And the third shows her saying "okay" to Yuzu's desire to live like newlyweds again. Meaning she might just want to do it too.

Mei might want to act like newlyweds again? Have you forgotten (as Mei apparently has) that these two are already engaged to be married, (and canonically they do actually get married)?

What an amazing emotional breakthrough--to consider the possibility that you **might* want to act like a newlywed someday with the person to whom you are already engaged.

If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a forced one-sided relationship from blackmail or something. Mei has the emotional depth of a spoon while Yuzu is trying her damnedest to get some kind of emotion from her lol.

And the third shows her saying "okay" to Yuzu's desire to live like newlyweds again. Meaning she might just want to do it too.

Mei might want to act like newlyweds again? Have you forgotten (as Mei apparently has) that these two are already engaged to be married, (and canonically they do actually get married)?

What an amazing emotional breakthrough--to consider the possibility that you **might* want to act like a newlywed someday with the person to whom you are already engaged.

guess the tone wasn't carried through. The "might" was meant to be sarcastic

If I didn't know any better I'd think this was a forced one-sided relationship from blackmail or something. Mei has the emotional depth of a spoon while Yuzu is trying her damnedest to get some kind of emotion from her lol.

LOL--you're right. If you look at this as being in the "forced cohabitation" genre it gets a lot more explicable.

And quite a bit funnier.

ugh this manga is going downhill for me, but idk why I keep sticking to it.... -_- alas, I'm wishful-

Had this been any other manga, I would’ve been shocked, like “that’s it?!” but since this is Citrus, I have other thoughts.

I will admit, it really feels like Mei has regressed since a couple of chapters ago, I was hoping for a smile or atleast a kiss from her, but I guess at the end of the day Mei is still Mei.
It’s really admirable of Yuzu to just keep on loving her and showing her the insane amounts of affection she is while Mei just does her own thing.

Anyone here who is dating or have a spouse that was a teenage sexual assault victim of older adult man, will know how hard it is to get certain ideas through to their heads. A lot of them do not consider most of the cases sex and love are related.

It is uncertain wether or not Mei is actually a victim of SA. It seems to me like she just had a terrible childhood, where life to her was nothing but, wake up, eat, work, sleep, to always act in a professional manner regardless of personal emotions, and that is why things like sex and affection seem so foreign.

It’s kind of funny though, just a couple of days ago on Twitter and Facebook people were like “omg is it finally gonna happen???” and then we get hit with this. Personally it’s still too early for me to drop it, I’m pretty interested to see where this all goes, and when sex finally DOES happen, it’ll just make it all worth it!

last edited at Sep 19, 2021 2:46PM

This was an adorable chapter.

Yuzu really cranked up the gay in this chapter and is pretty heartwarming to see how much she loves Mei. That said, I don't think she was really wanting to fuck but rather she was just doing all the corny shit she undoubtedly picked up from an extremely fluffy shoujo manga.

I disagree with the idea that Mei is cold or uninterested towards Yuzu, it has been clear for a while now that she also adores Yuzu but she just doesn't know how to properly express it and her laser focus on living up to the Aihara's family name has left her completely lost when it comes to romance. But she's really trying to learn for Yuzu's sake.

Also, I love how Sub draws them looking older now.

Oh, and thank you so much Megumiaki for joining Chaosteam as the series' translator.

I really love this series and have no plans on dropping it, but I feel like Mei was especially deadpan this chapter, like she regressed a little. I get why she works so hard, and her realizing that while washing the dishes was nice, but her stopping herself from hanging out with Yuzu seemed off this far into the series.You'd think that this far along she'd learn to take breaks, especially on her lovers birthday. And then, when she finally does spend time with Yuzu, she just kinda sits there while Yuzu cuddles her and it just all seems very one sided. And then when she talks about the weight being lifted from her heart, she dosen't even crack a smile. She says it so robotically, which would have been fitting earlier when she's learning how to be in a relationship, but not in volume 4 of the sequal manga. Similarly, Yuzu basically have to explain to Mei why being given affection by your lover feels nice, even if you're already in a relationship was so flat for this kind supposed character development. The only time we see Mei show any emotion in this supposedly touching chapter is when Yuzu kisses her ears and she blushes. I honestly love these characters and their dynamic and Yuzu has clearly matured, I just wish that after all this time we could see Mei reciprocate a little more, thats all.

