dude rereading this after so long, what did aqua mean (vol.2 chap.9) when he explicitly sa...

Lol I'm not sure if you still care, and take my words with a grain of salt since I didn't read the raws, but it might be a difference in language structure / inability to convey what the story means through translation.

Japanese can be a more subtle language than English, with one small but interesting example being the English translation of japanese song LUVORATORRRRRY!, where japanese fans clarify that the song doesn't have that much of a sexual meaning despite the English translation, acknowledging that the straightforward nature of the English language is the reason for this difference.

Coming back to this manga, according to my experience, the prince could have likely said "欲しい" meaning "want", which is a perfectly normal sentence in a japanese dialogue, as japanese is not that strict with the subject verb object combo.

It normally implies "I want" but the object is subtly referenced to with context. Here, the translator could translate the sentence to "I want it" or "I want her" depending on their interpretation, and they chose "I want her".

For me, I would have chosen "I want it" as according to the context, I feel that the prince wants the powers of the princess, not the princess herself. Technically 欲しい could convey more of a "I wish I could have it" sorta meaning but again, I didn't read the raws so I can't say for sure.

The translator choosing "I want her" is also an understandable interpretation if they want to convey a more possessive, blood boiling meaning. I feel that it's not really suitable for the ml and fl's fluffy rls, but translators do have it hard needing to choose between things like this, especially since japanese is much different from English compared to other alphabetized languages.

In the end, some things will always be lost in translation, and nothing beats reading in the original language :D

i understand that there’s no easy way of translating some japanese phrases but then right after saying what he said “i want that”, the next chapter he’s like oohhh don’t worry i actually never cared about akari’s powers my love for you is all that matters…. why would the author even bother with adding that scene. no matter if he meant it as “i want her” or “i want that,” even wishfully thinking he had those powers, why was he concerned with the political power of acquiring akari or her power if one chapter later, he brushes it off. i think my frustration lies in making the fl stressed and insecure for no reason, to give the illusion of a conflict but for aqua to then reassure her in a second because he “never wanted akari in that way.” we know he never did but why did the writing make it seem that way… i’m not so bothered with the language but with why that scene was necessary in the first place. i guess it’s to keep the manga going because despite how much of a green flag and reassuring the ml is, the story has to give the fl something to be insecure about or stress over every single chapter.

Icic, personally I do think that without that scene, the story honestly wouldn't be affected at all. Coz that specific scene is basically just an internal monologue from Aqua about how he views the situation, right? Akari isn’t aware of this scene from her perspective, so the "illusion of conflict" would still be there, and she would still be insecure whether this scene existed or not. So while I agree that the overall story tends to give the FL something to stress over in every chapter, I see this particular scene a bit differently. I don't think it was meant to add to her inner conflict, it feels more like it was included just for the readers’ insight, although the readers don't really need it anyways since we all know aqua is gonna choose the fl.

Although we could say that the main reason for that scene is just to "reassure" readers that aqua will choose the fl, I think that maybe why the author specifically chose to add this "I want her" sentence is to connect back to the original game’s storyline and to explain why Aqua would have been drawn to the rival character in the first place. The story places emphasis on the idea of fate being “undeniable,” so perhaps this moment is meant to highlight Aqua's act of defying that fate. Like yes aqua is interested in the rival, and would have followed the plot of the original game because of "fate", but because of the existence of the FL he didn't choose that predetermined path.

However, I must say that the paragraph above is me playing the devil's advocate. I think we can both agree that the story telling in this manga is on the more amateurish side. Although there is a logical flow of events and there were some uniquely creative points, it is quite straightforward with 2-dimensional character writing, leading to quite a boring story. Some aspects of the story felt like something that even a 14yo Wattpad writer could write.

The "undefiable fate" part could even seen as a plothole, since the author didn't even follow through on this aspect of the setting. So perhaps this scene just wasn't thought out well and failed to convey it's intended meaning clearly, or was just added for the sake of it, like a filler scene.

But honestly this is just my 2 cents haha, I'll probably not come back to read this manga anymore coz of the subpar writing. Honestly I also thought that scene was icky when I first saw it, but I didn't bother dwelling on it for too long and accepted it as shitty writing. It was nice talking to you tho! (=・ω・=)

it was nice talking to you too! your insight is honestly appreciated. i think i know what you mean when the story wants to hammer in that “undeniable fate” plot point but chose a really nonsensical scene to display that. aqua doesn’t even get involved with the first game’s heroine, so it doesn’t make sense for akari to be a point of contention between the ml and fl. the manga had plenty of opportunities to show that aqua can stray away from his fate with the second arc that takes place in his home kingdom. i used to love this manga but on a reread a few years later, the writing is verryy subpar in contrast to other otome isekai stories (￣▽￣)