Wow, that was... a chapter. I can't even really call it an ending since we just kind of returned to square one. Kaoru accepts that Uta still (?) loves her, and at some point in the future they start living together again since it's something they both wanted but for some reason didn't until after Uta graduated, maybe. It just feels pointless after Uta goes on that monologue about not wanting anything to change and how her love was a mistake from the start.

Honestly the most off-putting this about this is the entire story surrounding Uta's parents and their dissolving family was completely kicked to the curb. It was supposed to be such a big deal that she was moving back with their problematic parents and maybe we'd get to see why she was such a depressed and distant kid but we never did. Instead months passed with no issues, her mom literally disappeared, and Uta never really left except when it was plot relevant so what was the point? We know more about Kaoru than we do Uta, other than her being a diligent person and stubborn about not wanting to move on.

I do think she's wearing the necklace Kaoru gave her in the beginning though, but as with a lot of things in this series the art just isn't as good as it was back then. Maybe as a sign that she'll never really let go of those feelings.

Overall I feel incredibly whatever about it. It ended terribly, but at least Konatsu came out happy. I would have preferred if she and Uta got together and they could both move on from their pasts and be happy together. Oh well.

I don't think the themes are trite at all. To say that is to dismiss the very real feelings a lot of people have to go through in life. That's like saying that exploring the nuances that can be found in the clash between good and evil in a story is trite. It's simply not true. A good author will find a way to write a good story for the themes of their choosing. You can have compelling characters, a unique setting, etc.

Then that's a creative, engaging story with trite themes.

I'd say there's a ceiling to HOW good a story can be with simplistic or dull themes, but it can absolutely be engaging and have good characters and stuff.

"Unrequited love exists" is... not deep or interesting.

That's not all there is to it. The main conflict of this story is "How will Uta ultimately deal with her unrequited love?" and not just "Does unrequited love exist?" That's an absurd thing to say. On the topic of this main conflict, the author decides in the end to NOT answer this question, and instead faff about with things nobody asked for, like Risako and Reiichi's drama, that girl who was in that beach photo in the end, that whole "I wanna have kids" moment with Kaoru, etc. The author wasted a lot of time on actual narrative garbage instead of putting that effort into exploring the themes they brought up in the beginning of the story. A bunch of non sequiturs that all ended up in the garbage bin along with the main plot point, unresolved, until the end of time.

The author DOES address how Uta deals with her unrequited love: they dedicate pages of it in the last chapter to Uta stating out loud how she treasures it and has perspective on it and has decided not to try to move on from it. That's the answer: that's how she deals with it. The fact that it seems like nothing is that it's an extremely trite and boring situation she's in.

Unrequited love is one of those things that's very hard to write about because it's all-consuming when you experience it, but not remotely interesting to observe from the outside. There's just not much to it.

The author actually does a really impressive job adding to the theme to make it as interesting as possible, like how Kaoru and Reiichi are portrayed as having unrequited love for one another (his is platonic), or how Kuro wants to unhealthily and constantly be the object of unrequited love so she doesn't have to commit. None of this ends up informing Uta's situation much, but it does allow the manga to explore deeper themes.

Honestly the most off-putting this about this is the entire story surrounding Uta's parents and their dissolving family was completely kicked to the curb. It was supposed to be such a big deal that she was moving back with their problematic parents and maybe we'd get to see why she was such a depressed and distant kid but we never did. Instead months passed with no issues, her mom literally disappeared, and Uta never really left except when it was plot relevant so what was the point? We know more about Kaoru than we do Uta, other than her being a diligent person and stubborn about not wanting to move on.

Quite right--I mean, we don't even get any clarity on what I would assume was a major plot point about why Uta's mother lost her medical license over something to do with Kaoru's mother's treatment. And why Kaoru feels somehow responsible for Uta's parents' divorce (Chap.2). Or why the parents got back together.

And I'm not just picking at the story-- I really wanted to know that stuff. I didn't realize that when Uta told Kuro, "Explaining would take too long--it's really complicated," that was also the author telling the readers to STFU.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_unrequited_love_ch02#12

last edited at Oct 25, 2020 3:53PM

Reiichi: Lives literally next door to the apartment his sister and ex-wife fuck in, so

Ikr, Reiichi be like "my sister and my ex-wife fuckin each other next door and im cool with that" welp.

Reiichi: Lives literally next door to the apartment his sister and ex-wife fuck in, so

Ikr, Reiichi be like "my sister and my ex-wife fuckin each other next door and im cool with that" welp.

Well, Reiichi never really wanted Kaoru that much, so it's kind of realistic he wouldn't care.

