(L) Kaguya-sama wa kokurasetai

[BWTraveller]

Wow. What Accelerator says: they're just a joke and really have nothing; all their interactions are forced and they're not getting anywhere. What the chapter actually says: they've made a ton of progress but aren't at the sort of level where they can openly text and hang out without an excuse, but just like Miyuki and Kaguya had to push (shall we say, "force?") things along hard, now Miko has to do the same. Only difference is that she doesn't have as much need to cling to her pride and force Ishigami to make the move, so she can move of her own volition.

That said, some of the "Summer events" she was thinking of were rather odd. Getting stranded on an island? Falling off a cliff so a boy could rescue her and spend a night in a cave with her? A boy getting together with a delinquent!? Ishigami's the only boy, and Miko's nowhere near "delinquent", so seriously drop that last one fast!

Really, watching the anime and looking back at the past events made me again question some of the "people keep forcing them" position. Like, the claims that anytime Miko got in trouble people forced him to get involved because they wanted them together or something. They had every reason to get on his case when he didn't try to get involved. Not getting involved when Miko was in trouble was seriously, majorly out of character for him. This's the guy who'd show up out of nowhere to stop her from falling for a few cheap lines, go through all kinds of stuff to protect her whenever she was in trouble. Any friend who heard him say "it's none of my business" about her in a dangerous situation would be thinking "who the hell are you and what did you do with Ishigami!?"

On a different note, I was half expecting Kaguya to accidentally go back to "breathing is FUN!" like she did when Chika pulled the same nonsense on their summer (at least I think that's where the line occurred).

[Tactics]

Its weird to see Miyuki like that, its like watching a deceased character made commentaries about living ones.

[WingedAccelerator]

The chapter said "their relationship improved significantly compared to one year ago, but they still weren't at the level of being able to casually text each other".

They almost kissed and this is the best description for their current state? Lame, underwhelming, nothing to get pissed about.

The fact that I got an essay again, Traveller, that they are no joke suggests that you took it personally (again). Ishigami doesn't lift a finger if others won't spoonfeed him what's happening with Iino. They want Ishigami to stick to her, force him to her, or the plot conveniently puts them at the same place for Ishigami to observe and protect. At the majority of the time this is how it feels to me at least. Thankfully, he seems to have a life outside of Iino and he is over Tsubame now. So my recurring argument comes back that Ishigami barely if at all iniates stuff with Iino on his own, and it's Iino that's more obsessed with the other one in a "one-sided" way.

[Shadow5YA]

I don't really see any problem with how they are currently. Ishigami has his own life now, and at least he's not constantly bickering with Miko anymore.

If Miko wants something to happen, then it's on her to be more direct about it.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by BWTraveller

That said, some of the "Summer events" she was thinking of were rather odd. Getting stranded on an island? Falling off a cliff so a boy could rescue her and spend a night in a cave with her? A boy getting together with a delinquent!? Ishigami's the only boy, and Miko's nowhere near "delinquent", so seriously drop that last one fast!

It was the narrator saying those things. So basically Aka listing all his summer vacation fantasies.

[BWTraveller]

Originally Posted by WingedAccelerator

The chapter said "their relationship improved significantly compared to one year ago, but they still weren't at the level of being able to casually text each other".

They almost kissed and this is the best description for their current state? Lame, underwhelming, nothing to get pissed about.

The fact that I got an essay again, Traveller, that they are no joke suggests that you took it personally (again). Ishigami doesn't lift a finger if others won't spoonfeed him what's happening with Iino. They want Ishigami to stick to her, force him to her, or the plot conveniently puts them at the same place for Ishigami to observe and protect. At the majority of the time this is how it feels to me at least. Thankfully, he seems to have a life outside of Iino and he is over Tsubame now. So my recurring argument comes back that Ishigami barely if at all iniates stuff with Iino on his own, and it's Iino that's more obsessed with the other one in a "one-sided" way.

Not personal, just that I am horrible at being concise without being unclear, and looking back made me realize just how far from normal it was for Ishigami to go "none of my business" toward Miko's troubles. Far enough that, rather than "spoon-feeding" like you often insist, it's more a matter of mutual friends who feel concern about Miko finding it wrong that once Ishigami started to become a little less distant (or at least fight a bit less) he suddenly went from compulsively jumping in to protect her every single time anything looked like it was going to happen to refusing to act no matter how bad things looked. He had never acted that way before, had never needed to be alerted to problems before because he was always quick to notice and act, so of course friends are going to ask what's wrong with him when he suddenly changes.

