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?

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.

And now it turns out they actually were not together.

"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." I already covered the necklace in a previous post (it is not even the same necklace), but apparently people who "couldn't understand that they got together at the end" were onto something. Because, as it turns out, they really were not together. Of course, this actually feels like a retcon, and the previous chapter probably did intend to imply they were a couple now, but the fact the author chose to essentially retcon that in favour of a more clear (and also more contrived) ending also speaks volumes about the writing quality here.

I included deuxyeon's post in full this time because it is yet another marvellous example of the "shut up with the criticism" argument, if you can call that an argument. It has been somewhat thematic here that people who try to defend the writing on this fall in one of two camps; they either invent elaborate fanfics that explain the plotholes and the inconsistencies, or they just straight up tell you to shut up with the negative criticism. It is telling that no one is actually using the work itself to try and convince others it is well written.

As for this chapter, I actually think it made a disservice to the narrative. It was better, in my opinion, to just leave the story where the previous chapter ended, even with the somewhat ambiguous situation between Kaoru and Uta.

Here is the thing, the only reason this chapter exists is to show people that yes, they are together now. As Blastaar's post clearly shows, enough people already inferred this from the end of the penultimate chapter, so from that point of view the actual last chapter is redundant and basically pointless.
The problem was not whether or not they got together, but how they got together, which this new chapter does show, but in the worst possible way. The "how" is basically the entire point of this manga, or at least one of its central themes (will they or will they not, and if yes, how). It is not something that can be crammed into a single chapter haphazardly tacked on at the end.

Previous chapter at least showed that a lot of time has passed, and the implication was that the experiences they had over that time resulted in them being together. There was still the problem of not showing any of those experiences, but at least you could make a plausible fanfiction scenario in your head.
But as it turns out, they got together only just now, after Kaoru has apparently been realising her feelings for some time (not actually shown, of course), got drunk one evening, and confessed. The end. It is literally shown and explained in a couple of pages. In a 38-chapter manga such a development feels incredibly contrived. I just think that the previous chapter functioned better in this regard, even if it was somewhat ambiguous.

And of course, the existence of this chapter renders the ending of the previous one completely pointless, since it retcons the biggest implication the previous chapter had, namely that they were together. And I do believe it is a retcon. I think chapter 37 was meant as an actual ending, strongly implying they were now a couple, but after getting negative responses the author decided to add this epilogue.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 5:54PM

UranusAndNeptuneAreJustCousins posted:

Everyone understood that they got together

And now it turns out they actually were not together.

Yea. Didn't bother to post it in reply, but the half the reason people were pissed at the ending was that the status of relationship wasn't even clear. Like sure, most people were assuming that they got together, we had no clue when or how, but they did. But it was still only assumptions and guesses and scenario where they're not together was still just as plausible considering everything that we knew. So it's funny that most people still decided to interpret them as at least going out, even if it didn't make sense considering the last thing we knew about characters feelings and thoughts, we probably just didn't see it and all the growth and progress happened off screen. And now author just officially confirmed that the epilogue that people were 100% sure showed their happy ending and we were just stupid to not understand it, the necklace, don't you see the necklace!? it's the same! It's all by confirmed! was in fact of them not dating. What a farce of the series. This author has no clue how to write a long running series and you can't convince me otherwise.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 4:25PM

a little too late for this chap ...

Glad it has a happy cute ending....

There are works and novels that purposely make the reader feel shitty for something. Making it get bad ratings for making the reader feel shitty but good ratings for how they made the reader feel shitty and make them still read to the end.

tldr:
Idk on how to rate a manga for co herence and what not. If the author said what they were trying to convey, then I would try to rate it based on how well I got their message.

UranusAndNeptuneAreJustCousins posted:

Everyone understood that they got together

And now it turns out they actually were not together.

Yea. Didn't bother to post it in reply, but the half the reason people were pissed at the ending was that the status of relationship wasn't even clear. Like sure, most people were assuming that they got together, we had no clue when or how, but they did.

And just to clarify my statement that everyone knew “ that they got together” meant “together” only in the most literal sense—they were both living in the same apartment (and without numbnuts onii-san). Hence my complaint about not knowing the conditions under which they were together—even a shot of Kaoru’s welcoming, blushing face might have clarified the relationship.

So it’s been a year of emotional torture for Uta, staying late at work to avoid going out for dinner and drinks with Kaoru, huh? Looks like Kaoru snapping gay should be quite the load off for our long-suffering little cutie.

