I started to respond with some speculation, but I remembered Niji knew Azuki had a past relationship with Meguru.

Chapter 9:

"It's about that person from my part time job. We've been getting along pretty well lately!. That's great and all, but that person's ex girlfriend is probably my older sister. My sister seems to miss that person too, so I'm feeling mixed."

-Remu

""That's weird, Remu. I mean, you're trying interfere with your sister's happiness, right? You and that person simply work at the same place, nothing more. Wouldn't being happy for the two reuniting be the more correct option?

(Thinking) What's with that expression? I put you back on the correct route, you know? I need to investigate who this part time person is."

-Niji

Therefore, all this is a continuation of Niji's plans in Chapter 9. She knows they already like each other and want to get back together. In her mind, it's not strange to think Meguru finding out about Azuki and Remu's relationship would result in Azuki breaking things off with Remu. She must expect Meguru to confront Azuki, not necessarily Remu. I doubt she'd mind an ally in "setting Remu on the correct path." Still, it's somewhat logical to think this will pair Azuki and Meguru based on what she knows as well as on her belief that she and Remu are the endgame pairing.

last edited at Nov 19, 2025 11:00PM

@appstore

I don’t know in what part of my comment I defended Niji? No part in my comment I said she cared for Remu and that is why she is doing this, never said I liked her or denied she is crazy lol in fact I eddited my comment, but I think Remu needs to slap her two or three times so she cuts her crap.

To be fair, while you didn't, I did say Niji cares about Remu and that Niji believes this is her motivation. That's enough for people thinking in terms of "Niji is good / justified" and "Niji is bad / wrong" to think I'm saying "Niji is good and justified," then get upset about the poor morals that would imply.

If we must make this personal, if anything, I'm more afraid of how easy it would be for me to act like Niji if I let myself think of myself as someone "correct" and selfless. No one has to believe me, but that's where I'm coming from.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 11:42PM

@SirNevik

As long as she took the same actions there's no explanation that would change my worries. Understanding someone doesn't change how I'd view their behavior and there are plenty of unreliable and morally confused protagonists. She'd be one based on things so far.

Besides hypotheticals, the main issue is her behavior and thoughts about her behavior is different than the other girls to me and feels more potentially harmful to others, currently. I can't speak for what the girls might have been in the past; I'm only commenting on who they are now. I also haven't said she couldn't be redeemed eventually; I doubt she'll have no depth. I don't think she's a monster or anything.

It's just if you look at these 4 girls, which of them would you say seems more likely to cause (non-physical) harm to the others right now? I'd say Niji very confidently and I could see her do so with little remorse so long as she got her way. The others aren't in that same mental place at the moment and much of their issues are internal. For Niji to get her way, all the other girls get involved in her play.

I also don't think I'd characterize Meguru like that. She only just came to realize why she behaved how she did back then. I don't think she was intending things in the same way Niji is now. She seemed genuine in her disgust and is only now understanding how complicated her feelings are. She's also been regretful, hesitant and unsure throughout (which are major things). That doesn't seem like intentional puppeteering and not in the same way Niji has been doing. We might just see her a bit differently.

I agree that Niji is the most antagonistic and destructive currently. I don't think anyone has questioned that.

Meguru is more avoidant, while Niji is more active and controlling. That fits their narrative roles: Meguru did the bad stuff in the past and left their situation unresolved, while Niji's bad behavior will give the story conflict and push characters out of their established dynamics.

Regarding Meguru, I think we've been shown how being pushing your expectations on someone, blaming them if they fail to meet those expections, and withdrawing affection can be as harmful sticking around to belittle someone. Withdrawing feels less malicious, but the impact isn't inherently lesser.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 9:10PM

@SirNevik

No I'd see her the same. "Dangerous" here also means harmful to others, willingly and actively so. Most of the other girls don't share the same qualities. They regret and feel shame; they worry and most of their issues are internal. Niji not so much, at least not as she's been presented so far.

