Don’t think Shiho will accept Aki’s word… Will Aki have to prove herself?

Prove herself? Why? Aki has done literally nothing wrong. That would be like me having to "prove myself" to the thief that ransacked my appartment so he will deign himself to rob me again.

This whole mess makes me think back very warmly to RisingXRydeen. That was an enjoyable, stupid and silly little romp about a boy which superpower it was to produce lube from his body. Yes, the story was as mature as this concept sounds, but funnily enough, it nailed this whole debacle.

The boy has a rival that is in love with him for a long time, but never told him. She abandoned him years prior and is still antagonistic towards him because he does not love her, which leads to a fight between them. Using her OP lightning powers, she is electrocuting him, while finally breaking down, yelling her feelings at him and berating him for not realizing.

Which leads to HIM yelling at HER for being stupid, he is not a mind reader and it is unreasonable for her to blame and expect him to just notice her feelings on his own. (In case you are wondering, yes, while still being electrocuted. His lube turns out to have insulating properties, which actually ties neatly into the themes of the story, since he is always coming up with ways to use his stupid powers in clever ways to win fights, and his whole reason for developing superpowers was chasing after her in the first place.)

I just find it amusing that a story which primary focus was low-brow comedy, T&A and fights got this specific topic so much more right than a drama series with focus on character relationships.

All difficult questions to answer right now. I'm particularly intrigued to find out what Aki came up with in the span of a single day. I don't think she could write an entire new song for obvious reasons, so maybe it's an old song that's special to both of them?

Whatever the case, I'm having a hard time imaging what kind of relationship they'll have moving forward.

Same here. Shiho’s pride doesn’t seem like it’ll let her just accept Aki back into her life since Aki knows how she feels. Will we get an arc on how to let go of first loves?

I’m also wondering what’s left for our true mains? What other obstacles are in store for them and all the other girls?

last edited at Apr 23, 2023 10:04PM

Don’t think Shiho will accept Aki’s word… Will Aki have to prove herself?

Prove herself? Why? Aki has done literally nothing wrong. That would be like me having to "prove myself" to the thief that ransacked my appartment so he will deign himself to rob me again.

I never said Aki did anything wrong. I mean that if Aki wants Shiho to be in her life she may have to prove that she’s over Yori since Shiho’s pride won’t let her stay beside pining Aki.

Likening Shiho’s immature actions to a criminal isn’t really on the same level but to each their own.

I’m also wondering what’s left for our true mains? What other obstacles are in store for them and all the other girls?

The only thing left unresolved is Aki and Shiho's relationship (plus Shiho's internal insecurities), so I'm pretty sure that fixing their bond (and helping Shiho to be happy) is this manga's endgame.

I just find it amusing that a story which primary focus was low-brow comedy, T&A and fights got this specific topic so much more right than a drama series with focus on character relationships.

Shiho told Aki the truth just two chapters ago, so let's wait a little longer before jumping to conclusions, shall we? I mean, I don't think it would make sense from a narrative point nor it would be satisfying to the readers if she doesn't come to terms with why some of her actions were wrong (it's not like she doesn't know that, but her defense mechanisms have always been stronger until now), show accountability for them, apologize to everyone and finally overcome all her inner conflicts. Otherwise, a potential relationship with Aki would still be built on uncertainty and insecurities, almost certainly leading to more problems.

I’m also wondering what’s left for our true mains? What other obstacles are in store for them and all the other girls?

The only thing left unresolved is Aki and Shiho's relationship (plus Shiho's internal insecurities), so I'm pretty sure that fixing their bond (and helping Shiho to be happy) is this manga's endgame.

I just find it amusing that a story which primary focus was low-brow comedy, T&A and fights got this specific topic so much more right than a drama series with focus on character relationships.

Shiho told Aki the truth just two chapters ago, so let's wait a little longer before jumping to conclusions, shall we? I mean, I don't think it would make sense from a narrative point nor it would be satisfying to the readers if she doesn't come to terms with why some of her actions were wrong (it's not like she doesn't know that, but her defense mechanisms have always been stronger until now), show accountability for them, apologize to everyone and finally overcome all her inner conflicts. Otherwise, a potential relationship with Aki would still be built on uncertainty and insecurities, almost certainly leading to more problems.

Dude, your word in God's ear, but I remember being on this very thread when the reason why Shiho was being antagonistic was still being discussed, and the theory that she was in love with Aki was widely seen as not very probable due to it being obvious, cliché and not a proportionate reaction. Oh, those halcyon days... Point is, I am not getting my hopes up. I would be happy to be proven wrong though.

