Sexual preference can be different than romantic. So it is possible to be emotionally attracted to one gender but not physically attracted to them, which seems like the case here so far.
I mean she said she finds the thought of touching Itsuki's v disgusting. I lol'ed there tbh. Naoko sensei has some guts to write this type of stories for a yuri magazine haha xD
It's this type of story that's kinda wrong but interesting at the same time. gonna wait to see what happens in NTR this month

Humm... I see..well that seems complicated..reminds me of a friend who liked sex with with boys but fell in love with women... I am super happy I'm homo homo homo all the way.

Thanks for explaining.

last edited at Sep 1, 2016 5:37PM

So is this ongoing or completed?

Omg i hate this please let the author bring in fluid sexual orientation into to story and let her develop sexual longings i want them together in life and in bed >n<

Hm I thought this was interesting for what it was. At least Mao admits that she's an asshole. It's kinda refreshing to read about terrible people who don't try to excuse their actions for some greater good.

In real life, Itsuki will move on anyway. What'll be interesting is how Mao will react when Itsuki actually gets a girlfriend, but that'll probably just be left to our imaginations since it feels finished.

I mean she said she finds the thought of touching Itsuki's v disgusting. I lol'ed there tbh. Naoko sensei has some guts to write this type of stories for a yuri magazine haha xD

To the degree that Yuri Hime considers itself a yuri magazine these days.

Where's chapter three???

for anybody whos not patient enough >>> http://safe.yuriproject.net/res/14796.html >>> raws with translation txt

What the fuck, this is so unhealthy Mao is literally monopolizing someone for her own good. How can a person be so possessive and selfish? I'm really not able to enjoy this sort of "relationship".

I think Mao is heterosexual, but homoromantic, unfortunately sexual and romantic orientations don't have to match at all. She is still pretty cruel towards her friend though. I think the real plot twist would be if her friend is actually in love with someone else. :D

^^THIS. I would love to see Mao's heart shattered by the fact Itsuki still could love someone else, no matter how hard Mao was trying to confine her. Especially because of the fact that Itsuki is aware that Mao will never respond to her feeling

Yeah whatever.
What's a story that goes nowhere even good for? And it's not even the type of story that carries a deep meaning.
It's just the same things repeating over and over again, this whole thing could have been over in half a chapter.

I think half a chapter won't do tho dude. The two chapters have successfully portrayed the dillematic issue of wanting to love someone but not wanting to have sex with them. Nah, half a chapter won't leave the bitter aftertaste this much.

WHAT!? NO SEX!? Such a let down ~_~

I like to think it ended happily

for anybody whos not patient enough >>> http://safe.yuriproject.net/res/14796.html >>> raws with translation txt

Thank you very much for this. God I love/hate Kodama Naoko's stuff... I sure hate this Mao chick, such a selfish and generally shitty thing to do to someone else, like sure you can be all the biromatic you want and that's fine as long as you find someone to share that with, definitely not the case with Itsuki, girl deserves to be happy... here is hoping she get's it on with her coworker and dumps this Mao.

Anyway~ Thanks to the scanlators for bringing this to us, and to the author for writing/drawing it, I enjoyed it for sure.

last edited at Sep 1, 2016 11:17PM

Yeah, definetely the worst personality possible.

She didn't do anything bad to her friend in this chapter. Are you condemning her for thought crimes?

I think what OP meant was that she was kind of leading her on. She was blatantly flirting with her even though she had no romantic feelings towards Itsuki, yet she wanted to monopolize her. Thats kind of messed up. Its one thing to want to keep your best friend but its another thing to take advantage of her romantic attraction towards you to keep them tied down. Well, at least thats how I see it.

That's how her inner monologue framed what she did. However in practice all she did from what I remember was invite her friend on a trip. A lot of people have inner lives that are much more screwy than their outward behavior suggests. My point here is that I don't think the MC is necessarily an abusive person based on this chapter alone; it looks far more to me like she's going through a phase in her life where she's struggling with intrusive negative thoughts, and she has a crush on her best friend which she projects onto her out of denial. I think for the time being it would be rash to write off this story as "edgy and annoying like the author's other works."

One chapter wasn't enough, you're right, but I still think that Mao's way of thinking was somewhat manipulative. She MIGHT have been developing romantic attraction (w/o the sexual attraction possibly?) but her way of thinking doesnt seem healthy. But it might still be denial. And i dont know if you were talking about me saying this was "edgy and annoying like the author's other works" but this author has grown on me so, i dont think that lol, i actually enjoy these once in a while.

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 1:35AM

What the fuck, this is so unhealthy Mao is literally monopolizing someone for her own good. How can a person be so possessive and selfish? I'm really not able to enjoy this sort of "relationship".

I think that's rather the point. It's refreshing how honest Mao is though. She may be stupid, but she isn't oblivious. In the first chapter, she struggles with the nature of Itsuki's and her own feelings. In the second chapter, she determines how she'll address them.

