Ema has so many redflags, I just wish for Takara to fall in love with a girl that's actually single.
She reminds me of the best friend of my mom who was sexually abused by her father. I could be wrong but that might be one of the reasons she already liked girls when she hit puberty. Eventually she married a loaded dentist and got two kids, while constantly cheating on him with different women. She used his assets to start a private real estate company with her two sons and once she knew she was financially strong enough divorced him. He was such a nice guy and pushover that she got a pretty good deal.
Now her business is super successful and she's so loaded she's openly gay and not afraid anymore. Women flock to her often because of her money, some were even het who tried to take advantage of her. And she falls in love with het women all the time, it's such a disaster. She's also still in love with my mom, they went to high school together. Everytime my mom got a bf she got so jealous they fought alot.
The craziest thing is she made on move on me when I was twenty, nothing happened ofcourse but my mom was so furious they didn't talk to each other for years... Sometimes you read those super toxic stories thinking that's bs but stuff like this really happens.
I think this manga gives a pretty realistic picture of the struggles of gay women who had abusive parent's in a society they are shunned. Of course my mom's friend abuse was much worse but at least nowadays, lesbians in my country don't face the same discrimination like in japan.
I thought I was alone with this line of thought. Glad to know I'm not. I don't know... There's just something that doesn't sit well with me with how Ema is acting so far. She plays both sides and leads them both all the same despite obviously knowing the feelings of both parties.
This is why I especially felt so sad for Takara, who has the short end of the stick at this point. Numerous times has she been blindsided with mixed signals only for then to witness her precious one being lovey dovey with her husband. The confession of Takara should have been a signal blaring enough for Ema to know that Takara has a history of deep enough emotional investment in this. And yet, I just can't seem to see any hints of gentleness and care from Ema in handling this. The story depicts that Ema also loves Takara deep down. Yet, she does not have any shred of conscience or awareness of what the other person might potentially be feeling in always having to be reminded of her "loss"?
I personally can't help but feel that this is so unfair and unkind towards Takara. I know Takara is also foolish enough to still have the will to fight in this sticky situation. I also know that Ema is not forcing Takara at all to have feelings for her. But the least she can do, if she cares about the other person's feelings, is to simply not be as dense as a goddamn neuron star and set boundaries with Takara - to avoid potentially deepening both sides' emotional investment. Since there's really nothing in it for her so long as Ema is unwilling to go of both sides.
She has a terrible mom and most likely had a very troubled past. But it's really just not an excuse for the unfair entanglement of others. It's unfortunate but also just really selfish. Somewhere down the line as I was reading this, I can't help but realize that I began to slowly shift from wishing more fruitful encounters between Takara and Ema, to hoping for another character to appear that can just somehow swoop Takara away from this terrible scenario - because she deserves better.
Of course, I'm still wishing for a happy ending between the both of them though - that would be perfect. But it's just so bleak. And with how the story is so far, even if they eventually reach that point, I bet it wouldn't be without a trade-off or deep scars.
The rant was long because I really find the story to be interesting. Everything is messy, confusing, frustrating, and icky, just like how things could absolutely go astray in real life. I'm really invested into this and hope that the ending is cathartic regardless of the outcome.
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All that... OR both could just maybe stop being useless lesbians and get their shit together already.
Jesus. I did not consider this but this may be right. Ema may be the villain after all (maybe not the best word but you get the idea). The scene of the Ema-looking person at the lesbian bar in ch 10 is a clue.
