298 replies to this topic

[hmmmmm]

"AAAAAAAAAAHHHHH NONONOYOUCANTSTOPITTHERENOOOOOOOO!!!!!" -me at the end of the chapter

I also may have melodramatically fell onto the floor, curled up, and whimpered for a bit.

[3nyaan]

I thought : Wait, whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat ??? *happy* *happy* and then I greated my floor too.

[inzaratha]

Wow,  omg  -  I was literally saying that when I saw the ring and then the confession!   yea!

[svines85]

Ah well, I guess it only stood to reason that last chapter's confession would inevitably have some strings attached...........though really, ten years? What sort of sadist (or maybe it's masochist) is he? That seems reasonable? Setting a limit of till she's like, what, 25+ or so??  O_0

 

That......seems to be a little ridiculous. 

[3nyaan]

Why the chapters are so short T.T Can't wait for another one !

[Liar]

Ah well, I guess it only stood to reason that last chapter's confession would inevitably have some strings attached...........though really, ten years? What sort of sadist (or maybe it's masochist) is he? That seems reasonable? Setting a limit of till she's like, what, 25+ or so??  O_0

 

That......seems to be a little ridiculous. 

 

Like I said in the comments, I doubt that's a hard rule. The essence of the conversation is that Matsunaga is willing to wait for her, but he will only enter a relationship with her once Shiharu feels she's ready. Shiharu is in her final year of high school, so who knows what her decision may be since she is so much in love with him. For all we know, she can decide she can enter a relationship with him now, or after she graduates high school, or after she graduates college.

[Comadrin]

Ah well, I guess it only stood to reason that last chapter's confession would inevitably have some strings attached...........though really, ten years? What sort of sadist (or maybe it's masochist) is he? That seems reasonable? Setting a limit of till she's like, what, 25+ or so??  O_0

 

That......seems to be a little ridiculous. 

 

 

It does seem that way, but it also makes sense.  I married my wife when she was 18 and I was 25, and she certainly changed somewhat in the next few years (luckily no change in her feelings for me or mine for her).  Shiharu is a fascinating (and believable) combination of mature and naive, and her social skills and reading of other people are bound get better in the next few years when she's out of high school and not living in the orphanage.  Seiji realizes  this, and doesn't wish to trap her into a life she may later regret when she is still immature, as far as her experience of life goes.  While their relationship and feelings for each other are not a Hikaru Genji Plan situation, Seiji, being a caring and honorable man (he obviously cares more for her than for himself) doesn't want her to enter into something that she:

 

       1.  Isn't ready for (signing the registration and disappearing into the marital chamber is a little much for her at this time).

 

       2.  May decide is a mistake within a few years (since this is fiction, and we [the readers] know their characters inside and out, we know it won't happen, but Seiji doesn't know it for certain, and many such marriages don't work out).

 

To put a minimum time limit of ten years was, I think, the worst part of his plan.  To a seventeen year old, ten years is an aeon compared to how a twenty-seven year old sees it.  From my perspective, sending a very innocent girl off to a university full of extremely horny young men while she has a "ten year sentence of no physical affection" is a disaster waiting to happen.  In my opinion, "Until you've seen more of the world" or "when you're more settled in your university career" would have been a far more comfortable way of putting it for Shiharu.  I also think the age gap is less important than he seemed to make it out to be.  If the two couples in the story were to marry immediately, from an impartial viewpoint I would definitely give our mc's marriage a better chance of lasting than one between Rio and Takeru. 

[svines85]

Like I said in the comments, I doubt that's a hard rule. The essence of the conversation is that Matsunaga is willing to wait for her, but he will only enter a relationship with her once Shiharu feels she's ready. Shiharu is in her final year of high school, so who knows what her decision may be since she is so much in love with him. For all we know, she can decide she can enter a relationship with him now, or after she graduates high school, or after she graduates college.

 

Um, I hate to say this, and you're more than welcome to interpret it however you want it........but, dude, I've got a feeling you're just twisting this to match what you want.

