Balancing Toy

For people wondering about the ending: it's extremely open-ended, but if you follow the rhetoric in the narration, a strong case is made for a Seiji ending. Stuff in the last chapter hinted at the possibility. In particular, she describes how she "can't be her (mother)", however she goes on to contradict this facet of her monologue with "I want you to grant me this one selfish request (I want Seiji)". She then says "in the future I might fall in love with someone... doesn't it sound crazy for Seiji, who raised me, to have no one close to him then?". Finally we have "so... whatever happens, forgive him okay?", overlapping a panel clearly depicting Haru and Seiji's legs, as Haru runs towards him.
We can conclude from this that Haru loves neither Bonta or Towa (since she says that she's yet to love someone). Also 2 major themes of the chapter provide evidence for a Seiji ending; Haru's mother only having room in her heart for Haru (hence the "so... forgive him" as opposed to the usual "forgive me" comment), and Haru's eagerness to continue the Ichikawa name, as well as give something back to Seiji.

 

Funnily enough, the last 10 or so pages all contain supporting evidence for all 3 potential romantic relationships (tsundere-Bonta, "come live with us"-Towa), however the last two seem like an afterthought, a way to leave it up to readers to decide whether or not she ends up with her dad. Yamakawa Aiji was worried about a Usagi Drop-esque backlash? Your guess is as good as mine. I find it more romantic that way though. Seems like a waste of reading otherwise. Seiji would still be alone and Haru would still be ambiguously attached in this strange nebulous "more than father, less than lover" relationship. Haru/Seiji would kinda remind me less of Usagi Drop and more of Hachimatsu no Clover, where the girl picked the most emotionally fulfilling romantic partner, rather than the "heat of passion" Bonta-type. 

I recomended you to re-read again over & over, its clearly there no usagi drop for this series. They keep Father-daughter relationship, and haru want seiji together with chie.

For people wondering about the ending: it's extremely open-ended, but if you follow the rhetoric in the narration, a strong case is made for a Seiji ending. Stuff in the last chapter hinted at the possibility. In particular, she describes how she "can't be her (mother)", however she goes on to contradict this facet of her monologue with "I want you to grant me this one selfish request (I want Seiji)". She then says "in the future I might fall in love with someone... doesn't it sound crazy for Seiji, who raised me, to have no one close to him then?". Finally we have "so... whatever happens, forgive him okay?", overlapping a panel clearly depicting Haru and Seiji's legs, as Haru runs towards him.
We can conclude from this that Haru loves neither Bonta or Towa (since she says that she's yet to love someone). Also 2 major themes of the chapter provide evidence for a Seiji ending; Haru's mother only having room in her heart for Haru (hence the "so... forgive him" as opposed to the usual "forgive me" comment), and Haru's eagerness to continue the Ichikawa name, as well as give something back to Seiji.

Funnily enough, the last 10 or so pages all contain supporting evidence for all 3 potential romantic relationships (tsundere-Bonta, "come live with us"-Towa), however the last two seem like an afterthought, a way to leave it up to readers to decide whether or not she ends up with her dad. Yamakawa Aiji was worried about a Usagi Drop-esque backlash? Your guess is as good as mine. I find it more romantic that way though. Seems like a waste of reading otherwise. Seiji would still be alone and Haru would still be ambiguously attached in this strange nebulous "more than father, less than lover" relationship. Haru/Seiji would kinda remind me less of Usagi Drop and more of Hachimatsu no Clover, where the girl picked the most emotionally fulfilling romantic partner, rather than the "heat of passion" Bonta-type. 

Fue confuso, pero agradable al mismo tiempo...

Me alegra saber que no fui la única que quedó un poco confundida con el final, aunque creo que entendí como fue la cosa mas o menos. Igual muy bonita la historia. :3

Didn't knew that this series was WAY OVER.

Had to re-read from chapter 1..

And I must say..

I WAS FREAKING BADLY SH**TY DISAPPOINF**KINGLY ANGRY WITH THE ENDING!

*sigh*

Why did I even bother reading it.

And that ending page.. Could have made it clearer..

*sigh*

Seriously freaking ticked off with the ending.

I love this!! I love how it stays on focus that they keep a father-daughter relationship despite not being blood-related (I wish Haru would call Seiji 'dad' soon...)

I don't ship anyone with anyone, tbh. I can't bring myself to like Bonta, so meh. And I would really love to see Haru and Towa become siblings instead of lovers, so that's clearly not shipping lol.

At first I also disliked Chie, but I love how we got to see more sides of her and that she's actually a pretty person both outside and inside.

The ending felt a bit off. Or maybe it's just because I liked it so much I wanted to read more, ahaha. Still it was nice and acceptable.

That was sweet to the end. Although I initially had some doubts, I really grew to love all the characters. Towa would be a great little brother to Haru in my opinion

After reading the last chap i would say it again, this brings an usagi drop feeling to me :3 ....

Just read this manga and i can`t say that i understand it at all. Too much complicated romance themes in it man.

