@ Strayed dude no one is hating anyone here we we are just having fun arguing amongst ourselves about what could have been and what has come to pass. Although I am a Tsukasa fan I dont necessarily hate Aya, in fact I admit that she is a wonderful girl and maybe fated to be with Manaka but didnt take the right steps at the right time and didnt have much to discuss him except besides movies. While Tsukasa on the other hand worked hard to change fate itself and made her own luck by doing the right things at the right time.
Quote from dark mage
I personally think Nishino was the best choice for Manaka even though I do feel sorry for Toujo. I think what Nishino and Manaka had a much better chemistry and the reasons are - given the circumstance with Manaka and Toujo, that Nishino was the right choice for her perseverence. However, for me, even if Toujo gave Junpei some indication that she liked him but she never clearly showed her affections and in this regard is just the same as Manaka in nature;i.e Aya and Manaka were too alike to be perfectly compatible. I still think Nishino is the best, for personal reasons, of course. But for me, the girl as discribed in Nishino's character is almost ideal for Manaka as she brings out the best in him. Its an insult to Nishino to say that Manaka only chose her because she turns him on which is totally wrong as both Satsuki and Aya were sexier than her. Its also wrong to say that there wasn't enough bonding between Nishino and Junpei and the author just decided on a poll but I think the author kept dropping hints that Nishino was perfect for Manaka, throughout the whole manga. Why does Aya have to be the one to end up with Manaka because they share the same dreams? It gets boring after a while to talk about the same thing again and again. In fact if you will notice, the only date that Aya and Junpei went out on, they had didn't know what to talk about, so they talked about movies, movies and more movies. This is not very healthy as they were just attracted towards each other by having the same dream while Nishino knew about Junpei's daily life far more than Aya ever did and her depth of perception of Junpei's mood changes were far better than Aya. People having the same dreams make good partners at work but as a person you want to stay your whole life with it gets boring after a while and your vision of the world becomes narrow. I am not saying that Aya isn't a nice girl, she is a very beautiful, intelligent and capable girl, but she is just not right for Junpei as a girlfriend. Show me one instant where Aya wanted to know about Junpei's day to day life or what was bothering him, while Nishino always seemed to know about Manaka's mood swings and did her best to pick him up and set him straight. But if it was Aya, she would have just been sucked into Junpei's mood swings and go along with the flow, agreeing with whatever Junpei said, dragged into his depression, instead of picking him up and setting him straight.
To be in a stable and good relationship, it is essential to have someone who not only appreciate your good points but are also prepared to point out your mistakes and povide you the courage to deal with them and each second you spend with them, seems better and more exciting than the moment before and very few dull moments like running out of topics to talk about and things to do. I mean how much can you talk about only movies. In this manga, all of Junpei's exciting and daring moments have all been with Nishino from the beginning to the end, having fun dates, sneaking a date on their school trip, taking a trip with just the two of them, visiting each other's house, having proper birthday celebrations, giving proper gifts to each other, sharing proper kisses with each other and getting into a fight for the girl you love. Show me one exciting instant like that with Toujo and Manaka except the one where they spent a night at the cottage stuck in a storm but it wasn't fun, just awkward while the time when Tsukasa and Manaka spent a night, it was exciting and fun due to Tsukasa's playful nature like choking Junpei in the morning by blocking his nose and stuff, which didn't let the situation become too awkward. Even Junpei's gifts to Aya were, DVDs. In short Aya and Junpei's relation were within a small world set within the boundary of the same dream and nothing more while the relationship between Tsukasa and Junpei encompassed a much wider horizon as Nishino made Junpei experience the things in real life that he thought only happened in movies. Also they opened their hearts out to each other which is the very basic of a healthy and recipocrative relationship. Sometimes you want to be most with the person that you don't see very often as their absence makes you appreciate their worth even more and the time spent after you finally see each other, all the more precious and more enjoyable. Such was the case of Junpei and Nishino as they went to different schools and they tried to keep in contact while calling up each other on the phone and catching up on the more interesting activities of the day. This is something that Nishino always did and Aya never got around to doing. Nishino always tried her best to show Manaka that even though He was out of her sight doesn't mean he was out of her mind and heart. By contrast, Aya frequently ran away from her problems and sometimes even gave Junpei the cold shoulder which confused Junpei about her feelings towards him and always left him wondering.
Anyways, the reasons, where I think Nishino made a bigger impact and how she truly bonded with MJunpei, I tried my best to describe below and hope people will think a bit better of the author for choosing her. So here it goes -
First, as already meantioned, she was loyal and dedicated to their relationship.
Second, she was attentive to Junpei's needs and moods (even when he himself was not).
Third, she wasn't afraid to talk about potential mixups (think v.9 after Junpei thought she was hugging the pasty guy). If it was Toujo, that would've been the end for them.
