Itoshi no Niina - Vol. 4 Ch. 29 - Final Chapter

[MangaDex]

 

[PotatoZero]

Uhh, so, yeah, didn't understand the whole story until the end...

 

[mrboxeater]

she was fucking with him the previous chapter whn she got fake kidnapped and now this ending indicates their getting back together again cos they still have feelings for each other. Seems like a stupid ending or am i tripping?


anyway congrats for completing the TL.

 

[kaibachii]

Pretty messy story with a bit of an unfulfilling ending, but it kept me engaged until maybe the last few chapters. Thanks TL!

 

[iris_19]

she was fucking with him the previous chapter whn she got fake kidnapped and now this ending indicates their getting back together again cos they still have feelings for each other. Seems like a stupid ending or am i tripping?

It's an ending, and that's enough, lol.

The "to be fair" part of this is that both of them are not good for each other (Niina dating one of her captors? even if he was the "less evil" of them... I mean, girl, how about no?; and Atsu becoming too obsessive over her wasn't a good thing either; I mean, didn't Niina's mom menace to call the police because it looked like he was going to her house daily to ask for forgiveness later?) and another relationship with them together looks like it might be a recipe for disaster, so there's that feeling lingering within the open ending, as well. Of course, much can happen in a year and they could, potentially, change (respectively) and they could have reflected about everything that happened then, but I'm not sure they learned either.

From what I've read from Ikuemi's other works, sometimes she doesn't offer her characters a nice perfectly knotted happy ending, so there's that to consider. However, I also feel this wasn't one of her best. Maybe it was the time she took to publish it (supported in what she says in the afterwords), and perhaps she was working in multiple projects at the time (including Kiyoku Yawaku, that's mentioned in the profile bio at the end of the scans of this chapter), so this might also affected the quality of it? I dunno.

 

[Dusty-kun]

This end feels very non-committal but with the amount of manga I've read its not very surprising

 

[Tcof]

It's an ending, and that's enough, lol.

The "to be fair" part of this is that both of them are not good for each other (Niina dating one of her captors? even if he was the "less evil" of them... I mean, girl, how about no?; and Atsu becoming too obsessive over her wasn't a good thing either; I mean, didn't Niina's mom menace to call the police because it looked like he was going to her house daily to ask for forgiveness later?) and another relationship with them together looks like it might be a recipe for disaster, so there's that feeling lingering within the open ending, as well. Of course, much can happen in a year and they could, potentially, change (respectively) and they could have reflected about everything that happened then, but I'm not sure they learned either.

From what I've read from Ikuemi's other works, sometimes she doesn't offer her characters a nice perfectly knotted happy ending, so there's that to consider. However, I also feel this wasn't one of her best. Maybe it was the time she took to publish it (supported in what she says in the afterwords), and perhaps she was working in multiple projects at the time (including Kiyoku Yawaku, that's mentioned in the profile bio at the end of the scans of this chapter), so this might also affected the quality of it? I dunno.

Wait a minutes, no, he is not a "less evil" captor. Pretty sure he don't know what his friend did before. his friend just get himself involved after they already capture her.

He then try to free her, try to convinces his friend, and also her probably not report this. is he did wrong ? is that the right way ? to be fair, he is also just highschool kid, randomly get involved in such situation, hard to just clam down and all. And to be fair, have him just free her, it could be dangerous. if you just cornered the friend, could make him use violent. which it did. , his friend hit him in the head that he he bleed, when he about to let her "just use the bathroom" because his friend think "she would escape". he then choose to free her, when knowing a dangerous guy is behind this. So that i will give him clear credit as recuser. and by doing so he carry a risk of making enemy out of a some dangerous delinquent. Not all guy can do that.

as for they relationship, is fine, they have trauma, but is someone best that can understand each other point, and they have some very good development, it could be all great and make for best relationship. until the rapist redemption arc.
she is now "you remind me of that event" so can't date, but then somehow ok with being all friendly with the very rapist guy ? follow him home alone and let him capture her, for whatever "i don't scare of him no more" idk why author suddenly give the big villain a slap on the wrist while the MC have to go through so much shit despite do nothing wrong.

