【海外の反応】氷の城壁 第2期2話（第16話）、「湊、頼むからしっかりして。」

湊の良心に訴えて付き合わせるとは、桃香もなかなか狡猾な手を使ったな。とはいえ、こういう力関係で始まった関係が長続きする見込みは薄い。たぶん湊の元カノたちと同じ結末になる。その時が来たら、きっちり因果応報ってやつだ。
まあ確かに、小雪の目の前で付き合ってるのを見せつける桃香のやり方は好きじゃない。でも図らずも小雪のためになった。湊と友達のままで満足してるように見えた小雪が、本当の気持ちと向き合わざるを得なくなったんだから。桃香は小雪の目を覚ます一発を入れたようなもんだ。本当の気持ちがゆっくり育って最後にあふれ出すと思ってたら、桃香がその過程を一気に早めちゃった。

Quite the cunning trick Momoka had pulled by appealing to Minato’s conscience to get him to date her. Having said that, a relationship built on this dynamics would have a low chance of surviving. Chances are she’d end up just like Minato’s previous exes. It’ll be quite the karma served for her when the moment finally arrived.
Yeah, sure I’m not a fan of Momoka’s conduct with her rubbing the relationship right in front of Koyuki but she inadvertently had done her a favour. Koyuki was seemingly content with her being just friends with Minato but now she’s forced to confront her real feelings. Momoka pretty much just gave Koyuki a wake-up kick. Thought her true feelings would slowly grow up within her before finally erupting, then Momoka just speeded the whole process up.

新OP、楽しくてアップテンポでいいね！　と思ったら桃香が宣戦布告。
これは「しつこすぎる人」対「避けすぎる人」の構図なんだよな。お互いを読み違えるのを見るのはもどかしいけど、二人ともキャラとしてあまりにもらしすぎてつらい（人に合わせすぎて、避けがちで、考えすぎてサインを読み違えるから「踏み込めない」）。

Fun and upbeat new op! And then Momoka declares war
This is persistent to a fault vs avoidant to a fault. As frustrating as it might be to watch both misread the other - it’s so painfully in character for both leads (people pleasing, avoidant, overthinks/misreads signals and hence do not “go for it”)

賛否ありそうな意見だけど、別に桃香を応援してるわけじゃないのに、正直あの子が何か悪いことしてるとは思えないんだよな。自分の気持ちに正直だし、ステータス目当てとか下心じゃなくて本気なんだと思う。そりゃ得意げな態度は取ってるけど、（先週も言ったけど）「言い方はアレだけど正論」ってミームそのもの。原作勢がこの先何かやらかすのを知ってるっていうなら別だけど、今の時点であそこまで叩かれてる理由が分からない。追記：いや、実はちょっと分かるかも。俺もこゆん×湊を応援してるし、桃香は邪魔だからな。でも、そこは割り切って見られてるつもり。
氷の城壁が今度はジェンガの塔みたいに描かれてるのもいいね。こゆんは氷の壁を壊したけど、今の仲間との関係を変えたくないから、その周りに新しい壁を立ててしまった。
それと、陽太と美姫がまた気楽に話せるようになってて良かった。まだ気まずい瞬間はあるけどね。正直、二人が打ち解けてるときは『正反対な君と僕』の平と東っぽい雰囲気を感じた。

Probably a hot take, I’m not even rooting for her but I really don’t see Momoka doing anything wrong tbh. She’s upfront about her feelings and I do feel it’s genuine and not just for status or ulterior motive. I mean sure, she acts smug but (and I also said it last week) it’s the “she’s out of line but she’s right” meme. Unless it’s source readers that knows she’s going to do something further down, I just don’t get the level of hate she’s getting atm. Edit : Ok actually maybe I do get it a bit cos I’m also rooting for Koyun x Minato and she’s in the way but I do feel like I can take myself out of it enough
Also pretty cool how the Ramparts of Ice is now depicted like a tower of jenga. Koyun has brought down the wall of ice but has put up new ones around the group she has now cos she doesn’t want it to change
And glad to see Yota and Miki being comfortable with each other again though there are still awkward moments. Tbh they were giving me Tairazuma vibes when they were comfortable with one another.

確かに桃香は人を操る性悪かもしれないけど、個人的には告白を受け入れた湊が悪いと思う。こゆんの気持ちが分からないにしても、自分が桃香を好きじゃないのは分かってるし、気を持たせる自分の振る舞いが問題だってことも自覚してるんだから。

Sure, Momoka might be manipulative bitch but personally I blame Minato for accepting that confession. Even if he is unsure about Koyun's feelings, he knows that he doesn't like Momoka and is aware that his behavior of leading people on is problematic.

関係に名前を付けたいがために、泣いて付き合ってくれって頼み込むのはどうかしてる。ほかの女子に何をしたか本人から聞いたあとでも、同じ目に遭うのを受け入れるなんて。それと湊、このバカ野郎。変わるって話をしたあとで、また同じことをやるのかよ。かわいそうなこゆん。俺もこっち側に入るわ。

Crying and begging someone to be with you just so you can put a definition on your relationship is crazy. Even after he told you what he did to other girls you accept to experience the same s**t. Also Minato, you f*****g dumbass. After talking about changing, he does the same thing again. Poor Koyun. I'm joining this club

文化祭の時期だ！　しかも演目がアラジンっていう、（文化祭アニメの定番からすると）新鮮なチョイスで加点！　美姫がみんなを巻き込もうとしてるのも好き（こゆんと湊を一緒にいさせる口実なんだけど）。内向的な面々は明らかに関わりたくなさそうだけどな。でも陽太だけはいつでも頼りになる！　だから美姫は陽太が好きなんだよ（友達として）！
新OPは意外なほどテンポが速くて元気いっぱい！　メインの2組、友達グループ、文化祭の準備（湊がジャファー役）、揺れ動く感情、そしてポニーテールのこゆんが、みんなに応援されながら校内を駆け抜けて湊のもとへ向かう！
桃香は湊とのデートに4人目のお邪魔虫が来るとは思ってなかっただろうな。でもライブ中は湊が守ってくれた。期待しちゃうには十分だ……そりゃ湊みたいに人の気持ちに敏感なやつなら、あれだけ分かりやすい好意には気づく。でも湊には小雪との恋のゴタゴタがある。しかも誰のことも断れない気がしてるんだよな。
でも、こゆんと美姫がパンをもぐもぐしてて、こゆんがいつものかわいさを発揮してるのを見れば元気も出るってもんだ！　こゆんは美姫のおせっかいを喜んでないけど、湊ともっと自然に接しようとするには、その後押しが必要なんだよな。
うわ……湊は一方通行だと思ってる気持ちに溺れてて……こゆんも一方通行だと思ってる気持ちに溺れてて……湊が二人で出かけようって誘ったときも、結局お互いの意図を誤解する。そうだね、みんなで行こう！　ロマンチックな意図なんて全然なかったに決まってる！　ほんとにこの二人は。
こゆんは桃香にアタガワっぽさを感じずにいられなくて、心の底ではちょっと苦々しく思ってるし、桃香は振られて負ける運命だとよく分かってる。一方の桃香も苦々しく思ってる。こゆんと同じで中学時代につらい経験をしていて、ただ男子の望むままに流されてただけなのに、ほかの女子からいつも彼氏や好きな人を盗ったと決めつけられ、責められてた。だから今は、こゆんがどう思おうと、できる限り正面から行くことにしてるんだ。
そして、これ以上時間を無駄にしないために、桃香が告白！　もちろん湊はこゆんが好きだから断って、もうこれ以上揉めることはない。
こゆんは湊と友達でいるだけで十分幸せ。クラスにも、雰囲気にも、自分の成長にも満足してて、それ以上は要らない。城壁は溶ける必要なんてなかった。きちんと、筋道立てて、丁寧に組み直せばよかったんだ！　何も問題ない。
ところがそこへ桃香が現れて、名前呼びの爆弾を落とす……湊はもう自分の彼氏だから。湊が断る理由に挙げたもの（過去の恋愛経験、小雪のことなど）を全部ひっくり返して、チャンスをくれと説得したんだ。湊は彼女が泣くのを見ていられなかった。桃香はほとんどウイニングラン状態で、こゆんは呆然。もう小雪の相手をする必要もないと分かってるしな。まったく。
アキネって桃香の友達じゃなかったっけ？　湊と付き合ってることを話してないのは意外。まあ、あの子はユキといつも一緒にいるもんな？

It's time for the school festival! And points for putting on something original (to school festival anime plots) in Aladdin! And I love Miki trying to get the gang involved (as an excuse to have Koyun and Minato hang out) even though obviously the introverts want nothing to do with this. She can always count on Yota though! That's why she loves him (platonically)!
The new OP is surprisingly high-tempo and energetic! Featuring our two main pairings, the friend group, the culture festival prep (with Minato as Jafar), the turbulent emotions, and ponytail Koyun racing through school, cheered on by everybody, to find and be with Minato!
Momoka was definitely not expecting a FOURTH wheel to her date with Minato, but at least he protected her during the concert. Enough to get her hopes up...and of course someone as emotionally intuitive as Minato can see her feelings, obvious as they are, but he's got to figure out his own relationship drama with Koyuki. Even though he just doesn't feel like he can reject anyone.
But there's nothing like seeing Koyun and Miki munching on bread and Koyun being her adorable self to perk a guy up! And while Koyun doesn't appreciate Miki's interference, it's the push she needs to start trying to act more natural with Minato.
Oof...Minato drowing in feelings he feels are one-sided...Koyun drowning in feelings that she feels are one-sided...and ultimately misunderstanding their own intentions when Minato asks to hang out with her. Yeah, let's make it a group thing! I'm sure there wasn't anything romantic intended at all! These two, I swear.
Koyun still can't help but get Atagawa vibes from Momoka and deep down she's a little bitter and knows full well that Momoka is destined to get rejected and lose. Momoka, for her parts, is also bitter because just like Koyun she had a difficult middle school experience where other girls were constantly judging or accusing her of stealing their boyfriends or the guys they liked even when Momoka was just going along with what the guys wanted or what happened. So now she's being as forthright as she possibly can be whether Koyun cares for it or not.
And in the interest of not wasting any more time: Momoka confesses! And of course Minato rejects her because he likes Koyun and there's no more drama to be had from this.
Koyun is perfectly happy just being friends with Minato. She's happy with the class, the vibe, how she's grown, she doesn't need anything more. Her ramparts never needed to melt, they just needed to be carefully put together in an organized, sensible, way! This is all fine.
But then Momoka shows up and drops the first name bomb...because Minato is now her boyfriend. She took every reason Minato had to reject her (his past dating experience, Koyuki, etc.) and flipped them around to convince him to give her a chance, and he just couldn't stand to watch her cry. She's practically taking a victory lap, leaving Koyun shellshocked, and knowing that she doesn't have to deal with Koyuki any more. Jeez.
Isn't Akine Momoka's friend? I'm surprised she didn't tell her about dating Minato. Though she and Yuki really do hang out all the time, don't they?

うわ、桃香ほんと性格悪いな。
たぶん湊を探してたわけでもなくて、小雪に自分の「勝利」を見せつけたかっただけだろ。小雪が傷つくのは分かりきってるのに。
桃香が失恋しても絶対に同情しない。この関係が長く続かないのは目に見えてるし。

Damn, Momoka is such a bitch.
I bet that she wasn’t even looking for Minato but just wanted to show off her “victory” to Koyuki, who’d obviously get upset by this.
I definitely won’t feel sorry for Momoka whenever her heart gets broken. Because this relationship clearly won’t last for too long.

