First Impressions / Tsuki ga Kirei

「惜しみなく愛は奪う」 (Oshiminaku Ai wa ubau)
“Hold Back Nothing When Taking Love”

Man, this show is going to be the death of me yet.

Author ‘s Note: I’m filling in for Zaiden this week – and aren’t I lucky to have picked such a great week to do it!

After a week bereft of romance, Tsuki ga Kirei thankfully returns from its hiatus (recap, hiatus, same difference). And boy, was it ever missed. Not only is there nothing on the schedule like it, there’s hardly ever been anything on the schedule like it – not in recent years anyway. Really good romances are unicorns in anime to begin with, but ones about middle schoolers are basically non-existent. I don’t know why the medium finds them so hard to do well – and for that matter, I don’t know why it doesn’t even make the effort more often than it does.

Needless to say (if you watched the episode), Tsuki ga Kirei didn’t miss a beat. In fact it jumped back in with a powerhouse of an ep, and it was one hell of a tense ride (pun intended). I found myself highly stressed through most of it, especially the A-part, in a way you can only be when you’re fully invested in the characters. That, I think, is the difference between an anime which leads with characters and one which leads with plot – that level of emotional commitment that means you feel everything the characters are going through.

Let me say, first off – sympathy for Chinatsu: zero. I’ve been pretty soft on her character so far – maybe I was trying too hard to give her the benefit of the doubt, but I really thought she was basically resigned to her best friend and her crush being in a relationship, and just wanted to be rejected outright and have no regrets. That’s a tough situation to be in, but what she did in this week’s episode really crossed the line for me. Several lines, in fact.

Let’s start off with this one: you really don’t go after the person your friend is dating. Don’t get this bogged down in bros before hoes “guy code” bullshit – it’s not about males and females here, because it applies to both. You just don’t do it – and it’s one thing to be open about it (as Chinatsu more or less had been before this week), but quite another to actively scheme to try and break the couple up. And make no mistake, that’s what Chinatsu was doing here – flaunting her self-imagined closeness with Kotarou in an attempt to sour Akane on him, and trying to pair off Akane with another boy right under Kotarou’s nose.

That leads us to the other big line Chinatsu crossed, which was exploiting Hira to make her plan work. And that’s what this whole Dome City trip was about – it was originally a foursome in Chinatsu’s mind, and it was only Roman (we’ll get to him in a minute) who foiled her plan. She put Hira in a terrible position, made him look like the bad guy, and he really wasn’t – because he had no idea Akane and Kotarou were dating. It’s one thing to actively try to steal your best friend’s partner – it just compounds the offense when you make someone else an unwitting accomplice.

If Chinatsu was pretty much the definition of a bad friend here (which to me basically means no friend at all), Roman was the model of a good one. He was, to borrow an overused term, a perfect wingman. His seemingly innocent act of inviting himself along on Chinatsu’s trip wasn’t innocent at all, because he clearly saw through what she was up to and the danger it presented to Kotarou and Akane. And once at the park, he did everything he could to disrupt the scheme, perhaps most importantly outing the two of them as a couple when they were too shy to do so themselves.

The whole sequence at the park was nerve-wracking, to say the least. Chinatsu’s strategy was working well in the sense that she managed to get Akane and Hira paired off (starting with the roller-coaster), and herself and Kotarou too. That was tough to watch – perhaps “frustrating” would be the best word. It’s hard when you’re looking from a distance and you know the truth, especially when kids like these are young and fragile enough to be taken in by this kind of skullduggery. It all came to a head when Kotarou (having made sure that Roman was OK after his bout of heatstroke) took off to look for Akane, and found her walking side by side (though thankfully not hand in hand) with Hira.

That, for me, was really the key moment of the entire story so far. It would have been easy for Kotarou to say nothing – to watch in seething silence as Akane and Hira (neither of whom was really doing anything wrong, though Akane surely realized Hira was interested in her) walked away. In some series he would have. But he didn’t – Kotarou once again showed that for all that he’s mild-mannered and a little shy, he has the heart of a lion. And boy, did he symbolically roar – he strode right up to Hira and told him flat out that he and Akane were dating. He didn’t come right out and say “Back the hell off!”, but he may as well have.

What happened after that was pretty wonderful (apart from arguably the most terrifying junk food billboard ever), as Kotarou and Akane, finally unhitched from the anchor of Chinatsu’s ill intentions, had their first real date. It even led to their first kiss (sort of – but I’m going to count it) and a promise to return, just the two of them. The only fly in the ointment was Chinatsu’s final text to Akane, which ended the episode on a rather sour note – seriously, after all that, is she still not going to give up? It may be time for Akane to take matters into her own hands – I know that’s not her style, but Kotarou has done so a couple times already and it may be her turn, because the only way this ends may be for Akane to cut the cord with Chinatsu flat out. Or, at the very least, tell her that she’s going to unless Chinatsu backs off with extreme prejudice.

On a final note, let me once again say that I hope you guys are watching the omakes, because they really are a significant part of the series. Yes they’re funny, but they’re also very insightful and refreshingly honest – how often do we see mainstream anime that openly acknowledge that 9th-graders are hooking up (and predictably, totally unprepared for the emotional consequences)? They are, don’t kid yourself – in Japan and in the West, too – but it’s a pretty rare thing to see such a taboo addressed so openly.

Omake

41 Comments

  1. I actually respect Chinatsu for what she did. All’s fair in love and war, but Chinatsu didn’t even go all that low. She didn’t try to break the couple up with lies, she just offered each of them another choice: Hira for Akane, Chinatsu for Kota. Chinatsu seems to like Kota more than Akane does too. If the positions were reversed then Akane wouldn’t have cried, just sulked or moped a bit. It’s not like they’ve even been going out long, and the general assumption at the school had been that Akane and Hira were basically made for each other.

    Also I know raging at 14 year old girls doing dumb stuff is fashionable on /a/, but I think we can be better than that.

    Saranto Xul
    Reply

      1. don’t know…i feel better seeing the heroines in harem animes when they openly insulting each other than using another person(hira) to cut-off her “so-called” friend relationship.

        souma
        Reply

    2. No, I agree 100% with Guardian Enzo here. She tried to use Hira to put pressure on their relationship and used him in a really nasty way. She was hoping that he would confess, and since all the girls had been talking about Hira and Akane, she could rationalize in her mind Hira and Akane were probably a better match, also making it difficult for Akane to reject him. It was a really shitty thing to do to Hira and at least she apologized to him.

