Yugami-kun ni wa Tomodachi ga Inai

[youdontknowwho]

@sardonic It's actually interesting how Tamy thinks it's a different manga. It shows that Chihiro is the co-protagonist and not merely the heroine. Also, from almost everyone else's viewpoint, Yugami is indeed a jerk.

 

[gosling11]

Ya'll on a roll lately. Keep it up! Thank you very much for the translations as always.

 

[newhek]

Damn that release speed, I'm a bit worried though.

 

[Cycadia]

You know I went reading through the comments to look and see if anyone recognizes Yugami's worth as a person but all I see was that they saw through the majority of the characters perspective and not much look at him subjectively and analyze what his mannerisms or life views mean. (granted I'm 12 so chapters in)

Spoiler

As I see it Yugami is a hardworking person that makes the most of what he has - giving that socially he has nothing he makes to with what he has and sees his adversity as a way to improve. None of the characters in the Manga so far bother to give him a genuine chance and are rather impatient to bother learning who he is and therefore become annoyed. He is very much aware of his surroundings and his social standings but sees that if he compromises then he would be betraying himself and all the hard work he has been doing.

Not that he doesn't have flaws as a person, for example he could just give seemingly off handed, but considerate, advice to those around him and they can just both shrug each other off and move on. However the conflict lies between his way of life and those around him. He is in a team based game and genuinely seeks self improvement and will give more than his all to the sport but the lack of relationship between him and his team, or rather better put, his team and him inevitably causes a strain on him. It isn't so much that he doesn't believe in his team and thinks he can carry the team it's that the team doesn't have much faith nor sees him as an equal much less a person of note at all and are convinced that Yugami is self centered and is selfish. This could be disheartening of course to anyone so when he says he doesn't trust his team this is what he means.

To see Yugami sacrifice everything (ch8-11~ or so the game where the class was there to "cheer" ) and just to have all his hard work overlooked just for someone to make the last play and leave him out of the celebration is incredibly insulting to his worth as an athlete and I sympathize and relate whole heartedly to him even down to the point where he silently talked to the coach to let him go to the hospital so that he wouldn't ruin the mood... I cried tears as if I were there reliving my own moments.

Ultimately I love this story so far and believe that this teaches how micro society works between colleagues and the importance of interactions affect people and how sometimes hard work does go unnoticed and that you need to persevere and enjoy your own hard work and make do with what you have.

 

[Shyfemalelead]

Finished reading all 81 chapters and honestly, I don't really like it. Felt like a lot of hinting that leads up to nothing. Doesn't feel like there much of a conclusion or closure either.

 

[sardonic]

@Shyfemalelead I don't know how you've read all the chapters and yet still reached those conclusions. The ending actually wrapped things up very neatly and with purpose.

 

[Shyfemalelead]

@sardonic Chapter 81 is the last chapter so yes I have read the all the chapters. I did not like the ending, I did not feel like it wrapped things up at all. That is my opinion.

 

[sardonic]

@Shyfemalelead And I'm asking why you think that.

 

[youdontknowwho]

@sardonic

Spoiler

The way they mention "hinting leading up to nothing" makes it look like they were expecting full-blown romance. If that's the case then the ending would be lackluster to them

 

[Shyfemalelead]

@youdontknowwho I never mentioned romance so I don't know why you'd make that assumption. Romance was never a big focus of this manga anyway so I never deluded myself into thinking there'll be a romantic ending for any character.

@sardonic It's just the whole story overall, the friendship aspect and the future path he chose and things like that. I'm the type that likes all the odds and ends to be tied up and I didn't feel like the author did that. Kind of little things that add up in the end. It's not that I think the story/characters weren't good or that the author didn't do a good job or whatever. I just wanted more closure than what I felt I got and the ending just felt kind of wishy washy or half baked.

 

[youdontknowwho]

@Shyfemalelead To be honest I don't think there is even anything to be tied up. The manga doesn't have a central conflict or a clear goal to reach. It's a pure slice of life revolving around daily lives of two high school students and people around them. At the end we can look back and see how much the characters have evolved (or not) over the course of the story, but ultimately they're just ordinary people going through a phase of their lives with no dramatic events to speak of. The only significant question is

Spoiler

how Yugami and Chihiro view each other at the end, and I think the ending adequately answers that without breaking character or compromising the story's integrity

 

[sardonic]

@Shyfemalelead Going to echo what @youdontknowwho said just a bit.

General spoilers for the ending below.

Spoiler

The thing I really disagree with is the qualm about how the friendship aspect plays out inconclusively. In the end, the manga isn't really about friendship but rather how the characters' relationships with others affect their growth and happiness. The reason I think the ending works, at least in regards to Chihiro and Yugami's relationship, is how it ties in to the title and themes of the story. My belief, at least, is that there's a good chance this is how Sakura planned it to be when all was said and done because the title is so deliberate.

In English the title's simply translated as Yugami Doesn't Have Any Friends but in Japanese, the grammar indicates a clear emphasis that this is Yugami's stance on the matter and leaves implied room for a contrasting view. It's why Chihiro's word-for-word title drop at the end of chapter 80 is so meaningful; Yugami may not think of her as a friend, but Chihiro considers him to be her friend and she's able to come to terms with that rather than focus on the negative that he doesn't reciprocate the feeling. Her ability to accept and be content with that also ties in to Yugami's valedictorian speech in a way: you don't need to waste your time fretting over your relationships with others. Just do you and be happy.

It's also worth noting that one of Chihiro's recurring thoughts throughout the story is her lament that Yugami will forget about her once they graduate. Considering he sent her that new year's card, thought of her when nobody believed Heiraku had created a story based on himself and wanted to continue seeing rakugo shows with her, it's clear that Chihiro isn't someone Yugami would forget about. Maybe it's a bit different from how he impacted her life, but she ultimately made her mark in his life all the same.

It wasn't so much about them being friends as it was about how their relationship, whatever they want to label it, helped them grow as people.

 

[thegentelman]

why are we using the volume 16 cover while we are still in volume 13

 

[Daigo-kun]

@thegentelman I have a feeling that it's because the picture goes by the latest volume, not by the current translated volume.

 

[NamelessOne]

How can a series be this consistently good?

 

[winev]

I'm rereading the manga again, waiting for new chapter.

 

[thegentelman]

are they in college in volume 16? because they're all wearing casual clothes expect the blondie because he was a kouhai

 

[guardshipburan]

Is this Korean? I thought it was Japanese.

 

[Paulo27]

What makes you think it's Korean lol.

 

[tblst]

@Paulo27 For some reason, the PC version of MD flagged all japanese manga as korean.