Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi o Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 42 - The Uprising of the Nosey Girls

[UdenEmpati]

This topic has been debated to death in previous chapter posts but I'll tl:dr it here.

Yes, Yuu did not find out that the person he knew as Yami senpai was the same person Hikari was telling him about (Aya-chan) until his confrontation with Yami in the classroom during the festival. Yami hit Yuu with a lot of information during that confrontation. It's understandable that Yuu would be hesitant to mention to Hikari that he used to date her best friend as he wants Hikari to accept his confession.

I think the big sticking point is that people are arguing that Yuu shouldn't have confessed right then, instead he should have told Hikari what was going on. Something like "Hikari, I just found out that the person I used to date is your friend Aya-chan. I didn't know the two of you were friends and I don't want to make things awkward." <--However that scenario is not realistic due to how we've seen Yuu behave in the past.

The best moment to tell her would have been when Yuu left the classroom and found Hikari. We get from Yuu's POV that he realized something was wrong with the way Hikari was acting but he decided to ignore that and just barrel ahead with his confession.

Can't speak for others just myself but I will say my dislike of Yuu comes from the following:

1) He's liked Hikari romantically for a long time but the only effort we're shown is him half-heartedly attempting to get into her high school. Yuu admits it's too late for him to succeed but he needs to try. It left me with the impression that his love for Hikari must not be that strong as he doesn't seem to put much effort in.

2) Once Yuu inevitably fails, he near immediately ends up going to a love hotel with Yami. It's off-putting to hear him talk about how much he loves Hikari but then go for the first girl who shows him any interest. He appears disingenuous.

3) After all of that, when he does end up confessing to Hikari he gives her a whole spiel about how he's always been in love with her. I don't doubt that he has been in love with her and I don't fault him for stating that since there's no way he could know that Hikari witnessed Yami kissing him. However, knowing what we know and knowing what Hikari knows, his confession of always loving her comes off as insincere given how we're only shown two times he's made an effort (trying to get into her school and then this confession) and how quickly he moved on from trying to get Hikari to the literal first girl who came next.

Now, I understand where all y'all are coming from when you discuss Yuu's flaws and his insecurities. I can sympathize with him a bit as I, too, was like that when I was a teenage boy. It's just frustrating to root for the guy when even Yami put more effort into pursuing Yuu than Yuu did pursuing Hikari.

In this manga, we've seen Aya improve from when she first met Hikari. She was going back to school and had made good friends with Hikari, Haru & Yuki. Up until the festival confrontation with Yuu, Aya was showing growth.

We've seen Hikari grow as she came to terms with her feelings for Yuu. We saw her try to pursue Yuu even though a lot of her efforts were for naught. We saw a bit of emotional maturity as she confronted Aya and defended Yuu to her.

We haven't really seen Yuu make much growth as a character. He didn't really learn anything from his pursuit of Hikari. He didn't really learn anything from his relationship with Aya. He did seem to finally start noticing Hikari's actions but even with that he mentions he wasn't 100% sure she liked him and admits he wasn't going to confess unless he was at 100%.

Again, it's just hard to like the guy when you see everyone else putting in more effort. Hell, Haru & Yuki put in more effort by skipping class and tracking Yuu down. They were willing to show up to his school to find him, something Yuu wanted to do to find Yami but chickened out. Even Seki (who in Chapter 12.5 states to her friend that she doesn't even really like Yuu) put in more effort to pursue him than Yuu ever did for the girl he confessed to always love.

to tack onto this pretty bodacious comment,

The other sticking point that I often see coming up is people keep bringing the reader's viewpoint into each character's space and acting like Yuu, Hikari, and Ayami have the benefit of knowing what the readers know in any given situation.

All the characters are flawed, some more than others (sorry Ayami, I love you for your character and role, but I wouldn't want to know you if we existed in the same universe), and that's the point. No one's the hero, no one's the villain, it's a messy teenage drama about relationships and growth and how shitty life can be based on your inward and outward perspective of things.

But to the narrative and the criticism of each character's actions and lack thereof, they also only know what they've personally experienced in-world, and judging their actions using context and circumstances they don't have knowledge of is just asking for a bad grade on your high school language arts analysis paper.
That, coupled with the fact they're written as fairly faithful representations of what a bunch of 15-17 year olds would be like in their situation, and people seemingly wanting to assume each would act entirely rationally like they've done this whole thing multiple times and know all the right words and moves.