二人が両想いだと分かってるくせに、わざわざこゆんのところへ来て、何の理由もなく湊を名前で呼んでみせる桃香。あれは悪魔的としか言いようがない。
主役二人が両想いだと見抜いてる唯一の（？）人物でありながら、湊に自分を好きになってもらうよう説得できる有利な位置まで持っていった手腕には、ちょっと感心し始めてたんだけどな（告白シーンで、湊を悪い癖が「ぶり返した」人みたいに描いてたのは違和感があった）。でも最後にこゆんが泣いてるカットで、好意的な気持ちは全部消えた ;-;

Momoka walking up to Koyun just to drop the Minato for no good reason (knowing full well they like each other) is nothing short of diabolical.
I was starting to respect her work as the only? person in the show that clocked the main two both like each other and still managed to get in a favourable position to try and convince him to like her (The framing of Minato as someone who has relapsed in the confession scene was offt), but the last shot of Koyun crying removed any positive feeling ;-;

今なに見せられたんだ？！！！　うそだろ湊、それ受けるの？？？？？
マジでありえない。
俺の中で桃香は、史上最高の嫌われキャラ街道を爆走中。

What the f**k did i just seeeeee?!!! OMG MINATO, you went with it?????
No f*****g way this happened.
Momoka is on an all-timer run for most hateable character for me.

いやー、ちびキャラが恋しかった。今まで見たアニメの中で最高のちびキャラかもしれない。普段はちびキャラが出てても気づかないことが多いんだけど、この作品だとガンガン前に出てくるし、すごくかわいい。
OP最高。前のとはまったく違う感じだけど、いい意味で。明るいノリが好き。文化祭がかなり大きく扱われてるみたいだから、何話かにわたる大きな章になるのかな。そうなら楽しみ。アラジンの劇も面白そう。アニメで見た覚えがない。定番はシンデレラか眠れる森の美女か、ロミオとジュリエットだもんな。
美姫が今度はこゆんをからかってるのが好きｗ　これで陽太の気持ちが分かっただろ。あのニヤけ顔、めちゃくちゃかわいかった。あれ以上分かりやすいことはない。湊が気づかないのが残念。
一方でこゆんは、桃香に本当のことを聞かされたのに、湊からは友達としか見られてないと思い込んでる……まあ、本人の口から直接聞いちゃったんだから反論しにくいか……この誤解はどう解けるんだろう。一番いいのは話し合うことなんだけど、もし勘違いだったら一生恥ずかしさを引きずるし、危険を冒したくないのは分かる。
今回は桃香のことがだいぶ分かった。いやはや、教科書どおりの略奪女だ。少しは同情できるかと思ったけど、全然だった。実際は自己中なクズ。良心がほぼ無い敵役は別に嫌いじゃない。全部片付いたあと、みんな本当の友達になれるのかな。こゆんがアタガワとまだ和解してないことを考えると、たぶん無理だろう。和解しなくても別にいい。敵役にいつも救済の話が要るわけじゃない。ただ嫌なやつってのもいるんだ。
でもマジかよ、桃香が湊と付き合い始めるなんて思わなかった。なんだそれ。嘘泣きがうまい。湊が昔の自分に戻ったように見えてちょっとがっかり。でも今回は違う。一度は断ってるし、嘘泣きを見たあとでお試しを提案しただけ。お試しなんてうまくいかないから、これはむしろいいこと。本人もどっちでもいいって感じだし。いずれ桃香が飽きると思ってるのかもな。実際そうなりそう。あの子、顔以外で湊を好きなわけでもないし。もう落としたと思い込んで、こゆんの前でウイニングランしてるのが笑える。
いやー、つらいよな？　こゆんは湊と友達でいたいって受け入れたように見えたのに、湊がほかの子と付き合ってると知った途端、耐えられなくなる。湊がまた振られたりしたあと、これが告白の後押しになればいいな。いい回だった。この作品が帰ってきて本当にうれしい。次が待ちきれない。

Man, I missed the chibis so much. Might be the best chibis I've seen in any anime. Most of the time, I don't even notice when they're there. But in this show, they're so in your face and so cute.
Wow. The OP is awesome. It feels completely different from the last one, but in a good way. I love how upbeat it is. Since the culture fest seems to be featured so heavily, I wonder if it's going to be a major arc that spans multiple episodes. Would be cool if it is. The Aladdin play sounds fun. Don't think I've seen that in anime. The usual trope is Cinderella or Sleeping Beauty or Romeo and Juliet.
Lol I love how Miki is teasing Koyun now. Now she knows how Yota felt. The grin was so freaking cute. You can't get more obvious than that. Too bad Minato doesn't realize it.
At the same time, Koyun believes Minato only sees her as a friend even after Momoka told her the truth... Well, can't really argue after she heard it straight from the horse's mouth... I wonder how this misunderstanding can be resolved. Obviously the best way is talking, but if you're wrong, the cringe will probably stay with you forever, so I see why they wouldn't want to risk it.
We got to learn more about Momoka in this episode. Wow. She's a textbook homewrecker. I thought maybe we'd get to sympathize with her a bit, but nope. She's actually a self-centered POS. Don't really mind an antagonist with almost no conscience. I wonder if they all can be true friends after everything is said and done. Considering Koyun still hasn't patched things up with Atagawa, probably not. And I wouldn't mind if she never does. Antagonists don't need redemption arcs all the time. Sometimes people are just s**t.
But f*****g hell, I didn't think Momoka would start dating Minato. Wtf. Her crocodile tears are good. I'm a bit disappointed in Minato for seemingly going back to his old self. But this time's different. He already rejected her once. And then proposed a trial after seeing her fake tears. This is a good thing cause trials never work out. Dude couldn't care less either way. Maybe he thinks Momoka will lose interest in him eventually, which I can see happening. Girl doesn't even like Minato aside from his looks. I just find it funny she already did her victory lap in front of Koyun, thinking she already won him over.
Yeah, sucks, doesn't it? Even after Koyun seemingly accepted that she wants to be just friends with Minato, as soon as she found out he's dating some other chick, she can't stand it. I really hope this will push her to confess to him after he gets dumped again or something. Great episode. So glad this series is back. Can't wait to see what happens next.

緊急会議のあとの美姫のおどけた顔と、こゆんの運び方、この組み合わせが最高すぎるｗ
「正直、前半までは騙されてたわ」ってやつで、ここまで刺さったのは久しぶり。桃香が嬉々として見せつけてくれたおかげでな。

Miki's goofy face and Koyun carrying method of choice after the emergency meeting is such a winning combo lol.
Biggest sting I've felt from a "you had us in the first half not gonna lie" in a while, "helped" by Momoka's clear delight in rubbing it in.

今回、桃香の出番がやけに多くない？
ああ、そういうことか。こゆんと関わるたびに、刺さった刃をもう少し深くねじってるし、本人もそれを分かってる。こゆんに頼れるいい友達がいてよかった。援軍（？）も来てくれそうだし。

Momoka is getting quite a bit of screentime this episode, eh?
Oh no, that's why. Every interaction she has with Koyun is just the dagger twisting a bit deeper and she knows it. Glad Koyun has great friends to lean on and perhaps reinforcements(?) are on the way.

ついに、大好きな恋愛の苦悩の展開が始まる。ははは！　うれしくて手をこすり合わせている。恋愛ものに欲しかったのは、このドラマなんだ。湊と小雪はもどかしいけど、なぜそうなるかは分かる。ああ！

Finally my favorite romance angst arc can begin hahahahahaha. I am rubbing my hands with joy. This is the drama I miss in romances. Like Minato n Koyun are frustrating but I GET why. Aaaah

湊「勘違いしちゃうよ」
こゆん「また勘違いしかけた」
マジでこの二人のバカをひっぱたきたい。二人とも勘違いしたくないと思ってるけど、実は二人ともまさに正しく受け取ってるんだよ！　踏み出せないのは、文脈抜きで耳にした言葉のせいで、とんでもない誤解が生まれてるから。
この二人がどうやって収拾つけるのか見当もつかない。特に湊と桃香が付き合い始めた今となっては。湊、いったい何やってんだよ！　一番腹が立つのは、湊が同情で付き合っただけなのに、桃香があんなに得意げにしてること。
それと、桃香が湊を狙うこと自体は嫌いじゃない。二人が付き合ってる最中に横取りしたわけじゃないし。恋と戦争に手段は選ばないってやつだ。嫌なのは、湊と付き合い始めたことをわざわざこゆんに見せつけたところ。同情の恋愛を、続くうちに楽しんどけよ、桃香。

Minato: "I'll get the wrong idea."
Koyun: "I almost got the wrong idea again."
I swear I wanna slap these two idiots. They both don't want to get the wrong idea, but in reality, they both have exactly the right idea! The only thing stopping them from making a move is the things they've overheard out of context, which have caused a massive misunderstanding between them
I don't even know how these two are gonna sort this out, especially now that Minato and Momoka are dating. WHAT THE ACTUAL F**K, MINATO! What I hate the most about this is how Momoka is acting so smug when Minato only dated her out of pity.
Also, I don't hate Momoka for going after Minato; it's not like she's stealing him from Koyun while they are dating. All's fair in love and war. What I hate about her is the fact that she had to rub it in Koyun's face that she's now dating Minato. Enjoy your pity romance until it lasts, Momoka.

湊が度を越して人に合わせちゃうタイプなのは分かってる。でも……失礼を承知で言うけど……なんだそれ。
好きな人がいるなら、よく知りもしないし興味もない相手とは付き合わない。
こんなやり方じゃ、結局関わる全員を傷つけるだけだ。

I know that Minato is a people pleaser to a fault, but... with all due respect... wtf.
If I have someone I like, I'm not going out with someone that I vaguely know and I'm not interested in.
He'll only end up hurting everyone involved this way.

桃香のことは散々嫌ってたけど、やっぱり相当な子だなと思わずにいられない。野心的で、まっすぐなのは間違いない。
悪いのは完全に湊。泣き出したから女子の告白を受け入れるってどういうことだよ？　この臆病者！

As much as I was hating on Momokawa, I cant help thinking damn shes one hell of a kind, ambitious and straightforward for sure.
Blame goes on Minato totally, like what do u mean u just accept a girls confession because she starts crying? You coward!

はは、桃香が本格的に動き出したら、桃香アンチの勢いがさらに増してて面白い。
恋愛ドラマはさんざん見てきたから、この手のキャラには慣れっこだし、もっとひどいのも見た（例：『ピーチガール』のサエ）。だから想定の範囲内。
ただ最近の恋愛ジャンルは、安心して見られる作品に寄ってると思う。だからドラマへの耐性が低い人は、かなり揺さぶられるだろうね。

Haha, it's funny seeing the Momoka hate train more now that she kicked things into high gear.
I've experienced enough romance dramas to be more desensitized to this type of character and seen much worse (Ex: Sae from Peach Girl). So it's par for the course.
Though I think nowadays romance genre has skewed more towards comfort romance series, so it definitely shakes up people who can have a low tolerance for much drama.

桃香は何も悪くない。ただ、こゆんはそろそろ本気出さないとな。

Momoka did nothing wrong. Koyun needs to lock in now though

この先、劇の本番もちゃんと見せてくれよ。陽太が本当に絨毯の衣装を着てるところが、どうしても見たいんだ。
桃香って本気で自分は悪くないと思ってるんだな？　自分のしてる悪いことを全部無視して、人の気持ちを無視したり押し付けたり言いくるめたりしてるんじゃなくて「チャンスを与えてるだけ」ってことにして、うまく立ち回ってる。悪い癖に逆戻りした湊にも不満。
今期で本当に惜しいのは、ED曲への入り方。今期も、EDにつながる前奏のある曲だったらよかったのに。

We better get to see the play actually happen later on in the anime because I really need to see Yota actually wearing the carpet costume.
Momoka really thinks in her mind she is innocent huh? She really just ignores all the wrongs she is doing and somehow juggles all the situations as her giving people a chance and not just ignoring others feelings or forcing them and gaslighting people. Not happy with Minato either for falling back into his bad habits.
The one thing I am really going to miss this season is the leadup to the ending song. I wish they had been able to get another song that was able to have an instrumental leadup to the ending for this season as well.

