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 . . ."

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

Don't you think it's really funny to see their opinions since we can get where these hates come from.

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.

Erika doesn't have to do anything.
As far as she is concerned, Koto/Aya relationship wouldn't last long anyway.
Erika is too kind to be a villain imo though.

And for koto…l think most of the hates she gets is from crazy Erika fans.
They just can't accept how could Koto not choose Erika, who is the best girl in their eyes.
Furthermore, Koto did treat Erika like shit while Erika keeps hopeless in love with her, which they deem Koto doesn't deserve it at all.
Well, it's understandable.

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

You are so right lol.
I will definitely fucking hate her if it turns out she is a perfect human being.

Why are people looking for a villain in a story that doesn't have nor need one? The 'antagonist' here is a difficult to deal with life situation, and all three of our main characters are the protagonists struggling with it in their own way. This is an extremely common format for a story, evil scheming secret villains are comparatively very very rare. You'll enjoy the story much more if you stop getting distracted searching for something that's not there and focus on what is: a human drama about three women struggling to adapt to some weird shit that happened.

The problem is Erika is the one seeing herself as a villain LOL.
She thought it's some kind of betrayal because she can't help but hope the two, who are both supposed to be her best friend would break up at the end of the road so she can finally get a chance.

And no one knows better than her that she only helped the two to get back together is not out of friendship but in the hope that Koto will move on from Aya since that seven years proved Koto can't move forward on her own.
That's the main reason she wrote that Tanabata wish.

I personally don't feel the same way (see her as a villain) but l truly can't bring myself to care about her suffering.
Unlike Aya's situation, Erika's struggle is really annoying since it's not really that hard to give up on sb who never looks in her direction.
Unfortunately, she doesn't even fucking try.(It's funny that some Erika fans blame Koto for it

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 8:19AM

Unlike Aya's situation, Erika's struggle is really annoying since it's not really that hard to give up on sb who never looks in her direction.
Unfortunately, she doesn't even fucking try.(It's funny that some Erika fans blame Koto for i

I view Erika's struggle as a little bit similar with Koto, not in a way of losing her loved one so suddenly but more in a way that her feelings get stuck for seven years. Erika couldn't even try to make a move on Koto, knowing well Koto was being stuck with Aya's disappearance.
Remember the chapter where Erika just found out that Koto tried to fall in love with someone else (but failed anyway)? Erika was wondering if it's even fair for Aya if she decided to try to make a move or confess her feelings to Koto. She definitely feel it doesn't feel right for her to do that so she never try. What she does is patiently wait for Koto to be able to heal from the trauma and move on from Aya completely before she could finally try on confessing her real feelings.

So, basically Aya's disappearance wasn't only affecting Koto's love life, but also Erika's.

ps. I wouldn't say I'm Erika's fans nor Koto's and neither Aya's. I love the main trio and fond of how distinctive they are, as simple as that

Akuma no sasayaki, indeed.

in this thread we have Koto x Erika fans and Koto x Aya fans, but is anyone else an Aya x Erika fan?

in this thread we have Koto x Erika fans and Koto x Aya fans, but is anyone else an Aya x Erika fan?

I'm sure I saw some of Aya x Erika fans from previous posts or in other forum aside dynasty. Logically speaking, in the big what if ground, I honestly think Aya x Erika would make a healthy couple (let's put aside the age gap matter in this theory). Both of them knows how to do things right, what needs to be done to move forward, and if they get tackled by an issue, they definitely would talk it out. Erika would bring it first to solve the matter meanwhile Aya would probably try to bottle it as she doesn't want to get abandoned like how her mother did. That's how I imagine it would be.

But still, that is not the point of this series looking how their hearts are already set, for now. It's still interesting to imagine them nonetheless.

After re-reading the 10 chapters, I noticed a few things.

• The time travel is never addressed. Aya just re-appeared after 7 years on the day Koto and Erika were visiting their old middle school and Koto was finally ready to move on. It's too much of a coincidence.

• Aya has that bracelet with a bell around her wrist at all times. It's often featured. I wonder how significant it is

• There's still that conversation between Aya and Erika on Tanabata day that hasn't been addressed yet. Did Aya forget or is she a version of Aya from the day before? Is it even the "real" Aya or are we in some kind of theater play?

I can't help but think that in the end, it'll be all a play and the characters will bow to the audience. But it'd be a bit too easy/corny. I hope there's more to it than "thank you for watching the play written by Koto".

in this thread we have Koto x Erika fans and Koto x Aya fans, but is anyone else an Aya x Erika fan?

Me me me! I've been shipping them since ch 1 lol. If they ever got together they'd totally be power couple material.

The time travel is never addressed. Aya just re-appeared after 7 years on the day Koto and Erika were visiting their old middle school and Koto was finally ready to move on. It's too much of a coincidence.

About this, I actually wonder what Erika was about to say before Koto cut her because of the bell sounds.

