How Does The 'Domestic Girlfriend' Manga End?
The outrage? Disgust? Distaste? A horrible ending? The ending of the 'Domestic Girlfriend' manga has the otaku world ablaze in conversation! People hate it. People love it. Some say the writing is just plain bad. So who wins the battle over Natsuo? Hina or Rui?
Spoilers for 'Domestic Girlfriend' below…
The Answer
Hina wins him with marriage. The series ends with Chapter 276, with Hina and Natsuo getting married. However, by the end of the series, Natsuo and Rui also have a child together. Wow. More on that below.
The Outrage Over The Ending
Just critiquing the ending, not the entirety of the series. That’s another post.
Much of the outrage against the manga comes from the direction Kei Sasuga—the mangaka—took with the series. I’ll explain it in short. Much of the series deals with Rui and Natsuo as a couple. Over the course of 276 chapters, Rui and Natsuo are romantically involved with each other for a sizable portion of it. The series is about the trials and tribulations of their “unique” relationship. Sasuga was able to write a story that portrayed a relationship that shouldn’t be allowed, in the most “tasteful” way possible.
However, it makes sense that a lot of the anime/manga community would make fun of this series, because it essentially plays to fetishes. The “step-sister fetish.” The “older teacher fetish.” It’s true that this is how the story starts, and it’s curiosity that pulls readers in to the series. Despite what people might think, Sasuga makes a valiant effort to write a romance story about unrequited love, and kind of makes it work.
A lot of the plot has to deal with dreams and careers. This is where I’ll give Domestic Girlfriend props. If you subtract all the ecchi scenes from the manga, you basically get a slice of life story about aspirations and relationships (and a dude dating his step-sister).
The biggest problem with the ending is the fact that it built a story on Rui and Natsuo, and hits the Uno Reverse Card in the last few chapters. Sasuga created a story that allowed a relationship like theirs, to be allowed. While it is admittedly weird and “fetishy” in the beginning, you as a reader start rooting for the young couple.
In the final chapters, Rui gets pregnant and she and Natsuo are about to get married. This is the ending that looked set to happen. “Rui and Natsuo get married. Woohoo. I can’t believe I actually read that.” REVERSE CARD. Sike. In the final chapters, Hina gets in an accident and falls into a coma. Rui and Natsuo decide not to get married with Hina in this condition.
Flash forward into the future, and now they live as a family of four. In the house is Natsuo, Rui, their daughter Haruka, and Hina in a coma. Chapter 275, leaves off with Rui basically telling Natsuo that he should marry Hina while she’s still in a coma, for the symbolic representation that their love was. In the eyes of many, this was very uncalled for because the series—while also focusing on Hina and Natsuo—was plot driven by the actions of Rui and Natsuo. In simple terms, it really makes no sense for this to happen in the last two or three chapters.
What I believe Sasuga was trying to get at was the, “both of them the win in the end” feeling. Hina and Natsuo get married. Rui and Natsuo have a daughter. They live as a happy family of four. A weird family situation indeed, but a very uncalled for and unnecessary one as well.
The series starts with the idea of a fetish, and sadly, with all the character building and relationship building, it ends with one too. Even though the ending is (somewhat) wholesome, it feels uncalled for. Everything changes VERY QUICKLY. It really looks like Natsuo and Rui are going to tie the knot, and the story is built to make it look like that is going to happen. Six chapters. The story changes in the last SIX CHAPTERS. We go from Natsuo and Rui doing wedding preparations in Chapter 267, and everything falling apart shortly after.
Sike
By this point all the characters have accepted the way they feel, and have settled into their roles. All that was left to do, was to end the story. Twisted it may be, but a satisfying ending it could’ve been. Then in a couple years, someone could write a side story on Hina, and how she learned to love after the tragedy that befell her several times in the series. That would’ve been nice.
The Final Word
Domestic Girlfriend is a manga that has pulled people in because of its “interesting” starting point. Despite the concept, its storytelling isn’t half-bad and it actually manages to create a storyline where this “relationship” seems requited enough for the main couple to get married. However, it doesn’t end where the arrow pointed, and instead uses shock factor in a twisted ending that feels completely rushed and fan fiction-esque (love me some fan-fics tho…).
I know there are people that probably enjoyed this ending, and I’m glad that they did. I, as with many others, believe it could’ve been better, and it should’ve been better. This ending could’ve worked well with proper set-up and delivery. This was a story that shouldn’t have worked, and it was made to work. With all the effort put forth into exploring a certain relationship, it was too late in the story to have a “final revelation.” All that needed to happen was for the story to conclude.
The ending was almost made clear, and then it got blurry; and then we ended up with something that tried to satisfy everyone, but instead comes off as a “last minute idea.”
I mean no disrespect towards the mangaka, and I don’t believe she deserves the hate that she has been getting for the last minute turn in the plot. The ending of Domestic Girlfriend just didn’t hit the mark the way it could’ve. Team Rui or Team Hina, I think we can all agree that it felt—for a lack of better words—random.
