Forum › Ayaka is in Love with Hiroko! discussion

ColdGoldLazarus
Cglishmini
joined Apr 12, 2018

Is it bad that I skimmed those spoilers and just got even more interested? Idk, I'm enjoying the trainwreck, don't quite get why people are so up in arms. Again, may just be personal experience talking, but this feels like a "reality is unrealistic" sort of thing.

last edited at May 14, 2023 6:03PM

C2731dea4191b182ecd8f18498562a84
joined Sep 1, 2017

Okay I know Hiroko's density is approaching neutron star levels, but Ayaka is being pretty dense too. It's obvious that Ayaka's feminine charms are having an effect on Hiroko, but she is stoically putting up a fight to resist the.
Ayaka should realize it's time to change tactics. Instead of using the direct approach. Ayaka can play it cool. Maybe she could start a little "girl talk" and work in a story about how her last girlfriend dumped her for guy or something just to show Hiroko, they are playing for the same team.

The Real Haman Karn
Haman%20icon
joined Nov 29, 2021

Is it bad that I skimmed those spoilers and just got even more interested? Idk, I'm enjoying the trainwreck, don't quite get why people are so up in arms. Again, may just be personal experience talking, but this feels like a "reality is unrealistic" sort of thing.

yeah me too i'm way more interested reading all that.

Even before that though just reading the dialogue of this chapter, I get the feeling all the haters are kinda misreading the character and reinforcing their own bias. "Why is she so oblivious? How could a supposed womanizer be so blind?" But here we see it isn't just that Hiroko's too damn dense to see Ayaka's crush; rather as her work superior she's so in her head suppressing her instincts to go after this cute girl (because of gossip? workplace dynamics? is she afraid of losing her job? of Ayaka losing her job because of her? Is the combination of being her superior and a lesbian too scandalous?) that she second guesses and rationalizes all the obvious signs. Its not like this stereotype emerges in a vacuum. Under the perfect senpai veneer she's incredibly, tragically, high strung. So to me its less of the usual generic dense lesbian yuri parody and more an exaggeration of how homophobic workplace dynamics create this kind of eternal misunderstanding.

Anyway, Ayaka's sad faces are funny I don't see the problem. Definitely gonna stick around

Screen%20shot%202024-03-24%20at%209.39.46%20am
joined May 8, 2017

Hey guys, just so you know, I was interested in this series a couple months ago and bought the raws up to volume 2 (volume 3 just released) and if you're annoyed by Hiroko's complete inability to understand the words "I'm in love with you," I suggest you either drop this now or wait for all the chapters to release so you can read it all in one shot, because it just gets so, so much worse.

Now I'm fascinated. I'm having a hard time conceiving of an inability to understand that's "much, much worse" than what we've already seen.

Here's the basic rundown of major events up to the end of volume 2 for people who really want to know

you know what they say

limbo is the holiest state

Fowgib%20me%20(2)
joined Nov 28, 2021

Thank goodness for those spoilers. Now I too can continue to enjoy this horrible terrible density of gayness whilst also not tearing my hair out over it.

20240617_120826
joined Mar 24, 2015

[inhales]

[screams]

D5aad09a-7f7c-4c16-aad1-2b0b94587149
joined Nov 13, 2022

I belly laughed when Hiroko was like “Oh shit gotta say something straight” and then proceeded to say the LEAST straight thing

White%20rose%20index
joined Aug 16, 2018

Ayaka should realize it's time to change tactics. Instead of using the direct approach. Ayaka can play it cool. Maybe she could start a little "girl talk" and work in a story about how her last girlfriend dumped her for guy or something just to show Hiroko, they are playing for the same team.

She could also have taken advantage of the situation when they were drinking. Alcohol is the universal answer to romantic obstacles. She could have feigned inebriation to then pounce on Hiroko and demand sex.

But Ayaka is too pure for that...

last edited at May 14, 2023 11:25PM

Sin%20t%c3%adtulo-min
joined Sep 28, 2011

OH FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, YOU ABSOLUTELY USELESS LESBIAN, ARE YOU REALLY LEAVING EVERYTHING TO THIS CUTE BAMBI GOD FUCKING DAMN IT YOU INFURIATING WOMAN

Purple Library Guy
Kare%20kano%20joker
joined Mar 3, 2013

OK, this is ridiculous, but I think that Hiroko being a womanizer is not one of the problems. My suspicion is that she normally gets girls by hanging out in lesbian bars and other spaces where she knows whoever she's interacting with is gay and probably single and looking. So she's good at picking up people in situations where she already knows what she's dealing with and she doesn't have to deal with the person in other contexts. So she's got two social lives, with the "workplace and normal life" side normally totally sealed off from the "no-complications romance" side. If this is right, she not only has no gaydar (having never needed to develop it) but if anything actively avoids having it, because outside of gay scene hangouts she normally doesn't want to know.

Still ridiculous. Oh, so ridiculous. But not for the particular reason of her being supposedly a player.

joined Nov 22, 2019

I updated my spoiler comment to label which spoiler is the one where you get to learn about Hiroko's past, just in case people only want to see that one.

Sandra2
joined Mar 22, 2013

Is it bad that I skimmed those spoilers and just got even more interested? Idk, I'm enjoying the trainwreck, don't quite get why people are so up in arms. Again, may just be personal experience talking, but this feels like a "reality is unrealistic" sort of thing.

