Shinobu

Yeah, I know I'm jumping the gun three weeks early, but I wanna speculate on the upcoming chapter.

So now do Shirai and Oyajima take it public? I see Houin would be happy for Shirai, and Aoki puzzled, but agreeable to it. This would probably get Houin to get the nerve up to ask Aoki out. Especially after the "I love you" statement she made, then covered it up in saying she misspoke.
Kuro will probably make a scene, but I see Shirai talking to her saying she doesn't love her less. And Chibi will be Chibi.

I wonder as well if we'll see any movement on Mimi/Reiji, or even Rin/Aoki. After three years (3rd, 4th, and 5th grade) the "Rin provoking Aoki" is starting to get formulaic. Will Aoki start to romantically come around? Hard to say, since she is still only 12, and he'd have total conflicts with himself if he realized he was thinking about her more as a woman, than a student. (Not withstanding all the doushinji out there...) On that note, I could see Reiji get hit over the head with the "I'm falling for Mimi" hammer. but he'd be more alarmed because that would mean he's falling out of love with Aki. This would be similar to Maison Ikkoku, where Kyoko Otonashi was afraid that she would be unfaithful to her dead husband if she fell in love again. THAT wasn't resolved until the 17th (or so) tankoubon volume!

SusanoSasori

Hm...yeah that Rin-Aoki routine is getting pretty stale, I wanna see some more initiative from Aoki too. I still have a really hard time seeing Reiji falling for Mimi, but when I think about it, everything makes sense. Reiji sees part of himself in Mimi, Mimi likes Reiji, Mimi is more physically developed for her age, Reiji already had an unusual age gap relationship with Aki, Rin says Mimi reminds her of Aki, so when it all comes down to it Reiji and Mimi could end up together and Rin would probably not be mad. We'll have to wait and see...

Nakajitos

One thing that did disappoint me was that this whole "living together" arc had some great opportunity for Rin and Aoki's... situation?... to be tested. I wondered if she would become as daring as she was at the Aoki family house, or if Reiji might catch her and him together after she did some of her teasing. Instead, we got some character development from Reiji, and a couple funny moments, but little more than that. I'm hoping that something interesting will happen in the remaining time he has in their home, but I'm also expecting to be disappointed.

Now what has my attention is the Kuro and her mom. Kuro is now going to find out that her mother is still dating, and now has to come to terms with the fact that a person's love life doesn't end at divorce. Rin will likely learn a similar lesson from the unfolding events, and this may change the dynamic between her and Reiji, and her feelings on him moving on with his life.

Newnonimous

Same here, Nakajitos. I expected more development from Aoki and Rin since he moved in with him but instead it was Reiji how was the attention in the household. I can still see the possibility that Reiji may fight the Board of Ed to let Aoki stay as a "friend" (or maybe that won't work). Well i don't see this event closing soon as i think were in a bumpy ride.

Well a question Nakajitos: how did you came to that thought that Kuro would start to feel some sympathy for her mother about seeing another man when Kuro hardly makes any contact with her due to her work and stuff? i'm just curious, that's all.

Nakajitos

Actually, she has been spending a lot of time with her mom. Ever since the chapter where she went out with Shirai on the town (and the ending where her mother heard how she felt about her working all the time), they have been spending constant time together. In fact, if you read back you'll notice various little quick references to that fact (the one I remember the most is the beginning of the chapter where Rin is getting bullied... one of my favorite chapters).

I think Kuro and her mother have started forming a real family bond since then, and they can relate to each other better. That said, what will probably help this situation is the fact that I don't think Kuro's mother has been dating all that long. If she had been dating this guy for a long time, it would be a different story... Kuro would be angry for keeping a secret for so long. That text, though, implies (at least in my opinion) that they've probably gone on one or two dates, at most. It might be a bit easier to introduce her to the idea.

Newnonimous

Yeah but it was only on that chapter but afterwards, Kuro doesn't mention it or is seen with her spending time with her mom which is why i was skeptical about it. I guess it would seem that way since Kuro was offended that her mother is dating and may think that it may ruin the relationship Kuro's been yearning for. I also thought that the mother just recently dated this guy not too long ago based on the text. Probably the next one may show Kuro and Rin stalking her mother and during that there may be flash backs at Kuro and her mother together bonding since she was with Shirai. If that were to occur then that would be more accurate about her worry.

I'm not sure if Rin were to learn from all that because her and Reiji's problems are far more complicated than Kuros. Even when Kuro comes to terms on approving her mom seeing other people it would still not be a prime example to Rin for it would assure her that Reiji may still forget about Aki if he sees somebody else like Mimi or whomever(that's what i think).

Ugetsu

FWIW today I got my copy of the latest Comic High (with Chapter 63) from Japan. I think this is probably the last time I will buy it -- I had the idea because I thought desperate measures might be necessary to get the raws to Sayo. But he has been getting the raws even more promptly than before, presumably from a scanner in Japan. At any rate I am glad to have it, that color cover of Rin wearing her school bathing suit under a white see through top is quite lovely. You all know what I'm talking about because it was part of the download of 63. I suppose it's good that I can compare the raws with Sayo's English version but otherwise owning Comic High is kind of useless, unless I can improve my Japanese a lot.

Nakajitos

He has been getting them quickly. I was wondering if I should send my RAW copy of Volume 8 though. It has good scans of the two pages he has yet to translate, and I don't know if he has those yet in good quality.

Ugetsu

I scanned those 2 pages and posted about them and emailed him but he said he's busy.

Certainly it can't hurt for others to ask about them. My scans look OK but maybe with shadows on the side.

Nakajitos

These are the ones I have. See if they are better or worse quality. I got them from a RAW upload of the whole Tank.


Hmm... guess I can't post images here. Here are the links: 158 and 159