My first thought was “justice!” But then I realized Liz never has any real consequences. So I guess it’s time for her to tell her sad back story, then get her girl back.

last edited at Nov 27, 2021 10:03AM

That's not Tsucchi at the end. Tsucchi has longer hair, is chubby and doesn't work with Maki. She's probably just a colleague of Maki.

That's not Tsucchi at the end. Tsucchi has longer hair, is chubby and doesn't work with Maki. She's probably just a colleague of Maki.

Nope. It's Tsucchi. She's much changed from her original form; but it's Tsucchi.

IS THE TASTE OF YOUR OWN MEDICINE BITTER, LIZ?!

The fact the bottom panel here was used to demonstrate their deep and emotional bond certainly makes me smile. Keep it up, Tomoko, 10/10.

That's not Tsucchi at the end. Tsucchi has longer hair, is chubby and doesn't work with Maki. She's probably just a colleague of Maki.

Nope. It's Tsucchi. She's much changed from her original form; but it's Tsucchi.

An interesting conundrum--it's true that Tsucchi's long hair is ordinarily emphasized to a greater degree than we see in the Mystery Back Hugger, although the length of the hair could just be out of sight under her scarf and coat.

On the other hand, that hair-bow is certainly Tsucchi's style, but more importantly who else could it be?

We haven't seen any work colleague of Maki's who would be so intimate with her, have we?

Would the writer be so incompetent as to introduce some random person just to manufacture fake drama?

(LOL Sometimes I crack myself up.)

That's not Tsucchi at the end. Tsucchi has longer hair, is chubby and doesn't work with Maki. She's probably just a colleague of Maki.

Nope. It's Tsucchi. She's much changed from her original form; but it's Tsucchi.

An interesting conundrum--it's true that Tsucchi's long hair is ordinarily emphasized to a greater degree than we see in the Mystery Back Hugger, although the length of the hair could just be out of sight under her scarf and coat.

On the other hand, that hair-bow is certainly Tsucchi's style, but more importantly who else could it be?

We haven't seen any work colleague of Maki's who would be so intimate with her, have we?

Would the writer be so incompetent as to introduce some random person just to manufacture fake drama?

(LOL Sometimes I crack myself up.)

They're right outside Maki's workplace and we already know Tsucchi works somewhere else. We've also seen from chapter 17 that Tsucchi doesn't hide her long hair under the coat and that she wears gothic boots. Also, you can clearly see the short hair of the mysterious back hugger in page 19 and 20. She's just a random they added to create additional drama.

Would the writer be so incompetent as to introduce some random person just to manufacture fake drama?

Apparently the people buying the manga have not rebelled. So is the issue competence? or a simple lack of incentive to do better?

I'm reminded on the one hand of the revival of Jason Todd, after readers very literally paid to have him killed; and, on the other hand, of some of what I've heard and read about willful inconsistency in soap operas.

Please be in a relationship with the one you love and the one who loves you <33

Please maki just move on and find someone who can treat you right omfg. I'm also hoping you will slap Liz <333
Even if they get together again, the relationship won't work WBDCBWCWCW

Would the writer be so incompetent as to introduce some random person just to manufacture fake drama?

Apparently the people buying the manga have not rebelled. So is the issue competence? or a simple lack of incentive to do better?

I'm reminded on the one hand of the revival of Jason Todd, after readers very literally paid to have him killed; and, on the other hand, of some of what I've heard and read about willful inconsistency in soap operas.

It's Kitta Izumi's first manga and she likes stories full of drama.

she likes stories full of drama.

That's orthogonal to the question. A story could be carefully and realistically plotted to have lots of drama; it could be slapped together and have no drama. Here it is slapped together with lots of drama; maybe it's slapped together because she couldn't do any better, but maybe it's slapped together because she doesn't feel any need to do better.

last edited at Nov 27, 2021 10:55AM

They're right outside Maki's workplace and we already know Tsucchi works somewhere else. We've also seen from chapter 17 that Tsucchi doesn't hide her long hair under the coat and that she wears gothic boots. Also, you can clearly see the short hair of the mysterious back hugger in page 19 and 20. She's just a random they added to create additional drama.