      And yeah .. man did Kotarou really show himself to be a guy of action. He actually has been right from the start, confessing to Akane quite early on and not giving up on his dreams even with the pressure from his mother (lucky he has an awesome father though).

      Also have to agree about the Omakes. They are pure awesomeness.

      Scruffy
      Reply

  3. Thanks for seeing Chinatsu in the same light as I did. I noticed what she was doing episodes ago. Unknowing to Akane, her so called friend wants to surpass her in every way…including running. Sadly, I had a friend like that in high school as well, but was too stupid to notice. I’ve since learned, “with friends like that you don’t need enemies.”
    Great write up…BTW.

    anifani
    Reply

  4. Chinatsu’s behaviour was deplorable, but then again these are middle school students we’re talking about. I don’t think she’s inherently a homewrecker, it’s just that she’s a young teenager who hasn’t learned about the rules of relationships and dating and the consequences of going against them. From my own experience, when you’re young and raging with hormones and want to be noticed by your crush, you can do some really stupid things. Hopefully when she’s older, Chinatsu will look back on this as a learning experience in life about how there are some things you just don’t do.

    It’s interesting how you mentioned that Akane should start thinking about cutting Chinatsu off, because I believe that’s the exact advice given by her sister back in Episode 6. She probably saw this coming from a mile away.

    ET
    Reply

  5. Oh man. I walked away from this episode really not sure how to interpret Chinatsu’s actions. I wanted to believe she’s a genuinely good person, but this was a whole new low for her. Glad you’ve interpreted it the way you did, Enzo. Hopefully she’ll learn that it’s just not to be, and to further futilely pursue this would cause some unneeded chaos.

    On the other hand, to be fair, even though Chinatsu was the primary reason of my frustration, I have to say, I sensed a little bit of hesitation on Kotarou’s part as well, when he wouldn’t buy the matching hats, or even when he fell for Chinatsu’s scheme when he could’ve mustered up his courage like he did with Hira to ride by Akane’s side instead of Chinatsu’s, but I digress, Chinatsu probably exploited his shyness to her advantage. Which is where is Roman becomes sort of a champion here. I didn’t think I’d appreciate his existence more than just having a crush on a beautiful teacher. Thank you Roman. So to be fair, even someone as brave as Kotarou can have their moments of hesitation, something which I feel like I can’t complain about because it happens to the best of us.

    But in the end, he proved to me once more why I admire him as a man. Way to go, man. Just way to go.

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

  7. I’ve defended Chinatsu on a lot of anime sites with viewers who threw around the word “bitch” so loosely. Seeing those comments, I knew from day one that Chinatsu was gonna be the rival that everyone would hate, simply for being the rival and nothing else, like we see in every other romance where the glorious ship is being threatened.

    After this episode, people have a reason. I’m not gonna defend her actions this time around. After all, this certainly wasn’t her best episode and this was the lowest point for her character so far. Romance can be beautiful and very very ugly depending on the person and situation.

    That said, I still like Chinatsu a lot, but some people just don’t mix together. Maybe they’ll work it out, but Akane and Chinatsu might be the wrong mix and there’s nothing wrong with that. In your school life, nah, life in general, you’re gonna run into people you seem to be cool with but find out that they’re just not the type of people you wanna be around and it doesn’t have to be out of malicious thought either.

    I’m choosing to give Chinatsu the benefit of the doubt here again because this seems to be a very new experience for her and didn’t know exactly how to handle it. Of course there are better, more obvious ways than what she did, we gotta remember, she’s only 14. It leaves a lot of room for her to grow and understand that certain lines cannot be crossed, no matter how hard it may seem.

    Friends sharing the same crush is hard as hell. I said this last episode, but I’ve been on the good end and the bad end of that before. Last episode I explained the time I was on the good end, looking out at the bad, which was my friend. You know deep down it’s not right, but you can’t stand being around friends for 8 hours of the school day, weekends out and stuff seeing them carry on while your left behind and basically forced to cast your feelings aside for the sake of the one you call friend. It’s not as easy, that’s why I’m not too hard on Chinatsu. For me personally, it came to a point where I just wanted to avoid them altogether, which I didn’t want.

    Having said all of that, she still knew what she was doing and got feelings hurt cause of it. I can’t brush off everything simply because she is a kid, because as a growing adolescent, there are certain morals that one is supposed to learn and keep in mind and heart. I don’t feel much sympathy, but mistakes have been made. I can only hope she doesn’t persist any further, for her own good. I don’t wanna lose respect for her character. But for some reason, with that last text, I think the writers are gonna double down on this persistence of hers and I don’t think that’s a good idea for her character. I’m chalking this up as a learning experience for her, so don’t push it further than it should, please?

    Negan
    Reply

    1. Yeah that’s what worries me too. Further persistence would only hurt her character and how Kotarou and Akane’s relationship grows from this point. I don’t want their relationship to grow stronger because of her unintentional “maliciousness”, I want it to grow stronger because of their unforced efforts for each other. Any more than this episode and she becomes an unnecessary “villain”, which is the last thing a beautiful, down-to-earth romance anime like this one needs.

      yoloalchemist
      Reply

  10. Thanks for filling in for Zaiden, Enzo! I love this show so much! Would have been really sad if there were no post at all this week.
    I was kind of frustrated how last week’s episode was just a recap but after this episode I can’t actually be mad. First of all, Amusement parks are a great thing in Anime and I really loved this but I couldn’t quite understand why the characters acted so stupid here. They came as a group right? so how did it end up like this? I know Chinatsu had a masterplan (which didn’t go well according to keikaku* sorrynotsorry) however, that scene with Hina made me mad. Instead of going back to meet with the others, Kotarou just gave him the cold shoulder and went off with Akane. There’s nothing wrong with that I know they’re dating! but still…why would you just leave him there. I thought it was really rude.
    On the other hand, it was really good that they were able to (finally!) say it out loud that they’re going out. Kotarou sure didn’t hold back.
    I was really surprised by the ending. Hira’s words made me think if he actually really meant it or if he was just bluffing and starts to act differently from now on. I really took it that way! (mostly because he asked right away if it was true that they were dating..so I guess he won’t give up so easily?) I could be wrong though, but we’ll have to wait and see I guess.

