It's nice to come back here after every chapter and see a new theory about how somehow Erika is to blame for everything, even after a chapter she was barely in. I appreciate the consistency, just like how Aya appreciated Koto's consistency.
However, the idea that Aya had no reason to leave her situation is pretty much directly unambiguously contradicted by the manga's text. Aya and Koto were actively talking about running away together, remember? Aya's life continued to get more and more unbearable after the end of this flashback, to the point where we see her in chapter 1 where she'd rather anything but to be here and now.
My guess is Erika's role in that was as a witness. She's the last person who saw Aya before disappearing and had some unknown meaningful conversation with her, so she probably knew she was going away and didn't stop her. Erika and Aya are friends, they aren't hostile to each other, and Erika could see that Aya was hurting a lot because she's by far the most observant of the trio. So she'd step aside for Aya's escape and promise to say nothing, but of course she'd think about how Koto will be single now, and start her typical pattern of hating herself for having selfish thoughts even though she's never once taken a selfish action in this manga.

Also a possible interpretation of the triangle: Aya, past Koto, present Koto. Having a "triangle" involve two versions of the same person isn't at all unheard of, like in "My Younger Senpai" or ""Ayakashi Triangle". I think this particular use case is like with Ayakashi's case in particular: the "triangle" is one person torn between her feelings for the past male version of her lover and the present female version of her lover, as the possibility of unbending that gender is debated lol.

Edit: bonus theory! We learn in this chapter the source of Aya's bell bracelet, a charm from her grandmother so she can "always be found." And Koto is specifically said to be someone who can "always find" Aya. My prediction: when we eventually see that big final conversation between Aya and Erika seven years ago, Aya won't be wearing the bell bracelet anymore, because she doesn't want to be found. This is going to play into how this timeskip Aya doesn't remember that final day, because she's the Aya before taking the bracelet off and thus still capable of being found eventually. When Erika and Koto first see Aya's return, it's only after hearing the ringing of that bell and following it to find her.

last edited at Sep 7, 2024 11:02PM

It's nice to come back here after every chapter and see a new theory about how somehow Erika is to blame for everything, even after a chapter she was barely in. I appreciate the consistency, just like how Aya appreciated Koto's consistency.

Relax. No one is blaming Erika here lol.

However, the idea that Aya had no reason to leave her situation is pretty much directly unambiguously contradicted by the manga's text. Aya and Koto were actively talking about running away together, remember? Aya's life continued to get more and more unbearable after the end of this flashback, to the point where we see her in chapter 1 where she'd rather anything but to be here and now.

No. And it is so uncomfortable to see you trying to explain her action in this way. Aya never really complains anything that happens to her. Although her situation is so shitty, she always keeps moving forward nonetheless. The girl with such a powerful mind while being a fucking teenager. Even adult Erika is no match for her. To think Aya is still a 14 yo child. I can't imagine what kind of adult she would become.

That's why you are not gonna convince me Aya wants to escape from anything after knowing her from entire fourteen chapters.

Aya's "if not here, where is it？" is just a question, as simple as that. Considering she's still a minor, her grandpa's unavoidable death will lead her to leave the town where she once thought she belongs to (no matter adapted by her relative or taken care by the government).

Fun fact：Aya is still looking somewhere in chapter 5. Is it because Aya wants to escape from Koto in that chapter？ l don't think so.

I have never meet a character like Aya before. She is like the most wonderful thing you can only meet once in your entire lifetime. That's no wonder why Koto never really gets over her.

last edited at Sep 8, 2024 12:45AM

My guess is Erika's role in that was as a witness. She's the last person who saw Aya before disappearing and had some unknown meaningful conversation with her, so she probably knew she was going away and didn't stop her.

I didn't think of this before, that's actually cool, a witness

The questions young Aya asks are not just simple questions, they're thematically core to the story and Koto absolutely picks up on their implication:
Chapter 1, page 30. Koto's internal monologue thinking about Aya: "Are you looking 'somewhere' again? Aya-chan, I wonder if someday... You'll end drifting away 'somewhere'."
Chapter 1, page 46. Koto remembers Aya's question while thinking about her disappearance and thinks "In the end, she never told me."

It's worth keeping in mind that the strong resilient adaptive Aya is the Aya of the present, not the Aya of the past, and Aya of the present has that big advantage in her life of not being in the place past Aya longed to escape from:
Chapter 5 page 5: present day Aya remembers the question and things about how she is now where she was dreaming of back then: "'If not here, where is it?' It still doesn't feel real to me. To think that I left that place... And came to a far away and unknown place."
It's pretty unambiguous that Aya got what she wanted, what she was dreaming of, with her disappearance and reappearance.

last edited at Sep 8, 2024 3:58AM

I still think that the meaning behind Aya's disappearance is that it gave everyone what they secretly wanted (but were unwilling to admit to, even to themselves). For Aya, it freed her from her responsibilities to her senile grandfather. For Erika, it got her love rival out of the way. And for Koto, it made Aya dependent on her instead of what was (to her) an untouchable, higher existence.

