I WANT MORE I LOVE ANGST I LOVE DRAMA AND I LOVE LOVE TRIANGLEEESSSSSSSSS

Unpopular opinion: I actually WANT to see a continuation. I want drama, the premise is well-written and it could surprise us… There is potential in this one.

your right, i dont understand how people are GLAD its just a oneshot. i honestly think it should be an entire series, not because i love angst but because i think its actually pretty good. i keep seeing posts of people saying they didnt want it to continue and happy that its a oneshot! if this had a series it would be golden.

Personally I often want a Poly ending for something like this simply because I want everyone to be happy. I know first hand that life is often sad and brief, I've also consumed a lot of heartbreaking stories, so my personal preference at this point in my life is stories with a happy ending for all three (or more) characters in stories that revolve around a love triangle/or bigger.

i like angst and wish this had continued past just a oneshot. love triangles are always a nice read.
that is as long as its not a cop-out 'back to square one' ending like Nameless Asterism, or a boring poly ending.

also people dont like mao for some reason, but youve got to remember that shes a bundle of bottled up emotions at this point, and on edge.

It's full on triangle mode lol

Im happy that its only oneshot but im sad too cuz its only oneshotttttt

same honestly. its sad cause its only a one shot and i wanna see what happen at the end and happy cause i dont need to see the ending where it disappoints me

Unpopular opinion: I actually WANT to see a continuation. I want drama, the premise is well-written and it could surprise us… There is potential in this one.

your right, i dont understand how people are GLAD its just a oneshot. i honestly think it should be an entire series, not because i love angst but because i think its actually pretty good. i keep seeing posts of people saying they didnt want it to continue and happy that its a oneshot! if this had a series it would be golden.

yes yes yes i agree. i would be happy if they make it a series, would be really cool if the transfer student helps those 2 friends get together instead of it staying as a love triangle

I'm just gonna leave this here

I also wouldn't mind if this became a series because I think the protag seems pretty good
Like she's opinionated and no scared of confrontation

last edited at Jul 9, 2022 5:28PM

I'm confused. How does one person having a crush\obsession and two people who seem mostly if not wholly interested in platonic friendship equal a love triangle? I don't see anything beyond platonic coming from either Yuki or Arashi if I'm honest. I mean, it's cute and all, but it really feels like an awkward one-sided yuri crush story at best to me. At best, I could kinda see maybe Yuki getting a little jealous of Mao suddenly seeming to open up with someone else.

I'm confused. How does one person having a crush\obsession and two people who seem mostly if not wholly interested in platonic friendship equal a love triangle?

I agree that this doesn’t seem like a love triangle to me, and given that it’s a one-shot, it never will be.

But if you squint hard enough, you do see Mao sending love to Yuki and jealousy to Arashi, which kinda sorta makes most of the ingredients needed for a love triangle. But it lacks more than one person pursuing a romantic relationship.

Sort of like a cocktail mix without any alcohol—the taste is similar, but very much not the same.

I'm confused. How does one person having a crush\obsession and two people who seem mostly if not wholly interested in platonic friendship equal a love triangle?

It is there if you squint enough.

Mao is too possessive. I don't like it.

I am on the AraMao ship

I never understand why so many people want poly relationships I don't like those or harems or anything like that they always feel less genuine even if everyone is in love and happy. I guess I'm just a person that loves a normal two person relationship everything else just feels complicated.

Calling monogamy normal to imply polyamory/polygamy being abnormal is probably part of the problem. It's the same kind of narrowmindedness that encourages other bigotry.

But, that aside, polyamory isn't for everyone, and it must not be for you either. However, there's nothing less genuine about a poly relationship than a two person relationship. You'd probably do well to work on not thinking about it like that and that might help you understand why others might want it.

whoa whoa wait... I have NOTHING against it at all if everyone is happy please be happy that's all I want for people. I guess I might have phrased what I said wrong please do not take it that way and if I offended you or anyone else I deeply apologize. My thought was mainly people just thinking "yay lesbian threesome" and not more outside of that.

