happy it worked out this way. it's kinda rare for ace characters not to be like, "ohh im just gay."

i want to see 100 more chapters of them being intimate in asexual ways. i need some slice of life domestic cuties now please.

I would bet money that if the story ended with them not being ace but just as abrupt there would be whole lot less salt in the comments. Seems like some of ya'll are just hiding behind the abruptness when in reality your problem is with asexuality. At least people like motormind has the self awareness and the guts to straight up say it with their chest.

^^^^Nice to see a Dumbing of Age mention here

It’s been a fairly recent development that authors have been intentionally creating ace (or aroace) characters at all. What was much more common were lead characters reacting against comphet by claiming “they don’t understand love at all,” feeling abnormal, etc., then discovering that they had feelings about a same-sex partner, i.e., discovering their own lesbianism, with kissing/physical intimacy as the standard yuri-genre narrative endgame.

Yuri has been a romance genre, full stop, and authors are still in the process of exploring how to incorporate non-romantic and/or non-sexual emotional connections into a romance genre and discovering how audiences react to such characters.

So, sure, some readers have reacted negatively to the mere presence of ace characters, but it’s much more common that stories with ace characters have confused readers about what kind of stories they are going to turn out to be.

I think Crescent Moon and Doughnuts is kind of a breakthrough in showing an OTP ending up in a deep and mutually satisfying emotional connection without one or both characters having a “lesbian conversion experience.” (I mean, there have been such stories before, but this one seems like it uses the yuri story template for ace characters as if it’s just a standard genre variant.)

This makes a lot of sense to me, and I really appreciate the context you've presented for the series. As a reader for whom the melodramatic romance aspects of yuri are enormous, convulsive, and deeply involving reasons for reading, I have to admit that I kept thinking the series was going to be just an incredibly slow burn towards realizing sexualized romantic feelings––and in that context, I read the characters protests against having sexualized romantic feelings as something that was bound to change over the course of the story (I also thought we'd have chapters of the series coming out for years to come before we got there). As I was reading this final chapter, it dawned on me what was happening ("wait...is this series...ending???), and I was...fairly surprised. In respect of what you said, through, it makes sense that, with the resolution of the sister arc, the confrontation with the mother resolved as well, and the conveyance of feelings of love and value between the two of them, the story was ready to be wrapped up. The important emotional barriers to the two of them having a more intimate, if not a more sexual relationship, are essentially cleared away, so...cool. I think with the eventual existence of more stories like this, I'll come to understand better how this kind of romance might work in a literary context––and I think I get enough out of the story on its own terms to understand it, and to appreciate the characters for who they are rather than who I assumed them to be. I can't really lie and say I don't miss the melodrama inherent in most yuri––but then, After Hours also knocked me upside the head with its ending. I suppose I'm guilty of expecting more sensually-expressive romance in yuri––but, more to the point, I really want it, and hope to see it even in series that aren't ultimately going in that direction, like this, or A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow, or The Two Sides of Seiyuu Radio (though in the case of those later two, my hunch is that they change direction at one point or another, behind the scenes––whereas I don't think that's what happens in Crescent Moon & Doughnuts). I'll re-read this series when it gets fully published in English, maybe pick up some of the cues I sort of remapped in my head and see them for what they are. It's new territory for me. But thank you for everyone here in the comments who has helped make the meaning of the story more clear.

God damn, the acephobia is real in the Chili's tonight.

Anyways, the ending did feel very rushed, I would've liked to have seen them on dates and figuring out what they're both okay with and not so okay with. But outside of that this has been a very fun series, that suddenly likes to hit you right in the feels with oddly real comments, i.e. "I want to love myself first" from chapter 1.

hello yes why didn't this story i supposedly enjoyed abandon everything it's built to end exactly like every other romance story idgi

Because the point is that ace deserve the same happy ending as everyone else?

i think (hope?) they are being sarcastic and mocking other posters lol

Perhaps that would have been better phrased as "ace deserve the same happiness as everyone else"?

I certainly didn't mean to imply that ace should be just like everyone else to achieve happiness. More that, while I get where @justforthis is coming from in feeling that the ending was formulaic, perhaps that recognizable formula was exactly what the author was shooting for. That "ending just like every other romance story" helps the reader to realize that they have found happiness even though their relationship is a bit different from that of other romance couples.

last edited at Dec 9, 2022 1:17PM

I think this ending is good. I don't even really think it's that abrupt, honestly.

I am personally into reading these stories for Yuri romance. However, I found a lot of parts of the story (self-loathing, having to wear a mask, having to disappoint parents, having a fragile friendship on the verge of being more) very relatable despite not being ace.

