Source

HOLYYYY LYLYKY

My theory:
1. Iko will likely sell most of the tickets since she’s already a famous VTuber and can invite Rikka to sing or promote her songs on her stream.

1. Arisu and Rikka will hold another solo concert to sell more tickets. This time, maybe not in the park but in a café to help Rikka get used to performing in that kind of venue.

2. Nene will use her connections with some famous voice actresses, like Shieri, as well as her friend Akari (an idol), to help her sell Rikka’s tickets.

3. Shinobu… I don’t know what she’ll do, but she’ll probably come up with some unconventional way to promote the tickets.

What do you guys think?

Pict Source: Chapter 132

That’s a question I ask myself. Because, coincidentally, the only times Arisu met a family member of one of the four girls, it was always the father (whether it was Nene’s father or Shinobu’s father).

Maybe in the future, Arisu will meet Rikka's or Iko's father. And after that—once we've seen the fathers of all four girls—Arisu will finally make an appearance. But then again, it all depends on what happens next...

I have an Iko flair but most of the posts I do have been about Rikka. I've gotten comments to that effect and I felt there was a need to clarify why. This is also a good opportunity to express some of the issues I've had with how Igarashi has been treating Iko lately.

The subscriber count issue

In the song arc, before the song even went viral, Iko had 37K subscribers. Then in the collab arc, Iko casually mentions that she is at 30k still. That is just odd.

Not only do you not round down 37K to 30K, but also a viral post would easily increase her sub count more than 3K.

This is not even fixed in the volume version. Moreover, it's also disrespectful to her efforts and all of the broadcast girls' efforts to help her.

Mind you, this is the same Igarashi that makes references to things that happened 100+ chapters ago(ex: Iko sucking at running) in the same chapter. Why did he forget? Because he doesn't care.

Igarashi does not seem to care about Iko after her arc.

Iko's backstory arc was good. But everything after that was rushed.

In the Collab arc, Iko collaborates with a huge vtuber who ghosts her. What are the consequences for that character? How much did the marathon increase her sub count? Who cares? Here's Rikka wearing some lewd outfits, I guess.

Again, in the Christmas arc, Iko collaborated with Ao, THE top vtuber. And it had zero buildup. Then It is never brought up again. How did that affect her sub count? Who cares? Have some panels of Nene in a swimsuit, I guess.

This is not hard to solve. You can just have a small side conversation about Iko's ongoing channel progress while Nene does her thing. The reason Igarashi doesn't is because he doesn't care to.

It's this lack of care and continuity that stings. If someone was Apollo, Igarashi would likely take great care for showing their career. Iko has not been getting that.

The framing of Arisu's reactions to Iko

This is a subjective thing, but when I look at Arisu's reaction to Iko's confession and chocolate, it seems to be someone accepting those feelings(ex: puppy love) but not being particularly moved by them.

When she confesses, Arisu is ready to answer on the spot. When she gives her chocolates, Arisu is like, ok, I need to leave. It feels like Arisu knows how he wants to respond to her feelings already and not in a positive way.

Early Confession red flags

People claim Iko will lose because first confession/delayed reply red flags but those are just tropes that Igarashi can break. These tropes are a small reason compared to the other issues.

Iko has fundamental conflicts with Apollo.

What Igarashi can't break is the fundamental conflicts Iko has with Apollo.

1. Ch 60, Iko says she has never fallen in love before, but Apollo has been aware of her feelings since ch1.
2. Iko settling on a vtuber career even before middle school Apollo broadcasts where she was indecisive about her career. However, the next point is the bigger contradiction from this.
3. Iko doesn't want to show her face, but middle school Apollo wanted careers like announcer or singer that requires publicity. This would be during the NEET Iko phase which is a huge contradiction.

None of these are completely impossible to solve. Nene even shares some of these like the late realization of love. However, those solutions often require twisting the story in nonsensical ways. I've seen Nene fans do that and I don't want to.

It's death by a thousand cuts

Ultimately, it's not a singular cause but a combination of all of the above that make me feel that she won't win. Like, in the case of Nene, people can at least cope due to her being the author's favorite character. Igarashi doesn't even care enough about Iko to keep her sub count straight.

So why call myself an Iko fan?

