Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 41 - Everything, Falling Apart

[HellJester]

Yeah, but I mean… that’s the Yuu we got, and that’s the Yuu Maruto chose to show us. We can only work with what we’ve been given, and what we’ve got is a Yuu who kinda sucks.

This is the crux of why I'm so mad about Yuu.

A lot of comparisons have been made between the way Yuu pursued Hikari and the way Hikari pursued Yuu but I think they're completely different.

Yuu "pursued" (and I use that word extremely lightly) Hikari from the moment in 5th grade he realized his admiration for her had turned into love up until the moment he failed the entrance exam into her high school. How did Yuu pursue Hikari? We're not really shown either in the main manga or the side chapters. We get a brief snippet of him studying to get into her school and are told that this is the kind of effort he has put into his pursuit of Hikari but other than that we don't really get more examples.

I liken Yuu's efforts with Hikari to someone who wants to desperately win the lottery....dreams about what they'll do with the winnings but never buys a fucking ticket.

On the contrary, we see much more of Yuu's pursuit of Yami. He tries to get her to go on dates other than a love hotel and a manga cafe. He somewhat tries to learn more about her but gives up pretty quickly.

We find out in Yuu Chapter 4 that the reason for him investing so much of himself (again not much) into this relationship with Yami is that he perceived she was reciprocating his feelings. Bear in mind that the whole reason Yami initially pursued Yuu was because she was at the lowest point in her life (so far), was killing time with him, listened to his sob story (and thought he was a fool) and decided because of that she was going to ruin him and drag him down to her level. It wasn't until much later in their relationship that she actually had feelings for him.

Switch it to Hikari. We see her attempts to pursue Yuu from the beginning of this manga up until the school festival. She's awkward but she's making enough effort that Yuu notices. We know Yuu notices her efforts because he mentions this during the confession scene in the storeroom. This is the big difference. Nothing Yuu did in his pursuit of Hikari caused her to notice that he felt romantic feelings for her. It's not that Hikari is dense or dumb. She has very high intelligence and emotional intelligence. You can see it in the way she confronts Yami in the classroom after the dance and cuts right through Yami's bullshit.

I hate that the author is telling us and not showing us that Yuu loved Hikari for years and made all this effort to pursue her. It doesn't add up. Hikari is well aware enough to pick up on romantic signals from Yuu and she didn't until after she started pursuing him. I hate how passive Yuu is.

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Uch, as bad as Yuu is coming across in these chapters, I actually want to see his POV post Aya's crash out. Like there's a lot of stuff here that he could have responded to her w/, but he held back - would wanna know if it's cause he's over her or cause he doesn't want to risk her rejecting him. Given what we've seen so far, I find the latter super plausible, especially given he tells Hikari he's confessing in large part cause he has more confidence that Hikari will say yes.

Honestly same I REALLY wanna see that and wouldn't be surprised if we do

Honestly if I had to guess right now...I think it's probably bit of both he's over her (or at least mostly) but still doesn't want to get rejected because of his obvious fear of it

But I also think it has to do with just his complete reluctance to open up

Eh, I think it's more complicated than that. Like every single thing Yami yells at him during her crash out is something she passively aggressively said to him while dating. Like is it his fault he's not a mind reader? Meh, but the narrative also makes it seem like he was kinda picking up on it but didn't want to rock the boat by having it out w/ Aya.

Honestly god even if they got back together right now I feel like they'd both end up falling into the same problem again lol

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Man this series has grown on me the past year, I get why people hate Yuu but I do enjoy the messy parts of this series

Also I want to know who'll win the Yuu bowl in the end or if we're getting a loner ending.

Thanks for the ping Literara

I hate to admit it but same... I'm way more invested than I wish I was...

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Yeah, but I mean… that’s the Yuu we got, and that’s the Yuu Maruto chose to show us. We can only work with what we’ve been given, and what we’ve got is a Yuu who kinda sucks.

No you're completely right I'm just saying not much point in trying to understanding what they see in him when the author hasn't bothered, trying to really show us lol

Basically the most we've seen otherwise is basically "yeah, when things aren't complete shit he seems like a fairly nice guy"

 

[middle-the-nerd]

I think Maruto may be trying to emphasize that their relationship was stuck in the same pattern from the get: it's all the same beats we see in most of their chapters - Aya is passively aggressively communicating insecurity & masking by playing coquette, it kinda flies over Yuu's head b/c he wants to believe everything is wonderful and amazing and great, their communication is trash, & Yuu tries but not all that hard.

