To Love Ru

Tsun tsun dere tsun dere tsun tsun~

Speaking of Yami, I've always been puzzled by her popularity. I don't dislike her but I don't see how she really stands out that much.

Edit: Shit, that's a real, full song? And it's even kind of catchy.

Oh, no, only a minute and a half. Still cute.

edited 13th May '15 7:40:34 PM by Arha

It's not really a song is it?

Cause if it is, I'm going to have to blame you for it Arha?

Or at least for letting me know it exists.

Youtube it. It's put me into a weirdly good mood. I was only familiar with the chorus before today.

The one singing it isn't much of a tsundere, though. She's kind of reasonable like that. Well, comparatively for the series, anyway. And compared to actual tsunderes.

Yami's a tsundere, which is always popular. She's also got good character design, so she sticks out in a series where many characters wear the same school uniform or regular clothes. Well, she also wears the school uniform as well.

edited 13th May '15 8:02:35 PM by AnotherDuck

I couldn't get into the show when I tried. Is it better after the first episode?

Her design always seemed a little generic to me. Though I guess the likes of Yui and Haruna aren't exactly stunningly creative either.

edited 13th May '15 8:03:05 PM by Arha

Yami was the first female character to be consistently portrayed as a badass Action Girl fighter in the manga (Lala was always strong, but her role was mostly that of a wacky and daffy comedic troublemaker). I think that's what made her so attractive, since she struck a different chord from the rest of the girls.

Kind of like Momo hits the singular chord of being the sexually agressive, actually-trying one (Risa never played her cards seriously, and while Run did, it never was possible taking her seriously at all).

You take Momo seriously?

Yami is Eve from Black Cat, so she has the benefit of any overlapping fans.

Well, the story does treat her seriously enough to the point of centering most of the story around her quest. In what still is a comedy, but even so, treats Momo's goals as an ongoing plot-driving force. While Risa and Run could both disappear without the story changing meaningfully.

Amen. \(°口°)/

I would say Yami is a strange mix of tsun- and kuudere. I mean when someone isn't grabbing her boobs or falling on her crotch she's never agressive. It's probably that deadpan attitude even when doing cute things that make her popular (outside of being the sole pure fighter of the series as said above).

… Speaking of which, I didn't mention it but this series has some surprisingly good action scenes when it gets into it. Well, Yabuki must be used to it, considering he did Black Cat…

Hey, the Principal is instrumental in saving the world from a rampaging sex-mad killing machine at one point.

As log as it's painful for him, that's fine.

I just read the first 8 chapters of Darkness (it's wonderful to be bored isn't it?)

This is… how do I say it… it's actually… g… go… It's less worse than I expected. è__é

Sure the sexual content has been cranked up 3 or 4 notches, but the narrative and characterization have improved for some reason (not that the "cold fighter learning human warmth" plot is anything new). Maybe because it focuses on a few characters this time around? So far at least. Going to a monthly format was probably a wise move.

Now about… that… yeah, anyone who starts this series probably needs to know what they're getting into beforehand. By chapter 8 we're talking about something that has one foot and four toes into Hentai territory. Which includes some of its creepiness and amorality (dragging Rito's grade schooler sister into the harem? Really, Momo?)

Also there's a detail that Momo didn't quite think through − the fact that, the bigger Rito's harem is, the less attention he can dedicate to each girl… that would make everyone unhappy if you ask me… except if the authors really decide to go full throttle down the Hentai route.

PS: It would be kind of funny if Rito developped a female Split Personality after getting transformed too many times. At this point, he might as well include herself in his own harem. That sentence sounds weird.

(… why do I write such longass posts about this series again?)

… I guess I should expect that. é__è

edited 14th May '15 3:23:39 PM by Lyendith

but the narrative and characterization have improved for some reason

Enjoy it while you can, because that won't last.

Mikan, what are you doing. <.<

After chapter 12, I'm also really starting to wonder if Rito's pervertedness is entirely accidental… Momo probably doesn't care either way, but still…

The flashback with Tearju and lil' Yami was lovely. =3 It's nice to know she wasn't surrounded only by scumbags her entire life. I'm pretty sure Yami's state-of-mind will go awry before long though.

Enter Nemesis… or "what Yoruichi would be like in a soft porn series". It's like the authors brainstormed about how to cram as many Fetish Fuel elements as possible into one character. Her appearance is worth it just to see Yami make this face. (NSFW obviously)

It's kind of amazing how this series can have a super serious and tense dialogue while Rito's face is squished between two pairs of naked breasts in a bathroom. And I can't tell if my not being that bothered by the contrast is a good or a bad sign. :x I'm actually more bothered when a "Rito-fall" gag happens right after a serious and tense dialogue. The absurd ways he falls may be lampshaded every time, but it still kills the mood.

