Hello, I had some questions about the H2 manga ending as I am a bit confused on who Hiro ends up with at the end. The last chapter showed Hikari choosing Hideo when they embrace. However does this mean Hiro doesn't end up with any girl? I mean all it was shown at the end was Hiro making a paper plane and Koga telling him that she is the stewardess and Hiro telling her that she probably is. So does that mean he finally accepts Koga's love because even at the last stage of the game when Noda-the catcher asked him if he still loved Hikari, Hiro said yes. So doesn't it suck that the mangaka left the main character without a girlfriend?

uhm i dunno if u have got ur answer but just finished reading myself i just havta comment back.
For what i understand the ending is like this HIkari realised she has been in love with Hideo all along and it is deeper then she thought.
Hiro gave up on HIkari cause he loves her too much by winning, and it somewhat thanks to Hikari's mom's spooky power that he did it !?!?!
Hideo just realised he was a fool to ever thought that even if HIkari chose Hiro he would be alright, over-confident realisation i guess?!?!?!?!
Koga finally get accepted?!?!?!
See.... I use ?!?!?! alot cause this is how sensei ends his series, there' re quite a few ways to interpret his intention.
But damn i hate the ending, the more i read the more i hate Hikari for her mis leading unfaithful acts towards Hiro and even Hideo,
and the more I like Koga the more I wanna punch Hiro as well, what the hell?
simply put if you don't look at it romantic way, isn't he just another SOB who's using excuses to "un-intentionally" trying to get in between his friend and his gf while bagging himself a back up plan as our poor Koga,
and them same to HIkari, how she treats Hideo just purely dis respectful and manipulative. She gets him introduce him to her, then wait till HE finally grow up she wants both and throughout the story all i see is how she struggles to chose the best, her mother's death is no excuse for any of my sympathy. Love her to death but damn i still hate her (u don't really need to try to understand complicated silly me here, dealing with the confusing ending is bad enuff)
uhm after my blah talk did i manage to answer any of your question? haha well im venting my anger and damn bitching about Hikari and Hiro still not enuff grrrr
well at least Noda and the rest of the character somehow give me some piece reading this series.

the ending with the paper airplane and hiro telling koga to be a stewardes is a referal to an earlier chapter in which koga said see wanted to become a stewardes so she could be with her future husband who will be a baseball player

so hiro says she should be a stewerdes so probably koga and hiro ended up with eachother

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^That, probably.

It's an Adachi manga, they all end sort of like this without a really clear definite pairing in the end. You read through a few more of his works and you might not like it but you'll get used to it.

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Thanks for all the answers as I wasn't expecting them so late. But in this manga, Adachi did show Hikari choosing Hideo. But I feel really bad for Hiro as Hikari led him on for most of the manga and at the end still didn't choose him. Its only Hiro and Koga, who didn't get a proper ending like Hideo and Hikari. But you are right, Koga did mention that she wanted to marry a Pro-Baseball player and wanted to become a stewardess because that was what most Baseballer's wives do for a career. So when Hiro said that he wanted to become a pro, Koga wanted to be his stwerdess and Hiro said she probably is. So in the end I think Hiro did accept Koga. However Hikari really pissed me off the whole manga

Last edited by dark mage at 7:47 am, May 21 2009

The important thing to realize is: Hikari didn't lead Hiro on. She genuinely loved him as well, and much of the tension in the storyline is her trying to figure out just where her feelings really lay.

One line that she continuously says, and is extremely meaningful to the ending, is that she "can't see Hideo losing". In almost every one of Hiro's big matches, she's tense, nervous, and genuinely worried that Hiro will lose. When he wins, she cries with happiness, and she's sobbing when he loses. She seems to care much more about Hiro's matches rather than Hideo's, implying that she loves Hiro more.

But Hiro, at the end, seems to understand Hikari better than she does. Going into the final match, he basically states that he won't hold back, because he loves Hikari, and tells Hideo that he "doesn't understand anything". When he makes the final pitch, and wins the game, Hiro is crying, and not in a happy way, because he knew that he had finally given up on Hikari.