There were basically two issues with the previous "ending", the ambiguity and the lack of context as to how we got there (them being a couple). Someone just pointed out to me, and it is a good observation and a plausible scenario, that the author probably tried addressing both of these issues with this chapter. If so, it was a bad idea. Addressing one point could have been done relatively well, that point being the ambiguity.

For example, when Risako asked if they were dating, Uta could have started panicking ("oh no, she figured it out, what do I say???") and then a drunk Kaoru kisses her or blurts something out, basically proving that the two are together. That way the implication of the previous chapter would have been confirmed and any uncertainty over whether or not they are together would have been removed.

The other point, the complete lack of context, is basically unsolvable in the format of a single chapter. It is something that would require either a rewrite of significant portions of the manga, or numerous additional chapters. As such, it was better left alone. But the author seems to have chosen to tackle this as well and not only confirm the status of the main couple, but also show us how they got together, and it is just... contrived and out-of-nowhere. For all intents and purposes, this epilogue could have been a stand-alone doujin and you would hardly feel like there was context missing, that is how much bearing the previous 37 chapters have on this ending.

Edit: Oof! Well, I did say the idea was not mine... you were just slower on the draw, Nev.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 4:56PM

I realized author probably wanted to address both how they got together and if they got together, which was terrible idea. For explaining how, they'd need to pretty much rewrite entire series, so the only options that made sense, was to just make a bonus chapter showing how lovely-dovely and disgustingly adorable Kaoru and Uta are together as couple. Pretty much just show them living married life and being happy together. But instead what we got is this drunk mess that as Uranus said, pretty much ruined both the previous ending and entire series as a whole. Reading everything else become pretty much pointless, since reading that 1 chapter solves entire issue and gives you everything series promised.

EDIT/ I figured I can write it here as well, but damn, didn't think you'll write it as well xD

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 4:53PM

I profer this ending over the last 1 tbh- but not on TOP of it- I agree it kinda retcons the last chapter and what it seemed to imply- at least for many.

I'd still rather have a proper 'on camera' hook up though any day.

I just dont understand why Tmr didnt do a proper resolution in the last chapter.. were they really surprised there was a lot of negative sentiment with the previous end? It seems kinda obvious to me it was an ending nobody would be very satisfied with.

And I agree it kinda shows, as great an artist as tmr is and as good as their doujins are- they dont yet know how to plan out a long series.

@UranusAndNeptuneAreJustCousins that way of revealing yes they are together would have worked a lot better than negating assumtions from the previous chapter that they were.. and logic like 'why the hell would she subject herself to living with her again after moving out if they were not a couple'?

I think in trying to please people tmr went too far and thought they had to show them hooking up.

Is tmr intending one more chapter or little bit? It just kinda felt like this chapter didnt have a proper ending either lol.

last edited at Feb 18, 2021 9:56AM

With the ending we had last time, at least this adds more missing pieces to the puzzle. It isn't the ending this manga deserves but at least the author did their best considering the circumstances.

Oh my god! I never thought this would ever happen!

This would be fine as a cute one-shot, but it has entire context of a serialization behind it. It just feels weird, all of it.

It's not far off from Usagi Drop at this point. You can even look at this story as Kaoru grooming Uta to be totally into her ever since her early childhood.

I'm just creeped out by the though of Kaoru manipulating Uta. On top of that, Kaoru has no queer context to herself, more like reverse. Also, why is Risako suddenly lending her a friendly ear? I would have thought Kaoru would much rather talk to Reiichi (it seemed their relationship was fine after the skip) or maybe one of those other friends who she asked about how to deal with Uta in that phone-call. Risako wants to bang her, not to hand her over to some other woman.

This story is like a mega-burger that was filled with 3 times the usual filling and is exploding all over the table when you try to eat it. Just because you tried to put a square package around it won't stop it from coming apart when you attempt to consume it...

[edit] I wrote this before looking at any other posts, and it seems some other people had these same feelings. Not that it validates anything, of course. But at least it seems like a natural reading of the story ends up leaning into this kind of direction. Which is ultimately a failure of authorship.

Unfortunately commercial media and artists being dependent on their readers and publishers for income often has a big negative effect on anything that gets published. If artists were all financially independent, they could write their stories as long or short as they want, and would have far less need to reach some conclusions in their narratives, just so they have a chance to get some contracts in the future. You could have more surprises that aren't just edgy twists as well. But that won't happen unless we get a global artist sponsorship going on at some point.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 7:03PM

I don't understand why they spent 36 chapters getting to the starting line of a relationship and then two chapters on the actual race.