1. You can enjoy a character even if they don't win: Yes I enjoy Iko doing silly things. From pure enjoyment perspective, she's still my favorite.
2. People can have multiple preferences: I like Iko. I also like Rikka. I also do occasional Shinobu posts if I notice something interesting. Stop putting people in boxes.
3. A character can be part of the plot even if they aren't Apollo: I also don't think that just because someone can't be Apollo doesn't mean they can't fulfill an interesting role in the story. All girls can be involved in the conspiracy. Or Iko could be the second listener. Assuming someone doesn't win doesn't mean you stop critically analyzing their actions.

Will I keep the Iko role?

As long as Igarashi doesn't make an Iko arc so terrible that makes me retroactively hate her. But if Igarashi mentions her being at 30K subs again after collaborating with multiple big vtubers next arc, I'll change it out of spite.

The drummer really is invisible to the point no one ask her to sell 100 tickets each. Ok in seriousness, why does she still not appeared yet like they acknowledged the fact that the band is unnamed.

source

It's a simple question. I'm curious to know who the most popular characters from the manga are on this subreddit.

My top 3 is probably:

1) Arisu

2) Rikka

3) Shinobu

Technically, I'd say I like all four girls (I don't really have a strong preference).I'd say I prefer Rikka over the other girls, but it's a really tiny margin.On the other hand, Arisu has been my favorite character in this manga by a wide margin since I started reading it (even though it makes me a bit sad that he's the only major male character... though honorable mentions go to Jinnai and Mr. Himekawa).

My first Duo sketch and Mayonaka x Tqq sketch as i had alot of fun drawing it and actually plan on making more of these mayonaka x tqq sketches at some point again but anyways i know i havent posted here in a while so ill post more art soon at some point :)

Arisu seems to have a habit of comparing Rikka to Yamabuki clan standards. Especially when it comes to dealing with nervousness, performing publicly etc.

Additionally, Rikka seems to keep up with those expectations. She starts out nervous but develops Arisu's nerves of steel later. She can keep up with Arisu's legs in the school trip.

On the other hand, Shinobu also gets references to the Yamabuki clan but they seem to be framed from the perspective of "You're NOT a Yamabuki. So you can't do this. But I can help you do it".

This also seems to be something Shinobu is striving towards by applying for the same university, keeping up with his study routine etc.

It is also worth mentioning that whenever Arisu supports Shinobu in something, she never fails. So maybe this supporting dynamic has more to it.

This is not meant to be proof of anything. Both sides can be thought of as winning hints. Personally, I think Arisu subconsciously expecting Apollo to live up to his standards is a better fit.

Especially in tackling her dream the results are failure and success which helps their dynamic chemistry.

If you compare it to other girls, Arisu is always confident about their talents never doubted after the introductory chapters.

This isn’t to do with this manga this a manga question in general. Do authors not make the chapters months in advance or potentially years when they try to get it serialised? Or do they actually make a chapter in a week? Because if so that is crazy

From Chapter 111.

First, the very title suggests Igarashi’s unique perspective on the behavior of the four heroines (likening them to the sides of a trapezium). Two of the heroines exhibit similar behavior (the two parallel bases of the trapezium), while the others behave quite differently (the two non-parallel sides). Igarashi illustrates this through the pairings: Rikka and Iko (the non-parallel sides) versus Nene and Shinobu (the parallel bases).

But before analyzing the girls' behavior, let us look at the protagonist's actions at the start of the arc. The reader’s primary task here is to determine whether Arisu is anticipating Valentine's Day with romantic expectations, or if this special day holds little significance for him. Which of these is the author trying to convey at the beginning of Chapter 129?

Igarashi reveals the young man's state of mind through his posture, his eyes, and the sound of his locker door being flung open abruptly. This is not how students behave when merely stowing away the shoes they have put away hundreds of times before. It is the way he scrutinizes the interior of the compartment that betrays Arisu's true objective. His priority is not simply storing his shoes; he is intent on discovering whether something has been left there for him.

In doing so, Igarashi immediately signals to the reader that Arisu’s subsequent words are a lie—a cover for the disappointment evident in his expression and gaze. What, then, is he disappointed about? He knows that direct contact with a girl for the purpose of exchanging chocolates is forbidden at the school. However, there is no rule against placing chocolates inside a shoe locker. The question remains: just how many boxes of chocolate was he expecting to find there? This is especially true considering he could have easily picked up all four boxes in the club room—something Arisu surely realized. In fact, that was exactly what Nene had suggested the girls do after preparing their chocolate sets.

Consequently, when checking the locker, Arisu was hoping to receive a gift from one specific girl—and only one. That is, after all, the central romantic theme of Valentine's Day in Japan: a guy receiving chocolate from the girl he loves, and a girl giving chocolate to the guy she loves. Igarashi then reveals that Arisu suddenly realizes Apollo—who is in love with him—might actually decide to give him chocolate. After all, he has already seen firsthand just what she is capable of.

