@SirNevik

As long as she took the same actions there's no explanation that would change my worries. Understanding someone doesn't change how I'd view their behavior and there are plenty of unreliable and morally confused protagonists. She'd be one based on things so far.

Besides hypotheticals, the main issue is her behavior and thoughts about her behavior is different than the other girls to me and feels more potentially harmful to others, currently. I can't speak for what the girls might have been in the past; I'm only commenting on who they are now. I also haven't said she couldn't be redeemed eventually; I doubt she'll have no depth. I don't think she's a monster or anything.

It's just if you look at these 4 girls, which of them would you say seems more likely to cause (non-physical) harm to the others right now? I'd say Niji very confidently and I could see her do so with little remorse so long as she got her way. The others aren't in that same mental place at the moment and much of their issues are internal. For Niji to get her way, all the other girls get involved in her play.

I also don't think I'd characterize Meguru like that. She only just came to realize why she behaved how she did back then. I don't think she was intending things in the same way Niji is now. She seemed genuine in her disgust and is only now understanding how complicated her feelings are. She's also been regretful, hesitant and unsure throughout (which are major things). That doesn't seem like intentional puppeteering and not in the same way Niji has been doing. We might just see her a bit differently.

I agree that Niji is the most antagonistic and destructive currently. I don't think anyone has questioned that.

Meguru is more avoidant, while Niji is more active and controlling. That fits their narrative roles: Meguru did the bad stuff in the past and left their situation unresolved, while Niji's bad behavior will give the story conflict and push characters out of their established dynamics.

Regarding Meguru, I think we've been shown how being pushing your expectations on someone, blaming them if they fail to meet those expections, and withdrawing affection can be as harmful sticking around to belittle someone. Withdrawing feels less malicious, but the impact isn't inherently lesser.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 9:10PM

The discussion on Niji is some insane "I just figured out how a narratives basics work" lmao of course if she were the protagonist things would be framed different. The same goes for every single other character in every single story.

I don't get why people are arguing in her "defense" like she is some misunderstood antihero. You can like her as a character and at the same time admit she is not a good person/has good intentions currently, for whatever reason. The whole point of this manga is to deal with prejudice in many forms, especially sexual, and how that can cloud your view on who someone really is or how that defines their character/morality, i.e., having a "disgusting fetish" makes them a horrible, awful person (which was very well shown by Remu's flashbacks).

Like many others have said here, the way Niji deals with her issues directly hurts the other characters and she doesn't care/is not aware. She does not have Remu's best interest in mind. Even if she were the protagonist and we saw from her POV only, the main thing that would change is that she would become an unreliable narrator, because she is constantly gaslighting herself on her own fantasies. If you really still think she has any real care and affection for Remu right now, you're basically in the same headspace as Niji is ("I'm doing what I think is best for her based solely on my opinions and ideals and never consult her wishes on it").

I don’t know in what part of my comment I defended Niji? No part in my comment I said she cared for Remu and that is why she is doing this, never said I liked her or denied she is crazy lol in fact I eddited my comment, but I think Remu needs to slap her two or three times so she cuts her crap.

All I said was that the reactions to her in the comments reflect a little what the story is talking about.
People felt called out with my comment or something, when I said you don’t need to have a reason to dislike her, she is framed like that.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 9:43PM

Whether one views Niji as a villain or not, she's made it clear she's no mastermind.

Very true, lol. She's just straight up gonna use Azuki and Meguru's names now, even after her friends learned of the novel. There's ZERO attempt to even try to hide it, not that she was particularly hiding it in the first place, though.

I don’t care about Niji and I don’t care if people hate her, I don’t know how I am painting her as a antihero. Also making fun of how I “discovered how narrative works” like, that wasn’t my point.
I don’t think this discussion needs to escalate more (it's getting weirdly defensive and I don't want to floor the comment section with that) just want to add that this is what I said in a previous comment

Remu and Azuki both know what it's like to feel disgusted with yourself, to be aware that you're not normal, etc. I really think they connected easily because both want to understand/support others instead of immediately drawing a line. Niji on the other hand would call Azuki gross on the spot if she knew about her fetish. She already did it with Remu.

It’s difficult to make this point without people immediately jumping to “oh so you think this and that is ok? there need to be a limit” but that’s not what I am saying, and I hope my point come across even if my wording is poor.

EDIT: I clicked Edit instead of Quote so the first half got deleted lmao

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 10:24PM

I wonder how many fanfics on AO3 are like Niji's lmao

@appstore

I don’t know in what part of my comment I defended Niji? No part in my comment I said she cared for Remu and that is why she is doing this, never said I liked her or denied she is crazy lol in fact I eddited my comment, but I think Remu needs to slap her two or three times so she cuts her crap.

To be fair, while you didn't, I did say Niji cares about Remu and that Niji believes this is her motivation. That's enough for people thinking in terms of "Niji is good / justified" and "Niji is bad / wrong" to think I'm saying "Niji is good and justified," then get upset about the poor morals that would imply.

If we must make this personal, if anything, I'm more afraid of how easy it would be for me to act like Niji if I let myself think of myself as someone "correct" and selfless. No one has to believe me, but that's where I'm coming from.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 11:42PM

Can we throw Niji inside a volcano?