The writing on both series is pretty good though.

^agree

My heart skipped a beat when i saw the het tag
Thank God it was just the long waited flashback chapter

No stretches for this chapter, apparently.

It's chapter 22A, all the stretching is in 22B.

It looks like she's telling her story to someone. Probably Ran.

Re-read please, i said it does not impact on whether the drama is forced or to put it simply: if the writing is bad it is still bad regardless of character ages

The writing on both series is pretty good though.

I disagree 100%. Especially Citurs is badly written.

Guess my thoughts on the latest chapter and whether forced drama has a purpose other than shedding the tears of insecure man children.
I'm not mad at all.
Bad writing ahoy, I wonder what'll be next?
Tragedy or misunderstandings perhaps?

This chapter is not really forcing drama upon us. Just flashbacks showing what happened in the past. I don't see it shoving tears and QQ faces up my ass while screaming "FEEL EMOTIONS, FEEL THE ANGST".

Adult Life and Slice of Life often deliver better drama than Drama, because the very existance of characters in Drama is drama itself, there is no reason for me to care for those characters, while Slice of Life fully relies on character development that help these characters to grow on us.

e.g. Read Miss Sunflower, is has an arc with a short set of flashbacks with an ending you know before hand (or just guess), not a single tear is shown, not even dramatic dialogue, but it delivers it quite well.

last edited at Jun 5, 2014 1:47PM

Guess my thoughts on the latest chapter and whether forced drama has a purpose other than shedding the tears of insecure man children.
I'm not mad at all.
Bad writing ahoy, I wonder what'll be next?
Tragedy or misunderstandings perhaps?

Forced drama? The deal about Keiko's past has been teased for quite a long time and we're already over 20 chapters, i don't see anything being shoved down my throat here
Although i do think it would be best if it didn't come out of nowhere and there was a chapter before it to warm us to this one, felt a little like exposition while until now it was a pretty subtle subject

I feel that the atmosphere of the series has changed. If this is going to be a long running series then the author will undoubtably result to further dramafication (tasteful or not), in order to keep the series interesting.
I don't see the point in this chapter, other than to give us a glimpse of what's next. Higashiyama will follow the generic tropes of the "genre".

I suppose having any kind of drama at all is a bad thing?

I feel that the atmosphere of the series has changed. If this is going to be a long running series then the author will undoubtably result to further dramafication (tasteful or not), in order to keep the series interesting.
I don't see the point in this chapter, other than to give us a glimpse of what's next.

What the hell are you talking about? Are we even reading the same manga? "in order to keep the series interesting"?...
This atmosphere (not full-on angsty QQ drama shit) has been slowly introducing since early chapters.

Someone already told you what this chapter (and previous ones that touch the subject (the past)) was:

felt a little like exposition while until now it was a pretty subtle subject

Now, as for:

Higashiyama will follow the generic tropes of the "genre".

Please, share with us your predictions of generic tropes this may utilize. So far everything has been leaning towards the adult life and how it was affected by the past.

You are clearly only here to antagonize yourself (your user name and date of account creation says a lot), throwing nonsensical rambling onto the text box.

last edited at Jun 5, 2014 2:40PM

Good day to you Sir

Good day.

Friendly tip: Next time you want to engage in a discussion do a better job backing up your arguments.

My heart skipped a beat when i saw the het tag
Thank God it was just the long waited flashback chapter

Same! Gosh, I was scared there. O_o

Cause teenagers usually have sex for well thought out reasons.

At least they used protection. Which makes me wonder how (if at all) she got pregnant, I'm assuming this was the start of some pretty self destructive behavior from her.

If the dream chapter is any indication, she did go to a self destructive behavior indeed

Cause teenagers usually have sex for well thought out reasons.

At least they used protection. Which makes me wonder how (if at all) she got pregnant, I'm assuming this was the start of some pretty self destructive behavior from her.

Well we did see a glimpse of her attitude / actions during high school. She acted like a lot of teenagers who don't have enough affection from parents, they seek it from their peers. She probably kept this up for some time.

At the same time, her fiancé is quite recent. It's possible she wasn't that "hardcore" anymore. Since she's a working adult and all. Still it was a shotgun marriage, so... it remains to be seen if she changed from her younger days. It could of been a fluke, or she was still the same way after all this time.

last edited at Jun 5, 2014 4:55PM

Damn dude.... just... damn.

Cause teenagers usually have sex for well thought out reasons.

At least they used protection. Which makes me wonder how (if at all) she got pregnant, I'm assuming this was the start of some pretty self destructive behavior from her.

Uh. This occurred when she was a teenager, it is implied, while to my understanding, she was pregnant while engaged to her ex-fiance. I fail to see how this chapter caused you to doubt her pregnancy.

it is implied, while to my understanding, she was pregnant while engaged to her ex-fiance.

