Feels like we need an Aaaaaangst tag now, but I'm not sure where. Doesn't really fit for the series as a whole, but there's been a definite tone shift along the way.

Truly heartbreaking...

Feels like we need an Aaaaaangst tag now, but I'm not sure where. Doesn't really fit for the series as a whole, but there's been a definite tone shift along the way.

As far as I know, you can request tags for individual chapters. For example, if one chapter is NSFW when the rest of the series isn't (e.g. the penultimate chapter of Bloom Into You is the only one with the NSFW tag), you can put the NSFW tag on that chapter.

But the worst part is: it's the same fucking bullshit we got last time and every fucking time with this manga: No heart to heart communication until things blow up and then they one of them has to do some over the top gesture to resolve things and I'm calling the author out on it.

It's literally happened every plot arc.

Original Plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about Aya mistaking Mitsuki for a hot guy until things blew up and Mitsuki did a performance for her.

Next plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about wanting to be closer friends until things blew up and Aya climbed through Mitsuki's window to confront her it.

Next plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about their personal problems (Aya with study anxiety and Mitsuki with her musical career) AND Mitsuki and Aya didn't talk about their relationship changing from close friendship to something deeper (especially on the wake of Mitsuki's sudden popularity) until things blew up and they had a very cheesy but sweet prom night.

Now: Mitsuki and Aya can't talk openly about Mitsuki's anxiety with music after multiple failed bands (don't pretend Aya snapping at and confronting Mitsuki after midnight was genuine communication, that was just more melodramatic bullshit from the author) and now Mitsuki just assuming Aya is getting ready to leave her instead of AGAIN just talking things out with her lover. So again, things are blowing up and may blow up even further given how the plot has been getting more melodramatic with every new chapter.

This is a good summary of their relationship that also sums up the problems I have with it. It's worth pointing out that one similarity the original plot has with the current situation is that Mitsuki is the one who is unable to talk about her secret, while Aya is the one who gets angry and takes things personally rather than talking about her feelings, which only further supports the idea that they haven't grown at all since then.

It would be one thing if the author was going for a tragic story of two characters whose personal flaws lead to a dysfunctional relationship, but I doubt that's what the author is trying to write. Instead, it seems to be drama for the sake of drama, and the author failing to develop the characters or their relationship.

Hey Mitsuki, how about you just look for another band that fits you better? You could be the band leader, writing the songs and establishing the main direction. Or how about establishing a little home studio and start a YouTube guitar channel showing off your chops, and then find people to play with? Hey, it worked for Hitori Gotō, didn't it?

Really, I have no idea what this "giving up on music" stuff is even about. It might have been true 30 years ago, but things have changed quite a bit.

I'm reminded of Blue Period. Yatora's first painting submission is rated best in the class. Then his second is rated lowest because, as his art professor pointed out, he just did the same thing again while trying to recreate his first success.

Hey Mitsuki, how about you just look for another band that fits you better? You could be the band leader, writing the songs and establishing the main direction. Or how about establishing a little home studio and start a YouTube guitar channel showing off your chops, and then find people to play with? Hey, it worked for Hitori Gotō, didn't it?

Really, I have no idea what this "giving up on music" stuff is even about. It might have been true 30 years ago, but things have changed quite a bit.

I mean, she doesn't have to play in a band. She could just play for herself. I honestly don't see her Dona career as a musician, more work in a career related to music. Being a musician doesn't fit her personality and I'm not even sure this is what she wants.

Music used to be her own world, her escape from reality. She could just continue do that, and just play for herself and a few friends and just do some small bar concerts from time to time, in a more intimate way. That would fit her way more imo.

Yeah, this is my last chapter gang, blue yuri is where I think this needs to go. Each new chapter has gotten me to just keep saying the same thing, the same complaint "this is hetero bullshit romance on a yuri romance." And it has soured my relationship with this manga, I'm throwing this out of my reading list.

I agree w everyone else tbh. Still read it bc art is pretty. Sumiko seems to try drama but a goos drama is something like HDWR. Tamifull the goat.

How y’all write entire essays about 4 pages I have no idea lol

How y’all write entire essays about 4 pages I have no idea lol

It was a summary of every arc of the manga, not just four pages. A fact that would've been obvious if you read the post instead of skipping straight to flippant remarks.

Damn I didn’t realize everyone suddenly despised this series now because of some relationship drama lol

Damn I didn’t realize everyone suddenly despised this series now because of some relationship drama lol

New to this site I take it?

