I've come to love the interactions between Yui and Saeki. They often offer a lot of interesting insight on what's going on with Nanami from two very different and privileged points of view.
Plus I tend to like it when "rivals" aren't at each other's throars.

I can't really even see them as rivals, personally. They just both love Touko (who is, which bears repeating again and again, stupendously, inhumanly lucky to have not one but two extraordinary women love her this much), and both are content with just loving her. Rivalry implies that both would aim for the same goal, such as Touko's reciprocation, but they really don't have anything to fight over, so it's more of a bond than a rivalry (even though rivalry itself is a form of personal bond, too).

On the topic of the next chapter, I have a strong suspicion that it will jump directly to the aftermath of the play. I don't see any narrative point of writing out a story-with-a-story unless it goes completely off the rails and turns out to be more about the actors than about their (doubly fictional) characters. Skipping the play to only reiterate the key events and to deal with the aftermath would be a nice piece of elliptic storytelling that I am sure Nakatani would be able to write perfectly.

Eeeeh, I'm pretty sure Saeki has been holding out hope that if she stayed by her side, Touko might eventually reciprocate her feelings. She might suspect she's already lost, but I doubt she doesn't have any hopes. And Yuu DEFINITELY wants Touko to keep loving her. Her hand-wringing when the talk of confession was going on a few chapters ago said a lot about what she wants out of their relationship. It isn't an accident that the author worked in a side drama about a tragic confession story right before the play.

Also, the fact that we've seen so much of the plot of the play beforehand implies that it might go off the rails. I'm expecting Yuu to do something beautifully foolish during their pivotal scene.

Saeki is a worthy suitor/rival indeed...

Just no.

I guess my question being was Yuu telling her she isn't alone what she needed to hear at that moment or not.

I think Nanami's slow response was out of her being nervous with no major implications

The father I see as another character in need of healing/redemption from the past

Agreed with the first part, I don't think the issue to him is actually that Nanami is doing the play, but because he doesn't want to remember or think about what happened.

I get the sense that he is actually worried about Nanami following her sister's footsteps. "She didn't need to, though" makes me think he's also worried that she doesn't have an identity of her own.

last edited at Feb 2, 2018 5:21AM

Man I've been checking so many times over the last few days for the new chapter. Now back to waiting another month...

I guess my question being was Yuu telling her she isn't alone what she needed to hear at that moment or not.

Well, I suspect that's a kiss happening in panel 4 of page 17. I don't see why you would cut her face out of the frame like that if you weren't implying that something lip related is going on off-panel, and Touko looks pretty stunned in the last panel.

OK, I don't know who's more nervous--me or the actors. Actually, although this really was a bit of a tease--we didn't really need two "day-of-the-play" buildup chapters--for me this one totally dispelled the impression that . . . that bad thing might happen. You know, with the trains, and the "no destination" and all. That one.

I think we're good on that score.

I always felt people were misreading that and overreacting. I never thought it was about suicide, but just the aimless malaise of someone who doesn't know who they want to be or what they want to do with their life.

Okay, so,

A) PFFT
B) But but Mo what about Mo what happened to my precious babee
C) "It would be wasteful to put them on right away"? It's not like your old glasses have to get worn out. It's a freaking fashion choice. Seize the glasses! Carpe speculum! (wait that means something else)

Can anyone tell me who she actually is? By the way she talked with Ayako in the raw?

Ayako's sister or her sister-in-law, because her name's /Mori/ Akira. The former would honestly make more sense, given how similar they look to each other.

If I'm not wrong, Kisaragi was Ayako's surname before she got married, and the guy's surname was Mori, whiiich means that she'd have to be a blood relative of the guy's. Unless there's been a mistake with the surnames.

Is it possible that they're married? Maybe the reason she feels guilty is because she's been hiding a wife from her daughter, presenting her as an aunt or something.

This makes me feel a little bad for Tsu. I mean, she probably left home to get away from the constant, wall-to-wall incest, and she's all "Man, I'm so glad to have a nice, normal girlfr-(relationship breaks up, girlfriend goes to marry sister) GODDAMMIT!"

oh god that last panel i cant my sides help

Good series with a rushed but mostly satisfying ending. I am still a little confused about Oga being able to see the wings. It might have something to do with caring about the person? Like, obviously Sayuri cares about Mikoto, but maybe since Oga is so kind that she has a general level of sincere caring for other people that she can already see Mikoto's wings from the start. It could have something to do with being a lesbian I guess, but Kusanagi couldn't see Mikoto's wings. So it must be something to do with the relationship to the character.

