Pretty sure Ran knows a lot about Keiko, considering the situation where they first reunited, Ran calling her to see if she's alright when the earthquake warning happened and how she didn't said a thing when she found Keiko crying alone in the room

I thought Ran was calling her mother, not Keiko.

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come...

N'taytay, dark cloud of unjoy, someone salt you up or are you always this negative?

better yet, lemme ask this... how do you know the yuri will never come? I mean, it's not like you have advanced copies of each chapter before they are released, or do you? how about this... between you and me, you're really Shou-san or are you just channelling Shou-san? no..no...no... I know what it is! you have special psychic powers and have foreseen the lack of Yuri. So really, you're helping all of us by letting us down easy so we won't be disappointed because you have had visions by channeling Shou-san with the advanced copies that have yet to be released for the Yuri that may or may not come to fruition. Right? Come on, you can tell us.

So... lemme ask again, how do you know the yuri will never come?

EDIT: I'm just ribbing you, but I am curious why you're so confident the outcome will contain no yuri. Care to share?

last edited at Oct 16, 2014 11:54PM

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come…

Ran can be totally gay even without any Yuri happening =D

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come…

Ran can be totally gay even without any Yuri happening =D

More like Ran IS totally gay though.

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come…

Ran can be totally gay even without any Yuri happening =D

Exactly! And I'd still be happy with that, because at least you'd actually have a queer character in a category inundated with high school girls and their (probably short-lived) crushes. There's a severe dearth of adult LGBT characters in yuri, which is partly why I appreciate series like "Ohana Holoholo" and Nishi UKO, Amano Shuninta and Takemiya Jin's works (though Jin's characters aren't always adults, they definitely come off as being more LGBT than the pure-love-yuri type). If "Stretch" was added to that very short list, it'd be really awesome.

Edit: added Shuninta to the list. I can't believe I forgot her! I knew I was missing something. Thanks, Underachiever007- you're no underachiever after all!

last edited at Oct 17, 2014 5:10PM

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come…

Ran can be totally gay even without any Yuri happening =D

Exactly! And I'd still be happy with that, because at least you'd actually have a queer character in a category inundated with high school girls and their (probably short-lived) crushes. There's a severe dearth of adult LGBT characters in yuri, which is partly why I appreciate series like "Ohana Holoholo" and Nishi UKO and Takemiya Jin's works (though Jin's characters aren't always adults, they definitely come off as being more LGBT than the pure-love-yuri type). If "Stretch" was added to that very short list, it'd be really awesome.

as these Yuri/Shoujo Ai themed publications get folded into the more mainstream outlets, do you think we'll see more or less adult LGBT characters? Also, do you think we'll be inundated with "flavor of the month" serials and one shots and/or see more releases that get watered down to the point they should not be considered subtext? I ask this question in particular because on this reader, Stretch has considerable popularity, and I'm curious if its success could be seen as a template that is copied by other mangaka.

Quiet a few Shuninta books have adult lesbians as well.

:-) tho I wish her characters were older. heck, I wish all the mangaka would write more stories where the characters were not high school/collage aged. I'd love to see their perspective on older adult lesbians.

btw, I realize there is already a thread that covers this topic. if needed, I'll repost this question there.

last edited at Oct 17, 2014 9:16AM

as these Yuri/Shoujo Ai themed publications get folded into the more mainstream outlets, do you think we'll see more or less adult LGBT characters? Also, do you think we'll be inundated with "flavor of the month" serials and one shots and/or see more releases that get watered down to the point they should not be considered subtext? I ask this question in particular because on this reader, Stretch has considerable popularity, and I'm curious if its success could be seen as a template that is copied by other mangaka.

I'd wait for the story to give a definite answer regarding the characters' sexuality before thinking about this "template" getting popularity, because so far, there's no actual proof that any of them are lesbian, and ever since Lemonade, I tend to be extra wary... :/

:-) tho I wish her characters were older. heck, I wish all the mangaka would write more stories where the characters were not high school/collage aged. I'd love to see their perspective on older adult lesbians.

Even more college stuff would be step in the right direction. Get out of the girls' schools, into a setting where it's a bit tougher to find a partner and it's a bit more than a crush!

Hints, hints everywhere! It could be bait as well, which is most likely. But as long as it's still in the box, I'll just call it hints. I like the cat alive after all ;p

Shou's so awesome! Love this series so far.

