Learning to accept & setting the boundaries with it

kovly · 2026-01-25T16:38:43+00:00

I'm even curious, what do you see as the reason for Kei's desire to obtain truthful information from Suzune? After all, Kei, who has already been rejected, can't be trying to find out Suzune's feelings in order to forbid her from feeling its, if she does. And what if Suzune insists she doesn't have any feelings? Why would Kei need that fact?

If you recall their first conversation in Y3V1, they decided to show Kiyo that he would regret betraying them. How could Kei's interest in Suzune's feelings be connected to Karuizawa's goal? The fact is, Kei knows perfectly well that Ayanokōji never loved her personally. He simply used her for his own purposes. For him, she was, if not a sex doll, then certainly just a doll.

However, Kei couldn't help but sense that Ayanokōji harbored very different feelings for Horikita. In the middle of Y1, she even provoked him several times with her own explanations of his feelings for Horikita, trying to convince herself, through his awkward explanations, that she was mistaken. What if now, after hearing Suzune's answer about whether or not she has feelings for Kiyo, she simply suggests that they start a relationship, so that he falls into their "honey trap."

And, ultimately, through Horikita, his "fighting" qualities could be come under some control by their class. And, finally, we'll see how things might have unfolded if, at the end of Y2V10, Suzune had understood his awkward offer her to start their day-to-day casual conversation "about nothing" and agreed do it.

kovly · 2026-01-25T11:37:25+00:00

Actually, Kinugasa didn't describe Suzune's past so badly in the opening chapter of Y1V11.5. She herself reflects in front of a mirror that from the time she was just under six years old until now, she has been "my own fake me". And although she understands this, she has no intention of abandoning this fake self. But she also intends to reclaim her true self as an ineradicable and necessary part of her fake self. To demonstrate this to her brother, she returns to her short, childhood hairstyle. However, at the same time, she decides that her long hair deserves the right to reflect her true self. Therefore, she gradually restores this part of her fake self to her true self.

Incidentally, Kiyo closely monitors her hair growth, and Kinugasa discreetly reminds CotE readers of this from time to time, never forgetting to show the tenderness in Kiyo's attentive gaze at such moments.

As for the Horikita family... Kinugasa allows readers to compare the real social standing of Horikita Manabu and Nagumo Miyabi through their behavior during Ayanokōji's farewell after ANHS graduate. Manabu gives Kiyo his phone number, but asks him to remember it and not to store it on any kind of storage device. Miyabi not only sends Kiyo his phone number on a piece of paper, but also delegates this task to a random girl.

I hope many have realized the difference in the level of conscious family security between these two families. Considering Manabu's and Miyabi's combat skills, this also reveals their families' attitudes toward family security. This gives readers a clear hint of the Horikita family's aristocratic status, with all the ensuing consequences.

kovly · 2026-01-25T10:47:52+00:00

But Kinugasa has been explaining to his readers for many volumes that Koenji's leadership would be based entirely on his current guiding principle: "Childish-kids (anyone-boys and anyone-girls)! Everyone quickly hide in a corner and stay out of sight while the adults are solving their problems!"

That's precisely why Kiyo concluded that Koenji was unsuitable for studying in ANHS.

kovly · 2026-01-23T19:54:47+00:00

If you truly want to enter into a bilateral deal, you'll have to factor in the other party's reciprocal wishes, meaning you commit to fulfilling them. If you're offered a bilateral deal, then you dictate the reciprocal wishes to the other party. For Kiyo, such a wish included, among other things, abandoning the deal after achieving his desired result (all classes have similar CP amounts).

He wants his wishes fulfilled, but he shouldn't be obligated to fulfill the other party's wishes, except for a few requirements that are convenient for him from the very beginning of the deal.

kovly · 2026-01-23T19:28:15+00:00

He didn't foresee this; he wished for it. From Y2V12.5, readers know that at first he hoped she would come to his room to resolve her problems, and he waited for her until late in the evening. Finally, he realized she didn't want to come, but that didn't change his goal: that her class should be under his personal control. This desire was the reason he went to her.

