I like this manga BUT is this story arc done yet?

I like this manga BUT is this story arc done yet?

It's not an arc, it is the story

My heart wants Aki and Shiho to make up and fall in love because I love happy endings, but my brain says it wouldn't make sense to move this fast because just recently, Shiho was still big mad about her first love not noticing her feelings because she was too busy pawing after another girl.

Happy endings are fine, but does Shiho deserve to be happy after everything she’s done? She’s evil, she’s cruel, she’s a monster! She is the worst person in the story by a mile and her having a happy ending with Aki, ESPECIALLY after how she has treated Aki and the people Aki cares about, she really does not deserve to be happy

Lol that panel of yori and shiho facing each other was hilarious, as if yori actually gave a flying fuck about shiho or whatever she's up to. It's also hilarious how no one but hima could muster the strength to chase after shiho cuz she's such a pain to deal with, so even her bandmates avoid her like the plague when she's mad

last edited at May 27, 2023 5:25AM

Don't mind me, just hanging from the cliff here.

--- WARNING --- WARNING --- WARNING ---

Brace for Impact!

I should be happy that it looks like SS Girls are gonna win the competition AT LEAST, but this looks like a full-on confession. Please don't. At this point, I could accept "let's be friends again", as long as Aki adresses Shiho's faults and demands her to be less of a shithead. Though there is a higher chance of world peace tomorrow than that happening.

I await the next chapter the same way a passenger on a currently crashing plane awaits the landing.

EDIT: A passing thought: How effing amazing would it be if after that last panel with Aki's expression, the last song is a Babymetal - style thrash song about how much Shiho sucks and that the bint can get bent? Dear God, I would tell my future kids that they could heal cancer and their award ceremony would still be only the second-best moment of my life.

last edited at May 27, 2023 6:08AM

Happy endings are fine, but does Shiho deserve to be happy after everything she’s done? She’s evil, she’s cruel, she’s a monster! She is the worst person in the story by a mile and her having a happy ending with Aki, ESPECIALLY after how she has treated Aki and the people Aki cares about, she really does not deserve to be happy

Y'all need to chill and remember what kind of story we're in here.
It's not like Shiho assaulted, blackmailed or murdered someone. She was really just being bitch on purpose to distance herself from her former friends, antagonizing them bc "i can't be around her anymore and that'll be easier if she hates me". Her reactions are out of proportion compared to the vibe of the rest of the cast but that's it.

It's literally just a schoolyard argument between friends. Nobody here is evil or a monster or irredeemible. Sheesh.

Happy endings are fine, but does Shiho deserve to be happy after everything she’s done? She’s evil, she’s cruel, she’s a monster! She is the worst person in the story by a mile and her having a happy ending with Aki, ESPECIALLY after how she has treated Aki and the people Aki cares about, she really does not deserve to be happy

Y'all need to chill and remember what kind of story we're in here.
It's not like Shiho assaulted, blackmailed or murdered someone. She was really just being bitch on purpose to distance herself from her former friends, antagonizing them bc "i can't be around her anymore and that'll be easier if she hates me". Her reactions are out of proportion compared to the vibe of the rest of the cast but that's it.

It's literally just a schoolyard argument between friends. Nobody here is evil or a monster or irredeemible. Sheesh.

I completey agree with you. It is just that the treatment Shiho gets from the story and in the story and (and in this forum from some select people) does not match her actions and character, and this incongruity makes her something far more worse for readers than evil: It makes her annoying. Objectively, she is not evil and is shown to suffer under her own actions as well, but after all this time in the story, I understand why people react in a overblown way to her, and especially to people who seem to like her unquestionably, the same frustrating way she is treated by the story.

Personally I can't believe the the author has managed to drag this on for one more chapter. This wasn't a very efficient use of almost 30 pages, and we're still not done with that damned battle of the bands.

... and Shiho haven't learned a single goddamned thing in 42 chapters, if some stupid song or speech will suddenly make her learn, it's not going to be very believable for me.

last edited at May 27, 2023 6:55AM

The ideal would be for them to reconcile, become friends again and for the relationship to develop little by little, but I don't know if that will be the author's intention. Sales are great and there's an anime coming soon, so it's all up to them really.