Chapter 10 isn't really clear on whether Haru choose Bonta or Towa. 

We actually updated page 181-182 today, thanks to input from a fellow staff and her friend. For a clearer understanding of the translation, read this page and the next. Hope that helps! http://stilettoheelsteam.com/comics/reader/read/balancing_toy_/en/2/10/page/25

Chapter 10 isn't really clear on whether Haru choose Bonta or Towa. 

It's bonta, I think she was telling Towa to live at her house as a step brother.

Chapter 10 isn't really clear on whether Haru choose Bonta or Towa. 

definitely not with towa

Chapter 10 isn't really clear on whether Haru choose Bonta or Towa. 

I don't see how people see the connection on her being with her dad, she never saw him like that and I don't think seiji sees her as a love interest..
They see each other as family, after her mom died, they seeked compassion with each other AS family, nothing else.
 

This latest chapter solidified that, she can't see him as anything less than a dad.(Ch.9 Page 40)
 

And also in this chapter, it seems that Seiji pushed Haru to keep seeking Bonta. In a way to help him, I don't know if what Haru feels for him is truly love, maybe nostalgia or some sorts.

I never really saw Seiji as an option since it seemed pretty clear from the start that Haru's mother was his only one true love and if there was a second option, it would most likely be Chie. Also, I love seeing how Haru and Seiji grow together as a family despite not being blood related because it shows that being a family doesn't really have to do with blood. Haru seemed pretty set on Bonta from the start anyway, him being the one to support her when both Seiji and her mother wasn't there. She did say that she disliked Towa (although I think she warmed up to him a bit) and Towa doesn't seem to really like her in that way either so he's out of the picture.

Haru and Bonta have already claimed that they were special to each other anyway.

Haru and Bonta for the win!

I can't believe people are wanting her to get together with her father. Just because they are not biologically related doesn't mean that he isn't her father. He took her in since she was a young child and raised her. He refers to her as his daughter and she thinks of him as her father because that's what they are - father and daughter. It's 100% sexual abuse if he touches Haru.

Hey, don't blame the players, blame the game. In this case, the game only offers 3* possible routes;

1. Seiji, a bit weird but overall decent.

2. Bonta, a complete retard.

3. Towa, who has the smile of a future serial killer.

Pretty obvious which one the readers would ship for, though imho that's not really what this story is about. It's more just a series of snapshots of a girl growing up and the people close to her. I doubt we'll see any relationships starting here, considering the next chapter is supposedly the last.

* Personally, if I were her and truly thought of my future, I'd go for Seiji's friend, Kawabata. Seiji will lose all his money on gardening supplies, Towa will end up in prison, and Bonta will become Ponta the Clown in some amusement park. Kawabata on the other hand drives an Audi R8.

I can't believe people are wanting her to get together with her father. Just because they are not biologically related doesn't mean that he isn't her father. He took her in since she was a young child and raised her. He refers to her as his daughter and she thinks of him as her father because that's what they are - father and daughter. It's 100% sexual abuse if he touches Haru.

Is chapter 9 the last chapter?

Chapter 10 is the last chapter and than it is completed. 

Is chapter 9 the last chapter?

Ahh finally some Seiji supporters here, I've been rooting for him since day one. Towa and Bonta sure are cute, and I like their interactions with Haru, especially Towa.

But Seiji is the best guy. I'd go for him any day <3

Just 2 more chapters to go, not sure how everything will be resolved, at this point Bonta is ahead of the others. And according to Haru, Seiji is not even in the picture T_T

I totally agree that Seiji is the best, the circumstances in this story is way different from Usagi Drop.

You know, and I'm sure I will get dumped on a bit for this, I think I'm rooting for Seiji.  He's the best guy, simple as that.  Bonta's not a bad fellow really, but he's kind of dim and I know he's still figuring out how to convey his feelings yadda yadda but I get tired of waiting for him to stop acting like an ass all the time.  And the other guy is, um, ambiguous?  If she's with him she'll never figure out if he likes her or just likes studying her or something.

Seiji on the other hand is a great guy.  He's thoughtful enough not to be shallow, but he doesn't let it get in the way of having a heart of gold.  He puts her first, he cares about her from here to infinity.  And he's probably the best looking of the three for that matter.  

In Usagi Drop that "father-daughter" ending sucked because it came out of left field and seemed to have nothing to do with how they'd always felt about each other or other people; it betrayed their old parent-child relationship, it killed her romance with that younger guy, and worse yet to get it the story had to dump that promising thing he had with that mother woman who was really sweet.  Pissed me off every way.  But here, we have plenty of foreshadowing, lots of feeling from the very beginning that there could be something there.  And the other guys aren't people I care if she doesn't end up with 'em.  All in all I'd be fine with it.

True, but we fell in love with the father/daughter relationship they had. Then the author smacked us in the face with a rotting fish and cut the webbing between our fingers.

mmm no for me, i like usagi drop sure the end is not something u expected but still i love the manga.

Hate Bonta, hope Towa is the one that wins Haru's heart.