[redflame]

Originally Posted by zigantz22

Spoiler:

Tora's motives have always been vague to me as well, since, much of the time, he seems incredibly determined to solely manipulate others for his own benefit and entertainment, while, at other points in the story, it appears that he's acting out of some heightened interest in Misaki. His motives are definitely contradictory, but, especially after his excessively long, but thankfully concluded, involvement in this arc, it seems apparent that he primarily acts according to improving his social status in some fashion, but, whenever Misaki is heavily involved, he eventually allows her to accomplish matters that he was once attempting to selfishly prevent. As such, I simply assume that, after realizing, due to his feelings for her, that he shouldn't toy with her life anymore, he merely displayed an iota of selflessness by relinquishing his attempted control and allowing the inevitable.

Of course, IMO, the dull insight into his character throughout the last three chapters appeared to primarily be shipping material that was thrown into this arc due to Fujiwara's need to artificially extend the narrative prior to Misaki leaving for England, so that the all-important arrival in England would perfectly coincide with the 50-page 78th chapter. The flaw in that thinking though, is that his "interest" in Misaki is irrelevant, which Fujiwara partially indicated by including his fiancee in the 77th chapter. I assume it might have been included to develop his character as well, and he slightly showed that he was capable of actually maturing by allowing Misaki to accomplish her own desires, but his prevalence throughout remains, along with his other appearances, one of the most ancillary diversions Fujiwara has implemented into the narrative up to this point.

Regardless, I don't think you should be concerned about him interfering in the future, since his involvement in this chapter thoroughly appeared to possess a sort of finality to it. I don't think he'll appear too often throughout the rest of the manga, and certainly not in any "rival" capacity, since, as you mentioned, it would be entirely pointless. He is engaged and he's perfectly aware that Misaki is unequivocally in love with Usui, which was completely displayed by her traversing all the way to England just to see him. If he had legitimately intended to interfere, he would have done so at any point prior to her leaving for England, but he, thankfully, seems to understand and acknowledge that the game has already been won by Usui a very long time ago. The confession merely seemed like yet another arrogant provocation by him, and, of course, he already knew the answer that she'd give, so it appeared to be quite rhetorical on his part. To me, it could be perceived that he was illustrating to Misaki that, even though it's not always for the best, it's occasionally understandable to solely act according to the heart's desires, since Misaki had been uncertain after hearing of Usui's worth to the Walker family. If his interest in Misaki was going to heavily interfere once again, I don't think his confession would have come at such a point in the story, since it was indirectly and immediately rejected by Misaki's thoroughly dismissive response towards it. This is actually one of Fujiwara's strengths, since, even though she has included his provocations far too often and repetitiously throughout the story, she's never portrayed him or Hinata as a legitimate rival, and I'm sure this wonderful absence of cliche triangles will extend through the end of the manga, especially now that such developments have been deemed immaterial by Usui and Misaki's unwavering love for one another, and the mature relationship they currently have. Of course, I think the story is nearing it's conclusion, so I'm assuming this will be his final appearance.

As for the 78th chapter, I absolutely loved it, aside, of course, from Tora's meaningless confession. One of the biggest strengths of this chapter was the return of Usui, since he had been inconceivably absent from the last two Tora-centric chapters. Usui and Misaki's kiss at the end was incredibly satisfying, and, IMO, now that they've been finally reunited, I don't foresee that they'll have any more disturbances of great significance. As such, I think that the exciting cliffhanger will be resolved in a manner that doesn't separate them again, since, unless it's covered with a time-skip, it's unlikely that Fujiwara will pull them apart following an arc in which they were separated for most of the time.

Spoiler for Spoiler:

Thank you for providing your perspective. I'm glad I'm not solitary in finding Tora an extremely incomprehensible and contradictory character. I guess we can confirm in this chapter that Tora has merely developed an infatuation with Misaki, thus helping him develop from his dark, twisted personality to more of a decent character, which I guess Tora won't be much of a bad character after all (apart from the attempted rape which I really can't ignore). Now I hope the deed Tora has done won't place his family into jeopardy and I wish the best for him. Yes, I'm slightly ashamed that I have succumbed to 77th chapter where Chiyo is introduced, earning him some sympathy from me. Perhaps it wasn't just to get the audience to invoke sympathy for him, but rather to show and emphasize the fact that plutocrats may find it difficult in their lives to pursue love in their lives due to their restricted affluent family customs? At the same time, I kinda think it serves no purpose whatsoever as everyone can see that.

Hmm.. yeah, starting to agree with you about Tora's involvement in the future in not interferring with Usui and Misaki's relationship, though it seems like the story is ending soon, I have a feeling there's more to come in the future though at the moment, I can't think of anything else happening other than Usui finding his father, Misaki and Usui negotiating something with Grandfather Walker and Gerald and... I mean there's gotta be more than this, more problems that arise. I don't know, maybe its just me who doesn't want to see the series that I've extremely admired, ending . Could possibly be Tora final appearance though he might appear in any of next arcs but not as significantly as before.

Anyway, I also loved Usui and Misaki's reunion and the kiss, as you said was very satisfying. I'd also like to add that I loved how Fujiwara made me reminise the time Usui kissed her before jumping off the school building for Misaki which marked the start of their developing relationship and comparing to the scene where after this time, they both jumped off the roof and it feels like they've sealed an irrevocable love oath (Haha, I think I may have exaggerated that a little too much ) as another milestone in their relationship, symbolising their development. Another of Fujiwara's greatest strengths, creating such a satifying relationship between them.