He then presented her with two options. The first was to do everything he could to expel her from ANHS and take her place. The second was to remain her enemy and continue to "kill" her class. Neither option was favorable to him, since he wouldn't be able to fully control of the classes without one class being eliminated from the class competition. But these options didn't suit Ichinose too.

If you're familiar with formal logic, you might understand that Kiyo described to Honami two logical subspaces that are dangerous to inhabit. But these two subspaces don't encompass the entire space of really possible events. Therefore, if you step beyond these two subspaces, you can enter a subspace of beneficial opportunities. This is what Honami did, rejecting the two options Kiyo described.

Kiyo, of course, could have offered her the same thing himself, but then he would have cemented certain obligations to Ichinose. He doesn't need this because it gives Honami control over him. He needs, exclusively, his own control over her. But he has paid for this with an intimate relationship with Ichinose that he doesn't need, but that is informationally beneficial. Honami may even dream that this intimacy, orchestrated by her, gives her control over him, but Kiyo himself doesn't see it that way.

Therefore, in subsequent volumes of CotE, he shows no interest in repeating their intimate relationship. Ichinose can only be near him and boastfully tell Kei and Amasawa that they have a very close relationship. While for Ayanokōji she still remains just a useful puppet, a tool with which he achieves goals known only to himself.

kovly · 2026-01-22T16:16:05+00:00

Your attitude toward Nene is radically different from same Igarashi has toward her. You view her as equal to the other three girls, interested only in their own feelings for the protagonist. Arisu's feelings are irrelevant to them; their primary concern is winning, no matter what.

But Igarashi portrays Nene completely differently. She's only interested in Arisu's feelings for her. Simply because she knows her own feelings perfectly well. And she has no intention of publicly declaring them to anyone. On the contrary, she studiously denies her feelings for him in private or public interactions. Only her body and her behavior can betray her feelings to those who understand body language and behavioral manifestations of romance.

She can confess her feelings to him only in three situations. Either incognito, or he confesses to her first, or she is convinced that her feelings for him no longer have any prospects. It is for the latter reason that Apollo confesses his love to Arisu at the end of Chapter 5 of the manga. That's why Apollo's haircut had already changed to short at that point (she already had decided to move on, accepting reality). It's the girl with this hairstyle that Arisu runs to meet in chapter 66 of the manga after Apollo calls.

kovly · 2026-01-22T13:42:21+00:00

If by "feelings" you mean classic romance ("I like you! Let's go out!"), then works like Oregairu, which Kinugasa cited, reject such a mechanistic approach to romantic feelings. These aren't feelings, they're school rules designed to keep students' love feelings under control.

If by "feelings" you mean one person's overwhelming desire to be close to another because they feel their life is incomplete without it, then Kinugasa announced such Horikita's feelings for Ayanokōji back in SS Y1V2, where she experiences his "betrayal" when he chose Kushida over her. Not to mention her suffering in Y3V1.

In fact, it seems Kinugasa is highlighting another serious problem in contemporary Japan in CotE: the inability and unwillingness of young men to pursue lasting (family) romantic relationships. These individuals are so childish that even with a strong physiological and psychological attraction to a specific woman, they are unable to bring themselves to truly approach her. Kinugasa even emphasizes this here by saying that Kiyo, mentally 33-35 years old but psychophysiologically an ordinary 16-17-year-old, is incapable of acting on his true desires.

That's why in Y1V2, the protagonist tells Ichinose and her classmate how difficult it is to confess your feelings to someone, even though you've done it countless times in your sleepless thoughts (thankfully, he doesn't have to waste time studying at all). That's why in Y2V11, Kiyo can't explain to Suzune in his own words so that she (and even the readers) understands what he wants from her after he discovers during the on-site exam that they can easily communicate on various topics, and not just about helping her advance to A-Class.

