30 replies to this topic

[dinoclops]

Don't we all agree that Kiryuu-Sensei needs more face time? I know her scenes aren't quite as hardcore is the other girls, but she is by far my favorite. I love her earnestness and how ditzy she is. (o'_'o)

Edited by dinoclops, 27 May 2012 - 03:51 PM.

[ValorantX]

So far, I'm cheering her on way more than the sisters.

[Tio Alexander]

MC doesn't always have to choose main heroine route for ending. Just like ichigo 100%.

[Beelz]

So far, I'm cheering her on way more than the sisters.

Yeah i have to agree... for me its because shes older but still has a very innocent air about her... although i doubt this makes too much sense.

[LightofNite]

Inb4: Rooting for Sensei all the way ! I think their love story is way cuter too.

[Aquinox]

I second that opinion. Especially as there are two sisters against her I'd like her to be the winner of the race for Keita. (and b/c it's such a 'taboo' topic of student-teacher relations)

[Fragile]

I... I'm still a Riko-sama fan, but...

I think that Yuuzuki's dark energies are consuming me... @_@

Also I was for the Harem route at one point, but since the short haired girl (I already forgot her name) hasn't been doing anything I lost interest in her. Besides, she's too much of a kink. I like fetish, but it's overplayed with her.

[pandabox]

I think sensei is canon now

[ValorantX]

Well so far she has the advantage now..... since he's MC focused love interest and it looks like his parents have no problem with it, which is really weird... ==;

[Gatsune]

*Ahem* Please excuse my personal views, but I do not believe that Kiryuu-sensei (I will refer to her as "the teacher" from now on) is fit for Keita. In a poll (asking which character you prefer) people who watched the anime KissxSis, were pretty evenly distributed between liking the twins Ako and Riko. Ako was actually slightly in the lead. A different website put up another poll for kissxsis for people who had read the manga. Whenever the poll first came out (around the time when they took the hot spring vacation and Ako/Riko defended why they loved Keita) nearly everyone voted for Riko. Ako was almost completely left in the dust along with the other characters. The teacher wasn't even really in the running and most people still disliked her at this point in the manga.

Here is where I would like to expand. In the anime people voted for their favorite character based off of looks and personal preferences. Because the anime did not cover as much, the audience could not pick based off of compatibility. In the manga poll, people understood the inner workings of the girls. Riko was dominating at that time because she understood Keita like Ako never could. It almost seems that Ako is a flat character at times. Riko however knows how Keita works and has been slowly moving towards a relationship with Keita. The best example of this is when Riko forces Keita to admit his love for her before she kisses him/he kisses her. She states that she does NOT want to just be used and that she wants him to reciprocate love for her as well. She then gets him to admit his love for her in front of everyone (albeit they didn't know that they were being watched). My point is that Riko has developed beyond the point of a cheap crush, she has become something more (almost like a wife or long time girlfriend). Another point to bring up is that she knows Keita is very perverted even though he would never really admit it and she is willing to help him out nearly any time he needs it. She doesn't always act out of self interest (as shown the night after the band-aids). In fact Riko is a very shy girl who couldn't stand being with another man or doing anything in public. She gets embarrassed! This shows me that she genuinely cares for Keita on a deep level and is not just toying around with her feelings like Ako and her armpits (re-read Kissxsis if you don't get the reference.). Note that I said HER feelings... Out of all the relationships in kissxsis, Riko has most well grounded one. She is not wishy washy. If she does something to Keita, she makes sure that she has reason behind her action and will not regret her decision later. She is sure of her love and has never doubted her resolve. The biggest thing about Riko is the fact that she doesn't get embarrassed about the things she does with Keita (besides things in public, but that has different reasoning). She goes in, gets the job done, and doesn't go "What was I just doing? That was wrong of me!" afterwards. Ako and the teacher cannot stop questioning themselves...