Next chapter: the class reunion:

I'm calling it!

:-) tho I wish her characters were older. heck, I wish all the mangaka would write more stories where the characters were not high school/collage aged. I'd love to see their perspective on older adult lesbians.

Even more college stuff would be step in the right direction. Get out of the girls' schools, into a setting where it's a bit tougher to find a partner and it's a bit more than a crush!

meh, the way the authors portray the characters is still too high schoolish. need more stories like those written by Nishi Uko IMO.

In total agreement. It would definitely be nice to have more adult oriented materials...

So everybody is waiting for development... :) Nice ! :D Me to :)

BTW 999 Post number is mine :D Awaiting somebody to pass 1000 :)

So everybody is waiting for development... :) Nice ! :D Me to :)

BTW 999 Post number is mine :D Awaiting somebody to pass 1000 :)

Aw maaan, i wanted the 999...

Everyone is expecting the yuri that will never come…

Ran can be totally gay even without any Yuri happening =D

Exactly! And I'd still be happy with that, because at least you'd actually have a queer character in a category inundated with high school girls and their (probably short-lived) crushes. There's a severe dearth of adult LGBT characters in yuri, which is partly why I appreciate series like "Ohana Holoholo" and Nishi UKO and Takemiya Jin's works (though Jin's characters aren't always adults, they definitely come off as being more LGBT than the pure-love-yuri type). If "Stretch" was added to that very short list, it'd be really awesome.

as these Yuri/Shoujo Ai themed publications get folded into the more mainstream outlets, do you think we'll see more or less adult LGBT characters? Also, do you think we'll be inundated with "flavor of the month" serials and one shots and/or see more releases that get watered down to the point they should not be considered subtext? I ask this question in particular because on this reader, Stretch has considerable popularity, and I'm curious if its success could be seen as a template that is copied by other mangaka.

"Stretch" doesn't seem all that popular in Japan, despite its following on this reader, so I doubt that it would serve as a model for other series even if it does turn yuri or reveal that Ran is a lesbian.
However, as you pointed out, it is a fact that yuri is seeping into mainstream publications - see the shoujo (I am aware that it runs in a seinen magazine, but it reads like shoujo) manga "Inari, Konkon, Koi Iroha" which is generally very straight but has a canon, if minor, yuri pairing - so the question still stands. In my opinion, there will probably be little change in the number of adult LGBT characters - there aren't very many adult characters in anime and manga, anyway! - but if there was a change, it'd probably be a decrease. The reason why adult yuri even exists is probably due to the creators' personal preferences (I'm looking at you, Nishi) rather than editorial guidance - Chisako, whose work has run in Yuri-hime, suggested that there ought to be a magazine like Yuri-hime but only with adult characters, like the various adult spinoffs of shoujo magazines e.g. AneLaLa and AneCan, and others mangaka seemed to welcome the idea, including Nishi UKO and Amano Shuninta, who was so enthusiastic she actually drafted a cover illustration for it. (I personally love the idea and wish that such a magazine would really come into existence.) In other words, they probably want to have more adult yuri, but are being held back by their editors or by the readers. And this is already in a category where the base requirement is yuri.
Can you imagine how that would be in a mainstream series? Making the main or frequently recurring characters queer in a work aimed at the masses would already be very unusual, especially if they had a role beyond that of titillation - often even the validity of the term "queer" or LGBT is called into question with mainstream series, let alone their ages.There are exceptions - Golondrina and Gunjou come to mind - but they are few and far between, and in the former, the main character's sexuality is incidental so any issues in connection with it are more or less side-stepped. No, we will have to continue relying on specifically yuri works to find the representation we want for a while: if Yuri-hime disappeared, I would be greatly concerned for the future of yuri/lesbian manga, because it is within this genre that creators have the freedom to write realistic stories about realistic adult characters without worrying about how the audience will take the LGBT elements.

:-) tho I wish her characters were older. heck, I wish all the mangaka would write more stories where the characters were not high school/college aged. I'd love to see their perspective on older adult lesbians.

Even more college stuff would be step in the right direction. Get out of the girls' schools, into a setting where it's a bit tougher to find a partner and it's a bit more than a crush!

meh, the way the authors portray the characters is still too high schoolish. need more stories like those written by Nishi Uko IMO.

