Forum › A Room For Two discussion

Akebi_underwater_2_10
joined Jun 1, 2020

Sure. But I don't think Kasumi is. Demiromantic, certainly. But her reactions here, plus the general thrust of the story so far, really don't strike me as building up to an aro ending. Maybe I'm wrong.

I feel your previous comment up above summarizes that really nicely, she's giving the topic a proper thought and seems to be starting to come around to the notion of having romantic feelings toward Sakurako. It's only recently that she's started really seriously trying to give clear definitions to things that simply have been around in her life up until now, and it really does seem like her awareness of Sakurako is shifting slowly and that a romantic component is becoming more prevalent and noticeable. Also that little tease in the end and Kasumi's reactions were simply adorable.

To be honest, I personally don't think there's much of a point for us to try and label the character before she's shown any intention of doing so herself. I am not happy with this statement, but cannot find the words to fully represent what I'm thinking, so I hope what I mean is clear, and I hope I don't come across as asshole-ish. Either case, in this case, I feel like the process Kasumi is going through has already started showing what the end result is going to be. In other words, I also think that there's an explicit romantic endgame here, even if it's a low-key or slow-burn kind of thing.

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 1:07PM

Someroughclipping
joined Aug 28, 2019

I think people were assuming Kasumi is Asexual or Aro cause they've had this kind of unchanging relationship for years and everything pointed to it continuing this way. Some readers probably already viewed them as "in a relationship" - just not your "traditional" one and one that they can probably relate to. Now, ever since the chapter with them on the train (personally I think it was even before then with that chapter when Kasumi left her part time job and had a brief thought about her relationship with Sakurako), it's being made pretty clear that Kasumi just wasn't thinking about their relationship that much past being close friends living together forever and is only recently putting serious thought into it with Sakurako in mind. Meanwhile, Sakurako seems to want a romantic relationship but is already in so deep that she most likely wouldn't mind just pining and being live in friends for the rest of their lives either way.

1278708461280
joined Mar 10, 2013

I can accept that Kasumi might be Ace, but I can't just accept that she won't have sex with Sakurako, girl has put up with so many years of gay pining, she deserves the full experience.

This sounds like the literal opposite of accepting Kasumi as Ace.

As for the rest of what you said. Aromantic people exist.

Are you implying that an asexual person can't have sex with their allosexual partner? Or implying that an aromantic person is by default clueless about what is usually considered love and how their actions might have an effect on someone else?

Img_0215
joined Jul 29, 2017

I can accept that Kasumi might be Ace, but I can't just accept that she won't have sex with Sakurako, girl has put up with so many years of gay pining, she deserves the full experience.

This sounds like the literal opposite of accepting Kasumi as Ace.

As for the rest of what you said. Aromantic people exist.

Are you implying that an asexual person can't have sex with their allosexual partner? Or implying that an aromantic person is by default clueless about what is usually considered love and how their actions might have an effect on someone else?

My meta-statement about Dynasty forums: discussions that start out from the assumption that "statement about character" = "statement about groups of people in real life" often don't end well, or at least not anywhere near the story.

As was said above, for the first time Kasumi is explicitly thinking about how she feels about her relationship with Sakurako and how that might be defined/labeled, and "labels" are something the series previously has been notably reticent about (often to the frustration of some readers). The story looks like it's getting ready to be more explicit about the MCs' relationship, so personally I'm willing to let the characters apply the labels themselves.

(I can't quite decide which one would be wearing the collar and which one holding the leash, but I think both items would look great on either of them.)

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 2:18PM

7c3371fc-1218-42e3-9009-8520d7f626fa
joined Sep 15, 2020

Koruri and Moca is going to be married and have children before Kasumi figures out what she wants her relationship with Sakurako. That being said readers might have families before we see that in rl lol.

It is a bit perplexing that Kasumi has never at one point truly questioned a romantic relationship with Sakurako prior to her being asked considering she has been kissed and has willingly kissed Sakurako.

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 3:23PM

Tumblr_6092d594b3a92296a4d35bac1b1a474c_c2d1131f_400
joined Apr 4, 2022

Relationship labels are just a means to an end here
it doesn't really matter what you think the characters identify as ultimately it can either end with them dating officially or just doubling down on the "relationship that is special only to them"

I personally just want to see them 2 together forever

1
joined May 1, 2015

Not gonna lie when I saw the BDSM box, the first thing that came to mind was "I knew it"

Capy%20white
joined Mar 21, 2019

Not gonna lie when I saw the BDSM box, the first thing that came to mind was "I knew it"

Makes me think of that one abusive one shot Yukiko did.

