Harapeko Oyako to Motokare Yanushi - Ch. 27

[UdenEmpati]

This just makes me annoyed. They're clearly on good terms, why the fuck did they ever break up? Author is gonna hang that one over our heads until before it ends, and it's gonna turn out to be the biggest nonthingburger ever, or MISUNDERSTANDINGS type shit, and just piss me off even more.

It's literally already been explained.

 

[buffalosauce]

Man is the definition of beta. Still hung up on ex. Meanwhile she happily married a man, had a kid. Now he is taking care of another man’s seed.

shes not "another man's seed" shes literally just a kid you weirdo. hope you grow out of this incel mindset someday. he was not owed the right to have a child with this woman just becuase they went out first. life happened and they're reconnecting later.

 

[mrclamp]

This just makes me annoyed. They're clearly on good terms, why the fuck did they ever break up? Author is gonna hang that one over our heads until before it ends, and it's gonna turn out to be the biggest nonthingburger ever, or MISUNDERSTANDINGS type shit, and just piss me off even more.

You, or someone else, can correct me on this (been a bit) but didn't they break up because Takaharu wasn't exactly open with his thoughts and feelings BUT did say to Kyou that he wanted to focus on his art more. Meanwhile, Kyou ended up having a bunch of family stuff occur that she needed support for, but he wasn't going to be physically or emotionally available and she did not want to burden him with her issues while he was trying to dedicate his time to his art. She knew she was leaving school so she figured she should also break up with him. She didn't do it because she didn't love him as she did it because she very much loved him, but it seems it didn't have the desired effect.

From what we can see they very much loved each other back then and still do now.

He is trying to put his feelings on hold because he is afraid of treating her the same way he did originally. And she is doing the same because of Minori.

Takaharu trying to get out there again and see someone is good, but shows that he recognized that the only person for him was Kyou. Get the feeling that model said what she said to him because she just didn't want show that she was very hurt by what he said and how he acted.

Sometimes in life you realize that one person will be the only one for you and you stick to not having anything special with anyone else ever again. Sure, you might find someone close, but in the back of your head will be that nagging feeling that it could be that much more perfect with the one that got away. There is nothing inherently wrong with someone realizing that and never dating or having a SO again.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Man is the definition of beta. Still hung up on ex. Meanwhile she happily married a man, had a kid. Now he is taking care of another man’s seed.

I'm actually surprised that you people are actually still reading this series given how categorically you seem to reject the nuance and maturity of the premise.
The effort it takes to maintain this level of immaturity in your worldview of relationships would be hilarious if it weren't so pathetic, or dangerous to others who might fall victim to making your acquaintance one day.

 

[finalm]

Holy simp, imagine not being able to move on from a girl that ghosted you for 10 years

Damn bro, that was desperate. Is someone threatening to kill your family unless you bait?

 

[frosti3]

Man is the definition of beta. Still hung up on ex. Meanwhile she happily married a man, had a kid. Now he is taking care of another man’s seed.

I hope that one day, you can find it in you to change your mindset

 

[UdenEmpati]

You, or someone else, can correct me on this (been a bit) but didn't they break up because Takaharu wasn't exactly open with his thoughts and feelings BUT did say to Kyou that he wanted to focus on his art more. Meanwhile, Kyou ended up having a bunch of family stuff occur that she needed support for, but he wasn't going to be physically or emotionally available and she did not want to burden him with her issues while he was trying to dedicate his time to his art. She knew she was leaving school so she figured she should also break up with him. She didn't do it because she didn't love him as she did it because she very much loved him, but it seems it didn't have the desired effect.

From what we can see they very much loved each other back then and still do now.

He is trying to put his feelings on hold because he is afraid of treating her the same way he did originally. And she is doing the same because of Minori.

Takaharu trying to get out there again and see someone is good, but shows that he recognized that the only person for him was Kyou. Get the feeling that model said what she said to him because she just didn't want show that she was very hurt by what he said and how he acted.

Sometimes in life you realize that one person will be the only one for you and you stick to not having anything special with anyone else ever again. Sure, you might find someone close, but in the back of your head will be that nagging feeling that it could be that much more perfect with the one that got away. There is nothing inherently wrong with someone realizing that and never dating or having a SO again.

Chapter 14 is the one you're looking for.

 

[marzial09]

DAMN YOU ALCOHOL!!! But also good job for actually giving them progress

 

[BurnerAccount69]

I can't really take any of the "fluffy moments" seriously or fully enjoy them when it's been used as a plot device to excuse them from communicating or addressing their situation

 

[jojoka]

Holy simp, imagine not being able to move on from a girl that ghosted you for 10 years

Yeah it's insane to me how anyone can view this series as cute. If anything this seems like a fantasy for men to never move on, you're telling me in 10 years he had one relationship that was pretty much fake.
This guy isn't in love with her he's dependant and obsessed with her.