I guess no-one here has much patience with other people’s mental health issues, then? OK, maybe I’m not being fair. Mitsuki does have issues, and her current avoidance of music might well be symbolic of some other kind of trauma, such as grief, if you want to read this as literature?
For myself, music is a huge part of my life, but it’s not always been plain sailing, to put it mildly, whether as a listener, a performer or as a composer. Music is clearly extremely vital to Aya, and it has to be a very specific kind of music, and in this manga her character has been defined by it from the start.
You feel what you feel, and of course you might want to express that. But for me I still have, so far, the patience to spend a little while each Sunday morning with first the Japanese and then the translated version of this. Of course I’ll be relieved when this arc is worked out, one way or another. I hope it will be something that teaches me, and nourishes me, but I’m grateful for what has often been a refreshing story, and one of the highlights of each week.
When it’s all compiled into a volume, my perception of the overall pacing will change, and this definitely dark phase might feel less insistently upsetting.
But there are things here that Mitsuki needs to work out. And indeed Aya, whose refuge in the bottle maybe needs some attention, not to mention whatever had her find it so necessary to put so much weight on particular music. In real life such things are rarely actually worked out, but just fall into place, across a lifetime. We want better than that from fiction, though.
I don’t think Arai-sensei has written herself into a corner, but I think she’s going to try to find an honest way to resolve her character’s issues; and that might take some time yet, even if we all just want Narita to fix it all, which was a bit of a cop-out early on, when we were all still charmed by the art style and the characters. We can all see the pieces of the puzzle laid out on the table, and we’ve maybe all come to the realisation that the Narita-fix hasn’t worked this time. There are some lovely stories waiting to be told there, but, yes, the 4 pages per week format is tough on not just the story and its readers, but likely on Arai-sensei too. Not to mention whatever she’s going through with fame, and whatever is happening with the anime adaptation.

Damn I didn’t realize everyone suddenly despised this series now because of some relationship drama lol

Haha. Definitely not everyone but I can't blame you for thinking that. I imagine most who enjoy it stay away from stuff like this anyway. Kind of how these things tend to go, which helps create that negative perception of things on the internet in general. I laugh because it would probably be a massive surprise to walk in and see this if you've been reading privately and enjoying yourself. I had a similar reaction after happily reading nearly all of "How Do We Relationship" on my own, then seeing some of the angry and critical discussions of early chapters when their relationship struggles were happening. Same with "Even Though We're Adults." Comes with the territory.

last edited at Jun 7, 2026 11:24AM

When it’s all compiled into a volume, my perception of the overall pacing will change

As someone who’s been buying the physical volumes, can confirm they do wonders for the pacing

Which way green Yuri reader:
"This drama is so bad I could die!"
Or
"This drama is so good I could die"

I am really wondering if any of you have ever been an 18 year old lesbian in your very first relationship. This kind of conflict is very very realistic. Being young, queer and in love and in your very first relationship with another girl is not easy. There are no scripts for you to follow and no elders to help guide you. You fight over every little thing because you don’t know how to recognize what it is you’re feeling, much less communicate that to your partner who is likely also emotionally disregulated because they’re also like freaking 18 years old. If anything, these two are handling this conflict in a better way than most lesbians would—certainly better than I handled conflict when I was their age. I get that it’s not exciting to read but it’s honest and relatable to those of us who have been there or are currently there now. And to be honest, the author is telling us a story about two queer girls trying to figure out how to be together. They’re not feeding us content on TikTok. Not every installation is going to make you feel instantly warm and fuzzy inside because that’s not the point of the series.

i was so excited to read this new arc, considering it's a new stage for the characters and it was also great to see their new adult designs.
but god, i couldn't agree more with this comments section.
seeing them revert to the way things were before is unbearable; i just wanted to see them be a cute couple facing everyday problems... not the same thing they went through as teenagers!
anyway, i'll still keep reading it; i really like the art, but until this drama is over, i'll keep reading it completely automatically.

Well, not much to add that has not been said here already, but I will say that after everything is said and done and collected into books, it will be interesting to read it all in one go. See how it all flows and comes together. Or doesn't, who knows!

Its like stepping in a muddy puddle and getting mad at the person next to you who told you to move out of the way .
Thank god we got that good a thousand lil things this week . It did this type of drama so much better .

last edited at Jun 7, 2026 12:10PM

I don't really get why people take the (valid) criticism to the manga as a personal offense, or a "why are you still reading" - have you ever read a manga that is ongoing? Or seen an ongoing tv show? Sometimes it has his ups, sometimes it has downs, and especially when it has be going for so long, we don't really want to drop it because we really want the series to succeed, get better, or go back to how good it was before. Not all criticism is "hate", at least for me, I am critical even to my favourite shows and books because I want them to be the best possible, because I like it so much.

I also think the argument "they are young lesbians and people are expecting too much maturity"; not really, no. It's not because they are having issues, more so the way they are dealing with them is the same as the beginning of the manga. They don't need to be perfect or handle it without any obstacle, but as the characters grow, we expect them to remember their past experiences and apply that to the situation. After the first 3 times they had fights relating to lack of open communication, I don't see it as a lack of maturity anymore, rather, "are they actually compatible?" lmao they've been close friends for how long, then dating how long, to still be incapable to talk to one another without external intervention???

