#TeamOnodera

Hime-senpai checking in!

The past week has been quite an eventful week for me, as far as my fandoms are concerned.

Vanguard’s GBT07 spoilers have been leaking, and the one card I’m most excited about, Black Seraph Gavrail, (I should get to that deck tech soon, as it’s my primary competitive deck now) has its skill revealed. Strike the Blood is set to get another OVA by the end of the year. With the sales put up by the last OVA, why don’t they just make another season? I think it’s profitable enough, but we never know what’s going on in their minds. I managed to get a copy of Hyperdimension Neptunia Rebirth 2 for the PSV, so there’s something to pass my time on. Lastly, I decided to pick up my pencil and sketch pad and start practicing my drawing skills once more, thanks to sudden motivation due to me deciding to write some sort of anime-esque light novel, all in my own .doc files for now, of course.

Now, that covered a lot of the communities I’m actively involved in, plus a bit of my personal life, but I doubt they’re too relevant to the general blog reader compared to this reveal just a few days ago:

Nisekoi manga to end in two weeks

Ryuusei kaiten ruretto Rally Go Round!~

Yes, you heard that right. It’s ending in two weeks. A collective sigh of relief was heard throughout the community. We all thought it was gonna go on forever, or that Komi’s gonna keep padding it with filler till the end of time, or at least until his body gives up on him (hint: not anytime soon). Bottomline: Everyone thought that he was gonna keep trying his best to delay the inevitable, but here we are, two weeks till it’s all over. Before anything, let’s take a look back at the love comedy tempest that is Nisekoi.

[Possible Spoiler Alert]

Looking back at it, Nisekoi is one weird series, not in premise, but in reception. Nisekoi is a polarizing show to say the least. People love it for the characters and comedy, even going as far as engaging in shipping wars and such, but at the same time, people hate the series for being so roundabout and generally having horrible pacing in terms of plot advancement.

One thing is for sure, the same scenario has reflected in its standing in Japan’s Shounen Jump ratings. (Refer to this source: http://pharaodopazo.blogspot.com/p/wsj-rankings.html)

Being someone who follows WSJ rankings, I have been noticing that Nisekoi has been bottoming out and tanking for weeks and months already.

Sad Kosaki. Don’t worry, it’s only the beginning for you.

With how Shounen Jump works, we all knew it’s only a matter of time before the series will be given the axe. Somehow, I think it was in a good spot all in all thanks to the overall popularity of the series and was saved from a disgraceful exit, being allowed a regular end (despite the WSJ voter seemingly growing tired of it at this point, as reflected by the rankings). However, we all knew the writing was on the wall the moment Komi started “shooting down ships” and trimming down the harem. Wow, actual plot advancement after forever? Is he being forced by the editors to hurry up? We’ll never know!

Whew, good thing my series has a “legacy” to hold on to. As long as the longtime fans who invested so much time on my manga continue buying the tankobon volumes, I can avoid the horrors of WSJ cancellation, despite tanking in the rankings as well!

Now, I’m just here to discuss the latest chapter and provide a possible prediction for the ending. The latest chapter at the time of this writing (217) showed that Raku had finally decided on confessing his love to either Chitoge or Kosaki. As it turns out, everyone at this point is on their way to Tenku Field, setting up the final confrontation. Yes, that includes Tsugumi, who somehow ended up in Antarctica, and Marika, who’s set to make her first major appearance after a while.

The chapter ended to reveal that one person had already arrived at the promised place: Chitoge, who came alone after some words from Raku’s mom. Is she the Promised Girl after all?

I’ll throw in my 2 cents right now to answer the question in the safest way with “We cannot be sure.” Yes, even at this point, we’re not sure.

Yes, a pleb who streams manga, that’s Hime-senpai!

I think the pictured lines serve to add to the suspense. So, it might not be Chitoge after all? Two weeks away from the ending, and Komi still managed to keep what remains of his fanbase on the edge with this sense of ambiguity.

However, I personally think the best possible route Komi can go at this point, and my real prediction, is with a Chitoge End.

“But I thought you’re Team Kosaki, Hime-senpai!”

Yes, yes, I am, and she remains my favorite character among the bunch, but we’re talking about the best possible ending here. As much of a Kosaki fan I am, I’m not convinced that she’s the best partner for Raku to end the series.

Look at the story and how it has been set up until now. Despite Komi’s attempts at adding ambiguity even when we’re down to the last two contenders, the only reasonable way that he could end it while picking one winner is by letting Chitoge and Raku end up together. Take a look at the past chapters and see how much Raku’s life was affected by Chitoge’s sudden disappearance. It’s the author showing how much being with Chitoge means for Raku already. They have come a long way, from hating each other and faking love… to this.

They’ve been through so much together already, while Kosaki remained a supportive character or someone who Raku can turn to when in need. To make it short: Kosaki Onodera is reactive and not proactive in the relationship. It’s probably a message Komi’s sending us when it comes to crushes, and I’m definitely on the hitlist with this one. She’s definitely got a lesser role than Chitoge in the recent chapters (arcs even) to be chosen by Raku.

It’s just that I think she’s the type of character who would see that the guy she likes ended up liking another girl, then showing her support them despite the personal heartaches. It reminds me of Minori Kushieda from Toradora. She would be the one who would end up “losing” but not really being too upset about it. The same can’t be said of her part-American rival.

Yay, people still remember me!

Besides, the title of the series is “Nisekoi”, literally “False Love”. If Komi wanted to end his series with a heartwarming yet somehow ironic “moral lesson” of sorts, then the Chitoge End is a no-brainer. After all, what can be even more fitting than a resolution of the story with the theme of “false love evolving to become true love” being emphasized? That’s not entirely a new idea for romance series, but it remains a powerful theme that tugs the heartstrings to this day. With that, I’m fully predicting a Chitoge End. I may be right, I may be wrong.

Still, we must all keep out fingers crossed. We’ll never know when the author would decide to catch you off guard, and when he does, everyone will surely be in for one hell of a surprise (and faced with very heavy traffic in various community forums, groups, and message boards). That, my friends, is the beauty of a weekly manga and its community.