OniXX's theory really intrigued me. Now I'm even more confused than ever: did Uta confess or not?

So I decided to read again chapter #14 and #15. Here's the script:
(U=Uta; K=Kaoru; and they are exchanging conversation unless stating otherwise.)

Chapter 14, Page 23
K: I want to know more about you.

Page 24
U: (sigh)
U: (thought) ...this isn't fair...
U: I umm... mm... have someone I like... mm... And it's someone who I am not supposed to like... So I've been keeping it a secret for a long time...

Page 25
U: I umm... fell in love... with someone who is married...
K: ...I see.
U: In my head I knew I had to give up [...] but I couldn't just get rid of my feeling that easily. [...] U: I know this will be an unrequited love, [...I need to] confess my feelings to this person.

Page 26
U: Even if it's morally wrong and [will cause trouble and I'm being selfish], I just-
U: Really want her to know.

After that are some advices from Kaoru, plus a free healing session. Basically Kaoru wants Uta to confess. "As if you (Uta) honestly want to be accepted".

I don't see anything similar to a love confession, not to mention a confession directed towards Kaoru. I simply view it as if Uta was just letting it go and not keeping it to herself.

But this. Head to page 30 and 31.
U: (making sad face)
U: Kaoru-san.
U: (thought) I'm sorry.

This does NOT mean Uta has confessed. Maybe she apologized because she couldn't follow Kaoru's advice? Just saying.

Now turn to Chapter 15, Page 08. Kaoru saw some suspicious things. Who knows if it's Uta's diary (or diaries)? Just saying :v

At page 18 we see a slightly disturbed Uta after she knows Kaoru has checked her table. Big Sis is Watching ya. This fortifies my theory above.

Page 26/27
(thought)
K: Somehow, it feels like Uta-chan is slowly becoming an adult.
K: Maybe it's because she fell for an older person...
K: Perhaps... The person she likes is from her work? That sounds resonable [...for a number of reasons].
K: Or maybe it could have been her teacher from school...?

Now turn to page 29/30
(thought)
K: Well, if the person is as ordinary as what I imagined, we could have stayed as family forever.
K: I'm living with a girl who fell in love with me.

As you can see, it's "perhaps the person she likes is x", not "WHY couldn't Uta have fallen in love with x instead?" that Kaoru said to herself. SHE IS MAKING SPECULATIONS, NOT ASKING WHY.

"Well, if THE PERSON is as ORDINARY as what I imagined..."

So "She should have fallen in love with someone MORE INTERESTING, instead of a boring person like me" is not so right. She hopes for someone as ORDINARY as her imagination, right? "Ordinary" in this context should be understood as "morally correct" instead of "normal and boring".

Next, I want to talk about the grow-up stuff. OniXX said it's Uta preparing for her future. I say it's Uta wanting to avoid Kaoru at all cost. Simple right? No need for explaination here.

There's one thing that contradicts OniXX's theory and mine. If she knows about the unrequited love, why making subjunctive mood? (read: "Perhaps", "Unless" and "If"). She knows about it, why speculate?
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TL;DR: OniXX support the theory that Uta has confessed. I'm on the side of "no confession", instead Kaoru finds out accidentally by reading some sort of Uta's diary.

TL;DR #2: Kaoru used "Perhaps" in her sentences. Why speculate who's Uta's love interest when you know it's you? Translation errors?

P/S: I'm quite fond of the husband during the first few chapters, which is rare when I'm indulging in yuri-ism. But now? HE'S A D*CK. $%#^&%#. NTR and cheating is my archenemies.

P/S #2: My wall of text has surpassed ̶m̶e̶t̶a̶l̶ ̶g̶e̶a̶r̶ OniXX's. Such a lust for ̶r̶e̶v̶e̶n̶g̶e̶ wall! #TrumpBuildWall

last edited at Jul 13, 2018 6:54AM

P/S: I'm quite fond of the husband during the first few chapters, which is rare when I'm indulging in yuri-ism.

