I absolutely love this manga! Though I almost didn't read it because of the school setting (you know why), I powered through and fell in love even more with each panel. The characters are also well developed.

Reading this brought back the nostalgic feeling of me reading my first yuri manga 'Girlfriends'

Its really good. I hope they could shown her able to live more independently.

Am I a bad person if I was happy that the step-mother got what was coming to her? It would have been ideal if she had died because she was an AWFUL FUCKING PERSON.

Decided to read this again, and it's interesting that the thing I note most this time around is how Rio changes in how she relates to Sahoko. At first she's aloof and kind of a lady-killer, being suave and come hither and so forth. Following the suicide attempt, she totally changes gears, connecting more honestly and shifting into "devoted girlfriend" mode instead without all that smoothness.

The bonus chapter made me realize that NanoFate are a much less fucked-up and gritty alternate universe version Sahoko and Rio, respectively. :-(

The bonus chapter made me realize that NanoFate are a much less fucked-up and gritty alternate universe version Sahoko and Rio, respectively. :-(

It's a little surprising that Fate isn't a lot more troubled than she is, even in their universe. But I can see it.

The bonus chapter made me realize that NanoFate are a much less fucked-up and gritty alternate universe version Sahoko and Rio, respectively. :-(

It's a little surprising that Fate isn't a lot more troubled than she is, even in their universe. But I can see it.

In my headcanon, she really is as messed up in the head as Rio -- it's just mostly left off-screen, along with most of her recovery and re-adjustment during the pre StrikerS time skip. The main difference between them is that Fate was given strong moral principles by Rynith, and so her self-destructiveness (mainly in A's) was more of a "sacrifice myself for others" kind, while Rio is simply hurting herself in-between having unhealthy relationships.

last edited at Apr 22, 2017 3:05AM

Glad this wasn't really an explicit yuri. It hit the feels, but then I was slapped with reality and could relate to like, the needing that other half or whatever. Aside from that, the story was really realistic. Usually mangas start all happy and end happy or semi-bad, but no, this was a story of progression and a very, very, very patient Higa. Some moments I was like damn Rio, kinda cold gul. But then I was like yo, it's all good, but you better get better.

"Fix her like a machine" indeed. It's interesting to see something that deals with how ableism manifests in East Asian cultures. The idea that people with mental illness can be permanently fixed is prevalent, and when reality looks different, there's a lot of doubling down (leading to claims that people do things "for attention", for example). There's also the matter of people caring more about appearances than mental health.

All in all, this might be one of the most mature comics I've ever read. I'm really glad I stumbled on this.

A wonderful reread

Wow, this is the first time I've read this and man did I really need it. I've needed something like this with that kind of realism.

Awesome story, awesome characters, cute romance.
Sad but realistic. We need more stories like this

Read this a long time ago and ive been on a mission lately to reread/rewatch things to see if they hold up or if id understand the story better. This one falls under the category of better understanding. This story does a wonderful job of explaining love and how it can hurt or help people. We get extremes on both ends and the therapist couple are great as they help broaden the readers perspective. The best part about this is that the love the two protagonist is beyond Yuri; it's about opening yourself to someone, and they happen to be gay too. Nice classic Yuri/ kinda not Yuri read. There's a lot of these kinds of stories now a days that also tell a similar story, and this one is not a perfect take, but damn, this is not one to skip

The best yuri manga ever.

The only thing that would make this better in my eyes is if they were explicitly gay and not just subtext gay. They do kiss twice but neither of them acknowledge it in any way.

I expected a lot worse from the chapter tags and first chapters, but Pieta turned out to be a masterpiece. The lack of a romance tag fits, since the relationship of the characters isn't repeatedly proven to the audience, but the leads develop a very deep and dependent bond that includes and surpasses romance. Suicide, self-harm, and the toxic risks of codependency as a defense mechanism was called out as dangerous, without seeming idealistic or like the leads for sure had red flags for their relationship. I do wish we had seen slightly more of why Sahoko was attracted to Rio, beyond the flow of events and magnetism. Overall, this was beautiful and neither overly light nor overly challenging.

Not specifically autism or the like, but this story touched on the idea of being neurologically divergent. Often greatly different thinking or functioning or sensitivities than a person with more average psychology. The (heartwarming) doc couple's talk of neurodivergent people, or some subset, being evolved beings fragile to current society definitely sounds like certain medical professionals I've heard poetically thinking. That's complicated. Realism aside, the idea that there's a supernatural force related to their shared divergence pulling the protagonists together so they protect each other was a actually satisfying at that point, rather than saccharine or patronizing.

Edit: And I submitted just after the above poster also noted the neurodivergent aspect in a different way! I suppose that's the influence of being the featured series on the main page in 2023. And I was so surprised no prior comments noted it! The English term is late-90s but the paradigm seems to be spreading faster recently.

last edited at Mar 16, 2023 8:07PM

Rereading it years later and it hasn't lost any of its power.
It is one of those gems that deserves to be found by more people.

The dialogue feels so mature and the art style is incredibly distinctive.
It has a timeless quality to it that a lot of other manga simply doesn't have.

An absolute gem. Nanae Haruno, thank you for creating this masterpiece.

It's a shame all my comments were deleted, but yeah this is a masterpiece.
And it's always fun to go back and read old stories with a more modern perspective.
I don't know if I was the first to notice the possibility of both main characters being neurodivergent, but I was definitely the first one to point it out in this comment section.
I'm not sure if the author meant for them to be on the spectrum; given how little neurodivergent people were understood at the time (still are), but I wouldn't be surprised if she at least tried to tell a story about 2 women who experience the world a little different than most.
a lovely story and probably one of the first yuri stories to have a happy ending.

Rereading this after seven years, I cannot help but recognize a lot of BPD symptoms in Rio, which would makes it the most sympathetic portrayal of BPD in Japanese media that I've seen so far... Kind of amazing, actually, for a story that was written in the late '90s.

Also, this seems to be the only manga in existence that has a psychotherapist who is actually being useful.

last edited at May 1, 2024 6:23PM