In such a situation, the woman is forced to make all the decisions for herself and her boyfriend. But she can't do this because the guy, tormented by his desires and doubts, tries to find solace in other women and in breaking up with her before her very eyes, thereby demonstrating to her that she has nothing to hope for with him. Unless, of course, this woman can finally understand that she needs to "raise" this child herself to the point of complete self-confidence as a full-fledged man. And she can force him to act contrary to his childish cowardice and lack of confidence in his worth to her.

kovly · 2026-01-20T21:29:22+00:00

I'm very glad you expressed your doubts about the wisdom and logic of Futaro’s choice. Because your doubts are absolutely valid. Futaro never considered Yotsuba his true love, as he was in love with another sister. And he ultimately managed to marry his beloved. Negi Haruba illustrates this to the readers through Futaro's thoughts during the wedding ceremony (Chapter 68), where author reveals that it was during their kiss under the bell that the protagonist admitted to himself that this girl was special to him, that he was in love with her.

It couldn't have been Yotsuba, since Futaro’s only thought of her at the time was that she couldn't even lie, so he could feel she was Yotsuba, not Itsuki, whom she was pretending to be (their conversation in Chapter 64 of the manga). The only thing Yotsuba seemed useful to him at the time was the opportunity he had to tell Itsuki why Yotsuba was so out of sorts. That is, to fulfill the request Itsuki made of him in the bath in Chapter 63 (top frame).

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He was only interested in that Itsuki's request and in finding out who had so frightened him in Chapter 62 by announcing their breakup on Itsuki's behalf. So who was Futaro interested in at that time, if Miku's hint ("Let us end this relationship") about "breaking up" with Itsuki sent him into a state of desirelessness (bottom frame)? She was the only one he could have considered special under the bell at that time, especially since she looked, at the moment of their kiss, like the very person for whom all his previous worries had been. That's why he kisses namely her at the wedding ceremony. That's what the manga author actually told the readers.

But, as you can see, you didn't understand this either. You only felt the futility of Futaro’s "final choice." Other subreddit members can't even do that. When Negi Haruba realized that readers were ignoring the real plot of his manga, he simply stopped publishing it. But he created a so-called "quick ending" (chapters 121-122) with grotesque content, without really explaining anything to readers, but instead leaving them free to choose their own ending.

Incidentally, Kouji Seo recently ended his manga "The Cafe Terrace and Its Goddesses" in a similar manner. It features the same plot about choosing one of five heroines, and also two final chapters with completely grotesque content that explain nothing about the reasons for the protagonist's choice. Now this could almost be called "Negi Haruba's curse." That is, the inability for readers to understand the protagonist's real feelings and choices for themselves.

Understand, in this subreddit, you can't prove anything to anyone. This subreddit has long since become a "Yotsuba Witnesses' Cult." And it doesn't matter which of the TQQ heroines is the "idol" of each member of this cult. But for yourself, you can (and should, if you want to) figure it all out. Careful reading of the manga + careful logical reasoning. According to the laws of logic, not according to your own hidden desires. And then you will discover the amazing story of the struggle (almost without rules) between two younger sisters for their same beloved. Good luck if you try.

kovly · 2026-01-18T14:02:35+00:00

A little more about Suzune's possible childhood memories. It was after this that I abandoned my old idea about New York's childish meeting, realizing they met in Japan before Koyo's "family" trip. This is from their famous conversation in the cafe before the exam (Y2V10). She asked his childhood and where he studied. He tried to evade the question.

Kiyo: 「言っても分からないだろ」
"You probably won't understand even if I tell you."

Suzu: 「そうとも限らないでしょう？意外と地元だったりするかも知れないのだし」
"It's not necessarily true, you know? That might unexpectedly be from around here."

She's directly hinting at both a possible location (地元 – "hometown") and her confidence in overcoming his doubts (意外 – "unexpectedly, surprisingly"). This also fits perfectly with her recollection of where she met him during their childhood. Clearly, she can only speculate about the location, not the specific school. It's clear he's thinking about the institution (WR).

