The Lungfish Diaries

Even having read this manga pretty much from the beginning, it’s shocking to see Chizuru let things get this far away from her. It has been clear for some time, even before she fully acknowledged it, that Chizuru was deeply in love with Kazuya and yet still holding herself back, and her weak excuse about falling in love with a client was nowhere near satisfying, so why has she done this? But I believe the answer lies in the core issues of Chizuru’s character, issues that have been in place from the beginning: her fear of attachment, her drive to be independent, and the longing she feels for connection and love. These drives are in conflict and always have been. They are why her actions do not seem rational. This is, potentially, an exciting time to be following Kanokari because Chizuru may have to change, to confront her issues, in order to move forward. Chizuru's competing needs have pulled her apart. Run down the events we’ve seen so far of this new arc, and the paralle...

Kazuya, in his underwear, racks his brain over the mystery of Chizuru. She has done something undoubtedly unprofessional, and yet after that, she has acted like everything is normal. All Kazuya knows is that his feelings are even harder to resist than ever before. Sound familiar? That’s right, it’s chapter 165, “The Girlfriend and Tears (Pt. 1)” . Wait a minute… The parallels are striking, which means the differences are instructive We've been here before, Kazuya. (Ch. 232 vs 165) Run down the events we’ve seen so far of this new arc, and the parallels are too strong to ignore. Kazuya in his undies, pondering Kazuya can’t get Chizuru’s actions out of his head The fish makes some snarky comment Cue flashback to something that already happened but we didn’t see in real time! Pretty simple, right? Kazuya moping and trying to make sense of the kiss vs trying to make sense of her crying thanks to his support. So if we extend the comparison, now what? Remember in 16...

The Paradise Arc came to a close this week. It was, without a doubt, Miyajima’s most ambitious arc yet: the only named arc in the series to go more than 10 chapters (43, in fact, and 44 in total if you count Mami’s backstory). It was Miyajima’s Infinity War and Endgame , a massive collision of multiple plotlines all being brought to fruition over two days in Fukushima, but in the end, we see what it was really all about: Chizuru coming to grips with the fact that she has fallen in love with Kazuya and can no longer ignore her feelings. Love's taken root, but is it bearing satisfying fruit? And… that’s all it was. Chizuru was beaten over the head with a narrative baseball bat until she got it , put under so much pressure that she finally couldn’t ignore her true feelings, but in doing so, Miyajima overlooked or outright ignored the major themes of his series. Kazuya and Chizuru replaced one lie with another, not because it was something they felt they believed in but simply ...

This week, Mami tried to take her anger out on Chizuru, but Chizuru fights back! We also got a magnificent spread to put the whole Paradise arc in context, and now, with Chizuru and Kazuya alone for the first time since she left him at the chapel, we can finally look forward to Chizuru’s answer. Let’s take a look. The plan has flown the coop and is halfway to South America When in doubt, play the Reverse card. Mami confronts Chizuru here. She bitches Chizuru out, levels accusations, and finally resolves to call Chizuru’s agency. Let’s think about that for a moment. Mami says she’s calling Diamond… without making a threat? Without trying to get something in exchange? This is no longer part of a plan. This is a gut reaction on her part, impulsive and in the moment. There is nothing more for her to try to extract. Let’s go all the way back to Mami approaching Chizuru. She tries to get Chizuru on board with needing to be saved from Kazuya (183) . This sets the stage for the entire...