What's going to bug me the most about this is Mai taking advantage of (if not predating upon) Nanoha's kindness, and the fact that it's probably going to have a big negative impact on Nanoha when this all blows up.
I realize manipulators are a pretty common trope for a series, but they just always pinch a nerve for me especially.

The thing about Mai's behavior is that, while she certainly is being manipulative, there's no sign that she's being dishonest. Her breakdown in front of Nanoha in chapter 60 wasn't just a performance; she genuinely feels adrift and alone. Also, her manipulation so far has been pretty harmless. She wants to spend more time with Nanoha, so she pulls on Nanoha's emotions in a way that will make her spend more time with her. But if she had just come out and said that she needed her to be there for her, Nanoha would've said yes.

maybe this story won't follow the trope exactly, but even still i will probably find it tedious. i think part of why i hate this kind of thing is that the character tends to come out of nowhere. it feels forced, and unplanned.

editor: "we need conflict."
author: "ok, i'll add a character, because i can't think of anything with the characters i already have."

thinking back to yuri that i really enjoy that have love triangles/rivals, a big part of why i still find the manga enjoyable is that the characters don't just pop up out of no where. also, they are usually multifaceted, and have more interesting motivation than "i like this person."

/Unholy screaming/

yo YO YO SHE BETTER BACK OFF

“We must suffer since we have known happiness and gay.”
— John F Kennedy

last edited at Dec 1, 2019 11:29PM

My favorite part about reading a series I don't like is how often good mangaka take common tropes and subvert them. While it's certainly understandable to be tired of this trope coming up, I'm happy to see the way this series will tackle it.

And to be honest, even if it's in the most conventional way, I don't mind, because I'm certain it'll lead to a strengthening of the pair's bond, which is something I always want.

fiddlepop lolol

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 12:05AM

I knew it at some point we would have this kind of situation.

Why is the order of the chapters all jumbled up? it's pretty frustrating clicking on a new chapter only to realize you've read 2 chapters ahead of the initial story, SOMEBODY FOR THE LOVE OF GOD FIX THIS, HOLY SHIT.

Didn’t we already have a triangle-drama arc?
Look i love this manga but man is that an annoying trope... I always liked how light hearted it is and avoids unessesary drama.~

We've been so blessed with these steady updates. Already bracing myself for when the updates go back to being every few months. ;-;

We've been so blessed with these steady updates. Already bracing myself for when the updates go back to being every few months. ;-;

Translations are complete up to 66 currently, but even if we do keep a good pace, it will eventually result in biweekly releases, as that is the pace of the raws. This flood of chapters can't last forever, sadly.

Scenes like the the second half of ch.56 are what I read yuri for. I have no idea why anyone would prefer a frustratingly ambiguous friendship yuri when they could have sweet cute scenes with two girls in love.

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 2:41AM

What's going to bug me the most about this is Mai taking advantage of (if not predating upon) Nanoha's kindness, and the fact that it's probably going to have a big negative impact on Nanoha when this all blows up.
I realize manipulators are a pretty common trope for a series, but they just always pinch a nerve for me especially.

The thing about Mai's behavior is that, while she certainly is being manipulative, there's no sign that she's being dishonest. Her breakdown in front of Nanoha in chapter 60 wasn't just a performance; she genuinely feels adrift and alone. Also, her manipulation so far has been pretty harmless. She wants to spend more time with Nanoha, so she pulls on Nanoha's emotions in a way that will make her spend more time with her. But if she had just come out and said that she needed her to be there for her, Nanoha would've said yes.

she says very clearly she wants nanoha as her gf, what she is doing is pure manipulation. you see that smirk after nanoha hugs her. i don't think her talking about her not having friends was genuine in the least. not to say her having no friends isn't true, but she was definitely using it to get nanoha. she knows how caring nanoha is and played her like a harpstring. adn it's not harmless, she's actively trying to steal nanoha away. she SAW them kissing, she KNOWS they are obviously together. how is that not harmless?

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 2:57AM

Scenes like the the second half of ch.56 are what I read yuri for. I have no idea why anyone would prefer a frustratingly ambiguous friendship yuri when they could have sweet cute scenes with two girls in love.

Well said! That's how I feel about it too. Chapter 56 is my favourite of the series so far. Absolutely amazingly fluffy and heartwarming. I love the way Nanoha gets all excited and playfully teases Chidori after. The best yuri stories are the ones that don't dance around the fact that the main couple are in love.

Have a chance? Did you forget that she is dating? Omg xD back off from my babies!

she says very clearly she wants nanoha as her gf, what she is doing is pure manipulation. you see that smirk after nanoha hugs her. i don't think her talking about her not having friends was genuine in the least. not to say her having no friends isn't true, but she was definitely using it to get nanoha. she knows how caring nanoha is and played her like a harpstring. adn it's not harmless, she's actively trying to steal nanoha away. she SAW them kissing, she KNOWS they are obviously together. how is that not harmless?

While I'm not entirely sure how much of her behavior is genuine and how much is pure manipulation, I do find the timing of this whole thing quite suspicious. When Nanoha's mother brought up Mai's injury, like Nanoha we expected this to be something new, not have happened a long time ago. It does feel weird that this was suddenly brought up now, right after her seeing Nanoha and Chidori kissing.

