The parents' relationship did seem super weird and i'm glad their agreement was covered in the extra.

Wait so, the "parents" don't actually even love each other? Their whole "become a family" thing came out of circumstance and it was just the mother's desire to take care of Mei.
In a way that's sweet, but I'm irritated that for some reason it's okay for the dad to be away because he's finding himself or whatever.

Wait so, the "parents" don't actually even love each other? Their whole "become a family" thing came out of circumstance and it was just the mother's desire to take care of Mei.
In a way that's sweet, but I'm irritated that for some reason it's okay for the dad to be away because he's finding himself or whatever.

He's a lousy excuse of a human being. Reminds me of Satoshi/Ash Ketchum's dad.

Wait so, the "parents" don't actually even love each other? Their whole "become a family" thing came out of circumstance and it was just the mother's desire to take care of Mei.
In a way that's sweet, but I'm irritated that for some reason it's okay for the dad to be away because he's finding himself or whatever.

I don't know, Ume seemed pretty much fond of Shou during their one interaction or when she talked about him. Perhaps she was just putting a front to reassure her daughter, but I think there are genuine sentiment there, hence why I'd be interesting by more extras or chapters covering their story.

last edited at Oct 26, 2017 6:19AM

wait, so Mei have another fiance? or only one? I thought the teacher from chapter 1 was her fiance and it's already over? did i got it all wrong?

wait, so Mei have another fiance? or only one? I thought the teacher from chapter 1 was her fiance and it's already over? did i got it all wrong?

We don't know, that's how bad this twist has been written.

WHAT THE WHHHAAAATTT???!?!? Wow thought it's clear now but a fiance suddenly appears without WARNING!!! WHO DID ARRANGE IT AGAIN??!? O_O HaruminxMatsuri moments need to be leveled UP too... >~<

WHO DID ARRANGE IT AGAIN??!? O_O

If it is indeed happening, I'd say her grandpa or Mei herself.

Edit : That makes me think about people complaining that grandpa said Mei should follow her own way. I think he was definitely talking about her career choice, not her love life. I've read several versions (French, fan and official English), and I don't think the fact that Yuzu was dishevelled on Mei's bed was ever (fully) addressed.

I have the feeling that Mei talked about what Yuzu did out of sisterly love (save her from a bad marriage, trying to free her from her family's shackles), but the fact that Mei was sexually aggressing Yuu - or the other way around for grandpa - was probably swept under the rug... That would explain why he would still insist on her granddaughter getting a fiancé.

last edited at Oct 27, 2017 12:26PM

I would say that Mei is aware that she's supposed to have a suitor like Himeko and Shiraho. But she doesn't know she has a fiance yet. The call the manager received implies that her grandfather or the real head of the Aihara family made a move. He could be the candidate and finally accepts.
Mei's distraught comes from Himeko's situation. It reminded her that she lied to Yuzu on her future. But i really don't see where people assume she knows she has an actual fiance. It is more the prospect of it. Because she knows her grandfather would not wait. She will probably spill the beans in next chapter. If she's already engaged, that would be a disgrace for her character. That's why i think she's more nervous because she didn't explain to Yuzu all the consequences of her decision to rule the school.

Himeko explains that very well. All rich girls who attend the Academy are supposed to have arranged mariages, that's the tradition as she said. Mei is fated to follow it if she wants to be the next headmistress of the school where the most powerful and prestigious families put their daughters.

My theory here that could bomb in next chapter is that Mei probably postponed meetings with different candidates until this chapter where, apparently, someone has been selected (the manager) and accepted. She trapped herself by sparing Yuzu and at the same time her grandfather (and those who decide in her family since her father lost this privilege). She was weak, not malicious or malignant.

Edit : @Klice : i read your edit. Some anon on /u translated the sentence that the Grandfather told. The official translation tells that she can do what she wants to do (implying forever).

Here what the anon told : "In Japanese it's clear the grandfather was not talking about forever, just for a while (しばらくの間)" So the "for a while" ended with the prospect of Mei having 17. I may add that the Aihara family, as the grandfather sees it, is very old-fashioned in a very traditional background in Japan. Having the future head of a school, where girls from the most prestigious families go, being lesbian and dating her stepsister cannot be accepted. So Mei will have to make a choice. Until now, she tried to have a foot in both camps. Once again, not out of malice.

last edited at Oct 27, 2017 12:39PM

@Nismy Exactly, I wrote about it previously. The delivery may be lacking but the issue makes perfect sense in the context of Mei and her family. While one can argue about the conflict in vol4, this one does come from somewhere.