桃香への怒りに気を取られる代わりに、月子のかわいさに集中することにした。OPでも意外なほど月子が映ってる。今期はもっとセリフが増えるといいな。今回でもう、その方向に一歩進んでたし。

Instead of concentrating on how I hate Momoka, I choose to concentrate on how cute Tsukiko is. She has a surprising amount of shots involving her in the OP. Hope she gets more lines this season. This episode already was a step in that direction.

みんな湊に厳しすぎると思う。小雪には恋愛感情がないと、ほぼ確認したばかりだった。誤解ではあるけどね。その一番弱っていたときに、桃香が感情に訴えて、せめて機会をくれと誘導した。自分のせいで誰かが苦しむのを見るのに耐えられず、残念ながら付き合う方を選んだ。悪い選択だったけど、状況を考えれば理解はできる。

I think people are being too harsh on Minato. Dude had just pretty much received confirmation that Koyun did not like him romantically (a misunderstanding, but still), and Momoka emotionally manipulated him in his most fragile moment to at least "give her a chance". He could not stand seeing someone suffer "because of him", so he unfortunately made the choice to date her. It was a bad choice, but it is understandable in context.

ドラマは好きだけど、筋が通ってる場合だけ。湊の考えがまだ分からない。気持ちが無いのに女子と付き合うと相手を傷つけることは分かってるのに、桃香がすごく苦しんでるのを見て（たぶん）付き合うことにした。めちゃくちゃ矛盾してる。
まだ見せられてない湊の過去が描かれるまでは、判断は保留にしとく。第1期では1シーンしかなかったし。なんで同じことを何度も繰り返すのか、納得できる理由があるといいな。
小雪は本当にかわいそう。こんな目に遭ういわれはない。もう一度心を開こうと決めたのに、また傷つくなんて。
美姫と陽太は、今のところうまくやってるみたい。
桃香はひどいやつだけど、欲しいものにまっすぐ向かうところは責められない。嫌なのは、そのやり方と、小雪に見せつけて嫌な思いをさせるところ。

I like drama, but only when it makes sense. I still don't see the point with Minato. He understands that dating girls without feeling the same way hurts them, but then he agrees to go out with Momoka because he sees her in a lot of pain (I think). That's very contradictory.
I'm not going to judge him yet until we see his backstory, which hasn't been shown to us yet there was only one scene in season 1. I hope it justifies why he keeps doing this over and over again.
Regarding Koyuki, I feel so bad for her; she doesn't deserve this. She decided to open up again only to get hurt once more.
Miki and Yota seem to be on good terms for the moment.
Momoka is a horrible person, yet I can't blame her for going straight after what she wants. What I don't like are her methods or how she goes and rubs it in Koyuki's face, making her feel bad.

湊の肩を持つと、夏休みにこゆんを誘ってはいるんだよな。湊の目には断られたように映ったのかもしれない。それにこゆんは最近、気を持たせたり遠ざけたりしてる（責めてるわけじゃなくて、難しいってだけ）。そう考えると、自分が湊の立場だったら、軽い気持ちで桃香と付き合わないとは言い切れない。

To his credit, Minato did ask Koyun out for summer vacation, and from his perspective he might've gotten rejected. And Koyun's been giving him mixed signals lately. (Not blaming her, it's just tough.) Given that context, I can't say that I wouldn't go date Momoka casually if I were in his place.

>でも正直、意地悪する「理由」があるように書かれてないのが本当に好き。ただ悪びれずに人を操るだけ。新鮮だよ。純粋にゲームが好きでやってるって感じ 😬
中学時代の回想で、その「理由」は描かれてたと思うよ。桃香は男子に好かれたら素直に応じてた。それが友達の好きな男子でもね。それで仲間外れにされて、ずるい、裏表がある、人の男を盗る女だと周りから決めつけられた。
今は高校生になって好きな人ができたから、（あからさまに）全力で口説きにかかってる。人を操るやり方ではあるけど、それでも気持ちは本物なんだ。

But tbh I really like how she's not written to have "reasons" to be mean, she's just unapologetically manipulative. It's refreshing, she's just like that for the love of the game 😬
I think the middle school flashback established the "reasons," she got ostracized/judged for responding well to boys liking her even when it was boys her friends liked and everyone thought she was devious, two-faced, homewrecker for it.
Now she's in high school, she's found someone she likes, and she's put in every effort (overtly) to woo him. It's manipulative but it's still her honest feelings.

欲しいものがあったら、桃香は手に入れる！　どんな手を使ってでも！

Girl wants something, she'll get it! By any mean necessary!

小雪が心の中で、実は自分も桃香のことを好きじゃないと認めたところがよかった。笑った。

I like where Koyun basically admitted internally that even she doesn't actually like Momoka lol.

ポニーテールのこゆんが早く見たい。OPを見る限り、あれが最強形態っぽいし！
悲しいのは、二人とも互いの関係やつながりを大切にしすぎてて、片思いだと思ってる気持ちでそれを壊す危険を冒したくないってこと。本当はあんなに一緒にいたいのにな。

I can't wait until we reach ponytail Koyun which, judging by the OP, seems to be her strongest form!
The sad thing is they treasure their relationship/connection to each other so much they don't want to risk and ruin it with feelings they consider one-sided even though ultimately they want to be together so badly.

同意。桃香に悪いところは無いと思う。恋の手助け役をする義務はないし、自分の気持ちに従っちゃいけない制約もない。こゆんのあの揺るがない自信のなさが湊を傷つけてるかもしれないって、本気で思ってるんじゃないかな。桃香が「好き」かって？　別に。でも公平に見ればそう。略奪女ではない。

I agree. I sewe nothing wrong with Momoka. She is under no obligation to play wing-woman, nor is she under no restriction that would make it improper for her to follow her own heart. I think she legitimately thinks Koyun is potentially hurting Minato by her seemingly-ushakeable diffidence. Do I "like" her -- not especially. But fair is fair. She is no homewrecker.

>正直あの子が何か悪いことしてるとは思えない……原作勢がこの先何かやらかすのを知ってるっていうなら別だけど、今の時点であそこまで叩かれてる理由が分からない
中学の回想は、桃香を理解するうえで大事だと思う。
視聴者やこゆんから見れば桃香は悪役でライバルだけど、こゆんと同じように中学時代につらい経験をしてる。男子が自分にどう反応したか、どう接してきたかで、周りから責められ、仲間外れにされ、決めつけられた。ただ、こゆんと違って桃香はそれに応じる側だった。恋愛感情に応えたり受け入れたりすることに、何の問題も感じてなかったから。
今の桃香は、中学時代と比べて、自分の気持ちをできるだけ隠さず正直に伝えたんだから「正しい」ことをしたと思ってる。何もせず現状にあぐらをかいてたのはこゆんの方。なんで桃香がそこに気を遣わなきゃいけないのか、ってことだ。
まあ、湊に気持ちを受け入れさせるために計算した切り返しがいくつかあったのは確かだと思う（ただ、思ってた以上に必死になってしまったと本人も認めてる）。でも気持ちは本物っぽいし、正直、振られたくない人なら誰だって、できるならあれと同じことをするだろう。

Probably a hot take, I’m not even rooting for her but I really don’t see Momoka doing anything wrong tbh. She’s upfront about her feelings and I do feel it’s genuine and not just for status or ulterior motive. I mean sure, she acts smug but (and I also said it last week) it’s the “she’s out of line but she’s right” meme. Unless it’s source readers that knows she’s going to do something further down, I just don’t get the level of hate she’s getting atm
I think the middle school flashback is important to understanding Momoka.
To the audience and to Koyun Momoka is the villain/rival but like Koyun she had her own bad experience in middle school where she had to deal with people accusing/ostracizing/judging her for how boys responded to/interacted with her. It's just unlike Koyun she was more responsive to it because she just didn't see an issue with reciprocating or accepting romantic feelings.
Now she feels like she's done the "right" thing in being as aboveboard and honest about her feelings as possible compared to middle school and Koyun's the one who was willing to sit on her laurels without doing anything. Why should Momoka have to be considerate of that?
Now, I think there was definitely some calculated comebacks to Minato to get him to accept her feelings (but she even admits to herself that she let herself get more desperate than she intended) but the feelings seem sincere and frankly anyone who didn't want to get rejected would probably have done the same thing she did if they could.

湊を落としたから小雪を見下してたんだよ。小雪に自慢したかったんだ。
行動をはっきり示してきたのはその通りだけど、ちょっと汚いやり方もしてる。湊と小雪の関係を引っかき回さなくても湊に近づけたはず。なのに第1期で、わざと二人の頭にいろいろ吹き込んでた。

She was looking down on Koyuki because she conquered Minato, she wanted to brag to Koyuki.
I do agree she has made her actions clear, but she's also playing a bit of a dirty game. She could have approached Minato without messing with Minato and Koyuki's relationship. But she has deliberately put things in both their heads in season one.

自分の気持ちに正直なのはいい。でも、こゆんが湊と「遊ぶ」たびに誤解を招く形で見せつけるためだけに、こゆんを利用して友達になるのは卑劣だ。だから今回、こゆんもついに、そもそも桃香はなぜ自分と友達になったのかと疑い始めたんだ。
桃香はこゆんを人として見てなくて、ただの「障害物」扱い。人の見方として最悪だし、昔の女友達との関係やこゆんへの接し方を見ると、同性を見下す感覚が染みついてるのは明らか。
それに第1期で湊に「長い付き合いの友達に告白されたら気持ち悪い」って言って、こゆんに告白させないようにしたのも完全に卑怯。

It’s fine being upfront about your feelings but using Koyun and becoming friends with her for no reason but to shove it in her face in a misleading way everytime she ‘hangs out’ with Minato is a vile thing to do, which is why this episode Koyun finally begins to question why Momoka even became friends with her in the first place.
She doesn’t even believe Koyun is a person but just an ‘obstacle’ which is a horrible way of viewing someone and it’s clear she has some internalised misogyny looking at her previous female friendships and how she treats Koyun.
Also her manipulation of Minato in S1 when she tells him ‘if a long-time friend confessed their feelings to me I’d be disgusted’ so that he wouldn’t confess to Koyun is completely underhanded.

桃香をどう評するにしても、嘘をほとんどつかずに目的を達成するのがうまい。ある程度は人を操っているけど、本当に問題と言えることはしていない。桃香から見れば、小雪とは対等な立場なんだ。だから有利になろうとすることも悪くない。それに小雪と違って、桃香は自分の幸せのために努力する気がある。

You can say about Momoka what you want, but she's good at what she does with very little to no lying. She is manipulative, to a degree, but she doesn't do anything that's really questionable. From her point of view, Koyun is on an equal footing. So trying to get an advantage isn't anything wrong. Also, in contrast to Koyun, Momoka is actually willing to put effort into her own happieness

湊は目立った心の傷があるわけじゃないけど、筋金入りの八方美人で、周りの望みに受け身で従うことで生まれてからずっと報われてきた。誰かに好かれた？　受け入れる。その相手が、湊に本当は気持ちが無いと気づいて振ってきた？　それも受け入れる。前にも言われてたけど、湊には「自分」というものや、欲しいものを自分から追いかける意欲が欠けてる。こゆんは、湊が初めて自分から欲しいと思った相手で、その感情は湊にとって新しくて、とんでもなく怖いものなんだ。桃香の誘導で、こゆんへの気持ちを告白すれば一番大切な人を傷つけると思い込み、桃香の気持ちを断れば、（友達としてとはいえ）同じく大切な人を苦しめると思ってしまう。何としても波風を立てないように生きてきた人にとって、それが致命傷になるのは想像に難くない。

The thing with Minato is while he doesn't have any obvious trauma, he's a terminal people-pleaser who's been rewarded his whole life for passively going along with what other people want. Someone likes him? He accepts it. That same person dumps him once she realizes he doesn't actually have feelings for her? He accepts it. As has been put earlier, he lacks a "sense of self", or the drive to actually go after what he wants. Koyun is the first person who has actively made him want her, and that emotion is both new and f*****g terrifying for him. With Momoka's manipulation making him believe that confessing his feelings for Koyun would hurt the person he cares for most, and that refusing her feelings would cause pain to someone he also cares for (albeit only platonically), it's not hard to see how that would be a critical hit to someone conditioned to avoid rocking the boat at all costs.