It's not everyone in every discussion post/thread/forum (here and on Reddit), but it's come up enough that it seems a theme of sorts to the ongoing conflict among readers, from where I'm sitting.
Though it's made me want to get better at critical analysis, so there's that silver lining, I guess.

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Yes but Hikari loves her to an unhealthy co-dependent degree so 🙃

It's genuinely concerning lol

At least Yuu despite his issues is a decent guy and Hikari has alot if history with him so I can get it

Yami is just yikes

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Totally understand it - it's absolutely mortifying to tell your crush about your ex, especially when you idolize said crush and the ex let you think it was a situationship. That's the point right? It's totally understandable and also the right thing to do would have been to do the hard thing of giving Hikari a heads up.

Exactly it's hard to blame him if we're being honest most people in Yuu's situation probably wouldn't be able to do it either

His actions did cause her to spiral worse - all the way into convincing herself that ghosting him was the right move. Which again not to absolve her, I just think they really weren't all that good for each other.

Oh god yeah they aren't good for each other at all

Same, like I very much would prefer the no relationship end. And I kinda think it's what Maruto is setting up - Yuu doesn't get a girl as the tragic consequence of his own actions, Hikari and Aya w/ a somewhat happy ending of repaired friendship.

I swear if the ending is Yuu completely cut off from them but Hikari and Yami are best friends still I'm gonna crash tf out I swear

Eh, I think his actions being understandable doesn't make them excusable. That's the whole agency/accountability drum I'm beating. And I think it's a good lesson in a manga/novel ostensibly aimed at teenagers b/c I think a lot of growing up is learning to own consequences.

100%

Understanding and sympathizing something/someone isn't the same as excususing them

 

[story645]

Yami is just yikes

Hikari has the same "I can fix her"ites as the Yami simps. I legit get it, I had friends like Aya growing up & my best friend is dealing with her Aya & you legit feel like something very terrible is gonna happen to the Aya like friend if you're not there for them.
ETA: Also Aya lets down her walls with Hikari & that's super validating and intimate (& yeah missing from Aya's relationship with Yuu).

Yuu completely cut off from them but Hikari and Yami are best friends still I'm gonna crash tf out

I think he'll maybe still be friends with Hikari, just that he's maybe killed her romantic attraction to him (at least for now). I don't think him and Aya could be just friends and I doubt that Maruto is writing "Yuu realizes he still loves Aya & ran from her by confessing to Hikari & he finally fights for Aya" b/c so far Yuu's head has been filled with Hikari even when he's been thinking of Aya. If Yuu and Aya get back together and Yuu is still a wishy washy mess, I'll probably crash out.

 

[UdenEmpati]

100%

Understanding and sympathizing something/someone isn't the same as excususing them

I said this almost verbatim on another title about a woman trying to figure out if one of her three best friends is having an affair with her husband and, yes, it's absolutely true.

You can fully sympathize with someone while not condoning their bad decisions and actions.

 

[GennArc]

2) Once Yuu inevitably fails, he near immediately ends up going to a love hotel with Yami. It's off-putting to hear him talk about how much he loves Hikari but then go for the first girl who shows him any interest. He appears disingenuous.

I feel like people keep forgetting or ignoring the fact that by the time he met Yami, he had been hopelessly in love for years. It must be extremely frustrating to be unable to express your feelings or not having them returned for such a long time (at least 1/3rd of his life by that point). This sorta thing really takes a toll on a person, especially when they are a teen. And after all that, his big attempt to make her notice him ends up in a failure, so the frustration doubles.
And then he meets a girl who he has fun talking to and who offers the thing he has been longing for. Why do you feel like he has to also reject her in favor of his hopeless love that has been dragging on for years?
And, by the way, Yami is actually not the first girl to show him any interest - refer to chapter 12, Hikari even helped to set it up for the girls interested in him.

Back in the day, he was popular enough to get at least one or two real Valentine's chocolates (I only gave him obligatory ones!).

Every now and then -- maybe once a year, or every other year -- there'd be girls who'd come up to me and ask, Hey, could you introduce me to him? (Back then, I didn't think much of it and just went ahead and introduced them!)

But whenever I set up something like that, he'd always look all shy and uncomfortable.
They'd hang out a few times, try it out, but it never lasted...

Hikari: "So, Ta~kun, what happened with that girl?"
Yuu: "Uh... well..."