And honestly I don't think it's that big of a deal to say that they aren't "able to text yet". I mean, the whole thing was a return to the old examinations of social interactions and the difficulties therein. Here, the fact that until you reach a deep level of intimacy, something deeper than "I tried to kiss him/her", things like regular texting and pair event planning are not considered "acceptable". It doesn't mean you're still "nothing", just that you're not at the level where there wouldn't be some concerns of coming across the wrong way.

[Tactics]

Ishigami never really high about protecting Iino though.

When misunderstanding about learning from a gaming daddy happened, Ishigami didn't care about Iino until Onodera fed him with "Iino is your responsibility".
Onodera herself consider Iino crush is one-sided and its fine supporting her because as far as she knows Ishigami is a good guy and have no girlfriend at this moment.

In more recent arc, the beloved yakuza arc.
You have Iino and Hayasaka tried to fed him there's a girl in need of his protection after all the speech about friendship.
Guess what Ishigami did? "Man, Prez really love to show off, isn't he?" while looking to distance, perhaps wondering how expensive a silent helicopter can be.

So author calling it "not in level of casually texting each other" is actually fair, especially when on very same chapter the girl called him a creep for actually studying. In comparison to his relationship with other student council member, that acts can be interpreted the relationship is not much different than his relationship with Fujiwara (who will mocked him whenever he did something serious, as if she's far better than him, not necessarily means they're in relationship).

[WingedAccelerator]

Ishigami is not monitoring Iino 24/7. Their friends have this weird idea that it's their responsibility telling Ishigami that things are happening around Iino or force them to the same place if it's a good opportunity to make their ship sail. Just tell them to get a room already, because I honestly believe all it takes for them to sail despite their lackluster state is an Iino confession. Even with how they conveniently forgot that they have almost kissed or Ishigami forgetting his realization before the ballroom dance.

[BWTraveller]

Did you not notice that I said I was looking back at the PAST? As in, before the recent incidents that get touted as people trying to pressure him into noticing her? The things you present as evidence that he's not watching her all the time are the later incidents that people thought weird, weird enough to approach him about it, resulting in claims of "forcing". In earlier portions of the story, he couldn't stop himself from jumping in anytime she got in a vulnerable situation. Again, I noticed this after going back to the time of the most recent season and following it. At that time, even though he was completely set on Tsubame, he couldn't help but jump in to protect Miko, to stop her from doing something stupid or getting taken advantage of. Of course people are going to look at that and think that he's concerned about her. Not that he's in love with her, just that he looks out for her, whether as a friend or even almost a big brother/father figure. And then when they told the guy that always jumped in that that girl was with a stranger, he suddenly says "who cares". I don't know about you, but if I'd noticed that every time a friend of mine looked like she was going to get in trouble another friend of mine jumped in and protected her, I'd think that he'd want to know when it looks like she's in BIG trouble. And if he then said "why should I care?", I'd ask him if she really means that little to him. Not because I think he's in love with her, but because it's bizarre that he suddenly jumped from one extreme to the other.

[WingedAccelerator]

The superior couple comes through!

Spoiler for Chapter 269:

It's an Ishigami-Kaguya chapter.

2 weeks have passed since Gan'an died. Kaguya stayed in Japan to attend his funeral and didn't shed a tear for her father. She thinks she is cold and maybe if they would have had a photo together, then things would have been different.

Going for a walk with her camera, the place seems familiar to Kaguya. She fetches up Ishigami, most likely he lives around there. He is free till the night, so he occupies Kaguya with taking photos about people as the model.

Funny photos came out as the results and Kaguya admits she is not good with photos about people. She considers this as her utmost failure even though she is talented in everything else. Ishigami calms her down, but since she is not improving, he jabs one at her that she should consider rethinking her photographer dreams. Miyuki-Fujiwara training vibes.

Ishigami suggests Kaguya making people laugh with something that would lessen the tension. But Kaguya says that's not easy for her, she doesn't like people in general, doesn't look at them, and how should she make them laugh if she didn't even cry for her deceased parent?

