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The word that foremost leaps to mind while reading chapter 136 is: retcon. It's been a while since I've gone on a rant...
We learned that Chiyo and Igarshi were childhood friends right from the get-go in the Prologue.
We learned that Chiyo knew Ookuma in Middle School in Chapter 14.
We learned that Miyu knew, and was an actual High School classmate of Shishijima in Chapter 18.
But not once in the previous 136 chapters has it ever been mentioned, hinted at, nor implied that Chiyo and Yuna were High Scool classmates.
I am very disappointed in Coco for this shoe-horned backstory. In the normal course of events over the period of almost a year that they have been a couple, you would have expected Chiyo to mention to Igarashi, at least once, that she and Yuna were High School classmates. But, no, she didn't because, for all intents and purposes, they weren't until Chapter 136. When the conversation turned to High School classmates back in chapter 18, why wasn't the fact that Chiyo and Yuna had also been classmates mentioned? Duh?
Perhaps it's been so long since Coco started this story that she keeps forgetting things. She forgot the actual date of Chiyo's birthday (stated as January 7th in chapter 27, but restated as January 6th in chapter 125). It also seems that Coco has forgotten that she had Yuna eavesdrop on Chiyo and Ookuma's conversation in chapter 71, so Yuna should already know that Ookuma is a jerk and had treated Chiyo badly.
And it still really pisses me off that Igarashi is being played the fool by both his girlfriend and his "friend. "
We learned that Chiyo knew Ookuma in Middle School in Chapter 14.
We learned that Miyu knew, and was an actual High School classmate of Shishijima in Chapter 18.
But not once in the previous 136 chapters has it ever been mentioned, hinted at, nor implied that Chiyo and Yuna were High Scool classmates.
I am very disappointed in Coco for this shoe-horned backstory. In the normal course of events over the period of almost a year that they have been a couple, you would have expected Chiyo to mention to Igarashi, at least once, that she and Yuna were High School classmates. But, no, she didn't because, for all intents and purposes, they weren't until Chapter 136. When the conversation turned to High School classmates back in chapter 18, why wasn't the fact that Chiyo and Yuna had also been classmates mentioned? Duh?
Perhaps it's been so long since Coco started this story that she keeps forgetting things. She forgot the actual date of Chiyo's birthday (stated as January 7th in chapter 27, but restated as January 6th in chapter 125). It also seems that Coco has forgotten that she had Yuna eavesdrop on Chiyo and Ookuma's conversation in chapter 71, so Yuna should already know that Ookuma is a jerk and had treated Chiyo badly.
And it still really pisses me off that Igarashi is being played the fool by both his girlfriend and his "friend. "
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@FredFriendly
Wow, you've got a great memory. Thanks for all the translation and the background information.
Wow, you've got a great memory. Thanks for all the translation and the background information.
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@FredFriendly - Just because her knowing Nagatsuki since highschool hasn't been brought up until now, doesn't mean that it's a retcon.
Also, just because Nagatsuki didn't put 2 and 2 together, also doesn't mean retcon. Learn what retcon is.
Also, just because Nagatsuki didn't put 2 and 2 together, also doesn't mean retcon. Learn what retcon is.
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@FredFriendly
You seem to have confusedly used the term retcon to describe what Coco-sensei used in this chapter and in a previous transgression. I'm gonna have to correct you here, for I am a fan of Warhammer 40k, and trust me when I tell you that I know what true retcon is and the pain it brings. Bear with me cuz this is gonna be a long one.
Anyways, let's start by a simple description: a retcon is a tool used when the author decides to change a previously established part pf the story, either to more properly fit his current vision, because it was a bad idea and the new one is much better or because he/she no longer likes it. In any case, a retcon is something that can be told immediately, because it directly contradicts the past. There's also something called a revision, which is when the author adds new element to a backstory in posterior work that doesn't contradict any previous information but still changes our comprehension of it.
What happened here and what you previously described were not retcons, but something else that comes rather close to it:
[ol]1)Chiyo and Yuna being classmates in high school not being mentioned at any previous moment in the story is not a retcon or even a revision, but a simple late information drop/withholding. It would have been a revision if it had been previously said that they knew each other from long ago and it was, at that moment, interpreted as them knowing each other from another moment other than highschool and it would have been a retcon if it had been stated that they met for the first time in college; the author simply never said anything about when they met and only mentioned it now with the flashback.
2)The eavesdrop is not a retcon either, but a simple case of the friend forgetting about it or simply not paying proper attention to it, she was too gaga over her prince to delve on Chiyo apparently knowing Ookuma from her past, not to mention that she doesn't know all the details nor do we know what was it that she actually heard. It would have been a retcon if she had decided to not trust the guy or if it had, in any way, changed her perception of any of the two people; she simply buried it in a corner of her mind, had her vagina take over and invited the hunk for a date. In the worst of cases, the author just forgot about the eavesdrop and didn't let it affect the story, but still didn't retcon it.
3)As for the birthday changes... well, that was a retcon without a shadow of a doubt. I gotta give you kudos for actually remember such a small detail though, it would have simply gone past me hadn't you mentioned it.[/ol]
As for Igarashi... the poor guy is the buttmonkey #1 of this story, so get used to it; as long as there are no malicious intent behind the actions I say give them a bit of a leeway. They're not hiding it to harm him, make fun of him or to save their own hides, but because mentioning it would cause unnecessary drama and they don't think it's something that needs to be said at this point; them meeting this often is a matter of unfortunate events being played out for the sake of the story, in real life it's more likely that they wouldn't ever meet again after Igarashi gets a new job.
