@DingoDongo4 I can already tell we aren't going to agree on who is more compelling Ais or Ryu. You've got your favorite and I've got mine, which is fine, so I'll try to keep this brief.

I do agree that getting together with Ryu is easy, heck, he could do it in the next volume if he wanted to...but it wouldn't make sense. Why? Because Bell isn't in love with Ryu and the entire Freya arc showed why it is out-of-character for Bell's feelings and goals to change easily. Omori wrote him as the only person to reject Freya in 6-billion years. It would be really bad writing for Bell to change his mind easily after just showing how strong his feelings and devotion is to Ais. Why did he end up rejecting Syr and Freya? Why does Freya know, as stated in a MS19 SS, that those that fall in love with Bell will follow the same path as her? It's because she knows who Bell is and how unwavering his feelings are. Bell isn't keeping score, but if we continue with your analogy, Ais already built up a huge lead in the first half and she practically scored the game winning point already in MS17 unless she chooses to forfeit. Devoted, single-minded Bell isn't going to notice the other girls even if they are scoring. Ironically, Ais sitting on the sidelines in 18 and feeling how much she hated it may actually help her realize a few things and help with her with accepting Bell's feelings later on. Making honoring the favor optional opened up potential for character development there.

Bell's feelings aside, if Bell accepted Ryu, it would at that point be a different story where Bell gave up on his goal, betrayed his ideals, and broke his promise. You can read the Ryu what-if for that and yes, Omori explicitly said a story died when Liaris Freese turned off there. I can also read any romance genre for immediate romance (and there is a lot better romance out there). I read Danmachi for the story, and I do think Bell x Ais has S tier potential because of how the story and Ais are setup. Bell giving up on his goals doesn't make a compelling story. That is why I was 100% on board with Bell with Bell x Ais in volume 1, page 5 because I knew that is where the story is going. Omori has been very clear on that. I know everyone hates to hear this, but Ais's arc is the end game content, so we have to wait, but I do hope he has proper build up to it. The OEBD is the end game boss and goal, and Bell x Ais is going to give it emotional and personal weight for the MC. It isn't hard to imagine why Omori wants the story to end that way.

@DingoDongo4

Your basketball analogy made me laugh a little because you were completely right in it. Ryu at the end of the day will have the most points and her fans (and her) will be celebrating. But as everyone is storming the court in celebration, celebrating with Ryu, Bell will ignore it all and go sit on the bench with Ais, who lost, even if he was the only fan Ais had in the stands. He will cheer her up and tell her she played amazingly. She looks up at him in shock and he asks her “do you want to go get some potato poppers together, my treat (smiling at her)?”. They both leave the court together, Bell with his arm around Ais, as everyone else is celebrating a game that didn’t matter in the end.

So no matter how well Ryu does and how big she is for her fans (how many more points she scores compared to Ais), none of it matters to Bell. The only thing he sees is Ais and the only reason why he was at the game in the first place.....was to cheer on his favorite player, Ais.

@AbigailWilliams2020

Oh my God you are probably the most annoying person I've seen on a forum. Just out of curiosity how old are you and is english your first language because you clearly lack good comprehension skills. His "basketball analogy", even though I don't totally agree with it, literally starts with "all that matters is the most points wins and Omori is the referee" and ends with "the only thing that matters is the points."

He is analyzing this from the POV of the reader, not Bell. The audience is the readers, not Bell. "Bell" is the trophy that will be handed by Omori to either the winner of the match, or to his favorite player due to bias. "Bell" has no say in this. He'll do whatever Omori and his editors make him do just like how Omori and his editors keep "sabotaging Ais".

When you don't have any retort, you just laugh at the others face and revert to "Liaris Freese" "Volume 1 Prologue" "LOL". It'll be some day of mourning on here if he ends up switching the main heroine to Ryu or leaves it open ended up to the readers' interpretation. I only came here to see if they had listed the episodes count and the episode titles like season 4 but alas, I walked into a shtshw.

@ETH Reds Talk about the pot calling the kettle black- acting like a typical toxic fan even as you call others out.

Oomori is not switching anything. He has made it plain, again and again and again and again, that Bell has no interest in anyone but Ais. THAT is what Abigail is saying, and THAT is what you and so many others cannot seem to get through their heads. SO12, MS17, MS18, MS19, all of the most recent volumes released emphasize that Bell is more in love with Ais than ever. And of course the Ryu IF was essentially a direct response from Oomori on what would happen if Bell "switched".

The entire analogy of a basketball game is stupid, because there is no game and never was. There is no competition. Bell loves Ais, Ais loves Bell. Ais does not want to share her man, and Bell does not want to be shared. It's so absurd how people cannot handle a classic romantic love story between one boy and one girl- the most basic element of so many old stories!

@ETH Reds

Read the books and read the Ryu IF, that’s all I got for you dude. Omori isn’t an advanced writer by any means and all you need is a 4th grade reading level for this series and to comprehend what’s going on in it. Hope that helps you.🤗

@ThatRabidPotato Don’t waste your breath on this guy man. If it’s the same person I think it is, the dude said he will believe a fan’s word over the authors any day of the week😂. He got insanely pissed about people telling him how and why Bell x Ais x Ryu can’t happen. Dude said he watched the bride event Omori wrote for DanChro and said his stance still didn’t change even though Bell literally said he will only marry one person and love that one person for the rest of his life (the camera panned over to Ais when he was saying all this).

Just tell him to read the books and read the Ryu if and he will tire himself out eventually. The dude is a known toxic Ryu fan, maybe not on the same level as the hurtlocker guy that was on here, but still up there.

@ThatRabidPotato

The entire analogy of a basketball game is stupid, because there is no game and never was. There is no competition.

You know it's Omori himself who said there is a heroine race ? He even hinted later that Asterius would be a deciding factor in it. So you are wrong, there is a competition, poorly organized, not subtle, with the winner known in advance but technically it's still a competition.

@AbigailWilliams2020

Ah the circle jerk is up in arms once again, making sure both their hands are busy jerking each other off. Making wild assumptions and accusations. Don't worry about wasting your breath on me my guy, it probably reeks of basement dwelling. And just to set it straight, I don't ship Ryu with Bell. She would deserve someone much better than that bumbling, squeaking idiot and I would still be reading the book if she hadn't fell in love with him. Have fun waiting another ten years for the epic Ais ending. Who knows, maybe by then you would've improved your basic english comprehension!

@ETH Reds Read the books and read the Ryu IF.

You could watch the Danchro events Omori wrote too (AoO epilogue and Bride Event), it has pictures and such. They are a little easier to understand and comprehend for toxic Ryu fans like yourself.🤗

Just so you guy know, there's nothing wrong with the Ryuu If. The alt story is good and while the end does imply a bigger threat compared to the main story due to Liaris Freese stop functioning, nothing bad actually happened. Besides, "the world will be doom if Bell doesn't love Ais" is no proof for romance.