The other thing I don't get is that Kusanagi saw Sayuri as an angel during their school days. That supports the idea that seeing the wings is down to caring about the character. It kind of creates a new problem, though, because what are the wings caused by? Nobody sees Sayuri as an angel at any other point in the story, so it's not a permanent thing. Was seeing Sayuri as an angel just a kind of metaphorical thing due to falling in love or whatever? Because that seems out of place in a story where Mikoto's wings are real and physical. I basically guessed the ending pretty early on and I always assumed the wings are due to having a proximity to death or being in a borderline state like a coma. But Sayuri having the wings in the past complicates that explanation.

The wings seem to be inconsistent between Sayuri and Mikoto. Mikoto is aware of her wings, while Sayuri appeared to not notice them. That would seem to indicate that Kusanagi imagined seeing Sayuri as an angel due to love. Again, though, why include a detail like that in the story when Mikoto really did appear as an angel? If Sayuri really did have the wings once, then we need a new explanation for the wings. It could be an emotional thing like experiencing despair or depression. I don't know, I'm not having any great ideas.

Sayuri's "wings" and Mikoto's wings aren't the same thing. Mikoto was a literal angel, a disembodied spirit empowered by a god to be able to visit and live with her sister for a year. Her wings were an actual physical part of herself. The wings on Sayuri were symbolic. They were either a trick of the light, through the camera lens, or a figment of Kusanagi's somewhat unhinged imagination, but either way, different thing.

last edited at Jan 21, 2018 5:48PM

So this was cute. I hadn't read any of it until the finale just got posted, but it's pretty adorbs.

I think the people trying to find a reason behind Oga being able to see the wings are overthinking it. Sayuri says it towards the end. "You knew I'd give up if I was alone." Oga was the first other person to see Mikoto and the closest thing Sayuri had to a friend at the start. I don't know if Mikoto consciously chose her, or if she just unconsciously wanted -somebody- else to know she was an angel, but either way, she could see them because she was allowed to.

Which I found kind of disappointing...Closing in on the ending, I was expecting that the sister would pass on, and we would find out that Oga was Sayuri's fated partner. But ah well. Ship sunk.

PROGRESS! (chorus of hallelujah)

As it turned out, the progress happened without her participation, and her coming in immediately afterwards is what probably made people hostile. Remember, some have been waiting for this elevation in relationship status for years.

That is pretty much the main reason for me (and if I am allowed to speculate, many others). The main couple had a surprise kiss and their relationship jumped ahead a lot. Now instead of a few chapters them acting awkward in a cute way and stumble deeper into a cute romantic relationship.
Now we get a drama arc where people do not know how long it will be. Just 2-3 chapters? Or will it be more? Will it be months without the main couple interacting?
We just had a kiss. Something that is normally the payoff after a big drama arc. There are no big or even small issues in their relationship right now that a love rival arc could fix. So unless the author does some really amazing writing and somehow uses this arc to progress the relationship of the two it is pretty much a waste of time if you look at it from a purely main couple perspective.

Man, I'm sick and tired of all of these diversions with Mophead and his little girlfriend. It's a waste of time if you look at it from a purely main couple perspective.

What is with all this basketball playing and interacting with the hooligan from the other school? It's a waste of time if you look at it from a purely main couple perspective.

Why should we care about Xuezhang and Sun's friend? Their relationship is a waste of time if you look at it from a purely main couple perspective.

The main couple are not the only characters in this comic, nor do I wish them to be.

Mo Xiaonan has been a character in this comic almost since it began. She was around Sun Jing in almost every major scene at school, and her appearances have been building to this for awhile. She is a character of her own, with her own motivations and reasons for being smitten with Sun Jing, and I've been curious to see what her deal was literally for years.

last edited at Jan 15, 2018 1:49AM

It's official, Mo is a beautiful cinnamon bun, and her inevitable heartbreak is going to tear me to pieces.

"You were staring at it and grinning!"

"I was not!" (stares at it and grins)

I really wanted another page with just one little illustration of sis poking her head in and going "Gotcha!"

@KYOUSAYA4LIFE As pointed out, that's "Ittadakimasu". "Ittekimasu" is "I'm going out", and "Itterasshai" is something like "Come back safely". They're using it correctly.

Still hoping for this interpretations, somehow. But we really need to wait for what happened in the past, I'm still thinking of an affair or something along those lines (because of the framed picture in the chapter I don't remember).

We know something happened to her mother that put her in a hospital, and we know that Uta thinks Kaoru felt responsible for Uta's parents divorcing. Reiichi also told Kaoru not to blame herself. The framed picture at the beginning of volume two that Kaoru looks fondly on looks like Uta's mother with Kaoru. How those elements fit together is still anybody's guess.

