Ao no Flag - Vol. 5 Ch. 32

[MangaDex]

 

[zek777]

Welp, this chapter pretty much sum up Japan's gender discrimination.

 

[Nobi]

Fuck you gender stereotypes: the beginner guide. I like how they played with the readers' expectations for Mami.

 

[Dysisa]

Mami really skyrocketed herself to best character status. Stay strong, girl.

 

[jak]

@zek777 & @Nobi - Not really. She was basically going to use Taichi to get close to Touma. Using gender discrimination was just an excuse.

 

[OniBarubary]

Holy shit, what an incredibly good chapter.

It was almost entirely dialogue but it was essentially Mami's coming out chapter and was an incredibly in depth method of characterization as well as being one of the most "That's fucking real right there" manga chapters I've ever seen. An explanation and exploration of how people see women like her and how carefully she has to navigate relationships and friendships and everything in her social circle is put under a microscope. You also get some pretty wonderful bits of everything else: Masumi constantly telling Mami to keep it down in small bubbles, Masumi being incredibly defensive of her assumption about Mami and not backing down because of how mother hen-like she is over our hamster, Masumi's realization about how accurate Mami's discussion about Touma is in regard to her and Kuze (and that incredible pained expression), Kuze admitting she didn't like Mami cozying up to Taichi and her feeling bad about it because of everything Mami said being right, both of them reaffirming their like of each other and coming out strong for it, that dude from Mami's social circle calling her "buddy" and how important that is to her. Goddam. So much fucking happened this chapter.

And hell, this is an entire chapter after a "MISUNDERSTANDINGS!" cliffhanger where everyone sat down and talked about what happened and explained everything! That never happens! This manga is so fucking good.

And also no, gender discrimination is not just an excuse she's using; of course she wanted to get closer to Touma's friends so she could get closer to him. That's sorta what you do. A girl you like invites you to go with her friends and you say yes because you want to further your relationship with her. Like, no one enters into relationships altruistically. There's absolutely nothing wrong with her starting to hang out with Taichi so that it's less awkward when they're around each other with Touma and to figure out why him and Touma hanging out is so different than her and Touma hanging out. Mami isn't using him or anything close to that as we have just found out.

 

[HawkGoggles]

While Mami actions were super obvious, her character was a lot more genuine than expected. The woes of any kind of relationship. It looks like Masumi is getting focus next, so that will be interesting.

 

[Purplelibraryguy]

Nice breakdown, @OniBarubary!

 

[auodere]

woot woot I wasn't wrong to love Mami!! :') She's such a genuine character ugh I want a friend like her.
On a side note, Yagihara x Mami was my rare pair since they were in the car together and it looks like they'll be interacting more aaaaa, I hope something cute comes out of that whether it's a friendship or romance

 

[jak]

@OniBarubary - She only wanted to befriend Taichi to get close to Touma. She was going to use him and she was using "gender discrimination" excuse when people questioned her motives. Even Futaba didn't like Mami getting close to Taichi.

I don't understand when stuff like this comes up, people automatically assume there's some sort of deeper meaning. That's not always the case. She got defensive when people questioned her motives and she admitted herself that her main goal was to use him to get close to Touma.

 

[Monky]

Absolutely outstanding chapter.
Best R e a l t a l k I saw in a good while.
This manga is on a whole other level.

 

[havelmom]

Itachi is the best

 

[monchi]

best girl.

 

[BlackGeneral]

I love Kaito so much.
Cross Manage was already hight(best sport manga btw) but he keep improving.
I know it's selfish but I hope he will continue to be an author until his death.

 

[MajorGilbert]

This is like a breath a fresh air. Really didn't expect Mami to have such thoughts. I think I'll raise this from an 8 to a 9.

This is probably the best chapter I read from this manga. Might check out the author's other works as well.

 

[FrenchyFrenchFries]

This was an AMAZING chapter. And I FELT this too! I related to this chapter big time. And what's crazy is that these "societal norms" also applies to other age groups. It's just... wow.

 

[morooster]

bla bla bla

 

[nanze]

Didn’t really find this as genuine as other people. She starts off by asking if it’s really unthinkable to want to just be friends with a guy, only for it to end with showing she’s doing it to get with Touma, which robs her of that moral high ground. Also she’s acted like a bitch towards Taichi until now, and only suddenly started getting friendly once he started a relationship. And she acts like fake crying doesn’t make sense because it isn’t cute, but crying is good for getting sympathy. Which is what happened the instant she started crying. Furthermore, she says a guy would never say he wishes he was a girl, but I could find tons of guys who think a pretty girl has life on easy mode. Not saying they’re right, just that the grass is often greener on the other side.

Now to be clear I’m not saying she isn’t genuine here, just that if that’s the case the mangaka has failed to convey this to me effectively.

 

[BViscount]

I was fully expecting this chapter to go the tired old 'misunderstandings drama' route after the cliffhanger last time, but hot dang was I proven wrong.

A great rant by a character I wasn't expecting much of too, very impressed to see some real depth in the side cast.

Overall a really refreshing and well-executed chapter. It may have been a giant wall of text but I was hanging on every word.

 

[zek777]

@jak nah, not just in the manga. In Japan it is pretty much like that.
Not that you are going to meet any Japanese who is willingly to speak out like in this manga.
Most of those "abnormal" people's left the country and those remain behind are smart enough to zip their mouth.