    I agree with everything you said about Chinatsu here, I really have no sympathy for her as well. What was she thinking anyway? That Akane wasn’t serious when she said they started going out? I think it’s okay if you don’t sit next to your boyfriend/girlfriend all the time but she was actually really ruining the fun for the both of them and that’s really not something a friend should do. I hope she doesn’t start thinking of another stupid plan to confess.

    Loved this when they just laughed it off it was so cute! I guess we can actually expect another Kiss soon?

    Did they made the Omakes longer? It really felt like as if they went for full 5 minutes. It’s really great.
    Why isn’t she a main character? I need more of her shoujo fantasies!

    Kana-chan
    Reply

  12. Enzo, you talk about this being a middle school romance with fragile young hearts, but at the same time you seem to be judging Chinatsu’s actions from the perspective of an adult, and even as though she herself was an adult. I get that what she did was not ideal, but it doesn’t seem fair to single her out in this manner. She may not be a good friend for Akane to have due to her agenda quite seriously conflicting with Akane’s, but I don’t see malice in her actions. It doesn’t seem like she’s unhealthily fixated on Akane and wants to undermine her no matter what. Any even half serious athlete would want to surpass someone ahead of them, and the Kotarou thing seems like an accident by increased exposure, not some grand plan to take everything from her rival. I’ve seen no indication that her interest in Kotarou isn’t genuine, and the “first come, first served” philosophy of love, while noble in theory, doesn’t work very well in real life. Akane knows of her interest in Kotarou but apparently didn’t tell her not to confess to him, Kotarou must have noticed her interest in him but hasn’t told her to back off, she knows Hira is interested in Akane and likely sees them as a perfect would-be couple like the rest of the track team – reasons enough to execute the amusement park operation. At least in her own head, she was probably doing everyone a favor. I wouldn’t blame Akane at all if she ended up hating Chinatsu for this, but I don’t think we should be doing it in her stead. I ship Akane/Kotarou and absolutely don’t want Chinatsu to undermine that, but the way you tore into her here seems excessive to me, especially given that her actions lead to their bond becoming that much stronger. For that catalyst action alone, I can easily forgive her at this point. We’ll have to see what she does next, maybe I’ll have to revise my opinion later.

    Akane Forever
    Reply

    1. When Chinatsu ask for forgiveness from Hira, that drove it home that the bitch knew what she was doing. Worst, instead of asking for forgiveness from Akane, she still continued her charade in the LINE chat acting like the victim in her failed romance.

      With Curly-kun manning up for her, I think its about time that Akane start doing her own share of heavy lifting in their relationship. It has always been Azumi being clutch when it matters while Akane remains passive and goes with the flow.

      So I wanna see Akane doing something tangible to Chinatsu so she stops her charade already in the following episodes. Otherwise, this will bode well to our main couple.

      Raiu
      Reply

    2. I’m not saying Chinatsu should be executed or something – merely that her behavior was unacceptable. Plenty of kids manage to get through puberty without scheming to steal their best friend’s kare/kano.

      This is a time for kids to learn about life, and Chinatsu needs to learn that what she did was over the line by a good margin. And Akane needs to be the one to teach that to her.

      Guardian Enzo
      Reply

  13. I thought this episode was great, there was a lot of built up and I kept wondering if our shy protagonists would shut someone up, and I was so cheering for what Kota did. I’m glad now everyone knows and yas to Roman.

    I’m waiting for Akane to tell her to back off. I had the feeling she wasn’t just as innocent as “I’ll be rejected and move on tee-hee” and this episode proves it. It’ll be great if her character arc ends with some I’m sorrys and growing up though, as little respect I had for her this episode, I hope she doesn’t just become that annoying character for the episodes we have left. It’s one of those times I had 0 sympathy for the unrequited love character. Her last LINE text and using Hira made it worse. At this point I’m Team Onee-chan tbh, but again when Akane womans up and tells her to stop (it’s going to happen right~?) then Chinatsu might grow up and understand her wrongs, that’d be cool.

    South
    Reply

  14. I like Chinatsu more than Akane, at least at the beginning. On previous episode when Chinatsu mention about her LINE message to Akane just before her run I got the lingering feeling that she’s doing that on the purpose, but I just brush it away thinking that “Nah, Chinatsu is a nice girl, she won’t do that”. But this episode just do it for me, that she’s probably do that on purpose to rattle Akane before her run, and she succeed. Akane failed and Chinatsu even set her personal best records.

    When Akane ask for advice from her sister, and Ayane says she should ditch her friend, I disagree because I thought that was too harsh. But now I believe she really need to cut the cord, or at least give Chinatsu a talking to

    KidokuOuyou
    Reply

  15. I love romance anime but I over the years I’ve started to detest romance fans as a group. In every damn series they have to find someone to demonize and hate on because of imagined crimes against their favorite couple. Even older fans who you’d think should know better still do it. I think some people here seriously need to ask themselves whether they’re watching romance for love or for opportunities to hate. Readily throwing around words like ‘zero sympathy’ and ‘bitch’ says more about your immaturity than your target.

    Are people no longer capable of reading episode titles? Hold Back Nothing When Taking Love. The biggest problem with what Chinatsu did was her not following through with her confession, which made her whole setup pointless. Otherwise she’d be the poster child for the title even more than Kotaro. She did the whole thing because she was in love, and in love all is fair as the saying goes.

    Akane should put Chinatsu in her place, huh? How exactly did Akane end up getting lost with Hira in the first place? There’s a limit to wishy-washy and tagging along with a guy who’s into you when you have a boyfriend crosses it. It’s nice that Kotaro saved the day but it never should have come down to that in the first place.

    What makes this show great is that this is one of the few romance series where the creators have not set anyone up for the fans to hate on, so can we please not fall into these immature patterns this time at least? Kids make mistakes, sometimes selfish mistakes, but mature fans need to be able to deal with that without unnecessarily fanning the flames of negativity.

    Kamui
    Reply

    1. Ok, this is where I have to step in. All is fair in love and war, even if it included going after someone that your best friend is already dating? So you think it’s ok for someone to risk jeopardizing a dear friendship in pursuit of a love interest that is not available to that person? And to top it all off, to exploit the feelings of a poor, non the wiser man who never had a chance in the first place to their advantage?

