The burden

The harsh reality… It’s really hard to keep my mouth shut but I’m sure I’d spoil it all for you if I comment on this page in any way. I can only hope you enjoy and are still curious what the next will bring. There’s still a ton to learn about those two~

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My apartment is slowly starting to look like a real home! At least I have a desk and a chair so I’m happy haha, who needs anything else anyway, right? I sit in front of the computer all day anyway~ One sad piece of info is that part of my wardrobe was damaged in transport so I’ll have to wait until 12th when it can be replaced, ugh. We’re waiting for the fridge and washing machine this week, finally, I’ll be able to cook! Eating out is nice and all but it takes a lot of time. I’d rather draw. I feel kind of drawing deprived this weekend, not sure why, hm.

LIVING IN JAPAN CORNER #9

My coworkers told me that 3rd of February is actually a traditional annual event in Japan – Setsubun! I had no idea about it so I’m going to share what I’ve learned.

The event is connected to the change of seasons. Yes, actually, spring is already coming to Japan! If you follow my Instagram account I already posted some first sakura blooms from today’s stroll around Shinjuku gardens. So Setsubun is a celebration of winter going away and spring coming back. The name literally means “seasonal division” too. Spring also means spring cleaning so it’s a perfect moment to cleanse your household of evil demons and what not that managed to sneak in during the winter. You basically shout at them and throw roasted beans, it’s very effective.

That’s what I read about Setsubun anyway. My coworkers laughed that Setsubun is kind of a Japanese Halloween, a celebration involving monsters and sweets. Nobody likes to have beans thrown around the house so you use candy instead. Usually, a daddy or grandpa would wear a monster mask and scare the kids though (kind of a role reversal, eh?). They also have special shows in shrines as well, dancing oni look very interesting. Different parts of Japan have different unique traditions connected to Setsubun too, like eating a whole sushi roll while facing a certain direction (this is from Kansai).

I didn’t take part in the celebrations but it was interesting to learn something new about Japan! At least now I know why they started to sell oni-shaped mochi in sweets shops!

69 comments on “The burden”

    • Refugnic Reply

      Heh, cause while they’re arguing they could also be walking and actually getting something done?

      But then we wouldn’t learn just what caused this…rather interesting constellation, would we?
      I mean, we see the effects…and from there, we work ourselves back to the reasons. 😉

      • Refugnic Reply

        And crawling. Don’t forget the crawling.

        Rob sure appreciated that part of his day.

        • antrik Reply

          Now that’s mean 🙂 Per Word of God clarification, he was *not* actually enjoying the crawling specifically — he just meant that he wouldn’t mind the entire expedition taking longer…

      • Refugnic Reply

        That so?
        My apologies, I must have missed that declaration and therefor misinterpreted the context.

        However you will have to admit that the context was…easily misunderstood, won’t you? 😉

  2. Typo Police Reply

    Firstly, this is a fascinating scene.
    Apparently, she already knew about his feelings for her, though whether she understands their extent is a different matter. I wonder whether we’ll see the scene where she first finds out about those feelings, and the reasons she gives for not becoming a couple in some flashback later – does she simply not feel the same towards him or is it something else?

    Secondly, I need to do my duty as a Typo Policeman.
    However, being a Typo Policeman rather than a Grammar Nazi, I’m only supposed to offer corrections when the “typo” in question was not intended by the author, so I’ll just ask:
    Is Ada supposed to speak with strange grammar where she says “… what I was supposed…” instead of “… what was I supposed …”?

    • Refugnic Reply

      No, I believe you actually are correct.
      It needs to be ‘What was I supposed to do’.

      Stupid brain, correcting what I read without telling me. 😀

  3. Ooorah Reply

    Ugh. It makes sense. It’s not like Rob was particularly subtle with his feelings. It’s just not how I was hoping this would go at all. How dare Ada’s feelings get in the way of my Rob/Ada ship.

