Okay, I was really happy with Shiina's carpe diem attitude here, but then the whole foreshadowing bit at the end spoiled the fun for me, as it seems to imply that rather than being an adult and living in the present, she was entirely motivated by unhealthy emotional drives. :-/

Also, only 3 chapters left? On the one hand, I am happy that the arc will get concluded, but on the other, it's too short... but then again, aren't most stories in this genre?

If this ends badly I'm going to be pissed.
I am so tired of getting invested in manga that just have the most unsatisfying endings.

If this ends badly I'm going to be pissed.
I am so tired of getting invested in manga that just have the most unsatisfying endings.

same, but considering the title here i have hope, maybe i'm on copium after too many bad endings tho haha

last edited at May 5, 2022 6:48AM

Oh god
Everyone
Brace yourself
A storm is coming

Oh this is going to be a short one. I kinda like that since it means we won't get a lot of the troupes that drag things out. I'm all here for this.

um, how can u drag someone who is not a lesbian into a lesbian relationship? Especially the person is clueless about the sex part...and later trying to learn. That would be like how do you drag a lesbian into an honest het relationship who is not interested or know the sex part.

She is attracted to women. She even says "it's precisely because Takagai's a woman that she's attractive"

It's been implied that at one point she had feelings for another woman/was in some kind of a relationship with another woman, but the other woman ended up leaving her for a guy and getting pregnant. This is why she's so uncertain about starting up a relationship with Takagai. Plus her own "gotta find a guy so I can get married and have kids" thing is your classic comphet.

I'd like to say though, she can be inexperienced and still attracted to women. Having experience with sex doesn't make you more or less of a lesbian, or anything else for that matter.

last edited at May 5, 2022 6:59AM

I didn't even know about this Renta site until the credits page here, and I gotta say, the official English title for this series, "Mr. Right Turned Out To Be A Younger Woman!?" is pretty awesome.

Oh no, it's turning into angst... I like those too, but... Pls gib happy ending

second last page: wow, she accepted boldly without needless agonising or melodrama, how refreshing!
last page: sigh...

I don't mind the story going off the happy rails sometimes, but it always irks me when the narration straight up is telling you in detail it's about to happen. I bet you could omit this internal monologue, change nothing in the story (whatever the followup may be since I didn't read ahead) and it would just be better.

The credits page reminded me to try buying this on renta again, last time I was having problems but I'll try again.

I don't mind the story going off the happy rails sometimes, but it always irks me when the narration straight up is telling you in detail it's about to happen. I bet you could omit this internal monologue, change nothing in the story (whatever the followup may be since I didn't read ahead) and it would just be better.

yeah i don't mind that in general it just seemed like it was going a different way that i think might actually have been more interesting. i'm not writing it off or anything.

also, yes i agree that that narrative device is pretty lame. can't be bothered with subtlety or foreshadowing? just have the narrator explicitly tell the reader things are about to get bad instead!

It's good to see knight heron continuing to scanlate this series. I enjoy seeing their work, and like seeing how this translation compares to Renta's; in particular, I wonder if Shiina and Takagai ever start using first names on each other.

For those who are interested and don't mind spoilers, the bad thing happens at the end of the next chapter and most of the final two chapters are spent resolving the problem. Part of the problem with romance series this short is that while they don't get bogged down with angst or "will they or won't they," they don't have enough time to let relationships develop organically.

She is attracted to women. She even says "it's precisely because Takagai's a woman that she's attractive"

It's been implied that at one point she had feelings for another woman/was in some kind of a relationship with another woman, but the other woman ended up leaving her for a guy and getting pregnant. This is why she's so uncertain about starting up a relationship with Takagai. Plus her own "gotta find a guy so I can get married and have kids" thing is your classic comphet.

Why are you so sure that she was in a relationship with a woman who ended up with a man, and not the other way around? If anything, her line "I don't want anyone to take the chance [to have kids] again from me" implies that a woman snatched her boyfriend away from her.

