“Colloquial”- reject the established form- Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl explanation

The expression “classical” (雅) was formed by the desire to follow the fully completed form, that’s why it always hopes to rely on the canonic model and doesn’t want it to be replaced by others. …… In comparison, “colloquial” (俗) refers to a world that hasn’t been developed. Because there is no such thing as “perfect” in this world, the fixed form also didn’t exist…… “Colloquial” (俗) also means bold and vigorous, fresh and pure, and infinite freedom. Konishi Jin

     Based on the literature history of Japan, scholar Konishi Jin raised the concept that “classical” (雅) and “colloquial” (俗) are the expressions that hide behind the different eras of literature. While the concepts were used to define the feature of literature, the nature of these concepts didn’t seem to be confined by the genre of literature, it’s more appropriate to say they are the general “tendency” in fictional works. While “classical” (雅) is the type of expression that tends to portray the story with a composition that was viewed as ideal by the majority, “colloquial” (俗) focuses on discovering all kinds of possibilities. No matter what type of meaning “colloquial” had in English, here it was used under the context of the same word in Japanese- (俗). 

     When it comes to the Yuri genre, specifically manga, the common sense is that different types of authors all have their own ideal expression. Even though quite some parts of readers still believe in a certain stereotype that only a “healthy relationship” acknowledged should be presented in the story, the release of new stories each year surely didn’t care about this tendency of “classical” (雅), for not only the taste of the readers multiplied but also the fundamental idea that the creative thoughts are equally genuine as what happened in reality. When we take a panoramic view of the field of the Yuri series, it’s obvious that “colloquial” (俗) is the situation it is in. But then, when it comes to the respective works of the author, it’s also feasible to say they are following an “ideal type” in their heart, so the final presentation would still be limited in their final choice of expression. The ideal way to put the spirit of “colloquial” (俗) into actual practice, is to use the Ensemble cast in the writing, for the equally important characters can have their own special feature while coexisting in the same series, thus representing the so-called “possibilities”.

     Among the current Yuri series, most of the stories we see are focused on just one couple, if not, then maybe having some side couple who always got faster progress tho lesser screen time. The reason is the limited space of the manga chapters won’t let the author fully develop different characters. Thus, they will have to arrange the story within a certain narrative structure like how the modern literature was created. But then, what if the space of the chapters happened to be enough? Kiss and white lily for my dearest girl (あの娘にキスと白百合を) by かんの (缶乃) is the brilliant Yuri series that used the Ensemble cast in the story. From 2014 to 2019, 50 chapters with ten volumes of the story portray the multiple types of relationships in the all-girl integrated middle/high school/university Seiran Academy. The transition of the season and the time in the series weren’t marked by specific events but happened naturally, or you can say it was marked by the growth of the characters. Also, the interpersonal relationship of each character didn’t have a specific format aside from their own partner. Every character can meet with everyone and have interactions. 

     Within ten volumes of the story, the author presents 9 main couples we are going to discuss, and many more in the little drama after each chapter. “All’s fair in love and war”. When she put this at the beginning of the first volume, she also hinted at the nature of the “love” she depicted. Since everything is fair in love, everything can happen and thus not limited to the “ideal love”. In Chapter 46, the main character Ayaka asks her cousin Mizuki what is her relationship with Moe, the supportive partner who always stays by Mizuki’s side. She wants to know more about how to define her relationship with Yurine, the talented girl whom she viewed as a rival at first but gradually fell in love with. However, Mizuki doesn’t give her the answer she wants. “My relationship with Moe is in a class by itself, of course, it can’t be applied to yours”. So, the author pointed out the idea that the canonic model of love doesn’t exist, one’s relationship can’t be generalized by another, and every relationship is thus “in its own class”. If there has to be a core topic, then the only answer is the varied relationships, the spirit of “colloquial” (俗). The author shows that these couples are equally important by changing the main focus in each volume, and so does the cover. We will pick five couples out of the 9 to discuss. 

