(L) Ichigo 100%

[Arthas1011]

I saw the anime and I thought it was retarded

[taelrak]

Originally Posted by bbduece

the flow of the 1st half of the story is building up the love tension between aya and manaka so i guess that left a lot of readers.....

Spoiler for 100%:

.....(especialy the aya fans) dissapointed. i felt the the ending does not match how the story started out, but the ending made sense and match the 2nd half of the story well
who manaka ended up with felt a bit incosistent for me base on the type of attention he shows each of the girls so i also thought it was not the right ending, this is just my opinion
i also think the writer could have purposely not put them together to shatter everyone's dream of a stereotypical ending

I like your wording: "stereotypical ending". I don't think the manga would've been anywhere as interesting if it had a "stereotypical ending (with Aya)". It would've just been yet another romance manga.

With this ending however, it at least has a slightly better theme than the typical "boy and girl grows up" themes in every other harem/romance story.

In the long run, it doesn't really matter who Manaka ends up with - it's a story after all, and as long as the ending is reasonable and plausible, the actual person he picks is irrelevant. The value is in the message the story sends, and its presentation, and I think having it end with Nishino probably does that best.

[bbduece]

Originally Posted by taelrak

I like your wording: "stereotypical ending". I don't think the manga would've been anywhere as interesting if it had a "stereotypical ending (with Aya)". It would've just been yet another romance manga.

With this ending however, it at least has a slightly better theme than the typical "boy and girl grows up" themes in every other harem/romance story.

In the long run, it doesn't really matter who Manaka ends up with - it's a story after all. The value is in the message the story sends, and its presentation, and I think having it end with Nishino probably does that best.

i also think this what made this manga so good

[ironbomb]

Originally Posted by Arthas1011

I saw the anime and I thought it was retarded

Its more retarded to judge this manga base on the anime since the story goes so much further and the anime cuts out most of the IMPORTANT scenes.

Originally Posted by taelrak

I like your wording: "stereotypical ending". I don't think the manga would've been anywhere as interesting if it had a "stereotypical ending (with Aya)". It would've just been yet another romance manga.

With this ending however, it at least has a slightly better theme than the typical "boy and girl grows up" themes in every other harem/romance story.

In the long run, it doesn't really matter who Manaka ends up with - it's a story after all, and as long as the ending is reasonable and plausible, the actual person he picks is irrelevant. The value is in the message the story sends, and its presentation, and I think having it end with Nishino probably does that best.

I have to agree with this. Its so true that because of this, the manga left me an irreplaceable sting when I finished it. No other manga, thus far, have left me with such a feeling.
But one thing lol, the actual person he picks does matter. If he did pick Aya at the end, it would have meant he got his dream girl and his dream goal instead of torn between the two.

[taelrak]

Originally Posted by ironbomb

Its more retarded to judge this manga base on the anime since the story goes so much further and the anime cuts out most of the IMPORTANT scenes.



I have to agree with this. Its so true that because of this, the manga left me an irreplaceable sting when I finished it. No other manga, thus far, have left me with such a feeling.
But one thing lol, the actual person he picks does matter. If he did pick Aya at the end, it would have meant he got his dream girl and his dream goal instead of torn between the two.

True, I guess Aya does seem to represent his dream more. However, I also believe that pairing with her might not have been as great for his own dream career as it appears.

It became clear to him upon graduation that he was depending far too much on Aya's stories for his movies, and when left alone to do a work of his own, he simply wasn't up to the task. If he's with Aya, I have a feeling that they would drag each other down - him by holding back Aya's true potential, and Aya by making him too reliant on her.

Although there were several scenes in the manga where they both supported each other and helped each other grow, I feel that at the end of the manga, they had both outgrown that particular need for each other, and that they needed some independent development--so that each can support the other without becoming a "crutch".

When he paired with Nishino, the final scene with Aya in the snow and his decision to move forward on his own without Nishino were both symbolic of this growth. If he had gone with Aya however, I don't think they would have moved past this step as completely.

This is also part of the reason I feel that a story set during the time gap or at least after the time gap with Manaka and Aya would be great - it would show them both as fully matured, independent entities who realized their dreams using their own strength. The end result of that film should be amazing. Alas, it wasn't so.

[bbduece]

great story and a great ride but i found the ending very misleading

[ironbomb]

Originally Posted by taelrak

True, I guess Aya does seem to represent his dream more. However, I also believe that pairing with her might not have been as great for his own dream career as it appears.

It became clear to him upon graduation that he was depending far too much on Aya's stories for his movies, and when left alone to do a work of his own, he simply wasn't up to the task. If he's with Aya, I have a feeling that they would drag each other down - him by holding back Aya's true potential, and Aya by making him too reliant on her.

