Not really liking this. The relationship is too one-sided. Adachi is head over heels but Shimamura only considers her a friend. That might change at some point but in the meantime this thing is pretty boring. The characters aren't interesting enough to carry the story without any actual romance to spice things up.

Again,it's contradictory with the flashback,assuming it was true and not Amane trying to remember it differently.

It's not contradictory. The flashback is the past. The Nene in Amane's memories is how she was back then. But people change. So it's not like Nene is acting contradictory. She just changed. She probably started to grow jealous of Amane's cuteness during their third year of middle school. I take it she was actually a pretty loving girlfriend before that point.

The only question is why she changed, what sparked her jealousy.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 3:41PM

Honestly, I don't think Nene's behavior is that inconsistent. Conflicted, sure, but not really inconsistent. My take is similar to Kou's, on top of what I can see as omniscient reader. Like Kou, I believe Nene still loves Amane deep down which is why she can be nice to Amane occasionally. But what I can see from my part as a reader is also that Nene is seriously very jealous of Amane's cute and bright looks and demeanor.

So these two sides of Nene are in conflict, so some times she can be nice and some times she's a turbo bitch. It might seem like her characterization is inconsistent but it's not (if my take is correct).

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 3:17PM

The fact Nene is jealous / envious of Amane's cuteness is pretty well confirmed at this point, I think. What needs explanation is "why" she ended up feeling that way. Generally you want your romantic partner to be as cute and attractive as possible; it's not exactly normal to grow jealous of their attributes. So why and how Amane ended up feeling that way definitely calls for some explanation.

We'll have to wait and see.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 2:33PM

BTW, I guess another option for Nene's change of heart could be that Nene maybe got her modelling gig at the start of her third year, and her manager constantly saying she's not cute eventually got to her over the year. On top of that maybe someone commented at some point "Amane looks so cute" or some shit like that and Nene started to compare herself to Amane and it snowballed into a full-blown inferiority complex until Nene couldn't deal with it anymore.

That's possible too I guess. It's not as fun as Senpai having a hand on it, but the result is the same. Nene ended up almost pathologically jealous of Amane's cuteness.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 2:05PM

But why did Nene act like that for the photos in chapter 1 then ? She seem to be happy and lovey with Amane back then, That's strange she act like that when rest of the time she try her hardest to make Amane hate her.

Because very deep down she probably still loves Amane. She doesn't hate her, she's just jealous of her cuteness.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 2:02PM

That's a huge shift in like 10s because at first i thought she said Us like Kou and her not Amane and her.

Nene said:

So you're done taking pictures of m- of us?

At first she's about to say, "so you're done taking pictures of me" but then she changed to "us" (Nene and Amane) because she's no ready yet to reveal she wants Kou to only takes pictures of her.

Then she musters her determination and drops the facade all together. Yes, it's a huge shift, but you see it coming all the same.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 1:50PM

Pretty sure Amane said Nene suddendly acting cold when they start 3rd year and break the day of the graduation.

You're right. So whatever Senpai did or say, she did so when she graduated which is when Nene and Amane started their third year.

Can someone explain which us Nene mean here https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#9

Nene wants to say just "me" but she cuts herself short and says "us" (as in Nene and Amane) instead. She's not being honest though. She really wants to say just "me."

and why did she witch to me 3 pages after https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#12 ?

Because here she finally dropped the facade.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 1:42PM

1. The word "cute" has literally been cut off. Nene might have been jealous of the fact that Kou would call Amane cute on their date. That she would dare to look at anyone else. Not because they're going out, but because of her complex.

Nene got together with Kou to feel cuter than Amane in the first place, so Kou calling Amane cute defeats the purpose.

In a way, it almost felt like her attempt to hurt Amane here backfired.

Indeed.

Pretty ironic considering last chapter.

It's not ironic. As she and Kou got closer, she got more imposing and pushy, and her real feelings (like being jealous of Amane's cuteness) started to become more clear.

Also i've still something on my mind. They're second years right ?So they only have 1 year less than Senpai. I ask that because if it's the case, that mean the start of 3rd yeah middle school is when Senpai goes to high school and probably influence Nene one way or the other.

According to Amame, Nene started acting cold when they started their third year, which is about the same time Senpai graduated. If we take this as face value, we can assume before Senpai graduated she said something to Nene which made Nene start acting cold.

In any case, the same day Nene broke up with Amane, Amane went to Senpai's place and cried all day, and Senpai took the "sad Amane" picture that won her the contest.

So it all fits together, and I'm pretty sure that Senpai was the culprit, since she was the one who profited off all this.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 1:45PM

Then she would have ask to Kou to enter with a picture of her alone not of Amane alone if she was really bothered

At that point Nene was trying to deny what she really feels, so she wouldn't impose on Kou like that. She even tells Kou she's not bothered that she's not seen as cute, which is obviously not true. It bothers her a great deal.

