At this point in time, the exam is far from passed!!! lol
I can't wait for the moment they're all together in one room, it's gonna be like a huge chemical reaction

I can't wait for the moment they're all together in one room, it's gonna be like a huge chemical reaction

YES!! absolutely XDDD and maybe they'll fight like
Akira: Hey! she's mine!
Mayuki: no, YOU are mine!
Akira: What?
Rin: You're both mine!
Akira & Mayuki: ??????

Ps: congratz on your #1000 comment

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 1:56AM

Interesting... Not sure why I missed the 2nd chapter when it came out, but the first chapter certainly left me with the impression that Akira was "the other person" in Rin's heart that caused her to turn down the girl who slapped her. The fact that it was someone else altogether who isn't even in the picture anymore totally changes the relationship dynamics. So, at this point, we have Mayuki in love with Akira, who is in love with Rin, who seems to be falling in love with Mayuki and probably Rin as well. But Rin is already jealous of Mayuki without even knowing who she is and nobody has confessed their feelings to anyone. Rin probably hasn't realized hers yet.

Rin = Polyamorous Ace?

I haven't seen any evidence that she's Ace. She certainly seems to enjoy kissing Mayuki. The reason she was uncomfortable talking about relationship stuff with the group of girls in chapter 2 wasn't that she doesn't feel attraction to other people so much as the fact that she feels equal amounts of attraction to more than one person at a time and, in the past, has been told that it isn't normal. Also, I'm pretty sure the names she mentioned in the earlier flashback when she was told that she can't date two people were female names and she DID have two people she was attracted to at the time, who were female... so when they were talking about what GUYS they liked, it's understandable that she would get a little uneasy because it would make her feel different from everyone in multiple ways.

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 3:18AM

Ah.... I avoided this one for so long, but I felt it was not right. I adore Canno's works too much not to give her a chance. Even though this set-up is the anti-thesis of my preferences... but her artwork is so good. The main characters are all cute and... uh... defined.

Sigh. Fine, I can't really pretend that I enjoy this. It's like Canno is actively trying to shove in every last thing that rubs me the wrong way. Love triangles and polyamory are already very hard concepts to sell, but the way she goes about it doesn't help. She even relies on the most annoying cliches like "kissing practice" and the special love confession tree. Ugh. It feels so forced it makes me a bit sick. And I feel like Canno really doesn't get polyamory. I know she prefers romanticized set-ups and solutions, because it's yuri, but all this "I love you all equally" stuff is so terribly unrealistic. It's the same thing I didn't like about the poly arc in AnoKiss. And every two pages someone has to say "I want to be the only one special to you", like even when talking about friendship? Please make it stop. There is a difference between theming and hitting people with a basbeall bat that has "subtlety" written on it.

Love triangle and polamory are mutually exclusive, so we all know where this goes. One will transition into the other. As if miraculously all being lesbians wasn't already the entry barrier to suspension of disbelief, it's gotta be mulitplied with everyone just loving everyone now. Akira's perspective of a rigid monogamous attitude is only here as a forced contrast, isn't it? Rin loves everyone, Mayumi loves Akira, but to achieve that she does stupid things like "kissing practice" and will probably accept Akira also loving another girl because she would do anything to be with her and Akira wants to monopolize, but will turn around. The first page of the freaking manga made that clear already.

I don't hate poly by default. Even love triangles can have merit. But the execution here doesn't make me hopeful. Sorry for the rant, I'm sure most people here enjoy it very much and it's not like it's really all bad. I will keep reading at least. Sometimes Canno can pull a third act that makes me forget my issues, so I'll try believing in her a bit longer.

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 3:49AM

The change of font on page 28 and 29 had me puzzled for a while, until I understood that they were messaging.

Reposting my previous message

I wonder what Rin's smile at the end means… is it one of relief, or one of bitterness?

Like, she won't have to break Akira's heart if they're "just friends", but at the same time maybe she was a bit hopeful…? That aside glance just before is especially puzzling to me…

But anyway, I'm not as bothered by some clichés like the "confession tree" as BugDevil is since Canno clearly plays with them a ittle bit. In this case for example, confessing under the magic tree would most definitely make no one happy at the moment.

I do agree that this series isn't exactly subtle though. >.> Ironic considring AnoKiss was sometimes a bit too subtle, with characters bending over backwards to not say they were in love.

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 5:48AM

The comparison that I'm about to make will be very weird and also very subjective, but reading this is like eating grilled trout with only bread and topsy cheese as the side - good and enjoyable, but not so much compared to - depending on wether I'd just drop the pretense or continue the weird metaphor - some other yuri or some other trout recipes.

