Safe to assume the symbolism is very on point, in that she fixates on flowers cause she herself was "deflowered" by a wretch.

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.)

Himejoshis when they don't know literal rape dressed up as romance is a regular thing in BL (and het romances.) There's a reason fujos often accuse yuri of being "boring." Your observations line up with mine as well. If we're talking rigid hierarchies, people ought to remember that omegaverse was born in BL and observe how it is the least prevalent in GL. This is just speaking from my perspective as an ex-fujo but that indulgence is exactly why I fell out of love with BL. GL takes top-bottom dynamics far less seriously as something to be strictly adhered to than BL. I'd go on about the inherent misogyny in the way those dynamics are portrayed in BL but that's well out of the scope of this discussion.

As for the chapter, I really want the best for Aoyama. My heart sank the more and more she realized she was just being used for sex and discarded. This is the bad kind of toxic. Mizuki and Sayori had it right. People should cut each other up and then make out, not make out and then cut each other off.

Great chapter. This really is one of the best ongoing series right now.

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 12:58PM

The thematic usage of lillies and how it’s conveyed through the art and the words of the character is actual masterful, I’m actually blown away by how beautiful and actually HAUNTING it is with how they’re used alongside the character’s own realization of sexual abuse/rape underneath all the honeyed words and fake affection, just wow

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 1:22PM

Did not expect such introspection from her, but it will be interesting to see where this goes and it should be good for her in any case.

im not interested in learning about the history anymore..
i shred a tear, had to go to give the raws a like, is this manga gonna include all types of fxf interactions?

last edited at Jun 17, 2026 10:36PM

Again I still hate Ao for what she did to precious Kasumi but I do feel bad for she's finally realizing she was basically groomed into sleeping with a fucking pedo. I honestly hope she makes Yurika's life a living hell at school until she leaves or gets fired. It's 100% what I would do. She's finally realizing she got played for a fool just because she was a middle schooler poor girl. Part of me kinda wants to give her a hug.

Thanks for the translate and upload as always.

I sympathize with what Aoyama has gone through, but I still won't forgive her until she apologized or showed remorse for what she has done to Kasumi. She's a victim of grooming but Yurika didn't order/manipulate her to be mean to Class S kouhais (for doing things not sexual enough). I hope Aoyama finds closure, and then apologize to Kasumi properly for what she has done.

The idea of "she's manipulated so it's not her fault for doing anything terrible" sucks. Aoyama has agency and treated Kasumi horribly by her own will, thus she's supposed to take responsibility for that.

That and not letting the role of victim overshadows her, realizing "I'm not only a victim of grooming. I won't blame everything on the grooming and keep being pathetic. I still have agency and I can take responsibility for what I have done" is just as important as realizing "she's victimized in her relationship with Yurika" in her progress of healing.

last edited at Jun 19, 2026 9:21PM

I’m not going to be able to read shoujo for a while, any time flowers bloom in the panels it’s going to remind me of this.

Who knew lilies could be worse than box cutters?

Igarashi's comments:

When we have our meetings, the password will be: "The good times ended with Yamabe..."

The original plan for the Lily arc was a bittersweet ending where Yurika always had feelings for Aoyama and still does to this day. But around the time I was drafting it, there was a grooming scandal in the manga industry. I had to reflect on if it was wrong of me to glamorize this sort of relationship in a modern manga. I've never viewed age-gap relationships very positively to begin with, and wasn't sure I could proceed. By the time I'd written chapter 17 I couldn't stand making Yurika come across as a decent person. After a lot of thought I consulted my editor, who understood my perspective and helped change to the current ending. That's what happened behind the scenes.

Stories in the S genre often depict beautiful age-gap relationships and I was inspired to try my hand at it too. But as the times change so does culture. After weighing my respect for S against my moral values, I decided I lacked the capability to beautify such a relationship and gave up on the idea. It's nothing more than me being stubborn about not wanting to portray it sweetly, even bittersweetly. I still very much enjoy reading age-gap relationships from other authors. I simply didn't want to feel so conflicted toward my own writing.

I'm known for being stubborn, and as someone who works in the entertainment industry I'm always cursing my stubbornness for working against myself. But after hearing about that scandal it brought to mind students I used to teach in cram school, and hurt to think of it that way. I couldn't separate my personal feelings from the issue and couldn't bring myself to profit off glorifying that sort of relationship... So the story took a 180 turn to its ending. I deeply apologize to Aoyama and Yurika... With all that said, don't you think the writing was crazy good!? Wasn't the artwork on another level!?

It's hard to discuss the arc without addressing Igarashi's circumstances, but I think it plays well into the meta-narrative of the manga. Arisaku is a love letter to the past, carrying Class S into the future, without shying from the ugly nature of such a transformation. Sayori and Mizuki represented a tragic parting commonly seen in Class S up until boxcutting their way into a toxic yuri epilogue that wasn't shamed for being so. It was raw in the way romanticized feelings tend to be once dragged into reality, but reciprocal and fulfilling. That isn't the case here.