 

He point blank says "when you're the age I am now" and she even confirmed it....... "that's.......like ten years?" and his answer is "yeah, that's fine, I'll be waiting"...........so yeah, I'm not quite sure where you're coming up with "not a hard rule" besides wishful thinking. I myself see no reason to try to read a bunch of contradictory ideas into what the author is telling me he's setting the characters up for.  

 

At the very least, he seems quite clear and set on his conditions right now. I really don't see where there's any wiggle room at all as things stand right now.

 

I mean, this isn't really too big of a surprise (to me at least) from a manga that took 88 freaking chapters to even get an acknowledgement of feelings out of the guy, is it?  

Edited by svines85, 22 April 2015 - 08:26 AM.

[Liar]

You forget that they're more than just manga characters. The author has repeatedly shown us that they are people with realistic flaws and strengths. Matsunaga did say ten years, but do you honestly think he would refuse her if she wanted to be with him earlier than that?

Of course if Shiharu says she loves him next chapter, he would refuse her, but the point is that the whole 10-year thing is there to show he is serious for her, but would prefer beginning a relationship after she has grown some more and truly knows what she wants.

[svines85]

You forget that they're more than just manga characters. The author has repeatedly shown us that they are people with realistic flaws and strengths. Matsunaga did say ten years, but do you honestly think he would refuse her if she wanted to be with him earlier than that?

Of course if Shiharu says she loves him next chapter, he would refuse her, but the point is that the whole 10-year thing is there to show he is serious for her, but would prefer beginning a relationship after she has grown some more and truly knows what she wants.

 

Yeah, I do think  "he would refuse her if she wanted to be with him earlier than that" because that's exactly what the author's telling me he's thinking........we're even seeing into his thought process and reasoning behind all this. Might the author be setting us up for some watershed event which will change the dynamics? Sure, it's possible.

 

But again, given the pace I've already endured....... I mean, this story has already been going on for over seven years....... the idea of our MC putting a ten year moratorium on a possible "real" romance doesn't surprise me (or make me think it's a sham to lure me in) at all. It's frankly par for the course in how this one's progressed........like a glacier   

[Comadrin]

I was very pleased by Shiharu's reactions in chapter 89.  She is very happy, and apparently understands Seiji's feelings while not overthinking the situation.  Sure she sees the ten years as an awfully long time, but she is not a person who expects or demands the instant gratification that is so common in our world.  I'm just counting on Kouchi Sensei to continue to engage us with her fantastic writing and drawing skills.  

[svines85]

Aaah........and the wild card finally comes out of the deck  

[Comadrin]

It had to happen sooner or later, and I've been expecting something of the sort from the time we saw him at the inn.  It's been (I think) two years since he disappeared, which is a damned long time to sort out feelings.  What I'm really wondering about is what his expectations and plans are.  He really is the "wild card," since we know next to nothing about him, other than that he loved his wife and abandoned his children.  I think it's going to be an interesting next few chapters.

[inzaratha]

Do you think he just got punched by his younger brother?    Needs some sense knocked into him I guess. 

[svines85]

Do you think he just got punched by his younger brother?    Needs some sense knocked into him I guess. 

 

I'm assuming so, yeah. Punched or outright attacked. I know Japanese culture is very extended-family oriented and all, but yeah, outright abandonment of one's children is probably still  not going to just be forgiven all that easily.

[margarine megurine]

Yep. He definitely got punched. I'm willing to bet my Rammus keychain on that. 

[Comadrin]

That's rather unlike Seiji, who only seems to get angry over deliberate assholedness, but it could well be that answers to his questions were really pissing him off.  Either that or the brother is trying to cut ties and deliberately made him angry.  For the true scoop, we'll have to wait until the next chapter comes to us courtesy of Japanzai.  Of course, big bro might have said something about Shiharu that Seiji didn't like.

[svines85]

For anybody that hasn't seen this yet, Shoujo Sense has picked this up....

 

http://shoujosense.com/index.php?topic=2628.0

 

http://reader.shoujosense.com/read/love_so_life/en/17/100/page/1

 

While they don't allow their releases to be rehosted (i.e. you ain't gonna see this on Batoto), Shoujo Sense is a very dependable and long-running group. I have very little doubt they'll work this particular title to completion.

[Liar]

So it ends... this thread takes me back.