And when Hikari's talking to Hideo at the end, she's crying, for the very first time, because of the outcome of his match. Read her lines again, and it'll tell you exactly what I'm writing here: Hiro won the match, knowing that he'd make Hikari stop thinking of Hideo as the unbeatable ace. He unlocked the door between the two of them, which was ironically her unshakable confidence in his abilities.

Don't feel too bad for Hiro. He walked into that match with the absolute intention of giving up on Hikari.

The trouble was, you say, she was just trying to find where her true feelings lay and that somehow is supposed to mean, she wasnt leading him on. However, that is leading someone on. When you arent clear about your feelings and are trying to keep your feet on both boats especially when yu already have a boyfriend. That was clearly a "leading on the guy" or "dangling a carrot infront of him" case. Its exactly what Bella Swan does to Jacob and Edward in Twilight. In all defintion its leading him on.

And why wont I feel bad for Hiro? He has loved his childhood friend for years, stayed by her side and supported her for years, knows her better than anyone else for years, was overlooked by her because of his stature for years, was forced to introduce his love to another guy, watch them get along and finally get together, and watch them being lovey-dovey from the sideline for years. And then when he finally has the proper stature, only then does she start noticing him and giving him the feeling that the impossible was still possible, only to make him realize that it was only an illusion.

And no, I disagree Hiro really did want Hikari for himself eveen if that meant taking her from Hideo but he realised that Hikari somehow liked Hideo more. But I do agree with you that he went into the match with his mind set on giving-up on Hikari.

But the thing that pains me the most is, Hikari got her happiness but Hiro's relationship status was left ambiguous. So why the heck should I not feel sorry for the guy? Especially when Hiro and Hikari make such a better match? Or when it wasnt even properly shown if Hiro atleast got Koga or not.

its just me or at the end of the anime there was a lil sketch about hiro and koga? in some airplane? it was pretty clear to me hiro did end up with koga after i read the manga but i believe i went to the manga after i finished watching the anime. So that may be the reason i feel like that

It's not leading on if you don't know what type of love it is you have for a person.

Hikari and Hiro knew each other most of their lives. Their families are friends with each other and it feels more like family than anything.

They will always love each other. The problem is that since they grew up together, since they felt more like friends and family for most of their lives, they each loved each other but didn't know what kind of love it was when puberty hit.

Was it the romantic kind? Was it the family kind? Was it a dear family friend kind?

Yeah they admit they love each other to Hideo. But that's a a given. They never say to anyone that they were in love with each other. And there is a difference between crushes, love, and being in love with someone. (this might also have to do with the Japanese word chosen for love. I think it was suki (I haven't read the raw) which often stands for like/love while ai is more romantic, but suki/daisuki are more commonly used.)

While Hiro did love her and had/has a crush on her...I don't think he was ever genuinely in love with her. Hikari is the same.

They are teenagers who are trying to sort out their lives and the type of love they had for each other. It is markably different from Twilight's situation because Bella was looking for someone to be in love with. Hikari already chose Hideo and even before the last volume she was devoting herself more to Hideo than Hiro. Hiro was the same. He crushed on Hikari but I don't think he ever thought of her in romantic terms. He may have thought he did...but once her mother died I think he began to realize that she was more like family to him and the semi-finals just cemented it.

well I understand everyone points, but dont u feel sorry for Koga? If u remember , she was also late in...growing? Chose a bad guy for her first boyfriend...almost got killed in the storm....almost got raped by some crazy bastard. She finally found someone she truly love, and yet that person doesnt understand his feeling...the line between friendship and love is too blur. Hikari is fine...but not my favorite...

Well this is my thoughts of the ending.

Hiro beat Hide knowing that when he did he would lose his shot with Hikari for it was mentioned through the volumes that if Hide needed her Hikari would go to him and by losing Hide realized that he was not strong enough to stand on his own and he did indeed need Hikari.

