Kusunoki-san wa Koukou Debut ni Shippai Shite Iru - Ch. 49 - I.. just... kissed Kusunoki

[UdenEmpati]

ya know, reading it again it actually does make sense that she isn't being straightforward. This is the first time she has actually liked a boy. Her previous situation was straightforward cause she was just trying to solve a misunderstanding but here there isn't one. She does like Keisuke and is aware of it and has absolutely no idea how to navigate this and not lose him as a friend so @UdenEmpati I'm revising my stance on that basis

I will only say that we can infer that she feels some sort of way about Keisuke, but that it's not actually been made clear in the narrative (to the extent that other romantic feelings have, i.e. Otobe for Keisuke, and Keisuke for Kusunoki).
As far as I can tell, the brunt of her behavior is due to her wanting to avoid a repeating of history, wherein she lost her friends back in elementary school because the boy liked her, the girl liked the boy, and her obliviousness to romance got everyone mad at her when she spoke up at the wrong time about the wrong thing and was subsequently ostracized into middle school.

Yes, we as readers can interpret her words and actions as having feelings for Keisuke, but I'd argue the character herself hasn't made that connection. She's more worried about losing Keisuke and Otobe in the same manner as those other two in the past, but is also repeating the same mistakes as she did then.
From the start of the series, the way she acted around Keisuke was the same way she acted around the boy before, which lead to Keisuke falling for her; and now instead of simply speaking up and telling him why she's avoiding him, she's running away. Kusunoki has shown she can speak her mind and "set the record straight", as it were, before now. But suddenly when it's actually quite important that she not clam up and flee, she's now doing it.

It's just a shift in her character at the most convenient moment, just like her suddenly not being athletic when it came time to force a kiss between them on the ice. Both instances are fairly "off-character" for her compared to what we've seen before, and they happen consecutively during a period of very fast pacing within the narrative itself (all that time skipping two chapters ago, and now the "can't meet up for the rest of the year" of this chapter).

It's one thing to say "yeah but it's because it's Keisuke this time", but even then--this is off the back of Hebikawa making her own moves, and now Otobe trying to pursue romance. Those two characters getting progress as it pertains to Keisuke, gives the impression that the author realized they'd written Kusunoki into a corner by not having her as involved in the romance side of things, and now is forcing Kusunoki back into the middle when it's not even what her character wanted from the outset.

Which, feels like forced writing, that isn't staying true or fair to the character, in a sense. Kusunoki just wanted a high school debut with friends and stuff, and wasn't looking for romance. She's actively resisted it all this time, and all of a sudden we went from 0 to 100, and it was all "outside influences" that weren't choices on her part.

 

[PandaVinChan]

It’s honestly kind of sad when you can tell from the start that the other girls never really had a chance. We already know she’s going to get her hopes up so high, only to lose to the kuso-girl in the end.
I really wish he’d end up with the snek-girl instead, if she actually redeemed herself and stopped being such a weirdo. That kind of character growth would’ve made things way more satisfying.

 

[Shrimperor]

snek really is what makes this manga worth reading

 

[avatarivn]

Thanks for the early chapter release. I was ready to wait a few months before this chapter gets translated.

Regarding Kusunoki as a character I do agree she is at the very least interested in MC even if its not romantically. We might infer she likes MC but she is avoiding the topic even from herself. Her feverish self was more honest.

 

[Bohrain]

He better be giving the brown tomboy some tongue.

 

[Nehona]

And one more chapter where it is painfully obvious taht kusunoki is the least interesting girl. Do we really, really need her fleeing and escaping in general from the situation?

Otobe is a million times better. Even Hebikawa is more interesting, although a controversial option.

But no, we already kinda know that the boring girl from the title will win, just because. Seriously author, you managed to make her into the LEAST interesting option, by far...

Please, plese let Otobe or even Hebikawa win...

 

[Kababman]

Man, cheering for a losing heroine sucks. You just know she's getting her heart broken on Christmas.

 

[AStrangerIsHere]

Otobe and Hebikawa are so much more interesting than Kusunoki, I'm sad for the author at this point. They created their main heroine only for her to feel absolutely bland.

Sure, they want to make her the main focus of the story, with that "kiss" (lol), but they'll have to work a bit more in order to make that happen.

