You should never start with Fate/Zero, but I guess at this point there are more secondaries than anything else in the fandom. Heck most people don't read the Visual Novel anyway, so everything loses its meaning lol
The connection between Rin and Sakura was completely missing from the first two routes of F/SN, it wasn't even hinted at. The reveal in HF was a really big deal back when this was still a new thing. It's absolutely not something you should know ahead of time (one of the many reasons not to watch/read F/Z first).

last edited at Jan 21, 2019 8:40AM

Well, since we’re coming to an end, which relationship deserves a spin-off manga?

Care to take the vote?

I'm definitely most interested in a spin-off for Nagisa and Hikari, if only because their "rivalry" is entertaining and we still need a true kiss! lol

As the series and its readers slip into a reflective and retrospective mood, I was considering what would be the funniest single line in the series (so far). My current nomination:

“That means no Moe for you!”
(Delivered in a particularly moe way.)

Runner-up: “Tastes sweaty.”

(That’s granting that the bulk of the humor in the series tends to be tsukkomi/boke exchanges and more developed scenes.)

It would be woefully limiting to declare any one line in this story the funniest, so I will just say that pretty much any interaction between Chiharu and Izumi qualifies for me. Never a dull moment between those two~

Boys don't wear hair clips in their hair, you dumb.

Eh, they do. In all manga and anime I had watched, some boys character has hair clip xD

Lol. I like how used anime and manga as the example. Have you ever seen it real life? That’s hair “clips,” in general. On anyone.

Are you seriously suggesting people don't use hair clips...? You need to stop taking your direct experiences as the norm lol

Is someone following the story? I mean I get lost every update and confused by the huge amount of parallel stories, I dunno if I should wait for it to end to read it in one go.

I don't feel lost at all tbh.
At most you might get a little confused about all the characters when they just suddenly converge, but that's what the relationship sheet on the first page was for.
It certainly can't harm to read it all in one go. Surely most of us here will do that as well once this volume is finished~

@Lyendith
Your explanation seems to sum it up in a nice bow.

What changed between Sawa and Itsuki is that Sawa acknowledged that they are a couple and that she will put her all into the relationship despite feeling inadequate. This new chapter implies that what we saw previously was still her just going along with Itsuki while not being decided... which is the baffling part for most of us I think.
At least it's solved now.

PS: Those pictures mostly just make me realize again how much the artstyle changed. I'll always have a soft spot for the earlier, more expressive and rough drawings of many artists, but the refined and gorgeous art of their later works is always nice to look at.

But normal Kaijin are weak fodder that can barely hurt a toddler. The only one who ever managed to hit Rapid Rabbit merely pushed her... lol

I mean if Toku villains were actually concerned about a semblance of basic tactical effectiveness they'd stop screwing around and just give their shitty mooks proper guns, or the nearest functional equivalent in their technological context, and call it a day...
Hell.
Mere spears would increase their actual combat power by at least one order of magnitude compared to bare hands.

Considering the last one literally just used glue as a weapon, I suppose they are more akin to really non-lethal Jojo Stands, going by the random powers and weird designs.

Fodder will always be fodder. Only the Generals have any meaning as usual in Tokosatsu lol

BugDevil posted:

What is her endgame in the first place? Getting closer like this wouldn't help her get "him". There must be a step along the way where she has to reveal her true self, because otherwise there is no point. So if this went as planned she only used this to get closer and as soon as they are on talking terms she sheds the shell.

Do you really expect logic in comedy manga? She is learning how to act like a guy from Whatever Prince for crying out load xD Or the fact her first solution to him avoiding girls was to cross-dress. MC pretty clearly didn't really think much ahead x3.

I know that much. I already commented before how crazy the jump to wig and chest-binding was. lol

If I had to make a prediction that would cause more comedic material.... Crush girl will perhaps show romantic interest in MC while disguised, so MC thinks that "he" might be gay. So to manage a relationship she will stay disguised as a boy.
And through some sheer improbability neither of them realizes the other's gender despite them going out.

It was definitely a good move to have these three chapters released at once. On their own they would be rather lacking, but bundled together they draw a nice line through the series and the relationships that developed. Shiramine using the side-couples experiences as a mirror to her own actions throughout the manga might be rather cliche, but it is very well done and appreciated.

I can tell that some of these responses were more intended as "the public image" rather than just coming straight out with it, so I can forgive that not all of them just said they are a couple. Mizuki and Moe have no need for definitions or fancy words, they are just meant for each other and know it.

Honestly I was surprised to realize that Sawa still didn't think of them as a couple though. It's good that this was resolved here! In the end you cannot measure love, so there is no comparison to be made. In that sense Shiramine's questioning actively helped a couple out too, so at the very least for that, this introspection was worth it.

Chiharu was as suave as always about it, much appreciated. Mikaze and Asuka are the most experienced couple for a reason as well, showing that they are past the "gotta hide it" stage.

