so I did do a bit of re-reading in no small part because a lot of people unhappy with Meguru and Azuki getting back together are saying her arc was rushed. And like that's just not what happened? Like she came to a resolution with Remu in the last three chapters that allowed her to fully accept both Remu and Azuki and herself for having sexual desires. But Meguru's breaking point was in chapter 10 and 11 where she tested Azuki for sexual desire (disgusting), Azuki passed (she acted as if sexual desire is digusting and didn't do anything), and Meguru found herself deeply unhappy about it.

Like that's the point she started truly working through her issues and she had all of volume three to do so. Yes her confrontation with Remu was chapter 15 and 16, three chapters before the end but by that point she'd already changed a lot from who she was at introduction. the idea that that is the moment she started to resolve her issues is just wrong, though I can see how it would be remembered as it was the big confrontation.

overall Meguru is a recurring character throughout the story and starts really working through her issues at the end of volume two pulling about a third of the focus on the entire series. I'd say that's not exactly rushed. Honestly it has me arguing she's not just an important character but one of the protagonists. So, ultimately I'm not going to say you're not allowed to like the idea of Remu and Azuki better than Meguru and Azuki but I don't it's fair to argue Meguru is underbaked.

When people say "rushed" they don't really mean the physical amount of chapters dedicated to the issue - otherwise every oneshot would be rushed.

When I hear "rushed" I think it generally refers to whether something feels earned on an emotional level - whether characters went through enough adversity or if it feels like they simply skipped to the endpoint of their character development. It's true that Meguru resolved her issues over time just by thinking about it more deeply and reflecting on her own points of view, but personally, I think the idea that she is self aware enough to realize that her own rejection of sex was just her forcing her own trauma onto other people just isn't very convincing. If she was that kind of person, she wouldn't have done what she did to Azuki and vanished all those years back in the first place.

I don't think the series was especially terrible or anything but I certainly think the ending feels unearned. Everyone sat around and exposited their motivations out before wrapping them up in a neat bow and it's just hard to imagine someone upending their whole worldview so painlessly. Of course, the axe probably had everything to do with that, so it is what it is.

Anyway 0/10 manga, no incest threesome, dropped, unsubscribed, blocking usui shio on twitter.

last edited at May 11, 2026 4:55PM

It would only be pseudo-incest anyway so it's not a huge lose.

nbr is still better than nothing

There's a quote out there by famous anime director Tomino Yoshiyuki about how you can only be a good animator if you're a pervert

“More than anything I created Nanai as a character that Char wouldn’t look silly holding onto. When thinking what kind of woman that is, I get in touch with my inner "masturbatory rhythm". I ask myself what kind of woman would make Char’s dick feel good? That’s what I mean when I use the word fleshy. She’s a woman painted on a cel, but here (points to the crotch) she has volume. Characters that don’t have that fleshiness are sure to look unacttractive to the audience. <..> I don’t want her pussy to be all sad and tired out. If it is, Char will seem pathetic for sticking it in her, and she’ll seem like a dull woman”
I still cannot believe this is how Nanai was conceived lol

last edited at May 11, 2026 12:09PM

so I did do a bit of re-reading in no small part because a lot of people unhappy with Meguru and Azuki getting back together are saying her arc was rushed. And like that's just not what happened? Like she came to a resolution with Remu in the last three chapters that allowed her to fully accept both Remu and Azuki and herself for having sexual desires. But Meguru's breaking point was in chapter 10 and 11 where she tested Azuki for sexual desire (disgusting), Azuki passed (she acted as if sexual desire is digusting and didn't do anything), and Meguru found herself deeply unhappy about it.

Like that's the point she started truly working through her issues and she had all of volume three to do so. Yes her confrontation with Remu was chapter 15 and 16, three chapters before the end but by that point she'd already changed a lot from who she was at introduction. the idea that that is the moment she started to resolve her issues is just wrong, though I can see how it would be remembered as it was the big confrontation.

overall Meguru is a recurring character throughout the story and starts really working through her issues at the end of volume two pulling about a third of the focus on the entire series. I'd say that's not exactly rushed. Honestly it has me arguing she's not just an important character but one of the protagonists. So, ultimately I'm not going to say you're not allowed to like the idea of Remu and Azuki better than Meguru and Azuki but I don't it's fair to argue Meguru is underbaked.

