Watashi, Nibanme no Kanojo de ii kara Vol 9 - Bad Ending, really? This was it?

Volume 9 of Watashi, Nibanme no Kanojo de ii kara completes the series and confirms my worries about the series as a whole delivering a poor ending that felt forced, as if it were trying to find a way to wrap up a story that couldn't be wrapped up otherwise due to the second arc opening up too many additional threads.

When the first arc (high school) ended, the series was at its greatest point. Their love story ended with Tachibana, Shirou, and Hayasaka separated and trying to recover from their trauma. I was half worried, half excited about what would happen in the future, considering the author was teasing a university arc.

Going back to the main two heroines was the right choice, but it was too little too late. Just doesn't work like that...

Tachibana Hikari continues to be the most simply beautiful heroine. There's no comparison with anyone else.

I felt the story could've ended there and I would've praised this series as one of the masterpiece romance novels of the decade. My worry was that adding a university arc and adding characters would break from what made the series interesting, which is the alternation between the two heroines pursuing the protagonist with their conflicted feelings and discovery of their emotions.

I mentioned it in the previous post I made on this series, but it felt like the entire second arc was a way for the author to keep cashing in on the popularity while the iron was hot. That completely broke down the mechanic by adding two unrelated heroines that I never managed to actually like much. It wasn't about the 'second girlfriend' anymore.

Hayasaka sure is hot, but has something that doesn't make her 'beautiful' like Hikari.

Still I feel she doesn't look her age. The designs didn't move enough from high school arc and feel more of an extension.

This final episode was an attempt from the author (after ditching the two new heroines completely) to go back to the origin by putting the two girls in a competition for his attention with weird games that end in a spicy scene and Shirou trying to get help from his friend Hamanami. It was serviceable, but the magic was lost to me.

In the end, Shirou chose Hayasaka without any real reason just to try and make the 'second girlfriend' theme stay on, even though he admitted he loved Tachibana more. Honestly, I would've probably been disappointed with either choice, and I was hoping for some more dramatic 'he gets stabbed and dies' ending because at this point that's the only way that could've made some sense.

She managed to reach the end goal at the end. Took 9 volumes though, that takes some perseverance.

Just look at what protagonist threw away. Basically perfection in human form, what a shame really a shame...

Overall, I feel the series is worth a read, but I suggest stopping at the end of the first arc and never moving on. Resist the temptation of reading more because it's just not worth wasting all the emotions you gained up to that point on some cheap ending.