Yuri has always been about ambiguity and tenderness. I'm not disappointed at all whether or not they end up in a romantic relationship with each other. I too have shipping brain but more than that I want a story presented with artfulness and beauty, and that is exactly what this series is. Not every series has to have a romantic conclusion.

Well, first, all else being equal, I prefer romantic conclusions. I like romance, I like reading about it happening, and it works well with the kind of shape satisfying stories tend to have. Friendship is nice enough but it doesn't really have a plot arc built in. Still, there can be friendship stories I enjoy. Ideally, though, those are friendship stories which just obviously are friendship stories. If the story is about "Will they/Won't they", I gotta say I think "Yes, they will" is almost always the more satisfying answer.

But, much more specifically, losing someone's contact information is just a lame reason for things not to go anywhere.

Can’t believe Tsukiko would pass up Takodachi keychains(...?)

I decided to buy volume 3 just to read ahead. There's only 3 volumes in total, so it ends at chapter 19.

For anyone wondering about the ending, there's no yuri in it and the story ends after a time skip. They separate after graduation and Aya accidentally breaks her phone by dropping it in the water. She didn't back anything up, so she lost Tsukiko's contact information, but they reunite at the end. Just a nice story between two people with a vague distance between them.

Well, don't let the admins of this site know then, for whatever reason this is tagged as yuri when it shouldn't it, and thank god I've decided to click on your spoiler, this absurdly-slow paced story, does not deserve my time, thank you very much

Does it not count as yuri if one side is pushing as hard as she can and the other is just not having it? Aya is giving it her best shot and Tsukiko has a wall around herself thicker than the glass they use for whale shark tanks. This story is frustrating to read, but that's mostly because it feels so true to life. My life, at least.

I appreciate the way that the florid profusion of stylistic tics is used to tell the story. Simple, unambiguous interactions are shown from far away; the more ambivalent conversations between Aya and Tsukiko are shown up close and detailed, even though faces are guarded and hard to read. The amount of unnecessary decoration crowds out the speech bubbles and the human figures, especially when the story is wandering through the murk of Tsukiko's feelings about Aya / the world. The look is reminiscent of Ikoku Nikki even if the telling of the story is much more linear. The water imagery reminds me of Nettaigyo even while the characters are more like something out of one of Shuninta Amano's less silly stories. It's not perfect, but it's a lot more interesting than the vast majority of schoolgirl yuri stories.

Well tbh, I enjoyed this series a lot and I love Tsukiko, Aya, and their relationship with each other, however awkward and tense it may seem. The art is fantastic and I personally think it’s well-written. Don’t know why, but it makes me think of Adachi and Shimamura, LOL.

It’s just that anybody coming in and expecting a conclusive yuri ending with a grand confession and kiss probably won’t be all for it. For what it’s worth, they do stay with each other after reuniting, so idk, up to interpretation for their future?

last edited at Jun 10, 2021 11:22PM

This artstyle is so pretty, it's just beautiful ahh

I really expected their relationship to go somewhere, but i guess after reading what happens then it kinda dissapoints me, and it somehow makes me feel a bit empty inside? i mean, that's honestly what reading all of this felt like, it just makes me feel empty, the art is just gorgeous, but everything feels really dry and just gives me a really weird vibe, like there should have been something that isn't there.

cuteee

aalright tsukiko's attitude is becoming really tiring to read, guess i expected too much from this

gosh…
to be sort of(!) spoiler-free about it, i think the subtext really only starts to make sense on the second time you read this. when people start to read, they see this gorgeously drawn art and absolutely nothing that would even suggest a more pessimistic outlook… so we become disappointed and think we’ve “wasted time” on this series… when to someone who’s already read through once, it isn’t.
some stories are just better off reading without that optimistic(?) “oh this is definitely going to end how i think it will because that’s what makes me happy” type… i guess what i’m trying to say is people tend to expect so much from a series that knowing how something ends may completely ruin their experience despite not being able to fully enjoy details that the author puts in… sort of like ignoring the roadside scenery when you take a ride somewhere…
personally, to enjoy this series while thinking of how the characters perceive situations and to appreciate how, again, absolutely breathtaking and subtle the art is… its what i think most people should focus on instead of how they want the ending to go.

Oof, Yano was doing great, only to end up raising an even bigger wall. Would have been nice to actually see Aya rolling on the ground and throwing a tantrum.

Hard to blame Aya for immediately thinking "Vampire!", the tomato juice sealed it.
The fact that Yano hadn't been exposed as a die-hard fish fan before this surprised me, I forgot that people don't see the floating sealife.

I hope that Mei-chan can get over her issues in the few chapters left.

I'm enjoying this series so much, it's just... calming..

last edited at Jun 17, 2021 8:25AM

Poor slug, it just wanted a quiet life without being poked.

Did she... puncture that sea slug??

“have swum”, not “have swam”

It seems as if the various translators work very hard never to use strong verbs (especially “drink”) properly.

The storytelling in this is maddeningly indirect and elliptical and that's why I love it so much. I think.

It seems as if the various translators work very hard never to use strong verbs (especially “drink”) properly.

To be fair, this particular corner of English is a nightmare for native speakers, much less folks coming to it as a second (or more) language.

To be fair, this particular corner of English is a nightmare for native speakers, much less folks coming to it as a second (or more) language.

The term “nightmare” is worse than wild hyperbole. Native speakers of social classes corresponding to most of these characters are fairly well-read and surrounded by people who use the proper forms.

[1] For non-native translators, reference books are available, and one can create tables and pin these to the wall; and [2] even a broken clock is right twice a day, whereas these failures are consistent, a result of mis-learning.

The real problem is of people thinking that they can learn English from informal Internet communication, which is largely with other non-native writers and with under-educated native speakers.

The results actually works well enough when the translation is dialogue (rather than impersonal narration) and the characters are supposed to be under-educated; but most of these characters are suppose to have gone or be going through a demanding educational system.

isn't this chapter a little too bittersweet... (spoiler safe)

feels like nothing happens every chapter.

Really cute. I won't mind if these two would end up dating or just remain friends with each other. I honestly like whatever relationship they have going on.

I like how Aya never stops trying to protect her modesty.

This story is like if Shimeji Simulation, Nettaigyo, and Adachi & Shimamura were tossed into a blender, with maybe some Takako Shimamura or Ikoku Nikki sprinkled over the top.

somebody end this suffering

nothing to say? well that’s certainly nothing new haha. looks like we’re going for the no-closure-but-they’ll-live sorta end.

Seeing the fish dry up and lose their scales was sad, this truly should be called "Yoru to Miscommunication".
Angst aside, I love all the times that Aya calls Yano 'Tsukiko-kun', it has such a nice ring to it.