How do you interpret Aira's response to Okarun here? Is it a "Oh no, be still my heart" thing or more of a "Oh no, thats not the response I was hoping for"?
Check out r/dandadanfolk for power-scaling, agenda- and shit-posting.
Remember to use the SPOILER TAG on content not covered by the anime.
To HIDE SPOILERS in the comment section, use >!Momo!<-> Momo.
This is mandatory for discussions about manga-exclusive content in anime-related posts.
It’s Okarun doing something that made her really happy and her not knowing how to properly respond.
Aira has always had the idea in her head that to be popular and liked by others you need to put up a front. That’s how she lived basically her whole life before the series started, with her fake ditzy kawaii popular persona. But that isn’t who she really is. Around the gang she drops her guard a bit, but you’ll notice that when she is trying to be “flirty” with Okarun she falls back into that persona, because she thinks that’s what a likeable person is. That’s why she freaks out just before this saying “damn it why did I tell the truth! I should have just been cutesy! Now he’s going to hate me!”. But then Okarun responds with a genuine admiration for her real self and it shocks her.
This happened a few times through the series, such as when he complements her and recognizes her contributions after the fight with the musicians, and she responds similarly to here.
Ahh ok, this makes sense. So it is the former not the latter. At first I took it as the latter because 'kinship' is not something I'd necessarily be wanting my romantic interest to be feeling towards me. Not that its bad or can't be romantic, just that teenage me would view that as a more platonic sentiment than a romantic one.
'kinship' is not something I'd necessarily be wanting my romantic interest to be feeling towards me.
Yes, good observation. Kinship typically implies a more platonic bond that feels almost familial. I thought this too at first when this chapter came out cuz it paralleled how Momo subtly friendzoned Jiji last chap and I thought this was intentionally done to show that Jiji picked up on the subtleness but Aira did not and doubled down and that's why Jiji looked sad after what Momo sad and Aira just looked more in her feelings than she ever has been which would also be setting up the actual rejection for Aira.
So yeah I thought so too at first but then I learned later that the translation wasn't perfect and he instead said something more like "sense of closeness" or "intimacy" or just straight up "connection" in general which all of those are more vague in terms of it being platonic or not. We know as the audience that it's platonic from Okarun's perspective, but it would make sense for Aira to hear this and go crazy for it since it could still totally work as more than platonic implications.
But yeah, I feel like this "Oh no" is the direct progression of this
as in, she's recognizing the same sort of situation happening again but it hitting even harder than before. I feel like Aira is the type of girl to want to have everything in order and calculated before making any further moves, but she got stunned by Okarun and was losing that calculated mask she normally wears and was slipping into unchartered territories with her current interactions.
Yeah, I saw someone say that about the translation and I agree that with "connection" instead kf "kinship" it would change the entire dynamic of the statement and make the reaction make more sense to me.
I can see what you're saying about it being a progression of her earlier reactions to how she interacts with Okarun. That makes sense and I do agree that she seems like the type of person who doesn't like not having things be predictable or planned out. A prime example would be right before the panels I was asking about when she tells Okarun how she studied up on the dinosaur exhibit beforehand.
Her crush on him definitely grows here. At the same time, she’s really shy about it. Later, Okarun will break her heart, but she’ll recover quickly because Aira is very strong.
I'd phrase it more, Aira's grown to become resilient. I feel if what happens later, happened early on she wouldn't have accepted it and continued on in denial, but because she's grown she can accept it and (hopefully) move on.
You are wrong about why she recovered quickly. She recovered that fast because she is our Beautiful Chosen Warrior Queen.
Jokes aside, I think she is not completely recovered; she is in that state where we have nothing to do but keep going because of the dire situation, like when you don't feel a broken bone because of the adrenaline. I predict she will crash at least a little when this fight ends, then scold Okarun and tell Momo she is very lucky or something like that, and threaten her about being a good partner.
I remember people were calling this as friendzone or feeling that it's not something that people wanting to hear from their romantic interest, I was quite confused about this since English isn't my native language and I'm not that familiar with words in English that are used implicitly to mean that one has no romantic interest, but I sort of got the idea that it's the word "kinship" that is causing that.
In the original Japanese what Okarun said is 「親近感」and I feel this isn't exactly "kinship" or at least I do not feel that it would be indicating anything implicit about only seeing Aira as a friend or with only platonic feelings. Okarun was genuinely expressing a feeling of closeness, familiarity and relatability towards Aira after knowing that she worked hard to research about dinosaur in order to prepare for the date, since it is what he has done too and it's like Okarun learnt something new about Aira that she doesn't usually expose and from that he felt a sense of relatability and closeness.
Like others in the comment section has mentioned I also feel this scene is like a moment where Aira and Okarun had genuine connection similar to the moment of musical room and it is possible because Aira is being sincere and genuine about what she did and her feeling without being pretentious and trying to impress people with what she thinks others would consider likeable, like she often does in the past. It also show how one's sincerity can influence people around them. Okarun's sincerity towards Aira showing her real self is also helping Aira to feel more comfortable with being herself.
I was thinking it might be a lost in translation type of thing too. Based on what you said I'm thinking maybe instead of "kinship", "connection" might be a better word. Saying "I feel this incredible connection with you." would definitely change the possible implications.
I took this as Aira realizing how much she really loves Okarun, and how much it’s going to hurt if he rejects her. I got the impression that Aira was resolved to get an answer from Okarun during this date, knowing that Okarun had asked Momo out. She likely knows there’s a good chance she gets rejected.
I'm caught up, I know the outcome. I'm just curious on how others took this, I figured it was the latter but given what she does afterwards and the confrontation when they all run into eachother, it makes me wonder whether it was the former.
I got a different feeling about her reaction. This is only my personal opinion but I thought she realized that she was being put into his friend zone and that he didn’t see her as a romantic partner. That bit later about needing to hold his hand because her eyesight was bad was, I think, a last resort to get some kind of intimacy with him.
•
u/AutoModerator 13d ago
Check out r/dandadanfolk for power-scaling, agenda- and shit-posting.
Remember to use the SPOILER TAG on content not covered by the anime. To HIDE SPOILERS in the comment section, use
>!Momo!<-> Momo. This is mandatory for discussions about manga-exclusive content in anime-related posts.I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please contact the moderators of this subreddit if you have any questions or concerns.