If the story was a lot shallower, I don't think I would have been as charitable about the ending, but that wasn't the case.

Honestly, if you just ignore the speech bubbles for the last few pages then you already have an ending that beats several other Yuri romances (because some end after first kiss and a couple end even before that).

I’m so pleased we have an ace tag now! I hope we will see some more content falling under that tag in the future, and hopefully some other works that deal with ace themes with nuance AND some good ol’ SFW fluff.

In my headcanon, these two go on to live together and go on dates to their favorite places (I feel like Asahi would geek out at the zoo or the aquarium). They cook each other meals and watch movies together and support each other when they’re feeling down. And maybe the mom comes to visit more often and even starts fussing over Asahi now and then? That’s my self-indulgent fluffy continuation of this story.

Just posting to thank everyone who explained the ending better and what ace means. :)
Have to say I missed it being ace, perhaps re-reading will help me catch hints. Have to say my first ace would be Lilies, Voice, Wear Wind. I was expecting Yuri in that one too but didn't get it. That one though did have a better pacing and preparations though for one character already knows her being ace. So was waiting to see if in the end converting to Yuri. Crescent Moon and Donuts ending though felt rushed and kind of didn't go further past what potentially being in an ace relationship would be like. Stopped like most manga at just the confession part T~T Maybe there would be an Epilogue in the future?

last edited at Dec 10, 2022 2:17AM

This was a really fine story with lovely characters.
Their journey together is just beginning and it ends?
Why oh why must you do this to us Yuri authors ( and most probably Yuri editors).
Talk about a mike drop.

last edited at Dec 10, 2022 2:50AM

Have to say I missed it being ace, perhaps re-reading will help me catch hints.

There's definitely lots of hints about being ace, even as early as the second chapter. The problem is that coming to identify as ace and coming to identify as a non-ace lesbian when the person only has experience with men is something that looks very similar at first.

After all, when you have only had sexual experiences with men but aren't attracted to them (and didn't realize this yourself), it is easy to be unsure of your interest in sex at all. Some people on that path will discover they are ace, and some will discover that they just weren't dating people they were really attracted to. (And neither outcome is wrong or bad, obviously!)

It doesn't help that past experience has generally taught Yuri readers that if characters have a story arc like this, 98% of the time the outcome in manga is "repressed-but-sexual lesbian". The asexual outcome for this type of arc in stories (particularly Eastern stories) is very rare (which isn't fair).

So it was hard to see which direction the ending would go, by I don't think the author did anything wrong here. Not going ridiculously out of the way to signal this outcome is breaking trends within their genre, but they were trends that deserved to get broken. So even if this wasn't the outcome I selfishly wished for, I can be happy that a group that is often forgotten is not forgotten this time.

last edited at Dec 11, 2022 4:20AM

me and my fellow asexual meow meows

for me I didn't really feel like the ending was rushed. Would I have wanted more of their goofy shenanigans? Of course, and I feel like that's their only major sin for the manga. But I actually feel like the ending made sense.

Have to say I missed it being ace...

I'm ace, and I missed it being ace.

last edited at Dec 10, 2022 12:18PM

Both happy for the ace representation and sad because I really can't relate to ace stuff

HOLY SHIT THEY'RE ACE?!?!? WHY DIDN'T I FIGURE THIS OUT SOONER?

Have to say I missed it being ace...

I'm ace, and I missed it being ace.

I was freaking out within the first chapter, sending my friend screenshots. LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS TOO RELATABLE! I DID NOT SIGN UP TO READ YURI MANGA TO BE PERSONALLY CALLED OUT!

And then I really did not expect the author to make the ace stuff a major theme she would double down on. I think it’s interesting to have characters who never use any explicit labels for themselves. That’s a major contrast from Voice, Lilies, Wear Wind. It’s kind of nice, I think.

Have to say I missed it being ace...

I'm ace, and I missed it being ace.

I was freaking out within the first chapter, sending my friend screenshots. LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS TOO RELATABLE! I DID NOT SIGN UP TO READ YURI MANGA TO BE PERSONALLY CALLED OUT!

And then I really did not expect the author to make the ace stuff a major theme she would double down on. I think it’s interesting to have characters who never use any explicit labels for themselves. That’s a major contrast from Voice, Lilies, Wear Wind. It’s kind of nice, I think.

Label usage is incredibly rare in Eastern stories in general. The amount of Yuri stories where the word 'lesbian' is used is likely under 20%.

