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And here we have another chapter of Haganai, a chapter of beginnings fitting for the start of a new year that's also about 10 times as long as the previous one. Can't say much without spoiling what's going on above, so you'll just have to read to find out, which you can do with the handy links below:
Mediafire
Baka-Tsuki
Thanks for the chapter!
ReplyDelete0_o wow. No spoilers but dang.
ReplyDeleteI don't know if I am being dense, but I DID NOT see that coming.
As always, thanks for the update vexed!
Is it just me or does Pegasus share quite a few character traits with Yozora? This point of view assuming it is of relevance would give rise to variety of new perspectives on the issue of who Kodaka could end up with.
ReplyDeleteKodaka's relationship matters are already fixed (Rika = Friend, Sena = Girlfriend).
DeleteAs for Rika I agree even though I don't think he can't have more than one friend, but the girlfriend issue can't be considered settled until the story is actually over. Sena thus far is merely in an advantegous position in the race for Kodaka's affection.
DeleteThe marriage engagement sounds similar to the one for DxD between Rias and Riser since it was written based on their parent's wishes. While Rias fought the engagement through a lengthy battle and successfully voided the contract, I wonder what Kodaka will eventually do. It's hard to imagine him fighting with Sena to void the contract.
DeleteThere is no contract to void.
DeleteThe engagement was always a pinky promise.
Only for Yozora (and her fans) those past relationships are important.
A contract is still a contract regardless of whether it has the importance of a pinky promise or something going beyond that.
DeleteAlso, just try putting yourself in Yozora's situation for a minute. In her youth she used to have a best friend who she regularly spent time with. Then one day he disappears all of the sudden without any prior warning most likely leaving her with the impression that she did something wrong resulting in a major impairment of her social skills which ultimately lead to her not being capable to make friends despite having carried out numerous, probably to some extent even desperate attempts to live a fulfilled youth which in the novels is generally referred to as her dark past. The end result obviously is the character we can observe throughout the story, a person treasuring her memories of a happier time, putting a lot of emphasis on past events in general and a good person at heart overall
who due to her past experiences nonetheless has naturally grown resentful of society. The latter especially applies to popular people as they nurture this absurd image of normality which leaves no room for people without friends or introverts which Kodaka described her as when they were on their way to the cinema together.
With Kodaka re-entering her life she however is offered an opportunity to turn around her past series of misfortunes , but one of these popular people (at least among males) that is to say Sena appears and does her utmost to crush Yozora's dream of building a healthy new relationship with her former childhood friend, rather than the kind she used to have, because she is well aware that they can't go back to the way things used to be 10 years ago. In order to achieve her goal Yozora goes to all lengths as she creates a place where she can spend more time with the person she likes, respects his opinion in every regard and regularly stands up for the people close to him namely Kobato in other words she truly holds him dear. Sena's feelings for him on the other hand are the product of her own narrow-mindedness . Think about it, all of the other guys that she knows she considers her personal slaves, because they try attempt to fulfil her every wish in order to get closer to her.
She however disregards those honest feelings of all of these individuals and falls for the one guy who dared to put her back in her place after one of her usual displays of arrogance/pretentiousness in context with the pool incident and at the time showed no signs of caring about her the same way he may do now. Kodaka apparently admires Sena's dashing forwards with no regrets attitude which he seems to also view as the best approach to making friends, but doesn't act upon it since he doesn't want to disappoint any of the people around him. Yozora on the other hand understands that moving forward doesn't require you to leave behind everything what you cherished about your past, something I hope Kodaka will realize in the near future.
Or to make it short: You just want that Kodaka should fulfill Yozora desires - and nothing else.
DeleteFrankly, I think she deserves someone better than Kodaka who is unable to appreciate all the things she has done for him, but for one thing there are hardly any alternative options for her to get into a relationship due to a lack of male characters in the story or for that matter even into a friendship as meaningful as the one she used to have with Kodaka since aside from Rika the other Neighbours' Club members seem to either follow their own intentions altogether or don't take the club's goal of making friends too seriously. For another thing it's simply a fact that one can't simply turn off his/her feelings for someone else from one moment to the next which together with Yozora's determination to get close with Kodaka in one way or another makes it unlikely that she would even be willing to settle for someone else.
DeleteSo, as a fan of hers I'm therefore not really left with any other option than relying on Kodaka to bring her the happiness she so dearly deserves for the reasons mentioned in my previous post.