The point here is that, if Niji were the protagonist, you would have a lot more information about her and a lot less about Azuki. Azuki's regret and shame is often expressed internally and we know about it because she with Remu is the protagonist. It's not subtext, but explicitly expressed. That gives context a creepy image of someone in a dark room with headless dolls wouldn't give.

Meguru engaged in pupeteering as well, but did it in the past. That's why Azuki is like this now, which Meguru is only regretting much later. Niji in contrast is just getting started with her pupeteering and has a long way to go to get the possible regret phase. This may take the form of the older characters helping the younger characters avoid their mistakes, or at least letting the younger characters learn from them. How Meguru reacts to finding out about the clay dolls or relationship with Remu is an open question.

Also, I should say that I at least don't think -no one- would be this critical of Niji if Niji were the protagonist. I don't want to sound like I'm insulting other people, but you tend to have particularly thoughtful readings that involve noticing small details. I have still seen audiences excuse much worse behavior in a protagonist, so I don't think what you responded to is wrong if we are describing general trends in responses.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 7:57PM

Oh hey we did get it uploaded on here fast. Thanks for the upload!

Anyway, it confirms that Niji does believe that what she's doing is helpful, and that she is motivated by protecting and taking of Remu, even though much of her true motivations are more selfish.

I didn't expect Meguru to be asexual, but I was surprised with how not asexual Meguru's motivations are and how self aware she is. She was ready to retraumatize Azuki to make herself feel better, but it didn't take much to get her to step back.

@kinseijoshi

The jumpcut from Meguru saying "I'm the most disgusting one of all" to Niji blissfully writing RPF about her and the girl she's blackmailing into dating her was low-key hilarious.

I feel like the difference between Niji and the rest of the cast is that on some level, they're aware of how everyone else thinks about them. Even though they feel compelled towards certain expressions of sexuality, that awareness at least makes them pause and reflect on what they're doing. Meguru got a really big dose of that in this chapter. While this is probably only going to make her turn her hatred of sexual expression inwards (at least for now), she's at least aware of how she's hurting other people. Niji, on the other hand, is blissfullly detached from everything. Any time she has reality pointed out to her, she rejects it and substitutes her own. Heck, she's even disregarded the one thing Remu asked her not to do, just for the sake of shipping two people she barely knows. It's kind of hard to see how she grows from here—she's already had her foundations shaken to the core and managed to rationalize them away. It really fits the abusive parent analogy brought up earlier, and if that's any guide, maybe she won't change at all.

This is good insight. One reason she hasn't been discouraged is that, so far, it's working out for her. She has a compliant and friendly Remu who fits her fantasies, Remu is still very invested in their friendship, and there's been no kind of negative consequences for anything she's done.

If we use the parent metaphor, a lot of parents only start to rethink their behavior once the kid moves out and has the choice not to interact with them. Even in more extreme cases, like parents who disown their transgender child, they often around if they see the child living a happy life without them. Going from abusing others to true change is hard and perhaps rare, but it's common to see the behavior moderate some extent once they are being held accountable.

Since Niji is a teen girl and not someone decades into abusing others, I'd say her chances of reforming are good. Not guaranteed if she were a real person, but even then kids shouldn't be written off for life so quickly. I also missed this until now, but both Meguru and Niji's issues stem from their parents in addition to their sexuality. Niji realizing she's enacting some of the mom's problematic behaviors on the person she cares the most about would be a wake up call for her.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 4:43PM

Chapter 14 is out on the 'dex, which I mention because last time it took a while to be uploaded here. Both are /u/ scanalations.

I was going to say something like that, despite my history of bad takes with various series, I haven't been completely wrong about this one. Instead I'll nudge anyone who wants to read more of this series to check over there. I will wait for more discussion when it gets uploaded on dynasty.

last edited at Nov 18, 2025 8:14AM

My experience is somewhat different. I've found "webcomics" with weekly release schedules to have sprawling stories that are reminiscent of the first draft of a novel. A lot of times the few arcs are good, but then it loses coherency around 100 chapters in. With the better ones, either they had a planned ending (usually close-ish to chapter 100) they stick with or it's like a very good first draft of a novel series where the author carefully planned out the most important setting details and plot points.