In days of yore this age gap relationship with an abrupt separation might have been treated bittersweetly. But in a modern lens it's a much uglier thing. Aoyama wasn't left meekly pining but abused and confused, frustrations twisting her into something she hated while Yurika suffered nothing. It did seem at first Yurika's perspective could change the tone in hindsight but plans changed, though Igarashi seems to have always had a bittersweet ending in mind. And with reflection she chose to make Yurika irredeemable.

As another stubborn creative, this was a challenging chapter to translate. It didn't feel right using such harsh language in an otherwise delicate manga but at the same time it was Aoyama's voice. Her roughness overcompensating for the pitiful softness welling up as Yurika threatened to give her another chance. Ultimately Yurika was and is a fucking child, irresponsible and careless and undeserving of her position looking after others, both then and now. I think we've all had that realization as part of growing up, that the adults around us aren't much more than kids in suits (especially with the world today). It leaves you aimless and wondering if you'll be any better. I hope it wasn't as traumatizing for you as it was for Aoyama, but unfortunately that's the truth for many. I respect Igarashi for not wanting to romanticize it even if it makes the manga that much bleaker.

At the start of chapter 18 Igarashi deliberately gave Aoyama no shadow to show she wasn't part of the same dimension as the lily field. At the end she has a faint shadow in the desolate field her old self is buried. You could interpret that as Aoyama starting to live again, finding new presence in the world after ridding herself of the past. Or the opposite, that she's become less attached to this world and a more spiritual presence. You never see this Aoyama's face in any of those panels. It's an expression of uncertainty in who she is. But in a way, her facial expressions would color our impression of who she's become. And as the purely unadorned ユリ she's left without meaning in both senses.

The rest of the symbolism at the end is more straightforward. Plants only flower once mature; flowers are their reproductive structure after all. Aoyama wishes they could have stayed in immature innocence. Pollen is how plants reproduce, and once Aoyama is stained by it there's no going back. The smell of lilies masks the rotten nature of what happened yet she can't let herself be seduced by it again. It's all buried in one grave.

If there's any hope to my analysis (I keep trying to turn this around into something less depressing sounding I swear) it's that ancient symbolism of lilies sprouting from graves. Aoyama is buried and a new Aoyama blooms. She's not as awful as Yurika, she recognizes her wrongs. We likely won't see it but I trust she has a brighter future in store.

I don't remember if we talked about it here, but with all the flower symbolism it has been talked about and on my mind: in a sense the passing down of Class S tradition is a form of reproduction. A reproduction via thought that still molds others in your likeness. If Kasumi and Haruyo are the descendants of Class S they're the descendants of Aoyama as well. While it was a painful experience for her, it still led to brighter times. And that encapsulates the relationship between Class S and Yuri. We can only hope Yamabe wasn't really the end of the good times.

Good! Finally... FINALLY not a swallow character that cave in to a trivial, empty display of affection. That's It girl! Know your worth and toss away the putrid.

last edited at Jul 18, 2026 3:06PM

Damn Aoyama
Guts, perspective, and maturity. The apology really cemented that for me.
Hardest road to walk but out of all the characters, the most badass. Still has a, cough, not the greatest personality, but well, that's life.

Aoyama gave her a reality check! "Grown ass adult" :D

memory is failing me but the ending page where she gazes on a barren land reminds me how at some level, this pattern of relationship ended with Aoyama. She buried her old self and the tradition that was "been passed down for generations" (ch. 17.2) with her. but a barren land can be a fertile land in waiting, giving birth to new relationship patterns we'd rather see. hence our main couple. at least that's my interpretation. so fucking peak.

last edited at Jul 18, 2026 2:41PM

I love the parallels of Yurika the adult whose face and emotions are always out of view vs Aoyama the child whose face and emotions are clear as day. How it inverts the rational adult emotional child set-up by showing us the ugly real emotions Aoyama struggles with as she grows up and hides Yurika's because she hasn't.

And then the ending Aoyama burying the child and becoming the adult. her face now also out of view but her emotions the catharsis omnipresent. She's grown up while Yurika only pretends. Aoyama is at peace with her feelings and Yurika only hides them to seem more mature than she is.

last edited at Jul 19, 2026 4:43AM

I'm so proud of Ao. Not only did she apologize properly for scaring our precious Kasumi. I can finally say I forgive her.

She also put that fucking creepy ass Yurika in her place. She finally fully realized that she was used as a plaything and knows that's all she wanted from her yet again. And she even gave that dirty ass ribbon back. I hope she can find someone that truly makes her happy once she gets out of this school that's full of pretty awful memories for her.

This series is absolutely beautiful, both art-wise and story-wise.

oof

Igarashi's comments:

When we have our meetings, the password will be: "The good times ended with Yamabe..."