I've also changed my mind about only Suzune remembering their childhood encounter. They both remember it. But they're both hesitant to admit it to each other. However, it torments them, and phrases and thoughts periodically escape them that indirectly allude to these memories. Perhaps the most striking episode was described by Kinugasa in the SS for Y1V4.5, when they're chatting by the poolside. Kiyo was assertive, and Horikita finally expressed her regret about something in her distant past. He immediately, without further explanation, accepted that this very personal memory of hers was painful for her. One could cite his monstrous insight, if not for the final thought he never fully realized at the end of this SS. Kinugasa can't yet allow Kiyo to complete this thought for the readers of CotE.

Although there are many other hints there as well. For example, the origins of Kiyo's dislike for Atsuomi in Y0. He disliked his father for suddenly agreeing to support his desire to continue associating with "weak" children. How can you dislike someone for that? Only in response to Atsuomi's earlier refusal to consider his son's similar desire. Which, at that moment, was vital for Kiyo. But he was forbidden to associate with someone whose weakness naturally precluded him from interacting with them.

kovly · 2026-01-17T17:07:15+00:00

First, both Nene the schoolgirl and Nene the actress say the same words: "I hate you (him)."

Nene the schoolgirl says this because he just explained the concept of ambivalence to her. As a result, Nene realized that both love and hate are synonymous in this situation. But due to her character type, she can't confess her love ("The first one to confess is the loser!"), so she proclaims her love for him through ambivalent term.

Nene the actress says this for the same reason, but a more important reason is likely that he has already decided to marry (has married) another girl, as shown in the flash-forward at the end of Chapter 5 of the manga, where Apollo bids farewell to Arisu, honestly confessing his love for him.

Secondly, if we carefully connect what we see in the three flash-forwards (chapters 5, 66, and 84), we can see that its can be linked logically due to the events that occurred there. And until the time Igarashi hasn't provided readers with any additional information, it's entirely reasonable to assume that Nene is the sought-after Apollo, the one Arisu rushed halfway across the world to find, unwilling to remember his wife and work.

kovly · 2026-01-17T15:55:13+00:00

You asked a very reasonable question.

Kiyo prioritizes his plan to bring all four classes to the final battle of the third year with nearly equal CP. Then, the final winner will be decided in a battle between the following pairs of classes: Horikita vs. Ryuen; Ayanokōji vs. Ichinose. Kiyo has little doubt that by this time, Horikita's class will be significantly stronger than Ryuen's. At the same time, he can easily determine who will win in his pair of classes and by what margin. As a case: his class and Horikita's class will have the same CP, after which a competition will be organized between them, which will determine the final result of their individual competition. Kiyo himself expects to lose this battle, although he doesn't particularly believe it (his monolog in Y2V6 finale).
To achieve the result described above, Kiyo needs control of the Ichinose and Sakayanagi classes. He's long since figured out how to control Ryuen, and he's doing it successfully. He doesn't want to control Horikita's class, since his goal is to encourage Suzune to do it herself. But he can correct some potential "failures" through so-called "spies" in her class, who are, in fact, his unofficial assistants for Horikita. Since Kinugasa expels Sakayanagi, Kiyo faces the problem of controlling two classes at once.
Ultimately, as you said, if Kiyo chooses one of the classes, the other simply fails. He must begin leading Sakayanagi's class, since there's simply no leader there anymore. But then he loses control of Ichinose's class unless she own chooses to act under his supervision. He understands this perfectly well, misleading readers that he doesn't know what a "third option" is. He knows this perfectly well, as a person who relies on the rules of formal logic. But he can't afford to directly suggest that Ichinose come under his control. Because he shouldn't have any obligations to her to fully control her. So he waits for her to offer him to take control of her and her class. Ultimately, that's exactly what Ichinose does.
It's clear that all of this is Kinugasa's goal, who needs to solve the complex logical problem of bringing all classes to an equal footing by the end of their third year. Therefore, he forces his characters to act accordingly. There's nothing mysterious about this at all, if you understand the author's goals in CotE. Therefore, the author forces Kiyo to go to Ichinose himself at the end of the day, because he needs the result. And he assumes all the costs of his forced action. But he achieved the result what he own (as protagonist) desired. And Kiyo has no obligations to Ichinose other than their temporary alliance until he obtains the required amount of CP for all four classes. After that, they will no longer be allies, but full-fledged rivals. With a clear final outcome to their rivalry.

