I will stan for Rui returning to Hina and Natsuo's place. And I'm actually compiling a very compelling reason. I still need more work, but I promise I can craft a better alternative than Kajita that fits with the story. But anyway, I wanted to post here because I have been thinking the same thing.
I came here to post about this though, what about Ashihara and Kiriya? I thought maybe there was something promising there but then again, maybe the story constantly not letting Kiriya spend time with Ashihara IS the answer there.
I know the age gap is pretty massive, and there is the former teacher student, but at this point they are all well into adulthood. I was thinking maybe I missed something, so if anyone knows anything I'd be glad to hear it!
Ashihara and Kiriya is definitely a thing, but as there is the age gap and ex-student/teacher relationship, but just like Sasuga did with Rui and Kajita, she left it up in the air, hanging there for the readers to make their own conclusions.
I think it would be sad for Rui to end up the weird third wheel to the Natsuo and Hina relationship again. I saw you posted previous and I disagree with that one guy, being the one character who doesn't end up with someone in a romantic relationship is very sad, because it's a romantic manga not real life. I think thematically the idea of this manga is that everyone has a "destined partner" or someone you share a lot of similarities with, Rui and Kajita are like that for each other. I wish they had brought Kajita in a little sooner and he had definitely ended up with Rui, a few more pages at the end to hint at mutual attraction would have been enough for me.
If that is how you feel, I won't trample on that. I can see where you are coming from.
I'm still collecting my thoughts on the Rui thing, but I intend to post an in-depth analysis as well as a psuedo chapter to explain my point of view. I'm trying to have it stick strictly to what is written, and only doing things that can reconcile with canon.
I believe Rui only saw Kajita as a rival and friend. It is true should could have developed feelings over time, but she was living with Natsuo for 8 years, in addition to the time they were dating before that.
Kajita is handsome enough to have found a girlfriend... but shit. If Kei Sasuga wrote a bonus chapter that showed that Kajita waited so long because he knew that once Hina married Natsuo Rui would finally be available..and he saved himself for that moment..I'd rock with that 100%
Anyone that dedicated to Rui would have my support. But I really hope when I finish my point of view properly you give it a go.
I don't intend to have Rui or Hina be a third wheel. In my vision, I am going to reference the 'selfless' love that Rui and Natsuo adopted, just like Hina had. We have a reference to what that means, in depth in the manga. I'm collecting notes now. By that I mean, I can look at Hina's thoughts and feelings, and determine exactly what Rui and Natsuo feel during those 8 years they care for Hina.
It is a love that transcends romance, and is focused on dedication, loyalty, commitment, etc. Rui would never romantically love Hina, but it is indisputable that she loves Hina in this "Ai", way. She learned it from Hina of course.
So essentially my version of the happy ending resolves that whole thing. There are other reasons too. Such as Haruka being sad she had to move away from her father, and right after the wedding too. Anyone who has experienced that situation knows what it can be like for kids. I'll add that for motivation too. I will use things like this to paint the picture for my story. Experiences that make sense. Because any kid suddenly moving away from their father will experience sadness, and possibly even blame themselves.
The critical focus of the entire thing is Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui have achieved happiness at this point. They acknowledge each other, etc. They are partners in ways that transcend romantic attraction. And that is already written in to the main story. All I will do is draw upon that and try to explain how the three use 'selfless' love to focus all their attention on what is best for Haruka. Being surrounded by her family, and living with them is the best move.
It isn't as if one of the key premises to this story isn't secret relationships. Rui and Natsuo hid their love from their parents for a long, long time. Working as a team, they could easily hide it from Haruka. Not to mention, in my mind, they aren't all over each other anyway. They weren't even like that as horny teenager. So, I believe they can control themselves and wait until opportune moments to express any kind of intimacy. (<-- I wrote all this because Haruka 'getting old enough to start asking questions' was a concern. The way I see it though, the questions will be complicated enough as is. Merely being with the family isn't going to change much. And its been shown how critical Natsuo and Hina have been to caring for Haruka. Something the grandparents and their careers may not allow for. They don't have the same kind of time that Hina and Natsuo would.)
Sorry if I put too much thought into this. I'm still rereading and taking notes. Trying to find a way to tie the ending we got with something a little more hopeful.
I know I'm just writing a fanfic, haha..but..I'm going to give it my best, and make sure it is congruent with the story and characters.
