Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan!!! reading this in english was a huge help, the conversation feels better now so I can get a good feeling of their personality, my issue with the spanish version was that it made me go "....que?" with lots of speech bubbles, the google translation was too strong T-T specially in the ch6 that's yet to come in english but it was the last straw in my hope to read it in spanish.

ANYWAY Narita is not aware yet but she seems to be already falling for her (like getting her hopes up for a not really date) I think this is a story about her realizing that and ultimately see if Aoi feels the same, but this last bit looks like it's gonna be put to the very end xP

i really really want to like this manga, the art is good the chapter 0 really got me, but after that everything went downhill,
what the fuck happened on chapter 1? that didn´t make any sense
how about the kiss, are they gonna leave it like that?
why koshiba is not creeped out by sahoko s suden obsession with her?
how about being popular, did sahoko forgot about it?
is she really ok being surounded by "boring" people as she called them on chapter 1?

It actually strikes me as very in character for a teenager. Not knowing how to deal with new feelings and being totally unable to suppress them. Acting without thought, a little bit out of control, trying to be a certain thing and having it come apart.

The MC doesn't even know she's gay for Aoi yet.

I sure hope this story keeps it up, I'm very entertained. The main character is a secret dork and I love it.

this's sth you call "secretly gei" when you don't even recognize you're gei , right?

Art style is lovely! And how fucking quick did this bitch just go all out Yuri? What you playin at gurrrrrl?! Needs to see where this is going, I kinda dig the whole popular girl x normie trope

I stand by what I said about the art, still so lovely. Probs the most Yuri in chapter one but she still seems super keen on Aoi and forgetting why she was going after her in the first place a few chapters in (I'm sure she gay). Also I find myself laughing at every chapter of this! I honestly didn't think this was gonna be in any way funny after reading the first chapter (mind you a few pannels in chptr 1 did have me giggling) thought it'd be a more serious angsty drama type yuri manga, but after reading more it's quite comical even without a comedy tag (didn't expect useless boobs, I lol'd)

is she really ok being surounded by "boring" people as she called them on chapter 1?

She did say that it made her feel comfy like she’s in her family’s home. Like everyone acts like themselves without trying to act cool

The art is great and the overall story is fine so far, but there’s just something off about the pacing. Sometimes it feels as though two consecutive scenes are disconnected from one another. Maybe it’s the translation or just how the panels transition to one another or something else.

This is terrific! Lots of interesting characters, and the art is just great! I love the story too, it's all plusses.

And meaningful eye contact: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/if_i_can_encounter_koshiba_aoi_today_ch02#8

A picture (or two) says a thousand words eh? (followed by running away, lolz! That says something too)

MC might be in denial, but Koshiba definitely seems like she's not buying it. There's a lot of elements I like here, but yeah, it does feel kind of weirdly paced. Too many scenes that just stop without internal logic. The art is nice though, hopefully the writing will improve as it goes on.

the ending for chapter 5 reminds me of that song "lovelytheband -Broken" that moment when you realise someone you've idolized is just as human and faulty as you

MC might be in denial, but Koshiba definitely seems like she's not buying it. There's a lot of elements I like here, but yeah, it does feel kind of weirdly paced. Too many scenes that just stop without internal logic. The art is nice though, hopefully the writing will improve as it goes on.

Well, I mean, who would?

"No, no, I'm not like that! I'm not gay, I just don't like boys and kiss girls that I admire on the mouth without asking because I look up to them. It's totally innocent, you're just misunderstanding my intentions!"

I still don't understand why she kissed her in chapter 1 lol

the MC is such a mess of a person, I'm really digging it

Ah I always love Fly's art.
Still haven't cleared enough why Narita kissed Koshiba. Or maybe she just secretly gay and haven't realised it yet. Can't wait to see next!

Koshiba is like, "So, you're gay, right?"
No, no, I'm definitely not gay!
OK, do you want to go out with me though?
blush, fidget ... Yeah, OK
... To the grocery store?

last edited at Aug 27, 2019 12:19PM

What the hell is this about. There's no introduction, so much character at the beginning, creating plot without actual problem. how i'm supposed to follow story like this

I got super excited until I realized this chapter already came out in Mangadex a while ago.

Why do the chapters feels disjointed?

Chp#5 and chp#6 have almost nothing in common
Idk, seems too big of a leap, but it still covers nothing

This manga pacing and the main characters interactions are really all over the place. And I think that the blonde is in love with the main girl. A love triangle will only add to the confusion. The only thing that keeps me from dropping this manga is Fly's glorious art.

last edited at Apr 9, 2020 12:15PM

Most love triangles are a crutch for when your characters aren’t interesting enough or you don’t know how else to create effective drama.