What about Kodaka's happiness?
DeleteHave you ever thought about the desires of the main protagonist of the story?
Yozora's dark past refers to her being a chuunibyo, which can be inferred from the information given in the first chapter of connect. And you all know what being a chuunibyo does to you social life.
DeleteWell, Kodaka's happiness depends on what exactly his expectations are towards his relationship matters. It has been hinted at throughout the story as for instance when he played the galge Sena passed on to him and he ended up only spending time with the protagonists best friend that he in fact is more eager to find a person filling in that role rather than a girlfriend. As for Yozora it seems that while she isn't entirely averse against a romantic component of a relationship as she was obviously quite pleased when she heard Rika's statement that "Friend can kiss too." and was also interested whether Kodaka ever thought about having "C'est si bon!" :D before her main goal appears to be getting as close to him as they used to be. Sena on the other hand jumps the gun and asks him to marry her before he was even willing to acknowledge that to put it in the words of Rika they all are friends already. The way I see it Yozora is therefore not only more deserving of his attention, but also the better fit to fulfil his desires.
Delete@ Uroboe
Based on the little information we have about her dark past your Chuunibyou theory might be as good a guess as any, but I was founding my reasoning in this regard on the manga adaptation in which the clues we are presented were interpreted as her uploading cosplay photos to the net, doing live streams, etc. . Assuming this interpretation of the responsible mangaka is wrong which may very well be possible since both of these activities seem out of character for her the statement I was making being that she back then was incapable of making friends after Kodaka left her behind still doesn't lose its validity since if the opposite were the case it would somewhat destroy the premise of the whole story.
You said that Yozora deserves his attention and she is the better fit to fulfil his desires.
DeleteAs a fan of hers she fulfils your desires, to claim that she fulfils Kodaka's desires you need to know his desires.
SPOILER: "Pegasus never imagined this small promise would one day deeply wound a young girl's heart."
DeleteI knew it! Sena... T_T
That's exactly the issue I was trying to address in my previous post. We have little information about Kodaka's true desires, because he always tries to please everyone. What we do know however is that engaging in a relationship is currently not his top priority, but rather finding a best friend, a role that Yozora currently seems to be more suited for than Sena who wants to go far beyond that despite them not even having acknowledged each other as friends which in the natural order to things usually precedes the status of being a couple.
DeleteYou are actually forgetting that Kodaka already have a new best friend: Rika.
DeleteKodaka true desires are not written in the book. And that is actually the only thing that drives the story. If his true desires are revealed the story will end.
It's a story about him, don't forget that.
To just focus on a female character you like is actually a waste of time, because the girl Kodaka ends up with must fulfil his desires.
Rika is a friend of Kodaka rather than his best friend or otherwise she hardly would have answered his proposal to become his friend with the rhetorical question of whether all of them couldn't already be considered friends implying that the level of friendship between each of them at least in her opinion is equal. Also knowing Kodaka's obsession of wanting to create the impression of being the good guy with everyone he meets I doubt he would even want to declare one of his friendships to be more meaningful than the others as doing so would inevitably result in someone else being disappointed.
DeleteFurthermore I believe it would be more correct to say that Kodaka's desires are meant to increase the interest of the viewers to follow the story rather than to contribute towards advancing its plot per se. Naturally you want to know what they really, but actually the journey is the destination,
i.e. all the events or interactions between characters indicating potential friendships or even relationships that have sparked so many discussions regarding the potential ending. Reaching this ending however is not the most important aspect of the story, it's the developments leading up to that point that matter. Let's say Yomi Hirasaka were to spoil us the ending and state that Yukimura becoming Kodaka's girlfriend is the only logical resolution of the plot, would that make you drop the story, because you know its conclusion or would you continue to follow it in order to fathom the author's reasoning for making that statement.
Finally, I do know that Kodaka is supposed to be the protagonist and thus the main focus of the story although due to his passiveness it was not up until the last chapter of Volume 8 that he was declared as such and in theory Yozora exhibits more protagonist-like character traits amongst others because her actions actually do drive the story as opposed to those of Kodaka, however his trains of thought and the few decisions he makes actually seem so far removed from common sense that I find it hard to identify with him. Yozora however has a relatable background, plausible motivations and characteristics I deem admirable and fascinating. She seems so more well defined as a character than everyone else to the extent that the rest of them almost come across as superficial. So, essentially I think it's only natural for me to direct my attention towards her rather than to that lousy excuse of a protagonist even if that wasn't what the author had originally intended for the readers to do.