When people say "rushed" they don't really mean the physical amount of chapters dedicated to the issue - otherwise every oneshot would be rushed.

When I hear "rushed" I think it generally refers to whether something feels earned on an emotional level - whether characters went through enough adversity or if it feels like they simply skipped to the endpoint of their character development. It's true that Meguru resolved her issues over time just by thinking about it more deeply and reflecting on her own points of view, but personally, I think the idea that she is self aware enough to realize that her own rejection of sex was just her forcing her own trauma onto other people just isn't very convincing. If she was that kind of person, she wouldn't have done what she did and vanished all those years back in the first place.

I don't think the series was especially terrible or anything but I certainly think the ending feels unearned. Everyone sat around and exposited their motivations out before wrapping them up in a neat bow and it's just hard to imagine someone upending their whole worldview so painlessly. Of course, the axe probably had everything to do with that, so it is what it is.

This is basically my feeling. I like the ending but not how we got there. In addition to Meguru's realization feeling out of character without additional setup, it also doesn't feel believable to me that Azuki could have a healthy relationship with Meguru.

Her entire life was screwed over because of this more or less. It would be incredibly difficult for her to get in a healthy place with the person she has all the emotional baggage over, while a new person would still be hard but doable. If they had additional development and interactions then I could accept Azuki successfully navigating the difficult route of getting over her baggage with the very person who caused the issue, but without it I can't.

It's not like bad though. The last couple chapters were very well executed, at least as much as exposition dumps can be, and are logically consistent. Azuki and Remu not being the end pairing even makes sense for various reasons. I'm glad we got an ending for this one and enjoyed reading a lot before the last couple chapters.

Anyway 0/10 manga, no incest threesome, dropped, unsubscribed, blocking usui shio on twitter.

lol

last edited at May 11, 2026 3:49PM

So I decided to do a reread yesterday, to get a feel for the pacing and how the ending really slotted into everything without the delays from waiting for scanlation (thank you to the team btw), and... I don't think it was a terrible ending, it felt like the trajectory the series was sort of going, but I think giving Meguru a bit more time to fully accept her feelings and ask for forgiveness for having hurt Azuki would've been a good arc for a theoretical fourth volume, and it definitely felt like another volume was needed to properly wrap up Niji's story. I think in such a theoretical, the Niji/Remu arc would probably be the focus, especially since it really only got going in Vol3, with Azuki and Meguru finishing up their arc that started in Vol2 being sort of the "B plot". I also personally disagree about some people's ideas that Remu was developing romantic feelings for Azuki, but I also think it's an understandable position to come to. I think her worries with Azuki and Meguru making up and Azuki being "taken from her" were more a worry that Meguru would sanitize Azuki and Remu would lose the one person she felt she could confide in about her fantasies. I think that plotline actually got a decent resolution, when Azuki declared that they would be allies for life, and I think a theoretical Vol3 leading into a Vol4 would keep the points of Remu being confronted by Meguru and then confronting Niji, with a similar resolution (maybe less direct acceptance from Meguru and more of a "maybe it isn't any of business" sort of response).

Overall, I think the ending is alright, and doesn't ruin my having read this series, but I think it really needed one more volume to earn its endings.

On the Meguru and Azuki bit, I agree completely with it. These things they had been fighting and confronting can change overnight in real life, as I have gone through several of these fucking things by having actually dated horrible and good people.

People are complicated and I can see a good ending happening for those two, I see that even though we ended up with a "Oh no, the couple presented at the beginning aren't together by the end" we were never gonna get that because well, they weren't a couple. Remu is simply not into human beings. Would I have liked a longer bit with Meguru and Azuki understanding each other and so on? Yeah I would, but Meguru was never just a plainly horrible person and Azuki has an ally to her to overcome the baggage, she's not alone. Meguru and Azuki's arcs are fine, Meguru and her sister (Remu) are fine.

WHAT ISN'T FINE IS WE GOT NO RESOLUTION AT ALL WITH NIJI. Niji just felt like this horrible selfish character that gets one crying scene at the end and Remu saying "Can we become friends again?" And the answer is "fuck if I know" and that's it. I'm sorry to say but the weak link of this story is not Meguru and Azuki getting together, your views are narrow, it's Niji. Niji is the weakest link, she's not a person, she's a plot point, her disgusting side appears and is sincerely not nearly as sympathetic as anyone else's and she doesn't confront it, she looks her friend in the eye and say "You aren't real." And leave and cry. That's her character, that's her. Out of everyone, she's the truly disgusting one.

