@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?

Why do I get the feeling Niji is going to have some sort of sympathetic or redemption moment towards the end of the series, and she was just “misunderstood” the whole time.

Can we throw Niji inside a volcano?

That's cruel. Did a volcano kill your family or something to justify that hatred? I can neither confirm nor deny this being a joke.

Niji's motivations aside, what's her plan here exactly? One moment she goes "Let's hook them up right away", the next moment she tells Meguru how her ex is supposedly getting frisky with her sister? Is that her idea of being a wingwoman?

With how the chapter ended, mayhaps there's a chance the conversation may continue to reveal a more elaborate scheme of hers... Mind you, had she decided "I need Remu's older sister to talk some sense into her" or something, her actions would've made sense. But as of right now, she comes across either painfully stupid, or bicemeral to the point her justifications to herself don't even make sense any more.

Niji's motivations aside, what's her plan here exactly? One moment she goes "Let's hook them up right away", the next moment she tells Meguru how her ex is supposedly getting frisky with her sister? Is that her idea of being a wingwoman?

It seems she wants to "punish" Remu by blowing her plans to pieces and getting Meguru and Azuki together in a messy way; she's basically exposing Remu. She wants Meguru to "take back her woman." Niji has deluded herself into thinking Remu is getting in between a love story, which is buried under mounds of irony.

I wouldn't be surprised if she wants Meguru to confront Remu so that Remu will be uncomfortable and broken as a consequence of her "bad behavior." Naturally, Niji would be there to "comfort" her and tell her how she should have known better. So, the potential messiness seems like it's on purpose and it's all highly and deliberately manipulative. It's part of why she feels so destructive to me currently. I doubt she'll get her way though, or at least I hope she doesn't. But her plans make sense to me viewed this way and considering she said punishment is part of her goal.

last edited at Nov 19, 2025 2:42PM

Although I let the comments spoil me, the cut to Niji after Meguru's profound realisation was still snicker-worthy.
And man, I thought she had gone off the deep end at first but no, it was just malicious glee. I hope she'll get better... for the sake of literally everyone involved.

Goddammit, Niji...

Oh no

I started to respond with some speculation, but I remembered Niji knew Azuki had a past relationship with Meguru.

Chapter 9:

"It's about that person from my part time job. We've been getting along pretty well lately!. That's great and all, but that person's ex girlfriend is probably my older sister. My sister seems to miss that person too, so I'm feeling mixed."

-Remu

""That's weird, Remu. I mean, you're trying interfere with your sister's happiness, right? You and that person simply work at the same place, nothing more. Wouldn't being happy for the two reuniting be the more correct option?

(Thinking) What's with that expression? I put you back on the correct route, you know? I need to investigate who this part time person is."

-Niji

Therefore, all this is a continuation of Niji's plans in Chapter 9. She knows they already like each other and want to get back together. In her mind, it's not strange to think Meguru finding out about Azuki and Remu's relationship would result in Azuki breaking things off with Remu. She must expect Meguru to confront Azuki, not necessarily Remu. I doubt she'd mind an ally in "setting Remu on the correct path." Still, it's somewhat logical to think this will pair Azuki and Meguru based on what she knows as well as on her belief that she and Remu are the endgame pairing.

last edited at Nov 19, 2025 11:00PM

Goddamn you Niji you damn obsess woman

BITCH! YOU JUST PLAYED YOURSELF

Uh oh...Niji san really acts like a villain in the story now...
I'm confused too
Why would you call Meguru san out of nowhere and talk about Azuki san and Remu san D:...

Niji thinks she's playing 4D chess because in her mind they all act like the fictional characters in her novel. But really she just screwed herself over here. She's the type of kid who thinks she'd be great at multi-player games just because she can trounce the AI.

Niji just accelerated the inevitable, I mean it's not like Remu and Azuki could have openly dated each other without Meguru finding out