He'd probably be relived he doesn't have to watch over Kaoru, since his little sis is taking care of that. Being afraid your SO will pull their plug when you aren't looking is extremely stressful.

The story ending like this is confusing and mysterious. Why create these long story arcs over 37 chapters and then abruptly halt them with little explanation? I wish we could know what the author was thinking. It's almost like J. J. Abrams wrote a yuri manga with the pen name of tMnR. I felt like this story, with the pace and gravity it was seemingly attempting to achieve, could have reached one to two hundred chapters. More chapters means more money to the author. It feels like they are throwing away money and good storytelling.

last edited at Nov 5, 2020 5:30AM

I'm so confused. Uta says she has found someone like Miyabi during university, implying she was dating/had dated...but then she also says she won't give up her unrequited love.

Then later, presumably after university, she opens the door and someone is there. Is that Kaoru or someone else? Looks like Kaoru, but god knows...This is vague af.

I'm so confused. Uta says she has found someone like Miyabi during university, implying she was dating/had dated...but then she also says she won't give up her unrequited love.

She actually says, “I learned what it feels like to have someone like you.” That’s at least ambiguous—I read it as “someone liked me, although I didn’t like them back.”

Can someone recommend me actual good yuri manga and not whatever the fuck this is

Holy sh*t! I don’t usually post comments here but what the actual f**k? This was by far my favorite GL manga out there (and it still is) but what kind of horrible ending was that? Is this some sort of joke? I don’t feel like there’s a closure to this story at all. So many questions remain unanswered... honestly grateful for this manga, the lineart is so damn beautiful and it really depicts the pain of how an unrequited love can hurt like a b*tch, but what was that ending? It would have been better for the author to just end the story somewhere on page 20 or 21 instead. That I can accept because that is actually what an unrequited love feels like and what it is supposed to be like most of the time. But THIS ending? My mind can not fathom the whole situation at all. Overall, this was a great manga and I really enjoyed reading it, but it really needs a better ending. Anyways, thanks for all your hard work :)

last edited at Nov 17, 2020 11:40AM

That was one hell of a (sloooooow) roller coaster ride (both the epilogue and the series as a whole). Unlike Uta, if I’m given the chance to rewind time, I’m not sure if I would have picked up this series and read it again...Honestly, at this point I’m just glad that it’s finished and I can cross this off my ‘currently reading’ list.

What the fuck was that ending....so I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS

Can someone recommend me actual good yuri manga and not whatever the fuck this is

She Becomes A Tree is a recent one that's fun. There's also one of my favorite fluffy ones of years past, Wife and Wife. You're welcome. Also check out the Yuri Manga Recommendations sticky thread.

last edited at Dec 4, 2020 7:10PM

this is a yuri manga. of course a long awaited ending will always be disappointing. the question is why even after a decade that we still have to deal with only a one-panel ending for wlw? this isn't even bittersweet. just bitter. you would think the author would spend more time showing us uta got her happy ending with more than one panel.

Follow LA DIOSA DEL LIRIO 3.0 on FB. SHE POSTED THE EPILOGUE. YALL WONT REGRET IT!!!

this is a yuri manga. of course a long awaited ending will always be disappointing. the question is why even after a decade that we still have to deal with only a one-panel ending for wlw? this isn't even bittersweet. just bitter. you would think the author would spend more time showing us uta got her happy ending with more than one panel.

There's still an epilogue

There's still an epilogue

Which totally was created before the backlash from the ambiguous non-ending.

It is cute I will admit, but it doesn't really make this (the story) any better, still would've liked to ya kno see some real progression between them. So yeah it's cute on its own, away from the rest of the story.

deuxyeon posted:

There's still an epilogue

You mean there's epilogue to epilogue? Yea, they totally didn't add it last minute!

last edited at Jan 18, 2021 5:35AM

deuxyeon posted:

There's still an epilogue

You mean there's epilogue to epilogue? Yea, they totally didn't add it last minute!

The last chapter was never called an epilogue. Also it's not their fault that people like you couldn't understand that they did get together at the end. Look at the damn necklace and they even move in together. Yet people like you complained about the ending and now that we get a nice epilogue you bitch and moan again. just read the damn chapter and shut up yeah?

last edited at Jan 19, 2021 5:14AM

deuxyeon posted:

There's still an epilogue

You mean there's epilogue to epilogue? Yea, they totally didn't add it last minute!

The last chapter was never called an epilogue. Also it's not their fault that people like you couldn't understand that they did get together at the end.

