[Shouta]

Finally picked up Vol 8.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

Still not getting my head around the whole grandma thing. Why is marrying a playboy rich doctor she has no feelings for vital to the happiness of her senile nan? She's an adult woman who's had a stable, well-paying job for a number of years... surely she can cover the expenses of her nan on her own?

Since I guess you can't read Japanese, the details are revealed in Vol 8.

Spoiler:

She has to marry him because there's absolutely no way she could afford to treat her mother who isn't simply senile. Her grandmother has Balo concentric scleorsis, a form of multiple sclerosis. To prevent it from progressing and relapsing, she needs to take a lot of medications and rather expensive ones at that. Rin learns that his meager 3,000,000 yen would last a mere 3 months treating Chizuru's grandmother.

So choosing Rin would mean that she chose to kill her grandmother for her own happiness. Chizuru could never do that no matter how much she loves Rin. Ootori throws that in Rin's face to boot. Ootori is a mega douche but it's definitely not a one street, looking at it logically.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

I've only read the first volume of Cupid, so my knowledge of that is limited, but there's a key difference between the supernatual problems in that and Kono: Cupid's issue is far more serious and problematic than having women accidently lust after the lead, after seeing his naked arse. For a young man, the threat of only being able to act like a man for five more times would ruin his life. The same isn't true when it comes to the risk of accidently instigating gang-rape sessions with a crowd of overly horny women. If anything, that's a positive ability to have for a hot-blooded guy!

Actually, the Stigma has many a minus to it too though perhaps not as evident. In fact, it may have worse consequences.

Spoiler:

Even if Rin has the power to sexual attract women, that doesn't grant his underlying wish, to have someone actually like him from the bottom of their heart. This is the problem that came up with Takako. He used his power on her and he thought she was in love with him until his heart was crushed by her and her schemes in Vol 3. He actually liked her and it hurt him even more when he found it was just because of the Stigma, at least until the sex (then the evil kicked in!)

And that's the problem with this power. The emotions are fake as far as we know. If he was someone that just used his power for sex, but he isn't. He wants the emotion as well. So if he uses it, he'll lose sight of what he actually wants. On top of that, it's described as a bit of misfortune for the women because they could end up ruining their lives because of this.

Besides, both Rainbow Balls and Cherry Syndrome solve the disease/magic macguffin in the end so not clearing it up in Kono S would totally not be Kitazaki's style.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

My point? Cupid's "Rainbow Balls" issue had to be dealt with for it to end happily. The same isn't true of Rin's arse seduction method. I mean, how many women can he expect will see his naked arse, aside from his future beloved? One his waifu sees his bum and goes lust-crazy once, all would be well.

Considering how many have already seen it including one of the other main characters, it's going to have to be resolved in some respect for the story to finish.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

Until Makoto saw Rin's arse, there wasn't anything between the two other than friendship--nothing whatsoever. Neither party had any sexual interest in the other, resulting in zero sexual tension, and Makoto even stated that Rin's weak-minded personality was a turn-off for her--as well as later confirming, post-arsing, that she only wanted to do it with him once and didn't see him as a man--STILL.

Actually, this isn't necessarily true. It's a little more complicated than straight expression.

Spoiler:

Makoto's thoughts and internal monologue are a tad bit unreliable. This is because she has a lot of uncertainty in her viewpoints. In fact, that's what's leads her to become afflicated with the stigma. She was unsure if she was affected and if her feelings and thoughts towards Rin were real or not. She was having them before seeing Rin's butt so she has to have had them in some form already.

This is touched upon in her monologue a little bit in Vol 4. She's so unsure of her emotions that she actually considers that all of the situations in her life has caused her to rebel, to go against what she naturally may have thought or wanted to do. She even says it outright on page 91 and 92 in Vol 4.

This also kind of makes her thinking after being afflicted a little suspect as her thinking is being guided by Takako by a little.

So saying that she doesn't have the sexual tension with Rin is true in the sense that it isn't overt but the possibility of her having feelings for him exists. This point is what will have to be cleared before the end of the series. She'll be a loose end if Kitazaki doesn't do something about it and he usually never leaves those hanging. I'm certain he'll make it clear whether or not Makoto's feelings are actually real after the curse is removed.

As she's the same aged childhood friend, she's not likely to get with the hero (damn tropes!) but she still sort of deserves a bit of resolution.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

I said the length of the series would need to double for a satisfying RinxMakoto ending because, up to yet, it's been ALL Rin>>>Chizuru. Some serious groundwork needs to be put in place for any other decent ending. Up to yet, it would appear that the author only had Makoto be arse'd for comic relief (/wetting her panties and orgasming when around Rin, with him unaware) and to have more chances to draw her in erotic situations. It doesn't strike me that he's planning on having her fall for him, after having sex once.

The focus has been Rin and Chizuru, indeed. However, He was super serious about Takako in vol 1 and 2 and had kind of given up on Chizuru until after the Takako incident. So Rin himself isn't exactly the most one-track minded person.