However the supernatural phenomenon actually happened (and I'm not sure we'll ever even learn that since it's not really important to the story), the thematic point is that everyone got what they wished for, even as they were unprepared for the consequences of their wishes.

Come to think of it, am I the only one who noticed that this manga does not have a tragedy tag (though this should have psychology tag by now)? Then we could rule out the possibility that Aya died in the past. And that’s where Tanabata ang Tanzaku plays their role.

Tanabata was a belief most commonly on lovers, where if they both write Tanzaku, their bond will never be broken no matter the distance is. What everyone overlook in this manga was the color of their Tanzaku. Just like candles, Tanzaku have different colors which corresponds to different types of wishes.

In volume 1 cover, Aya was holding a bamboo branch with a white Tanzaku. White signifies living up to obligations and responsibilities which shown in the latest chapter of this manga. The cover also has the Fuki-nagashi which represent a talisman that wards evil. And evil by Shinto definition was the reduction of the ability of humans to resist temptations. If we think about aya’s wish, it might not be to “disappear somewhere” but “to be somewhere”. In addition, Fukinagashi symbolized Orihime which represent by Aya.

Also, this Aya is not drawn from both Koto and Erikas memory. I think this Aya is the real AYA herself. The proof for this was seen in Chapter 2 page 25, Erikas POV about the current Aya in front of her.

In volume 2’s cover was Erika holding a yellow Tanzaku which represents friendship and a wish to improve relationship. Yes, Erika might be an ok friend but not a good friend. She herself said it at the end of volume 2, Chapter 8 page 35. She has an ulterior motive from helping Aya and Koto. She’s whitewashing both of them. However, this manga doesn’t offer clear-cut heroes or villains. So, Erika doesn’t deserve all those hateful things on the comment. Afterall, where mistaken about Aya’s grandfather being abusive.

It’s a fact with proof since vol. 1 to current vol. (Just in case you forgot, Lucifer has 2 faces, so do humans.) We might see that she’s being a good friend in the surface but deep inside she knows what she’s doing and it’s not good. Thou this is pretty realistic. Erika might be the representation of milky way in the story behind Tanabata.

Last, the 3rd volume featuring Koto. What I find interesting about this was the 3 sunflowers on it. First, what does sunflower represent? - Loyalty and Devotion, the sunflower can track the sun all day gives the sunflower its meaning. What Koto and the sunflowers’ have in common was their unparallel loyalty and devotion. Koto portraits Hikoboshi. Next let’s discuss the meaning behind the number of sunflowers. Koto’s holding 3 sunflowers which means “I want to create or build a family with you”. BUT….. here’s the thing, one flower was facing Aya – signifies that she’s the first and only love in Koto’s heart. The remaining 2 sunflowers means “we are soulmates”.

This manga actually has the same setting as the Story of Two Star-crossed Lovers (Tanabata). Well, I think it’s pretty much obvious from the start soo.

As per the title “How to Break a Triangle” I think I already discuss my point of view about it on my prev comment here. But I want to further clarify my thoughts. I think there’s 3 possible types of triangles that might describe the title and it will be discussed below:

1) The triangle could refer to the love triangle, but it approaches this well-worn trope with more psychological depth. Instead of treating the love triangle as a mere romantic complication, it examines how fragile human connections can be when desire, jealousy, and insecurity come into play.

2) It could represent the past, present and the future. This manga currently operates in the future on Aya’s perspective. I think the past and present are not clearly shown yet. Also, Aya was both time travelling and got spirited away. I realized this while rereading the manga, she got spirited away during/before the Tanabata. And if I remember correctly, the older Aya was seen from Koto’s memories about that day. But, here’s the thing, what if the consequence of Aya being in the future was her disappearance 7 years ago (Linear Time Theory). Though I’m not sure whether she step on a portal or someone or herself wish this to happen.

3) Ever heard the “Principle of Sanmi-Sangen”? It’s the three elements that constitute the basis of all forms of existence. This guides the destiny of the human life. Consisting of three geometric shapes: The triangle, circle, and square.

The triangle symbolizes energy and progress encouraging individual to move forward with determination, focus and creativity.​

The circle that represents the harmony, balance and unity. It stands for completeness and perfection and the cynical nature of life, urging one to seek balance in relationship, emotion and thoughts.​

Square that represents the stability, structure and order. It conveys the necessity of having a strong foundation and an organized approach to both life and work.​

Overall, there’s more to this manga than what meets the eye.