    • Refugnic Reply

      Hey, we’re just on page 182.
      Give them some room for personal growth, will you?

      I mean, it would be kinda boring if they were like: ‘I love you!’ ‘Oh, what a coincidence, I love you too, let’s be happy together!’ this early on, right?
      Please remember, not very much time has passed since the beginning of the comic (in comic time that is), let them have their drama.

      This particular ship is still one of the more likely ones.
      At least she didn’t say something like, ‘Hey, now that you mention it, it would be nice if you got out of my life. Yoho, Mr. Demon, I have a little treat for you!’
      Now THAT would kill the ship (and Robert, for that matter).

      • JW Reply

        I mean, it would be kinda boring if they were like: ‘I love you!’ ‘Oh, what a coincidence, I love you too, let’s be happy together!’ this early on, right?

        The relative novelty of it would be interesting. (I mean, it’s not really novel; it’s been done, but not as often as using the misalignment of interest.)

        It’s one of the things I liked about “Tonari no Kaibutsu-kun”, there’s not a long drag-on-until-the-end-of-the-series tension of whether they’ll fall in love, that was settled in one or two episodes, I think. Instead, one of the things that drives the plot is how the girl struggles with her rational side deciding that she doesn’t have time for that love-nonsense, while her heart pulls in another direction.

        I suppose we could have a somewhat similar situation here. Maybe Ada love Robert as well, but has reason why she can’t (or thinks she can’t) reciprocate his feelings in thew form of a romantic relationship.
        Maybe she’s cursed and getting kissed by the man she loves will trigger the apocalypse. Err, well, more than currently.

        • antrik Reply

          Yeah, it’s not unheard of for the main characters to get together relatively early in a story — but usually that means the romantic subplot winds down at this point, making room for the “real” action…

          If it doesn’t wind down, it tends to go downhill from there: either in the sense that the rest of the story is actually about the breakdown of the relationship (which is depressing, so let’s not think about that 😉 ); or otherwise, the portrayal of further complications generally just doesn’t work all that well… Take Trace and Flora for example: once they get together at the end of the first major story arc, any further drama between them feels rather forced and uninteresting.

          Frankly, I have a hard time thinking of *any* story that managed to keep the romance interesting after people get together…

          • JW

            Frankly, I have a hard time thinking of *any* story that managed to keep the romance interesting after people get together…

            I suppose in that sense fiction mirrors life 😛

            I don’t really have enough time to add more to this post now, but I didn’t just want to end at a bad joke 😛

          • JW

            I don’t think there’s fundamentally any reason why a story about the relationship between two people should get less interesting once they get together. You don’t gain a full and complete understanding of one another the moment you become a couple (thank goodness). So there should be a lot of mutual discovery and development of the relationship left to explore. Arguably more-so than before, even.
            I think that perhaps one issue is that, up to the point where they get together, it’s really working towards a fantasy. It’s just so much easier to end at “and they lived happily ever after” than to continue with something like “and then the reality hit them that living together takes effort, understanding and compromise”. Maybe that puts some writers off. Or maybe it’s just intrinsically harder to write about. But I don’t think it’s in itself less interesting.

            For example I really liked “Danna ga Nani wo Itteiru ka Wakaranai Ken”, which is a series of 3-minute episodes about a newlywed couple where the husband is a hardcore otaku, and the wife is for lack of a better word “normal”. The title translates as “I Can’t Understand What My Husband Is Saying”, so that says enough, I think.
            And maybe the second season of “Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai!” is also an example, because although Rikka and Yuuta got together at the end of the first series, they still have hurdles to overcome, like holding hands and kissing. Just because they’re together doesn’t mean all the self-consciousness and other barriers are gone.
            And I might as well drop the tv-show that’s been at the front of my mind this whole time, the sitcom “Dharma and Greg”. The whole premise of the show is that the eponymous couple got married on their first date. They’re in many ways polar opposites, so much hilarity ensues from clashing world-views and learning to understand each other.

