I'm 55 years old. I have never slapped anybody out of shock/surprise in my life. It's completely foreign to my way of thinking. I can't imagine doing so in that context unless I thought the other person was a genuine threat to my physical well-being.

I'm 35, I've accidentally slapped people twice in my life. Yes, it's not something I go to, but it really is a reaction of shock sometimes. I hated it, apologised profusely afterwards, and have always tried to control myself better.

NOOOOOO THEY WERE SO CLOSE TO GREATNESS

Although I hope this finally pushes these two to actually talk about their feelings
And I really, REALLY hope the author doesn't drag this out

Well, some of us can't really understand why people would slap others as a reaction, some do, it's ok, we all are different, the important thing here is...This will most likely help them get to a point of acknowledging their feelings..OR one will kinda run away and create even more distance and we got 4 more chapters of that, I dunno, could be either way now for me.

I'm 55 years old. I have never slapped anybody out of shock/surprise in my life. It's completely foreign to my way of thinking. I can't imagine doing so in that context unless I thought the other person was a genuine threat to my physical well-being.

So when I see Ruriko slap Kurumi, I don't think "Wow, Ruriko must have been really pushed to her limit." I think "Wow, Ruriko really needs to work on her impulse control." Which is probably not the reaction the mangaka was hoping to provoke.

Fight/flight/fawn/freeze; everyone has a different response to shock/danger. There isn’t going to be a 100% common response to an unexpected stimuli for humans. We just aren’t all built the same.

Am I confused? Probably. This situation has nothing to do with a gay-perceived straight relationship. These girls are married. They present to the entire world as a lesbian couple. Even if they don’t think of themselves as anything but two people, they have explicitly put themselves on record as thinking that a same-sex relationship is fine and normal.
So why the slap? It seems totally out of character for Ruriko. And now I get confused, because I am unable to differentiate what I think Ruriko’s reaction should be and what mine would be. If I were in this situation, and was suddenly kissed by the woman I love, I would certainly not hit her. More likely would be that I would collapse in maelstrom of tears of happiness-confusion-fear of it not being real.
The conclusion. It’s a painful and unpleasant plot device.

WHY WOULD YOU FUCKING DO THAT

A slap felt like a bit much, it wasn't even a kiss on the lips was it? Looked like a kiss on the cheek to me.

Well, that's a problem.

yikes, that was awkward

Also for people confused about the slap, this is how I interpreted it:
Ruriko is deeply in love with Kurumi, who she believes is actively looking for a man to marry for herself and eventually divorce her. The first part of the chapter shows us that she is really trying her hardest to try not to let her emotions "overflow." She is trying her hardest, while on the other hand, Kurumi kisses her on the cheek and I'm pretty sure was going for one on the lips after that. I suppose that the slap was Ruriko's defense mechanism. She's clearly setting up boundaries for herself, but Kurumi is actively trying to break them down, even though she's not even aware of it. The real kicker here is that Kurumi is drunk (though she definitely sobered up after that slap lol). We know that they both feel the same way about each other, but they don't know that. Ruriko is just extremely confused and reacted it in a bad way.

Personally, I think the way she acted was realistic. She's absolutely shocked at almost being kissed on the lips by someone she thinks she has unrequited feelings for.

Well that was a weird and fucked-up response. I guess that's up there with the idiots who stay ON the gas pedal when panicking instead of hitting the brake.

Have fun with the consequences of that!

Well that was a weird and fucked-up response. I guess that's up there with the idiots who stay ON the gas pedal when panicking instead of hitting the brake.

Amusingly enough, hitting the brake actually describes her behavior much better - and depending on the situation, can be exactly the wrong reaction in a car as well.

the slap isnt really confusing as much as its truly shocking, due to this being out of nowhere behavior from this character, and it feeling completely out of place as a reaction to a sudden kiss.

many, including myself, see this slap as an overreaction made for the sake of drama, to which could have easily been replaced with the less violent alternative, a harmless push that of course conveys the same feelings and intentions the slap does to the readers.

to make a long story short, her negative reaction isnt the issue, but her negative action is an issue.

how can she slap lol, but also like yeah she wouldn't want a kiss to happen like that while drunk, just another gal pal extension how scary. it should be serious business and real. so panic is understandable, though I personally would not slap

I admit for the most part I've been enjoying this story, but wow it has quite a few "wtf where did that come from" moments. The slap in the latest chapter being the biggest wtf yet.

Ruriko slaps so hard

Ruriko slaps so hard

She's a banger alrighty.

I didn't realise because I thought it was a completely normal story point.
Guys, guys, Dynasty Commenters who always overreact to everything: stop being so melodramatic. This is a story, and the slap was the best way to get across the drama of the situation. Pushing her away would absolutely have not got the point across that this was trying to make.
That, and she probably didn't slap her that hard, you drama queens. It's only as bad as someone giving you a non-consensual kiss in the first place, it wasn't "violence"

Not gonna lie, the writing in this manga can be very flawed.