I don’t get the first part of this sentence AT ALL. He is different from the usual yuri bad-husband/het-guy in that he’s not obviously mean or vindictive, granted. And he buys his sister ice cream.

But, cheater or not, he’s always been shown as a crappy husband—he basically forgets their anniversary, then casually mentions that he’ll be out of town on a business trip. He doesn’t really listen when his wife talks, and when she sets up an important conversation with him, blows her off after a phone-call interruption.

That’s not all “first few chapters,” I know. But the only thing he has going for him, even at first, is that he isn’t an obvious monster.

I don’t get the first part of this sentence AT ALL. He is different from the usual yuri bad-husband/het-guy in that he’s not obviously mean or vindictive, granted. And he buys his sister ice cream.

You have your point my komrade.
In the first few chapters he showed some positive traits of a good husband, which I really love. He's kind, gentle, he does care about his family. Basically perfect husband. But when the story progresses...

He basically forgets their anniversary, then casually mentions that he’ll be out of town on a business trip. He doesn’t really listen when his wife talks, and when she sets up an important conversation with him, blows her off after a phone-call interruption.

Not to mention he's a cheater, which is, in my opinion, unacceptable.

He's not a monster, yes, but a dick? Sure why not :V

last edited at Jul 13, 2018 9:08AM

CertainPudding posted:

I don't see anything similar to a love confession, not to mention a confession directed towards Kaoru. I simply view it as if Uta was just letting it go and not keeping it to herself.

But this. Head to page 30 and 31.
U: (making sad face)
U: Kaoru-san.
U: (thought) I'm sorry.

This does NOT mean Uta has confessed. Maybe she apologized because she couldn't follow Kaoru's advice? Just saying.

Well I know this scene is up to interpretation, but honestly. The whole problem is that if Uta confessed to her sister-in-law it will turn their family life upside down. If she is rejected, they still have to live together, if she is accepted, she basically made Kaoru cheat/divorce with Reiichi and again make their family as it is right now fall apart. She doesn't want it to happen because in either situation the status quo will change and she will be feeling guilty about it. Confessing won't lead to anything good and it will be very selfish of her. And in light of all of that the person she fallen in love tells her to confess anyway. So after being comforted by her, she finds courage to do something she was avoiding all this time, confess. She pushes her warm, hugging hand, she looks determinate into her eyes. She is about to confess. Her thinking "I'm sorry" most likely refers to the fact, that by doing so she will ruin everything. She will ruin her life, Kaoru's life, Reiichi's life. Nothing will be the same again. The fact confessing is a terrible idea didn't change. But she is going to do it anyway, and so she is apologizing for deciding to being selfish despite her better judgment. "I'm sorry for doing this to you". You are right, there was no confession, because the scene of confession was cut out. There is also possibility instead of confessing with words, Uta actually kissed Kaoru which is why she is later touching her lips after finally giving up pretence. Which can also be next or additional meaning of Uta saying "I'm sorry".

Now turn to Chapter 15, Page 08. Kaoru saw some suspicious things. Who knows if it's Uta's diary (or diaries)? Just saying :v

It isn't. It is clearly shown on the next page. Uta had a bunch of books about universities with dorms, making it clear Uta plans to leave the house. That is exactly why Kaoru brings it up to her later. Hell Uta actually realizes she knows about it because of looking at her desk:
U: "... Wait a minute. Did you look at my desk?"
K: "Ah.. I'm sorry. I just happened to see a study guide lying on your desk..."

So much for re-reading those chapters looking for details, when you missed something that is blatantly mentioned in the dialogue.

At page 18 we see a slightly disturbed Uta after she knows Kaoru has checked her table. Big Sis is Watching ya. This fortifies my theory above.