I started to give a lot of examples, but I realized people in this comic's discussion thread probably don't care about that. We tend to have fewer English translations of Chinese works, compared to Korean or Japanese, though. There are still low coherency Japanese works coming out, but it's easy not to read them when there's so many options.

With Artificial Temperature, I'm mainly caring about the relationship between the lead / Android, the edgy prison setting, and how they escape it. What we're seeing is like if Piers Anthony with Cyhthon decided to switch part way through the prison arc into detailing why the protagonist was thrown into a pit on a prison colony planet, starting with the parents' upbrining and how that relates to intergalactic politics. A lot of Piers Anthony's works don't hold up well now, but at least he knew how to stick to the parts of storytelling he did well.

last edited at Nov 15, 2025 11:39AM

And now we know military man is evil in the past too.

I find myself not caring very much about the backstories. I wasn't invested enough in these characters to want to even know parents' backstories or the world's politics. We might get some twists like the anti-android commoner is still alive or is the parent of another character, but that doesn't seem like it would matter very much.

This manga feels kind of amateurish to me. Is this the artist's first work? The compositions and dialogue are flat and cliché and the somewhat awkward posing and anatomy really exacerbate these problems. The characters also have left no impression on me other than boring or even annoying. The ex-homeless girl just lazing around makes the situation feel exploitative to me (@Cogito, I get what you're saying but she could still help out with the dishes, come on). I

I'm guessing she's from a privileged background and is used to having other people do stuff for her, so she doesn't know what's expected or how to do it properly. There's also the aspect of it all being stuff that belongs to someone else that could make it feel safer to do nothing.

This doesn't completely explain it, but things are usually exaggerated in manga. She seems fine with helping out, but is trying to get a feel for things.

I'm not expecting some fluffy romance where everyone acts ethically and nonthreateningly at all times, but I could see someone acting that way if they're demoralized, especially if they expect to be kicked out soon anyway. Like "This is where my effort got me in the past, so why bother?

Anyway, it's chapter 3, so the story is still getting set up. If everything was clear from the start it would be a rather boring story.

I'm not commenting on the other stuff like the art. These are subjective and I don't have strong feelings, other than agreed that most of this isn't very original so far.

last edited at Nov 10, 2025 11:52AM

I think it's interesting how this chapter really drives in how one-sided Io and Misa's relationship is. Misa is constantly trying to do things to make Io feel better and it was nice to see Misa openly vulnerable about her inability to meet Io's expectations at the end. It's adding a lot more depth to their relationship and I'm really excited to see how it'll continue to develop. Hopefully we can see Io taking care of Misa's emotional needs too.

Misa is about to get thrown under the bus by Hase, so she'll have a lot of emotional needs to meet in a minute. I assume Marei will be doing doing whatever she was telling Hase she could do to break up Io, which likely will involve getting at Misa's past in some way as the jaded, older character.

The next level of their relationship would be Io getting more confident and able to support and Misa feeling safer and more able to be vulnerable, but they've got a ways to go for that. I do like how they didn't make it a pure dom/sub dynamic and have more to the characters, which is interesting because it seems to contradict some of the non-story art panels and such like the "captivated or in captivity?" line.

I wonder if the publisher is having them push that to draw people in or it's otherwise being used as advertising, while the authorial intent was always more for them to connect through the dom/sub dynamic and then learn from each other.

last edited at Nov 7, 2025 9:48PM

@Lucca

A lot of is the manga horror panel style framing we've gotten since early on. Meguru messed up Azuki way more in terms of explicit plot events, but Meguru wasn't drawn like a serial killer or eldritch horror pretending to be human so it can eat someone. This is priming people to think "Well, Niji must simply be that bad, given nothing contradicts this reading."

We recently had something similar happen in Lose Bets. A character threw stick of lip gloss over a bridge. Then readers acted like the character had crossed the moral event horizon. The paneling made it look like the character had committed a uniquely terrible act, so people interpreted it that way. Most readers are not detached enough that they will stop to think about why the paneling was set up that way or which parts of the comic are the source of their feelings about the characters.

