Replay Girl - Oneshot

[ItsThatBriGuy]

Best moment of the chapter was when she jumped on him from behind to stop him from leaving.

Everything after that (last 10 pages) was so dumb though.

Like... sure, it was incredibly dumb of her to not deny the cheating; hell, let alone move away, he could have offed himself. And she was arrogant back then, sure. She's the one mostly at fault. This revenge prank was obviously mean but he immediately cleared it up with her.

But if they know they both like each other so much in the present, why is this guy being a needlessly edgy contrarian and forcing her to chase after him like some wimpy Heisei era harem MC who's afraid of women? What is the purpose??

Five years wallowing in anger and thirsting for vengeance only to realize how pointless it was broke him a bit. Now he can't trust either her or himself.

 

[MangaMonger]

Five years wallowing in anger and thirsting for vengeance only to realize how pointless it was broke him a bit. Now he can't trust either her or himself.

I agree that this is the psychological explanation for his behavior. (That said, I feel like your characterization of his emotional state is more intricate than what the author's actual narrative presented.)

I probably should have clarified I'm blaming the author, not the characters. The author could have chosen to just let the oneshot conclude their romance in a proper and satisfying way, or even just a bittersweet way like having her accept that he'd moved on. Instead, the author opted to deliver a tired harem cliche of a male MC who has a random personal obstacle (it could be past trauma, it could be he lives a life of danger, literally doesn't matter from a narrative perspective) to having a relationship with a girl, and a girl who boldly declares she'll keep pursuing him.