Fourth, she had the right mix of aggressiveness/initiative and vulnerability (the 3-day "my own personal Junpei" trip).
Fifth, she did things for Junpei's benefit without seeking recognition (first valentine's chocolate, breaking up with Junpei in the first place, which was a seriously mature move, can you see Satsuki doing that, despite whatever Junpei felt like?).
Sixth, she was both cute (Toujo) and sexy (Satsuki).
Seventh, she changed for junpei.
Eighth, she had a more mature understanding of love, in that she tried to support Junpei without ever 1) trying to force him to follow her, or 2) trying to force herself to follow him. My final conclusion, Nishino was both the most realistic of the girls (v.18 where Nishino was insecure about her figure as compared to the other girls) 3) Cleaning up his room when Manaka was out, bringing him cookies, cakes and little things like that, that grew into something big.4) Taking him out for a walk by the seaside in order to make him relax when Junpei was overworking himself with his studies. I could refer to so many other moments which, litle by little, solidified my decision for Nishino (I love the confession on the pull-up bar in v.16).
Showed her concern for Manaka's happiness again, when she returns to the building in order to retrieve his prized possession, his camera, by risking her own life. I dont see either Toujo or Satsuki do that, especially when both of them were there but it was only Nishino who noticed the camera was missing and knew how much it would hurt both Manaka and his dreams if the video camera was lost.
Ninth, Manaka and Nishino talked about many various topics other than just talking about movies and novels, because all Manaka and Toujo talked about were movies and novels, they never really had a normal conversation and have fun dates like Nishino and Junpei.
Tenth, its not true that Manaka chose Nishino because of the misunderstanding about Toujo having a boyfriend as Manaka himself said to Sotomura, when Sotomura asked Manaka if his reason for choosing Nishino was based on Toujo having a boyfriend, but Manaka said that he chose Nishino because of her qualities and not because of Toujo having a boyfriend. Manaka genuinly started to fall for Nishino during their talks when they returned from work, when Nishino supported him whenever he was stressed about his exams but the part where they really got close was, in that 3-day trip. This is because Nishino showed Junpei her past and opened her heart to him. Nishino also got really close with Manaka's family.
Tsukasa didn't just want to follow Manaka in his dreams but wanted to be a part of it like how she wanted Manaka to be a part in her dreams by always making him the first person to try out her new pastries and if they were good enough for other people. Only when Manaka approved she was relieved and decided to become a pastry chef. By doing this,Tsukasa expertly showed that two people with different dreams can actually be a part of each other's dreams and help each other out and explore and discover new things together, instead of just watching from the sidelines. YOU DON'T NECESSARILY NEED TO HAVE THE SAME DREAM TO BE SUCESSFUL IN BOTH RELATIONSHIP AND CAREER.
Nishino clearly stated when Junpei first impressed her when he stood up for his friend and had to run laps, how she was impressed with Manaka seeing through outer appearences and not sucking up to people in order to flatter them unless it was the truth. How much he struck her by so determinedly followed his dreams that she set about finding her own dream.
Tsukasa always made sure to show her affections for Manaka but never exactly smothered him with affections like Satsuki. She was always clear about her own feelings and was careful enough not to show them so as not trouble Manaka when she felt that her presence in Manaka's heart wasn't enough to challange Aya's presence but the moment she thought that she had slowly made her way back into his heart, from then on she took every oppurtunity to show her affections but was always careful to not be overbearing or annoying
Eleventh, Nishino told him to depend on her like she depended on him when feeling troubled or sad.
Lastly she is a much more fun girl to be with and she was the only girl that pointed out Manaka's faults and also his good points.
About their reunion, I dont think they will break up anytime soon because if their feelings were strong enough to carry them through a time span of 4 years and still love each other in the same way I dont see what could break them apart because its no more a highschool love and they are both alot more mature and Junpei is no longer indecisive.
As for Toujo, she has moved on with her life and from the reunion it seemed like she doesnt have any sort of lingering feelings for Manaka anymore and she seemed to have completely abandoned her introverted personality. I just want to know if she had met anyone that she loved in that time span as she didnt even seem like she was troubled by Manaka's presence.
However, I feel bad for Satsuki as she still seemed to have feelings for Manaka and changed herself to attract his attention. She for me was a really unfortunate girl and deserved much better. If she had played her cards right instead of always being agressive, I believe she would have had a better chance
As for Nishino what I wanted to know is, if she managed to fulfill her dreams of becoming a succesfull pastry chef, as the author didnt say anything about her achievements. But I loved the part when Manaka ran up the stairs and swept Nishino off her feet.
)and completely unrealistic, almost all the girls (it's about 80% probability - just kidding 
) fell for him - a good for nothing lame loser with low IQ but it's NOT unreasonable and impossible, since he has a , uhm, pure and sincere personality (? i'm not sure) and he is very protective and devoted to his girls ( i'm sure 
.
