Pretending To Have A Girlfriend? Chapter 10 Discussion

I intend to continue to read and update this review at some point, but at least for now I can't recommend reading it at all. At least wait a bit, right now it's all downer without payoff.

I can pretty much see what the author has been going for, but they're dealing with very sensitive emotions and at this point I can't say they've gotten the balance right. There's a good chance things will significantly improve once we're past the intro, but it's set up to be a pretty long intro.

Let me try to break down the intro so far based on what I think the author's intention was and how it actually comes off as. First arc: complaining to his bro about his troublesome situation over beer. Introduction to basic story elements probably meant to have a slapstick like ratio of 8 parts comedy to two parts sympathy. Reality: murky and depressing, emotionally burdensome. Second arc: dynamics of the three heroines together. Actually meant to be an emotional low, highlighting the unreasonableness from the protagonist's perspective. Does that fine. Third arc: partway through, some speculation. Each of the heroines gets a personal highlight, one part the story of them falling in love with the protagonist, the other part going on a date they won't admit is a date with him. At the end, the protagonist finally snaps a bit and tries to draw a line with them. The flashback is supposed to make us feel more sympathetic to the heroine and understand that she has actual feelings for the protagonist, but is making a mistake and being selfish in how she treats him because she's gotten too wrapped up in the messed up relationship between the heroines. Unfortunately it just makes you want to shake them with frustration and fails to act as a proper emotional release. The date part is what would pretty much seem like a decent date if the heroine's inconsideration didn't overburden and confuse the protagonist. Him drawing a line gives some catharsis, but not enough to counteract all the gloominess before it.

After that, although I'm not sure exactly what it will look like, the heroines will get on his nerves by continually ignoring the line he tried to draw. In frustration, he decides to pretend that he has a girlfriend to have a clear excuse to refuse their inappropriate and exhausting intimacy. The heroines have their brains blow up. Either immediately or within a few arcs, things basically go to sh*t and the relationships of all of them are basically ruined. The heroines all get a self reflection arc where they finally realize how terrible they've been, and want to take it back even knowing they can't. Prediction gets blurrier again here, but the protagonist ends up saving heroines as they get in trouble even though he can't forgive them. The heroine explains and apologizes and confesses her feelings, but the protagonist still has thorns in his heart and can't accept her. He decides to give her a bit of a chance as a party member again, though. Eventually, the party is basically back, but the positions of the protagonist and heroines are reversed: instead of constantly demanding things, they try to earn forgiveness by offering whatever they can unconditionally. At that point the intro can be considered over: the rest is how the relationship develops from there.

Unfortunately, it's all downers without a break until we get there. Just wait for there to be more chapters, so you don't need to carry the bad aftertaste so long.