At least a little bit because i think she will have been troubled that the childhood friend of her GF told her to break up if the childhood wasn't aware of their relation.

I don't think she told her to break up. Senpai is a schemer. She wouldn't do something that direct. I think she played it subtly and told her something that indirectly made her have a change of heart.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 1:16PM

I can back you up on that one https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#17 , here we have present Nene who seem to be serious and tell Kou to use an only Amane picture because she thought she(Nene) is not cute but here she doesn't seem to want to trick Kou by making her saying she was more cuter than her.

That still contradicts the page BugDevil posted. In the page he posted Nene was happy about Amane being cute. In the page you posted she's clearly bothered that Amane is cuter than her.

But Nene was not aware that Amane talk about their relation to Senpai, she only know Senpai was Amane's childhood friend.

Nene didn't have to be aware that Senpai knew about their relationship for this to make sense though. Senpai could pretend she didn't know and still do or say something that somehow made Nene have a change of heart.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 12:58PM

Was she pretedning the entire time? Does she really not have an interest in romance? It almost seems like the reason is something typical like "We are both girls, so this is just playing around and has no future", but then why would she go out with Kou? Then would that mean she truly only used Kou for this nonsense?

I don't think she was pretending in her relationship with Amane because Kou doesn't think so. Kou sees through her picture that there is a bond between Nene and Amane which is alive even to this day, and Kou is the protagonist so her point of view carries some weight.

I do think Nene is just using Kou to feel special and cuter than Amane. I don't think she loves her. What she loves is that she gets attention from Kou.

I do agree that there was a breaking point, probably right before graduation, when Nene had a huge change of heart. Before that point, she could deal with Amane being cuter, even be happy about it. After that point, she couldn't deal with it anymore. If you ask me, Senpai did something, or told something to Nene and that was the trigger for this change of heart.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 12:51PM

Sure most people will say because of outward circumstances or because she was forced to break up... but isn't it just jealousy? Amane is certainly cuter and praised for her cuteness. She would easily make a great model (and was apparently used as one by senpai repeatedly). So being with Amane might just fuel her complex to the point that she turned blind to the good points.

It's just ironic that she is jealous of someone who loves her so much and sees all her good points better than anyone.

Well, it's a fact that Nene is jealous of Amane's cuteness. The manga doesn't even hide it:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#29

So I guess being with Amane must have hurt Nene's ego a great deal. That much I can see. But just breaking up the relationship without talking about this with Amane was both pretty nasty to Amane, and also useless for Nene because she's still clearly jealous even if they're not together anymore. So breaking up didn't solve anything. At this point it's a complex, an inferiority complex. She can't help comparing herself to Amane and believing Amane is cuter and brighter than her and this vexes her to no end (as childish as this might sound, and it does sound pretty childish). So much so that she got together with the first one (other than Amane) that called her cute; she's using Kou to feel special, to feel cuter than Amane. Let me post the evidence again because people seem to forget about this page despite being, in my opinion, the single most clarifying page on Nene's behavior:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#29

Nene should at least be honest about all this with Amane. She should stop the bitch act and just tell the truth. And ideally, she should stop comparing herself to Amane all together. Kou has the right idea here. Both Nene and Amane are the cutest when they're together (this is what Kou saw in the first picture she took) so there's no reason for Nene to feel inferior (in cuteness) to Amane.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 12:40PM

but still clingy to the hope of getting back together if the person is really serious about break up is basiccaly daydreaming.

The thing is she doesn't know how serious Nene really is since she doesn't even know the reason for the break up in the first place. That considering, I think it's unfair for us to expect Amane to just move on. First Nene has to be honest with her and give her some good answers.

last edited at Jun 25, 2019 9:40PM

I will not say Amane is the bad one here because obviously not but her attitude of not letting Nene go is still somewhat chilldish because

Thing is Nene didn't give any reasons for why she was breaking things up with Amane and that left Amane in a sort of limbo where she can't help wondering what the hell happened endlessly. We, as omniscient readers can see that the reason Nene dumped her is related to her inferiority complex, but Amane has no clue about this. She doesn't know Nene is envious of her cuteness and bright personality. She has a million questions and not a single answer. It's understandable she can't easily move on, and I don't think it's particularly childish for her age to feel that way.

last edited at Jun 25, 2019 8:51PM

I love all the responses people wrote on my post, but I love this response the best. It clarifies things more clearly. She is the typical high school chick jealous of something really dumb. It’s funny how Amane is more mentally mature than someone who appears mature.

But man this author knows how to trick the mind really well. Maybe the creepy senpai really had barely anything to do with it.

Let's speculate for a bit. I think what creepy senpai did was showing Nene the pictures of happy cute Amane she has been taking since childhood.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#5
I think until that point Nene probably wasn't comparing herself to Amane and was happy in her relationship with her. But she had probably always wanted to be seen as cute and bright and never could, so getting to see those pictures must have sparked some pretty serious envy (the fact she feels envious of Amane is already confirmed anyway).