          • antrik

            So I never replied to this one, huh? I meant to, at various times — but trying to sort my thoughts regarding this sent me down a giant rabbit hole, that sparked some interesting (hopefully valuable) considerations, but never a clear idea how to reply…

            Anyway, the core of my conclusion is that while it’s certainly possible (and not exactly unheard of 😉 ) to write a decent story about the trials of ongoing relationships, it just doesn’t carry the same suspense as a Will They Won’t They arc. And trying to combine both in the same story will likely make the “trials” part feel more like an epilogue than part of the main story…

            (I wanted to link “Shiro and Kuro” as an example: the original story was a more or less serious drama with a Will They Won’t They plot; while the sequel is explicitly set up as a silly gag comic — apparently the author understood that it wouldn’t work as anything else… Unfortunately, the original is no longer available 🙁 )

            It’s certainly possible to retain some of the Will They Won’t They suspense after they originally get together, as in “will they *stay* together?”: but this will likely feel forced (see my previous example regarding TwoKinds) — more like a Postscript Season…

            I have to admit though that I’m less sure about the latter bit: maybe it could in fact work out when done right?

            (Disclosure: I’m actually sorta trying my hand at that…)

      • JW Reply

        Now THAT would kill the ship (and Robert, for that matter).Maybe there’s resurrection magic? I’m sure Laura would bring him back for Sofia if she could. And then Zombie Rob can eat all their brains, ’cause you don’t bring back the dead. “Damn-it, can’t we have one apocalypse at a time?”

      • Refugnic Reply

        @JW I seem to recall this one flash ‘comic’, aptly called ‘The Pocalypse’ (because ‘A pocalypse’ wasn’t enough).
        Not to spoil anything here, but I think it was:
        Zombies in the north.
        Vampires in the west.
        Machines in the south.
        (Sentient) Plants in the east.

        And the poor saps that are the remainders of humanity in the middle of it all.

        The good news: The vampires and the zombies don’t like each other very much and the machines and the plants aren’t exactly fans of each other either, so they spend as much time fighting each other for ‘who’s going to huff out humanity once and for all’ instead of attacking the survivors camp.

        Wonder if that story ever finished though.

  4. Refugnic Reply

    To answer your question, Robert, yes, quite possibly she would be alright with that, as long as that doesn’t mean that you completely disappear from her life while you’re at it…because that’s really the question in the room here.

    Could Robert be with anyone but Ada, as long as Ada is still a part of his life?
    Because you see, feelings don’t just go ‘poof’ and disappear into thin air.
    They will still be there, lingering, haunting…

    And now let’s take Sofia into this equation, how would that make her feel?
    Let’s assume that Robert gets with Sofia…how would it make her feel to learn, that she is only ‘the second choice’? The tranquilizer for the pain of being rejected.
    How would it make her feel to know that she can never have the man she likes so much all for herself, because he ‘secretly’ likes someone else?
    Not a very nice feeling, to be sure.

    So yeah, all in all, it’s a very difficult situation…the better question yet is: What is wrong with Robert?
    I mean, he’s loyal, handsome, smart (this one is still up for discussion), strong, yet kind.
    What is it about Robert that Ada hates so much?

    His obsessions with Anime and stuff?
    Everybody needs a hobby and this one is way better than collecting toenails or something.

    Really, there’s just few options on the table here:

    1. Ada already likes someone else we haven’t met yet. (Yes, some fodder for the Ada x Faust shippers, though I doubt that it’s him)
    2. Robert hurt Ada in the past and she has yet to forgive him.
    3. Someone else scarred Ada emotionally, rendering her unable to be in any sort of real relationship.
    4. She’s not interested in guys in general (possibly ‘any more’).

    Number 3 can range from abuse during her childhood up to rape in the back alley…though knowing Ada, she would probably kick the butt of whoever is trying to lay hands on her without her consent…but then again, she may not always have been that way.