The workplace thing is not dispositive--we've seen Tsucchi haul Maki around places, and she could plausibly have met up with Maki at her workplace in order to comfort her friend. But the hair/shoe thing is much more convincing, and if that is Tsucchi, the artist is intentionally muting/disguising her characteristics in order to set up the faux-cliffhanger.

So I'm now inclined to think that you're right. Since a quick flip-through of the rest of the series doesn't show anybody remotely suitable to be this back-hugging co-worker, that means the writer has conjured up another character out of thin air simply in order to:

A) create a bog-standard misunderstanding (Liz turns away, Maki spots her and chases after her to explain It's Not What It Looks Like, and then probably apologizes to Liz. Bonus points if Liz then slaps Maki.)

B) actually introduce an entirely new character who has the hots for Maki and Wants Her to Be Happy (with Her), creating a whole Maki Starts a New Life arc, until Maki realizes that Liz, yadda yadda yada.

Either way, we remain in Yuri Manga Hell.

The author actually chose the horseback riding as one of her good memories, I cant even

I started laughing when I saw that

(Liz turns away, Maki spots her and chases after her to explain It's Not What It Looks Like, and then probably apologizes to Liz. Bonus points if Liz then slaps Maki.)

Probably too quick. More likely Liz slips away, we learn that Ms Whoever is just a friend, Liz does something self-destructive, and then G_d-knows-what because the mangaka want to keep this fire burning.

Would the writer be so incompetent as to introduce some random person just to manufacture fake drama?

Apparently the people buying the manga have not rebelled. So is the issue competence? or a simple lack of incentive to do better?

I'm reminded on the one hand of the revival of Jason Todd, after readers very literally paid to have him killed; and, on the other hand, of some of what I've heard and read about willful inconsistency in soap operas.

It's Kitta Izumi's first manga and she likes stories full of drama.

Pretty much. She just writes what she likes. Think of her as being Kodama, only without the writing competence that Kodama actually has. They are both into soap opera dorama and cute grills with awful personalities. The difference is that Kodama makes her characterisations nuanced and well fleshed out, while Tomoko just goes for the random approach (Liz being a tragic sociopath because she was dumped in high school, and Maki being the biggest doormat God ever put on this green earth for no reason whatsoever).

That said, the combination of awful characters and awful writing is something that I grew to like with this mango, lmao! Took me a while, because the first chapters were pretty decent and basically nothing like the rest of this story, so the whiplash of the change made me dislike it at first, but over time it grew on me.

I think this would have gotten a more faithful audience if Tomoko presented what the story would be right at the beginning. Soap opera dorama and beautiful yet awful grills are good selling points, even the bad writing creates some rather hilarious scenes in hindsight. It is basically Kodama, but with the brain turned off. Good stuff.

Good, personally I hope it is too late. But given the haircolor I imagine it's just a relative or something

last edited at Nov 27, 2021 11:09AM

she likes stories full of drama.

That's orthogonal to the question. A story could be carefully and realistically plotted to have lots of drama; it could be slapped together and have no drama. Here it is slapped together with lots of drama; maybe it's slapped together because she couldn't do any better, but maybe it's slapped together because she doesn't feel any need to do better.

It is slapped together because she is an inexperienced writer, this being literally her debut. It is full of dorama because she likes dorama.

(Liz turns away, Maki spots her and chases after her to explain It's Not What It Looks Like, and then probably apologizes to Liz. Bonus points if Liz then slaps Maki.)

Probably too quick. More likely Liz slips away, we learn that Ms Whoever is just a friend, Liz does something self-destructive, and then G_d-knows-what because the mangaka want to keep this fire burning.

The Yuri Manga Hell judges will accept this hypothesis.

Ah, she resolve a problem to enter in a misurstanding.
But that famous lady is so an estereotype

its so melodramatic. the running back to the lover you spurned just to see them with someone else (misunderstanding or not) is so overdone now, stories should seek to subvert the trope imo otherwise the author looks like they aren't very self-aware

It's pretty much standard shoujo manga narrative. It's done all the time in manga for little girls, and sometimes in manga for adult women too (like this one is supposed to be). It's not especially good or bad, just formulaic.

