I remember getting excited during the first chapter's release... ooh a yuri isekai story with a system forcing our lead to follow the original plot of being a villainess... that was an interesting read! This (current arc) is ALSO a good and precious story.. it's just not consistent with the start and I have no idea how the author will even make it make sense.

Yeah I don't even know where this is going. She's supposedly going to the past to stop the wolf attack, right? And then what? The story ends? There's something with that villain guy selling children to the demons or something (I forgot) and he may be involved and not the actual demons but like I don't get it??? Also mildly uncomfortable knowing this is older Yvonne actually and flirting with child Elsa. I mean she's not doing anything, though actually there's the suggestion that they're going to kiss, idk...
I would have better preferred it if Yvonne slowly found out about Elsa's sad past if they wanted to add drama rather than sending her back to the past.
Also I have a problem with all these isekais, why do they never mention the protagonists past life? I mean surely it affects them if they remember it, right?

Yeah this chapter kinda ruined it... come on Ayaka lol.

Maybe Ayaka should get together with the previous senpai, they'd make a nice couple XD

Ohhhhhhhh!!!! The flirting is real!!! Omg! Kinda think they might just end up kissing without going through the whole "I like you" "wait, you mean you like me like that?" Haha

Omg when are they going to become official? XD

Oh god... I can't say I dislike this XD but gee Ayaka, u need to chill lol Hope they can find a middle ground, huh?

Oh my god, what's wrong with her? XD slapping her is going way too far lol

Oh, I love this one! Thanks for the translation, it's amazing!

I've done "Ayaka things" in the past, not to this extent but um, weird extent, like asking my professor out for coffee once I graduated-extent... and sometimes I kinda wish it had stayed a crush in my head and I hadn't been so stupid. But then again, this is a manga not real life lol, idk why I'm even saying this.

I think Mitsuki's parents might be alive but neglectful/ involved in something that's why he couldn't take her with him maybe? Cause he's not her legal guardian? Not sure.
When is Aya going to realize she's in love? Lol, it's time haha

I generally agree about characters who don't quit. So we are definitely the same, there. I make an exception here in small part because its super funny but mostly because by this point Ayaka knows Hiroko likes her. She hasn't actually ever been rejected. Even the first "rejection" was more of an "I am too afraid to be public and want you to be happy," which Ayaka reads rightfully as "she likes me but is afraid of backlash, I'll show her not to be afraid." Before those points Hiroko deliberately never rejects Ayaka because she has always liked her but was avoidant. Hiroko lies about being gay once, but Risa immediately reveals that lie and makes Ayaka confused, etc. So to me, there's not been a real rejection yet, which is different than what happened with Risa.

Yeah, I guess it makes sense in that way, in manga universe anyway. Ayaka does suspect Hiroko likes her but I really don't think their feelings are quite mutual in that Ayaka is practically head over heels and Hiroko just has a work crush on her. Maybe a bit more than a crush as Ayaka really triggers her insecurities in a way but she's not that depressed over losing her. She's just like "oh well". So I do feel Ayaka is really putting Hiroko on the spot here. She declared this in front a bunch of people and they're going to be expecting Hiroko to say something. Honestly, if Hiroko says something like "you mean you really love me as a senpai, right?" I wouldn't even blame her. What is she supposed to say? "That's nice Ayaka..."? Haha, anw sorry I'm being too negative. I just can't imagine how this is going to pan out and I'm here wondering, where is this going?

And to expand on that point: her decision was definitely impulsive but that's her character. She's like that and for this story it's mostly a positive. To me, the story doesn't seem to be about changing those parts of her personality (like it sounds like you want? correct me if I'm wrong). Instead, the story seems more about showing that, that exact personality type is what's needed to force Hiroko to solve her own issues. Ayaka's brash, uncompromising, never-give-up personality is the only thing that could crack Hiroko's self-imposed walls. I see them as two people who are balancing each other's extremes. If Ayaka comes out this loud and proud, but nothing bad happens to her, there will be little for Hiroko to rationalize as an excuse. With the other methods, Hiroko might find more of the wiggle room she desperately craves.

It is also worth remembering that this story is a RomCom, and people in RomComs often behave like complete doofuses.

Yeah true, it's a not to be taken too seriously at the end of the day. I'm just really not a fan of "if she rejected you it just means try harder". Sometimes people need to mature. We can have romcoms that don't fall into those typical cliches. I tend to like stories that reflect real issues but I'm a bit overly demanding. We'll see how it goes for her :P
She's kinda like Gizelle from Enchanted in that sense I guess.

Even in modern offices in the US, everyone won't agree about social issues but if the atmosphere around acceptance has shifted people can be more reluctant to openly critique, or might have their critique nuetured a bit, out of fear of seeming against what's now considered good. That's obviously not always the case but still. In fact I don't see how anything else could be the case. After Ayaka has come out, having conversations in the office won't suddenly change behaviors. For this to work (and not be cheesy) it has to be that their behaviors were mostly already changed to begin with (cynically or not).