    …on the other hand however, we have seen a little bit of her younger self in ‘First steps’ and her personality didn’t change all that much.

    Number 4 actually doesn’t conflict with what we’ve seen of her past all that much.
    Many people only realize that they are homo- or asexual somewhere along the way.
    She may still have been interested in boys during first steps and realized that she likes girls better only later…teenage years can be quite a ride after all.

    But once again, I doubt it.

    Somehow I keep coming back to those obsessive traits Robert exhibits every now and then.

    Hah, at the end it’s probably something like she likes Star Wars and he’s a Trekkie, now wouldn’t that be funny! 😀

    • JW Reply

      4. She’s not interested in guys in general (possibly ‘any more’).

      Ada x Sofia FTW 😛

      • bitflipper Camp dweller Reply

        Has anyone considered the possibility that Ada may be genuinely asexual? In “First Steps”, we learn that she feels that no-one in her high school understood her; that feeling seemed to be tied to her practice of drawing pentacles, but what if it were tied to something even more fundamental than her Art? This might also explain why she and Laura can work magic but no-one else seems able to; the magic of the Seal of Solomon may well require purity in the practitioner. Which would also explain Philip’s lack of surprise when Laura became the camp’s second witch. He is obviously familiar with the text and probably knows of any such purity requirement. And, finally, Ada being asexual in her orientation would be one possible explanation for why her relationship with Rob seems so blasé and neutral even though his relationship with her is so obviously charged with desire and frustration. It really isn’t a one-sided attraction; they both evidently love each other, and Ada even goes so far as to express her fear that Rob might get himself killed and “leave her alone” during one of the demon attacks. But Ada’s love does not include the very animal, sexual attraction that Rob’s love does; she doesn’t feel passion in that way, towards anyone. So far, Rob has tried to understand and accept that even though his own frustration is plainly evident.

        It would actually be a very interesting study in what it means to love someone for who and what they are.

        • antrik Reply

          Yes, I have mentioned possible asexuality in a comment before; and I think someone else did too… Though later I realised that I actually used the wrong term, since what I really meant was *aromantic*. The idea that she might be asexual but *not* aromantic, seems even more of a long shot… In fact, I don’t think she would want Robert to fall in love with someone else, if she was actually interested in him romantically, and just not sexually.

          Either way, I don’t think that really has much to do with the fact that she has trouble relating to others in general?

          BTW, why are you bringing up “First Steps” here? As far as I can tell, the things you are referencing are all in the flashbacks in the main story. (Which is a good thing too, since it would be kinda unfortunate if you made an argument based on events that many people here are not actually familiar with…)

    • Refugnic Reply

      I seem to have forgotten two major possible reasons (hanging the laundry gives you too much time to think. :P)

      5. The Alice-Cooper Scenario – She actually does like him, but is convinced that she will be the death of him (or herself) if she gives in to her emotions.
      Or the more elaborate version:
      6. The heroes lament (oh, do I love that one): Because the people she likes tend to either go away or die (essentially the same, but more…definite), she is trying to not like anyone at all any more, pushing herself into isolation, because ‘everyone I like gets hurt!’ – Naturally this one usually is complete nonsense, but personal perception can take you to weird places.

    • antrik Reply

      I don’t think possible “lingering” feelings are the main problem. On the contrary: if he actually fell for another, then even if he wasn’t to disappear from Ada’s life completely, he *would* inevitably pay less attention to her from that point on — and no matter what she believes (or wants to believe), I don’t think she could deal with that very well.

