My point though is that you talk about all of that as if it’s some sort of chore.

To me, it’s a lot of the fun.

I rarely even get to the point of having to stop and weigh choices in my inventory, since every time I come across something new, I have to stop and check it out and try to figure out what it is and what it does and what sort of advantages or disadvantages it might have. I enjoy that. So all along the way, I’m figuring out what I want to or think I should keep and what I want to or think I can get rid of, and not because a finite inventory demands it, but because that’s part of the point of playing in the first place.

Broadly, you’re asking if other people actually invest the time and energy to sort out how to play complex games. I’m saying that we not only can and do, but that that’s a lot of the point. That whole process of sorting things out is a lot of the reason that we play in the first place.

Yeah - I just jump in and wing it.

At the risk of inviting the internet’s wrath, when people talk about the difference between serious gamers and casuals, this is the sort of thing they’re talking about.

“Serious” gaming involves a particular set of skills and interests, such that the person is willing and able to just jump into some complicated new game and figure it out. And it’s not just that “serious” gamers can do that - the point is that they want to. They enjoy it. They enjoy being lost, then slowly putting the pieces together and figuring out how things work and getting better because they’ve figured it out. And they enjoy the details - learning which skills do what and which items do what, and how it all interrelates. All that stuff isn’t some chore to be avoided - it’s a lot of the point - a lot of the reason that they (we) play games.

You talk about your inventory filling up and then just selling everything, and I can’t even imagine doing that. To me, that’s not just obviously bad strategy, but entirely missing the point - like buying ingredients to make delicious food, then bringing them home and throwing them in the garbage.

That panel with their hair blowing back made me lol.

Ah… that was worth waiting for.

Just ran across this one and thought it was pretty good.

And it’s especially notable for being just light and fluffy and amusing, since the mangaka’s other works are… not. At all. Even the tiniest bit.

And this surprisingly awesome manga continues to defy expectations.

I was expecting more about the other members, and specifically Rei, since she’s gotten enough focus to be recognizable. I was not expecting fujoshi though - not even for a second.

And another person with expectations for Ri-chan to defy…

Yeah - look at the face she’s making at the top left.

There’s a lot of dere under her tsun.

I think we can safely assume that we’re going to be seeing a lot more of those two women at the community center - they’re too detailed to be throwaway characters. And I’m looking forward to it - Ri-chan with an ara-ara onee-chan and a little, sharp-eyed tsundere should be good.

Those last two panels were subtle but nicely done. It took me a minute, and a bit of zooming, to figure them out.

I’m pretty sure they’re meant to illustrate Ri-chan’s perception of the world changing - going from dark and simple and vague to light and complex and detailed, as she figuratively comes out of the dark and into the light.

I suspect a lot of us can relate. I know I can.

That was quite the info-dump.

I was sort of curious what was going to happen to this. Early on, it looked like the overarching plot line was going to be the search for Aki’s dad and the question of whether or not she’d be able to kill him if they found him and he was a kairi. But then they did and he was and she did and that was that.

So then… what next?

And I guess we just found out. Sort of. Though I have no idea where it’s headed next, other than, apparently, winter.

Yep - glasses guy did it, and that’s a lot of what this has all been about. I was pretty sure of that.

So has Chiaki manipulated Kouhei into this road trip for her purposes? Or is it something that Kouhei unconsciously did for her benefit? He does apparently have suppressed memories of her, so it’s possible he’s effectively tricked himself into helping her.

Odd twist that it’s even the same car. I’m not sure what to make of that.

I didn’t expect that. At least not so soon.

It’s a good sign though - I take it to mean that it’s going to focus on real issues of building a relationship rather than the typical manga bullshit of not even communicating in the first place.

And I’m looking forward to the next brain cell board meeting.

I love the brain cell board meetings.

This manga just impresses the hell out of me.

It was already good when it was self-published, but all we really saw then were scenes between Urumin and Kimiya at and after concerts. But then when it got serialized, instead of just redoing the existing chapters, the mangaka took the opportunity to basically start all over and flesh it out, and it’s so much better.

It’s especially neat that we’ve learned why and how it is that the rest of the group tolerates her clumsiness. And it’s made it so that instead of Kimiya being inexplicably obsessed with this idol with no apparent redeeming qualities, it’s Kimiya recognizing, just as her friends, fellow idols and family do, how adorable she really is underneath that awkward exterior.

Good stuff.

Even the mandrakes mock him.

Saw that coming.

It’s a neat trick - an amusing and effective way to illustrate internalized struggles. It sort of reminds me of B Gata H Kei’s personified “sex gods.”

That was adorable.

Presumably, yes. It’s scheduled to end next month.

And her goal is now his goal too, so it’s just a matter of him saying it out loud.