Forum › How to Break a Triangle discussion
I 100% think this boy's backstory is going to involve bullying & his own same-sex crush. Unrealistic expectation? Maybe, but we already have the coincidence of him not finishing middle school, so why not?
Is it implied the boy also got lost in a vacuum somewhere for x number of years? Probably not, but that was the first thing I thought of rather than him being a potential love interest.
It's just implied the boy dropped out of middle school, presumably because of delinquency/family issues.
Also, neither of them seem to be interested in the other romantically. He just related because he thought she had similar circumstances.
People seeing romance here are just as bad as the sister : creepy.
Oh no, Koto is about to do something really stupid, isn't she?
The final page Koto looks like Aya already cheated on her, WTF. That's so out of the line I can't even convince myself things would get better once they have talk.
Koto obviously doesn't want anyone besides Erika to approach her little precious girlfriend.
She already tried to persuade Aya to quit the job while knowing Aya was not getting along with the boy at her work place. I can't predict what Koto would do now Aya has made friend with him.
And Koto clearly prefers Aya to stay at that little apartment she rent and just do nothing but wait for her to come back from college or work.
But there's no way in the world Aya would fucking do that, no matter how much she loves Koto.
It's hard to imagine she would let herself rely on someone ( even is her lover or soulmate ) at that level while she already had experience of being abandoned by her own mom.
She is mature and clever as hell while being a 14 yo girl. Normal middle schooler definitely wouldn't act like that, which makes me wonder what Aya had been through to have that kind of maturity.
However, she can be so oblivious sometimes lol.
last edited at Apr 7, 2024 4:47AM
Reading this manga, I kind of relate a lot to what Erika feels tbh. Instead of the whole “love triangle” or “missing person” shenanigan, my “Koto” was someone who was in love with a boy back in middle school, and I was jealous but couldn’t bring myself to tell her since yknow, we were both girls, so I’m sure she would’ve been grossed out by it. I wish I could have told her sooner about this, but it’s too late now and she’s happy with that boy and I’m honestly glad for her. Even though the pain of my worries for confessing was still there, I wish I would’ve done that instead so I didn’t have to carry on a weight in my chest whenever she tells me about him. That’s just on my part though, we don't really talk anymore now. Either than that, I’m hoping the best for what goes on in this manga, and for Erika.
Koto's breaking down a little... Though it appears that she herself is aware that she's still stuck at the time Aya disappeared.
I truly hope she'll get better and start moving forward and gets her happy ending too, one way or another. Though not as much as Erika. She moved forward despite her feelings stagnating, which is why I love her and wish for her the best (which, at least at the moment, isn't Koto).
On the other hand, manga like this, with some exceptions, typically don't bother with a resolution for side characters, especially when that resolution would involve someone outside the main cast. I'm afraid Erika would end up single because the pages never showed her interacting with anything except Aya and Koto. And that'd suck. Praying for a Sayaka x Haru equivalent ending for Erika.
Ooohhh trouble in paradise? LOL.
Many people in this forum clearly doesn't understand Koto's suffering from that PTSD and we will see them come at her soon after reading the last chapter.
Yup, I don't get how people are not seeing that. Not that I think it justify anything, but her reactions makes senses with her trauma.
The hate she gets and the way people are dissecting her actions each chapter is a getting a bit old...
I love mentally ill women.
The way Koto is reacting makes perfect sense to me, even if it is not quite healthy to worry like this.
The hate she gets and the way people are dissecting her actions each chapter is a getting a bit old...
People here are kinda unhinged with their hate lol the first few chapters everyone hated Erika and thought she was horrible for having feelings for Koto and never speaking up, ignoring that she had no way of making a move on a friend grieving the tragic disappearance/death of her SO
Then after Erika didn't turn out to be the classic villain trying to stir shit, everyone hates Koto, ignoring she is clearly traumatized over losing Aya.
Next on the hate train is Aya probably, after she makes a typical 14 year old blunder, instead of acting as a perfect enlightened human haha
last edited at Apr 7, 2024 11:18AM
Very interesting chapter and curious to see where this is going.
I also agree that the boy likely is not going to be a love rival in any real way, what is much more likely is that he's going to be a catalyst for getting the more messed up side of Koto fully out in the open and it indeed feels like the manga is setting up her mental issues now to explode into the story in the next couple of chapters. In all likelihood, that will then be a moment for Aya to realise that Koto isn't nearly as mature as she thought and for everyone (possibly including Erika) to see just how much the events surrounding Aya have messed up Koto mentally (though Erika might actually know already, she seems the most aware of them all).