As far as Hiro's and Koga's chat at the end. Yes you could see this as Hiro excepting Koga's feelings and that she should pursue her dream of a flight attendant and he would fly with her as a pro baseball player. But to me to find out what the probable outcome would be you need to take a step back and look that the manga up to this point. With Hiro and Koga yes we saw scenes of them getting closer and Hiro seeming to get jealous of her english would be rapist but we see many more scenes off how Hiro and Hikari love each other and understand each other. How Hikari only cries in front of or for Hiro, avoiding and seaking him out has her feelings grow and war with her feelings of love and loyalty towards Hide. And on Hiro's side he is always looking for her even in the last game, and he always seems to know more about Hikari and her feelings and needs then Hide which yes can be counted to their long friendship but to be able to do even when they are drifting apart shows love to me along with the authore showing how good a match they are. Also Hiro just never seems to really pay attention to Koga, to her dreams and needs or showing love. A good example to me is towards the end when she go gets the shampoo this just shows to me how little he cares for her that he complains about the original shampoo and doesn't stop her or search for her when she goes out to find the one he wants and then doesn't even use it when she does. Now I know he did go through that big storm to save her from the being locked in that shed but to me that only shows he cares for her and the he doesn't want his friend to die not that she is the one he would pick in the end. And with the jealousy yes this partly shows that Hiro does love Koga to some extent but I think its more of no guy likes to lose the love of a girl some part of us wants all women to be in love with us its part of our male prid. So to me yes I think you could take all of the stuff said and shown at the end as Hide and Hikari get together and Hiro and Koga but to me neither of those pairings really match up with the rest of the story. To me the author has just led us on to long with the whole Hikari loves Hiro and Hiro loves Hikari thing to make any other paring possible. Now the author could have wrote off this love as a sibling love and then the other pairings would have been ok but he didn't so I just don't see how the story could end smoothly (if it actually had a complete ending) with any other pairing. So I think the hug (note it wasn't a kiss which to me is another sign) between Hide and Hikari was a good by hug of a breakup and Hiro's comment to Koga nothing more than a simple half hearted encouragement to continue to persue her dreams and a wish for her success in life.

I do think its sad too though that Koga doesn't appear to (since it is a open hanging ending really) get Hiro but really for Koga I think its for the best since I can't really see Koga and Hiro matching up to well the only thing they seem to have in common is a love of baseball. And I think that Hiro needs a more tomboyish women to kind of boss him around and push him farther than he would go on his own. And for Hide I don't think he's good for Hikari either for though he's nice he just doesn't seem to really get Hikari throughout the whole series. And I don't think Hikari was really ever her true self in front of him an example of this is how she never cried in front of him.

But then again this is all just my interpretation since this is just an open ending (which I nearly cried in frustration after I read it for I read all those volumes solely to see Hiro get Hikari and its was a dud!) so its all how you look at it for there is no real ending. Me personally what I would do would have Hiro kiss Koga's socks off then tell her 'sorry your a great girl but I'm not the one for you' then run down to the shore shove Hide off Hikari then kick him into the sea with a "sorry but your just not quite man enough for her" then pick Hikari up princess style and kiss her as he strolls off into the sunset.

