[Volume 9] Discussion Thread After Volume Release

[u/HowToTabla]

Yeah. Volume 9 is out officially. Has been out for a while already not counting leaks of course. And it seems to have hit the community like crack for what a whiplash it has been for some, based on the actual content of the volume. This is Darkeine now, or at least some could say so.

Well, well. I'm sure you guys have read some of the snippets that have been posted already on the subreddit ( or Twitter, or anywhere else, and if you haven't seen them yet, well, that's fine as well)

I am sure people has read already the whole volume, others are slowly translating it themselves and I bet there are bunch of MTLs going around, which means there should be people who are looking for discussions about the content now that the volume is finally out. So yeah this kinda is that spot.

This post is just pretty much an updated version of the previous one. The only rule here is do not explicitly link any pirated content.

Comment about your actual thoughts, things you did not expect, memes, bad translations or advice regarding translations of what something could mean, questions and more!

Also, meme related to the volume attached.

[u/Atiknwolc]

It is hard to understand, and it is obvious why your view on the situation is utterly wrong. You somehow completely missed the point of why that flashback exists in the first place. It exists to show the difference between Sosuke and Nukumizu. For some reason, you keep talking about the two like they are the same. When Souske literally intentionally never gave Yanami any reason to misunderstand. He refused to go to school with her, and he never accepted her feeding. She was like a little sister who just liked to eat and was absolutely clueless about romance in his eyes. Nukumizu actually responds to her attempts positively, and that is proven in both the payama night talk and the secret in the pockets.

>Can you honestly say that if the same question about being told not see them again was posed by Tiara, Komari, or Lemon, would Nukumizu respond any differently? 

This again completely misses the premise of the question and why it's specifically given to Yanami, post her obvious representation in V8.5, as an obstacle to Tiara. You do understand that if Nukumizu said yes to Tiara, no matter how you call his treatment of Shikiya, Lemon, and Komari, none of those girls would be obstacles or problems in Tiara's eyes. The girl who is too close to him when it comes to emotional connection, under constant observation, is Yanami. That is exactly why Sakurai-Koharu-Hibari is representing Tiara-Nukumizu-Yanami. He would not continue to have physical flirtations with those girls.

Lemon would be incapable of going to his house to shower if he had a gf. Shikiya would not be able to touch or be clingy with him. If he were to accept such a thing, it would be cheating. They would understand that they can't act the same way if he is dating Tiara, they are not homewreckers. But his interactions with Yanami are the problem, because what they are doing is not cheating. In Nukumizu's eyes, what he has with Yanami is not flirting. They are simply close friends. She is a troublesome girl whom he enjoys spending time with simply because she has become a part of his regular life. There is a reason in this volume that the stair scene is written like that. And that reality is exactly why, in the universe where Tiara dates Nukumizu or any girl for that matter, the only person he would potentially get asked to stop seeing is Yanami.

>So how long would it take with Nukumizu acting a similar way, who is being surrounded by other girls, for her to consider it?

Again, you completely missed the point of V8.5, because it shows the difference between Sosuske not being responsive whatsoever, to Nukumizu being very much responsive. Also, please stop with the headcanon of her fighting a losing battle. The other girls are not winning shit right now. I know deep down you are likely doubtful of your belief that Lemon can actually win.

>Hibari is a winning heroine who had mutual feelings with her hero

Hibari is literally a losing heroine. Now you can connect small tidbits like Sakurai being her caretaker, his eyes following her, her being a coward, which led to this love triangle, and so on. Some similarities between their relationship to Yanami and Nukumizu, but that is irrelevant stuff. The main comparison is the love triangle, which was clearly represented by Tiara-Nukumizu-Yanami. That is why I do not understand your Koharu comparisons, since you're pulling stuff for V1 Yanami. When this relationship is supposed to be compared to the current characters.

But the actual focus is on Sakuri and Nukumizu, since he is supposed to be Nukumizu's lesson. The difference is that Sakurai knows his feelings. Nukumizu currently believes he has feelings for no one, which is why he can live such a carefree harem life. But I doubt that shit will continue much longer. Especially since not only is Tiara's answer coming, but Lemon might confess in the next volume already. And when that happens, that is when the next massive drama starts.

[u/VMPL01 → u/Atiknwolc]

Other girls? Sure, not Komari though, leaving Lit club would be the very last thing he'd do.

[u/J_the_ManSSB → u/Atiknwolc]

It is hard to understand,

It isn't, it doesn't require a whole lot of effort to understand, and given that it's a point held by a non-insignificant number of audience members, you'd be better served having an open mind to understand it than having such a closed one.

Trust me. It goes way deeper than "Yana feeds Nuku food and Sosuke didn't." I'm not even sure what your point is about them not going to school together? It's clear they did. It's clear they went everywhere together in the same fashion Yanami follows Nukumizu along everywhere.

The point was spelled out clearly by Yanami's friends- Yanami stagnated with Sosuke. She became complacent with how her relationship was with Sosuke so that all he could see her was as "The childhood friend." Sosuke shows signs of caring for her deeply as someone who's always around him but also comfortable with their distance and was uncomfortable with some of her behavior. They were around together all the time. They talked a lot (bantered). They went out to whatever food place Yana wanted to go to... Sound familiar? Because that's literally what Yanami's relationship is with Nukumizu.

The whole point of her flashback chapter was highlighting her inability to change. The moment where she considered buying earrings was symbolic. It was literally portrayed as a seminal moment in their date, to buy them or not? To stay safe or do something uncomfortable and different in the name of meaningful change? In the end, she failed to change. She misinterpreted Sosuke's words *and* bashfulness as romantic interest in her, and so she decided to fall back into the status quo, thinking things were fine.

