This most recent chapter was such a bore, too. Kyou is fine, but he is not the reason any of us are here.

While I have zero investment in Kyou as a character and was also disappointed that the most recent chapter continued centering around his pov, I think this focus is essential to what I assume is the eventual build up of his “competition” with Fuyuki and the subsequent dissolution of his relationship with Eri. There is no way in hell Kyou and Eri are going anywhere with their dating. Even Kyou is starting to realize that now. The most recent chapters had a girl straight up ask him why he’s even dating her. His dissatisfaction will come to a head soon.

In terms of evidence of Eri’s romantic jealousy, she saw Fuyuki through her window returning home in the morning after spending the night with senpai (implication of sex is obvious…even though readers know Fuyuki couldn’t go through with it), and this caused her to painfully and melancholically turn away. That to me was the most telling. We shall see what happens, now that they’re all sorta stuck together in close vicinity.

All that is an assumption. We don't know anything about Koto yet. Is she traumatized or simply moved on. It's not clear yet.

*Chapters demonstrating Koto being devastated after Aya’s disappearance and Erika suggesting she hasn’t been the same.
*You (in the same breath): “Why is everyone saying Koto has trauma!? Sure she got fucked up by what happened…”

Also this ain’t a competition on who’s the protagonist lol.

Who says it's competition. My point is that the one we know the most about is Aya. We mostly see things from her point of view and she's the only one who has some of her past revealed to some extent. Unlike Koto and Erika, who are a total mystery and we know very little about, we know much more about Aya. That's what the story is primarily about. Which is interesting, because some people thought Aya would just be a plot device to get Koto and Erika together, but so far it has been nothing like that. If anything, Koto and Erika are the plot devices to explore Aya's feelings.

And just so you know but I've read up to chapter 7 too.

You keep on saying that “nothing has been revealed” about Koto and Erika despite a ton of things being indirectly revealed. If you’ve read up to chapter 7 but can’t pick up on any of it then maybe you’re not very good at reading in-between the lines. As for their respective pasts, sometimes they come from happy families and it’s not relevant (as has been suggested for Erika). Just because there was a glimpse of Aya’s mom leaving her doesn’t mean a ton about Aya’s own past has been revealed. And sure we “know” the most about Aya because the story is told from her perspective and she doesn’t have a 7 year blank page to fill in, but that’s obvious. Not sure why that’s relevant to discussions of other characters and a need from you to clarify who the “protagonist” is.

The last few pages of chapter 4 gave me chills but I do agree that this is probably just a metaphor. I think this was made to emphasize the theme of Tanabata, as in a tragedy, where characters are not in control of their destiny. The answer of Erika is also intriguing, as if she was relieved.

But so far, nothing indicates that Koto is manipulative. If we exclude the last pages of chapter 4, Koto just seems a bit confused and kind of dull. The gap between Koto and Aya is blatant though and somehow, it looks like Erika is connecting more genuinely with Aya than Koto (this is true in the following chapters as well). Mostly because she is able to be her true self with Aya, while Koto seems to have shut downed her feeling 7 years ago, making it difficult for Aya to connect with her. At least, that's the way I see it.

It still don't now what the purpose of the story is, nor how the relationship with those three characters will evolve, but this is one of my favorites lately. I really like the slow pace of Kabocha's stories.

Btw, the first volume was released as an ebook only, no physical copy. Try to support the author if you can, I don't think their are selling a lot (though, chapters are being released on some webcomic plateforms as well). I do hope there are enough sells in order to justify a physical release at one point.

I wholeheartedly agree with your interpretation! It feels like Koto is on edge and bracing herself to experience the loss again, and hence can’t open up. Also, so far I don’t think Kabocha is too caught up on explaining the supernatural cause behind everything (if she ever does get to it at all). The focus (and luckily for me, also the major appeal) of the story is the complicated relationship and feelings between the three characters given the unique circumstance they’ve found themselves in. The author is slowly walking us through the intricate power dynamics at play here, and so it probably isn’t for those who aren’t interested in that aspect.

And yes! Please support her eBooks on Amazon. It would be such a shame if this doesn’t get a physical release.

last edited at Oct 24, 2023 11:59PM

Aya's the one with the abandonment trauma. Don't know where people are getting the idea that Koto has such a trauma too. Sure Aya's disappearance fucked Koto up, but we don't know anything about her past yet. The story is actually focusing more on Aya's past than Koto's. First the matter with her grandfather, not that flashback to a woman that seems to be her mother.

