I’d be harder on Aoi if she was an adult and should know better, but she’s 14 and just starting to figure this stuff out. On top of that, she’s feeling out her sexual orientation in a culture that values homogeneity and that, while making progress, is not particularly friendly to homosexuality. She’s got twice as much on her plate as most people her age.
This is a phenomenal chapter, probably the strongest so far, and really highlights the strengths of this series. Tanaka and Yoshikawa are such try-hards, in an endearing way. We all knew these people in middle school. If we didn’t, we probably were them. And Aoi’s journal is perfect. It’s the kind of thing you look back on as an adult and go, “uuuuuuuuugh.” IRL it would be destined for the Mortified podcast, or some Japanese, chunibyo showcase, equivalent. It all works because they’re early adolescents. All three would be insufferable if they were a year or two older.