Call me crazy but I’m glad Suwa didn’t push Kakeru to ask out Naho. He wanted them to be honest with their feelings so there wouldn’t be any regrets, but not pushing them together shows there’s a lot more to his character besides being the good bro. He obviously cares a lot for Naho and Kakeru so he wants them to be happy and to not be any misunderstandings between them. But he’s also a person with feelings who wants to be happy too, and I bet he has doubts that if he brings those two together now, he may lose out on his future happiness. And I think that’s totally valid. It would be strange to me if he was willing to be 100% self-sacrificial for his friends.
I wonder at what point Suwa decided to trust the letter and put his full effort into helping Kakeru?
From an earlier chapter, Suwa says he didn’t get a chance to see the letter until after he invited Kakeru to come with them, which means he only knew Kakeru for a brief time before deciding he would do what he could to protect him, even if it meant giving him his chance of winning over Naho despite Suwa having feelings for her prior to Kakeru joining the group.
Is he just a really good bro or did he just love Naho so much that he wanted her to be happy with someone she truly grew to have feelings for? Thinking back to the earlier chapters with Suwa observing Naho’s interactions with Kakeru, it seems like the latter.
I would bet Suwa already read all of his letters so there’s a good chance he’s aware of his future self’s family as well. Despite the possibility of erasing his future family, he still thought Naho and Kakeru should have a chance at happiness this time and that takes a certain level maturity a lot of high school students don’t have.
Yeah, the Suwa character is a bit weird. I don’t know what his letters say exactly but if all he wants is to avoid Kakeru from dying, then being a wingman to him and Naho isn’t strictly necessary.
I mean, just being a close friend could be enough, I don’t know. It is really weird how selfless he is, just giving up his future with Naho for Kakeru.
I mean, objectively it makes sense to give up your highschool crush to save a life, but this is a teen boy we are talking about, I don’t think his actions make much sense.
This was a nice chapter! I like that they’re exploring the idea that the letters might not (won’t) always have the right answer, especially now that things have already started to change.
Also! What did Suwa tell Azu and Taka-chan???
Speculation
I’m not sure why folks think that Suwa must know about future-Suwa’s family situation … Not only is it completely unnecessary for him to have that information, but it would also complicate things a lot (and make his behavior less believable). I’m guessing Suwa thinks that a relationship between him and Naho is actually a lost cause, because of how she is obviously head-over-heels for Kakeru, and we know his letters mention Kakeru liking Naho. He’s convinced he doesn’t have a chance, which is why he’s able to put it aside. If future-Suwa told him that he and Naho end up together then current-Suwa would likely feel massively conflicted constantly.
I think he’s saying basically “it’s possible that if I date Naho I will hurt her, so if that’s the case then it would be better (happier, more fun) if we don’t date”?
I think she’s saying she understands that/why Suwa is wondering if the letters might be wrong … But, for her the letter has helped her countless times. But if that’s the case then what is the から for?
So finally we see that Suwa is indeed human and have a limit to how far he’s willing to go for Kakeru. Totally understandable. I agree with those that don’t think Suwa knows about his Future self’s family, because could he really do that to himself? Potentially take away a child he’d have with the one he loves? That seems extreme.
I love the scene at the end where Taka-chan gets the ball rolling on all of them volunteering to run the race. I really love the role she and Azu are taking. They gotta have letters right? Just like Suwa they often seem to be in the right place at the right time even if they don’t always reveal themselves (like in the last scene of the previous chapter).
Page 97: I don’t really get Hagita’s response, but the definitions for いじる is quite the thing.
Page 103: I agree although I’d say that even not going out, (life will be) fun and happy.
Page 107: You already figured out ばっかで. And I had the same understanding.
Page 109: I took that から as because. And it follows into the next page and why they try to talk Kakeru out of doing the relay. She seems to be thinking and justifying a lot. Since at this point the letters are proving to maybe not be as helpful anymore. But we’ll follow it again because it has helped many times. But that is just my read. ^^
Indeed. Taking another swing at this: I guess Azu is saying that Kakeru is “toying with” (teasing, messing with) Hagita. Kakeru says yes, cause it’s fun/funny. Hagita says something along the lines of “oh, it’s funny? then it’s okay. … that is, it’s not okay!”
That makes sense. After all, these narrations are notorious () for trailing off, so I probably should have been thinking about what the likely conclusion of the sentence would be, not thinking back to what had already been said and trying to make sense of it as a “completed” sentence.
You’re take on page 97! Yes, I can totally see that. A dropped を and it was all there to see. So thanks, I couldn’t follow that either, until now.
As for page 109, manga have a tendency to switch “A から、B” around to be “B。A から。” So I don’t blame you! But Naho definitely have a tendency to trail off in her narration/thoughts. ^^
Home Thread
) for trailing off, so I probably should have been thinking about what the likely conclusion of the sentence would be, not thinking back to what had already been said and trying to make sense of it as a “completed” sentence.
