I don’t think Koto not talking about the empty seven years because of her past relationships. It’s more like she considers them as non-significant part of her that Aya doesn’t need to know and only focus on what they have now together.
Aya, on the other hand, is just trying to level set. Apparently, she loves the Koto from her memories of their past self (the middle school Aya-Koto). At the same time, she understands that it’s not possible to maintain the status quo where she barely knows the current Koto to move forward. The present Koto is like unknown to her and it makes her feel like this love is not grounded.
Erika could have filled Aya in on what Koto was like in the past seven years, but she didn’t and want to have the two sort it out. I do think Erika understand that the breakup is inevitable with the imbalance in age these two have. However, she is not playing the role that the story is assuming to us from the Tanabata theme.
Circling to some reference of the Tanabata theme. (Asian countries with this theme are China (Qixi), Japan (Tanabata), Korea (Chilseok) and Vietnam (Lễ Thất Tịch))
Tanabata is extremely about long-lasting love that can go pass any obstacles from external actors.
In the Tanabata story, Hiroboshi is a cow herder (Aya’s last name is Ushio - Ushi (牛) means cow, O (尾) means tail)
The cow herder is in love with a fairy weaver girl (Koto’s name is Koto (琴) refers to the Japanese zither - the way you play the zither is like you’re weaving silk).
In some variations of the Tanabata festival in Chinese and Vietnamese folktale specifically: Milky Way is made from the crows (Erika’s last name is Karasuno with Karasu (烏) means crow/raven, no (野) means plain/field).
In the astronomy summer triangle,
Vega = Orihime = Koto
Altair = Hiroboshi = Aya
Deneb (the third star in the Summer Triangle on the Milky Way in between Vega and Altair)
Erika and her role towards Aya and Koto because Deneb is the closest star to Vega compared to Altair
Milky Way = Amanogawa (the heavenly river) - the separation between Orihime and Hiroboshi (the past/present and the conflicting relationship they are maintaining). This can also be Erika’s role towards Aya and Koto.
I just think it is very fascinating that Erika is trying to claim Aya’s place in contrast to the supposedly role she should play with their relationship from the Tanabata theme and the astronomy summer triangle
In Tanabata, there is no love triangle, it’s mutually requited and the only separation the two are the external actors like the father of the weaver fairy.
I like the series overall so far. The fact that everything is also 7 years is very nice written because Hiroboshi and Orihime can only meet on the 7th of the 7th month each year. For Aya and Koto context, they haven’t met for 7 years, so they missed 7 encounters that are very significant from Hiroboshi and Orihime perspective because they love one another and only able to meet once a year.
Aya being 14 years old may play some role later on because she said that Koto has loved her for half of her life - but is it true? Who is the person that Koto actually loves.
Additonal note:
the kiss is a bit overstepping the line in some ways. I don’t like that Koto is forcing her way, but I am also curious what happened after she pushed her down leading to Aya’s call on their breakup. It’ll be a fascinating perspective to see
I know this one was posted 2 years ago, but it's one of the best things I've read here. I feel like some people do forget the connection to the Tanabata Festival.
Also, from the start of the chapter, it was emphasized that their president dated a guy back in middle school, but they broke up the next year. Then when the reunion happened, they ended up getting married. If we think about it, they were separated, like Koto and Aya, but in the end they were meant to be.
Although this is just my opinion, in relation to the title, "How to Break a Triangle." Like you mentioned before, there was no triangle in Tanabata. The triangle here is Erika, and from what this is, breaking Erika (her feelings for Koto) is what the title is emphasizing.
