So, I'd rather think Yamada started high-school as aromantic, then became Kase-sexual when she met her.

Technically true in terms of character type, I guess, but the contrast was with Akko and Mari in Girl Friends, both of whom had (rather unfortunate) het experiences as well as a good deal of angst before accepting their feelings for one another. Yamada’s resistance to her own same-sex attraction was precisely zero. And I’m looking in the “Yamada is not completely a lesbian” evidence folder, and finding . . .

Yamada did have some doubts at first about whether a love relationship with Kase was socially possible—her “but we’re both girls!” worries—but Kase got her squared away on that score quick enough.

last edited at Oct 27, 2017 7:36AM

[Kase] tried dating other girls but it never worked out.

I was wondering about this, and I think the story is kind of ambiguous about it. I’m pretty sure we can reject the rumours that Kase was a player—that’s the kind of thing that always seems to follow the “cool prince” types in yuri manga. And we know that the supposed affair with Green Drops Senpai was untrue.

But when Yamada says that Kase has more experience, she doesn’t really deny it (unlike the wonderful Girl Friends idiots, who are shocked to find out that they’re both virgins). The “girls shy away when they see my body” (and who can blame them?) statement is also a little ambiguous—some of the nakedness is P.E. related, but apparently not all. She also tells Yamada that she will never fall in love with anyone else, and (assuming the translation is precise) it’s notable that she doesn’t say that she’s never been in love with anyone else.

I don’t know how significant any of it is, but I did notice that, except for the sports senpai, every time Kase has the opportunity to disavow any previous experience with girls (as often happens in yuri manga), she doesn’t do so explicitly.

And she certainly seems like a gal who knows her way around another girl’s blouse buttons and bra strap.

Kase straight up says at one point that she tried dating other girls but it never went anywhere because they were always too intimidated by her, doesn't she?

Yamada was a sexual null before Kase rolled into her life. As near as I can tell from the textual evidence, she was raised in a vat, completely isolated from all modern media, and decanted just before she started high school.

It's neat and interesting to compare the artwork from this most recent chapter to artwork from the early chapters of Kase-san to.... Much more nuanced and detailed and lots of little extra emotive flourishes. Not that the earlier works were bad, not at all. But there's been a clear stylistic change over the years.

While there was never any doubt that Kase-san is a lesbian from the get-go (she dated girls previously)

No, she didn't. She tried dating other girls but it never worked out. Yamada is the first girl that actually reciprocated.

My understanding was that she actually dated girls, but as soon as she hinted that she wanted something more than "going home from school together", the girls freaked out and broke up.

Well we never really got to see Yamada before she met Kase, she also really never questioned the whole "but she's a girl, girls cant date girls". She was pretty quick to accept her feelings as romantic love, as if this isn't the first time she has questioned it.

She mentioned a couple times "but we are both girls" in the beginning, The anxiety about it didn't seem to amount to much, like here : https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/kase_san_ch01#20 but it isn't nonexistent.

Well, if Kase-san dated girls it was a while ago, since she makes it clear that she's been after Yamada for the best part of a year before they actually got together. It's pretty certain she wasn't dating anyone during that period.

I admit, the frequent references to Kase-san being "cool like a boy" do get pretty old, and seem out of place when Yamada's actively checking out her tits. It's pretty certain that in practice, boys never entered the equation for her.

I admit, the frequent references to Kase-san being "cool like a boy" do get pretty old, and seem out of place when Yamada's actively checking out her tits. It's pretty certain that in practice, boys never entered the equation for her.

I feel like Kase is literally the first person Yamada has ever been attracted to, period. Like, would Yamada hook up with a different girl later on down the road if she and Kase broke up? I dunno. Don't have a super strong feel for it either way.

Props to her, though, for not even blinking about being attracted to a girl. She reacted positively to their first kiss and didn't bat an eye. Like, in other manga, when one of the romantic principals says "...but we're both girls!", you get the feeling that they're saying "...but society says this is wrong on some level!" Whereas when Yamada says it, it's more like "I don't even understand how this is supposed to work!" Like, legit confusion over the mechanics of the process rather than metaphorical hand-wringing over the taboo.

My understanding was that she actually dated girls, but as soon as she hinted that she wanted something more than "going home from school together", the girls freaked out and broke up.

