What a horrible woman.

That page went so hard I had to take a break and stim

I think an alternative reading is that she's a criticism of yuri, which as a genre, often casts aside the improvisation of negotiating a relationship dynamic in favor of reproducing more static heterosexual relationship dynamics. I'd even point out that while Aoyama is performing oral on the "female" part of the flower, it is a very phallic depiction. It's not hard to see Yurika being cast in the role of a classic patriarchal villain—a fixation on youth, chasing pleasure, emphasizing difference in social position when the wife/mistress speaks up. In that light, "It's tradition." works more as a direct call-out on the abuse enabled by "traditional" relationships.

I very much disagree with this reading. Yuri relationships are ones in which both parties are allowed to be in a romantic relationship that doesn't adhere to heterosexual roles. A lot of yuri manga have moments of the characters reflecting on this: "we couldn't do this if we weren't both girls", or "I wouldn't be able to talk about that with a boyfriend". It's very much about how same sex relationships are free from those strict relationships expectations. And I don't see the flower as being phallic in the slightest. This is a story about a girl abusing another girl, how even a supposedly "pure" and innocent relationship as Class S can be twisted and used by an abuser to groom their victim. If anything it's a clear warning that abuse doesn't have to be patriarchal and women can be predators too.

last edited at Jun 11, 2026 4:01AM

I think an alternative reading is that she's a criticism of yuri, which as a genre, often casts aside the improvisation of negotiating a relationship dynamic in favor of reproducing more static heterosexual relationship dynamics. I'd even point out that while Aoyama is performing oral on the "female" part of the flower, it is a very phallic depiction. It's not hard to see Yurika being cast in the role of a classic patriarchal villain—a fixation on youth, chasing pleasure, emphasizing difference in social position when the wife/mistress speaks up. In that light, "It's tradition." works more as a direct call-out on the abuse enabled by "traditional" relationships.

I very much disagree with this reading. Yuri relationships are ones in which both parties are allowed to be in a romantic relationship that doesn't adhere to heterosexual roles. A lot of yuri manga have moments of the characters reflecting on this: "we couldn't do this if we weren't both girls", or "I wouldn't be able to talk about that with a boyfriend". It's very much about how same sex relationships are free from those strict relationships expectations. And I don't see the flower as being phallic in the slightest. This is a story about a girl abusing another girl, how even a supposedly "pure" and innocent relationship as Class S can be twisted and used by an abuser to groom their victim. If anything it's a clear warning that abuse doesn't have to be patriarchal and women can be predators too.

I do agree with that. While some interpretations are interesting, I also do think some are reading too much into it. But at the same time, it brings interesting conversations and it's nice to see how people are interpreting the story. If anything, it means the story is rich and well written.

I have to admit though that I'm bothered by the heterosexual relationship archetype that a lot of people are talking about lately, in this manga or others. While dynamics can be different, I don't like it when stereotypes are uses for relationships. The spectrum is large in any type of relationship, and I don't even know how a stereotypical heterosexual relationship is supposed to be different in comparaison to lesbians or any other form of relationships (at least, inside the relationship, not talking about the dynamics regarding society).

Calling out patriarchal or misogynistic influences on relationships is one thing, but do we really have to code that as heterosexual? The last thing we should be doing is telling straight guys that equitable partnerships are gay. What happens if they agree with you?

I also find the idea that the yuri genre as a whole is overindulgent in things like physical lesbian intimacy, unequal power dynamics... Not very consistent with my observations.

Yuri is already a small niche compared to BL, positively tiny compared to straight romance, so I think it's unfair to scold the yuri genre for indulging its audience's thirst as much as its competitors do theirs (though in my observation yuri is actually less indulgent). But relationships characterized by a rigid hierarchy are not even close to the norm in yuri. (My bias is that I do like problematic relationships and power dynamics in lesbian fiction, but these are also not the norm.)

oh wow this was dark and deep she finally figured it out. sorry i happened to be the first one to comment in this chapter when i cant even articulate words right

wowzers, this was pure art and so gruesome too

Give the raws a like.
I retract my previous assessment. Fuck Yurika, all my homies hate Yurika. Only Aoyama deserves a happy ending here.

I was pretty spot-on with this description however:

These snapshots could all be sweeter in another context but they have a deeper purpose: these are the moments Aoyama smoldered over for 6 years. She flips through them like old photographs as the rest fades away, an idyllic trauma she can't move past.
Aoyama's been trapped in the memory of something she couldn't emotionally grasp.

Sayori's arc led us to believe no matter how toxic, the pair could see eye to eye. Yamabe's arc led us to believe no matter how unlikely, the pair could reach a happy ending. But like the boxcutter, Igarashi may have twisted the rules again. This is not an arc headed for mutual healing. This is Aoyama facing disillusionment and the most painful truth.

It's ultimately a positive influence on their romance, on the romances of the 2 settled pairs too. If there's only one theme to this manga it's that. Class S was born from a painful time in history, but that pain paved the way to happiness. Yuri is the celebration of what Class S laid the groundwork for. By paying respects you take the good with the bad, exploring degrees of bittersweet to downright toxic before ultimately finding that brighter path together.