Although there were several scenes in the manga where they both supported each other and helped each other grow, I feel that at the end of the manga, they had both outgrown that particular need for each other, and that they needed some independent development--so that each can support the other without becoming a "crutch".

hmm, I see what you are talking about but it differs from person to person. *hopes this makes sense*
Manaka relied on Aya because he believe and trusted her work. I dont see anything wrong with that, producing such great works at an early stage of life is a great motivation for your future. Manaka hindering Aya's growth, well yes, in a way but he is helping her grow as well, in a different way. With Manaka, she have always produced GREAT LOVE stories, unlike the novels she wrote alone, which didnt even please the publishers or herself...she needed Manaka for the motivation. Neways, that wasnt even what I wanted to point out lol..I wanted to say that when two masters work together doesnt necessary create a great work while two novices which compensate each other can create a much superb work, which is what Manaka and Aya was capable of doing. Manaka displayed through his filming the essence of the scenery/character while Aya provides the details and scripts for the characters...I see there future together in this category, endless but I concede that it does lack SELF-growth which is it really necessary when they work so well together?

I am not sure if Aya have moved on from such it yet. When Manaka talked about the golem story(omfg that scene stings because I thought they would end up together when he mentioned it) she acted "unusual" or I might have just overthought about that scene.

Originally Posted by taelrak

When he paired with Nishino, the final scene with Aya in the snow and his decision to move forward on his own without Nishino were both symbolic of this growth. If he had gone with Aya however, I don't think they would have moved past this step as completely.

Let me make sure I got the correct scene, when Aya came to visit and Nishino was also waiting. Aya walked to talk and confess her actions during the study time at Manaka's house?
You are right if this didnt happen, he might not have moved on to mature like he did but would it have been necessary if there work is already good enough? I am sure a time will come where they would realize that they are relying on each other but that would just mean how much more they mean to each other.

Originally Posted by taelrak

This is also part of the reason I feel that a story set during the time gap or at least after the time gap with Manaka and Aya would be great - it would show them both as fully matured, independent entities who realized their dreams using their own strength. The end result of that film should be amazing. Alas, it wasn't so.

Totally agreed...that and and being selfish a bit more, I want closure for all the characters ^^, especially these two since they were left out, Kozue and Yui!

[Mistacloudstrife]

I loved this manga. I immediately bought the entire set in Japanese after I finished. The thing that hit me hardest was the fact that he ended up with Nishino. I was actually rooting for this couple the entire time, but of course because of Toujo, I felt sure it wasn't going to happen. I went to a couple of forums after the last chapter came out to discuss this, and debated the fact that their relationship didn't just pop out of thin air. Manaka and Nishino imho had the most history together, and her leaving(in a sense) halfway through the manga and returning afterwards was an amazing way to show that love isn't always work out the way you want it to. It showed love in a more realistic standpoint. Just because you care about someone and you like the same things doesn't mean that s/he is going to be the one you want to be with; and just because there's someone that doesn't like the same things you do doesn't mean that person isn't the one for you. It's a whole lot deeper than that. I just love how the story broke the traditional views of romance in a story, and how it broke the "fated love" cliche. =P

[Mykas]

ok time to weigh in again, since most of you have read, suzuka, i's, midori days, love hina, ai yori aoshi, video girl ai, and any other harem you can think of that has finished and not only that, they finished in the way that you expected i would really like to know what you have against "fated love cliches" and "stereotypical endings"
the truth is it's those things that keep me coming back to these mangas and when they don't happen i feel empty and disapointed, one thing i notice among many of you is that you were cheering for the nishino ending, so of course you can find reasons to accept it. but as i said before in the end it boils down to one simple thing.
The author abdicated responsibility and instead of choosing a path for her characters she left it up to a fan poll. of course it ended badly. anything run by polls will end badly, governments, companies, clubs anything.
by letting a poll decide she basicly alienated everyone who voted for a character other than nishino, if however she had just gone ahead and done an aya ending everyone would have accepted it happily they would have even chased after madly and enjoyed the book writing raves about it.

[Mistacloudstrife]

Originally Posted by Mykas

ok time to weigh in again, since most of you have read, suzuka, i's, midori days, love hina, ai yori aoshi, video girl ai, and any other harem you can think of that has finished and not only that, they finished in the way that you expected i would really like to know what you have against "fated love cliches" and "stereotypical endings"
the truth is it's those things that keep me coming back to these mangas and when they don't happen i feel empty and disapointed, one thing i notice among many of you is that you were cheering for the nishino ending, so of course you can find reasons to accept it. but as i said before in the end it boils down to one simple thing.
The author abdicated responsibility and instead of choosing a path for her characters she left it up to a fan poll. of course it ended badly. anything run by polls will end badly, governments, companies, clubs anything.
by letting a poll decide she basicly alienated everyone who voted for a character other than nishino, if however she had just gone ahead and done an aya ending everyone would have accepted it happily they would have even chased after madly and enjoyed the book writing raves about it.