      But still, we can say there is one main couple, which is Ayaka and Yurine. They are the only couple who got two covers, volumes 1 and 10. Aside from that, they also appear as influential characters in the volume when they are not the main focus. The most decisive evidence that they are the main characters lies in Chapter 50. In Chapter 50, Yurine gives a bouquet consisting of white lilies and a kiss for Ayaka as her 18 birthday present. This is the first time the series presents the white lily in the title. So, when Yurine gives these presents to her beloved Ayaka, we finally can say this is indeed a story of Kiss and White Lily for My Dearest Girl. That’s what the title is supposed to refer to. 

     However, we shouldn’t suppose that there is “dianoia” in the series, which means the central thought of the fictional work. The story is closer to the so-called “introverted fiction”, its meaning doesn’t point toward another layer of the meaning outside the story, What the readers focus on is always the plot, which is the interactions and relationships of the characters. Still, you have to remember this doesn’t mean the story is meaningless, but there’s no center. Because the story wants to catch too many things and the details, a clear focus doesn’t exist in the story. But, the portrayal of the relevant details from other side characters also has the effect of emphasizing the main character. For example, Chapter 44 is about Yurine’s reaction after she finally loses the contest with Ayaka during the test. That is her wish. Because she is tired of being a talented person and wants to become a “common girl”. However, it’s impossible to become common by just losing a test. The Chapter shows a series of reactions from other characters that they didn’t think she become more or less smart. When she is still confused, Chiharu says “You changed. When you first enter the high school, you look cold and indifferent, but now I think you are easy to be with”. With the phenomenon that she become easier to be with, the hidden topic of “becoming common” just emerged, such is the effect of this writing. 

     With this feature, the other thing we should point out is the art style. Of course, the background and scenery are clean and tidy. Aside from that, the author also used rendering color and special effects to show the subjective impression of the characters and the current atmosphere. For example, Ayaka always has a shiny effect around her when she is showing her personality as a model student to others. In other words, that is how she was “viewed” by others. In the eyes of other students, Ayaka is a gentle and perfect model student. The author just put their reflection of “Oh, she’s this shiny” into concrete existence. Or we can see when Mizuki and Moe appeared with the flower as their background in volume 1, which is meant to show their “romantic” atmosphere with the correlation of romance and flowers, but it also shows their class in this school as the "Nobel and Graceful” being. In short, it’s also how they are viewed by others. Impressionism is the term for calling this type of method. Also, the character design of the series is very distinctive. We can first discover that the facial expression is not really realistic but closer to the image, but the more decisive factor is that the author didn’t show the will to beautify the more negative side of the characters, or their iconic facial design that might make them not fit with the normal beauty standard. This is how the spirit of “colloquial” (俗) was demonstrated in the artistic aspect. Not only about the love she depicts, but her art also avoids a single aesthetic standard. 

     In addition to that, the environment always got blurred out by the effects and the colors, which hints the external factors of the environment are not really the hardships of the series. According to my memories, the series didn’t even let the characters go through the thinking process of “But we are both girls”, or at the very least that’s irrelevant. For most of the couples in the series, their confession may seem dramatic, but we can get a sense that confessing to girls is something “not abnormal” in this world. Like how Mikaze confessed to Asuka in volume 9, she is just “conveying her love and being accepted normally”, the hostility of society and its norm didn’t exist as the Impurities that keep them from doing so. 

     Also, we can see this idea in how the other external hardships are positioned in the series. For example, when Hikari and Nagisa are being kind of forced to separate in Chapter 39, “No matter what types of relationship we have, no matter where are we at, the person who can stay by your side, has to be me!” is Hikari’s reflections. After Nagisa and her both state their own thoughts, the mother just agrees to let them keep cohabiting together. In other words, solving the inner conflict by being frank is associated with how the external hardships were solved. So, self-consciousness and its collision are more decisive in the relationship depiction of the series.  

