Why are we being introduced to some random childhood friend guy at this late point in the story ?? With an obviously, perfunctory ''you shold totally marry him in order to save the school Mei '' subplot to boot ? AGAIN ? Haven't we been through this already ? I swear to god, Saburouta will do anything but write about Yuzu and Mei at this point (^^) This is getting dangerously close to fanfic level writing.

And here I thought this series was going to at least try and do something original and make up for all the melodrama that we got in the last one.

Eh I didn't mind this chapter. At least it gave us direction in terms of storyline instead of wandering aimlessly. Since it seems like it's just an excuse to get Yuzu jealous, hopefully it can kinda push them to do something in their relationship lol. Mei feels extra extra robot-y this chapter though. Like even more than usual lol... >_>;;

Whoever said that I wouldn't like this chapter is right. I hate this chapter and the direction the story is going. Just more BS instead of developement of relationships. I don't care about the school. I don't care about past aquaintances. Want Yuzu and Mei, Harumin and Matsure story develpement!. At this point Yuzu should go and fall for Harumin. Like her character better than Mei anyway!!!!!

I’m glad we’re going back to the whole Mei becoming chairwoman and changing the system plot established all the way back in Vol 1. That whole board meeting is still one of my favorite chapters and hopefully it means we’ll be seeing badass take-no-shit queen Mei again.

That being said, it’s almost becoming a joke (an annoying one) with how Mei will almost be affectionate with Yuzu and then immediately turn around and act like a dense kuudere again…

Mei feels extra extra robot-y this chapter though. Like even more than usual lol... >_>;;

Yeah no joke, even Nadeshiko the sex android is more human than her.

i skipped this series alot to the point where i thought yuzumei banged already now who tf is this man!!!!!!!

Why are we being introduced to some random childhood friend guy at this late point in the story ?? With an obviously, perfunctory ''you shold totally marry him in order to save the school Mei '' subplot to boot ? AGAIN ? Haven't we been through this already ? I swear to god, Saburouta will do anything but write about Yuzu and Mei at this point (^^) This is getting dangerously close to fanfic level writing.

Not that I don't agree that this addition came way out of the left field, but no, he made it pretty clear with the discussion with his father that we are not going in that direction this time.

Since it seems like it's just an excuse to get Yuzu jealous,

I could swear it was Yuzu who cluelessly got his number. If at all, it's Mei's turn to be jealous now for once.

I think if the chapter stopped before the conversation between the boy and his father, I would have disliked it a lot. I think that conversation changes everything though. I think the new guy is being honest in his convictions and this will renew the plot around the academy's future. He'll certainly come across the 'reason Mei changed' (Yuzu) during all of this, which sounds fun.

Since it seems like it's just an excuse to get Yuzu jealous,

I could swear it was Yuzu who cluelessly got his number. If at all, it's Mei's turn to be jealous now for once.

I mean, you'd think that but it was Yuzu's internal monologue about a feeling in her chest at the end.

I suspect Yuzu will be jealous because... she's Yuzu and that's basically her thing (kind of baffling how she can't identify envy at this point...), but I have some hope it won't be a central focus.

Although it would be fun if she got jealous enough to blurt out her relationship with Mei in front of that guy, outing them both.

Yuri fans this chapter:

Ok uhhh this was a chapter...

I’m glad we’re going back to the whole Mei becoming chairwoman and changing the system plot established all the way back in Vol 1. That whole board meeting is still one of my favorite chapters and hopefully it means we’ll be seeing badass take-no-shit queen Mei again.

Glad to see some people can understands the concept of this chapter.

Wow, this is like a throwback to the good old days, when we discussed the inner workings of the Aihara Academy, and how the inheritance laws worked, and stuff like that—remember? Late 2017 or so, maybe? Good times, good times . . .

So why would Mei need allies at other schools to deal with the board at her school? What are “her new propositions” that she wants other schools to adopt? Letting girls dress like semi-gyarus and walk around with headphones on their shoulders?

This is also a reminder of how profoundly underwritten OG Citrus was in terms of explaining how the storyworld worked. Back in the day Dynasty commenters put ten times more work into speculating about the school, the larger Aihara family and its interrelations, etc., than Sabu ever did.

