Koto should have said "Aya looks young but she is actually my girlfriend," Nobody really cared and just assumed it is platonic (no sex). The unfortunate side is that unlike a heterosexual couple, lesbian couple does not have the legal age loop hole. The loop hole being a grown man can have sex with his teenage fiancee, with the law implying that the two people are planning to get married, with proof (such as a marriage contract). But since same sex couple cannot get married, that loophole does not work.

Koto clearly didn't think of the consequences of dating a kid until now. Aya is 21 in law now, yes. But you still have to suffer criticism from the people who don't know the whole story (not like they would believe it even if you confessed). The best way to say is my girlfriend just look fucking young. They would accept it. However, Koto doesn't even seem to have that kind of courage. Just went straight to "she is my relative's kid" route.
If Aya wants to break up with her for that, l would totally understand.

I get the logic here, but Aya is 15 (or whatever age she was when she was spirited away I cant recall) - she hasn't aged and she hasn't grown, so physically and mentally she is 15. I think it would also be unfair for her to be presented as a 21 year old who looks young, so she then has that expectation to act like a 21 year old. Aya so far is the only one who is pushing herself to be older than she is

For that reason I get why Koto hesitated, because she is dating Aya as 15 year old Aya and not 21 year old Aya. Im not surprised she lied. I definitely agree with you that she hasn't thought through the consequences of dating her at all LOL, so messy but so fun

So, is there any adult beside Koto, Erika and their gang that know about Aya's condition? Local police or child service for example? Or they keep silent about it?

Child service? She's officially 21. There are records of her. She exists.

Who would believe "I traveled magically through time"?

As far the authorities are concerned, she's an adult and can handle herself.

Right. I don't understand people who say "Aya should go back to school, blah blah blah". "She should contact child service", etc... it's clearly not the point at all. She doesn't need a guardian at her official age.

She's legally 21. There's no way around it. The time travel hasn't been addressed (yet), but going around saying you've been spirited away for seven years ala Urashima Taro or Rip Van Winkle is a surefire way to get locked up in a mental ward. And what middle school would enroll a 21 yo?

Aya has no family left also. Maybe her mother will show up later, but as of now, her only family, her grandpa, is dead (and it's been hinted it wasn't going well with him). So, in effect, Koto and Erika (and the two people from the drama club) are the only people who'll accept her and believe her.

Now, what the author is doing is exploring what consequences it has. On her relationship, on her daily life, what is she supposed to do now, etc.

Aya clearly loves Koto and doesn't want to be a burden to her. I think it relates to how she's been abandoned by her mother. In chapter 4, Aya gets super anxious when she gets the impression Koto is distancing herself from her and has a flashback of her mother. So it's not surprising she wants to do everything to blend in Koto's life seamlessly.

But the reality of her body and mind is still here and these are these discrepancies that are explored.

last edited at Jan 25, 2024 3:14AM

I get the logic here, but Aya is 15 (or whatever age she was when she was spirited away I cant recall)

Aya is 14.

she hasn't aged and she hasn't grown, so physically and mentally she is 15. I think it would also be unfair for her to be presented as a 21 year old who looks young, so she then has that expectation to act like a 21 year old. Aya so far is the only one who is pushing herself to be older than she is

It's not about her mental or physical age which they just can't do anything to change. It's about Koto's attitude. She clearly couldn't bear any potential risk of criticism (even there's no fear of BEING ARRESTED since Aya is 21 in law). How can Aya expect her to persist in this age-gap relationship？
To think Aya's mother must have some good reasons to dump her own daughter. From Aya's point of view, Koto one day would do the same thing also for some reasonable excuses. And we all know it would because Koto is just a fucking coward from the start.

For that reason I get why Koto hesitated, because she is dating Aya as 15 year old Aya and not 21 year old Aya. Im not surprised she lied.

