Massive "meh" from me as it is 20 chapters too long.

Can somebody take a look at my nose? I think I broke it when I crashed into that wall labeled "END". I don't mind the time skip and the "friends without benefits" relationship. But, I feel like 1 more volume could've helped, with the loose ties and pacing into a less jarring ending. Maybe, sprinkle some hints towards the sister's and the coworker's marriage and give Rio some closure, as well. I'm not even entirely sure what Matoi's job is, after all that time focusing on what she wants to do for a living.

Rio really got bonked by the mangaka. The coworker's last appearance, pre-time skip, kind of mirrored hers. Seeing the girl they liked going off with someone more special than themselves. But, at least the guy got to be with someone by his actual last appearance.

Maybe the author's setting up for a Rio spinoff?

Yeah, okay. They're not in a romantic relationship, but they're committed to being together. I can get on board with that. I feel like they should probably just live together, at this point, but having them be neighbours is pretty much perfect as a visual metaphor for the relationship they have, so I can't really complain.

On the whole, I feel like this could very well be the best asexual romance story that we could possibly have gotten, for better and for worse. It fully explores the depths of their feelings for each other without cheapening their identities, and shows them growing and becoming fuller people together. Even so, it still feels a little anticlimactic. I think we're straining at the limits of the genre, here - maybe the takeaway is, stories centering deep aromantic partnerships can be great, but don't structure them as romance.

As far as the writing itself goes, I feel like they took the realism and made it super-easy to digest. Not my preference - and I certainly don't like it as much as the other yuri series on the site - but overall I feel like this is a 10/10. The writing was great, the characters believable and relatable, the character development fluid and consistent, and the overall message conveyed without relying on popular tropes like fanservice, comedy or excessive drama.

People can disagree with me, but those are just my two cents.

overall a good read, the last chapter having them live separately right next to eachother is a bit much though even if I can see it was done to drive home that they're in a close but not romantic relationship. Like at that point literally you can just be roommates.

It did resonate with me to a certain extent, Matoi is just very similar to how I look at my own sexuality so that was really fun to see, Yuriko being unflinchingly Aro Ace in what posits itself as a romance story is also really fun to me. So I like this a lot actually, even if the ending feels the need to drive the message home a little too hard to consider what would be more satisfying. Literally nothing would have to change for them to live together, it'd be fine so them being direct neighbors is a little funny all things considered.

I feel like this is a series that can be very good if you make an effort to empathize with Ace people and the characters but it's not going to be fun for you if you refuse to.

So I like this a lot actually, even if the ending feels the need to drive the message home a little too hard to consider what would be more satisfying. Literally nothing would have to change for them to live together, it'd be fine so them being direct neighbors is a little funny all things considered.

Thinking about it, I feel like the better effect could have been achieved by having them have that exact same "Well, goodnight!" moment going into different rooms in the same apartment, rather than neighbouring ones. I think I would have been happier with that.

This kind of just reinforces to me personally that having a legitimate aromantic character be a lead in a romance story just doesn't really work with the genre. I feel like you'd be better off doing a biographical type story, drama, comedy, or slice of life. Pushing it into a romantic narrative by its nature is just going to let people down given the climax people are always hoping for in a romantic story is always well... Romance. So, you end up with an anti-climax for that whole narrative. I liked a lot of the story, and did like seeing an aromantic lead, but ultimately feel it would have done a lot better with a different genre.

It could be that one of them is still "I might move elsewhere" so they don't want to be tied together in a lease. Or maybe they have very different tidiness habits and shouldn't share a bathroom/kitchen.

not that I dislike "stories for the sake of telling stories", but the whole wind up throughout the 20 chapters is a story that warranted a resolution. Feel like if the author had simply wanted to make "ace meets aroace" they'd tell a different story.

ah well, interesting fresh read nevertheless.

Hm. I dunno how I feel about that ending. The story was cute and I definitely enjoyed it, but the ending just didn't feel satisfying. Maybe because it felt a little bit rushed? I've never been big on those "all of a sudden, it's years later" endings. I prefer that kind of thing as more of an epilogue than a finale. Yuzumori-san was the same way.

last edited at Apr 29, 2022 6:06PM

So I like this a lot actually, even if the ending feels the need to drive the message home a little too hard to consider what would be more satisfying. Literally nothing would have to change for them to live together, it'd be fine so them being direct neighbors is a little funny all things considered.

Thinking about it, I feel like the better effect could have been achieved by having them have that exact same "Well, goodnight!" moment going into different rooms in the same apartment, rather than neighbouring ones. I think I would have been happier with that.

Yeah, I really feel that. Especially since it'd really push forward the idea that Yuriko can actually trust being in the same apartment as Matoi without being worried about her making any advancements. And since it just would be more convenient for the both of them for a number of reasons. Like this, it feels like she can't trust being in the same room as her, despite it being a major plot point earlier that she does.

last edited at Apr 29, 2022 6:09PM

Ok... I usually like stories that makes me think but bruh this one made my head hurt trying to understand how it works, and quite my heart hurt too bc of Rio, only there as a plot device just to be heartbroken and thrown away... I cant say i didnt saw that end coming but i would have liked a bit more development... Yeah i guess this is just the way it is but still... Damn.

