Slower than a snail stuck with superglue

That hurt. But after this good advice, things may start getting better again...

Y'know, this is actually a significant departure for Morinaga Milk. I mean, her characters have had anxieties, but only along the lines of "She's so awesome and I'm not (plus I'm a girl), so any hints I might be thinking I see of her maybe liking me must be wrong" kind of stuff. So self-deprecating, even a bit insecure, but nothing serious.

What we have here on the other hand, seems to be operating at an existential level--"Am I anything if she isn't looking at me? Is there a point to my existence?" This is not a kind of thinking Morinaga Milk characters have ever done before as far as I can remember. Living for the romantic partner, and maybe being supported by them to do . . . something, has always been more than sufficient for girls in Morinaga Milk stories. Often taking care of the partner has even been the basis of a character's career, going right back to Girl Friends--Mari became a nutritionist basically as an extension of cooking for her beloved Akko, and that was totally enough to make her happy and fulfilled. So yeah, this one is different.

Y'know, this is actually a significant departure for Morinaga Milk. I mean, her characters have had anxieties, but only along the lines of "She's so awesome and I'm not (plus I'm a girl), so any hints I might be thinking I see of her maybe liking me must be wrong" kind of stuff. So self-deprecating, even a bit insecure, but nothing serious.

What we have here on the other hand, seems to be operating at an existential level--"Am I anything if she isn't looking at me? Is there a point to my existence?" This is not a kind of thinking Morinaga Milk characters have ever done before as far as I can remember. Living for the romantic partner, and maybe being supported by them to do . . . something, has always been more than sufficient for girls in Morinaga Milk stories. Often taking care of the partner has even been the basis of a character's career, going right back to Girl Friends--Mari became a nutritionist basically as an extension of cooking for her beloved Akko, and that was totally enough to make her happy and fulfilled. So yeah, this one is different.

It's definitely an interesting take, and I like that it shows that getting the relationship doesn't magically solve all their problems. Given that so many other stories end at that point and everything's great, it's nice to see that yes, they are in love and good together, but that doesn't erase issues that were already there. And it's very clear Yuna has issues that she's be burying and that are being brought out.

As someone else said, my only complaint about this series is that the releases are so spread apart it's hard to stay invested in the slow burn.

Damnn I almost forgot this one. I need to reread this to recall the drama.

Small typo on panel 1?
Yuka -> Yuna

Y'know, this is actually a significant departure for Morinaga Milk. I mean, her characters have had anxieties, but only along the lines of "She's so awesome and I'm not (plus I'm a girl), so any hints I might be thinking I see of her maybe liking me must be wrong" kind of stuff. So self-deprecating, even a bit insecure, but nothing serious.

What we have here on the other hand, seems to be operating at an existential level--"Am I anything if she isn't looking at me? Is there a point to my existence?" This is not a kind of thinking Morinaga Milk characters have ever done before as far as I can remember. Living for the romantic partner, and maybe being supported by them to do . . . something, has always been more than sufficient for girls in Morinaga Milk stories. Often taking care of the partner has even been the basis of a character's career, going right back to Girl Friends--Mari became a nutritionist basically as an extension of cooking for her beloved Akko, and that was totally enough to make her happy and fulfilled. So yeah, this one is different.

I cosign this, pretty hard. Ignoring debates about the execution, I think it's nice to develop and investigate the normal internal issues that can happen within a relationship. Most stories are too "perfect" in the sense that any issues that do occur are external. Author's tend to be afraid to make their characters temporarily unlikeable or to have truly difficult aspects of their personality or mental space. The most internal issues we get are the "acceptable flaws" like "oh I'm not good enough," or "oh I'm too shy." Every other issues is external stuff like jealousy or a new character, work etc. I like that we get to follow her through these issues she's having and how she's hopefully work through them.

last edited at Sep 30, 2023 9:32AM

Yes! Finally, there's a chance they'll actually talk to each other!

On another note: shouldn't this have the abandonment issues tag? I feel like most of the conflict is at least partly driven by Yuna's low self-esteem and fear of ending up alone.