And while I'll cross out the "togethers" in this case I still hold to this being the core theme of the manga. To skip to my closing argument: there's a powerful inversion at play here. Yurika conspicuously represents lilies/yuri itself. Yet she fetishizes romance while acting as a proponent of the worst of Class S, wielding a system that once acted as limited liberation for the repressed to now repress emotional attachment and discard her partner once she's done.

Meanwhile Kasumi represents a perfected Class S relationship. One that shows all signs of lasting where the yuri one fell apart. Aoyama reconsiders her judgment that it was "kiddy shit," now seeing it as harmonious and mutually fulfilling. Do I think Igarashi is arguing we need to reject yuri and return to sisters? Not at all, and the tell lies in Aoyama exploring different types of lilies. Ones with gentler, less harmful fragrances.

It's undeniable Kasumi and Haruyo's relationship has outgrown the limitations of Class S. While they still shelter within their roleplay, they share a happy romance that's already discussed leaving sistership behind once they're ready. And as Aoyama wants to see what's real, part of me hopes that means reconciling with Kasumi. I don't think she can overcome this without opening up, maybe taking comfort in her letter's legacy leaving behind a more inspiring love.

Despite the lack of overt imagery it's horribly uncomfortable watching Aoyama come to terms with her abuse. Punctuated by that page of middle school Aoyama longing for what Kasumi has, what could have been in a better life. Giving a sense of the innocence she lost; one little memory unearthed and an avalanche of trauma coming down.

And while less immediately heavy, that revelation comes with the admission she trampled over Kasumi's feelings. Unlike the other arcs that happened outside our protagonists' knowledge, this one broke containment. Kasumi was personally affected and regularly interacts with Aoyama at the library. She owes Kasumi an apology. An apology that would come with some degree of explanation and maybe continued confiding over the secrets they share. I'm not sure where the overarching story goes from here - tracing older letters? Following new branches? Getting Yurika arrested? But Aoyama seems set to potentially play a larger role than Sayori or Yamabe have. Who knows, maybe Kasumi needs a friend exposed to trauma to begin addressing her own buried pain.

I can't end without dedicating a section to commenting on the imagery.

• The ghostly outline superimposed over a dead flower, symbolizing Aoyama's idyllic memory overwriting the death of her romance.
• The tattered white fabric billowing over the lily dimension, its texture indistinguishable between ribbon and lily and described as the paleness of death. So absurdly evocative despite coming from nowhere. I have no doubt Igarashi always based the white ribbons of the school uniform on lilies, waiting for a scene like this.
• A collage of the past bordered and blocked by simple abstract flowers, constructing a neat narrative of something much darker.
• Once again being consumed by a lily and one of its petals reaching where it really shouldn't.
• As Aoyama tears her memories apart we're given 3 panels of a lily dying like her romanticized love, leaving only its pistil as the flowers wilt away. This is followed by 3 panels of Yurika unfolding, leaving petals waiting open like a mouth around the stem and ovary. My reading of it at least, as tucked into the TL note, is a very symbolic admission Yurika was only ever interested in using Aoyama for sex. Now I admit I'm no flower doctor and that could be something else, say a newborn flower. But those don't look like closed petals; it too closely resembles the wilting flower of the previous page.
• The field of lilies Aoyama now stands on is dead, petals collapsed at her feet. All that's left before her is a barred frame containing one of the same flowers from her romanticized collage.

I touched on some more abstract metaphor in the TL note. As a flower uses its petals to lure in small animals to carry on its legacy, Yurika used the promise of romance to lure in a young girl to ultimately carry on the darker legacy of Class S.
Igarashi's really going all-out with the artistic abstractions and depictions of Aoyama's inner workings.

And so to close I'll translate some of Igarashi's comments this chapter:

I've always thought flowers are are a little grotesque. I do like them regardless and find them beautiful too, but from certain angles they look like monsters. I was glad to focus on that rawness to them this chapter.
In middle school I bought a photo book of flowers and the close-up pages of pistils and stamens freaked me out. "Are flowers actually gross...?" That might have been the core memory that started all this. And yet it might be why I like flowers so much.

I remember thinking, "Yuri is a genre about lilies, so you better learn all about lilies or else! It's a matter of courtesy!!" I drove myself crazy for a while reading books on lilies.
Once upon a time I drew a doujinshi themed around the language of flowers. But I found myself thinking, "Flower language is so useful to the point it makes it hard to look at the flowers themselves." So I write Arisaku without looking up anything to do with flower meanings in advance.* Flower language is a language and that makes it overpowering to writing. That language begins influencing the entire work. It's too invincible of a weapon.

(tl note: Igarashi does look up the flower meanings after an arc is completed. As a personal note, I consider the language of flowers to be cold reading. It's mostly generic sentiments or themes that can be applied to anything. Symbolism always finds a way to apply to works with profound meaning. Not to say they don't feel special when adorning a finished story, but letting symbolism be the foundation of a story can severely limit where you take it.)