And I finally remembered which character Nana reminded me of.　She's freaking Aria. ò.Ô Or a relatively more sufferable version. Her relationship with Mea is kinda cute.

edited 16th May '15 10:40:55 AM by Lyendith

That fall gag is used to kill the mood on occasion. Mostly to make sure no actual development happens.

And yeah, can certainly be odd, since where I picked the manga up again was an epic battle between Lala and Yami interspersed with occasional panels of Rito's face squished into various more or less naked parts of the female anatomy.

Dunno, in Darkness development does happen nevertheless, albeit slowly. =[

Chapter 34… I'm catching up more quickly than I thought.

It's a hundred years to early for you to try and dodge Yuki's falls, Kujou Rin! Ah, well, I guess that's another fish in the net. I don't dislike her, but her falling for Rito doesn't seem to make much more sense than Yui's.

And, oh my, the authors suddenly remembered that Lala existed. But well, not knowing what to do after the confession is in-character for her, I guess. It's nice that the issue is at least addressed, although I highly doubt it'll be solved before long.

edit: Dat yonkoma…

Take That Us, much?

edited 16th May '15 4:13:04 PM by Lyendith

These two are my favorites.

That's… how it would turn out, isn't it.

That Risa×Momo chapter was hot err, interesting! Sorry Momo, you bit off a bit more than you could chew this time around. Well, at least she got to be in Rito's shoes for a second.

Darkness arc over! Oh… so that's how the Principal was useful, huh. The way it was solved was stupidly awesome, or awesomely stupid, I'm not sure… it shows that Momo's nighttime training was useful I guess…

But the rest was pretty good actually. ò.Ô The real trigger to activate Darkness was a good twist (though Darkness herself was disapointing). I also like the fact that Nemesis knows when to give up and doesn't try to take Mea back. And Mea switching immediately from "Master" to "Neme-chan". X3 Yami was pretty damn adorable in chap 47 too.

Other than that, Lala's physical age finally matches her mental age, and Zastin continues to be a Faux Action Guy in all its glory.

Still a pity that Tearju didn't get to do anything, and that the fight didn't have a more serious conclusion. And I'm not sure what direction the story will take now that the main source of drama is gone… I don't really see Nemesis becoming the main villain again…

… by the way, is it me or this series has as many "bonus chapters" as actual chapters? —'.`—

edited 17th May '15 1:52:07 PM by Lyendith

'Bonus chapters' were a series of standalone that ran in a different monthly mag, they have stopped I think.

edited 17th May '15 2:24:23 PM by Memers

Eh… that's weird to publish chapters of the same series in two separate magazines. ò.Ô

So I caught up. Oh my god. Now that Darkness is gone, Yami has become something far more fearsome than any planet-slicing super-weapon!

Ah yeah, chapter 54. That was actually my first contact with this series a while ago − so not exactly the best one. I'm rather surprised that Lala didn't commit any blunder while impersonating Haruna.

Then chapter 55 is… OH COME ON (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻ When it's not Lala's inventions or a supersonic jet flying by at the wrong moment, it's Haruna herself who has to botch it? It's kind of sad that Rito is almost never to blame for these failed confessions. What will it be next time, the confession misfiring because Lala's "Instant English Learning-kun" will have made Haruna suddenly unable to understand Japanese?

… Anyway, as I feared, the latest chapters are a bit of a filler fest. Well, there's still some interesting stuff, like Momo starting to not be so sure of herself and Lalamom defusing the Principal gag (I hope permanently).

Yabuki did a pretty good job at drawing the "most beautiful woman in the universe" fo that matter. Sure she doesn't look much more attractive than most of TLR's babes (it would be kinda hard), but the work on the eyes does give her some believable charm. Her huge rack doesn't look too off-balance either compared to, say, Mikado's. The flashback with Gid was nice.

Yami has become a tsundere? Wasn't she always?

It actually published in three magazines, but the third magazine folded.

Kind of, but her tsun side has become more prominent lately. She never reacted like this before…

.−. The pace mangakas can work on never ceases to amaze me.

It happened only when he fell on her though.

edited 19th May '15 12:15:25 PM by Lyendith

Yeah, before she would just try to stab him. So much more tsun than before.