      And don’t you know Akane is timid in the first place? She needs to step up for herself, yes, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Didn’t you also notice that some timidness on her part was only assisted by Kotarou’s hesitation this episode? Everyone is partially at fault here, no one is fully innocent (except maybe Hira because he was fooled into this). But Chinatsu was deliberately driving them apart, well aware of their relationship. Ask yourself, did she ever stop and think what that might do to her friendship with Akane? Like it or not, there is an issue of human morality involved in the equation, so you saying people shouldn’t have a problem with that is like saying cheating is ok because the involved parties are acting based on their feelings.

      And aren’t you taking it too far by accusing people here of immaturity? Believe it or not, zero sympathy doesn’t equal hate. Everyone is well aware that kids make mistakes. Everyone is well aware that Chinatsu (hopefully) may view all this as a learning experience and grow as a person from it all. I, on the other hand, am hoping Chinatsu doesn’t pursue this any further because not only will this hurt herself and her friendship with Akane, but from a storytelling perspective it will make the development of Kotarou and Akane’s relationship feel unnatural. It only worked this time because Kotarou stood up for he and Akane. It won’t work twice, it’ll only hurt the narrative. This romance works because it’s down to earth. Chinatsu being probably not familiar with the concept of morality (unless she proves otherwise in the following episodes) is NOT down to earth, even for someone her age. I mean come on, she’s a senior.

      yoloalchemist
      Reply

      1. Ok, this is where I have to step in.
        You really don’t have to. It’s not a crime to defend a character from attacks.
        All is fair in love and war, even if it included going after someone that your best friend is already dating?
        Are you kidding me by posing the question this way? Do you see the word ‘war’ in that sentence? People have been known to kill their best friends in war when they end up on opposite sides.
        So you think it’s ok for someone to risk jeopardizing a dear friendship in pursuit of a love interest that is not available to that person?
        If she felt it was ok then who am I to judge? It’s not like Akane told her that it’s not ok. People compete against their friends in love rivalry all the time. That alone doesn’t make anyone a ‘bitch’ or warrant ‘zero sympathy’.
        And to top it all off, to exploit the feelings of a poor, non the wiser man who never had a chance in the first place to their advantage?
        How was she supposed to know he had no chance? Hira and Akane always seemed to have a nice rapport, so it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that if he confessed, she might reconsider. Hira was interested in Akane anyway so it’s not like he really lost anything by getting to spend time with her before getting cut off. He’d have felt bad no matter what.

        And don’t you know Akane is timid in the first place? She needs to step up for herself, yes, but Rome wasn’t built in a day. Didn’t you also notice that some timidness on her part was only assisted by Kotarou’s hesitation this episode?
        So, what, if I’ve noticed it before I’m not supposed to mention it? There’s a difference between timid and tagging along with a guy though. Kotaro most definitely didn’t make her do that.
        Everyone is partially at fault here, no one is fully innocent (except maybe Hira because he was fooled into this).
        And yet Chinatsu gets the ‘bitch’ treatment. Like I said, Hira lost nothing in this that he wouldn’t have lost anyway.
        But Chinatsu was deliberately driving them apart, well aware of their relationship. Ask yourself, did she ever stop and think what that might do to her friendship with Akane?
        She wasn’t ‘driving them apart’, she was challenging their resolve. You cannot drive committed people apart merely by providing other options, which was all she did. She didn’t spread nasty rumors or try to turn them against each other, did she? It was also not impossible for Akane to consider Hira if he confessed.
        Like it or not, there is an issue of human morality involved in the equation, so you saying people shouldn’t have a problem with that is like saying cheating is ok because the involved parties are acting based on their feelings.
        There’s a difference between having a problem and loudly declaring ‘zero sympathy’ or calling someone a ‘bitch’. Or are you saying human morality dictates this reaction and there is no option to keep a cool head? No one cheated on anyone here, so that has nothing to do with this.

        And aren’t you taking it too far by accusing people here of immaturity? Believe it or not, zero sympathy doesn’t equal hate. Everyone is well aware that kids make mistakes. Everyone is well aware that Chinatsu (hopefully) may view all this as a learning experience and grow as a person from it all.
        I don’t think I am, since I only said that about people who display immaturity and not everyone. Calling someone a ‘bitch’ looks like hate to me, and definitely immature in this situation. ‘Zero sympathy’ is at the very least an overbearing show of moral superiority, and ‘i defended her before but now she’s suddenly the worst’ turn on a dime disawowal over something like this isn’t what I can call mature. Chinatsu is infinitely far from someone like Akane-sensei of Kuzu no Honkai, and even she didn’t deserve ‘zero sympathy’.
        I, on the other hand, am hoping Chinatsu doesn’t pursue this any further because not only will this hurt herself and her friendship with Akane, but from a storytelling perspective it will make the development of Kotarou and Akane’s relationship feel unnatural. It only worked this time because Kotarou stood up for he and Akane. It won’t work twice, it’ll only hurt the narrative. This romance works because it’s down to earth.
        I’m not sure I was able to fully parse what you’re trying to say here but I think I agree overall.
        Chinatsu being probably not familiar with the concept of morality (unless she proves otherwise in the following episodes) is NOT down to earth, even for someone her age. I mean come on, she’s a senior.
        Here we go again. It sure is easy to armchair the ‘morality’ of someone acting on teenage hormones more than anything. Making hyperbolic judgements like ‘not familiar with the concept of morality’ is not a very mature thing to do in my opinion.

        Kamui
        Reply

  16. “It’s not a crime to defend a character from attacks.”
    And it’s ok to insult other people when you defend a character?

    “If she felt it was ok then who am I to judge? It’s not like Akane told her that it’s not ok. People compete against their friends in love rivalry all the time. That alone doesn’t make anyone a ‘bitch’ or warrant ‘zero sympathy’.”
    Well, if you feel like you’re not free to judge then don’t, which is to say nothing about how other people think of her character. Akane didn’t tell her anything because she’s not aware of what Chinatsu is doing in the first place. If she knew and told her whether it’s ok or not is a different story. And, can you just process the whole thing once more? It is NOT TOTALLY OK to pursue a love interest who is already dating someone else, especially when that someone else happens to be your best friend. When people compete against their friends in love rivalry, it’s for someone who isn’t with any of them in the first place. The only way for the losing party to win is if for the current couple to break up. And no, providing other options is also not ok in this case. Those humans beings one is dating aren’t the stuff of a gallery from which one just chooses from. It’s not that simple.