No it doesn't. And she is more sad than disturbed. She wanted to leave house without anyone knowing so she wanted to keep it secret. The fact Kaoru noticed it puts Uta in very bad spot, especially after how she confessed last time, making her reason obvious and making it awkward. And that is exactly what happens. Kaoru says Uta still can stay with them, as she was until now, which surprised her, but immediately after it she puts a worried face and thanks her. She feels guilty, because Kaoru tries to act as if nothing changed, but Uta knows it won't last. Remember that until this point Uta did not try to leave house. She tried to suppress her feelings and make it work. But now that she confessed, she knows she can't stay here so she is in hurry to leave.

Also next thing you missed on the same page. Kaoru asks about charm and Uta answers she bought 1 for academic achievement. Kaoru is about to say she thought she will buy different one, most likely love charm, but she holds back and very quickly changes topic. You could say Kaoru thought that would be something that teenager her age would rather buy, but then remembered she is in love with married person so she felt it would be awkward to say and hold back, but I personally feel it was because Uta confessed. Kaoru wanted to make that innocent comment, but then remembered mid sentence she is Uta's love interest and realized how her saying it would be ultra awkward, so she stopped midway and quickly changed topic to something else, to cover her slip up. Which made her unwittingly mention the first thing that came to mind without realizing consequences of saying it. She brought looking for university because it was probably on her mind since she saw it, but forgot it will give away she was looking around Uta's room which can make Uta feel angry. And the reason I'm pretty sure Uta confessed is, because when Uta says how she doesn't want to be burden and leave the house, Kaoru only repeats that she shouldn't worry about it and she can stay. Kaoru was never against Uta living here, in fact she was perfectly fine with it and Uta knew it. There was no real reason for Uta to leave, especially in hurry. But now Uta suddenly wants to leave very fast saying she is a burden. Something had to change. Kaoru doesn't ask why she wants to leave or tell her she is not a burden. She only reminds her that she can stay. To me it clearly tells me, that Kaoru is both aware that burden Uta mentioned is her feelings for her and that the reason she is in such hurry is that she realizes that her feelings can only make Kaoru uncomfortable. Kaoru doesn't try to convince Uta to stay because Kaoru understands how complicated the situation is, but because she doesn't want to turn her back to Uta, she still at least reassured her she can still stay here despite the confession.

"Well, if THE PERSON is as ORDINARY as what I imagined..."

So "She should have fallen in love with someone MORE INTERESTING, instead of a boring person like me" is not so right. She hopes for someone as ORDINARY as her imagination, right? "Ordinary" in this context should be understood as "morally correct" instead of "normal and boring".

I already explained it to Onyx, and you get it more or less correct. It isn't as much about being boring or interesting. It is about common and uncommon scenarios. Falling for teacher in your school or for a co-worker in your work place are common (normal) scenarios. Falling for your brother's wife is not something that happens all the time, so it is very uncommon (not normal) scenario. There is no real implication about it being moral or immoral.

There's one thing that contradicts OniXX's theory and mine. If she knows about the unrequited love, why making subjunctive mood? (read: "Perhaps", "Unless" and "If"). She knows about it, why speculate?
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TL;DR #2: Kaoru used "Perhaps" in her sentences. Why speculate who's Uta's love interest when you know it's you? Translation errors?

Again, I and other people already explained it and it is really easy to understand from context, even if written a bit clumsy, but fine, here I go again. After Uta confessed at the end of last chapter in w/e way (words/kiss/something else) Kaoru is pretty much in denial. She might even rejected/told Uta to act as if nothing happened after confession. So entire chapter is played out as if nothing happened, but you see subtle clues that both of them feel awkward about some subjects and are aware things are not 100% back to normal, especially with Uta's rush to leave the house, as I explained above. So Kaoru was trying to not think about it, once Uta left for work she is indulging into her fantasies. "The person she fallen for, who could it be? Maybe teacher from school? Yes that make sense! Or maybe someone from work? Yes that wouldn't be that surprising!" and after doing it for a while, she stops and basically thinks to herself "Who I'm trying to kid. She totally is in love with me." At this point she stopped trying to run away from reality and entire gravity of their situation finally sunk in.

