AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH fucking finally

idk where the middle school thing comes from,at least get the numbers right if you want to argue about it. Koguma, Hino and Omichi are all first years in High School. So Omichi is at least 15, 16 if her birthday has already passed.
Meanwhile Rin is at most 11 or 12 if she's in her last year of Grade school, don't think that's been specified.

Well, maybe not quite grooming but definitely weird. I guess since she says she'll wait I'm less uneasy with it now but I still think Omichi's kinda wacked lol... That being said she seems a bit too naive regarding sex and stuff so idk. I can see her growing out of it, realistically speaking but since this is a manga they'll probably get married in 10 years or some dumb thing like that.
Also depends on if Rin really is 11-12 and not like 9 or sth. Big difference there lol...

last edited at May 1, 2023 8:35AM

All the weird stuff the MCs have been doing from the very beginning is just par for the course, but an explicitly non-physical age-gap crush is cause for moral freakouts . . .

I hated omichi cuz she was such a cock block but now she’s a pedophile. Glad I disliked her from the start
She’s not a fucking 12 year old, shes in highschool. So yes she would be considered a pedo
Yep, cuz if u didn’t know, what she’s doing is called grooming :)

She's a first year in middle school you twit.
You're either trolling or completely butt-fuck insane.
This is how the witch trials happened and you're living proof we have not evolved as a species since.

Bro wtf are you on? There’s actually no way u compared me to the witch trials and on top of that, ur trynna justify some weird shit. u must not know how to read cuz clearly in the newest chapter it was stated that she was in grade school, do you know what grade school is or do I need to dumb it down for you, cuz if I haven’t evolved as a species that means ur on a whole other level of dumbass.

Can you idiots take your stupid slap-fights to PMs and quit crapping up the thread? Christ. Some people...

I can't believe it. It went full yuri. First boob manga and now this. What next? YuruYuri?

last edited at May 1, 2023 9:33AM

Can you idiots take your stupid slap-fights to PMs and quit crapping up the thread? Christ. Some people...

Are there PMs here? I've never even thought of it.

last edited at May 1, 2023 9:57AM

I laught at the last page, holly crap poor Koguma.

All the weird stuff the MCs have been doing from the very beginning is just par for the course, but an explicitly non-physical age-gap crush is cause for moral freakouts . . .

Well to put it in a nutshell, I just don't find the Watsonian explanation for Omichi's feelings to be hugely convincing, so I'm left the Doylist one, that the author just wants the high-schooler to crush on the tiny kid. And "all the weird stuff the MCs have been doing from the very beginning" has eroded my ability to give the author the benefit of the doubt as to why they want this.

Just to throw it out there, but I wouldn’t be shocked if there are authors who grew up on so much manga that use the idea of teachers/older students waiting for their younger partners to be older being treated like this great romantic sacrifice that they may not even think twice about it.

All the weird stuff the MCs have been doing from the very beginning is just par for the course, but an explicitly non-physical age-gap crush is cause for moral freakouts . . .

Well to put it in a nutshell, I just don't find the Watsonian explanation for Omichi's feelings to be hugely convincing, so I'm left the Doylist one, that the author just wants the high-schooler to crush on the tiny kid. And "all the weird stuff the MCs have been doing from the very beginning" has eroded my ability to give the author the benefit of the doubt as to why they want this.

Well, obviously the author wants character A to crush on character B, because that's what they depict. So what?

Omichi has feelings that she is determined not to act upon until some future point. What of it?

Is this a moral transgression on the character's part? On the author's part? If the latter, what is the precise nature of that transgression? What "benefit of the doubt" might you have been willing to grant the author that you no longer are?

Transgressions? Who do you think I am, Judge Dredd? No, I just think the author is a bit creepy. Does that mean I can't enjoy the work? Not necessarily. Is it a "moral freakout" to point it out even so? I don't really think so.

Transgressions? Who do you think I am, Judge Dredd? No, I just think the author is a bit creepy. Does that mean I can't enjoy the work? Not necessarily. Is it a "moral freakout" to point it out even so? I don't really think so.

People keep saying this is a "a bit creepy," or that they feel "uncomfortable," or that something "weird" is being depicted.

I'm aware that for some Dynasty readers any age gap romantic feelings are sufficient cause for moral outrage (hence the accusations that the character is being a "pedophile" or that "grooming" is being portrayed or that Omichi is possibly heading for a jail cell).

But I'm wondering about precisely what has actually been depicted in this particular story that is the source of all this vague discomfort or of the aspersions cast on the author.

last edited at May 1, 2023 2:28PM

But I'm wondering about precisely what has actually been depicted in this particular story that is the source of all this vague discomfort or of the aspersions cast on the author.

