Imasara desu ga, Osananajimi wo Suki ni Natte Shimaimashita - Ch. 31 - The Second Encounter

[Dawniscoming]

People hating on Yuu is wild. His only "crime", if you can even call it a crime, so far is that he moved on from Hikari to be with Ayami when he realized that he had no chance to be with her after failing to get in the same highschool as her. What were you guys expecting him to do? Be a simp and hoping Hikari will return his feelings someday? Not only is that unhealthy and wrong, but in other romcoms, like in Rent-A-Girlfriend, that level of simpery is hated. So, I don't know why him moving on is being hated.

Who is hating on him though? He's objectively pathetic, that's not hating on him 😭

 

[Dawniscoming]

Yami has known yuu is hikari's love interest for at least 3 months leading up to the kiss.

Thats INSANE 💀💀💀💀💀💀😨😨😨😨😨

 

[Dingo777]

Thats INSANE 💀💀💀💀💀💀😨😨😨😨😨

Yeah Yami chapters only really succeed at making her look worse lol

 

[Dawniscoming]

It sort of is. He's barely a character at the moment. What do we know about him? He's a good kid, capable of empathizing with others and offering them some comfort. He's also a coward and oblivious. And that's about it? Without knowing how he views the other two through all this there's no way to judge him properly, right now he's more of a plot device than a character.

True. But, objectively, this dude is a coward and a pretty stupid person overall but thats all we know about him for now... I mean, this flashblack has dragged on for too long, man. I didnt even remember the female lead's name was Hikari, lmao😭 Im judging the characters based on what we have seen

 

[Dawniscoming]

Yeah Yami chapters only really succeed at making her look worse lol

I genuinely hate her so much. I didnt even remember she knew about it for 3 fucking months 😨 and she didnt mention anything to her supposed best friend? Even though she knew everything????? Thats fucking insane😭😭 If I was Hikari i would start fucking tweaking after knowing everything, ngl.

 

[Dingo777]

I genuinely hate her so much. I didnt even remember she knew about it for 3 fucking months 😨 and she didnt mention anything to her supposed best friend? Even though she knew everything????? Thats fucking insane😭😭 If I was Hikari i would start fucking tweaking after knowing everything, ngl.

Yami Giving Everyone Who Interacts With Her Trauma Any% Speedrun (Gone Wrong) (Gone Sexual?!)

For real though she is not a good person or friend.

 

[GennArc]

Yes, but the story the author chose to write is one where Yuu wandered and Yami hid.

Yes, but I don't see any inevitability here. As I said, I think it's just another case of Maruto's favorite fateful encounter which happened due to a series of decisions and some circumstances, and he never meant it as something that was bound to happen. Because there was no will behind their meeting - Yami was trying to avoid it, Yuu was reluctant to go to Hikari's school, knowing that Yami was going to be there. When there's no will, it's not something predetermined, at least in this kind of fiction.

Folks are picking up on chickening out being a pattern, one that he has yet to correct as far as the narrative goes

Is it a pattern though? What are some other cases when he chickened out? Maybe I'm forgetting something.

and like they can both have empathy for that and think that behavior makes him unattractive as a match for Hikari.

When someone dedicates a whole post to how pathetic and terrible he is as a man and a human being, that doesn't qualify as being empathic, at least in my book. I can see not liking him as a character, but that kind of opinion would be supported by a different set of arguments.

 

[story645]

Because there was no will behind their meeting - Yami was trying to avoid it, Yuu was reluctant to go to Hikari's school, knowing that Yami was going to be there. When there's no will, it's not something predetermined, at least in this kind of fiction.

Given that I seriously doubt that Maruto is unaware of probably the most commonly used trope in romance (including manga), I seriously doubt he unintentionally wrote the peak miscommunication scenario of "despite trying their hardest to hide it from Hikari, the information gets disclosed to Hikari in the most painful way possible". Chance would be that Aya doesn't know about Hikari->Yuu and Yuu doesn't know that Aya and Hikari go to school together and this is really all just unlucky happenstance.

Is it a pattern though? What are some other cases when he chickened out?

Not putting his all into the exam, which he discussed with Hikari when he owned up to it - that's a classic is easier to justify failure as a well I didn't try all that hard. Not telling Hikari he was trying for the same school, despite them being close b/c he didn't want her to know if he failed. Not being a firm no on going to the school festival if he really didn't want to tell her what's up (which is its own chicken move if he resolved to go).
The closest he gets to challenging Aya on anything is that closing convo where he's like "wtf, I'm falling for you" but he doesn't push it at any further than that even though that's a bonkers thing to say to your BF. And like he doesn't think it's her usual teasing* given that he responds with a "wait what no?!"

*which is just another name for the deflection she admits to doing given when she "teases" with the boytoy comment her thinking is that she's doing the deflection she always does.

When someone dedicates a whole post to how pathetic and terrible he is as a man and a human being, that doesn't qualify as being empathic,

Is not my fave communication style by any means, but had former mentors drill in that plenty of folks do critique by running through the negatives w/o including the positives b/c they don't feel it's relevant or feel that it is so obvious they don't have to communicate it.