Shiina' dialogue and internal monologue give me the impression that she had never considered women as romantic partners before. let alone being in relationship with one. If she was attracted to women before, she apparently wasn't conscious of it. The thought "Takagai is attractive because she's a woman" literally just occurred to her this chapter.

last edited at May 5, 2022 10:18AM

Huh, I guess I'll buy on Renta. I kinda wanna wait until this TL is finished though so I can compare the two in their entirety; I don't remember Renta being bad, but I also don't remember their TLs being good.

I like the fact that Shiina is proactive and open to taking a chance on her gut feeling and give the relationship a try, even if it's not what she was initially looking for. It's the sort of thing that always bugs me in a lot of series where the MC is obviously unhappy about their situation, but will still not take any of the opportunities that present themselves to actually change their life. It does come with this being a short manga though, the plot needs to get moving pretty fast.

Wow, what a talented mangaka!

COMMUNICATION?!

Not allowed!

Awww why are the best stories always short... Or do I like them the most because they are short? XD

It's good to see knight heron continuing to scanlate this series. I enjoy seeing their work, and like seeing how this translation compares to Renta's; in particular, I wonder if Shiina and Takagai ever start using first names on each other.

For those who are interested and don't mind spoilers, the bad thing happens at the end of the next chapter and most of the final two chapters are spent resolving the problem. Part of the problem with romance series this short is that while they don't get bogged down with angst or "will they or won't they," they don't have enough time to let relationships develop organically.

I was tense but now I feel like I can look forward to the resolution.

This scenario of an single older office lady who is ostensibly straight deciding to enter into a gay relationship because she has not other prospects is rapidly becoming a trope.

"I'm not gay, but this person is the only one interested in me so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I guess I'm gay now!"

I don't mind it as long as it makes sense in the story, and here it's supported by the barest of threads. I think the story would be more satisfying if the MC's dilemma was around her journey to accepting that she's gay/bi, not whether or not she can accept a same-sex partner's feelings as a heterosexual woman. As it stands in chapter 3, she's not all that conflicted about her sexual identity, she's treating it like an experiment. And we all know how those experiments typically go....

I think it's handled really well in "Trying out marriage with my female friend" because even though the situation is very similar - two ostensibly straight friends who decide to get married out of convenience - it's emerging via the narrative that Ruriko appears to have been in love with Kurumi since high school and despite the fact that they are MARRIED she is still slowly starting to accept the fact that she's gay. And Kurumi is going through the same thing in a slightly different way since she's a little more easy-going and free spirited. Despite the silly premise, I find it satisfying to watch their relationship develop because each of their journeys of discovery feels more plausible to me. Maybe it's because Kurumi and Ruriko's relationship is more established and current events are an extension of that.

last edited at May 5, 2022 2:34PM

I really like when the MC does the whole "I'm not really sure it'll work out, but I'll give you a chance" thing. Like if there's the slightest bit of attraction there, give it a shot, as long as you're clear on what you're doing and not giving the other party the impression that it's completely mutual.

last edited at May 5, 2022 1:38PM

This scenario of an single older office lady who is ostensibly straight deciding to enter into a gay relationship because she has not other prospects is rapidly becoming a trope.

"I'm not gay, but this person is the only one interested in me so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I guess I'm gay now!"

I don't mind it as long as it makes sense in the story, and here it's supported by the barest of threads. I think the story would be more satisfying if the MC's dilemma was around her journey to accepting that she's gay/bi, not whether or not she can accept a same-sex partner's feelings as a heterosexual woman. As it stands in chapter 3, she's not all that conflicted about her sexual identity, she's treating it like an experiment. And we all know how those experiments typically go....

I think it's handled really well in "Trying out marriage with my female friend" because even though the situation is very similar - two ostensibly straight friends who decide to get married out of convenience - it's emerging via the narrative that Ruriko appears to have been in love with Kurumi since high school and despite the fact that they are MARRIED she is still slowly starting to accept the fact that she's gay. And Kurumi is going through the same thing in a slightly different way since she's a little more easy-going and free spirited. Despite the silly premise, I find it satisfying to watch their relationship develop because each of their journeys of discovery feels more plausible to me. Maybe it's because Kurumi and Ruriko's relationship is more established and current events are an extension of that.

