THIS IS A MANGA ONLY DISCUSSION POST. DO NOT DISCUSS ANYTHING BEYOND THIS CHAPTER.
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From the start of the chapter we saw Kazusa struck with lovesickness. She had that sperm dream sequence and immediately ran to Izumi’s house to return the dvd she stole. I found her realization quite adorable. He chose a bus porn and therefore the vehicle loving Izumi is still in there! It’s adding another layer to the symbolism. Sure, the innocent past of these two may have been infiltrated by literal porn(adult feelings) in the form of this DVD case, but the porn itself has remnants of who Izumi once was! He is still in there, and to realize that whether or not the context is true regarding this DVD was good for her. “It might be erotic but you chose a wonderful dvd”. There's something hilarious about celebrating and calling a bus rape porn DVD wonderful. However, things clearly took a turn for the worse, Izumi, possibly trying to clear the air, separated his desire from the girls he knows including Kazusa. A blow that will certainly leave a mark on her. She already overheard him say that he doesn't have a girl that he likes, she could interpret that as in saying he does not have feelings for her, and now he is saying his body does not even desire her. Ouch.
And although most of these progressions were definitely messy, Sonezaki and Amagi’s section went alright! Everyone had their eyes drawn to the new Sonezaki and the first sequence reminded me yet again of how kids really are. The same kids that bullied her and made her cry and run away are complimenting her, it is a reminder that the cruel things that kids do are not often thought of as being that cruel in their own heads. One day the entire group can jump on one person and make fun of them and the next day it can be like nothing happened at all. Anyways, that's besides the point. Rather the point is that the people complimenting her drew the connection to Amagi’s words. It turns to teasing and Sonezaki does as she always does when she's insecure, she lashes out. She lashes out by calling Amagi shallow and saying she doesn't like him. It was sad as we got a glimpse of his true feelings in one panel with Sonezaki, and I hope it stops her from saying something so hurtful again. But instantly he washes the sadness away and covers for her, he changes the subject and makes a joke to stop the rumors. I love this kid. Amagi is perfect in my eyes, he is charming, sincere, bold, and courageous at the very least when it comes to the girl he likes. Perhaps he may be naive but who isn't at this age. That was far from perfect, but he followed her and had the courage to confess his feelings and it led to that funny moment where Sonezaki absolutely fries her brain as she breaks down in embarrassed steam, but she throws him a ball. She insinuates that if he writes a paper then she will take is feeling seriously.
Momoko was shown wanting to help Kazusa’s lovesickness twice in this chapter. She is so supportive and caring and it ended up with her asking Sugawara for advice. Honestly, in chapter one I felt like Momoko had a thing for Sugawara when she complimented her perfume. However, I did not want to be a bigot and call her gay just because of that. She had a few more reactions like that going forward and that feeling never left me, but it wasn't until this scene where I started to feel it was undoubtable. She specifically mentioned that she hasn't liked a “boy” and her reactions towards Sugawara were extreme. They came off as a girl who couldn't stay composed when seeing how pretty and kind her crush is up close. Sugawara has a questionable history with the director in her life which I am worried about, and Momoko has had a run in with that boy she supposedly knew, but neither of them have a set in stone partner like the other three do. They definitely haven’t progressed in romantic plotlines. There were two other moments in this scene I’d like to mention. The first being how Sugawara looked sincerely happy to be here with the two this chapter sporting a soft smile and how she referred to them as her best friends. I can imagine it's because they see her as more than an object or a pretty decoration, and neither of them harbor any kind of jealousy towards her. They do come off as Sugawara’s little sisters. The other thing was Sugawara’s advice about borrowing other people's feelings from books. That is an insightful thing to say, through reading we can experience things that we otherwise couldn't and we can use those feelings that we have experienced to help those we care about!
Then there was the Hongou and Yamagishi scene. What immediately intrigued me about this scene was that we saw a new side to Yamagishi! He was reserved and quiet before but here he totally picked on Hongou and even explain his past. Perhaps it is because they have interacted a lot online, and they have gone past the strange territory that they were in before. They have gotten to know each other in a sense. I do want to apologize to him because I thought his username was inconsequential, however it's actually important to him as he did grow up weak and in a hospital. Milo could get him big and strong as he read and fantasized(he looked super cute back then). After that, he did what I considered picking on her by explaining how “dirty” high school girls are, unsophisticated and messy. Worse than that he hit her in her soft spot. He said she wrote like an old man just like the company did. All of this clearly got to her through her shock and then her anger and later her vulnerability. As a response she tried to do the unexpected, to fight against her cliched writing and got up close and personal which led to what she didn’t expect. Her own adult feelings… I do question Yamagishi saying he was simply curious over the identity of Hitoto. He could tell that she wasn’t feeling well before she asked to meet him so perhaps it was actually out of worry and he simply doesn’t want to admit it. |