I read the series and I have a diferent point of view about the ending.
Just to make clear, of course this ending was the best of all adachi's works. Its the best because it is a bit unexpected and if you really liked the caracters its impossible keep your cool with that ending, what shows how great it is this ending. Good works are that that touch your sentiments like angry, sad, etc.
Well about the ending: it's clear that Hikari loves Hiro and Hiro loves Hikari. Maybe Hideo could love Koga more than Hikari, but it is the trick that Adachi uses against the readers: the "good" ending, with Hikari pairing with Hiro and Koga with Hideo. And its just that that turns the ending really unexpected.
My guess that Hiro and Hikari wasnt really happy in the end was because they dont express really happiness in last chapter: Hikari dont smile to Hideo. Hiro was visible sad with the outcome.
But both really loved Hideo that would be impossible to just be together, and Hikari knew about that. Her finals word are key of why she dont end with Hiro: "I never had the right to choose from the start...".
What that means? That Hiro never asked her. So she never could choice between Hideo and Hiro because she knew that Hiro's loyalty would never allow that he could break his two friends.
But I dont have the answer why Hiro cried in his last pitch: I dont think that he have just given up Hikari because he never agreed with the Hideo's thinking. I think that he cried because he knew that Hikari would always be a impossible girl to him, or maybe he cried because his last pitch was the obvious choice that could allow Hideo win the game: if he didnt doubted Hiro, he could hit the ball meaning that Hideo didnt need Hikari, but he doubted Hiro and show his weakness.
Weel, my final opinion is that I liked the story, but personally I think really sad that Hiro and Hikari really loved each other but they could never be together. To me, Hikari was that impossible goal that you always hope, fight, but everything you do is in vain. I really like characters who overcoming a hurdle, but its just because of that that this work is unique. Hiro lost in the ending showing something that we readers already know: no matter how you love a girl, in the end its rare to just be with the girl you choose. Frequentelly you end with your second, third choice. In that case, Hiro end with Haruka, but t seems like a consolation prize.
Maybe the ending could be less traumatic if Hiro showed real love or happiness toward Haruka, but he just show frustation, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth...

panta's reply has shown me the one thing that was part of my frustration in the ending. Panta said that Hiro and Hikari couldn't be together. But why not? They both loved each other (or I think they did and the story seemed to be pointing to that most of the time) and so all that had to happen for them to be together was one get the balls to go up to the other and say I love you we should be together. And if the author had them do this the story would have ended very smoothly and nicely (in my opinion anyway) with them both together. Now there is the fact that Hikari is dating Hideo Hiro's best friend but if that is the only reason they are kept apart (which it appears to me that it is) then thats just dumb because in that case you giving up the love of your life just to spare a friend a little bit of pain that he will get over after a very short time and I think Hideo and Hiro are friends enough that they could still be friends if this did happen, after Hideo moved on. Though I'm not saying panta's outlook is wrong or anything since its a book and every reader is going to have a different interpretation and none of them are wrong especially in an open ending like this one.

I thought interesting read these opinions, but I've always interpreted this series a little bit differently from most here.

For me, since beginning, Hiro loves Hikari but wants to move on, while Hikari doesn't wanna leave Hideo, but can't just forget her love for Hiro too. So, I thought Hiro never tried to fight for become Hikari's gf, is exactly the opposite. He found in Haruka a nice girl, but initially he wasn't able to overcome his feelings for Hikari and really love her.

So, the process to move on happened in 3 major steps. First when, he was able to confess his crush to Hikari but both let obvious they wouldn't try be together, despite their feelings for each other. Only after this burden was taken off his shoulders, he was able to accept Haruka's feelings, that is better represented in that judo guy arc. Even so it was evident that he and Hikari still have feelings, but the final point is Hikari's mom death. She was like his second mom and the day when he visits her house and is all gloomy but remembers of her dream of him being pro. And after when he consolates Hikari and she kind of go on a date with him, he sums everything and get the conclusion that he should do a move to help her to move on too. Imo, this decision is made in chapter 286, after the talks with Hikari and Koga, so he goes to the Koshien with the plan of beating Hideo to Hikari notice her true feelings for Hideo already in mind. After all, Hiro was the on who best knew her.

Even if he loved more Hikari than Haruka at that point, he had already made his mind, and loved the other girl too. That's why he says "Sorry" to Hikari the day before the match when she shows she wanted root for him, and after the game she states that she never had the right to choose, since Hiro had made the choice before. Even so it was hard to him doing this and that's why he seems a little sad with Koga in the end, like in a hangover after give farwell to Hikari.

And Hideo's actions are a little bit stupid saying to Hikari choose between them. He was being very rude with Hikari that never asked for that, with Hiro that haven't shown desire to fight for her love in ths way before and even with Koga.

Last edited by Rarofra at 1:44 pm, Sep 3 2014

feel bad for hiro and koga
hikari was uncertain with her feeling along manga (she date with hideo but she was not comfortable when kiss hideo(hiro arond them)