She's completely aware of how awful she is from the beginning, and in the end she she decides that, rather than trying to change herself, she will selfishly pursue her own desires without remorse. This seems to be the end of her "moratorium", which presents a rather grim view of adulthood - growing up means throwing away childish insecurities and single-mindedly working towards a determined goal. Unfortunately, that doesn't necessarily mean becoming a better person... just a more effective one.

I think then, this implies that in the emptiness of Mao's youth, she never learned how to "choose". She wandered aimlessly until finding something that gave her a sense of fulfillment, which she desperately clung onto, not knowing if anything like it would come again. This was her trap. The thematic background is the spiritual bankruptcy of her existence, and the way her behavior is rooted in the Buddhist poisons or Christian mortal sins of desire (lust, gluttony, greed, and envy).

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 3:16AM

Yeah, definetely the worst personality possible.

She didn't do anything bad to her friend in this chapter. Are you condemning her for thought crimes?

I think what OP meant was that she was kind of leading her on. She was blatantly flirting with her even though she had no romantic feelings towards Itsuki, yet she wanted to monopolize her. Thats kind of messed up. Its one thing to want to keep your best friend but its another thing to take advantage of her romantic attraction towards you to keep them tied down. Well, at least thats how I see it.

That's how her inner monologue framed what she did. However in practice all she did from what I remember was invite her friend on a trip. A lot of people have inner lives that are much more screwy than their outward behavior suggests. My point here is that I don't think the MC is necessarily an abusive person based on this chapter alone; it looks far more to me like she's going through a phase in her life where she's struggling with intrusive negative thoughts, and she has a crush on her best friend which she projects onto her out of denial. I think for the time being it would be rash to write off this story as "edgy and annoying like the author's other works."

One chapter wasn't enough, you're right, but I still think that Mao's way of thinking was somewhat manipulative. She MIGHT have been developing romantic attraction (w/o the sexual attraction possibly?) but her way of thinking doesnt seem healthy. But it might still be denial. And i dont know if you were talking about me saying this was "edgy and annoying like the author's other works" but this author has grown on me so, i dont think that lol, i actually enjoy these once in a while.

Yeah the last bit wasn't about you at all, I think you have a very reasonable point of view on this manga and the author. After reading this second chapter, I still think that Mao is not a horrible person. Her thinking is indeed "somewhat manipulative," but not extremely, and not much different than many people who have a best friend. Again, she is highly insecure and thinking inner thoughts that she herself is ashamed of, but her actions consist of just spending time with her best friend in what I think is a nice way. We don't even know if Itsuki is really quite as obsessed with Mao as Mao thinks she is, and common sense tells me she likely isn't. In conclusion (yes I use that phrase and I don't care that writing instructors despise it), I see hope in the ending to this story, and I see value in its themes. I would urge those who don't to maybe take a second look, though my interpretation is by no means superior to that of anyone else.

I don't care what other people saying.
Mao is still a jerk.
I hope Itsuki get a girlfriend and leave her.

I'm not even sure if what she feels is romantic love too. She is not socialy very good and doesn't have many friends. The way she said it seemed like she is only acquitances with them instead of friends. So when a girl talked to her like that she felt important.
Just like some girls who stick around a guy who they doesn't actually like, only because he boosts their ego. They probably think similar like Mao.
Or plot twist, she has internal homophobia that prevents her from feeling sexually attracted to Itsuki

I don't care what other people saying.
Mao is still a jerk.
I hope Itsuki get a girlfriend and leave her.

I agree. Everyone has insecurities, but that doesn't make everyone a jerk about it. Mao may be acting sweet to her friend, but deep down they both know she does it to manipulate her. Not that she doesn't feel any of it at all, but at least a good portion.

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 6:47AM

so confused... but i guess the black hair girl is bisexual ? cuz she got an ex sex-boyfriend
i still dont know if she loves the other girl or not lol, 2complicated

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 7:20AM

I think Mao is heterosexual, but homoromantic, unfortunately sexual and romantic orientations don't have to match at all. She is still pretty cruel towards her friend though. I think the real plot twist would be if her friend is actually in love with someone else. :D

^^THIS. I would love to see Mao's heart shattered by the fact Itsuki still could love someone else, no matter how hard Mao was trying to confine her. Especially because of the fact that Itsuki is aware that Mao will never respond to her feeling

Yeah whatever.
What's a story that goes nowhere even good for? And it's not even the type of story that carries a deep meaning.
It's just the same things repeating over and over again, this whole thing could have been over in half a chapter.

I think half a chapter won't do tho dude. The two chapters have successfully portrayed the dillematic issue of wanting to love someone but not wanting to have sex with them. Nah, half a chapter won't leave the bitter aftertaste this much.

The bitter aftertaste it left in my mouth was it being 2 chapters of no progression and constant repeating of "I want to monopolize her, Im a bad person". I just felt like I wasted my time.
Apparantely this is not the last chapter tho, so I hope something will actually happen in the finale.

The bitter aftertaste it left in my mouth was it being 2 chapters of no progression and constant repeating of "I want to monopolize her, Im a bad person". I just felt like I wasted my time.
Apparantely this is not the last chapter tho, so I hope something will actually happen in the finale.