I also never implied that poly of any kind was abnormal or anything like that when I said a normal two person relationship I legit meant just two people I just don't get where I implied it was abnormal for poly or anything like that.

You might not have done it intentionally, but the way your statement is presented you are implying that polyamory isn't normal, only the two-person relationship is. Additionally, even if you didn't mean it intentionally, by even making a statement about it in such a way "why do people want x thing and not a normal thing" you're further pushing the idea that polyamory is abnormal and people are abnormal for wanting it

I agree that the wording in the initial post was off, but you could read normal as a statistical statement, not a moral one, in which case polyamory isn't normal, in the same way that being 7 feet tall isn't, which is that it's not common.

You're technically correct. A Bell Curve or "Normalcy Curve / Distribution" only charts or hypothesizes what is or will be most probable. These curves hold no inherent ethical or intellectual value whatsoever. Unfortunately, people will and do exploit these amoral probabilities to erroneously argue a moral. With that said, "Normalcy Curves / Distributions" can tend to destabilize and flatten as data sets increase. So they're not that reliable and often lack peer review.

In fact, if we look at all of human history, strict monogamy has at times been the exception not the rule.

Either way, the problematic part of their statement is conflating poly with harems whilst questioning their authenticity. They could be questioning the poly orientation of harems themselves as disingenuous or they are questioning how such relationships are often disingenuously portrayed by authors. Inexplicable of dis-believable "love" due to the fault of writing or approach to genre is fair criticism. Harems are often full of characters where their love for the primary character is difficult if not impossible to believe.

Though I agree the poster's wording gave lots of room for misunderstanding or negativity even if unintended. It's difficult to accept them saying that they just want a normal two person relationship, (implied to be more believable on the grounds of the dynamic not quality of presentation), as a mere slip. Though asking for clarification would have been the better approach given that it is such a sensitive topic.

That said, I wish people could just appreciate or not appreciate a story and or characters fairly for what it is and they are in their own right. This instead of projecting themselves into a story and praising or condemning a story because it does or doesn't fulfill their personal identity or desires - regardless of how well or poorly the story is written in its own right.

To respect something for what it is, to show actual and true and functional empathy towards it, one can not dissect it to find elements one can possess as their own. If the argument is that the love is the same regardless of the orientation or dynamics, then there is no reason to dissect the superficial orientation or dynamic, nor its internals, to appreciate the love argued universal.

Homo or Hetero, Cis or Trans, Mono or Poly, so on and so forth... none of these things are better or worse than the other.

last edited at Jul 10, 2022 2:59PM

I think it's hinted that this is an "actual" love triangle or is headed in that direction.

Shingatsu says she's looking only for friendship, which is likely true for now, but page 35 shows that Mao can make her heart all fluffy when Mao smiles and is appreciative. Yuki's kindness also can set Shingatsu a flutter. Pg 36-37 shows that despite Mao's temper, Shingatsu can find it humorous and enjoy herself in Mao's company anyway. Mao also shows that despite her temper, she can appreciate Shingatsu. And then, perhaps symbolically, Mao and Shingatsu walk ahead together leaving Yuki trailing yet all fluffy over Shingatsu.

It would be
Mao loves Yuki and has a building attraction to Shingatsu*
Yuki loves Shingatsu, but her love or care for Mao is platonic
Shingastu loves Mao and Yuki*

*not necessary poly, monogamous love can and does overlap

Or "the friend of my friend is my enemy who becomes my lover". It's not that uncommon of a trope for the two sworn enemies to help each other or one or the other and fall in love with each other instead.

Meanwhile, Yuki more pities Mao and her temper and acts accordingly to be her friend. This is not bad per say, she does genuinely care for Mao, but romance isn't in the equation. At worst, there may also be part of Yuki that resents Mao, because Mao's temper keeps people distant from Yuki. When Yuki spoke of Mao not having any other friends, she was talking about herself as well.

Yuki was quite casual about losing Mao's ribbon. Mao was desperate losing Yuki's. This could highlight their respective attachments to one another as greatly different.