About the ending for this, I have five or six possible ending that I could think off.
Open ending
Bittersweet Ending
One might step away or sacrifice their or happiness
All of them healed their wounds and trauma/s
Tragic ending (as long as no one dies I can accept this ending)
A poly could be?
I've been wanting to post this long ass analysis earlier today but I forgot. I want to hear you guys opinion about this analysis and can you give me advice on how to improve my analysis including the writing. I'm open for any criticism.

Tags on Dynasty are not written by the author, just people like us. They're informed by what we can see so far in the series and can't be trusted to predict whatever twists the author might do in the future.

As per the title “How to Break a Triangle” I think I already discuss my point of view about it on my prev comment here

Ah yes, Ms/Mr new account with only 1 post, how could I ever forget your previous comment?! :P

Isn't the "Triangle" here the Summer Triangle (Vega, Altair and Deneb), which related to the Tanabata mythology? And take this with a grain of salt, I think our trio's names give us hints about their role in the story

last edited at Sep 17, 2024 12:11AM

Isn't the "Triangle" here the Summer Triangle (Vega, Altair and Deneb), which related to the Tanabata mythology? And take this with a grain of salt, I think our trio's names give us hints about their role in the story

So you're saying this manga is going to end up with our main characters going into space and shattering the stars? :O

How does this manga get crazier every chapter?

The breakup's not surprising with how Koto has been acting. But there's almost certainly more to it than what we heard from Aya, seeing as the actual conversation they had happened offscreen after the scene abruptly ended when Koto pushed Aya onto the bed.

A grown woman getting outdone in maturity by a 15 year old...
She needs to make more friends...

Hopefully koto doesn’t do anything reckless since she’s so unstable

Hopefully koto doesn’t do anything reckless since she’s so unstable

Koto's been making me nervous for awhile now. Feels like she's always a half breath away from a total meltdown and I'm scared what she'll do when that happens.

While it's not a bad thing they broke up, l still feel very uncomfortable that Erika actually plays a vital role in it. If she hadn't asked Aya the question of her feelings towards present Koto, Aya would eventually but take a longer time to notice that fact, which l would prefer in that way.

I'm not saying Erika shouldn't help her friend when they ask her for help or advice. However, as their friend, especially when you are in love with one of them, you have to be very careful and not to get involved in "couple's issues". Though clearly Erika can't control herself anymore.

Yes, Erika never really had done anything bad towards Aya since the day she came back. It just doesn't feel right what Erika is going to do now (decide to pursue Koto right away after they broke up a moment ago). I can't imagine how hurt Aya would be if she finds out Erika never really wants their relationship to work out when faking a face of a supporting friend in front of her and Koto. I guess it would be a bit too much for a child to handle.

And Erika's negative self talk is somehow so hypocritical in this chapter. Like she thought " How can l do such a terrible thing？" but still chose to push Aya off the cliff after 5 seconds.

Surprised they actually went through with the break up Im actually a big fan of this since Koto blatantly tried to ignore Aya's concerns and move on without really talking about it

At this point it doesn't matter what happens its so messy I love it

I'm not saying Erika shouldn't help her friend when they ask her for help or advice. However, as their friend, especially when you are in love with one of them, you have to be very careful and not to get involved in "couple's issues". Though clearly Erika can't control herself anymore.

Oh so friends aren't allowed to help friends with their relationships just because the help involves ending it huh? I hate this mindset, it's horribly immature and creates an unnecessary line between a friend and a lover (whom you may not even have committed to)

Yes, Erika never really had done anything bad towards Aya since the day she came back. It just doesn't feel right what Erika is going to do now (decide to pursue Koto right away after they broke up a moment ago).

wtf makes you think erika is going to do anything?
if anything her unwillingness to poach koto is her character flaw

god i'm eating good with this series. i cant wait to see where it goes from here

That feeling when two members of your friend group, start dating, then have a messy breakup. (after one got stuck in a time vortex for seven years) Relatable.

This would have been such a surprise... if the series' very tittle didn't already spoil it from the beginning.

The part where Koto pushed Aya down :|

That felt like it was crossing a line, to me anyway. That level of desperation. This is intense stuff.

I LOVE this manga omfg, it's fantastic. I wonder if Koto accepted to tell Aya about the last 7 years without her something would've changed or she perhaps already made her mind about breaking up with her. And what happened after the kiss too, because it doesn't look like a simple thing unfolded after. I absolutely love this and I love Aya

The last panel makes me think Erika is also stuck in the past.

And no one mentioned Aya's line about the stars. Which ties up with the Summer triangle theme, but also the very first lines of the manga, "I've heard that the starlight we can see now comes from the past."

In which she "can't see the stars very well", meaning the past has become blurry and is fading away.

It's very good writing, because it feels like everything was planned from chapter 1. I like when an author knows in advance where they're going.