After having put this series aside for a good long while, due to sometimes huge gaps between releases and the occasional frustration with melodrama, i finally came back to it and decided to read just the last chapter after reading some of the recent comments in this thread.

My opinion on this series:
Yuzu - I love her. She is just such a great character and she's my favorite.
Most of the side characters - great, especially Harumin
The ideas behind the story - great
The themes - great
First half execution of the story - great
Second half execution of the story - downhill from bad to worse.
Final Chapter - I really wanted Yuzu to slap Mei and go ballistic at her so Mei would see sense but, alas it was not to be. the textless pages were annoying. The last 7-8 pages were strangely satisfying though despite the obvious rushness of the last few chapters.
Mei - Could have been done better. the last 7-8 pages had Mei at her best in the whole series.

Overall: Great idea and beginning but later execution was rushed and flawed. Could have been finished better with another volume or two and a bit less melodrama.

My hopes for Citrus+: Something more happy, fluffy and slice-of-life-ish with as little drama as possible.

I really wanted Yuzu to slap Mei and go ballistic at her so Mei would see sense

Other than HaruMatsu, the only reason I read this series after the arranged marriage plot surfaced. Still waiting for a "Mei: Bitch-slapped" fanfic.

Will they finally bang in the spin-off?

Will they finally bang in the spin-off?

Lol...yeah the ending was pretty conservative XD

Will they finally bang in the spin-off?

No.

Will they finally bang in the spin-off?

Lol no. Its just bait.

My hopes for Citrus Plus is that it isn't a direct follow on to Citrus, as I would love Saburouta to just shake things up a bit. If she has plans to do different Citrus adaptions, why not let a different character head the manga for each adaption to give each a different feel, like a Harumi or Matsuri. Is there much you can do with Mei and Yuzu without going down the drama route again, I feel their story was nicely wrapped up with the ending of Citrus. Let them have some fun times.

I'm Sure it's going to be Mei and Yuzu heavy, and I won't complain. But Harumi and Matsuri heavy romance for Citrus Plus is the way to go lol.

I am having a hard time now thinking it wasn't simply to cause a lot of questioning among the fans and nothing else. Gosh, how to take this series seriously anymore? I want to believe :-(

(regardless of the intention, Harumin apparently seeing her love interest slip away was the best scene in the series for me -- more subtle and powerful than any Mei scenes...)

Oof, agreed... It’s like Orange is the New Black; the side characters are more interesting than the main character.

I am having a hard time now thinking it wasn't simply to cause a lot of questioning among the fans and nothing else. Gosh, how to take this series seriously anymore? I want to believe :-(

(regardless of the intention, Harumin apparently seeing her love interest slip away was the best scene in the series for me -- more subtle and powerful than any Mei scenes...)

Oof, agreed... It’s like Orange is the New Black; the side characters are more interesting than the main character.

More like Yuzu deserved a better love interest

Will they finally bang in the spin-off?

Oooh how I wish. My wishlist for the spinoff is for sabu to develop Mei more. While I'm scared of the melodrama in Citrus (because who isn't sick and tired of the melodrama in this manga?), I find drama free stories to be boring. So I'm hoping that Sabu will find a good balance for the drama and a satisfying solution for said drama if the spinoff has any drama, that is.

As for Harumin and Matsuri, I know I'm the only one here, but I'm not feeling this ship. Probably Matsuri is still so young shrugs. I mean, Yuzu and Harumi are the same age and Yuzu babysat Matsuri while Matsuri was still a very young kid...

I dropped this a while ago, guess I'll just read the spin-off for some yuri moments

Probably Matsuri is still so young shrugs. I mean, Yuzu and Harumi are the same age and Yuzu babysat Matsuri while Matsuri was still a very young kid...

They only have a 2 year age gap. Matsuri is a first year high school student while Harumin is a third year high school student. It's the same age gap that Glasses-senpai and Mitsuko have.

I'd also like to point out that Matsuri is the same age now as Yuzu was when the manga started.

last edited at Aug 25, 2018 10:08AM

Matsuri's drawing style seems to have recently changed to show the difference as well. Before she was being drawn much shorter than Yuzu/Harumin, and with a very childish face. Looks like she is much taller now and since the 8 month jump has been characterized as a pretty serious person and amazing friend. I don't think Harumin will have another choice but fall for her xD

Compare https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch09#13 with https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch40#29

last edited at Aug 25, 2018 12:12PM

The wedding seems to happen post-third-year and graduation. Plus, the teaser points toward a timeline during the third year (school setting) + the interview mentions Yuzu and Mei's spin-off presence as open and established lovers (Vs secret ones into the main manga) but not as married partners. The way Matsuri addresses to Harumi during the wedding is still formal (Taniguchi-senpai in the translation, also formal in the Japanese version) and doesn't show a spectacular shift in their relationship toward being girlfriends. So it is a mystery for the moment what the author has really in store for the cast especially if the setting is before the marriage.

We can maybe theorize a series that will be a sort of chronicles about Citrus' cast's light and funny shenanigans.

The wedding page showing the guests is very interesting and detailed, the author didn't do it without thinking (showing the former friends, but also two senior teachers from the school hinting the Academy support the wedding. How? Well, no answer sadly ... for the moment if we are optimistic).

last edited at Aug 25, 2018 2:33PM

The way Matsuri addresses to Harumi during the wedding is still formal (Taniguchi-senpai in the translation, also formal in the Japanese version) and doesn't show a spectacular shift in their relationship toward being girlfriends. So it is a mystery for the moment what the author has really in store for the cast especially if the setting is before the marriage.