Yeah this is pretty much accurate- they honestly just weren't good for each other because of that basically NO communication

One masks shit by being passive aggressive and playing coquette

The other one is wishy washy and too nervous to initiate a serious conversation even if he has a feeling somethings wrong

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Honestly same I REALLY wanna see that and wouldn't be surprised if we do

Also I really wanna see a post Yami crash out Yuu POV so we can see what the actual fuck the dipshit was thinking when lying to Hikari

 

[Mrson]

x

 

[story645]

Honestly god even if they got back together right now I feel like they'd both end up falling into the same problem again lol

This time they'd have Hikari as couple's therapist so it could maybe survive til college (longer if they have a shotgun marriage).

Also I'd kinda like a spin off w/ whatever damaged trainwreck Hikari falls for next (which yes, would make her the shoujo heroine I've been arguing she mostly hasn't been).

 

[middle-the-nerd]

This time they'd have Hikari as couple's therapist so it could maybe survive til college (longer if they have a shotgun marriage).

I mean the fact they'd need Hikari to even MAYBE make it work till just college isn't much better lmao

Like I said in another reply they just aren't good for each other- Hikari could MAYBE make it work with Yuu

And that's a pretty big maybe

Also I'd kinda like a spin off w/ whatever damaged trainwreck Hikari falls for next (which yes, would make her the shoujo heroine I've been arguing she mostly hasn't been).

Oh god no please don't prolong this misery

 

[middle-the-nerd]

x

X

 

[Catbowl]

This is the crux of why I'm so mad about Yuu.

A lot of comparisons have been made between the way Yuu pursued Hikari and the way Hikari pursued Yuu but I think they're completely different.

Yuu "pursued" (and I use that word extremely lightly) Hikari from the moment in 5th grade he realized his admiration for her had turned into love up until the moment he failed the entrance exam into her high school. How did Yuu pursue Hikari? We're not really shown either in the main manga or the side chapters. We get a brief snippet of him studying to get into her school and are told that this is the kind of effort he has put into his pursuit of Hikari but other than that we don't really get more examples.

I liken Yuu's efforts with Hikari to someone who wants to desperately win the lottery....dreams about what they'll do with the winnings but never buys a fucking ticket.

On the contrary, we see much more of Yuu's pursuit of Yami. He tries to get her to go on dates other than a love hotel and a manga cafe. He somewhat tries to learn more about her but gives up pretty quickly.

I mean, if she doesn't want to talk about it, I don't think it's wrong to respect that and let her open up at her own pace. In turn, he's reluctant to dox Hikari too much when Yami asks about her, and she also respects that.

We find out in Yuu Chapter 4 that the reason for him investing so much of himself (again not much) into this relationship with Yami is that he perceived she was reciprocating his feelings. Bear in mind that the whole reason Yami initially pursued Yuu was because she was at the lowest point in her life (so far), was killing time with him, listened to his sob story (and thought he was a fool) and decided because of that she was going to ruin him and drag him down to her level. It wasn't until much later in their relationship that she actually had feelings for him.

She fell for him that very night when he noticed her despair and they had their first/only honest talk. Then she took the initiative next morning to not let him walk out of her life. For his part, it was his first time being someone else's emotional support and feeling needed. I can see how the "I can save her" instinct would be strong.

Switch it to Hikari. We see her attempts to pursue Yuu from the beginning of this manga up until the school festival. She's awkward but she's making enough effort that Yuu notices. We know Yuu notices her efforts because he mentions this during the confession scene in the storeroom. This is the big difference. Nothing Yuu did in his pursuit of Hikari caused her to notice that he felt romantic feelings for her. It's not that Hikari is dense or dumb. She has very high intelligence and emotional intelligence. You can see it in the way she confronts Yami in the classroom after the dance and cuts right through Yami's bullshit.

I hate that the author is telling us and not showing us that Yuu loved Hikari for years and made all this effort to pursue her. It doesn't add up. Hikari is well aware enough to pick up on romantic signals from Yuu and she didn't until after she started pursuing him. I hate how passive Yuu is.

Hikari hadn't reached her romantic age yet where she'd pick up on this stuff, and she had a friendzone-shaped blind spot toward Yuu. She herself mentally admits she had no interest in love, only saw him as a friend/brother, never realized his massive inferiority complex, and might've turned him down if he had confessed.

 

[Mrson]

Hikari hadn't reached her romantic age yet where she'd pick up on this stuff, and she had a friendzone-shaped blind spot toward Yuu. She herself mentally admits she had no interest in love, only saw him as a friend/brother, never realized his massive inferiority complex, and might've turned him down if he had confessed.