This is sheer nonsense. Everyone understood that they got together—people were just disgusted that, after years of dicking around in the plot, the author couldn’t be bothered to show how, why, or under what conditions they got together.

Or even, if the necklace was supposed to be the same one, drawing it to look the same.

The fact that the last part wasn’t labeled “epilogue” is totally irrelevant—it functioned not as a fully developed narrative conclusion but as a—wait for it—epilogue.

The last chapter was never called an epilogue. Also it's not their fault that people like you couldn't understand that they did get together at the end. Look at the damn necklace and they even move in together. Yet people like you complained about the ending and now that we get a nice epilogue you bitch and moan again. just read the damn chapter and shut up yeah?

"Shut up and accept the tacked-on response that the author felt compelled to make after everyone hated their ending." Yeah, no. Not doing that. Not interested in even looking at it.

last edited at Jan 19, 2021 7:32AM

Just read the spanish translation of the epilogue and honestly; it's fucking beautiful. It's perfect. I hope y'all get to read it soon.

Slightly Spoiler-ish mostly I'm referring to chapters that are already up here, but even the discussion itself implies some stuff about the new chapter. I've blacked out specifics tho.

As far as I can tell the new chapter was bonus content in a limited edition of volume 7, and also being sold separately (at least electronically), but not part of the standard vol 7 or serialized in Yuri Hime. If it is intended as a forced apology/appeasement to the bulk fandom it is very poorly executed in terms of reaching them.

It also seems quite carefully (lovingly?) written, and consistent with the main story (characters and themes). I'm more inclined to think it was a self-motivated effort by tMnR expressing the ending she wanted for the characters, a bit outside the bounds set for the main story (a bit like Tachi has done extra stories on Yuu and Haruka after Sakura Trick).

I've said before that I consider the main story was about Uta accepting her feelings for Kaoru as valid and legitimate, that she wasn't betraying anyone by having them (not about having those feelings reciprocated, or even pursuing that reciprocation); it makes it quite a queer story, since heterosexuals rarely end up questioning their feelings and identity on that level. That story was resolved in ch36 with Uta embracing her feelings and also getting acceptance from Kaoru who even went so far as to equate them to her own selfishness about the nature of their relationship.

Coming after that resolution it is definitely fair to consider ch37 as an epilogue, albeit one with a weirdly ill-defined ending, presumably in an attempt to keep the romantic/platonic question open. Although even then it still felt more like "veneer of deniability over romantic" than "possibility over platonic" (eg making a point of Uta re-affirming her feelings in the middle, and the waiting wife vibe from Kaoru at the end), so I suspect romantic couple was tMnR's personal preference all along.

I think the "vision" for the story was about accepting their feelings and dealing with their issues, and in that frame the nature of their final relationship is not important to the story as a whole. If that was the case one can see a couple ending could distract from the main point of the story, and why the author might want to leave the ending ambiguous.

Slight spoiler However with the extra story showing up so soon, making it clear a couple ending was something that tMnR was ready and willing to write, I have to wonder if it was actually Yuri Hime who didn't want it, which would explain a lot about the roughness at the end of ch37 - putting in as much implication as possible with out actually confirming them as a couple (like Korra and Asami in Legend of Korra). It was a bit weird as an ending, but it was a good set-up for the extra chapter.

It seems strange, but editorial influence seems like one of the more plausible explanations for the end... I think I've asked this before, but just how big of a taboo would there be in Japan about "stealing" your brother's wife this way? In the West people might shake their heads a bit, but younger people wouldn't get too upset about it especially in fiction. Yuri Hime must have seen the end well ahead of time and surely gave feedback. If they wanted a couple ending, surely they would have asked for one, so it seems like the implication is that they didn't want it (unless manga publishers are completely "hands-off" which also seems pretty unlikely given their financial interest in keeping readers happy).

Somewhat bigger spoiler nice to see Risako again; I was a bit hampered by my limited Japanese, but it seemed like she was quite cheerful teasing Uta about her couple-y dynamic with Kaoru

Massive spoiler And the cute way that the initially mature and composed Uta completely overloaded after Kaoru kissed her: 夢じゃない なにこれ 夢じゃない!!! (not a dream; what is this; not a dream!! while pinching herself) lol

As others have said, it is lovely, anyone who refuses to read the chapter is only hurting themselves. ChaosTeam have announced that they are working on it, so we should be seeing an English scanlation soon!

As others have said, it is lovely, anyone who refuses to read the chapter is only hurting themselves. ChaosTeam have announced that they are working on it, so we should be seeing an English scanlation soon!

Chaosteam. That's good news.