ngc

Ais has a lot of rich content outside of the anime and she overall has a poor adaptation in the anime. There are plenty of reasons to love her character and there is a reason why Omori intends to end with her. Beginning with the next volume, we are finally getting into her arc, the final arc of the series.

The harem baiting is one of the most overused and frustrating aspects of the series, often leveraged for marketing purposes, but it doesn’t reflect the true heart of the story. At its core, the narrative has always been about Bell's pursuit of Ais and his journey to becoming a hero. Bell doesn't end up with any of the other girls because Bell x Ais has always been a central pillar of the plot and the main driver behind Bell's growth. Changing that dynamic would fundamentally alter the story and diminish its potential. Compared to the anime, the novels do a much better job of developing and foreshadowing Bell x Ais, showcasing the depth of their characterization and the reasons their relationship dynamic works so well.

JC Staff largely removed the foreshadowing, particularly on Ais's side, which does a disservice to the series. They also cut significant portions of their relationship development. One egregious example is in SO4, where approximately 12 pages of Bell x Ais content was condensed into a 12-second, made up scene focused on Lefiya's jealousy.