Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 41.1 - My relationship with Kusunoki might be changing

[LeBronBron]

Well I can't read Japanese, but peeking at what's in the rest of 42, I wonder if this will be the case for much longer (clearly I'm going off expressions/posture & panel/speech bubble pacing, but, still)

Either way, the exaggerated reactions he had to realizing he missed his chance and might have the door closing in his face is likely for the purposes of dramatic story telling, so I guess that's just where it has to be left off with.

Yeah that could be the case. I mean I thought it was kind of "out of character" because he never had such a reaction to a rather small incedent. Like its not that big of a deal

 

[UdenEmpati]

Yeah that could be the case. I mean I thought it was kind of "out of character" because he never had such a reaction to a rather small incedent. Like its not that big of a deal

That's fair. I tend to think of it as - for Keisuke - it was a big deal, by virtue of what he's personally experienced up to that point, and where he is in his life.
Sorta like how...for toddlers, the worst thing they experience may seem like nothing to a 10 year old, but a toddler's been alive for 3 years, and conscious for maybe 1. That's 1.5 years on average of total experience, and everything new is weighed against that tiny amount of context.
For Keisuke, this is his first time navigating this stuff, so it'll seem super outsized and overly big to him, because of his lack of personal reference.

 

[Wizardrone]

no one deserve my boy!

 

[ShionVaynex]

I did say "intentionally or otherwise", regarding the "snub" phrasing. I realize I should have maybe worded my pithy comment slightly differently, looking back, but "oh well".

But I seriously think Keisuke is better served letting go of his feelings for Kusunoki and working on his own debut path independent of her. She made it clear to Hebikawa that she "definitely doesn't" have any romantic feelings for Keisuke, so I think he should take this opportunity to try and forget going after her.

I also want him to get entangled with Hebikawa because 1) I personally ship them because I find Hebikawa more interesting than the FMC who was literally designed to be perfect, and 2) I think they actually stand to benefit and grow from improving their relationship, whether it becomes romantic or not.

So many manga follow a certain formula for their romance arcs, and I just have a bit of wishful thinking that it won't happen here. Kusunoki can have her desired HS Debut with lots of friends and popularity. Let Keisuke resolve his issues with Hebikawa, become good friends (or more) with her, and just move away from the Perfect FMC.

yeah i get that. i also generally like another girl more than the female lead most of the time. some of the FMCs despite not having much chemistry, they end up liking each other. because plot.

considering the formula. when she said she doesn't like him that way. she probably think she shouldn't like him that way considering how depended she is on him.
while she is thinking that he only thinks of her as a friend and wanting more would be presumptuous of her.
considering how much of a bother she think she is to him, she probably feels guilty as she is taking advantage of his kindness.

as for hebi. we probably will get an arc focused on her and keisuke. though they probably end up using her as a foil for him to run to fmc. which would be the boring answer.
it would be more interesting if like you said, keisuke helping her with her a debut. helping her to be the person she wants to be.

the only one left is the tanned tomboy who is the only one clearly crushing on him. in would be funny in a way if she just charges at him to get him to be her boyfriend and win. while the other 2 are being indecisive.

 

[Joe17mama]

for real
Let Kusunoki have her actual HS debut, making friends, being happy. That's her dream, that's what's important.

That way Snake-chan can have Keisuke all to herself. everyone wins

Lmao... you sir... you're a genius.

 

[Shad24772]

This is a high school romcom manga, adults don't factor into it from the problem-solving side.

And yes, Keisuke & Hebikawa are in a better place than when he was in middle school, obviously. But they both still need to fully resolve that particular point between them, and Keisuke being the one "primary" male lead means that he's slated to be the one who helps Hebikawa shave off the edges, mellow out, and stop obsessing over things like "image" that have been landing her in hot water since elementary school.

I personally want them to get together as well, because I think that would be an effective way to resolve both of their arcs, and because I personally am bored of Kusunoki and think Hebikawa's a better bet than Otobe.

But Kusunoki's arc is largely resolved now. Let her go be Queen Bee of the school, and Keisuke can drop his crush and go Snake Wrangling.
And, if Kusunoki has feelings for him, then maybe losing Keisuke to Hebikawa can help address whatever is in her middle school backstory that made her so vehemently reject him every time up to now.
Plus, she's perfect and never loses. Kusunoki losing her repressed crush to Mean Girl Snake-chan would be a nice lesson in what that's like.

ah...well, it's not like a want kusunoki to be with MC at this point. she's plain oblivious or still has self esteem issues. Also the title of "friend" mc allowed himself in at the very beginning is what keeps her from thinking of him in a romantic way. We have yet to see her show any actual inclination of liking or loving mc.

Who i want already showed interest and is lovestruck with our boi: Otobe~

 

[chiruno09]

Go with the tomboy frfr

 

[Tessou]

"ehh screw Kusunoki, Shizuki. Go claim Snake-chan with the ol' History Reversal and make her fall for you"

is what my petty side is saying, though I know that won't happen.