@ Klice : Yes, i read you former posts and you remind very well that this arranged marriage plot doesn't come out the blue. It was foreshadowed since chapter 1 and i may add, in volume 5 (Yuzu says she has to treasure her time with Mei because Mei could chose to leave her) and volume 6 when Mei, in the library, clearly talks about more hardships in the future to come for them and has a very sad expression when Yuzu askes her if she can be by her side forever, love her and date her forever.

In fact, readers can think that the fiance trope is boring and unoriginal (and very stressful for my poor heart) but they can't say it is unexpected, or they didn't read all the chapters neither take into account the social background/country of the characters.

last edited at Oct 28, 2017 9:10AM

The defenses of the fiancé development are fairly convincing to me as far as the overall plot goes, but I still tend to side with those who think that just a couple more hints from time to time that this specific problem was still potentially on the table would have made it seem less abrupt, and would have constituted better storytelling.

Here’s hoping the whole thing blows over in a chapter or two, and our two incompetent lovebirds can get on with the task at hand.

last edited at Oct 28, 2017 9:33AM

I hope too this arc will be resolved as quickly as it came. I would have loved more hints too. The lack of Mei's POV weakens the storyline here. But we are like Yuzu here, it is too abrupt for us because the manga is from Yuzu's POV, who was totally ignorant of this particular outcome.
We have to hope the Saburouta knows how to wrap things without screwing Mei's character. That 's why i hope she doesn't know she's engaged for the moment...

Edit : concerning the lack of more hints, that i regret too, maybe a key is in Himeko's speech. She stated that Matsuri and Yuzu cannot imagine how this tradition of arranged marriages is a common procedure. She also told Matsuri that it wasn't her business (so nobody really wanted to explain that to Yuzu). If someone so observant than Matsuri didn't see it coming, it shows how Yuzu's world and the other girls one are on total opposite sides. In the volume 8 extra, Ume mention too the fact that she doesn't know the "society's standar of importance".

In fact, it saddened me also because Yuzu was perceived as a real black sheep from the start in this Academy and was deprived of the right to have a better insight on the toxic traditions that occur here. Everybody knew, even had a fiance like Shiraho and Himeko but nobody told Yuzu. Only Harumi warned her.

last edited at Oct 28, 2017 10:41AM

Well I was going to say something about the plot, but then I figured if I have nothing good to say, I might as well show myself out.

cya

1. Yes, she has, She has opened up to Yuzu about her problems with her father and grandfather. This included the whole initial fiance fiasco. That's why it sucks seeing it again, because we have already been through this. What else can she learn by doing the same thing once again?

2. I honestly don't know why people repeat this. Yuzu has done more than most to make the relationship work. She has put is far more effort than Mei, their first date shows that Yuzu very much takes the relationship seriously.

3. This arc doesn't show any sign of making this happen anymore than all the previous ones. In fact all it proves is that Mei is regressing to volume 1. It shows that Mei hasn't actually made any progress in the last 8 volumes and makes it all out to be a complete waste of time.

4. Mei already made her own choices, her grandfather even told her to and she chose to stick to her path.

5. Duh

6. This isn't a plot twist, it's a recycle of an old twist that has been over and done with. It's just lazy as fuck writing, what's next? Is the next arc going to be another childhood friend of Yuzu starts showing up trying to NTR Mei? I'm half expecting it at this point.

We have had 8 volumes of rough hardships, when are we going to get this theoretical smooth fluff volume?

This is getting SOOO serious sooo

...

Here's some dancing cats! XD

https://youtu.be/wXQUhX89vtQ

Valid arguments from everyone in the last posts.

Cannibal, i totally agree with you concerning Yuzu. All Mei's defense arguments shouldn't involve Yuzu's responsability. She is beyond reproach here. She did everything to make things work and was let in the mist by everyone except Harumi and Matsuri who warned her in volume 6. All we can say is she was too naive, but in my book, it is not a fault. So yeah, let's remember that Mei is at fault here. Her degree of responsability is uncertain but Yuzu doesn't deserve to be under critics for people who want absolutely clear Mei's mistakes. She fixed things so many times (saving Mei's grandfather, reparing Mei and Shou's father-daughter relationship, giving Shiraho and Nene real friendship, forgiving Matsuri's malicious actions in arc 3, helping Sara even though it was hurting her, helping Harumi in arc 5...).