Now the only thing I take issue with is Towako and Yukina. This is something I already felt during their own arc, but they really never resolved their feelings well. They are far too stuck in their master and servant dynamic, metaphorically speaking. They are just not on eye-level and it will take a while for them to truly overcome that.

Haine and Aika is a case where I'm most thankful for the ambiguity. Sure, they obviously overstep all the lines of what a normal "family" is like, but overtly going for the romantic option would create a lot of conflict which is just unecessary. Sometimes a relationship has to be ambiguous to work.

Although the conclusion was apparent to everyone, for Shiramine this was quite a bit of work. Just as she said herself, she had wasted most of her school life on being competitive and agonizing over her mother. She is behind in the social understanding department, ironically more than Kurosawa, who learned to be a social person from her hahaha

Looking forward to Kurosawa's surprise. Who knows? It might even be a white lily and kiss for her dearest girl~

Welp, I suppose a girl would fall for the Otome lines. Ironically MC wants to come off as a natural guy with this tactic though and instead makes her fall for the fictional guy persona.
What is her endgame in the first place? Getting closer like this wouldn't help her get "him". There must be a step along the way where she has to reveal her true self, because otherwise there is no point. So if this went as planned she only used this to get closer and as soon as they are on talking terms she sheds the shell.

One has to wonder what the point of a shield Kaijin is. It literally can't attack!

I'm guessing that they don't send that Kaijin on its own, instead it's probably supposed to take the attacks from the Hero and protect the other Kaijin while they attack, like a tank in an RPG.

But normal Kaijin are weak fodder that can barely hurt a toddler. The only one who ever managed to hit Rapid Rabbit merely pushed her... lol

last edited at Jan 20, 2019 5:50AM

Chapter 6: Making Sayaka taste test the cheesecake Touko meant for Yuu is some next level cruelty haha
Chapter 7: HNNNG my heart...
Chapter 8: Maki in a dress has made my week.
Chapter 9: If not fluffy, Touko does certainly prefer oversized and wide clothes. Or maybe that just happens to be Nakatani's preference. For all intents and purposes this sweater dress isn't out of the ordinary in that sense.

Do I read slight disappointment in those upturned eyes~?

One has to wonder what the point of a shield Kaijin is. It literally can't attack!
Pretty sure Kyouka is just messing around anyway. Honey also didnt try to off her. This really is an easygoing story and I like that~

I still don't understand the japanese obsession with girls' panties. Sure they can be cute, but when I was young enough to be chasing girls, I was more interested in what was underneath their panties, than the panties themselves.

You sure make yourself sound like an old geezer...

Anyway, the idea is that panties, as all underwear, are things you don't see. They are private. A layer below what you are allowed to see. The last "defense" in a sense. Lingerie can often be more exciting than plain nudity, because being just one layer away from the true deal gives it more weight.
Now this weird fetishization of panties in Japanese culture is a bit above and beyond what's normal, but the core idea is kind of relatable... maybe.

last edited at Jan 20, 2019 5:16AM

That's ingenious. Just keep raising the timelimit until we reach that part where they got married and it was for eternity.
She certainly knows how to use her time wisely. Real power moves.

last edited at Jan 20, 2019 5:04AM

^Except with certain cases (e.g. Arturia). What absolutely irritates me the most is if someone pairs up Tamamo with anyone else but Hakuno. She literally said at the end of her route in Extra that she will remember their bond throughout all her reincarnations and will keep loving him/her until the cycle ends and they meet again. That was something only a fragment of a goddess could do and meant so much. Any of the other Tamamo 9 are fine, but Tamamo no Mae should never ever hook up with someone else.

What makes it work for me is that it went out of its way to show that they have great chemistry and can enjoy each other even without the S&M stuff. Usually this kind of story would be all about that, but here it's just present in the background of the actual developing relationship.

That part where instead of recording some bad sadist line she confessed to Moe was pretty much the best thing ever. Natural sadist or not, what makes Yuuka great is her hidden sweetness. More of a tsundere than a sadist, which is much better for me.

Moe is also freaking cute as frick and I want to hug her.

last edited at Jan 19, 2019 4:36AM

^It's just Emoji's chest. Ya'll need to get your mind out of the crotch zone lol

@GeneralJ If you don't you will either end up getting teased or be the focus of unwanted attention/questions. Even if you don't mind people knowing about your frivolous private life, it can just be really annoying.

Cats and dogs, living together, doing yuri things, Mass Hysteria!

When you ignore all the top/bottom fanart stuff, you can finally appreciate that these two are just sweet together.

^^That would mean they are empowering the bacteria over and over until they evolve into something unstoppable. Your yuri madness is making sicknesses too powerful!!

Hayate's still got it~

^You should go to the Olympics with those mental gymnastics lol

...and then she woke up.

^Their children will be... interesting