Been reading some of the spoilers for the latest volume, and it seems that the hypothesis I made in this post 9 months ago was partially correct.
Spoiler for old post:
Quote:
Originally Posted by frivolity
I don't think too many overarching inferences can be drawn regarding the direction that the author took with volume 9. I think the events in Haganai are merely partially inspired by his own experiences and used for comedic purposes instead of being a platform for social commentary.
The way I see it, he dug himself into a hole with volume 8 by introducing an unplanned plotpoint regarding Sena and Kodaka's engagement without properly thinking through the implications that such a revelation would have on the dynamics between the members of the club (see the Author's Notes at the back of Connect, where he admitted that Pegasus was not intended to play such an important role).
As such, he had to dig himself out by writing a side story (Connect) to fill in the gaps left behind by previous volumes - a practice that is generally considered bad writing. Side stories that show the reader finer aspects of minor characters or historical trivia are well and good because there is no room for these in the chronology of the main plot. These side stories are usually independent of the main plot, such that the reader will not get lost without reading these side stories. However, Connect is a side story containing events that actually form the basis of later volumes, which to me is indicative that the author had lost control of his story at the end of volume 8 and was forced to take corrective actions.
This leads me back to the question of why the author directed volume 9 in this way. As mentioned above, I interpret it as him having lost control in volume 8, so Connect and volume 9 are part of the corrective steps that he used to bring the story back in line with the original plans by giving Yozora the much-needed development that she needed after Rika's in Connect. Depending on how things play out, we'll probably see a Yukimura-centric volume somewhere down the road, since she is currently lagging behind the others in terms of development.
To add on to shaqpabst's post, one theme that the characters in the Neighbours Club collectively portray is that people of all social strata have problems of their own and all sorts of people can be outcasts, even the popular and successful ones. Whether you're good-looking, highly intelligent, confused about your orientation, highly naïve, or one who never outgrew your childhood, you still can have problems fitting in. After all, there are always exceptions to the rule. All of the members of the club are, in their own way, equally tragic outcasts who have problems fitting in. The Club is the only place where they can truly let out their actual selves without fear of being accepted.
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I suspected as much after reading the synopsis of
Connect, but the complete mess that is the latest volume seems to confirm that the author has indeed lost control of the story, and it seems fairly likely that the wheels started coming off during volume 8. The main error in my prediction was that I had originally believed that Yozora was the intended end girl that the story was deviating from, but apparently it's actually Rika.
I had thought that
Connect was meant to be a slight correction to flesh out Rika's character, with Yukimura's and Yozora's developments to be left for the last few volumes. If volume 10 is indeed the last volume, however, then that would mean
Connect was specifically meant to put the end girl herself back in the driving seat.