Mei thought lovers liked hearing “I love you” because she tied to it being insecure about the relationship. But Yuzu tells her it’s just a form of affection and that it feels nice to hear it once in a while. With that in mind, you get the sense that Mei is confident in their relationship she didn’t need to hear “I love you” nor say it to Yuzu. Again she perceived Yuzu’s feelings in a wrong sense. This chapter again shows her slowly becoming aware of her duty as Yuzu’s lover. The scene where Mei feels weight being lifted off her heart doesn’t need a smile for readers to know that she is sincere about what she said. Readers just need to know that Mei said it, considering what you all said, “She is robotic” Robots don’t have feelings, they cannot express feelings. Mei does not express her expression, but she is slowly expressing her feelings. I’m defending Mei, because there were so many times in the Manga(Main) where she has expressed facial expression or showed her vulnerability to Yuzu/others.

By the way, everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I am in no way trying to tell anyone to change their mind about Mei, think what you want. I am solely complaining and just analyzing the book. Again just so we’re clear, I am in no way stripping anyone of their rights to their opinions. I am just disagreeing and complaining on my end. I understand that Mei is a cold person, both in expression and feelings; and yes that can get annoying sometimes. But I cannot just brush past the many events that happened in the book.

(I just felt like putting the disclaimer, because there have been many times in a discussion where people misunderstood my intentions. I’m just a salty lil sodium, lmfao.)

I liked this series so much, even with the free drama, but I agree with some people here, it does feel one-sided and it's not even about sex, I kinda accepted they aren't gonna do it even if they have 40 more chapters, but the emotional intimacy.. It kinda was around somehow at some point, now it feels, for me, a bit like "Mei: Ah, Yuzu you here, ok cool and Yuzu:Mei,I love you wan wanna spend quality time with you"

Meibot would do well to go ask the wizard for a heart sometime soon

:) PS I don't care enough about this to argue back, I love the art, and I am hoping good things (or good as I perceive them, should I say) will happen soon.

I understand that Mei is a cold person, both in expression and feelings; and yes that can get annoying sometimes. But I cannot just brush past the many events that happened in the book.

Mei has not always been depicted as as a "cold person"--quite the contrary. She has been depicted as a very repressed person who hides her vulnerabilities, but Mei's initial characterization in the original series was that she was a highly passionate person underneath all that repression.

She was not always portrayed as someone who was profoundly clueless about other people's feelings, either. The basic emotional dynamic of the initial series was that Yuzu not only helped Mei open up about her feelings but also helped her to channel her previously untapped passion into an affectionate relationship with her stepsister.

That's why the trembling, socially clueless, sexually naive Mei of Citrus + is so frustrating--the issue isn't that the two don't have sex (although even Matsuri thinks that step is long overdue), it's that Mei seems to have regressed in maturity by about a half-dozen years and also to have forgotten why she ever embarked on a relationship with Yuzu in the first place.

And to clarify--I'm not criticizing Mei Aihara as an imaginary person; I've always thought that Mei was by far the (potentially) most interesting character in the series. I'm criticizing the author's execution of Mei's characterization, which I think has been inconsistent and basically a botched job ever since that second arranged marriage came out of nowhere.

last edited at Sep 19, 2021 4:56PM

I just respect Chaosteam so so so so much

This chapter has solidified that as long as I get to see Yuzu and Mei being sweet and wholesome like this, I don’t care how long I have to wait to see them do the do.

I can understand how some might view this as Mei being unaffectionate, but the way I see it, this is just how they are. Not every couple has to be kissy-cuddly-lovey-dovey 24/7 to be functional. Yuzu and Mei are head over heels for each other, they just express it in different capacities. They’re opposites attract to an extreme, which is probably why it’s all Greek to most around here.

Mei stopped herself when she said she’d be working, remembering how that hurt Yuzu last time. She talked to Yuzu about an aspect of “newlyweds” that she didn’t understand to try and understand it. She cuddled up to Yuzu in bed when in the last few chapters we saw them sleeping together they were apart. She agrees to Yuzu’s suggestion that they have a day like this again. (Yes she’s still dense as a harem protagonist, but that’s clearly being played for laughs)

Mei does love Yuzu and expresses that whenever she can, but being super affectionate just isn’t her style. Yuzu knows this and loves her regardless. That, to me, is beautiful. Love doesn’t always make sense, especially to people outside looking in, but as long as it makes the couple in question happy, I see nothing wrong.

