Tokyo Love Story - Vol. 4 Ch. 40 - On the Brink of a Breakup

[MangaDex]

 

[azylim]

I can't be the only one who finds all of Rika's actions as reprehensible.

 

[dotawolfbrother]

Hm, I can't see him ending up with anyone but Rika at this point. I just think back to all the previous chapters and... what's so special about Satomi again? -- Beyond the fact that she's his boyhood crush.

Thoughts:

Spoiler

I mean, Rika's awful, but you know what she wants. Satomi's safe(?), but I can't think of a single thing that's memorable about her character or what she wants beyond "Wanted the rich, handsome doctor. Settled for that second guy".

...

Yeah, I skimmed the past chapters. I can't see anything but a Rika/inconclusive ending, so either Satomi is getting as little in her favor as I think or I'm getting completely bamboozled like Mr. Kanchi here and the final chapters will be my rude awakening.

Looking for some separate opinions here, but it seems I'm hopelessly in the Rika camp for now.

And now that I think about it:

Spoiler

Doctor guy just had trouble with his relationship. Doesn't that sound like the author's totally going for the "Surprise! It was the original pairings all along!" ending? I'd certainly feel a little less crazy if that's the ending she's going for. Yeah, everything makes sense then. Anything else makes 0 sense considering how lackluster the Satomi/Kanji has been.

 

[Ronin40k]

I think this is testing Satomi's trust, since she got hurt so bad by Mikami. This is an opportunity for Kanji to show her that he DOES come back on time. And Kanji really does need Rika to give up.

I think Kanji / Satomi makes sense. They're both naturally quiet people who don't need big flashy passionate romance, and in fact are exhausted by it. Kanji was already thinking about breaking up with Rika before she left. It may be lackluster by One True Love dramatic standards, but it's much more realistic.

That said a Rika/Kanji pairing is also realistic, with Kanji being miserable but staying out of a feeling of responsibility because he's needed by someone he doesn't love. I've seen that type of relationship in real life too.

This chapter was very lifelike. I feel bad for all six of them, even Mikami for a change. Because none of them are "wrong" in their feelings, just sometimes the feelings don't line up the way people hope.

 

[Istvan90623]

@azylim You're not, especially how she "allows him to break up with her". Like bitch please, you got pregnant from someone else, what the fuck is she thinking.

 

[chocolatepancake]

Mother of christ. I get that she's from Africa and thry do things differently there, but i bet even African men flinch at the idea of raising another man's baby with a cheater.

 

[HoneyPopper]

Rika is the "object of desire" of the Japanese people in general. They want to be more open and direct about what they want and how to obtain it. Kanji and Satomi are the symbols of the "aimai" culture of Japan. Always vague, passive aggressive, and trying to cause as less trouble as possible but never truly satisfied. The doctor dude is just a buffer between the two culture... can't even remember his name now.
Tokyo Love Story was ahead of its time, and I'm glad that the TLS-2020 was made more close to the manga. Perhaps now the Japanese people can accept Rika's personality, and see the clash more objectively. I'm not a fan of any of the characters, but this manga is a good view on how the Japanese romance culture works.