Meanwhile, in can-barely-be-counted-as-on-topic news:
Today, because it's Valentine's, our legal proceedings teacher gave us a free class to recite or sing some songs or parts of songs. Now, because I'm referring to myself here with my initials, I'll also do so with my classmates. First came two guys: EF and BK. They recited some shitty, but funny thing, whatever. Then came three other guys: DT, PV and NĐ, who sang a song that, while, yes, having some romantic element, is much more of a patriotic song than a romantic song. Then, there was a girl, SK, who recited a love song that we already learned, like... a decade back... The song is called "Srcolovka". Then came two other guys, FM and MI, who also recited some shitty funny stuff... And, finally, we come to me. I have taken the time to connect to the internet, find the English translation to "Suki, igai no kotoba de" (yes, the insert song in episode 13 of YagaKimi), took the last stanza, translated it to Serbocroatobosniomontenegrin, and then recited. I got the biggest applause of all of them, and the teacher said that 3 of the previous 4 numbers should've been bood at. I helped YagaKimi gain recognition there, and only my namesake classmate who sits next to me realized it (due to me telling him about it beforehand, and because he turned on his Wi-Fi so I could find what I needed on the Internet).

Šta ti želim reći
Je uvjek zapisano u dubini mog srca.
Kad čujem tvoj glas, sve zaboravim.
Čak u tim tajnim razmjenama,
Zakopam ih svakog dana razgovorima.
Šta bi trebalo uraditi?
Šta da kažem?
Riječima drugim do "ljubav".

its touko's fault for not noticing sayaka in the first place.

I wouldn't say "not noticing". She even points out right in this chapter that she was aware of Sayaka's feelings, but chose not to think about them. It's not a question of noticing, but rather Touko not wanting to be with anyone who had any such feelings for her, leading her to choose Yuu who at that time seemed unable to ever do so.

I wonder what exactly Touko means by “Sayaka’s feelings.” Question for our multilingual folk: is the original unequivocal that she’s talking about specifically romantic feelings?

Dynasty translation: “It’s not that I was oblivious to how how strongly Sayaka feels about me.”

Alternate translation: “It’s not that I didn’t notice how strong Sayaka’s affection was.”

(As a parallel example in English, if someone were to say, “I knew she had feelings for me,” the idiom always means “romantic feelings.”)

Sayaka clearly has worked hard at becoming Touko’s only close friend, and the specific moments Touko thinks about (the fireworks scene, the confrontation about the revised script of the play) are perfectly consistent with Sayaka attempting to get closer to Touko in a non-romantic way.

If the answer to my translation question is “yes, the feelings in question are definitely romantic,” then Touko always was making an implicit choice between Sayaka and Yuu from the very beginning.

But if not, it’s more like, “I knew that Sayaka really wanted to be my friend, but her silence about her love allowed me to not think about it any more deeply than that.” In this reading Sayaka never was perceived as a romantic possibility until she actually confessed.

In the end, there’s really not that much difference between the two possibilities as far as the outcome of the story goes.

But the story has been structured around the two big reveals by Yuu and then by Sayaka. Touko’s instant grasp of the situation both times (in Sayaka’s case, even before the reveal itself) raises the question of whether she had a psychological block that prevented her from perceiving how her two friends actually felt about her (and therefore how her own attitudes were causing them emotional pain) or if she did know what was up and she simply found it convenient to not fully think things through.

A subtle thing at times, this language business. Emotions too, as a matter of fact.

its touko's fault for not noticing sayaka in the first place.

I wouldn't say "not noticing". She even points out right in this chapter that she was aware of Sayaka's feelings, but chose not to think about them. It's not a question of noticing, but rather Touko not wanting to be with anyone who had any such feelings for her, leading her to choose Yuu who at that time seemed unable to ever do so.

I wonder what exactly Touko means by “Sayaka’s feelings.” Question for our multilingual folk: is the original unequivocal that she’s talking about specifically romantic feelings?

Dynasty translation: “It’s not that I was oblivious to how how strongly Sayaka feels about me.”

Alternate translation: “It’s not that I didn’t notice how strong Sayaka’s affection was.”

(As a parallel example in English, if someone were to say, “I knew she had feelings for me,” the idiom always means “romantic feelings.”)

