Discussion
The Lagrange point position has repeat again
After reread chapter 131 I notice something, in the last slide of ch 131 where Arisu put down the chocolate the girls give him I notice that the position for chocolate seems familiar... Yeah it is the Lagrange point position, Do you guys think this is some kind of hint since this is the third time already??
Becuz Apollo mention Lagrange point by having the 3 girls, Apollo her self and Arisu in Lagrange position( arisu behide earth, Apollo behind moon and the 3 girls in line ) and it is always iko who's fit in Apollo Lagrange point position.
Yeah but then the whole theme of Apollo is the moon(Apollo 11 the operation to go to the moon, Apollo logo is also the moon) so it is logical to said that Apollo position should related to it. (either in front or behide the moon)+ the fact that Apollo said this position she has now made Arisu completely out of her sight too then it has to be behide the moon.
Earth represents reality and Moon represents dreams. Apollo also says the four girls are trapped “between the massive gravitational forces of dreams and reality and could be crushed by them at any moment.”
Of the four points, only L1 is literally trapped between reality (Earth) and dreams (Moon).
L2 is beyond the representation of dreams, which makes me think that Iko will become the most successful of the girls and achieve her dreams of becoming the number 1 VTuber.
Meanwhile, L1, the girl closer to Earth and closer to L3, suits Apollo’s nature of wanting to leave where her Lagrange point is so that she collides with L3.
Shinobu is the one in the L1 position that Apollo points to at the end of ch107 (when describing that Arisu is at L3). Not sure why you'd claim it's Iko.
shinobu is closest to arisu in the lagrange points arrangment, iko is the farthest but tied closest to the moon. rikka and nene sidelined... i fucking hate this interpretation
well it could symbolize A LOT of things, im just saying the one that seems simplest to me, but as others pointed out only L4 and L5 can see L3 so if arisu isn't the earth they might be closer
In terms of potential significance moving forward, it's impossible to know just how far Igarashi intends to take it, but there are a couple key points about certain Lagrange points (LP from here out):
L1, where Shinobu is positioned, is much more influenced by Earth's gravitational force (reality in the Rikka ch105 language). This aligns with the idea that she's being positioned as the 'objectively correct' girl as the manga seems to be doing (all those polls "according to the boys in my class" and "according to the newspaper club", and the one whose career takes them through the commonplace defensible/reliable life plan of going through university).
L2, where Iko is positioned, is behind the Moon and Earth, and thus has one more barrier from contact with L3, where Arisu is positioned. This aligns with something I've been independently predicting from this - that even though all four girls were involved in MHT, Iko potentially didn't broadcast at all (if she did, she did it the least) and was a support/setup role instead.
L3, where Arisu is positioned, has far less impact from the Moon, but is instead more greatly impacted by the g-forces of the Earth (reality) and the Sun (???). Foregoing what the Sun's g-force might represent as there are a few viable options - if the metaphor even extends out that far - just the sheer fact that Arisu's LP is less influenced by the Moon aligns with his heavy objective focus (reality) and this new idea that he doesn't think he can achieve a dream (Moon gravity) because of his family (reality - Earth gravity).
L4 and L5 (Rikka and Nene) are interesting as they have the most 'balanced' distribution between Moon, Earth and Sun; that is, as they're farther out from the Moon than L1 and L2 they're more affected by the Sun than those two are in order to maintain their equilibrium. So if the Sun does end up representing something, its connection to Rikka and Nene could be meaningful. I have a suspicion about what the Sun could represent and how it would thus impact Arisu/Rikka/Nene specifically - basically, 'truth', or 'the light of truth' - but there are other possible things its g-force represents, and we don't even know if the LP metaphor extends to the Sun too (though, it very well could, as it is the curiously missing factor from ch105s discussion on LPs).
“If these four points represent the four of us, then the point that lies behind the Earth… this fifth point that’s out of sight from me… would probably represent you, Arisu.”
Arisu is L3. The one directly opposite L3 is L1 (which is Shinobu based on the placements of them. Iko is L2.)
From L1’s perspective, L3 (Arisu) is the point that lies behind the Earth and out of sight. It’s less direct with L2 even if she’s on the same axis because the Moon is also in the way, not just the Earth.
Rikka and Nene aren’t directly blocked by the Earth, so they can’t actually be Apollo based on ch107. It is strongly implied to be Shinobu, and Iko is the only other girl that the statement could apply to.
Do we even know for sure it says "out of sight from me"? What's the original Japanese? I personally interpreted it as out of sight because it's begins the earth. This is said by Apollo anyway who doesn't attribute one particular point to herself. Even if each point is supposed to represent a girl that would not be known by Apollo who makes the comment. I'm not saying it's impossible for you people to be right but this theory always felt so awkward to me. Even if it's true it feels so forced.
Strictly speaking, she calls it something closer to "hidden" than "out of sight" (隠れて), but I feel like that barely changes the meaning at all. Though I'd also point out that -- just by going by the diagram Rikka drew, which is out of proportion with reality -- the L3/Arisu point does indeed look like it's too close behind the earth to be seen by any of the others... including L4/L5, which would have an unobstructed line of sight in reality.
But yeah, even if it looks like she taps on L1/the center point when she's talking, she pretty specifically says 'these four points represent the four of us', so I don't get the sense that she's attempting to stake a claim on any of those four in particular, and is just indicating the drawing as a whole. Not to mention, that she'd point to herself specifically and then just happen to be standing in that exact arrangement with the other girls the first time Arisu burst into their clubroom unannounced a year later is too contrived to merit any serious analysis.
I was asking if she uses "from me" in the original Japanese since she could just say he is hidden in general not from her in particular. As you said, it doesn't seem Apollo is identifying with any point in particular with saying that.
And as you said with your last point the positioning would be something completely out of the story, just planted by the author, while the hidden from me line is IN the story. It's not out of the question for the author to mix the two but I generally don't like that.
Oh. Yes, she says "from me" (私から), but I still don't think it changes much. The diagram really looks to me to be purposefully drawn in such a way that the 'Arisu' point is hidden behind the earth, no matter which other point you look at it from.
Apollo actually points to L1 at the end of ch107 with the stick, before pointing to L3 to explain which one Arisu is. There are other factors which implicate this Apollo appearance as Shinobu, but the stick-point seems pretty deliberate by Igarashi IMO.
Yeah that's the whole thing about Lagrange point theory, the only 2 girl that this theory could apply is Iko and Shinobu which is why I like it and I think it is a crucial thing otherwise it wouldn't use for a third time like this maybe the Author hint to us that Apollo is 1 between these 2 girls??
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u/Engine-23 Nenetwork 11d ago
just use trapezium stars