When I say people won't instantly be supportive I mostly mean they will probably act like they don't care and go on with their lives, not that they will be homophobic necessarily. I didnt mean to compare it to the Hiroko's experience either. Im sure the new people might be more chill. It's just that I don't think Ayaka will get what she wants out of this... I just don't think people are going to be like "way to go Ayaka, go get the girl!" I mean this is an office. And obviously people are going to gossip about it, not that she's gay only but that she likes Hiroko mostly. They're going to be like, wait since when? how? So she wasn't dressing up for them men? Was she dressing for Hiroko? Does Hiroko like her back? Did she even know this?
I just think it's a very dumb move. There are LGBT groups in offices. If Ayaka wanted to show Hiroko that she can be out she could put together a group along with Risa and invite people to join. She could still tell people she's gay but she doesn't need to yell it out like a crazy person. I mean how old is Ayaka? 23? 24?

last edited at Jun 24, 2023 9:21AM

Ya I really had initially expected it to be "hey everyone in the office I am a lesbian" and then through everyone being cool with it organically show Hiroko that it's okay for her to come out now too.

Now this would be a development I'd disapprove. The top management is still the same from the time Hiroko was still a newbie. We've seen them. Something like: "oh yeah it's been 10 years and things are different" would contradict existing plot

Ok forgetting for a moment that this is a story and we shouldn't take it at face value here's my opinion. Saying she's in love with Hiroko is pretty much saying she's queer. She could've said I love women or sth. I agree with the other people that public confessions are very uncomfortable. People in my country here can be quite homophobic as well. I can't imagine a girl shouting she's in love with me in the workplace like that. I'm sorry but I'd be mortified even if I liked her. Probably more if I did. I wouldn't feel comfortable pursuing anything with her because I'd feel that all eyes are on me. It's OK to tell some co workers you're familiar with but announcing it like that is so problematic. Who cares who Ayaka loves? This is a company not high school where everyone's friends and stuff. First of all Hiroko might not be her boss per se but she's her senior and workplace relationships like that aren't the best thing ever. Sometimes they can be forbidden in the contracts and could get you fired and even if not it's best to be discreet.

Imo, this is Ayaka’s cue to mature a bit and learn to interact with people in a more natural way. I'd be disappointed if suddenly Hiroko has an epiphany and realizes she was wrong all along. It doesn't make sense for everyone to suddenly be super supportive. Though I suspect now more people are going to start coming out and this will spark a discussion but idk... idk how this can be handled correctly.
I'm sorry, I like Ayaka a lot but I hope she doesn't get the best reaction and starts to understand Hiroko's point of view.
Honestly it's very very different in a country where people don't casually say they're gay. Here, I couldn't just casually tell someone, oh btw my ex girlfriend or sth. It just doesn't happen. They're gonna stare at me and be like... "wait, you're a lesbian? Uhh... oookaaay..." Hiroko has many young women who look up to her and are very friendly with her. Imagine if everyone knew she likes women. Well some of them are now gonna be like "uh, my boss is a lesbian, she said my shirt is nice, I think she might have the hots for me lol". I think maybe in a fashion? company in Tokyo maybe they're more open minded and Japanese people sort of mind their own and aren't as judgemental as here I think but from what I've heard it's not the most queer friendly place in the world.

last edited at Jun 24, 2023 5:45AM

Ya I really had initially expected it to be "hey everyone in the office I am a lesbian" and then through everyone being cool with it organically show Hiroko that it's okay for her to come out now too.

Now this would be a development I'd disapprove. The top management is still the same from the time Hiroko was still a newbie. We've seen them. Something like: "oh yeah it's been 10 years and things are different" would contradict existing plot

Ok forgetting for a moment that this is a story and we shouldn't take it at face value here's my opinion. Saying she's in love with Hiroko is pretty much saying she's queer. She could've said I love women or sth. I agree with the other people that public confessions are very uncomfortable. People in my country here can be quite homophobic as well. I can't imagine a girl shouting she's in love with me in the workplace like that. I'm sorry but I'd be mortified even if I liked her. Probably more if I did. I wouldn't feel comfortable pursuing anything with her because I'd feel that all eyes are on me. It's OK to tell some co workers you're familiar with but announcing it like that is so problematic. Who cares that Hiroko loves Ayaka? This is not high school where everyone's friends. First of all Hiroko might not be her boss per se but she's her senior and workplace relationships like that aren't the best thing ever. Sometimes they can be forbidden in the contracts and could get you fired and even if not it's best to be discreet.

Imo, this is Ayaka’s cue to mature a bit and learn to interact with people in a more natural way. I'd be disappointed if suddenly Hiroko has an epiphany and realizes she was wrong all along. It doesn't make sense for everyone to suddenly be super supportive. Though I suspect now more people are going to start coming out and this will spark a discussion but idk... idk how this can be handled correctly.