But anyway, I'm not as bothered by some clichés like the "confession tree" as BugDevil is since Canno clearly plays with them a ittle bit. In this case for example, confessing under the magic tree would most definitely make no one happy at the moment.

It's not so much that she uses the cliche to its fullest or complete meaning, but more that she includes it at all. It's a crutch. I can defnitely see that down the line this tree will have some silly symbolic integration that will no doubt be all cute... Just not great.

And the "kissing practice" trope was not twisted at all. It's the same bad thing it has always been. It may sound like I'm throwing a hissy fit here, but out of all the things in this manga right now, even the subpar poly writing, this cliche is what disappointed me the most. This downright silly concept of kissing practice with friends... no a stranger even, that the character has no intimate relationship with or feelings for, it just appalls me to be honest. And it's not because I think kissing usually is that important, but it's because Canno's writing is based around taking these things seriously. This story at its core is a fantasy and distorted from reality. First kisses, kissing in general, they have greater meaning here than in real life. I mean Rin herself acknowledges this even.
In this case it only exists to forcefully jumpstart Rin's romantic interest in Mayuki and make Akira jealous. For a series that puts so much focus on feelings, I am simply disappointed about the order of things and the reliance on such cheap devices. If Canno had shown Mayuki being attracted or interested in Rin already and the same for Rin towards Mayuki this would be so much more agreeable.

Instead we end up with Rin betraying the trust of Mayuki's mother, being wishy-washy about her feelings and just forcefully moving on to the next cute girl. And for what? Mayuki will not become better at kissing from having a light peck with someone she doesnt love once or twice a week, someone who doesn't even have experience to begin with. It's so unecessary. At least with Sakura Trick all the kissing had a certain thematic purpose.

Sorry again. I know you didn't directly reply to me.

I'm digging this. No, it's not terribly revolutionary in it's use of tropes but neither are the ever growing pile of fine-but-not-amazing monogamous romance stories that are on this platform. Definitely feels like people are holding this to an artificially heightened standard simply because it's polyamory in the same way queer rep often gets held to a higher standard by straight people in mainstream spaces because really they just don't want to see it at all.

^^ The thing is, I don't think Mayuki herself has any delusions about kissing making her "more mature", at least not after chapter 1 ("We should try different configurations"… yeah, sure… XD) While maybe not "in love", she still has a fascination with Rin and liked the experience of kissing, so she wants more of it. We've seen that she's very simple-minded and easily fixated on things; not very prone to think them through either.

Right, BV, just sussing out where things in a story might go is fun, but then, you've never been a "here's where this is going, which I disapprove of and I am totally disgusted with the author for the imaginary story I just created out of whole cloth" predictive lamenter.

^ Very succinct, nothing drives me more nuts than some asshat writing a multi page rant about the direction the as yet unwritten story will take. It's even more fun when you point out how silly what they've done is and they react by just doubling down on their rant about a bunch of story content that doesn't even exist outside of their own fevered imagination.

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 7:48AM

^^ The thing is, I don't think Mayuki herself has any delusions about kissing making her "more mature", at least not after chapter 1 ("We should try different configurations"… yeah, sure… XD) While maybe not "in love", she still has a fascination with Rin and liked the experience of kissing, so she wants more of it. We've seen that she's very simple-minded and easily fixated on things; not very prone to think them through either.

I honestly did not see it that way. That's actually kind of subtle... if true. The extreme focus Mayuki has on Akira since chapter 1 just makes this very hard to believe imo. I would think that her number 1 priority if she liked kissing would be to get to kiss Akira then if we logically follow her character. If Rin is just a means to an end it would fall in line with what we saw. If there is more... then Canno is being surprisingly delicate about this detail in a story full of sledgehammers. lol

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 8:02AM

It's a bit hard to tell this early, but that's how I interpret it.

At any rate, I'm curious to see Mayuki and Akira interact privately; we haven't seen much of their relationship so far, at least not from Akira's side.

And man, I could stare at page 27 for hours… it's so beautiful…

Can't say it was in my strike zone from the startbut I think that a monthly chapter will prove it to be a bit slow for me. I probably come back later with more chapters to see what happen.

"I didn't have time to wonder if she was good at basketball" loved that line!!
I'm rooting for these three characters, can't wait to read more. Also, I can't be the only one that screamed at the screen when Akira told Rin she sees her as a precious friend...