Finally, damn, someone who understands the reasons why Yuu didn't want to take a step in drowning, he knew he had no chance, and if he confessed his feelings they would ruin their friendship, daaahhh it seems like nobody understands

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Hikari hadn't reached her romantic age yet where she'd pick up on this stuff, and she had a friendzone-shaped blind spot toward Yuu. She herself mentally admits she had no interest in love, only saw him as a friend/brother, never realized his massive inferiority complex, and might've turned him down if he had conconfessed

While Hikari is easily the most put together of the three- she's can also be the most naive and has complete blind spots

I love Hikari easily my favorite but I'm not gonna act like she's flawless lol

While Yuu definitely picks up on stuff he suffers bad by not actually acting on his intuitions and ignoring them while Hikari has trouble actually picking up on shit at times like his inferiority complex like you mentioned and his feelings for her

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Finally, damn, someone who understands the reasons why Yuu didn't want to take a step in drowning, he knew he had no chance, and if he confessed his feelings they would ruin their friendship, daaahhh it seems like nobody understands

Yuu was 100% in the right for not acting on his feelings for her although I'm not sure if it would've ruined their friendship but she'd all but certainly reject him and after her clear lack of interest in him romantically for so many years his caution is understandable

The only thing you can fault him for is straight up lying to Hikari about where he was after the school festival

 

[GennArc]

Thanks for the ping @Litreara.
I too think that his decision to "no longer fall in love" more about retreating to his shell than emotional independence.

2. I think a big reason Hikari started viewing him in a different light once they grew closer again was this whole "I won't fall in love again"

Hikari started viewing him in a different light at the start of their first HS year, so either when he was still dating Yami or right after they broke up. She even tells Yami about it in the infamous chapter 34, which takes place a couple of weeks after ghosting.
Meanwhile here Yuu says he decided to abandon his yearning for love next spring, so at the start of their second HS year.

He could have paid attention and noticed he was getting brushed off, instead of assuming it was 'real love, baby.' He took it hard when Yami finally disappeared, but he had all the clues to see it was coming from the beginning.

But it was not coming from the beginning at all, as seen from Yami's perspective, and she always was much more serious about him than he could ever imagine.

Similar to how he made up conditions for his "love" for Hikari, like getting into her school = she'll fall in love with me, for real!

That's not what he was thinking at all, see previous chapter:

If I manage to get into the same high school as her, even someone as oblivious as Hikari is bound to realize.
...That I’ve been chasing after her all this time.

And then, maybe this time, I’ll finally hear Hikari’s answer.
Whether it makes me happy or breaks my heart, I’ll finally get closure on how I feel.

I was honestly excited to be getting chapters dedicated to Yuu's POV. I kept saying we needed to see his side of things to make accurate judgment calls.

I don't think we actually saw his side of things properly in this POV. This is just him reminiscing on past failures, but I'd like to see more of his thinking in particular situations. Like, what was he thinking at that moment when Yami led him to the hotel, when she proposed to live together or when she blocked him, this kind of stuff. I think that would tell me much more than this retrospective, because afterthoughts are important but momentary decisions tend to play a bigger role in your life.

She's been planning this for years and you're just finding this out now? After it's already been established that Hikari hangs out as his house multiple times a week and is practically at Yuu's house more than her own. How the hell does Yuu not know about this?

She stopped hanging out at his house at the start of the middle school, this was told in one of those Yuu POV chapters.

 

[fflogschampion]

Maybe what attracted Hikari was that Yuu appeared disinterested, not attached.

There are multiple factors that would make Hikari seek him after a relatively long absence. They used to be together all the time, he not being around all the time probably changed her perception of him quite a bit too on top of him being more detached. At the very least she saw him as a really good friend, if she can see Yami as a good friend then Yuu is probably a saint in her eyes, and reconnecting with him was something that probably moved her enough to make her fall in love.

While Yuu definitely picks up on stuff he suffers bad by not actually acting on his intuitions and ignoring them while Hikari has trouble actually picking up on shit at times like his inferiority complex like you mentioned and his feelings for her

Hikari might be dense, how much is hard to determine because she isn't plainly dumb. The moment she got some hints about things in his past she started connecting the dots, every reveal led her to the correct answers. And considering how Ayami just turned her back to Yuu due to his boorishness when it came to expressing what he wanted when trying to measure his commitment, it's hard to blame Hikari for not being able to read him too.

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Thanks for the ping @Litreara.
I too think that his decision to "no longer fall in love" more about retreating to his shell than emotional independence.


