Kono Koi wo Hoshi ni wa Negawanai - Vol. 5 Ch. 22

[MangaDex]

 

[UdenEmpati]

47 page chapter

ohhhh fuck.

 

[kahoshi]

Will things ever go back to how they were? Probably not. But they've taken the first step toward healing. Kyou may suck, but at least he admitted he sucked.

 

[Joddascus]

It’s gotta be happening, right?

 

[UdenEmpati]

A U G H



I cannot believe that Kyou raised my estimation of him.
He's still a shit, but. He knows it and I can't be that mad.
Except that he further delayed the conversation.

And yes, this was such an important chapter and I know it needed to happen and I can't be impatient but holy fuck me I need to see their Talk.

 

[UdenEmpati]

It’s gotta be happening, right?

I've been going back and forth on it constantly.

But I think I want Eri to try.
I want them both to see if a relationship can work between them, and I want Eri to put in actual effort to see Fuyuki in a romantic light, and be intimate, and actually give a shit for once.

And I want Fuyuki to meet her halfway, and not hold any of this over her head and give her the grace to make an actual effort.
If at that point Eri still can't cut it, then I hope Fuyuki moves far away and never looks back toward either of them again. Bonus points if she grabs her Senpai and they run away and hide in one another forever. Ultimately, the only one I want to have a happy ending is Fuyuki, whatever that ends up looking like. She deserves a win at some point.

 

[Kamui]

I like that this chapter really showed us that these people have been friends basically their entire lives. As shit as Kyou's actions were, he is still Fuyuki and Eri's friend. There was no need for him to respond to Eri's call or encourage Fuyuki, but he still did. Yes, he needs to do amends, but he is aware of it. Great showing.

We also saw it from the girls' side, which was great too. Eri admitting she doesn't care about Kyou as much as Fuyuki does is... A choice, but at least she's being upfront about it.

Fuyuki letting all out was nice too. She's way too confortable bottling everything up. I liked that she told Kyou that her messy feelings were not only about Eri, but him too.

Now we wait for the final boss(?), Eri's feelings for Fuyuki.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Eri admitting she doesn't care about Kyou as much as Fuyuki does is... A choice, but at least she's being upfront about it.

I actually really liked this. If only because it fully cemented that Eri, though a good--if not best--friend to them both, didn't have issues with just casual classmate acquaintances, or with relationship partners, but with the two people closest to her.

Eri's relationship issues as they pertain to Fuyuki were always the focus because the lens is from Fuyuki's perspective for the series, but seeing that even Kyou got the same means that it wasn't something to do with Fuyuki. That might be apparent, but it wasn't to Kyou, and I think it helps re-contextualize a lot about her for both of them--especially because she can admit it outright now, meaning she's come to internalize it and (hopefully) really come to see how she's hurt her two most precious people in one way or another.

 

[outinthegardener]

Next time: Showdown in the planetarium!

 

[ShitTaste]

I am dropping this if something doesn't happen in the next two chapters.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Next time: Showdown in the planetarium!

I like that their Talk is happening under the stars.

Nice allusion to the title, that. Hopefully not an omen.

 

[PixelCrow12]

I need the next chapter translated yesterday!!!

 

[beThereShortly]

Kyou redeeming himself a little? That wasn't on the bingo card ?!?!
Thank you very much for the chapter, looks like volume 5 will be the last...
God the art is so beautiful, I don't want it to ever end.

 

[UdenEmpati]

God the art is so biutiful, I don't want it to ever end.

I kept wanting to rush through the chapter to get at the meat of the narrative

But the artwork, and the pacing of each panel with the breaking up of her profile, or the negative space with just a bit of a portrait - forced me to just sit in the space created and slow down to soak up the ambiance and really feel every moment and word that passed between Kyou and Fuyuki.

Which was good, and I'm grateful, because as heavy as this story is, the artwork and the dialogue's literal placement within each page has such a lightness to it, such softness, that it's almost jarring when you consider the immensity of the plot to the characters involved, and it really deserves your full attention to every tiny detail and nuance in expression and body language and line of scenery.

It's nothing Earth shattering in terms of the epic dramas out there, but the personal love story of three friends who break one another's hearts carries such an intimate agony that contrasts so well against the beautiful pen strokes of the illustrations. It gives everything this fragile feeling, which suits the story of Fuyuki's love very nicely, I think.

I really do not think this story would work as well as it does if the artwork was any different. To me, they're inseparable.

 

[sebaasdf]

Top tier conversation between these two, really sounds like two lifetime friends, almost siblings. The art fabulous as always too. Not really into Heroine Eri narrative though

 

[MaskedRealityCheck]

and actually give a shit for once.

I think we're all forgetting that all of this happened because Eri ALWAYS gave a shit.

She started dating Kyou out of fear of straining their relationship if she rejected him (which I'll admit, is kinda worse).

Heck, she even started 'distancing' herself from Fuyuki when she's the person she treasures most in the world because Fuyuki started doing it first and she was worried her feelings were being a nuisance to Fuyuki.

All of chapter 18 happened because she was scared Fuyuki wouldn't want to be her friend anymore after she kissed her.