Koto might have been the protagonist of chapter 1, but Aya has been the protagonist since she came back. Now I'm more convinced than ever that this is primarily Aya's story.

What are you talking about? It’s made clear since chapter one that Aya’s disappearance has caused Koto trauma. People can experience trauma from abandonment by the death/disappearance of anyone they care about, not just family members. Koto lost Aya at a very pivotal moment in her adolescent life. She 100% has abandonment trauma from this.

Also this ain’t a competition on who’s the protagonist lol. I’m just commenting on what has/hasn’t been revealed about Koto’s feelings so far. And also a few chapters later (chapter 7 just finished in Japan). All three characters and their feelings/motives are important in this story. And fair game for discussion.

Koto is very attached to Aya. But the mystery is that it’s still not made clear how much of it is actually romantic, and how much is coming from her abandonment trauma. What complicates Koto’s feelings further is that, well, Aya’s an obvious kid (this gap will be presented even more prominently in later chapters). There’s no doubt she cares about Aya though. And it seems she’s lived a pretty emotionally disconnected life since Aya’s disappearance (hence Erika’s desire to have her become “normal” again).

I’ve always read the script scene as metaphorical.

Moving on from the traumatic experience and moving on from Aya aren't the same thing. Besides, is she doing this for Koto's sake or for her own sake? That matters too.

That said, I don't remember saying she's a villain. I merely said I can't trust her.

I think she genuinely wants the former, but also can’t help hoping for the latter. But I think that’s very normal for anyone who has held onto an unrequited love for this long. Even if you were the kindest person ever. I don’t think that makes her untrustworthy. She can’t force Koto to like her - and I’m sure if she were to have tried it would’ve been while Aya was gone anyways.

Those interpretations wouldn't explain her behavior in the first chapter. If her grandfather was a good person and was sick or something like that, why did Aya felt she had no place in the world? It felt like she wanted to run away to somewhere far away

I think grandpa may have been distant/emotionally unavailable and she may have been neglected. But they haven’t delved into it yet so who knows. Aya doesn’t seem like someone who carries a huge amount of trauma imo, so I’d like to think the abuse didn’t run deeper. But again we shall see.

last edited at Sep 30, 2023 6:40PM

Erika hasn’t demonstrated any nefarious intentions so far (even a few chapters later) other than feelings of guilt and wanting to help Koto return to who she used to be. Nor of any overt ill will towards Aya (I don’t feel she did even as a child). Of course, her feelings for Koto still exists and there’s an inherent selfishness in that she hopes Koto looks her way. And of course, we still don’t know what really happened on Tanabata so she may still play a villainous role. However, judging from the author’s Twitter account, she’s quite fond of Erika as a character. So I don’t think she’ll be writing her into someone too horrible.

last edited at Sep 30, 2023 5:49PM

Aya definitely has abandonment issues, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays into her relationship with adult Koto. Whether it can ever become something healthy, especially given the time jump. Adult Koto seems like she has her own abandonment trauma from Aya’s disappearance (hence why Erika may not have been more aggressive pushing her own feelings onto her?). I’m having a really hard time picturing how the author can tidy this up, but that makes waiting to see what the end game is all the more exciting!

I scrolled through some of the most recent chapters after just having finished the anime and man…I’m surprised so much focus is STILL being placed on Kanoko. The shift from the main couple to her craziness for the entire second half of the series (save for the last episode) was what really killed the anime both for myself and, judging from comments on CR, for most viewers as well. I thought the author would’ve gotten some input by now and shifted gears, but either she really likes Kanoko as a character or she’s getting some obscure feedback, because it just felt like a doubling down on Kanoko for the rest of the manga as well? I have no idea what Sumika sees in her, and am still hoping they won’t actually end up together. But either way, likely won’t stick around to find out.

Love triangles are so named because it’s the shape closest to a V lol. Although honestly, with the time gap, and the power dynamics being so different now, everyone’s feelings (maybe except for Erika lol) are so unclear that it can go in any direction. I’d say for right now Koto is the one I can’t wrap my head around the most.

Ouuu I like the concept of the “catch up” wish as well! That actually makes a lot of sense once you see how Erika’s life is like in the later chapters. But yeah, still don’t think Erika and Koto will happen (and if it does, it’d probably be a very slow burn), considering Koto has had so many years to develop feelings for Erika and doesn’t seem like she had. Although maybe Aya’s reappearance serves as a means for closure for her, so that she can finally focus on someone else (e.g. Erika). But we shall see!

last edited at Sep 12, 2023 1:29AM

Gives us a few pieces of the puzzle. Aya was last seen the day of the Tanabata Festival, but Aya remembers it being the day before the festival when she ends up in the future. Erika supposedly had a conversation of some kind with Aya on the day of the Tanabata Festival, and may be the last person who saw her before she disappeared. But, Erika is also curious about what Aya did after leaving said conversation, so it's unlikely (but NOT disproven) Erika was directly involved.