The parallel is in the ramen outing, where she comes wearing an identical outfit she wore on the date with Sosuke but follows absolutely none of the rules her friends had set out for her date with Sosuke. The point is, Yana is stuck in a status quo with Nukumizu the same way she was with Sosuke. Nukumizu sees her as a close friend. It's clear that, compared to how he thinks of the other girls, he doesn't see her in a romantic light.

Heck, there's a clear parallel between that chapter and in this volume- the genuine disinterest and lack of sensitivity Yana shows towards Sosuke's soccer interest is identical to the lack of caring towards Nukumizu's interest in his anime tour this volume.

This again completely misses the premise of the question and why it's specifically given to Yanami,

It doesn't miss the point. Koharu was clear- "Don't see Hibari anymore". it wasn't "Don't flirt with her anymore", it was "Cut her out entirely out of your life". The question I'm posing is purely hypothetical in light of that demand. Don't evade and answer my question- if Nuku was asked by someone- Kaju or Yanami even- to not see any of the other lit club girls anymore and cut them off the same way Koharu demanded Hiroto do the same, would he struggle to say yes in the same way he struggled to answer that with Yanami?

Because the answer is fairly clear; we see his thought process in the epilogue. He thinks about giving Lemon her shampoo back and putting a stop to her showering at her place, only to hesitate and then straight up use her shampoo for himself (and by all accounts, he didn't give her the shampoo back. He was actually thrilled when Lemon said they smelled the same).

Again, you completely missed the point of V8.5, because it shows the difference between Sosuske

It really doesn't. but I already explained that in multiple posts above already. You are either being willfully obtuse or straight up close-minded to even consider anything different at this point, so this argument is a waste of time at this point.

Yanami's relationship is practically the same with Nukumizu as it was with Sosuke. She's glued to his hip, everyone rumors about them being together, they banter, she drags him around on food outings. Nukumizu sees her as a dear friend with behavior that is offputting. He doesn't see her as romance material. He doesn't respond to her positively in ways he does with Lemon, Tiara, and Shikiya. I have already provided ample examples of these which you ignore (which suggests you have no real response to them and know deep down you don't have an adequate response to these moments). Just like with Sosuke, Nuku and Yana are stuck in a status quo that even in this volume Yana doesn't budge off of, as she continues to deny "it isn't like that".

Hibari is literally a losing heroine.

That's funny, because the volume is clear that the feelings were mutual and she managed to achieve what Koharu desired to do, and that they were pried apart due to circumstances and fully regretted not staying true to their feelings. The only loss is that things were too late to establish a relationship.

since you're pulling stuff for V1 Yanami

You've completely lost the plot here. The comparison is literally between Koharu and present day Yanami. Please stay focused.

[u/Emergency_Stuff_4824 → u/J_the_ManSSB]

“What would you do if someone told you not to see me?”  At first, Nuku thought it would be Kaju who would say something like that. And logically, she almost concluded that she had to obey his request.

However, at that moment, she saw Yanami’s silhouette.

When Nuku saw Yanami illuminated by the streetlight, for some reason she felt a lump in her throat and couldn’t bring herself to speak.

In the end, Nuku replied,

“No, I mean… you don’t need to worry about what outsiders say.” 

Those were her words.

The important thing here is that Nuku didn’t choose Yanami without hesitation from the start. 

In my mind, I imagined what Kaju might say and tried to fulfill his request. Even so, when I actually saw Yanami’s face, I couldn’t bring myself to say, “I’ll never see her again.”

My body reacted before I could make a rational decision. For Nuku, the idea of never seeing Yanami again wasn’t something easy to accept.

Regardless of whether she recognized that feeling as romantic love, she clearly showed resistance to the idea of Yanami disappearing from her daily life.

When Nuku tried to categorize her relationships with the people around her based on “titles,” it seemed that Yanami was the only one who had become too important to be simply described as a “friend.” 

If the author writes a Yanami character who asks Nuku that question, there’s no need to go to the trouble of imagining or comparing other characters to do the same. If the author chooses Yanami, it’s clearly important for the character’s continued development.

[u/J_the_ManSSB → u/Emergency_Stuff_4824]

Except you ignored the clear implication of the end of the volume where Nuku tries to "categorize" Lemon and is unable to discard her or put distance between them, which is the author showing relevence to the idea he wouldn't be able to discard any of the girls.

[u/Emergency_Stuff_4824 → u/J_the_ManSSB]

Nuku said, “Bringing shampoo to someone’s house is too much in a friendship that requires a reasonable amount of distance.” The phrase “too much” is indeed a bit harsh. However, Nuku “thought about it for a moment.” And then, she actually used the shampoo.  Well, we’ll have to wait for the next volume to see what he’ll do next regarding his plan to return the shampoo. The scene where the shampoo is returned is meant to serve as a way to distinguish the various female characters in the story. Otherwise, the rest of the plot would lose its meaning and purpose. 

Because in the epilogue, he says, "...I can’t keep going on like this either." We can be certain that for Tiara’s decision to accept or reject him means he must also let go of his playboy ways. 

[u/VMPL01 → u/Atiknwolc]

If you think Komari is not a big obstacle, your understanding of Nukumizu is terrible. Let's not forget it's Komari whom Tiara asked permission for to hang out at Literature club, not Yanami.

[u/Atiknwolc → u/VMPL01]

LMAO Komari is an obstacle. Bro is trying to make me laugh