 

[iris_19]

Wait a minutes, no, he is not a "less evil" captor. Pretty sure he don't know what his friend did before. his friend just get himself involved after they already capture her.

He then try to free her, try to convinces his friend, and also her probably not report this. is he did wrong ? is that the right way ? to be fair, he is also just highschool kid, randomly get involved in such situation, hard to just clam down and all. And to be fair, have him just free her, it could be dangerous. if you just cornered the friend, could make him use violent. which it did. , his friend hit him in the head that he he bleed, when he about to let her "just use the bathroom" because his friend think "she would escape". he then choose to free her, when knowing a dangerous guy is behind this. So that i will give him clear credit as recuser. and by doing so he carry a risk of making enemy out of a some dangerous delinquent. Not all guy can do that.

Maybe "less evil" was the wrong way to phrase it, my mistake. I mean, yeah, absolutely, Atsu is a high school student being involved and/or dragged into a VERY stupid situation from the very start, and he tried to do good by helping her in escape. But, he was still involved in the situation, dragged in or not, and perhaps, that was still an annoying thorn to ignore for Niina, once the Ushijima dude was back.

Maybe I'm trying to make sense with what the characters were more in the last stretch of the series and reconcile it with their initial portrayals, but the plot surely fumbles its way in and out, and it becomes a mess. Because they both share trauma and I believe it could have worked (and it sounds like a better premise and somehow I wish this could have been the way the author went for), but at the same time... making the actual "mastermind" behind the kidnapping return and giving him a redemption arc certainly was a choice as it made Atsu and Niina both act awful in their own ways towards each other afterwards.

 

[lasercats]

I think I get the break up, the overcoming of trauma by Nina, sure. I don't understand the not making up part all that well though. Feeling sorry and condemning the same person for different reasons is possible and while I don't agree with Nina, I could see where she was coming from. Both had a point in how they felt the final redemption process should've let them understand each other. I guess I can't just want every relationship I see on a manga end in happy marriage.

 

[Obscxrity]

haha I decided to binge a bunch of Ikuemi-sensei works, and tbh this is about par for their endings. Sometimes stuff works out, but more often than not it's... a little unsatisfying? Though, I'm saying that as a reader lol! As a writer I understand it very, very well. The open-endedness. The want to leave the story "unfinished" in a sense, in a "that's how life is" way. If I found the ending dissatisfactory, then that's on me for putting expectations on the story in the first place, I guess. That aside, I enjoyed the journey to the ending more than the ending itself. Which, hilariously, is another pattern I've noticed while reading Ikuemi's works. I think the only manga of theirs that has translated chapters that didn't leave me feeling sort of empty and wanting more was "Whether I'm Here or Not"... But also that one has an actually happy ending, for the most part, where things are resolved and don't feel like everythings sort of dangling there, wanting for more chapters to flesh out the enrapturing story.

Uhhhhh tl;dr: Ikuemi-sensei likes to leave things open ended. It's about the journey, y'know? Though I'd kill for more lol

 

[iris_19]

Uhhhhh tl;dr: Ikuemi-sensei likes to leave things open ended. It's about the journey, y'know? Though I'd kill for more lol

Yeah, I also should have added this on my original comment as well, lol. Man, the story is a mess during its last stretch, but I still found it entertaining. Ikuemi has done this kind of "well, that's how life is!" endings before, with not so perfect characters, so I don't have so much to complain about it as an ending. I expected this last chapter to be, well, pretty much like that - life goes on, there might be lingering feelings, and at the end of the day they are in their late teens, they might grow and move on from the past, or they might reconnect, who knows? It's not a perfectly knotted happy ending.