Sayaka clearly has worked hard at becoming Touko’s only close friend, and the specific moments Touko thinks about (the fireworks scene, the confrontation about the revised script of the play) are perfectly consistent with Sayaka attempting to get closer to Touko in a non-romantic way.

If the answer to my translation question is “yes, the feelings in question are definitely romantic,” then Touko always was making an implicit choice between Sayaka and Yuu from the very beginning.

But if not, it’s more like, “I knew that Sayaka really wanted to be my friend, but her silence about her love allowed me to not think about it any more deeply than that.” In this reading Sayaka never was perceived as a romantic possibility until she actually confessed.

In the end, there’s really not that much difference between the two possibilities as far as the outcome of the story goes.

But the story has been structured around the two big reveals by Yuu and then by Sayaka. Touko’s instant grasp of the situation both times (in Sayaka’s case, even before the reveal itself) raises the question of whether she had a psychological block that prevented her from perceiving how her two friends actually felt about her (and therefore how her own attitudes were causing them emotional pain) or if she did know what was up and she simply found it convenient to not fully think things through.

A subtle thing at times, this language business. Emotions too, as a matter of fact.

The word Touko used was 好意 and is not used to talk about romantic feelings exclusively. Should be closer to kindness or affection in this context.

Touko was not oblivious to Sayaka's and Yuu's feelings is my take. There were some scenes where she looked suspicious about Yuu (chapters 13 & 24), but just chose to think it was not possible for Yuu to have feelings for her, because she felt good and wanted to keep the status quo. It should be the same with Sayaka, Touko was aware of how much Sayaka cared about her but didn't want to believe that affection was love, which was easy because Sayaka never confessed. When she tried to, Touko put two and two together and noticed what was gonna happen.

last edited at Feb 14, 2019 1:14PM

Whether or not the chosen word is used exclusively for romantic feelings, she already considers Sayaka her closest friend, so I don't really see how it could mean simply Sayaka wanting to be her friend. Clearly she did not ignore her friendship. Not to mention, she's specifically thinking this as a comment to Sayaka's confession replayed in the previous panel.

last edited at Feb 14, 2019 1:57PM

Again, it's a fairly small point about how to re-read the Touko in the earlier chapters now that everything's out in the open.

As I've mentioned before, prior to the confession scenes we're supposed to understand Touko as being both exceptionally sharp and noticing, especially about how the people around her feel about her, as well as unaware (at some level) of exactly how the two people closest to her feel about her.

skulll's reading of Touko in regard to Yuu is clearly right: on the alert for danger signals of Yuu falling in love with her, yet willing to overlook or rationalize away such hints in order to keep the status quo. (Touko, thy name is status quo. Except for the falling in love with Yuu thing.)

Touko knew Sayaka cared for her, certainly--she's Touko's only real friend, and Sayaka makes no secret of being proud that she's the only person Touko relies on. Touko of course also feels affection for Sayaka, but until the fireworks scene she doesn't actually confide in her (she does about the string of confessions, but that's the personal life of "Perfect Touko"--the fireworks scene is a glimpse of "Real Touko," but only a glimpse.) But Sayaka's obvious willingness to get even closer to Touko as a friend if Touko would let her does not necessarily read as romantic interest.

As I said, the difference between "Touko has known all along about Sayaka's romantic feelings for her" and "Touko did not allow herself to be consciously aware of Sayaka's romantic feelings for her until moments before Sayaka's confession" is not extremely large, but it's interesting to me as an aspect of Touko's character, and I wondered if the original phrasing shed any light on the matter.

@Blastaar
@skull
Thank you. It makes the situation much more clear. And just in time before I start re-reading this too, lol.

I reread chapter 38 and I feel very fortunate that the author has been able to handle Touko this well so far. I expected that Touko getting the plot ball, after Yuu has held onto it for most of the series, would put a lot of strain on the character. That is, basically every little thing she does is magnified, especially since we're in the middle of the climax now. But so far it's working.

I have a feeling that it's kind of risky to play the "plot card" of Touko crying (I think for the first time in the story) in a scene that isn't the one where Touko and Yuu reconcile the main conflict, but it might pay off. (I'm not sure if this counts as a subverted trope?) Either way, I continue to be very excited. (Also, if anyone is wondering why I'm fixating on the crying... It's because I am the dumb and I can only talk about the few patterns that even I can spot.)