 

[GennArc]

Given that I seriously doubt that Maruto is unaware of probably the most commonly used trope in romance (including manga), I seriously doubt he unintentionally wrote the peak miscommunication scenario of "despite trying their hardest to hide it from Hikari, the information gets disclosed to Hikari in the most painful way possible".

I guess we should stop this discussion about inevitability because it doesn't seem to go anywhere. We just can't convince each other, so let's agree to disagree once again.

Not putting his all into the exam, which he discussed with Hikari when he owned up to it - that's a classic is easier to justify failure as a well I didn't try all that hard.

He never mentioned "not putting his all" into the exam to Hikari. Instead, he told Yami in chapter 23 that he should've worked harder, that he regrets so much that he didn't study even harder. And how is that chickening out? He literally put lots of effort trying to get into the school that was out of his league just for Hikari, failed and still didn't say that it was pointless, that he should've worked himself to the bone. That's almost the opposite of chickening out.

Not telling Hikari he was trying for the same school, despite them being close b/c he didn't want her to know if he failed.

That would count as chickening out if he was still pursuing romantic relationship with her. Otherwise there's no point.

Not being a firm no on going to the school festival if he really didn't want to tell her what's up

I'd rather call it not having enough resolve, but sure, let's count this as an example.

The closest he gets to challenging Aya on anything is that closing convo where he's like "wtf, I'm falling for you" but he doesn't push it at any further than that even though that's a bonkers thing to say to your BF. And like he doesn't think it's her usual teasing* given that he responds with a "wait what no?!"

He most definitely thinks it's her usual teasing (which it is), hence the comically flustered and frustrated reaction.

You really have a very different interpretation of their relationship from mine. For me it's pretty clear that they both enjoyed their teasing senpai and earnest kouhai dynamic. That's how it all started, even in chapter 22 when Yuu is down in the dumps and Yami teases him about his failure, he ends up saying she helped him cheer up, meaning he ended up enjoying their communication. There was definitely miscommunication later from Yami's side (in how she kept her deep affection for him to herself, playing the above mentioned role instead), but imo it's far from the toxic distrustful relationship you seem to have in mind.

 

[story645]

he should've worked harder, that he regrets so much that he didn't study even harder. And how is that chickening out?

'cause he's saying that he could have worked harder, which is an admission he pulled back. If he had really put in what he felt was his all, then he wouldn't have regrets that he didn't study harder. He'd be sad he failed, sure...but not regretful that he didn't do more.

That would count as chickening out if he was still pursuing romantic relationship with her. Otherwise there's no point.

He should have told her back when he was studying for the exam, which would have been when he was in middle school and explicitly taking the exam b/c of her. And would have meant that they could then study together, which would have helped him

(which it is)

She's already resolved to dump him and ghosts him after this exchange.

 

[GennArc]

'cause he's saying that he could have worked harder, which is an admission he pulled back. If he had really put in what he felt was his all, then he wouldn't have regrets that he didn't study harder.

That's not how life works. There is almost no limit to how hard you can work on something. You feel like you're working hard on achieving some goal, then you fail and think "I should've done even more". You STILL regret it because you didn't achieve your goal if that's something you really wished for. How can you blame someone for not trying hard enough when he was already aiming for something out of his reach, who did a lot to actually reach that goal and regrets hard failing? And satisfying yourself with "at least I gave it my best" is much more akin to chickening out than what he did.

He should have told her back when he was studying for the exam, which would have been when he was in middle school and explicitly taking the exam b/c of her. And would have meant that they could then study together, which would have helped him

That's not chickening out, that's pride. He wants to achieve something by himself, something that will let him get closer to the girl he loves. If he asks her for help, that's basically nullyfying the effort he intends to put into it and the whole meaning of reaching her.

She's already resolved to dump him and ghosts him after this exchange.

The "dump him" phrase was the previous one where she wishes him to study hard, dream big and fall in love.
The question is clearly teasing (because she knows the actual answer and knows what his reaction is gonna be), and when he responds the way he did, she can't help but give him a genuine smile, both because of his words and because she always loved his expressions when he earnestly responded to her teasing.

 

[story645]

and regrets hard failing

Because he says what he regrets is "not studying harder". He's the one saying he could have tried harder. Also like this moment of self reflection is one of the more admirable things he's done - way more than "I regret failing", b/c he can learn something from "I regret not working harder".

He wants to achieve something by himself, something that will let him get closer to the girl he loves

Lots of romance stories have this arc; they also have the person tell their love interest "hey I need to do this alone" if that's important. The hiding it from her lets him not tell her if he fails.

The question is clearly teasing

The art hides her face when she asks and hides her eyes (which is where most authors show emotion) before the panel w/ the big smile, so at least in the manga I don't think this is intended to be so clear cut. But also yeah I was more referring to the previous "study hard, dream big, fall in love", which was very much not teasing. I agree that the "with whom" is mostly her (acknowledged-again she said she always does this) deflection by way of teasing.