Thinking about it, Chihiro may be the best relationship possible:
- Yui and Tenri are too devoted for an healthy relationship. Yui learned to be independent from her parents, but I would be afraid that she spends her life at being the "knight" of Keima.
- I didn't feel any chemistry between Tsukiyo and Keima.
- Shiori is nice, but I would have her have more interaction with other before going for Keima.
- I can't see Ayumi and Keima sharing anything in the middle term, and I doubt you could make a romance last long without that.
I like the meta comment that reject the indecisive ending.
edited 18th Apr '14 1:40:17 PM by VioletOrange
Yeah, it was still pretty gamey by the end. Also (and I blame this on being rushed as well), I feel we didn't see enough of Keima's feelings at the end. He goes confess to Chihiro and explains his reasoning to Dokurou, but he stayed his usual aloof self throughout all of it. Contrast with him crying by himself at the end of the goddess hunt and I feel like we should've at least seen him smile in response to Chihiro ultimately coming to talk to him.
Final thoughts about the manga.
I just read the last chapter and I have to say it's exactly what I expected to be.
I don't mean that in a good way, though.
It didn't convince me that Keima never got any better at reading Chihiro after her capture arc. IMO, it was more a case of Keima grabbing the Idiot Ball because plot™ than any variant of I Love You Because I Can't Control You, Logical Weakness or whatever. Chihiro is no mystery for the reader and we don't have that much more information about her than him. Keima being in denial about his feelings for most of the story or simply putting his duties first might work here but I won't build a case for neither.
In any case, I don't have anything against the pairing itself because it's consistent with what I understood of the narrative and the characters—-i.e. it makes sense—-, but that's not to say that Wakaki presented it in a way I could buy it.
This is just a hunch but I think that the author himself wasn't convinced about it and he simply stuck to the current plan which happened to involve one of the least problematic pairing. If I'm right and, as unlikely as it is, Wakaki ever find this little corner of the Internet, I just want him to know I think he can do it better. Perfection may be a myth but improvement is not. We all know he knows his Tropes well, he just needs to sell them better.
Nevertheless, when I look behind and see that, even considering the unappealing first chapters and the rushed ending (School Rumble remains undefeated as the most disappointing one for the genre), TWGOK gave me around 250 chapters of nifty plot twists, interesting and likeable characters and the best ultimate battle of all time: the most proactive male lead in a romantic setting ever against his worst enemy. All this and a whole more made it well worth following the series for so long (2-3 years in my case).
No major complains from me from now and on.
Still, I'm left with the vague impression that Wakaki probably Torched the Franchise and Ran. After the Negima! fiasco, I'm willing to believe almost anything about Japanese publishers.
My K:BDH Recursive FanfictionI have the opposite impression: that he meant to do this all along but failed to lead up to it properly precisely because of that. This also explains how the Elsie reveal was treated. These things have been in the back of his mind for so long that he forgot that he hadn't let them into the story itself. He's fairly decent at riding the flow of the narrative, but having an endpoint in mind and no real plans for how to get there brought out his worst writing instincts.
The final few chapters feel like mashing a predetermined ending onto an arc that didn't really lead up to it.
edited 18th Apr '14 2:05:18 PM by Clarste
@Clarste:
That's what I mean to say (i.e. clear ending, poor planning). I probably didn't word it properly.
My K:BDH Recursive Fanfiction![]()
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Well, the only evidence that Keima loved Chihiro was Dokurou's comment, so it felt kinda forced. The Elsie thing may have been there all along. Not sure about Chihiro. That felt like he just sort of picked the the one that it would be easiest to extract drama from.
@Violet Orange: Chihiro had the same problems as Tsukiyo and Ayumi in your list. And she has the additional problem that he basically can't tell her anything about what was going on.
I sort of feel there was supposed to be a final arc where Kiema actually fell in love with someone.
edited 18th Apr '14 2:30:13 PM by kiukiuclk
Why can't he tell her anything? What would stop him? She would either believe him or not, but that's her choice. And it's not like she didn't realize something was up during the goddess arc. Invisibility cloaks anyone? Heck, she even saw the wings. We can assume for narrative elegance that he's going to be honest with her instead of trying to control everything himself, because that's the "lesson" he learned over the series.
And if you couldn't see that he cared for her more than the others... well we already discussed this. It was well foreshadowed. Doesn't make the ending smooth though.
Whelp, that's all, folks. Can't believe it's been four years since I started this thread.
The ending felt a bit rushed, and the whole thing of Elsie being some superweapon left a bit of a sour taste, but other than that, it was a good series. I'm glad I picked up this series, and I'm looking forward to whatever Wakaki might come up with next.
x3 He felt bad that she got jerked around during the goddess arc. That's the only time he showed anything different toward her. Even her confusing him was bc he didn't understand her and Ayumi's friendship.
It felt like he wanted resolve everything for the girls, so convinced himself he was in love with the one who got hurt most in order to resolve it. Kiema lying to himself on this sort of thing would be totally in character.
You can fill in the blanks to make it work. Him being able to tell her everything is really a stretch, especially since he never tells anyone anything. Honestly, he might have picked her because she doens't seem the type to ask. You do get the impression he never wants to hear about anything supernatural again.
Not the most elegant ending, but it works I guess.
edited 18th Apr '14 4:59:19 PM by kiukiuclk
Well, I honestly don't really care about shipping in this series, but I didn't like the ending.
Chihiro is a good choice (one of my favourite girls) but honestly she hasn't been in focus for a while and wasn't quite stand out enough in the first place.
My disappointment stems from the letdown this final arc has been.
At least it's an ending but it's not all that solid and feels like it's lacking something.
Perhaps there's just no way to do a proper emotional finale after all this time.
I think I shall avoid long running manga from now on.
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He improved, but the only one he told anything to was Tenri. And even then, It was mostly bc he needed them to bring him back. He's not the type to explain anything to Chihiro unless she asks, and she isn't the type to ask. Which is probably part of the point. Ayumi even points out that the goddesses arn't gonna get an explanation.
edited 18th Apr '14 6:35:28 PM by kiukiuclk
And so, the ending has been seen.
Nikaidou was pretty funny. And that was quite the smile she had at the end.
Tsukiyo and Shiori are true buddies. Oh yeah.
Team Goddess is taking Keima's decision well, it seems. Ayumi's exhausted from all the Keima babble, but Yui's still eager! Not one to stay down, that girl!
So Keima got rejected. Then Chihiro got the drop on him by inviting him for some tea. Keima, you should've expected this with your dating sim know-how.
But...ouch, Tenri. It must've been hard knowing that kind of conclusion for a long time...
But Diana says worry not, Tenri! Hope exists under this grand blue sky!
And Elsie's enjoying her new life.
So, I was foolishly hoping that all of Keima's past conquests and Haqua would make the final chapter. Lune, Urara, and Kaori, too. You know, a cameo explosion. Foolish wish buried.
Oh well, this was an awesome manga. Wonder if the Heart of Jupiter will get animated...
edited 18th Apr '14 9:41:03 PM by Diamite

That's the whole point of the ending, he learned to love someone as more than a prize to be conquered, so he has to work for as long the relationship lasts to make it a functional one. The line about destiny not being set is the crux of it.