Onee-chan no Midori-kun - Ch. 40 - This is the answer

[MangaDex]

 

[ToonLinkHox]

Y'know, I understand I'm nearly the exact opposite of the target demo for a story like this (i.e. a bitter, jaded "old" man and not a teenage girl, with the only things we would have in common being 'enjoying romance' and 'not exclusively liking shōnen'), and I headed into this fully prepared to make (and indeed have made) a LOT of concessions to enjoy it for what it is.
That being said, here's a question for said target demo, or anyone else who reads shōjo more frequently than I do : "Is this 'I love you but I can't/won't go out with you' stuff really adding to your enjoyment?"
Help me understand you here, because to me this just seems like narrative padding at best, and I won't elaborate on what "at worst" entails.

 

[kanoreads]

Y'know, I understand I'm nearly the exact opposite of the target demo for a story like this (i.e. a bitter, jaded "old" man and not a teenage girl, with the only things we would have in common being 'enjoying romance' and 'not exclusively liking shōnen'), and I headed into this fully prepared to make (and indeed have made) a LOT of concessions to enjoy it for what it is.
That being said, here's a question for said target demo, or anyone else who reads shōjo more frequently than I do : "Is this 'I love you but I can't/won't go out with you' stuff really adding to your enjoyment?"
Help me understand you here, because to me this just seems like narrative padding at best, and I won't elaborate on what "at worst" entails.

Is it enjoyable??? No!! It is terrible. Look at how everyone is needlessly suffering! All she had to do was break one (1) heart, and instead everyone is heartbroken!

But do I appreciate it? Yeah. Shoujo's got a long track record of Fated Love. The female lead always follows her heart to the male lead, and may or may not consider the second male lead's feelings along the way. And everyone just gets over it because FL and ML are so obviously Meant To Be. 'I love you but alas we cannot be together' is usually just a way to fill a few pages and delay the inevitable happy ever after.

So I appreciate that this particular series is trying to dive into the messier part of being attracted to someone - and the fact that, even if you love someone, sometimes that isn't enough to make it worth ruining your current relationship. Obviously Sui is into Midori and should just date him already. But she's also keenly aware that it's a little embarrassing and something that might hurt her sister and best friend, and she's afraid that she's starting not to care as much about any of that as she used to and what that says about her. It's a nice bit of character development, I think.

Shoujo manga characters tend to start dating in high school and get married by the epilogue, having done nothing to change but grow out their hair, maybe. It's refreshing to see characters growing up here and thinking about what it means to be in a relationship - whether in the context of growing up or balancing love and work - or even just addressing that age gaps don't just mean the older partner conveniently has a car. In real life, you wouldn't automatically date someone just because you like them. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that liking someone isn't enough to pursue a relationship. This series is at least acknowledging that a little bit.

 

[ToonLinkHox]

So I appreciate that this particular series is trying to dive into the messier part of being attracted to someone - and the fact that, even if you love someone, sometimes that isn't enough to make it worth ruining your current relationship.

But... she is ruining her current relationship. She's trying to break up with Ayame because she only loves Midori (and thus presumably feels bad because she can't earnestly reciprocate his affection, which, I see where she's coming from on that one, fair enough). Thankfully Ayame has the balls to stick to his guns and won't accept such a st- er, ill-advised decision from her, which is why I'm interested in this series. It caught my attention in the first place because it was at least somewhat going against the usual story beats.
What's confusing me here is that she's suddenly now being the bog-standard shōjo heroine, in a situation she really shouldn't be one. It's not a case of her trying to have her cake and eat it too, this is her being offered two cakes, liking one more than the other, but choosing to not eat nor have either. If she went with Ayame all tragic and resigned-to-her-fate-like ("woe is me, I cannot have the love I want but at least I'll have the love I can have") and then she changes her mind later, it would've made some sense, but this is completely harebrained even by those standards.

In real life, you wouldn't automatically date someone just because you like them. Sometimes you have to acknowledge that liking someone isn't enough to pursue a relationship. This series is at least acknowledging that a little bit.

Sure, but this isn't that. Suppose Ayame doesn't pipe up like he mercifully does at the end there. She doesn't go with Midori because "sigh I simply cannot! What would Sister Dearest think?!" or whatever her train of thought here is. Midori knows better than to blab about it, so at least this particular trail stops here. Then she doesn't stay with Ayame. These two have been around each other since they were infants. In another series he would be her Fated One, and in the eyes of those around them, surely that's how they view them. Now they give each other a wide berth. "What happened?" Prodding leads to something slipping out (Sui's a notoriously poor liar), everyone learns about how she turned him down, and there's a distinct possibility they also learn why. Splendid, now she's fouled up her current relationship, ends up right where she would be if she just accepted the consequences of following her heart, and she doesn't even have a loving relationship on either side to show for it. See what I mean?
To me, this just seems like drama-seeking behavior, but again, maybe I'm just too much of a guy to understand. I am 100% on the back foot here.

 

[darkblade210]

God the best solution is if no one gets with anyone at this point