And he'd give me that awkward look, trying to dodge the question.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Hikari has the same "I can fix her"ites as the Yami simps. I legit get it, I had friends like Aya growing up & my best friend is dealing with her Aya & you legit feel like something very terrible is gonna happen to the Aya like friend if you're not there for them.


I think he'll maybe still be friends with Hikari, just that he's maybe killed her romantic attraction to him (at least for now). I don't think him and Aya could be just friends and I doubt that Maruto is writing "Yuu realizes he still loves Aya & ran from her by confessing to Hikari & he finally fights for Aya" b/c so far Yuu's head has been filled with Hikari even when he's been thinking of Aya. If Yuu and Aya get back together and Yuu is still a wishy washy mess, I'll probably crash out.

At this point I just want Yuu to grow a bit.

I honestly think he should be applauded for pushing through the mindfuckery that was running into Yami-senpai and still trying to confess to Hikari - I just also know that, from where we the readers are sitting, it was an incredibly bad move, and the "more correct choice" would have been the very, very hard one of postponing the confession and having a conversation about suddenly finding out he used to date her Aya-chan.

But, he's been so passive and non-committal for so much of the series to this point that him making a decision to take action on something is almost a breath of fresh air, even if it lead to disastrous consequences that he realistically couldn't have foreseen (being unaware that Hikari saw him with Ayami).

But even when she was yelling at him, Hikari didn't tell him she hated him or anything, just that she was mad he lied to her, and that he continuously puts her on a pedestal as some out-of-reach ideal for him, and that he never once confessed if he actually liked her since grade school.
If he actually listened to what she said, then hopefully he'll internalize it and make changes to better himself and learn to be more proactive and start building confidence in himself.

If he does that, awesome. I honestly could see him fully salvaging his friendship with Hikari, even if romance is off the table for them - he'd still keep his oldest friend which is very much not nothing.

But...that would require him to make the effort to change, even if that takes the form of seeking help from someone else, Hikari or otherwise.

 

[UdenEmpati]

I feel like people keep forgetting or ignoring the fact that by the time he met Yami, he had been hopelessly in love for years. It must be extremely frustrating to be unable to express your feelings or not having them returned for such a long time (at least 1/3rd of his life by that point). This sorta thing really takes a toll on a person, especially when they are a teen. And after all that, his big attempt to make her notice him ends up in a failure, so the frustration doubles.
And then he meets a girl who he has fun talking to and who offers the thing he has been longing for. Why do you feel like he has to also reject her in favor of his hopeless love that has been dragging on for years?

I do think both aspects can be true simultaneously.

It can be understandable that he'd easily fall into Ayami's arms when he was at such a low point and in a vulnerable state.
It can also be somewhat questionable-looking, from the perspective of the reader and knowing what we know, to see the character that is Yuu do so, because we know things that he does not.

I also think that letting both of those statements color any bias toward the character is understandable, though very much not ideal, if wanting to make an objective critique of his character, his character arc, and the overall narrative and his place within it.

 

[GennArc]

It can also be somewhat questionable-looking, from the perspective of the reader and knowing what we know, to see the character that is Yuu do so, because we know things that he does not.

Can you expand on this? For me as a reader it makes even more sense, knowing that Hikari actually didn't feel a thing for him back then and didn't even view him as a boy.

 

[misopogon]

Trust me, editor, it is vital to the story that these two side characters should be changing their clothes with egregious shots of their ass whilst they converse

 

[story645]

hat him making a decision to take action on something is almost a breath of fresh air

Same and I think I've said as much in one of my way too many posts. It was both immensely stupid and also I appreciated the stumbling growth that is Yuu finally taking initiative and holding firm in his resolve that he really loves Hikari when Aya throws herself at him. At least that's where I think Maruto is going w/ this but I wouldn't be terribly shocked if we end up w/ a Yuu really loved Aya twist (though I'm not betting on it).

disastrous consequences that he realistically couldn't have foreseen

Eh, he was kinda worried that he'd run into Aya at the festival and there'd be a blow up. So he did foresee the possibility, but just decided it was unlikely enough that he was gonna not deal w/ it. Which yeah is consistent with his characterizarion of being conflict averse. I feel like I have to run a thousand disclaimers of "this is an analysis not a judgement"

I honestly could see him fully salvaging his friendship with Hikari,

Yeah, like Hikari tells him she loves him. To me it reads like what Hikari is really asking from Yuu and Aya is that they reciprocate her friendship - Aya be honest w/ Hikari about her crush the way Hikari has told Aya everything about Yuu, Yuu be honest about his important relationships the way Hikari has told Yuu everything about her friends (including Aya-chan).

