Sasha-chan to Classmate Otaku-kun

[CaponNC]

Thing is, it looked like the editor was fully reigning him in for almost the entire first two volumes. It's only at the exact last page of the last chapter, and then the whole bonus one, that Hagu started ruining the series. I think it's less that anyone is surprised that he went in this direction, and more that they allowed this to be published. If the editor had said "No, you can't retcon the first two volumes into NTR", it simply wouldn't happen. It wouldn't be the first time a series is carried by its editor (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/fe...ndustry-an-interview-with-aka-akasaka/.197795).

Maybe you think Hagu played it off and said he wasn't going to double down in Volume 3. But he did, and he got a whole additional volume out of it despite 3's horrible sales. What even is the story behind all this?

Hagu could have published all this independently, made it a full porn series with whatever plot he wanted, do any scenes he's forced to imply here, and the audience would be much more receptive to all this. Especially if he didn't try to play this "romance" angle.

I'm in 100% agreement with you, and I actually made a comment about the bait & switch in my next post:

It also did not help at all that the first two volumes did not suggest the NTR and casual sex stuff at all. Sasha was clearly originally going to stick with the wholesome shounen romcom stuff until either Haguhagu could sell his kool-aid to the publishers, or someone let Haguhagu off the the chains (who knows what happened behind the scenes).

and yeah, we'd be having none of this discussion if it weren't for all of that. There's so many ifs: Haguhagu could have self-published all of this. The publisher could have forced or asked Hagu to use a brand new character just for this series that he had no attachments to, or properly introduced the NTR/porn elements right from chapter 1. But it is the fact that this was sold as a initially shounen romcom, and sold side by side on the same bookshelf as Nagatoro or Dress-Up Darling, is what soured everyone.

The volume 3 sales being low is news to me, but also not surprising. It means that the Japanese audience also wasn't happy with the outcome and dropped the series.

 

[Thorgrin]

The volume 3 sales being low is news to me, but also not surprising. It means that the Japanese audience also wasn't happy with the outcome and dropped the series.

According to the Shoseki ranking, aside from volume 1, which achieved a weekly rank of 240—allowing us to estimate that sales that week were approximately 3,080 copies—all other volumes performed poorly. They only managed to reach low daily ranks, making it impossible to estimate their sales figures. It remains a mystery how the series, with mediocre sales for three consecutive volumes, managed to avoid being axed.

 

[na2suara]

Thing is, it looked like the editor was fully reigning him in for almost the entire first two volumes. It's only at the exact last page of the last chapter, and then the whole bonus one, that Hagu started ruining the series. I think it's less that anyone is surprised that he went in this direction, and more that they allowed this to be published. If the editor had said "No, you can't retcon the first two volumes into NTR", it simply wouldn't happen. It wouldn't be the first time a series is carried by its editor (https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/fe...ndustry-an-interview-with-aka-akasaka/.197795).

Maybe you think Hagu played it off and said he wasn't going to double down in Volume 3. But he did, and he got a whole additional volume out of it despite 3's horrible sales. What even is the story behind all this?

Hagu could have published all this independently, made it a full porn series with whatever plot he wanted, do any scenes he's forced to imply here, and the audience would be much more receptive to all this. Especially if he didn't try to play this "romance" angle.

Where do you get sales numbers from? That seems interesting but not surprising. Even looking at the website, It looks out of place compared to the other manga posted there.

 

[Thorgrin]

Where do you get sales numbers from? That seems interesting.

You can estimate sales using the Shoseki ranking, provided the manga achieves at least a weekly ranking. The Shoseki ranking is a Japanese sales tracking system for books, including manga, light novels, and other publications, based on data collected from bookstores across Japan. It offers daily, weekly, and monthly rankings, making it a widely used tool for evaluating the commercial success of publications. As I posted above, sales for this manga can only be estimated for volume 1 and only for one specific week, which indicates that the sales for the other volumes are really mediocre.

 

[CaponNC]

According to the Shoseki ranking, aside from volume 1, which achieved a weekly rank of 240—allowing us to estimate that sales that week were approximately 3,080 copies—all other volumes performed poorly. They only managed to reach low daily ranks, making it impossible to estimate their sales figures. It remains a mystery how the series, with mediocre sales for three consecutive volumes, managed to avoid being axed.

I think it's avoided the axe because it's on Dengeki Comics EX's label, which is all digital last I looked. Outside of Azumanga Diaoh decades ago, their EX label hasn't published any manga of note outside of sequels and higher risk adaptations. Likely smaller quotas and not as strict management.

That's probably is probably why Sasha-chan was put there, and not with Dengeki Daioh's main physical magazine, which would release it beside Toradora and Yastuba (lol).

 

[Ciao-su]

Literally made an account because I read up to what’s on mangadex became really confused at chapter 30-32 went to see what the comments are saying saw some ch 66 spoilers and saw 71 raws what in the fuck is going on I just thought this would be like takagi san

 

[stfuad]

Jesus fucking christ what the fuck is wrong with Japan, this author, and the people who defend this crap.

 

[Ninjafoo]

The thought of people starting a manga with this character as the heroine expecting vanilla romance is so funny to me

 

[Dingo777]

The thought of people starting a manga with this character as the heroine expecting vanilla romance is so funny to me

I’m fairness, the folks who wouldn’t like it, are a perfect overlap with the folks who wouldn’t know her.

