Indeed.
I’ve always thought the premise of the “love confession” in anime is broken.
First, a guy whom the girl has never spoken to before, or hardly knows at all, asks her to meet him alone behind the school. She agrees (why the fuck would anyone?)
Second, he confesses his love, and she turns him down, because that’s the ONLY SANE RESPONSE to a virtual stranger suddenly confessing that he’s been stalking you, staring at you from a distance, and imagining you in intimate situations with him in his head, all while never having spoken to you in person before this moment, also effectively declaring he’s only judged you superficially by your appearance.
Similarly, the love letter in lockers. I get being shy and struggling to say your feelings to the person’s face, but IF YOU’VE NEVER SPOKEN TO HER BEFORE, this love confession is basically a creepy admission to near-stalking her.
Why would ANY sensible person think these methods would WORK, ever???
OMG, do you just work in the school romance Manga confession trope? Very brave of you girl, however I suspect it will not go your way. But hey, at least you gave it your all. Yatta!
Isn’t this the same kind of scene that we had with Scarlett and Timothy back a while ago at that convention? the one that Castella overheard and “did the right thing” by dropping Timothy?
Similar in intensity, different in all the details. Scarlet and Timothy had been playmates and then close friends for years, while Hiroshi only seems to know Shawna casually as a classmate. He knows her by name but that may be as far as their actually relationship goes; everything else is just Shawna’s hopes and fantasies.
Scarlet believed that Timothy wanted to be with Castela, thought that he’d have to work to actually win Castela’s attention, and was actually urging him to “go for her”. She was admitting her own feelings for him, as an act of “getting it off her shoulders” and letting him go… she was choosing to lose him as a possible lover, in order to do the right thing for him as a friend. Castela overheard their conversation, saw the depth of their mutual attraction, and then did the same thing Scarlet had tried to do… deliberately “opted out” of a relationship she wanted quite badly so Timmy could be happy.
We don’t know if Shawna has any such selfless motive here, but her past dialog to herself about Hiroshi leads me to doubt it. She seems to be desperately “in love” and frantic for Hiroshi’s attention. I don’t expect that history is going to repeat itself…. rather that Paul has a different outcome in store for us to see.
We have no idea how long Shawna and Hiro have known each other, they may have known each other just as long as Scar and Timmeh
At least Shawna and Hiro did know each other before, Stela has known Hiro for only a couple weeks at most (his time as Reggie doesn’t count as she believed him to be, well, a flutter-by)
That’s Dirty Pool! [a direct, and clearly sincere Confession.] Well Played. It’s supposed to be the Guy that puts himself out there, and takes that kind of chance, but THAT train has left the station.
C’est la gare!
She should have had a V8® (there might be one in the vending machine; it looks pretty well stocked). The next-day emotional hangover would be much less severe. 😖
Well we know ‘subtle’ doesn’t work anyway. Best of luck, Shawna? Hiroshi did tell us he’s dumber than a bag of hammers when it comes to girls liking him.
Hiroshi may be dumb about social cues, but I’m willing to bet he understands quite well the difference between a unilateral crush and a reciprocated affection. He barely knows her.
Reciprocity is kinda crucial to a social interaction.
I may love ice cream with all my soul but it doesn’t give a damn for me or my fixation on eating it. I’m still hoping long term interaction with Rocky Road may warm its’ frigid heart.
I think you might refer to this as the ‘too direct’ approach. Some lady I barely know -screams- out that she loves me, I’m vanishing faster then an ice cube dropped in the middle of the desert at noon. Usually through a crowd so I’m harder to trace.
Some lady comes up and asks me out on a date, I’ll get nervous, ask for a day to think about it, awkwardly fumble for a bit, and if I can’t think of a reason that legitimately would be harmful (such as a rule at work saying no go or the lady asking me while holding a knife in a place where you’re not supposed to have easy access to knives) I say yes, otherwise I try to politely say no.
Direct approach -does- work with the awkward ‘shy’ sort. This is more like the sort of screaming that indicates ‘I am stalking you and stealing your used razors from your garbage can every week, and your socks, and…ooh, underwear!’
It’s a two-way street, though. Just because she’s declared (at high volume, apparently) that she loves him with all her heart, that doesn’t mean he has those same feelings in return.
He’s shown at least a passing liking for and desire to get to know Pickle better, from what I can tell he either barely knows or barely notices Shawna. It’ll be up to him to decide, once Pickle gets off her butt and admits that at least part of her wants to scream the same things at him that Shawna just did.
No, love is a one-way street, that you hope to meet someone willing to ride along with you
Real love is not conditional: you love them, and hope they love you in return, butt you are fine if they don’t
So far, the only part of Stela that has shown interest in Hiro is her body, not her mind or her heart
Oh, Shawna, how resilient is the heart of a Pixie?
And
Thus, the Announce. (There’s a phrase in Anime, but I forget the particulars…)
Love Confession’, I think its called…
Indeed.
I’ve always thought the premise of the “love confession” in anime is broken.
First, a guy whom the girl has never spoken to before, or hardly knows at all, asks her to meet him alone behind the school. She agrees (why the fuck would anyone?)
Second, he confesses his love, and she turns him down, because that’s the ONLY SANE RESPONSE to a virtual stranger suddenly confessing that he’s been stalking you, staring at you from a distance, and imagining you in intimate situations with him in his head, all while never having spoken to you in person before this moment, also effectively declaring he’s only judged you superficially by your appearance.
Similarly, the love letter in lockers. I get being shy and struggling to say your feelings to the person’s face, but IF YOU’VE NEVER SPOKEN TO HER BEFORE, this love confession is basically a creepy admission to near-stalking her.
Why would ANY sensible person think these methods would WORK, ever???