I made this account a while ago and I'm not even sure if I've ever posted in here, but this particular manga strikes all the red flags of older "coming of age" yuri mangas and it made me want to comment... And by that I mean it seems like it might lean heavily on the "it's just youth" and move them on to "real" relationships later in life.... This, in my opinion, is probably queerbaiting, and I'll try to show why I think it is.

The manga centers on "cultured high school girl" Sahoko and "spontaneous high school girl" Aoi.
A "punch-drunk love story" unfolds as they spend their fleeting youth in high school

Punch-drunk love refers to confusion. The phrase "fleeting youth" also doesn't inspire a lot of confidence in a good resolution to this story. This in-and-of itself doesn't qualify it as queerbaiting, but there's oh so much more

Here are some of the red flags from the manga itself:

In chapter zero, on the double page we get this beauty of a line: "Not lovers, but also not friends", I common cliche used to define ambigious sexuality within fiction when the author doesn't want to outright say that they're gay.

In chapter 1, before the kiss we get this lovely gem from Sahoko: "Don't hate me please. This isn't ME. " Which seems to indicate some confusion about her behavior despite a desire to kiss Aoi. This is fine, but it can be used to later push the character into the "I was emotional and didn't understand the impact of my behavior" if you add other factors, which this manga does in spades. We also get Aoi making a face of general disgust (at least it looks that way to me)

In chapter 2 we're treated to the traditional Sahoko immediately scrambles to tell the girl she deliberately kissed that she's not gay. We get several pages of her agonizing over this, and thinking she'll be hated because of it. This is often used to reflect a distancing of the author from the idea of yuri being ok, most times in the past to keep censors from changing their intended story, but in more recent times it's used to give plausible deniability later when fans are upset that a pairing didn't turn out the way they want. This is also reflected with the phrase "a youthful transgression", so if that phrase pops up, just know it's a nail in the coffin.

In chapters 3 and 4 we're given the old "It's just friendship!" bit where the two main characters develop their deep friendship and discover why they want to be great friends . I expect this to continue on until we get to the "what are my real feelings" arc where will discover that no one really knows... because the author's gotta drag this crap out

In chapter five is where the hammer (in my opinion) really comes down. Aside from the really juxtaposed pages where we go from casual high school chats about nothing straight in to the college years? WTF? Why do this? She also says it's been several years but wasn't she a first or second year in high school? Doesn't that mean she should be either in her last year of college, or graduated? Unless of course she went for a masters... but still we get this gem: "I want to talk to Aoi, and ask her. Was that love, or friendship?" meaning there's STILL no resolution to the feelings, and the ambiguity is definitely something deliberate intended by the author

So these are the reasons I think the author will end with a "bittersweet" friendship but not friendship ending. Leaving either most questions unanswered or forcing both girls in to het relationships. I honestly don't think this will end with the two of them even entertaining the idea of a relationship together again.

Finally some last notes:

I hope this story doesn't go with your typical "girls can't be together/being gay is just a phase" cliche...
...it is being so overused in yuri manga that it became just boring and annoying.

It's overused in the past because many authors/mangaka couldn't outright state that a character could be gay. The ones where it wasn't vague but overt were considered groundbreaking at the time. It's not so overused now, but some authors/mangaka like to lean on it for two (these are purely conjecture on my part) main reasons: 1. to draw in a wider audience with possible gay characters without driving away a portion of the audience that's offended by it, thereby using queerbaiting to make it more popular. Or 2. To create unnecessary drama where otherwise things could go smoothly because the author doesn't understand that even normal relationships can have drama without "but I'm not teh gei!".

I think people should put aside their set prejudices and give it a chance.

Prejudices are prejudices because they have no basis in reality. People aren't prejudiced here when they say they're worried that the manga could end up being just a "it's just youth!" story and end with both characters bouncing out of the romance with some cliche stereotypes. It happened A LOT in the past, and it still happens today.

(I'm sure she gay)

I'm sure she's written to be implied that she might be, but I doubt the author intends to close the story with any actual resolution to that idea.

I definitely could be wrong about all this and I hope I am. But it just strikes me as odd that there's questions even at the tail end of chapter 5.

last edited at Apr 9, 2020 1:30PM

This is one of those where you have to re-read previous chapters whenever you get a new one...

That was... an extremely huge leap lmao???? Where did the sudden timeskip come from? That felt extremely out of place

whattafak... is this just Anna projecting the future???

and why the hell all the cuties unrequitedly falling for MC are totally my type?((

This manga starts with her as an adult. https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/if_i_can_encounter_koshiba_aoi_today_ch00#1

The whole manga is basically flashbacks, about the person she is hoping to see at the class reunion.