Now, I think it's important to stress that the current Koto-Aya relationship is more than a little bit toxic. Besides the obviously questionable age-gap thing, Koto has clearly acted possessive this chapter and tried to stifle Aya's necessary growth as a person. Having said that, I don't think Koto herself is really aware of what she's doing and neither do I "hate" her for this, she's just a girl who's gone through some really heavy trauma and never had the adequate support to process that. Still, that leaves a fundamental problem in their relationship that I just can't see a satisfying solution for at all. Koto needs therapy more than anything else and the entire relationship with Aya is just so fraught with historical trauma and issues that I personally struggle to see a way in which it could become a healthy or normal relationship without a similarly heavy divine intervention like the one that made Aya disappear in the first place, basically giving her back the years she missed (and I have a feeling that might actually end up being what we get).
Ultimately, what's really interesting about this manga though is that every character has issues which make having a healthy relationship with the rest difficult but none of them are really bad people per say, all their issues are completely understandable and the dynamic is tragic more than anything else. I really really hope we'll get a serious and satisfying development going forward but I'm also afraid that doing that is going to be hard.
Also, neither of them seem to be interested in the other romantically. He just related because he thought she had similar circumstances.
People seeing romance here are just as bad as the sister : creepy.
I read his sisters reaction as her just being glad he opened up to someone his age
Many people in this forum clearly doesn't understand Koto's suffering from that PTSD and we will see them come at her soon after reading the last chapter.
It's like this every time a character is clearly mentally ill, sadly. They seem to expect rationality all the time, even if the story depends on the character's current lack of awareness or control over their behaviour.
Koto is clearly not doing this out of malice, she's probably not even aware that the way she is acting about it is toxic and will impact both of them negatively later on. She can't help but worry that Aya will disappear again, so this is her attempt at keeping the girl safe and close to her.
Koto's entire problem is that she is deeply scared of being abandoned and can't move on, and really, who would be well if their girlfriend suddenly disappears and then comes back a few years later the same way they were before? It's a very... unusual situation that can't be treated as if it had only 2 right answers.
No, it's not that the way she is acting is good and correct, but it's to be expected when she is mentally ill, never got over her love and never learnt how to deal with her feelings. You don't become an adult and wake up knowing everything about life ever the next day. She's not evil or manipulative for that, neither are the other characters for wanting to move forward.
As the other poster said, those events are most likely going to culminate into her exploding and I'm very excited for it. She'll have to learn the hard way that she can't keep Aya caged, and that the best thing to do is allow her to recover from the 7 years she wasn't there, meet others her age and in a similar situation, just like the boy.
I don't think that this will have a fully happy ending anyway. Koto's fears aren't completely baseless when Aya could very well disappear again, if it happened once, it could happen again. We don't know the cause, how it happened... So it makes sense why she thinks keeping her in a safe, closed space under her watch would be the best option. They love each other and are forced to be in an abnormal and unhealthy situation, a lost child living with someone seeping poison, unaware that she's bringing harm and possibly ruining their relationship.
The characters are human and expecting them to be perfect and act 'in the proper way' all the time is boring.
It sucks that every time a new chapter comes out it's always the same "this character BAD and is doing that because BAD!" and I won't deny that I'm contributing to that by engaging, too.
Let them get into trouble, pay for it and learn from their mistakes or maybe even become more messed up!
I think all of them have good reasons for being the way they are.
I know it's a weird hangup to have, but stuff like the "Of course it's impossible for me to attend a regular high school" keeps coming up and it always takes me right out of it - like, why? Why would it be? Maybe it's weird to readily accept time travel but consider this weird bureaucratic situation to be strange, but seriously, what's keeping her from resuming her "normal" life path? She'd be surrounded by a completely different class, but that's no different from what a transfer student would go through.
I know it's a weird hangup to have, but stuff like the "Of course it's impossible for me to attend a regular high school" keeps coming up and it always takes me right out of it - like, why? Why would it be? Maybe it's weird to readily accept time travel but consider this weird bureaucratic situation to be strange, but seriously, what's keeping her from resuming her "normal" life path? She'd be surrounded by a completely different class, but that's no different from what a transfer student would go through.
Because any Japanese high school she'd look to enter would look at her paperwork, see that she's legally 21 and then politely decline. You can't just go back to a regular old high school if you're an adult in Japan (and probably many other places in the world) and despite the time travel stuff, that's precisely what Aya's documents will make her: a legal adult.
I know it's a weird hangup to have, but stuff like the "Of course it's impossible for me to attend a regular high school" keeps coming up and it always takes me right out of it - like, why? Why would it be? Maybe it's weird to readily accept time travel but consider this weird bureaucratic situation to be strange, but seriously, what's keeping her from resuming her "normal" life path? She'd be surrounded by a completely different class, but that's no different from what a transfer student would go through.
Because any Japanese high school she'd look to enter would look at her paperwork, see that she's legally 21 and then politely decline. You can't just go back to a regular old high school if you're an adult in Japan (and probably many other places in the world) and despite the time travel stuff, that's precisely what Aya's documents will make her: a legal adult.
Right, I don't really know if such a thing is officially disallowed in the US, but I've known plenty of adults who have gotten their GED (General Education Diploma, a high-school diploma substitute) by means of adult education/night school.