Then after everything that happened in chapter 19 she didn't leave home for a full week and spent all of these days crying and repeating that moment in her head over and over.

She went out of her way to talk to the one person she couldn't stand to understand Fuyuki better when technically she could've arranged this meeting without talking to her first.

I'm sorry but this is not the behavior of someone who doesn't give a shit. Sure, Eri has her flaws (like every single character in this manga) but I think people give her way too much shit (OP I'm not talking about you)

 

[HansumNapolean]

In a parallel universe, I would have placed Kyou in a slightly higher standing. He admits and apologizes repeatedly for the cheating, which is great. But he's still a scumbag LOL. If Kyou explicitly stated what he did in chapter 14 to Fuyuki, I'd bet they'd have a different conversation. He cornered Eri, tried to kiss her, and only stopped when she kicked him away. Cherry on the top - he bangs another girl after assaulting Eri. It's cool that Eri shrugs it off, but the situation had more gravity than just mere infidelity. I wouldn't feel comfortable treating my childhood friend as a brother if I knew that he was capable of this.

 

[beThereShortly]

I really do not think this story would work as well as it does if the artwork was any different. To me, they're inseparable.

Shinoa's whole shtick is to portray unusual (let's go with that adjective) relationship with the most delicate and soft art possible. It's amazing really that this is their first big publication. Hopefully it's the first of many.

 

[UdenEmpati]

I think we're all forgetting that all of this happened because Eri ALWAYS gave a shit.

She started dating Kyou out of fear of straining their relationship if she rejected him (which I'll admit, is kinda worse).

Heck, she even started 'distancing' herself from Fuyuki when she's the person she treasures most in the world because Fuyuki started doing it first and she was worried her feelings were being a nuisance to Fuyuki.

All of chapter 18 happened because she was scared Fuyuki wouldn't want to be her friend anymore after she kissed her.

Then after everything that happened in chapter 19 she didn't leave home for a full week and spent all of these days crying and repeating that moment in her head over and over.

She went out of her way to talk to the one person she couldn't stand to understand Fuyuki better when technically she could've arranged this meeting without talking to her first.

I'm sorry but this is not the behavior of someone who doesn't give a shit. Sure, Eri has her flaws (like every single character in this manga) but I think people give her way too much shit (OP I'm not talking about you)

Sorry - I was too vague/flippant with my word choice.

I think by "giving a shit for once" I meant trying to really see it from a perspective outside her own, rather than reacting as she thinks she's supposed to without actually checking in with the other person and trying to have a dialogue about it.

All of those things you mentioned, she did out of fear of upsetting the status quo or because it seemed appropriate, and she was reacting to what was happening, but she didn't do it after checking in with the others to see if maybe there was a side of things she wasn't aware of, at least not directly, where communication would have likely solved or at least lessened the strain and stress of things. She sought the path of least resistance in a lot of ways, which in a sense reads as apathy.

She started to with her conversation with Fuyuki's senpai, for sure, and she pushed back when Kyou tried to force himself on her during the filming shoot, which while a terrible incident, showed her stepping up to enforce her own boundaries when all her relationships before that point had her just rolling over and accepting what others did to her. So she's made progress, unequivocally. And I will credit her with already making strides to trying to be better over the last several chapters in general, with asking directly to meet with Fuyuki here and now (something Fuyuki notes is unusual for Eri).

She's also not the only one guilty in all of this. But I think the ball's in her court for now and the impetus is not entirely, but mostly on her to rectify the majority of the problems facing her and Fuyuki.

 

[SrNevik]

I think we're all forgetting that all of this happened because Eri ALWAYS gave a shit.

She started dating Kyou out of fear of straining their relationship if she rejected him (which I'll admit, is kinda worse).

Heck, she even started 'distancing' herself from Fuyuki when she's the person she treasures most in the world because Fuyuki started doing it first and she was worried her feelings were being a nuisance to Fuyuki.

All of chapter 18 happened because she was scared Fuyuki wouldn't want to be her friend anymore after she kissed her.

Then after everything that happened in chapter 19 she didn't leave home for a full week and spent all of these days crying and repeating that moment in her head over and over.

She went out of her way to talk to the one person she couldn't stand to understand Fuyuki better when technically she could've arranged this meeting without talking to her first.

I'm sorry but this is not the behavior of someone who doesn't give a shit. Sure, Eri has her flaws (like every single character in this manga) but I think people give her way too much shit (OP I'm not talking about you)

Agreed. This chapter (and the last few honestly) was almost heavy-handed in saying "these two people hurt Eri more than the other way around," yet people still seem to view Eri as the main issue here. The only thing she's been guilty of really is not realizing her friend liked her (which, in series like this, is enough to make someone a villain). Otherwise, she's been largely fine.

Fuyuki is right to take responsibility for where things have come, since she chose not to be truthful to Eri all these years, and Kyou's slight is crystal clear. Eri is a good friend who has been clawing around in the dark and bumping into objects because her friends have turned off the lights in order to keep things from her for their own benefit, yet she's been vilified for making a mess in the dark. I am really looking forward to this discussion between them. It should be really good either way.