I didn't realise because I thought it was a completely normal story point.
Guys, guys, Dynasty Commenters who always overreact to everything: stop being so melodramatic. This is a story, and the slap was the best way to get across the drama of the situation. Pushing her away would absolutely have not got the point across that this was trying to make.
That, and she probably didn't slap her that hard, you drama queens. It's only as bad as someone giving you a non-consensual kiss in the first place, it wasn't "violence"

Nobody is being melodramatic. We just think slapping people is bad. You yourself agree, because when you slapped two people, you felt regret, you tried to make amends, and you resolved not to do it again.

And hey, that's grown-up shit right there. That's how a mature adult handles their business when they make a mistake, and I got nothing but respect for it.

But obviously you think you did something wrong by slapping those two people. Why else would you be so contrite?

I didn't realise because I thought it was a completely normal story point.
Guys, guys, Dynasty Commenters who always overreact to everything: stop being so melodramatic. This is a story, and the slap was the best way to get across the drama of the situation. Pushing her away would absolutely have not got the point across that this was trying to make.
That, and she probably didn't slap her that hard, you drama queens. It's only as bad as someone giving you a non-consensual kiss in the first place, it wasn't "violence"

Nobody is being melodramatic. We just think slapping people is bad. You yourself agree, because when you slapped two people, you felt regret, you tried to make amends, and you resolved not to do it again.

And hey, that's grown-up shit right there. That's how a mature adult handles their business when they make a mistake, and I got nothing but respect for it.

But obviously you think you did something wrong by slapping those two people. Why else would you be so contrite?

I wasn't saying that Ririko did "nothing wrong", just that y'all are reacting like she took a big swing and smacked her across the face, or punched her and left a bruise. This wasn't a domestic violence situation, this was a "how dare you" situation.
And yes, I felt bad that I slapped someone, I didn't feel like "oh damn, I'm the worst person in the world, how dare I use violence in such a heinous way".

Also, heck, for one of them, I apologised, but you know what? I don't think that it was the totally wrong reaction to slap someone that time they grabbed my ass as a joke, so you know. Perspective. We both did wrong, and the girl I slapped was like, fair enough, I'm sorry too.
(the time I was a stupid teenager and slapped someone because I was angry, that, I did feel awful for, because I was the only one in the wrong. Two totally different situations, just FYI).

last edited at Jul 4, 2023 10:17AM

The word smack is in all caps so I assume it's a critical hit physically and emotionally.

My next 2 months would be exciting, anticipating 2 black-haired lesbians (Sorawo and Ruriko) on the verge of greatness.

And yes, I felt bad that I slapped someone, I didn't feel like "oh damn, I'm the worst person in the world, how dare I use violence in such a heinous way".

I don't think that about Ruriko either. I don't think this is the sudden reveal that Ruriko has secretly been a horrible person all along and this is the point where the mangaka reveals Ruriko's hidden dark side.

Looking at it in-character, Ruriko is a kind person who made a mistake. It's one she will recognize and acknowledge, just as you did. Amends will be made, bridges will be rebuilt, and she and Kurumi will get their Happily Ever After. That's super obvious from the way the story has progressed so far. There's five more chapters to go in this volume, so hopefully the mangaka doesn't drag it out until the end.

Looking at it from a meta perspective, I think it's an instance of the mangaka needing some drama, reaching into their Great Big Bag of Tropes, and pulling out the first thing they grabbed without considering just how many people would regard it as crossing a fairly significant line. It's values dissonance, like I mentioned upthread.

last edited at Jul 4, 2023 10:24AM

Looking at it from a meta perspective, I think it's an instance of the mangaka needing some drama, reaching into their Great Big Bag of Tropes, and pulling out the first thing they grabbed without considering just how many people would regard it as crossing a fairly significant line. It's values dissonance, like I mentioned upthread.

I can't say I disagree, but you are missing my point: the commenters here are like, how dare this ever happen in a manga, how can Ruriko be so awful, this is totally out of character, violence is never the answer, she should have pushed her away, etc.

This being "a trope" is exactly my point. It was being used to get across the point that Ruriko didn't just playfully be like, hehe no, stop. It was a record-scratch moment, where Ruriko completely rejected the advance in a way that could not be interpreted any other way but "don't ever touch me". (We know different, but to be on the receiving end of it with no explanation, it was a complete shutdown). To be all like "in real life, this wouldn't happen/this would be a bad thing to do" is beside the point. Ruriko likely feels exactly as bad about this as she should, but has no idea about the effects of it because she thought this was just some drunk play or something.

I didn't realise because I thought it was a completely normal story point.
Guys, guys, Dynasty Commenters who always overreact to everything: stop being so melodramatic. This is a story, and the slap was the best way to get across the drama of the situation. Pushing her away would absolutely have not got the point across that this was trying to make.
That, and she probably didn't slap her that hard, you drama queens. It's only as bad as someone giving you a non-consensual kiss in the first place, it wasn't "violence"

this is indeed a very old trope of the romance genre which usually end with a harmless push, but this time its a more violent slap which changes the meaning of this scene almost entirely. it takes the readers attention away from the usual intentions of the scene which is to evoke shock and surprise, and instead adds a sudden layer of "why did she use such force in this situation?" into the mix.

long story short, the slap fails to get the point across as clearly as the push does, while also adding suspicion onto the characters nature for choosing to react so violently, which in turn further ruins the scenes intentions.

In the next chapter Ruriko is going to use the baseball bat to get the point across better