And Shawn, i strongly disagree with you about Yuzu being not as serious as she is. Really ? Rings, notebook, commiting to Mei forever (library speech), picturing her as Mei's wife in chapter 11 (pages 23-24) and so on. You cannot say that because you want to lessen Mei's faults here. I may add that in the last arc, Yuzu did understand Mei's timidity and difficulty to voice out her feelings. She clearly saw through Mei's lies when she joked about sharing a bed. So no Yuzu's fault here. And Yuzu's persistence almost succeed to force Mei to confess... it was just bad timing with Matsuri discovering the truth at the same time. And you have the end of the chapter where Yuzu is sorry (really, the poor girl feels she need to say sorry whereas she doesn't know the truth) and soothes Mei stating that she will wait. I would really love to have a such "no serious" girlfriend. Really.

I'll give you that, the actual arc needs to force Mei to really progress and stand up for Yuzu against traditions. I hope the author will not milk the drama too much around this fiance plot. As i said, it was expected (from my point of view), but the author needs to deliver good writing and not screw Mei's characters if she become once again the empty shell she was in the volume 1.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 3:38AM

JUST. LET. THEM. BE. HAPPY.

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

JUST. LET. THEM. BE. HAPPY.

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

...

NEVER! Nuclear drama IS the core of the series!

Is there a post missing? I don't get who or what Cannibal is answering to :(

But !

Mei already made her own choices, her grandfather even told her to and she chose to stick to her path.

and

[...] it's a recycle of an old twist that has been over and done with. It's just lazy as fuck writing, what's next?

Yes, and it is her own choices that lead to this very conflict! Getting engaged for reputation purposes aligns with her career choice, that's where the inner conflict intervene : pursue your career life goal or your love life - hopefully, finding a way to make it both work somehow. The setting is the same, the goal is really different.

We wrote about it, but nothing says the grandfather is talking about her love life path and if he was, I'm pretty sure he wouldn't accept her to engage in a lesbian relationship with her step sister.

---

Mei has always been really reserved about her emotions, putting everything seconds to her duty towards her family and the school. She is changing little by little, accepting herself, letting herself fall for Yuru hard. But old habits die hard, she won't change her personality completely in just one year and half or so.

And now I can't wait to see how she will deal with this!

---

JUST. LET. THEM. BE. HAPPY.

IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK?!

We had some fluffy moments already! I think their happiness looks more and more like an end game than a turning point. Perhaps we'll get like one volume of fluffy stuff with an hopeful end note.

But as drhelsing said, conflict, inner or external, is the core of the story. In my eyes, it makes their love even more powerful, the whole going together in spite of every obstacles.

---

Also, don't criticise Yuzu. Yuzu is the best girl and the best thing that could happen to Mei! Her only fault was back in vol3-4 and she (gloriously) fixed it at the end of vol4.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 10:36AM

@ Klice. Yeah, Cannibal answered to a post written by Shawn just before, hence the numbers for each arguments. And i also was answering to Shawn about Yuzu's lack of seriousness.

Sadly, it seems he/she deleted his post.

Edit : Yes, Yuzu is best girl. An incredible and admirable character. If someone defends Mei, and there are arguments too, trying to critizise Yuzu to put Mei in a better light is not the good thing to do.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 10:58AM

I may add that the Aihara family, as the grandfather sees it, is very old-fashioned in a very traditional background in Japan. Having the future head of a school, where girls from the most prestigious families go, being lesbian and dating her stepsister cannot be accepted. So Mei will have to make a choice. Until now, she tried to have a foot in both camps. Once again, not out of malice.

And.

The delivery may be lacking but the issue makes perfect sense in the context of Mei and her family. While one can argue about the conflict in vol4, this one does come from somewhere.

The delivery may be lacking is exactly the problem. The first poster is correct, it does make sense given Mei's family background, but the thing is, I am not reading a draft. I am not reading random hints that, in and of themselves, make sense. I am reading a story. Delivery is the story. Pasting something in, after this much time, zero foreshadowing, zero hints of any kind, is just plain bad witting, and I do not care how much sense the point itself makes. If it was a new point, it might fly, but not when it is something explicitly brought up before and seemingly dealt with.

The conflict does come out of nowhere. It may make sense in context, but what does not make sense is why this has been kept under the rug for this long, since the fucking beginning of the series, basically. And the fact this comes up at precisely the right moment to screw over the main characters getting intimate (and I do not mean just physically) is yet another middle finger to the readers. The author pulled this out of her ass, probably while thinking "hmm, how to prevent them from having a heart-to-heart moment, yet again". No one can make me believe this was not an ass-pull, because it was not even remotely hinted at in any way, shape, or form. For 8 volumes.