    “How was she supposed to know he had no chance? Hira and Akane always seemed to have a nice rapport, so it wasn’t unreasonable to expect that if he confessed, she might reconsider. Hira was interested in Akane anyway so it’s not like he really lost anything by getting to spend time with her before getting cut off. He’d have felt bad no matter what.”
    Ok, I’ll actually agree with only that, but Chinatsu should still know better than to offer him as an ‘option’. He’s a human being as well. Her apology to him in the end meant she didn’t consider his feelings when it was all said and done.

    “Kotaro most definitely didn’t make her do that.”
    Because he HESITATED. Would she have pushed him away out of annoyance from intervening between her and Hira had he not hesitated right then and there?
    https://randomc.net/image/Tsuki%20ga%20Kirei/Tsuki%20ga%20Kirei%20-%2007%20-%20Large%2025.jpg
    This tells me the answer is ‘no’.

    “she was challenging their resolve”
    Do you have solid proof for that? Like an internal monologue, a text, or something that was displayed prior to this episode? What are you basing this on?

    “You cannot drive committed people apart merely by providing other options, which was all she did. ”
    Again, human beings, not gallery items.

    “She didn’t spread nasty rumors or try to turn them against each other, did she?”
    Thank god she didn’t. Otherwise I would’ve dropped this anime all together.

    “It was also not impossible for Akane to consider Hira if he confessed.”
    You’re not giving Akane enough credit. It wasn’t impossible, but it was definitely highly improbable, and had it happened, it wouldn’t be true to Akane’s character.

    “Or are you saying human morality dictates this reaction and there is no option to keep a cool head?”
    Like it or not, the answer is yes, human morality does dictate this initial reaction. Humans can’t help themselves but to react in a certain way when they see something they don’t like, and something like what Chinatsu is doing is sure to do that. And the problem is, Chinatsu at the moment isn’t really doing anything to explain herself to the audience, not through words nor through actions. Last episode, she said she wanted to confess to Kotarou just to get a closure. She knew he’d reject her, so… why delay the inevitable? If closure is her intent, then why didn’t she do it? Why stall? She only hurt herself, and she’s not explaining herself. Can’t help if people be wary about someone like that. If that’s immature for you, then it’s immature for you.

    “Zero sympathy’ is at the very least an overbearing show of moral superiority, and ‘i defended her before but now she’s suddenly the worst’ turn on a dime disawowal over something like this isn’t what I can call mature.”
    Here’s the thing. People who defended her believed she could be a good person after all. Her behavior this episode showed that her actions invite suspicion. Like I said, her behavior is erratic, and she’s not explaining herself. It’s only natural that people who believed in her would call her such things, because she effectively made them lose faith in her. Losing faith in something is not that easy. Again, if that’s immature for you, then it’s immature for you.

    “It sure is easy to armchair the ‘morality’ of someone acting on teenage hormones more than anything. Making hyperbolic judgements like ‘not familiar with the concept of morality’ is not a very mature thing to do in my opinion.”
    For the last time, if it’s immature for you, then it’s immature for you. I’m just hoping she doesn’t cross a line she most certainly doesn’t see all because of her ‘teenage hormones’. Her character and a portion of the story will get ridiculous afterwards.

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

    1. And it’s ok to insult other people when you defend a character?
      Well, I’m sorry if saying that namecalling and labeling people and dramatically overreacting based on personal bias is immature is insulting to someone. Besides I said this as a general thing and didn’t get personal with anyone.
      Well, if you feel like you’re not free to judge then don’t, which is to say nothing about how other people think of her character.
      Man, you asked me if it was a good idea to jeopardize a friendship to pursue a love interest. I said I was not going to judge if the person doing it felt such a risk was acceptable to them. They could end up losing their friendship and that’s punishment enough, what purpose would it serve for me to additionally namecall and denounce them? I’m perfectly free to judge, I just don’t see it as a good idea to pile on when it’s one mistake of youth like this.
      Akane didn’t tell her anything because she’s not aware of what Chinatsu is doing in the first place. If she knew and told her whether it’s ok or not is a different story.
      Come on, she was right there while Chinatsu was doing it and could have objected any time. If she didn’t want to do it in front of everyone there was every opportunity to pull Chinatsu to the side and talk to her. She didn’t do anything, just as she never told her not to confess.
      And, can you just process the whole thing once more?
      No amount of processing is going to get me to a point where I’d feel the need to call Chinatsu a ‘bitch’ or throw around words like ‘zero sympathy’. Sure thing, it would be best not to compete for your friend’s love interest, but as you keep repeating yourself, human beings can’t help themselves. In Chinatsu’s case, she was not simply trying to steal from Akane leaving her with nothing, she was trying to get her set up with someone else, someone everyone around them thought was perfect for her. That is not the kind of crime people are making it out to be. Even her official character description says she doesn’t do things out of malice, so why do I have to cast her out for this?
      Ok, I’ll actually agree with only that, but Chinatsu should still know better than to offer him as an ‘option’. He’s a human being as well. Her apology to him in the end meant she didn’t consider his feelings when it was all said and done.
      It’s not logical to blame her for both getting him involved as a wedge and knowing that he had no chance to be a wedge. If his confession had succeeded, he’d have been extatic about it. Chinatsu apologized because she knew how she herself felt and was sorry that Hira had to feel the same because of her. He’d have felt bad at some point anyway, it just wouldn’t have had involvement by Chinatsu then.
      Because he HESITATED. Would she have pushed him away out of annoyance from intervening between her and Hira had he not hesitated right then and there? This tells me the answer is ‘no’.
      Sorry, I still don’t understand how his hesitation was any worse than her own and how it made her tag along with Hira.
      Do you have solid proof for that? Like an internal monologue, a text, or something that was displayed prior to this episode? What are you basing this on?
      What are people basing it on when calling her a ‘bitch’? Did anyone in the show call her that? I somehow recall her other friends having plenty of sympathy for her, not at all zero. In any case, I’m interpreting the situation the same as everyone. I’m not claiming she said in so many words that she was going to test their resolve, I just summarized her actions in this way.
      Thank god she didn’t. Otherwise I would’ve dropped this anime all together.
      How can you watch romance anime at all when almost every show has something like that going on at some point?
      You’re not giving Akane enough credit. It wasn’t impossible, but it was definitely highly improbable, and had it happened, it wouldn’t be true to Akane’s character.
      I was actually not talking about Akane’s pow, I was talking about Chinatsu’s interpretation of what might happen.
      Like it or not, the answer is yes, human morality does dictate this initial reaction.
      It’s news to me that being a moral person requires namecalling and overreacting.
      And the problem is, Chinatsu at the moment isn’t really doing anything to explain herself to the audience, not through words nor through actions. Last episode, she said she wanted to confess to Kotarou just to get a closure. She knew he’d reject her, so… why delay the inevitable? If closure is her intent, then why didn’t she do it? Why stall? She only hurt herself, and she’s not explaining herself.
      She has not committed a crime and isn’t in an interrogation room, so she doesn’t have to rush to explain herself. Besides. I don’t see what explanation would satisfy those who have already decided that she is a ‘bitch’, which according to you is the correct reaction to have. Or would it be a sign of maturity and integrity to first call someone a ‘bitch’ and then backtrack once you’ve heard an explanation to something that some here have claimed has crossed every possible line? As for her stalling, why is she not allowed to hesitate the same as others? People put a lot of effort into delaying the inevitable.
      Here’s the thing. People who defended her believed she could be a good person after all. Her behavior this episode showed that her actions invite suspicion. Like I said, her behavior is erratic, and she’s not explaining herself. It’s only natural that people who believed in her would call her such things, because she effectively made them lose faith in her. Losing faith in something is not that easy.
      It seems to me that it’s less about people losing faith in her and more about typical fanboy behavior where any danger to the favorite coupling get’s demonized. I don’t see jumping from defending a character immediately to ‘bitch!’ as a natural progression even if they did something a lot more severe. In this pretty mild case I definitely don’t see it as a mature thing to do. It’s simply not right to redefine the whole person from good to bad over one questionable judgement call, especially with people as young as these, falling in love for the first time.