Guess what, I am not surprised at all too.

last edited at Jan 25, 2024 3:26AM

Koto should have said "Aya looks young but she is actually my girlfriend," Nobody really cared and just assumed it is platonic (no sex).

No? First of all, if she truly looking that young, this is a problem. She is 14 yo, it's not easy to make her look like she is older.

Second, they haven't talk much about their relationship with each other. We don't know if Koto want to do her coming out, and it's the same for Aya, as far as Koto knows. It's something you discuss beforehand, not something you impose on someone.

And third, she got caught by surprised, about her 14yo girlfriend... I'm pretty much sure the vast majority of people would have reacted the same way...

So, is there any adult beside Koto, Erika and their gang that know about Aya's condition? Local police or child service for example? Or they keep silent about it?

Child service? She's officially 21. There are records of her. She exists.

Who would believe "I traveled magically through time"?

As far the authorities are concerned, she's an adult and can handle herself.

Yeap. That police officer they talked to was only concerned about her "missing person" status. It was like:

PO: "Okay so her name is Ushio Aya, she went missing at 14, now she's back and she's 21. She's an adult and she's not missing anymore. She claims she wasn't abducted or anything, so there's no criminal case. I'm closing the missing person file. That's it, thank you, good bye."
Aya: "But... what should I do now?!?"
PO: "Get a job, bum."

So, is there any adult beside Koto, Erika and their gang that know about Aya's condition? Local police or child service for example? Or they keep silent about it?

Child service? She's officially 21. There are records of her. She exists.

Who would believe "I traveled magically through time"?

As far the authorities are concerned, she's an adult and can handle herself.

Yeap. That police officer they talked to was only concerned about her "missing person" status. It was like:

PO: "Okay so her name is Ushio Aya, she went missing at 14, now she's back and she's 21. She's an adult and she's not missing anymore. She claims she wasn't abducted or anything, so there's no criminal case. I'm closing the missing person file. That's it, thank you, good bye."
Aya: "But... what should I do now?!?"
PO: "Get a job, bum."

Right, not even,

PO: "So, just out of curiosity, where ya been for those 7 years?"
Aya: ". . ."
PO: "OK, well then, stay out of trouble. See ya."

I still think the Japanese reality-TV/tabloid-documentary people are really falling down on the job here.

I'll just leave this here: https://findmyparent.org/country_page/japan/

It's a difference in culture I guess. Family issues are considered highly private. Police probably didn't spread the news.

She's over 20 and so not considered a child anymore. She has no family, but some people vouched for her and she's not homeless. What else are they supposed to do?

I'll just leave this here: https://findmyparent.org/country_page/japan/

It's a difference in culture I guess. Family issues are considered highly private. Police probably didn't spread the news.

She's over 20 and so not considered a child anymore. She has no family, but some people vouched for her and she's not homeless. What else are they supposed to do?

Sure, it all be explained away any number of ways--as Erika says in Chapter 2: "Supernatural or whatever . . . ."

But it's not just "missing person is found," but "missing adolescent returns after 7 years completely unchanged physically and mentally." And there are no parents or other family involved at all.

As the former classmate says, "Quite the outlandish tale indeed."

But it's not just "missing person is found," but "missing adolescent returns after 7 years completely unchanged physically and mentally." And there are no parents or other family involved at all.

Come to think of it, what happened to her parents and family?

But it's not just "missing person is found," but "missing adolescent returns after 7 years completely unchanged physically and mentally."

Sounds like a hoax to me. :-P

But it's not just "missing person is found," but "missing adolescent returns after 7 years completely unchanged physically and mentally."

Sounds like a hoax to me. :-P

Cue the crowds of paparazzi mobbing her while shouting, "Ushio-san! Look this way! Ushio-san, why won't you come clean to the public about where you really were? Aren't you really part of a sex-slave ring?" etc.