To be fair, the whole sexual identity thing is still something of a foreign concept in japanese society, both IRL and in fiction. You just about never see these terms used, even in most yuri/yaoi series .It's still sort of a western notion, although mentalities have been very slowly moving in the right direction lately.

last edited at May 5, 2022 3:03PM

um, how can u drag someone who is not a lesbian into a lesbian relationship? Especially the person is clueless about the sex part...and later trying to learn. That would be like how do you drag a lesbian into an honest het relationship who is not interested or know the sex part.

Ummm, bi/pan/demi-sexual women exist. Also, just because Shiina's never dated a woman before doesn't mean she's not interested. Note her whole inner monologue about how Takagai's charms work ONLY because she's a woman, not in spite of that. Shiina's mainly been caught up in the whole "marriage, baby, family" route. And she clearly wasn't dragged into a relationship. She had every opportunity and right to not pursue the relationship with Takagai if she didn't want to do so. Regarding being clueless about sex, are lesbians just naturally excellent at sex? That's news to me....Even people who have been having sex for decades can suck at it.

It's been implied that at one point she had feelings for another woman/was in some kind of a relationship with another woman, but the other woman ended up leaving her for a guy and getting pregnant. This is why she's so uncertain about starting up a relationship with Takagai. Plus her own "gotta find a guy so I can get married and have kids" thing is your classic comphet.

I thought this as well (someone else corrected me), the guy is actually the same one that dumped her previously in one of the flashbacks. So he left her for another woman. I think her line is more about how she doesn't want to be left again when she thought she had marriage and kids lined up.

last edited at May 5, 2022 3:45PM

Three chapters in and they're already dating. Damn they aren't useless lesbians.

Re; bad experience we don't actually know for sure, all we know is it's 'bad'. That's it. No need to fistfight over something that's merely speculative.

This scenario of an single older office lady who is ostensibly straight deciding to enter into a gay relationship because she has not other prospects is rapidly becoming a trope.

"I'm not gay, but this person is the only one interested in me so ¯_(ツ)_/¯ I guess I'm gay now!"

I disagree that this is what is happening in this story. Just because she's considered herself straight her whole life doesn't mean she can't discover she's not now. And if a hot coworker confessing to her is what it takes for her to go "hey, maybe I do actually like women too" then so what? Everyone's journey is different. Some people just can't imagine how they'd feel about something until they are actually in that situation.

I don't mind it as long as it makes sense in the story, and here it's supported by the barest of threads. I think the story would be more satisfying if the MC's dilemma was around her journey to accepting that she's gay/bi, not whether or not she can accept a same-sex partner's feelings as a heterosexual woman. As it stands in chapter 3, she's not all that conflicted about her sexual identity, she's treating it like an experiment. And we all know how those experiments typically go....

I don't really understand how the two things you say here are that different, other than the use of labels. Doesn't being able to accept the same-sex partners feelings as you say, basically mean you're gay/bi? Just because she's not explicitly using the question "am I gay?" doesn't mean she's not considering if she can love a woman or not. And all dating is basically "an experiment" no?

I think it's handled really well in "Trying out marriage with my female friend" because even though the situation is very similar - two ostensibly straight friends who decide to get married out of convenience - it's emerging via the narrative that Ruriko appears to have been in love with Kurumi since high school and despite the fact that they are MARRIED she is still slowly starting to accept the fact that she's gay. And Kurumi is going through the same thing in a slightly different way since she's a little more easy-going and free spirited. Despite the silly premise, I find it satisfying to watch their relationship develop because each of their journeys of discovery feels more plausible to me. Maybe it's because Kurumi and Ruriko's relationship is more established and current events are an extension of that.

Ironically, I think "Trying out marriage with my female friend" is more in line with your entire post here. The whole reason they are married is the trope you said in the beginning of your post. Because Kurumi couldn't find another partner and said "why not I guess". However, what I said also pretty much applies to this story as well. Kurumi has just never even considered the possibility that she is gay before, but through her developing relationship with Ruriko who already is in love with her, she's slowly starting to consider it.

last edited at May 5, 2022 5:05PM