Webp.net-resizeimage%20(1)
joined Apr 19, 2012

progression in my subtext yuri!?

Just kidding. I agree with the general discourse for this chapter. Very excited to see where this goes!

b0undarybreaker
C12%20wink
joined Oct 29, 2020

alright that's the best april fools joke I've seen a scanlation do yet, thank you JQ

I do really like the little meditation on what love and romance actually mean to Kasumi, it's a nice touch that really lands in line with how I feel about romance on a conceptual level too

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 5:37PM

C2731dea4191b182ecd8f18498562a84
joined Sep 1, 2017

I always felt deep intimate friendship + sexual desire = romantic love. I've been "yelled at" several times, for that belief, in the story comment sections. However I honestly can't think of any other way to define it.

Profile
joined Jan 11, 2014

I've always found the way the author handles labels and romance to be fascinating, mainly how many of her characters--Kasumi and Koruri being the two big ones--aren't internally driven to them at all. They're fine with leaving things unspoken but intimate and only consider the label 'girlfriend' when the people they're close with push for it. It makes me wonder if the author's own experience with romance has been similar, and that's why she depicts love this way.

Moca strives for labels. She places meaning in them, so that if "one day she disappears" someone will mourn for her. This is how she validates her existence.

Sakurako was okay with not defining her relationship with Kasumi because they had a balanced give and take together, until she was challenged in a way that made her to want to secure her place in Kasumi’s life. The idea Kasumi could just...be without her and let her go (Special 3) pushed her to try to change their relationship into of explicit romance.

Kasumi, is the ultimate loner. She neither seeks labels, nor needs them, and doesn't need people in her life nor the assurance of her own permanence in their lives. She fundamentally lacks the fear of "disappearing" like Moca, or not mattering, because she's the epitome of self-sufficiency. No part of her is dependent on another human to define herself or fulfill her needs. However, there's a twist. Somehow living with Sakurako for seven years has been the right balance of "not too much but not too little" (ch 65.3). Somehow, she hasn't gotten sick of Sakurako despite how bothersome it can be for her (who is lazy and chooses the path of least resistance) to live with a whole other person.

This story is a really cute slice of life, but the author also places different forms of connection against each other. This story was never about the Romance! It's about how we navigate the relationship we have with someone we want to be with for the rest of our lives. When Koruri finally accepted being Moca's girlfriend, finally accepting that label of girlfriend, she was using romance as the Vehicle, a Means to secure Moca in her life. We never get a deep psychological dissection of what romantic love means for her. It doesn't matter. What matters is the conflict between them (Koruri fearing Moca may leave one day without saying a word, both sating their need for companionship) and how they compromised to keep each other in their lives (Koruri accepting being Moca's girlfriend). This story is different variations exploring the fundamental intimacy between people who live together, who share A Room For Two, and how different people choose to define it using the means they have.

I'm sure the other different pairings like Seri and her roommate, or Sakurako's sister and her roommate, all have their own flavors and nuances. I just can't remember them after following this series for so many years lol.

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 7:43PM

joined Jun 21, 2015

Phew, thought we were about to have actual character progression in this story for a second. Sure dodged a bullet there.

Capy%20white
joined Mar 21, 2019

I'm sure the other different pairings like Seri and her roommate, or Sakurako's sister and her roommate, all have their own flavors and nuances. I just can't remember them after following this series for so many years lol.

Shouko and Seri have what is probably the most "basic" I can't think of a better word romance relationship in the series. Two opposites who just happened to be roomed together and after a while found themselves attracted to one another and ultimately acted on those feelings. Not gonna lie, the chapter where they reveal those feelings to each other is probably one of my favorites in the series.

Far as Sakurako's sister and her friend, I don't think we've actually seen enough of them to really call their relationship anything other than a friendship. I could be wrong there, though.

Img_3750
joined Feb 3, 2021

I always felt deep intimate friendship + sexual desire = romantic love. I've been "yelled at" several times, for that belief, in the story comment sections. However I honestly can't think of any other way to define it.