Good catch. Given the Tanabata theme, it could be a wish Erika wrote and hung up on the bamboo. She must have been tormented with guilt ever since, in that case.

This reappeared Aya seems to be fully functional and capable of independent feeling and thinking, and also corporeal enough for a check up at hospital, so I think we can rule out the "ghost" and "Koto's and Erika's projection" theories.

Of all the theories posted so far, this is the one I like the best. Erika literally murdering Aya, as a previous poster suggested, seems just a bit too dark/edgy for this sort of manga, but Erika making a Tanabata wish for Aya to "go away" or similar seems like a much more plausible thing for a heartbroken and jealous 14-year-old to do. Another piece of supporting evidence is that Erika believed Aya was alive this whole time, even though the normal assumption after a young girl has been missing for years would be that she's dead. It would also help explain her somewhat contradictory actions in this chapter: she goes out of her way to help out Aya and observes how, with the benefit of hindsight, Aya wasn't really an untouchable existence like she seemed at the time but a fragile teenager just like her; at the same time, however, she continues to display some jealousy and resentment, unnecessarily bringing up Aya's dead grandfather and lying that she doesn't know how Koto feels about Aya.

(And yeah, I highly doubt Aya is a ghost or projection: we see her taking a shower, changing clothes, etc. Maybe there'll be some huge twist but right now all signs point to time travel.)

Now, moving on from Erika speculations, I'll say that the thing I liked the most about this chapter is how seriously it's treating its ridiculous premise. It's so common for manga to just play stuff like this for comedy, but I really appreciated how unflinchingly it depicted what the real results would be of someone being flung forward in time seven years. Aya has been forcibly removed from everything she once knew; her friends have grown up, her home's no longer there, and her grandfather died without her even being there. It's an incredible trauma that she can't even really grieve because she wasn't around for it all to happen to her. Erika asks why Aya thought now was the right time to say she was dating Koto, but I think it was because Aya is desperately trying to retain whatever scraps she can of the world she used to exist in. While she continues to be a mysterious character in many ways, all this does a great job of making her compelling to me. In that sense, the biggest weakness of the manga so far is Koto, who is far less interesting than both Aya and Erika, but hopefully the next chapter will give her more of a spotlight so we can have a better sense of what Adult Koto is like.

I’ve been following this series closely on the Japanese apps it’s posted on so I’m a few chapters ahead, but I can say we will get a better insight into Koto’s perspective soon, just not next chapter heh. I’m very impressed with how both Aya and Erika are handling things. And yeah, you can tell there’s a measure of guilt on Erika’s part. I’ve always just assumed maybe she said something not so nice to Aya on the day of her disappearance. But the Tanabata wish theory makes more sense! Didn’t think of that.

For those who want to support the author and/or can read Japanese, you can purchase chapters on kindle via Amazon Japan. It’s not as up to date as Piccoman but it’s releasing new chapters at least monthly.

Hey Everyone!

So I just finished reading the masterpiece that was “Getting to Know Grace”. It really was one of those series that’s just chef’s kiss. Thanks to everyone who recommended it on this forum. I’ve read Moonlight Garden a few years ago and found Getting to Know Grace to be significantly better - both in terms of character/relationship progression, dialogue and world building (but not in terms of romantic/sexy scenes of course ;) ). I did still enjoy MG a lot.

I tried to read some of the other recs that went along with Getting to Know Grace, like Ghost of Greywoods, Goodbye My Rose Garden, etc. and honestly they all paled in comparison and seemed almost comical in how one-dimensional the plot/characters were. Some of the dialogues were so bad… I even tried Opium, which seemed universally loved, but didn’t find either of the protagonists compelling (or even likable), or the character motivations involving much depth.

All that being said, I was wondering if any of you have other recs that involve well parsed out storylines, characters and/or relationship dynamics similar to those in Getting to Know Grace? Whether it’s manhwa or manga. I don’t particularly care what the setting is either, although admittedly the historical aspect did add to its charm.

And of course I’m aware a lot of this is personal preference! Thanks in advance!

Well the story is called "My Unrequited Love". If the love becomes requited, that means it'll be the end soon.