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I'm a little confused by the tenses in the following monologue taken from the beginning of a manga chapter:

 黒い服が好きだった
 昏い闇の中に居ても
 安心して溶け込んでいられるから 　　
 この年になっても私は 　　
 中二病を拗らせたままでいる

Now, in my native language a phrase like "I liked dark clothes" would normally imply that this is not the case anymore. However, here the character proceeds to explain that her preferences haven't changed (in fact, on the last frame she is shown wearing a black top). Is there no such implication in japanese? Or does the first line beg for an additional いつも?

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  • I believe the same implication exists in Japanese as well, which is why there was a need for the author to explain that it is still the case
    – eclmist
    Commented Aug 23, 2021 at 20:52
  • 1
    I’m curious. What tense does your language use when you want to describe a past state without suggesting whether or not that state is still continuing?
    – aguijonazo
    Commented Aug 24, 2021 at 3:00

1 Answer 1

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The first sentence

黒い服が好きだった

can be interpreted as a shortened form of

黒い服が昔から好きだった

which implies that the character's preferences haven't changed.

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