What high school kid understands love anyway?

Exactly why I thought Haruka not understanding love actually validates their relationship rather than cheapens it. Given how widely the topic of romance is portrayed in media, impressionable youths start to latch onto these ideas of love, they start to categorize their feelings to fit these highly idealized relationships they once saw. The thing about this is that they are actually 'in love with the idea of being in love'.

This isn't the case for Haruka & Yuu, since we witness their genuine feelings through the show. They aren't getting carried away by illusions of 'love' as it is largely popularized to be, they simply act on their own feelings.

I just can't suspend my disbelief that 2 high-school girls were so close and cared so much about each other that they wanted to be special, without knowing what love or dating is.

Yea, I get what you mean, it caught me off guard as well. It's hard to relate as dwellers of the internet, but I do believe, based on what I've seen, that there are people who have been so clueless to these aspects. But after seeing the ending, I realized Haruka has shown ignorance toward romance before, for example when she was about to kiss Mitsuki in episode 5 and how she suggests she might get married soon in episode 8.

last edited at Jul 14, 2015 9:13AM

Haruka and Yuu sits in empty classroom:
Haruka: Yuu-chan, you did hear it, didn't you? What I and president Mitsuki talked about.
Yuu: Yeah
Haruka: I see. Hey, Yuu-chan... Do you know the meaning? The meaning of president Mitsuki's "love"?
Yuu: Onee-chan is weird because she's been studying too hard for her entrance exams!
Haruka: No, not that... I wonder what kind of love I have for you. I thought it was the same as president Mitsuki's, but I was told it's not. We hold hands, we go out together, we even sleep at each other's houses...
Yuu: We've kissed too.
Haruka: Right?
Yuu: Haruka?
Haruka: Hmm?
Yuu: I love you (and she kisses her) I thought I might figure it out if I kissed you while saying I love you.
Haruka: Did you figure anything? Let's do it again! I'll do it this time.
They kisses while saying "I love you" for a while.
Yuu: Did you figure anything?
Haruka: I feel like I kinda did, but really didn't.
Yuu: I see.
Haruka: I wonder if I'll ever figure out what president Mitsuki meant.
Yuu: Of course you will! Even onee-chan knows you will!
End of scene.

My jaw is dropped. They still don't get it after all that?!

I understand. It's comedy, it's supposed to be fluffy and funny, Haruka is a airhead, but I just can't suspend my disbelief that 2 high-school girls were so close and cared so much about each other that they wanted to be special, without knowing what love or dating is. Were they sheltered? Never saw any drama in tv, read manga or heard any of friends talking about love? I don't deny that they are aware of their feelings, but even when Haruka was fangirling about Shizuka and Kotone "They are like us!" she simply couldn't do that without common knowledge about dating and love. Or did she think they are just "special friends" like she and Yuu? Maybe in manga they become a real couple, but anime just seriously pissed me off.

This. I gave up on this series completely after that, Not only did they not get it after all of that. And! when the sister started to get in between them, i just lost it. Nope Nope Nope Nope. I don't mean to sound like an ass..but that was just fkin stupid.

Yuu: I love you (and she kisses her) I thought I might figure it out if I kissed you while saying I love you.
Haruka: Did you figure anything? Let's do it again! I'll do it this time.
They kisses while saying "I love you" for a while.
Yuu: Did you figure anything?
Haruka: I feel like I kinda did, but really didn't.
Yuu: I see.
Haruka: I wonder if I'll ever figure out what president Mitsuki meant.
Yuu: Of course you will! Even onee-chan knows you will!
End of scene.

Yuri is dead.

What high school kid understands love anyway?

Exactly why I thought Haruka not understanding love actually validates their relationship rather than cheapens it. Given how widely the topic of romance is portrayed in media, impressionable youths start to latch onto these ideas of love, they start to categorize their feelings to fit these highly idealized relationships they once saw. The thing about this is that they are actually 'in love with the idea of being in love'.

This isn't the case for Haruka & Yuu, since we witness their genuine feelings through the show. They aren't getting carried away by illusions of 'love' as it is largely popularized to be, they simply act on their own feelings.

I agree...it totally validates their relationship, without any misconceptions or "fairy tales" of love they find a way to express themselves...Haruka wanted to kiss Yuu for the same reasons other people like to kiss, she just didnt understand why...
I think a good ex is when young kids in school say theyre dating...its more like a dating game because they dont quite understand it all...
The point is u cant know love until you experience it and Haruka and Yuus mistake is they think their relationship is something unique to them not realising that other people who are in love have the same feelings they do...thats my take on how they start ....after that they know what they have but just havent categorized it...which makes it all the more lovable to watch

Lol was I the only one thinking that prez SumiSumi was hiding the umbrellas for the school image as a yuri wonderland lol would have been funnier if she had been in the shadows going "yes...yes." while twirling her fake mustache
^_^

I half expected it to be Haruka, Kaede, and Kotone's doing. All three of them conveniently hiding their favorite person's umbrella just to make them have to share. I expected to see the three of them chuckling and pulling a second umbrella from their bags as the punchline or something. Kotone and Kaede would totally do it, and Haruka if she wasn't so upfront and spontaneous in the first place. Thinking about it, Haruka would probably just beg to share the umbrella straight out.