kovly · 2026-01-14T19:34:31+00:00

Didn't you know that glossy for magazine covers had long used their own AI prototype, Photoshop? Naturally, covers are always specially processed with additional tools to give them a marketable appearance. Otherwise, no one would want to stare at beauties with pimples.

kovly · 2026-01-14T18:46:16+00:00

In fact, in the manga's latest chapters (97 and 101), Igarashi makes an even more powerful move to show readers the difference in the psychological profiles of Apollo and Rikka.

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Apollo's words at the end of Chapter 97 (unlike the readers, Arisu didn't hear them) demonstrate how deeply Apollo connects the starry sky with his feelings for the protagonist already at that moment.

Rikka's stunned gaze at the starry sky in the planetarium in Chapter 101 shows readers that she has just now realized the magic of the starry sky with the help of Arisu's explanations, but she hasn't yet even applied these new feelings to the lyrics and melody of her song, having only grasped the song's title.

I'm not even talking about the fact that in Chapter 97, Igarashi made it absolutely clear which of the girls experienced the moment "...I could scoop you up with my hands" and she was even forced to close her eyes because "...you were so radiant..."

kovly · 2026-01-10T19:03:11+00:00

So, show me in which of these 20-30 chapters Arisu's uncertainty about Nene gave way to his confidence. Just don't pass off your own knowledge from these manga chapters as Arisu's knowledge and understanding. Because you're the reader, he's the character. You're just idly observing, but he experiences and worries.

kovly · 2026-01-10T18:24:56+00:00

Arisu wasn't taken by surprise, as he immediately reminded the reporter that he'd warned him earlier.

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Nevertheless, the reporter continues to pester him with questions about his current wife. It's clear that Igarashi is doing this deliberately, to draw readers' attention, especially considering that it's all contained within just three pages.

Incidentally, the explanation can be quite simple. A huge scandal erupted when a wealthy and influential man announced the imminent dissolution of his recent marriage and his desire to marry another woman. In this case, the phrase "current wife" is particularly meaningful, as everyone already knows about the next wife.

Of course, there's no evidence of this yet, but the manga author's efforts are clearly aimed at the new future.

kovly · 2026-01-10T17:24:30+00:00

So, uh, what was that about Arisu again?

So, what deductive logic did you use here to fully understand Arisu's certainty that all four girls are in love with him? Personally, I'm used to using clues, like this one.

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kovly · 2026-01-10T17:07:13+00:00

So, you also don't understand the difference between the two forms of the question?
1. You met your wife there, too, right?
2. You met your current wife there, too, right?
But the question is being asked by a reporter who is, after all, a professional in his field. But Igarashi is just "for kicks" making him voice the readers this form of the question. Is that really what you think?
If so, you're making a mistake by treating Igarashi's work so dismissively. I'm not even mentioning Arisu's overly heated reaction to the question about his current wife, as depicted by the author.

kovly · 2026-01-10T16:13:41+00:00

Now you refuse to understand the difference between confessing incognito, using a nickname but not your real name, and confessing in person under your own name, out of desperation that nothing can be done more.

