[frubam]

Spoiler for up to 167:

Once again, they paint Yuko as a victim. Really she was a woman that went through a lot of hardship; being raped by her father, being prostituted.... even killed a man(Uryu)... being led to believe Akira would somehow relieve her from her circumstances, only to be told by the person you loved more than anything that he hates you. Its no wonder she did what she did to Reiji. That scene of Reiji being taken by his uncle while she ran behind the vehicle in tears makes a hell of a lot of sense now. She really wanted to make sure she would never be left alone again, and everything she experienced led her to believe that what she did to Reiji would practically guarantee that. It certainly doesn't justify what she did, but I can at least sympathize with her better than before.

Speaking of Uryu, that was one wild revelation Saki had! I went back to that chapter(105) and sure enough, looking at it, it would have been impossible for Akira to have the strength to pull Yuko(whom he was barely gripping her wrist with an outstretched hand) and grip to kick Uryu away. Her reasoning for not telling him; so that he can use that faux experience as fuel to become a writer... really brought her down in Reiji's eyes from being a blinding light trying to pull him up to... I dunno how to quite describe it... that feeling that, yeah, she also came from "that town", lol. She's human just like the rest of the people in that town, but at least she was able to show Reiji what a normal family is like.

Well, I didn't think Yuri would be what seems like the final antagonist. She pretty much fell off the deep end for Reiji, if it wasn't already apparent. She did make some good points though; while she did technically kidnapped Nagi, she's not explicitly holding her captive, if what she says is true.

Also, Reiji did coax her when she told him she loved him. She fully went into that thinking there was no hope and that she'll be rejected, yet Reiji accepted her love and told her they'll be together. Now she's all-in, though its arguable if she truly would have stopped even if he rejected her. I think this chapter is the first time she's really been angry at him, but something felt off about it; like she didn't see him in the same lovey-dovey aspect as she has been, and is finally seeing his faults.

Nonetheless, since she had to retreat, he's left alone with Nagi. This is probably the only chance he'll have to somehow get her out of the state she's in. I'm not sure how he'll do that though.