       Aside from the given information that each volume has the kiss scene as a feature of the series, another thing people may not notice is that the headline before each volume actually points out the core and undertone of the story in that volume. For example, volume 9 said, “Conquer yourself, rather than the world”. Thus, this volume tells the story that Mikaze and Asuka are willing to change themselves in order to repair their once-broken relationship. Also, Ayaka in this volume finally got a perfect condition of relief before the test due to her motivation to do this for herself. So, she finally got a better grade than Yurine for the first time. These stories are indeed the story of “conquering yourself”. The other volumes are basically the same showing the correlation between the headlines and the story. Even though we said the story has multiple forms of relationship, I still notice one interesting fact, which is the existence of the so-called “archetype” in the depiction of each couple. Herman Northrop Frye mentioned that “archetype” is the imagery and symbol that keep appearing, and also the symbol that can connect one poem to another, the concept we call “common ground”.

      In the series, the “archetype” I noticed in the 9 couples is actually the relationship of the "knight and the princess they served”. I am not referring to the literal meaning of the term, but refer to the factors and the spirits. It’s not that I am promoting stereotypes, I am just trying to point out that the common image of the “princess” in fictional works is more sensitive and delicate, They are also more passive because of the identity that forces them to “wait”. As for the knight, the common image is basically focused on an adventurous or active personality, while the image that they are delicate under the armor is also not rare. But the most important thing is, that they are loyal to their princess no matter what, that happened to be how the relationship of every couple formed. We can also notice this from the constantly appearing symbolic scene of “kissing as the oath” in some couples.

*. The spirit of farce- acknowledging everything in human

The farce wants to acknowledge everything in humans if it's related to their reality. No matter, if it’s delusion or dream, or even death and anger, conflicts and stupidity, soliloquy, farce, will acknowledge them. Sakaguchi Ango

    In Ango’s context, farce is not limited to a certain genre of drama, it also refers to a relaxing spirit of writing, which is not giving judgment on anything, truthfully portrays what has to be portrayed, and doesn’t give value judgment on anything. One may think it’s just the attitude of being neutral and not specifically caring about certain things. But in Ango’s context, he is trying to say that humans have multiple aspects, each aspect is related to what makes us human, so everything should be acknowledged rather than excluded. In this series, that is also what happened. There are some couples who have a relationship the readers might dislike out of their belief in what is right, but the author still positively depicts it, for that they are also part of humanity, or at the very least the delusion humans can comprehend. “Colloquial” (俗) also keeps functioning by discovering all kinds of possibilities. 

Ayaka/Yurine- Throwing away images- The love of being special 

     When we open the book and start reading, Ayaka and Yurine are the first couple we encounter. There are many things we have to deal with first, which is regarding their position in the story. Based on how they are presented, it’s proper to say they are the mirror that reflects events and others’ character growth. It’s not that they are taking away everyone’s screen time, but most of the events that happened are somewhat related to them. On the other hand, they also respectively have an influence on multiple characters. For example, volume 3 has the story that they are going to take care of the rose garden after Yukina and Towako graduate, and that volume is about the story between Yukina and Towako, as well as the rose garden they try to protect. 

     The other noticeable event is the election of the student council president in volume 8. Ayaka didn’t join in the end. During this process, Yurine feels lonely. “Actually…I don’t want to let you become the Shiramine-san for everyone, I hope you can just belong to me……”. This type of loneliness makes Yurine realize that she loves Ayaka and doesn’t want to let her go. So, when Ayaka says that their promise of rivalry is the most important thing to her, Yurine is so happy to the extent of tearing up. But the volume is actually focused on Hikari and Nagisa about their rival relationship and competition for student council selection. Aside from this, Ayaka and Yurine also have a positive influence on many people. Yurine has affected characters like Kaoru, Haine, and of course, Ayaka. As for Ayaka, she also affects people like Hikari. In Chapter 42, when Mikaze tells her that being special must be good, “I am happy that everyone is willing to rely on me, however, I understand, there are people who are more special than me in this world, I couldn’t forget after I saw her once…But it’s not that I don’t have to work hard anymore, I am also putting effort in my own way”. 

