Chapter 262 Discussion Thread

[M_green]

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Chapter 262 :

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Wonderful job Townsocks. You're the greatest

[NibellungenValasty]

wth, what is karasuma is anyway?hahahaha,no injury after all that meh?

[M_green]

Maybe he IS an alien lol. Who will win the fight? look like Harima is too tired from all that running around to inflict enough damage to injure Karasuma. He did win against Hanai by 5cm

"LOVE HER ENOUGH TO DIE"
Sounds cool, right?

[NibellungenValasty]

Unfortunately, I do not qualified to talk about love

Meh, do love cost that much? why not buy chocolate, its cheaper and with the same result.

[M_green]

Unfortunately, I do not qualified to talk about love

Meh, do love cost that much? why not buy chocolate, its cheaper and with the same result.

Nah, Love doesn't require that much until to take ones life. That rather destroy love than make love (pardon the pun, please).
Anyway same as you, I am also not qualified to talk about love I never have one deep enough to be called true love.

[xaturas]

So karasuma did angel densetsu on harima. Plus he actualy blocked last kick with his hands ^^. Wonder whats next, are you ready for ruuuuuuuuummmmmmbbbbbbbbleeeee.

[sandman1008]

This is great stuff. It's going exactly the way I wanted it to. The only downside to this is that because I'm on a hot streak right now, the outcome will probably be different than what I want it to be.

I knew Harima would do this. He's a better man than he is portrayed in most of the series. And he's always doing everything for Tenma, without her even knowing. Of course, if I was in his situation, I would have first asked Karasuma what the hell happened, and if he would have told me what I expect to hear (that he rejected Tenma because of his illness thing without telling her the whole truth) or if he chose not to answer me, then I would have proceeded to kick his ass. At the same time, however, I don't know if I would be as strong a man as Harima. To go to the man that the woman you love is in love with, and tell him to "LOVE HER ENOUGH TO DIE" shows true dedication for Tenma's happiness, and how much he really loves her. How many of us would look at this opportunity and instead of confronting the guy, you just think to yourself, "Good. Now I won't have any competition." Harima confronted Karasuma knowing that if he indeed did convince Karasuma to tell Tenma his true feelings, that Harima would lose pretty much any little chance of getting with Tenma. You know this is killing him inside, but he still proceeds to do this because he wants Tenma to be happy, even if it isn't with him (same as the scenario during Tenma's birthday). When was the last time Karasuma did something like this for Tenma?

As for the outcome of the fight, I would love to see Karasuma get beat down for once. However, when I think about it, it may be better if Karasuma were to win (that is better for how I want the story to turn out). The way I see it, if Harima beats Karasuma, he will then proceed to drag him out to Tenma and force him to tell her everything. That would probably result in Tenma saying that she would want to spend every moment of his remaining life with him (or something cheesy like that), and of course, Harima will once again be left out to dry, and this will probably bring about the end of the story (or at least close to it). If Karasuma were to win, barring that Harima tells him something that really makes Karasuma think, Karasuma would probably just leave, which would bring about the possibility of how I want things to turn out (Karasuma leaving, and school rumble enters the third year, focusing on Tenma and Harima's progressing relationship). I don't want to see this series last that much longer, but this is the best chance Harima has to get with Tenma. Besides, there are still some things that need to happen before this series could end (Tenma still has no idea that Harima was the one who saved her from that thug in middle school). Things are getting interesting. It sucks that only 9 pages are released every week.

[sansafro187]

This chapter was awesome.

In retrospect, it's pretty idiotic that I resisted getting into this series for the longest time because I didn't like Harima at all at the beginning.

When it comes down to the wire, he's really the most stand-up guy in this whole series.

[Swampstorm]

The problem with doing something for someone without their knowledge is that you don't always know if they want it or not. While Harima seems to be rushing towards a solution, I'd be very surprised if he fully understands the problem.

Even we, the audience, lack a full understanding of the situation. Is Tenma crying because Karasuma rejected her without a reason? Or is she crying because he told her about his condition?

There's a certain arrogance to Harima's actions, as Karasuma rightly points out. Harima's frustration comes from the fact that he believes that he loves Tenma more than Karasuma does. But how can Harima call Karasuma's feelings "half-assed" when he doesn't even understand the nature of Tenma and Karasuma's relationship to begin with?

For example, there's a fairly important moment at the end of Ch. 119 where Karasuma explains that although he feels strong emotions on the inside, he is physically unable to show them. Tenma understands him in spite of this, which is why she is able to love him when so many others simply dismiss him as weird.