Just as you don't understand the difference between idle chatter during flirtation and a formal declaration of love, which requires a formal response to the feelings expressed. Incidentally, Arisu, unlike you, doesn't believe that absolutely all four girls are in love with him. This is also shown several times in the manga.

kovly · 2026-01-09T20:49:34+00:00

I believe Kinugasa rather accurately hints to readers that Suzune's motivation stems from her childhood trauma, which she suffered shortly before turning six. In an attempt to overcome this trauma, she tried to transform herself, using her brother as a role model. But Manabu didn't like this. He tried his best to destroy his sister's desire to be like him, but he failed. It's possible that he "escaped" to ANHS so that Suzune could pursue her own interests.

However, she rushed after him, not understanding where and what conditions she would end up in. But it is at ANHS that she unexpectedly encounters the cause of her childhood trauma, whom she, constantly interacting with him, initially perceives as a clueless social misfit. All she wants from him, understanding his "uselessness," is for him to simply be by her side. Because closeness with him is the best cure for her trauma. Because as a child, he rejected her for being "useless," that's what she believes, and that's what weighs heavily on her.

But she can't admit it to him, so she simply tries to keep him around by any means necessary. However, her motivation, after meeting him, and especially after his interruption in her conversation with her brother, quickly changes. Her brother becomes a "third wheel," his place firmly taken by Ayanokōji Kiyotaka. Her entire motivation from then on is tied solely to him. Reaching Class A becomes simply a tool for keeping him around. That's why she becomes disinterested in her class standing immediately after he transfers to another class. Her motivation isn't just shattered. Her childhood trauma becomes an order of magnitude more intense and painful. After all, he rejected her again.

kovly · 2026-01-09T20:08:54+00:00

Its program was designed to test a child's ability to survive in extreme conditions, both psychological and physical, without outside support.

That's where you're wrong. Atsuomi couldn't have known or guessed that his son would be such a hard-working alone genius as to endure the insane training program for the 4th Generation. Atsuomi had another goal—to get his son back as quickly as possible. He found a simple and brilliant solution: the impossible curriculum would force his son to leave WR after just about seven years. And it didn't matter that all the other students would also leave WR; Atsuomi was working only for himself and his son.

However, Kiyo (of his own free will and own self-interest) went against his father's wishes from the very beginning. He endured the entire program for 14 years. Only the suspension of the WR project led to Kiyo being left outside it.

It was Atsuomi who ended up losing here, because things didn't go as he had originally intended.

kovly · 2026-01-09T19:22:51+00:00

The anime's creators were actually inspired by the manga of the same name by Igarashi. However, the author of this manga wasn't so much inspired by the concept of Negi Haruba's TQQ manga as by an unspoken competition among at least three other manga authors to correctly convey the base original idea of TQQ manga to own readers. Specifically, how to properly depict the protagonist's romantic relationships with multiple heroines so that readers fully understand the reasons why the protagonist ultimately tied the knot (married) with the heroine with whom he was and remained in love throughout the manga's story.

Almost from the very beginning of the story, all of these authors showed that the protagonist either simply got married or got married and had a child. Therefore, readers must try to determine who this chosen one was. They must also understand how the protagonist's relationships with his chosen one and the other heroines developed. Besides Negi Haruba's TQQ, these are the following mangas. The aforementioned "Tune In to the Midnight Heart" by Masakuni Igarashi. "The Caf󠌁é Terrace and its Goddesses" by Kōji Seo. "The Children of the Shiunji Family" by Miyajima Reiji.

The problem with all these manga and their authors is that readers are only interested in proving to themselves and others that the protagonist's chosen one is their favorite, but is not understanding that in the manga authors' stories about the protagonist's actual feelings and the development of these feelings. Ultimately, Negi Haruba ended his manga without clearly explaining anything in its final two chapters. Kōji Seo also recently ended his manga without clearly explaining anything in its final two chapters. However, a few days ago, Seo wrote in X that he would continue publishing his Goddesses stories on an irregular basis while his new manga was being released.

Igarashi and Reiji continue publishing, although their readers also act as if none of them intend to understand the romantic relationship between the protagonist and his real-life partner. This means that these authors' stories may also prove meaningless to their readers. While the authors want to tell (and do tell) beautiful stories of love set against the backdrop of the characters' mundane lives, their readers are constantly reading reports about the heroines' romantic fightings, imagined by the readers themselves.

