Kikiskeeter

Even though it has not been translated yet I'll start a thread. I think Rin in the end may have realized she went a little too far with Aoki this time and hurt him a little. There is no worst feeling than being stood up on a date, especially when you don't get a lot of chances. yet when he finds out it is Rin he doesn't go ballistic either, showing that he should have known better in the long run somebody was playing a game. What ever he wrote to Rin after, tells a lot of the person he really is, I think.

Newnonimous

it's already translated Kikster and yeah it's pretty much of what we all thought the characters were saying, the last one where Aoki text's "ai-chan" he explains that he would always love his student no matter how they may turn out and was hinting to Rin that perhaps he may consider going out with her when shes older. That was a nice and funny chapter

Ugetsu

Very sweet, very kawaii

Dark Samus

Why did she done such a HEARTLESS prank to him? --_--U Rin has lost some AP points to me....Good chapter tough, yet....I don`t know why, but I felt sad for the poor Aoki, and still I don`t get it....It`s REALLY BAD for a Fully grown man to fell in love with a eleven years old girl? I mean.......what is really BAD in this world, I mean, if there`s love.....then what`s the problem.....?

Newnonimous

Well Samus-kun, A child doesn't know completely about life and love. Adults could easily take advantage of them, leaving the child with no free will. Like i keep saying before, children have very fragile mind and body, they are not something you can just take and treat them anyway you chose, whatever happens to them become them for the rest of their lives with no escape.

That's something that has been overlooked, it's not REALLY about the age differences it's the fact that children learn by adults and they have difficult troubles with dealing kids that can be broken easily.

Ugetsu

Rin has been trying to get Aoki to see her as a woman since the beginning of the manga series. This prank was her most successful try, over the phone she was invisible and so she could converse with Aoki as an equal, under false pretenses.

Without getting into right and wrong, the way Rin feels seems quite deep and genuine. This series is in a way the complete opposite of Nabokov's Lolita -- in that book Humbert's feelings are completely genuine, but Lolita is a completely inappropriate object for his affection, wrong in 1000 ways. In this manga, both Rin and Aoki are honest and affectionate people. It does make you wish that they could solve their problems and get together sooner or later.

One of the most beautiful frames of the series shows Rin's despair at how Aoki sees her. It's at the end of Chapter 20.

Manga Fox: Kodomo no Jikan Vol.03 Ch.020 Online Manga Scans

Newnonimous

It doesn't matter how the character's are feeling for each other and the age differences, it's just a manga so if it happens, it happens.

nitrogen

I like this chapter a lot. I also believe that Aoki needs to get a girlfriend, but then again it feels as if Rin already is his girlfriend; their relationship is just platonic.

It isn't us that thinks it is bad, but society: it dictates that Aoki cannot possibly love Rin without being a paedophile. With the current paranoia levels going through roof where paedophilia is concerned, the subject of age-gap relationships, or relationships with minors, is becoming increasingly more taboo. Newonimous also summed up some of the problems involved, but then again I believe one needs to take this on a case-by-case basis. Rin seems mature for her age so then it might be 'okay', but the law states that they cannot date until she's over 16 (this age varies, but generally 16 seems to be the age of consent in many places). But 11 is too young in my opinion, no matter how much love there is. And I feel that Aoki is right in not fully trusting Rin's affections because they could change quickly since she is still a kid.

Dark Samus

Ok, I understand the facts, the society and all that stuff about paedophilia, and Newnie you are right too, but then again, Rin shows the personality of a jealeous woman being cheated sometimes, other times has the personality of a kitty, posesive and misterious, and other times she is just a WOMAN, and when I say WOMAN, I mean WOMAN, even if she`s an elementary school girl. She is growing so fast, and she`s starting to understand the real meaning of life. I think that it`s just matter of time before Aoki start to see Rin like something else, even if it happen in four years more in the manga timeline.There`s something in their relationship that make me think about it........SAMUS-KUN!?O.OU Newnie!....that apelative make me feel like a Tsundere-character.......

Newnonimous

I was just kidding Samus. i know "kun" is not an appropriate word to use for you. As you pointed out nitrogen, Rin is still a child therefore her affections for Aoki may not be direct. It because she wants to be loved by an adult and those expressions shes displaying are her only way of getting attention and she knows Aoki can offer that. Rin lost her mother, she never had a real father and her demented cousin only wanting her for her body.... how could she not feel so unloved and unappreciated? However she is doing much better now and is slowly letting go of the past, thanks to the love and support and Aoki and her friends. So whether the two may start dating or not, she'll be able to take care of herself.

Aside from the manga, no one really knows what's right and wrong about relationships. Different people see different things about the world. A lot of people can't think for themselves, they rely on religions and others who they think they know what's best.