You are in love with Yozora, because you just tell me (with much words) how much you like her.
DeleteAnd yes - Kodaka gives you the impression that he gets along with everyone. And that is the problem: Yozora is also a victim to this fake impression.
Well, what's not to love? I assume you're bringing that up though to accuse me of perverting the facts and being narrow-minded, but you will realize upon reviewing my reasoning that it is perfectly in line with the facts the show presents us and thus constitutes a valid way of looking at things.
DeleteI wouldn't go as far and say that anything of the aforesaid can serve as an indication for what will happen in the further course of the story, but you must understand that my love for her results from this interpretation of the events rather than it being the origin of the latter. Besides, my motivation for explaining you my point of view was not convincing you to like her, but rather to disprove your statement of relationship matters being settled already.
Furthermore I don't think it's just a wrong impression that Kodaka gets along well with everyone. Why else would he try so hard to maintain the status quo of the club if he weren't concerned about the possibility of disappointing any of the other club members assuming he were to get himself a girlfriend? I do see though that one might get this idea when looking at his current relationship to Yozora which may seem a little distant at times. The reason for this however is their different mindsets regarding their former childhood friendship. As I pointed out before Yozora wants to make use of these memories to kickstart a new friendship between the two of them as opposed to reinstalling one of the same kind they used to have. Kodaka on the other hand seems to think that in order to make friends he must move ahead and leave his past behind which Yozora as is known was a huge part of thus leading to him not focussing his efforts on getting close to one another which in turn leaves her frustrated since she in contrast does everything in her power to accomplish this goal. However without spoiling anything the end of Volume 9 hints that this issue may be resolved in one way or another in the rest of the story. If this happens we might actually get to know what he thinks of her as a person rather than having to listen to his inner monologues about how regretful he thinks it is that she has changed so drastically when compared to the past although he has no one to blame but himself for that having happened. In a way it's kind of ironic: He keeps making these comparisons to the past, but tells Yozora she shouldn't let her past hold herself back. It makes me wonder why all those people who mistakenly interpret the way she relishes her former memories and the manner in which she tries to use them to build a new friendship between her and Kodaka as being stuck in the past won't admit that the same to some extent applies to him as well.
You see... if you are in love with a character this makes you blind and all the following memories you create in your head are completely based on your own desires you want to have fulfilled for your favorite heroine.
DeleteI can see that you actually spent much time to create your own unique memories about the characters. ^^
I don't know about you, but I wouldn't fall in love with someone unless said person would give me a good reason for doing so, hence there is no need for me to twist the facts in order to portray her as the good person she is. As I mentioned, all of the aforesaid can be backed up with corresponding passages in the text and therefore is not just a creation of my own mind as you call it, but rather a subjective yet legitimate interpretation of the plot.
DeleteBesides I'm pretty sure that the majority of people following the story prefer one of the girls over all the others, does that automatically make everyone's point of view on things invalid, too? I don't think so.
As long you include your own desires in the interpretations of the characters and the story your point of view is not debatable because it is biased.
DeleteAnd your opinion:
Yozora = good person
I am always interested to increase my knowledge about the characters but I can't extract any new informations out of discussions where fans just tell me their personal taste in woman.
I really don't hope that you are committing your point of view on some wiki pages on the Internet just to let people think more positive about your favourite heroine.
What a waste! Isn't there no one who can think rational about Haganai?
Saying my point is not debatable due to its inherent bias is silly and you know it, because interpretations of a text per definition are always subjective. There are only so many objective facts at our disposal and quite a few of them are ambiguous thus leading to fans trying to analyze events and the characters in detail which at least for me is part of the appeal of the story. If objective facts is all you're after then perhaps you'd be well advised to simply wait for the next volume to be translated, because even the wikipedia entries of Haganai are incredibly biased in regards to character descriptions. Also, you might want to avoid engaging in discussions with other fans, because all we can offer you is a fresh perspective on the story as opposed to new facts.
DeleteRevelations, revelatons everywbhere. I wonder if the last one will make it as a side plotline on the main series.
ReplyDeleteI knew it was coming but....AIRIIIII~ T.T
ReplyDeleteThanks for the chapter, it was a really interesting read!