There are a lot of reasons why that's a better option for older students (not least because most adults have to earn a living) and also why having much older students in a regular high school might be sub-optimal for everybody.
Now, a time-traveled-nominally-21-but-physically-and-mentally-still-a-middle-schooler would be an exceptional case, to be sure.
The characters are human and expecting them to be perfect and act 'in the proper way' all the time is boring.
Exactly what I also think! If every characters in the story act accordingly, the series would probably end in like 5 chapters or so. That would be sad (at least for me) because I really do enjoy reading this one.
That's so far-fetched. It's not like errors in someone's paperwork are unheard of or legally incorrigible. She's very clearly not an adult in any sense. In chapters 2 and 3, it's mentioned that she's had her identity vouched for and is being interrogated by the police, what happened to that? Did she never check in with her own middle school after her return?
She'd still be the spitting image of any school photographs taken at the time, with all the stuff in her bag not having aged a day either. The idea that she'd be turned down as "technically an adult now" rather than just re-enter school where she left off, solely on the basis of her original birth year, is completely bonkers to me.
last edited at Apr 8, 2024 12:56PM
That's so far-fetched. It's not like errors in someone's paperwork are unheard of or legally incorrigible. She's very clearly not an adult in any sense. In chapters 2 and 3, it's mentioned that she's had her identity vouched for and is being interrogated by the police, what happened to that? Did she never check in with her own middle school after her return?
Why should she? Saying what?--"It's me, I'm back seven years later, ready to pick up where I left off by joining a cohort of classmates who were barely in grade school the last time I was here?"
She'd still be the spitting image of any school photographs taken at the time, with all the stuff in her bag not having aged a day either. The idea that she'd be turned down as "technically an adult now" rather than just re-enter school where she left off, solely on the basis of her original birth year, is completely bonkers to me.
Are you saying that school authorities, once her identity was confirmed, would simply treat her as a 14-year old just because she looks young?
Many people in this forum clearly doesn't understand Koto's suffering from that PTSD and we will see them come at her soon after reading the last chapter.
Yup, I don't get how people are not seeing that. Not that I think it justify anything, but her reactions makes senses with her trauma.
I honestly forgot about that aspect of the story XD
Like, obviously Koto's got a lot of fear about Aya disappearing again -- that makes total sense! But when the chapters are spaced out like this and each character has a complicated backstory and inner dialogue that motivates their behavior, it can be hard to remember what each person might be feeling, and why they're acting that way.
Although it can feel annoying when everyone in the forum seems to attack a certain character, it's actually interesting to me psychologically. Even in stories where we're privy to each character's inner thoughts, it's still difficult to face the complicated reality that each person can be correct and justified within their framework while still causing others pain. No wonder we have difficulties communicating in real life! We don't even get to know other people's inner workings in real life!
"Manga forums are a microcosm that display the idiosyncrasies of the human psyche...."
scratching imaginary beard thoughtfully
That's so far-fetched. It's not like errors in someone's paperwork are unheard of or legally incorrigible. She's very clearly not an adult in any sense. In chapters 2 and 3, it's mentioned that she's had her identity vouched for and is being interrogated by the police, what happened to that? Did she never check in with her own middle school after her return?
"I got spirited away seven years ago and I'm back. Can I resume my education where I left off? Officially, I'm 21, but I'm 14 really. Trust me."
As explained before, from the POV of the authorities, she was a missing person that reappeared. Her reasons for disappearing and reappearing are not something the Japanese police will look into too closely, because of their strong privacy laws and culture.
You may find it strange that she wasn't grilled by the police until she spilled out what happened to her, but it's not that strange from the POV of a Japanese reader. As far the authorities are concerned, she's been confirmed to be the same person, she's 21, she's an adult, she has people willing to give her a home, no crime has been committed that they know of, so, end of story.
She'd still be the spitting image of any school photographs taken at the time, with all the stuff in her bag not having aged a day either. The idea that she'd be turned down as "technically an adult now" rather than just re-enter school where she left off, solely on the basis of her original birth year, is completely bonkers to me.
Some people look really young and can be confused for teens. I had a friend who was tiny and had a youthful face and even though she was 20+ she often had to show her id to prove she wasn't a minor.
You may find it strange that she wasn't grilled by the police until she spilled out what happened to her, but it's not that strange from the POV of a Japanese reader.
Complicated by the fact that Aya has no idea what actually happened to her, so no matter how intense the interrogation might be she has no answers to give.
given speculation about the boy
it'd be a twist if spiriting away happens regularly in this world, at some low rate, but people don't talk about it, because it's not frequent enough to be "not crazy".
given speculation about the boy
it'd be a twist if spiriting away happens regularly in this world, at some low rate, but people don't talk about it, because it's not frequent enough to be "not crazy".
Right--and somehow it always happens around Tanabata, so if anybody does think they notice anything, they just shrug their shoulders and think, "weird--Tanabata, man . . ."