about why the fuck would the author do what they did, that it has to be like that to make some point somehow.

Edit:

For anyone that wonder why Shimamura sound quite cold in the end, some says that Adachi ranting are quite incomprehensible because of she was crying. The blue board usually showed this image

That's even worse but it makes the argument that she was out-of-character even better. The Shimamura being portrayed here by the author is an asshole [or similar terms] as acknowledged by even those trying to explain her response away. Also, asking what the other person's on about without being offended or angered back is far easier when you're not close to the other and if it's the first time it has happened as Shimamura is to Adachi and this episode respectively. And just because someone has a detached personality doesn't mean they're an asshole, Shimamura may be detached but she isn't portrayed as the latter and that's what's making others question her response. Pretty sure anyone who saw or felt this disconnect identified more with her.

last edited at Oct 25, 2022 9:15PM

patiently awaiting the next chapter <3

patiently awaiting the next chapter <3

Much in the same boat here.

Someone took it upon them to scanlate all parts of the next chapter in one go (it's out on Dex) and. idk, i mean i knew what was gonna happen but somehow that really is just the most Shimamura-ish way to react to what happened in the previous chapter xD

I'm not saying I'm siding with Adachi when she was... ヘラってる, but Shimamura definitely could've handled that better. What Shimamura did was just one-way to bad ending town. Glad Adachi wasn't a massive menhera, though she's menhera enough at this point.

This is one of those chapters that really showcase how mentally strong Adachi is. For all her issues, she really has an indomitable spirit and she always bounces back. Can't help but admire her for that.
Also, as a side note, I love how Moke stays consistent with the height difference between Shima and Adachi. It's a pretty big thing in the novels, but the official art and the anime almost always miss that for some reason and it always bugs me XP Moke remembers that Adachi is left-handed too, which is nice as a fellow southpaw .

Someone is finally starting to accept her own feelings for what they are.

Huh wow that was resolved in a really non-dramatic way… I like that :)

This is one of those chapters that really showcase how mentally strong Adachi is. For all her issues, she really has an indomitable spirit and she always bounces back. Can't help but admire her for that.

Yeah, it feels like that lesson she learned from the... fortune teller, was it? I mean the one where she shouted in the supermarket or something. She really grasped the essence of it well.

Huh wow that was resolved in a really non-dramatic way… I like that :)

I probably wouldn't call it resolved - more like brushed under the carpet really.

yo dis be some toxic codependent shit. should’ve just hung up, blocked her then banged your childhood friend shimamura

I gotta respect the translators for some of these past chapters.

adachi vs her mental illnesses round two whos goin win

I am Team Adachi because I've usually been the Adachi not the Shimamura, tbh.

The core of the issue then, is that there's a fundamental lack of characterization in these later chapters. Everything Adachi thinks and is shown to do is so heavily centered around Shimmura that Adachi themselves has become hollow in nature. Who even IS Adachi outside Shimmura? I don't even fucking know anymore. It's all like a shitty version of the co-dependence trope without the "co" part. I have the impression that to some people this might be a realistic interpretation of their crushes as a dumbass, moody teenager, but from a narrative perspective I feel that this is a serious decline in quality compared to its more humble beginnings.

I'm not sure I understand your point. You concede that it is realistically feasible for a teenager to behave like this, but then attack it for "lack of characterization" anyways? It's fine if you don't like Adachi's characterization, and as a result have lost interest in the story, but to say that this isn't characterization is just bizarre. Are authors not allowed to write about certain types of people because you don't find them to be interesting...?

Adachi is what drew me into this series, because I was literally Adachi as a teen. A disaster gay who had no interest in anything in life but love. I got a job when I was 16 just to buy things for the girl I loved, my only hobbies were the same as hers so I could spend as much time with her as possible, and eventually I had a full Adachi mental breakdown too. I was certainly not an interesting character, that much is true. It probably had a lot to do with why my feelings were never reciprocated - I didn't have a personality outside of being obsessively in love. It's perfectly understandable not to like such a character, but I was glad that an author out there wrote a story I could relate to so strongly. If you can't relate to Adachi, it's easy to see why the story wouldn't be for you, but that's not a flaw in the quality of writing at all.

Thaaat being said, this following chapter was where I kind of lost interest myself. After last chapter's bombshell, the drama is swept under the rug as though it never happened, which I did not find to be very narratively satisfying. Granted, while my take was that last chapter's Shimamura felt uncharacteristically callous to me, given that it happened already this chapter felt like a very Shimamura thing to do, but it became harder for me to relate to Adachi at this point. Here Adachi has a much stronger will than I did as a kid, because I would have continued breaking down until the relationship was ruined if I didn't find some kind of resolution to my emotions rather than just pretending it never happened. That panel where Adachi is ranting in her head but says the diplomatically correct thing to not make her own life even worse? Absolutely not me.

last edited at Dec 24, 2022 10:49PM

'm not sure I understand your point. You concede that it is realistically feasible for a teenager to behave like this, but then attack it for "lack of characterization" anyways?

I thought Michelle Trachtenberg was a perfect Dawn Summers on BTVS. But she was too realistic. Fans wanted a less realistic 13/14-year-old living a life of 24/7 stress. "She's screechy!" "She's whiny!" "She's needy!" "She does stupid things!" I wonder if that syndrome isn't present here.

whoever made the april fool's chapter, i was literally hyped to see another chapter but... ahahahahah

^Lolz, yeah, I fell for that too. I hope this issue doesn't just end here. Like, because it's not resolved, there'll be an ever bigger fight between them built up by not talking about it. One so big, Shimamura won't even be so nonchalant about it

last edited at Dec 27, 2022 9:33AM

Yay, new chapter

More of our favorite catastrophe lesbian being a catastrophe lesbian. ^_^

I love that Shimamura is a normal person in a romance manga. She reacts and acts in a mostly normal way to these situations and in this genre that makes her seem "odd," to some. She's a bit distant, yes but not really that distant and a lot of what makes her even seem distant is because she doesn't immediately go along with Adachi's possessiveness and she doesn't do what characters in these spaces normally would when it comes to romance (she's more measured, calculating and introspective). I like her character for that, especially in the LNs. Her thoughts were actually what became the most interesting parts of the later LNs--I can genuinely say I haven't seen many other characters in this space react and think quite like her.

last edited at Feb 24, 2023 8:30AM

I continued reading this after a while and I like how the artist is able to convey Adachi’s essence. Having read the LNs, I am excited to see the next chapters. Seeing Adachi like this is very painful but at the same time I am relieved that Shimamura is the way she is. Who else would have been able to handle Adachi? I hope I find someone like Shimamura.

Them not being the stereotypical ''trope-ish'' protagonists you'd find in most series is definitely one of the best and most interesting thing about this. They're both a bit messed up and unsure of themselves and they miss a lot of social cues, the way a lot of teenagers actually are.They both feel very ''real'' to me as a result.

adachi is literally just like me w my ex crush. even tho i dont like her/CONVINCE MYSELF TO NOT LIKE HER ANYMORE im still ever obsessed (not in the weird way) w/ her, just what do i do

Introspective characters done well are rare, but this series does it so well.