And the very biggest revelation came in Ch. 257, where Karasuma revealed that he knew about Tenma's feelings and felt the same way - and yet at the same time knew that his condition made it impossible. Not only that, but it implies that Karasuma put off having surgery for a whole year, just for Tenma's sake. Unlike Harima, Karasuma's feelings are not possessive in the slightest - his desire to stay is driven by his need to see Tenma a little longer, and his wish to tell her that she's beautiful. It's up to Tenma to decide what to do with those feelings - Karasuma says that he will be fine with whatever she chooses.

From the very start, Harima's fundamental mistake is that he views Tenma as a possession that he can somehow obtain. He feels that anything concerning automatically concerns him, which is why he feels justified in confronting Karasuma despite the fact that Tenma's relationship is her own business. But as is pointed out in Ch. 254, Harima really just doesn't understand Tenma. Tenma is free spirited - she does whatever she wants, and loves whomever she wants, and nothing that Harima says or does can forcibly change that. Chances are, if Tenma finds out that Harima is assaulting the one she loves, she probably won't be thanking him for it.

The biggest problem is that Harima somehow feels justified for starting the fight. But even as he plays the role of the hero ("Love her enough to die!"), his actions are overflowing from his own feelings of frustration at being rejected by Tenma. As grand as Harima's gestures are, he is ultimately only trying to make himself feel good by lashing out at Karasuma. Karasuma, too, understands this, which is why he agrees to fight Harima if it will help Harima get rid of his pent up frustration.

I have mixed feelings about this setup. While this seems like the perfect scenario for KJ to force Harima into rethink some of his dogmatic views, I'd rather he do it in a way that doesn't completely tarnish Harima's character in the process.

[sandman1008]

It's true that we don't know what is the truth behind Tenma's tears, but as I explained in a previous post, I really do not believe that she is crying because Karasuma told her the truth about his condition. When you look at her expression at the end of chapter 261, you see her crying but smiling. That is not the kind of expression you would make when you just found out the one you loved is dying. That is the expression you make when you were just rejected, but you don't want to appear so depressed to your friends, an "Oh well, I guess it just wasn't meant to be" type of expression. As strange a character as Tenma is, she won't try to hide her pain if she found out the one she loved is dying. So, I beleive she was rejected, or if she wasn't rejected verbally, Karasuma may have just walked away from her without saying anything. Either form can be looked at as a rejection. I'm basing this entire post off of the assumption that Karasuma did not tell Tenma the truth and simply rejected her.

It's true that while contronfting Karasuma, Harima's actions are dictated by his own feelings of being rejected. But you also got to understand the situation he's in. He knows that he can't be with the one he loves because Tenma loves Karasuma. Plus, he knows that Karasuma also likes Tenma in return. So, he's here, seeing Tenma being rejected by Karasuma, even though he knows he also likes her back (not gonna say love, because that is not 100% clear), and he can't help but think, "What the hell is wrong with you?" Like I said earleir, I would have done a few things differently, such as asking Karasuma what was going on, but Harima is not the type of person that asks questions first. That's not necessarily a bad thing either. It just makes him different. Also, usually that type of person will eventually find out the truth in the process. So, even though he may be going a bit out of order, I really see no problem in what he's doing. And no, Tenma probably won't be thanking him if she found out that Harima was fighting Karasuma. But in the situation he's in right now, he probably doesn't want to be thanked. He's doing this because he is pissed that Karasuma apparently rejected her even though he likes Tenma, and is trying to knock some sense into him.

I don't see how Karasuma can be looked upon as the hero in this situation. If he really wants to let Tenma make a decision on her own free will, then he needs to tell her everything. About his condition, about how he feels, and anything else that there is to tell. After that Tenma can make the decision of whether or not she wants to be with Karasuma. How can you possibly make a decision if you're not told of the situation you're in, in it's entirety? In a way, you can say that him not telling Tenma about everything is the same as Harima confronting Karasuma without Tenma knowing. By not telling Tenma about his condition and rejecting Tenma's confession, he is just doing what he thinks is best for Tenma without actually getting Tenma's input in the situation. Harima is confronting Karasuma because he thinks he's doing what's best for Tenma without actually getting Tenma's input. So, if you want to belittle one character's actions based on this, you have to belittle both characters' actions. So, I don't think this is tarnishing Harima's character in the slightest. He's just doing what's he's been doing throughout the entire manga. Why would his character be tarnished now, and not earlier in the series when he was doing basically the same thing?

Plus, Harima has done things thoughout the series for Tenma's sake. Among those is the whole birthday party incident. He could have not told Karasuma about Tenma's birthday, and that would have strained their relationship (even if it would only be a little), but he told Karasuma to go because it would have made Tenma happy. You know for sure that it was killing Harima that he was basically helping them get closer, but he would rather see Tenma happy even if it lower his chances with her. Some of his other actions were somewhat self-gratifying, but these two situation (birthday and confronting Karasuma) are actions he's taking for Tenma's, and he's not looking for any kind of thanks from Tenma.