      Kamui
      Reply

  17. “Come on, she was right there while Chinatsu was doing it and could have objected any time. If she didn’t want to do it in front of everyone there was every opportunity to pull Chinatsu to the side and talk to her. She didn’t do anything, just as she never told her not to confess.”
    Goes back to the same point of agreement that Akane needs to stand up for herself. Thing is, that’s how much faith she has in her friend. Chinatsu had better not betray her.

    “No amount of processing is going to get me to a point where I’d feel the need to call Chinatsu a ‘bitch’ or throw around words like ‘zero sympathy’. Sure thing, it would be best not to compete for your friend’s love interest, but as you keep repeating yourself, human beings can’t help themselves. In Chinatsu’s case, she was not simply trying to steal from Akane leaving her with nothing, she was trying to get her set up with someone else, someone everyone around them thought was perfect for her. That is not the kind of crime people are making it out to be. Even her official character description says she doesn’t do things out of malice, so why do I have to cast her out for this?”
    No amount of rationalizing would ever get me to a point where I’d feel there is certain goodness in her actions, because they just come off as suspicious. I feel like you and I will be at an impasse with this as you say Chinatsu is doing Akane good by offering her Hira as an option… when Akane is already dating someone and that it wouldn’t be ok to just cut things off with that someone just to date another guy. How the freaking hell that is any ok with you is beyond me, and frankly speaking I don’t wish to know. Agree to disagree I say. And no one is telling you to cast her out, just that you’d understand and accept why other people would do.

    “It’s not logical to blame her for both getting him involved as a wedge and knowing that he had no chance to be a wedge. If his confession had succeeded, he’d have been extatic about it. Chinatsu apologized because she knew how she herself felt and was sorry that Hira had to feel the same because of her. He’d have felt bad at some point anyway, it just wouldn’t have had involvement by Chinatsu then.”
    That doesn’t make it any better. She was still going around, playing her little invisible games of hook up, and not paying attention for what it might do to the people involved. It could’ve been either her and Hira or Kotarou and Akane that would get hurt. She was being dishonest and inconsiderate, and I believe that’s indisputable.

    “Sorry, I still don’t understand how his hesitation was any worse than her own and how it made her tag along with Hira.”
    You must’ve have missed that Akane was also upset with Kotarou for his hesitation, which contributed to her walking away with Hira. It’s all in the faces.

    “I somehow recall her other friends having plenty of sympathy for her, not at all zero.”
    Her other friends lack OUR point of view. There is a difference. Hell, even Ramon had some of our point of view and look how he made the whole thing come around for the better for Kotarou and Akane.

    “In any case, I’m interpreting the situation the same as everyone. I’m not claiming she said in so many words that she was going to test their resolve, I just summarized her actions in this way.”
    So in other words, you don’t have proof.

    “How can you watch romance anime at all when almost every show has something like that going on at some point?”
    Because this one is down to earth, just like I said, which makes it a special case. The whole thing would just feel unnatural in comparison to other romances.

    “I was actually not talking about Akane’s pow, I was talking about Chinatsu’s interpretation of what might happen.”
    Wow. So Chinatsu isn’t thinking much of her best friend, is what you’re saying. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. I really hope she proves otherwise.

    “She has not committed a crime and isn’t in an interrogation room, so she doesn’t have to rush to explain herself.”
    So, you want people to hate her even more as the episodes go by? Cause that’s what gonna happen if the show doesn’t explain her any time soon. Best sooner rather than later in order to preserve what little good image she has in the eyes of the majority. We’re already half way through.

    “Besides. I don’t see what explanation would satisfy those who have already decided that she is a ‘bitch’, which according to you is the correct reaction to have. Or would it be a sign of maturity and integrity to first call someone a ‘bitch’ and then backtrack once you’ve heard an explanation to something that some here have claimed has crossed every possible line?”
    Only time will tell I guess.

    “As for her stalling, why is she not allowed to hesitate the same as others? People put a lot of effort into delaying the inevitable.”
    Because she’ll only hurt herself more if she hesitates. The answer will be the same. Her stalling is just her clinging to a false hope, especially with a man as committed as Kotarou.