As for why the author would do draw Niji this way, I think it's to build tension ("What will Niji do next? How far will she go?"), as well as to pull a bait and switch and say "Of course she was another traumatized teenage lesbian all along. Like in universe characters who resent the protagonists, you didn't have all the information and decided to make your judgement based on the parts you could see despite that."

Same may happen somewhat with Remu in the other direction, if she turns out to be quite as nice and well adjusted as she acts for the sake of others' approval. Not that she's evil either, but she's biting off more than she can chew in trying to realize everyone's desires and happiness. At some point that will not go well.

Edit: To build on your point of "If Niji was the protagonist," Azuki could have been drawn in a way that seems extremely menacing, with the whole "longer who obsesses over a past lover from long ago while making headless naked dolls of them" thing. We'd have had people expecting Azuki to commit a murder in that case if we had that drawing style combined with the loss of protagonist POV and most inner thoughts.

last edited at Nov 5, 2025 11:10AM

Our main point of difference: I think she seems to be doing better than could be expected. When someone first encounters something that's completely outside their range of what they've considered acceptable, it tends to be noticeable. Often it's interpreted as judgement or otherwise as a faux pas, even when the person wasn't intending to be. They can then either double down or reflect before deciding how to act in the future.

This is based on my experience living in two non-cosmopolitan but otherwise disparate areas of the US, one where I was viewed as part of the dominant culture and one where I was seen as an outsider.

Also, agreed that different perspectives are a fine- or rather, it's a good thing since yours is what got me thinking about the story more deeply.

last edited at Oct 11, 2025 6:48PM

This chapter, we do see her realizing she's being hypocritical and questioning if her own standards make more sense than Phu Thuy's. So far she wouldn't admit it out loud, but she's likely to get there with more time.

You are right she was rude. If Phu Thuy was more bothered by it, she would likely moderate herself more. Phu Thay literally invited the sheltered housewife to an orgie. We don't have any instances of someone being seriously uncomfortable with Yuri, but I suspect she would notice and react to it.

@ FluffyCow

"Stupid Woman", roll credits

Also Yuri is so judgemental of people having a different and more open expression with sex and love than she does, definitely not a fan of that.

I was thinking about this comment. In US terms, she is like a white woman from Alabama who married an abusive husband right out of high school before being isolated by that husband. She has very little exposure to people different than her, which for a lot of people happens for the first time in college or their careers. She also doesn't have an open or healthy way of relating to herself.

If we imagine someone like this on the run in Thailand, Yuri is doing pretty well in terms of adjusting and being respectful to other people. She has more to learn, but has shown herself willing to do so.

last edited at Oct 11, 2025 8:18AM

I theorized that Atsuko might be a hitwomen in earlier chapters but given she seemed kind of nervous about taking pictures of bikes that may not be the case.

That or she has enough exposure to criminal groups that she realizes how quickly taking a picture of something people want hidden could escalate. She acts like she has experience with illegal groups, at least.

it's funny how all the discussion rn is about niji and remu, which i do get because what's going on with them is crazy fucked up, but i'm here thinking about meguru's response to azuki. like meguru has issues(tm) but i was under the impression that it was mainly azuki obsessing over and fixating on their relationship. but. i think meguru's been just as fixated on it in a different way, and she's taken the avoidance and denial strategy instead. but she's realizing that she does want azuki to want her? which flies in the face of her whole distorted worldview so far. very interested to see how that plays out

This is how I see Meguru too, more or less. She has not moved on in the least. If anything she regressed back to her childhood, living a loveless, isolated existence surrounded by plushies that part of her fear could still have an ulterior motive.