Still, not understanding love is not the same as going "Love ? What's that ?!" when confessed. People around that age at least understood the notion of love and dating, even if they can wonder about the specifics ("what are dating people supposed to do on a date ?" and so on).

Personnally, that whole "what is love" issue sounded forced to me because even if Haruka and Yuu didn't confess or anything, they obviously weren't ignorant about the whole "love" notion. This was especially highlighted on the wedding episode, when Yuu thought they were the ones getting married and when Haruka considered that her father would be fine with her marrying Yuu and rejoycing about it (implying she was aware that her relationship with Yuu was the kind that usually end up in marriage).

But the whole Mitsuki's thing was a mess and poorly written. Said it times and again, but a love triangle works fine when one of the contenders have realistic chances with the one they love, but here, that was never the case. Since the very beginning, Haruka had eyes only for Yuu and never paid much attention to Mitsuki at all. All she ever cared for was Yuu and only Yuu. Mitsuki confessing, it was obvious that Haruka would turn her down, because there was absolutely no build-up to the possibility that she might actually like Mitsuki. Her feelings were so completely one-sided Haruka saying yes to her confession would have feel contrived.

And more annoyingly, because of that, it felt like the anime focused too much on Mitsuki when it could have developped more other couples, especially Kotone x Shizuku that showed to have some actual plot behind it, but stayed barely explored because most of the second half was about Mitsuki and her one-sided crush.

I love that manga and the anime was nice, but frankly, I consider it to be a blatant example of what not to do with a love triangle. :/

To put things into perspective, the word used in this case is 'suki', generally meaning like, but translated to 'love' since it is more appropriate given the context. It's not exactly "Love ? What's that ?!" but more like Haruka didn't get the connotations which came with Mitsuki's 'Love' given her ignorance toward what romance was. Personally, it didn't break my suspension of disbelief, but I can see clearly why it would have for most.

I actually liked Mitsuki, not for how she would go spaghetti over Haruka, but the little hints that showed how much she cared for her sister as well as that moment in episode nine where she put aside her awkward feelings and properly encouraged Haruka as her senior. Yes, we never felt that Mitsuki was a real threat to their relationship, but I felt she was a character, not a tool to create relationship drama. Not like the show relied on heavy drama anyway.

Chantelune

Personnally, that whole "what is love" issue sounded forced

That is exactly my problem. I felt as if I was watching bad joke dragging on. I couldn't understand how anyone could sit, write those scenes down and thought they are good. This entire "conflict" could be resolved by Haruka realizing "Oh, so I and Yuu are going out". But nope. It was dragged until end of episode and still not resolved.

Through entire series you have no problem believing that Haruka and Yuu loves each other. They act so much as a couple that idea of them "being innocent and naive" just doesn't see realistic. I'd buy it if they were in elementary school, maybe middle, but not high school.

EDIT/
MelonBun

To put things into perspective, the word used in this case is 'suki', generally meaning like, but translated to 'love' since it is more appropriate given the context. It's not exactly "Love ? What's that ?!" but more like Haruka didn't get the connotations which came with Mitsuki's 'Love' given her ignorance toward what romance was.

Again. At her age it just doesn't seem right. And even if, Yuu couldn't make sense of it either. So she is ignorant about romance too? I just don't buy it.

last edited at Jul 15, 2015 9:28AM

Nevri

Again. At her age it just doesn't seem right. And even if, Yuu couldn't make sense of it either. So she is ignorant about romance too? I just don't buy it.

Well, that's fine, you're not wrong to think it's forced or anything, I just don't see it that way myself.

It's not exactly "Love ? What's that ?!" but more like Haruka didn't get the connotations which came with Mitsuki's 'Love' given her ignorance toward what romance was.

That's what I'm talking about. I find hard to believe that Haruka and Yuu had no idea about what "love/romance" is. I mean, we're surrounded by example of it in our daily lives and culture, so unless those two never watched any TV, movies, never read any manga/novel, I just can't see how they never get the gist of what love/romance is.

Heck, I have a 5yo nephew who understand it well enough just by watching cartoons. :/

That Haruka is confused as to what Mitsuki mean when she confess, I can get behind, but that she doesn't get that Yuu and herself are basically girlfriends, nope, that just doesn't seems logical to me, partly because of how they showed some awareness to it in previous episodes (wedding being the most obvious), but also because it seems ludicrous that they never been exposed to romance or more simply that nobody ever explained to them that a kiss on the mouth is not something that casual acquaintance or friends does just for the giggles. Especially in Japan where a simple peck on the cheek is already something considered really intimate (heck, I'm french. To me, a peck on the cheek is a simple greeting with regular acquaintances. In my time in Japan, shocked quite a few people at first before realizing I was doing something improper XD )

She clearly has some semblance of what love is, just that she doesn't quite seem to grasp what goes into the border of romance and why. Frankly, it initially seemed a bit contrived to me as well, but looking back, her actions seemed consistent to this fact.