(My running theory is that Kaoru's mom passed away, after which Uta and Reiichi's parents helped take care of her. She was close with Uta's mom, but Uta's dad made a pass at her, which split up their family and ruined her relationship with Uta's mom, and also hurt Uta's trust in adults for awhile. But there's tons of guesswork in there, so don't hold me to it)

Looking back through things, we also know that Reiichi "cruelly dumped" Kaoru several times thoughout high school and university, and that Kaoru almost always spent, specifically, valentines day alone. We also know from her flashback dream that Risako was behind at least one of those breakups, and given that Reiichi is kind of weak willed and unreliable, I'd bet she was behind most or all of them. I also doubt it's coincidence that the first "business trip" of Reiichi's we heard about was on their anniversary. I'm betting that was a power move from Risako. Same thing with Reiichi's birthday. I bet Reiichi keeps going back to Kaoru because he feels bad for her, and Risako resents it, so she deliberately steals him back on special occasions. Valentines, Birthdays, their first freaking wedding anniversary...

last edited at Dec 27, 2017 4:40PM

I have not made any ad hominems. Suggesting that someone's argument isn't realistic or that they are in denial is not an ad hominem. Argumentum ad hominem is a logical fallacy whereby you attack someone's character to discredit their argument, and I'm not doing any of that. My argument that Reiichi is clearly cheating is based on the evidence which I cited in my post.

It is, Heavensrun, AD HOMINEM.

No, it literally isn't. Ad hominem does not mean "I feel offended by what you said". It's a specific term with a specific meaning.

First of all, suggesting someone is in denial about something isn't even an insult, it's an assessment of their rationality. If someone is objectively wrong about something and is refusing to acknowledge it, they are in denial, by definition. Now we can argue as to whether that's true or not, but whether it's true or not, it isn't an insult. At the very least I don't intend it that way. A person being in denial is an objective fact about that person, the fact that it's unflattering has nothing to do with that.

Secondly, even if you had something that was clearly an insult, an insult is not always an ad hominem. I am going to use an unambiguous insult to illustrate my point, but I am not actually saying anybody here is an idiot:

"Your argument is wrong" is an unsupported assessment.
"Your argument is wrong because (justifying reasons)" is a proper argument.
"You're an idiot" is an insult, but is not an ad hominem because the person accusing you of being an idiot is not using that against your argument.
"Your argument is wrong because (justifying reasons), and also you're an idiot" is a proper argument, followed by an irrelevant insult, but that still isn't an ad hominem.
"You're an idiot because your argument is wrong because (justifying reasons)" is an argument about whether or not you are an idiot, based on an argument about the quality of your argument. This also isn't an ad hominem, because the attack on the person is not supportive of the argument, but vice versa.
"You're an idiot and your argument is wrong" is ambiguous, but could probably be reasonably assumed to be an ad hominem since no actual argument was made against your argument.
"You're an idiot, therefore I don't have to address your argument" is a clear ad hominem.

See the difference? It's about whether the insult is a dodge for addressing the argument. Now this whole tangent is off topic, so I'm leaving it there. If you don't like it, start a fight with a logic professor.

But the reason I said people are in denial is because the evidence I laid out in my post forms my argument that his cheating is near certainty, especially taking into consideration the narrative structure of the story. This isn't a mystery full of misdirection, it's a drama/romance manga. If Reiichi was going to turn out to be innocent, there would be clues and foreshadowing for that. Instead, we had extensive clues and foreshadowing suggesting that he might be cheating on Kaoru. The number of coincidences and weird circumstances necessary to steer us away from the conclusion that he is guilty of infidelity would come off as exceptionally contrived at this point.

I get that some people don't like infidelity storylines, because they're "cliche", but the fact is many people cheat. The statistics vary pretty wildly depending on how the study is conducted, but I've seen numbers as high as 70% of people cheat on their spouse. And when it comes to identifying the warning signs, well, the first 9 chapters of this manga read like a freaking textbook on the subject.

Forgetfulness. Poor planning of personal time in the marriage. Lack of intimacy. Lack of physical affection. Lack of investment in the relationship. Lack of attention to anniversaries, birthdays, and other special occasions. Melancholy and absent-mindedness at home.

And, y'know, finding him walking around with another woman under a single umbrella on his birthday when he says he's out of town on a business trip.

last edited at Dec 27, 2017 3:26PM

Heavensrun, please read before commenting. You are quick to correct others just like Ritsuko to be Risako(btw, thank you for correcting me) but you don't point it out directly to me.

I don't believe you were the only person making the mistake, Although maybe I was getting my wires crossed between your posts and other people quoting your posts. I've definitely seen it a few times on different sites discussing this, which is why I didn't direct it at just one person.

I read your aboved statement twice. It is arguable. It doesn't hold any CONCRETE ground. It leaves a lot of loopholes and even to the point that you don't read much of others' opinion that is not in resonant with you. Just like this.

I read the entirety of every post since my last post. I disagree emphatically with your perceived loopholes, which is why I believe that you and others are literally in denial, because the degree to which you must stretch the evidence to fit your narrative is not rational.

