Oh jeez, this is what happens when a chapter comes out and there is 4 pages of comments to read. My 2 cents: Yuu's reaction was very normal, Touko was kinda unrealistic. How can she not know, Yuu is hurt and that she needs to clarify what she meant? Ugh

Why do I have a feeling this is gonna have a troll Touko x Sayaka ending and Yuu x Forever alone ending?

Oh hell no:(((

I get Yuu. She sums up everything I think about romance, at least for myself. I can still enjoy fluff and drama but when I'm the concerning party it just, whatever. You kind of understand what it is and what people expect of it, but don't feel it i guess? Good to see she's grown out of it though, not sure if I will, or even want to.

I get Yuu. She sums up everything I think about romance, at least for myself. I can still enjoy fluff and drama but when I'm the concerning party it just, whatever. You kind of understand what it is and what people expect of it, but don't feel it i guess? Good to see she's grown out of it though, not sure if I will, or even want to.

That whatever was very different from what you describe here.
That was a frustrated "Whatever" of someone who can't deal with her frustration and pain. Escapism, basically.

last edited at Oct 2, 2018 7:49AM

I get Yuu. She sums up everything I think about romance, at least for myself. I can still enjoy fluff and drama but when I'm the concerning party it just, whatever. You kind of understand what it is and what people expect of it, but don't feel it i guess? Good to see she's grown out of it though, not sure if I will, or even want to.

That whatever was very different from what you describe here.
That was a frustrated "Whatever" of someone who can't deal with her frustration and pain. Escapism, basically.

There's both. Resignation is a better way to put it though. Honestly I don't know how to describe it but that last face plant into the bed is a feeling I'm all too familiar with.

That whatever was very different from what you describe here.
That was a frustrated "Whatever" of someone who can't deal with her frustration and pain. Escapism, basically.

There's both. Resignation is a better way to put it though. Honestly I don't know how to describe it but that last face plant into the bed is a feeling I'm all too familiar with.

Pretty much any teenager ever is.
Yuu's "resignation" here is entirely motivated by her trying to rationalize her pain by comparing it to other things logically and stamping it all off as "I don't know what love is". She tells herself that she is not actually heartbroken and that it doesn't matter as a defensive mechanism. Conscious or not, she is running away from the problem. I just don't think that is at all related to your issue anymore.

I can totally relate to Yuu's way of escaping the fact she is heart-broken. Heck, I even had cases of feeling strangely "elated" at being rejected by someone I liked for several days or weeks, as though that meant I was now "free from the burdens of love" lol
Defence mechanisms at their best! Eventually the whole thing would come crashing down and only then I felt the pain.

I don’t have time to even begin to list all the wonderful qualities of my (our) beloved Yuu, but let’s not forget that in regard to her understanding of what love is (or might be) she’s been pretty much an idiot ever since the very page.

Right, Yuu, wanting to be with someone all the time, enjoying kissing them, thinking about them all the time, trying to do what’s best for them, thinking about whether to touch them or not—that’s just regular friendship, not the “special” feet-lifted-off-the ground feeling that pop songs and romance manga have told you to expect. (Wait—kissing? Really? Also the touching? Hmm.)

Baka.

I don’t have time to even begin to list all the wonderful qualities of my (our) beloved Yuu, but let’s not forget that in regard to her understanding of what love is (or might be) she’s been pretty much an idiot ever since the very page.

Right, Yuu, wanting to be with someone all the time, enjoying kissing them, thinking about them all the time, trying to do what’s best for them, thinking about whether to touch them or not—that’s just regular friendship, not the “special” feet-lifted-off-the ground feeling that pop songs and romance manga have told you to expect. (Wait—kissing? Really? Also the touching? Hmm.)

Baka.

To be fair, Yuu was always someone who got overly invested into other people's problems. Example number 1, the softball club she joined just because she was asked to, even though she had no interest in it. Yet she stayed the entire time and was a valuable member. Example number 2, the student council. The list goes on. Yuu is someone who helps people without getting too invested into it emotionally. It's not strange that she at first assumed it was the same case with Touko.