Seriously, I know this story just wants to bracket off the question of what exactly happened to Aya (at least for now), but the "rabid press horde publicly hounds innocent person" scene is so ubiquitous in Japanese and other Asian media that I can't help imagining how it fit in here.

last edited at Jan 25, 2024 12:57PM

But it's not just "missing person is found," but "missing adolescent returns after 7 years completely unchanged physically and mentally."

Sounds like a hoax to me. :-P

Cue the crowds of paparazzi mobbing her while shouting, "Ushio-san! Look this way! Ushio-san, why won't you come clean to the public about where you really were? Aren't you really part of a sex-slave ring?" etc.

Seriously, I know this story just wants to bracket off the question of what exactly happened to Aya (at least for now), but the "rabid press horde publicly hounds innocent person" scene is so ubiquitous in Japanese and other Asian media that I can't help imagining how it fit in here.

Then again, she's only the two-hundred-ninety-fourth person this week who pretends she comes from the past, or the future, or escaped from an alien prison, or travelled through dimensions.

People love chasing after their 15 minutes of fame and there's only so much the media can cover before boring their audience to sleep.

I want Aya to fall in love with Kumagaya-san and stop bothering Koto. Please please Kami-sama grant my wish.

Aya needs a fresh start. There's too much baggage in her relationship with Koto. Knowing that Aya is a child of fourteen weighs heavily on both of their hearts. They aren't comfortable with each other. The poor girls haven't even smooched since Aya returned!

The world sees Aya as an adult. A very childlike 21-year-old adult who is hopelessly incompetent, yes, sure; but still an adult. Somebody like Kumagaya, who doesn't know about any time-travel shit and will treat her like an adorably naive and innocent adult woman, is perfect for her.

And in that way Erika and Koto can finally be together yes yes yes. :D :D :D

The time travel hasn't been addressed (yet), but going around saying you've been spirited away for seven years ala Urashima Taro or Rip Van Winkle is a surefire way to get locked up in a mental ward. And what middle school would enroll a 21 yo?

So, in effect, Koto and Erika (and the two people from the drama club) are the only people who'll accept her and believe her.

Now, what the author is doing is exploring what consequences it has. On her relationship, on her daily life, what is she supposed to do now, etc.

That's so true. There's no place where someone can go and report to the laws that something mysterious, inexplicable, paranormal happened to them. Even Erika, Koto, and other witnesses can't do nothing except to accept the truth.

What is very interesting, Aya was spirited away physically and spiritually at once. She even does not remember one whole day (day of Festival is completely erased from her memory and we know that she does not remember her conversation with Erica on that day).

I'm very interested how the author will present this story and explain phenomena when someone is completely pulled out from time and returned again, because that is what happens to persons who experience death. It's not the case with Aya, not in "usual" way how it happens, but it has some similarities (and differences) which I want to point on, from my perspective.

Usually the cases of "spirited away" persons nobody else can notice.
And it happens in much shorter time than 7 years like with Aya.
State when it happens is called tardemah (deep sleep, death or death-like state when awareness is disconnected from the body, a state what splits someone in two, etc.) I found the word researching about after death experiences, and its complexity with many definitions fits the best and covers all what I know from my personal experience:

In reality tardemah-like state is presented (mostly) as gender dysphoria (awareness of transgender persons is actually feeling of disconnection with their bodies; there is a split in two, like between their gender (awareness) and assigned sex (body).

In other cases, tardemah (deep sleep) is state of lucid dreams (our awareness is awaken and we are aware that our body is sleeping)
In this state we often can experience sleep paralysis.
Or we can free connect with our supraconsciousness levels (higher states of awareness) and have meaningful dreams-visions which can have healing effects to us, or give us important directions or info.

