Quote:
Originally Posted by frubam
^man, you sure put out some interesting discussion. Normally I'd like to reply with a reprisal of some sort as I'm heavily pro-Akira, but I'm trying not to think too much while reading this  .
The new chapter was nice. Personally, I was hoping that Yukina would continue to not show interest in Kitami after she saw him and Mami together, but Shigure just HAD to make that proclamation. Somehow I was VERY impressed with how Yukina just decided to give up on him so quickly and how she went through the pain-to-recover stage fast(which was lol in itself  ). It was actually refreshing to see Shigure NOT be a hypocrite for once and indirectly relay his feelings to her. And of course, Mami comes in at the end to make her declaration of owning Kitami, but I doubt any one of us DIDN'T see that coming  ... |
Thanks for the compliment. (With regards to my absence from the Hourou Musuko thread, maybe I need to read from the start again because unfortunately the latest chapters have not done much for me. I'm glad we got some more Chiba in the latest one, but with the third reprisal of a 'school play' arc before that I was somewhat feeling the manga wasn't getting anywhere.)
...Back on topic. Though, not thinking too much might be the way to go for this manga, 'cause it seems to be moving way too fast for any analysis or long term predictions to hold for long
. I said last time that I thought Shigure's interest in Mami wasn't romantic, but in this chapter Yukina clearly took it otherwise, and indeed it was the generic feeling she got from the impression of Shigure subconsciously falling for the act of a cute sick girl that caused her to lose interest in him. Has her interest reawakened because Shigure's not as generic as that after all? Would I be able to safely interpret that to mean Shigure
really isn't romantically interested in Mami like I said? That seems possibly to be a stretch...so it might be better to just wait and see more of Shigure next chapter.
Then again, Akira and Yukina's relationship doesn't seem to be in jeopardy anymore by the end of this chapter (at least for the moment! geez, with the way this manga has gone, I bet we'll probably get another cliffhanger in that regard by the next chapter. lol, it's terrible). It seems like Yukina and Mami are heading towards a confrontation next, and this might indicate a return to some of the blackmail/social manuevering/bullying battles like the one's she had with Shigure at the beginning of the manga. I think some readers have been complaining about Yukina not being a strong heroine anymore (though I disagree with that; having
some emotional vulnerability that opens her up to the possibility of a deeper romance doesn't make Yukina any less awesome) so that may be a good thing.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KrimzonStriker
Well that's pretty cold, I'm probably the only one here who actually likes Shigure I would imagine Anyway, I liked his initiative this time, that whole "I'm mad as heck and I won't take it anymore' kind of attitude is refreshing in comparison to individuals who let other just bully them all the time. And in regards to Sol about 'romantic interest' on Shigure's part, I wouldn't say that's entirely true in that regard, whether he likes to admit it or not Yukina intrigues him, makes him stand up and take notice unlike with other people who were just nameless individuals prior to that. At the very least I think he finds her attractive (going back to the whole cute thing) and she's one of the few people he can actually be genuinely honest with (hence the smile), while at the same time she doesn't indulge him, which I think has earned his respect to a degree. That and he has a super amount of pride, which ties into his resentment at being bullied by Yukina, but also in terms of his jealousy at her apparent loss of interest.
Concerning Shigure, let's look at this from his perspective, he's basically at the top of the school social ladder for the most part and people praise/laud him for his accomplishments and yet no one actually ever takes the opportunity to get to know him or who he is beyond that. And along with that they push all these expectations onto his shoulders that he feels like he has no choice but to keep up appearances. That girl that confessed to him before, totally superficial and she only fancied the idea of loving him given how easily she lets it go. He's bored, and most importantly rather lonely, so he turns that back onto everyone using his 'game' and giving them exactly what their looking for. That's why I find him quite compatible with Yukina in terms of what he needs and what he's really looking for, and why she draws him in. It's not love yet, I'll grant you that, but in light of all the things in regards to their relationship it's a pretty darn good start if I must say so myself. |
:P Dude, if by 'likes Shigure' you mean 'am rooting for him to end up with Yukina' then I think there are plenty of people on your side, myself (quite firmly) included. If you're talking about liking him as a person, though, then I think anybody has to admit he's got some faults. Shigure's treatment of Yukina throughout most of what we've seen so far has been
highly insensitive towards a girl who actually has a romantic interest in him. It's somewhat justified because Shigure feels he's just being used and manipulated, a feeling which is used to quite good effect this chapter actually, but nonetheless that does nothing to reduce the sheer horror this manga sometimes induces for me when Yukina's 'first love'-esque innocent feelings are completely trampled on. It's only by virtue of a combination of Yukina's strength of character and a somewhat naive/oblivious lack of familiarity with her emotions on her part that their relationship has survived this far. If you remember, my statement about Shigure's lack of real or conscious attraction to Yukina thus far was to explain his almost schizophrenic abandonment of her last chapter in favour of Mami. Frankly, if Shigure really had any 'respect', 'intrigue', or 'notice' for/of her, he'd never have done that.
I agree with you that he's quite compatible with Yukina, in terms of what they both want and need. And indeed, since chapter 9, aside from the cliffhangers, their relationship has been setting off quite nicely. The 'princess' scene we just got in ch. 12 was really awesome in this regard. But it's not because I think Shigure was 'forced' into his deception game and he's looking for someone he doesn't have to play it with. If he were really consciously bored or lonely or looking for a challenge, he wouldn't have kept pushing Yukina away so callously. I think Shigure is only showed his real face to Yukina despite himself, because she sidestepped all his secrets and resistance by force, and the reason their relationship is good for both of them is because it will be one of those cute 'becoming a better person against their will/without knowing it' sort of things.