OrangePekoe
Admin posted:

Dammit this chapter was such vibes but it said NOTHING! Ahh. It was really great to see the past again. I hope Koto takes it easy on poor Aya…

I don't think it "said nothing". It elaborated on Koto's obsession about Aya and how she clings to a perfect picture of her in the past. Over seven years, Koto could never forget Aya, even for a minute. She tried to change, tried to move on, tried to date other people, but she just couldn't fill up the hole Aya left.

The box symbolizes all her memories of Aya she keeps locked up, unchanging and idealized. And the final panel shows her locking up in that box the returned Aya.

But the returned Aya's starting to change and it doesn't bode well for their future relationship.

OrangePekoe
Admin posted:

Dammit this chapter was such vibes but it said NOTHING! Ahh. It was really great to see the past again. I hope Koto takes it easy on poor Aya…

I don't think it "said nothing". It elaborated on Koto's obsession about Aya and how she clings to a perfect picture of her in the past. Over seven years, Koto could never forget Aya, even for a minute. She tried to change, tried to move on, tried to date other people, but she just couldn't fill up the hole Aya left.

The box symbolizes all her memories of Aya she keeps locked up, unchanging and idealized. And the final panel shows her locking up in that box the returned Aya.

But the returned Aya's starting to change and it doesn't bode well for their future relationship.

You can't love the person your lover USED to be. It never works out.

I loved this chapter. It gave us a look through Koto's grief and it is SO real.

What happened to Koto happens a lot. I had a friend that became a widow at 30 yo and he was just like her.

Even after years, he never managed to date someone, because he was always thinking about his late wife. In his mind, she was perfect, their life would be perfect, their house would be perfect, the children they would have would be perfect, they would never fight, never struggle. How could any living person compete with that? Everyone makes mistakes, every couple argues. But when someone isn't here anymore you can just say "well A would never do that! A wouldn't say that!" and how can anyone prove otherwise?

Idealizing the one you lost is a sure way to be miserable forever.

Grief is no joke.

I can't agree with you more.
That's why while l can (kind of) sympathize with Koto, Erika is totally another story.

I even laughed out loud when someone claimed Erika is the most mature out of the three.
Then how can she not be able to let go the girl who never likes her and even tried to use her as a rebound？？？

At least Koto did try to move on but sadly found herself couldn't.

The one who really needs to grow up here is Erika.

You can't love the person your lover USED to be. It never works out.

And it’s very clear that Aya is already completely transformed by her time-shift experience and is still changing.

The flashback scenes emphasize that past-Aya was flirty, teasing, and borderline dommy, i.e., definitely always putting herself in the one-up position in her relationships, while now she’s dependent (for obvious reasons) on Koto but trying to be diligent about getting reoriented to her current circumstances. Good for her, but I agree with Nya-chan that it does not bode well for the Koto-Aya relationship.

last edited at Apr 23, 2024 9:10AM

This chapter actually says a lot.

Like Koto obviously was fooling herself to believe Aya is still alive.
She just can't accept the possibility that Aya may have been murdered, which is more logical than a 14yo girl run away from home and live on her own.
Makes me doubt Koto would killed herself if Aya was truly confirmed dead seven years ago.
And that means she would have to assume Aya, who is the best girl you can ever imagine in the world, had abandoned her without even bothering leaving a word.
Maybe part of reasons Koto said yes to everyone who confessed to her was not only trying to filled the void Aya had left but also was some kind of revenge to Aya's (assumed) cruelty.

And remember that question she asked Aya in chapter 4？
Koto acknowledges well she is not the same girl Aya accepted confession from seven years ago.
And the way how she deal with this problem is really…let me say is not that admirable.
By just gave a 14 yo kid two choices：
Confess to her who has totally changed or fucking be abandoned (left behind) right away.
Koto obviously didn't want Aya to think through this question.
Because she fears if Aya think this through, she (Aya) might find herself not loves her (Koto) anymore.
So by making Aya confess to her, Aya wouldn't think about this question that seems already be solved.

However, Aya doesn't really know what kind of person Koto is for now. Needless to say whether "loves" her or not.
The only reason Aya resumes dating present Koto is because she is the grown up version of her loved one.
That boy will never be a love rival since the real rival is past Koto.
But if Koto keeps acting like this, Aya would never get a chance to truly be in love with (present) her.

last edited at Apr 23, 2024 11:04AM

Yandere tag?