Next level, lucid dream state when body sleeps, but our awareness is disconnected from the body and can "move around" by itself (similar state with clinical death, but body keeps its functions, it's just sleeping deeply and we can often see our body "from above")

Next level, state of "prophetic visions" (awareness is disconnected from the body and can travel through time, in past or future, and we can see and experience key moments important to us, or even look at the timeline of our life if we want).
(This often happens to people who experience deeper state of clinical death)

The deepest level of tardemah is death (of the body)
All functions of the body stopped to work, but our awareness is completely awaken and cut off from the body and becomes pure energy with feeling of self (and others). Our awareness expands to the max, we clearly know and understand everything (that state is not quite possible to explain using words, it's another dimension for us here)

Usually, persons who experience clinical death are passing through few (lower) levels of tardemah described here, or some of us are living it in reality (through gender dysphoria), but it's very rare to come back from the deepest level. We all are passing through all of these levels (in sleep or when we die), but we don't remember the last level, because when we are born, our brain is still undeveloped and we must learn everything from the beginning. So we can't remember "the other side" of life.
I'm probably one of the rarest persons who returned from the deepest level, and my brain was already developed enough to remember, and my knowledge and experiences were saved that I did not have to learn from the beginning. So, I can give some of my insights to people, and it's truly authentic.

Comparing my strange experience with what is happening to Aya, it's very similar:

• Aya can't take any legal actions trying to prove or explain what truly happened to her, nor she can get a proper help or understanding from laws and society (It was THE SAME for me! If someone did read my comment on Boyfriend Sometimes Girlfriend, they know what I'm talking about).

• Aya lost memory on one whole day (me too, in my "spirited away" situation, I can't reconstruct in my memory one whole day)
  After return and not existing in continuum of time, nothing is same anymore.
  Even shorter period of "non-existence in time continuum" can cause disorientation in time. Imagine what 7 years can do to Aya keeping her the same after everything around her drastically changed!
  (I still have a problem with concept of time after 7 years from my returning, but in the beginning it was more intensive and more harder to orient than now)
  It's so real and very correctly presented in manga through Aya, you are basically a child after returning. Others will not see any differences in your appearance, but for you everything changed. To me Aya is kind of metaphor for my personal state and how I truly felt after experiencing all those strange and inexplicable things.

• people can't relate to Aya (and me) according to very rare or unusual situation (or they can be just helpless like Koto and Erika, not knowing exactly how to behave in such situation)

I hope that my explanations can bring people closer to understand some not quite usual, but not impossible situations.
People like Aya really exist, practically left on their own after experiencing something very rare, what we could call "supernatural", since we don't have better words or better awareness about it.
That's why I'm very curious how the author will present this story until the end. It really resonates with me.
And I'm glad to see people engaged to this story genuinely interested to understand situation and find solutions.

In my opinion, person who could help Aya now is Erica (introducing her to the troupe, and possibly open the door to Aya for acting, to do what she was doing the best)
It's very important for Aya to find some purpose in her current situation, not just part time job. What Aya truly needs is to start self-growth again.
She is now like an uprooted plant, transplanted in new soil after 7 years of hibernation. Finding only a part time job would be like putting that tender plant into concrete.

last edited at Jan 25, 2024 1:58PM

H A U S posted:

I want Aya to fall in love with Kumagaya-san and stop bothering Koto. Please please Kami-sama grant my wish.

Aya needs a fresh start. There's too much baggage in her relationship with Koto. Knowing that Aya is a child of fourteen weighs heavily on both of their hearts. They aren't comfortable with each other. The poor girls haven't even smooched since Aya returned!

The world sees Aya as an adult. A very childlike 21-year-old adult who is hopelessly incompetent, yes, sure; but still an adult. Somebody like Kumagaya, who doesn't know about any time-travel shit and will treat her like an adorably naive and innocent adult woman, is perfect for her.

Kumagaya saw her, like everyone else not in the know, as what she really is: a 14 yo girl.

Kumagaya saw her, like everyone else not in the know, as what she really is: a 14 yo girl.

Things will obviously change when she sees her resume (which says she's 21 yo).

Aya needs a fresh start. There's too much baggage in her relationship with Koto. Knowing that Aya is a child of fourteen weighs heavily on both of their hearts. They aren't comfortable with each other.

