(CR) Jaku-Chara Tomozaki-kun 2nd Stage (Bottom-tier Character Tomazaki 2nd Stage)

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Frontier

But Fuuka is sweet and nice too...

I mean, I think Mimimi would be a lot of fun with Tomozaki but I also think it makes sense he'd be more comfortable with Fuuka because their personalities and temperaments are so similar.

Sure, but she's mainly boring due to being the author self insert, all she has to do is sit there and spout out the convenient words that will make him blush (seriously the story she wrote where the mc gets put in charge of taking care of the girl that is clearly her made me roll my eyes so hard because if the obvious implications), that's almost as bad as the first girl trope in my opinion and I am tired of it.

Also I don't find it fun when shows like these develop sweet and nice girls just for the express purpose to break their hearts, I was already almost out the moment Aoi gave him the assignment, but seeing the obvious that is gonna happen really dampens my enjoyment and I am not going to keep watching something I know that I am not going to keep enjoying.

If I end up being wrong and the show doesn't go as I expect it to and surprises, then I will own up to it, but I have seen enough anime that I have developed a sixth sense for these kinds of things and I have not been wrong yet.

[Thor's Hammer]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

Sure, but she's mainly boring due to being the author self insert, all she has to do is sit there and spout out the convenient words that will make him blush (seriously the story she wrote where the mc gets put in charge of taking care of the girl that is clearly her made me roll my eyes so hard because if the obvious implications), that's almost as bad as the first girl trope in my opinion and I am tired of it.

Also I don't find it fun when shows like these develop sweet and nice girls just for the express purpose to break their hearts, I was already almost out the moment Aoi gave him the assignment, but seeing the obvious that is gonna happen really dampens my enjoyment and I am not going to keep watching something I know that I am not going to keep enjoying.

If I end up being wrong and the show doesn't go as I expect it to and surprises, then I will own up to it, but I have seen enough anime that I have developed a sixth sense for these kinds of things and I have not been wrong yet.

This is off topic, and I don't know if you've even watched Re:zero, but the foreshadowing in that series suggests that Emilia will die even though she was the first girl. I believe Subaru will end up with Priscilla although most people scoff at that idea.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by Chosen_Hero

Sure, but she's mainly boring due to being the author self insert, all she has to do is sit there and spout out the convenient words that will make him blush (seriously the story she wrote where the mc gets put in charge of taking care of the girl that is clearly her made me roll my eyes so hard because if the obvious implications), that's almost as bad as the first girl trope in my opinion and I am tired of it.

Also I don't find it fun when shows like these develop sweet and nice girls just for the express purpose to break their hearts, I was already almost out the moment Aoi gave him the assignment, but seeing the obvious that is gonna happen really dampens my enjoyment and I am not going to keep watching something I know that I am not going to keep enjoying.

If I end up being wrong and the show doesn't go as I expect it to and surprises, then I will own up to it, but I have seen enough anime that I have developed a sixth sense for these kinds of things and I have not been wrong yet.

Do you think Fuuka is a self-insert for the author because she's...well, literally a writer? I mean, I guess it's possible although I always assumed the author for this was a male .

I think it would be interesting if they explore the fact that she has a very idealizing or romantic view of love, like the person you choose to be with will be your be all, end all. Which is what anyone would want, ideally, but isn't always what happens in reality.

[Chosen_Hero]

Originally Posted by Thor's Hammer

This is off topic, and I don't know if you've even watched Re:zero, but the foreshadowing in that series suggests that Emilia will die even though she was the first girl. I believe Subaru will end up with Priscilla although most people scoff at that idea.

I don't watch it.

Originally Posted by Frontier

Do you think Fuuka is a self-insert for the author because she's...well, literally a writer? I mean, I guess it's possible although I always assumed the author for this was a male .

I think it would be interesting if they explore the fact that she has a very idealizing or romantic view of love, like the person you choose to be with will be your be all, end all. Which is what anyone would want, ideally, but isn't always what happens in reality.

Nope, it's because of the obvious parallels between what the author is doing with the story and everything her and Tomozaki tend to talk about that regarding the script, it's like the author is telling us "I just don't know who to choose though" when in fact it is obvious (to me at least) that their mind has been made up since the moment they had Tomozaki approach her in season one and was supposed to be the original girl he had to ask out as an assignment (if I remember season 1 correctly).

Not all self-inserts tend to be similar to their authors, it's just the character that is most convenient for the author to use to communicate directly with their MC without it looking as 4th wall breaking bs.