    • antrik Reply

      As for why she doesn’t want to be with Robert, I mostly agree that she probably doesn’t want to be with *any* guy. (Not least because we haven’t seen any hints of her being interested in anyone else before…)

      Apart from the possibility of her simply being aromantic, I mentioned a couple of times that she seems to tend towards the Avoidant attachment type; i.e. not letting anyone get too close to her, because she has a hard time accepting that there is anyone she could be happy with. That *might* have been exacerbated by some particular traumatic event in her past — but it doesn’t need to be the case. It could go back to her troubles forming bonds with others in general. Some(?) psychologists believe it reflects the type of attention one got from one’s parents. And very likely, part of it boils down to a sort of disposition one is born with…

      All that said, I think you are way too easily discarding the possibility that she isn’t interested in Robert specifically. It’s very wrong to assume that she should automatically love him, unless there is something seriously “wrong” with him that she utterly hates… That’s not how romance works.

      Sure, the absence of fatal flaws is kinda necessary for a reasonably harmonic relationship — this falls under Compatibility — but for a romantic interest to form in the first place, Chemistry is way more relevant. This includes literal chemistry (that pheromone thing); I’m not sure why this is universally ignored in discussions of romance, in spite of scientific evidence… But of course it also covers figurative “chemistry”, i.e. being attracted to the other person’s disposition.

      Just being what is generally regarded a “good” person, is not enough for that; as any number of love-deprived Nice Guys — either genuine, or just playing “nice” because they were made to believe that that’s the way to get the girls — will make a point of letting everyone know. Being “good” is more like a bonus. (Embittered Nice Guys will often claim that it is in fact a detriment — though the truth is that they simply fail to understand the difference between being nice and being a doormat, unable to establish any personal boundaries…)

      More essential for winning a girl’s admiration, are traits that suggest potential for success in life. (More specifically, for successful offspring — which is what really matters from an evolutionary point of view…) Priorities obviously differ from one person to another — but there are some fundamental traits that tend to appeal to most girls: such as confidence, self-control, and humour. Seeing how Robert behaves towards Ada, I can well imagine that she has a hard time respecting him as a man…

      • JW Reply

        This includes literal chemistry (that pheromone thing); I’m not sure why this is universally ignored in discussions of romance, in spite of scientific evidence…

        The scientific evidence of pheromones in humans is poor. No sex pheromones have yet been isolated, and best I know no (working) organ to detect them has been found (pheromones are not the same as smell, so the smell receptors in the nose don’t qualify). And if we did have them, we cover ourselves with clothes and deodorants that would both interfere with their working.
        The main reason you hear about it at all is because it makes for great headlines and titillating pop-science articles. After all, who doesn’t want to hear about t-shirt sniffing experiments?

        • antrik Reply

          That’s very interesting. I have to admit that it never occurred to me to question the validity of the findings reported on this topic… Something to look out for I guess.

          I’m not sure though why you think deodorants would interfere with pheromones?

          • JW

            That’s a good point, now that you bring it up. If it was purely adding/removing smell then deodorant shouldn’t make a lot of difference, because pheromones isn’t smell.
            But reconsidering it, one of the pathways that’s been suggested for how humans might produce pheromones is by excreting material through their sweat-glands which then gets eaten/processed by bacteria. Aside from the familiar smelly waste-products, some would be volatile chemicals that act as pheromones.
            Deodorants can affect that in several way, because most of them contain anti-bacterials (because that’s an effective way to prevent bacteria stinking up your armpits), and some also contain anti-perspirants, which close up the sweat-glands (and so cut off the food-supply for the bacteria, as well as preventing unsightly sweat-stains on your clothes)

          • antrik

            Heh, that would be funny, if it turned out deodorants kill bacteria crucial to the choice of partners, thus being responsible for relationships failing so frequently… 😉

            When the topic of pheromones is brought up though, it is usually pointed out explicitly that deodorants do not seem to affect the results — so I guess any studies being conducted do try to confirm this too?

          • JW

            In the studies I’ve heard most about, those t-shirt sniffing studies, I think the instruction is specifically to not wash or use deodorants for a few days while wearing the t-shirt. But that might also be because the smell of perfumed soap/deodorants could otherwise have an influence on which t-shirt is preferred (someone might pick it just because it smells nice(r) rather than subconsciously “compatible”). You want to avoid confounding variables as much as possible.

