Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san - Ch. 169 - Yukari's Valentine

[cksn]

I might be overstepping the bounds of my experience in life, or being too harsh in my words, but her personality seems..... unhuman. Just monotones, teasing, and laughter. Very little character, weaknesses, or parallels to the real world.

Even though this 2D universe can be whatever it wants, I can always draw parallels between character archetypes in manga and real people I've met (this is actually a big reason I comment on Mangadex to begin with, to share real instances in life where the real world is actually pretty trope-like). I've even had a junior from college give me Nagatoro-style treatment (she had no feelings for me or anything. She was just a bit nuts around guys)

The only big exception from romcoms I've seen is Takagi. I've never met a lady so... unmovable. Not to laughter, not to tears, not to speech, not to anything. She's like a robot with call-response teasing. Not sure how else to word it.

i totally agree. sure, in some sense her relationship with nishikata progresses, but in another, it's perpetually in a baseline that would only exist for the first 3 chapters in a manga with a more realistic character. because with a few nice exceptions, nishikata never affects her, like in a dance the lead affects the follow. as readers we're just indefinitely waiting for the other shoe to drop.

i don't read the moto spinoff because the cognitive dissonance is bad enough as is without asking me to accept the same baseline after 10-20 years including marriage and children.

stories like nagatoro and akutsu are way better at this. the teasing is really just an invitation or provocation for the man to take on the masculine role, which he gradually does, and which involves quite a lot of affecting the girl. there's a reason it's called conquest. the character dynamic in this manga calls out for some kind of conquest to start happening, but it's like a chord progression that never finishes or something. it's unsatisfying.

i bet the junior from college was interested, interest really doesn't have to take the form of "having feelings" after all. even in nagatoro it doesn't take that form for quite a while.

 

[DylanGTech]

i totally agree. sure, in some sense her relationship with nishikata progresses, but in another, it's perpetually in a baseline that would only exist for the first 3 chapters in a manga with a more realistic character. because with a few nice exceptions, nishikata never affects her, like in a dance the lead affects the follow. as readers we're just indefinitely waiting for the other shoe to drop.

i don't read the moto spinoff because the cognitive dissonance is bad enough as is without asking me to accept the same baseline after 10-20 years including marriage and children.

stories like nagatoro and akutsu are way better at this. the teasing is really just an invitation or provocation for the man to take on the masculine role, which he gradually does, and which involves quite a lot of affecting the girl. there's a reason it's called conquest. the character dynamic in this manga calls out for some kind of conquest to start happening, but it's like a chord progression that never finishes or something. it's unsatisfying.

i bet the junior from college was interested, interest really doesn't have to take the form of "having feelings" after all. even in nagatoro it doesn't take that form for quite a while.

The thing I love-hate about this manga is that it gives me Peanuts vibes, where it's a few gags and nothing more, but it's presented as if there's a story we'll eventually see. I would love something timeless in the traditional newspaper-comic format that manga is based on, and I would love an overarching story in many parts. But this tries to do both, and it can't be that way forever. The movie seems to find a way to make the story progress with what it has available to it. I genuinely wonder if Yamamoto expected this manga to have a following the way that it does.

 

[ponygobyebye]

I didn't realize before, but the droopy eyed kid looks a lot like Chi's crush in the future. Potential Mom, maybe?

I also noticed this. I wonder if Takao gets lucky in the future.

My other theory is that it could be Sanae's older sister's kid. Remember she's the PE teacher got engaged to Tanabe-sensei.

 

[Taq]

I also noticed this. I wonder if Takao gets lucky in the future.

My other theory is that it could be Sanae's older sister's kid. Remember she's the PE teacher got engaged to Tanabe-sensei.

Also a distinct possibility. Good memory.