During Yamabe's arc such outlandish compositions and psychological surrealism felt unfitting, so I held off. But letting it all surge back out during Aoyama's arc has been thrilling. These things just don't suit Yamabe. Please never become someone who feels at home with these things. I'm begging you. You don't belong on this side.

(tl note: As Yamabe's arc was calmly melancholic and Yamabe herself a very logically minded architecture student, Igarashi restricted the page composition to geometric and stable boxes with little to no deviations until Mia broke through to Yamabe, represented by a diagonal break in the page as she grabbed Yamabe across the desk.)

Q: Why was a middle schooler buying a photo book of flowers?
A: Well a shoujo mangaka has to be able to draw flowers! That's why I bought it, to copy from the real thing.
...Maybe I can still be one someday!? A shoujo mangaka!!?!?? It's not too late for me, is it!!!???

(I might need to go back and adjust Yurika's dialogue but page 13 is showing Yurika always had her annoying speech habits. It's another thing Aoyama glossed over.)

They should've kissed

I am sorry, I can’t hate Yurika she is a itome and I love power imbalance, I hope to see more of her actually

^ for reals

I'm still curious about Yurika's statement that she wanted Aoyama from the previous chapter. Yurika mentioned that she was in a Class S relationship before with a senpai, which has implications of a cycle of abuse, but there's another possibility too. What if Yurika's senpai was just playing a game, but Yurika is actually gay? It certainly doesn't remove any of her abuse towards Aoyama, but it would make sense in Yurika feeling unfulfilled by Class S, feeling like her feelings were being discounted by the game.

That's obviously just speculation, and I'm not against the idea that Yurika is just a narcissist abuser, but at the moment it feels a little too simple for this manga.

Damn, that page 15, so simple yet horrifying

For visual symbolism we also have https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/dear_flowers_that_bloom_in_days_of_yore_ch18_1#14

A long black strip that veers between ribbon, petal outline, and suggestion of lily-embroidered panties.

(Or handkerchief, but given the context that's not my first read of a triangular piece of cloth here.)

Also hands crushing lilies, which is harder to interpret.

This manga is a modern classic in the making, beautifully rendered horror

I'm still curious about Yurika's statement that she wanted Aoyama from the previous chapter. Yurika mentioned that she was in a Class S relationship before with a senpai, which has implications of a cycle of abuse, but there's another possibility too. What if Yurika's senpai was just playing a game, but Yurika is actually gay? It certainly doesn't remove any of her abuse towards Aoyama, but it would make sense in Yurika feeling unfulfilled by Class S, feeling like her feelings were being discounted by the game.

That's obviously just speculation, and I'm not against the idea that Yurika is just a narcissist abuser, but at the moment it feels a little too simple for this manga.

With how much the author put into changing Aoyama's personality over time, I've been guessing that Yurika specifically was looking the most shy, naive, and manipulable person she could find, and was only interested in the power imbalance/grooming aspect. (Which would likely have a cycle-of-abuse origin from Yurika's senpai.) Now Yurika doesn't even bother looking at her since she's grown aggressive.

I'm guessing she even made sure they were scheduled on the same days, and was getting handsy on day 1.

aoyama's arc is soooooo GOOD. i loved everything so far but this is on a whole new level

Igarashi-sensei, how does it feel to write fire every time? This needs to be talked about in every yuri circle.

I like how every time Yurika finally says the ugly part of each thought in the reveal-spread on page 14, the fill color on her open mouth goes from white to black. It really helps make her look that much more quietly horrific.

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 12:37AM

this is unbelievable. this is quite honestly one of the most devastating portrayals of grooming i've ever encountered and i'm saddened by how relatable it is. i hope aoyama gets closure and heals, and i hope that yurika is never seen or heard from again

on the topic of aoyama and kasumi though, anyone else wonder about how chapter 16.2's conversation might continue to impact things? because in chapter 17.1, after kasumi was scared away, she also seemed to be spurred on by aoyama's bragging to get a little more physically intimate with haruyo- demandingly so. and i'm not sure how to read haruyo's expressions through that sequence. it felt a little bit like a continuation of a cycle- something that really isn't all that uncommon and which i kind of see as a theme present in arisaku.

Now Yurika doesn't even bother looking at her since she's grown aggressive.

Or she's just a plain ol' pedophile, and Aoyama has grown to be too mature to suit her taste. (Aoyama met her as a 1st grade middle schooler, and when they met again Aoyama was already 3rd grade high schooler)

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 3:03AM

How am I not supposed to cry? It hurts. The idea that "you must pass it on..."
What a horrible torch she has to bear.

What a trippy way to figure out you've been groomed.

I am sorry, I can’t hate Yurika she is a itome and I love power imbalance, I hope to see more of her actually

I hope to see her drown in lava.

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 6:01AM

I completely forgive aoyama