I will say, sexual desire isn’t necessary for romantic love and romantic love isn’t necessary to feel sexual desire for someone. They are separate things and while they are often intertwined that is not always the case.

DschingisKhan
Khancrop
joined Feb 18, 2013

Damn, I missed a bit, including a Yukari chapter! You know I'm still rooting for her, she's so cute and I want her to be more than an observer...

Kasumi, I wonder if she's just been misled by stories about what falling in love feels like so she hasn't recognised that what she has is what couples get after years together.

Img_0215
joined Jul 29, 2017

Kasumi, I wonder if she's just been misled by stories about what falling in love feels like so she hasn't recognised that what she has is what couples get after years together.

"Doesn't get romance" has kind of become an "in-between" character trope--it used to be "misled by pop culture about what real romance is" (Yuu in YagaKimi being the most famous example) and now seems to be transitioning to "character on the aro/ace spectrum," (at least as far as many readers are concerned).

C2731dea4191b182ecd8f18498562a84
joined Sep 1, 2017

I always felt deep intimate friendship + sexual desire = romantic love. I've been "yelled at" several times, for that belief, in the story comment sections. However I honestly can't think of any other way to define it.

I will say, sexual desire isn’t necessary for romantic love and romantic love isn’t necessary to feel sexual desire for someone. They are separate things and while they are often intertwined that is not always the case.

Then define romantic love. How is it different from platonic love? Say the love for a close friend, or a family member.

Screenshot%202024-01-18%20181127
joined Jun 21, 2021

Kasumi, I wonder if she's just been misled by stories about what falling in love feels like so she hasn't recognised that what she has is what couples get after years together.

"Doesn't get romance" has kind of become an "in-between" character trope--it used to be "misled by pop culture about what real romance is" (Yuu in YagaKimi being the most famous example) and now seems to be transitioning to "character on the aro/ace spectrum," (at least as far as many readers are concerned).

When a characters thoughts/behavior overlap with the experiences one has being on such a spectrum it's inevitable that they'll be read as such by those it resonates with, regardless of whether said character was purposefully written to be that way. Especially when there hasn't been any definite word to the contrary.

last edited at Apr 1, 2023 11:54PM

NuclearStudent
joined Dec 13, 2018

I always felt deep intimate friendship + sexual desire = romantic love. I've been "yelled at" several times, for that belief, in the story comment sections. However I honestly can't think of any other way to define it.

The fuck else is it supposed to be, a setup for a tax avoidance scheme?

Ykn1
joined Dec 20, 2018

Wait, can someone confirm for me whether this is an April Fools chapter or not...? Because I can see both that mentioned here as well as seemingly proper discussion, and the download file name certainly does say "april" at the end?

Img_0215
joined Jul 29, 2017

Wait, can someone confirm for me whether this is an April Fools chapter or not...? Because I can see both that mentioned here as well as seemingly proper discussion, and the download file name certainly does say "april" at the end?

My understanding is that only pages 14 & 15 are an April Fools joke. Page 16 repeats page 13, and proceeds normally (I almost said, “plays it straight”) from there.

PineconeJuice
Pinekon
joined Jan 10, 2022

This manga should settle for one thing or the other. Kasumi either loves Sakurako or doesn't. It won't change a thing about them regardless, so why bother? Unless a sudden verbal declaration from Kasumi will make them act more physically. Which it won't. I'm not sure if the author is running out of ideas, if this was planned, or if it was due to them being prodded about this "issue" but it's such a redundant "plot", especially this late into the series.
This whole philo-Kasumi is the only thing that I ever found annoying about the manga. Sure, people had longwinded discussions if it's love or not, but does it matter? Again, Not really

Ykn1
joined Dec 20, 2018

Wait, can someone confirm for me whether this is an April Fools chapter or not...? Because I can see both that mentioned here as well as seemingly proper discussion, and the download file name certainly does say "april" at the end?

My understanding is that only pages 14 & 15 are an April Fools joke. Page 16 repeats page 13, and proceeds normally (I almost said, “plays it straight”) from there.

Noted.

edit: Well, she's certain she'll want to spend her life with Sakurako like this. That is good enough for me for now.

last edited at Apr 2, 2023 9:35AM

Img_0215
joined Jul 29, 2017

This whole philo-Kasumi is the only thing that I ever found annoying about the manga.

I'm not sure I understand what this means. Can you elaborate?

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