@Brandish
It's such a shame that this thread isn't very active because I think that this manga deserves much more attention. Seems like we're the only ones in this forum who are reading it.
I've heard that in the category Yuri there are mangas which are more popular than Yagate. I've read some of them and romance-wise they really are better than Yagate. However, the focus in Yagate is not on romance only which is why reading it makes it more enjoyable for me.
First of all, I like how complex the issue "love" is depicted in this story. I agree with you that Touko's love for Yuu was too fast since it reminded a lot of other romance stories where one character falls head over heels into another character. A typical "love at first sight", you could say. But if you pay close attention during the story, then you will see that there is much more meaning behind Touko's love confession and her actions. At first, Touko seems perfect from the outside, but eventually she actually turns out to be fragile from the inside.
She only loves Yuu because she knows that Yuu will never love her back. That is what made her fall in love with Yuu in the end. Because not loving you back means for Touko that Yuu won't have any expectations towards her. To make sure that this won't happen, she demands from Yuu not to fall in love with her. Because if she does, then Touko fears that this might change Yuu. Yuu will develop expectations regarding their relationship, like willingly spending more time with her, being clingy etc.
And we know what effect certain expectations could have on Touko. She will feel pressured from Yuu's expectations and will eventually break down from them since she can't fulfill them. If she can't live up to them, then this might lead to anger (Touko says "hatred") on Yuu's side. This is why Touko is repeating throughout the story not to exaggerate it with her actions, so that Yuu doesn't come to hate her.
This is an interesting thinking imo and it does make sense for me.
As for the latest chapter 30:
That was a nice read. I never would have thought that you can make a play so simple and yet so incredible profound at the same time. Basically, you can reflect many scenes from that chapter into your own real life. I think every human can identify with himself with what Touko was saying in this chapter regardless of having amnesia or not. During the life you have worn many different masks, so many that you stopped counting them. What mask do you wear towards friends, your familly, at work or when you're alone? The same mask?
I highly doubt it since there are people in your life who you feel comfortable with and others not. You're entrusting someone you're close to a secret while you're only acting formal towards your colleagues. We're doing that unconsciously, but in fact we really are like different people depending on the person we're talking to. Amazing play so far with a great message. I'm looking forward to the conclusion of it.