I could understand if he was active for years and had moved on but then their love reignites as being a fluffy cute thing but to me, this just seems like a sad story about a guy who never grew up and became obsessive and withdrawn. He is an artist though so it fits lol.

 

[Valve]

Sometimes in life you realize that one person will be the only one for you and you stick to not having anything special with anyone else ever again. Sure, you might find someone close, but in the back of your head will be that nagging feeling that it could be that much more perfect with the one that got away. There is nothing inherently wrong with someone realizing that and never dating or having a SO again.

Ah yes the white moonlight.

Fun thing about this mental block is that obviously the fantasy is way better than reality would ever have been.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Yeah it's insane to me how anyone can view this series as cute. If anything this seems like a fantasy for men to never move on, you're telling me in 10 years he had one relationship that was pretty much fake.
This guy isn't in love with her he's dependant and obsessed with her.

I could understand if he was active for years and had moved on but then their love reignites as being a fluffy cute thing but to me, this just seems like a sad story about a guy who never grew up and became obsessive and withdrawn. He is an artist though so it fits lol.

Because she left a profound impact on his life even in the brief time they were actually together, and he's holding onto the regret of the things he missed and the things he didn't do the first time around.

The circumstances around their splitting up also were abrupt enough that it wasn't a "clean break" for either of them, but one forced upon them by the realities of Kyou's family situation and the relative immaturity of Takaharu who was too wrapped up in his work to see the woman next to him & in front of him.
She was the spark that made his art what it was, and was his muse as much as his girlfriend. We even see her influence on his work 17 years later at the gallery showing that Minori goes to, where she sees the painting that was directly inspired by Kyou--that was painting in the time she was absent from his life, but still ever-present.

It's a story of regrets and trying to reckon with them, and to overcome past mistakes and grow into being a better person. Calling it "cute" is a touch reductive, though I'd argue that's down to the very soft whimsy of the art style, more than the actual story, which is quite mature, for how easygoing it first appears.
It shouldn't be a fluffy romcom or even straight romance story, because that's not what's being presented. If Takaharu had moved on and been romantically active in the time he and Kyou were apart, he wouldn't be the same character, and this would be an entirely different story.

Instead, what we get is a tale about a man and woman reconnecting after life and their inability to be honest and trusting in one another drove them apart, and the slow rebuilding of that bond they shared and a forging of something new born out of the places they now find themselves.

 

[aimer22]

Holy simp, imagine not being able to move on from a girl that ghosted you for 10 years

I totally agree with you, but I still wanna see how this story ends.

 

[rabidfish]

Man is the definition of beta. Still hung up on ex. Meanwhile she happily married a man, had a kid. Now he is taking care of another man’s seed.

if you think about it from the dead guy's side it also kind of sucks. you get a cute girl pregnant, cant even enjoy your wedded life and fatherhood cuz you frickin die and your widow decides to go back to an ex she clearly never stopped being in love with.

 

[GrowlingScarab7]

This just makes me annoyed. They're clearly on good terms, why the fuck did they ever break up? Author is gonna hang that one over our heads until before it ends, and it's gonna turn out to be the biggest nonthingburger ever, or MISUNDERSTANDINGS type shit, and just piss me off even more.

It was explained was it not? He was focused on his painting and was emotionally distant albeit unintentionally. She was going through personal struggles, wasn't recieving emotional support, and didn't want to bring it up and become a burden, so she left without saying anything.

 

[jojoka]

Because she left a profound impact on his life even in the brief time they were actually together, and he's holding onto the regret of the things he missed and the things he didn't do the first time around.

I had a similar relationship in the past that had a profound impact on me and I regret things that happened in it, but I moved on. Not being able to move on makes you way too dependent on the person you once loved to the extent it stops being love and obsessive. It's why I don't get that fluffy feeling others get from this story.

The circumstances around their splitting up also were abrupt enough that it wasn't a "clean break" for either of them, but one forced upon them by the realities of Kyou's family situation and the relative immaturity of Takaharu who was too wrapped up in his work to see the woman next to him & in front of him.

Sure that sucks but still that doesn't mean you can never move on in life, if you had a best friend as a kid who was forced to move away and stop being your friend does that mean you'll stop making friends ever? No. That's what I find weird about him.
It just seems like his life was pre and post her, especially now that he says that a relationship failed to him because it wasn't Kyou. That's just sad.

She was the spark that made his art what it was, and was his muse as much as his girlfriend. We even see her influence on his work 17 years later at the gallery showing that Minori goes to, where she sees the painting that was directly inspired by Kyou--that was painting in the time she was absent from his life, but still ever-present.

Yes, here's an interesting story search up Masahisa Fukase and see what happens when the woman you love becomes your obsessive muse. To me this seems like another mark in the whole his life was empty without her which is why I find this story tragic.

It's a story of regrets and trying to reckon with them, and to overcome past mistakes and grow into being a better person. Calling it "cute" is a touch reductive, though I'd argue that's down to the very soft whimsy of the art style, more than the actual story, which is quite mature, for how easygoing it first appears.
It shouldn't be a fluffy romcom or even straight romance story, because that's not what's being presented. If Takaharu had moved on and been romantically active in the time he and Kyou were apart, he wouldn't be the same character, and this would be an entirely different story.