Finally we get to see Koto's point of view of "what kind of life has she been living while Aya was gone", so readers would understand more about her suffering (+ how her obsession was building) and not forget about that as the story goes later.

Now we also know that Aya's grandfather was somewhat in danger, probably from illness? Was his condition become a burden to Aya? Since after the time-shift Aya was relieved from something related to her grandpa by thinking "the picture is not all dark" in early chapter. This is of course just a wild guess of mine, we still don't know clearly what actually happened in Aya's household.

Also lol it's not that big to the story but I think it's kinda funny how we only found out Koto's surname after 11 chapters. I was wondering when will we get to find it out since we already know Aya's and Erika's quite early.

Thanks for the chapter translation btw!!

Am I the only one to find Erika utterly selfish? One her friends, or at least the girl she wanted to measure up to, goes missing and she doesn't give two shits, she only focuses on Koto.

I get it, she love Koto and has rivalry with Aya. But from the beginning, Erika has been an asshole to Aya, hiding things from her, not caring two bits about what happened in these seven years, not telling her about how Koto suffered and when Aya disappeared, she didn't seem that shocked or sad. And there's still that Tanabata day conversation with Aya, that Aya forgot, that she's hiding.

And she also stated that the return of Aya was convenient for her because then she hoped Koto and her would break up (she probably saw Koto's obsession first hand) and then she would be able to have Koto, because she's got a 7 years head start in maturity.

What happens to Aya after that? How Koto will feel? Is Koto even remotely interested in having a serious relationship with Erika? Erika doesn't seem to care, she thinks only about her own goal: victory over Aya.

I know "poor" Erika has her supporters, but I just can't find her sympathetic. She totally lacks empathy and considers the other two girls only in relation with her own goal.

last edited at Apr 23, 2024 12:45PM

Being left behind sucks... And the core of the portrayal of Koto's loss and her trying to move on seem to be a universal experience: you lost your child, he/she would remain as a child in your pov as long as you live, talk about Runaway Train (Soul Asylum).
Aya now is continuously changing/growing after the "spirit away" thanks to her new surroundings. And once again, Koto is being left behind by wanting to go back, stuck in her idealized young first love... But I can't blame her though; I put myself in her shoes: there was no closure about Aya's disappearance, then years later Aya re-appears still looking the same as her teen years in the past. Koto's obsession seems to me merits tons of understanding. Aya's re-appearance threw Koto's psyche back to that insecure brokenhearted teenager who went from one romantic pursuit to another as one way of coping from pain (other way being tennis) which Koto seem to had masked as moving on (lol she never did).

Now we also know that Aya's grandfather was somewhat in danger, probably from illness? Was his condition become a burden to Aya? Since after the time-shift Aya was relieved from something related to her grandpa by thinking "the picture is not all dark" in early chapter.

From Aya's reaction, I believe grandpa was an abusive asshole. Sadly, abusive assholes also grow old and get sick, and it falls onto their families(often the victims) to take care of them.

I don't think this story is heading towards the readers finding out Aya is someone that would be glad her nice, caring and loving grandpa died while she was gone. That would destroy all sympathy towards her lol So this is my guess.

last edited at Apr 23, 2024 5:07PM

Now we also know that Aya's grandfather was somewhat in danger, probably from illness? Was his condition become a burden to Aya? Since after the time-shift Aya was relieved from something related to her grandpa by thinking "the picture is not all dark" in early chapter.

From Aya's reaction, I believe grandpa was an abusive asshole. Sadly, abusive assholes also grow old and get sick, and it falls onto their families(often the victims) to take care of them.

I don't think this story is heading towards the readers finding out Aya is someone that would be glad her nice, caring and loving grandpa died while she was gone. That would destroy all sympathy towards her lol So this is my guess.

I don't think he was abusive. From what I gather, he was probably really sick and had to be taken care of daily (like, spoon-fed and wiping his butt). Aya was living with him, since her mother abandoned her (probably to remarry), and got the burden of her grandpa from a young age.

Imagine being a 14yo and you have to take care of a sick old man daily, alone. If she was so carefree at school, it's probably because it was the only place she could be that way.

So, when she comes back and learn that he passed away, it's a huge relief for her. An enormous burden is lifted and she now can think about the future. A future with Koto, of course. Except it doesn't seem it'll be that easy.