But just once I wanna see an author have the *cojones to have the MC be snubbed by the FMC (intentionally or otherwise) and just go "welp fuck it" and pursue someone else, potentially showing the FMC what she missed out on because she just assumed MC would always be there (romantically or otherwise).

But, interested to see where it goes from here.
Thanks for the chapter, as always ~

Ah yes, “snubbed” by the FMC’s attention crime of making a friend. She didn’t pay attention to me this one time, so I’m switching to Diet FMC!

 

[UdenEmpati]

Ah yes, “snubbed” by the FMC’s attention crime of making a friend. She didn’t pay attention to me this one time, so I’m switching to Diet FMC!

I explained myself repeatedly elsewhere in the thread, so go ahead and either keep reading or choose to continue believing whatever you currently do.

 

[Wandayy]

Otobe is waiting for you Keisuke..

 

[Aelthar]

Romance tag

Well that was a fucking lie

 

[UdenEmpati]

ah...well, it's not like a want kusunoki to be with MC at this point. she's plain oblivious or still has self esteem issues. Also the title of "friend" mc allowed himself in at the very beginning is what keeps her from thinking of him in a romantic way. We have yet to see her show any actual inclination of liking or loving mc.

Who i want already showed interest and is lovestruck with our boi: Otobe~

Honestly, Otobe would also be interesting. I keep coming back to "each character has a main arc they need to complete", and hers is the one that I am most unsure about (relative to the other 3 anyway).

I'm thinking it's probably her issues with maturity, maybe? I don't want to reduce it all down to "she's the only one actually in love with Keisuke" because that feels like a really badly-written character motivation (feels shallow to just say "fall in love" like she's not her own person and needs someone else to feel fulfilled. But I'd probably have to re-read the entire thing again to actually form a more cohesive idea and I'm just not able to do that right now.

I took a peek at 41.2 raws and, while I can't read Japanese, I'm left wondering if Keisuke is going to actually continue trying to pursue Kusunoki, even beyond the events of this day and into future chapters. If he does.....then it's going to kind of sideline both Hebikawa and Otobe, unless they're reduced to "butting in" to cause problems with Keisuke's efforts--which, again, feels like poor writing to reduce their characters to "romance foils".
So whatever actually happens at the end of chapter 41, I sincerely hope we move away from Kusunoki for awhile because trying to address the other two while she's still kicking around means that they'll be seen through the lens of Kusunoki's influence by virtue of her increasing popularity in the school.
That feels unfair to them, and because we're primarily seeing all of this from Keisuke's perspective (not entirely, but)--so if he actually confesses to Kusunoki, gets brushed off, and goes off sulking, then that opens the door for Hebikawa & Otobe to get closer to him and have their own arcs take more of a center stage.
And to re-re-re-re-re-reiterate as I have up and down this thread, Kusunoki is currently in a good spot with her Debut arc, so her being sidelined a bit to the background while we focus on the others makes narrative sense to me.

(And personally I'm just bored with her character, and honestly don't want Keisuke to keep going after her because she's made it clear she wants to ignore any feelings she may have for him. So put all that on the backburner and move on to other stuff, and maybe she'll get jealous from not getting attention or something, and we can revisit her nonsense arc again at that point in time.)

 

[Laxtir]

I just want Otobe to be happy , but with this mc she is just gonna have a Bad time

 

[LuckyThePirate]

kusunoki has seriously snubbed him like 3 or 4 times now. poor dude is just getting his heart played with. i really hope snake-chan actually loves him and they get together because i hate girls like kusunoki. if you have ever met a kusunoki then you know what im talking about.

 

[functionWander]

Nah lil bro, you don't get to be upset, you had your chance to ask her to spend the festival together, but as usual you hesitated 🤦🏾‍♂️

"Nah nevermind, forget what I said" now look at you, coward

It's not like he's upset because she gained another friend, he's just a bit blue that he didn't get to spend time with her. And while it could be seen as cowardly, I don't think it was a good time to ask; she was about to start the play, no reason to say anything that could potentially distract her

So I'd say that he, in fact, did nothing wrong in this chapter

 

[MiguelH224]

It's not like he's upset because she gained another friend, he's just a bit blue that he didn't get to spend time with her. And while it could be seen as cowardly, I don't think it was a good time to ask; she was about to start the play, no reason to say anything that could potentially distract her

So I'd say that he, in fact, did nothing wrong in this chapter

"He's just a bit blue that he didn't get to spend time with her"


That's...... literally my point 🤦🏾‍♂️

And that's exactly what he did wrong, the fact that he's a coward about shit

 

[USB3pt0]

is this like 50% of the thread's first romantic comedy or something

 

[subwayanyway]

This manga is slop