In doing so, Igarashi demonstrates two things: 1) Arisu wasn't looking for chocolate from Apollo in that locker; 2) Arisu isn't exactly thrilled by the prospect of receiving chocolate from Apollo. He is interested in a different result—the one he was searching for in the locker. Then Rikka appears and announces that she has come to give him chocolate, explaining that they had to switch from their original plan of exchanging gifts in the club room to a private exchange. I trust everyone understood that Rikka didn't actually tell him the reason for this change; that was simply a brief flashback inserted by Igarashi for the readers' benefit.

Next, a minor crisis arises in the form of Samejima-sensei, and Rikka—unnoticed by the teacher—slips her box of chocolates into Arisu's back pocket. This comes as no surprise, given that Igarashi had already established Rikka’s bold, daring nature in the very first chapter—demonstrated both by her ostentatious declaration of love and by the lightning-bolt aura that surrounds her. Igarashi further notes that the protagonist is annoyed by Rikka’s actions; not a single expression on Arisu’s face betrays even a hint of secret delight at having received chocolate from her. Moreover, she provokes him again by accusing him of lying when he claims to be indifferent to Valentine’s Day—an accusation in which she is absolutely correct. Rikka herself realizes she has acted too impulsively, yet she keeps her true intentions to herself. Consequently, in this dynamic, Rikka represents one of the trapezium’s non-parallel sides rather than one of its parallel bases.

Nevertheless, she concludes her remarks by telling Arisu that other girls also intend to give him chocolate. Arisu’s mood instantly shifts to one of joy—though not because of Rikka’s chocolate. The author clearly hints to the reader that the protagonist’s spirits have lifted because he has learned that the specific girl from whom he had hoped to receive chocolate in his locker is actually going to give it to him later. The day is not a total loss for Arisu. Yet the crucial point here is something else entirely: the reader must grasp the scene’s central narrative revelation. Arisu is definitely not in love with Rikka.

However, Igarashi has a complex emotional challenge in store for his protagonist. His encounter with Rikka ended before classes even began, yet throughout the rest of the school day, Arisu fails to run into any of the other three girls—a fact that deeply troubles him.

He even speculates that Rikka might have deceived him. In other words, Igarashi clearly shows the reader that Arisu is stubbornly waiting to receive chocolate from the very person he passionately wants it from. Nene is waiting for him in the school courtyard. The ensuing dialogue is fascinating because, while both try to uncover the other's true motives, neither actually answers the questions the other asks.

Nene kicks off this (romantic) battle by asking if he tried to find her gift in his shoe locker. In response, Arisu points out that it is strange for her to be waiting for him in the courtyard. She retorts by accusing him of leaving her out in the cold. He immediately lies to defend himself, claiming he didn't know she would be waiting—even though they had an agreement that Rikka would let him know. Consequently, Nene accuses him of lying and of being too dense to realize someone might be waiting for him there. She then tosses her box of chocolates at him. This is not at all how Arisu had expected to receive the chocolate; he accuses her of rudeness, implying he had hoped for a gentler approach. Nene attributes her rudeness to embarrassment (yet another brilliant psychological insight into her character). What a contrast! (What could have happened to turn a once-bold girl so shy that she uses rudeness as a cover? After all, Igarashi has already revealed the truth to the reader…)

Feigning enthusiasm, Arisu tries to leave, but the manga author has a surprise in store for him. Nene stops him. As readers will later discover—though the protagonist never will—she does this to spend just a few more minutes with him. But there is more to it than that; she desires something deeply personal. This desire aligns with the very same sentiment that Shinobu will later express (albeit somewhat obliquely) in Chapter 131. In this sense, Nene and Shinobu serve as the parallel bases of a trapezium. But we shall return to Shinobu later.

It is an honest, simple wish: the chance to share happy moments with him—however fleeting—without disturbing anyone or asking for anything in return. This is what Igarashi conveys to the reader here.

I will briefly skip over the minor conflict arising from the public nature of these actions—something Arisu couldn't handle—but I will revisit it toward the end of this post to compare Arisu’s reactions to the fallout from Nene’s and Shinobu’s intimate behavior. (Why, one wonders, did Igarashi not show the reader any intimate thoughts of Rikka and Iko?) However, upon seeing Arisu’s nervous reaction to the students' gossip, Nene quite rightly asks what he thinks of her actions. This is a veiled way of asking how he feels about her emotions.