Ayaka is being very inconsiderate and pushy. Public confessions are kind of awful because they put societal pressure onto the receiver and involve bystanders in drama.
She could come out by herself to prove her point but now rumours are going to affect Hiroko, so she went and landed her in the hot water.
Besides, does she think that Ayaka would immediately get together with her if her baggage was gotten rid of? We know that yes, that is probably the case, but for her it is not certain.

yeah I agree to be honest... I'm not sure I like this development, it's so over the top... I hope it backfires lol...

People should not like or dislike developments, for most part, as long as it is contextually correct. If it fits the character, no matter how crazy or gross, it's good. If it doesn't fit the character, then there has to be a really good in-story reason for it.

I was hoping Ayaka could get some character development out of the rejection but maybe this will be her wake up call... lol. Everyone hating on Hiroko and I'm here bashing Ayaka XD I mean she's cute and all but sometimes she's totally tone deaf.

Ayaka is being very inconsiderate and pushy. Public confessions are kind of awful because they put societal pressure onto the receiver and involve bystanders in drama.
She could come out by herself to prove her point but now rumours are going to affect Hiroko, so she went and landed her in the hot water.
Besides, does she think that Ayaka would immediately get together with her if her baggage was gotten rid of? We know that yes, that is probably the case, but for her it is not certain.

yeah I agree to be honest... I'm not sure I like this development, it's so over the top... I hope it backfires lol...

Wha... What's going on O_o this isn't... what's supposed to be happening lol

Yeah Hiroko probably isn't a womanizer at all XD
Idk maybe I'm the minority but really the traumatic backstory doesn't really concern me much. It seemed pretty clear to me that Hiroko wasn't in a position to really respond to Ayaka's feelings. Also she doesn't owe Ayaka anything, Hiroko might like her but she isn't head over heels for her like Risa is so it's not a big deal to reject her I think. It's not like she's gonna try to win her love now probably. I'm not sure how it's gonna go but maybe they can flirt and have a more mutual interaction and go from there.

Oh god, Hiyama is still so weird XD oh well...

Not a bad backstory I've got to say, a bit over-dramatic but believable still.

Hmm... maybe that counts had something to do with the wolf attack. I hope we can get back to the present soon though, I want to see them kiss again XD

I thinking "wanting a career in an environment where outing oneself would end it" is a good enough excuse to avoid a relationship with a younger coworker. No need for a sappy "I had a scummy but kind of sexy boss back then so I have trauma on this topic" backstory

Yeah true, I don't love that trope either lol but here we are.

Pfff Aya is totally in love, no joke XD I think she's starting to realize so herself we just haven't heard her internal monologue yet lol

...also, that montage on this page reminded me of this very old XKCD comic (it doesn't really work as a parallel for obvious reasons, you don't have to tell me that :P I just thought it's kinda funny).

Yeah there's a huge difference between being friendly* with someone you like if there is some flirting going on and they know you like them but the person is emotionally unavailable and trying to be someone's bestie while pinning for them the whole time. I mean Risa comes off as immature here and Ayaka as well should have backed off a bit and not gone crying to her with Hiroko problems. The only thing I can say is that Risa realized she liked Ayaka after a whole year so it's not like she was secretly pinning for her so that's a plus. But I don't know in what world it makes sense to go after someone like Ayaka who is head over heels for someone else.

So... the formula is making the readers angry?

Kind of. ^_^

But not willingly. Let me give you an analogy. You know the Brontë sisters, Charlotte, Emily and Anne? This a short comic about them:

I have read The Tenant of Wildfell Hall and I think it's one of my favorite books and the reason it works is because the problematic character escalates so much in his behavior that he is basically unredeemable and also because the story frames that whole relationship as a flashback and in fact it starts with the unproblematic love interest You could also argue that the female character is a bit like Hiroko in this case because she hides that she is actually married and left her husband because she couldn't divorce him and rejects the love interest for this reason even though she likes him.

"One rarely falls in love without being as much attracted to what is interestingly wrong with someone as what is objectively healthy." The Course of Love, Alain de Botton.
Hiroko is indeed problematic but she isn't a toxic person who wants to manipulate Ayaka. She rejects Ayaka because she knows this. Now I don't exactly agree with the formula of a girl liking a broken person and trying to fix them no matter what. It doesn't give a great message and that's not what anyone should be doing. That's why I hope to see Ayaka work on herself in a way and remain friendly with Hiroko without pursuing her anymore. These tropes of fixing the broken person or chasing the girl till she says yes are very old and kinda ridiculous since they are completely out of touch with reality. Hiroko needs to be ready and make a move. She will probably give mixed signals and it won't be great either but I don't think we read stories to find a moral ideal. If there is one it can only be revealed at the end after the characters stumble many times throughout the journey.