I like Shiho and she’s the primary reason I continue to read Sasakoi. That said, the amount of vitriol aimed at her is something else. You’d think she committed no small amount of crimes.

I’m open to vigorous discussion.

Interesting that things seem to be pointing towards an arc considering Hima's role as Laureley's manager. It seems to be by far the best solution, but Yori's conflicted feelings will certainly make that difficult. I just hope this won't reflect negatively on her, drama narrative stemming from jealousy can be quite tricky to handle in a satisfying way.

I feel like Yori will understand quickly. Her and Shiho have had relatively few real interactions and most of her worry has been based on the limited bad meetings and the unknown. With Hima there and with the battle finished, I'd be surprised if this wasn't resolved. Besides Hima can't just hang around Yori all the time and this is clearly something Hima wants to do on her own. She seems to like her role and has become close to Shiho too. She'll have to be allowed to do her own thing and be away from time to time. It says a lot about her care for Yori, that she'd worry about assuaging her fears before continuing on as manager. But she's always trying to bring people together.

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 11:20AM

Interesting that things seem to be pointing towards an arc considering Hima's role as Laureley's manager. It seems to be by far the best solution, but Yori's conflicted feelings will certainly make that difficult. I just hope this won't reflect negatively on her, drama narrative stemming from jealousy can be quite tricky to handle in a satisfying way.

I feel like Yori will understand quickly. Her and Shiho have had relatively few real interactions and most of her worry has been based on the limited bad meetings and the unknown. With Hima there and with the battle finished, I'd be surprised if this wasn't resolved. Besides Hima can't just hang around Yori all the time and this is clearly something Hima wants to do on her own. She seems to like her role and has become close to Shiho too. She'll have to be allowed to do her own thing and be away from time to time. It says a lot about her care for Yori, that she'd worry about assuaging her fears before continuing on as manager. But she's always trying to bring people together.

i agree with that, plus, a sizeable chunk of Yori's unease was motivated by Shiho actively antagonizing her bc of the technically ongoing love triangle between them and Aki (that only Shiho was actually aware of). Since that's resolved now, there should be little in the way of them making up, aside from their prides maybe. But i'm sure Hima will smash right through that xD

"Over 50,000 copies sold! (including digital)"
Well, that's disappointing.

"Over 50,000 copies sold! (including digital)"
Well, that's disappointing.

Maybe you misunderstood? That's over 50,000 for volume 8, in Japan so far (not translated yet). "Whisper" is generally one of the best selling, if not still the best selling, current yuri manga. If it were disappointing, they wouldn't highlight it.

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 12:55PM

h3x posted:

"Over 50,000 copies sold! (including digital)"
Well, that's disappointing.

This really reeks of ignorance of what the average and popular (including those with anime productions) manga sells... Unless one would have the audacity to compare it to one piece or something.

"Over 50,000 copies sold! (including digital)"
Well, that's disappointing.

Maybe you misunderstood? That's over 50,000 for volume 8, in Japan so far (not translated yet). "Whisper" is generally one of the best selling, if not still the best selling, current yuri manga. If it were disappointing, they wouldn't highlight it.

Yeah, if it's for one volume it's not bad. Still, Yuru Yuri is getting around 100K or more for one volume :/

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 1:11PM

"Over 50,000 copies sold! (including digital)"
Well, that's disappointing.

Maybe you misunderstood? That's over 50,000 for volume 8, in Japan so far (not translated yet). "Whisper" is generally one of the best selling, if not still the best selling, current yuri manga. If it were disappointing, they wouldn't highlight it.

Yeah, if it's for one volume it's not bad. Still, Yuru Yuri is getting around 100K or more for one volume :/

Don't think that comparison really works but I'm not going to get into sales discussions beyond this. Overall point is that it's selling well and the number was an ad highlighting it's good sales and public (Japan) reception.

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 1:38PM

i guess after aki and hima, this means its now time for yori to get assassinated for the sake of shiho supremacy?

It’s a particularly puerile piece of contemporary jargon that people who criticize something one approves of as being “haters,” thereby positioning oneself on the side of ‘love” and “acceptance,” although such a flattering self-conception is rather undercut by gloating at an entirely imaginary projection of haters in “shambles.”

