Alcohol and Ogre-girls - Vol. 4 Ch. 23

[Moonbunne]

True, but that really isn't a high bar to clear.

Definitely a better love story than peanut butter jelly sandwich

 

[Baffled]

People seem to forget they have already kissed. Very early on. But I guess it was in a situation where they weren't sure what their relationship was yet.

Just kiss and confess already, jeez *

 

[himi-cat]

Like I'd say that's kind of exactly the point being made here, they aren't so different. But the ogres cling onto their power and lineage so strongly that they refuse to view themselves as more similar than they are different.

It's not easy for a caged ogre to socialize but that's not because they're so inherently different but because of the weight of centuries of this family refusing to let its people be people, which also loops back to how positions in this family are named after Shuten-Doji's because they cannot accept that they aren't uncompromisingly on top of the world anymore.

Yeah, this seems to be an important underlying theme in this story - hiding from the present behind walls built from old grievances.

And Hinata is the other side of that - hiding from the present by trying to find a future that will let her deny those old grievances. Which is about as healthy, even if it looks better on the face of it. The past is real, you can't move on from it by denying or ignoring it - the future /has to/ be built on the past, there's no other way to do it, trying to build on denial and ignorance is like building castles on sand.

. . . and then there's Naori, who's just focused on what's in front of her - not the mahogany of the bar, but the girl she's decided to take responsibility for. The few times she gets caught up in thoughts of the future are where she's wondering if she even /can/ be there for Hinata, the rest of the time she's just so grounded . . .

I have a feeling another theme is developing, about identity, and about the power that comes from /owning/ your identity. Looking forward to seeing if I'm right.

 

[Iliketoreadcomics]

Naori being in the good graces of the top brass of the ogre family.
It would be hilarious if Naori was the descendant of the human who slayed the OG Shuten douji.
Two people fighting against their own faith.

That could be an interesting development. The descendants of Shuten-Doji and Minamoto no Yorimitsu, only instead of enemies they're now lesbians.

 

[AxeBurningfire]

Damn... Those scars are so hot.

 

[ImranAfif]

Now to make it even better we just need lum to make a cameo.