For a start, the reason they started kissing was because they wanted to do something to prove that their 'friendship' was special. In episode 2, some time has passed since they first kissed and Haruka's comment about Yuu 'not being like that' gives away that they haven't kissed much,if at all since then. However, the two refer to kissing as sharing a 'secret', this enforces what we saw last episode, that kissing was something to prove that they are special to each other in an otherwise 'normal friendship' .

In episode 5, Haruka nearly kisses Mitsuki as part of a play(thankfully stopped by Yuu). In episode 8, indeed she mentions marrying Yuu, that's nice and all, but she clearly only vaguely understands marriage since, well...it might not be possible. So anyway, later in the episode, she starts to feel heartache and doesn't know what this emotion is nor does she know how to deal with it. It might not be worth mentioning, but we do also see that Haruka has a protective father.

Well, in the context of our own lives, the fact that they don't understand love, this fact alone can be enough to make it feel forced. I personally believe that this sort of naivety can exist, accounting the cultural differences, their own background and the fact that they don't seem to own computers, but that is just my opinion.

MelonBun

For a start, the reason they started kissing was because they wanted to do something to prove that their 'friendship' was special. In episode 2, some time has passed since they first kissed and Haruka's comment about Yuu 'not being like that' gives away that they haven't kissed much,if at all since then. However, the two refer to kissing as sharing a 'secret', this enforces what we saw last episode, that kissing was something to prove that they are special to each other in an otherwise 'normal friendship'

Well that honestly is my problem in nutshell. I thought they understand that they became a couple, even if they started by wanting their friendship to be special by sharing a kiss. Later it turned out exactly how you described it and that disappointed me by ruining my well established vision of their relationship. Even if idea of 2 high school girls having no idea what dating is would be plausible, I was watching it for yuri couple, not some "special friendship" bs. At least now I can somehow understand their reaction more and not get pissed as much, I think.

I was watching it for yuri couple, not some "special friendship" bs.

And you got tricked in the end. Now you know whay the title is SAKURA TRICK.
God, I hate that when they do this in yuri anime. The same is happening in Yuru Yuri. The "non-threatening way" of showing yuri in anime.

last edited at Jul 15, 2015 1:13PM

Have to say, this chapter was really weak.

Nevri

I think again that's being unfair to the series as a whole though.

I understand wanting a yuri couple, but let's think about it: if Haruka and Yuu talk about how much in love they are and how great dating is...not much changes. Not much changes at all. It's the same relationship, but with them understanding what they're in. And the person you're in love with should be your specialest of friendships anyway.

As I've iterated before, there's a lot of introspection into what the relationship between love and friendship is in this series. If we calm down and not expect a dramatic angst-filled relationship building series and just read it as it is, it comes across a lot better. It's what I did, and it made this whole series wayyyyy better.

Plus, if you ever are desperately in need for a good yuri pair, just look at Shizuku and Kotone.

sigh :( this is the first time I felt like I don't like this series anymore :(

last edited at Jul 20, 2015 1:50AM

rack n roll to da world with this yuri manga

I keep forgetting that Kotone and Shizuku share bedroom. Now I'm starting to fantasize what they do together O////O

Right, I mean something has definitely happened between those two, I mean Shizuka was so bold on that one page! blush
Good ch! Still no v-day confession tho or is it just since itsa extra

Really cute :o

and here i thought every one knew haruka and yuu are together

and here i thought every one knew haruka and yuu are together

How could anyone find out when they're so subtle about it?

and here i thought every one knew haruka and yuu are together

How could anyone find out when they're so subtle about it?

I'll admit I thought Kotone and Shizuku knew of Haruka and Yuu's relationship, but I guess they don't.

So really the only one who knows everything is Kaede

Kotone and Shizuku don't know about it because Haruka and Yuu are incredibly immature and barely count as being "in a relationship"
Yeah over time i kinda got bored of H+Y being the way they are because at the very least Yuu sometimes seems like she is actually just class S (Haruka is gay as shit and this is demonstrated a LOT in her fantasies so no worries there)
K+S however are a much more interesting and tbh mature couple that i would rather follow through this.

and here i thought every one knew haruka and yuu are together

Well I knew Yuzu is dense about everything including her own feelings, and I'm sure Kotone is the most aware about everything of everyone. Kaede is pretty much convinced but can't just get concrete proof. Shizuku just doesn't care about that except for her own.

Kotone and Shizuku don't know about it because Haruka and Yuu are incredibly immature and barely count as being "in a relationship"

Gotta remember that they are high schoolers. Kotone and Shizuku are far more mature for their age than those around them.

I think what's important is that both are trying to learn about it and aren't being all nilly-willy about it.

last edited at Sep 2, 2015 1:54PM