I'd like it where Yuki gets some distance and freedom while Mao accepts Yuki can have friends other than her. It would be best for both of them. And if Mao can become more considerate and less desperate, then all the better. I just worry that events in the story could get really ugly before they get better, so overall it works good as a postulating one-shot.

last edited at Jul 10, 2022 3:07PM

If we're being technical with the tag, it's not "love" triangle because the only love portrayed in this one-shot is that of Mao towards Yuki. But it's hinting at a possible true love triangle.

Those panels where Arashi is seen looking at Mao's face twice separately are deliberately placed there to hint of a romantic interest towards Mao regardless if she's yet to realize. It's the same as the last few panels where Yuki is zoomed in and her expression while seeing Arashi laughing with Mao could either be that she's had a realization about Arashi, or she's conflicted or jealous although it's quite established that she only sees Mao as a friend, successfully so.

Those panels aren't placed there randomly and this is the case with romance manga one-shots where exploration of feelings is limited. Try putting yourself to an author or filmmaker where you have to let a reader or viewer know of something relevant but you can't explore it further because of panel or time constraints--every panel/scene is important, others discarded.

If it wasn't hinted as a true triangle, those relevant panels wouldn't exist or at least their expressions wouldn't be the way they were, e.g. Yuki could've had a happy expression since two of her friends are finally getting along.

I don't think page 35 shows anything but Arashi spotting Yuki walking up behind Mao considering the next panel is, presumably, her calling out to Yuki.

I don't think page 35 shows anything but Arashi spotting Yuki walking up behind Mao considering the next panel is, presumably, her calling out to Yuki.

The top of pg. 35 is Arashi's reaction to Mao's appreciation and smile. The blushing and style of background being indicative of an attracting pull towards someone. It's after this that Yuki calls out to them asking why they're both drenched.

Mao doesn't call out to Yuki. She says she'll go meet Yuki, so they're both unaware of Yuki during this exchange. It's after this that Yuki calls out to Arashi and Mao who are still together. We only see Yuki in front of both Mao and Arashi, so it's hard to tell which direction she originally came from. Though I don't believe it was from behind Mao.

It's subtle, but there is setup for Arashi to be interested in Mao. This would then develop in a continuance to establish a love triangle.

last edited at Jul 11, 2022 1:53PM

Ooh. The amount of comments before mine.

no wonder yuki fell for arashi, she's so suave, i ship them. sorry mao try therapy before dating ¯_(ツ)_/¯

last edited at Jul 13, 2022 3:48PM

Mao is an absolute trash human being, no sympathy for her.

Jeez, Mao is such a toxic bitch... I've had a couple friends like her in the past who tried to monopolize me (lasted way longer than it should've) and I've also been on the receiving end of a girl like that who would start to behave like this towards me in subtle and then not so subtle ways when it came to a mutual girl friend (we're all L/B) despite me having 0 interest in her. They were all incredibly exhausting to be around, in both ends of those situations, and it usually ends in relationships being broken off because of how awful they can get.

Maybe that's why I liked that it was hinted at the end that Yuki started to crush on Arashi, like a "that's what you get for being an asshole, Mao" but also because those two would be a much healthier couple instead, unlike her toxic friend.

On this page, before Arashi really knows anything about Map, she interprets Mao's attitude in an extremely sympathetic way:

It was almost like she was saying, "I don't like you, and that makes me dislike myself too."

The setup is definitely there for her to be interested in Mao romantically, even though she doesn't consciously realize it.

I never understand why so many people want poly relationships I don't like those or harems or anything like that they always feel less genuine even if everyone is in love and happy. I guess I'm just a person that loves a normal two person relationship everything else just feels complicated.

Calling monogamy normal to imply polyamory/polygamy being abnormal is probably part of the problem. It's the same kind of narrowmindedness that encourages other bigotry.

But, that aside, polyamory isn't for everyone, and it must not be for you either. However, there's nothing less genuine about a poly relationship than a two person relationship. You'd probably do well to work on not thinking about it like that and that might help you understand why others might want it.

you are all abnormal, because the only natural relationship is with JESUS CHRIST and MOTHER MARY, specifically in giving mother mary head while her son watches the door

Bro that's just the beginning of a triangle love with drama which I would have read ngl