Voice, Lillies, Wear Wind was very abnormal in actually using the label.

Have to say I missed it being ace...

I'm ace, and I missed it being ace.

I was freaking out within the first chapter, sending my friend screenshots. LOOK AT THIS! THIS IS TOO RELATABLE! I DID NOT SIGN UP TO READ YURI MANGA TO BE PERSONALLY CALLED OUT!

And then I really did not expect the author to make the ace stuff a major theme she would double down on. I think it’s interesting to have characters who never use any explicit labels for themselves. That’s a major contrast from Voice, Lilies, Wear Wind. It’s kind of nice, I think.

Label usage is incredibly rare in Eastern stories in general. The amount of Yuri stories where the word 'lesbian' is used is likely under 20%.

Voice, Lillies, Wear Wind was very abnormal in actually using the label.

I liked Voice, Lilies fairly well overall, but that labels section felt like an “Aroace 101” infodump (a bit intrusive, but probably needed).

That’s why I called this series “kind of a breakthrough” for treating its ace characters as just a variant on the wlw yuri narrative. Like at least some other readers, I picked up on the ace signals early on, but for much of the series I thought the probability was pretty high that it was going to be a slow-burn to a “sexuality epiphany.” But as the ending neared, it became increasingly clear that the story was heading elsewhere, or maybe more precisely, it was staying the course it had established.

It will be interesting to see if other authors explore this new-ish territory, and how they might go about doing it.

last edited at Feb 6, 2023 3:25PM

I really liked the end, definitely one of my favorite yuri works. The emotional connection through the development of the characters was maybe rushed the last volume, but nevertheless sweet and in point with how I understood the Asahi and Hinako in this years of lecture c:

I was actually hoping someone could clarify asexuality for me as I am a sexual person,

The prefix 'a-' can mean "on, in, at", "in such state or condition", "in the manner of", or "not or without" depending on conext. Therefore, the word asexual can mean to be without or to not have sex or to be in the state or condition of sex. Asexuality can be no sex and can be having sex.

However, if one derives some form of fulfillment from sex, isn't that just being sexual regardless of importance and or prevalence or rate of occurrence?

I would have to assume that asexuality is ultimately defined by a state of absence of sex that is sustained without any desire for sex and any derived fulfillment from sex. Rather, an asexual person may have sex, but they won't miss or desire sex after a time of not having it and or when never having had sex?

Asexuality is a spectrum.

Basically, asexuality means not being sexually attracted to others.

However, there's romantic asexuals, who have relationships, but not sex. There's aromantic asexuals, who have no desire for relationships. There's grey asexuals who do feel sexual attraction, under very specific conditions only. There's demi-asexuals, who feel sexual attraction only after getting to know someone and creating a bond with them. And others.

I just say "I'm just me."

For examples in webcomics, there's Erin in Girls with Slingshots.
Vincent in How to Be a Werewolf who's demisexual.
Fiona in Supernormal Step.
Hannelore in Questionable Content.
Shades of A, the protagonist is ace.
Dina in Dumbing of Age is grey-ace.

Note, the A in LBGTIA2S+ stands for asexual, NOT ally.
https://www.asexuality.org/

Thank you for a reasonable reply. Still a little interesting in "some asexual have sexual attraction" as even people who define as sexual are not interested in sex in every condition and wait until the relationship is at a certain step. I just find it a curious overlap, but ClevelandClinic defines Demi as asexual due to lower than average sexual interest. I'll leave it at that and won't bind the comments, but thanks again.

The more overlap understood the less discrimination there is.

Anyway, cute series. I'm glad they ended up together and have the time and space to figure things out for themselves.

last edited at Dec 14, 2022 1:35AM

it's nice to see another Ace characters
we need more representation like this

last edited at Dec 16, 2022 10:24PM

Titular summary of the whole story:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/crescent_moon_and_doughnuts_ch01#23

Thanks to all who made this possible

Titular summary of the whole story:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/crescent_moon_and_doughnuts_ch01#23

Thanks to all who made this possible

Yeah, in retrospect, the title really should have been a clue. The Crescent Moon and Doughnuts are both things that are what they are because they have something absent. The hole is what makes the doughnut a donut. It isn't something the doughnut is missing, and the doughnut isn't defective because the hole is there. Same thing with the crescent moon. It's the absence of the fully lit face of the moon that makes it a crescent moon, but it isn't diminished because of it.

The point of the story is about how not having something most people have doesn't make you lesser, it just makes you different, and there's not anything wrong with being different.

Yessssss asexual tag!!!