Yeah I'm wondering how the series will continue after the "battle" ends as well. It could go like a lot of Korean series and follow both main "couples" while continuing with their trials and complications. That's the pattern it's followed up to now (main 1 gets it's focus, then main 2, then both together). There's not any clear outstanding issues though besides Shiho and Aki's situation, so more than anything I'm interested to see what the author wants to do. She says she's a fan of Aki, especially; and she likes the feedback she's gotten about Aki and Shiho's story, but I can't imagine she'll want to solely center them in the story still. So we'll see. It could also end after this but like you said it's doing so well (sales, anime and recent live) and from her comments it sounds like she has more to tell, at least for a bit. I'm honestly more interested in where this goes, than anything else with the story at the moment.

last edited at May 27, 2023 9:58AM

If nothing else there's always the universal school time plot/drama creator: the future. Himari is a first year while everyone in SS Girls are third years. Shiho and her band are all second years.

Graduation, getting separated, college, what comes after school. Plenty to worry about for everyone involved xD

last edited at May 27, 2023 9:29AM

Lol that panel of yori and shiho facing each other was hilarious, as if yori actually gave a flying fuck about shiho or whatever she's up to. It's also hilarious how no one but hima could muster the strength to chase after shiho cuz she's such a pain to deal with, so even her bandmates avoid her like the plague when she's mad

I mean, winning the competition is also important to Yori. SS lost during the audition and Shiho told her that "she has a long way to go" (I think it was the only time they spoke, lol). Not to mention, she even wrote a new song for the occasion. Whatever the case, Yori is lucky to have the plot armor on her side.

Happy endings are fine, but does Shiho deserve to be happy after everything she’s done? She’s evil, she’s cruel, she’s a monster! She is the worst person in the story by a mile and her having a happy ending with Aki, ESPECIALLY after how she has treated Aki and the people Aki cares about, she really does not deserve to be happy

Honestly, I thought you were being sarcastic at first. Shiho is the person who has suffered the most throughout the story, as she's someone who has always been burdened by expectations, pride, jealousy and guilt. I'm not denying the bad things she's done (I do believe that Shiho will eventually come to terms with why some of her actions were wrong and show accountability for them), but readers are overreacting in their criticism of her and this long Arc. The person she's hurt the most is herself, after all.

If nothing else there's always the universal school time plot/drama creator: the future. Himari is a first year while everyone in SS Girls are third years. Shiho and her band are all second years.

Graduation, getting separated, college, what comes after school. Plenty to worry about for everyone involved xD

That's true but I don't feel like she'll be interested in writing about those kinds of plots. At least I don't expect her to take that straightforward angle, if she even does go that route. She also seems really focused on depicting musical connection into the story, so I'm imagining a different kind of future for the series. But who knows. I'll be looking for some hints in the next chapter.

Lol that panel of yori and shiho facing each other was hilarious, as if yori actually gave a flying fuck about shiho or whatever she's up to. It's also hilarious how no one but hima could muster the strength to chase after shiho cuz she's such a pain to deal with, so even her bandmates avoid her like the plague when she's mad

I mean, winning the competition is also important to Yori. SS lost during the audition and Shiho told her that "she has a long way to go" (I think it was the only time they spoke, lol). Not to mention, she even wrote a new song for the occasion.

Also their depiction of what happened is imaginary and projection. Her friends didn't say anything about avoiding her. They actually didn't really speak this chapter at all. A "main character's only" kind of chapter.

last edited at May 27, 2023 10:06AM

I mean, winning the competition is also important to Yori. SS lost during the audition and Shiho told her that "she has a long way to go" (I think it was the only time they spoke, lol). Not to mention, she even wrote a new song for the occasion. Whatever the case, Yori is lucky to have the plot armor on her side.

At this point winning the battle is pointless, there's literally 0 stakes, heck even if Sunny spot were to lose as long as shiho listens to aki s song the plot could move as if nothing happened, besides is not like yori has something to prove to shiho as far as I'm concerned the only reason yori wanted to win was to help aki, the only time yori and shiho had something that barely resembles a rivalry was went shiho got a bit touchy Feely with hima to make yori jealous

Honestly, I thought you were being sarcastic at first. Shiho is the person who has suffered the most throughout the story, as she's someone who has always been burdened by expectations, pride, jealousy and guilt. I'm not denying the bad things she's done (I do believe that Shiho will eventually come to terms with why some of her actions were wrong and show accountability for them), but readers are overreacting in their criticism of her and this long Arc. The person she's hurt the most is herself, after all.

I mean you're kinda right about that last part, she's been an asshole and a pain in the ass to every person in her life but is not like she has done something morally reprehensible.

