Randomowy

I wanna know how your opinion changes when you're up to date.

Wrote you an essay, I apologize in advance ٩(๑❛ᴗ❛๑)۶

I’m up to date so I can answer now hahah. It became such a mess after a certain point that I don’t really care about the endgame anymore to be honest, I’ll just be there for a ride to witness what goes down.

1. The main character is super unpredictable. I was cutting her some slack in the beginning. She was obviously a very lonely person and she longed for connection, so her getting attached too quickly and trying so hard to fight for affection was quite understandable. But after a while, she should have started to make up her mind and learn from her experiences. She saw how her indecisiveness hurts other people, yet she still sways the way wind blows. At this point Sett technically should be the endgame - she’s starting to view him romantically, as evident by her reactions to him, and she even confessed. But with Nina you just never know, she may suddenly feel pity for Az and the dynamic may change again. It became tiering after a certain point. Her being goody-two-shoes and trying to help everyone, started to bring harm to everyone around her - which is quite ironic.
2. That being said, her character is very pitiful. I cried watching her suffer through her banishment and watching her cute naive values collapse. And that brings me to Az. I also find his character quite tragic. Growing up without purpose, finding one person you care about, sacrificing everything and yourself to make that person happy, even turning yourself into a villain in the process - guy can’t catch a break. BUT the fuck did he think he was doing during the whole banishment arc? I get it, getting your feelings undermined and doubting them when faced with some outer-worldly power is understandable. But what was he thinking, bringing Nina into the danger in the first place? Why did he bring her back, knowing that the temple is suspicious and may cause harm to her? With no plan whatsoever. And then, again - knowing that there might be a real villain hiding among the star priestesses people, he trusted what they said about Nina manipulating his feelings, started to avoid her when she was in trouble and pain because HE failed to protect her, and then just banished her? Let her wander around, possibly to her doom? Betting everything on the fact that Sett is going to save her and she will somehow survive until then? What if he didn’t? That was such a peculiar arc. Crazy to claim to do everything for a person and almost destroying that person in a process. I think his feelings of doubt and whatnot were valid, but he still did a horrible thing to Nina because of that doubt. And even before he started to doubt his own feelings - his plan, or lack thereof, was just dangerous and reckless. I feel bad for him, I like him, and I think that up to a certain point, he was a much better fit for Nina but now I don’t really want to see them together.
3. Sett… He really did come through for Nina and I think all readers, no matter their initial or favorite pairing, appreciate him for it. Love his patience, growth and whatnot. But I just can’t see him as the same character anymore??? And it’s note because of his self-development. After that weird shut-in arc, he never quite came back to being his old self. Went from a very expressive, blunt and distinct character to a stoic, quiet type. In my mind, it’s just a completely different person so I find it hard to root for him the same way I did for original Sett lol. It’s just that their dynamic, that I found so endearing, changed. On the one hand it’s much healthier, on the other hand much less fun, I miss the bickering, the boldness. It’s just meh. You can make a relationship healthier without changing it completely.

So yeah. I was hoping to get a favorite but I guess being indifferent is still kinda a win? I don’t root for anyone in particular because I don’t excessively like any of the characters at this point. I just understand each of them in a way and accept why they might do things the way they do. But deep inside I do hope she will stick to Sett (unless the author pulls out something as outrageous as what Az did, that would maybe turn the tables). It’d be very unfair if after his growth, patience and the hope she gave him, she somehow turned her back on him to go back to her first love.

Jajaja I love this! Read your essay. Well written and expressed. Thank God I love to read! Agree with you in basically everything you said. The way you analyzed every character and their dynamics with each other is chef's kiss. Buckle in, cause now is my turn! XD

I still want Sett go be endgame no matter what, so in my case, I'm not indifferent towards it, I'm looking forward to what the author comes up with. I would have to say that I do disagree in some things though, like I don't think Nina is necessarily wavering all the time with one or the other, but more like she doesn't want to lose either of them.

Son another topic, so much is going on and a lot of people do focus solely on the love triangle, but this is such a good, well-written manga and the plot twists and cliff hangers are so well done. I mean, it drives me nuts too, because let's admit that most of us came for that. But it's surprisingly so good! And Nina's backstory needs to be explored further so that the story and love can develop properly.