The original plan for the Lily arc was a bittersweet ending where Yurika always had feelings for Aoyama and still does to this day. But around the time I was drafting it, there was a grooming scandal in the manga industry. I had to reflect on if it was wrong of me to glamorize this sort of relationship in a modern manga. I've never viewed age-gap relationships very positively to begin with, and wasn't sure I could proceed. By the time I'd written chapter 17 I couldn't stand making Yurika come across as a decent person. After a lot of thought I consulted my editor, who understood my perspective and helped change to the current ending. That's what happened behind the scenes.

Stories in the S genre often depict beautiful age-gap relationships and I was inspired to try my hand at it too. But as the times change so does culture. After weighing my respect for S against my moral values, I decided I lacked the capability to beautify such a relationship and gave up on the idea. It's nothing more than me being stubborn about not wanting to portray it sweetly, even bittersweetly. I still very much enjoy reading age-gap relationships from other authors. I simply didn't want to feel so conflicted toward my own writing.

I'm known for being stubborn, and as someone who works in the entertainment industry I'm always cursing my stubbornness for working against myself. But after hearing about that scandal it brought to mind students I used to teach in cram school, and hurt to think of it that way. I couldn't separate my personal feelings from the issue and couldn't bring myself to profit off glorifying that sort of relationship... So the story took a 180 turn to its ending. I deeply apologize to Aoyama and Yurika... With all that said, don't you think the writing was crazy good!? Wasn't the artwork on another level!?

Loved these comments and a glimpse into the writing process. Very insightful. The result was fantastic.

The usage of empty space and plain text really is so evocative and incredible. Not just Aoyama, the fiction of the world itself is stripped of it's romanticism and meaning through the loss of illustration

Another incredible chapter. It's nice to see Aoyama start moving past what happened to her, processing her emotions and apologizing to Kasumi.

I also enjoyed seeing Haruyo being so ready to throw hands.

Nicely done. ^_^

And excellent job translating that final line!

Igarashi's comments:

When we have our meetings, the password will be: "The good times ended with Yamabe..."

The original plan for the Lily arc was a bittersweet ending where Yurika always had feelings for Aoyama and still does to this day. But around the time I was drafting it, there was a grooming scandal in the manga industry. I had to reflect on if it was wrong of me to glamorize this sort of relationship in a modern manga. I've never viewed age-gap relationships very positively to begin with, and wasn't sure I could proceed. By the time I'd written chapter 17 I couldn't stand making Yurika come across as a decent person. After a lot of thought I consulted my editor, who understood my perspective and helped change to the current ending. That's what happened behind the scenes.

Stories in the S genre often depict beautiful age-gap relationships and I was inspired to try my hand at it too. But as the times change so does culture. After weighing my respect for S against my moral values, I decided I lacked the capability to beautify such a relationship and gave up on the idea. It's nothing more than me being stubborn about not wanting to portray it sweetly, even bittersweetly. I still very much enjoy reading age-gap relationships from other authors. I simply didn't want to feel so conflicted toward my own writing.

I'm known for being stubborn, and as someone who works in the entertainment industry I'm always cursing my stubbornness for working against myself. But after hearing about that scandal it brought to mind students I used to teach in cram school, and hurt to think of it that way. I couldn't separate my personal feelings from the issue and couldn't bring myself to profit off glorifying that sort of relationship... So the story took a 180 turn to its ending. I deeply apologize to Aoyama and Yurika... With all that said, don't you think the writing was crazy good!? Wasn't the artwork on another level!?

The authors explanation fits with how I thought of chapter 17 which was that Yurika did have some kind of real feelings for Aoyama, so that's an interesting in the moment reversal. I also agree with the author that times have changed and we shouldn't be beautifying this type of relationship. That said, if this is all we see of Yurika and she just ends up as a narcissist I think I'll be disappointed because I feel like the character has a lot more potential in the story.

Good, the weird adult+teenager age-gap stuff that mangas love to do shouldn't ever be a positive thing.

I don't need Yurika to be redeemed (though I think it COULD be done with a deft hand), but I do want to see more of her perspective. Part of the story I've liked is that nothing's as clear-cut and simple as we'd like, and I'd love to see Yurika be forced to reckon with what she's done, and maybe even come out the other side a person who could start on a better road. She's a very childish person, but that childishness leads to her sins. And crimes; she just felt up a student to make herself feel better. That's not just awful; that's pathetic. That's not where I would want her story to end.

absolutely incredible chapter, just on an art and storytelling level. the kind of thing that sinks into you and lingers. i'm someone who actually really loves agegap yuri, but including the "ugly" parts and not just the idealistic ones. i wish we had more GL manga with truly awful and selfish women like yurika here.

and... as someone who went through something kind of similar in my early teens, i empathize with aoyama a little too much. sometimes you really do need to face your past and set the whole damn thing on fire, just let it burn away so your present self can be free of it. sometimes that's the form closure takes. and i'm really glad she could get there in the end.