Karane had been my favorite girlfriend so far due to her admirable yet often self-defeating commitment totsunderevalues.
Yet Shizuka achieves the feat with ease.
It starts with Rentarou finding out that Shizuka communicates through passages in the novel.
He accepts her for who she is.
And even when she goes overboard and suggests a hundred books, hes eager to read them all.
After all, romanceishis favorite genre!
The only snag is a bureaucratic one: it takes a week to get a library card.
So Shizuka gives him her favorite, which isnt a library book but her personal possession.
I cannot stress enough how cute these two are together.
Its important that Rentarou isntlaboringto make a connection, the connection is simply there.
The tragic thing is, as amazing as Shizuka is, no one else has ever acknowledged it.
She believes her means of communication makes her a freak.
Even if he didnt, she wouldnt feel worthy.
But Rentarou foreshadowed things when he told his other two girlfriends hed been up late a lot getting busy.
He wanted to help Yoshimoto Shizuka in a meaningful, lasting way.
One day after school he comes to the library, and is relieved to find her there.
He asks her to download an app, and then import a file to it.
The app turns out to be a text-to-speech program.
Rentaroutyped the whole damn novel into itover the last few nights.
And again, hemeansit.
She isnt an obligation, nor does he want to be her shining, dragon-slaying knight.
Hes simply fallen in love with her.
This re-contextualizes the nature of his soulmates.
These three girls arent a burden or a duty.
Meeting them, getting to know them, and dating them makes his life happier and fuller.
And when the inevitable awkward conversation with Karane and Hakari occurs, something interesting happens.
As tends to be their dynamic, Hakari takes the plunge into acceptance first, and Karane follows suit.
The two girls complement each other, and keep each other in check.
As such, the Aijou Rentarou polycule grows from three to four with minimal pain.