The tense isn't really a mistranslation, it can be a bit misleading at places, but once she finally admits it all was just fantasies, it should be clear she was just in denial about Uta's feelings. I agree the sentence that mattered the most could be translated a bit different as Kaoru is very direct there. Copying myself from post you clearly didn't read:

Nevri posted:

I looked at raws again and that sentence is a bit mistranslated. It technically has the same meaning, but as we see plenty people either don't understand it or have different interpretations what she meant by it. The original line is much more direct in referring to those 2 scenarios she came up with and would go something like that "If it went according to such typical scenarios (she literally used word "wild fantasies"), we could keep being a family." with "being a family" I assume she refers to Uta leaving house and breaking the current family apart, as in, even if she leaves they are still family, but she would destroy the family as they are right now.

I'm honestly tired of having to repeat myself every 2 pages. In case you don't agree with me, group's translator actually agrees with my interpretation of this chapter. So it is pretty much confirmed something happened between them during trip and Kaoru is now aware of Uta's feelings.

CertainPudding posted:

Not to mention he's a cheater, which is, in my opinion, unacceptable.

That actually is not confirmed so far. He clearly is hiding something from Kaoru and is afraid/doesn't want her to know about it. He actually was about to tell her, when he thought he doesn't have other option, but because she had/faked short memory lose, he felt like he got away with it and never brought it up again. And again when Kaoru tried to confront him about it, he cut conversation off at the first chance he got. He is not innocent and he has some secret, but we don't really know what it is.

last edited at Jul 13, 2018 3:54PM

You guys are doing a good job of working through the different possible interpretations in (sometimes intricate) detail while keeping it civil (hang in there, Nevri!). lol

I'm in the "Reiichi cheating = YES; confession = PROBABLY" camps at the moment, although that could change.

So what are the chances of "Uta moves out and moves in with Kuro--hijinks ensue"?

Reply to Nevri

Thank you my friend, you sure have enlightened me. Thank you.

last edited at Jul 13, 2018 11:27AM

PrinzPudding posted:

Thank you my friend, you sure have enlightened me. Thank you.

No problem. You're welcome.

how do you guys get these insights?

do you read alot? watch lots of dramas? experience? or just high EQ?

i feel so inferior here

Remy posted:

how do you guys get these insights?

do you read alot? watch lots of dramas? experience? or just high EQ?

I read/watch a lot and like to think about stuff.

Doctor_Hoot posted:

But dicking around with the main conflict of the series without any meaningful payoff, and then "oops see you next volume"?

I agree not showing the confession moment in manga called "My Unrequited Love" was a dick move. Sadly according to manga and author this is not the main conflict. What happened in the past, Reiichi's and Uta's current family issues and w/e Reiichi is cheating or not, are treated by author as equally important and given the same amount of attention (aka barely giving any hints without actually explaining anything and relying on drama and mystery).

last edited at Jul 23, 2018 4:14PM

Kuro's such an ass

Smooth af

lmao Kuro pls

I hate Kuro but at least she seemed to have gained some perspective and realized she has a pretty sweet deal with some one who loves her unconditionally.

Idk if its a recent issue or its been present since the start and I just didn't notice but body proportions are so off. Whats with the long long torsos and arms?

its extremely unlikely but i hope for mom redemption without drama

Nope nope nope...

Not sure if this adds to anything, but in the raw, the short exchange between Uta & Kuro about Uta’s mom is:

Kuro: Do you dislike her?
Uta: Nope.
Uta: I hate her.

Shows how much Uta really spites her mother.

Maybe Uta didn't confess tho. And I think Kaoru knew Uta like her from the time that Uta kissed her when she was sleeping before https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_unrequited_love_ch05#21 because Kaoru touch her lips while holding the sofa.

Asking people who know the language:

Are the names “Kaoru” and “Kuro” as parallel in Japanese as they are in English?