Anyone who's read this, has had to notice pretty early that there are different things happening in the plot which would shape our characters and force them to grow, like war. So
talking about the recent war development, I think that this version of Sett didn't get a whole lot of chance to go back to the Sett that would love and dote openly on Nina, cause their reunion was kind of cut short because of him trying to keep his promise to protect her and Fortna, because really, he's the one who has the power to appease both sides. So crossing fingers for an ever better version of that one we loved, cause now he'll be more sure of his feelings and Nina's.

Obviously they all carry trauma and they're all still figuring out who they are through trials and tribulations, and in the process learning what love is... And all that is mixed in with the rest of the plot. So I for one am glad that there is more to it than just their love triangle, but at the end of the day I do have chronic 2nd male lead syndrome, so I still think he's the better option (although we've established that technically he's currently the 1st ml).

P.S. I also love all the other characters, like the brothers, the servant and guard.

Haha I love this too! It’s always such a fun part of reading shojo to exchange perspectives with other people. Really appreciate you sharing your pov(๑•ㅂ•)و✧

You might be true about Nana not wavering, she is trying to figure things out in her own way. It’s less about her being “easily swayed” and more about her being so caring about other people in general that sometimes it becomes too much and affects her? She made up her mind to create a future with Sett but she can’t abandon anyone. It’s part of her charm, of course, but from the perspective of Sett, her going all out to help her first love that she still hasn’t gotten over, might be kind of hurtful? Especially that he knows Az loves Nina. I’m worried she will get confused because of that. She’s just doing so much that her feelings and the feelings of people involved become a tangled mess! (to be clear I don’t scorn Nina for that, it’s just something I noticed)

That’s true! I turned to manga after accidentally stumbling upon the anime, and initially, I was only curious about how the love triangle resolves. I partially thought that the storyline is only a background for romance. Even when I was writing this comment. But now that the author set up the universe, introduced all the characters and nurtured both, it became such a good story in general! The feelings just drive characters and become their motivation at resolving bigger issues. In the beginning everything seemed rushed and superficial, but turns out the author was just setting up the scene for a story that turned out to be much more complex and interesting! I mean, as I said, even though I started because of the love triangle, now I’m sticking to it sinply because it’s good!

I really do hope that this state that Sett is in is temporary. You’re right, a lot happened, and it was more important to protect Nina and help her find her oath again. And after that he has to help his own country. So it might be just that he didn’t have the time and mind space to figure out his own feelings and process what happened. I do hope he will go back to being his old self. Not entirely of course, his change and development are important too. I said I don’t care but on a personal level I think I still might be on the same page with you hahah Rooting for Sett, I mean. 2nd lead syndrome unite…

True, the side characters are great! I love all of them and am so happy to see their stories too. Always love it when authors don’t neglect the other characters (●'◡'●)

Aww it's sweet that you took the time to not only read all that, but reply back with a fresh perspective.

I do agree that because unconsciously she felt abandoned (turning into an orphan and all) and she had a rough upbringing because of that, Nina loves deeply and fast, and that's why there's this mess. You're right, she does tend to go overboard when her heart and mind are set on something especially when it involves protecting someone she loves and like you had said before, in the process makes a lot of things worst.

I also stumbled upon the anime first, but back then there were only 3 episodes, so I found the manga and got up to date before the anime was done with the season. I also thought along the same lines, but what won me over was the complexity of it all, and the exploration of each individuals lives, bringing the story together when they all come together and their stories intertwine.

Yay Sett stans!!

I like how you can appreciate that the brother that wanted to kill Sett at first just wanted to for the wrong reasons, like he just wanted power, but the whole female shy thing was so cute and then the possibility of him and the Nina's servant as a couple was a nice twist. Then the obsessive -brother complex- little bro ended up helping the person he was trying to get rid off, all meanwhile the womanizer is just playing his cards in a way that he secretly helps everyone and gets allies on his side. All the dynamics are so interesting! There's also the other servant who was a guy pretending to be a girl (I forgot the name) and how after everything, he betrayed his principals because he simply believed in Nina. She kinda had that power.