People on mangadex had different interpretations of Meguru being upset, like that she had repressed sexual desire she felt like Azuki was denying. Maybe she does, but to me it seemed more like she was frustrated by not having the kind of "pure love" she felt like they had as teenagers. Azuki said what Meguru wanted, but did so while hyperventilating and looking traumatized, then vowed never to touch Meguru again. Meguru is frequently seen cuddling the plushies. Clearly she doesn't want someone afraid to touch her and afraid of her in general.

Like Niji, Meguru sees herself as someone with pure motivations trying to do something good with Azuki. When Azuki reacts like Meguru did something bad to Azuki, it's unpleasant for Meguru. I likened this to parents who beat their children into obedience and then get upset when the child cries or seems afraid of them. This type of cognitive dissonance often predates someone realizing they made a mistake, though they can also double down afterwards and blame the other person.

last edited at Oct 7, 2025 9:13AM

Feel free to focus on whatever you want. I've been doing things like linking other chapters because I was talking about more than one chapter and Niji's character more generally. What I've been doing is repeatedly trying to clarify in response to incorrect assumptions about my beliefs or motivations (for example, that I think Niji hasn't acted selfishly in the latest updates, or that I am trolling), not to get anyone else to do anything. Consider that one of my attempted clarifications.

last edited at Oct 6, 2025 6:54PM

I've been commenting on the entire story and not a specific chapter or scene, but, in the extra content, the author referred to this volume as depicting Niji and Meguru's "disgusting side". Or as I put, her having a breakdown. They wouldn't refer to it as a "side" if it were in fact their entire personality and motivation. It is Niji's low point where she establishes herself as an antagonist in the coming chapters or volumes.

The two characters explicitly had a relationship prior to the earliest scenes in the story, so it's natural for me to include the implied information about what that was like in how I describe the characters. If someone else wants to do something different, like focusing on explicitly depicted information only, then it's not my business to tell someone else how to enjoy a story. Nonetheless, the other stuff is part of the story and setting the author has carefully prepared for us.

last edited at Oct 6, 2025 12:48PM

I think she has multiple motivations going on at the same time, rather than one that is "the motivation" for all her actions. I do think she cares about Remu and values their relationship. She wouldn't want to self conceptualize herself as someone who would mistreat Remu.

Some of her motivations are filtered through her thinking Remu is a naive, submissive person who depends on her. We can see how she comes to this conclusion. Remu is pretty accommodating and accepting toward other people, while Niji is someone she trusts and goes to for advice. Remu is not actually passive or submissive and her allowing other people to have their perspectives doesn't mean she uncritically adopts them. Nonetheless, Niji wants to think of herself as having that kind of motherly relationship with Remu, maybe because her own relationship with her mother lacks that caring dynamic toward Niji.

last edited at Oct 6, 2025 9:55AM

Is Niji motivated by wanting to protect Remu or wanting the best for Remu (and just following these goals in terrible and misaligned ways)?

My answer to that would also be no. My assertion was that she believes her idealized version of Remu is real, that she believes that her actions are ultimately in Remu's interests, and that she will likely feel bad if she realizes this isn't the case. This is different than saying her "true motivations" are only that she wants the best for Remu, something I never said. I said she was motivated by wanting to attain something she thinks she needs. One can feel bad when they realized they behaved selfishly and harmed other people - feeling bad doesn't require that one never had selfish feelings.

I could be misunderstanding, but I don't think this is a celebrity stalker situation where she came up with the fantasy and then pursued Remu. It appears more to me like that Remu became part of her friend group, Remu was a safe person who filled a need in her life, and from there she started to push more fantasies and expectations upon Remu as she started to think of Remu as necessary for her.

This means it was never a total fantasy - there was some real world basis and history to their relationship that was positive enough for them to become close friends. We also saw this more explicitly with Azuki and Meguru, where they both connected with each other in a genuine way before the relationship deteriorated. I thought they made it abundantly clear that Remu and Niji did have a positive history, with Niji being seen as the mom and caretaker figure in the class, even if we haven't gotten a flashback for their history as friends yet. I likewise thought it was clear that there would have been some reason Meguru and Azuki originally got emotionally invested in each other, even before we saw the explicit flashback.

last edited at Oct 6, 2025 9:43AM

My definition of trolling doesn't include talking about a fictional character's beliefs and motivations in a forum thread dedicated to talking about that specific story. This is rather the specific place to do it, as Niji's beliefs and motivations are part of the story.