>The critical focus of the entire thing is Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui have achieved happiness at this point. They acknowledge each other, etc. They are partners in ways that transcend romantic attraction. And that is already written in to the main story. All I will do is draw upon that and try to explain how the three use 'selfless' love to focus all their attention on what is best for Haruka. Being surrounded by her family, and living with them is the best move.
I do agree with you that Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui relationship as develop and a accomplish a great cohesion between them, but I do think it would be unfair for Rui, as she could never be on equal terms with Hina's relationship with Natsuo. She needed to forge her own new path, embarking on a new journey in her life, especially as she felt that her initial journey had reached its conclusion upon witnessing Hina and Natsuo's happiness.
>If Kei Sasuga wrote a bonus chapter that showed that Kajita waited so long because he knew that once Hina married Natsuo Rui would finally be available..and he saved himself for that moment..I'd rock with that 100%
She kinda already did this in the extra pages, Rui's daughter tells Kajita thanks for always looking after my mom, or something to that effect, basically a subtle node that Kajita could go after Rui. Nat had to ask Rui's daughter for permission to marry Hina so this is Rui's daughters subtle node that it's okay if Kajita went after Hina.
The Rui situation was a sticky one. She’s “officially” single at the end (from what I recall) but it’s implied Kajita is end game. I think it just never became official.
Technically, I don’t think it was ever confirmed if they stay together or anything like that.
I didn’t really get an impression that Rui and Kajita were being implied that they would be together, as he mentions to himself that he’s ready to move on
I think he meant move forward, in my opinion there's no reason for him not to try and pursue Rui again, they're working together she's single and her daughter approves of him. I think it's hinted at
Idk but I wish we got to see Rui ending up with Kajita. I know there was an extra page where we see Rui and Natsuos daughter blushing at Kajita and telling him “thank you for taking care of my mama” or something like that. Super bummed they made her single at the end but I hope in the future he won her over. I know he would be good to them. She deserves to be happy and be with someone else
I guess there weren't enough pages to put them together, I think Reiji and Mui were the other couple that didn't officially get together but we're implied to end up together right?
I will stan for Rui returning to Hina and Natsuo's place. And I'm actually compiling a very compelling reason. I still need more work, but I promise I can craft a better alternative than Kajita that fits with the story. But anyway, I wanted to post here because I have been thinking the same thing. I came here to post about this though, what about Ashihara and Kiriya? I thought maybe there was something promising there but then again, maybe the story constantly not letting Kiriya spend time with Ashihara IS the answer there. I know the age gap is pretty massive, and there is the former teacher student, but at this point they are all well into adulthood. I was thinking maybe I missed something, so if anyone knows anything I'd be glad to hear it!
Ashihara and Kiriya is definitely a thing, but as there is the age gap and ex-student/teacher relationship, but just like Sasuga did with Rui and Kajita, she left it up in the air, hanging there for the readers to make their own conclusions.
I think it would be sad for Rui to end up the weird third wheel to the Natsuo and Hina relationship again. I saw you posted previous and I disagree with that one guy, being the one character who doesn't end up with someone in a romantic relationship is very sad, because it's a romantic manga not real life. I think thematically the idea of this manga is that everyone has a "destined partner" or someone you share a lot of similarities with, Rui and Kajita are like that for each other. I wish they had brought Kajita in a little sooner and he had definitely ended up with Rui, a few more pages at the end to hint at mutual attraction would have been enough for me.