     Of course, she is referring to Yurine. But after Mikaze heard this, she understood that she didn’t put any effort into catching up with Asuka, the “special” she admires. She is just wanting Asuka to become as mediocre as herself, which is the reason why their relationship went broken at first. After this, Mikaze tries to break through her comfort zone and challenge the things she dared not to do before, such as the character growth and the influence Ayaka had on her. While they didn’t take away the screen time of other characters, it’s now obvious that they are the central point of this complicated interpersonal relationship composition. The second thing we have to know about them is that they are the couple that takes the longest process to solidify their relationship. The first thing people might ask after seeing this claim is “Ehh? But they already kiss in the first volume, why is that not a confirmation of their relationship?”. 

     To answer this, we have to notice the explanation from Yurine about that kiss. “Ohh! That is because when I think that I like Shiramine-san so much, I can’t help…”. In other words, she is just showing her affection for Ayaka, rather than giving a type of ritual-like meaning for the kiss. In Mori Ogai’s novels like Foam on the Waves (うたかたの記) or 文づかひ, the “kiss” was used as an expression of affection, also showing the “feeling that couldn’t contain”. Otherwise, the kiss was considered a sexual act before, which means it can only be conducted in “a relationship”. Even though “relationship” is mostly about sexual relationships, we still can’t deny that the “kiss” can “confirm” the relationship between people. So, Ogai’s tribute was to equal a kiss with words that convey affection. To be clearer, “kiss” becomes a one-sided act. Thus, it’s obvious that linking Yurine’s kiss with confirmation of the relationship is wrong. 

     In this series that used “kiss” as its title, the kiss was mostly an “expression” rather than “confirmation”, although in some cases it did get used as the confirmation of “vow” with ritual-like expression, which we will discuss later. But for now, let’s turn back to the couple we are discussing. Although not every couple has this feature, the author does hide the hints about the characters’ relationship or personalities in some couples’ surnames (苗字), and Ayaka*Yurine was one of the pair. Their surnames are respectively “Shira” (白峰) and “Kurosawa” (黑澤), “White” (白) and “Black” were contained in their names. So, the most obvious association is that they are rivals, since black and white are considered as contradictive colors. But as we further look into their characteristics, these names represent more. In my opinion, their surnames are symbols of ostensible images. From Volume 1, we can see that Ayaka was seen as a perfect and easygoing model student, which links to the positive symbolic meaning of the color white. As for Yurine, she is viewed as talented while lazy, and also hard to approach, this shows the correlation with the negative symbolic meaning of “black”. 

     But then, we also know that what they show to others is different from how they actually are in private. When a thing is presented, it also means something was excluded. “No one would like the imperfect me! Only the “perfect” me will be praised and loved. Because there is no reason for the imperfect me to exist”. Deep inside, this is how Ayaka actually thinks of herself. In Volume 5, we got to know the root of these negative emotions comes from her typical Asian mom who always forgot to acknowledge her child but cared more about her grades. “Throughout these ten years, I always think like that! What I want is just…a word of praise from you”. In Chapter 43, when she finally tells her mom how she feels, we also get to know that she has the feature of being “passive” based on how she requires others to acknowledge her first in order to gain confidence. When we further expand on this idea, we indeed can notice the “black shadow” of rivaling with Yurine she hides in her heart is what keeps her from being frank about her own feelings, just like how others point out, she didn’t hate Yurine ever since the first volume. But she is passive and receives confession before her own realization.  