    “It seems to me that it’s less about people losing faith in her and more about typical fanboy behavior where any danger to the favorite coupling get’s demonized. I don’t see jumping from defending a character immediately to ‘bitch!’ as a natural progression even if they did something a lot more severe. In this pretty mild case I definitely don’t see it as a mature thing to do. It’s simply not right to redefine the whole person from good to bad over one questionable judgement call, especially with people as young as these, falling in love for the first time.”
    That may be, but with all the compiled doubt about her character from the previous episodes, there is also the concern that if she doesn’t do anything that indicates she has wisened up and grew up from this experience and instead would continue to pursue the futility that is Kotarou’s affection for her, like I said, she’d become ridiculous and fans would just love to hate on her. So you’re kinda right. The last thing a down to earth romance like this needs is to turn into a fiasco just because one character was the sole focus of the whole anime. The writers had better know what they’re doing with her and not turn her into a bad joke.

    yoloalchemist
    Reply

    2. Thing is, that’s how much faith she has in her friend. Chinatsu had better not betray her.
      So she hasn’t even betrayed her yet, but it’s still perfectly normal to call her a ‘bitch’? Make up your mind, either she deserves ‘zero sympathy’ or it’s just empty grandstanding for people to talk like that.
      No amount of rationalizing would ever get me to a point where I’d feel there is certain goodness in her actions, because they just come off as suspicious. I feel like you and I will be at an impasse with this as you say Chinatsu is doing Akane good by offering her Hira as an option… when Akane is already dating someone and that it wouldn’t be ok to just cut things off with that someone just to date another guy. How the freaking hell that is any ok with you is beyond me, and frankly speaking I don’t wish to know. Agree to disagree I say. And no one is telling you to cast her out, just that you’d understand and accept why other people would do.
      So if you’re hellbent on her being up to no good, what explanation must she give then? What would be the point if she’s already crucified? If you can’t believe that someone in her situation could persuade themselves that ‘well, she’s already into this guy I’ve got a crush on, but seems like there’s still some tentativeness there and there’s this other guy who’s into her who she’s also pretty friendly with and everyone thinks they’d be perfect together so why not push them together so I can hopefully hook up with my crush and everyone’s happy in the end’, you don’t have a very good imagination. You may find this kind of thinking morally reprehensible but can’t you see that there’s no malice in it, just stupid teenager-in-love rationalization? It’s not an impossible scenario either, just a very unlikely one, but hope dies last. And apparently I now need a disclaimer that my defense of Chinatsu doesn’t mean I’m her identical twin sister who would always do the exact same things as she.
      That doesn’t make it any better. She was still going around, playing her little invisible games of hook up, and not paying attention for what it might do to the people involved. It could’ve been either her and Hira or Kotarou and Akane that would get hurt. She was being dishonest and inconsiderate, and I believe that’s indisputable.
      See above. And it’s a questionable tactic to first claim that she didn’t consider Hira’s feelings and then switch to some other grievance when I pointed out that maybe she did. As for indisputable, I’ve been disputing it and I haven’t been struck down by lightning so far.
      You must’ve have missed that Akane was also upset with Kotarou for his hesitation, which contributed to her walking away with Hira. It’s all in the faces.
      So what if she was upset? She herself was just as hesitant to out their relationship and with her self-confidence problems she really should be more understanding of others on this topic. In any case, Chinatsu only invited Hira and paired herself with Kotaro, she couldn’t make Akane then walk off with Hira, which obviously got his hopes up. He was doubly stunned by Kotaro’s couple announcement because Akane had been tagging along with him.
      Her other friends lack OUR point of view. There is a difference. Hell, even Ramon had some of our point of view and look how he made the whole thing come around for the better for Kotarou and Akane.
      I think it’s pretty obvious that our point of view is not the same. I can agree that they don’t have quite as much information, but even if they did, I don’t see them giving her the ‘zero sympathy’ treatment, only ‘Chinatsu no baka’.
      So in other words, you don’t have proof.
      Why are you making this sound like some huge victory when I didn’t set out to definitively prove anything in the first place, I simply stated my interpretation. It clear that if it wasn’t in the anime it’s my opinion and nothing more.
      Because this one is down to earth, just like I said, which makes it a special case. The whole thing would just feel unnatural in comparison to other romances.
      Down to earth apparently excludes the possibility of one friend crushing on another’s boyfriend because that has never happened in rl.
      Wow. So Chinatsu isn’t thinking much of her best friend, is what you’re saying. I wouldn’t be surprised at this point. I really hope she proves otherwise.
      There’s nothing unusual in someone liking more than one person at a time or being uncertain in their choice, so it’s not half as far fetched or terrible as you’re twisting it into.
      So, you want people to hate her even more as the episodes go by? Cause that’s what gonna happen if the show doesn’t explain her any time soon. Best sooner rather than later in order to preserve what little good image she has in the eyes of the majority. We’re already half way through.
      Man, when exactly was she supposed to have explained herself? There was no room to have done that in the episode. And again I don’t really get what explanation you’re even after if you’ve already made up your mind. What you want is repentance, not an explanation, because I’ve been trying to give you an explanation and you don’t want to hear any of it like you made very clear above.
      Because she’ll only hurt herself more if she hesitates. The answer will be the same. Her stalling is just her clinging to a false hope, especially with a man as committed as Kotarou.
      So now she’s supposed to know how committed he is because we the viewers do? In any case, no one has disputed what you just said, hesitating in these situations is just a thing people do.
      So you’re kinda right. The last thing a down to earth romance like this needs is to turn into a fiasco just because one character was the sole focus of the whole fandom. The writers had better know what they’re doing with her and not turn her into a bad joke.
      Nice! I win in the end! 🙂 I would only add that the writers can’t prevent the fanboys from rioting, they can only avoid deliberately fueling it and I think they’ve a good job at that. But apparently people still need to hate on someone so we have the situation at hand.

      Kamui
      Reply

      1. No, I don’t necessarily want repentance as you claim. Any explanation would be fine just as long as it’s within the scope of the story. And you are so not succeeding in giving me that. So please stop thinking that you have the capacity to convince me. You just don’t. In return, you’re free to call me immature all you want.
        But beyond that… I don’t have a very good imagination? That’s your counterargument now? Wow, sir, congratulations *slow clap* you’re just getting desperate at this point. I did say I don’t wish to know how you think about such things, and looks like I’m about right. Between some agreements but mostly disagreements, you are just trying too hard to make your arguments right that you don’t check and see how some are filled with less than plausible defenses, namely this
        “So if you’re hellbent on her being up to no good, what explanation must she give then? What would be the point if she’s already crucified? If you can’t believe that someone in her situation could persuade themselves that ‘well, she’s already into this guy I’ve got a crush on, but seems like there’s still some tentativeness there and there’s this other guy who’s into her who she’s also pretty friendly with and everyone thinks they’d be perfect together so why not push them together so I can hopefully hook up with my crush and everyone’s happy in the end’, you don’t have a very good imagination. You may find this kind of thinking morally reprehensible but can’t you see that there’s no malice in it, just stupid teenager-in-love rationalization? It’s not an impossible scenario either, just a very unlikely one, but hope dies last.”
        I dare you to name one instance in real life where this happens and that the involved parties considered it ok at the time.