EDIT: Oh wow, I nearly overlooked that. Not "some of her actions were wrong". All. All of them were wrong. Shiho did not do a single correct thing aside from breathing in oxygen.

Oh wait, that is not true. When she was reprimanded by her band member for pressuring Hima, she relented at the time. She of course did not learn a single thing from that, but baby steps. Let the records show that Shiho did one thing right. For like five seconds top, but still.

last edited at Apr 23, 2023 11:25PM

Don’t think Shiho will accept Aki’s word… Will Aki have to prove herself?

Prove herself? Why? Aki has done literally nothing wrong. That would be like me having to "prove myself" to the thief that ransacked my appartment so he will deign himself to rob me again.

I never said Aki did anything wrong. I mean that if Aki wants Shiho to be in her life she may have to prove that she’s over Yori since Shiho’s pride won’t let her stay beside pining Aki.

Likening Shiho’s immature actions to a criminal isn’t really on the same level but to each their own.

I know. Hyperbole is an important tool to help clearly communicate the point of metaphors and hypotheticals.

That brings me to another point of critique of the series, though. Why would Aki even want for Shiho to be part of her life? We see that she does, but we do not really know why. We simply did not see their relationship, so we did not have a chance to get attached. The whole drama relies on the peril that their relationship is in, but we as readers have not been shown how that relationship even was, so it is hard to get invested. Structurally, we needed a flashback showing how great a time Shiho and Aki had to really care about the threat of it ending for good. All we got was the confirmation that Shiho was petty and salty from seemingly day one.

Calling it now—10 bucks says that whoever finds Shiho in her Den of Mope says a version of, “I knew I’d find you here.”

i´ll do you one better, after reading this chapter now i´m 100 % sure that aki´s song is about love and that she´s gonna ask shiho for forgiveness for not being psychic and having the audacity of falling for someone other than her, then everyone will just pretend that shiho wasn´t a massive asshole to everyone and the manga will end with the two couples

That brings me to another point of critique of the series, though. Why would Aki even want for Shiho to be part of her life? We see that she does, but we do not really know why. We simply did not see their relationship, so we did not have a chance to get attached. The whole drama relies on the peril that their relationship is in, but we as readers have not been shown how that relationship even was, so it is hard to get invested. Structurally, we needed a flashback showing how great a time Shiho and Aki had to really care about the threat of it ending for good. All we got was the confirmation that Shiho was petty and salty from seemingly day one.

We might get a flashback of their relationship from Aki’s POV. Maybe before the actual performance/during that can highlight special moments.

Aki’s whole “I’m over Yori” feels really abrupt so the whole thing with Shiho might not end just with the performance? Even Shiho’s chapter with how she fell for Aki was just a quick montage so a more in depth chapter might be shown. Maybe Vol 8 will cover Aki’s journey to getting over her first love/reconciling with Shiho whether it’s platonic or romantic.

Though I’d like to get a little break from their drama and touch base with the mains, see how everything is affecting them.

Calling it now—10 bucks says that whoever finds Shiho in her Den of Mope says a version of, “I knew I’d find you here.”

i´ll do you one better, after reading this chapter now i´m 100 % sure that aki´s song is about love and that she´s gonna ask shiho for forgiveness for not being psychic and having the audacity of falling for someone other than her, then everyone will just pretend that shiho wasn´t a massive asshole to everyone and the manga will end with the two couples

Now there’s a ramblin’, gamblin’ [gender nonspecific person] if ever I saw one.

I’ll bid: Onsen double-date in the special bonus chapter for the collection.

Calling it now—10 bucks says that whoever finds Shiho in her Den of Mope says a version of, “I knew I’d find you here.”

i´ll do you one better, after reading this chapter now i´m 100 % sure that aki´s song is about love and that she´s gonna ask shiho for forgiveness for not being psychic and having the audacity of falling for someone other than her, then everyone will just pretend that shiho wasn´t a massive asshole to everyone and the manga will end with the two couples

Now there’s a ramblin’, gamblin’ [gender nonspecific person] if ever I saw one.

I’ll bid: Onsen double-date in the special bonus chapter for the collection.

i´d like to say that i am but tbh the manga has prove me right time after time after time, at this point im just throwing the most cliche thing i can possibly imagine and hope to be wrong

where could she possibly go now that its time to perform?!!! shiho wtf

That brings me to another point of critique of the series, though. Why would Aki even want for Shiho to be part of her life? We see that she does, but we do not really know why. We simply did not see their relationship, so we did not have a chance to get attached. The whole drama relies on the peril that their relationship is in, but we as readers have not been shown how that relationship even was, so it is hard to get invested. Structurally, we needed a flashback showing how great a time Shiho and Aki had to really care about the threat of it ending for good. All we got was the confirmation that Shiho was petty and salty from seemingly day one.