     When it comes to Yurine, she is more negative in front of the public, The reason is that her outstanding talent makes doing everything boring, and also makes her being treated differently, which is the other type of exclusion. Throughout the series, we notice that she hates being called a talented person quite a lot because she doesn’t like getting alienated. But when we look at who she truly is, “pure” is the only proper word we can use. In Volume 1, she shows that she is not familiar with complicated social skills by taking Ayaka to the rose garden as soon as she feels like it. In other words, she is more used to directly conveying her feelings. The other noticeable part is in Volume 7. When Haine says that her inability to feel any interest in the things she did makes her empty, she can’t process her feelings but just “feel a sense of darkness”.

      After Ayaka pointed it out to her, she then realized “Oh…so I feel hurt because of that”. In other words, her inner world is actually not complicated. One may say “But she thinks about the profound topic of ‘being common’ a lot”, my answer to this is that she thinks of this with the basis of how she was treated by others, thus, she is just processing the impression reflected by the external environment rather than having an long-lasting inner existential problem like Ayaka. When the environment changed in Chapter 44, her problem also disappeared. But for Ayaka, we know this is not the case. And yet, this direct way of thinking is also how she was able to acknowledge her feelings before Ayaka. Because there are no inner conflicts to stop her from the beginning:

“I have always wanted to say this to you after I became a ‘common girl’......Shiramine-san, I am very grateful that I met you, ……I love you! I hope you can stay by my side. If possible, I also hope you can allow me to stay by your side”.

     In short, the only thing that stops Yurine is actually just how she is viewed by others. After Chiharu confirmed to her that she did change, everything was fine for her already, and she could directly express her love like this. Aside from her active attitude, she is always playing the role of companion when she is with Ayaka. Just like what we said above, there are no specific inner troubles in her heart, so, she is always calm and collected when Ayaka feels burdened by her thoughts. Combined with her thought in Chapter 36 “I have to keep improving myself, in order to let Shiramine-san fall in love with me”, we don’t need many words to remind you that Yurine has every spirit a knight ought to have. She is active and loyal, and she doesn’t force her crush to fall in love with her but tries to “win her heart”. This is how the knight was portrayed in the literature. On the other hand, Ayaka’s heart is the target that was gradual “won over”, and her charm was mostly being released passively rather than actively showing her love. This type of characteristic does fit with the archetype of “princess”. 

     Finally, let’s look at what their “special” looks like. In Volume 1, we can see an interesting pattern. Ayaka is kind toward everyone but only shows her “negative/side” to Yurine. On the other hand, Yurine happens to need that very “black” Ayaka shows her, so she only shows her “white” in return. The “black feeling of denial of her talent” and the “white feeling of loving her no matter what” happened to make Yurine feel integrated into a community and also cure Ayaka’s heart. Basically, the only thing they show to each other is exactly the thing each other needs. At this point, their relationship of rivalry is also dialectical. Their contradictive characters are able to become integrated if they stay together. 

     In addition to the previous description, this aspect is also what makes their relationship different from the rivalry between Hikari and Nagisa. Just like how Ayaka said to herself, their relationship is beyond rivalry, she is not “content” with just being a rival for the meaning is more than that. The white she receives from Yurine is the genuine positive feeling that fills her ostensible image. Also, her denial is the most genuine denial that directs Yurine.

Witnessing eternity- Yukina*Towako/ Gaining a ‘house’- Chiharu*Izumi 

     Love is like a flower- you have got to let it grow. Volume 3

     When Canno puts this line in front of Volume 3, she is not just using the metaphor to say that this volume is about the love story regarding flowers, although we indeed can depict the story like that. What she is actually doing here is pointing out that the nature of the “love” in this very volume is being “artificially maintained”. This volume is mainly about the story between Yukina and Towako. They are the senior students who take care of the gardening club. During their first encounter with Yurine, Yurine was dragged into the club to keep the club from being disbanded. In this first encounter, parts of their characteristic are already revealed. 

