Aug 18, 2021
For someone as trope-aware as Kohei, he sure falls headlong into a bunch of them. I'd have to go back and refresh myself on the early chapters to be sure, but it feels like early on it was mostly his love interests who were the principle agents of the trope. But this chapter? Kohei created the shoujo manga scene entirely of his own doings. It felt natural to his emotions at the time, I just note it because that turn is an interesting one for a trope-aware, 4th wall busting snarker.
We can say he's learning to listen to his heart over his literary knowledge, then it's character development ;)
Will be interesting to see if Sakura Emi's content to be cordoned off from Kohei by the other boys. There doesn't even need to be love behind it—being herded around like that is patronizing at the very least.
One thing I'll suggest is to maybe pare down some of Mari's lines when she's out of breath—both to shorten them, and to reduce the formality a little. When winded, most people's diction breaks down a bit in favor of short words & phrases, the easier to gasp around.
While "I would have gladly followed you, no matter what" may be what Mari would say in normal circumstance, it's a bit long winded for someone struggling to get air in their system.
But hey, look at that, Kohei's 4th wall breaks fell away after they run out of the school. Makes me wonder if Kohei's 4th wall abusing habits stem from emulating a literary hero, or if it might be a coping mechanism? Just a thought.
Lots to ponder here. Neat.