So, when she comes back and learn that he passed away, it's a huge relief for her. An enormous burden is lifted and she now can think about the future.

I have similar thought about this. Some people might come at Aya later if that is the case though. "So even Aya is not a perfect person" but her struggle is also understandable.

After rereading latest chapter I just noticed something else, the holding hands matter. When Aya went on date with adult Koto, the first thing she wonder was if they were gonna hold hands that day. So Aya was waiting for Koto to initiate it first like how young Koto promised her. So cute.

Am l the only one here who has noticed Koto did have some days with Aya after the second confession？

We all know Aya got spirited away just a day before Tanabata Festival which would be held on Saturday.
But in chapter 3, Erika mentioned Aya told her "We started dating only LAST WEEK".
(It's quite interesting here because Aya only told Erika "We started dating" , not to exact time when it happened. Erika truly was the one who was peeking at them when the two had their first kiss)

So now the biggest mystery here is, both of them (Aya and Koto) had no intention to tell anyone (include Erika) they are dating now in that seven days(at least).

last edited at Apr 24, 2024 9:12PM

This manga is one of my favorites

I can't agree with you more.
That's why while l can (kind of) sympathize with Koto, Erika is totally another story.

I even laughed out loud when someone claimed Erika is the most mature out of the three.
Then how can she not be able to let go the girl who never likes her and even tried to use her as a rebound？？？

At least Koto did try to move on but sadly found herself couldn't.

The one who really needs to grow up here is Erika.

Maybe I'm misremembering but didn't Koto go through a long series of rebounds, and when she finally turned to Erika for one Erika turned her down bc she knew it wasn't real/earnest?

Also in general I don't find it hard at all to sympathize with someone "not moving on" when the person they love is hurting right by their side every day. She continued taking care of her personal life just fine at least.

last edited at Apr 25, 2024 6:13PM

Maybe I'm misremembering but didn't Koto go through a long series of rebounds, and when she finally turned to Erika for one Erika turned her down bc she knew it wasn't real/earnest?

Exactly. I stated my points before about Erika's not moving on case is a bit less similar with Koto before but I guess eh, let the Erika haters hate her for being unable to understand how she has been holding on all this time.

Let's say if Erika tried to move on to someone else before having closure to her feelings with Koto, doesn't that would just make her the same as a high school Koto ver. 2? Is that really a mature solution then? No, isn't it?

"Erika has 7 years worth of being together with Koto, why didn't she try to make a move on Koto even once? Koto even asked her to go out with her at some point."

Because Erika clearly KNOWS how Koto hasn't moved on from Aya, of course she wouldn't want to start something so artificial, nor as a rebound, she wants to start it right with Koto. So she has to wait, that's the only thing she could do for now.

But from the beginning, Erika has been an asshole to Aya, hiding things from her, not caring two bits about what happened in these seven years, not telling her about how Koto suffered and when Aya disappeared,

Really... It's not Erika's place to tell Aya how Koto suffered through those years. Koto and Aya are together currently so it should be Koto who tells Aya, although it seems she doesn't want to tell Aya the truth. Erika shouldn't meddle about this matter, she knows there's a fine borderline that she shouldn't cross. Trust me, it's not good when someone (even if it's a close friend) meddle on their own into an ongoing relationship that is not theirs.

draieck posted:

Really... It's not Erika's place to tell Aya how Koto suffered through those years. Koto and Aya are together currently so it should be Koto who tells Aya, although it seems she doesn't want to tell Aya the truth. Erika shouldn't meddle about this matter, she knows there's a fine borderline that she shouldn't cross. Trust me, it's not good when someone (even if it's a close friend) meddle on their own into an ongoing relationship that is not theirs.

Lying by omission is already meddling.

She witnessed the confession in school. She hid it. She had a conversation with Aya on Tanabata day. She hid it.

Erika clearly wants to take advantage of the situation and the seven years age gap to have Koto turn to her and she prefers to let the situation rot by itself. She's not meddling directly, but she's withholding information from both of them, including the one she has a crush on.

I'm not making her the villain, she feels guilty herself, but she's still selfish and hypocritical in my opinion.

The only one until now who's actually faultless is Aya.

Exactly. I stated my points before about Erika's not moving on case is a bit less similar with Koto before but I guess eh, let the Erika haters hate her for being unable to understand how she has been holding on all this time.