My shipper goggles made me read that exchange between them during the wedding, about who will get the bouquet and whatnot, as sarcastic lol

last edited at Aug 25, 2018 7:10PM

The only way for a happy marriage is to resolve all the drama in 5 pages. I dont mind it.

The way Matsuri addresses to Harumi during the wedding is still formal (Taniguchi-senpai in the translation, also formal in the Japanese version) and doesn't show a spectacular shift in their relationship toward being girlfriends. So it is a mystery for the moment what the author has really in store for the cast especially if the setting is before the marriage.

My shipper goggles made me read that exchange between them during the wedding, about who will get the bouquet and whatnot, as sarcastic lol

well sometimes if a under classman starts to date a upper classman they still call them their senpai.

Matsuri always calling Harumin "Taniguchi-senpai" has been Matsuri teasing her more than anything. She even called her that right after meeting her in volume 3 when they didn't even go to the same school, so Harumin wasn't even her senpai at the time.

How I've always interpreted it is that Matsuri realized Harumin figured out her manipulative nature right away, so to tease Harumin she called her "Taniguchi-senpai" out of mock respect. Over time I think it became more of a gentle tease since Matsuri still calls her that even after they get closer in the later chapters.

Meanwhile, Matsuri doesn't refer to any of the other characters formally. The closest is calling Shiraho "Shirapon-senpai" but even that is using Yuzu's nickname for her. See https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch31#14 for how she refers to the rest of the cast in one convenient list.

Meanwhile, Matsuri doesn't refer to any of the other characters formally. The closest is calling Shiraho "Shirapon-senpai" but even that is using Yuzu's nickname for her. See https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch31#14 for how she refers to the rest of the cast in one convenient list.

The translation is incomplete. In the Japanese version, Matsuri calls Mei, Mei-San, always. On this picture of chapter 31, the Japanese version shows, in fact, the San suffix with Mei, Mitsuko, Himeko, and Maruta. Shiraho having the same suffix than Harumi: senpai ( a very interesting point, she uses the family name + the senpai with Harumi and Suzuran, meaning that Suzaran has also some form of familiar respect from Matsuri).

Matsuri also uses the San with Mei in chapter 39. San is more formal than Senpai and implies more distance. Even in chapter 40, Matsuri still refers to Mei as Mei-San.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch40#9 Here, there is the San in the Japanese version (the translation uses the san on page 16 but it is not consistent leading people believe falsely that Matsuri is using the san in some ironic way which is not the case since, in Japanese, Matsuri never drops the san once, from volume 3 to volume 10). It could be interesting to see if her way to address Mei in the spin-off changed in a more familiar way.

So the idea Matsuri is not formal with people was lost to translation. In fact, she's very formal and very consistent in the different degree of suffixes she uses. The -chan with Yuzu is affectionate even though Yuzu is older than her.

To conclude, Matsuri uses two ways to address in Japanese: the usual suffix trinity san-chan-senpai and the surname she can use from time to time. Especially with Himeko, mimicking Yuzu's way to use some surname too. Very funnily, in Japanese, Yuzu is the least formal of the cast, preferring affectionate and personal surnames and rejecting the usual social rule. Harumi is adaptative and tends to test the waters before dropping the name. For her, Mei is Kaichou.

last edited at Aug 27, 2018 10:08AM

Well, that ending was ridiculous. It's just all too happy in anime and manga land where no one bats an eye at two sisters getting married! But yeah, Yuzu deserved better, someone like--oh I don't know--HARUMIN.

I enjoyed Yuzu and almost everything around her, if that's all the manga was it would be stellar. Mei, and almost everything revolving around her, drag it all down into the mud. I don't blame the author for the rushed ending, it was better to put the whole thing out of its misery rather than try and salvage the wreck.

LOL man I don't know if Sabu ever reads these comments, but if she does and her decisions depended on them, no wonder she decided to wrap up this story and I bet we will have Citrus starring Harumin and Matsuri next year xD I mean even Sabu must hate Mei at this point

The spin-off will be more probably a string off short-stories with the protagonists and not a new series on another character with a plot. Other series are following this trend like Masamune-Kun no revenge having its spin-off beginning in September with exactly what Citrus plus may be : shorts stories about the main characters...

Saburouta doesn’t write her story taking into account the comments here and there about disliking one of her characters lol. Especially since Japanese readers praise Mei and love her as a character.... I guess there is a real gap between readers reactions... the ending was planned one year ago and probably quickened because, as the author stated in a funny short comic in the interview, drawing her working like crazy, she was really under pressure. The spin off is more a recreational way to keep on with her creation in a more light ambiance without the pressure of a dramatic story... not a new series with a real plot focusing on another character... or the title wouldn’t have been Citrus Plus, such an impersonal and general title when spinoff on another focus usually already announce the content in an explicit title with a teaser putting in front the supposed new MC. And the teaser of Citrus Plus made Mei the first focus... so i guess Mei’s haters will have to look beyond another round with her in the story.

last edited at Aug 29, 2018 12:49AM

Masamune-Kun no revenge having its spin-off beginning in September with exactly what Citrus plus may be : shorts stories about the main characters...

From what I read, that announcement said the protagonists would be some of the characters focused on. That phrasing implies that the side cast will get stories about them too. And in that sense I think Citrus plus will likely do that. Saburouta did tweet during the anime that she wanted to tell a story about Harumin's family. Citrus plus would be the perfect opportunity if it's just short stories covering various cast members.

Probably an expanded version of the + bonus of each volume. By the main characters, I was talking about Harumi and Matsuri too. I imagine more some choral stories, chronicles of the Citrus' cast. A sort of anthology but this time, by the author herself.

last edited at Aug 29, 2018 2:57AM