[EroKing]

NSFW

Megami

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[Frontier]

Originally Posted by EroKing

NSFW

Megami

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Fuuka rocking that one-piece swimsuit .

She may not have a big bust but she has a cute behind !

[Frontier]

Tomozaki is now on the Mimimi and Fuuka routes! Which means he can progress how he likes, but all for the sake of achieving a natural relationship with either of them !

Well, no surprise the main hero of the play is Mizusawa, or the charismatic and confident princess is Hinami, but good on Tama for playing Kris (even if she's basically playing Fuuka's self-insert) !

Mimimi sees Fuuka and Tomozaki getting along and decides to make her move! They ARE doing a comedy act together! Even if it would be super awkward doing a married-couple skit after she legitimately confessed to him...actually, that would make it more memorable if you ask me .

But it does give Mimimi a chance to re-affirm her feelings to Tomozaki and explain why she likes him, because he was there for her when she didn't think she could ever come in first and was there for Tama too, and that just made her genuinely fall for him. She doesn't want her feelings to be annoying, but she wants Tomozaki to know just how much she likes him. And it's really sweet !

I love how they have Ai Kayano voicing all the characters in Fuuka's play .

So Kris is basically Fuuka with her anxiety about going into the outside world and opening herself up...while Libro is probably Tomozaki who is the one to get her to step outside her comfort zone and is the boy she talks to the most. I think Tomozaki seemed to realize what was going on here .

But how do you write for Alucia, who is Hinami's character? Especially when the character can't be realistic when you don't know the REAL Hinami? Especially when you can't get a genuine answer out of her and not even Tomozaki knows the real thing that drives Hinami .

Which means some investigating into her middle school and grade school life from old classmates! Didn't expect Hinami to have actually dated someone (even if it wasn't long before she dumped them), but the fact that she used to be family-oriented and was a big sister was a bigger surprise...and it seems like there's something there to where she had more than one little sister in grade school but only one in middle school. What happened ?

[FlareKnight]

This is some hardcore effort put into a school play . Going a bit over the top in a full blown Aoi investigation . To a degree you might think that Fuuka might be putting too much of actual people into her characters . But I mean, she's dedicated to her cause. And at least she isn't to the point of going way too far. Obviously whatever situation has gone on with Hinami's family isn't something that would feel good to pry into without good reason. And a play probably isn't a good enough excuse for it .

Definitely not a topic that has any sort of good endings there. Either one sister died or maybe the family split up and one sister was taken away? I don't know. Doesn't seem like a cheerful topic regardless.

At the very least I'm curious how that play's story is going to end. Could go a few ways.

I salute that Mimimi remains really active and is at least trying. It's an awkward position since she has thrown it out there and now...it's kind of out of her hands. Where things go from here is more or less in Tomozaki's hands.

[Thor's Hammer]

It looks like a curveball was thrown as I thought that I had it all figured out and that Aoi herself was the Tama to someone else’s Erika prior to this episode, but maybe Aoi lost a sister due to suicide given Maebashi was confident that Aoi had multiple sisters. If that’s the case, it was Aoi’s younger sister, twin sister, or older sister who was the Tama to someone else’s Erika, and Aoi became the sociopath she is because she failed to protect one of her sisters back in grade school.

[Frontier]

Watch her end up confessing to Tomozaki through the play .

[Frontier]

Time for the first read through of the play! And Hinami is already an amazing actress that she doesn't even really need to rehearse, which is convenient for her to just ditch and do student council work .

So acting-wise...Mizusawa and Takei are pretty solid, Yuzu is a good narrator, everyone else...is about what you would expect from a high school play .

Well, nice of Fuka to be considerate of Tomozaki needing to spend time with Mimimi while she thinks handling things on her own would be a good chance for her to change...but as much as I love getting more Mimimi, I can't help but be a little concerned about Fuka .

Tomozaki and Mimimi have a natural rapport and great banter, without even needing a script, but as much fun as Tomozaki has with Mimimi, does he want to date her? What about their relationship would make him want to be more than just friends with her ?

Mimimi offers some insight into the Hinami situation. She herself understands wanting to be number 1 because she felt hollow without it, but if that's the same for Hinami and why she tries so hard to be special and popular, how must she really feel when she puts so much effort into it ?

Fuka is trying her best but she's still lacking in areas...and the one time Hinami shows up she basically runs things herself, but that just makes Fuka act more like Hinami. Which seems like the most pressing issue .