I won't deny Erika is not a bad person.
But the inability of moving on from an unrequited love is not mature. It shows you can't accept the fact that not everyone in this world is going to like you back.
At least Koto and Aya had something back then. It's not like I appreciate how Koto deal with the pain of losing her loved one. However, Koto was in a far more painful situation than Erika.
She was mutually in love with the girl of her dreams then lost it out of nowhere. Despite that, Koto did try to move forward.
On the other hand, Erika's suffering is nothing compare to Koto since is not that big of deal to give up on someone who obviously can't reciprocate your feelings.

I just can't believe some people really can't tell the difference between the two.
You can call me Erika hater or whatever you want.
It wouldn't make her more mature in my eyes though.

Let's say if Erika tried to move on to someone else before having closure to her feelings with Koto, doesn't that would just make her the same as a high school Koto ver. 2? Is that really a mature solution then? No, isn't it?

LoL
Yeah, apparently using other as a rebound is the only way in this world to move on from someone else.

Really... It's not Erika's place to tell Aya how Koto suffered through those years. Koto and Aya are together currently so it should be Koto who tells Aya, although it seems she doesn't want to tell Aya the truth. Erika shouldn't meddle about this matter, she knows there's a fine borderline that she shouldn't cross. Trust me, it's not good when someone (even if it's a close friend) meddle on their own into an ongoing relationship that is not theirs.

How can you be so sure？
Maybe Erika is just waiting for the right time to meddle in their relationship.

last edited at Apr 26, 2024 8:23AM

I really don't get the impulse to rank these characters on some "optimal behavior" scale. The preceding conversations have done a thorough job of showing how Aya, Koto, and Erika are each in their own individual "damned if she does and damned if she doesn't" dilemma.

It seems to me that the whole point of Aya's "spirited away" time-shift (indeed, so far the only point that I can see) was to put all three of them into a "no win" situation and then see how it plays out.

I really don't get the impulse to rank these characters on some "optimal behavior" scale. The preceding conversations have done a thorough job of showing how Aya, Koto, and Erika are each in their own individual "damned if she does and damned if she doesn't" dilemma.

It seems to me that the whole point of Aya's "spirited away" time-shift (indeed, so far the only point that I can see) was to put all three of them into a "no win" situation and then see how it plays out.

I'm not interested in ranking the characters by morality, but I do think the manga is designed to prompt these sorts of discussions. It's a character drama where each of the three hurts the other two due to her own flaws and limitations, and I do think analyzing the morality of a character's actions is one way to reveal their personality and motivations.

In this case, it's particularly relevant because I still believe Aya's jump through time happened because each of the three, in her own way, wished for it. Aya wanted to escape from her shitty home situation; Erika wanted to drive a permanent stake through Koto and Aya's relationship; and Koto, as we're learning, wanted Aya to be dependent on her. What they're all learning now is something Slavoj Zizek once said, that the term for a dream becoming real is "nightmare."

I really don't get the impulse to rank these characters on some "optimal behavior" scale. The preceding conversations have done a thorough job of showing how Aya, Koto, and Erika are each in their own individual "damned if she does and damned if she doesn't" dilemma.

It seems to me that the whole point of Aya's "spirited away" time-shift (indeed, so far the only point that I can see) was to put all three of them into a "no win" situation and then see how it plays out.

I'm not interested in ranking the characters by morality, but I do think the manga is designed to prompt these sorts of discussions. It's a character drama where each of the three hurts the other two due to her own flaws and limitations, and I do think analyzing the morality of a character's actions is one way to reveal their personality and motivations.

In this case, it's particularly relevant because I still believe Aya's jump through time happened because each of the three, in her own way, wished for it. Aya wanted to escape from her shitty home situation; Erika wanted to drive a permanent stake through Koto and Aya's relationship; and Koto, as we're learning, wanted Aya to be dependent on her. What they're all learning now is something Slavoj Zizek once said, that the term for a dream becoming real is "nightmare."

I don’t disagree with the points you make, but judging the “morality” of the characters’ actions is ultimately subject to the extreme artificiality of the “spirited away” situation—what exactly should a person do when they or their crush or their rival disappears one day and then reappears seven years later physically unchanged and with no memory of time passing?

And you certainly could be right—that situation may in some sense have been triggered by all the characters’ wishes, but that’s basically irrelevant to judging the morality of the characters, because, at least so far, the story hasn’t shown the slightest inclination to make that premise explicit or to otherwise explore the mechanics of how the “supernatural” works here.