湊が自分の気持ちを追わない理由はいくつかあると思う。第1期で究極の拒絶（「気持ち悪い」のシーン）を経験して以来、こゆんの境界線を慎重に探りながら動いてきた。しかもこゆんが自分の気持ちに気づいてからは、湊に脈があると思わせる余地がほとんど無いほどの態度を取ってる。
もっと大きいのは美姫（と陽太）だと思う。湊は結局、度を越して人に合わせるタイプで、周りが傷つかないかを気にしすぎる。陽太の気持ちで美姫があんなに傷つくのを見て、自分の（片思いだと思い込んでる）気持ちにもさらに迷いが出た。湊にとっては、（美姫が傷ついたみたいに）こゆんを傷つけるかもしれないくらいなら、追わない方がずっと楽なんだ。桃香にも同じ構図が当てはまる。同じ悪い癖で、真剣で傷ついてる女の子を見て、付き合うのが一番いい解決だと思ってしまった。もちろん悪手だけど、湊にとっては大事な教訓になると思う。

I do think there are a few reasons for Minato not to pursue his feelings. After experiencing the ultimate rejection in ss1 ("It's disgusting" scene), he has always try to carefully manoever Koyun's boundaries, and since Koyun found out about her own feelings, she has made it exceptionally hard for him to feel like there is any chance of reciprocation.
And I think the more important factor is Miki (and Youta). Minato is ultimately a people pleaser (to a fault), he cares too much about others well-being. Seeing Miki so hurt over Yota's feelings, even made him further second guess his (assumed) onesided feelings, to him it's simply way easier to not pursue it than to potentially hurt Koyun (they way Miki was hurt). The same situation is applied to Momoka, it's that same ugly habit, he simply saw a sincere and hurt girl and thought the best solution was to go out w her. Obviously it's a bad idea, but I think its going to be an important lesson for him

鈍くて不器用な恋愛の主人公は見てきたけど、この二人は一番かもしれない。互いに好きなのに、いつも読み違えて最悪の方に考える。そのせいで桃香には、湊を自分のものにする絶好の機会が生まれた。小雪とその受け身な態度への反感が、最後に勝利を見せびらかした理由の一つだと思う。

I've seen dense and awkward romance leads but these two might take the cake for how they always misread/assume the worst despite MUTUALLY LIKING EACH OTHER.
And that just gave Momoka all the opportunity she needed to swoop in and "take" Minato for herself.
I feel like Momoka resenting Koyun and her passivity is part of the reason she had to take a "victory lap" at the end there.

それが湊なんだよね。割と簡単に女子と付き合う。小雪は友達以上の関係を望んでいないと、自分で思い込んだんだから、いつもの行動に戻ってもおかしくない。

I mean, that's Minato.
He easily goes out with girls. And since he convinced himself that Koyun wouldn't even want to be more than a friend... why not do what he's used to doing?

桃香は二人が互いに好きだと知りながら、相手の気持ちについて、湊にも小雪にも意図的に嘘をついた。自分だけが持っている情報を利用して二人を遠ざけ、人付き合いの弱点につけ込んで、自分の望む結果を得た。湊に告白するだけならいい。でも、やったことはそれだけじゃない。

She knowingly lied to both Minato and Koyun about how the other feels about them manipulating her monopoly on the information each person knows to keep them apart when she knows they like each other and exploited their weaknesses socially to get the outcome she wanted. Simply asking Minato out is allowed, but thats not all she did.

こゆんが悪い魔法使いのオウム役じゃないなんて、劇の制作側の大失態だろ！　それならこのカップル、あっという間に成立するのに！
桃香のこと誤解してると思う。今回、自分は純粋な心の持ち主じゃないってはっきり言ってたじゃん。無垢とはほど遠いよ。

Koyun not playing Evil Wizards parrot is a big miss from this plays Production side! That s**t would make this ship sail so f*****g fast!
I think you missunderstood Momoka, she literally stated in this episode that she's not pure-hearted - she's far from being innocent.

湊、頼むからしっかりして。

Minato, grow a spine. Please.

大人の自分としては、『正反対な君と僕』よりずっと好き。すれ違いに筋が通ってるんだ。話し合う力が無いんじゃなくて、話せない事情を抱えてる。それに誤解なんて大人の職場でもあることだし。
だって湊は前回、桃香にデートに誘われたとき「ほかの人も誘おう」って言って、同じやり方で断ってたよね。その経験から、こゆんも自分の気持ちを知ってて、やんわり断ってるんだと思ってる。この子たちは気持ちを伝えるのを妨げる問題を抱えてて、作品はそこを掘り下げてるんだ。

As an adult I like it way more than Polar Opposites. The miscommunication makes sense. It is not they lack it. They can't they have issues. Also, misunderstandings are the part of even adult workplace.
Like you do realize Minato rejected Momoka the same way last episode, by saying let's bring up others when Momoka asked him on a date. His experience makes him think Koyun also knows his feelings and is softly rejecting him. These kids have issues that is stopping them from telling their feelings. And it explored those things

いやー、盛りだくさんの回だった。話題はほとんど桃香になるだろうし、それも当然だけど、自分はこゆんと湊、特に湊を深掘りしたい。
まず二人とも今は、陽太と美姫の件を根拠に「報われない片思いを告白すると、双方が傷つくうえ、友達グループ全体にも負担がかかる」という前提で動いてる。しかも二人とも自分の恋は報われないと思ってて、自分を守ろうと必死なあまり、その思い込みを推測ではなく事実として扱ってる。確信が無ければ期待できてしまうし、期待するのはつらいから。待たされる期待は心を病ませる、ってやつだ。
湊は旅行の提案でさりげなく確かめようとしたけど、こゆんは期待したくないから、みんなで行く話だと思い込むしかなかった。で、湊はその返事を聞いて、やっぱり片思いだと確信を強める。
そこで桃香の告白。湊から見れば、こゆんが自分を好きじゃないのは事実。関係者は3人、自分とこゆんと桃香。こゆんは自分を好きじゃないんだから、この件でこゆんが傷つくはずはないと確信してる。だから残る問題は、自分が傷つくか、桃香が傷つくかだけ。自分は傷つかない、傷ついても耐えられると思ってる……そして、形だけでも付き合う方が、きっぱり断るより桃香を傷つけずに済むと考えたんだろう。ある意味、自分を守ってるのかもしれない。桃香と付き合ってれば、こゆんのことで悩まずに済むから。
じゃあ臆病なのか？　少しはそうかも。こゆんを傷つける可能性が少しでもあると思ってたら、イエスとは言わなかったはず。でも、こゆんに好かれてるはずがないと思い込みすぎてて、そこまで頭が回らない。間違った前提のもとで、できるだけ誰も傷つけないよう精一杯考えて、いい道が見つからず、結局まずい選択をしてしまったんだ。
いい回だった。これで湊とこゆんがどう変わるのか、思い込みを考え直すことになるのか、それとも思い込みを抱えたまま前に進むのか、楽しみ。

Oh wow, eventful episode. While most of the discourse will be about Momoka, rightfully so, I want to do deeper dives into Koyun and Minato, Minato especially.
First, both of them are now working on the axiom that "confessing an unrequited crush will hurt both parties and cause stress to the friendgroup as a whole," as evidenced by Yota and Miki. They also both believe their crushes are unrequited, and in a desparation to protect themselves, are both now treating that belief as truth instead of assumption. Because if they weren't sure, they could allow themselves to hope and hope is painful. A hope deferred and all that.
Minato did subtly attempt to check with the trip suggestion, but Koyun didn't want to get her hopes up so must believe that he's talking about as a group. And Minato, hearing that response, reinforces his belief that this is definitely unrequited.
So now we get to Momoka and her confession. From his point of view, he believes as a fact that Koyun does not like him back. There are 3 relevant parties here: himself, Koyun, and Momoka. He is certain this won't affect Koyun, because after all, she doesn't like him so how could this affect her? So the only questions are now whether he will be hurt by this, or whether Momoka will be hurt by this. He doesn't believe he will be hurt by this, or if he does, he's willing to bear it... and I guess that he believes that superficially dating Momoka would hurt her less than outright rejecting her. He might also be protecting himself, in a way, because if he's dating Momoka he doesn't have to agonize over the Koyun question.
So is it cowardly? Maybe a little. I think if he thought it had any chance to hurt Koyun, he wouldn't say yes, but he has so internalized that Koyun must not love him that it doesn't cross his mind. He's working off of false premises and trying his best to cause as little harm as possible, and didn't see a good way through, and ended up choosing poorly.
Love the episode, interested in seeing how this changes both Minato and Koyun, if this forces them to rethink their assumptions or to move forwards despite those assumptions.

桃香って、好きな相手に好かれてないんだからいつまでも想い続けてないで、って理屈で、泣きながら湊を説き伏せて付き合わせたんだよな？　こゆんが実は湊を好きだって知ってるくせに。もしかしたら湊とこゆんが両想いだとは知らなくて、そこまでのクズじゃないのかもしれないけど、今回を見た印象はそうじゃなかった。全部分かったうえでやったなら、当然の報いとして盛大に破綻してほしい。
少なくとも陽太と美姫の友情は、また自然で気楽な感じに戻ったね。この先どうなるか楽しみ。パンのシーンみたいに、すごくかわいい場面もあった。

Did Momoka really just tearfully argue Minato into dating her on the theory that since his crush doesn't like him back he shouldn't just pine away forever, while also knowing that Koyun does in fact like him back? Maybe she doesn't know it's mutual between Minato and Koyun and isn't quite that degree of scumbag, but that's not the impression I got from the episode. If she is fully aware and proceeded anyway I hope this crashes and burns for her like it deserves to.
At least the Yota and Miki friendship is back to nice and casual and we'll see where that goes. Some very cute moments too, like that bread scene.

桃香が自分の気持ちに正直なことは責めないけど、明らかにほかの子にまだ夢中な相手と付き合おうとするのはちょっと悲しい。そりゃ今は付き合ってるし、もう一人の子に爆弾も落としたけど、片思いかどうかに関係なく、湊はたぶん本気で向き合ってくれないよ。自分の痛みを先延ばしにしてるだけだ。
楽しんでるのは、こゆんと湊の誤解がそれぞれの立場から見れば筋が通ってるところ。月子まで混乱してたしｗ　今のところ、ドラマのためのドラマには感じない。二人が乗り越えなきゃいけない心の葛藤や行動の癖が表に出てる感じだ。

I don’t blame Momoka for being straightforward about her feelings and whatnot, but it’s a bit sad that she’s willing to get into a relationship with someone who’s obviously still very into someone else. Like girl, yes you’re dating him now, yes you dropped the bomb to the other girl, but he’s probably not gonna be super present in the relationship, regardless of whether his feelings are unrequited or not. She’s just delaying her own pain.
What I’m enjoying is that misunderstandings between Koyun and Minato make sense from their own perspectives, even Tsukiko was confused lol. So far they don’t feel like drama for the sake of drama, but more like a manifestation of their own inner turmoil and behaviour patterns that they need to overcome.