Well I can't speak for everyone but there's a way that the narrative has dwelt specifically on Koguma's body in earlier chapters - both our characters describe it as tiny and child-like repeatedly. That's not really an issue on its own, because Hino and Koguma are both the same age, and sufficiently well-realized characters with enough other things going on in their relationship that it doesn't feel like the reason the story is being read or written. But now there's this other, actual child character, being crushed on by a high schooler. I'm not used to that. Kids having crushes on teenagers and adults is fairly familiar to me - my older sister went through like ten of them when I was in grade school - but I can't think of any examples from either my own life or fiction where a teenager takes a romantic interest in someone that much younger. It's weird enough to me that it takes me out of the story, I wonder why it's there, and suddenly Koguma feels kind of like a proxy for other, less wholesome relationships the author could be drawing instead.

Is it paranoid to think this way? I suppose so. Nothing depicted between Omichi and Rin in the actual text so far has been objectionable. But the brain is wired to look for patterns, especially in fiction where everything's intentional. And this is Dynasty Scans, we have trained ourselves to look for all possible subtext. :V

last edited at May 1, 2023 2:56PM

But I'm wondering about precisely what has actually been depicted in this particular story that is the source of all this vague discomfort or of the aspersions cast on the author.

Well I can't speak for everyone but there's a way that the narrative has dwelt specifically on Koguma's body in earlier chapters - both our characters describe it as tiny and child-like repeatedly. That's not really an issue on its own, because Hino and Koguma are both the same age, and sufficiently well-realized characters with enough other things going on in their relationship that it doesn't feel like the reason the story is being read or written. But now there's this other, actual child character, being crushed on by a high schooler. I'm not used to that. Kids having crushes on teenagers and adults is fairly familiar to me - my older sister went through like ten of them when I was in grade school - but I can't think of any examples from either my own life or fiction where a teenager takes a romantic interest in someone that much younger. It's weird enough to me that it takes me out of the story, I wonder why it's there, and suddenly Koguma feels kind of like a proxy for other, less wholesome relationships the author could be drawing instead.

Is it paranoid to think this way? I suppose so. Nothing depicted between Omichi and Rin in the actual text so far has been objectionable. But the brain is wired to look for patterns, especially in fiction where everything's intentional. And this is Dynasty Scans, we have trained ourselves to look for all possible subtext. :V

Thanks for the reasonable response. The story doesn’t hit me that way at all—it’s been a highwire act all along where the story consistently feints towards being explicitly lewd and potentially exploitative but always ends up in a wholesome, and often extraordinarily caring, place, and I see no indication that it’s ever going to be anything else.

The story has explicitly thematized characters looking and/or acting older and/or younger than their physical ages, which is precisely what I recall about the first year of high school—some people looked like they were about ready for marriage while others (probably me among them) looked like they were only recently allowed to cross the street by themselves. And everyone, big and small, fairly crackling with adolescent hormones.

I just find it quite hard to believe that anyone could read this series in its entirety and think that anything objectionable is going to happen between Omichi and Rin.

The story has explicitly thematized characters looking and/or acting older and/or younger than their physical ages, which is precisely what I recall about the first year of high school—some people looked like they were about ready for marriage while others (probably me among them) looked like they were only recently allowed to cross the street by themselves. And everyone, big and small, fairly crackling with adolescent hormones.

I just find it quite hard to believe that anyone could read this series in its entirety and think that anything objectionable is going to happen between Omichi and Rin.

I'd also like to add that it's rather clear reading this, that Omichi was not attracted to Rin because she's a child, but quite the opposite, because Rin is possibly the most mature character in this entire manga.

Neat how things sped up in the latest chapters, waiting was worth it.

Also, people who went on a full rant about Omichi and started to badmouth the author should be ashamed of themselves. There's only a 3 years age gap between both characters. Furthermore, Omichi found herself attracted to Rin's maturity and courage in particular, not her body. She also made it clear that she wouldn't groom anyone and would wait. So yeah, go back to tumblr because no one cares.

last edited at May 1, 2023 5:46PM

WOW! GIRLS KISSING!!

b l e s s

Ignores whatverthehellthatcoversation was I;m glad Hino and Koguma are able to still wind up in ridiculous situations, even after the relationship upgrade. Also, it sounds like they need a wet-nap after all that kissin'

The story has explicitly thematized characters looking and/or acting older and/or younger than their physical ages, which is precisely what I recall about the first year of high school—some people looked like they were about ready for marriage while others (probably me among them) looked like they were only recently allowed to cross the street by themselves. And everyone, big and small, fairly crackling with adolescent hormones.

