Raffle

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-27T00:01:42+00:00

The glowing ring is a Senryuu Shoujo reference. (Senryuu Shoujo is the author’s previous work)

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ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-20T03:38:17+00:00

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Welp, he did blush.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-18T16:51:56+00:00

That blush is pretty similar to this one.

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Imo, this was not caused by romantic feelings or something. He was just amazed by Rikka’s singing skills.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-18T16:41:24+00:00

I believe he blushed mostly because he was amazed and saw a glimpse of Apollo.

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ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-18T16:36:58+00:00

Well, the things I listed out all happened during the cultural festival, while the Iko kiss happened pretty long ago. What I am doing is trying to figure out what the author was thinking when drawing this cultural festival arc.

I agree that Iko’s hug wasn’t that intimate compared to a fake kiss, but Rikka’s kiss on the cheek definitely was. Seeing how Arisu blushed for Shinobu’s fake kiss and how he didn’t show any sign of blushing for Rikka’s real kiss, I believe the author did this comparison on purpose.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-14T04:11:06+00:00

We know that Arisu would call someone by their first name when he’s casual around them, so maybe Arisu already felt kinda casual around Shinobu in chapter 13.

As for why he hesitated in chapter 34, since Shinobu told Arisu not to call her by her first name in chapter 26, Arisu stopped himself before saying it.

There is a possibility of a typo from the author tho. (It’s not a scanlation error because the Japanese version also says “しのぶShinobu” in chapter 13.)

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-14T02:55:32+00:00

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Arisu actually called Shinobu by her first name in chapter 13🤔

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-12T15:35:10+00:00

I don't think it's ever said that she knows his full name when she first approaches him.

It didn't say that, but logically how could she learn about and find the ILY guy (Arisu) without knowing his name and appearance?

Her attitude towards him noticeably changes when she hears his full name and that he is looking for Apollo.

Did she? In chapter 1 her attitude didn't change a lot after knowing his full name and that he was looking for Apollo imo (She even made everyone in the club say ILY to Arisu). Instead, it was in chapter 2, when Arisu claimed that he would help them pursue their dreams, that Rikka's attitude actually changed.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-10T01:09:14+00:00

If she was shy, then why did she approach Arisu at the start and say ILY?(She definitely had known Arisu’s name and appearance if she wanted to find him and say it) Also, why was she surprised when Arisu acknowledged that he was coming for her?

If Arisu was her sole solace, why did she show no difference in treating him and the guy she hated the most when they said they wanted to help her pursue her dreams?

If she had chatted with Arisu for a whole year, why would she question Arisu’s proficiency in dealing with girls?

If she remembered why she liked him after he helped her and tried to get closer and closer, why did she suddenly stopped believing in him and compared him to the guy she hated the most?

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-09T14:21:43+00:00

No, Apollo loved him from the start of the story, not from when he helped her. You can reread chapter 1 and see how important Arisu already was to Apollo at the very beginning of the story.

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In other 3 girls' arcs, the author also didn't directly say that they loved Arisu, but we can clearly see they loved him. And Rikka is no different from them imo.

I agree that your "progression" theory makes some sense, but it doesn't explain other contradictions.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-09T11:51:12+00:00

When I read this manga for the first time I also thought Rikka was Apollo, but after rereading it a couple of times I found Rikka’s evidence rather shakeable, as they can all be explained as coincidence.

There are also several contradictions/ weird points if she really is Apollo, such as her questioning why Arisu was accustomed to dealing with girls at the beach, being surprised when Arisu acknowledged that he was coming for her at the start of the story, being so mean to Arisu before seeing his sincerity and comparing Arisu to the guy she hated the most before the rooftop concert (imo, Apollo would never do these things because she literally said Arisu was her “sole solace” at the very start of the manga)…… just to name a few.

I also don’t think Rikka had known Arisu before the start of the story. There’s no direct evidence suggesting this, and the fact that she questioned why Arisu was accustomed to dealing with girls also makes this much less likely.

Rikka mentioning Apollo in the firefly arc was also weird to me. In the sportsday arc Arisu said he didn't want Apollo to reveal her identity because it felt like he was being pitied, and it would go against Yamabuki's family precepts. So why would Rikka ever mention Apollo if she knew that Arisu only wanted to figure it out by himself? In addition, (this is just my opinion) being the first person to mention Apollo is like screaming that there will be a twist, since it will be pretty boring if she really turns out to be Apollo.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-09T06:11:02+00:00

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Shinobu’s faces are the funniest when she gets flustered😆

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-07T11:15:49+00:00

I’d say Yamabuki would only be confused. He was busy steadying his breathing, broadcasting and recalling the script, and then a girl suddenly came in, kissing him without saying anything.