"Koto, you know..."
Was she about to finally tell her feelings and Aya reappeared at such perfect timing?

There's still that conversation between Aya and Erika on Tanabata day that hasn't been addressed yet. Did Aya forget or is she a version of Aya from the day before? Is it even the "real" Aya or are we in some kind of theater play?

Ya this makes me think that there might be parallel universe in the story. The time just didn't match up for the "current" Aya who was still on D-1 Tanabata, meanwhile Erika said that they had a talk during the Tanabata day. If that really is the case then there should be "original" Aya somewhere, the version who talked with Erika before disappear.

For now I believe there's something more than just this story being all a play, but we'll see. This back and forth story flow just hides so many things. What a smart way to get our brain to wonder here and there.

Ahhh geez I quite enjoyed Girl Through the Viewfinder but there's no doubt it was a bit rough around the edges, often saying less than would reasonably be expected a story. This one is on another level, like Kabocha is really figuring it out.

I'm super sad to have started reading this while it's ongoing. I love love the blank panels with just, staring. That's gotta be the Kabocha Specialty. I love the harsh transitions. The imagery? Oh my gosh the imagery. The allusions. The theming. Gosh, it's so cool to read an Age Gap story that actually has something to say about age. A yuri series that actually has a plot and unique, developed characters. The moodiness is excellent too, and the payoffs being so cute help it rarely feel suffocating.

The volume writing is really intriguing, too. Volume 1 is really mysterious and unsettling. There are secrets, and suggestions, and deep character issues. I assumed surely, this is a tragic story where someone did a very bad thing they shouldn't have. Then Volume 2 happens and some of that lingers but little is explored further in favour of backstory and slow plot development. Now Volume 3 is setting its own pace, expanding the scope of the story and honing in on Koto and Aya's relationship troubles. I'm not sure what to make of this. I thought for sure after Volume 1 this would be a Mystery/Drama exploring the origin and fallout from Aya's disappearance. That "broke the triangle," after all. Apparently, the story has a lot more to say. I really hope it's able to before closing.

(P.S. My absolute fav part of this story is Aya's character. Hard to describe exactly. She's just a great realisation of the "perfect" fish out of water.)

I'm starting to think that Koto is delusional or something, Aya is in her mind cause she can't forget her and Erika is just pretending to believe Koto, knowing the situation, just for her sanity (and waiting for her recover to finally be with her).

I'm starting to think that Koto is delusional or something, Aya is in her mind cause she can't forget her and Erika is just pretending to believe Koto, knowing the situation, just for her sanity (and waiting for her recover to finally be with her).

Wait--you mean that Aya never actually came back and everything has just been Koto's hallucination?

But we've seen returned-Aya interact with other people when Koto isn't around--kind of a lot, actually.

I'm starting to think that Koto is delusional or something, Aya is in her mind cause she can't forget her and Erika is just pretending to believe Koto, knowing the situation, just for her sanity (and waiting for her recover to finally be with her).

Wait--you mean that Aya never actually came back and everything has just been Koto's hallucination?

But we've seen returned-Aya interact with other people when Koto isn't around--kind of a lot, actually.

Maybe the Power of Lesbian Angst actually turned Koto's memory of Aya into a physical manifestation. It wouldn't be the first time someone let their ex dominate their existence.

This happened to a buddy of mine

I'm starting to think that Koto is delusional or something, Aya is in her mind cause she can't forget her and Erika is just pretending to believe Koto, knowing the situation, just for her sanity (and waiting for her recover to finally be with her).

Wait--you mean that Aya never actually came back and everything has just been Koto's hallucination?

But we've seen returned-Aya interact with other people when Koto isn't around--kind of a lot, actually.

Maybe the Power of Lesbian Angst actually turned Koto's memory of Aya into a physical manifestation. It wouldn't be the first time someone let their ex dominate their existence.

The Power of Lesbian Angst is certainly strong in this one--no doubt about that. I don't get the impression that's where the story is going, though.

But if so, then maybe Erika was hallucinating wishing that Aya would disappear, which means . . . Aya has been there all along!

An intriguing theory, to be sure . . .

Well yeah of course Koto would be like that. For Aya its just yesterday the last time she met Koto, but for Koto it's been 7 years without Aya.

last edited at Apr 22, 2024 8:52PM

this shit keeps getting better and better ngl it's a banger

this shit keeps getting better and better ngl it's a banger

100% not the words I would've used to describe this and I love it

I go through the 5 stages of grief reading this, seriously. Besides that, I absolutely love Kabocha's artwork. And that mysterious unsettling vibe they give at the end of chapters. I feel bad for all 3 of the main characters.

last edited at Apr 22, 2024 10:30PM

This manga, I swear to god. All heartache, no satisfaction. Everyone is lonely, nobody is happy, and everything is beautiful.

aaaaaagh

This build up with "I just want to go back to THAT summer", almost feels like Koto is going to go back in time