What puzzles me is why the people around her keep putting up with her shit, like sure she's a "realistic teen", but other "realisticas teens" would already be done with her, even if her character makes sense it's weird how everyone just shrugs their shoulders and go "good ol shiho am I rite" whenever she acts annoying.

As for her having a change of heart I highly doubt it, I'm sure that the next chapter will be about aki confessing and apologizing to shiho and shiho will look her over her shoulder and go "hmp I guess If you're that desperate I can forgive you and give you a chance to date me" and then every shiho fan will just write easays justifing and rationalizing her actions and about how aki and SS were actually the bad guys all along and shiho not only deserves the apology but also doesn't need to apologize

What puzzles me is why the people around her keep putting up with her shit, like sure she's a "realistic teen", but other "realisticas teens" would already be done with her, even if her character makes sense it's weird how everyone just shrugs their shoulders and go "good ol shiho am I rite" whenever she acts annoying.

Most of her friends know her background and seem to have accepted that her behaviour largely comes from those related issues. She's also not done as much as is often implied by some and most of her issues are related to competition and Aki. They simply believe her pros outweigh her cons and don't abandon her because she has faults.

every shiho fan will just write easays justifing and rationalizing her actions and about how aki and SS were actually the bad guys all along and shiho not only deserves the apology but also doesn't need to apologize

Who has done this exactly? Is there something you can point to as an example?

last edited at May 27, 2023 11:31AM

Shiho is literally me fr; anyways these damn cliffhangers keep beating me up

What puzzles me is why the people around her keep putting up with her shit, like sure she's a "realistic teen", but other "realisticas teens" would already be done with her, even if her character makes sense it's weird how everyone just shrugs their shoulders and go "good ol shiho am I rite" whenever she acts annoying.

That's an easy choice IMO. If she is your enemy, she can be so annoying as you know,but otherwise, she seems to be a friendly and reliable ally. Now Aki knows what makes Shiho her enemy, so it's reasonable that she takes action to regain a close friend and reduce an enemy.

As for her having a change of heart I highly doubt it, I'm sure that the next chapter will be about aki confessing and apologizing to shiho and shiho will look her over her shoulder and go "hmp I guess If you're that desperate I can forgive you and give you a chance to date me" and then every shiho fan will just write easays justifing and rationalizing her actions and about how aki and SS were actually the bad guys all along and shiho not only deserves the apology but also doesn't need to apologize

Shiho does need to apologize to Yori and SSgirls, and I think Aki does need to apologize as well bc she did break her heart though it's negligent. But I'm sure that next chapter won't be like that. I am guessing like:
(Jun.) Aki: I finally realize how important you are. Shiho: @@ (crying all chapter). And they have another private talk at the end of the chapter.
(Jul.) No update because of the release of volumn 8.
(Aug.) Shiho (to SSG): Sorry for all I do, blablabla... SSG: We won't forgive you unless you be our manager for the graduation concert.
(Sep.~Oct.) Some daily stuffs. Yori and Shiho become close friends while sharing the topic "how not to be the bottom".
(Nov.) Another drama but this time between Momoka and Hajime, There will be a cliffhanger at the end.
(Dec.) No update because of the release of volumn 9.
(Jan.) TV ANIMATION START!!! Momoka and Hajime solve their problem and become lovers.
(Feb.~Mar.) Climax of the graduation concert. At the end AkiShiho become lovers. YoriHima finally have sex.
(Apr.) Some after story. TV animation and manga end. Everybody happy. THE END :)

last edited at May 27, 2023 12:55PM

Most of her friends know her background and seem to have accepted that her behaviour largely comes from those related issues. She's also not done as much as is often implied by some and most of her issues are related to competition and Aki. They simply believe her pros outweigh her cons and don't abandon her because she has faults.

Well no she hasn't done anything particularly bad or morally reprehensible but she's just a pain in the ass and a hard to deal person, you have to be a special kind of saint to tolerate her shit (wich shiho I lucky cuz every person aside from her Is that kind of person)

Who has done this exactly? Is there something you can point to as an example?

