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← darkroom
What do you think about Ao No Flag ending?
So I just read again Ao no Flag and i just don't understand why no one likes the end. What do you think?
the only thing i don't like about the ending is the pacing. it ended on a quick note so it took me a while to comprehend what was going on. i also wished the author had shown touma at the end. overall, this was a sweet story tho, you don't get this type of manga often.
I just finished the blue flag, and I had a few things I didn't like. besides the last couple of chapters feeling rushed, I didn't like how things ended with Masumi. a big part of her character was that she couldn't feel romantically attracted to men, even though she wanted to. that being said, they still gave her a husband?? also I would've liked to see how toma and taichi ended up together.
She did never feel romantic involved with a boy because she was in love with another person. Even her husband makes clear that she is in fact bisexual
She wasn't a bisexual. She explicitly even questioned Taichi what it was like to be attracted to the opposite sex since she genuinely did not know or couldn't understand.
Retconning that she was a lesbian in the very last chapter by a totally new character was total BS.
I agree that she wasn't bisexual, and i don't think her ending retconned that. To me, she made her choice about what would make her happy : to her, it is forcing herself to fit in by having a husband (who kind of resembles Futaba imo) and being a ""normal"" person. She's always been Touma's character foil so imo the author did this to showcase the different paths the characters picked to be happy and how they dealt with the problems of growinf up and facing their true selves
The fact is that a lesbian character married a man we don't know, and we don't know the exact reasons for her doing so. This is a problem with all the marriages in the ending. The author notes that this story was about the characters' choices, but we literally skip the last couple of years worth of choices to make this ending and its message to make any sense. We can deduce that she married him because he is similar to Futaba, but that alone seems really iffy in itself.
The ending would have been better if Masumi didn't get married at all. Who decided that marriage = happiness? You might not think that's what the ending tries to imply, but the fact that every main main character got married to be "happy" is some very shallow and uncreative way of "showcasing the paths the characters picked to be happy". Yes, we have established that Masumi believes that she can't come out, for various reasons. All the while when the main character himself has a homosexual marriage of his own. And Masumi is on the sidelines watching like "I'm so sad that I can't express who I am like that openly gay couple. But at least I married a man who acts more like a typical woman."
That might sound harsh, but anyway I look at this turn of events, it stinks. I really do not think the author thought this ending through their head.
I wish I got to see more of Taichi and Touma's future relationship, but it didn't ruin the ending for me at all. I did however feel confused about Masumi marrying a guy when she battled so heavily with self discovery and her sexuality. I understand Futaba and how she only valued Masumi as a friend, but still I think that Masumi should have married a girl.
I guess she couldn't accept herself or something like that, I think that's why she married a man.
the ending is amazing imo, it comes out of left field and has 0 development but I feel that's exactly what the message of the show was in regards to life. Life is a series of choices and those choices happen in a persons life. As they said, the outside viewer doesn't know about the life of the characters, and only acts like they do for their amusement; imo we were the outside viewers and the ending was telling us that choices can drastically change somebodies life over a relatively short period of time, even if we feel like we know the people very well. Bit waffly but yeah I like the ending
The ending was interesting, but the author kinda did me dirty for giving Masumi (I think thats her name) for giving her a husband. Her husband is cute and looks so kind, but she defienly did not shown any interest of men at all in highschool, even though she had a big crush on her best friend. I wish we got to see touma's face. It was very quicked paced when they skip to 2-7 years. I wonder how they got together and when they got married. Though I love the unexpected of them getting together too, that shocked me so hard.
I didn´t really liked how they concluded the story. The problem was that there were some missing things at the end, like masumi marrying a man but 5 chapters back stated that she liked girls (not saying she can't like boys too, I was just curious), how Touma and Taichi became a couple and how Futaba and Tai broke up. Also didn't like how the mangaka prepared us for the end of the manga, I felt it was too rushed and at the end I didn't feel the emotions I thought I would.
I'll say this much.
It makes equally much sense for Taichi and Masumi to be revealed as bi-sexual. It either makes sense or it doesn't. If you accept Taichi, then you accept Masumi too.
Without any clear context for these decisions at the end tho, I have to say that not only does it make no sense, it also stabs in the back of the whole story. Touma ultimate fears and struggles just get rotated 180 and he gets to be with the otherwise very hetero Taichi because "muh non traditional gay ending". Masumi gets a husband instead because she apparently never came to grips with her being lesbian in her society (or just turned bi because lmao am I right?)
As for that "traditional happy ending" the author clearly wanted to avoid. Get this: All the main characters got married with someone anyway. Because that still was the author's idea of happiness. Seeing that every single ending was subverting expectations, it was clearly the main point of it. Rather than making sense and letting each character have a satisfactory ending that gives a proper closure.
Masumi gets a husband instead because she apparently never came to grips with her being lesbian in her society (or just turned bi because lmao am I right?)
You're right that part dissapointed me too.