     When Yukina didn’t fix her words and just explicitly said Towako is inept at gardening, we got the impression that she seemed direct and probably active. As for Towako, we suppose she is more passive since she is just whispering her complaints behind Yukina rather than refuting her words. However, this specific reaction of still expressing her ideas under strong and direct criticism is important. In short, this shows her personality of still reacting even though the things she did contradict others. Then, the story moves to their memories. They are childhood friends. Yukina is the daughter of a wealthy family, while Towako is the daughter of the gardener her family hired. This setting is already important, for the identity of “master and servant” does project on how the two interact with each other. Not to mention the correlation with the archetype of “knight and princess”. 

     The other important thing we should notice in this memory is the lines from Towako. When she heard that Yukina was going to study in Seiran junior high, her first reaction was “Is that so? I used to believe we can study in the same junior high”. In other words, she thinks keeping the same situation is better. That also gives evidence as to why she doesn’t like adding different flowers in the garden. After the student council announced that they would remove the rose garden and build the tennis field instead, Towako thought it was fine to give up while Yukina said she was going to keep rebelling against the situation. But in the end, it turns out that Towako is the one who asked the student council to ruin the rose garden and interfere with Yukina’s plan to keep the club. In the inner monologue that follows, we get to know her motivation:

“Isn’t it better to see more types of roses?”

(However, that is not how I think. Because the purest present without any impurities is the most beautiful thing in this world. What I want is a concrete thing that won’t change. As if being put into a jewelry box, as if being close to the photobook.)

     In Tanizaki Jun'ichirō's 金色の死, the main character of the novel raised the idea of art that beauty exists at the moment when the body reaches its perfect condition and the figure. In short, this perspective rejects history. However, it’s impossible to stop the body from fading in the flow of time. Then, it’s inevitable that this theory would lead to the conclusion of committing suicide. The destruction of oneself is able to stop the body from experiencing fading, leaving it at a most beautiful moment. And yet, that is basically how Towako thinks here. Since she is aware that change is inevitable, what she is doing here is to “stop things from change”. In the later part of her inner monologue, she hints that she actually also secretly desires to destroy Yukina, sharing the common ground that “keeps her from changing”. Before we reach the conclusion that she is treating her like artwork, we should realize that the reason why she didn’t reach the thought of martyrdom (情死) with Yukina is more likely due to her awareness that their identity is different. 

     Now, we understand that Towako has the perspective that “the unchanged present is the eternity” for both aesthetics and love, which is the artificial efforts that reject the natural flow of time, just like how the headline of Volume 3 implied, love is the flower that has to be maintained. Even the new proposal from Yukina didn’t change my claim. “Even after we grow up, even after we become aunty or grandma, I still want to enjoy the scenery of the rose garden raised by our juniors with you, Towako. I firmly believe this is the thing that is closer to ‘eternity’”. This is still the artificial effort, but this time they will live through the promise together, filled in the concept of “eternity” with their own actions. 

     After they reconcile, page 148 of Volume 3 shows the decisive symbolic scene in which Towako kneels down on one knee and gently kisses Yukina’s instep. While she is announcing her will to always follow Yukina, the meaning of the scene is the ritual of a knight declaring her loyalty to her princess both literally and visually. The kiss in this scene is thus about the declaration of oath. As for the kiss they exchanged after that, I believe it’s closer to the confirmation of the promise. Even until the final volume they didn’t say they are lovers, but they are partner that has the promise of never separating. This archetype is their common ground with Chiharu and Izumi, while their type of love contradicts the love from Yukina and Towako.

     In the character set, Chiharu is older than Izumi. She used to be in love with Maya, her senpai who left the school to study in another city’s university. In the Chapter in which she was locked in the room with Maya together, she confesses to Maya but is tactfully rejected. Combined with how she hopes time can stop, we can thus know that she is the passive type of person because she only relies on external chances to make progress. In Maya’s case, she is more focused on her dream and can’t settle down. So, she can’t stay in the same place as Chiharu, even though the later chapters reveal that she does have feelings for her. As for Izumi, she was studying at junior high when she first met Chiharu. She was portrayed as dumb while incredibly active. When she notices the feeling between Maya and Chiharu, she gives Chiharu a ride to catch up the bus and gives Maya the blessing before the test. After that, Chiharu was originally supposed to get away from her due to the possibility of getting involved with the punishment against the school rules.