かなり賛否が分かれる意見だとは分かってるけど、桃香が雨宮と付き合ったのは実はよかったと思う。好きな人を手に入れるために全力で戦ってる。こゆんは何を期待してたんだ？　湊が一生独り身でいること？　友達のままで満足してる（ということにしてる）のに、相手がいつか誰かと付き合うのは嫌だなんて、そうはいかない。
湊は自分の気持ちを整理してほしい。目の前で泣かれたからって付き合うのはちょっとバカだよ。それに、こゆんが自分を好きなはずがないと思い込んでるみたいで、こゆんが無視したりぎこちなくしたりするせいで、ある意味それが自己成就的な予言になってる。
アニメや漫画の三角関係は好きじゃないけど、原作を最後までアニメ化してくれるから今期は見届けるつもり。そうじゃなかったら今日で切ってた。

I know this is one hell of a hot take but I actually liked that Momoka got together with Amamiya. She is fighting to get her man with everything she's got. What was Koyun hoping? That Minato was going to be single his whole life? You cannot be (supposedly) content with only being friends and at the same time hope that the other person doesnt get in a relationship at some point.
I hope Minato sorts his feelings, going out with someone just because she cried in front of you is kind of stupid. He also seems to have convinced himself that there is no way that Koyun likes him, which is kind of a self fulfilling prophecy with Koyun ignoring him and being awkward around him.
I dont like love triangles in animes and manga but I will finish watching this season just because is the full adaptation of the source. If not I would have dropped the series today.

桃香：（あらゆることを操って、こゆんは湊をそういう意味で好きじゃない、友達だと思ってた相手にそれ以上の意味で好かれてると知るのは気持ち悪いものだ、こゆんは友達を恋愛対象として見られない――本人はそんなこと一言も言ってないのに――と湊に思い込ませる）
桃香：ほかに好きな人がいて、私をそういうふうには見てないのは分かってる。そういう気持ちのまま付き合わないことで、私の気持ちを守ろうとしてくれてるのも分かる。でも全部受け入れるから、それでもチャンスをくれない？　今までずっとやってきたことと同じだけど、今回は私が事情を分かったうえで納得してるの。（泣く）
湊：分かった。全部分かってるなら、一方通行の気持ちでくよくよするのはやめて、試してみてもいいかもしれない。
Reddit：湊は最低！
……
いや、自分で選べるんだから、いいことだとは言わない。でも桃香に完全に手玉に取られたんだから、湊には少し甘くなっちゃうんだよな。

Momoka: (manipulates everything so that Minato thinks that Koyun doesn't like him like that, that it is disturbing to find out the person who you thought liked you as a friend likes you as something more, that Koyun could never see friends as potential love interests even though she never said that.)
Momoka: I understand that you love someone else and you don't see me that way and you're trying to protect my feelings by not entering into a relationship when you feel the way you do, but I accept all that, won't you give me a chance anyway. It's the same thing as you've been doing all this time but this time I know what's going on and am ok with it. (Cries)
Minato: ok, I suppose if you understand all that, perhaps I can stop ruminating about my one sided feelings and give this a shot.
Reddit: Minato is the worst!
...
I mean, he does have agency, so it's not like this is a good thing. But I guess I just give him a bit of a pass because Momoka just played him like a fiddle.

A) お悔やみ申し上げます。婚約者がそんなに不安がりだったなんて悲しいね。境界線は大事だけど、連絡を一切禁じるのはやりすぎだと思う。
B) 「手に入れようとする危険を冒さない理由がない」っていうのは、ちょっと違うと思う。こゆんは、自分が恐れてることがまさに陽太と美姫の間で起きてるのを目の前で見てる。友達が大勢いるわけでもない。今のこゆんにとって、この4人はとびきり特別なもので、それを危険にさらすのは重すぎるんだと思う。
そう、こゆんが正しいわけじゃない。ああしたのは間違いだけど、その間違いには納得がいく。この作品の一番いいところは、みんな間違えるけど、その間違いにはどれも筋が通っていて、ちゃんと自分の行動の結果を背負ってるところなんだ。

A) Sorry for your loss. It's sad that her fiance was so insecure. Like, boundaries are important but to enforce no contact is too extreme IMO.
B) I think that saying "she sees no reason not to risk trying to get it" is a bit wrong. She's watching in real time as Yota and Miki are dealing with exactly what she's fearing would happen. It's not like she has lots of friends either. I think she sees the four of them as something incredibly special to her right now and putting that at risk is too much.
Yes, she's not right. It's a mistake for her to do what she did, but I feel like that mistake makes sense. The best part of this show for me is that everyone makes mistakes and all of them make sense and they bear the consequences of their actions.

ほんとそれ。こゆんが傷ついてるのは分かるよ。でも、こゆんが湊の接近を嫌がって一線を引いてるように見える以上、湊が自分の行動でこゆんを傷つけるなんて分かるわけがない（東が平を誘ってから、デートじゃないって示すために友達も呼んだのと同じだし、桃香に誘われた湊がほかの人を呼んでデートを断ったのとも、小雪がやったのとも同じ）。

Omg I know, like I know Koyun is hurt, but at no point could Minato know anything he does can hurt her when it looks like she is uncomfortable with his advances and is drawing the line (Similar to Azuma inviting Taira and then including friends to clear up that it is not a date, similar to Momoka asking Minato out and Minato rejecting her date by inviting others, similar to what Koyuki did)

最後の桃香は、性格の一番悪いところを見せたね。湊の彼女になった途端、小雪と友達でいることに興味を無くしたみたいだった。小雪のことなんて「どうでもいい」ってはっきり言ってたし。
それに、桃香が小雪の邪魔をしようとしてたことを忘れてない？

Momoka really showed the worst of her personality at the end there. After becoming Minato’s girlfriend, she immediately seemed disinterested with being a friend of Koyuki. Literally said that she “couldn’t care less” about her.
Also, aren’t forgetting Momoka’s attempts to sabotage Koyuki’s chances?

劇の最中に、なんとかこゆんを湊の肩に乗せる演出もやってくれたら最高なんだけど。
その通り。今回の桃香への気持ちを言葉にしようとして、本人が自分は純粋な心の持ち主じゃないと分かってて、そう口にしてることを忘れてた。自分が使う言葉は「自分勝手」かな。
ここで説明してみる。
桃香は自分が何をしてるか、周りがどう感じるかを分かってる。それでもやり通す。考えてることにも一理はあるけど、だからといって正しいことをしてるわけじゃない。
・昔の友達の件で、その男子が友達じゃなくて桃香を好きなら、桃香が付き合ってもいいのは確か。でも友達がどう思うかを気にせず、事情も説明しなかった。告白を受け入れて、友達が学校で知るまで知らせなかったように見える。それで信頼を裏切ったんだ。
・こゆんが怖くて湊に告白できない（事情を知ってる視聴者には、こゆんの心の傷のせいだと分かるけど、桃香は知らないと思う）のも、二人が友達止まりの周りをぐるぐるしてるのも、もどかしいのは分かる。でも桃香はそれでも二人を言いくるめて、湊が欲しいから同情で付き合わせてる。

I would be up for it if they also tried to somehow have Kohyun be in Minato’s shoulder during the play.
You are right. Trying to put into words how I felt about Momoka this episode I forgot she herself knows she isn’t pure hearted and she says it. I think the word I would use is selfish.
I’ll try to express it here:
She is self-aware at what she is doing and how others feel but she still goes through with it. There is some truth to what she thinks but that doesn’t mean she is doing the right thing.
- With her old friend it is true that if the guy doesn’t like the friend and likes her she can go out with him but she didn’t care about how her friend would feel or explain the situation to her. She just accepted the guy’s confession and seemingly didn’t let her friend now until her friend found out at school and she betrayed her trust.
- It is frustrating that Kohyun is too scared to confess to Minato (but understandable due to Kohyun’s trauma for us who now about it. Momoka doesn’t I believe) and to see the two circling around the friend zone but she is still gaslighting them and getting Minato to go out with her due to pity because she wants him.

涙はたぶん本物だったけど、選んだ言葉は湊を動かす急所をかなり的確に狙っていた。それでも、ほかに好きな人がいるのに説得されて付き合ったことの言い訳にはならない。特に好きな人がいなかったり、もう振られていたりするなら、とりあえず付き合うのも分かる。でも今回は？　うんざりする。

The tears probably were real, but the words she chose were pretty well aimed at manipulating Minato. But in the end that doesn't excuse him being so much of a coward he let her talk him into it when he likes someone else. Dating someone because why not is totally understandable when you either do not have feelings for someone or have already been rejected by them. This though? Ugh.

OP、今まで見た中でも指折りの出来 💖　EDは物悲しい雰囲気。
ちびキャラがもう手に負えない。かわいさの量に耐えられない。で、桃香は昔から人の彼氏を狙う性悪だったと。こゆんは自分も桃香みたいな意地悪な子かもと思ってるかもしれないけど、俺はそうは思わない。つまりこのダーク版ヒナは、『アオのハコ』のもう一人のヒナと違って、泣いて湊をものにしたってこと？😭😭　湊はこゆんを忘れるために桃香を利用したんだから、これは絶対に長続きしない。でも、そのせいでこゆんが傷つくのを見るのは、この先つらいだろうな。

Gotta say the op is one of the best that I have seen 💖..The ed has a melancholic vibe to it.
The chibi are getting out of hand. I can't handle the amount of cuteness. So Momoka has always been a bitch who goes after others' boyfriends. Though Koyun may think that she's like Momoka, a wicked girl.. I won't agree. So you're telling me that this Dark Hina won Minato by crying unlike the other Hina from Blue Box 😭😭.. This is definitely not gonna last since Minato used her to forget Koyun. But seeing Koyun getting hurt 'cause of this that's gonna be painful to watch from now on.

桃香は湊に対して、かなり正直で率直だったと感じた。小雪は告白せず、いつまでも湊を宙ぶらりんにするだろうと考えていて、それにはかなりの理由がある。湊も、女子に近づいて断られる危険を冒すような人ではないと、ほぼ正しく見抜いていたようだ。今の小雪と湊は、まったく前進していない。信頼を裏切ったわけじゃないし、意思を伝えない二人に、そのままでいるなと教える義務もない。
一方で、湊にはまったく同情できない。桃香と付き合うことを受け入れた行動は、優しさではなく、臆病な選択だった。つらくても、断ることこそ優しい対応だったと思う。

I actually felt Momoka was being pretty honest and forthright with him.
Momoka was pretty sure (with fairly good reason) than Koyun was NOT going to confess her feelings and was just going to leave Minato hanging indefinitely. She also seemed to (pretty correctly) realize that Minato was not the kind of person willing to take a chance of being rejected after reaching out to a girl. At present, Koyun-Minato is gong exactly nowhere. There was no breach of faith here, there was no duty to try to educate Koyun and Minato into not continuing to be (in essence) uncommunicative idiots.
On the other hand, I cannot sympathize witth Minato at all. His behavior in accepting Momoka's request to go out together was not "kind-hearted", it was frigging cowardly. The kind, even if difficult, thing to do would have been to turn her down.

付き合ってみても絶対に桃香を好きにならないなんて、どうして決められる？　湊は試してみようと言った。自分には、誰も悪いとは思えない。今どき、お試しで付き合うのは普通だ。今回は湊も自分の問題をはっきり伝えたし、桃香も知っている。求められているのは、好きになれるか試してみることだけ。だめなら、一緒に過ごせたけど、うまくいかなかったねと言えばいい。

Why is it cowardly? How can he decide that he is never gonna like Momoka even if he tries? He said let's try this. To me none of them are bad. Trial dating in this day and age is normal. Minato this time absolutely made it clear his problems. Momoka knows them as well. All anyone expects is for him to try and see if he can fall for her and if not they can say I got to spend time with you. It didn't work..