There is a high chance Touko will cry when she and Yuu make up as well. And it's not the first time she has cried, that was in chapter 31.
I feel Touko was crying for Yuu and Sayaka in chapter 38. She is in pain for hurting Yuu's feelings and realising that she does love Yuu for Yuu and for having to reject her best friend.

last edited at Feb 14, 2019 7:11PM

I read this chapter somewhere else before and completely forgot to check over here because of that. Now I'm late. Whoopsie.

There is probably not a single thing I can add to the discussion at this point so I'll just talk about something else!
Did anyone notice that Nakatani reused the same panel of Kyoto three times in this chapter? I guess it was so detailed that it took too much time to make extra ones. lol

I still totally think Midori and the other girl have something going on behind the scenes as well. Just because it would be pretty hilarious to have another lesbian pair close-by that nobody noticed. Would certainly enhance the "oblivious" theme that gets torn down recently.

I still totally think Midori and the other girl have something going on behind the scenes as well. Just because it would be pretty hilarious to have another lesbian pair close-by that nobody noticed. Would certainly enhance the "oblivious" theme that gets torn down recently.

Well, there's no evidence, but we can have dreams.

I still totally think Midori and the other girl have something going on behind the scenes as well. Just because it would be pretty hilarious to have another lesbian pair close-by that nobody noticed. Would certainly enhance the "oblivious" theme that gets torn down recently.

Well, there's no evidence, but we can have dreams.

Ohoho, BVster, don't tempt me. I may not be a shipper, but I got the gall and BS-power to justify anything under the sun with enough mental gymnastics. Sure, these two may act like "close friends", but in yuri manga that means they hold hands.

Evidence #1: "Aww I want to eat one you made Midori"
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#9
Typical homosexual food envy. Especially prevalent among hand-holding pervs who like to eat each other's pastries. If you know what I mean. And I mean literally the food in the panel.

Evidence #2: Two girl pals walking to the love stone together while entangling arms
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#12
This is the oldest of gay trickery. By exploiting the stone's ruleset they manage to simultaneously get help from a "friend" and make their love come true. The help from the "friend" they need in love is actually the respective other love interest walking with them, making them instantly gay.

Evidence #3: Sleeping at a slightly closer angle than is proper
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#31
The natural gay gravitation from Manaka is attracting the gay astral body of Midori and makes her subconsciously inch closer like the tide does with the moon. Bonus points for gay Smartphones lying in the perfect homosexual triangle position.

Evidence #4: "The boat goes downstream.... it goes through really narrow places"
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#2
Typical secret gay lingo representing arousal and the insertion of one finger at the very least.

Evidence #5.1 + #5.2: Love boat ride
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#7
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#8
They will be married by graduation and at least have 6 science babies in the future.

Science once again prevails against ignorance. Don't thank me, I'm doing this for educational purposes, not for glory~

^ Okay, pal, you went on a very long road there.
For starters, I’m 100% sure they’re already holding hands. They do it on the way home, when nobody is watching, and Midori will never let anyone know it was her idea.
Second of all, they’re totally already married. It was the kind of ceremony you have with your very first love on high school’s first year: you exchange rings made out of paper/flowers (unless one of them is an ojou-sama, them it’s pure gold), and kiss under the shadow of that aleatory coffee shop with the sympathetic manager.
(The shop was closed, right?)

I still totally think Midori and the other girl have something going on behind the scenes as well. Just because it would be pretty hilarious to have another lesbian pair close-by that nobody noticed. Would certainly enhance the "oblivious" theme that gets torn down recently.

Well, there's no evidence, but we can have dreams.

Ohoho, BVster, don't tempt me. I may not be a shipper, but I got the gall and BS-power to justify anything under the sun with enough mental gymnastics. Sure, these two may act like "close friends", but in yuri manga that means they hold hands.

Evidence #1: "Aww I want to eat one you made Midori"
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#9
Typical homosexual food envy. Especially prevalent among hand-holding pervs who like to eat each other's pastries. If you know what I mean. And I mean literally the food in the panel.

Evidence #2: Two girl pals walking to the love stone together while entangling arms
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#12
This is the oldest of gay trickery. By exploiting the stone's ruleset they manage to simultaneously get help from a "friend" and make their love come true. The help from the "friend" they need in love is actually the respective other love interest walking with them, making them instantly gay.

