37 replies to this topic

[truepurple]

It seems to me that Misuzu is trying to remake Tomo into her ideal of a female for some reason. Tomo is happy as she is. Jun is happy with her as she is, and can love her as she is. She does not need to change who she is, she just needs to express her feelings. So much of the story could be simplified (probably part of why this didn't happen) if Tomo just confesses to Jun and they just work through it on their own terms.

 

Misuzu is the true villain of this story IMO, she may indeed be a bit for reals evil.

Edited by truepurple, 02 October 2017 - 05:15 PM.

[rage bunny]

Sometimes I think the real plot is in Misuzu's fate.

[pantser]

Except that Tomo has already confessed and it was taken as brotherly love instead of feelings of love.

And on the other hand all manga and normal love stories could be way simpler than they are but that would be less fun.

[truepurple]

It's not a true confession if the other party misunderstands. She needs to say it in crystal clear terms. Even with her love and embarrassment from it, for such a straight forward character to not manage a straightforward understood confession is unfitting. Her to just say, "I love you romantically." or whatever the japanese equivalent is, seems easier than all this other shit she goes through trying to change herself.

 

And it seems a shame for Tomo to try to change herself so much when she already has a awesome character. I do hope it doesn't end with her actually changing herself long term and then marriage and everyone in the manga calling it "growing up". Well even if it does go that route, probably not any time soon.

Edited by truepurple, 02 October 2017 - 05:15 PM.

[rage bunny]

The problem is not (only) in her confession, but the guy (Jun), whom feelings towards her way more complicated.

[truepurple]

That is true, Rage bunny. But that is only all the more reason to be direct with him about her feelings. It would simplify things for him if he didn't feel like he would be putting romantic feelings on a strong friend relationship where she doesn't reciprocate those feelings. No matter how feminine he gets to seeing her, he's going to fight any feelings he has for her if he thinks she doesn't share them and is endangering a important friendship.

 

Or is anyone saying the feelings are only skin deep? Which they would be saying if they say she has to change her appearance and mannerisms in order for there to be romance between them.

Edited by truepurple, 01 April 2017 - 11:47 AM.

[Comadrin]

I think it's about humor.  From reading fiction (novels as well as manga) and observing real life, there are an awful lot of royally dense people out there.  The mangaka started with a premise, the main two characters are really dense, the story line goes from there.  Is it realistic?  Maybe.  Is it funny?  Well, it is hilarious to me.  

[zxcv8989]

The title of the post was complicated.

[svines85]

The title of the post was complicated.

 

Heh

[vedasisme]

If we ignore the angle of "we need to prolong the story so we can keep printing chapters", there are a number of characters with reasonable motivation for preserving the "status quo" of a non-involved relationship between Tomo and Jun.

 

Misuzu is the most obvious culprit, as she has her own difficulty expressing her feelings for Tomo.  Tomo is, to put it simply, Misuzu's dearest friend, and Misuzu would like nothing more than to keep Tomo for herself.  However, she cares for Tomo enough to want to help the romance with Jun, but she will still have misgivings throughout this endeavor.

 

Jun is another obvious culprit, as we have seen that he is at least subconsciously aware of his changing relationship with Tomo, and his semi-subconscious fear of losing the great friendship that he has been used to for years prevents him from exploring what could easily evolve into the perfect romance.

 

In the most recent development, even Tomo seems to share this fear of risking a good friendship for an uncertain romance (although all outside observers see that the two are a match made in heaven).

 

 

As any reader of romcom manga will tell you, the ultimate goal of the author and/or editors of this manga is for it to go on indefinitely without the audience getting bored of the romantic impasse.  The preservation of romantic/sexual tension is the primary thing that will keep people reading, and if/when that tension is resolved, the wisest thing to do is end the series immediately because it will, without a doubt, seen to drag on if it attempts to continue after such a resolution.