湊を押しに弱いと言うなら分かるけど、「クズ」呼ばわり？　本気？　湊から見れば、桃香は勇気を出して近づいてきて、告白にすごく力を注いだ誠実な子なんだ。これまでのやり取りは全部いいものだったし、人を操る子だと思う理由がない。
だから湊の頭の中では「好きな人はたぶん自分を好きじゃない。だったら、せめて目の前の誠実な子にチャンスをあげよう」って考えてるんだ。

I can understand someone saying Minato is a pushover but saying he’s “trash”? Really? From his perspective Momoka is a sincere girl that had the courage to approach him and put a lot of effort in her confession. All the interactions he had with her were positive, so he has no reason to believe she’s manipulative.
So in his mind he’s thinking, “my crush probably doesn’t have feelings for me, so let me at least give this sincere girl in front of me a chance”

もう！　湊とこゆんはいい加減ちゃんと話し合えないのか？　二人ともおバカさん、どっちも友達止まりなんかじゃないんだって！　ことわざにもある通り「打たないシュートは100％外れる」。振られるのはきついし痛いかもしれないけど、リスクとリターンをはかりにかけなきゃだろ？　湊もこゆんも、思い切って正直に気持ちを話せばよかったのに。
なのに湊は同情で桃香と付き合って、桃香は本気で喜んでる。ほとんど頼み込んで付き合ってもらっただけでも十分みじめなのに、それが最高に悲しい話だって気づきもせず、こゆんに勝ち誇ってる。湊はやらかした。マジでこれ何とかしろよ。

Omfg can Minato and Koyun just talking properly already? Like ffs neither of you two goobers are stuck in the friend zone! As the saying goes,“you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” Getting rejected sucks and it can be painful but you gotta weigh the risks with the reward right? Minato and Koyun could have taken a chance and just talked honestly about how they felt.
Instead, Minato’s pity dating Momoka and she’s actually pleased about it. As if it wasn’t pathetic enough that she practically had to beg the guy to go out with her, she’s gloating about it to Koyun like that wasn’t the saddest s**t ever. Minato f****d up. Bro needs to really fix this s**t.

第2期は不安で気分が沈むことになりそう……桃香はほんとにひどい策士だ。
追記：一方で、桃香はやっぱりひどい策士だけど、こゆんと湊もためらってばかりで状況を全然良くしてない。どっちも動かないんだから、桃香がそこにつけ込むのは分かる。でも、やっぱり見てるのがつらい。

I feel like this season 2 is gonna give me anxiety and put me in a bad mood... Momoka is seriously such a horrible manipulator.
Edit : On the other hand, while Momoka is still an awful manipulator, Koyun and Minato really aren't helping the situation either with all their hesitation. I understand Momoka taking advantage of the situation since neither of them is moving, but it's still hard to watch.

架空のティーンエイジャーの煽りには乗らない。架空のティーンエイジャーの煽りには乗らない。架空のティーンエイジャーの煽りには乗らない。架空のティーンエイジャーの煽りには乗らない。架空の――ふざけんな桃香、地獄に落ちろォォォ！
でも正直、意地悪する「理由」があるように書かれてないのが本当に好き。ただ悪びれずに人を操るだけ。新鮮だよ。純粋にゲームが好きでやってるって感じ 😬

I will not be ragebaited by a fictional teenager. I will not be ragebaited by a fictional teenager. I will not be ragebaited by a fictional teenager. I will not be ragebaited by a fictional teenager. I wi— SCREW YOU MOMOKA GO TO HELL RAAAAAH
But tbh I really like how she's not written to have "reasons" to be mean, she's just unapologetically manipulative. It's refreshing, she's just like that for the love of the game 😬

このサブレに「最悪ヒロイン決定戦」があればいいのに。今期、桃香がどれだけの圧勝をするか見てみたい。

I wish this sub reddit had a worse girl contest just to see how much of a landslide Momoka would win it for this season.

桃香はほんと卑劣な子だな。人の操り方がえげつなさすぎて、めちゃくちゃ腹立つｗ

Momoka really is just a vile girl, so horrendously manipulative, it’s making me mad as hell lol

面白いのは、桃香の作戦って要するに同情で付き合わせることなんだけど、全然新しくも珍しくもないってこと。
少女漫画をそれなりに読んでれば、契約や誓いや脅しから始まった偽の関係が最後に本物になるのはすごくよくある話で、桃香が湊を誘い込んだ状況はそれよりだいぶマシ。
違うのは、関係を進めて王子様に好きになってもらおうとする自信が桃香にあること。多くの少女漫画はそこまで踏み込まないから、むしろ加点要素だ。
桃香にはうまくいかせる意志がある。こゆんには無い。レースに出なきゃ、ズルするやつ（異論はあるだろうけど）にだって勝てない。

It's funny that while Momoka's strategy is practically pity dating, it is by no means new or rare.
If you read your share of Shoujo mangas, a fake relationship that is built on contracts/oath/blackmailing turning real eventually is extremely common and the situation Momoka lures Minato into is already much better than that.
The difference is that she has the confidence to further the relationship to further her prince into liking her, which many Shoujo manga won't dare, which is an even better plus.
She has the will to make it work. Koyun doesn't. You will never win against a cheater (debatable) if you never join the race.

第2期で一番「楽しみにしてた」回。コメント欄がどれだけ荒れるか見ものだ。かわいそうなこゆん。大好きだよ。この回のラストシーンは本当に悲しい。でもすごく楽しんでもいる。

This is my most "anticipated" episode of season 2. Waiting to see how crazy the comment section will become. Poor Koyun. I love you, and the last scene of this episode is so sad. But I also enjoy it a lot.

いやもう、桃香ってほんと嫌いになりやすい

My god Momoka is just so easy to hate

うわー、桃香のノリ、まんま「みんな、私の口説きテク見せてあげる」――場面転換――「お願い、お願い、おねがい、おねがいおねがいおねがい」だったな
追記：桃香が嫌われるのは分かるけど、あの場面の俺のオレンジ頭くんはほんと臆病だった。踏ん張れよ。同情と恐れで付き合うのはやめろ。

Oh wow, Momoka really was like: "Chat, let me show how you how I rizz"- scene transition-"Please, please,plese,pls,plsplsplsp"
Edit. I can see people hating on Momoka, but my orange boy was such a coward in that scene. Stand your ground man, stop dating out of pity and fear.

桃香、あれだけ頼み込まなきゃいけなかったんだな😭　こゆんのレベルなんて夢のまた夢

Momoka really had to beg😭 couldn't even dream of being on Koyun's level

まあ、桃香はやってのけた。相手は明らかにほかの子が好きで、その子も相手を好きだと分かってるのに、やり方が悪趣味。わざわざ小雪のところへ行って自慢して見下すのは本当に腹が立った。昔から似たようなことをしてきたのに、大して学んでもいない。見逃せることもあるけど、人の彼氏を狙うのは卑怯だ。
湊が気持ちに応えてくれないことに桃香が疲れるのかどうか気になる。湊はたぶん彼氏らしいことは一通りやるけど、気持ちは伴わないし、桃香にもそれは伝わるだろう。小雪がどう動くかも楽しみ。闇の小雪が目覚めそうだしｗ
明るい話をすると、陽太が振られたことに折り合いをつけて、美姫とうまくやれてるのは良かった。

Well Momoka did it. Even though the guy clearly likes someone else, and she's aware the person likes him too, she goes about it in bad taste, the fact that she goes to Koyuki to brag about it and look down on her was infuriating. She has a history of this sort of thing but hasn't really learned much from it either, some things can be overlooked, but going after someone's boyfriend is foul.

I'm curious to see if she'll get tired of Minato not reciprocating her feelings, he'll probably go through the motions of being a boyfriend, but there won't be any feelings and she'll be able to tell. Koyuki's actions will also be interesting to see, it looks like dark Koyuki could be manifesting lol.

On the brighter side, it's nice to see Youta interacting well with Miki after having made his peace with the rejection.

うわああああああ
ラストシーンで叫んでる
こゆん😭😭

OooooMmmmmGggggggg
I’m screaming at the ending scene
Koyun 😭😭

桃香はほんとに嫌いになりやすい。二人が両想いだと知ってて、過去にも同じように人を傷つけてきたのに、自分の持ってる情報と状況の理解を使って、二人とも片思いだと思い込むように操る。二人の間にくさびを打ち込んで、欲しいものを諦めさせようとしてる。湊の罪悪感と優しい人でいたい気持ちに思いきり付け込んでチャンスをもらうやり方はすごく狡猾だし、湊から少しでも何か引き出せば、それを大げさにしてこゆんに見せつけて、こゆんを押さえつける。
正直、この作品には二人の気持ちの片方だけを知ってるキャラがやたら多いのに、両方の気持ちを知ってるのが選りに選って最悪の人物だけってのがすごい。こゆんの内気な友達が気持ちを知ってるかどうか思い出せないけど、もしかしたら助けになれるかも。
ちょっと話し合えば、この作品の問題は全部解決する。どのキャラの不安も過去の経験も、この誤解が簡単には解けずにドラマが続くよう完璧に仕込まれてる。普段はこういうすれ違いものは好きじゃないけど、それがこの作品の肝そのものだし、よく練られてるからうまく機能してる。

Momoka is so easy to hate. She knows they are mutually in love and has people she's hurt in the same way in the past and yet uses her information and understanding of the situation to manipulate both of them into thinking they have unrequited love for each other. Trying to drive a wedge between them to give up what they want. The way she manipulates Minato into giving her a chance by leaning hard on his guilt and desire to be a kind person is so devious and then every sliver she gets out of him she turns around to exaggerate and rub in Koyun's face to keep her down.
Its honestly crazy the amount of characters in this show who know the feelings of 1/2 of the both of their feelings and yet the worst possible person is the only one who knows how both of them feel. I can't remember if Koyun's shy friend knows how she feels or not but potentially she could help.
A little communication would solve all the problems in this show. Every character's insecurities and prior experiences have been perfectly set up in a way that this misunderstanding can't be easily cleared up and the drama keeps going, so while I'm not normally a fan of such misunderstanding, its also kind of the entire point of this show so it works well with how well its planned out.

桃香は当然の理由で最初から嫌いだったけど、今回で湊の臆病さも嫌になってきた。こゆんと違って、湊にはつらい恋愛の過去があるわけでもないし、いつも告白される側だったんだから、自信を持って気持ちを伝えて、大胆に行けない理由が無い。なのに、こゆんに気持ちがあるくせに、桃香の嘘泣きに同情して申し出を受けて、告白もしないまま、こゆんはそういう意味で自分を好きじゃないと決めつけてる。陽太と違って湊は大の臆病者だ。本当にこゆんに好かれてないと思ってるとしても、自分を含めて何人も傷つけるより、自分の気持ちに正直でいられるはずなのに。
それに陽太は、気持ちも無いのに女子と付き合ってきた過去を繰り返すな、距離を置けってずっと忠告してるし、第1期では陽太が美姫に告白したあと、美姫まで湊にこのことを問い詰めてた。なのに湊は学ばない。

I’ve hated Momoka from the start for obvious reasons but now this episode is starting to make me dislike Minato for how cowardly he’s been acting. He unlike Koyun has no reason to not be confident with confessing his feelings and being bold with her since he hasn’t had any traumatic past relationships and he’s always been the one to be confessed to. Yet he pity accepts Momoka’s proposal because she cried crocodile tears despite harboring feelings for Koyun and he just assumes without even confessing to her that she doesn’t like him like that. Unlike Yota, Minato is a huge coward, even if he truly thinks Koyun doesn’t like him he can still be true to his feelings instead of hurting multiple people including himself.
Also Yota keeps on warning him to put distance and not repeat the same mistakes with how he dated other girls in the past despite having no feelings for them and even Miki confronted him about this in S1 after Yota confessed to her yet he doesn’t learn his lesson.