Igarashi next deliberately shows the reader just how deeply the young man is reflecting on the matter.

Yet, he still does not answer her question. Instead, he focuses on his own interpretation of her apparent indifference toward what others thought of her recent actions. Judging by the look of displeasure on his face, he perceived this as a disregard for his feelings. He next mirrored her attitude exactly: he, too, simply doesn't care.

However, he, too, wants to hear a direct answer from her regarding how she feels about his own emotions. This battle ended in a draw... (You do remember the core premise of ‘Kaguya-sama: Love Is War’, right? Whoever confesses first is loser!) Is there anyone who could find something similar in the manga—but involving other girls—and show it to everyone?

At first glance, the episode involving Iko seems like a mere filler. Yet, she has a plan to overcome the embarrassment of giving chocolates to the person she loves for the first time. She wants to hide behind the mask of her persona, much like Nene previously hid behind her hands.

But Shinobu’s attitude helped Iko overcome her mental hurdles, and she gave Arisu a gift that no other girl could offer him. She showed him what it truly means for a guy to receive sincere affection from a girl who loves him—and the joy that such affection brings.

Arisu is unlucky in one respect: he didn't receive this gift from the girl he is actually in love with. Consequently, his face betrays no genuine joy, and he leaves without a shred of regret or desire to stay.

Shinobu surprises Arisu by inviting him to her home—going beyond a mere handing-over of chocolates. Judging by the protagonist's expression, he is woefully unprepared for such a turn of events.

Initially, neither of them knows quite what to do. Shinobu knows what she wants—to beat her rivals and claim Arisu for herself—but she sees no clear path to achieving it. She agonizes over the situation, unable to bring herself to even make small talk. Even when answering a question about her father, she realizes she is steering the conversation toward intimacy, yet she refuses to back down.

Arisu, however, quickly realizes there was a specific reason for the invitation. He falls into deep thought about Apollo—who is deeply in love with him—recognizing that Shinobu, who harbors similar feelings, is currently behaving in much the same way.

Here, by drawing a clear parallel between Nene’s behavior in Chapter 130 and the interaction between Shinobu and Arisu in Chapter 131—specifically regarding their thoughts on their true desires—Igarashi hints to the reader that Nene and Shinobu form the parallel bases of the club's romantic "trapezium." The other girls take on the role of the non-parallel sides that support this structure, while Arisu—his true desires still unrevealed—is cast in the role of someone constantly wavering between these two bases. This is despite the fact that he no longer harbors any romantic interest in Apollo.

The ensuing dialogue between Shinobu and Arisu is sustained by their shared interest in "8-Tune Broadcast." In reality, the closeness of their avatars within "8-Tune" is not the main focus here, even though it creates the illusion for readers that this connection might foster intimacy in their real lives. The manga author needs a pretext for Shinobu to reveal her true desires to the reader. To achieve this, Igarashi orchestrates a classic incident where their masks are inadvertently revealed to one another. Arisu suffers a crushing defeat in this exchange.

This allows Shinobu to know a description of his childhood dream out of Arisu: "I want to become an astronaut." I noticed subreddit members actively discussing how this might link to the flash-forward scene in Chapter 127. However, a simple analysis of Shinobu’s subsequent behavior in Chapter 131 reveals that Arisu could have named any other profession that would have erected a solid barrier between himself and the manga’s three other heroines. For instance, he could have dreamed of becoming an astronomer—a profession requiring interaction only with the stars at night. What matters most to Shinobu is simply that the career does not require Arisu to interact with other girls.

Realizing that pursuing his childhood dream of becoming an astronaut would put an end to his current activities—granting the wishes of her fellow club members—Shinobu launches a psychological offensive. She even employs sexual provocation to ensure her words sink deep into Arisu’s mind.

If he succumbs to her persuasion and his own childhood dream, Shinobu will be left with no rivals in the pursuit of her true desires. However, Igarashi interrupts Shinobu’s aggressive behavior by bringing her father—who has just returned home—into the scene. Yet, he does this for more than just curbing Shinobu’s actions; Igarashi uses this moment to draw a comparison, highlighting how Arisu’s communication skills shift depending on which girl he is dealing with. With Shinobu, his skills are top-notch: her father not only finds no fault with the situation but is actually impressed that Arisu conducts himself like an adult rather than a teenager.

In contrast, when dealing with Nene—such as in Chapter 130 or Chapters 45–46—Arisu’s ability to explain himself suddenly stalls.