     “I don’t want to become an irrelevant person to you”. Izumi’s declaration successfully closed their distance. With the way she addresses it, she also defines the characteristic of their relationship that she wants to become “necessary” for Chiharu. Before Maya leaves the school, Izumi declares that she will take care of Chiharu for her. At the end of Volume 2, they started dating. In Volume 6, when her classmate Amane tries to give her the “flower for the important people”, Izumi rejects her. Unlike Amane’s ideology which is based on the concept of “Dividual”, Izumi believes she only needs one important person. This is the embodiment that she is the absolutely loyal knight for the princess she served, which is Chiharu. At the end of this Chapter, Chiharu’s reflection shows the essence of their “love”:

“After knowing that I can’t convey my feelings to Senpai, I think my whole existence was being denied.

But it’s also thanks to her that I have everything necessary to be with Izumi.

Compared to supporting someone like Senpai,

I think the person who can wait under the freezing sky is more suitable for me”. 

Rejecting the monotheism in love- Amane*Ryo*Nina/ Persistent bond of the family- Haine*Aika

The thinking method of using “individual” as the counting unit root in the requirement of catering to the one and only god. Thus, one has to be the existence that couldn’t be divided, the person that hides nothing. In the modern love perspective of Western countries, they are also using “individual” as the unit, so it will become the condition that two people are the one and only God for each other, Most of the conflicts in love novel comes from this. Hirano Keiichirō

    In Soseki’s And Then, the main character and the wife of his friend Sachiko are in love. However, when he asks Sachiko to say she doesn’t love her, Sachiko finds it hard to open her mouth. Even though she loves the main character Daisuke, it’s impossible to deny that she also loves her husband who has taken care of her carefully all these years. But then, monotheism in love forces her to choose one person, for that the feeling of the individual is considered as couldn’t be separate, while many other fictions also center around this topic. However, Soseki’s novel already shows that this is not the actual situation of the human heart. Also, the concept of “Only love one person” was received externally as a rule. When two choices are put in front of oneself, one will thus start questioning “which one is more genuine” and pick the genuine choice. But, what if both feelings are genuine?

     In Volume 6, we can see that the students are giving flowers to each other. and the red ribbon is for the most important person. When Amane gives this flower to Izumi and is questioned about this rule, her reply “Who said this?” has two layers of meanings. The first layer is the common sense that custom is not absolute, for that it was designed by humans. The second layer is correlated with the symbolic meaning of the flower. So, she is actually questioning “Who said one can only have one important person?”. Even though Izumi didn’t fully understand her idea, this is her important ideology in the later chapters.

     Even though she will actively help her classmate Ryo, her position in the relationship with Ryo and her roommate Nina is actually “passive”. The reason is that she didn’t mean to attract them on purpose. All she is doing is helping them and releasing her charm unconsciously. But for Ryo who lacks friends and Nina who is indifferent to others, she is no different from an angel. Aside from that, after Nina leaves her to calm down her jealousy, it also reveals that she lacks actual understanding of Nina and also her passive position of waiting for Ryo’s information. 

     In the end, it turns out that Nina also in a way loves Ryo, the person she can share her feelings with, but she still loves Amane. So, Amane is like the center of the two competitors. Even though it turns out that their feeling is three-directional in the end, we can see that Nina shows a sense of guilt after realizing she also has feelings for Ryo, thus it’s possible to infer that Amane is still a higher existence in their relationship. The fact that Nina tries to fight with Ryo over Amane is then revealing an impression of two knights fighting over the heart of the lady. In the final phase of Volume 7, Nina faced the hardship of choosing between Ryo and Amane. Clearly, it’s because she was trapped by the concept that feeling can only focus on one individual. But that is just not true at all. The solution lies in the earlier dialogue between Amane and Ryo:

“The ‘me’ who is happy to be with Nina…The ‘me’ who is expecting to become good friends with Ryo… Both sides are my genuine selves”.