これって、大喜が同情でヒナと付き合うIFルートってことかな？（声優とNetflixネタｗ）

I guess it is an if route of Taiki pity dating Hina? (VA and Netflix reference lol).

もう、ほんと嫌。特に『正反対な君と僕』のあとだと。あっちは10代のコミュ力がずっと高かった。自分が歳を取りすぎたのか、それともこの作品が特別イラつくのか。

God, I hate it. Especially after Polar Opposites, which featured way better communication skills in teenagers. Either I'm getting too old for this or Ramparts is especially irritating.

桃香に本物の感情なんてあると思う？　作中ずっと、みんなが演じてると本人が思ってる役を演じてるだけだよ。
誰のことも気にかけてない、自分のことすら。役だけ。狙うは獲物。獲物が誰であれ。やることは全部、人に見せるためなんだ。

Y'all think Momoko has any genuine emotions? She's basically been playing a role she thinks everyone else plays her entire existence in the show.
Cares about no one, ever herself, just the role. Eyes on the prize. Whoever the prize is. Everything she does is for other people to see.

これを毎週見るのは耐えられそうにない

I won’t be able to handle watching this weekly

エピソードについての意見にはだいたい同意だけど、新EDとその入り方について誰も話してないのがちょっと意外。2話見た感じ、雰囲気はまったく違うのに第1期と同じくらい良い。音楽に関しては、今まで見たアニメの中でも指折りだ。

I agree with most takes about the episode but I’m a little surprised no one is talking about new outro with transition- in my opinion after two episodes it is equally good as in the first season, despite being in completely different tone. When it comes to the music this is one of the best anime I’ve watched.

ねえ桃香……あと一歩だったよ！　その積極性に本気で敬意を払う寸前、|- -|これくらいまで来てたのに、もうはっきりノーって言った相手に、付き合うチャンスをくれって頼み込むなんて。もっとちゃんとしなよ！
そしてえええ湊！　この腰抜け！　やっと正しい心構えで正しい道に乗ったと思ったのに、バク転して元いた場所に戻るのかよ！？　お前こそ本物の悪い魔法使いだ！
こゆん、踏ん張れ。月子、美姫、陽太っていう史上最高の友達がいるんだから。絶対に手放すなよ！

Okay Momoka.... You almost had me! I was this |- -| close to actually having respect for your forwardness but then you went and begged for a shot at a relationship with a guy that already said NO to you. You need to do better!
Aaaaaaaaaand Minato! You spineless little fella! You were finally on a right track with the right mindset and you just decided to do a backflip and go back where you came from!? You truly are an Evil Wizard!
Hang in there Koyun, you got GAOTed friends in Tsukiko, Miki & Yota. Never let them go!

来るのは分かってたけど、それでもめちゃくちゃ腹立つ。
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

I saw it coming, but man I’m still so pissed.
(╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

今期のOP大好き

I love the OP for this season

これって結局何も起きないアニメなの？

is this going to be an anime where nothing ends up happening?

こんな状況を見て、アキネはどう思ってるんだろう。自分の姉妹と親友が、わざわざ自分から近づいて知り合った小雪に、あんなに意地悪してるんだから。

Wonder what Akine thinks seeing all of this, her sister and her best friend being very nasty towards Koyuki, whom she went out of her way to approach and made acquaintance.

告白に込めた感情的な揺さぶりの量、断られないための手回し（そして自分が「勝った」ことをこゆんに確実に知らせるところ）まで、まさに名人芸だった。

The amount of emotional manipulation she put into that confession and to ensure she didn't get rejected (and then making sure Koyun knew she "won") was a masterclass.

自分は桃香より、こゆんと湊の方に「イライラ」してる。桃香は欲しいものが分かってて、それを手に入れるために危険を冒さない理由が無いと思ってる。55年くらい前、自分はどちらかといえば内気で内向的なタイプだったけど、それでも一目で恋に落ちた女の子とはもっと話せてた。「恋人同士」にはならなかったけど、その子が婚約して、婚約者からもう俺と連絡を取るなと言われるまで、すごく親しい友達のままだった（デートみたいなお出かけもした）;-)　悲しいことに、高校卒業50周年の同窓会で故郷に帰る前の年に、その子は亡くなった。今は結婚して50年になるけど、あの複雑で、でもとても大切な関係には今でも感謝してる。

I am more "annoyed" at Koyun and Minato than at Momoka. She knows what she wants -- and she sees no reason not to risk tryoing to get it. Back 55 or so years ago, I was more the shy, introverted type -- and even I was more able to communicate with the girl I sort of instantly fell in love with. We never became "boyfriend and girlfriend" but we did remain very close friends (and went on date-like outings) until she got engaged and her fiance told her she could no longer communicate with me. 😉 Sadly, she died the year before my 50th high school reunion took me back to my original hometown. I've now been married 50 years, but I still remain grateful to that complicated but very important relationship.

マジで、腹括って意地を通すと思ったのに、そうしなかった

fr i thought he locked in and would stand on his s**t but he didnt

桃香はやっぱりアタガワ2.0だって証明したようなもんだな。

Momoka basically proved she really was Atagawa 2.0.

しかもまだ第2話なんだぜ！

And it's only episode 2!

桃香が勝ったと信じ込んで、自分こそついに湊を「手に入れた」唯一の女子だと思い込んでるのが笑える。結局は負けヒロインの運命なのが見えてるからな。
小雪が自分の気持ちを丸ごと受け止める代わりに、必要だと思い込んでる今の城壁は、誰かが大槌でぶち壊さなきゃいけなかったんだろう。それが恋のライバルに目の前でウイニングランされることだったとしても。

It's kind of funny seeing Momoka so convinced she's won and so convinced that she's the one girl to finally "get" Minato knowing she's still ultimately doomed to be a Losing Heroine.
I guess somebody needed to take a sledgehammer to Koyuki's current ramparts which she's convinced she needed rather than fully embracing her feelings, even if that's her rival in love taking a victory lap in front of her.

正直、湊が何を考えてるのか分からない。この関係がろくな終わり方をしないのはもう目に見えてる。たぶん本人も分かってる！　桃香を傷つけるだけなら、なんで言うことを聞くんだ？

Honestly, I don’t know what Minato is thinking. The writing is already on the wall: this relationship will end badly. And he probably knows it too! So why still comply with her wishes if it will only leave her hurt?

蝶野雛ルートをたどったけど、とことん押し切ったら本当に成功しちゃったってわけか。

She took the Hina Chono route but doubled down on it so much it actually worked.

略奪女プロマックス

She is homewrecker pro max

間違ってたら教えてほしいんだけど、桃香って前にも、小雪とは脈が無いって湊に思い込ませようとしてなかった？
小雪には湊への気持ちがあると知りながら、友情以上のものは無いって実質的に湊に言ってた。それは明らかに汚いやり方だ。

Correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t Momoka previously try to manipulate Minato into thinking that he had no chance with Koyuki?
She’d effectively told him that there wouldn’t be anything more in it for him than just friendship, whilst she knew that Koyuki had feelings for Minato. That’s definitely playing dirty.

思ってたよりちょっと意地悪で性格がキツい。特に湊と付き合い始めたってこゆんに言うあたりね。でもおおむね同意。今は湊に好かれてなくても、一緒に過ごすうちに愛情が育つかもしれないって望みをかけて、最後の必死の一発を撃ったことは責めない。それに湊への気持ちは本物だし、悪役だって負けヒロインにはなりたくないもんな。

She's a bit meaner/cattier than I'd like, especially with telling Koyun that she's dating Minato now, but I mostly agree. I don't blame her for shooting her last desperate shot, in the hopes that even if Minato doesn't like her now, spending time together will grow his affection for her. Plus her feelings for Minato are real, and even villains don't wanna be the losing heroine.

>正直、桃香が何か悪いことしてるとは思えない
桃香がただ欲しいものを正々堂々と追いかけてる人（例：『アオのハコ』のヒナ）なら話は別。でも湊に嘘をついて状況を操り、小雪と湊を引き離そうとした。
だから恋のために正々堂々戦ってるってわけじゃなく、汚い手を使ってるし、どうやらほかの人にも同じようなことをしてきた前歴があるみたい。
正直、桃香についてはどっちにもそこまで強い感情は無い。ただ物語上は「ライバル」より「敵役」として描かれてるってだけ。

I really don’t see Momoka doing anything wrong tbh.
I think it's one thing if Momoka was just a person going after what she wants fairly (ex: Hina from Blue Box). But she lied to Minato to manipulate the situation to push Koyuki and Minato apart.
So she's not as much playing fair for love and using underhanded tactics and now it seems she had a track record for a history of such things with other people.
I don't really feel that strongly about her either way tbh. Just narratively she is presented more in the role as an "antagonist" than a "rival".

同感。桃香を叩きまくってるコメントの多くは、人生経験ゼロなんだろうな。桃香が何をしたって？　男を好きになって、先輩に片思いをどうにかするチャンスを与えた。先輩が何もしなかったから、自分が行った。難しい話じゃない。「とりあえず試してみてよ」なんて、世界中の男が何千年も使ってきた手だ。
二人は親友同士でもなかったし、桃香が横取りしたわけでもない。親しくすらない。自分が好きな子を、ほとんど知らない男も好きだったとして、気にするか？
むしろ、先にこゆんの背中を押して先に行かせようとしたことで、「桃香は何も悪くない」が確定する。
湊とこゆんのバカさは100％本人たちの責任。一番の親友2人がちょうど同じことを経験したばかりで、話し合いのお手本があるのに、二人とも何も言わない。なんなら陽太と美姫がさりげなく聞いてみたっていい。
とはいえ、あの氷の壁を壊すには、まさにこれくらいの投石器が必要だった。これくらいの現実を突きつけられないとダメな人もいる。ただ、湊がバカやってて、こゆんがとことん冷たいのばかり見せられてるから、ちょっと急ぎすぎな気もする。実はこの作品、すごく楽しんでるよ！

I'm with you. The multitude of comments who hate on Momoko must have zero life experience. What did she do wrong? She liked a dude, gave her senpai a chance to do something about her crush, she didn't so she went for the guy. Not rocket science. "Give it a try anyway" is used by dudes all across the world for millennia.
They weren't best friends and she stole him. They aren't even close. Why would I give a s**t if the girl I liked was also liked by some dude I barely know?
If anything, the fact she gave Koyun a push 1st to get in there 1st cements the fact that "Momoko did nothing wrong"
Minato and Koyun are 100% responsible for their own stupidity. Their TWO BEST FRIENDS just went through this, they literally have a blueprint to communicate and they both say nothing. Hell, Yota and Miki could casually ask the other about it.
That being said, this is exactly the kind of catapult needed to break down those Ice Walls. Some people need this level of a reality check. Feels like they rush a little though cuz all I see is Minato being dumb and Koyun being epically cold. I'm enjoying the show a lot, actually!