Also, I can't be the only one that screamed at the screen when Akira told Rin she sees her as a precious friend...

No you're not...

The comparison that I'm about to make will be very weird and also very subjective, but reading this is like eating grilled trout with only bread and topsy cheese as the side - good and enjoyable, but not so much compared to - depending on wether I'd just drop the pretense or continue the weird metaphor - some other yuri or some other trout recipes.

BV, you've always been a dab hand at the subjective analogies, but this one may make you the all-time "King of the Subjective Analogies That No One Else Understands in the Slightest But Which Give an Intriguing Glimpse Into an Alien But Not-Uninteresting Mental Landscape."

Time to go Google "topsy cheese" . . .

It's a bit hard to tell this early, but that's how I interpret it.

At any rate, I'm curious to see Mayuki and Akira interact privately; we haven't seen much of their relationship so far, at least not from Akira's side.

And man, I could stare at page 27 for hours… it's so beautiful…

I suppose so. We are all just guessing.

If I had to make a random guess I'd say Akira will find out that Rin tutors Mayuki during their "basketball practice". And if we go by the cliche... maybe she will kiss her to "take back those lips" or for some other reason. I actually have a very strong feeling they might kiss, but not advance their relationship at all.
oooor not and they will just vaguely miss the truth of each other's relation to Rin somehow. That can also happen.

Canno's art is always great.

If I see one more goddamn "Precious friend" shit I will lose my mind

If there is more... then Canno is being surprisingly delicate about this detail in a story full of sledgehammers. lol

This is an interesting way of putting it, since I've always thought that good manga (or good popular narrative generally) always tends to alternate subtlety with trope-y sledgehammers, or perhaps the subtle deployment of sledgehammers.

I understand that particular tropes are notoriously pet peeves for individual readers at best or traumatic personal-experience-memory triggers at worst, but I personally tend to find tropes mostly pleasurable when deployed in an interesting story, and their relative realism mostly irrelevant (although I've heard more than a couple real-life "practice-kissing" stories, not as the gateway to a lesbian relationship but as a slightly more grown-up version of "playing doctor"-type experimentation).

Cultural festival? Class trip? Interrupted attempt at confession? Bring 'em on!

Right. We were denied the festival and the class trip in AnoKiss. =[

oooor not and they will just vaguely miss the truth of each other's relation to Rin somehow. That can also happen.

"Hey, one of my friends is called Rin and also tutors a middle-school girl! Crazy coincidence, huh."
"Yeah, I guess Rin is a common name."

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 10:09AM

If there is more... then Canno is being surprisingly delicate about this detail in a story full of sledgehammers. lol

This is an interesting way of putting it, since I've always thought that good manga (or good popular narrative generally) always tends to alternate subtlety with trope-y sledgehammers, or perhaps the subtle deployment of sledgehammers.

I understand that particular tropes are notoriously pet peeves for individual readers at best or traumatic personal-experience-memory triggers at worst, but I personally tend to find tropes mostly pleasurable when deployed in an interesting story, and their relative realism mostly irrelevant (although I've heard more than a couple real-life "practice-kissing" stories, not as the gateway to a lesbian relationship but as a slightly more grown-up version of "playing doctor"-type experimentation).

Cultural festival? Class trip? Interrupted attempt at confession? Bring 'em on!

I tend to agree, except this story in particular had no such nuance until now, so that's why I didn't even consider it until Lyendith brought it up.

The thing with realism or fantasy is... you ought to pick one. Or find an incredibly hard to achieve balance. As I mentioned in my comment about the "Kissing practice", Canno is going for the fantastical storytelling that strains the suspension of disbelief, which in general I think is fine, that's how AnoKiss mostly panned out and I loved it. Her perception of polyamory, romance and cliches are all very fantasy like and lack in realism.
In her narrative world I can fully believe that there is a school filled with nothing but lesbians and even that every girl loves everyone or whatever, but when she then attempts to ground it or defy her own narrative by treating kissing as less of a meaningful thing after establishing it is or attempts awkwardly to add a dose of realism to polyamory while still stuck in the fantasy version of it... well it just doesn't jive.

I think we both agree that writing carries everything, even tropes, so it is important that the author knows what they are doing. I don't feel like Canno does as of right now, at least for this story.

Does anyone think that the classmate of Akira is also in love with her? Like... "hey...I'm curious about that tree, let's check it out TOGETHER O_O" I mean, maybe not but I can't help but think she could play a bigger part later.

last edited at Apr 5, 2020 10:57AM

It's not impossible, though that would make the situation even more convoluted. >.>