I like to think that shueisha made kaito rush and make the ending as it is
(This is related to Masumi getting a husband) There's this theory that says that Masumi's husband is a trans man and that if she couldn't accept herself as lesbian she just looked up for the closest thing to a woman, this makes her kinda tranphobe but it makes sense given her personality.Why even shoot theories like that when there is no confirmation or ever will be?
Idk
I don't fully agree with this. There were moments where we could see Taichi struggling with his own feelings. Even Futaba said he was earnestly considering Toma's confession. While Masumi outright said she doesn't 'get' falling in love with the opposite sex. Those are two very different stories imo. I agree that the ending was rushed and needed more development though.
It's over 3 years too late to talk about this, but since people seem to insist that Taichi shows signs of being bi, I would like to know about them. Mind you, I have forgotten most things about the manga, but it was in the running for my top 10 before the ending happened.
When it comes to Taichi considering his response to Touma and "struggling with his feelings", I would assume this has to do with Taichi being very considerate and counscious of Touma because he is his long-time best friend. Taichi has been like this for the best part of the manga, so I don't why it would make it a good example of Taichi showing any interest towards Touma romantically. For me, nothing about Taichi ever communicated as attracted to the same sex, and when he the author would have been able to explore it, they didn't. I remember the manga being so good at writing people expressing their thoughts, so I can't fathom why this is the exception. My only guess is because it makes for a "good shocker" at the end, so it was made unnoticeable at worst and extremely subtle at best.
That's my take at this time, so I'll hear your opinion. What makes you consider that Taichi might be bi? As explicit of examples if possible please, and chapter numbers help too so i can see for myself.
I'm not sure why it's '3 years too late' as people discover media all the time and discussions always have the ability to be fruitful in my opinion, even years down the line. There is always space for a fresh perspective.
My point wasn't that Taichi has shown any signs of being bi as I agree there were none throughout. However comparing Taichi and Masumi doesn't quite feel fair.
While there are characters who have quite a clear picture of who they are, like Mami, Taichi struggles throughout the story to articulate his thoughts and make decisions. This is demonstrated with the incident of the black cat in his youth, which he still regrets, and in chapter 53 he says "I just well...want to discover who it is I want to be."
To me it feels like Kaito left a bigger possibility/probability for him to end up being bisexual than Masumi outright saying she doesn't know/understand what it feels like to be attracted to the opposite sex.
3 years because that's a few months after I finished it, so it would have been a better time for me to talk about it rather than return to the topic again. Just feels frustrating is all, with the fact that this is probably my most despised ending for any media ever. I could feel nothing but astonishment, grief and hatred finishing this manga.
Regarding Taichi's arc, if the author doesn't sprinkle in the hints or elements that make you anticipate for the ending he got, then it's not deserved. If Taichi's gay arc is not there, then there shouldn't be a conclusion for it. This attraction to the same sex is absent in his life, and even though it is portrayed differently than Masumi's, it has the same effect in the end.
People can oppose Masumi's ending more if they like, but Taichi being the main character makes it worse when the author fails to portray his story. "I just well...want to discover who it is I want to be. Then when I do, I want Futaba to be there with me." All this confirmation of wanting to be with Futaba just throws away all expectations that Taichi would even consider being with Touma. The fact that the next chapter is the EXACT OPPOSITE cheapens the validity of what these characters went through. This is why I would even argue that Taichi's ending is even worse than Masumi's. It's betrays all feasibility when it comes to storytelling. Masumi you can argue just conformed with society because that's her personality. That actually works for her better than what Taichi got.
I don't expect that we'll agree, but I understand where you are coming. I can agree on Taichi's sexuality being more vague whereas Masumi's is way more clear cut. But this would have called the author to actually explore it. I think people are too eager to oppose Masumi's ending in contrast to Taichi, whose story is the lifeblood of the manga. If Masumi got into a lesbian relationship, it would have been a more satisfying ending for sure. But if Taichi had stayed with Futaba with the amount of story we got, it would have saved the ending. So adding up the pros and cons, even if those are 2 different stories, the way they end makes equally as much sense to me, or the lack thereof.
It takes a bit too much time for me to recall all the reasons I dislike the ending so thanks for bearing with me. I don't wanna write another wall of text so I'll stop here.
Sorry to hear the ending brought all that up. I didn't mean any harm, and if you don't want any further discussion I'll of course respect that.
I'm not entirely sure if I would have liked it more if Taichi and Futaba hadn't broken up, because for me that feels a bit too convenient/standard and also not very realistic to end up with your high school sweetheart (though it of course happens).
Whatever the case we can both agree that this manga deserved a better ending than it got.
É um doce final, entretanto mostrado de forma extremamente errada. Eu gostaria que o autor fosse mais claro e mais devagar, acho que assim seria perfeito, tanto para a compreensão tanto para o choque que várias cenas deram. No geral, é um bom final, mas lendo pela primeira vez é realmente difícil de aceitar.