I'll argue that HDWR is a GREAT example to a couple that had many, many issues to their relationship, stemming from past traumas, immaturity, and all the rest, but we saw thek grow, change, embark in other relationships and bring all that to the table as they moved on, and back, to each other. To give the benefit of the doubt to Arai Sumiko though, I think pacing might be the roote cause to all these problems, and at the same time, it should be responsibility of the author to plan the manga, so if she wants to do 4 pages, she should have some awareness of how it would best be paced in the format she chose to draw.

tl;dr I just hope the narrative gets better.

last edited at Jun 7, 2026 12:23PM

But the worst part is: it's the same fucking bullshit we got last time and every fucking time with this manga: No heart to heart communication until things blow up and then they one of them has to do some over the top gesture to resolve things and I'm calling the author out on it.

It's literally happened every plot arc.

Original Plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about Aya mistaking Mitsuki for a hot guy until things blew up and Mitsuki did a performance for her.

Next plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about wanting to be closer friends until things blew up and Aya climbed through Mitsuki's window to confront her it.

Next plot: Mitsuki and Aya refused to talk about their personal problems (Aya with study anxiety and Mitsuki with her musical career) AND Mitsuki and Aya didn't talk about their relationship changing from close friendship to something deeper (especially on the wake of Mitsuki's sudden popularity) until things blew up and they had a very cheesy but sweet prom night.

Now: Mitsuki and Aya can't talk openly about Mitsuki's anxiety with music after multiple failed bands (don't pretend Aya snapping at and confronting Mitsuki after midnight was genuine communication, that was just more melodramatic bullshit from the author) and now Mitsuki just assuming Aya is getting ready to leave her instead of AGAIN just talking things out with her lover. So again, things are blowing up and may blow up even further given how the plot has been getting more melodramatic with every new chapter.

This is a good summary of their relationship that also sums up the problems I have with it. It's worth pointing out that one similarity the original plot has with the current situation is that Mitsuki is the one who is unable to talk about her secret, while Aya is the one who gets angry and takes things personally rather than talking about her feelings, which only further supports the idea that they haven't grown at all since then.

It would be one thing if the author was going for a tragic story of two characters whose personal flaws lead to a dysfunctional relationship, but I doubt that's what the author is trying to write. Instead, it seems to be drama for the sake of drama, and the author failing to develop the characters or their relationship.

I'd argue that they've had no reason to grow. This to me feels like a realistic way in which problems come up in relationships. Most people in real life don't change. The things that were problems in the beginning of the relationship will usually continue to be problems down the line, it's just how you handle them that needs to get better. So Aya and Mitsuki having the same issues but still not having figured out how to handle them makes perfect sense to me. Mitsuki will always be avoidant and withdrawn. Aya will always be non confrontational. It's how they learn to deal with those flaws that will define whether their relationship will work.

I'd also argue that it was a lot easier for them in high school because most of their anxieties stemmed from the ambiguity in their relationship which is always going to be solved by them wanting one with each other. In college, they have a solid relationship, and the problems that occur now are not going to be solved by just wanting to be together. They have to put the work in.

I don't really get why people take the (valid) criticism to the manga as a personal offense, or a "why are you still reading" - have you ever read a manga that is ongoing? Or seen an ongoing tv show? Sometimes it has his ups, sometimes it has downs, and especially when it has be going for so long, we don't really want to drop it because we really want the series to succeed, get better, or go back to how good it was before. Not all criticism is "hate", at least for me, I am critical even to my favourite shows and books because I want them to be the best possible, because I like it so much.

I would agree with this generally if it were criticism, but most of the negative comments are "this sucks, drama lame, I'm dropping this" and then they don't drop it and write the same comments the following week. That's not criticism.

I'd argue that they've had no reason to grow. This to me feels like a realistic way in which problems come up in relationships. Most people in real life don't change. The things that were problems in the beginning of the relationship will usually continue to be problems down the line, it's just how you handle them that needs to get better. So Aya and Mitsuki having the same issues but still not having figured out how to handle them makes perfect sense to me. Mitsuki will always be avoidant and withdrawn. Aya will always be non confrontational. It's how they learn to deal with those flaws that will define whether their relationship will work.

I like that what's happened with Mitsuki has exacerbated all their insecurities and faults, highlighting their differences and issues. The love is still very much there but to overcome these recent traumas they're being made to face issues that aren't solved by being cute or by a friend or by loving one another. None of their faults are new but are being doubled down on as real flaws in a good way. They're also not things that are solved purely by asking for communication since most of our issues and flaws are what prevent consistent, honest and self aware communication in the first place. I'm interested in how they work through these issues. Each chapter has been pretty impactful, with very little wasted space recently. I wonder where they go from this one.

last edited at Jun 7, 2026 12:43PM