 

[Rafalga]

I mean if Kusunoki loses (she won't, author is not that talented), who can you even blame anyone but her? Not MC because a dude can only pursue someone so much before saying "fuck that noise". She is running away from the awkwardness but for MC she is actively avoiding him. You can easily interpret this as her being unconfutable around you and no one would blame you if you stopped hanging around her all together since that's apparently what she wants as well.

Also the cliche setups one after another for each harem member to take their turn is just comically bad writing. Specially after that retarded kiss incident last chapter.

 

[Trolliconics]

This chapter felt very random
Or better yet like filler
I dont feel like the first half of the chapter really contributed to anything
i think page 12 sums up everything after the kiss quite nicely so all the pages of them talking about them "forgetting about it" feels like a waste of time
Otobe also just feels like "it's her turn to bat"
feels very inauthentic and shoehorned in
Kind of reminds you how dull this series feels when it's trying to be a standard romcom
I hate to say it every chapter but without the snek this series doesnt really have any legs to stand on and would have been pretty boring and generic without her
Hopefully something comes of this chapter later on but i doubt it

 

[Hauberk1800]

I will only say that we can infer that she feels some sort of way about Keisuke, but that it's not actually been made clear in the narrative (to the extent that other romantic feelings have, i.e. Otobe for Keisuke, and Keisuke for Kusunoki).
As far as I can tell, the brunt of her behavior is due to her wanting to avoid a repeating of history, wherein she lost her friends back in elementary school because the boy liked her, the girl liked the boy, and her obliviousness to romance got everyone mad at her when she spoke up at the wrong time about the wrong thing and was subsequently ostracized into middle school.

Yes, we as readers can interpret her words and actions as having feelings for Keisuke, but I'd argue the character herself hasn't made that connection. She's more worried about losing Keisuke and Otobe in the same manner as those other two in the past, but is also repeating the same mistakes as she did then.
From the start of the series, the way she acted around Keisuke was the same way she acted around the boy before, which lead to Keisuke falling for her; and now instead of simply speaking up and telling him why she's avoiding him, she's running away. Kusunoki has shown she can speak her mind and "set the record straight", as it were, before now. But suddenly when it's actually quite important that she not clam up and flee, she's now doing it.

It's just a shift in her character at the most convenient moment, just like her suddenly not being athletic when it came time to force a kiss between them on the ice. Both instances are fairly "off-character" for her compared to what we've seen before, and they happen consecutively during a period of very fast pacing within the narrative itself (all that time skipping two chapters ago, and now the "can't meet up for the rest of the year" of this chapter).

It's one thing to say "yeah but it's because it's Keisuke this time", but even then--this is off the back of Hebikawa making her own moves, and now Otobe trying to pursue romance. Those two characters getting progress as it pertains to Keisuke, gives the impression that the author realized they'd written Kusunoki into a corner by not having her as involved in the romance side of things, and now is forcing Kusunoki back into the middle when it's not even what her character wanted from the outset.

Which, feels like forced writing, that isn't staying true or fair to the character, in a sense. Kusunoki just wanted a high school debut with friends and stuff, and wasn't looking for romance. She's actively resisted it all this time, and all of a sudden we went from 0 to 100, and it was all "outside influences" that weren't choices on her part.

It hasn't been made explicitly clear, no. It has been heavily inferred and she is the main FL though I suppose that thinking is a bit convenient.

She had the dream about her past trauma.

Connected that to Keisuke and started distancing herself after her new friend group said he definitely liked her.

Feels anxious and uneasy about Otobe liking Keisuke but that wasn't a flag so much as a...could I lose them.

When she hears of the date with Hebikawa we get the jealously doki doki

The real clincher is when she is sick and goes back to being honest imho, she wants Keisuke to stay no matter what then is so embarrassed by it she can't face it.

Even her saying, she can't forget about the kiss, is further inference.

In conclusion, inference yes, but fuerte

 

[Kaito57]

My instant reaction to MC preparing a date with Otobe right after kissing Kusunoki :

 

[SilverExp]

Seems to me this manga would be better suited as a visual novel tbh, really wish I could play that so that Otobe doesn't crash and burns

 

[jefferychan]

Hey is she doesn't want him, other people do.

Oh Kusonoki wants him. She just doesn't understand her feelings and are conflicted by them. It's her first friend afterall, and she is toeing the tight rope of seeing him as a man and the risk of losing him as a friend if she gets rejected.