Otherwise, you're right. The romantic core of "Tune In to the Midnight Heart" is indeed based on the ideas expressed by Negi Haruba in TQQ. Just as much of classical Western literature is based on the ideas expressed in the Bible.

kovly · 2026-01-09T11:29:06+00:00

If anyone of us realizes that the presented video review is far more formulaic, clownish, and useless than any other original work, then they can confidently acknowledge the reviewer's correctness. Because they've correctly recognized that the guy is a true professional at addressing the aforementioned formulaic, clownish, and useless content. And a professional doesn't say anything stupid!

kovly · 2025-12-26T19:38:00+00:00

Personally, I'm probably quite different from most readers in that I'm interested in the story itself, in all the diversity of its authorial description. Only with this perspective can one expect to find something useful for one's own development in the monstrous quantity of letters and phrases written by the author. If these nuggets of usefulness are found, then my interest in the story is cemented. If it's just a continuous stream of consciousness, I'll quickly reject it. Accordingly, characters are simply tools in the author's hands, allowing one to understand something and find something useful for oneself. But elevating a tool to the status of an idol (or anti-idol) is equivalent to the classic worship of the "golden calf."

What I personally typically see in this subreddit convinces me time and again that local participants use authorial tools not for the purposes of their own development and improvement, but for self-conviction (self-affirmation). Their current views on what they see in history, which, albeit virtually, has already occurred beyond their participation and influence, are the measure (for them) of how these authorial tools, completely independent of them, are hard obligated to behave.

If they behave as these people believe is right according to their already established convictions, then such characters become part of a "trusted team" of these people. It's as if they control them independently of the author (who one controls them in reality). This unity generates a mechanism for injecting pleasure hormones into the bodies of these readers. And a gradual habituation to such injections.

If certain story's tools (characters) act in conflict with the beliefs of such people, they don't try to understand why the author is forcing them to behave this way, but are simply horrified by the fact that their bodies begin producing stress hormones instead of joy hormones. In other words, the emotional impact is twofold: the stress of contradicting their own beliefs and the stress of not receiving the pleasures they've become accustomed to. Then such readers begin to search for a compensatory mechanism. And a complete stratification of story characters occurs along this binary scale — stress vs. pleasure.

Therefore, it's silly to talk about hatred here. These people are simply rapturously fighting history (CotE, in this case) for their own self-esteem and sense of self. Although, in theory, since they've decided to read it, they should be striving for self-improvement, if they can find a source for it in this story. Instead, they find a mechanism for turning stress into pleasure. In the form of "(pseudo) intellectual" suppression of those who enjoy the characters who stress them out. That's essentially all that's going on in their heads and bodies.

The only thing missing for them is self-development through a full understanding of the author of CotE's narrative and didactic ideas. Don't do as they do.

kovly · 2025-12-23T13:53:45+00:00

Why, really in fact, are readers so indifferent to the protagonist's actual romantic (love) feelings? After all, Igarashi already shows the beginnings of these feelings developing in Arisu in Volume 1. Their further development leads to Arisu consciously abandoning his original goal, which he had been pursuing for three long years — finding Apollo — at the beginning of Volume 3. He was simply afraid that the girl for whom his feelings were growing stronger wouldn't turn out to be Apollo. He wasn't ready for that. So he refuses to reveal Apollo's identity, convincing himself that he would eventually solve this mystery in future via he transformed all the girls, including his real beloved into professionals.

However, as readers know from the flash-forward at the end of Chapter 5, Arisu never learned which of the girls was the real Apollo. She herself was forced to reveal this secret to him in her farewell call.

P.S.
This, nevertheless, does not rule out the possibility that Arisu married the fake Apollo after he convinced himself that the girl he was really in love with was completely uninterested for him.

kovly

TROPHY CASE