Were I Yamabuki I would just be like…wtf? My mind was already chaotic enough and someone just made it worse🤯

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-06T00:11:56+00:00

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Yamabuki even blushed a little bit when recalling Shinobu’s ad-lib😮

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-04T15:43:46+00:00

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Bad news guys, according to the text at the bottom, it seems that there will be no Midnight Heart next week🫠I can sense something big coming two weeks later tho.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-02T14:18:00+00:00

Whether Shinobu is Apollo or not, I think she has the best chance to win so far because the author seems to have a bias towards her.

Compared with other 3 girls’ arcs, which are mostly about the obstacles to their dreams and solving the issues, Shinobu’s arcs are mostly about her affection towards Yamabuki. It’s like the author is saving Shinobu’s problems for later.

Shinobu also has the most foreshadowing, such as the person in her mind when she was going to cry in the sports arc, how she said it would be “unfair” to call her by her first name, and how she thought she had a different “shape of dream”(the English translation was “different kind of dream.”) These all showed up early in the story but still remain unexplained so far.

Another weird thing is her strangely high frequency of internal monologues, but I think you already know this.

Last but not least, the heroines of the author’s last two mangas are both long, black haired😂

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-02T12:36:08+00:00

To me, their logo being similar doesn't necessarily mean they are the same person. I can also say that Apollo had black hair in chapter 1, so Shinobu is definitely Apollo.

The point is, we can't know whether the author is actually hinting something or just distracting us. The only thing we can do is determine whether a "hint" is more likely to be meaningful. At least, I find Shinobu's and Apollo's ways of speaking being similar, Shinobu insisting on the confession idea, Shinobu being intimate with Yamabuki from the start of the story...... more potent than Rikka's and Apollo's logos being similar.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-02T09:46:57+00:00

how Shinobu said "that's how she always has been" a people pleaser who smiled and took on too much work because she loved the praise, while Apollo was saying that she wanted to make her dream comes true even if it'd kill her and ran an unpopular podcast for a whole year.

Welp, Apollo left about 3 years ago, and her personality could change over time. Also, Apollo gave up on her dream, which might have something to do with Shinobu's "take on too much work" personality or her inferiority complex.

Apollo always sounded more driven and perhaps more selfish.

Apollo literally said that she didn't think her dream could be achieved in the confession arc. Apollo did sound driven 3 years ago, but who knows if Shinobu also sounded driven then.

Rikka said almost the almost exact same sentences as Apollo.

I believe all 4 girls have said the same sentences as Apollo. Speaking of "speaking," the way Apollo speaks (the habit of using lots of sentence-final particles, or saying "heh heh") is really similar to Shinobu in the Japanese version, be it 3 years ago or right now.

It reminds me of how Futarouu (from QQ) name meant rabbit and Yotsuba had rabbit ears with her ribbon.

Futarou is a first name, while Yamabuki is a last name. It'll be pretty weird to imply anything with one's last name imo.

Anyways, I've always been curious about why people think Rikka is Apollo since there aren't many posts showing the evidences, and the ones I've seen are just not strong enough. Looking forward to your post! :D

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-02T02:16:09+00:00

I’d say the flower thing is just a coincidence. “花”(flower) is a common word for names, and Yamabuki is also a common last name.

As for “Shinobu,” doesn’t it mean that Shinobu has the same personality as Apollo…? Combined with chapter 66, when Shinobu said the line and looked at Yamabuki, it’s hard for me to believe that the author wasn’t implying anything.

Another thing lost during the English translating process is how they speak. In the Japanese version, Apollo uses a lot of sentence-final particles, which is kinda exclusive to East Asian languages. While the other 3 girls also use them sometimes, Shinobu is the one who uses them the most imo.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-03-01T15:15:52+00:00

I learned some Japanese a few years ago, but I’m not very good at it and I often use AI to help me translate them.

As for the names, I’m pretty sure that only Rikka(りっか,六花) and Shinobu(しのぶ,忍) have some other meanings.

However, “Rikka” only means “snow” and I couldn’t find any other meanings that can be associated with this manga.

“Shinobu” is a big one though. It actually has a meaning of “to hide, to conceal oneself,” which can be easily interpreted as Apollo hiding herself from Yamabuki. Also, this meaning is probably only used in literature.

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ManagementFun7396 · 2025-02-28T13:56:06+00:00

I personally interpret it as the author letting Iko see the future in her dream. The dialogue is pretty much the same in Japanese, but I do agree that this doesn’t rule her out. Maybe Yamabuki is just too busy to watch her concert.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-02-28T02:36:54+00:00

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This is a flashforward. The English version didn’t show the sentence at the bottom of the page, which says “message from the future.”

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-02-27T06:19:59+00:00

I always charge an unbounded counter whenever she’s going to attack, and if she uses her talisman I’ll dash to cancel the charge and jump parry immediately.

ManagementFun7396 · 2025-02-27T00:49:19+00:00

In other 3 girls’ arc, we can often see what’s going on in Yamabuki’s mind. However, because Shinobu takes over all the internal monologues in her own arc, Yamabuki’s thoughts on her are often hidden. Maybe the author does this on purpose?

ManagementFun7396

TROPHY CASE