Yeah, I really feel that. Especially since it'd really push forward the idea that Yuriko can actually trust being in the same apartment as Matoi without being worried about her making any advancements. And since it just would be more convenient for the both of them for a number of reasons. Like this, it feels like she can't trust being in the same room as her, despite it being a major plot point earlier that she does.

Edit: and yeah i agree with this

last edited at Apr 29, 2022 9:06PM

It was a nice read as a little exercising the mind kind of reading. The story had less drama than I thought with how the story went on.
The ending lacked some closure for the other side characters and was rather abrupt. However, the author's notes were really nice to read about their thoughts on how they developed their characters though.

I think I'm the only one who doesn't care much about the ending (I don't find it surprising after the author explicitly dropped "asexual" in first chapter and then reinforced it in the character bios or whatever)...

... but the fact that the author just straight up demolished a house in the second to last chapter for no apparent reason other than moving the plot drives me nuts - did I miss something really obvious before, like did they mention somewhere that demolition is planned? Also, that wasn't even necessary for the plot to move, Yuriko could have just decided to move to Tokyo because she wanted to spend more time with Matoi.
I know it's kinda stupid to hyperfixate on a detail like that but it makes absolutely no sense to me. She didn't even sell the house, it just got fucking demolished, what the hell, why. They even alluded to moving back in the last chapter, well guess what, you could have done it but you demolished your house.
Did I mention yet the house got demolished? Yeah I'm out.

When they went on their "date" over Matoi's summer break from college, when Matoi drove, and Yuriko was afraid at the old, broken-down place that Matoi had taken her to when they went back there at night, Matoi commented on the fact that Yuriko is afraid of "Haunted House" like places, yet lives in THAT house? This kind of indicates that the house had one foot in the grave already. That's the closest I could come to foreshadowing for it.

Unsatisfied

I was baited at the beginning and then dissapointed at the end.
Oh well, it was a good read nonetheless.

Bah

This is an extremely nice balance work. This is what plutonic relationship is all about. You love each other, yet sex is not part of the relationship at all. By having sex not being a factor at all, it is actually a stronger relationship because one has to be able to recite the reason of the relationship on their own ends. "She is one hot babe" cannot be a major reason anymore. By living as neighbors both managed to preserve the love between them, because they have the personal spaces they each seek. This sort of living arrange ship is very close to what a convent or a monastery is.
If you want to read some high drama romance, this one is absolutely 1000% not to be able to qualify. But if you "get" it and appreciate the very subtle difference between their love, this is one for you.

Hmmm, I'm not sure about this ending... It's kinda rather sudden...

last edited at Apr 29, 2022 6:54PM

The ending felt a bit rushed but I felt like what we got fit the characters as they were portrayed. As for them living as neighbors instead of roommates it could be a number of things. Maybe Yuriko or Matoi like to have a space to themselves however going by the hints given in the last chapter and the one before they seem to spend time together often and share things. This is kind of a cool look at another type of relationship then is normally shown.

Weretwo posted:

The ending felt a bit rushed but I felt like what we got fit the characters as they were portrayed. As for them living as neighbors instead of roommates it could be a number of things. Maybe Yuriko or Matoi like to have a space to themselves however going by the hints given in the last chapter and the one before they seem to spend time together often and share things. This is kind of a cool look at another type of relationship then is normally shown.

I agree. I do think the story could've done more with Rio though. It seems like she's gotten completely sidelined...

last edited at Apr 29, 2022 6:56PM

Wow so disapointed!
Building 20chapters, to end on 3 baits and NOTHING, this ending is ending nothing..
Not even Rio's situation
I'm pissed...

Okay but this isn't yuri.

no way, they didn't even move in together?

I guess that at this point in terms of tags we have to face the fact that up until now yuri has been a "romanti-normative" (I just made that up) genre--protagonist pairs where neither character ever wants to be together with the other one romantically or sexually but who both consider themselves to be "together" as more than friends just don't fit any of the established romance categories.

This series poses the question of what stories built around such characters, something obviously desired by aro-ace readers, are likely to look like going forward. I would call this one, perhaps because there are few existing models of its type, a noble failure (I have no personal investment in aro-ace representation) because the author was obviously unwilling (for perhaps obvious reasons) to have Yuriko and Matoi clash over their differing desires for their relationship.

The avoidance of angst meant a fair amount of on-the-nose exposition about asexuality involving clunky dialogue and an overall low-key tone that was pleasant enough in itself but, once the MCs established and accepted how they felt about each other, did not lend itself to very interesting scenes because there inherently wasn't much dramatic tension to resolve.

So I felt like I met some nice imaginary people for whom I wish only the best going forward in their imaginary lives, but as a story it was only intermittently interesting. In fact, it felt like the aro-ace equivalent of stories from well over a generation ago that were intended to show that homosexuals were nice normal people too. (So maybe once the character types get established more firmly we'll get to see what an aro-ace yandere might look like.)