[svines85]

If we ignore the angle of "we need to prolong the story so we can keep printing chapters"

 

Well there you go, the one thing to not do.......and it's never been more important than with what kind of "manga" this is. The answer is actually that it's not a manga as  one would conventionally think, it's really just a four-panel daily, just like what you're all used to seeing in your morning paper.

 

Bottom line, there's no reason to think about anything with this title too hard........as Comadrin points out, this is just a little comedy, on the lines of Beetle Baily or Garfield (seriously, that's just what this is), and it's not really meant to do anything......well, outside of running indefinitely and hopefully keep you laughing.

 

Seriously, don't think too hard about this one, for all intents and purposes, it's just another little comic strip like the ones in your morning paper.

[truepurple]

Well not really the same as Beetle Baily or Garfield, those comics, each comic strip is completely independent of all the others, each plot ends at the end of the strip and each strip has no memory of any of the others (usually). This has a evolving story that connects all the strips.. Though yeah, maybe it's not meant to come to any kind of conclusion or evolve too much.

 

What is so complicated about the title of this thread?

[svines85]

Well not really the same as Beetle Baily or Garfield, those comics, each comic strip is completely independent of all the others, each plot ends at the end of the strip and each strip has no memory of any of the others (usually). This has a evolving story that connects all the strips.. Though yeah, maybe it's not meant to come to any kind of conclusion or evolve too much.

 

Heh, well, just my own personal biases of course, but making what would be the most fitting comparisons and saying it was the equivalent of Mark Trail or Mary Worth just made me feel bad (since both of those moldy oldies suuuuuuck and always have)

 

But yeah, it's just a four-panel daily, it ain't meant to actually go anywhere. It's designed to go on forever with the same, comfortable characters going about their lives never-endingly........kinda like how Mark Trail is still a strapping, virile outdoorsman 70 freaking years later (and I think he's still wearing the same shirt too ) >_<

[truepurple]

Or you could compare it to Mousou Telepathy, do you believe MT has not progressed or will not progress?

[rage bunny]

I'm a bit disappointed with Carol's development and I remember this thread. 'Their love does not need to be this complicated.' :'')

 

From author's point, I understand the need to 'stretch' the plot, but for unknown reason I don't think Carol's super jealousy towards Tomo is that good to be main focus. Maybe because I see the three as main combo (tomo jun mizusu) with one main problem, but Carol & senpai is another case (sub-plot). Maybe this is the author's attempt to enlarge the plot, idk.

 

The way the author's make combo Mizusu & Carol as the 'i know it all' characters also kind of.. boring? Author also make Jun's idiot friend as random semi-sidekick guy. Imo this friend should given the straight guy roles, someone who has mind clearer than any character (but noo it's Carol the No.2 Troublemaker in Neighborhood). (Btw if you see the general character, only Tomo unaware of everything. However, we could also see Tomo as the key to make those troublemakers more down to earth.)

 

Also, MouTele has progressed plot. And somehow I feel that the sub-plot in MouTele integrated better with the main plot rather than Tomo-chan.

[truepurple]

As any reader of romcom manga will tell you, the ultimate goal of the author and/or editors of this manga is for it to go on indefinitely without the audience getting bored of the romantic impasse.  The preservation of romantic/sexual tension is the primary thing that will keep people reading, and if/when that tension is resolved, the wisest thing to do is end the series immediately because it will, without a doubt, seen to drag on if it attempts to continue after such a resolution.

 

I've seen romance based comics/animes where romance quickly got to the officially going out part fairly early in the story but yet it kept going. Using the tension of two people new to love both in a intense love they can't fully handle (like Tomoes dad to her mom)  Or even where there are other plot lines happening at the same time and it plays with the difficulty of trying to explore their relationship while battling X or trying to resolve Y. 'Will they or won't they date' tension, is not at all the only way to go with authors that give the effort and have the creativity. 