No one can write this and think to themselves "the readers know the context of Mei's family, surely, despite that previous fiance being dealt with (which almost any reader would interpret as 'plot resolved for good'), they will keep in mind, for 8 fucking volumes, that this does not mean the end of the arranged marriage plot, because it makes sense given her family context." No way she thought that, this was just plain old lazy, crappy writing. Otherwise, it would have been either brought up long before, or at the very least, foreshadowed in some way. And it is quite a significant plot point, because it paints everything Mei did, since the beginning of the series, in a different light, we are not talking some insignificant little curve here.

Thing is, I might have enjoyed this before, when I was reading this work for the same reason I read "Netsuzou Trap", to get my dosage of crappy drama, and I genuinely enjoy works such as these for it. But, "Citrus" went all cute, and touching, and feel-y, and I started enjoying it as a rather good romance work, these last 10 or so chapters. Even the former obstacles became awesome side characters. The odds for dramatic curveballs still remained, because of Mei's family, which was also nice. But I imagined it as the grandfather finding out about them, trying to separate them, and such. Even the marriage plot would make sense if reintroduced then. "See, I found this random high class X male, you will marry him, and forget this nonsense with that gyaru, or else blablabla."
Introducing it as "oh, you know what, Mei has actually been engaged for gods know how long now, new old obstacle, surprise" is just crap.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 12:19PM

You have a point too and your post is very interesting to read. That's why i really hope the author will make up for that. Were there pressures from the editors to add exagerated drama that she didn't plan in this way ? We'll never know.

I particularly agree with you on one point : all Mei's progression is clouded and wasted because of that. And yes, now, when we read all the previous chapters, including volume 4, all Mei's actions are marked by doubt and lies. Everything is under suspicion now, including the chapters where she did show progress. Was she aware that she was engaged when she tried to make Yuzu jealous by using Sara's crush ? Man, i hope not because what a disappointment.

I wonder if it is what the author really wanted. Because, you are right, Mei sunk in many readers esteem, after 10 good chapters. How can Saburouta screw one of her MC like that ? I hope it is for the best.

And yes, i really loved the times when this romance was blossoming at a very realistic and serene pace. I miss volume 6 and 7. And the first two chapters of volume 8.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 12:32PM

Let’s not get too far ahead of events here. IF Mei is engaged, and has been for some time, that’s something that does reflect very badly on her character. If her general emotional reticence all along has been at least partly because she’s been aware that the issue of an arranged marriage could come up at any time, or if it has in fact just popped up again very recently and she hasn’t been able to bring herself to say anything to Yuzu about it, that’s a rather different issue.

I still think that in storytelling terms this plot turn is awkward at best, and while Mei’s opaqueness as a character does make her occasional emotional breakthroughs all the more dramatic, it also renders her something of a blank slate, which can be pretty irritating when she comes off as unstable or inconsistent. (Edit: And we also never see any private interactions between Mei and the traditionalist side of the Aihara family, so that represents a whole Pandora's Box of potential future plot twists.)

The “interrupted confession” (or any lack of crucial communication between Yuzu and Mei) is also a bit contrived when the principals live together and sleep in the same bed.

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 1:41PM

That's one problem as well. I don't know why people thought it was dealt with because of Mei's family, but I'm repeating myself at this point. Yes the previous fiancé was dealt with because he was a jerk and his reputation had been tarnished by Yuzu's speech. So it was temporarily resolved because Mei's still minor, but given her situation and the explanation from Harumin in the first volumes, it's clear the family wasn't going to let this go.

So yeah, she dropped a bomb for dramatic effect, for the better or the worse, but since it makes sense in my head given the context of the story, I don't really see the problem. It had to come back at some point, just like the separation after high school in other romance works - which is foreshadowed by the context or addressed by the characters themselves, which is what is happening right now in Citrus.

I wonder if the reactions would have been the same if Matsuri didn't over react and jumped to conclusions about Mei's situation. Like many said, let's not jump to conclusion ourselves yet!

For the subject of Mei herself, of course she had to know that this was going to be another obstacle but probably wanted to indulge herself in her love for Yuzu. To have some kind of respite after all her soul-searching journey that made her reconsider everything she hold dear (her father, the family, the school, her sentiment) and wanted to be happy. Hence why she wouldn't want to face it or talk about it with Yuzu. That doesn't mean Mei is a double-faced bitch that was playing Yuzu all along, perhaps she rejected fiancé up until now and the grandpa is starting to push it. I always find myself surprised at how harsh and swift people are to pass judgement on characters..

The “interrupted confession” (or any lack of crucial communication between Yuzu and Mei) is also a bit contrived when the principals live together and sleep in the same bed.

That doesn't bother me at all, I think that is purely situational and just to illustrate that the next conflict is interrupting Yuzu and Mei's relation, somehow?

last edited at Oct 29, 2017 2:50PM