GraPara! - Ch. 130 - Please Look Only at Me

[Alsatia]

Sorry man, but she didn't just do one awful decision, she did three, and there's one more that we're still not sure happened: the cheating, breaking up via text, and switching agencies/breaking her contract with Shinobu.

Back again! It's fun to be reading these.

I'll admit my dislike for Sakura certainly grew because of chapter 129 (albeit that could be saved if a bonus 129.5 chapter reveals for it to be in Yuma's head.)

However, while she made these decisions you have to understand she was heavily and severely mentally conflicted. Not to mention Yuma with his actions and the Blondie with her own and all of those chapters of building it up.

In that panel we see of her in the van, Sakura still looks conflicted (prior to Blondie forcing her to smile). We don't know her thoughts. While they weren't good choices, I can't put all the fault on her for it either as those two played a heavy role.

 

[jonasadan]

100% this. She's dumb as fuck but she's not irredeemable. How many shonen villains have been redeemed after initially being evil? Tons, and those villains actually killed people.

I'm not saying that shonen and this are the same. But I think the concept follows.

I think she really is irredeemable and it's mostly the authors fault for the way they've developed her; she's a character who's always going to keep making the same mistakes

 

[diphuc1]

Sorry man, but she didn't just do one awful decision, she did three, and there's one more that we're still not sure happened: the cheating, breaking up via text, and switching agencies/breaking her contract with Shinobu.

It was closer to one I'd say, texting Yuma. Once Yuma got that text confirmation from Sakura he became incredibly empowered (before this he was much cautious with his appraoch towards Sakura), and once he caught up to Sakura around the station or wherever, it didn't matter much at that point what decisions she could make, even if she was more sound of mind. Yuma was going to get things his way no matter what.

 

[diphuc1]

I think she really is irredeemable and it's mostly the authors fault for the way they've developed her; she's a character who's always going to keep making the same mistakes

She certainly has irredeemable flaws in her character, but those to me are not enough to shun her entirety as a person for me. She's also working the gravure industry, situations will arise, mistakes happen, its a dangerous place out there. I do wish Katsura Airi wrote Sakura to have some more resilience in her character at the start, but up until the latest developments, Sakura has been changing slowly for the better, now who knows what'll happen. She's likely to just end up as a short or long term fling for Yuma at this rate until he get bored of her while struggling to get work done at the agency without Shinobu always being around anymore.

 

[jonasadan]

Back again! It's fun to be reading these.

I'll admit my dislike for Sakura certainly grew because of chapter 129 (albeit that could be saved if a bonus 129.5 chapter reveals for it to be in Yuma's head.)

However, while she made these decisions you have to understand she was heavily and severely mentally conflicted. Not to mention Yuma with his actions and the Blondie with her own and all of those chapters of building it up.

In that panel we see of her in the van, Sakura still looks conflicted (prior to Blondie forcing her to smile). We don't know her thoughts. While they weren't good choices, I can't put all the fault on her for it either as those two played a heavy role.

And I totally get that, bro. I understand she was/is in a bad mental state, and I also know she’s got two scumbags hanging around her, but still, I feel like I have to blame her. It seems like she doesn’t care at all about everything that happens between her and Shinobu in the manga. One comment I saw here that I liked was that they treat her like she’s a little girl, but she’s an adult. I get that she didn’t handle the cheating well, but what about what happened afterward? To me, she definitely deserves all the criticism for what she did afterward

 

[chickennuggetbaloni]

This is the same author that in her previous work, had the cuck protag also get his ass fucked by the NTR villain playboy who stole his girl.

What manga was that

 

[noleafclover75]

I personally find sakura unforgivable but I also know it's not a universal acceptance.

 

[jonasadan]

It was closer to two I'd say: 1) Running away too well, 2) texting Yuma. Once Yuma got that text confirmation from Sakura he became incredibly empowered (before this he was much cautious with his appraoch towards Sakura), and once he caught up to Sakura around the station or wherever, it didn't matter much at that point what decisions she could make, even if she was more sound of mind. Yuma was going to get things his way no matter what.

Damn, man, I think you're going to make me defend Sakura hahahaha. I don't think one of those two things you mentioned is a mistake, and that's running away, I think it's normal for her to run away given all the insecurities and suspicions she's had since the previous chapters. As for calling that fuckboi, I don't even think it deserves my opinion.

 

[diphuc1]

Shes a terrible person. It goes way beyond just the cheating (also the director, and toppy and all the other times).

It's taking advantage of others kindness, its no self reflection or introspection, its no communication, its jumping to conclusions, its infidelity, its a lack of trust for Shinobu, its hiding your previous infidelity. She also hasnt seem to have showed hardly any remorse or accountability for anything.

If someone had anyrespect for Shinobu as an MC this relationship should be over forever.

She is terribly vulnerable for sure. Shinobu benefitted from Sakura's presence just as she did his. For the lack of self-reflection, maybe she does but author choose to omit it because they wanted to show other things. I've touched on the manipulation tag team scheme of Yuma and Blonde enough by now. During the move she did look pretty down in the dumps. As a part of her character, Sakura prefer to shy away from confrontation and so this is the expected result. We'll have to see what Shinobu think about their relationship from here on out soon.