Evidence #3: Sleeping at a slightly closer angle than is proper
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch37#31
The natural gay gravitation from Manaka is attracting the gay astral body of Midori and makes her subconsciously inch closer like the tide does with the moon. Bonus points for gay Smartphones lying in the perfect homosexual triangle position.

Evidence #4: "The boat goes downstream.... it goes through really narrow places"
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#2
Typical secret gay lingo representing arousal and the insertion of one finger at the very least.

Evidence #5.1 + #5.2: Love boat ride
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#7
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch38#8
They will be married by graduation and at least have 6 science babies in the future.

Science once again prevails against ignorance. Don't thank me, I'm doing this for educational purposes, not for glory~

K, thanks. I can see 3 people benefiting from this mental gymnastics and BS: @Lily_Writer; yourself; myself. Although hopefully there are more.

EDIT: Not trying to ruin our fun here, but some (although, thankfully, not all) of these "evidence" have simpler and more likely explanations than what you gave and what I can hope for.

last edited at Feb 19, 2019 2:49AM

K, thanks. I can see 3 people benefiting from this mental gymnastics and BS: @Lily_Writer; yourself; myself. Although hopefully there are more.

EDIT: Not trying to ruin our fun here, but some (although, thankfully, not all) of these "evidence" have simpler and more likely explanations than what you gave and what I can hope for.

How dare you question my extremely scientific sociological analyses of two clearly gay girls being in love with each other? Do you even want them to be lovers? You have to be a bit more deluded determined to keep up with us around here.
This is the most canon couple in all of YagaKimi, short of one inevitable interview with Nakatani revealing "Yes, I made them gay and nobody realized it! I snuck it in below everyone's eyes!" Praise be to our goddess of subtlety. So subtle in fact that it's nearly indistingushable from not being there.

last edited at Feb 19, 2019 2:55AM

K, thanks. I can see 3 people benefiting from this mental gymnastics and BS: @Lily_Writer; yourself; myself. Although hopefully there are more.

EDIT: Not trying to ruin our fun here, but some (although, thankfully, not all) of these "evidence" have simpler and more likely explanations than what you gave and what I can hope for.

How dare you question my extremely scientific sociological analyses of two clearly gay girls being in love with each other? Do you even want them to be lovers? You have to be a bit more deluded determined to keep up with us around here.
This is the most canon couple in all of YagaKimi, short of one inevitable interview with Nakatani revealing "Yes, I made them gay and nobody realized it! I snuck it in below everyone's eyes!" Praise be to our goddess of subtlety. So subtle in fact that it's nearly indistingushable from not being there.

First:
Please, calm down. Just because I don't find as much convincing evidence as you did, that doesn't mean I'm not shipping them, too.

Second:
To this question:

Do you even want them to be lovers?

My answer is "Yes.", actually.

K, thanks. I can see 3 people benefiting from this mental gymnastics and BS: @Lily_Writer; yourself; myself. Although hopefully there are more.

EDIT: Not trying to ruin our fun here, but some (although, thankfully, not all) of these "evidence" have simpler and more likely explanations than what you gave and what I can hope for.

How dare you question my extremely scientific sociological analyses of two clearly gay girls being in love with each other? Do you even want them to be lovers? You have to be a bit more deluded determined to keep up with us around here.
This is the most canon couple in all of YagaKimi, short of one inevitable interview with Nakatani revealing "Yes, I made them gay and nobody realized it! I snuck it in below everyone's eyes!" Praise be to our goddess of subtlety. So subtle in fact that it's nearly indistingushable from not being there.

First:
Please, calm down. Just because I don't find as much convincing evidence as you did, that doesn't mean I'm not shipping them, too.

Second:
To this question:

Do you even want them to be lovers?

My answer is "Yes.", actually.

BV I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm

K, thanks. I can see 3 people benefiting from this mental gymnastics and BS: @Lily_Writer; yourself; myself. Although hopefully there are more.

EDIT: Not trying to ruin our fun here, but some (although, thankfully, not all) of these "evidence" have simpler and more likely explanations than what you gave and what I can hope for.

How dare you question my extremely scientific sociological analyses of two clearly gay girls being in love with each other? Do you even want them to be lovers? You have to be a bit more deluded determined to keep up with us around here.
This is the most canon couple in all of YagaKimi, short of one inevitable interview with Nakatani revealing "Yes, I made them gay and nobody realized it! I snuck it in below everyone's eyes!" Praise be to our goddess of subtlety. So subtle in fact that it's nearly indistingushable from not being there.