If you mean I am trying to upset you, that is is definitely not the case. I will avoid responding to you if I can remember, which will likely last at least until the next update. Trust me that I don't get anything out of upsetting others in one of the few social outlets to which I have access.

last edited at Oct 5, 2025 9:11PM

I certainly never said Niji is virtuous or that this type of behavior would be beneficial to others.

And in fact, no character's perspective is based on reality, as this is fiction. If one isn't interested in the perspective of a major character in a piece of fiction, I guess they will not enjoy the parts of the story involving that character, but I will still talk about that character if I want to do so.

Edit: Also, I agree that this type of thinking, when taken to the extreme, can lead to murder etc. The same can be said of many typical human traits. I even described one thought process through which someone can appear as the aggressor to others (with murder being an extreme example of aggression) while thinking of themselves as a victim.

last edited at Oct 5, 2025 8:34PM

She refers to Azuki as "the meddler," talks about putting Remu "back on the right track" (ie returning Remu to how she was pre Azuki), and has story Remu use lines like "this is the real me". When a commenter says no one like Remu could be real, she blocks the person and says "Remu is right here":

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/our_love_is_disgusting_ch07#16

She clearly believes she's helping Remu return to her original personality.

As for her trying to control Remu, yes, but she's not self conceiving of it as controlling Remu. She hasn't been depicted as thinking, "I know the real Remu is different than in the story. How can I blackmail and manipulate her to pretend she's like that so I can enjoy myself more?"

Controlling behavior in real life is usual not the result of some psychopath concocting elaborate schemes. It's more often because they think there is something they need to be okay that's being denied to them. Because of that, they feel scared or angry and try to get whatever that is. When someone stops them, they see that other person as the aggressor, even if to everyone else they look like the real aggressor.

Niji is like this in the story. Acting like this is completely compatible with caring about someone. Loving someone doesn't always mean you treat them well in practice or correctly understand them - that's the theme of this story, after all.

Why would she want to tell Remu's mom if not out of blackmail plans? Remu's mom is like she imagined in her story.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/our_love_is_disgusting_ch09#7

Of course Niji would want to involve the mom if she thinks the situation is out of hand.

Another thing to keep in mind is that they've been friends a long time. We didn't see it, but it means they spent a lot of time supporting each other. That's why Remu has trusted Niji and wanted Niji to stay friends with her. Remu isn't someone passive who would stay friends with someone constantly mistreating her. What we're seeing now is Niji having a breakdown and acting differently than she has in the past.

The end of her arc is likely accepting that Remu is different than her idealized version of Remu and that the real one is also okay for being who she is. This is the same realization the other characters need to have about each other. I would be surprised if the other three characters go on a journey of self discovery and eventual healing, but Niji is just evil, never cared about Remu, and the author burns the relationship.

last edited at Oct 5, 2025 4:05PM

Up until now, I could still somewhat sympathise with Niji. But with this blackmail plot, she's actively villainous—and not in a fun way.

If we consider from Niji's perspective, we can realize she still likely cares about (her idealized) version of Remu. She knows almost nothing about Azuki and believes Azuki is taking advantage of Remu by grooming her to act differently. From what she's seen, Azuki looks very bad, so she wants to save Remu. In fact Azuki, has made morally questionable choices by getting involved with a student this way.

The very obvious info to readers is that Azuki is not particularly taking advantage of Remu and that Niji is the one holding Remu hostage in order to force her to act like a different person. Niji may feel very bad once she realizes this, but for now we need her to make more bad choices.

On mangadex, I joked that we needed Remu to become more traumatized to catch up to the older characters. Niji is helping us out.

last edited at Oct 3, 2025 8:31PM

I'm not in a rush as far as this goes, but I will say that it would be really weird if Komaki doesn't apologize to Wakaba before the story is over.