            What’s also interesting is that a lot of this research is looking at the correlation with the immune system. Basically the idea is people with more different immune systems would be more attracted to each other’s smell because a relationship would produce children with broader immune protection. One way in which that might work, is that the immune system might influence the populations of bacteria that live on you (and thereby what they produce).

          • antrik

            That’s interesting indeed. Not sure how much correlation there is between the type of bacteria on the skin and the immune system… But it certainly sounds like an *attractive* theory 😉

  5. G Reply

    not exactly how I wanted this to end, but hey its early yet things can change a lot and we have yet to know why she feels she can’t be with him as a couple cause its obvious she does care about Robert in her own way

  6. Doom Reply

    I wish to hug and comfort the sad Ada. She knows her best friend likes girls, she does not want to date him herself because reasons, and she tried to help him get a date with a lovely lady that does want to date him. Seems like a reasonable course of action to me, but sadly did not work out too well this time.

  8. Onceller Reply

    I agree with antrik, the absence of flaws is not a certificate of goodness nor a compelling reason to enter a relationship. Just because someone is a “nice guy”, doesn’t mean he deserves a person’s attention. I fit the label of “nice guy” pretty exactly; I’ve never experienced a return on my affections, but it would be wrong for me to demand one.

    I really lost quite a bit of respect for Rob as a character in these last few pages; rejection sucks. I am quite familiar with the feeling; I can’t count the number of times I’ve experienced it using both hands, any more. However, a part of being stable and loving others is recognizing their autonamy, even when it hurts you or worse still when you’re afraid they’re making a mistake.

    So in summary, don’t be a “nice guy” who is angry or immature; you’re decency and kindness DO NOT entitle you to another person’s affections or love. Hopefully, Robert will get to the place I’m at, where he’s alright being rejected, cares as much as he can, and hasn’t given up on finding someone who will accept who he is. Right now he’s a bit of a morally ugly and incredibly selfish mess, which is sad…

    Great and realistic characters and story, Not Important 🙂

    • antrik Reply

      I’m… Somewhat at a loss for words. It makes me both happy and sad to see someone genuinely nice who doesn’t resent others for his plight…

      However — though I know it’s presumptuous of me — I believe there must be a way you could become more successful, *without* giving up who you are. Maybe something like https://markmanson.net/vulnerability could be relevant; or maybe not: I don’t really know your situation, after all. But I can’t believe there is no way at all to improve the odds…

      As for Robert, I do not actually see him this negatively. My remark about his behaviour towards Ada was mostly in regard to the various goofy stunts we have seen him pulling in the past.

      It’s true that he is being rather unfair in his accusation right now… However, as I said in a comment on the previous page, I don’t think he is actually resenting Ada for not loving him back. (At least not openly…) Rather, he seems to be angry about the rather insensitive way she is dealing with the situation. So I guess that makes them kinda even, in a negative way… [sigh]

      • Onceller Reply

        That is definitely relevant to my situation; vulnerability is still a thing I am trying to figure out. I appreciate that.

        I hope that you’re correct about the Robert-Ada situation; better to be upset with the situation than with the person.

    • NotImportant Reply

      Thank you so much. You guys write very interesting comments. I can’t wait until you see this scene as a whole, I keep wondering what you’ll say then.
      Great discussion!

  9. Rateus Camp dweller Reply

    So now we know. I’m not crying, I’ve just been cutting onions. Making a lasagna (for one).

    • Klorix Camp dweller Reply

      Onion soup, really.
      The ship took a big hit. I told you guys that we were sailing through rough water and to look out.

