This is the kind of quality angst story that I am so here for. The first two chapters were good, but I love when the protagonist is also at least a little toxic instead of just being a victim wallowing in their own suffering.
Thisssss. Don't just wallow, girl. Hook up with senpai. She cute.
I gotta say, Eri is my favorite character in this manga. It's fascinating to me how she hasn't really done anything wrong, but the story is framed to encourage the audience to hate her because Fuyuki is the protagonist and everything Eri's done -- perhaps most especially the nice things she's done -- have hurt Fuyuki deeply.
Ughhhh you make a great point here. I've been reading this manga so far with the mindset of "Eri can take a long walk off a short dock", but she hasn't actually done anything intentionally hurtful. In fact, she has shown she's worried about Fuyuki's reaction to her having a boyfriend (at least recently--seems like in the flashbacks in previous chapters, she had no qualms sharing about her boyfriends). But the author does a great job of making me hate her anyway lol.
What I find most interesting about Eri, though, is how emotionally intuitive she is in (seemingly) almost all areas. She knew Fuyuki liked the movie the other club member was trashing; she instantly noticed that Kurosawa was more than just Fuyuki's senpai; and I'm pretty sure she also knows Kyou's in love with Fuyuki and not her. Which all raises the question...does she really not know that Fuyuki's been in love with her since forever? Does she really not see how much she's been hurting Fuyuki?
What makes you think Kyou really likes Fuyuki and that Eri knows it? I've only seen a couple small things (Eri saying he's soft with her, him inviting Fuyuki to join the film club), and ultimately, he asked out Eri. Just curious.
Here's my guess. The story is structured to make you think Eri is some evil manipulator -- even Kurosawa seems to believe this -- but I don't think so. I think the fundamental irony of Eri is that she understands others very well but she understands herself not at all. She's terrified to face the prospect that Fuyuki loves her because it would mean she'd have to admit to her own love too. So she lies to herself, pretends like she doesn't see it, forces herself to take Fuyuki's words at face value, because admitting to the truth would result in a flood of guilt, shame, and fear she's not able to hold up against.
Agreed, though I tend not to sympathize with characters like this. Just be gay lol.