First of all, answer me this, did I EVER say that I was against stereotypicial endings or fated love cliches? No. I did not. Don't put words in my worth. =) And don't say you weren't talking to me or you were saying people in general because you quoted me. =D Again, no word puttings inside of my mouth, got it? KthnxBye.

Something is terribly wrong with your post. You don't even seem to be giving your opinion, you talk as if everything you're stating are facts.

1)The author abdicated responsibility
2)Anything run by a poll will end badly
3)however she had just gone ahead and done an aya ending everyone would have accepted it

First of all it it's an authors decision on what to do with his or her characters. If s/he wants to make Harry Potter fall in love with Ginny Weasley it's her decision. It's also his/her decision if she wants to kill of Aeris and leave the main character crying and emo. It's also his/her decision if s/he wants to leave any sort of love untouched. And it's also his/her decision if s/he wants to leave it up to someone else to decide. You aren't the author so don't act like what she did was wrong.

Saying anything run by a poll will end badly is a pretty big statement there. I could write a page long essay about why that statement is completely and utterly idiotic, but I'll back down from that for now.

And lastly, don't assume everyone would be happy with a completely different ending. Seriously, not everybody is like you.

(Multiple anime spoiler warning, I guess?)
And yes, I read those mangas(except Ai Yori Aoshi), but I also liked stuff like Honey and Clover, which basically didn't change any love interests by the end. And I liked animes like KimiNozo that left a betrayed feeling in my gut after seeing one of the main character's love interest ****ing some other guy. Or stuff like Nana where the main character goes and gets pregnant after she found a decent guy. There are several several animes and mangas that ACTUALLY show bits and pieces of reality and I like them. Just because I don't limit myself to liking just the norm of romance mangas and animes doesn't mean that I still don't appreciate them.

[taelrak]

Originally Posted by Mykas

ok time to weigh in again, since most of you have read, suzuka, i's, midori days, love hina, ai yori aoshi, video girl ai, and any other harem you can think of that has finished and not only that, they finished in the way that you expected i would really like to know what you have against "fated love cliches" and "stereotypical endings"
the truth is it's those things that keep me coming back to these mangas and when they don't happen i feel empty and disapointed, one thing i notice among many of you is that you were cheering for the nishino ending, so of course you can find reasons to accept it. but as i said before in the end it boils down to one simple thing.
The author abdicated responsibility and instead of choosing a path for her characters she left it up to a fan poll. of course it ended badly. anything run by polls will end badly, governments, companies, clubs anything.
by letting a poll decide she basicly alienated everyone who voted for a character other than nishino, if however she had just gone ahead and done an aya ending everyone would have accepted it happily they would have even chased after madly and enjoyed the book writing raves about it.

Poll Issue:

Well, first of all, the whole fan thing isn't confirmed.
Second, not all polls are necessarily bad.
Third, even if she did go by a poll, and the results were for Nishino, it at least shows that those fans who she was directly targeting as an audience who cared enough and were willing and able to vote preferred Nishino. This suggests that Nishino as an option isn't entirely unreasonable.

As for the degree of reasonableness of the ending, as mentioned, it's strictly a matter of individual opinion. If Manaka could have only have picked one girl, the entire manga would've been boring. It's the fact that there was some real debate over who he would pick that makes a whole harem interesting. You're free to favor whichever girl you wish and prefer whatever ending you like of course, but blaming it all on the author, a poll, and stating those opinions as if they were hard facts is grossly unfair to the author and the manga.

Of all the harems you listed, I found nothing exceptional about the couple that ended up together. If it was just the matter of figuring out who loved whom at the end, I wouldn't have even bothered reading them. It's the story, the development, the themes, and all those other things that makes a story really good that bring a "typical" harem into something great. I'm not saying Ai Yori Aoshi, Suzuka, I"s, etc. aren't good - they're amazing stories, but it's not the fact that the main character ended up with an obvious choice that makes them good.

Spoiler for For example:

I"s would have been just as good (in fact, it would've been better IMO), if the two characters never got together at the end and she went off to pursue her career.

Suzuka likewise could have been just as good if both of them decided to pursue their track careers instead of what did happen in the end.