Kitazaki is also a very good writer and has made his twists and turns work well.

Spoiler for Big Spoiler for Rainbow Balls:

Especially since he paired Mutsumi in Rainbow Balls with his pseudo-childhood friend. They weren't even really that much of a couple throughout the series and he made it work quite well in the end.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

...Is Takako the lesbian? If so, her part in the story is already over, as far as Rin is concerned. She's now only around to talk with Makoto and occasionally 'ease her suffering' through lesbian activity. Once Rin discovered that she was playing him, she went bye-bye as far as the main plot went.

Actually,

Spoiler:

That's incorrect. She's still in the story because of what happens with Vol. 8. To earn enough money to support Chizuru's grandmother, so that Chizu doesn't have to marry Ootori, Rin teams up with Takako in her money schemes involving Rin's Stigma. That happens after where you stopped. I knew her money-making schemes/slight revenge was coming back.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

It seems you're more in the Makoto camp than Chizuru, and that's fair enough--even I like her personality. The thing is, unless the author is intent on fucking with the readers, 99% of the time it's obvious who the leads woman in a romance is going to be.

It's 99% obvious who the lead women are but it's not 99% who will end up with who. That's the part of manga stories that are fun. Kitazaki hasn't really failed me yet with the twists and turns and I've been happy with the end of his mangas so I'm sure It'll be fine either way. It's just a matter of making sure everything is settled and made clear.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

I haven't read much of Cupid, as mentioned before, but I got the distinct impression that the childhood friend would be the lead's choice, come the end. Why? Because the lead cummed on her face (/first intimate moment with a female) and he got with the long-haired rival at the start. I've read enough romance manga to know how it goes with first kiss/cum girls + early relationships.

Watch the J-drama if you want to know what happens with the story as those have subtitles and the story is more or less the same (though there are some important differences). The manga hasn't been translated yet so you'll be lost just flipping through them.

FYI Cupid's Prank is the entire series of manga including Kono S, Cherry Syndrome, Ore x Yome, and Rainbow Balls. It's easier to figure out what you're talking about if you refer to the subtitle of each.

Spoiler for More big spoilers for Rainbow Balls, don't read if you're going to check out the series:

He indeed ends up with the girl he blew a load on that night. However, for most of the manga, the focus is almost entirely on him and the long-haired girl up until towards the end of the series where through many things and their natural relationship with each other, he ends up with the childhood friend. I absolutely love the big event between them at the end of the manga, great event IMO.

Originally Posted by Maes Hughes

...I'll end by saying this: if Rin doesn't white knight rich dick and he takes Chizuru's virginity/marries her, I'm dropping this with a score of 1/10. Seriously. I'm fine with the author not going with the obvious pairing but having the villain steal the woman from the lead of a romance is too far into trolling territory for me to handle.

I was ok with Chizuru inexplicably being set to marry a man she hasn't slept with and doesn't like, back when Kono was nearly all lighthearted goodness + sex. Now, though? I'm not liking how a 30-year-old woman is acting like an indecisve slut without a will of her own. My rage meter is currently high.

/end rambling

You should actually read what's happening before raging needlessly because it's rather silly. There are a lot of things going on and a lot of reasons for what's happening. It's not as stupid or silly as something like KNIM or GE. There are real reasons for what's happening and real problems associated with it. I mean seriously, Chizuru isn't a slut, indecisive, or doesn't have a will of her own. She's the exact opposite of that in fact.

Originally Posted by Mentar

Erhm...

I tried the story based on your hints and reviews. I fought hard, I honestly did, but after 6 chapters I gave up.

My question to you: Is Rin going to grow something like a spine real soon? To be honest, he's ruining the show for me. He is the picture-perfect definition of a total coward, intellectually he's on the level of a juvenile, and I can see absolutely no redeeming qualities in him whatsoever.

Is this going to change, or is this farce going to continue longer like that? Because if it does...

Who are you talking to?

Personally, I think Rin is like any protagonist as he's continually growing and changing. So starting off as he has is kind of the usual starting point. The difference is that his background is usually more fleshed out and his problems are generally a lot more real than say a shounen lead. I mean it's a seinen series so the level of writing and issues tackled are generally totally different.

His attitude starts to change a bit in Vol 2 and his first real epiphany hits in Vol 3. He's a bit more confident and a lot less cowardly as a result of the first 3 volumes and he's kind of a different guy from there on.

I'd say Vol 3 is the cutoff point in whether or not to continue reading the series. Seems like a lot but a lot of what happens in the first 3 volumes are a bit connected so seeing it until the end is kind of a good idea. Plus, it shouldn't take you that long to get through 3 vols.

Cherry Syndrome, Kitazaki's previous Cupid manga is a little easier to get into as it has a little more of an offbeat set-up and the main male protagonist is a bit older and of a different cut compared to most. If you can read Japanese, I think Rainbow Balls is the best of his 3 big Cupid mangas. He starts off a little like Rin though but some of his coolness comes out a little faster, plus I <3 Asami.