I just find it quite hard to believe that anyone could read this series in its entirety and think that anything objectionable is going to happen between Omichi and Rin.

I'd also like to add that it's rather clear reading this, that Omichi was not attracted to Rin because she's a child, but quite the opposite, because Rin is possibly the most mature character in this entire manga.

Look, I've got no skin in the moral outrage game on either side, but I have to disagree with you on the point of Rin's maturity.
Sorry, what kind of falling in love with a random older girl who helped you once, only taking no for an answer in word, but still wanting to find out who they liked so you could "beat" them, and only giving up once you saw that other person was similar to you, makes you think Rin is "the most mature character in this entire manga".

People keep saying she's mature, but to me, that looks like a childish crush.

Edit:
Maybe that's what this is, not that Rin is mature, but that Omichi is so immature she's on the same level. They both had the same kind of "have an admiration moment for this person you just met and think it's feelings of love and you have to date them."

last edited at May 3, 2023 4:36AM

The story has explicitly thematized characters looking and/or acting older and/or younger than their physical ages, which is precisely what I recall about the first year of high school—some people looked like they were about ready for marriage while others (probably me among them) looked like they were only recently allowed to cross the street by themselves. And everyone, big and small, fairly crackling with adolescent hormones.

I just find it quite hard to believe that anyone could read this series in its entirety and think that anything objectionable is going to happen between Omichi and Rin.

I'd also like to add that it's rather clear reading this, that Omichi was not attracted to Rin because she's a child, but quite the opposite, because Rin is possibly the most mature character in this entire manga.

Look, I've got no skin in the moral outrage game on either side, but I have to disagree with you on the point of Rin's maturity.
Sorry, what kind of falling in love with a random older girl who helped you once, only taking no for an answer in word, but still wanting to find out who they liked so you could "beat" them, and only giving up once you saw that other person was similar to you, makes you think Rin is "the most mature character in this entire manga".

People keep saying she's mature, but to me, that looks like a childish crush.

Edit:
Maybe that's what this is, not that Rin is mature, but that Omichi is so immature she's on the same level. They both had the same kind of "have an admiration moment for this person you just met and think it's feelings of love and you have to date them."

The reason she comes off as mature (rightfully so, imo) is that she's highly considerate, well spoken and thoughtful. Her feelings may be immature and she's clearly too inexperienced to understand and contextualize them fully, but her approach to- and analysis of them are quite advanced and eloquent.

By contrast, Omichi's own expertise is more technical knowledge and less analysis and deeper thinking despite being older, which makes her come off as childish by comparison. (Which is entirely realistic actually, some people really are just late bloomers and Omichi is only about 12)

IMO, it seem clear that the thing which attracted Omichi to Rin romantically is how maturely, honestly and deeply she analyses, approaches and lives by her feelings. On the "physical" attraction level, there seems to be some level of "Moe" appeal to the concept of a small child displaying maturity and wisdom beyond her years at play, which is a very Japanese culture thing that it's not entirely fair to analyze from a purely western viewpoint.

Still, I maintain that the dominant factor to Omichi's feelings is not Rin's age but rather, her mature and considerate personality. Omichi herself rationalized that what provoked her emotional attraction was how much she felt that Rin deserves to feel loved after all the hard work and thoughtfulness she puts into her feelings.
The only character I'd say is arguably more mature than Rin in the story tbh is Hino herself, but that's debatable since she very much treads the line between being deeply thoughtful and considerate of Koguma versus childishly indulging in a LOT of immature shenanigans on a daily basis.

last edited at May 3, 2023 6:30AM

It's baffling how people in here of all places ascribe a moral quality to people over who they fall in love with, as though they were responsible for it and deliberately chose it. (edit: or maybe rather "ascribe a moral value to the act of falling in love based on who falls in love with whom") So what, "Ez fix, just don't fall in love with a minor/someone younger than you"? Omi's situation couldn't be handled in a more "by the book" way than "welp, gonna have to wait until she's of age".

In a place like Dynasty you'd kind of expect people to understand that you're not in control of who you fall in love with – only of what you do about it.

last edited at May 3, 2023 1:08PM

Look, I've got no skin in the moral outrage game on either side, but I have to disagree with you on the point of Rin's maturity.
Sorry, what kind of falling in love with a random older girl who helped you once, only taking no for an answer in word, but still wanting to find out who they liked so you could "beat" them, and only giving up once you saw that other person was similar to you, makes you think Rin is "the most mature character in this entire manga".

I mean, have you seen the other characters in this manga?

(Ba-dum-tish)

last edited at May 3, 2023 5:08PM