One thing I've noticed is that they act like they are mindblocked when it comes to Aya's issues. They're living together but they don't talk about the future at all. They just vegetate through their daily lives and carefully avoid any uncomfortable talk.

Aya is legally 21 and needs to think about what she wants to do with her life. She's a middle school dropout. She can't go to college. She could make a living from part-time jobs, but that would be a rather bleak future. She loves theatre, however, and aiming to be an actress is a possibility. She doesn't need any kind of certificate to join a troupe as an apprentice. But Koto, who should be giving her gentle pushes in the right direction, isn't doing anything at all—because knowledge of the truth about Aya obstructs her thinking. Kumagaya, on the other hand, can only think of her as an adult woman with the looks of a teen... meaning she most certainly would encourage her to follow her dream.

And in that way Erika and Koto can finally be together yes yes yes. :D :D :D

And this looks like a winner to me too. 7w7

Kumagaya saw her, like everyone else not in the know, as what she really is: a 14 yo girl.

Things will obviously change when she sees her resume (which says she's 21 yo).

One of the oldest tropes in manga & anime is the adult woman who looks just like a loli or a young teen girl. People always mistake her for a child and it leads to funny misunderstandings.

Kumagaya, when she sees Aya's resume, will be like OMG THEY REALLY EXIST!!!!!!

Besides this, I agree with HayaH and E. Vigée Le Brun in that 1) things with Koto are not working, and 2) Aya needs to seriously think about trying for an apprenticeship in a troupe and a future in professional acting.

And in that way Erika and Koto can finally be together yes yes yes.

That relationship is cursed. It's never gonna work out even if Aya and Koto don't stay together.

I'm very interested how the author will present this story and explain phenomena when someone is completely pulled out from time and returned again

I certainly could end up being totally wrong, but at this point I'm not certain that the author ever will present any explanation for Aya's disappearance/reappearance at all, except maybe something hand wavy at the end like "the mysteries of Tanabata, star-crossed lovers, something, something . . .".

Which is fine. This could well end up being a very good story by just concentrating on the relationships among the characters--other manga series have featured weirder premises than this without worrying too much about the nuts and bolts of how those premises work.

There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, after all. Or so I am given to understand.

last edited at Jan 25, 2024 2:39PM

I still have 3 chapters and a half to do.

Best to keep you all on tenterhooks :D

I'm very interested how the author will present this story and explain phenomena when someone is completely pulled out from time and returned again

I certainly could end up being totally wrong, but at this point I'm not certain that the author ever will present any explanation for Aya's disappearance/reappearance at all, except maybe something hand wavy at the end like "the mysteries of Tanabata, star-crossed lovers, something, something . . .".

I wouldn't mind it. Just, I found few things possibly connected with some "revelations" how and why Aya disappeared.
First is mystery about conversation of Aya and Erika at the day of the festival.
Then, Koto's dream (or real memory?) that she saw Aya that day.
And the third, Aya does not remember that day at all (it's some kind of amnesia, because that day really did happen in reality for all of them).
Those are my arguments, why I think that we will find out something more about mysterious disappearance of Aya. Maybe not about mystery itself, so you can be right anyway. But something will be revealed to us, for sure.

Which is fine. This could well end up being a very good story by just concentrating on the relationships among the characters--other manga series have featured weirder premises than this without worrying too much about the nuts and bolts of how those premises work.

Yes. You are right here. I also totally enjoy this story already focused only on relationships between characters. More important is to accept (new) reality in which you find yourself, without thinking much about past. We all have strange things happened to us, if that "work" wants to stay hidden from us, we can't do nothing to change it.

There are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy, after all. Or so I am given to understand.

You are wise.
I enjoyed very much reading your thoughts. It's really cool attitude that you shared. And helpful to me personally to see some things from a different perspective. Thanks.

I still have 3 chapters and a half to do.

Is it over or is that just what's come out so far?