Senpai ga Uzai Kouhai no Hanashi - Ch. 212.5 - I can't escape from this feeling

[danielboredom]

Wow, another unrequited love yuri character. How fresh.

 

[Pit93]

All things considered, this seems pretty canon to me. Her loving Futaba appeared already implied to me in the story.

 

[TheGodEmperor]

She still best girl

 

[Seraph_Dalgon_]

I have never seen REAL people do the "she must be canadian" meme unironically.

Until now.

People REALLY didn't see the hints to this at all?

I mean, I can't say I fault anyone that doesn't think that a person being a good friend to someone they've known for years is supposed to be some flag of romantic interest. Until recently, the only thing really shown to be going on with her was with the shota. Now? Fine, you got me there, but I don't think it was an unreasonable impression to have.

 

[Eighty-six]

I have never seen REAL people do the "she must be canadian" meme unironically.

Until now.

People REALLY didn't see the hints to this at all?

Prior to now, I couldn't completely dismiss the possibility once it was pointed out given the visual cues and potential contradictions in #57.5. Though, I found the matter ambiguous because if the truth of the matter wasn't what was said, it could have been anything from "possessively close" to "class S" to "straightforwardly infatuated". That, and the evidence others presented expressly to me was lacking on its own.

I tend to have a bias against yuri interpretations in a narrative where it isn't moved towards straightforwardly, partly because others have a bias towards yuri interpretations in narratives where it may ultimately not be there despite both the spectrum that is intimacy as well as the markedly lesser likelihood of non-gag yuri in a non-yuri work. That, and I'm not receptive to authors playing coy about the presence of romantic feelings.

In contrast, I was never going to doubt the yuri in, say, Yuugai Shitei Dokyuusei-- at least the sexual intrigue is there from the start.

At any rate, this is far less ambiguous, particularly with the framing in the first page.

It was kinda obvious, but even if this isn't canon, it's clear now Natsumi is a lesbian, and in love with Futaba.

...if it's not canon, then nothing would be made clear "now".

 

[yummyyummy]

i never expected that turn of events when it was revealed last chapter. not complaining but it feels like it came so damn late into the series

 

[Rongeong]

This has been hinted at for a while now. Good to finally see the author doing more with this plot thread.

 

[Blacklight100]

I’m a bit surprised the author actually spelt out Natsumi’s feelings for Igarashi instead of just leaving them as implied. Kudos for that lol.

Thankfully though it seems like Natsumi in the current time has come to terms with the situation (seeing how supportive she is of Igarashi and Takeda). I kinda get the feeling that she’ll eventually tell Sakurai about this (probably in the context of a speech about how a person’s love doesn’t always work out).

 

[lightingcloud]

WAT
This utterly changes the dynamic, if canon, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

utterly? she was gay since her 1st appearance. I know that IRL stereotypes are not good, but please remind that this is a manfa. this is literally made of stereotypes.

 

[CuJoJo]

Well, at least it seems like she's somewhat over it as an adult if the chapter where she talked with Takeda was anything to go by. Hopefully she finds someone else. Idk if the mangaka would pursue the idea of her and Yuto beyond what seems to be mostly one-sided.

 

[Seraph_Dalgon_]

utterly? she was gay since her 1st appearance. I know that IRL stereotypes are not good, but please remind that this is a manfa. this is literally made of stereotypes.

Ok, let's calm down here, we get the picture now but to say she was gay since the 1st appearance is a definitive stretch. I don't know what assumptions you were working on but we were clearly reading different series if at that

 

[olimarkx]

OH NOOOO!!!! IT'S NOOT CANONN!!! WINK WINK....

 

[Blacklight100]

Well, at least it seems like she's somewhat over it as an adult if the chapter where she talked with Takeda was anything to go by. Hopefully she finds someone else. Idk if the mangaka would pursue the idea of her and Yuto beyond what seems to be mostly one-sided.

Am I misremembering or didn’t Natsumi talking about some of her past boyfriends to Igarashi? It does seem like she’s gotten past it and is able to have relationships on her own.

Yeah I’m predicting Natsumi will turn Yuto down with a speech drawing on her own past feelings and experiences.

 

[D0ncoming5torm]

So two girls can't just be good friends for a long time, one of them's gotta be in love with the other. For no fucking reason. OK, gotcha. Fucking hell. Thanks for ruining Natsumi for me, really appreciate that.

 

[yisuhz]

People surprise me. Have we not been reading the same manga? It's been very hinted she had a crush on Futaba every time they're on a chapter together, and even more when Futaba started talking to her about how she found out she likes Takeda.
This has been known for some time

 

[Eighty-six]

This is one of those times where a little ambiguity can be a good thing. This was one of those times, made worse by the tone and generic content that makes it feel very throwaway and ill-considered.

I'd argue that it's been ambiguous until now. I also get the sense that to make it ambiguous is one and the same as making it an inert detail no more realized than a running dark comedy gag... or shipping war chum.

I don't get the sense that it was "throwaway" (since it's something that can function as context to chapter 57.5). It's just excessively heavy in its implications, and also a weird twist to properly execute (though, it is definitely a twist with concussive force).

A companion suspicion is that on top of having an unrequited affection for Futaba, Natsumi was coping with that by using Yuuto as a replacement.

But that's just meanspirited.

Regardless of whether she had an affection for Futaba, that isn't flattering, charming, heartwarming, or even sympathetic. That's just sad for Yuuto. The unrequited affection is heavy enough, but the replacement friend idea is just uncharacteristically dark-- for her character and the comic.

utterly? she was gay since her 1st appearance.

Not seeing it. Her first appearance was her talking about how she broke up with her boyfriend because he said that he was dating her because her breasts were bigger than his last girlfriend's, before (IIRC) grilling Futaba on her love life.

She then spends an inordinate amount of time from then to not too many chapters ago generating onee/shota bait and teasing Futaba about Takeda without any lingering shots of a pensive face on her.

Did she lie about having a boyfriend? Was the first gay hint that she broke up over something ultimately meaningless and wasn't actually interested in a relationship she started? Was I supposed to understand that she made something up (I mean, that's a pattern, given this chapter and perhaps #57.5 by extension, but it also appeared that it was an unprompted report as part of catching up)?

So two girls can't just be good friends for a long time, one of them's gotta be in love with the other.

Well, they can, and they often are.

That's just not the case in this specific manga.

 

[Zaerox]

Blond little shota boy will bring her justice

 

[Xaioner]

WAT
This utterly changes the dynamic, if canon, and I'm not sure how I feel about it.

i mean, it was pretty obvious

 

[Sagara-Sousuke]

So it was like that after all, I guess she settled for the shota

 

[Xaioner]

It was kinda obvious, but even if this isn't canon, it's clear now Natsumi is a lesbian, and in love with Futaba.

At least she likes women, she might be bi tho