Does anyone have a real Vol.3? Just curious if Chapter 32B really is part of the Vol.4 as it's listed here now. It should be called 32.1 and be part of Vol.3, I believe. 32.5 will be a Full-Colour chapter from the Vol.4
I think Ran calling Keiko "senpai" is mostly out of "old habits die hard" rather than anything else.
Mostly this. But it does have a particular taste that Ran's subconsciously abusing to make their quite intimate relationship less stressful for Keiko.
@takachi It's possible that the next chapter will be the talk with the ex, but then again, so is the visit to Keiko's mom, it has been mention quite a while ago, and it hasn't happened yet.
I can't completely disagree, even though up till now all volume-last chapters were flashbacks/retrospectives to summarize and extend the volume.
For example, Vol.1 was introducing the characters and their issues. Vol.2 was character development, digging deeper into the details and explaining their problems. Vol.3 was Ran's confession as she learned that Keiko's ex is still a possible threat. Vol.4 is Ran facing little response from Keiko and exposing the fact that Keiko's still concerned about her ex. That's why to me it sounds more logical that this Volume ends with a resolution of some sort. Whether it's a proper closure between Keiko and her ex, or whether this is time for Ran to leave Keiko's home - ugh, I wonder.
On the other hand, perhaps, solving issues with her mom fits into 24 pages much better than the whole ex thing, and is therefore a better option... I wonder, I just don't feel that it's good timing for it.
To be honest, if you remove your yuri googles, Ran's emotional involvement toward Keiko may be totally non romantic.
She cares a lot for her, as maybe she would for an older sister who has life issues.
We seek yuri here because Shou wrote yuri before, but there's no indication that this is actual yuri or that any romance, even one-sided, is taking place.
LOL, nice try. But you don't need the goggles to see the obvious. Ran is invested in Keiko, both romantically and sexually. I bet that Keiko's even completely aware of it, but is just afraid of developing the relationship further. It kinda makes sense if you look at it from the perspective of the entire series.
In the past she confused friendship with love. She spontaneously decided to have sex with a guy and realized that the relationship hadn't ever been close to love. She got hurt. And thus got herself busy with studying.
Later, she confused a crush with love. Just like the last time, she went for kids and a shotgun wedding without giving it much thought. She got hurt again when she realized that one needs time to live together and prove the strength of their relationship. So she got herself busy with Ran.
Now she kinda does everything properly - she doesn't want to rush it. This explains her BD present for Ran. In addition, it's also a confusing relationship because of the sexuality. She really needs time to face it and accept/reject it in order not to get herself hurt again. And only when she understands it herself will she be able to return and forgive her mother who apparently made the same mistake in the past with a shotgun wedding. The only difference being Keiko actually getting born. And that explains why her mother would say some harsh words to Keiko on the phone, when she learned that her daughter got into such a state. Getting dirty wasn't really about a miscarriage. It was about getting pregnant with the first guy Keiko fell for. This also explains the sudden change in Keiko's relationship after the miscarriage. The change was not because of the miscarriage, the change was because of what Keiko's mum told and reminded her about. The miscarriage drama only proved that having a crush is not enough to form a decent family.
Wow, actually, having written that, I'm pretty much in for the closure of the relationship between Keiko and her ex in the next two chapters. And the next volume - Keiko's path to accepting/rejecting Ran.
it's just this void of ''Friendship <<<<<< ------ >>>>>> Lover'' that I fail to understand completly right now and subsequently don't really have a name for it and I just think an Senpai-Kouhai relationship is an manifestation of this, I don't believe it's ''just'' which would mean I think of it as an downgrade of sort
@Maus, I kinda can relate to such a relationship. I had such a relationship (or a very similar one) with a guy. We lived together. I really liked him, emotionally, romantically. I felt really comfortable being next to him. I could imagine living with him for the rest of my life. But. He just didn't excite me like a girl would. I didn't feel disgusted kissing him, but I neither felt aroused doing that, like, at all. It's, like, void. I've never fantasized about him either, and when I tried, denying the obvious, I only got myself stressed. These days I still like him a lot. He's pretty much a family member to me, a brother, but that's it, not a lover.
I'm kinda afraid Keiko might be the same with Ran. There have been some hints that she might be at least a bisexual. But while I'm absolutely certain that Ran is gay, I have my doubts about Keiko. We'll see
last edited at Aug 29, 2015 3:07PM