I’m glad we’re going back to the whole Mei becoming chairwoman and changing the system plot established all the way back in Vol 1. That whole board meeting is still one of my favorite chapters and hopefully it means we’ll be seeing badass take-no-shit queen Mei again.

Glad to see some people can understands the concept of this chapter.

Oh I get it, I just think the plot should be way past that by now. This is early OG Citrus stuff.

I think if the chapter stopped before the conversation between the boy and his father, I would have disliked it a lot. I think that conversation changes everything though. I think the new guy is being honest in his convictions and this will renew the plot around the academy's future. He'll certainly come across the 'reason Mei changed' (Yuzu) during all of this, which sounds fun.

Yeah it's still not certain whether he admires Mei for their similar upbringing or whether he admires her romantically (or both). The phone number could just be proper business habits or a nervous boy with a crush. I agree, the conversation at the end makes it more ambiguous for now.

I could swear it was Yuzu who cluelessly got his number. If at all, it's Mei's turn to be jealous now for once.

It was Yuzu yes but it wasn't clueless. Seems she felt he was trying connect with Mei, so Yuzu took the initiative to stand in his way. He's happy to get her number as well but that could be because she's Mei's "sister" to him and it's common to settle for a connection to your crush's family.

Wow, this is like a throwback to the good old days, when we discussed the inner workings of the Aihara Academy, and how the inheritance laws worked, and stuff like that—remember? Late 2017 or so, maybe? Good times, good times

I agree. It adds some more direction too, as long as the focus doesn't veer completely into another jealousy arc. The school has been in the background when that was such a large part of Mei's desires, so it's nice to get back into that if only for a bit.

last edited at Mar 21, 2023 7:37PM

The phone number could just be proper business habits or a nervous boy with a crush.

Which brings us back to the “underwritten” part again—what exactly is Mei’s current official status at the Aihara Academy? We know (or do we just assume?) that she’s the heir-apparent to the headmistress/director role, and she’s definitely the 3rd-year class president.

So under what guise or role is she lobbying these other schools to “accept her propositions” (whatever those might turn out be)?

And if she is indeed acting as more than an ordinary student, shouldn’t she be carrying her own cellphone, as a proper businesswoman would do?

I really do feel like we’re back in 2017, asking questions of the text that we now have good reason to believe Sabu has no intention of answering, or probably even of asking herself.

Are we sure Mei is human?

The phone number could just be proper business habits or a nervous boy with a crush.

Which brings us back to the “underwritten” part again—what exactly is Mei’s current official status at the Aihara Academy? We know (or do we just assume?) that she’s the heir-apparent to the headmistress/director role, and she’s definitely the 3rd-year class president.

So under what guise or role is she lobbying these other schools to “accept her propositions” (whatever those might turn out be)?

And if she is indeed acting as more than an ordinary student, shouldn’t she be carrying her own cellphone, as a proper businesswoman would do?

I really do feel like we’re back in 2017, asking questions of the text that we now have good reason to believe Sabu has no intention of answering, or probably even of asking herself.

And what if she finally does explore all that during this arc?

And what if she finally does explore all that during this arc?

She might but I think the point they're making is that many of these questions could (and maybe should) have been answered already, considering how late into the series we are (the second series at that). The cell phone point is especially interesting, but I imagine she just operates in an old fashioned way and is dealing with old fashioned people. That wouldn't seem out of character, just like Kaguya from Kaguya-sama (who shares Mei's archetype, though that show deconstructs them for laughs). I guess Kaguya at least had an extremely old phone though.

last edited at Mar 21, 2023 9:01PM

And what if she finally does explore all that during this arc?

She might but I think the point they're making is that many of these questions could (and maybe should) have been answered already, considering how late into the series we are (the second series at that). The cell phone point is especially interesting, but I imagine she just operates in an old fashioned way and is dealing with old fashioned people. That wouldn't seem out of character, just like Kaguya from Kaguya-sama (who shares Mei's archetype, though that show deconstructs them for laughs). I guess Kaguya at least had an extremely old phone though.

I don’t know about you or anyone else here, but those questions didn’t enter my head while reading this. Even if I considered them I quickly stopped caring cause I’m more invested in where the overall conflict is going rather than the small details.

