Wakaba-chan wa Wakarasetai! - Vol. 1 Ch. 10.6 - Extra Chapter 2

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"Childhood friend are meant to lose."
(cough) Fuufu Ijou, Koibito Miman (cough)

The topic in this chapter remind me of a certain series where the childhood friend sabotage herself to stay on friendzone. And then later on, she regrets it after seeing the protagonist had move on to the other girl. Serve her right.

But, of course, the girl protagonist end up fall in love is the the poster girl on the manga cover. 👀
 
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1st, is there an extra chapter 1???

2nd, that idea of a childhood friend losing as a trope is wrong.

Childhood friends actually win way too much for it to be considered a factor in winning or losing.

Childhood friendship is actually a complete non-factor.

If you are a main heroine, you win. If you aren't, you lose. It's that simple.

It doesn't matter if you are a childhood friend or not....
What if it's a semi-harem, where the MC gotta pick one?
 
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If you are reading anything that isn't romance, yeah the childhood friend will most likely win if there's even a rival to be seen at all.

If it is a romance then good, luck. The trope that wins out most of the time is "first girl". A trope so powerful authors will bend over backwards to make it mean "first girl MC has ever met" which is even more ridiculous than the childhood friend trope. But "winning and losing" only matters in triangles and harems and in those groups, Childhood Friends loses more often than not.
It's not "first girl" but "main girl" as in who ever the main female lead is that wins...

In fact, that's literally what the trope should be. Main girl wins 95% of the time....

What if it's a semi-harem, where the MC gotta pick one?
It depends on if the childhood friend is the main girl or not...

Most of the time, main girl wins....
 
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It's not "first girl" but "main girl" as in who ever the main female lead is that wins...
If that's the way you want to define it, then no, you're wrong. It's the MC who wins the most.

A "main girl" is a meta concept, while "first girl" is a character trait appearing in-story. Of all character traits, the "first girl" is probably the most likely winner.
 
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It's not "first girl" but "main girl" as in who ever the main female lead is that wins...
The reason I use "first girl" is because there are two types of harem stories. Types were the girl's name is in the title and its a forgone conclusion like you said, and real ones where at least 2 girls get the same amount of attention.

The firs type might as well not count as a real harem, like Hokkaido gals are super adorable. The second one was what I was mostly refering to. but even in those its plays with the trope know as "first girl". It could also be considdered "forgotten childhood friend" but I don't condier that reall childhood friends. Also "first girl" also covers the first girl the manga shows you which would typically be the "main girl"

As someone said, "first girl" is a character trait because its an often used plot device to make a relationship seem more important than others. It tries to supersede the "childhood friend" trope without any of the implied reationship it would bring. That's why I don't consider those real childhood friends. there are whole bactories and arcs centered around who the "first girl" is. The Quintessential Quintuplets and Nisekoi have plot points about this.

Infact the manga that made me realize this was one where the childhood friend won, Iinazuke Kyoutei. But even then the aurthor went out of their way to make sure that she was the first girl. All the other gilrs knew MC as a kid but the childhood friend was born on the same day as him in the same hospital. And that was only revelaed at the end of the story as if to make her feel worthy.
 
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@OsisNie heads up: the missing chapter appears to have been available in the february 2024 issue of monthly action, meaning if you can get the raws for that you'll have the chapter.
It seems to be available in a few places online for around ¥750-800 as an ebook, though i saw one place offering it for free to subscribers(?) that was also offering a 1 month free trial for that same service, which could make it effectively free.

Conveniently enough, it's also available on Amazon Japan and is free for Kindle Unlimited users it seems - so if anyone else reading this has or knows someone who has a subscription, you can quite literally donate the missing chapter's raws for free.

EDIT: A typo
 
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@OsisNie heads up: the missing chapter appears to have been available on the february 2024 issue of monthly action, meaning if you can get the raws for that you'll have the chapter.
It seems to be available in a few places online for around ¥750-800 as an ebook, though i saw one place offering it for free to subscribers(?) that was also offering a 1 month free trial for that same service, which could make it effectively free.