There's nothing inherently wrong with having a stereotypical ending, but there's nothing wrong with having an atypical ending either.

One of my favorite endings was in Canvas 2 - not because some people felt it was a "strange" ending, but because the characters and that ending were developed so well.

[Mykas]

ok first i don't assume everyone is like me i just assume based on the popularity of formulaic harem manga that the vast majority of harem manga readers like the format, when you pick one up you know more or less what you are getting. yes there will be subtle variations but generally speaking there are so many things that make harem mangas similar as to make them unrecognizable from a distance, it is like looking at two statues that ar both standing in a similar pose, if you look at them from a distance it is impossible to say which one is which.
secondly kawashita sensei the person who wrote 100% said it herself in an article, which i will endeavor to find and link for you if i can, that she left it to the fans to decide who won. and that is abdicating responsibility it means she let someone else decide instead of herself.
third i was directing that at anyone who said they thought the ending was great if i used your or anyone elses quotes directly i don't shy away from saying that i did and that it was directed at you in general. it wasn't personal in any way.
yes a lot of what i have said could be construed as opinion but if you are going to debate a point it makes your points stronger if you present them as already settled facts, if you dispute my "facts" go ahead i don't care present your argument i will read and if i agree i will tell you so, if i disagree i will also tell you that, it really isn't personal for me.

Of all the harems you listed, I found nothing exceptional about the couple that ended up together. If it was just the matter of figuring out who loved whom at the end, I wouldn't have even bothered reading them. It's the story, the development, the themes, and all those other things that makes a story really good that bring a "typical" harem into something great. I'm not saying Ai Yori Aoshi, Suzuka, I"s, etc. aren't good - they're amazing stories, but it's not the fact that the main character ended up with an obvious choice that makes them good.

I agree how you get there is more important that the ending far more so or none of these stories would be worth reading. my point was rather to adress why the ending has raised so many hackles in this particular manga and to point out why other similar mangas failed to cause the same reaction in the same readers.
I won't get into details but polls on thier face are inherently bad and untrustworthy, firstly they all have a margin of error, and secondly they tend to cause bandwagon thinking, in that someone reads the result of a poll and for some reason or another decides to join in with the majority. even when a poll is anonymous this phenomenon happens.
you can all feel free to discuss this and agree or disagree but i stick by my point that an aya ending would have been acceptable to almost all of the readers, where a nishino ending obviously has not been, why do i say it hasn't? because I have read this and other boards that discuss it. you don't see ai yori aoshi boards with people screaming how in the world did he ever end up with aoi when he was obviously meant to be with chika (that was said for humor btw)
as a side note i haven't chosen any ongoing harem series because the focus of the discussion was how ichigo 100% ended. also even though i disliked the ending i am still buying the paperback copies of the manga from viz to support it so please don't misconstrue that i disliked this manga because it is one of my favorites.

[ironbomb]

Originally Posted by Mykas

ok time to weigh in again, since most of you have read, suzuka, i's, midori days, love hina, ai yori aoshi, video girl ai, and any other harem you can think of that has finished and not only that, they finished in the way that you expected i would really like to know what you have against "fated love cliches" and "stereotypical endings"
the truth is it's those things that keep me coming back to these mangas and when they don't happen i feel empty and disapointed, one thing i notice among many of you is that you were cheering for the nishino ending, so of course you can find reasons to accept it. but as i said before in the end it boils down to one simple thing.
The author abdicated responsibility and instead of choosing a path for her characters she left it up to a fan poll. of course it ended badly. anything run by polls will end badly, governments, companies, clubs anything.
by letting a poll decide she basicly alienated everyone who voted for a character other than nishino, if however she had just gone ahead and done an aya ending everyone would have accepted it happily they would have even chased after madly and enjoyed the book writing raves about it.

Out of that list, I only read 3 of them, I's-Suzuka-Love Hina...They all differ from Ichigo100% because there was no conflict of interet in the male lead at the END of the manga.
I have nothing again these "fairy tale endings", just that they end up boring me when it gets too predictable. That doesnt mean I dont enjoy myself when reading them, I definitely had a good time reading Suzuka and I's, Love Hina was horrible -_-; but I wont go into detail why.
As a Nishino fan, I wasnt cheering for her to end up with Manaka, I was hoping Aya would end up with Manaka, more like expecting than hoping, so that judgement cant be pass onto me. Aya definitely would have made a "happier" ending for the majority of the audience BUT I cant say there is really anything wrong with the current ending, just accept it after reading the manga first times.
Did you read the mangaka notes at the end of the manga, I am sure she didnt decide the ending of the manga base on the polls, that was just a rumor.
I would agree that if Manaka did end up with Ayay, the audience would have accepted it more but then the discussion and popularity would die out quick. Personally, it left me an irreplaceable feeling.