Come on, you've been complaining about her for three years straight at this point. You should wear that title with pride.
And yes, there have been many readers here who have expressed how much they hate her. I remember that person who writes those long analyses saying that the best outcome would be for Shiho to fall into a trap and die.

Yeah, if it's for one volume it's not bad. Still, Yuru Yuri is getting around 100K or more for one volume :/

The three best-selling series of the magazine right now are Villainess, Asumi and Whispering.

I’m open to vigorous discussion.

Check the last 50 pages or so. The main topic almost exclusively has been Shiho and her impact on the story.

I’m open to vigorous discussion.

Check the last 50 pages or so. The main topic almost exclusively has been Shiho and her impact on the story.

Thanks. I’ve been reading through the pages, but I dunno if I’ve been reading the same manga as you all considering how much some of you actively loathe her for just existing…?

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 3:30PM

The Shiho haters are not having a good time.

My girl really outdid herself, cause made everyone and their grandmas mad in the manga and in the real world for being an annoying teenager and for being the only real one in this manga.

It’s a particularly puerile piece of contemporary jargon that people who criticize something one approves of as being “haters,” thereby positioning oneself on the side of ‘love” and “acceptance,” although such a flattering self-conception is rather undercut by gloating at an entirely imaginary projection of haters in “shambles.”

Come on, you've been complaining about her for three years straight at this point. You should wear that title with pride.

I used the word “puerile” and I meant puerile.

all those pages of proper discussion and genuine criticism, yet somehow it all gets boiled down to simply loathing a character for just existing, and getting called a hater for not enjoying an unlikable character?

can someone make sense of this gross mischaracterization? is this poor sarcasm or something?

Yeah I think there are two possibilities, people who side with Shiho just to be contrarian and others who really like her character design so they're willing to forgive or even forget anything, because if all she did was just play music and have an unrequited love then no problem, but she made sure to make her problem, a problem for eeeveryone.

Yeah I think there are two possibilities, people who side with Shiho just to be contrarian and others who really like her character design so they're willing to forgive or even forget anything, because if all she did was just play music and have an unrequited love then no problem, but she made sure to make her problem, a problem for eeeveryone.

I mean, i can also just... like Shiho as an entertaining character in this story who imo makes it better/more entertaining by being in it? While also acknowledging that, if she was a real person, I'd probably never be in contact with her at all bc fuck that noise.
Haven't really kept count over the last 50-odd pages but I don't think many ppl who like Shiho (as a character) ever actually argued that she's an angel who has done no wrong (except for the memes maybe idk).

tl;dr Appreciating a character =/= condoning their behavior, is what i'm getting at

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 10:10PM

Yeah I think there are two possibilities, people who side with Shiho just to be contrarian and others who really like her character design so they're willing to forgive or even forget anything, because if all she did was just play music and have an unrequited love then no problem, but she made sure to make her problem, a problem for eeeveryone.

I mean, i can also just... like Shiho as an entertaining character in this story who imo makes it better/more entertaining by being in it? While also acknowledging that, if she was a real person, I'd probably never be in contact with her at all bc fuck that noise.
Haven't really kept count over the last 50-odd pages but I don't think many ppl who like Shiho (as a character) ever actually argued that she's an angel who has done no wrong (except for the memes maybe idk).

tl;dr Appreciating a character =/= condoning their behavior, is what i'm getting at

Nah there's just two possibilities. The people have spoken. Jokes aside, after many pages of this it's become a bit old and repetitive. Really gets in the way of other discussions.

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 11:21PM

Yeah her arrival caused a lot of entertainment in the series (a wide range of emotions) but I'm mostly addressing the "lmao haters xd" and the "Why do you hate her? :(" comments because it really makes me wonder if we are ironically reading the same manga.

Shiho I love you... you are the best

Yeah I think there are two possibilities, people who side with Shiho just to be contrarian and others who really like her character design so they're willing to forgive or even forget anything, because if all she did was just play music and have an unrequited love then no problem, but she made sure to make her problem, a problem for eeeveryone.