This probably kept eating at her until she snapped and dumped Amane, and started to treat her coldly ever since.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch06#21
Feeling inferior to someone is not inherently wrong, but not being honest about it and treating that person like shit is definitely wrong. What Nene should have done is talk things out with Amane properly. If they broke up anyway so be it, but at least Amane would know why and would be able to get closure and move on. Also, it's clear that Nene hasn't moved on either. She still feels inferior and jealous of Amane so clearly breaking up didn't solve anything for her, didn't help her in any way.

Enters Kou. On one hand, Kou can instinctively see that whatever Nene and Amane had in the past still exists to same extent. She can see it in the picture of them together that she took at the beginning of the story. There is a reason that became her favorite picture
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#1
and she strongly believes what she sees in that picture is true.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#38

On the other hand, Nene is trying to use Kou as an emotional crutch. Since Nene ran away from Amane instead of talking things out properly, she never got over her inferiority complex. Thus she's using Kou to feel special, to feel cuter than Amane in some way.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#29

As for senpai... She seems to believe that Amane is most beautiful when sad.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch06#31
Which is why I think she really must have shown Nene those cute Amane pictures (this hasn't been confirmed yet but I think it will soon enough) in order to push Nene into breaking out with Amane.

As for what's going to happen next, I think Kou's picture is gonna win the contest. I think this has to happen in order to validate what Kou sees in that picture as true. And as a result Kou will become more determined to help Nene and Amane patch things out. Because, ultimately Kou is the protagonist so she will be the one to fix all this shit, one way or another.

last edited at Jun 25, 2019 4:06PM

I'm confused a bit tho. The stalker friend, Who does she like? The black hair chick? I dont get bout what is suppose to be a date (or is she just being delusional?)

I think she likes the black hair chick and she's indeed delusional. She seems to want to kidnap her an all. She's pretty crazy.

who's been told constantly not to show emotion or smile because she's somehow "better" by not being herself--whereas she got to constantly see Amane, the person she was probably closest to, be praised for being awesome and attractive and all that by being "allowed" to be her (albeit exuberant) self. And it gave her a complex. And was probably too much for her to handle, so she tried to create distance, but was stymied by how desperate Amane was to keep her in her life, and probably by her own miasma of contradictory feelings. "I love this person, but it also hurts to be with this person".

Nene having an inferiority complex is obvious. The problem is she should have been honest with Amane. Nene dumped her without even explaining her reasons which left Amane without closure. That's a pretty shitty situation for Amane.

Now she's found a cute little camera girl who tells her how great she is when she's just herself. That her smile is OKAY, and even desirable. I can see why her behavior is weird, and why she's pursuing Kou.

She's pursuing Kou for the wrong reasons.
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#29
Kou is (unwittingly) enabling Nene's complex. What Nene needs is to face her complex in order to grow as a person. Kou actually believes that Nene smiles the brightest when she's with Amane (which she captured through her picture), and Kou might be right about that. But Nene can't deal with her inferiority complex so she runs away from her own feelings and from Amane. She has to stop running away and face her shit instead.

All that been said, she's still a huge bitch all the same. Having emotional issues doesn't mean it's right to treat people like shit.

last edited at Jun 25, 2019 6:19AM

It seems like Nene has really fallen for Kou this time

I don't think so. What she loves is the attention. She became interested in Kou after the latter started taking pictures of her and saying she's cute. Nene wants to draw attention and feel special. She wants Kou to look only at her, but not because she loves Kou. Rather, it's because Kou paid attention to her that she got interested in Kou.

Nene doesn't really love Kou, I think. What she loves is herself. She's a narcissist.

last edited at Jun 25, 2019 12:58AM

It did seem like a pretty nice idea until this chapter, not quite so sure now. Less due to Nene's own behavior, which, while almost but not quite Senpai-level cruel, could have been aimed at making Amane finally give up

I think that interpretation is pretty weak considering Nene's need to feel special and how she craves attention. She's a narcissist. That's why she's pursuing Kou rather than genuine love, and it's probably the reason she behaves like a bitch towards Amane as well.

last edited at Jun 24, 2019 12:03PM

Personally, I think Nene is still not over Amane. I don't see the sense of deliberately showing up with your new girlfriend in a place where your ex is working.

She wanted to hurt her, that much I got; I dunno why but it's more & more clear that Nene is irked at Amane for something that happened before the breakup, perhaps even caused it, and even now Nene still has a grudge

Rather than having a grudge, Nene seems to be jealous or envious of Amane. Like Seira said in the post above, Nene seems to have a strong need to feel special. She's envious because Amane seems to draw the kind of attention Nene craves for.

last edited at Jun 23, 2019 6:25PM

Nene and senpai are a pair of turbo-bitches. They should stop messing with Kou and Amane and get together or something.

Amane deserves better. And Kou too. Nene is a pile of crap.

Nene is a piece of garbage. Both Kou and Amane should get the hell away from her.