Thank god for this chapter. I was so incredibly frustrated after that bullshit end in 37 and with all of this thank you for 4 years this is the end crap I actually thought that it would end with us hanging in the air what their relationship is like. Even thought this feels a bit hasty and not completely thought through its still better than that other crap.

I have two main thoughts, 1) Kaoru is such an intensely unlikeable character that I could never root for them to get together 2) they actually never should have got together, the entire premise would work much better if the two leads learned to move away from their unhealthy codependent relationship

I’m so glad this website exists. I can read all the yuri worthy of reaching publication for free and decide to purchase the really good and deserving ones. Thankfully, with this website, I’ve determined I can spend my money on something more enjoyable than buying this particular manga.

Real powerful "ah, oh, please don't be mad at me" vibes from the author in this chapter. Hard to decide whether this is just an attempt at clarifying the ending they had in mind from the beginning or if this is a change to try and satisfy people...

Other people in this thread are right that Risako showing up really complicates this and seems like a mistake. Didn't she straight-up confess to Kaoru earlier on in the series at least once and the author never resolved it?

It's not far off from Usagi Drop at this point. You can even look at this story as Kaoru grooming Uta to be totally into her ever since her early childhood.

I didn't see any grooming either here or in Usagi Drop.

the entire premise would work much better if the two leads learned to move away from their unhealthy codependent relationship

Or if they spiraled into the codependent relationship, Kaoru turning to the one person she can rely on. Could have been unhealthy but fun for some of us to read. Instead they just limped into it, mostly off-page in timeskips, with "SUDDENLY I'M BI FOR YOU YAY".

Time skip of one year where they don't see each other.

I think that's where it went wrong from my POV. IIRC they'd just both said "fuck the sexual tension, I want you in my life". Right, here:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_unrequited_love_ch36#31

"I want to live with you again!" Great! But then followed... by them not even seeing each other?

Real powerful "ah, oh, please don't be mad at me" vibes from the author in this chapter. Hard to decide whether this is just an attempt at clarifying the ending they had in mind from the beginning or if this is a change to try and satisfy people...

Other people in this thread are right that Risako showing up really complicates this and seems like a mistake. Didn't she straight-up confess to Kaoru earlier on in the series at least once and the author never resolved it?

Yes, but apparently ambiguously stringing on confessors for literally years is Kaoru's MO.

With the ending we had last time, at least this adds more missing pieces to the puzzle. It isn't the ending this manga deserves but at least the author did their best considering the circumstances.

Thor: Did they, though?

So she confirmed her feelings for Uta after how long of living with each other, knowing that Uta was in love with her? That’s the most messed up part about all of this. I ship them still but I wish there was a few chapters showing how this relationship transpired. Well anyway, I loved the art as usual and the kiss was a plus! And thanks to the scanlators!

... that's how it ends? sighs

the entire premise would work much better if the two leads learned to move away from their unhealthy codependent relationship

Or if they spiraled into the codependent relationship, Kaoru turning to the one person she can rely on. Could have been unhealthy but fun for some of us to read. Instead they just limped into it, mostly off-page in timeskips, with "SUDDENLY I'M BI FOR YOU YAY".

Spiralling into an even more codependent relationship could've been a very interesting read, but given the few chapters the author had to wrap things up... more was in place for them to go their separate ways, especially with the recent chapters. Just entirely removing this chapter and removing the last few pages of the previous chapter would've been better than this; it would've given a clear indication that they both have moved on from each other and that they're (or at least Uta is) doing fine.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 10:04PM

Not the best ending after all that's happened but still good enough for me

If this was an attempt to improve on the previous chapter, it wasn't very successful. Why would Uta go live with her childhood unrequited crush if they weren't together yet? This chapter just gives the vibes that Kaoru settled for Uta since she's got no other prospects, her marriage failed and she knows Uta's been carrying a torch for her for literally her whole life. Also this trope of pushing people down and kissing them as a form of love confession needs to die. Use your words first, then your lips when your confession has been accepted.

At least its finally over for realsies and I can delete this from my memory now.

last edited at Feb 16, 2021 11:18PM

This is a surprise. I definitely didn't expect another chapter, but its well received regardless.

I am glad they did get together, I'm weak for love that ends well. But really, the only thing I don't like is Kaoru confessing while drunk. It makes it look as though she was feeling uncomfortable around Uta, living together yet doing nothing. So she says FUCK IT, drinks a lot and lets her dumb self to decide for her.

I preferred the previous chapter as an ending to this story, but even if this one was unasked for and had some problems, I still like it, and am grateful to the author for making this manga.