Next comes Renounce, followed by Denounce, concluded with angry texting.
Thats funny- I’ve been listening to old school Parliament/Funkadelic and the side lyrics “deprogram, program, and re-program”… pop up.
Dibs?
OMG, do you just work in the school romance Manga confession trope? Very brave of you girl, however I suspect it will not go your way. But hey, at least you gave it your all. Yatta!
The look on his face is not good for her.
That’s simply startlement
*face palm*
Middle schoolers really aren’t prepared for romantic love or dating.
Well, at least nobody in the cast is a Montegue or a Capulet.
Why?
Because.
Or more precisely, because teenagers can’t even.
Isn’t this the same kind of scene that we had with Scarlett and Timothy back a while ago at that convention? the one that Castella overheard and “did the right thing” by dropping Timothy?
Similar in intensity, different in all the details. Scarlet and Timothy had been playmates and then close friends for years, while Hiroshi only seems to know Shawna casually as a classmate. He knows her by name but that may be as far as their actually relationship goes; everything else is just Shawna’s hopes and fantasies.
Scarlet believed that Timothy wanted to be with Castela, thought that he’d have to work to actually win Castela’s attention, and was actually urging him to “go for her”. She was admitting her own feelings for him, as an act of “getting it off her shoulders” and letting him go… she was choosing to lose him as a possible lover, in order to do the right thing for him as a friend. Castela overheard their conversation, saw the depth of their mutual attraction, and then did the same thing Scarlet had tried to do… deliberately “opted out” of a relationship she wanted quite badly so Timmy could be happy.
We don’t know if Shawna has any such selfless motive here, but her past dialog to herself about Hiroshi leads me to doubt it. She seems to be desperately “in love” and frantic for Hiroshi’s attention. I don’t expect that history is going to repeat itself…. rather that Paul has a different outcome in store for us to see.
Thank you. That’s quite a good analysis of the teen angst dynamics among the characters involved. I appreciate it.
We have no idea how long Shawna and Hiro have known each other, they may have known each other just as long as Scar and Timmeh
At least Shawna and Hiro did know each other before, Stela has known Hiro for only a couple weeks at most (his time as Reggie doesn’t count as she believed him to be, well, a flutter-by)
That’s Dirty Pool! [a direct, and clearly sincere Confession.] Well Played. It’s supposed to be the Guy that puts himself out there, and takes that kind of chance, but THAT train has left the station.
C’est la gare!
I am always ready to discard “supposed to be” in favour of “what actually works.”
She should have had a V8® (there might be one in the vending machine; it looks pretty well stocked). The next-day emotional hangover would be much less severe. 😖
Good for her. Regardless of the outcome, good for her.
Is it? I’m pretty sure she’s overstating her case.
Good for her for having the courage to say it.
not Good for her chances of being ‘first girl wins’…
Well we know ‘subtle’ doesn’t work anyway. Best of luck, Shawna? Hiroshi did tell us he’s dumber than a bag of hammers when it comes to girls liking him.
Hiroshi may be dumb about social cues, but I’m willing to bet he understands quite well the difference between a unilateral crush and a reciprocated affection. He barely knows her.
Reciprocity is kinda crucial to a social interaction.
I may love ice cream with all my soul but it doesn’t give a damn for me or my fixation on eating it. I’m still hoping long term interaction with Rocky Road may warm its’ frigid heart.
Well played! Curse you Rocky Road and your cold cold heart.
“Barely knows her”? He knows Stela even less, butt readers have already picked out honeymoon locations for them
“If I don’t turn around it didn’t happen. If I don’t turn around it didn’t happen. If I don’t turn around it didn’t happen.”
That’s the way forward.
Frontal assault with all she has? Good one on her.
Good work, Daylla and Scarlett… good work. /sarcasm
Sigh. Life was much simpler as a butterfly.
Hmm. The direct approach. From personal experience I can tell you it rarely works.
I think you might refer to this as the ‘too direct’ approach. Some lady I barely know -screams- out that she loves me, I’m vanishing faster then an ice cube dropped in the middle of the desert at noon. Usually through a crowd so I’m harder to trace.
Some lady comes up and asks me out on a date, I’ll get nervous, ask for a day to think about it, awkwardly fumble for a bit, and if I can’t think of a reason that legitimately would be harmful (such as a rule at work saying no go or the lady asking me while holding a knife in a place where you’re not supposed to have easy access to knives) I say yes, otherwise I try to politely say no.
Direct approach -does- work with the awkward ‘shy’ sort. This is more like the sort of screaming that indicates ‘I am stalking you and stealing your used razors from your garbage can every week, and your socks, and…ooh, underwear!’
Going for the all-or-nothing play.
About time someone made a successful initiative roll around here.
Cry your heart out, Shawna, but although you have the blues; tell Hiro how you really feel, this time you’ve nothing to lose…
Completely despair about the readership, saying more will get me ISP-banned
It’s a two-way street, though. Just because she’s declared (at high volume, apparently) that she loves him with all her heart, that doesn’t mean he has those same feelings in return.
He’s shown at least a passing liking for and desire to get to know Pickle better, from what I can tell he either barely knows or barely notices Shawna. It’ll be up to him to decide, once Pickle gets off her butt and admits that at least part of her wants to scream the same things at him that Shawna just did.
No, love is a one-way street, that you hope to meet someone willing to ride along with you
Real love is not conditional: you love them, and hope they love you in return, butt you are fine if they don’t
So far, the only part of Stela that has shown interest in Hiro is her body, not her mind or her heart
Hiroshi’s probably wishing he could turn back into a butterfly at this point.
When did Hiroshi get the almond-shaped eyes one would expect on someone with a japanese name?