We might get a flashback of their relationship from Aki’s POV. Maybe before the actual performance/during that can highlight special moments.

Aki’s whole “I’m over Yori” feels really abrupt so the whole thing with Shiho might not end just with the performance? Even Shiho’s chapter with how she fell for Aki was just a quick montage so a more in depth chapter might be shown. Maybe Vol 8 will cover Aki’s journey to getting over her first love/reconciling with Shiho whether it’s platonic or romantic.

Though I’d like to get a little break from their drama and touch base with the mains, see how everything is affecting them.

Possible, but at this point, entirely too late. We have spend way too much time on Aki and Shiho already without the reader having a chance to care about their relationship beyond surface-level shipping, if even that.

LMFAO WHAT?!?

That last page is pure comedy.

They all needed to be prairie dogs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jHjFxJVeCQs

This fits way too well. At this point, I don't know if I'm supposed to laugh or not with every possible bad cliche being pulled out of the bag for this arc.

Possible, but at this point, entirely too late. We have spend way too much time on Aki and Shiho already without the reader having a chance to care about their relationship beyond surface-level shipping, if even that.

It isn’t too late if the reader actually cares about Shiho and if/how Aki’s relationship with her will progress.

Besides, it does not feel necessary to see how close they were to determine whether or not Aki is justified to miss Shiho/wants her back. The characters are established and it’s easier to picture the what might have been of their dynamic based off of the quick montage.

A lot of people hate Shiho/think she’s immature/just over all a scene thief and unnecessary plot device so most here would be on the too late boat/just straight up drop if she shows up in more chapter but the set up right now seems perfect for a flashback but only the author and their team knows.

Oh wow, I nearly overlooked that. Not "some of her actions were wrong". All. All of them were wrong. Shiho did not do a single correct thing aside from breathing in oxygen.

She is doing her best (along with Momoka and Hajime) to keep the memory of her former friend/rival, Kyou, alive. Shiho formed her current band even though she wanted to quit music altogether at that moment. The reason why she chose to play the guitar was to stay connected to her, even though at the time she understood it as a selfish act (defense mechanism). People really underestimate the weight of carrying the death of a loved one, especially at that age.

That brings me to another point of critique of the series, though. Why would Aki even want for Shiho to be part of her life? We see that she does, but we do not really know why.

I would also like to see more about their relationship from back then, but with what we've seen so far it's obvious that she was the most important person to Aki.

Maybe Vol 8 will cover Aki’s journey to getting over her first love/reconciling with Shiho whether it’s platonic or romantic.

We are currently at Volume 9, lol. But yeah, I'd love to read more chapters from Aki's perspective.

last edited at Apr 24, 2023 8:13PM

She is doing her best (along with Momoka and Hajime) to keep the memory of her former friend/rival, Kyou, alive. Shiho formed her current band even though she wanted to quit music altogether at that moment.

I don't get why momoka and Hajime are so fixated on shiho, is not like she was an integral part of kyo s life, they were fiends for a brief period of time and then she just cuted ties with her altogether cuz she couldn't take the L gracefully. Is just baffling seeing her lover and sister going to this random person that haven't talked to kyo in years and who she was presumably in bad terms and practically beg her to play music. The fact that till the day of her death kyo never actually got mad and always rooted for shiho while on the other hand shiho never acknowledged that she was wrong and deeply hurt kyo is infuriating

The reason why she chose to play the guitar was to stay connected to her, even though at the time she understood it as a selfish act (defense mechanism).

She herself said that she choose to play the guitar cuz kyo wasn't allowed to and that gave her a sick sense of victory. How on earth could you read it as she wanting to stay connected to her, kyo was still alive when she started playing guitar, she could just talk to her intead of being the worst friend ever.

I don't get why momoka and Hajime are so fixated on shiho, is not like she was an integral part of kyo s life, they were fiends for a brief period of time and then she just cuted ties with her altogether cuz she couldn't take the L gracefully. Is just baffling seeing her lover and sister going to this random person that haven't talked to kyo in years and who she was presumably in bad terms and practically beg her to play music. The fact that till the day of her death kyo never actually got mad and always rooted for shiho while on the other hand shiho never acknowledged that she was wrong and deeply hurt kyo is infuriating

Neither of them (not Hajime at least) know the details of their fight, but they do know how special Shiho was to Kyou, as she frequently told them herself.