Since, you have pointed out your ABSOLUTE argument and hell-bound to stick with it after reading posts that doesn't agree on "ABSOLUTE CHEATING", then I will respect your opinion. But please no AD HOMINEM like commenters are in denial. Talk about the story and the issues at hand, not the commenters. Commenters are NOT part of the story. I hope, at least, we can agree on the definition of "forum".

I have not made any ad hominems. Suggesting that someone's argument isn't realistic or that they are in denial is not an ad hominem. Argumentum ad hominem is a logical fallacy whereby you attack someone's character to discredit their argument, and I'm not doing any of that. My argument that Reiichi is clearly cheating is based on the evidence which I cited in my post.

What I am doing is suggesting that you are bending over backwards, beyond reason, to continue avoiding a conclusion which the facts have demonstrated to be inescapable.

The author should not have to draw Risako and Reiichi banging to get across the message that Reiichi has been unfaithful to his wife.

So looking at comments here, there's a lot I want to comment on...

If you still don't think he's cheating, or that this chapter didn't conclusively demonstrate that he is, you are in a deep state of denial.

He apologized for "the things that happened during the accident". You don't lead with "I'm sorry." when you're afraid your wife has misunderstood the situation.

He goes outside, out of earshot, to answer a call from Risako, and shows obvious guilt after even just talking to her about the current situation. That "What am I doing??" is as damning as anything.

Risako shows up like the cat that ate the canary, probably having heard from Reiichi that Kaoru doesn't remember what happened, and on the way out of the scene, she muses that It's more like Uta is her sister rather than Kaoru's (since she's closer with Reiichi than Kaoru is.)

That's on top of all the previous evidence piled up. Reiichi's "business trips" (companies do not spring surprise business trips on employees. That crap is worked out far in advance.) His lack of interest in his relationship with Kaoru (He didn't just forget a wedding anniversary, he forgot their FIRST wedding anniversary) and the fact that he was walking around town under a single umbrella on HIS BIRTHDAY shortly after telling his wife he was going to remain out of town for awhile yet.

He has been cheating on her.

Period.

Full stop.

Please stop making excuses for him, or trying to imagine how any other situation could explain these circumstances. This is the reality we are dealing with.

What is the more interesting question here is -why-.

Reiichi seems to have married Kaoru because of some kind of trauma involving their families. The dream/flashback last volume seems to have implied that she has been heartbroken over him before, due to Risako no less. So he and Risako have history, and his marriage to Kaoru is on some kind of foundation of guilt more than love.

On top of that, Kaoru can't even enunciate what she loves about him, and I'm willing to bet that the mental block there is that what she loves about him is -Uta-. I think Reiichi knows that Uta loves Kaoru, and I think he suspects that Kaoru isn't really that into him, or at least is also into his sister. So it really isn't that surprising that he'd be drawn to his old ex flame, who probably resents the hell out of the circumstances that took him away from her, and who is legitimately interested in him and him alone.

Okay, one point I feel compelled to make loudly.

HER NAME IS RISAKO, NOT RITSUKO.

"Everyone's Staring!"

(literally no one is staring)

They actually used amnesia lol and that fucking rancid bitch had the audacity to come and visit... Well, good bye Unrequited Love, I'm not gonna throw salt I'll just quietly leave

Looks like fake amensia for what i have seen, There was some doubts that might prove it at first but when she got her phone back, she just couldn't lie to herself anymore and decided to cry by making it up an lie(spotted by the MC too).

It isn't necessarily fake. Some disorientation and difficulty remembering and putting together events is normal after a head injury. the moments directly around the event can be gone permanently or temporarily, and being reminded of elements of it can help the person put it all together. It looks like getting the phone back from Risako helped her put the pieces together, but she might still not be sure why she's upset. She might just be remembering the way she felt then.

They actually used amnesia lol and that fucking rancid bitch had the audacity to come and visit... Well, good bye Unrequited Love, I'm not gonna throw salt I'll just quietly leave

He says while explicitly throwing salt.

She had a head injury. Amnesia and disorientation surrounding the moments of a head injury are an incredibly common symptom.

Mo noooooo.... ;_____; Poor kid...

This series is really cute, but honestly, Arisa's purity is wearing thin. I'm past finding it funny and it's just kind of making me feel bad for Mari, who is just desperate for affection from her girlfriend.

It's comedy, you need to ignore the real implications it could have to appreciate it the most, I think.

I for one find it cute that despite her purity, Arisa is still sort of taking the lead, Mari is gladly letting her. I thought the dynamic would change as would their relationship, I guess things will kinda revert to what they were just slightly different.

Yeah, it's comedy, but it has literally one joke right now, which is "Arisa freaks the fuck out when Mari tries to express basic intimacy.", and that joke has worn thin for me.

I'd just like to see...I dunno, a shoulder lean, or a hug, or a peck on the cheek that -doesn't- result in Arisa having conniptions.