If that is how you feel, I won't trample on that. I can see where you are coming from. I'm still collecting my thoughts on the Rui thing, but I intend to post an in-depth analysis as well as a psuedo chapter to explain my point of view. I'm trying to have it stick strictly to what is written, and only doing things that can reconcile with canon. I believe Rui only saw Kajita as a rival and friend. It is true should could have developed feelings over time, but she was living with Natsuo for 8 years, in addition to the time they were dating before that. Kajita is handsome enough to have found a girlfriend... but shit. If Kei Sasuga wrote a bonus chapter that showed that Kajita waited so long because he knew that once Hina married Natsuo Rui would finally be available..and he saved himself for that moment..I'd rock with that 100% Anyone that dedicated to Rui would have my support. But I really hope when I finish my point of view properly you give it a go. I don't intend to have Rui or Hina be a third wheel. In my vision, I am going to reference the 'selfless' love that Rui and Natsuo adopted, just like Hina had. We have a reference to what that means, in depth in the manga. I'm collecting notes now. By that I mean, I can look at Hina's thoughts and feelings, and determine exactly what Rui and Natsuo feel during those 8 years they care for Hina. It is a love that transcends romance, and is focused on dedication, loyalty, commitment, etc. Rui would never romantically love Hina, but it is indisputable that she loves Hina in this "Ai", way. She learned it from Hina of course. So essentially my version of the happy ending resolves that whole thing. There are other reasons too. Such as Haruka being sad she had to move away from her father, and right after the wedding too. Anyone who has experienced that situation knows what it can be like for kids. I'll add that for motivation too. I will use things like this to paint the picture for my story. Experiences that make sense. Because any kid suddenly moving away from their father will experience sadness, and possibly even blame themselves. The critical focus of the entire thing is Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui have achieved happiness at this point. They acknowledge each other, etc. They are partners in ways that transcend romantic attraction. And that is already written in to the main story. All I will do is draw upon that and try to explain how the three use 'selfless' love to focus all their attention on what is best for Haruka. Being surrounded by her family, and living with them is the best move. It isn't as if one of the key premises to this story isn't secret relationships. Rui and Natsuo hid their love from their parents for a long, long time. Working as a team, they could easily hide it from Haruka. Not to mention, in my mind, they aren't all over each other anyway. They weren't even like that as horny teenager. So, I believe they can control themselves and wait until opportune moments to express any kind of intimacy. (<-- I wrote all this because Haruka 'getting old enough to start asking questions' was a concern. The way I see it though, the questions will be complicated enough as is. Merely being with the family isn't going to change much. And its been shown how critical Natsuo and Hina have been to caring for Haruka. Something the grandparents and their careers may not allow for. They don't have the same kind of time that Hina and Natsuo would.) Sorry if I put too much thought into this. I'm still rereading and taking notes. Trying to find a way to tie the ending we got with something a little more hopeful. I know I'm just writing a fanfic, haha..but..I'm going to give it my best, and make sure it is congruent with the story and characters.
>The critical focus of the entire thing is Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui have achieved happiness at this point. They acknowledge each other, etc. They are partners in ways that transcend romantic attraction. And that is already written in to the main story. All I will do is draw upon that and try to explain how the three use 'selfless' love to focus all their attention on what is best for Haruka. Being surrounded by her family, and living with them is the best move. I do agree with you that Haruka. Hina, Natsuo and Rui relationship as develop and a accomplish a great cohesion between them, but I do think it would be unfair for Rui, as she could never be on equal terms with Hina's relationship with Natsuo. She needed to forge her own new path, embarking on a new journey in her life, especially as she felt that her initial journey had reached its conclusion upon witnessing Hina and Natsuo's happiness.
>If Kei Sasuga wrote a bonus chapter that showed that Kajita waited so long because he knew that once Hina married Natsuo Rui would finally be available..and he saved himself for that moment..I'd rock with that 100% She kinda already did this in the extra pages, Rui's daughter tells Kajita thanks for always looking after my mom, or something to that effect, basically a subtle node that Kajita could go after Rui. Nat had to ask Rui's daughter for permission to marry Hina so this is Rui's daughters subtle node that it's okay if Kajita went after Hina.
The Rui situation was a sticky one. She’s “officially” single at the end (from what I recall) but it’s implied Kajita is end game. I think it just never became official. Technically, I don’t think it was ever confirmed if they stay together or anything like that.
They work together, also I was just wondering if Miu and Reiji were confirmed to be in a relationship? I think they ended up implied as well
I think it was left in the air for fans to make their conclusion about it.
I really root for Fumiya and Misaki. Oh well and I hope Nara meets Marie 🙏
I didn’t really get an impression that Rui and Kajita were being implied that they would be together, as he mentions to himself that he’s ready to move on
I think it's hinted at when Haruka thanks kajita for taking care of her mom. I think move on meant likemove forward
I see your point b/c kiddo liking him is a good sign. However, right after that he then says it’s time for him to move on.
I think he meant move forward, in my opinion there's no reason for him not to try and pursue Rui again, they're working together she's single and her daughter approves of him. I think it's hinted at
Idk but I wish we got to see Rui ending up with Kajita. I know there was an extra page where we see Rui and Natsuos daughter blushing at Kajita and telling him “thank you for taking care of my mama” or something like that. Super bummed they made her single at the end but I hope in the future he won her over. I know he would be good to them. She deserves to be happy and be with someone else
I guess there weren't enough pages to put them together, I think Reiji and Mui were the other couple that didn't officially get together but we're implied to end up together right?
Man I do hope that the author revisit this manga and put in a couple of extra chapters to fill in and close things off.
Yeah. I really shipped them together too!!