So the play concludes not with a real resolution to the love triangle, but Kris realizing she needs to change and make an honest living in the world rather than feel sheltered and safe in the castle with the dragon, especially when no one else but Alucia and Libra feels like she had any value outside taking care of the dragon. I guess in some regards it's an "ideal" ending, but it doesn't sit right with Tomozaki .

Because Fuka is like Hinami in the sense that she views herself as detached from the world as an "author" much like Hinami sees herself (and Tomozaki) as "players," and so she's constantly chasing an ideal and sees that in Tomozaki, Tama, and Hinami's behavior. But in chasing that ideal, and trying to change, is she being true to herself ?

Jeez, Tomozaki spending all night reading a novel just to better understand Fuka? That's commitment .

[FlareKnight]

An interesting direction for things. And I like that Tomozaki at least acknowledged that it's debatable if he should be pushing on this. Since isn't it really up to Fuka in the end what ideal she chooses to chase for herself? I'm guessing the answer will be yes since this situation isn't resolved completely. But it's interesting to ponder.

Analogies and metaphors can be easy for quick understanding, but there's definitely nuances to keep in mind. Especially in this one between the gaming and novel side of it. From character to player on one side to character to author on the other. Since normally you'd probably use the three categories of character, player, and creator for gaming and character, reader, and author on the other. It really reflects the different points of view and thought processes between Tomozaki and Fuka. She skips over the one participating in the experience (the reader) and goes right to the one overseeing the world in the author. In that sense no wonder she leans a bit in the Hinami direction.

On that note I find it interesting that the first girl that Aoi really pushed Tomozaki towards is someone like Fuka. Someone that actually kind of shares her top-down view of things. Just one that hadn't really pushed herself to change in the direction she desires.

Hinami's motivations remain a mystery, but there are interesting elements there. It could fall into a classic direction of her pushing so hard to be this perfect/ideal version to fill the hole left from a potentially lost sibling. Maybe trying to stick it to the world for some unfair "event" thrown into her life. Obviously it's hard to know all that much since the information we have is just bits and pieces as of yet.

Credit to Mimimi just hanging in there. Her odds just get worse and worse the more time things are left in limbo. Especially when this arc being far more about Fuka...But she's spending time with Tomozaki and staying active.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

Credit to Mimimi just hanging in there. Her odds just get worse and worse the more time things are left in limbo. Especially when this arc being far more about Fuka...But she's spending time with Tomozaki and staying active.

The irony that Fuka gave Mimimi that time with Tomozaki...and then it became about Hinami .

[Thor's Hammer]

This was by far the best episode of this show across these first 2 seasons. I hope the payoff will be that goodness and authenticity trumps the desire to be a complete control freak. Please do not become like Aoi, Fuuka. That would be terrible.

[FlareKnight]

Originally Posted by Frontier

The irony that Fuka gave Mimimi that time with Tomozaki...and then it became about Hinami .

That really is some irony unfortunately for Mimimi .

Though it makes sense with the whole Fuka leaning towards Hinami's type of viewpoint.

[Frontier]

Look at the joy on Fuka's face when she finds out Tomozaki read the same book she did! And it exists as an E-Book !

Ah, when you REALLY want to help a girl when you see she's in a situation, from a personal desire, that's when you know, isn't it ?

Fuka's been trying to be like the Popplers, friends with everybody and being more outgoing and outspoken...but isn't she more like the Firelings who keep to themselves and are equally happy? Has she been trying to so hard to tell her story the way she thinks the narrative of her life should go rather than how she, as a person, WANTS it to go ?

Fuka sees the world in gray but she still finds colors in the books she loves, and she can find similar people who share her interests rather than needing to change or put herself out there for others in a way that doesn't fit her...so Tomozaki signs her up for twitter. Just be careful on there, Fuka .

Well, it's nice that Fuka came up with a better ending for Kris, though poor Mimimi can see the writing on the wall looking at Tomozaki and Fuka together...especially when the audience gets to see Tomozaki reflect on all the moments he's had with Fuka and telling her he wants to talk after the festival. This can only go one way .

Mimimi looks great in that shirt (and anything) but she didn't want the crab to be the only thing Tomozaki noticed .

Oh hey, Gumi and the girls Mizusawa flirted with showed up! Poor Mimimi had to deal with the idea of Tomozaki going out of his way to flirt with girls at an all girls' school, give this poor girl a break .

The duos' comedy act goes pretty well! Even when Tomozaki forgets his line, Mimimi is able to improv and make up for it! They really are a great comedy team .