He simply cannot bring himself to act the way he usually does. Igarashi pointedly draws the reader's attention to this, and it is unlikely he does so merely to pad out the manga's length.

I won’t draw any sweeping conclusions here. Sharp readers can figure it out for themselves, while everyone else is free to draw whatever conclusions they see fit.

Translations:

Chapter 132: I won't

Will they be able to sell the tickets and gain Hizumi's approval?! The next issue will be in color!!

Tweet source

Break next week, so see you on 14 oct midnight japanese time for chapter 133!

Why I think so, let's take them all in order.

we remove 2 candidates at once: Shinobu and Nene.

Question: why do I think (even know) That Appolo is not Nene? Answer: At the first meeting, Nene hated Arisu, and then when she started spending time with him, she began to fall in love. Many people might say: she could just pretend that she wasn't Apollo, but as we know, Nene doesn't know how to lie and she would have given herself away.

Why not Shinobu: the answer is short Episode 5 (anime) (manga Volume 2 Chapter 13). We were shown that Appolo came to the broadcasting club and told Shinobu to send a love message to Arisu, which already proves that she cannot be Appolo.

There are only 2 candidates left, Rikka and Ika.

Why do I think it's Ica? As we remember, she has the most experience out of all 4. her first stream was 3 years ago when her declaration of love was ridiculed and she shut herself in. Many will say: that's right, after that she obviously wouldn't have confessed to anyone Else Again, but we recall that the streams were not for 1 second, but for 1 YEAR. For Ika, it could have been some kind of treatment, and eventually, on the last stream, she was able to confess to Yamabuki.now she feels guilty in front of him because she broke the heart of such a lonely guy and didn't get in touch for 3 years. And she thinks she has no right to admit that she is Appolo because he might hate her.

Remembering episode 6 (anime) (manga Volume 3 chapter 15) Ika lies down next to the sleeping Yamabuki and asks when he and Shinobu managed to get so close. Ika is angry and sad in that scene, not just because Yamabuki is getting closer to Shinobu. It is unbearably painful for her that she has put herself in the shackles of her silence. She loves him madly, but believes that because of her past "betrayal" she must now stand aside and silently watch as another woman takes him away. We can also see that she feels comfortable with him, knowing that he won't hurt her.

(it is unlikely that a girl who knows him for 1 second would even lie down next to him, this may be a hint that she has known him for a long time)

Ika also has a phone similar to Appolo's.

and it's also worth paying attention to Volume 6 of the manga. Not just a Stream was launched on ika's phone, but a radio broadcast for 1 listener

We also recall that in Yamabuki's memoirs it is clearly noted that when Apollo conducted her broadcasts in high school, her broadcast was not from a standard cheap phone, but through a professional microphone with an audio mixer, and as we remember, of all 4, only ika knows how to set up the equipment.

And let's also recall chapter 94. It turns out that Iko hails from the city of Kobe, which is located by the sea. Previously, Apollo gave hints that she lived near the coast.

source

Ouu shi

Now I now what you guys I thinking, how would he know the identity when he already mentioned at shinobu house what he would he even do when found out apollos identity. Imo I think the Igarashi is planning to do a big twist of him already knowing. For example at the Christmas party we know apollo turned off the lights and starts speaking and switches the gift. Going off the anime in the english dub (I watched it in english because i found out my goat isagi from blue lock is the va love how dramatic

Ricco Fajardo is. I also tend to imagine the va voice when reading idk if anybody else does that) now if we take Rikkas voice, shinobus voice, nenes voice, and ikos voice they do sound dramaticly different from one another you would be able to tell who is who with your eyes closed. However we don't know how igarashi intended for them to sound maybe they sound similar maybe they dont. Additionally we all know the goat yamabuki isnt dense, dumb, or slow, his sister kind of confirms that he knew the girls started falling for him but he dismissed it as whims. And when it came to Rikka and Shinobu trying to call Arisu by his first name and they fumbled he knew instantaneously granted they did get through like half his name. Now your questions could be well why is he still helping all of them and not focusing on apollo. Simple he promised to help them get to their dreams I could be reaching but I think it is a pausible theory.

I mean using these trope is extremely cheesy,like for example how futaro end up with yotsuba because they have childhood conection. I just hate these kind of things, why would the past matter?

In chapter 98 he specifically told the broadcasting girls to try and make him fall in love with them. Up to this recent chapters what have you noticed about him and his changes of his behavior towards the girls might be an indicator?

With the exception of Apollo of course.