Shoujo Manga Cliches: HNR Love Triangle

Time to revive my Shoujo Manga Cliches segment to just sit down and talk about the craziness of Hirunaka no Ryuusei since it's finally ended. Unlike most love triangles, HNR was actually fairly balanced and had some sort of uncertainty regarding who would get the girl. In other words, no one felt alpha or beta in the love triangle. Most mangakas make it very clear who the canon pairing is but HNR made it feel a lot more ambiguous in my opinion.  Though not all of these theories prevail standalone, if there are 3 or more, you can best bet the dude who fulfills all of them will 99% of the time be together with the girl. Let this pseudo-analysis begin!

The Tropes

First Encounter

This has a huge weighting in regards to a lot of shoujo/josei stories. Mangakas use this to establish the canon couple of the series. I used to think it was the first love interest the girl met chronologically but it's actually the first dude that appears in the manga (to introduce the reader to the character). Though this has less of an impact if the other love interest in the love triangle is introduced early in the series as well. This was defintely the case for Mamura where he had his cute little blushy blush moments. This round goes to Sensei.
Satsuki: 1 | Daiki: 0

First Kiss

I think the first kiss has maybe the biggest weighting and I think that's why Yamamori left this right to the very end. In chapter 40 of HNR, Shishio almost kisses Suzume but doesn't actually do it. Thus leaving the whole love triangle debacle ambiguous. So nobody technically wins this round as Mamura got the kiss near the very end (again the earlier it occurs, the more impact it has). If you look at series like Moe Kare and Ao haru ride, the first kiss basically seals the fate of the heroines and it happens pretty early on in the series.
Satsuki: 1 | Daiki: 0 

Time

Basically the time the mangaka devotes to the prospective love interest determines if he gets the girl or not (yay for child favouritism). HNR kind of allows both males to shine throughout the series as she switches gears allowing for blushy blushy Mamura to take the lead. Shishio however had more chapters devoted to him so another point goes for sensei.
Satsuki: 2 | Daiki: 0

Relationship growth

Ok so this can get pretty tricky as some shoujo plots really have no character development at all. So this criteria can be made non-applicable to some series. Mamura X Suzume had a relationship that had a sense of progression where Suzume X Shishio remained stagnant and had many problems piling up. So Mamura X Suzume shipping gets the point.

Satsuki: 2 | Daiki: 1

Yin-Yang Hair Shading

This sounds weird and insignificant but hear me out. Many (but not all) mangakas prefer the canon couple to have a contrast to each other in the manga so often they'll use the dark x light hair shading to make them appear more contrasting. Most mangas do this but there are obviously exceptions to the rule where it's complimentary. This theory is often reinforced by any of the other theories. 1 point for Mamura.
Satsuki: 2 | Daiki: 2 (Yo we tied son)

The Emotional Crutch

Essentially what I'm talking about here is the male lead supporting the girl when she needs it the most. It's not so much about being the white knight and physically saving her but more about being the guy that gives her advice and just literally being there. It's hard to describe coherently but I think Mamura was always the one who figured something was up and Shishio (unintentionally or not) was wrapped up in the romance and not so much thinking about Suzume. Fangirls can debate with me if you want but Mamura was always thinking about Suzume first and his feelings second.

Satsuki: 2 | Daiki: 3

The Verdict

According to my mathematical calculations, Mamura Daiki gets the girl. You know I've been reading too many shoujo when I got all these damn theories in my head. As emotional as the rollercoaster got, I did enjoy the story and I may review it one day. Thanks for reading these convoluted theories. Also, if you're interested, there's only one shoujo manga that I know of that literally breaks every rule which is called Tonari no Atashi. It turns every cliche on it's head is a thoroughly refreshing read. It does have a token bitch-chan character which is greating at times.

P.S
Yeah I posted this story already but I'm gonna go ahead and retell it. I met megane Mamura IRL and it was the most glorious thing ever. I was serving him at work and was more or less mesmerised by his ethereal beauty. I had to serve another customer and he disappeared so I couldn't properly ogle at him. I hope he comes back next week :/
I need a master post where I post about my real life bishie encounters :3