Boring, boring, it's a shame that after the original series became so incoherent, people with power to launch manga in the market thought that it was necessary to make even more, a big disappointment, what a waste.

I'm melting, CUUUUUTE

cuuuuute

But it's weird seeing the responses here.

Of course Mei doesn't know what the fuck to do, she's an r*pe and assault victim who is now with a lovely golden retriever whom she does love. But she actually doesn't know how to reciprocate because she's used to the shitty men that were in her life. Like just accepting her touching her and accepting that love is a lot for someone who is repressed and emotionally holding a lot back :(

I hate it, in stories, when one partner wants to be romantic, and love-y dove-y, and the other acts like it's a nuisance. It almost always means the couple's relationship is headed for the rocks.

And for the record, I think the dinner, bath or me, line is just a stupid sexual innuendo that cought on as a cute joke about how newlyweds are suppose to crave sex with each other constantly.

last edited at Sep 19, 2021 8:22PM

Mei-bot struggling to decide whether to kill John Connor or destroy Neo

I think my main problem with this sequel series is that I had hoped that Mei would be more honest and genuine about her feelings and instead she seems to have regressed (or been replaced by an unfeeling killing machine)

Is Mei a robot? I stopped reading before the end of the original series and just popped in for a chapter. What in the actual fuck happened to her character? This reads like some mind break shit.

Is Mei a robot? I stopped reading before the end of the original series and just popped in for a chapter. What in the actual fuck happened to her character? This reads like some mind break shit.

Saburouta forgot How Do I Wrote Character? is all ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm so conflicted with some parts in this chapter, but more importantly.... THE FnCKING TEASE of them in the bed again! just bitter-sweet....
Thanks for the TL again! <3

cuuuuute

But it's weird seeing the responses here.

Of course Mei doesn't know what the fuck to do, she's an r*pe and assault victim who is now with a lovely golden retriever whom she does love.

Again, this assertion is based on no evidence in the text except a single unwelcome kiss from her (now ex-)fiancé in the very first chapter of the original series.

Nothing in all the many subsequent chapters has suggested that Mei now acts the way she does because she's a traumatized victim of sexual violence.

last edited at Sep 19, 2021 11:23PM

The people who are dead set on defending mei seem to think we all just want them to fuck but like, no? I couldn't give a shit if they go to bed or not, it's just bullshit that mei regressed so much and that I have to look at yuzu getting ignored trying her best as if she was talking to a wall. It's her fucking birthday too you can't tell me mei couldn't make room to spend a day with her instead of working all day when yuzu expressed the desire to spend time with her before the day came. Like, stop your fucking bullshit about "you just want them to have sex" Mei is being an awful partner, is inconsiderate and doesn't try in the least to reciprocate yuzu's feelings. The sexual assault stuff is an insane leap of assumptions too, and even then it wouldn't keep her from, you know, spending a day with yuzu on her birthday.

Yes we're not gonna except mei to suddenly act super bubbly and be totally receptive to everything yuzu does, but I ain't excepting her to get more robot-like each time either.

last edited at Sep 19, 2021 11:41PM

Sabu better be building something good here. Either a pinch of jealousy or spoonful of angst. The same bland scene gets old and it's hard to keep interested when there's so many to read.

cuuuuute

But it's weird seeing the responses here.

Of course Mei doesn't know what the fuck to do, she's an r*pe and assault victim who is now with a lovely golden retriever whom she does love.

Again, this assertion is based on no evidence in the text except a single unwelcome kiss from her (now ex-)fiancé in the very first chapter of the original series.

Nothing in all the many subsequent chapters has suggested that Mei now acts the way she does because she's a traumatized victim of sexual violence.

I find it weird that some people, in the comment sections, seem to find sexual assault around every corner, and others refuse to see it anywhere.

I hope Sabu will show August 8th on volume extras.
when there's drama, people complain~ without drama, they still complain lul