I think if the story was about Miwa and Shiho and the were images of Shiho out partying or like fucking some random dude or girl while ignoring Miwa texts. While Miwa is alone in a dark room crying because she is being ghosted by her best friend and crush, the tone here would be very different. Being ghosted by someone you consider a close friend super sucks.

To me some of you guys seem pretty easily manipulated by what you're shown and judge very harshly. There is a reason why Shiho has a tragic backstory. She is set up to be endearing
and look like a better match, but she can still turn out to be an egoistic bitch.. we don't know yet.

Saeko has obviously been bullied (judging from chapter 19) before for her lack of femininity thus embracing her "tomboyishness" as defense and come to hate her femininity to the point of something which looks akin to body-dysphoria. The thing is that she herself is not really aware, and due to it worked for her before, she is bottling her problems away. She is afraid of being her true self, because in her mind, that means rejection. She is just starting to have to deal with this problem to be able to grow as a person, while we get to see Shiho already on her path for growth. I think it's unfair to already decide who has most potential for Miwa.

In the original short story, Miwas and Saeko's relationship was shallow and it was just great sex. In this one its the opposite, their sex is shit while they seem to have pretty strong feelings for each other. Frankly here the issue isn't that they are incompatible, the are just very incomplete as people and wouldn't fit in any relationship really. At least in case of Saeko.

So regardless if their relationship lasts or not, if they can learn to communicate better, they are perfect in terms of helping each other grow as people imho.

Edit: mixed up names.. doh! thanks for pointing it out.

last edited at Sep 18, 2020 11:34AM

Got a bit irritated on the Akira hate, so thanks to both Linterdiction and random for their comments. Spot on imho. For me Akira is the most interesting character as she is the most obviously not perfect, and its not like any of you haven't ever thought something negative about a rival or person that you later felt shitty about for even thinking it. Its very easy to hate someone if you are judging their inner most thoughts and basic feelings. Why thought-crime is not a thing.

Note that Akira invited Mayuki to something that Akira otherwise could consider a date and she didn't try to manipulate or humiliate Mayuki in front of Rin, but rather observe and try and figure out what she herself is doing wrong. Instead she is trying to improve herself which I think is admirable. She also instinctively tried to show Mayuki affection, but head-pat can also be seen as a sign of dominance and she stopped herself for some reason. Akira is still the kind and considerate senpai Mayuki fell in love with, its just... well, mentioned better from the comments above. I wonder if Rin actually went home though... Each chapter makes me really anticipate the next one.

If i'm not mistaken all 3 of them each has a major character flaw that they will deal with to overcome and grow. For Rin it's too much self-sacrifice, for Mayuki it's self-deprecating and for Akira it's arrogance. The first two has the luxury of being able to be seen as endearing ... but they are still detrimental negative traits.

last edited at Sep 18, 2020 10:38AM

Heavy "sad clown paradox" vibes from Yokoe.

Thank you for translating this.