 

[UdenEmpati]

Can you expand on this? For me as a reader it makes even more sense, knowing that Hikari actually didn't feel a thing for him back then and didn't even view him as a boy.

I was thinking of it from the perspective of having this conversation now that we're on chapter 42 and can look back and analyze everything that's transpired up to this point, both in terms of how they've appeared sequentially chapter-by-chapter and how everything's placed in the timeline. Which bleeds into the follow-up point I made of it being a very much not ideal way of being objective in analyzing his character.

But also, as the other person had pointed out in the larger post, the timing of it was abrupt in terms of his failing his subpar attempt at the entrance exam, into meeting Ayami, into ultimately following her into the hotel. Yes, I can understand feeling crushed about losing out on his chance with Hikari, but it does seem somewhat odd to love someone so deeply for so long to then get into a physical relationship with someone you just met at the first sign of reciprocation.

-

To my own thoughts that stray a bit from your question but I think expand my view on him as a character (and I believe are at least semi-related to my original point) - he's very passive. That's not a condemnation, that's just his character, and a realistic flaw for a teenage boy. But the first time he makes any actual proactive effort, it's not to even confess, but to reach a self-imposed goal that he admits from the outset is effectively impossible for him, sets it as his condition for telling Hikari how he feels, and in a way almost seems to use it as an excuse to perpetuate his internalized idea that he's not worthy of Hikari in the first place.
To go from that self-defeating activity, never once bringing it up with Hikari at all, to very quickly sleeping with a heretofore unknown girl, is a quick turn of events that makes it seem like he might be less in love with Hikari, than he has put her as some ideal that's out of his reach, like he sees her as less a girl and more this perfect objective that he must attain by meeting or surpassing.

I don't know if that's actually true in his case, but some of his thoughts in the POV chapters make me wonder. I don't think it's something bad or anything, and I don't think he doesn't actually have feelings for Hikari - but he almost seems to idolize her, which also can lead to dehumanizing someone (though not in a "tearing down" way, but in a "building up to an unrealistic ideal" way).

 

[rozert]

Author really choose to keep the tension a lot longer... Well, let's wait...

 

[UdenEmpati]

"this is an analysis not a judgement"

I give you allowance that if you happen to realize you're responding to me, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt unless you make it clear it's a judgement and not an analysis (because I suspect I'm of the same mind and feel I have to do that sorta shit all the time just to CYA).

 

[HellJester]

I honestly think he should be applauded for pushing through the mindfuckery that was running into Yami-senpai and still trying to confess to Hikari - I just also know that, from where we the readers are sitting, it was an incredibly bad move, and the "more correct choice" would have been the very, very hard one of postponing the confession and having a conversation about suddenly finding out he used to date her Aya-chan.

You know the more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that Yuu didn't plan to confess at the festival. I think he suspected Hikari was going to at least a little bit. (During the confession he mentions that he was starting to notice things Hikari was doing and he sort of took that to mean she might like him).

When he got to their classroom and Yuki was teasing him I think he had a little panic attack and that's why he left the classroom to wander around until Hikari's shift was done. He was probably thinking - Hikari's friends know she likes me and that's why I'm being teased...does this mean she's going to confess?! He was probably walking around second guessing himself. Then, unfortunately, he ran into Yami and got mind-fucked.

After that he runs into Hikari and notices she's acting off. However, he's already been freaking out about Hikari potentially liking him and confessing to him and now he's doubly freaking out about what happened with Yami so he's sort of in a fight or flight mode. He ignores the immediate signs he's getting from Hikari and just proceeds forward.

Now he's romantically dancing with Hikari and she takes him to a place where they can be alone when the lights go out. He's taking these all as signs a confession is coming. So, he's bracing himself for her confession and instead she tells him they should go home. I believe it's at this point that Yuu goes "oh crap she's not doing it and if I don't say something this might be my last chance." So he goes for it and confesses to her instead and when she asks him why all he can say is he felt it had to be then.