But I guess a comedy team is all they can ever be, despite how much Mimimi wishes otherwise, as she sends Tomozaki off to Fuka knowing where his heart really lies (and before he can turn her down). You can tell she's holding back tears as she realizes it's all over and she's lost yet again .

Though Fuka was looking out for Tomozaki, showing her own feelings, and Tomozaki arrives just in time for the play to begin .

[Frontier]

I just want to commend the production values of this play, we've got a giant honking key prop, pretty on-point costuming, a dragon, and Erika as a knight. Pretty nice

The main actors are doing a pretty good job playing to their roles (and the subtext of who they're embodying, even if Alucia is just Hinami basically playing herself). Alucia's speech is probably as close to Fuka putting out there what she thinks Hinami really feels as she can get .

And the play is a smashing success! They even nail the ending! At least up until Fuka added a part Tomozaki didn't know about...one where Libra ends up marrying Alucia instead of Kris, and knowing what he knows about Fuka, he realizes what that means for their own relationship .

Even Mimimi could see through what the play really represented, and even though she lost Tomozaki's heart to Fuka, she still didn't want to see Fuka and Tomozaki give up on their own chance to be happy...even if it brought tears to her eyes. You were Best Girl to the bitter end, Mimimi .

Fuka still can't reconcile what she wants with her rational personality, and no matter her feelings for Tomozaki she just doesn't see a place for them to be together and he would probably pair better with Hinami...but Tomozaki sees how in their own opposite yet parallel life paths they actually compliment each other better than they expect, and Fuka doesn't have to give up on what she wants while still maintaining her ideals. Just like Tomozaki chose the path of maintaining his own ideals and his gamer approach to life. And no better way to demonstrate that than by confessing and asking Fuka out, making her entire day !

So Tomozaki has a girlfriend! And he's still got lessons with Hinami, as always, but he seems happy. Even Mimimi has made peace with everything and is trying to be cool with Tomozaki, even if she still likes him. Also reindeer Gumi! Santa Girls! And Fuka using her story to profess her own love for Tomozaki !

[Thor's Hammer]

Who is Aoi kidding with her continuing to have Fumiya's ultimate goal to enjoy offline life as much as she does? I reckon Fumiya already enjoys his offline life more than she does now that he's with Fuuka, as otherwise, people wouldn't be pointing Aoi out as being hollow and empty.

Earlier in the reason, I correctly speculated that Aoi was continuing to teach Fumiya to prove that she was right about her methods and to take the sting out of losing to him at TackFam given she said she couldn't believe that Nanashi was a guy who failed at life, but I wonder if there is more to it than that given Fumiya didn't completely believe her when she said that, and he is viewed as a reliable narrator.

Maybe since Aoi has molded herself into the perfect heroine she wouldn't settle for anything less than the perfect hero. That could be a hidden motive to her continuing to teach Fumiya 'cause it's not just that she wants to make him into a respectable person to make losing to him at TackFam hurt less but that she wants him to be her prince. I still want Fumiya to end up with Fuuka, so even if this ends up being a plot point, I hope there is some way to resolve Aoi's issues without the author forcing Fumiya to be with Aoi, who he is not a good fit with. I pray the author is not having Fuuka voice her opinion that Aoi and Fumiya should be together as being a reflection of what will actually happen.

[FlareKnight]

In the end that worked out ok. I do feel for Mimimi, but it definitely felt like her odds got worse with each episode that passed after her confession. She was a valuable stepping stone to get Tomozaki to realize that a girl could absolutely fall for him and that he needed to process that reality. And at least Mimimi looks pretty steady by the end. Took some emotional hits, but at least she'll be ok.

Fuka certainly made sense as the girl that Tomozaki would choose in the end. And things worked out just fine there. That couple is a perfectly cute one and I'm glad how things turned out for them. Both are plenty likable. And both can chase that ideal state of emotions and ideals working together.

I can't rate this season highly. Definitely a 6/10. The first chunk of it was so grueling that dropping the show was a regular inner battle. Thankfully the storm did eventually clear and a very solid second part of the season played out. And that was certainly nice and more of what I was hoping to see from this season. But a good ending can't completely erase a bad start. So that's where I'll end up on it.

[Frontier]

Originally Posted by FlareKnight

In the end that worked out ok. I do feel for Mimimi, but it definitely felt like her odds got worse with each episode that passed after her confession. She was a valuable stepping stone to get Tomozaki to realize that a girl could absolutely fall for him and that he needed to process that reality. And at least Mimimi looks pretty steady by the end. Took some emotional hits, but at least she'll be ok.

Honestly the fact that she, the loser, had to push these two to get together...she deserved better .