March Comes in Like a Lion - Vol. 14 Ch. 144 - By the Side of the Red Bridge (2)

[MangaDex]

 

[Ketsujo]

Obvious wingman strat exposed haha.

 

[NoraDaimio]

Wheeezzeee. Ahaha! Chad-Rei bringing the bros together!

 

[VendettaCrypt]

 

[elefantine97]

sorry fellas, but kiriyama was thinking more about Akari's happiness than yall's (xd oopsies, im sure he loves u guys too, just not as much as akari)
still, rei-chan crushing so hard, it's actually cute
really love to see it

 

[ThrystaVindr]

Ahaha they knew all along.

Also I still feel kinda weird about Hina being the love interest, she just seems so much younger and less mature than Kiriyama, I dunno

 

[Konrad2]

Thanks for the translation.

 

[Kam14]

Feel like the author dropped the ball on the Rei and Hina romance. He's so much more mature than her and it doesn't help that her character design emphasises her child like nature. Would have made for a more interesting storyline if Hina just remained as someone Rei thought of as family.

 

[robloxoof]

@Kam14 Feel the exact same. Was pretty put off by their romance initially and tried to support it, but the reasons you've stated made it awkward for me.

And can't say I like Rei playing matchmaker either. Though I understand the author trying to dedicate Akari her own room for growth and introspection, this just feels forced and awkward, as well. Admittedly, some of my discomfort comes from how Shimada and Sensei look like they're in their late 30s, early 40s to me (Though I believe they're both actually in their mid 30s?).

 

[apstorm]

@Kam14 Feel the exact same. Was pretty put off by their romance initially and tried to support it, but the reasons you've stated made it awkward for me.

And can't say I like Rei playing matchmaker either. Though I understand the author trying to dedicate Akari her own room for growth and introspection, this just feels forced and awkward, as well. Admittedly, some of my discomfort comes from how Shimada and Sensei look like they're in their late 30s, early 40s to me (Though I believe they're both actually in their mid 30s?).

I believe they're actually supposed to be 31, both of them. Someone said so in a previous chapter comment thread, at least.

I do admit it's a bit odd... to be honest, she should have matured through the progression of the story up to this point, especially after the bullying arc which is literally the origin point for him realizing how he feels about her in the first place. Seriously, he goes on about how she saved him by not giving up on what she knows is right. I very much get that. I champion that moment, his promise to stay with her, as the point where he started to seriously fall for her, not to mention it was the impetus for the largest amount of character growth he, himself, goes through.

But after that arc, I do agree that she feels like she went back to square one, for the most part. I understand the value of her finding her happiness again after all that pain, but they can have her grow, too, right? Maybe I'm not seeing it as much.
Or maybe it's because we're looking at the wrong moments. In fact, whenever there's talk about grandpa's shop or whatever, it feels like Hina is the one seriously thinking about the future in that respect- her maturity comes to the surface then. She's just also extremely energetic (one of the things that Rei loves about her) and this results in many child-like moments.


But still, I fully understand why he falls for her in that moment. Akari wouldn't have done anything like that. Only Hina could have clung fiercely like that, burned as passionately. And it's that fire in her heart that melted his frozen heart far more than Akari's sheltering older sister presence. Akari couldn't stand firm in front of the bullying like Hina did- she crumpled, and felt like she failed Hina, during that arc. And Rei was there to support Hina as she fought for her ideals.

 

[Kaarme]

You shouldn't judge Rei too harshly here. He's no expert in intimate human relationships. He can handle business relationships pretty well due to his work, but that's it. He never had any friends during his childhood. His only memory of a family is from very early childhood, after that he lived a ghastly period of stress, watcing his adoptive family slowly fall apart, made much worse by his realisation that it's all thanks to his presence. Only the last couple of years had allowed him to learn what a family can be like, yet Mono, Hina, and Akari were also without parents. I reckon some readers are letting Rei's mostly composed behavior fool them. It's only thanks to shogi claiming 80% of his brain, so it's affecting his behavior in situations that have got nothing to do with shogi. In truth he was a bullied and isolated kid.

The Kawamoto family means everything to him now (aside from shogi), so he's trying to do what he thinks it right for it, from his somewhat lacking perspective. He's zero percent more experienced than Hina in romantic relationships. No, in fact he's worse! Hina had a long crush on Takahashi, so she has experience in being in love. You might say Rei is overstepping by trying to act as a matchmaker for Akari, but Rei's whole life has been overstepping because he had no childhood after his family died. So, how could he suddenly stop doing it?

So, before criticising Rei, first understand he's not really a mature adult either.