 

[CaponNC]

The thought of people starting a manga with this character as the heroine expecting vanilla romance is so funny to me

To be fair, this is a mainstream title that is tagged as shounen romcom with some suggestive themes, not erotica. Also a ton of people don’t know Haguhagu stuff, and didn’t know he’s been obsessed with his creation for over 11 years.

 

[Ninjafoo]

To be fair, this is a mainstream title that is tagged as shounen romcom with some suggestive themes, not erotica. Also a ton of people don’t know Haguhagu stuff, and didn’t know he’s been obsessed with his creation for over 11 years.

Yeah, I know. That's what makes it funny to me lol. NTR is worse than death to people, so the thought of someone getting tricked by a manga by this creator is hilarious. Reading 30 chapters of updates before it kicks in officially too, jesus

 

[Ethrine]

had no idea about the author or any of their other work, can’t believe i wasted my time on this shit, genuinely disgusting

 

[QuattroBajina]

Hagu trolled you all lmao.

And lmao you dumbshits acting like this wasn't a lolicon manga from chapter one and you were oh so innocent reading that.

 

[Dixxiify]

I wish I never read comment... now I can't see the wholesome anymore...

This is me...

 

[CinnamonPebble]

To my fellow brethrens who held out hope…

Spoiler: Chapter 72

Chapter 72 on Hagu’s fanbox has effectively confirmed that they went through with the threesome. I cannot fathom the state of our MC rn since the MTL doesn’t cover my his emotions well but he seems haggard. Senpai talks about how even with both of them they couldn’t take on Sasha (almost referring to it like a boss character). It ends the chapter with Sasha talking to her father and showing further affirmation on the MC’s and Sasha’s relationship. As for my personal thoughts, this confirms to what extent Hagu would go even with the intervention of our serialized MC. She will remain promiscuous no matter what timeline and it looks like Hagu will force us to accept that fact. I have mixed feelings about it since I was really rooting for a more monogamous relationship between Sasha and the MC so I’ll have to figure out my standings after this chapter. Attached, I’ve also included Hagu’s thoughts on why he included senpai to begin with. Somebody can translate if possible.

https://imgur.com/a/7azNGGj

 

[CinnamonPebble]

So I’ve actually went back on reread chapter 72 for more clarity.

Spoiler: Further thoughts

While our MC may look haggard it doesn’t seem to come from an emotional standpoint and more so a physical one. He’s more focused on going back to finish his manga which is telling of how Sasha and our MC’s relationship will progress. It will never be about Sasha changing and the people were right and saying our MC will essentially fall into Sasha’s level of depravity.

With the bath scenes, she talks to someone with an obviously loving face. It is difficult to say if it’s her actual father or a “father” from a previous relationship but my guess is that it’s the CEO of the gravure company. Sasha asked the person if they saw the video (which means that she recorded the threesome) and she flirts with person asking if they want to do it. It is clear that she prioritizes this relationship over the MC’s and so it may serve as fuel to progress the story and relationship.

With that being said, Sasha is still willing to sleep with other people and it looks like she never cut off contact with her sex friends. She’ll always be a slut so it’s heartbreaking for those that were wishing for a MC/Sasha solo relationship.

 

[Thorgrin]

So I’ve actually went back on reread chapter 72 for more clarity.

Spoiler: Further thoughts

While our MC may look haggard it doesn’t seem to come from an emotional standpoint and more so a physical one. He’s more focused on going back to finish his manga which is telling of how Sasha and our MC’s relationship will progress. It will never be about Sasha changing and the people were right and saying our MC will essentially fall into Sasha’s level of depravity.

With the bath scenes, she talks to someone with an obviously loving face. It is difficult to say if it’s her actual father or a “father” from a previous relationship but my guess is that it’s the CEO of the gravure company. Sasha asked the person if they saw the video (which means that she recorded the threesome) and she flirts with person asking if they want to do it. It is clear that she prioritizes this relationship over the MC’s and so it may serve as fuel to progress the story and relationship.

With that being said, Sasha is still willing to sleep with other people and it looks like she never cut off contact with her sex friends. She’ll always be a slut so it’s heartbreaking for those that were wishing for a MC/Sasha solo relationship.

Welp...

Spoiler: Hagu’s thoughts

Chapter 71 is quite a provocative story with Sanada-senpai and sexual content, so I apologize if it offends anyone.

For the record, it's an expression of her increased feelings for Master. This habit of hers, enjoying teasing people she likes or favors, also serves as a reaffirmation of her self-esteem and borders on behavior somewhat akin to self-harm.

Yeah...

 

[CinnamonPebble]

Welp...

Spoiler: Hagu’s thoughts

Yeah...

Yup. This changes my stance on a lot of it now. If I do decide to continue reading it, there’s no denying that the “main” relationship cannot be emphasized as heavily pre chapter 72. With possible introductions of other characters to “progress” our main relationship further, I have no idea how Hagu will put a stopping break on Sasha’s behavior and our MC’s indulgence.

 

[Dingo777]

Welp...

Spoiler: Hagu’s thoughts

Yeah...

Honestly at this point the only thing that surprised me was that Hagu had the insight of recognizing Sasha’s behavior as potentially self-harming I didn’t think he was capable.

 

[Daviidcou]

Yup. This changes my stance on a lot of it now. If I do decide to continue reading it, there’s no denying that the “main” relationship cannot be emphasized as heavily pre chapter 72. With possible introductions of other characters to “progress” our main relationship further, I have no idea how Hagu will put a stopping break on Sasha’s behavior and our MC’s indulgence.

I'll tell you how, by not stopping it