Wow this story truly gets only negative reviews huh. It's almost funny how much everyone hates this one.

Yeah I'm already used to being the only one who likes it. Makes me feel like a cool rebel. You know, the one who says "no you move" when the world tells you to move and stuff.

Reminds me of the time long ago when I used to write comments in fanfiction forums to review stories about series I liked. I usually was the only one who actually liked Mary Sue fanfics.

I think this would have gotten a more faithful audience if Tomoko presented what the story would be right at the beginning. Soap opera dorama and beautiful yet awful grills are good selling points, even the bad writing creates some rather hilarious scenes in hindsight. It is basically Kodama, but with the brain turned off. Good stuff.

This seems pretty accurate, with the caveat that Kodama's brain and art chops are what make Kodama's works palatable in the first place.

It's the difference between readers saying, "I'm getting invested in these terrible characters despite myself" and "There's an inverse relationship between how much this mangaka assumes I'm invested in these characters and how much I actually care about them."

It is slapped together because she is an inexperienced writer, this being literally her debut.

While she may get better with experience, other writers do well in their debut work. The question of talent versus incentive remains.

The author actually chose the horseback riding as one of her good memories, I cant even

You know, it made me genuinely laugh when I read it the first time. But now that I have read the comments and saw similar reactions, I thought it over and I am starting to think, could it be that at least part of what I call bad writing is intentional? I have a hard time imagining the author writing that serious and deep emotional confrontation only to include that panel to showcase how good and fulfilling their relationship was. Like, it has to be deliberate...

A) create a bog-standard misunderstanding (Liz turns away, Maki spots her and chases after her to explain It's Not What It Looks Like, and then probably apologizes to Liz. Bonus points if Liz then slaps Maki.)

B) actually introduce an entirely new character who has the hots for Maki and Wants Her to Be Happy (with Her), creating a whole Maki Starts a New Life arc, until Maki realizes that Liz, yadda yadda yada.

If A) happens and Liz slaps Maki I’ll be obligated to mark this as a masterpiece. That would be probably the most hilarious thing I’ve seen in any drama since the “maldita lisiada” or the epic “maldita peluquera”

All that said, thanks for team for continuing working on this considering basically everyone here hates the eveliving shit out the series. Hell I don’t even like commenting here but this one just takes the cake.

All that said, thanks for team for continuing working on this considering basically everyone here hates the eveliving shit out the series. Hell I don’t even like commenting here but this one just takes the cake.

A good reminder--my sincere thanks to the translation team for bringing us what in any event is likely to be a classic series.

At first this seemed like it was going to be a really good, really interesting story. Now I feel like a member of the National Transportation Safety Board who gets to watch a plane wreck happen in real time.

In either case, I am unable to look away.

It is slapped together because she is an inexperienced writer, this being literally her debut.

While she may get better with experience, other writers do well in their debut work. The question of talent versus incentive remains.

Not everyone does well in their debut works, so it is hardly an actual argument. Plus, there is a facet of the incentive premise that you are not even considering. From what I remember from her interview (and it has been a long time since I read it, so I could be slightly off), she is basically having fun with this, mashing all her favourite yuri tropes. If her incentive for writing this is to simply have fun doing something she always wanted to do, she is pretty much fulfilling it. She is a voice actress, her career is not really hanging on this manga performing well, so the "incentive to get better" at writing might not even be there at all, or at least it might not be prevalent.

You linked the writing problems to either a lack of competence or a lack of incentive in terms of readers demanding better storytelling. Lack of competence is certainly a factor, it can not not be with someone who is not a professional writer and is basically doing this for the first time. But the lack of incentive, in the way you presented it, is simply not a factor at all, in my opinion. I do not think she would radically alter her course if some of the readers did rebel. She is doing this for fun and is clearly not planning and mapping it out in excruciating detail beforehand.

Also, Tomoko has Momono Moto as the artist on this, who actually is a decent writer herself. Now, it could be considered uncouth for the artist to critique or offer advice to the writer (after all, Moto is not the editor), that is certainly possible. But it is equally possible that Tomoko just does not care, hence why even with an experienced and good writer working beside her, she is still ploughing headlong into this mess, lmao!

last edited at Nov 27, 2021 11:48AM