Nah, I'm with you. I love the author's style of storytelling. it's never quite too serious, so the drama is fine (even good) for me. :)

543633_50
joined Sep 10, 2022

Is it bad that I skimmed those spoilers and just got even more interested? Idk, I'm enjoying the trainwreck, don't quite get why people are so up in arms. Again, may just be personal experience talking, but this feels like a "reality is unrealistic" sort of thing.

yeah me too i'm way more interested reading all that.

Even before that though just reading the dialogue of this chapter, I get the feeling all the haters are kinda misreading the character and reinforcing their own bias. "Why is she so oblivious? How could a supposed womanizer be so blind?" But here we see it isn't just that Hiroko's too damn dense to see Ayaka's crush; rather as her work superior she's so in her head suppressing her instincts to go after this cute girl (because of gossip? workplace dynamics? is she afraid of losing her job? of Ayaka losing her job because of her? Is the combination of being her superior and a lesbian too scandalous?) that she second guesses and rationalizes all the obvious signs. Its not like this stereotype emerges in a vacuum. Under the perfect senpai veneer she's incredibly, tragically, high strung. So to me its less of the usual generic dense lesbian yuri parody and more an exaggeration of how homophobic workplace dynamics create this kind of eternal misunderstanding.

Anyway, Ayaka's sad faces are funny I don't see the problem. Definitely gonna stick around

Execution is extremely important. And a bullet list of plot points does not show nearly the full picture. Knowing what happens, I don't think that list (or any story reduced to a list of plot points) is very fair or useful (last volume is fun also). But whatever. When people don't like things, they really don't like it.

As for Ayaka's sad face: they are a highlight. But it's even better when she does take charge. You know she's never down for the count, she's very strong willed.

last edited at May 15, 2023 11:03AM

Tumblr_3d1efdc4f3fb1ee16acd2f13f08afe0c_1e0d545a_12802
joined Mar 8, 2014

I love this because it has this realistic setting but with way over the top scenarios.
To be honest I'm much more frustrated with the typical, all girls yuri where men don't exist and everyone is gay for some weird reason like straight people don't exist lol. I mean I guess it's fine but it annoys me that all the difficulties queer people go through are brushed off in those stories. This one highlights them without being angsty and kinda makes fun of then in a way. Like, the whole story is sorta making fun of Hiroko being kind of an idiot.

Charon-sml
joined Feb 14, 2016

I would say that if there's any author whose works would make it worth extending benefit of the doubt to a series like this it would be Sal Jiang, and I have to say that while I hate this sort of story being told for melodrama, it's excellent as a comedy. One of the funniest things I've read in a while. Love it.

Unnamed
joined Nov 6, 2018

I feel like people are overthinking this series. It's just really funny, people.

last edited at May 16, 2023 3:11PM

secret-original
joined Oct 4, 2015

Did not see that twist coming, I kind of thought Risa was going to help them get together.

543633_50
joined Sep 10, 2022

Did not see that twist coming, I kind of thought Risa was going to help them get together.

Yeah but at least she's not an ass about it. She can't help her feelings but wants to give them space since she knows her friends feelings.

last edited at May 16, 2023 3:32PM

joined Feb 1, 2021

Goofy faces were on point this chapter

Prettygirlsmall
joined Jul 4, 2021

The dilemma here reminds me a bit of the manhua "Straight Girl Trap." The basic premise of that one is similar, where a woman gets a crush on her boss and has to struggle to avoid falling into the eponymous straight girl trap- that is, the way that straight women can display intimacy with their friends in ways that, to them, are 100% platonic, but to a Sapphic person reads as romantic/potentially sexual. Hence, it's a trap you can fall into, thinking that they're into you when they're really not.

Add in cultures where being openly queer is still an incredibly dicey prospect, and I get why Hiroko would not only dismiss Ayaka's signals as being that platonic intimacy, but why she'd want them to be so. Hiroko is clearly attracted to Ayaka, but has multiple reasons (even setting aside spoilers) why she'd feel like Ayaka reciprocating would actually be a lot more trouble than it's worth. She keeps acting like Ayaka isn't sincere because, I think, there's a part of her that really wishes that were true.

Tron-legacy
joined Dec 11, 2017

Execution is extremely important. And a bullet list of plot points does not show nearly the full picture. Knowing what happens, I don't think that list (or any story reduced to a list of plot points) is very fair or useful (last volume is fun also). But whatever. When people don't like things, they really don't like it.

I mean, the fact is if somebody doesn't like something, you're never going to reason them into liking it. Neither side is wrong, it's just a matter of preference. The only place I would take exception is if anybody wants to pretend like their opinion is somehow objective.

Otherwise, if you don't like it, cool. Bye. If you do, neat, let's talk about what we like about it.

Everybody needs to stop trying to win.

joined May 10, 2021

Between my love for Ayaka and hate towards Hiroko, it's a rough one for sure.
But my fucking words is Ayaka too damn precious!

joined Aug 21, 2017

Seething, gnashing my teeth. At least somebody figured out something.

Utenaanthy01
joined Aug 4, 2018

Risa more likeable in a few pages than Hiroko in 9 chapters.

Avatar%20tartuffe%20clipboard01b
joined Sep 20, 2022

Time to pick your team, everyone! Risa x Ayaka or Hiroko x Ayaka?

Team Risa for me, cause Hiroko makes me crazy irritated.

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