     When we are being with others, we will create a “Dividual” based on the interacting pattern. It’s not our respective persona but the “genuine feelings in different situations”. Since it’s all genuine, it’s just unreasonable to choose one and exclude the other. With this type of concept, Nina is able to embrace the reliance-type of love toward Ryo and the admiration-like love toward Amane. Amane tells her “You don’t have to choose, you can love all of us”. This is the formal rejection of the monotheism of love that one person can only love one person, it’s also the liberation from the mostly unreasonable accusation on women that they are having “disloyal feelings”. The question that this threesome relationship prepared for the modern love perspective is here: “Why should I say sorry for how I feel?”.   

     Then, we can move to Volume 7 to look at the relationship between Haine and Aika. When Haine first appeared, she was still in junior high. She has incredible talent in piano and won multiple awards, but she still thinks she lacks many things. What she said to Yurine is that she doesn’t want to rely on others and become more independent. In the memories that followed, we got to know that her distress was related to her aunt Aika. Even though I said aunt, we must not forget this is just a name to define the identity in the composition of the family. So, it’s not necessarily linked with age. Based on their grades, Aika is probably just four years older than Haine. Haine always loves to be with Aika and learn piano from her. On Aika’s side, Haine is also “the kid she treasured the most in this world”. Their conflicts emerged after Haine thought that Aika was overprotective. But then, they made up after Haine knew that Aika was doing part-time to buy her piano. In this part, we should say she is just like the knight who supports her little princess. Even after Haine went study abroad in high school, she would still stay loyal to their family until she returned. 

     Their relationship faces a decisive change after being interviewed by Sawa and Itsuki the famous student in Seiran. Sawa mentioned that the sibling in this world is doomed to separate in the end after all, for that everyone will have their own life. It’s also the insight that the so-called blood-related family is no more than a literal concept, it takes actual actions to fill in the idea. This makes Aika can’t help but think about how can she maintain her relationship with Haine, her inference of “maybe I can enter a relationship with her other than family” comes with her sudden desire to kiss her. Even though she wants to stay away from Haine, Itsuki tells her that she doesn’t have to leave her just because of “how normal people did”. She should treasure the person she wants to be with. In other words, if both of them feel like it, it’s fine to do so:

“I think, for me, there won’t be any other who is more important than you, Haine-chan. After all…Ever since Haine-chan’s birth, these 14 years you have always been the most important person to me. It just happened that my destined person is also my family. The same with you”. 

     Aside from the meaning that couldn’t be any clearer in Aika’s words, their kiss and the ending of cohabitation in the future chapters show that she is in no way referring to the law aspect of the “family”. In my opinion, she is referring to the family as their “special bond of love”. For quite some people, this is already an incest relationship they couldn’t accept. But just like how we said at the beginning of this part, the author “acknowledges everything” humans have, this is her attitude of “if this is a possible thought human had, then it’s fine”. Also, if we combine the relationships we discussed throughout the articles and those we haven’t touched due to the space, one thing is clear after reading through the series. The desire to search all the possibilities in a relationship- “Colloquial” (俗).

Works Cited

Kiss and white lily for my dearest girl (あの娘にキスと白百合を). かんの (缶乃).

『日本文学史』 講談社学術文庫 1993（ドナルド・キーン解説）. Konishi Jin.

Understanding Comics. Scott McCloud.

Anatomy of Criticism. Northrop Frye.

うたかたの記. Mori Ogai.

『「色」と「愛」の比較文化史』. Saeki Junko.

On Farce. Sakaguchi Ango.

金色の死. Tanizaki Jun'ichirō.

And Then. Natsume Soseki.

『私とは何か 「個人」から「分人」へ』. Hirano Keiichirō.