I'll be honest here. I won't be hypocrite or courteous just to please the audience or to get along with superficial face of discussions, this is Tomozaki's motto after all; to say what he wants, right? I really loathed this volume!
What you're about to read next is only my thoughts until this volume, so it's not spoilers.
Ok, I was hoping he will choose Hinami cuz they're the same "species" as he expressed, after all the 2 of them are "gamers". I mean she tutored him everything he knows, so basically she's the perfect choice. Or at least Mimimi because she really deserves that and stood with him most times, I really hoped for that. But well, he chose Kikuchi which really made sense for the story. But poor Mimimi, she's always the 2nd, I really liked her with Tomozaki. Does Yuuki Yaku has something with her? I'm very serious here.
I mean that was very clear or obvious since she's the only one he exaggeratedly was describing as a "fairy" or an "angel" every time he meets her. And since vol. 5 when he said he felt that warmth after Kikiuchi complimented his changing and thanked him for letting her see new different things in the world, that warmth is practically "love". Also his obvious jealousy of Mizusawa and Tachibana and other situations where he clearly exposed these feelings.
But what bothered me the most is why the author manipulated our feelings about something very obvious from the start like this, especially Mimimi's part when she gave him the last push, that was very ridiculous that you can call it a cliché. Idk if I 'm choosing the right words to convey my thoughts, but I saw the whole thing like this:
"Listen guys, Tomozaki will end up with Kikuchi, Ok? - Us: Ok, got it!" - and then "What happened? You told us Tomozaki will end up with Kikuchi and here you are doing the opposite after play's finished. Ah, so he will choose Hinami cuz of those clues you threw? - Him: Well, I lied" - then "What the heck! They really ended up together? - Him: Well, I lied again!". C'mon on man.
The moment I read that he run into Mimimi after the play, I was like, Oh she will give him the final push, this is hilarious! A plot twist inside the plot twist, LOL!
I really didn't like his reasoning for doing that. My point is that he did it in a twisted way. You can't give hope for audience about something then kill it in that (twisted) way. At least do it in a proper one cuz we all knew what was happening. The play finale makes sense, so to refute it you need something makes more sense not thing stupid like that. You just extended this drama in an unnecessary philosophical way. That was literally for nothing!
Also, the off something Tomozaki said when he made up his mind about Kikuchi:
What I wanted to do was tell her the truth of how I felt. I’d had those feelings when we watched those brilliant colors exploding across the night sky together, but I’d failed to say them.
But in vol. 3 chapter 4 he said to Hinami:
“Do you really think it’s a good idea to start out with countermeasures and attack strategies like you did just now? Don’t you think we need to start with questions like, What do I really want? or Do I really like Kikuchi-san?”
So he didn't like her that time but in vol. 7 he wanted to tell her about his feelings anyway because he failed before? This is contradiction.
Part of why I wrote this post is I'm very frustrated for him doing this and the other part for not choosing Hinami. My ship with Hinami makes sense though and not because she's the main heroine of this series.
Ok, I won't say he likes Hinami over Kikuchi but can you blame me when you see all those hints about her? Let's mention them:
- Kikichu told Tomozaki to treasure that person who teaches him these skills - vol. 3
- Tomozaki's saying: "The most important connection I’d made in the past six months, the one I was most grateful for—I didn’t meet that person for the first time at school. I met her in an Atafami match. - vol. 7
- When Hinami was asked about who she will date, she answered she will date someone who can beat her at something (Atafami) - vol. 6.5
- Tomozaki's overreaction about Hinami's previous boyfriend - vol. 7
- His overreaction when Hinami teased and said she's dating Mizusawa - vol. 2
- When Mizusawa grabbed Hinami's hand during the play Tomozaki said he has "kind of complicated feelings" about that. - vol. 7
- When Izumi told him that Hinami and Mizusawa are probably dating, He also overreacted and said to himself; "It’s obvious now. But something doesn’t sit right. I’m kinda…angry" and "Anyway, it didn’t have anything to do with me directly, so I didn’t mind, but something seemed off about this". - vol. 2
Maybe I missed other hints. Anyway, you may say I'm overthinking about some of them, but consider the last three or four. Perhaps they might be out of surprising but they could've been also out of jealousy. Would someone overreacts about another girl he's not liking? Well Idk.
I'm not saying he had feelings for her but those were hints for that.
Last thing; when Kikuchi said that Libra (Tomozaki) should end up with Alucia (Hinami), why's she thought that? That hadn't came out of nowhere. Had she sensed Tomozaki's feelings for Hinami through his overreaction (especially when they interviewed Tachibana)? After all she's super good at observation as he says. I won't say she sensed something from Hinami, this is very excluded. Then why she thinks that Tomozaki the only one for Hinami?
I know all these questions are useless now, really. But when I feel that something is off and there are no enough convincing answers, I feel frustrated. This is why I wrote all the above.
Ultimately, Idk what will happen in next volumes but I doubt something major will change because Kikuchi mentioned what kind of relationship she desires and got what she wanted. So I feel less motivated to read the rest. |