On the Meguru and Azuki bit, I agree completely with it. These things they had been fighting and confronting can change overnight in real life, as I have gone through several of these fucking things by having actually dated horrible and good people.

People are complicated and I can see a good ending happening for those two, I see that even though we ended up with a "Oh no, the couple presented at the beginning aren't together by the end" we were never gonna get that because well, they weren't a couple. Remu is simply not into human beings. Would I have liked a longer bit with Meguru and Azuki understanding each other and so on? Yeah I would, but Meguru was never just a plainly horrible person and Azuki has an ally to her to overcome the baggage, she's not alone. Meguru and Azuki's arcs are fine, Meguru and her sister (Remu) are fine.

WHAT ISN'T FINE IS WE GOT NO RESOLUTION AT ALL WITH NIJI. Niji just felt like this horrible selfish character that gets one crying scene at the end and Remu saying "Can we become friends again?" And the answer is "fuck if I know" and that's it. I'm sorry to say but the weak link of this story is not Meguru and Azuki getting together, your views are narrow, it's Niji. Niji is the weakest link, she's not a person, she's a plot point, her disgusting side appears and is sincerely not nearly as sympathetic as anyone else's and she doesn't confront it, she looks her friend in the eye and say "You aren't real." And leave and cry. That's her character, that's her. Out of everyone, she's the truly disgusting one.

I focused on Meguru and Azuki because there's at least a conclusion to their story. I'm not even going to comment on Niji because as far as I'm concerned it's just a completely dropped plotline, victim to the axe. There's no resolution so there's nothing to say about it besides a shrug because it literally went nowhere in the end, as you said.

For what it's worth, in all seriousness though, Meguru was probably my favorite character so I don't mind a Meguru end at all. I just think it was too clean to feel like a real resolution.

last edited at May 11, 2026 5:00PM

A big issue for me with the end pairing is that Azuki never acknowledged she was mistreated, that Meguru had a negative impact on her life, or that Meguru is a deeply flawed person rather than idolized savior like image she had of Meguru. We even somehow end with Azuki wanting to spread Meguruism to the masses.

Instead of going through any of that, it's more like she is rewarded for never moving on from Meguru. Just never move for a decade and your toxic ex will show up at your apartment, spontaneously admit all their mistakes that they realized on their own, and get back together again. There was never any question of Azuki forgiving Meguru, but this ending is more like Azuki is incapable of understanding there is anything for which to forgive Meguru.

A natural way of handling this would have been to have Meguru react more negatively to Remu, which could happen at the same time as Niji development. Then Azuki would have to step in to help Remu, which would mean acknowledging that this type of behavior toward Remu is inappropriate, which means acknowledging it was also inappropriate with her.

If, after all that, Azuki still forgives Meguru then it would be moving and tie things up nicely by having Azuki show she can also accept the accurate yet flawed version of Meguru. But that would require more chapters than we got. I wonder if the rough skin was alluding to this - like the real Meguru isn't like Azuki imagined and has rough edges, but that's still okay and even valuable to Azuki. Who knows exactly what the author was thinking, though.

last edited at May 11, 2026 6:07PM

So... was this axed?

So... was this axed?

No one here really knows. Authors and publishers do not make a habit of announcing that the publisher forcibly terminated a title.

So... was this axed?

She had 3 ongoing series and they all ended more or less at the same time (all in different magazines) so It’s not strange to assume she herself asked for the finalization of them.

I don't think this was forcefully finalized by the magazine. If I have to bet I think this ^ option is the most plausible one.

As for Niji, as I said in other comments (I edited instead of quoting so its no longer there) I don't think her story is cut, she is the changing character among the 4, she can decide whether to embrace her weirdness or continue denying it. And that's why I think it's left open. Despite the theme of the manga, she is treated differently by readers as Real Weird, I think her character was the most interesting precisely because of that. It test the manga's theme on readers

last edited at May 13, 2026 1:04PM

That was cute

I wish niji no happiness tho