 

[diphuc1]

Damn, man, I think you're going to make me defend Sakura hahahaha. I don't think one of those two things you mentioned is a mistake, and that's running away, I think it's normal for her to run away given all the insecurities and suspicions she's had since the previous chapters. As for calling that fuckboi, I don't even think it deserves my opinion.

Oh neat I'll fix that and we'll go with the 1 mistake she made bwahahaha. thank you! As for the who she chose to call, she doesn't have many other friends outside of Shinobu and their housemate I guess, so Yuma being called was guaranteed. Also prio to this, across some of their interaction I believe Yuma was suggesting the Shinobu might be up to thing behind her back because he saw him walking around with Fumi, so the seeds of doubt were there before he even misheard the conversation.

 

[diphuc1]

What manga was that

Are you referring to the BL Karami Zakari Spinoff than yes, and there's 3 volumes of it, enjoy!

 

[diphuc1]

I personally find sakura unforgivable but I also know it's not a universal acceptance.

Everyone is right to have their own opinions and it's a part of what makes the discussion fun, throwing our ideas against each from opposing sides in. I'd find it way weirder if the majority of reader didn't find Sakura was unforgivable at this point.

 

[jonasadan]

Oh neat I'll fix that and we'll go with the 1 mistake she made bwahahaha. thank you! As for the who she chose to call, she doesn't have many other friends outside of Shinobu and their housemate I guess, so Yuma being called was guaranteed. Also prio to this, across some of their interaction I believe Yuma was suggesting the Shinobu might be up to thing behind her back because he saw him walking around with Fumi, so the seeds of doubt were there before he even misheard the conversation.

So, the way you see it, she only made one mistake? I think, the way I see it, she made four hahahaha

 

[noleafclover75]

Everyone is right to have their own opinions and it's a part of what makes the discussion fun, throwing our ideas against each from opposing sides in. I'd find it way weirder if the majority of reader didn't find Sakura was unforgivable at this point.

Playing devil's advocate is very fun indeed. I always want to try and understand how someone else feels about something. It tends to give depth and perspective that is missing. It is an extremely useful tool.

 

[diphuc1]

So, the way you see it, she only made one mistake? I think, the way I see it, she made four hahahaha

Several actually, but I'm just focusing on some of the more key ones like running away from Shinobu before letting him explain anything, and then texting Yuma which allowed him to go find her are the biggest mistakes. The moment Sakura stepped into Yuma's apartment it became more about Yuma executing the rest of his plan flawlessly than it was about how many more mistakes Sakura would make in total. The one thing that she could've done differently was instead of breaking down into tears when she was alone at the apartment, to get up and go back to her own home, let her emotions cool down for a bit and eventually have a honest heart to heart with Shinobu. Now we're mid crisis

 

[diphuc1]

Playing devil's advocate is very fun indeed. I always want to try and understand how someone else feels about something. It tends to give depth and perspective that is missing. It is an extremely useful tool.

Heartily agree with this. Sakura haters are not wrong to me, everyones' had all sorts of emotions rush through them not too long ago, for some it might still be boiling when they remember the chapters and how events unfolded.

 

[bovtvip123]

I'ma behonest this author aren't popular much she only known for making rom com at the start build up the hype and at the end she rug pull her reader with useless cheating plot in the end we just get to see how stupid she it at writing story this author should not be allow to make romcom manga anymore, even tho she did this on purpose to get attention but I really don't think is worth the hype at least but in future if she make another manga story people who got rug pull by her would properly spread awareness how bad her writing is and she will become irrelevant

 

[diphuc1]

I'ma behonest this author aren't popular much she only known for making rom com at the start build up the hype and at the end she rug pull her reader with useless cheating plot in the end we just get to see how stupid she it at writing story this author should not be allow to make romcom manga anymore, even tho she did this on purpose to get attention but I really don't think is worth the hype at least but in future if she make another manga story people who got rug pull by her would properly spread awareness how bad her writing is and she will become irrelevant

They actually started off their career with H-mangas before moving on to do regular manga later on. Karamizakari is their most well known work outside of GraPara! and its still getting irregular updates. Its always going to be hard for NTR creators to be that popular in general so this author has done pretty well so far and is getting by just fine. The blame should be split equally between the author, the artist, AND the editor whose sole job was to oversee the manga. As for the author's writing style, personally I think its fine and interesting enough to be engaging. They often like to use psychological concepts like "sex without love" and "love without sex" as motifs, and distinguishing between emotional fulfilment vs physical pleasure which is readily apparent in GraPara right now, and Karamizakari previously. If I had to pick, I'd say the art drew me more into his than the writing and why I'll probably stick around for the sweet or bittersweet end.

 

[box2024]

Tomorrow the chapter drops tomorrow I'm willing to bet it will end on another cliffhanger plus shinobu's reaction will be weak and meak plus there almost certainly will be something that makes me and everyone else really mad.

 

[diphuc1]

Tomorrow the chapter drops tomorrow I'm willing to bet it will end on another cliffhanger plus shinobu's reaction will be weak and meak plus there almost certainly will be something that makes me and everyone else really mad.

Will be looking forward to it, went back to skim read the Karamizakari manga (non-H), yea Shinobu easily clears Kousei (Zakari MC) easily in terms of strength of character, and his relationship with Sakura was much more straightforward. Whatever happens tomorrow I'll just be prepared for the worst and hope for the best. P.S. Justice for Akaneya, iykyk