Hikari started viewing him in a different light at the start of their first HS year, so either when he was still dating Yami or right after they broke up. She even tells Yami about it in the infamous chapter 34, which takes place a couple of weeks after ghosting.
Meanwhile here Yuu says he decided to abandon his yearning for love next spring, so at the start of their second HS year.

Hm...maybe it is time I do that reread I've been meaning to do lol I'm fucking up the time line

But it also does say that after this was when they started "It was around the time when, for some reason, the distance between me and Hikari began to close again" So i wouldn't be surprised if it still played a part somewhat

But it was not coming from the beginning at all, as seen from Yami's perspective, and she always was much more serious about him than he could ever imagine.

That's not what he was thinking at all, see previous chapter:



I don't think we actually saw his side of things properly in this POV. This is just him reminiscing on past failures, but I'd like to see more of his thinking in particular situations. Like, what was he thinking at that moment when Yami led him to the hotel, when she proposed to live together or when she blocked him, this kind of stuff. I think that would tell me much more than this retrospective, because afterthoughts are important but momentary decisions tend to play a bigger role in your life.

You know now that pointed out that actually is true- these have been more reminiscing/retrospective than proper POV...we REALLY fucking need that...

She stopped hanging out at his house at the start of the middle school, this was told in one of those Yuu POV chapters.

Hell like I said earlier, it's even directly stated "It was around the time when, for some reason, the distance between me and Hikari began to close again for the third time." Give in this chapter it acknowledges they weren't as close at that point lol

 

[GennArc]

But it also does say that after this was when they started "It was around the time when, for some reason, the distance between me and Hikari began to close again" So i wouldn't be surprised if it still played a part somewhat

I read that as Hikari starting to act more and more on her new feelings.

You know now that pointed out that actually is true- these have been more reminiscing/retrospective than proper POV...we REALLY fucking need that...

Yeah, I was expecting that when this POV volume started. Maruto probably decided against it because the goal always was to cover the heartbreaks, and including extra stuff would overextend the spin-off. But this is again why I'm glad this is just an extra content to fill in some gaps, not the main manga/novel. A romance story needs to picture the moment, and this is not being done here.

 

[story645]

I mean the fact they'd need Hikari to even MAYBE make it work till just college isn't much better lmao

I've been arguing they're terrible for each other since the they were dating chapters, but a big part of it was the communication mismatch. Were this a "people growing" manga, Yuu and Aya have been made painfully aware of their very different communication styles, and Hikari is pushing 'em to break down their walls, so optimistically they could learn their lesson and actually get better at talking to each other. I am somewhat skeptical that this is that sorta manga though.

I love Hikari easily my favorite but I'm not gonna act like she's flawless lol

I'm now going in hard on her playing hero. Like she befriended Yuu when he was at his most pathetic (isolated, sad), just like Aya, & I'm thinking she maybe fell for him when he was peak lost shell shocked why did she break up w/ me? Which even if he didn't talk to her about, Hikari seems to kinda pick up on Yuu's moods.

I mean, if she doesn't want to talk about it, I don't think it's wrong to respect that and let her open up at her own pace.

Aya thinks this means Yuu doesn't care about her. (ETA: not that I think he was wrong here, just that it can be complicated).

when Yami asks about her, and she also respects that.

Not really - Yami pries until it makes her feel insecure and then shuts it down. (Which honestly should have maybe been a clue to her communication style).

 

[middle-the-nerd]

There are multiple factors that would make Hikari seek him after a relatively long absence. They used to be together all the time, he not being around all the time probably changed her perception of him quite a bit too on top of him being more detached. At the very least she saw him as a good friend,if she can see Yami as a good friend then Yuu is probably a saint in her eyes, and reconnecting with him was something that probably moved her enough to make her fall in love.

Honestly...you're really not wrong that she hold hims in EXTREMELY high regards if she even sees Yami as a good friend- it's also probably why it hit her so hard when he lied to her so blatantly at the school festival (but simultaneously it's also why assuming it's completely over for them feels super premature to me)

Hikari might be dense, by how much is hard to determine because she isn't plainly dumb. The moment she got some hints about things in his past she started connecting the dots, every reveal led her to the correct answers. And considering how Ayami just turned her back to Yuu due to his boorishness when it came to expressing what he wanted when trying to measure his commitment, it's hard to blame Hikari for not being able to read him too.

Hmmm... you do make a good point

Like I said though she's naive sometimes but not stupid she 100% can figure stuff once she realizes there's something to figure out

Or maybe I'm overthinking lol