You seem to have confusedly used the term retcon to describe what Coco-sensei used in this chapter and in a previous transgression. I'm gonna have to correct you here, for I am a fan of Warhammer 40k, and trust me when I tell you that I know what true retcon is and the pain it brings. Bear with me cuz this is gonna be a long one.
Anyways, let's start by a simple description: a retcon is a tool used when the author decides to change a previously established part pf the story, either to more properly fit his current vision, because it was a bad idea and the new one is much better or because he/she no longer likes it. In any case, a retcon is something that can be told immediately, because it directly contradicts the past. There's also something called a revision, which is when the author adds new element to a backstory in posterior work that doesn't contradict any previous information but still changes our comprehension of it.
What happened here and what you previously described were not retcons, but something else that comes rather close to it:
[ol]1)Chiyo and Yuna being classmates in high school not being mentioned at any previous moment in the story is not a retcon or even a revision, but a simple late information drop/withholding. It would have been a revision if it had been previously said that they knew each other from long ago and it was, at that moment, interpreted as them knowing each other from another moment other than highschool and it would have been a retcon if it had been stated that they met for the first time in college; the author simply never said anything about when they met and only mentioned it now with the flashback.
2)The eavesdrop is not a retcon either, but a simple case of the friend forgetting about it or simply not paying proper attention to it, she was too gaga over her prince to delve on Chiyo apparently knowing Ookuma from her past, not to mention that she doesn't know all the details nor do we know what was it that she actually heard. It would have been a retcon if she had decided to not trust the guy or if it had, in any way, changed her perception of any of the two people; she simply buried it in a corner of her mind, had her vagina take over and invited the hunk for a date. In the worst of cases, the author just forgot about the eavesdrop and didn't let it affect the story, but still didn't retcon it.
3)As for the birthday changes... well, that was a retcon without a shadow of a doubt. I gotta give you kudos for actually remember such a small detail though, it would have simply gone past me hadn't you mentioned it.[/ol]
As for Igarashi... the poor guy is the buttmonkey #1 of this story, so get used to it; as long as there are no malicious intent behind the actions I say give them a bit of a leeway. They're not hiding it to harm him, make fun of him or to save their own hides, but because mentioning it would cause unnecessary drama and they don't think it's something that needs to be said at this point; them meeting this often is a matter of unfortunate events being played out for the sake of the story, in real life it's more likely that they wouldn't ever meet again after Igarashi gets a new job.
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@VladDracul2: Thank you for the time and effort you needlessly sacrificed to educate me regarding the term retcon. I will say it again, "The word that foremost leaps to mind while reading chapter 136 is: retcon."
As you may know, doing an Internet search for "retcon definition" will return myriad of definitions, mostly all very similar. Whether or not what Coco has done with the story is a retcon is actually irrelevant to the rest of my comments*, although the definition of retcon from tvtropes.org sure sounds like what she has done here:
Reframing past events to serve a current plot need. The ideal retcon clarifies a question alluded to without adding excessive new questions. In its most basic form, this is any plot point that was not intended from the beginning. The most preferred use is where it contradicts nothing, even though it was changed later on.
Although I cannot deny that your comments could certainly be the reality of the situation, it is also certainly possible that Coco only recently decided to make Chiyo and Yuna High School classmates "to serve a current plot need," at the same time ignoring the fact that Yuna eavesdropped on Chiyo and Ookuma for that same plot need. If it's the former, I consider it piss-poor story telling, if the latter, well, that's also piss-poor story telling.
*Although shoe-horning a back-story about a couple of the main characters 137 chapters into a manga is not technically a retcon if it does not clinically contradict anything previously mentioned, hinted at, or implied, this particular back-story, at least for me, was quite a surprise and seemed to come out of nowhere. Why now? Why all of a sudden did Coco decide to tell us that Chiyo and Yuna were High School classmates? The only reason I can think of is to enhance the plausibility of how the story will unfold from here on out.
As for Chiyo keeping Igarashi and Yuna in the dark as to her prior interactions with Ookuma, I hope it comes back to bite her in the ass really hard some day, but I doubt it will as that doesn't seem to be the way things work in Japan, or at least not in the manga I've read. Karma doesn't seem to be a concept that occurs to many mangaka.
Reframing past events to serve a current plot need. The ideal retcon clarifies a question alluded to without adding excessive new questions. In its most basic form, this is any plot point that was not intended from the beginning. The most preferred use is where it contradicts nothing, even though it was changed later on.
Although I cannot deny that your comments could certainly be the reality of the situation, it is also certainly possible that Coco only recently decided to make Chiyo and Yuna High School classmates "to serve a current plot need," at the same time ignoring the fact that Yuna eavesdropped on Chiyo and Ookuma for that same plot need. If it's the former, I consider it piss-poor story telling, if the latter, well, that's also piss-poor story telling.
*Although shoe-horning a back-story about a couple of the main characters 137 chapters into a manga is not technically a retcon if it does not clinically contradict anything previously mentioned, hinted at, or implied, this particular back-story, at least for me, was quite a surprise and seemed to come out of nowhere. Why now? Why all of a sudden did Coco decide to tell us that Chiyo and Yuna were High School classmates? The only reason I can think of is to enhance the plausibility of how the story will unfold from here on out.
As for Chiyo keeping Igarashi and Yuna in the dark as to her prior interactions with Ookuma, I hope it comes back to bite her in the ass really hard some day, but I doubt it will as that doesn't seem to be the way things work in Japan, or at least not in the manga I've read. Karma doesn't seem to be a concept that occurs to many mangaka.
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