Conveniently enough, it's also available Amazon Japan and is free for Kindle Unlimited users it seems - so if anyone else reading this has or knows someone who has a subscription, you can quite literally donate the missing chapter's raws for free.
Holy crap, it was in the magazine. Thanks brotha!
 
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If that's the way you want to define it, then no, you're wrong. It's the MC who wins the most.

A "main girl" is a meta concept, while "first girl" is a character trait appearing in-story. Of all character traits, the "first girl" is probably the most likely winner.
I think it's cause "first girl" is usually main girl. And it's not really that meta of a concept. Main girl is basically the main focus of the romance. Basically, the main heroine.

But sometimes, in series, other girls do appear before the author shows the main girl.

Like the MC's daily life and then BOOM, we see the main girl of the series (cover page doesn't count).

Look at "My Dress-Up Darling" where the first girl is actually the girl that traumatized him.

It's just that it's very very common for the main girl to often be the first girl, so there is a lot of overlap....

The reason I use "first girl" is because there are two types of harem stories. Types were the girl's name is in the title and its a forgone conclusion like you said, and real ones where at least 2 girls get the same amount of attention.

The firs type might as well not count as a real harem, like Hokkaido gals are super adorable. The second one was what I was mostly refering to. but even in those its plays with the trope know as "first girl". It could also be considdered "forgotten childhood friend" but I don't condier that reall childhood friends. Also "first girl" also covers the first girl the manga shows you which would typically be the "main girl"

As someone said, "first girl" is a character trait because its an often used plot device to make a relationship seem more important than others. It tries to supersede the "childhood friend" trope without any of the implied reationship it would bring. That's why I don't consider those real childhood friends. there are whole bactories and arcs centered around who the "first girl" is. The Quintessential Quintuplets and Nisekoi have plot points about this.

Infact the manga that made me realize this was one where the childhood friend won, Iinazuke Kyoutei. But even then the aurthor went out of their way to make sure that she was the first girl. All the other gilrs knew MC as a kid but the childhood friend was born on the same day as him in the same hospital. And that was only revelaed at the end of the story as if to make her feel worthy.

I think the other issue is that "first girl" is vague. Like, does the cover photo come??? Or is it the first girl that's given a special scene to seem important???

That's my issue with the term "first girl" it's too vague and can be defined in multiple ways.

Though, in most cases, as I stated before, the first girl to be seen is almost always the main girl....
 
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I think it's cause "first girl" is usually main girl. And it's not really that meta of a concept. Main girl is basically the main focus of the romance. Basically, the main heroine.
That's exactly what "meta" means. It's a story concept that makes no sense in-universe. Who the first girl is can be known by the actual characters, so it's not a meta concept.

I think the other issue is that "first girl" is vague. Like, does the cover photo come??? Or is it the first girl that's given a special scene to seem important???
There are a few definitions. First girl MC meets chronologically, first girl shown to meet/interact with MC, or first girl shown to the readers. Second and third are meta reasons, first is in-universe. First is the one I use. Also "first" as ceased to sound like a word to me.
 
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For anyone curious: I've changed this from 11.5 to 10.6 because it is included in volume 1, after a bonus chapter which would be the .5
 
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That's exactly what "meta" means. It's a story concept that makes no sense in-universe. Who the first girl is can be known by the actual characters, so it's not a meta concept.


There are a few definitions. First girl MC meets chronologically, first girl shown to meet/interact with MC, or first girl shown to the readers. Second and third are meta reasons, first is in-universe. First is the one I use. Also "first" as ceased to sound like a word to me.
You realize that the first girl he meets in series is also a meta concept then, right???

Because the first girl the MC ever meets isn't the one that always wins... but first we often see...

So first in universe makes no sense (else childhood friends would never lose).

And yah, these are terms and tropes we are using to explain the mechanics of manga and story telling... so of course it's going to be meta.

In universe, all of this would be stupid because there shouldn't be any "first girl" or "main girl" or "protagonist"

But it exists because we are explaining a story.

And it's often common for MCs to meet to not be the main love interest and not win.... meaning who he literally meets first actually doesn't matter....
 

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