College is on the whole still better than the schoolgirl stuff, though. Small steps, small steps.

:-) tho I wish her characters were older. heck, I wish all the mangaka would write more stories where the characters were not high school/collage aged. I'd love to see their perspective on older adult lesbians.

Even more college stuff would be step in the right direction. Get out of the girls' schools, into a setting where it's a bit tougher to find a partner and it's a bit more than a crush!

meh, the way the authors portray the characters is still too high schoolish. need more stories like those written by Nishi Uko IMO.

Yamaji Ebine could use more love. And Octave of course.

Dayum son we just passed 1000 here, awesome

College is on the whole still better than the schoolgirl stuff, though. Small steps, small steps.

kiri, thanks.very informative, and agreed, small steps are still steps forward.

Don't really mind highschool girls setting, and college ain't much of an improvement (it is a step, a very tiny step IMO). The setting does get old after reading many in a single reading session tho. Workplace can be another improvement...

I prefer something even further down the line (aside from stories where they become a couple early, where it is refreshing enough to ignore settings e.g. Prism), not exactly adult life but more of a "living together" setting... Unfortunately there aren't many of those (not even in het afaik), some goodies that come to mind are Wife and Wife, Ebisu-san and Hotei-san (sorta), Under One Roof (not very adult-ish), and the myriad of NanoFate doujins where they live together (most not very adult-ish).

Anyways, back to Stretch... I am not really expecting this to go into yuri, but I would be pleasantly surprised if it did.

last edited at Oct 18, 2014 9:23PM

College setting is better by default simply because i don't have to stare at those god forsaken uniforms all the time

College setting is better by default simply because i don't have to stare at those god forsaken uniforms all the time

One thing I like better about a college is that it's way less likely to be an all-female environment so you can toss that "adolescents pretending because there aren't any guys" bullshit right the fuck out. I get so sick of that. Give me a girl having to work a bit for her love, and then work to keep it.

College setting is better by default simply because i don't have to stare at those god forsaken uniforms all the time

+1 Show more variety of clothes for god's sakes !! >.<

Isn't the school setting for yuri a cultural thing? I remember I read somewhere that shoujo ai is normally accepted as part of the girl's adolescence, experimenting with their love, feelings, and deep friendship bonds. But it's expected that a girl eventually grows up and comes to terms with her sexuality. So a relationship between two girls at higher age becomes inappropriate and deviant, hence the taboo. So if the author wants the series to be animated, i.e. go toward the mainstream direction, it must involve adolescent girls. And this is where the school setting comes into play most of the time's. It's very unfortunate that character's age affects the target audience for the story, but that is how it works in the end. So unless there's a major cultural shift in Japan about homosexuality, I'm afraid we are stuck with the school setting.

What I however do find annoying is that so many stories are so relationship-driven, putting too much focus on it. I really would like to read more manga where a bond is formed between the main characters but is not directly relevant to the plot. Take the latest monogatari, which is focused on Kanbaru, for example. Her sexuality is certainly part of the story, but the story itself is focused on different matters. Or take Utena, where yuri is cannon, but again not really the point of the drama.

As for relationship-oriented stories, Stretch certainly is a breathe of fresh air. The setting is not school, and the yuri is though heavily implied not really a cannon, yet. What I like the most about it is that the characters are on the verge of accepting themselves of who they really are. It's extremely realistic in portraying how two girls are discovering a deep bond between them. It is a story where a hug means more than a kiss. To me, once they confess to each other, once they reach the sexual relationship stage, the beauty of the story dies, because there's no more accepting yourself as gay drama in it. Yes, they might break up, go het, make up again etc, but to me that would be another story. Although I have to admit it would probably be still a better story than many others simply because the author is so good. I'm impressed with every chapter, how many details he puts on every page, leaving hints small details here and there - so much subtext for a careful reader. And of course the realism is simply unbeatable. All these factors together really make me empathise with the story and its characters.
And the stretches of course, stretches are awesome, hehe

School setting is a universal thing not just for yuris, i'm not against the setting but when the setting is used just for an excuse to re-hash overused tropes and plot devices that's when i get mad, which made me really hate some popular authors around here that i shall not name because this new Ziltoid album is awesome and put me in the mood for some coffee