She is very numb to the idea of love, because she has false expectations from Shoujo manga. Heck, even from her overly emotional surroundings and friends.

Yuu did realize something was off with her halfway through the manga, but rather than being stupid, she straight up denied herself the option to be in love with Touko, because of her promise. There's a huge distinction between denseness and denial. When she finally admitted (to herself) that she was in love, it was a big deal, because she knew it wouldn't end well and she did it against her better rational judgement. Instead of caring about herself though, she instead opted to fix Touko's self-loathing first.

The first time Yuu did something for herself despite knowing it would hurt her, she got completely destroyed, just because she had been in denial too long. Now her only defense against that pain is to return to her emotionally distanced state.

Sorry, didn't intend to ramble. The point is that (even if you said it tongue-in-cheek) I don't really agree that Yuu was or is acting like this because she is stupid/dense.

Sorry, didn't intend to ramble. The point is that (even if you said it tongue-in-cheek) I don't really agree that Yuu was or is acting like this because she is stupid/dense.

Actually, it’s about half-and-half—my joking attitude was undoubtedly influenced by just re-reading Girl Friends, and seeing, for all the massive differences in theme and tone between the two series, a similarity between each pair of idiots careening around, at best only partially aware of the significance of their own or the other person’s feelings.

And really, smart as they both are, Yuu’s extreme naïveté about love at the start is matched by Touko’s bizarre belief that she could have a sustainable one-way “love” relationship with Yuu. (Believe me, I’ve known more than a few extremely bright, highly educated people who were very sharp about most things and complete dolts about some other very basic life/social skills or behaviors.)

And no need to apologize—we’re all just rambling here.

Sorry, didn't intend to ramble. The point is that (even if you said it tongue-in-cheek) I don't really agree that Yuu was or is acting like this because she is stupid/dense.

Actually, it’s about half-and-half—my joking attitude was undoubtedly influenced by just re-reading Girl Friends, and seeing, for all the massive differences in theme and tone between the two series, a similarity between each pair of idiots careening around, at best only partially aware of the significance of their own or the other person’s feelings.

And really, smart as they both are, Yuu’s extreme naïveté about love at the start is matched by Touko’s bizarre belief that she could have a sustainable one-way “love” relationship with Yuu. (Believe me, I’ve known more than a few extremely bright, highly educated people who were very sharp about most things and complete dolts about some other very basic life/social skills or behaviors.)

And no need to apologize—we’re all just rambling here.

Girl Friends is an even slower burn than YagaKimi for sure. And those two were much denser than our protagonists here.

I guess I just don't view active denial (which implies self-awareness) as being stupid or dense. Especially when the person in question believes to have a good reason for it or is afraid to confront the reality they already know. Maybe the act of denying onself can be viewed as stupid in itself, but the idea is that Yuu and Touko both actually understand love and what they are doing wrong. Denial led to them not ackowledging and repressing it though.

I guess I just don't view active denial (which implies self-awareness) as being stupid or dense. Especially when the person in question believes to have a good reason for it or is afraid to confront the reality they already know. Maybe the act of denying onself can be viewed as stupid in itself, but the idea is that Yuu and Touko both actually understand love and what they are doing wrong. Denial led to them not ackowledging and repressing it though.

Of course, that’s a reasonable distinction, but in narrative (as well as social) terms, understanding + denial on the one hand and misunderstanding and/or obliviousness on the other usually end up looking pretty similar.

Might I say that I am totally looking forward to the anime coming up later this week?

Ahh chapter 35 was so heartbreaking for me. Poor Yuu.

Might I say that I am totally looking forward to the anime coming up later this week?

I just hope it's good. Like real good. It deserves it.

Girl Friends is an even slower burn than YagaKimi for sure. And those two were much denser than our protagonists here.

I mean, it's only 5 volumes, so it's empirically not a slower burn. ;p

Girl Friends is an even slower burn than YagaKimi for sure. And those two were much denser than our protagonists here.