First:
Please, calm down. Just because I don't find as much convincing evidence as you did, that doesn't mean I'm not shipping them, too.

Second:
To this question:

Do you even want them to be lovers?

My answer is "Yes.", actually.

BV I'm pretty sure that was sarcasm

Press F to pay respect for my attempt at avoiding getting wooshed.

First:
Please, calm down. Just because I don't find as much convincing evidence as you did, that doesn't mean I'm not shipping them, too.

Second:
To this question:

Do you even want them to be lovers?

My answer is "Yes.", actually.

Aw, the jig's up. It is true, I was just making fun of shippers and some of the more overzealous analyses around this thread~
You really need to get more accustomed to hyperbole BV. Those super exaggerated things I said should have tipped ya off. lol
It's sweet that your tried to support my madness though.

last edited at Feb 19, 2019 6:59AM

^ Okay, pal, you went on a very long road there.
For starters, I’m 100% sure they’re already holding hands. They do it on the way home, when nobody is watching, and Midori will never let anyone know it was her idea.
Second of all, they’re totally already married. It was the kind of ceremony you have with your very first love on high school’s first year: you exchange rings made out of paper/flowers (unless one of them is an ojou-sama, them it’s pure gold), and kiss under the shadow of that aleatory coffee shop with the sympathetic manager.
(The shop was closed, right?)

I get migraines when I wear yuri goggles that strong.

So I try to only do it a couple of times a week.

last edited at Feb 19, 2019 7:13AM

I get migraines when I wear yuri goggles that strong.

So I try to only do it a couple of times a week.

I’m so used to wearing them that the migraines don’t even hurt anymore.

I get migraines when I wear yuri goggles that strong.

So I try to only do it a couple of times a week.

I’m so used to wearing them that the migraines don’t even hurt anymore.

Your username and profile picture fit this sentence too well.

last edited at Feb 19, 2019 9:19AM

You guys joke about it, but knowing Nakatani Nio, there is a very high probability that she has at least fleshed out their relationship in her head (whatever it might be). The continuity and detail in this comic is beyond pretty much any other yuri I've read. So many characters that I assumed were just one offs, or mindless background characters have had some development. So many other mangakas would never give thought to the design of someone who pops in for a panel or two, but in this comic, we expect it. We're really spoiled by the effort she puts in to make this comic as wonderful as it is.

I really want to get to know the girls on the final panel of this page:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_special_6#11
The one on the left is so cute!!

Can someone please give me an easy to understand explanation to Touko's character? I'm very confused.

^
Touko was a weak and timid child who adored her older sister, Mio, who seemed to be endlessly accomplished and basically perfect. After Mio was killed in a car accident, Touko determined to become a replacement for her sister. She did become a high-achieving student who everyone looked up to, but inside she felt like a fake, so she worked hard to hide her vulnerabilities from others. She also got the idea that love for her was impossible, because she hated the “real” Touko, and people were only attracted to the false front she put up (this part is rather tedious to explain because it’s so fucked up).

When she met Yuu, she believed (as Yuu also did at the time) that Yuu was unable to fall in love, which seems to have instantly attracted her—she could love Yuu without the “threat” of Yuu loving her back. (That, and Yuu being as adorable as all get out, of course.)

Hijinks ensue, until her best friend Sayaka made Touko realize that her ideas about love were completely full of shit (Sayaka said it much more nicely, though). Yuu was actually the one who set the stage (literally and figuratively) for Touko’s realization that the “perfect” Touko and her vulnerable side are both “really” her and both deserving of love.

Tl:dr—Touko is smart, beautiful, secretly has low self-esteem, and is kind of a pain in the ass about it. She may be over that now, though, and her next task is to grovel in front of Yuu and beg her to take her back.

(I made up that last part. Sorta.)

last edited at Feb 23, 2019 12:21AM

She better grovel.

I'm still hoping that we get a chapter from Yuu's perspective where she got advice as well before they meet again though.

She better grovel.

I'm still hoping that we get a chapter from Yuu's perspective where she got advice as well before they meet again though.

According to the preview pics for the next chapter on Nakatani’s twitter, your wish could very well be fulfilled.