      • Rateus Camp dweller Reply

        And honestly, if she does like Rob but not love him (as he loves her) then it is totally natural to want to see him in a happy loving relationship with someone else. Maybe too soon to be trying to pushing him into it, if she’s not interested Rob, you need to move on. Be the best platonic friend you can be because that’s all Ada wants from you.

        • antrik Reply

          If she really doesn’t return his romantic feelings at all, then Robert definitely needs to move on. If on the other hand she has other reasons why she doesn’t want this kind of relationship, it *might* be arguable — we don’t have the whole picture yet…

          Either way, I don’t think it’s right for her to try hooking him up with someone else — especially not in such an aggressive manner. Her intentions might be good; but it’s not at all surprising how it must feel to him. I’m pretty sure most people would have the same reaction in such a situation.

          Of course, with Ada’s poor social skills, it’s quite possible that she simply doesn’t understand this kind of thinking…

      • antrik Reply

        @Klorix this kinda depends on the point of view… It’s not clear that the fallout triggered by Sofia’s move is actually detrimental to their chances of getting together — though from *our* point of view, the things we learn in the process are certainly detrimental to our hopes of seeing it happen 🙂

  10. Klorix Camp dweller Reply

    So, they already did talk about it, or at least Rob did confess his feelings in the past. This makes for an awkward relationship…
    Wow, I cannot wait to read Ada’s answer to that last question!

    Wonderful work on the body language/facial expressions! … *second look* Oh no, she’s actually crying 🙁
    Poor Ada, poor Rob…

    @NI: Small typo in panel 4, I think. Maybe this should read ‘~ so what was I supposed to do?’

    • NotImportant Reply

      Yeah, fixed it! Thank you 🙂

      And glad you liked the page! I admit spending an unhealthy amount of time on those expressions.

      • antrik Reply

        I concur in part: the expression on the big floating Ada here is really amazing 🙂 Which is incidentally the exact opposite from the previous page, where all the *other* expressions were great, while the floating one worked less well for me…

        Not sure whether this kind of feedback is really helpful though? It’s not exactly constructive criticism, after all… I apologise if it feels too negative.

        • antrik Reply

          Well, perhaps I can try to be a little more specific…

          Aside from the fact that personally I prefer more realistic expressions to overly stylised ones in general (which applies to some of the expressions here more than to others), occasionally it feels to me like the expressions do not quite fit the mood of what is being said…

          Though in some cases at least it might actually be the other way around: most notably, Robert’s expression in the last panel gives me a “Hah, as if I’d believe that you really wouldn’t mind me getting a girlfriend!” vibe: which would indeed fit the flow of conversation to this point perfectly fine, I’d say — unlike the wording he actually uses, which feels like a rather sudden mood change to me…

          (If on the other hand the mood change is in fact intentional, I’d expect a very different expression on him — and probably also a more explicit indication of the transition, such as her words actually making him pause, or something like that…)

          • NotImportant

            Hmm that’s not the expression I was going for (the one in the last panel). I mean, his eyebrows indicate that he’s in pain. For him, this is a half rhetorical question (as she already rejected him), he kind of needs to hear the answer in order to be able to accept Ada’s indifference though. At the same time – he doesn’t really want to hear it. It’s a painful disbelief kind of thing?

            Moods are going to swing like crazy in these scene, it’s a rough ride. But from my experience, it’s very easy to swing from anger to sadness and back in that kind of fight. I argue with my fiance A LOT ๏◡๏

          • antrik

            Well, now that you mention it: when looking more at his eyes, it certainly does work as a pained expression… The big mouth kinda grabs the attention though — and that doesn’t exactly say “pained” to me…

  11. Alex Reply

    Sooooooo…. assuming that she’s honest, then this is no case of low self-esteem, but merely a case of unrequited love and she tried to get some closure by getting him a girlfriend. It would make perfect sense, and the way NI likes to do things differently from the mainstream it just might be the case.
    It would, however, mean that I no longer consider Ada a Tsundere until she finds an actual love interest to bitch at. She was never much of a Tsundere to begin with anyway, which is a good thing from my point of view. I don’t like Tsundere unless they’re either toned down a lot lika Ada or hilariously over-the-top like Misato a.k.a. the only funny character in Nichijou.

