This is the perfect example of a series that didn’t need there to be an explicit confirmation of romantic feelings and still works perfectly. I think people have gotten used to modern yuri of the last 5-ish years that deal with actual romantic relationships, and I’m really glad we have more of that now, but for most of its history yuri hasn’t been a one-to-one equivalent with "lesbianism." I read yuri because I like seeing stories that explore intimacy between girls, a quality of which is oftentimes its ambiguity and uncertain nature.

This series accomplished exactly what it set out to do and it did so beautifully. I don’t feel any sense of disappointment. I don’t begrudge people for wanting something specific from the manga they read, but I feel like you’re setting yourself up for disappointment. I think a lot of readers would benefit from learning to appreciate different kinds of stories.

This captures my feelings perfectly, I couldn't have said it this well myself. To me this story is not only incredibly yuri, but also incredibly well-written, and this ending fits the tone of the whole series perfectly.

In regards to whether it should be tagged as yuri though, I'm not entirely sure; because, for the purposes of the site, the application of the term yuri is limited somewhat, and it might cause new readers to have different expectations. However, they do live together, so there's that...?

What frustrates me a bit about this tagging system is that you can't really tell what type of subtext it will be, without reading the series first. Like, there is this type of story, which actually explores a relationship that is genuine and intimate, and then there's also the love-live type of subtext, which is fanservice more than anything else. I generally avoid series tagged as subtext, because I don't like the second type, but to me this is yuri, and I might have missed it if it was tagged as subtext....

last edited at Sep 30, 2021 4:42PM

Awwwwww no kiss
Was still a fun ride

Subtlety is fine. Subtlety is cool.
But when straight folks get to take always having explicitly confirmed romances for granted and us gays are still struggling under the will-they-won't-they coin toss for every other piece of media we consume... it's pretty much impossible for me to not feel frustrated and let down.

Ah yes, yet another heart-fluttering manga that gets summed up to ambiguity and/or rushed endings. If it'd been a story that tackled only friendship, I would have understood (never read it, maybe), but there's heart flutters and same-sex confessions so it's yuri, no matter how you look at it. But let's make it "beautiful" by ending it in one page, no resolution whatsoever other than what the reader wants to imagine, because we gotta be subtle, for a reason or another (????) Man, I don't get it..

Thanks for the translations. Can't help but feel disappointed though, too much tease and little pay-off.

Tbh, overall I think this series is okay. I don't think it did anyhting bad but it didn't really stand out for me. The ending espiecially felt pretty flat. It was a fine read but I would have liked to see more of the main two being together and maybe even being in a relationship.

Also on the whole Yuri vs Subtext thing. Personally I consider this series Yuri because didn't one of the girls confess to another one (my memory is awful so I might be remembering that completely wrong). I do consider the main two 100% subtext since they feel more like best friends to me but the tooth brushes at the end can be good evidence to me that they are together so it's conclude what you want.

last edited at Sep 30, 2021 5:50PM

Well, that was dissapointing. This should be tagged "subtext" +"lesbian sidecouple".

Well now I have mixed feelings about this ending choice , if this is the choice of the author from the start I'm completely fine with it , if it was not ( pressure/ axed / rushed by the publisher ) well not so much.

Sure this a different development from the usual readings of the genre , but I like to to read different outcomes even if it feels "open to interpretation" / "left hanging there".

Maybe we will see more in future ( or not ) but it was for sure an enjoyable ride.

Thanks to the people who uploaded this.

ok.jpg

I actually enjoyed this series, liked seeing it pop up on the updates section, time to see it go

I think if the tooth brushes were in the same cup it'd be yuri, but since they are separate but almost touching it's subtext.

It's a shame, I feel like I'm biased. If this happened in a manga where a guy and girl had been close for this long, I might've thought it bittersweet to leave it unresolved. However, because of the societal context of lesbian relationships both in manga and Japan itself, the constant pivot to purity in this kind of manga irks me to no end. I really thought I might finally find a yuri manga that's both nuanced and beautiful but unafraid to end clearly, boldly.

A shame, but still a really fun read, in some ways it's similar to ​"Kanojo to Camera to Kanojo no Kisetsu" but that ending is waaay worse lmao.

This is definitely a 'shoujo-ai' type ending rather than 'yuri', but it's a very nice and appropriate ending for the tone of the entire series, I'm not surprised. With all the non-committal moments throughout the series, I wasn't expecting the author to suddenly make the jump to having them as a couple within the span of a single chapter, but I will say I'm bummed out we didn't get any real closure on the feelings between the two that were consistently hinted at(if not explicitly mentioned in dialogue).

anyone know what series/artist the credits page(ch.43) art is from?

it´s rare to see yuri with so much chemistry between the main characters and a somewhat deep relationship , so it always feels like a waste when mangas this fun get an open ending , but well a great read nonetheless i really enjoy it

Yes this should be tagged 'Subtext' in my opinion.
Still good tho

So they ended up living together, that is a win in my book.
I think Kishi and Hime ended together too. I can't prove it but I cannot disprove it.

Oh no... Subtext =n=

I know writers who use subtext, and they're all COWARDS

This was still very pleasant anyway, I still liked it

Well that was kind of a let-down ending for a series I thought started off pretty strong. Still a good series.
Confession arc dragged a bit but it was handled in a really unique and grounded way.

Those almost touching toothbrushes at the end are also a very cute touch.

Ending is a bit annoying but its fine i guess... though reading this manga for 2 years+ for the open ended route is kind of a bummer

Ending could have been a little better and Christ! The amount of times Aizawa almost mounted Kojima only be interupted made me want a bit of resolution on that front
Still, good series and definitely unique
Solid 8/10 in my book

If the toothbrushes don't confirm this as yuri, I don't know what would.

Just read through all the scanlated one shots from this mangaka that are available here on DS. None of them pay off. Lots of open endings. Frustrating!! Still worth reading the originals if you want more. You can skip the YagaKimi doujin tho, it's pretty boring.

I really enjoy their art and writing, but I will definitely temper my expectations of a satisfying ending to any future series, until proven otherwise. I really love these two so much, but I desperately want one more volume.

:/

what a waste of time

last edited at Oct 1, 2021 9:31AM

I don’t really see this as so much an “open ending” as a simple refusal to make the story explicitly yuri. They’re living together, explicitly because they like each other and want to take care of each other; the only thing left open is that elementary school question, “Do they like like each other? Do they like each other that way?”

When it’s done well, I don’t really mind an actual open ending, where we’re not sure where the relationship will ultimately end up, but where the MCs have come to a new understanding of how they feel about each other.

In this case, it seems more like a coy withholding of information, where we could be shown that there’s one double bed with rumpled sheets, but instead we’re shown the toothbrushes and told, “Make of that what you will.”

It’s still been a decent story and I’ve been glad enough to read it, despite its rather evasive ending.

It's been a weird story. The crying thing is hard for me to relate to, but I've pushed through on heavy Yuri vibes and the side couple.

And then this type of ending. Two of the manga I follow ended this week (Sora & Haena is the other one). One had two timeskips and summed up the entire plot ambiguously with lots of dangling threads in one chapter. The other was this. Yuri ending before the Yuri part is queerbaiting (intentional or not).

Some day, I envision a world where 90% of Yuri endings aren't open, rushed, timeskip-heavy messes.

If we can get there within my lifetime, I think I'll be happy.

last edited at Oct 1, 2021 9:55AM