though I guess it's impossible to know when the story is ongoing...

It's actually a completed story. 25 chapters, completed a few years ago. Should be a ride, one way or the other.

last edited at Mar 1, 2025 10:26PM

Ok we need a ch2

From that dream, my guess is that Karin is the reincarnation of Hiro's mom.

Oh, good guess. Maybe that's what's going on?

Okay, perfect! That’s theory one on the table. That’s actually a really good analysis now I’m going to be thinking about that as the series progresses.
(^_^)-b

last edited at Mar 1, 2025 11:19PM

But seriously, as much as Hiro keeps dreaming about Karin and her dad, Karin herself seems pretty close to Hiro. There's also a lot about her that we don't know, like why she was at a convenience store that was (probably) in the middle of nowhere and asked to crash with Hiro for the weekend, even before meeting her dad.

Notice how when Hiro saw Karin talking to her dad she assumed her reactions were because she likes him, when in reality she was almost certainly asking where the vending machines were, and when dad told her what Hiro's favorite drink was she smiled because it was her favorite as well.

Hiro doesn't seem to have fully accepted that she likes Karin romantically in general, so I think these reoccurring dreams are probably a product of some level of self repression.

Now I'm really interested in this one...!

I’m pretty sure her dreams are JUST dreams. Karin isn’t a reincarnation of her mother, the dreams come from Hiro’s fear/anxiety about her dad and her getting together.

The dreams did start after she noticed how Karin acted around her dad (page 14, before they even started camping, and I imagine this is when Karin’s crush started) so I also don’t think her dreams are warping her perspective (and as viewers, we get to see more than what Hiro sees, and we saw that girl sniff that jacket lol) it’s def not in Hiro’s head

Hiro wasn’t saying Karin looks like an actress, she was just explaining that Karin is exactly her type by pointing out Karin has sharp eyes like the actress does, so the reincarnated mom theory doesn’t make sense imo cuz if Karin looked like Hiro’s mom, she’d point it out (I’m sure dad keeps pictures, she would know what her mom looks like) and I feel like it would’ve been brought up now

I’m assuming Karin has family troubles given she randomly asked to go with them and said she was jealous of Hiro for being able to say that she loves her dad (or the course the girl with daddy issues likes older men lol)

Given how Karin twitched when Hiro said
“WHEN I WAS A LOT YOUNGER, HE (Hiro’s dad) WAS AROUND EVEN LESS THAN HE IS NOW BECAUSE OF WORK.”
It’s reasonable to assume that Karin’s dad is absent because of work and has always been. Unlike her father, Hiro’s dad chose to make time for her, which also can add to that jealous feeling.

So, if Karin doesn’t have any of father figure she can look up to, has never been treated warmly by a man before, it makes sense why she’d develop feelings for Hiro’s dad, cuz he’s a nice guy and immediately treated Karin like family (which is prolly something she isn’t used to)

Karin’s dad not being present would explain why she’s able to just ask to crash out of the blue— she was probably feeling lonely— she’s def just as awkward as Hiro and since she doesn’t have a loving father to fall back on, she plays games as a form of escapism (this mayyy be a stretch but it’s plausible)

I highly doubt this will be anymore than an unrequited love— in the dad’s eyes, Karin is his precious daughter’s only first and only friend whom he knows Hiro thinks about all the time.

I’m sure she sees Karin as kid (like he does his own child) plus, he’s prolly not into dating— Hiro’s mom was his only lover and he’s been focused on being a father ever since she’s passed, so that’s prolly smthn he isn’t thinking about

Edit: looked back to double check, and while some of Karin’s flushing can be interpreted as her bein touched or embarrassed and not as a crush, the fact that we are shown her sniffing the dad’s coat leads me to believe the crush isn’t in Hiro’s head.

The dreams def made her hyper aware, but she noticed (and we can also see) that Karin had a certain look for the dad even before the dreams started

last edited at Mar 2, 2025 8:25AM

I'm not really sure about Karin having a crush on Motoaki... We can gather from chapter 1 she doesn't really have a father figure she can say she loves, but everything else reads to me as her feeling embarassed about an older man acting like a caring father would, which is closer than she's used to, but without any romantic tone about it.
Then again, I'm sure people have confused such feelings with romantic ones before, so there's that angle too.

Gosh she's pretty.

I’m pretty sure her dreams are JUST dreams. Karin isn’t a reincarnation of her mother, the dreams come from Hiro’s fear/anxiety about her dad and her getting together.

That's a possible read as well, though idk, the reincarnation theory just seems to fit so well for me even though I'd normally say it's out of left field

I do also think the crush isn't just in Hiro's head. And I don't think it's that weird... sure it would be if it were reciprocated (morality aside), but this is pretty clearly all one-sided. Crushes on adults like these do happen fairly often IRL

Gosh she's pretty.

Given that Hiro is the POV character, Karin's beauty may be exaggerated on purpose to show how Hiro sees her.

Yeah, I think, the dreams aren't so much Karin with Hiro's dad, they're Karin with Hiro's dad superimposed over Hiro.

These are things Hiro wants to do with Karin, and that she is due to Karin's crush (whether real or imagined) is subconsciously superimposing her dad over.

So yeah, I don't think they're prophetic or that Karin is a reincarnation of Hiro's mom. I think they're meant to be read for what they are dreams, so just a little nonsensical in the exact ways that tell you a lot about the person dreaming.

This is the kind of manga that I probably won't bother reading unless I find out exactly how it ends before hand.

This is really interesting so far.

Yeah, I think, the dreams aren't so much Karin with Hiro's dad, they're Karin with Hiro's dad superimposed over Hiro.

These are things Hiro wants to do with Karin, and that she is due to Karin's crush (whether real or imagined) is subconsciously superimposing her dad over.

So yeah, I don't think they're prophetic or that Karin is a reincarnation of Hiro's mom. I think they're meant to be read for what they are dreams, so just a little nonsensical in the exact ways that tell you a lot about the person dreaming.

I agree with this analysis. It's notable that her dreams are not pairing Karen with her dad as he is, but rather a teenager version of him, and from the perspective shots, Hiro seems to be dreaming from the perspective of that teenage boy. We could read into that all sorts of ways, of course, and I'm interested to see how it goes. :)

This is the kind of manga that I probably won't bother reading unless I find out exactly how it ends before hand.

I don't know how it ends but I feel pretty confident predicting this isn't the story of "how the girl I liked became my new mom" or anything like that, since it's completely published and Sappho Scans picked it up after presumably reading the full series.

This chapter definitely made me wonder if Karin's crush on the father might be a bait-and-switch. That Hiro's dream ended up being based on what was actually happening IRL (her lying on Karin's lap) definitely suggests she's superimposing her father onto herself in her dreams -- whether it's her fantasies of what she wishes would happen, or something that actually happened that she was too tired/delirious to remember, or some combination.

As for Karin, as an example, is she blushing on this page because of the father (as Hiro assumes), or because she realizes she was hugging Hiro in her sleep? As pointed out by Cornonthekopp, Karin likely smiled in this chapter after being told that Hiro's favorite drink is the same as hers. I don't really have an alternate explanation for her sniffing the jacket, though. Still it certainly seems like there's more going on here than we (or Hiro) assume.