 

[UdenEmpati]

Oh Kusonoki wants him. She just doesn't understand her feelings and are conflicted by them. It's her first friend afterall, and she is toeing the tight rope of seeing him as a man and the risk of losing him as a friend if she gets rejected.

well, Otobe is her first friend.

I'm of the opinion that Kusunoki is worried that she'll lose Keisuke and Otobe like she did those two friends of hers back in elementary school.

The fact that Keisuke likes her (or so her new friend group has said), and the fact that she's realized Otobe likes Keisuke, means that the original scenario that we get in her Flashback Chapter is being repeated in broad strokes once again.
The fallout of that first iteration saw her fully ostracized by her classmates and friendless (since Otobe had transferred out prior to The Incident), and she spent middle school alone--which prompted Kusunoki's desire to have a High School Debut, which set the events of this manga in motion.

Her running from Keisuke is because she doesn't want him to fall for her, and risk history repeating between herself, Keisuke, and Otobe--though the rub is, she's not respecting or trusting them enough to handle it differently to the other two back then, and she's not telling either of them anything, so everyone's operating in the dark.

 

[Isobe-jan]

bro does not know how to capitalize on a fortunate turn of events

 

[ItsThatBriGuy]

Imagine going on a date with some random girl on christmas instead eating good with your family

You can have the Colonel every day of the year.

 

[Rafalga]

she's not respecting or trusting them enough to handle it differently to the other two back then

This is the real core of the problem. She is avoiding him because she thinks he will do the exact same thing that dude did. Which is more insulting then anything else if MC learned about it. She has absolutely zero faith in both of them. MC, i can understand since they have became friends fairly recently (but not entirely after all the help he has given) but for Otobe, this is quite ridiculous and would hurt her so much if she knew.

 

[UdenEmpati]

It hasn't been made explicitly clear, no. It has been heavily inferred and she is the main FL though I suppose that thinking is a bit convenient.

She had the dream about her past trauma.

Connected that to Keisuke and started distancing herself after her new friend group said he definitely liked her.

Feels anxious and uneasy about Otobe liking Keisuke but that wasn't a flag so much as a...could I lose them.

When she hears of the date with Hebikawa we get the jealously doki doki

The real clincher is when she is sick and goes back to being honest imho, she wants Keisuke to stay no matter what then is so embarrassed by it she can't face it.

Even her saying, she can't forget about the kiss, is further inference.

In conclusion, inference yes, but fuerte

Right. You can heavily infer that Kusunoki likes Keisuke.

The issue is, she is actively running from him, and from actually confronting herself about her feelings.
Which again, is her being avoidant, and that is a marked departure from her behavior since entering high school, as all of her successes and progress toward her "debut" involved her actually being direct and not running away from things.

She wants to be more confident, she wants to speak up and make friends and remake herself--and in this one instance--that I'd argue is quite significant given Keisuke is at the core of her successful debut--she suddenly reverts and turns back into her middle school self, and is repeating 'bad habits'.
Worse yet, this could end up costing her Keisuke's friendship anyway, because realistically this much avoidant behavior would put off most people, when even attempts to talk are met with deflection or absolute radio silence.

Which was my original point - Kusunoki had been making great strides in overcoming her past self, but her character has completely reverted now, and she's undoing all of that progress she made.

And, she's doing this entirely on her own--she's not talking to Keisuke or Otobe, she's not confided in either of them as to what happened to her before, and all three of them are in the dark, as a result. She'd just have to be honest and up front with Keisuke, or even just with Otobe, and a lot of this would be on its way to being solved.
Instead, Otobe thinks that her best friend has no interest in Keisuke, and thinks she now has the green light to make her move on her crush. Because Kusunoki effectively lied by refusing to face herself, she's now risking her best friend getting her heart broken when the truth inevitably comes out.

This is Old Kusunoki behavior, not New Kusunoki behavior, and I can't help but feel like the writing is forcing her to regress to set up this tension, instead of trusting in the three of them to navigate things as they are now, and find the best solution.

 

[bluenorvo]

I still can't get over the fact that Kusunoki calls MC with his first name.
From all the romcoms I've read, I learned that unless they're childhood/old friends, calling first name of someone opposite gender is supposed to show a very close relationship and probably more than just friends.