Uh.. the Netorare tag I smell here :( (i'm not english and not so good my english so sorry if my sentences are not spelled correctly)

Why are people so upset about some potential drama? You can't always have just fluff.
But anyway, I don't think this will be something major. I feel like Mai will end up being mostly harmless. I don't think she will cause any major drama like blackmailing Nanoha to out them.

What's going to bug me the most about this is Mai taking advantage of (if not predating upon) Nanoha's kindness, and the fact that it's probably going to have a big negative impact on Nanoha when this all blows up.
I realize manipulators are a pretty common trope for a series, but they just always pinch a nerve for me especially.

The thing about Mai's behavior is that, while she certainly is being manipulative, there's no sign that she's being dishonest. Her breakdown in front of Nanoha in chapter 60 wasn't just a performance; she genuinely feels adrift and alone. Also, her manipulation so far has been pretty harmless. She wants to spend more time with Nanoha, so she pulls on Nanoha's emotions in a way that will make her spend more time with her. But if she had just come out and said that she needed her to be there for her, Nanoha would've said yes.

What are you basing your assertion of Mai's sincerity on? We don't really know anything about her, other than she was a close friend of Nanoha in middle school, and that she has declared her intention to steal Nanoha from Chiski. You're right Mai might really feel alone and adrift, but it could an act to get Nanoha to feel sorry for her. At this point we don't know.
My guess would be it is a little from column A and a little from column B. After all it looks like she is going to be the "villain" of the next story arch. However I can't imagine this kind of story having completely unsympathetic character

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 5:05AM

Uh.. the Netorare tag I smell here :( (i'm not english and not so good my english so sorry if my sentences are not spelled correctly)

Cheating is way too dark for this series. I don't think your sense of smell is functioning correctly.

What's going to bug me the most about this is Mai taking advantage of (if not predating upon) Nanoha's kindness, and the fact that it's probably going to have a big negative impact on Nanoha when this all blows up.
I realize manipulators are a pretty common trope for a series, but they just always pinch a nerve for me especially.

The thing about Mai's behavior is that, while she certainly is being manipulative, there's no sign that she's being dishonest. Her breakdown in front of Nanoha in chapter 60 wasn't just a performance; she genuinely feels adrift and alone. Also, her manipulation so far has been pretty harmless. She wants to spend more time with Nanoha, so she pulls on Nanoha's emotions in a way that will make her spend more time with her. But if she had just come out and said that she needed her to be there for her, Nanoha would've said yes.

she says very clearly she wants nanoha as her gf, what she is doing is pure manipulation. you see that smirk after nanoha hugs her. i don't think her talking about her not having friends was genuine in the least. not to say her having no friends isn't true, but she was definitely using it to get nanoha. she knows how caring nanoha is and played her like a harpstring. adn it's not harmless, she's actively trying to steal nanoha away. she SAW them kissing, she KNOWS they are obviously together. how is that not harmless?

That's not a smirk, that's a smile. She's smiling because she's happy that she's being comforted. That is a normal human response. Nothing in the art or dialogue suggests she's being false or deceptive, and the paneling on pages 151-153 in particular suggests genuine emotion. On 152, the author conveys Mai's feeling of emptiness through the art. On page 153, Mai tries to dismiss what she said because she's embarrassed for accidentally sharing too much, and she's surprised to see how strongly Nanoha has reacted. Not exactly the reactions of someone who planned it all out to guilt-trip her. I guess you could read the chapter and interpret things your way, but I believe you're ignoring strong textual and artistic cues in order to project your reading onto the chapter.

I said her manipulation is harmless because she hasn't actually done anything to negatively impact Nanoha's relationship with Chidori. Her motive (steal Nanoha away) might be wicked, but I'd say it's better to judge someone by their actions. Has she tried to turn Nanoha away from Chidori? No. Has she interfered in their relationship in any way? No. All she's done is reestablished ties with an old friend. A result of that is that Nanoha has spent a little less time with Chidori, but that's just how life works. We each have limited time and have to decide how to allocate that.

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 5:07AM

MacySan posted:

Why are people so upset about some potential drama? You can't always have just fluff.

Form me personally it's more that adding sudden love rival/someone messing with established relationship is cliche af and incredibly lazy. I saw it way too many times and it's way overused as if there wasn't possibly be any other issue author could explore instead. There's slim chance it'll be executed well or with a twist, but honestly it's not really worth the pain of reading through it, especially if it takes some time to resolve. If she manages to break them up, well, she just managed to ruin the pair people are rooting for. If she don't, then until this plot thread concludes, that's all I'll be able to focus on, taking away any enjoyment I could have from anything else currently going on, fluff or not. It's simply cheap and forced drama for the sake of drama. There are countless better things to write about. There's so little actual stories focusing on couple life, so why when they are finally a couple, most of drama is usually focused around trying to break them or keeping them apart? Can't we have some drama made around them being a couple?

last edited at Dec 2, 2019 7:28AM

I suppose it's named Hana ni Arashi for a reason...

I guess it's no longer a secret from EVERYONE. Plus, I'm convinced at least one of the friends know.