Aerensianic said:zensunni said: Well, I didn't expect that to be the way things panned out. So, Kei is still not able to tell her how he really feels, but he is the one she turns to when she has a problem. She has never talked to her "boyfriend" about her family or anything like that. And Kei is stupid enough that he still trusts the bastard that stole the girl he loves, despite it being obvious that he is after her money.
So, is she supposed to have actually spent/lost all of her money? I think I understand how she finds out the truth about the "boyfriend" now. He'll go ballistic when he finds out she is penniless, while Kei will just hug her and tell her it is fine. (If he has any balls, that is...)
You really think he is only after her money? The manga iirc hasn't dropped any obvious signs that he is a bad person. He is coming to realize that she obviously trusts Kei a lot more (if he didn't know that already).
She is probably going to lose all her money I would agree with that, her uncle with the "don't make decisions while emotional" thing obviously will come true.
Yes, I seriously do think that he is only after her money.
Let's review what we know about Tasuku:
- When we first meet him, Kei is going to him to learn what he can about stocks so he has a topic of conversation with Yukari. He seems kind of arrogant and aloof, and Kimio seems to tease him quite a bit. It's hard to tell if it is all in good fun or if Kimio really doesn't like him much. It is very clear that Tasuku has a chip on his shoulder about wealth, making comments about "Woebegon Lake" and it being a fallacy that a system could be set up that would let anyone be a "winner", since it isn't possible for everyone to win. Then, when he finds out that Yukari is a day trader, he takes an interest.
- The next time we meet him is at the BBQ. The first thing he does after showing up is hit on Yukari, commenting that he didn't expect her to be so cute. This is their very first meeting, mind you. Miya then tells Kei that he is already in "quite the predicament" sense Tasuku is "a natural player". Kimio then says that if it were him, he wouldn't introduce his girlfriend to Tasuku. Kei, of course, denies that she is his girlfriend. At the time, that is entirely true, but it is clear that the two of them have some sort of feelings for each other.
- The next part with him he is trying to get Kei to relax and realize that Yukari is likely to be able to adapt fast, referring to her as "people like that", meaning day traders, one presumes.
- Then, when he starts talking with Yukari, he immediately starts asking about stocks and dealing with losses. They seem to be having a fun conversation and Kei is both pleased and a bit jealous, it appears. Then Yukari tells him that it is fun to talk about those things, but she has to be careful, because if she were to "boast about her losses" the way Kimio was, it would blow people's minds. (1.4 billion as her largest loss is a bit extreme, after all.) So, while she can enjoy discussing things like that with him, she can't really be open with him, but can with Kei.
- The next interaction is Tasuku giving her a good skipping stone. Not much insight into his psyche, but it is still pretty clear that he is hitting on her.
- On the way back, Kimio comments that the only thing Yukari seemed really excited to talk about was Kei. The look on Tasuku's face is not particularly pleased as he seemed to be pretending to sleep and listening in. This whole section gave me a serious "untrustworthy" vibe. Tasuku seemed to be hitting on Yukari from square one and trying to pry information out of her about how to do better with stocks. He didn't seem to want to talk about other things, just money.
- The next time Tasuku is mentioned, Kei finds out that he exchanged e-mail addresses with Yukari at the BBQ and has been talking with her about FX (the stock game that he and Kimio lost a bunch of money at.) Kimio warns Kei that he might steal her away.
- The next thing we hear about Tasuku, he is contacting Kei about a job search seminar. Soon after, when Kei is asking Yukari to teach him about stocks, we find out that Tasuku already has asked. His reason he gave was so he could pursue his dream. At the job search seminar, Tasuku mentions that he wishes he could forget about getting a job and just live in the world of math and physics. Kei asks him what he meant by wanting to learn about stocks to pursue his dreams. He is a bit surprised that Yukari told Kei about it, and tells Kei that he wants to use math to eliminate some of the uncertainties of the future. He basically says he wants to figure out how Yukari deals with uncertainty and learn how to pursue his dream. When he finds out that Kei has also asked Yukari to teach him he starts talking about her and notices right away that Kei seems jealous. What does he do then? He seriously intimates that he is interested in her sexually and tells Kei that they are rivals now.
- The next time we see Tasuku, he is at home with his mom talking about the problems his father's company is having. Things start to look a bit clearer as to why he wants to learn how to make money using the stock market.