Originally Posted by Mykas

ok first i don't assume everyone is like me i just assume based on the popularity of formulaic harem manga that the vast majority of harem manga readers like the format, when you pick one up you know more or less what you are getting. yes there will be subtle variations but generally speaking there are so many things that make harem mangas similar as to make them unrecognizable from a distance, it is like looking at two statues that ar both standing in a similar pose, if you look at them from a distance it is impossible to say which one is which.

The format is a basic Harem ending, just the ending differs from the popular cliche ending.

Originally Posted by Mykas

secondly kawashita sensei the person who wrote 100% said it herself in an article, which i will endeavor to find and link for you if i can, that she left it to the fans to decide who won. and that is abdicating responsibility it means she let someone else decide instead of herself.

Link please, I am sure its a rumor.

I agree how you get there is more important that the ending far more so or none of these stories would be worth reading. my point was rather to adress why the ending has raised so many hackles in this particular manga and to point out why other similar mangas failed to cause the same reaction in the same readers.
I won't get into details but polls on thier face are inherently bad and untrustworthy, firstly they all have a margin of error, and secondly they tend to cause bandwagon thinking, in that someone reads the result of a poll and for some reason or another decides to join in with the majority. even when a poll is anonymous this phenomenon happens.

The poll is still strictly a rumor, I highly doubt the mangaka decided to finish the manga base on the results of the poll. She felt that the ending satisfied all the goals of the characters, mangaka notes at the end of the manga..

you can all feel free to discuss this and agree or disagree but i stick by my point that an aya ending would have been acceptable to almost all of the readers, where a nishino ending obviously has not been, why do i say it hasn't? because I have read this and other boards that discuss it. you don't see ai yori aoshi boards with people screaming how in the world did he ever end up with aoi when he was obviously meant to be with chika (that was said for humor btw)
as a side note i haven't chosen any ongoing harem series because the focus of the discussion was how ichigo 100% ended. also even though i disliked the ending i am still buying the paperback copies of the manga from viz to support it so please don't misconstrue that i disliked this manga because it is one of my favorites.

Ill concede that an Aya ending would have been more acceptable but I would say it wouldnt have been a better read and the moral lesson displayed wouldnt have been portrayed.

[bbduece]

aya vs nashino........round 9573.... FIGHT!!!!

[Yesmilord]

Man...

I just blew through this entire thing in a few days and it was quite the read.

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to agree with the masses and say that the ending was not something I had expected nor hoped for. For whatever reason the author decided to choose Tsukasa over Aya will always be mind boggling. In fact, by not choosing the correct ending, the story almost felt robbed of its full-circle. Even though some of you guys speculate that this was done by poll or in order to shatter picture-perfect dreams, it definitely left a bittersweet feeling....especially at the end when Manaka says that his "endless dream wouldn't have been possible without all these people...and with Toujo-san by my side." If those words weren't fitting for a Manaka X Aya ending, I don't know what would have been.

Overall, awesome rollercoaster...but the ending felt like a big slap in the face.

EDIT:

I just re-read the last volume again. I can see a lot of your guys' perspectives come into play, especially about Aya and Manaka's reliances on each other...and believing in a dream that probably would never had happened if they had just continued to be crutches for each other. It's just such a pity...that something so clearly set up for Aya and Manaka ended up in the garbage. And it's true, to whoever posted it, that they have no one to blame but themselves. There was a reason, in chapter 164 I believe, where Manaka was crying after Aya said goodbye. He asked for her to look back, but then said "no, don't look back", because he didn't want to be weak and knew that they both had to move forward.

What I want to know is, what exactly did Aya write in the notebook as the sequel to her story about the golem? I knew it was her way of saying "farewell" to Manaka, but any speculations as to what exactly was in it?

[AnbuItachi]

i agree the ending is what made this manga my favorite manga.

[iamthewalrus]

bump...

Had a question for people who have already read this manga:

Will I enjoy reading this even though I already know who Manaka ends up with?
I'm still pretty early into it, and enjoying it thus far.

Just wondering if reading the story is still worth it.

[iamthewalrus]

anyone have a response?

[Forbin]

It's pretty good

[aikming]

Originally Posted by iamthewalrus

bump...

Will I enjoy reading this even though I already know who Manaka ends up with?
I'm still pretty early into it, and enjoying it thus far.
Just wondering if reading the story is still worth it.

I think you would, except for the ending which u might feel rushed. But since u know the ending, why not?

Worth for me to buy the whole Volume collection.