Guess it all comes down to whether one goes into each new chapter as someone who enjoys the manga overall vs someone who doesn’t.

Guess it all comes down to whether one goes into each new chapter as someone who enjoys the manga overall vs someone who doesn’t.

Look, what “it all comes down to” is different readers thinking different things when they read things. It’s called “thinking.”

Plenty of authors are able to sketch out their storyworlds with a line or a scene or two that add a little depth to our understanding of the characters. Mei’s role at the school has been a central part of her character, but what that role actually is has been kept incredibly vague all along.

For instance, Mei wasn’t able to celebrate Yuzu’s birthday properly because she had many hours of “paperwork” to deal with, but what those papers were about or what they were supposed to accomplish for the school is entirely unstated—they’re just random plot furniture to keep to two leads apart. Now she has a major outreach initiative concerning the school. It seems reasonable to at least ask what it actually is besides an excuse for bringing our two leads into contact with a Big Bulky Guy who knew Mei before and thinks he may be able to relate to her.

last edited at Mar 21, 2023 9:35PM

Guess it all comes down to whether one goes into each new chapter as someone who enjoys the manga overall vs someone who doesn’t.

I'm a big fan of this manga. No, "No True Scotsmans," here. It's also not a big issue. The school focus just left for a while and is now seemingly, finally back. I did enjoy this chapter.

last edited at Mar 21, 2023 9:33PM

Honestly, considering C+ is supposed to have zero yuzu and mei drama within them (i.e those two are locked tight). I think yuzu is feeling jealousy but also like feelings of 'oh shit I did something'

And the guy is just gonna be like a friend guy. Ally.

Like it seems the focus is just mei doing mei things and being successful

Guess it all comes down to whether one goes into each new chapter as someone who enjoys the manga overall vs someone who doesn’t.

Look, what “it all comes down to” is different readers thinking different things when they read things. It’s called “thinking.”

Plenty of authors are able to sketch out their storyworlds with a line or a scene or two that add a little depth to our understanding of the characters. Mei’s role at the school has been a central part of her character, but what that role actually is has been kept incredibly vague all along.

For instance, Mei wasn’t able to celebrate Yuzu’s birthday properly because she had many hours of “paperwork” to deal with, but what those papers were about or what they were supposed to accomplish for the school is entirely unstated—they’re just random plot furniture to keep to two leads apart. Now she has a major outreach initiative concerning the school. It seems reasonable to at least ask what it actually is besides an excuse for bringing our two leads into contact with a Big Bulky Guy who knew Mei before and thinks he may be able to relate to her.

I get wanting stuff like that explained. I may not care, but you clearly do.

But those papers and initiatives and all that jazz are exactly as you said, just backdrops to the inner character drama. Maybe what you said about Saburouta not actually caring about them is right, but I personally don’t take issue with that because that’s never been what I cared about. I cared about how the characters I followed and grew to love reacted to those background plots.

It’s like asking for the original Star Wars trilogy to explain the inner workings of the Empire and how it rules the galaxy. We don’t care about that, we care about how their deeds/misdeeds affect the characters we’re following and how they respond. We saw what happened when the prequels tried to go in-depth with all the politics and stuff— it was boring af.

I get wanting stuff like that explained. I may not care, but you clearly do.

But those papers and initiatives and all that jazz are exactly as you said, just backdrops to the inner character drama. Maybe what you said about Saburouta not actually caring about them is right, but I personally don’t take issue with that because that’s never been what I cared about. I cared about how the characters I followed and grew to love reacted to those background plots.

It’s like asking for the original Star Wars trilogy to explain the inner workings of the Empire and how it rules the galaxy. We don’t care about that, we care about how their deeds/misdeeds affect the characters we’re following and how they respond. We saw what happened when the prequels tried to go in-depth with all the politics and stuff— it was boring af.

I’m not saying I want every detail explained, but if things are supposed to be important to the characters (like the school is to Mei), it would help to get just a little bit of a sense of how it works in relation to her. Otherwise the characters are just too obviously puppets being loaded down with a pile of blank paper labeled “school paperwork to keep the MCs apart.”

To change your analogy, it would be like the Star Wars movies if sometimes there’s an Empire and sometimes there’s not.

last edited at Mar 21, 2023 9:59PM