Perhaps that's fine but this doesn't read as a whimsical story to me because it reads as a man whose stuck in the past and lived a lonely life. The fact it could only be saved by his former lover who moved on basically coming back to save him is just sad to me.

Instead, what we get is a tale about a man and woman reconnecting after life and their inability to be honest and trusting in one another drove them apart, and the slow rebuilding of that bond they shared and a forging of something new born out of the places they now find themselves.

For the woman's perspective sure, but again for the guy I just don't see it the same way. Hell he didn't even need a bunch of romantic relationships if he had a social circle of close friends, a super successful career as an artist or anything that made him look like he lived some sort of satisfying life after her I would have been more onboard with this being a happy story. I just don't see it that way it just seems like a melancholic story.

 

[Kaito57]

DON'T YOU DARE GIVE US THAT JEALOUSY BS, BISH !!!
YOU DON'T GET TO JUDGE WHO HE DATED AFTER LEAVING HIM !!!

 

[DaBlackMamba]

Man is the definition of beta. Still hung up on ex. Meanwhile she happily married a man, had a kid. Now he is taking care of another man’s seed.

God you people are so weird

 

[UdenEmpati]

I had a similar relationship in the past that had a profound impact on me and I regret things that happened in it, but I moved on. Not being able to move on makes you way too dependent on the person you once loved to the extent it stops being love and obsessive. It's why I don't get that fluffy feeling others get from this story.

Sure that sucks but still that doesn't mean you can never move on in life, if you had a best friend as a kid who was forced to move away and stop being your friend does that mean you'll stop making friends ever? No. That's what I find weird about him.
It just seems like his life was pre and post her, especially now that he says that a relationship failed to him because it wasn't Kyou. That's just sad.

Yes, here's an interesting story search up Masahisa Fukase and see what happens when the woman you love becomes your obsessive muse. To me this seems like another mark in the whole his life was empty without her which is why I find this story tragic.

Perhaps that's fine but this doesn't read as a whimsical story to me because it reads as a man whose stuck in the past and lived a lonely life. The fact it could only be saved by his former lover who moved on basically coming back to save him is just sad to me.

For the woman's perspective sure, but again for the guy I just don't see it the same way. Hell he didn't even need a bunch of romantic relationships if he had a social circle of close friends, a super successful career as an artist or anything that made him look like he lived some sort of satisfying life after her I would have been more onboard with this being a happy story. I just don't see it that way it just seems like a melancholic story.

I'll just touch on the last portion specifically because it's the operative point.

You're not misreading the story. It is melancholic, and I would argue you're viewing it correctly, at least to an extent. Takaharu is portrayed as a profoundly lonely man who never got over the most important person he had & then lost, and we're now seeing him struggle to make the most of the second chance he's been handed.

Other people seeing this as a cute love story that's full of whimsy isn't wrong, but that doesn't mean their interpretation is wholly accurate. I would argue this is tragic, but it's also hopeful in the sense that, for these two people specifically, they've been given a second shot at happiness with one another, if only they can get over the past and their ongoing trauma and regrets and hangups to simply try.

It's grounded in the sense that the relationship they had and the dynamic between them now is nuanced and deep in how layered it is, but that doesn't mean it's not still a story that's working toward a happy ending that sees a "best case scenario" play out of otherwise rather dreary circumstances. As you said - you had a relationship that impacted you greatly and that you did at one point have regrets, but you moved on.
What if you hadn't? That "what if" is Takaharu, and this is the story of him trying to find the happiness that he's denied himself in being unable to let go.

Some people would uncharitably call it "wish fulfillment", but how many of us have some sort of regret that we, even if "over it" now, don't occasionally think back and say "what if"? Stories are a way to play out that fantasy, and that's what this manga is. The art style is light and fluffy and whimsical, and I honestly argue it contrasts very nicely with the subdued pacing of the story and the often-times somber and pained notes in the interactions between Kyou and Takaharu. We can sympathise with what they're going through, because theirs is a relatable story that's taken to a narrative extreme for the sake of dramaticisation.
But while the themes are heavy on the regret and the stagnation in Takaharu's life, the intent is to see what becomes of the here-and-now, and what he can do with the sort of opportunity that I would bet many people wish they had a version of in their own lives.

 

[UdenEmpati]

if you think about it from the dead guy's side it also kind of sucks. you get a cute girl pregnant, cant even enjoy your wedded life and fatherhood cuz you frickin die and your widow decides to go back to an ex she clearly never stopped being in love with.

wild when people will sympathise with a dead guy not even actively in the story before they'll consider the woman's side of things without reducing her to epithets or "the one a thing is done to".

Also - heads up, it's never mentioned whether Kyou married. he was only ever referred to as "Minori's father".