This moves me to my next concept... the teacher... Even though she was in the manga nearly the entire time, she only became really relevant whenever Keita started going to high school. This character tried to separate Ako and Riko from Keita multiple times based off of the fact that their relationship was immoral. Wait what? Okay okay, I understand that love is blind but for her to start loving Keita is a complete contradiction to her previous actions. I'm okay with this so far but as stated in the manga, she seems like a ditz (note that I am not saying that there is anything wrong with being a ditz). From sheer luck of her being Keita's teacher, they start to get accustomed with each other. Both of them are aware of each other's presence as the opposite sex. This seems like a common romance between two high-school students (except replace one student with a teacher). Keita seems to be interested in her because he has always been with his two step sisters and now a woman other than them shows up. He already knows everything about his step sisters and now all of the sudden this girl pops up that has an interest in him and he knows nothing about her. It is a fascination that most humans hold... curiosity. The fact of the matter is that there is no intelligence behind any of the teachers actions. Simply put, she doesn't need (or know that she needs) intelligence. Riko and Ako have to work uphill to create moments for them to be alone and work their way past the step sibling wall while the teacher seems to have nothing like that in her way. They meet at school and develop like a normal relationship would. It is my personal belief that this is anticlimactic... but I digress. The teacher also does not have the experience with Keita like Ako and Riko have. Riko becomes so well at reading and manipulating the truth out of Keita that she can nearly read his mind. Ako... well Ako still has the experience... What I am saying though is that the teacher isn't up to that level, she is still learning how to love when Riko is at a spouse's level of love and care. But if Riko's level of love is so much higher than the teacher's then why is everyone rooting for the teacher to win? Alas... It hurts me to say this but later on in the poll (around the band-aid chapter) the teacher had pulled ahead by a large margin and left Riko in second place. The reason for this is because this is a ROMANCE manga. In a romance manga people don't really want to start off with a married couple, they want to see emotions build and then bloom. Simply put, romance has a formula. Riko breaks this formula... hard. The teacher however fits into this formula of romance. People read this manga for romance and typically don't want something that breaks the norms. The reader wants holes lining the pathway to a happy/dramatic (preferably happy) ending. This is ideally the teacher's route. Guess what, I'm calling the general people who read this manga romantics.

I say that Riko challenges these ideas of romance. This can be tested out with a neat little experiment that I devised... Riko fits very well into the emotional category of a wife. Knowing this fact, it is simple... All you have to do is re-read the manga (with a grain of salt for their ages and certain scenes) with a presumption in your head. This presumption is "Riko has been the wife of Keita for some time now. Their relationship has been going on for a while and has hit a bump in the road for Keita. Keita starts to doubt his decision about marrying Riko because he feels that he has been missing out with other women. Riko being a good wife allows Keita to go out into the world again and start seeing other people. Keita at first is squeamish about the idea, but soon comes to terms with it. Riko who is still heavily in love with Keita decides that this will not be the end of their marriage and sets out to win Keita back over. She thinks that by stimulating the relationship will have him coming back to her in the long run. She felt trapped by Keita's want to see other people and felt that there was no choice in her decision of letting Keita go. That being said, there is no way that she would ever give up on Keita. He is the man of her dreams and even if he gets involved with another woman, she will never love him less. Even if it is just a fraction of his love and she has to share it, she wants it. Ako is an old girlfriend of Keita's and wants to get back together. Mikuni is a person of association through a group activity such as school or work (it's up to your creativity to determine if the school is a company or not) and Kiryuu-sensei is a person of relation (not blood) that is in a position of power (can be teacher or boss depending on your creativity level). Mikazuki is of relation (of blood) to Kiryuu-sensei, but is younger than Keita. She is not a main conquest for Keita, but she knows everything that is going in the marriage of Keita and Riko. She also uses her mind to predict the outcome of this little fall out between Keita and Riko. Knowing that they do have a fall out though, she uses this to her advantage (much like the other girls)" This is a general template to seeing the romance in a different light.

