actually it feels like there was sex. those words "i greeted the morning remaining awake". it's not shown but it was totally there.
I agree with you that the story was well finished, and that you can see where their relationship is going. And that another chapter will most likely defeat the whole purpose.
But at the same time, on a personal level, I can't help but want to actually see their relationship develop. I would like it to be canon. But I also understand that this story is better left alone. It's quite good as it is, and such a complex relationship won't thrive if developed in a one shot.
It's not the need for sex, since there are Shounen ai with way better stories and development than most Yaois I have read. Is just a fault of mine always wanting a closure for everything. I don't think is open ended or anything. It's pretty explicit , as much as it can be a one shot with such complexity. And that's what makes it great
Normally, I agree with you, but I didn't see closure in their relationship at all. Nor did I see implied sex. I saw a kiss and a waffler. Wafflers waffle, they can't make up their mind until someone else does it for them. I never trust a waffler, because just when you think they have come to a decision, they change their mind. Even if the story remained devoid of a sex scene, this still needs more and it had both the potential and the ambiguous ending for it. It likely did poorly in surveys and was stopped at a one shot.
If there had been a bit more internal monologue from the MC describing his feelings about the secondary protagonist being something he felt definitive on, perhaps I would have related to the MC more. It is one thing to be indecisive about inheriting an estate, a title and all the responsibilities that go with it, but being indecisive about your feelings for someone... well, that is just stringing them along and that's a shitty thing to do. To me, it felt like the secondary protagonist would be waiting another eight years and another and another, until something happened to force "Waffle Boy" to either make a decision or have it taken out of his hands completely.
As for the sex... Am I a bad fujoshi if, unless I am in the mood, I skim through the sex scenes since 90% are sfx and lightsaber/invisible dicks? If I am reading shounen ai I'm even worse. I start speed reading at the kiss. That said, I still can usually tell where the implied sex scene was. Here, I saw a passionate kiss and the the MC says that *I* had a sleepless night, not *we*. Implying not that they had sex, but that he sat up all night overthinking and waffling. I could be wrong, since my waffling was as implied as your sex and neither was mentioned later in the subsequent scenes. We both put 2 and 2 together and got different answers, which tells me the scene had a poor/ambiguous segue.
Like you, I prefer closure in a story. I am rarely the type to imagine what happens after The End. I don't feel like that is my job as a reader. That is the writer's job and when they don't do it, it feels like the writer is either incompetent or lazy. However, there are stories that I have read with open endings that fit the mood of the story and I loved them. This wasn't one of those and it all comes back to the waffler. There is no character growth for the waffler. When an indecisive character makes a definitive decision, that is character growth, but you have to show that decision. Whether it is done through internal monologue, dialogue or exposition, it has to be shown. Otherwise, it didn't happen. Now, we have no closure and no character growth. The only thing left to lose would be the plot and this writer would have hit the trifecta. That said, I can't be too hard on this mangaka. This is a one shot and the chances that this mangaka had more planned for this story, but was cut short by personal reasons or their publisher, are pretty high. This story had the potential for, and an ending that hinted at, so much more to come.
I know this comment was left 2 years ago, but I always enjoy or discussions and I hope my reply encourages you to read this story again in order to debate my thoughts with me. I love hearing your thoughts and having you change my mind. LOL
*I also love the word "waffle"! It is a noun, a verb AND a delicious breakfast pastry! LMAO*
Ok, I can get the "why" but I don't get why so many readers think like that.
I would find lovely if the mangaka decided to write another chapter, but I think this is good as it is.
Not every story has to have a totally closed ending, nor always is a good idea to tell every little detail. How come so many people don't have enough imagination to feel dissapointed when not given all the information? Maybe you don't see the two together living a happy life, but it's completely obvious how it ends... confirmation is not needed.
Some can be unpleased because there is not sex, well this is a shounen ai not a yaoi, and there's not always sex in shounen ai so... totally unreasonable.
I could keep going, but it's not a matter of explanations. The thing with oneshots is that as short as they are a lot of people is pleased with them and as many people as them feel the exact opposite.
The "fault" in this oneshot is not being vague and short, open-ending or too short even if promising, the real "fault" is that some readers want the same as always, for mangas to go the way they want, and when some -like this one- it's a little different from others they don't like them. A pity, I found this to be a beautiful story with realistic characters :D