I mean, i can also just... like Shiho as an entertaining character in this story who imo makes it better/more entertaining by being in it? While also acknowledging that, if she was a real person, I'd probably never be in contact with her at all bc fuck that noise.
Haven't really kept count over the last 50-odd pages but I don't think many ppl who like Shiho (as a character) ever actually argued that she's an angel who has done no wrong (except for the memes maybe idk).

tl;dr Appreciating a character =/= condoning their behavior, is what i'm getting at

Nah there's just two possibilities. The people have spoken. Jokes aside, after many pages of this it's become a bit old and repetitive. Really gets in the way of other discussions.

like what “other discussions”??? when the story is SOOO making sure you know how much Shiho is making everyone else her imaginary problems?!?!

Not as vindicative as up there but yeah, it was pretty hard to find anything in the arc that wasn't linked to Shiho in some ways given her overwhelming presence in the story. There was next to none things you could talk about without having to talk about her.

Not as vindicative as up there but yeah, it was pretty hard to find anything in the arc that wasn't linked to Shiho in some ways given her overwhelming presence in the story. There was next to none things you could talk about without having to talk about her.

My issue is the repetitive types of discussions here. It's not really discussion, it's complaining and defending. You come in for a discussion and it's just a constant food fight. It's been months of essentially the same exact comments about the same exact things every chapter, no matter what the chapter was about. There's a lot more to discuss that is discussed elsewhere, but here it's bogged down to one type of comment, a lot of snark and nothing else, even after this recent chapter. It's the quality of discussion that I think has been stuck in the mud but that's personal preference anyway. I'd hope I don't get a simple "because Shiho" response.

Anyway, I'm looking forward to what the author plans moving forward. She has a lot of threads she can pull from. Looking forward to this Yori/Himari/Shiho discussion and the makeup of these groups as graduation approaches. I do wonder what she has planned for the manga's future. There's quite a bit she can continue to develop if she wants but there's a lot many ways to wrap this up in a volume or two. Really interested to see what next chapter feels like.

last edited at Oct 22, 2023 8:43AM

At least I feel like the parts are a little more balanced now. Shiho has been slowly gaining popularity here.

Yeah I think there are two possibilities, people who side with Shiho just to be contrarian and others who really like her character design so they're willing to forgive or even forget anything, because if all she did was just play music and have an unrequited love then no problem, but she made sure to make her problem, a problem for eeeveryone.

I mean, i can also just... like Shiho as an entertaining character in this story who imo makes it better/more entertaining by being in it? While also acknowledging that, if she was a real person, I'd probably never be in contact with her at all bc fuck that noise.
Haven't really kept count over the last 50-odd pages but I don't think many ppl who like Shiho (as a character) ever actually argued that she's an angel who has done no wrong (except for the memes maybe idk).

tl;dr Appreciating a character =/= condoning their behavior, is what i'm getting at

To summarize the substantive discussions around Shiho in the last 50 pages of this forum: it was about writing quality. Leaving aside jokes, there was a lot of discussion and arguments about how Shiho made the writing, and therefore the story, worse by being in it. So the exact opposite view you and many Shiho fans have. This discrepancy is bound to lead to discourse.

Granted, you wrote "more entertaining", which is purely subjective and no statement about quality. If your meaning of better is "i like it more / find it more entertaining", then more power to you, there is nothing i want to add to or contest then. If we are talking about craftsmanship, plot holes and consintent character writing, and you are stating Shiho made THOSE better, i. e. of a higher quality, then i would argure against that.

So it was never about Shiho being a terrible character, but a terribly written terrible character.

I had a lot of fun both with the manga and in the forum due to the drop in writing quality around Shiho, so you could say my overall enjoyment of the manga increased, but I will not attribute this increase of joy with an increase of quality. Maybe I would have enjoyed a competently written Shiho Arc way more, who knows.

P.S. there were enough people unironically agreeing with Shiho and saying she did no wrong or was justified in her actions, sadly enough.

I'm mostly here for Kaori/Ma-chan which are the true main characters.