Is not just a especific instance but people went from "there's no way shiho left the band and acts likes an asshole just because she was in love with aki that'd be such a shallow reason" to "teenagers are dumb and acting dumb is perfectly normal"
We also went from "shiho must have a a good reason for being the way she is" to "being a sore losers is perfectly reasonable she just like me fr fr". And lets not forget the most outrageous of all, when not long ago people were like "there's no way aki is gonna blame herself for this whole mess, of course shiho will snap out of her idiotic behavior and will assume responsability" to "n...n....no that's not the story blaming aki that's just aki assuming the fault in the heat of the moment, surely shiho will snap out her idiotic behavior.... Any time soon... You just wait..... Surely she will do it"
The levels of copium on this forum have been raising exponentially with every new chapter, people have been moving the goalpost of what's acceptable or good writing to acomodate shiho and the story. At this point I'm convinced that both the story and shiho can get away with almost anything because people will justify almost anything or just headcanon a solution

besides is not like yori has something to prove to shiho as far as I'm concerned the only reason yori wanted to win was to help aki, the only time yori and shiho had something that barely resembles a rivalry was went shiho got a bit touchy Feely with hima to make yori jealous

Yori has an inferiority complex towards Shiho. It's kind of ironic considering what happened in the past, but we've never seen Shiho have any kind of thoughts regarding Yori, yet the opposite has happened several times. She has caused Yori to have insecurities both regarding her skills as a singer/performer and in her personal life with Himari.

What puzzles me is why the people around her keep putting up with her shit, like sure she's a "realistic teen", but other "realisticas teens" would already be done with her, even if her character makes sense it's weird how everyone just shrugs their shoulders and go "good ol shiho am I rite" whenever she acts annoying.

Shiho has actually always been very nice while she's hanging out with Momoka and Hajime, or when interacting with Himari alone.

Yori has an inferiority complex towards Shiho. It's kind of ironic considering what happened in the past, but we've never seen Shiho have any kind of thoughts regarding Yori, yet the opposite has happened several times. She has caused Yori to have insecurities both regarding her skills as a singer/performer and in her personal life with Himari.

No she doesn't, yori is the complete opposite of shiho, music is just a hobby for her and she's not interested in being better than anyone,that's the whole point of this supposed rivarly. ALL of the SS girls are surprised at how good lorelei is but yori has never been shown to really think of shiho or the difference in their performance. Yeah she gets mad cuz shiho used hima as bargain in their bet and keeps getting in the way of their time together, but she doesn't have any kind of complex, she's jealous and that's the extent of their supposed rivarly, yori having some kind of complex is literally just your headcanon,

Edit: yori lives in shiho s head so rent free to the point that she even speaks Ill of her in front of himari, that's just how much she despises yori

Shiho has actually always been very nice while she's hanging out with Momoka and Hajime, or when interacting with Himari alone.

Shiho only acts friendly with hima. Momoka and Hajime stated that they don't really talk with shiho aside from band stuff and that they are kind of afraid to confront her on her personal issues

last edited at May 27, 2023 1:49PM

yori lives in shiho s head so rent free to the point that she even speaks Ill of her in front of himari, that's just how much she despises yori

It's literally the exact opposite. For example, when Yori and Himari were about to kiss for the first time in the karaoke, she decided not to out of her jealousy for Shiho. When they were hanging out together during the summer festival, Shiho's sole presence ruined Yori's mood for the rest of the date (she even ended up crying in front of Himari). There's even a chapter where Yori said "I definitely don't want to lose to Izumi-san", so she does care about winning the competition.

You won't find Shiho thinking or talking about her unless someone asked her opinion. To be fair, it's not Yori's fault. Shiho lives rent free in everyone's head, even the readers'.

last edited at May 27, 2023 2:34PM

It's literally the exact opposite. For example, when Yori and Himari were about to kiss for the first time in the karaoke, she decided not to out of her jealousy for Shiho. When they were hanging out together during the summer festival, Shiho's sole presence ruined Yori's mood for the rest of the date (she even ended up crying in front of Himari). There's even a chapter where Yori said "I definitely don't want to lose to Izumi-san", so she does care about winning the competition.

It's all about hima at that point that has little to nothing to do with the battle of the bands and shiho s actions were specifically planned to bother yori, is not that the mere presence of shiho makes yori unease, she's specifically trying to mud the water in their relationship, at some point she's pating himari, looks at yori and gives her a smug look. The idea that shiho holds no ill intention to yori is simply not true cuz the whole deal of hima being lorelei s manager was specifically design to bother yori

last edited at May 27, 2023 3:12PM

Shiho lives rent free in everyone's head, even the readers'.

FFS, I’d hardly say that having an annoying character shoved in reader’s faces for chapter after chapter counts as that character “living rent-free in [our] heads.”

I’d love to be given the opportunity to forget that Shiho ever existed.