I mean, it's only 5 volumes, so it's empirically not a slower burn. ;p

Pacing my friend. Girl Friends took 6 chapters to even get slightly beyond pure friendship. There was quite a bit of build-up just to reach subtext.
Density of actual developements and events is just not comparable. YagaKimi reached the first confession in more or less chapter 1 and the first kiss in chapter 2 lol

I love this chapter, both of their reactions are so in character, something so rare in this kind of dramatic situations. I can’t wait for the next chapter.

Ah yes, the rejection.........it hurts
Touko does not need her ,but she misses her (What a contradiction!!!!) so what is it Touko?
Touko just used to suppress Yuu feelings and them tossed them aside like used tissue paper.
Yuu of course got crushed, run over like road kill, had her teeth pull without anesthesia and feels very bad.
I wonder if Sayaka has noticed the change between Yuu and Touko?
Does Sayaka known now, that If she try to declare her feelings to Touko she will also be shot down as Yuu?.

Questions and more questions ..........
"Brother what a way to run a railroad......" Bugs Bunny
"Of Course you known ..... this means war....." Bugs Bunny

Yes......... Characterisation........................ We sup today.

"Listen, you fucking idiots, what did you think all that kissing and cuddling was about, anyway? Go get some of Big Sis's cheesecake and feed it to each other in the equipment shed, and don't come out until your hair's all mussd up and your clothes aren't buttoned right."

This is one of these times I really regret having no talent at drawing, because I would pay good money for someone to draw that panel.

I took a stab at it...

Equipment shed? Check.

Messy hair? Check.

Cheesecake? Check.

Incorrect buttons? Well.. they're still in the shed.. lol

https://twitter.com/ch_windsor/status/1047763205559336960

"Listen, you fucking idiots, what did you think all that kissing and cuddling was about, anyway? Go get some of Big Sis's cheesecake and feed it to each other in the equipment shed, and don't come out until your hair's all mussd up and your clothes aren't buttoned right."

This is one of these times I really regret having no talent at drawing, because I would pay good money for someone to draw that panel.

I took a stab at it...

Equipment shed? Check.

Messy hair? Check.

Cheesecake? Check.

Incorrect buttons? Well.. they're still in the shed.. lol

https://twitter.com/ch_windsor/status/1047763205559336960

Lol, Thanks!

"Listen, you fucking idiots, what did you think all that kissing and cuddling was about, anyway? Go get some of Big Sis's cheesecake and feed it to each other in the equipment shed, and don't come out until your hair's all mussd up and your clothes aren't buttoned right."

This is one of these times I really regret having no talent at drawing, because I would pay good money for someone to draw that panel.

I took a stab at it...

Equipment shed? Check.

Messy hair? Check.

Cheesecake? Check.

Incorrect buttons? Well.. they're still in the shed.. lol

https://twitter.com/ch_windsor/status/1047763205559336960

Oh yes... I like that alot.

Girl Friends is an even slower burn than YagaKimi for sure. And those two were much denser than our protagonists here.

I mean, it's only 5 volumes, so it's empirically not a slower burn. ;p

Pacing my friend. Girl Friends took 6 chapters to even get slightly beyond pure friendship. There was quite a bit of build-up just to reach subtext.
Density of actual developements and events is just not comparable. YagaKimi reached the first confession in more or less chapter 1 and the first kiss in chapter 2 lol

And by five volumes the primary conflicts were all resolved and they were in a happy, committed relationship and I believe had banged? It's been awhile since I read it.

You can also argue as to whether the confession and kiss in the first few chapters really represent that much development when the other character didn't get the courage to vocalize -her- feelings until Chapter 34. :p

My point is, at some stage we have to average things out and look at the overall trend. For SCIENCE.

The basic premises between YagaKimi and Girl Friends are so different that comparisons about the pacing per se are pretty hard to make, IMO, (to say nothing of the differences in tone)—what counts as “progress” in each case is just so radically different.

It’s just that, having re-read the latter then gone back to the newest chapter of this one, I couldn’t help but see the pattern of a couple of knuckleheads floundering around while trying to come to terms with their own feelings before they can articulate them to the other person.

That along with the “those earlier kisses don’t count because reasons” trope that the two stories share, of course.