Is it? I throughly think the fiance came after the pregnancy

it is implied, while to my understanding, she was pregnant while engaged to her ex-fiance.

Is it? I throughly think the fiance came after the pregnancy

As I recall, the phrase "shotgun wedding" was used. So that pretty much outright says she was pregnant while with him.

So...she had sex with that light haired guy that was hitting on her, and this is leading up to her getting pregnant from Nakamura? I'm guessing Nakamura (the short-black-haired guy that was shown in this chapter) is the same as the guy at the bar in the last chapter.

While the chance for yuri end seems high now, it's possible Nakamura and Keiko could end up together again, with Ran's intervention. Just my expert predictions.

So...she had sex with that light haired guy that was hitting on her, and this is leading up to her getting pregnant from Nakamura? I'm guessing Nakamura (the short-black-haired guy that was shown in this chapter) is the same as the guy at the bar in the last chapter.

While the chance for yuri end seems high now, it's possible Nakamura and Keiko could end up together again, with Ran's intervention. Just my expert predictions.

I like your predictions.

Pretty good chapter considering the lead up to it. I also get the feeling Keiko tends to go with the flow a lot, "Birds of a feather, etc. etc." solidifies that thought for me about her. I think we'll have another 8-10 chapters before another Keiko flashback. In the meantime it'll go back to contemporary time and we might get something on Ran's background... Or instead her flashback will be in 8-10 chapters. Who knows. Either way I really enjoy the progress of the story. I have so far felt that no stretch, look, or word has been wasted.

What is the fuck chap 22 doing ᕙ(｀皿´)╯

Guess my thoughts on the latest chapter and whether forced drama has a purpose other than shedding the tears of insecure man children.
I'm not mad at all.
Bad writing ahoy, I wonder what'll be next?
Tragedy or misunderstandings perhaps?

This chapter is not really forcing drama upon us. Just flashbacks showing what happened in the past. I don't see it shoving tears and QQ faces up my ass while screaming "FEEL EMOTIONS, FEEL THE ANGST".

I feel that the atmosphere of the series has changed. If this is going to be a long running series then the author will undoubtedly resort to further dramafication (tasteful or not), in order to keep the series interesting.

From what I've found, it's more common for the series extended with the use of drama to hold back after bombs like the one dropped last chapter (Ch. 21) and stuff in filler before putting in more drama. We've been waiting so long for more information, I think it's actually less annoying that we're getting the flashbacks now. And since, as many people have pointed out earlier, the drama was hardly suddenly introduced - it's been foreshadowed for ages.

While the chance for yuri end seems high now, it's possible Nakamura and Keiko could end up together again, with Ran's intervention.

Agreed on both counts. Ran seems to be the only person Keiko actually has a constructive relationship with so far, and it's definitely building up so some kind of resolution will be needed. However, the fact that it's running in a josei (?) (web) publication means that a het ending is more likely. And I can totally imagine that sort of thing being in a TV series - woman with a somewhat wild, unhappy past finally finding a "happy end" in the form of the shotgun-engagement guy from years back. Even though it's completely stupid since "Stretch" is about Ran and Keiko rather than Keiko and Nakamura, it would be completely typical for that aspect to be ignored... I just pray that Keiko will get together with Ran.

Also, stepping back a bit, does anybody find it hilarious how this series' audience (on Dynasty, at least) are all just reading this stretching manga in the hope that there will be yuri?

Also, stepping back a bit, does anybody find it hilarious how this series' audience (on Dynasty, at least) are all just reading this stretching manga in the hope that there will be yuri?

Man it's dynasty, if it's a series is not tagged het from the beginning, everyone is going to hope for yuri stuff to happen.

But it's not only in dynasty considering that the artist previously did another Yuri work and the 2 main characters almost exclusively interact with only each other, there's bound to be people wanting the yuri end.

As for myself, I don't really read it for the yuri. The sex of the two protags isn't really that much of a big deal with me. What I really enjoy is the cohabitation. Comfy SoL cohabitation is always something I enjoy. There's more drama than I would like in my SoL but it's not like I haven't seen worse. I mean we're on the internet over here...

last edited at Jun 6, 2014 7:03AM

What is the fuck chap 22 doing ᕙ(｀皿´)╯

meh ikr. .just like what i felt after wasting my few minutes reading it

As for myself, I don't really read it for the yuri. The sex of the two protags isn't really that much of a big deal with me. What I really enjoy is the cohabitation. Comfy SoL cohabitation is always something I enjoy.

I totally agree.. although i do hope there is yuri but even if there isnt I still enjoy it with all the drama and comedy.

Furthermore, (just my thoughts) I think there is need to have some drama between Keiko and Ran; maybe that way "yuri" will stand out more.

Damn, that's sad. Does Keiko maybe not know how to say no?