It is only 3 chapters, so there is not much room for developing things more than that to be honest. I think the progress is fine. The whole point is, it shows the process of Mao figuring her feelings out, to how far she goes to selfishly keep Itsuki single, even though she knows she won't date her anyway.
It actually makes a good basis for a longer story and these chapters serve fine for introduction. But in the end it is left for the readers' imagination, since it's short.

Maybe as progress you mean Mao starting to get attracted to Itsuki, but remember that this might not be the author's intention to begin with. because not every story has to have the couple ending up together. It might want to teach other things

Spoiler I read the last chapter and
Not much happens either. I think Itsuki will get a girlfriend at some point and move out

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 8:30AM

Honestly, compared to Kodama Naoko's other works that often seem superficial at best, Moratorium is actually good. Of course it's still blunt with delivering the subject, but I feel like it's hitting the right spot of needing (or being dependant, to be precise) of social and romantic interaction while being drawn away by some sort of sexual relationship. I think this serves quite a good glimpse at the whole Hedgehog's Dilemma as the two main characters are closest to each other, yet still draw quite a fine line between them.

hmm the time gap is a little bit 2 big , but is still a good manga.

The bitter aftertaste it left in my mouth was it being 2 chapters of no progression and constant repeating of "I want to monopolize her, Im a bad person". I just felt like I wasted my time.
Apparantely this is not the last chapter tho, so I hope something will actually happen in the finale.

It is only 3 chapters, so there is not much room for developing things more than that to be honest. I think the progress is fine. The whole point is, it shows the process of Mao figuring her feelings out, to how far she goes to selfishly keep Itsuki single, even though she knows she won't date her anyway.
It actually makes a good basis for a longer story and these chapters serve fine for introduction. But in the end it is left for the readers' imagination, since it's short.

Maybe as progress you mean Mao starting to get attracted to Itsuki, but remember that this might not be the author's intention to begin with. because not every story has to have the couple ending up together. It might want to teach other things

Spoiler I read the last chapter and
Not much happens either. I think Itsuki will get a girlfriend at some point and move out

I dont neccesseraly mean her developing feelings for her, I'm just talking about a story progression, no matter how it is done. Like I said, what annoys me is the constant repeating of what we already know.
And like you said, 3 chapters isnt much, and if an author wants to tell a story in 3 chapters they should progress it properly, not just 3 chapters of the same internal monologue repeating itself.
Like I said, by story progression I mean anything, literally anything, like a confession and then a rejection, I don't care, I just hate feeling like I read the same thing over and over again. It just feels like a waste of time.

last edited at Sep 2, 2016 8:34PM

I enjoyed this. I like manipulative, even somewhat sociopathic characters who are completely aware of their awfulness, and do not strive to change at all.

Besides, while we are never actually shown Itsuki's side, judging by the conversation at the hot springs, it is not like she is blind to the situation, so, in a sense, Mao is not stringing along a thoroughly unwitting person. In fact, one might even say that the actual power here lies with Itsuki, because she can either confess, or decide to move on on her own, both scenarios going against Mao's interests. And, if she decides to stay with Mao, as I said, she seems to comprehend the dynamics between the two of them, so it is not like Mao is trapping her, it is more like she is letting herself be trapped. Which can also be interpreted as selfishness, in a way. She suspects she can not get what she actually wants, so she settles for a somewhat twisted version of a friendship, instead of trying to either progress their relationship, or dissolving it entirely, giving both a chance to perhaps find someone new. One can never know for certain another person is not waiting right behind the corner, with a potential to make them truly happy, but as long as the two of them are locked onto each other, albeit in different ways, that prospect seems remote.

Then again, who is to say this unspoken arrangement they have will make them (or rather, make Itsuki, since Mao is actually getting what she wants) unhappy? Sure, she has unrequited feelings, but people are different, and some out there prefer to at least be friends with those they harbour romantic feelings for, if a romantic relationship itself is out of the question. That is at least some happiness, to be close to the person one is attracted to. It is not like there will be any heartbreaking scenarios where Itsuki is forced to watch Mao in a relationship with some male, since Mao is determined to devote herself entirely to Itsuki, even if not in a way her friend truly wants. No potential for jealousy, and similar unpleasant feelings. Besides, one side being in love with the other does not preclude them from having an actual friendship (think Nanami and Saeki, from 'Eventually, I Will Become Yours').
One has to keep in mind these two are both adults, Itsuki can just leave whenever she wants.

I mean she said she finds the thought of touching Itsuki's v disgusting. I lol'ed there tbh. Naoko sensei has some guts to write this type of stories for a yuri magazine haha xD

I found that to be perfectly fine. If she is not into it, she is not into it. It is not as if the story is anti-lesbian, Mao is just a non-flexible heterosexual. More amusing was that ex-boyfriend. 'Well, as far as two women dating goes, since it's pure, it's still fine.' He seems alright with the idea of Mao pursuing another girl, though, so it was not that bad.

last edited at Sep 5, 2016 5:30PM

This is a very refreshing story.