We can't study!

@ Ninety

That’s my main complaint actually, the flashback, as I said before, is paradoxical because it’s too important right now to lead to our current endgame but was also too inconsequential to not be reflected across the entire story before this point.

No one forgets stuff like that, and Nariyuki’s dynamic with Uruka should have been completely different if we take the flashback into account (namely, Nariyuki’s annoyance with Uruka early on and treating her as a friend only).

Another thing i want to complain that the other girls still haven't have their chance to confess their feeling. This seem like the author bascially hold the other girl back to give Uruka more chance.

Mafuyu I can understand because the way her crush on Nariyuki is presented has some unfortunate implications, not to mention that the manga was not fantastic enough to justify a Teacher/Student Romance.

Asumi was the only love interest that I feel was not crucial to the narrative, maybe if her perspective had been used to explore what a relationship really means between emotional support and the like she could have been incorporated better to the story.

Rizu is, overall, the one character that lost the most, from her initial turnaround in the beginning to being relegated to the background, even her arc was built on the distance she was gaining on Nariyuki and Fumino.

And Fumino, well, as you might have guessed already, I feel she was the one with the best chemistry amongst the others, and her falling in love with Nariyuki felt honestly developed; the other thing I liked was that their interactions began as mutual friends instead of the one-sided crush that Uruka had, which to my perspective made their relationship much more organic.

The end is nigh.

All those girls happily throwing themselves into the friend zone is so touching. "If you have feelings for him too…" You tongue slipped, Mafuyu.

Edited by Lyendith on Feb 21st 2020 at 1:02:10 PM

So, apparently, Volume 16 and 17 are sharing a dual cover, much like volume 12 and 13 of 5tb. Final volumes are usually longer than regular volumes, so it's fully possible that 17 is the final volume and we end around chapter 153. However it's also possible that we get a 18th (!) volume, but even with that I wouldn't hold out for a bait and switch.

People keep bringing up the idea of the Bait-and-Switch, first with Quints and now with this, so I need to ask: how common is it actually for a harem series to have a last minute switch like that? Not first girl not winning, I mean a series in its endgame going through all the motions of having one girl win and then she loses?

Edited by IniuriaTalis on Feb 22nd 2020 at 11:12:30 AM

From what I remember, it wasn't really a thing until now. The closest thing I can think of is To-Love Ru having one of the original love interests take a drastic decline in prominence due to some issues the author was having in real life.

All of Nisekoi's foreshadowing was pointing to Raku choosing Kosaki, including the fact that she was actually the promised girl who set off the entire plot. Chitoge was even ready to accept that outcome only for the twist that Kosaki refuses to win by forfeit, at which point Raku and Kosaki track down Chitoge to set up the Raku X Chitoge ending.

There was this one harem manga about a guy who made himself more hansome (lose weight) to get revenge on the girl who bullied him when he was young. The second to last chapter have he started go out with the maid who is the real person who bullied him when he was young but he forgave her. Then at the last chapter it turn out to be the maid give her blessing for the MC to confess his feeling with the main girl ( the original target)

Masumune-kun's revenge. That manga might very well be what kicked off my habit of looking at the final chapter discussions for harems, the salt was wild

Hayate The Combat Butler ended by implying that Hayate marries Nagi, something he was adamantly opposed to early on with most of his chemistry being with Athena and Hinagiku.

...So any examples that aren't "JK about all that chemistry he had with other girls, First Girl Wins after all"?

I'd say "Main Girl" rather than first, but I can't think of any prominent examples.

Masamune-kun was actually pretty bad about it. Teasing something like that is absurd if you have no intention of going through with it.

I never got entirely through Nisekoi, as I always felt it was horrid. Did they really pull something like that? Guess my first intentions were justified...

Heh, I remember Hayate's ending. It wasn't really a huge surprise that he picked Nagi, but it was how I learned not to pick either the most popular (Athena/Hinagiku) or the Meta (Maria) for a win. In a way, it sort of prepared me for this series...

Edited by mooacow on Feb 23rd 2020 at 12:43:12 PM

Yeah, i never have any impression that Hayate even have romantic feeling for Nagi, he more like a brother to her than anything. In fact beside Athena, i don't think Hayate ever have romantic interest in anyone.

One thing I will probably through out there is the reason Uruka got so many people rattled is she is in a lot of ways the text-book Romantic False Lead in any other series. The childhood friend who carried a (seemingly) unrequited torch for the lead, introduced after the supposed main girl was already in the series (Fumino) and the first to actually confess her feelings. Going by the cliche, everyone assumed she'd get turned down and shipped off to America, especially with how slowburn Fumino's development of feelings were (which is why most assumed she was guaranteed the win).

As rushed as this ending is, I don't think it's inconsistent with how the story has been told. Uruka was always the only one of the five girls who Nariyuki was actually shown to have feelings for. I do think this could have been mitigated by showing their history way earlier but I don't think that would've changed people's sentiments that Uruka's ship was going to sink because they already had that preconceived notion against her.

And also, I've been seeing a lot of complaining about Uruka "shooting herself in the foot." See, I'm not a fan of that complaint because how is that any different than Fumino being in denial of her own feelings for 100+ chapters and choosing to play wingwoman for Uruka instead of acting on her own feelings?

Edited by Lionheart0 on Feb 23rd 2020 at 8:23:37 AM

I believe it was the "Meta" factor, combined with her Yamato Nadeshiko traits and having her Love Realization come last. Thing is, it happened to both Yoshino and Itsuki, and how did that turn out?

Maybe it's a western romcom thing, as the "Meta" choice does tend to "win" in those cases.

Double, but handholding WHILE kissing? That's just too explicit for a shonen romcom. This isn't TLR 22i!

Welp, here's a tribute to all the sunken ships today:

…Welp, I guess all that's left is the epilogue.

I have to admit, that kiss scene was very sweet. It's the kind of scene that was sorely lacking in Quint's ending (and yes, I'm saying Bokuben did something better than Quint, don't get used to it. )

Man, the years took a toll on Celine Dion's voice.

Edited by Lyendith on Mar 1st 2020 at 12:11:41 PM

Honestly, that was a cute ending and the salt is completely out of proportion. Shippers gonna ship, I guess.

*Sigh*

I can't really say that I liked the ending with what Nariyuki explicitly truncating Uruka's dreams since that sounds toxic for me but hey, it's 22i's manga and I have no creative control over it.

People were salty over Toubun too, history is just repeating.

I honestly prefer Yotsuba's win in Quintuplets, at least it makes sense when you put things together in hindsight.

Nariyuki didn't cancel Uraka's dreams, he just wants to be there even if having a boyfriend is hazardous (which it really needn't be).

Did Uraka ditch her flight? Did she give up swimming? Did she stop going to school? None of that.

From my observation the salt seems to be:

1. Normal "my fave didn't win" salt

2. Anger about the convenient flashback and ghost dad being the source of the win

3. Anger that the person that won is the same person who has been cockblocking herself for quite a while

4. Anger that none of the girls had a chance to at least confess and be rejected instead giving up with sad looks on his face as he goes to confess. Bonus points for telling him to prioritize his own happiness while not prioritising their own happiness.

Just my observation