When we switch the main character to Riko and put her through an event of such a caliber that it invokes sympathy, the audience begins to root for her (in general). Since we know that Keita HASN'T been committed, any romance goes. I believe that is why audiences the blooming romance over the old romance. Old romance is painful sometimes and can show problems that nobody wants to think about. When we actually change our viewpoint slightly on Riko to make her an old romance and keep the any romance goes principal, people almost want to do away with her. I argue that the old relationship can be 10 times more beautiful that the new and budding one. It is only when we live without what we have that we come to value it. If the story was changed in the way that I stated (so that Riko was Keita's wife), the ending would be fanatical. Either he would realize how much he truly loved Riko and create an utterly beautiful ending or he would find new love in the teacher and destroy his marriage. How is that for challenging the rules of romance manga?

Please note that these are only my opinions on the story. If you find anything not to par then please feel free to correct me. I will not be offended. I would love some feedback of anyone has an open mind about these things. If you have any questions, I would love to answer them. I am very passionate about this manga because I feel that the author is a master at showing underlying emotions and predictions. This manga is such a fun loving one and yet it pulls in such deep emotions from the reader without us even really noticing it unless we take the time to truly think about what is going on.

[bram_history]

that's some wall of text and I could say you're a real Riko shipper
well I think there's a possibility for Yuuzuki and Keita became one, giving how Keita attracted to Yuuzuki badly. she's so far lead the harem with Keita's confession to give his first time to Yuuzuki, you can't deny that fact.

also, "Either he would realize how much he truly loved Riko and create an utterly beautiful ending or he would find new love in the teacher and destroy his marriage." lol so he's fated to be unhappy if he choose Yuuzuki? damn you should make a doujin based on that P:

[MacArawn]

Well Gatsune, for the most part I agree with your analysis and the conclusion that Riko would be the best match for Keita, although I wouldn't rule out Mikazuki as being a good alternative. I think that Yuuzuki seems more influenced by infatuation and the mystery surrounding romance in general than love and that is never a good thing for a relationship to be based on.

[Gatsune]

To bram_history:
I completely agree that the teacher is in the lead even after the most recent chapter. I don't know if Keita is just that attracted to her, likes authority figures, likes older women, or he just has the opportunity through misunderstanding (doing it) but I do know that something is pulling him towards the teacher. Again I don't know if this is just introducing her as one of the main heroines or if it is a fatal blow hinting towards the end of the series. I guess it just depends on whether the author draws out the manga or if they have planned to follow the authors ideas to the t. I do know that if something gets stale in a manga they have to introduce something new... If the teacher is this new substance, then we may end up with another "to love ru" on our hands. I really hope that the author doesn't sell out and ruin his manga because of money... I don't think that would happen with this author, but it is always a possibility. There are only so many things that you can do before the reader gets bored. Right now we are at that point... Ako and Riko have done everything short of sex. I see three options for this author: Have Keita get intimate with one of the characters (this route branches off, but I won't elaborate because I'm trying to keep this short), introduce a new character to do pervy things with Keita, or turn away from the perversion and focus on the romantic aspect of this manga. These I believe are the three most plausible outcomes for this manga (there are MANY others, but those are less plausible). I honestly hope that the author does try to drag the manga out with ROMANCE and not perversion. He has a very nice set up to do so, but if he can't write with a romance theme then he won't write with one. I'm a romantic at heart so romance would be the best way for me to be satisfied. I know that it doesn't always happen that way, but even if it doesn't I still plan on reading this manga to the end. I would like to hear your opinion of what is going to happen next. (Honestly I'm a bit afraid of the outcome because it's really hard to turn the focus in a manga. If it started with fan service then it will probably end with overplayed fan service. That would kill this manga I believe...)

To MacArawn:
I agree that Mikazuki would be a very good pairing with Keita. I just personally think that the relationship between Riko and Keita is a bit more grounded. The author could decide for the teacher to end up going out with Keita and they live happily ever after as a pair of idiots (I hate to say it, but they are both air heads. Keita is the worst of all! Then the teacher and her instant meals. Lol.). Or the author could make it to where they go out yet it doesn't work out and he goes back to Riko. That would be an explosion of emotions! Keita isn't very smart though so I don't know if pairing him with the intelligent (in many areas) Riko is a good thing or a bad thing... So no matter if he ends up having sex with the teacher or gets in a relationship with her, I still believe Riko will have a chance. It's just so hard to guess the ending of this story! I also feel that the author has set themselves up for a harem ending. Think back to the shrine... Keita wished to marry both of his sisters even though it was impossible in Japan. This last chapter makes me question the harem ending a bit, but it could also reinforce the idea too... I'm in a debate about that. Either way, there is still the possibility of them overcoming the laws of Japan and ending with a harem route. I would like any ideas anyone has for the ending. There a WHOLE lot of proof for a harem ending but can we treat that as the author foreshadowing or is the author just taunting us with such a sweet idea? I don't know. Only time will tell. Keita had better make his mind up soon!