Ishigami disagrees and says Kaguya several times made him laugh unintentionally. Kaguya wants to take photos where people laugh, so deep down she actually likes people, but not good at expressing it, sometimes her thoughts and actions don't match. But Ishigami finds this amusing.

Kaguya takes his photo and evaluates it as 9/10, also making a sidenote that Ishigamy showed off with some words.

Last page Kaguya says that once she improved, she actually wanted to take a photo of Gan'an.

[Kanon]

Originally Posted by WingedAccelerator

The superior couple comes through!

Spoiler for Chapter 269:

It's an Ishigami-Kaguya chapter.

2 weeks have passed since Gan'an died. Kaguya stayed in Japan to attend his funeral and didn't shed a tear for her father. She thinks she is cold and maybe if they would have had a photo together, then things would have been different.

Going for a walk with her camera, the place seems familiar to Kaguya. She fetches up Ishigami, most likely he lives around there. He is free till the night, so he occupies Kaguya with taking photos about people as the model.

Funny photos came out as the results and Kaguya admits she is not good with photos about people. She considers this as her utmost failure even though she is talented in everything else. Ishigami calms her down, but since she is not improving, he jabs one at her that she should consider rethinking her photographer dreams. Miyuki-Fujiwara training vibes.

Ishigami suggests Kaguya making people laugh with something that would lessen the tension. But Kaguya says that's not easy for her, she doesn't like people in general, doesn't look at them, and how should she make them laugh if she didn't even cry for her deceased parent?

Ishigami disagrees and says Kaguya several times made him laugh unintentionally. Kaguya wants to take photos where people laugh, so deep down she actually likes people, but not good at expressing it, sometimes her thoughts and actions don't match. But Ishigami finds this amusing.

Kaguya takes his photo and evaluates it as 9/10, also making a sidenote that Ishigamy showed off with some words.

Last page Kaguya says that once she improved, she actually wanted to take a photo of Gan'an.

Wasn't Ishigami supposed to go to Switzerland?

Anyway, this sounds like a really good chapter.

[Tactics]

Well, maybe later; worst case will be the author forgot about Switzerland.



Kaguya - Ishigami and Miyuki - Hayasaka really have tendency to deliver better stories 'huh.

[Kanon]

That was a really good chapter, like most Ishigami and Kaguya chapters are. To think it started out with Ishigami being deathly afraid of her.

[WingedAccelerator]

Kaguya and Ishigami has a really good shot at being the best duo of the manga. Considering Fujiwara's fell from grace thanks to Aka, they are safely edging out Fujiwara and Miyuki now. Which reminds me...

Will Aka remember he promised more Fujiwara training or it's scrapped?

[BWTraveller]

Yeah, not bad. I don't know if I'd call them the "best pair" (honestly I think the primary pair was better overall), but their interactions certainly have helped one another. And while it did feel a little odd to have Kaguya suddenly say "I want to be a photographer", just seeing her say she wants to take pictures of people smiling made me remember past events, the way she was so delighted to have filled her phone with images of their daily lives and all the fun and happy moments, so devastated to lose it, and so overjoyed to get new pictures through Line. Thinking back to that, while it's a pity that we didn't get more references to her desire to capture happy moments like that, it does suddenly make sense why she'd want to do that with her life. Especially since so much of her formative years had been quite lonely and sad. Being able to capture the happiness and keep it forever so she can go back and see it again anytime makes sense as something she'd love to do with her life.

[Kuroageha]

lmao anyone seems to have better chemistry with Ishigami than him with Ino.

[Wandering Soul]

Kaguya and Ishigami really do have the best non romantic relationship in this series.

[Twi]

Alright, I spent 12 hours reading up to 220 after deciding to see what the hubbub was about this series and if it was as good as Oshi no Ko. I'm into this now.

Edit: And caught up.

[WingedAccelerator]

Spoiler for Chapter 270:

14 pages of Iino playing Minecraft with Shiranui and Gigako. Mostly their block characters or avatars doing the conversation.

Predictable stuff all around. Iino is still bothered by the Ishigami going to Switzerland thing. They gave him a love counseling session and she manages to call Ishigami up to play Apex. She looks happy when they converse.

[BWTraveller]

Nice little chapter. Nothing major, and yeah, I thought she'd picked up on the whole "game with him" thing some time ago, but I liked it overall.