Ahh…

They’re going to fondly remember that dinner party for the rest of their lives.

Another wonderful chapter.

Even though it’s late to the genre, this series is setting a standard for romcoms that damned few, past or present, can even begin to match.

I had forgotten about her too.

Should’ve expected to see her in this chapter.

Broadly, that’s a good part of what I like about this manga - it’s so wholesome, except that it’s really not, except that it somehow still is. It’s a strange balance, but somehow it works.

Tsundere Grieja was my favorite part of the entire chapter.

Uh oh.

I think we’re about to find out if Emi’s there in the background, because Remilia’s about to methodically tear Pina into little tiny pieces.

This is exactly what I needed - just pure, unalloyed joy.

I’m okay with that. It was sort of dumb and contrived, but the right person won, and an Itachi guest shot is always a good thing.

I sort of jokingly said this a while back, but I’m starting to suspect that Nina really might end up becoming the ultimate hero of this story. With as glorious as she already is, just imagine what she’s going to be like as an adult.

Ooh… I like this a lot. It has a very zen-like feel to it.

Fujii doesn’t actually lead anyone to anything - it’s more like he just provides a space in which those who are ready for it can figure out something about themselves.

Ahh… this brings back memories.

Relena Peacecraft was my very first anime crush.

Somehow I get the impression that he dodged one bullet by jumping into the path of another.

Wait, what?

This seems like it might somehow be connected to the main plot, and… that’s pretty much it.

I imagine the author with a bunch of little slips of paper, each one of which refers to a plot point in an enormous sprawling story, and he sticks all of those little slips of paper to a wall, then throws a dart at it, and whichever one he hits, that’s the one he reveals this chapter.

Thanks for the heads up - fixed.

Ah - and yes, it was almost certainly taken down and put back up. When I posted, it was listed under the Romaji title, and I used the English one instead just because that’s what it’s been posted under all along. Now it’s back to the English title.

I’m pretty sure that Gouda’s muscles are number one. 😉

Beyond that though - yeah - I don’t know. She seems to be going in all directions at once.

Part of it is that there are neat little details slipped in along the way that provide context and add to the characters and the story. Like it’s not just that she happens to have twintails - there’s an actual cute story behind it.

The art is impressive too - especially the expressions.

I think there’s more to it than that though. I don’t understand how it works well enough to analyze it, but there’s something to the timing and the viewpoint shifts - like everything unfolds just right.

If I was an aspiring mangaka, I’d be studying this carefully, panel-by-panel. Because whatever they’re doing, it’s working.

How is this so good?

I mean - this was a chapter about a twin-tailed tsundere getting caught in the rain and getting rescued by her crush, who offers her a folding umbrella that they eventually end up sharing, much to her dismay (and secret pleaaure).

In another situation, I could actually pan a romcom just by sneeringly noting that that was the plot outline of the latest chapter - with just those details, a reader would get that my point was it was just another tedious, cheesy, tropish nothing.

But that’s not what this is, and reading it didn’t feel that way. I don’t get why it works, but it does. I was completely swept up in it from start to finish, and satisfied and impressed by it when it was over, and I can’t even quite pin down why. It’s just… really good. Somehow.

She was always self-absorbed, but it was sort of cute when that just meant she was naive and goofy and oblivious. But as she’s grown more sure of herself, her self-absorption has become less cute and more toxic.

I think I’m going to have to drop this.

With nearly every new chapter, I dislike Mitsumi more.

Poor Kouhei - he’s got it bad.