 

[Othymit]

This comment section has an alarming lack of appreciation for the tits and ass panels

 

[UdenEmpati]

This comment section has an alarming lack of appreciation for the tits and ass panels

thank god you were here then, huh

 

[UdenEmpati]

You know the more I think about it the more I come to the conclusion that Yuu didn't plan to confess at the festival. I think he suspected Hikari was going to at least a little bit. (During the confession he mentions that he was starting to notice things Hikari was doing and he sort of took that to mean she might like him).

When he got to their classroom and Yuki was teasing him I think he had a little panic attack and that's why he left the classroom to wander around until Hikari's shift was done. He was probably thinking - Hikari's friends know she likes me and that's why I'm being teased...does this mean she's going to confess?! He was probably walking around second guessing himself. Then, unfortunately, he ran into Yami and got mind-fucked.

After that he runs into Hikari and notices she's acting off. However, he's already been freaking out about Hikari potentially liking him and confessing to him and now he's doubly freaking out about what happened with Yami so he's sort of in a fight or flight mode. He ignores the immediate signs he's getting from Hikari and just proceeds forward.

Now he's romantically dancing with Hikari and she takes him to a place where they can be alone when the lights go out. He's taking these all as signs a confession is coming. So, he's bracing himself for her confession and instead she tells him they should go home. I believe it's at this point that Yuu goes "oh crap she's not doing it and if I don't say something this might be my last chance." So he goes for it and confesses to her instead and when she asks him why all he can say is he felt it had to be then.

that's believable.
It's midnight so I'm not looking to read the manga & novel and side POVs from the start to confirm, but your bit about him ignoring the signs of Hikari's shift in demeanor leading into the dance does seem to gel with past behavior of his, where he picks up on the mood from Ayami but then decides not to follow through with the hard part of speaking up, which.....well, ended up the way it has.

So that would mean his behavior is consistent (panicky, not the greatest at making snap judgments or learning from mistakes, etc)
Which, hopefully he finally takes a beat to reflect and start trying to turn himself around, now that he's seen both of his only relationships (and one a friendship) seemingly go up in smoke.

 

[GennArc]

I was thinking of it from the perspective of having this conversation now that we're on chapter 42 and can look back and analyze everything that's transpired up to this point, both in terms of how they've appeared sequentially chapter-by-chapter and how everything's placed in the timeline.

And even in this case his decision feels right to me, knowing that Hikari fell in love with him after he had a relationship with Yami.

but it does seem somewhat odd to love someone so deeply for so long to then get into a physical relationship with someone you just met

You see, when you say "for so long", you mean it as an even bigger reason to reject the person he just met. But my exact point is that the longevity + hopelessness of it make his decision completely fine.
It's kinda like sunk cost fallacy. "If you loved her for so long, why not keep loving her further, even if she doesn't reciprocate?".

but to reach a self-imposed goal that he admits from the outset is effectively impossible for him, sets it as his condition for telling Hikari how he feels

I share the sentiment about self-imposed goals, but in his case it wasn't completely unjustified. He saw she didn't care about him as a boy and he didn't want to ruin their friendship by confessing into an envitable rejection, so going for a move that could at least make her realize that she is not just a childhood friend for him - this kinda makes sense to me.

 

[middle-the-nerd]

Hikari has the same "I can fix her"ites as the Yami simps. I legit get it, I had friends like Aya growing up & my best friend is dealing with her Aya & you legit feel like something very terrible is gonna happen to the Aya like friend if you're not there for them.

Okay yeah tbh I did also used to have a friend who was almost this bad

So I guess, technically, I can't be too judgmental of Hikari lol

ETA: Also Aya lets down her walls with Hikari & that's super validating and intimate (& yeah missing from Aya's relationship with Yuu).

Yeah that is true even if Yami did something fucking AWFUL It's obvious she very much does care about her

I think he'll maybe still be friends with Hikari, just that he's maybe killed her romantic attraction to him (at least for now).

Honestly- I think it's too early to tell on her feelings for him currently we've only seen her immediately after it happened probably going to come heavily down to how Yuu handles everything in my opinion

Hopefully with even him admitting to himself he was awful on the day of the festival and fucked up he's willing to take responsibility

I don't think him and Aya could be just friends and I doubt that Maruto is writing "Yuu realizes he still loves Aya & ran from her by confessing to Hikari & he finally fights for Aya" b/c so far Yuu's head has been filled with Hikari even when he's been thinking of Aya. If Yuu and Aya get back together and Yuu is still a wishy washy mess, I'll probably crash out.

WE'LL crash because holy FUCK that'd be such an abysmal ending