ReplyDeleteIt would be nice if this storyline gets some further elaboration.
Two Haganai releases is better than a thing I got for Christmas (seriously). Thanks and happy new year.
ReplyDeleteAs always Vexed a wonderful tl, truly appreciated. Is it just me, or is this one of the best chapters in the whole series? Loved learning more about the previous generation and seeing how their decisions influenced the current one.
ReplyDelete"Still, thanks to those changes, the story of a boy reuniting with a girl he was friends with in his childhood was able to begin 40 years later."
ReplyDeleteIs the 40 a typo or foreshadowing? Shouldn't it be 14?
No, you're right, it's 14. Guess I skimmed over it too quickly without thinking about it.
DeleteCouldn't be better
ReplyDeleteThanks a lot
Thanks for the Chapter. It's interesting to see how Pegasus went from arrogance to acceptance.
ReplyDeleteThis chapter just gave me more ideas to stick into my two ongoing fanfictions from Haganai.
Whoa, that was amazing. Pretty awesome chapter.
ReplyDeletePegasus' OVA spin-off when???
This story continues at the "Supernova" chapter, the second chapter ahead from this one.
ReplyDeleteThnak you so so much for this chapter!!
ReplyDeletethis is too good!
ReplyDeleteIs next chapter more Yozora goodness?
ReplyDeleteI want to read the chapter where Yozora masturbates in Kodaka's bathroom! :D
Delete....what?
DeleteThat's in Volume 9... Please wait.
DeleteEhi, thanks for this chapter but I need to ask u:
ReplyDeletewhy don't translate novel 9 of Haganai?
PS: Any news for A Method to Make the Gentle World?
Novel 9 is dependent on this volume. Even Hirasaka recommended people to read Connect before 9.
DeleteThanks for the answer.
DeleteSo does that make this Cannon?
Deleteentirely canon. Don't believe me? heheh... just ask anybody.
DeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteAny update on Method? One of my favorites
ReplyDeleteWell, what's not to love? I assume you're bringing that up though to accuse me of perverting the facts and being narrow-minded, but you will realize upon reviewing my reasoning that it is perfectly in line with the facts the show presents us and thus constitutes a valid way of looking at things.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't go as far and say that anything of the aforesaid can serve as an indication for what will happen in the further course of the story, but you must understand that my love for her results from this interpretation of the events rather than it being the origin of the latter. Besides, my motivation for explaining you my point of view was not convincing you to like her, but rather to disprove your statement of relationship matters being settled already.
Furthermore I don't think it's just a wrong impression that Kodaka gets along well with everyone. Why else would he try so hard to maintain the status quo of the club if he weren't concerned about the possibility of disappointing any of the other club members assuming he were to get himself a girlfriend? I do see though that one might get this idea when looking at his current relationship to Yozora which may seem a little distant at times. The reason for this however is their different mindsets regarding their former childhood friendship. As I pointed out before Yozora wants to make use of these memories to kickstart a new friendship between the two of them as opposed to reinstalling one of the same kind they used to have. Kodaka on the other hand seems to think that in order to make friends he must move ahead and leave his past behind which Yozora as is known was a huge part of thus leading to him not focussing his efforts on getting close to one another which in turn leaves her frustrated since she in contrast does everything in her power to accomplish this goal. However without spoiling anything the end of Volume 9 hints that this issue may be resolved in one way or another in the rest of the story. If this happens we might actually get to know what he thinks of her as a person rather than having to listen to his inner monologues about how regretful he thinks it is that she has changed so drastically when compared to the past although he has no one to blame but himself for that having happened. In a way it's kind of ironic: He keeps making these comparisons to the past, but tells Yozora she shouldn't let her past hold herself back. It makes me wonder why all those people who mistakenly interpret the way she relishes her former memories and the manner in which she tries to use them to build a new friendship between her and Kodaka as being stuck in the past won't admit that the same to some extent applies to him as well.
Sry, I accidentally posted this at the wrong place at first. You may delete the comment above this reply.
DeleteVexed, where are you?
ReplyDeleteYou dead man ?
ReplyDeleteyes, he seems dead. RIP vexed
DeleteRIP in peace
DeleteRest in peace in piece?
DeleteGoodnight, sweet prince. May a flight of angels sing thee to thy rest.
ReplyDeletePrepare the ritual! May another hero emerges from the darkness to finish Haganai
ReplyDelete