One of the most common things that I have seen in harems is that one girl confesses, their answer gets put on hold, and each time we see each girl confess until we get to the final decision. This chapter was great because Arisu knows his mind isn’t focused on romance outside of the typical teenage high school urges.
This is a good diversion for the first-to-confess situations we see a lot in manga. It could be widely speculated that most harem authors do this for the girl who won’t end up as the winner. Instead, Arisu provides an answer to all the girls because it doesn’t hurt to give them that answer whether they will confess or not; granted, we all know all 4 are bound to confess eventually. So it doesn’t matter that Iko confessed first; in fact, any of the other girls could have confessed rather than Iko.
So now, instead of waiting for the other confessions, we can move forward into the story. Which I find very refreshing in the genre of traditional harems. Rikka’s point is that their feelings may or may not be sparks. At least in the case of Iko felt out confessing that can’t be treated as a spark.
I do wonder if we are reaching the point where we will start seeing more focus on Arisu than before. As of now, the majority of the focus has been on the girls and Arisu in the role of support with varying degrees. The connection to Apollo will more than likely be the key to opening Arisu’s heart because he is focused on the girl’s dreams.