Maybe Uta didn't confess tho. And I think Kaoru knew Uta like her from the time that Uta kissed her when she was sleeping before https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_unrequited_love_ch05#21 because Kaoru touch her lips while holding the sofa.

were you even reading

idk if its bc this manga is not updated frequently (sometimes it takes more than three months for the author to release a new chapter) or if the plot is just a mess by now bc with every new chapter, i have no idea whats going on. i always expect the next chapter to be a continuation from the previous one but it never is?? its like [chapter ends in a cliffhanger] [new chapter with the next day where the thing happened already but the author hid it and now its just uta’s daily life]

i love the premisse and the characters but at this point its not even abt kaoru and uta anymore, i just\ im totally lost with the new plots that keep coming and the old ones not being finished and they just ???

last edited at Jul 27, 2018 9:02AM

Asking people who know the language:

Are the names “Kaoru” and “Kuro” as parallel in Japanese as they are in English?

Nope. IIRC (don’t remember that well), Kaoru is 薫瑠 and Kuro is just クロエ (her real name - it might even be “Chloe”).

idk if its bc this manga is not updated frequently (sometimes it takes more than three months for the author to release a new chapter) or if the plot is just a mess by now bc with every new chapter, i have no idea whats going on. i always expect the next chapter to be a continuation from the previous one but it never is?? its like [chapter ends in a cliffhanger] [new chapter with the next day where the thing happened already but the author hid it and now its just uta’s daily life]

i love the premisse and the characters but at this point its not even abt kaoru and uta anymore, i just\ im totally lost with the new plots that keep coming and the old ones not being finished and they just ???

You’re right that one chapter rarely picks up exactly where the previous one left off, and often what readers consider to be crucial information about what happens gets left out. That can certainly get confusing.

There aren’t actually many “plots,” though. We see Uta’s interior life, Kaoru’s interior life, Uta’s life at home, and Uta’s life with her handful of friends/coworkers. Some of that gets pretty complicated and interconnected (like when whatever’s going on with Reiichi takes center stage), but overall there are relatively few plot threads.

I agree that the structure can be pretty frustrating when the story seems to promise clarity about something important (Reiichi’s possible cheating, Uta’s confession) only to leave us hanging with more ambiguity. But that’s how this one rolls.

idk if its bc this manga is not updated frequently (sometimes it takes more than three months for the author to release a new chapter) or if the plot is just a mess by now bc with every new chapter, i have no idea whats going on. i always expect the next chapter to be a continuation from the previous one but it never is?? its like [chapter ends in a cliffhanger] [new chapter with the next day where the thing happened already but the author hid it and now its just uta’s daily life]

i love the premisse and the characters but at this point its not even abt kaoru and uta anymore, i just\ im totally lost with the new plots that keep coming and the old ones not being finished and they just ???

You’re right that one chapter rarely picks up exactly where the previous one left off, and often what readers consider to be crucial information about what happens gets left out. That can certainly get confusing.

There aren’t actually many “plots,” though. We see Uta’s interior life, Kaoru’s interior life, Uta’s life at home, and Uta’s life with her handful of friends/coworkers. Some of that gets pretty complicated and interconnected (like when whatever’s going on with Reiichi takes center stage), but overall there are relatively few plot threads.

I agree that the structure can be pretty frustrating when the story seems to promise clarity about something important (Reiichi’s possible cheating, Uta’s confession) only to leave us hanging with more ambiguity. But that’s how this one rolls.

I’m way used to the straight storyline divided in “arcs” i guess. that’s why its confusing bc the author sure likes to drop hints of things that will show up (like uta’s family situation that we “know” abt it since th beginning) but they never actually talk abt it or “complete” it, so we never know if the situation is done and there’s no reason to worry abt it being relevant again or if its something that will still do great impact in the future

EDIT: another example is the cheating. is that girl gonna come back? is she gonna be relevant again? is this topic ever gonna come up again or was it just an one time thing? bc rn the mom is gonna be the topic for the next chapters and even the confession doesn’t seem relevant anymore since kaoru straight up denies everything in her life and every plot with her just get brushed under the carpet bc she doesnt deal with it

last edited at Jul 27, 2018 9:49AM