そうそう、なんで桃香にこんなに憎しみが向くのか本気で分からない。わざわざこゆんに両想いだって教えてあげてるのに。陽太と美姫の件を考えると、タイミングは悪かったけどね。それに、告白を受け入れたのは完全に湊のせいじゃない？　なんで受けたのか、まったく分からない

Yeah I genuinely dont get why hatred is pointed on momokawa, when clearly she has went out of her way to tell koyun that their feelings are mutual. Sure the timing was bad considering the yota and miki case. Also isnt it completely minatos fault for accepting that confession? I just dont get why he accepted it

>原作勢がこの先何かやらかすのを知ってるっていうなら別だけど、今の時点であそこまで叩かれてる理由が分からない
断言するけど、反応は全部、該当する話が連載されたときとまったく同じだから、原作勢の偏見じゃないよ。桃香はちょっとずる賢いけど、要するに、主役カップルの進展を邪魔するライバルに恋愛ものの読者がいつも向ける敵意ってだけ。ただこの作品の場合、主役カップルはほぼ自分たちで足踏みしてるんだけどな

Unless it’s source readers that knows she’s going to do something further down, I just don’t get the level of hate she’s getting atm.
I can assure you that every reaction is 1:1 to when the equivalent chapter came out so this isn't source reader bias. She's a bit snakey but when it comes to it it's just the usual hostility romance readers feel towards perceived competition stalling the main couple, except in this case the main couple is pretty much just stalling themselves

実質、罪悪感に付け込んで付き合わせたのはちょっと気持ち悪い。しかも湊はほかの人を好きだと自覚してるし、桃香はその相手も密かに湊を好きだと知ってるんだから、なおさらひどい。
あれが正しいとは思わない。
だから、うん、賛否が分かれる意見だと思うよ。

It feels a bit gross to me that she practically guilted him into dating her, and it's even worse when you consider that he knows he loves someone else and she knows that the person he loves also secretly loves him.
I don't think she's right for doing that.
So I'm going to go with yes, that is a hot take.

二人とも嫌い。桃香は実質嘘をついてるから（こゆんが湊を好きなのを知ってて黙ってる）、湊はとんでもない臆病者だから。

I hate both of them. Her for basically lying (by omission since she knows Koyun likes him) and him for being a f*****g coward.

>追記：桃香が嫌われるのは分かるけど、あの場面の俺のオレンジ頭くんはほんと臆病だった。踏ん張れよ。同情と恐れで付き合うのはやめろ。
湊が、こゆんへの気持ちは片思いだと思ってる（桃香もそう思うように仕向けた）のも良くないと思う。だったら断る理由がある？　気持ちが入ってないってこと以外にはね。でもこのままだと、それが二人に跳ね返ってくるだろう。

Edit. I can see people hating on Momoka, but my orange boy was such a coward in that scene. Stand your ground man, stop dating out of pity and fear.
I don't think it helps that he (and Momoka made sure he was aware of) thinks that his feelings for Koyun are unerquited so what reason does he have to refuse? Other than his heart not being in it, but that's going to blowback against both of them at this rate.

湊は桃香を傷つけたくないし、どのみち小雪は自分を好きじゃないと桃香に思い込まされた。なのに、こゆんが本当は自分を好きで、ほんの数か月前に二人の間に割り込んできた赤の他人をなだめるために、一番好きな人を傷つけることになる、という可能性は思いつきもしない。たとえ好かれてないと思ってるにしても、湊の目標はこゆんとの距離を縮めることだったはず。同情からだとしても彼女がいれば、女友達との間には距離ができるものだ。

Minato doesn't want to hurt Momoka and she convinced him that Koyuki doesn't like him anyway, yet he can't fathom the scenario where Koyun really does like him and he ends up hurting the person he likes the most just to appease this stranger who wormed her way in between them just a few months ago. Even if he thinks she doesn't like him back, his goal was to decrease the distance between the two of them and having a girlfriend even one out of pity is going to create distance between you and your female friends.

こゆんは心を守るために、城壁を一つずつしっかり積み上げてきた……それを桃香が完全にぶっ壊したのかもしれない。

She had carefully put her ramparts together piece by secure piece to protect her heart...and Momoka may have utterly demolished that.

理屈で言えば、本気で誰かと付き合いたい、一緒にいたいと思う人なら、桃香みたいにあそこまでやるのも厭わないと思う。チャンスをもらうためだけに、好きな人が自分を断る理由を全部理屈で消していくっていうのもね。

I feel like logically anyone who really wanted to date with/be someone would be willing to go to the lengths Momoka did and basically rationalize away all the reasons the person they like had to reject them if only so they could get a chance.

桃香は自分の少女漫画の物語だと思ってるけど、実はこゆんのラブコメドラマなんだよな！

Momoka thinks this is her Shoujo story when in fact its Koyun's romcom drama!

桃香みたいに、あからさまに敵対的でずる賢い恋のライバルがアニメに出てくるのは久しぶりな気がする。

Kind of feels like it's been a while since we've had such an overtly antagonistic/devious love rival like Momoka in an anime.

それに、桃香がどれだけ頑張っても、湊のほかの交際と同じ終わり方をするのは目に見えてる。

And it's obviously going to end like all his other relationships no matter how hard Momoka tries.

それな。意地を通すべきだったけど、昔からの癖はなかなか抜けないってことか。

This, he should have stood on business but old habits die hard I guess.

うん、これで今後メインカップルを応援するのは難しくなりそう。
桃香はクズだけど、湊は臆病者。どうでもいい相手を傷つけるのが怖すぎて、好きなはずの人を打ちのめしたんだから。

Yeah, after this I think it will be hard to root for the main pairing going forward.
Momoka is trash, but Minato is a coward. So afraid to hurt someone he doesn't care about that he crushed someone he supposedly loves.

こゆんはただの「障害物」のはずなのに、桃香は機会があるたびに、わざわざこゆんに自分の気持ちや湊との関係を見せつけずにいられないのがちょっと笑える。
まあ、桃香はこゆんに、止めたり反対したりするための何かを言う・する機会をいくらでも与えてたのに、こゆんは何もしなかった、とも言えるけど。

It's kind of funny how Koyun was just an "obstacle" but Momoka still couldn't help but go out of her way to air out her feelings/relationship status with Minato at every opportunity towards her.
Though I guess you could say that Momoka gave Koyun every opportunity to say/do anything to stop or oppose her and Koyun didn't do anything.

自分の見方だと、アキネと桃香の友情は、どっちかといえば桃香がアキネのサッカー部のつながりを利用してる感じ。桃香はこゆんに取り入ったあとアキネを切った（そのあとアキネは、前期の電車での壁ドンの場面で、桃香のことをこゆんに警告しようとした）。

The way i see it, Akine and Momoka's friendship is more Momoka using Akine's football club connections. After Momoka latched on to Koyun she dropped Akine (after which Akine tried to warn Koyun about Momoka, last season with the kabedon on the train).

桃香の頭の中では、自分が自分の物語のメインヒロインで、勝つためなら何でもするつもりなんだ。

In Momoka's head she's the Main Heroine of her own story and is willing to do anything to win.

桃香は本当にアタガワ2.0だった。打算的で、何か得られるからこそこゆんに友好的で優しくしてたところまで、そっくりそのまま。

Momoka really was Atagawa 2.0 right down to only acting friendly/nice to Koyun because she was being calculating and could get something out of it.

何も悪くないってどういう意味？　こゆんを傷つけるためだけに湊を操ったんだぞ。

Wdym she did nothing wrong. She manipulated Minato just to hurt Koyun.

桃香はこゆんが湊を好きなのを知ってる。で、湊を説得する理屈は全部、湊の恋は報われないんだから自分と試してみればいい、ってところが軸になってる。その事実を隠してる以上、湊を操ってるんだよ。恋は駆け引きだと言うのは自由だけど、何も悪くないとはほど遠い。

She knows Koyun likes Minato. And her whole argument to convince Minato is centered around his love not being corresponded so he should give her a try. By hiding this knowledge she IS manipulating him. You can say it's fair game, but that's far from nothing wrong.

同意できない。前期の終わりは同じことを考えてたけど、今の桃香は間違いなく悪い。まず、湊が自分をそういう意味で好きじゃないのは分かってる。一回の会話で2回も断られてるんだから。次に、こゆんへの当てつけでやってるだけに見える。全然親しくもないのに、わざわざ会って湊への気持ちを伝えたり。こゆんが本気出さなきゃいけないのは同意、ずっと引いてたからね。でも今の桃香はただ間違ってて悪意がある。湊を操ってこゆんに好かれてないと思わせて、こゆんにも、湊が好きだと伝えることで、身を引かなきゃ悪い友達になるように仕向けた。

I disagree, I was thinking the same at the end of last season but now she is definitely in the wrong. First she knows minato doesn't even like her like that because he turned her down like twice in ONE CONVERSATION. Secondly it seems like she only doing this to spite koyun, meeting up with her to tell her how she feels about him even though they aren't close at all. I do agree koyun gotta locked in she was standing back but now that momoka is just wrong and has ill intent. she manipulating minato into thinking koyun doesn't like him and also manipulating koyun by telling her that she likes minato making it so that koyun would have to step back from him or she would be a bad friend.
MOMOKA K FOR LIFE

桃香のことはどう言おうと勝手だけど、受け身でコミュニケーションを取らないキャラが報いを受けるのは好き。
どんどん苦悩させてくれ。

Say what you will about Momoka, I like it when the characters are punished for being passive and non-communicative.
Bring on the angst.

今回、桃香が出てくる場面は全部ゾワッとした

Every single part with momoka made my skin crawl this episode

今夜：桃香が今期このサブレで一番嫌われる女子になる。

Tonight: Momoka becomes the most hated girl of the subreddit this season.

ｗ　何で湊が叩かれてるの？　ずっと好きで、誰も期待できないくらい頑張って振り向いてもらおうとして、しかも断られてるのに。
湊を嫌うなら、小雪と桃香も同じくらい嫌うべきだろ

Lol why is he getting hated when he has been in love and put way more effort into getting her to take notice of him than anyone can expect while also getting rejected..
If you hate Minato, you should hate Koyuki and Momoka equally

いや、トラウマを抱えたキャラたちのせいで事態が深刻になって、ちゃんと結果が伴うアニメだよ。小雪が湊を押しのけ続けるのは簡単に許されがちだけど、理屈で言えば高校生の恋愛なんてそこまで重いものじゃない。桃香が言ってたように、小雪は受け身で待つ人で、世界が自分に合わせてくれるなんて期待できない。しかも、ただ待ってるだけじゃなく、拒むことでマイナスの努力までしてる

No it is an anime where s**t gets real and consequences happen because the characters are traumatized. It is easy to excuse Koyuki for continuously pushing Minato away, but logically speaking in high school dating is not that serious. As Momoka said Koyuki is a passive waiter, she can't expect the world to cater to her. And it is not that she just waits she puts negative effort with her rejections

最初のところ、完全に筋が通ってない？　女子を傷つけたくないんだから、あとで傷つけることになると言われても、受け入れた以上、今は真剣に考えて桃香の気持ちに応えればいいだけ、って決められるんじゃない？
それに小雪は第1期の1話から、湊を遠ざけるためにありとあらゆる言い訳を使ってきたと思う。

The first part, doesn't it make perfect sense. He doesn't want to hurt girls, so even when he is being told it hurts them later, can't he decide that all he has to do now is to seriously consider and return Momoka's feelings after accepting it?
And I think Koyuki has used every, literally every excuse possible to push away Minato since ep 1 season 1.

桃香は性悪だけどかわいい。でも、なぜか嫌いになれない

Momoka an evil cute bitch but i just can't bring myself to hate her for some reason

なるほど、それは一理ある。桃香はタイミングにつけ込んだけど、主役二人にもそれぞれ問題がある。こゆんがあんな感じだと、脈があると思える男子なんていないだろうし、湊は昔ぐいぐい行きすぎて気持ち悪いと言われたせいで、その一線を越えるのが怖いんだ

Oh that is valid. MOMOKA took advantage of the timing but our leads have their own issues, Koyun was the way she is I don't think any guy would think he has a chance and Minato's past of pushing too much and being called disgusting plays in his fear of going beyond that breaking point

『アオのハコ』のヒナのダーク版だな。

She's the dark version of Hina from Blue Box.