 

Like one I watched in anime form about a couple where the guy was supernaturally large and strong, and the girl was pretty small, and they fall madly in love with each other and start dating within the first few episodes, but till the end of 13 episodes or however long it lasted (maybe it was 25 or something) I enjoyed it, and it had comedy too. Or the comic, 'Can't see, can't hear, but love,' which is a intensely sweet and mildly tragic love story, granted, it isn't comedy. And we shall see with MT. I know there are others, but I can't bring them to mind.

Edited by truepurple, 17 June 2017 - 11:15 PM.

[Apollo Kenobi]

The Japanese are quite reserved and diffident as a people. Or so I've heard. They don't like showing their emotions  or aren't as expressive (about their feelings) as say Europeans or Americans. I know guy who went to Japan for a year to teach. He was under the impression he would fit in their snugly since he was a big Otaku, but it was still a huge cultural shock for him. Especially when it came to communication. He was really miserable there. 

 

So it might be, in this case too. I don't think we can hold these characters to our standards of communication. 

[Comadrin]

Well, everyone has their own pace, and there definitely isn't a universal time line for romance.  As a college student, I knew a thirty-something guy who would take his girlfriend of several years (same age, as they had gone to college together) back to her parents' house before midnight.  Both had jobs, and he had his own apartment.  They ended up being married, and, as far as I know, are still together (about forty years later).  Neither of them were fundamentalist religious types (she was Methodist and he was Episcopalian), but they apparently felt this was the way they wanted to go.  It definitely doesn't work for everyone, but some people are that way.  As to manga (and other nationalities of comic art), red hot romance and speed dating is not necessarily the main point of the story.  If the anime truepurple mentions is actually Ore Monogatari (which his description sounds spot on to me), the manga (I didn't watch the anime) is all about how incredibly pure the two mc's are.  That's part of the comedy, and also part of the drama.  Gouda Takeo is as pure as the mc in Angel Densetsu, and Yamato San is a real Yamato Nadeshiko.  Both know they are pretty dense and try to work around it.  In Tomo-chan na Onna no ko!, there is definitely less drama (it's more like America's Beetle Bailey than a story based manga), and the depleted uranium density of Jun's and Misaki Senpai's mental processes (when it comes to romance) are the pivot for the whole schtick of the comedy.  The secondary schtick is Tomo-chan's fear of testosterone-driven horniness (remember the grabby asshole at the beach), but the male obtuseness is the premise that all the comedy rides on.  Is it realistic?  Not really, although there are people of my gender who really are that clueless, but that's what makes it funny.  If the basic premise is getting old for a reader...Well, go on to something else.  My criteria for howling with laughter isn't everyone else's, and it shouldn't be.  I can watch Laurel and Hardy silent film shorts and nearly pass out from laughter, and an old girlfriend of mine would look at me like I was from Mars.  She nearly died from watching Seinfeld, which left me pretty bored.  It's all a matter of what you find funny, which is definitely not universal.

Heh, well, just my own personal biases of course, but making what would be the most fitting comparisons and saying it was the equivalent of Mark Trail or Mary Worth just made me feel bad (since both of those moldy oldies suuuuuuck and always have)

 

No shit!  Judge Parker and his pal Rex Morgan were just as bad.  Mary Worth (as I understand it) was "Apple Mary" originally, who sold apples on the street after 1929 and dispensed "Dear Abby" advice to young women before going back to the soup kitchen.  As an afficianado of newspaper comic art, I have noticed that, like popular novelists, many popular comic artists now rest in totally deserved obscurity, while others who were perhaps not as popular in their day are available in anthologies on amazon.  (I do own all the original Popeye comics written by Elzie Chris Segar).  Speaking of that which sucked royally, does anyone remember Dondi, which appeared in the SF Chronicle back in the late fifties and early sixties?  It was so bad that my old man almost cancelled his subscription!

[svines85]

As an afficianado of newspaper comic art

 

I was always a Bloom County and Calvin and Hobbes fan myself

[truepurple]

Well my main point that those western newspaper strip comics are much different than something like this. And it seems like the story is progressing to me.