She herself said that she choose to play the guitar cuz kyo wasn't allowed to and that gave her a sick sense of victory. How on earth could you read it as she wanting to stay connected to her, kyo was still alive when she started playing guitar, she could just talk to her intead of being the worst friend ever.

Because Kyou was the most important person in her life before she met Aki. The things she said and did contradict each other as proof of this. Shiho uses defense mechanisms so she doesn't have to deal with the pain: For example, in Chapter 34 she said that Kyou was just an "acquaintance" to her and that she was even relieved that she died, but if that were true then she wouldn't have gone regularly as we saw to her grave to talk to her and tell her about her life, nor would she (as I wrote before) formed a band with Momoka and Hajime for Kyou's sake when she wanted to quit music.

Shiho loves to lie to herself, repeating in her mind that she is a heartless and selfish person. Acting way tougher than she truly is. But I am convinced that those are simply defense mechanisms to protect herself, as she can't deal with defeat in a mature way.

last edited at Apr 25, 2023 10:31PM

Because Kyou was the most important person in her life before she met Aki. The things she said and did contradict each other as proof of this. Shiho uses defense mechanisms so she doesn't have to deal with the pain: For example, in Chapter 34 she said that Kyou was just an "acquaintance" to her and that she was even relieved that she died, but if that were true then she wouldn't have gone regularly as we saw to her grave to talk to her and tell her about her life, nor would she (as I wrote before) formed a band with Momoka and Hajime for Kyou's sake when she wanted to quit music.

On the contrary her actions and dialogues are pretty in line with each other, she says she hates kyo, then she cuts ties with her without hesitation and in a sense kyo´s death actually relieved her from her past, she now doesn´t have to apologize nor confront her eternal rival, she can just pretend that they had great relationship and sweep under the rug all the bad parts (that mind you were all shiho fault).

Also is pretty clear that shiho can´t quit music even if she wanted to, her whole persona revolves around being good at it, heck is implied that she tried several times before and no matter how much pain music gave her she kept playing, after the incident with aki momoka and hajime just gave her an excuse to keep feeding her sick relationship with music, i truly believe that kyo had little to nothing to do with it cuz even tho she rejected momoka and hajime several times she actually kept playing, she just didn´t want to honor kyo s last wish and when she was at her lowest they gave her and excuse to keep playing

Shiho loves to lie to herself, repeating in her mind that she is a heartless and selfish person. Acting way tougher than she truly is. But I am convinced that those are simply defense mechanisms to protect herself, as she can't deal with defeat in a mature way.

I mean she´s not lying to herself, she really is a shitty person. But you´re right about something, she is soft tho, she truly doesn´t have the grit to accept defeat and retaliates against the people she deems responsible for her misery. That doesn´t means shes putting a facade or that she´s secretly a good person that just means she´s a shitty person acting shitty

last edited at Apr 27, 2023 10:37PM

On the contrary her actions and dialogues are pretty in line with each other, she says she hates kyo, then she cuts ties with her without hesitation and in a sense kyo´s death actually relieved her from her past, she now doesn´t have to apologize nor confront her eternal rival, she can just pretend that they had great relationship and sweep under the rug all the bad parts (that mind you were all shiho fault).

Shiho hated the fact that she was better at playing the violin than her, not Kyou herself, which I don't need to explain is vastly different. It's the same thing that happened with Aki: Shiho couldn't stand not being number 1 and decided to cut ties entirely with her.

I repeat, why would Shiho visit her grave regularly if she really hated her? Guilt might be a factor, but I doubt it's the only one, as we even saw Shiho crying in front of it while remembering her. At the very least, Kyou is her inspiration to keep striving for perfection. Or at least that's how I see it.

last edited at Apr 28, 2023 12:40AM

I really want Aki and Shiho to be together

^Me too, but I'll be fine if they don't and it's a bittersweet "first love"

last edited at May 10, 2023 5:31AM

Come on Aki, get the girl!

Come on Aki, get the girl!

It looks like she's about to pull a movie stunt. We'll see how that goes. I predict a lot of tears and close ups of Shiho's reactions in the crowd.

last edited at May 26, 2023 8:06PM

It seems that SS is going to win the competition after all. Don't worry Shiho, you can't do anything against such a massive plot armor.

I'm still not sure what kind of message will Aki try to convey to Shiho. It's not like she can fall in love with her in just one day... Right?

No kidding! Are you going to call Shiho to come up and sing? Or whatever. Haha

Sorry, I can't stand Aki.