- Then we find out that Tasuku has joined the drama club. Kimio comments that something seems off about Tasuku lately. He seems to be a lot more aggressive in the way he is going after Yukari. Kimio wonders what Kei will do if Yukari starts to like Tasuku and he says he doesn't think that will happen. No sooner does he get that out of his mouth thatn he sees Tasuku with his arm around her and his hand on her ass! Then we find out that Tasuku suggested that Miya ask Yukari to help with the drama club. When Kei expresses concern that it might not be a good idea, Tasuku interupts and lays in on thick, asking her to "stand on this stage with him". She gets flustered and Kei is totally outclassed. Then Tasuku asks Kei to cancel his tutoring session with Yukari that day so Tasuku can take her out to lunch. He then launches into telling her about the place he wants to take her and, when she is about to refuse, he grabs her hand and says "Then let's go." Note that Kei has not said he is willing to cancel the session yet. Then Kei instinctively tries to block her from going, taking her hand himself. She and Tasuku look back at him in surprise and he wimps out and tells her to go. Seeing the look on Kei's face, Tasuku gets a smarmy grin on his face and says, "Kei. Sorry." He is basically telling him, you aren't gonna win cause I'm better looking than you and know how to please women. Too bad, you loose sucker! This makes him look like an ass, frankly. He is obviously trying to seperate Yukari from Kei and isn't even being subtle about it. This right after we find out about his family's financial trouble. No, not suspicious as ALL!
- Then, when Kei lies to Tasuku, telling him he isn't mad, he was just surprised at how big of a rush he was in, Tasuku tells him he doen't have much time because he "Loves Yukari" and basically declares war, as if he hadn't already. Kei is obviously thrown for a loop and starts to self-doubt. Figuring that he is only her tutor and there isn't any reason she would be interested in him. When Yukari sees he is upset about something and asks about it, he dithers and she assumes it is because he lost money on stocks and launches into a flowery monologue about risk taking or something. Then Kei finds out she was spouting back one of Tasuku's lines and Yukari starts gushing about Tasuku the way she used to talk about Kei with Miya. Kei is devistated, but at least he manages to ask her out to dinner, though he has no idea where to take her.
- They go out and Yukari has a great time, but she seems to be of the opinion that Miya and Tasuku are dating and even says she is jealous of them. (I felt like she was jealous of the fact that they were together, not necessarily jealous about Tasuku.) Then she asks Kei to join their "skype" session that evening so she will feel less awkward about it. He does and it is clear that Kei and Yukari's relationship is much closer than Tasuku and Yukari's.
- Then, while Kei is getting grilled by their uncle about school and how Yukari is doing, he gets a call from her and the proverbial crap hits the fan.
So, in summary, the Tasuku seems uninterested until he finds out Yukari is a day trader. We find out that Tasuku has a rep as a womanizer and when he meets Yukari, he starts hitting on her immediately and pumping her for information about stocks at the same time. When he clearly can tell how Kei feels about her, he basically feeds Kei's inherent insecurities, since he has never been good with women and Tasuku is. When it is clear that his family's financial situation is getting worse, he steps up the pressure and starts to actively try to keep Kei and Yukari apart. When he is faced with the cold hard facts that Kei and Yukari have a very close bond and it is clear that she goes to Kei for help first when she is troubled, Tasuku then plays his trump card and piles on the sympathy about his family's money issues and having to quit school and asks her to go out with him.
These all combine to say that he doesn't really like Yukari. He doesn't get upset or flustered around her. He doesn't show signs of being in love. He always looks like a cold, calculating, manipulative bastard who knows how to play women and knows how to push Kei into a corner where Kei looks like the bad guy if he tries to stop him from dating Yukari.
That is how I see it. Kimio constantly comments that Tasuku seems to be acting strange and that he is being far more aggressive and forward with Yukari than he normally would. It is clear to EVERYONE, other than Kei and Yukari, from very early on how Kei feels about Yukari. Kimio and Miya see it clearly and they also see that Tasuku is playing her. They are concerned for Kei from the beginning, though they also are enjoying the show far too much. Frankly, if Miya was a better friend, none of this would have happened, because she would have told Tasuku he was being an ass instead of just asking him out for drinks to try to figure out why he was going after a girl one of his buddies was obviously in love with.
Oh well... One more chapter and we find out how it pans out. I expect we will find out that Tasuku isn't interested in her if she is poor. I feel bad for her that she had to learn this lesson, but I feel she already knew it and was just blindly hoping that Tasuku was as nice of a person as Kei seems to think he is. I also think that she would totally have gone out with Kei if he had just told her how he felt. Instead he practically pushed her into Tasuku's arms and she seemed kind of pissed at him for doing it, frankly. It is nice that he is still the only person she really seems to trust, though... |