Kase specifically says that when she got "close" to another girl and was trying to get more physical they would distance themselves from her. No mention of actually dating.

She mentioned a couple times "but we are both girls" in the beginning, The anxiety about it didn't seem to amount to much, like here : https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/kase_san_ch01#20 but it isn't nonexistent.

That's in reference to her love being unrequited. She never questions her own feelings at all, she instantly recognizes that she is in love. If she was meant to be portrayed as aromantic then you would think she would at least make a transition, like in Girl Friends, where she tries to figure out her feelings of attraction.

last edited at Oct 27, 2017 9:43AM

If I was to make a parallel, it would rather be with Hanjuku Joshi than with Girl Friends : cool tomboy with hyper feminine curvy girl. The dynamics work a bit like Kase & Yamada.

Though Morishima Akiko uses her story to make a statement about lesbian relationships, whereas Takashima just writes fluff.

Takashima just writes fluff

This is certainly true in that the story takes a bunch of stuff out of the equation that would or could make the relationship between Yamada and Kase much more difficult: societal and peer disapproval, the presumption of heterosexuality by themselves and others, and, for the most part, even the mere presence of parents. And even the single antagonist/rival is just based on a misunderstanding.

That clears the decks for what the series does do well, which is to show how each of them helps the other to understand themselves and how they come to understand each other. Kase first gets interested in Yamada not from a glimpse of her luscious little thighs (that comes later), but from overhearing Yamada insist that her motivation for working hard is internal rather than external, which motivates Kase to do the same. Kase of course helps Yamada come to see herself as a capable, admirable, and attractive person.

It's certainly not "realistic" or dramatic, but I think the series does an extraordinary job of establishing and developing its characters. Plus world-class adorableness, of course.

I admit, the frequent references to Kase-san being "cool like a boy" do get pretty old,

I have no idea what’s actually being translated here, but I take that as being “cool, in a boyish way” as opposed to “cool the way that boys are cool.” Because in the world of Yamada and Kase, boys are generally not very cool.

I actually like the repetition of the whole “We’re both girls, but we’re going out, etc.” formula—feels kinda like a series theme song.

That clears the decks for what the series does do well, which is to show how each of them helps the other to understand themselves and how they come to understand each other. Kase first gets interested in Yamada not from a glimpse of her luscious little thighs (that comes later), but from overhearing Yamada insist that her motivation for working hard is internal rather than external, which motivates Kase to do the same. Kase of course helps Yamada come to see herself as a capable, admirable, and attractive person.

That's an important element in their relationship as well. The two of them inspire each other in various ways. Kase-san is eternally supportive of Yamada's goals, and Yamada in turn won't let Kase-san put her plans aside for her.

As to the "but she's a girl" aspect, what little there was of it, that seemed less based on "but that's forbidden love" and more on "dangit, I don't stand a chance". Which was quickly dispelled by her friend revealing the (false) rumours about Kase-san being a playa.

Yamada is actually a human-shaped plant raised by a top-secret Japanese corporate R&D lab.

On the matter of Kase-san and her previous relationships or lack thereof, the volume version of "Crepe and Kase-san" is a bit more fleshed out than the magazine version we currently have. Here's a post from /u/ by an anon who owns the volume:

Feb. 13, 2018 can’t come soon enough.

http://tinyurl.com/ya3tjehj

Yasssss.

Looking forward to this work! >///<

Kase-san Happy New year 2018 https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DSYkIWxUMAAH3xo.jpg.

I'm not up on the release schedule for Kase-san now, so this is just me being curious: When is the next one due out? Are they coming out quarterly now? Last one came out at the end of October, so are we due another one at the end of January?

I'm not up on the release schedule for Kase-san now, so this is just me being curious: When is the next one due out? Are they coming out quarterly now? Last one came out at the end of October, so are we due another one at the end of January?

Chapter 3 came out recently. We're just waiting for the Digital Kindle RAWs to come out (I think they come out in a few days) since it's less of a hassle than ordering and scanning a physical copy of Wings.

Thanks, GA.

So they are coming out quarterly? Just want to make sure my future expectations are calibrated appropriately.

Thanks, GA.

So they are coming out quarterly? Just want to make sure my future expectations are calibrated appropriately.

Wings is monthly. Takashima just missed the previous issue (probably due to work concerning the OVA).