Oh man, this is so stupid. You not only stole main character perk, that made her unique, but you couldn't fit this right in the story as well. Bcs if he can see emotions, he should've known that Utsumi not that kind of a man he is painting him to be. This is just crap writing.
And i'm not even mentioning that this whole "reading emotions" thing somehow works like telepathy...
This ended up kinda long, but I think it's a good write-up of the real scope of what feelings really are and how that impacts how the ability functions. I'd appreciate if you gave it a read, I think it turned out pretty interesting and it's cool to think about.
First, about what you mentioned about this guy's opinion of Utsumi:
I think this might be a misunderstanding. He probably knows Utsumi is actually kind on the inside. He just dislikes him because despite that, he's still cold, unapproachable, confrontational, and unfriendly on the outside, and he doesn't worry about reading the room. That is a stark contrast to himself who chooses to use his ability to easily navigate social situations to his advantage and yield whenever it would be the easiest option.
Meanwhile, she has worked with Utsumi and is developing valuable skills in the process that don't rely on her using her ability to avoid difficult situations and stressful confrontations. To this other guy, that highlights the value that Utsumi actually brings to the table and shows how different they are in terms of willpower and mental fortitude. He's feeling inferior to the guy who he previously looked down on for being inflexible and socially dull.
As for their abilities seeming to act like telepathy, I've thought about this.
I think it really comes down to the blurred lines between feelings, thoughts, and simple concepts. The words we see with the visible emotions are basically descriptions of what that person is feeling, put into words as well as they can be, since emotions and feelings are far more more complex and varied than simple colors and little characters can convey. Pretty much all of the descriptions could be considered a "feeling", if not what some might consider "emotions". Desires, pains, annoyances, likes, are all specific feelings that are unique on a case-by-case basis. They are feelings that her brain interprets and puts into words for her to see.
The only ones that I think people would reasonably have problem with are the kids feeling "systems engineer" and these two feeling the rather specific "I can see people's emotions". But I think these also fit into this ability's purview:
For the ability to convey more information about a feeling than "happy/sad/mad/etc", I believe that at least a basic understanding of that feeling is necessary. I think a sociopath, or someone who couldn't feel emotions, with this ability would not get much more information from it than they would from looking at a person's face and seeing their expressions.
But these two have a good understanding of what a systems engineer does, and that's where concepts come in. I think that when you truly understand a concept, you don't really need to think about it in words, you can feel it, to an extent. The kids were coming in with ideas of the kind of work they'd like to do, how they feel about different tasks, what they enjoy, etc, and these two people with abilities and an understanding of that type of work could pick up on that.
The idea that you need an understanding of a feeling to read it with the ability perfectly explains the last problematic instance: Seeing "I can see people's emotions" as a description of a feeling. The concept of what it means and feels like to be forced to see people's emotions, and all the good and bad that comes with it, is something that both individuals would have a complete and intimate understanding of, and thus would be able to see with their abilities.
I think the limit would be trying to convey exact or technical information, instructions, directions, and most mathematics. For example, if one person were to think of a number to see if the other person could read it with the ability, rather than seeing the number, they'd likely see something like "I hope they can read the number!" or "I wonder if this will work?". Hoping for and wondering about the success of the current task are both feelings that might be felt while the person is thinking of something else, which I think is a fun idea.
Anyway, that's the summary of what I've been thinking about regarding the ability. I really think there's a good chance that this is what the author intended when writing the manga. Of course, there's a possibility that next chapter they'll shit all over this by having them start chatting back and forth in ways that would be impossible under the system I've described, but even if that happens, I think this was worth writing. Thanks for reading 🙏