Kasanegasane no Hatsukoi Desuga - Ch. 19

[Erricane]

Guess she bought the lottery ticket. Now let's see what happens

 

[Pandacron]

I just can't get a grasp on Megu's personality. Shy and sharp tongued? Hesitant and bold? Reticent and a braggart?

All bark, no bite, puts on a persona of what she thinks an assertive person looks like to try to overcome her shyness. Puts others before herself to the point of self-denial and needs massive buildup to voice her desires sincerely because she fears rejection. Likes cats.

 

[Giga]

Thanks for the chapter, Pandacron.

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I think that's a good thing, having "the obvious choice" takes the tension out.

Apropos of nothing, I still haven't forgiven Akamatsu for the wrong choice he made...

Spoiler: For length

I totally disagree...but to be fair, I don't like "harems" for exactly the reason I'm going to speak of. Having an "obvious choice" isn't a bad thing--not when it's the actual best girl. I don't mean "best girl" by the word of one person with one taste or another, I mean the objectively best girl: the one who is, evaluated in her entirety, the most reasonably and logically appealing of all the choices. For years, there have been countless instances of such a girl taking the loser's march because--according to popular modern sentiment--all tastes are equally valid, all preferences are good, and all sums of feminine being are "beautiful". All, that is, except for those sums that are objectively appealing and have proven themselves to be so either through traditional precedent and/or sheer logic; if authors were pen their romances favoring objective beauty, such girls who embody those objectively beautiful sums--ideal beauties--would never lose to anyone. Some examples: the 100:0 tsun/dere would never win, because no one normal wants a battleaxe except for masochists; the androgynous, flat-chested shorthair would never win because no one except those conditioned to would reject a girl of full feminine development in favor of one who could pass as male; and the girl who appears to be or is of a single-digit age would never win in a story not meant to pander to pedophiles.

Because it's now "wrong" to declare any opinions invalid, all such tastes/fetishes must be at least treated as equally valid. Consequently, any embodiments of beauty that would absolutely crush the aforementioned by comparison alone must at least be given lesser portrayal at best. It's an awful convention, one that has not only strangled many romances (To Love-ru is one infamous example--particularly the first manga's ending), but has hamstrung others that have no business being concerning themselves with romantic compeition--like Mone-san no Majimesugiru Tsukiaikata. That particular story has a VERY obvious best girl...because it was meant to be a romance between one guy and one girl. Around ten chapters in, the author jerked the story over into harem territory and it suffered until the happy ending for the MC and FMC--the destination it was headed to from the start, but had to take unnecessary, major detours for; and all of that happened because every person with a taste/fetish has to be validated in this day and age.

That being said...if there is an obvious best girl, it's because the story shouldn't be a "harem".

All bark, no bite, puts on a persona of what she thinks an assertive person looks like to try to overcome her shyness. Puts others before herself to the point of self-denial and needs massive buildup to voice her desires sincerely because she fears rejection. Likes cats.

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I agree with this. If you were to abridge a description of Megu (and it wouldn't do her justice, mind), you'd arrive at "tsundere"--but a kind that's different from that which is popular among masochists, and your description explains how.

 

[jubuttib]

That being said...if there is an obvious best girl, it's because the story shouldn't be a "harem".

That was kind of the point I was after: If there is the obvious best girl, it shouldn't be a harem. And if it is a harem, there shouldn't be an obvious best girl. Both kinds of stories have their place. Harem stuff is at its best when it explores the dynamics between different kinds, but still multifaceted and compatible people, rather than the silly "we collected 5 different trope representatives" ones. I think a good example of a harem with only valid choices is something like Dosanko Gyaru (though story telling wise it heavily leans in a certain direction). They're all different kinds of girls that play off the main character differently, but they don't fall into the traps you mention, and there's not really anything "wrong" with any of them. Depending somewhat on what the exact desires of the lead character are, any and all of them would work out.

This particular work won't get there, I think, but I still prefer a harem with real ambiguity to an obvious one.

Edit: Appreciate your long post btw, was an interesting read.

 

[SalvySaroj]

Yup.. that's gonna stretch or sudden end.

 

[Giga]

Edit: Appreciate your long post btw, was an interesting read.

Thanks for reading. There was a critical mistake made in it, however--one that conveyed a meaning opposite the intended: it was among the three examples.