Just binged this. I feel like there’s a nice amount of fluffiness versus realism. Particularly, I was really pleased to see the author dealing with Yuna’s inferiority complex in such a realistic way. I wish they would talk to each other more. Are real people in relationships this bad at communicating honestly? I guess they are, judging from divorce rates. Anyway, I hope that Yuna can find some peace in herself. It would also be great if she could find some new friends and outside supports who aren’t her girlfriend.

Y'know, this is actually a significant departure for Morinaga Milk. I mean, her characters have had anxieties, but only along the lines of "She's so awesome and I'm not (plus I'm a girl), so any hints I might be thinking I see of her maybe liking me must be wrong" kind of stuff. So self-deprecating, even a bit insecure, but nothing serious.

What we have here on the other hand, seems to be operating at an existential level--"Am I anything if she isn't looking at me? Is there a point to my existence?" This is not a kind of thinking Morinaga Milk characters have ever done before as far as I can remember. Living for the romantic partner, and maybe being supported by them to do . . . something, has always been more than sufficient for girls in Morinaga Milk stories. Often taking care of the partner has even been the basis of a character's career, going right back to Girl Friends--Mari became a nutritionist basically as an extension of cooking for her beloved Akko, and that was totally enough to make her happy and fulfilled. So yeah, this one is different.

I cosign this, pretty hard. Ignoring debates about the execution, I think it's nice to develop and investigate the normal internal issues that can happen within a relationship. Most stories are too "perfect" in the sense that any issues that do occur are external. Author's tend to be afraid to make their characters temporarily unlikeable or to have truly difficult aspects of their personality or mental space. The most internal issues we get are the "acceptable flaws" like "oh I'm not good enough," or "oh I'm too shy." Every other issues is external stuff like jealousy or a new character, work etc. I like that we get to follow her through these issues she's having and how she's hopefully work through them.

I think another problem is that when authors do make their characters be flawed, they're usually super petty, contrived, and unrelatable (Looking at you Singing You A Love Song), so seeing a story about adults dealing with realistic character flaws that aren't even necessarily their fault, its just oddly comforting and enjoyable to read.

last edited at Oct 1, 2023 9:20PM

I'm sad that something might be wrong with chibi, don't do it morinaga-sensei

Bless you, Manager. Thank you. Not only did she give good advice, she's also so accepting of that sudden coming out. It's always nice to see people like these in manga.
However, I can't help but dread the next chapter since Yuna is so close to breaking point...

It's good that Yuna let Rena in a bit and Rena unknowingly did a good job of reinforcing how much she trusts Yuna and values her. Now Rena is aware of Yuna's insecurities and struggles at least somewhat. Rena's blaming herself, but it's a better place to be in then when Yuna was hiding all of it, to the point of implosion. Interested in how they navigate things from here but a step in the right direction.

You might want to slap a NSFW tag on chapter 17. It got a bit blue at the end there.

Yeah, it's tasteful and softcore, but there's explicit nudity with visible nipples.

She's just opening a nail salon... imagine if she was opening a massage parlor, now that would warrant some drama

They just need couples therapy. While solving everything with lots of sex seems like a good idea... Sorry, I lost my train of thought.

It's not like all the anxiety has magically disappeared, but they have finally actually talked about this and things can finally start to improve again.

She's just opening a nail salon... imagine if she was opening a massage parlor, now that would warrant some drama

I mean, are you talking about a massage parlor, or a "massage parlor"?

"I'm okay when we're having sex, see?" Phew, that's... a lot going on there.

I was about to say "Oh god finally they are okay now, communication settled and snuu snuu after then here comes the punching line "I'm okay when we're having sex, see"?....like oh boiii her worries and anxiety is not yet done I see. but I'm glad Rena finally got the clue to make things right from here on.

last edited at Dec 2, 2023 9:18PM

Such a good manga. I loooove that they're exploring psychological problems post-getting together. Feels like that is super rare?

Man I love this manga and author, it's such a shame it's three months between every chapter.

She really needed that rest and her body finally let her. Things are moving forward for them. Home Salon it is!

last edited at Mar 17, 2024 7:48AM

It feels like something terrible is about to happen...