    And I can’t stop thinking about the bread Rob wasted and that he better pick it up again. Why must my brain ruin this climactic moment? 😀

    @antrik: You’re right, the apocalypse is still going on. 🙂 I confused it with a Fallout-like scenario where the nuclear apocalypse happened and monsters roam the earth, while in Replay the monsters ARE the apocalypse.

    • antrik Reply

      The real question is, is she dishonest with *him*, or rather with herself?… 😉

      On a more serious note, while “unrequited love” would certainly fit my original observation that she doesn’t seem to quite reciprocate his feelings — either not feeling the same things at all; or suppressing it for some reason — I still tend to think her manner two pages back signifies there must be *something* there… Though in retrospect, I’m not quite sure whether it really signifies hiding something: or maybe just a general uneasiness about breaching this difficult topic? I’m not that good at reading expressions 🙁

      More importantly though, she only stated that she won’t be with him — but not why… So technically, I’d say the possibilities we discussed on the previous page are actually still on the table.

      Thus far this whole scene has confirmed some of my likely conclusions (that Robert wants a relationship, but Ada doesn’t); and also some more vague suspicions (that they are both more or less aware of the situation; quite possibly even discussed it explicitly before) — but the most elusive aspects: Ada’s real feelings/reasons — still seem pretty much up in the air as far as I can tell…

      Let’s see whether her reaction to Robert’s last question will provide some more definite hints on this score 🙂

      • Alex Reply

        I call that, if she really is dishonest, then she’s dishonest with him (i.e. she knows she loves him, but lies to him about it), because maybe she’s afraid that either of them is going to die really soon. She doesn’t know that they’re the protagonists.

        But I’m more worried about what will happen to the other sandwiches Sofia made. While it would be reaaaaaally nice if Rob or Ada picked the one sandwich back up again, I’ll be able to settle for him not throwing away all the others as well.

  12. Huntsmen Reply

    Oh no. Ive had arguments like this before they don’t end pretty for ether side and usually end up making things much worse.

  14. Steven Reply

    First off, it’s obvious she likes him. No one gets so flustered unless they do and are trying to deny it. Neither do you come up with excuses to not be together unless you really want to be. She’d just do the “I only like you as a friend” line.

    Yet she feels she can’t be with him. So either there’s something we don’t know, like she has to be a sacrifice to rid the world of demons, or she feels death is always too close for any relationship to be meaningful and will bring only greater pain when he is eventually killed.

    She tells herself she wants him to stay near because she knows he’s her best chance to stay alive, but really she just likes him and part of her won’t let him go. 🙂

    • antrik Reply

      You might quite possibly be right about her feelings (though I’m not *nearly* as sure about these conclusions) — except that I’m pretty sure their relationship problems don’t have anything to do with the present Apocalypse. After all, the Apocalypse started only about a week ago; while these two have been close for years…

  15. Zero Reply

    Rob, stop while you’re ahead…. before you say something that you will regret.

    …. also before you attract demons.

      • antrik Reply

        They didn’t seem to have any trouble leaving the camp? Apparently the demons have a tendency to leave in the morning…

  16. JayCloud Reply

    wait… does ada like rob too but is dodging the questions? or am I an idiot who cant figure this out?

  18. Potterkid522 Reply

    This actually happens to me. It did not end well.
    Lets hope this one has a Happy ending.

  19. Speedy Reply

    “Rob… I could never be with a man whose ears are shorter than mine.”

    “Rob… You always smell like a wet dog. I almost gag every time you get near me.”

    “Rob… I wanted Sofia to make those sandwiches for ME!”

    Or something like that? I still think she’s lying to herself, but if not, I just dunno…

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