[Finsch]

I will keep it short. Rika and to slightly lesser extent Ako are the only ones out of all the girls that have tried, and succeeded to some degree, to understand Keita. Have you noticed that the moments that he most honest with himself are when he is closest to Rika and Ako?

[Cydric]

[quote/] These I believe are the three most plausible outcomes for this manga (there are MANY others, but those are less plausible). I honestly hope that the author does try to drag the manga out with ROMANCE and not perversion. He has a very nice set up to do so, but if he can't write with a romance theme then he won't write with one. I'm a romantic at heart so romance would be the best way for me to be satisfied. I know that it doesn't always happen that way, but even if it doesn't I still plan on reading this manga to the end. I would like to hear your opinion of what is going to happen next. (Honestly I'm a bit afraid of the outcome because it's really hard to turn the focus in a manga. If it started with fan service then it will probably end with overplayed fan service. That would kill this manga I believe...) [/quote]
I agree with your third option Gatsune. With the release of chapter 67, it looks like it is going into the romance area. Recently, I've noticed that the perversion has slowed down considerably compared to what it was when Keita first entered high school. The temptation of the harem ending does seem like it's a sweet dream for other readers at this point in time though. The way the chapters are progressing recently really moves your state of mind into a romance ending over the harem ending. Something that is definitely being foreshadowed in the recent chapters though is how Miharu doesn't approve of the relationship between Keita and Kiryuu. This foreshadowing could spell doom about a revelation of the relationship but it could also be her trying to recognize Keita's choice. I can't say for certain but I do think that emotional tension is going to surface in upcoming chapters.

Also, I want to agree with your earlier comment about how you don't want this series to turn into another "to love ru" and reading to Kiss x Sis' completion. There are too many possibilities and I'm too interested in the ending that it can take out of the endless possible routes. As long as it doesn't take a turn into GE or Kimi no Iru then I will definitely read to the ending!

[Yuusha OtakUub]

I think a major part of it is that Kiryuu has more forbidden terretory for Keita to travel through and just making the situation just that much more juicy for us to read through. When I came caught up to the releases around chapter 26 I was conflicted between the twins and didn't know who to root for, they were too neck and neck with each other. With the introduction to the class mate, the "little sister" and the teacher (especially) route really brought new life into the manga making it much better.

[Shadow12000]

Okay okay, I understand that love is blind but for her to start loving Keita is a complete contradiction to her previous actions

When I read this part, I immediately thought of Kotegawa Yui from To Love-Ru.

[Baltringue29]

epic quote ch 36 page 23 parents surprise their son with the teacher in a suggestive position Dad:"...nice to meet you i'm Keita's father" Mom:"and his mother" ....we don't have name (was swallowing my beer and nearly throw up when i read the last part) I know this isn't really related to the subject but had to put it somewhere (and i know it's typical for this genre of manga (and many others) to not name the parent but for them to actually say it is really funny [really like when caracters act as if they know they are in a manga and put up comments aimed more at the reader than their interlocutor])

[Baltringue29]

@Gatsune: If Riko is the wife then surely Ako is the mother (i think it suit her really well) as she had to fill in the role for their unresponsibles parents. She cook, do the laundry and the cleaning. She's somehow in a position of autority over Keita and even help him study. But she's way too confident that these skills will make Keita choose her (especially cooking) while Riko is actively attaking on the libido side. Still i hope it'll come to a 3some between them. (the sis already have done some practice =P)

[MrAnarchist]

I desire the route with Yuuzuki because they're attracted to each other indefinitely