        At this point, it’s pretty obvious we’ll just agree to disagree. I don’t expect you to understand nor do I want you to force yourself to, just like I won’t. However, since was this argument about winning or losing as you seem to be making it out to be? We’re not in a competition to determine who is right and who is wrong. I just got in to tell you that people can rationalize about this how their minds can do. We all interpret things differently. Your opinion can never discredit theirs, and vice versa.

        yoloalchemist
        Reply

      3. I very much doubt this is about my ‘capacity’ to convince you if you’ve simply made up your mind and have already rejected anything that has not been explicitly stated or shown in the show as an explanation. The thing about imagination was not a counterargument of any kind, just an observation based on your ‘no amount of rationalizing would ever get me to a point where I’d feel there is certain goodness in her actions’. I get that it was supposed to be a witty repartee to my line, but unlike my statement that I wouldn’t want to resort to immature behavior just because I’m upset about something, yours is a denial of any alternate interpretation of Chinatsu being possible, which is untenable in a discussion. If I’m sounding desperate that’s because I’m dealing with a person who demands from me something not explicitly given in the show while rejecting anything not explicitly given in the show. The line of thinking I gave for her was never supposed to be an end-all argument, just one possible version I could imagine, being as I’m not afraid to try that.

        Your new demand that I give an exact parallel from real life with all parties approving of it 100% from now to eternity is a nice one, because even if I did that, you wouldn’t accept it anyway and in any case there would be no way for you to verify that its true even if you wanted to believe. You’ve failed to take note that what I’ve been talking about is not about having an exact analogy in rl at all. Chinatsu is under no obligation to provide a 100% perfect solution for everyone. Extrapolating from your demands, she would be a bad person even if she let things be, bacause while Akane and Kotaro would be happy, she and Hira would still be hurt. All she really has to do is not act out of malice, and it doesn’t seem to me she has malice. A person causing problems without ill intent should not be called a ‘bitch’ and deserves at least some sympathy. It’s the fanboys’ need to go looking for malice when simple foolishness would fit the bill and penchant to hate on any threat to their precious pairing is what I have a problem with.

        Also, I don’t care about ‘winning’ this, that was just a dig in reference to your triumphant ‘so in other words, you don’t have proof.’ declaration, which was so captain obvious that the only point for it seemed to be to have some sort of a victory.

        About this whole thing, it seems to me that for whatever reason you took offense to me calling certain behaviors immature, while it wasn’t even directed at you as you don’t actually seem to have ‘zero sympathy’ and haven’t called anyone a ‘bitch’. You’ve been so busy repeating that I can call you immature that you haven’t noticed that I haven’t called you that even once. You’re perfectly free to criticize Chinatsu, obviously doing that is not immature in itself. There’s never been any need for you to attempt to vindicate other people’s namecalling and grandstanding as part of defending your position. Otherwise you’ll end up in a ridiculous situation where you have to emote about me ‘claiming’ that you want repentance while at the same time equating yourself with those for who have already taken a clear position that no explanation would suffice.

        Kamui
        Reply

    3. When you use an adjective like “immature” in a way to describe people. That is called name-calling, that is the definition of attacking a person rather than discussing an issue. Whether a person actually takes offense to it is another story.

      You never said “hey yoloalchemist, you’re immature”, but your first comment on this post, “Readily throwing around words like ‘zero sympathy’ and ‘bitch’ says more about your immaturity than your target” is literally pointing a finger at EVERYONE who feels like Chinatsu is a “bitch” is immature. That is the meaning of your statement. Totally understand where you’re coming from but if you had said something like, “I feel that using words like ‘zero sympathy’ and ‘bitch’ is too harsh”…you would’ve saved so much of your time and effort in trying to defend yourself.

      As for my honest opinion on Chinatsu. Whoo. Boy. Damn. I was so close to dropping this anime after watching the last episode. I mean I was already thinking, “Wait WHAT. Did she just literally asked her best friend to allow her a chance to confess?! Like moments after she found out they are dating?!” Not gonna lie, *raises up hand* I’m definitely one of the people who thought “What a biiiiitch.” Because seriously who does this?! I say that but this actually happened to a friend of mine back in highschool. She told a mutual friend of ours that she likes a guy, next thing I know that mutual friend is dating the guy. UGH. Serious toxic shit going on with that girl. That was legit the tip of the iceberg. Pretty sure she tried to do the same with me when I liked another guy. Let’s just say 10+ years later (yikes my age is exposed!) we are both not friends with her. HMM I WONDER WHY.

      Yes understandably Chinatsu is only 14 years old. Still a child and children are selfish. But when you exert that selfishness on a friendship, that’s just morally wrong. I hope that my daughter is never like this. You really don’t get far in life when you’re not considerate of your friends’ feelings.

      So when it came to THIS episode. Hoooly cow. I was just seething in annoyance. I walked into this anime really hoping for a simple one that focuses on the development of a relationship because you really don’t get that in an anime. How disappointed I was when Chinatsu and Hira came along, all I could think of is that this is unnecessary DRAMA. Guuuuuys!! Relationships are interesting without drama!! Trust me on this one, when you see me and my 6+ years boyfriend have a burp conversation or a garbage throwing competition (like bball), we are legit the pinnacle of “interesting”!!! No drama needed!! The same can apply to this anime.

      But no, this anime chose to go the drama route. I actually didn’t realize how terrible Chinatsu’s actions were until Enzo mentioned about how Hira was being exploited. He was right, the poor guy! Chinatsu actually took the time and effort to plan out a way to basically break Akane and Koutarou apart. Girl if you truly wanted to confess and move on, you don’t do those things. She obviously wanted more. So what did she do? She lied and manipulated her way into getting what she wanted. I’m fine with Chinatsu wanting to get Koutarou’s affection. I’m not fine with HOW she did it. If Chinatsu had actually been more upfront and HONEST to Akane and said, “You know what, I like him a lot and I know that you two are dating. But I still want to go after him okay” – THAT would’ve been still annoying but now she’s more relatable and interesting. But she didn’t own up to that. Instead she chose manipulation. That’s what differentiates between a strong character and a bitch.

      In the end, I am SO SO glad Koutarou actually put his foot down. I’m really looking forward to seeing his continued growth. Between him and Akane, he is definitely more interesting. Really wishing the best for these two!

      simplyrobby
      Reply

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