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.

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

Bruh... I think one of these days imma really drop this manga already. Honestly, I thought I was the sort of person who was into drama, but this manga surprisingly proved me wrong.

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.

And it should've been just that. Didn't need another new character to screw around with their relationship.

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.

If that’s how you view it and why you take issue with it, then very well. Would it be nice to get some information on the stuff you’ve discussed? Of course. Does it bother me that we don’t? Not at all.

I can take the hint that student council duties in a prestigious academy and preparing to become a chairwoman is a lot of work and a big deal, and as it stands, it’s enough for me to understand and buy into the plot and character motives/actions.

The board opposes Mei because she wants to become chairwoman and change the system. Do we know exactly what that entails? No. But Mei being the first woman on the board, in charge nonetheless, and changing years, possibly decades of established rules, traditions, and procedures, is enough for me to believe their disdain of her and want to see them fall and her succeed. Just say down with the patriarchy and I’m in.

At this point, we’re gonna pass so much time just to wait for this story to move cohesively that Japan’s own legal system might change its laws on gay marriage faster than this story gets to a place where it can reasonably end lol

Lol. I was thinking along these lines today when I checked the phone that Mei confiscates from Yuzu in chapter 1 OG Citrus—it looks like an iPhone 5 (my first smartphone).

Sabu’s lucky the series started just too late for it to be an old-school flip phone—we haven’t advanced a full three story years in a decade of real time.

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.

And it should've been just that. Didn't need another new character to screw around with their relationship.

As much as I’m liking this setup and Arata’s chipper attitude so far, I will admit it would’ve been nice to involve a character we’re already familiar with. Like Mitsuko, or hell, Mei’s grandpa.

is sabu ok? this chapter is very sketchy

This make me sad another selosan arc, maybe ill come back in 2024 hoping to see something new.

I will never stop being baffled at all the people saying that Mei is a robot now when the core of citrus+ is showing how much Mei has grown as a person due to Yuzu's influence and the strides she does to make it up to her for all the stuff she made her go through in the original series. This chapter also helped to round her character by showing us that she is committed to changing the rigid school system by expanding her new philosophy beyond Aihara Academy.

Arata seems like a pretty fun guy, earnest and well-meaning and I doubt that a love triangle will form (hell, given the track record of characters introduced so far, I'm fully expecting him to be gay) but it is fun to see Yuzu jealous.

This chapter cannot be criticized, because it is simply the beginning of a new arc and until I see how it develops, I will not be able to say if it has been worth it or not. Having said this, this entire chapter can be summed up in the words of MEI "it is the first time I have met a person in my same situation" (referring to arata) and this is something that saboruota has done before, making characters with similar situations interact, or common problems to make them develop, two clear examples yuzu and sayaka Or harumin and kana, and this is what he is going to do with arata and MEI . concluded, I hope That this did not lead to a "udagawa 2.0" or an artificial drama, like the previous arc with "the homophobic kana" and that at once we see the development of MEI that we are all waiting for. Greetings

last edited at Mar 22, 2023 5:19AM

Dark_Tzitzimine doubt that a love triangle will form (hell, given the track record of characters introduced so far, I'm fully expecting him to be gay) but it is fun to see Yuzu jealous.

I don't think there is a love interest on Arata's part, what they have are common problems and their interaction will help them develop each other. The only thing missing was for Sabu to now take out a triangle Loving, when in citrus+ apart from the main couple has not developed any romantic relationship of the secondary characters (harumin, matsuri, shirapon, himeko nene, or the missing Sara and girl XD

last edited at Mar 22, 2023 5:42AM

I'm not sure why people are complaining, since this looks like the change citrus needed. Its been years since we last saw progress on Mei's actual plans and now we finally get to see it in action, and now we get to know how Arata came to be invited to Yuzu and Mei's wedding. He looks like a good guy and I don't think he'll screw with their relationship.

Oh it's great. And I actually forgot he went to the wedding!

This chapter cannot be criticized, because it is simply the beginning of a new arc and until I see how it develops, I will not be able to say if it has been worth it or not.

Yes, definitely better not to overreact based on what might happen. Being dramatic while upset about dramatics can be funny though.

Having said this, this entire chapter can be summed up in the words of MEI "it is the first time I have met a person in my same situation" (referring to arata) and this is something that saboruota has done before, making characters with similar situations interact, or common problems to make them develop, two clear examples yuzu and sayaka Or harumin and kana, and this is what he is going to do with arata and MEI

I'm looking forward to exactly that. Also, we potentially have some forward momentum and direction again that goes beyond just romantic relationships dynamics. It'll be interesting to see how Mei is able to work around these school issues and what effect her and Yuzu will have on Arata.

I doubt that a love triangle will form

Yeah that's not happening. That would require Mei to fall for this person. There's never actually been a love triangle in this series. There's just been bad communication, Mei's worry about the future and Yuzu's anxiety. Mei has never really loved anyone else (the "closest" was with the sisters but even that was connected to Yuzu). This guy might end up liking Mei but she will not like him romantically. Like in this chapter, Yuzu might just worry.

last edited at Mar 22, 2023 6:54AM

I 100% forgot that random bulky guy was on the wedding picture. This does change my perception of the whole chapter a bit, although I still expect a '' should Mei marry this guy'' arc that will very much irritate me. I could be wrong though, I really hope Sabu will go a more interesting route.