Kinda an exaggeration. Girl just rejected a guy and not even maliciously.
His life also isn’t really ruined either neither is hers from what we know right now atleast. Thats just a very loose inference based on the fact that they remember each other which sure could show deep emotional attachment to each other but doesn’t mean their lives without each other are ruined or anything.
An analogy for this is if a girl rejected an actual real life guy and he’s upset about it is the girl required to date him?
Also she never directly lead the guy on afterwards?
Plus, we don’t know her reason yet which the author definitely is going to use as a justification tool considering how these typical interactions in stories work out so there is no reason to ignore it.
I will agree though with the fact that they seem close but thats about it.
Saying he’s trying to get over her from one throwaway line where he thinks he’s talking to someone else doesn’t definitively imply anything.
And even if it did…it’s not like she’s trying to actively keep him from moving on besides just being there…
To be honest I think we should give this manga some time to breath before making any judgements on it. I wouldn’t say right now it’s a perfect story in fact or even good because it’s still setting things up and their isn’t really a basis to judge yet.
I do hope this isn’t as tropy and has actual plot besides the romance in comparison to other shoujo novels but we’ll just have to wait and see…
Either way have a nice day! 👍
Pardon the wall that's incoming. I have some counter arguments.
We factually know that this has at the very least ruined her life in a personal romantic sense. As she could not move on from him and still obsessed over him carrying the one item that reminds her of him while also abstaining from any other relationship, all the way until she was nearing her 30s and avoiding any effort to potentially find any new romantic partners. We know from his reaction too that he still holds her dearly in his mind so yes, there have been clear mental and emotional scars that were formed specifically because of her action and you will not be able to convince me or anyone else who can look at this calmly otherwise. As I stated, this is entirely caused by her actions.
Now, of course, they were teenagers. Teens do stupid things, don't think things through and of course the author has yet to reveal the reason why she refused him. But unless the author manages to properly justify it, then it will amount to just the folly of youth to which I will point out the stupidity of her action because they were just that, unless again it is properly justified by some external factor that made it so that she had no choice but to shoot him down. Otherwise it is simply a matter of teenage uncertainty and foolishness. Emotional trauma would also be a generally acceptable explanation, but would also fall back to the folly of youth as this may be a case of someone refusing the cure for their ailment in fear, which is still a foolish action to take, but a more understandably foolish action.
Also, I have never complained about whether she led the guy on afterwards or not. The main issue is primarily that she afflicted herself with misery. If anything, she led herself into a celibate life that she deeply and clearly regrets.
Your analogy is flawed by the way and irrelevant to the situation in this manga. I have never stated that the reason they should have gotten together is because the guy got upset. It is because the girl pretty much cucked herself. If anything, the reason why they should be together is not because the guy got upset, it's because the girl herself is upset about refusing him. She clearly wanted to be with him, but she refused. Your analogy is inconsequential to the issue at hand.
If anything, the analogy would be just a gender reversal. So a guy really likes a girl, and she confesses to him. But he rejects her. She accepts his rejection without any fuss and leaves silently. Then a few days later she ends up moving out of town supposedly.
Then fifteen years later he's single, obsesses over her, carries a little item she has that reminds him of her on his cellphone strap. You are damn right I would smack the guy behind the head and tell him he screwed up his opportunity and he should move on. In fact I would say the exact same thing I am saying about this girl. That it's 100% his fault. And if he found the girl later in life in another world and she was still obsessed about him, you are damn right I am going to blame the guy for not just making himself miserable but also emotionally scarring someone else.
But again. They were teenagers. Teenagers are dumb or prone to doing dumb things. And there better be a good reason behind it, otherwise again. This is leaving a foul taste. It's not that the meal is bad, it's that something in the meal tastes foul. And it's not like it's fine dining. This is your typical WcDonald Burger. Highly processed, low quality beef with a lot of filler. But somehow something in it just tastes expired beyond the typical junk food that it is.
Also, while I understand your intent I would like to note something here which I fear some people may not fully grasp as this concept is typically glossed over. I am entitled and you are too as is everyone that exists, to having an opinion about something at every stage of it's existence. It's why we have first impressions, which differs from reviews and in depth reviews. I, and technically speaking everyone, never reserves judgment because I am aware I am always judging, as is any living being that is thinking. Technicality I know, semantics perhaps but semantics is the meaning of words and that really just points out the importance of defining them and understanding them.
But the important distinction is that you need to be open to alter your judgment as things progresses and evolves, or devolves. While I understand that it's just a popular saying, such as someone saying I won't judge you, which you should all know for a fact is a lie as everyone judges everyone at all time marking the importance again of first impressions. The idea is to alleviate someone else that they will be open to reassessment in the future. Or in the case of literary works here, to encourage someone to continue reading to re-evaluate the content as things move along.
As I stated originally, this better explain itself in an interesting way, and it better not go down two very overused trope filled path to gloss over her mistakes or blow it way out of proportion to an insufferable degree. Because otherwise, this small foul bit of my WcDonald burger is going to spread through the rest of the burger. Hopefully it was just a weird bitter tasting bit that actually was intended to mix in with the juices of the burger to deepen the flavor down the line once it actually mixes with the rest of the ingredient as you chew through it. Again, with the fast food junk food analogy.
I have no idea of the history of the author's works, or if the author has any other works. But I hope that they are good at re-contextualization.