Though Takamina x Sakura is the main pair, really just want to shout out to Hatori x Hirose relationship.
Like the first few pages I didn’t understand why we see Hatori looking afar when Takamine said that Hatori always keeps a close eye on everything and have a panel for Hirose yawning. I thought that the next line is just going to be Hatori saying hi to Hirose. Until we got the panel where Hatori said that she noticed Hirose coming early today to help out with the haunted house before her club activities!

That is top-notch storytelling like wowwwwww. Tying the fact that Hatori is very perceptive/aware of her surrounding to the way that she interacts with Hirose is crazy good (I have never read a manga that has this well-executed character interactions).
Above all, Hirose is a top-tiered platinum human. She has been one of my favorite characters along with Hatori because of her personality. No wishy-washy and annoying type of character who didn’t get with the protag. Super supportive and perceptive.

Of course, it’s great to see Hirose becomes more open and hangs out with Hatori. Every single chapter is just to wait for the cute little panels between these two. Adorable!

Finally chapter 18!!
Thank you for the translation. I have read the raw in forever and couldn’t wait for this chapter to come out.

Hatori x Hirose is my favorite duo and this chapter creates a lot of development for them both.

Hirose is really a gem - super perceptive and kind (even though she doesn’t show it in action). She knows what is going on with people and reads the room very well.

Same for Hatori too, but Hatori’s perceptiveness has always been Hirose-related for a lot of moments since the beginning.
Probably from admiring Takamine and Hirose giving it their own to developing a slightly preference towards one of them like how it is going now.

Hatori’s behaviors are also another great piece that I like about this manga. Each of the character in Takamine’s group has distinctive personalities that you can relate with at least one. And I relate a lot to Hatori’s perception of “putting too much of your feelings into things hoping that it will always work out” aka fear of failure in some way.
Rather expecting too much and falling off of it, Hatori sets up a line with her interests and her interactions with everything. Only be enough and done. This is exactly the opposite of Hirose. Hirose is the most passionate person in Takamine’s friend group - even Takamine couldn’t be like her.

If I have a spectrum of gauging how passionate they are to their interests, it goes like:
- Hirose 10/10 (100% focus on volleyball - that she may murk her like to a person over her like towards volleyball)
- Hinata 9/10 (she is passionate to the things that she can hang out with more people and have fun. She doesn’t have a die-hard, long-term commitment like Hirose’s for volleyball)
- Sakura 9/10 (she is trying to find her way back to liking and sharing literature like her first year, not that she is not passionate, she just can’t share about it like before)
- Takamine 6/10 (trying to find the joy of liking something again, very indifference to stuff until Sakura appears and ignites her passion for anything literature-related.
- Hatori 1/10 (nearly zero passion towards anything now because of what happened to her friend) -> probably the turning point is to have Hirose help her get back into her long-forgotten passion for music (piano (?)))

Anyway, this manga never disappoints!! Can’t wait for more

last edited at Aug 1, 2024 7:05PM

I’m so much in love with all of the characters
And super happy to see more of HatorixHirose interactions.

I can understand their perspectives and they are both very sensitive / perceptive to their surroundings

This writing style and art styles are pure gold. It’s not the type of fan service nor mainstream “you love me, i love you” shallow narratives.

Can’t wait to read more of it, as I have seen the raw and I can’t wait to read about Hatori.

At this point, I’m somehow rooting for HatorixHirose interactions more than the main pair now. They are just amazing characters