She witnessed the confession in school. She hid it. She had a conversation with Aya on Tanabata day. She hid it.

Why should she tell the two about eavesdropping the confession? Did it matter that much after Aya confessed that she's dating Koto? Erika said "I know" and Aya didn't even ask how did she know since it really is not an issue in anyway.
And her conversation with Aya during Tanabata day which "this" Aya knows nothing of the sort, because apparently it never happened to this version of Aya. We probably gonna find out what was the conversation about in the future.

On the other hand, Erika's suffering is nothing compare to Koto since is not that big of deal to give up on someone who obviously can't reciprocate your feelings.

Must be nice to never feel it's that big of deal to give up on your crush—who is also your closest friend—for years. To never dwell with the "what if(s)" situations if things were right. Must be nice, must be really nice.

Yeah, apparently using other as a rebound is the only way in this world to move on from someone else.

The only way...? Oh the irony. If that's how you see how moving on should be then let us agree to disagree here. I'll still believe that using others as rebound isn't necessary to actually move on and start anew with someone else who isn't just to simply fill the void, but to really have the connection, to have the chemistry, and to fall in love deeply with another one.

How can you be so sure？
Maybe Erika is just waiting for the right time to meddle in their relationship.

I'm not talking about what Erika would do in future chapters, I'm not the author after all. But so far, she didn't meddle even if she has all the chances, when:
1. she hangs out alone with Koto at a cafe
2. Aya reached out to her and visited her place to talk
And by those chances, it was Koto and Aya who started the talk about the issue in their relationship. Not the other way around.

Aya wanted to escape from her shitty home situation; Erika wanted to drive a permanent stake through Koto and Aya's relationship; and Koto, as we're learning, wanted Aya to be dependent on her.

This is absolutely an interesting take, (young) Koto's wish never crosses my mind because well, she got the girl of her dreams after all. I'll look forward to the day the series reveal how or why the time-shift happened.

There's something entertaining about a username meaning "triangle" posting only to a story called "How to Break a Triangle." (No criticism, I'm just easily amused by word games.)

On the other hand, Erika's suffering is nothing compare to Koto since is not that big of deal to give up on someone who obviously can't reciprocate your feelings.

Must be nice to never feel it's that big of deal to give up on your crush—who is also your closest friend—for years. To never dwell with the "what if(s)" situations if things were right. Must be nice, must be really nice.

Let go of someone who doesn't like you back truly isn't that big of deal.
Especially if you have ever be mutually in love, you wouldn't want to waste time on them who obviously can't reciprocate your feelings.

Yeah, apparently using other as a rebound is the only way in this world to move on from someone else.

The only way...? Oh the irony. If that's how you see how moving on should be then let us agree to disagree here. I'll still believe that using others as rebound isn't necessary to actually move on and start anew with someone else who isn't just to simply fill the void, but to really have the connection, to have the chemistry, and to fall in love deeply with another one.

You can't really understand what l am trying to say here, seriously？
I only say that because you said Erika would definitely become high school Koto ver.2 if she did try to move on.
Likes there's no other way than using other as a rebound.

I don’t disagree with the points you make, but judging the “morality” of the characters’ actions is ultimately subject to the extreme artificiality of the “spirited away” situation—what exactly should a person do when they or their crush or their rival disappears one day and then reappears seven years later physically unchanged and with no memory of time passing?

And you certainly could be right—that situation may in some sense have been triggered by all the characters’ wishes, but that’s basically irrelevant to judging the morality of the characters, because, at least so far, the story hasn’t shown the slightest inclination to make that premise explicit or to otherwise explore the mechanics of how the “supernatural” works here.

I kinda disagree with how you interpret the story. Yeah the literal premise is supernatural events that never happen IRL (as far as we know), but it's not like they have no analogue whatsoever to realistic situations. That is, in fact, precisely why the morality debates on this forum get so heated. Is maintaining an unrequited love for years a moral failing? How much of Koto's treatment of Aya is justified because (a) Aya legitimately does need her help and (b) Koto still has severe PTSD from Aya's disappearance? What exactly should Aya do now that her old life has been completely taken away from her? All these are extremely relevant questions to actual people, no supernatural bullshit required, and for that reason this manga is managing to call forth a lot of passion in its readership. I think that's a sign of its high quality.