I’d love to be given the opportunity to forget that Shiho ever existed.

Don't mean to be rude but like with Shiho's friends do the pros of the series outweigh its cons for you? If not, the opportunity is there. I've certainly taken that opportunity on more than one occasion. She's kind of cemented as a core main character and as I mentioned before, her story with Aki is important to the author (from what she's said). I honestly feel more and more that this is the story she meant to get to from the start. It's certainly taken up the highest percentage of the running time this far. So this is the story, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on where you stand I guess.

Well no she hasn't done anything particularly bad or morally reprehensible but she's just a pain in the ass and a hard to deal person, you have to be a special kind of saint to tolerate her shit (wich shiho I lucky cuz every person aside from her Is that kind of person).

I don't think you need to be a saint. She's chill in most interactions and the series obviously picks specific moments to cover. During normal days she's been a good friend to them. She has thorny spots that her friends know are touchy subjects but that's normal in a friendship (or maybe it used to be normal?). Sometimes you know that a friend isn't their best under certain conditions. That's not being difficult necessarily, or unique to Shiho, that's just people. It's an exaggeration to say you'd need to be a saint, you just can't be too sensitive. But anyway that's all subjective, so we'll just talk around each other. Bottom line is it's not unreal for her friends to view her differently than you might. They just like her more than not and likely understand/sympathize with where her rougher edges are coming from.

The levels of copium on this forum have been raising exponentially with every new chapter, people have been moving the goalpost of what's acceptable or good writing to accommodate shiho and the story. At this point I'm convinced that both the story and shiho can get away with almost anything because people will justify almost anything or just headcanon a solution.

I'd say it's goes the opposite. The responses to Shiho seem to get worse and more exaggerated the more people realize that others look at her character differently. The idea seems to some, unfathomable and seems to bring out some odder responses sometimes. But we'll probably agree to disagree on that. This'll be a discussion for the rest of the series probably. It'll be interesting to see what happens if the anime can get up to these points in the story.

last edited at May 28, 2023 7:37AM

I’d love to be given the opportunity to forget that Shiho ever existed.

Don't mean to be rude but like with Shiho's friends do the pros of the series outweigh its cons for you? If not, the opportunity is there. I've certainly taken that opportunity on more than one occasion. She's kind of cemented as a core main character and as I mentioned before, her story with Aki is important to the author (from what she's said). I honestly feel more and more that this is the story she meant to get to from the start. It's certainly taken up the highest percentage of the running time this far. So this is the story, fortunately or unfortunately, depending on where you stand I guess.

All that is completely obvious—do you think you are imparting some sort of new information here? If this is just a roundabout way of articulating the tired old cliché of “If you dislike the story so much, why do you keep reading it?”, I have two reasons:

I liked the original story very much, and was interested in the development of the characters who were introduced as the protagonists. If Shiho’s conflict is what this story was “meant to be,” the whole beginning section is a completely inexplicable botch job.

Second, as a student of serial storytelling as a form, I’m interested in the process of how promising stories can go wrong. This one seems to me to be an obvious example of “antagonist becomes breakout character,” leading to disproportionate character development and loss of focus, as in the series What Does the Fox Say?, where the authors became so enamored of developing the backstory of poor-little-rich-girl Seju that the entire structure of the series was thrown out of wack, just as this one has been.

As many people have pointed out, the outcome of the whole “battle of the bands,” a plot mechanic that has been set up at such tedious length, has been rendered completely irrelevant by the revelation of the “secret” behind Shiho’s shitty attitude, and the excessive length and melodramatic intensity of the Shiho-angst storyline (god forbid anyone call it an “arc” at this point) amounts to the author writing themselves into a blind alley—if this series has become “Shiho’s story,” any instantaneous presto-change-o of Aki’s feelings toward Shiho would be simply ridiculous, while a “let’s start over as friends” gambit would be incredibly weak tea in response to Shiho’s drawn-out angsty posturings.

I realize by now that in regard to this series that it’s impossible to communicate the idea that “this author has made a mistake in their handling of this character” rather than “I dislike this imaginary person that so many readers relate to and find compelling,” but since I don’t primarily read in order to relate to imaginary people, I guess that’s the way it goes.

EDIT: And to be clear, it’s not a professional mistake for an author to choose a narrative strategy that proves popular with readers, just an artistic one. If structural soundness gets in the way of a person making a living, so be it. That doesn’t mean the narrative structure is sound, though.

last edited at May 28, 2023 9:58AM