So, i've done a full reread of the entire series, Citrus and Citrus+, since yesterday and it gave me some thoughts.

Like how it's a really nice touch that the end of Citrus Vol.10 and the end of Citrus+ Vol.1 are the same scene and C+ expands on the circumstances of it a bit. And so bc the C+vol.1 scene doesn't copy everything from the Cvol.10 one it's easy to forget that that was the first time Mei has ever told Yuzu that she loves her to her face and that they shared a very romantic kiss there.
A great way to connect the end of the previous and the start of the new series~

Reading it all consecutively like this also made me realize that Mei hasn't "regressed" at all. She's more open with her feelings, receptive and reciprocative with affection from and towards Yuzu, acted more emotionally supportive and has been an overall maiden in love the most she's ever been in the series.
Every volume has scenes of them being lovey-dovey, emotionally supportive of each other or making out. Or all three. Even in terms of steaminess it's not like 'nothing' ever happens, heck, the aftermath of the summer festival has the hottest shot between them in this whole series so far.

Especially if you consider the timeframe. Volume 1 to 5 all take place in a bit over 4 months, there has been a considerable amount of closeness and growth between them in that short amount of time. Really the only thing that's missing compared to the previous series is all the pained expressions and lashing out, especially from Mei. It's easy to disregard her bc she's has a naturally expressionless resting face but she's looking softer and crushingly blushing more than ever before.

It was hard not to feel like nothing was progressing with the slow release pace the series has, especially lately, but now that i've read it all over again I can confidently say that I disagree with all the critique that Mei hasn't changed at all or that she's "as robot-like as ever". Couldn't be further from the truth imo.

I mean heck, Mei has said it best herself just at the start of Vol.6~

I mean heck, Mei has said it best herself just at the start of Vol.6~

Words are demonstrated with actions. How many times have they kissed in citrus+, how many romantic dinners have they had, how many hugs have they had. no one denies that MEI loves yuzu but her way of Expressing it is poor, and the clear example was Yuzu's birthday episode, which was the most anticlimactic seen in Citrus. Saboruota needs to "soften" MEI's character a little, That doesn't mean changing your personality. This series didn't start yesterday. Having said that, I agree that the story is very slow, and as a clear example, this month's chapter, which after 3 months 16 Pages, I just hope that he is in good health. Greetings

It's taken 5 years IRL to get from May 27 to September 30. Any guesses how long till they get married in Alabama?

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 8:42AM

Yuzu so gay, she can't even remember boys' faces.

It remains the type of situation where everything would be settled if the two main characters had a 1 minute actual conversation about the things that are happening, but at least Yuzu is putting the more obvious parts together in her head. Let's just say it's a very good thing that Harumin and Matsuri are there to help (^^)

I still feel like at the end of the day we are setting up for it to be Mei that's worried about Yuzu and Arata. It's barely there but I got the impression that, that's where we'll go. And now I'm assuming Yuzu will try and hang out with Arata more in order to get to know him. Yuzu's idea is reasonable though. The unknown can be your worst enemy and can create a void that fills up with miserable and wild imaginations. So whether she hangs out with him or asks around, either way is not a bad idea.

last edited at Oct 21, 2023 9:23AM

without spoilers Little to talk about this chapter. What we all intuited about the association of MEI and Arata has occurred and Yuzu as always with her mental paranoias although it seems that now she has made something clear or perhaps she is just deceiving herself, but here I leave a very personal reflection. How does this association between MEI and arata benefit yuzu? What was stopping MEI from telling Yuzu about her plans? Come on, it's not even like it was a state secret and MEI belonged to the Japanese intelligence services hahahaha, but (and it hurts my heart to say it) at this point in history I don't care if I know it, savoruota is making me not care about the main couple, maybe it's because of the slowness of the story, maybe because I know they got married and I see all these artificial dramas as unnecessary, or maybe it's because I thought citrus+ was going to be something else or maybe all of them at the same time , if we add to this that the secondary characters have barely had any development, it is the perfect cocktail. When will these two "useless lesbians" have a simple conversation to solve their problems? It's as simple as that. In the next chapter we will know. Greetings

Not giving anything away, but more of a cultural question.

Mei is making a speech to the entire student body, however, I do not understand why she addresses to the student body as "Minnasama". I thought one should call peers as "Minnasan", no? As the student council president and also as a senior, she is the most senior member of the student body, so I do not understand why she would use "sama" to any student, let alone the entire student body. The only persons she technically can use that term "sama" is to Yuzu, ie, oneesama, or Himeko, because Himeko comes from has a much much much more respected and old super rich family, ie, a higher social class.

I should be able to answer that! In Japanese, the use of formal/humble language (such as "desu" or the honorific "-sama") isn't solely determined by social status or "rank". It's true that you often use formal language with your elders and those in a higher position than you, but you do so out of an effort to be respectful/formal, not because there's an inherent rule about age or status that you need to follow. So, any situation in which it would be appropriate to be respectful/formal is a situation where it makes sense to use formal/humble language. In this case, Mei is addressing the student body in a very formal capacity, making an official announcement as a representative of the student council. In fact, the language she uses all throughout the speech is dripping with formality, which is something I spent a lot of time trying to accurately represent in my translation. If Mei were to casually address a group of her peers in a normal school setting, I would fully expect her to use "minasan" instead.

I still feel like at the end of the day we are setting up for it to be Mei that's worried about Yuzu and Arata. It's barely there but I got the impression that, that's where we'll go. And now I'm assuming Yuzu will try and hang out with Arata more in order to get to know him.

This is what I'm thinking, too. I've also always felt that, if Arata starts crushing on anyone, it'll be Yuzu rather than Mei, which would be even more reason for Mei to be the jealous one for once.

Came back to read this after a whole year; Mei is even more robotic, Yuzu is...well yuzu, idgaf about rest of the characters and...mcs still haven't fucked yet. Great.

I just can't get invested in this part of the plot. It's actually so boring.

Yuzu arduously comes to the realization that she’s afraid of the unknown, thereby catching up to the average 5-year-old.

Yuzu so gay, she can't even remember boys' faces.

I laughed out loud at this part, is so Yuzu.

Still, I find it interesting this is the first time we are tackling the School Festival scenario, which is a staple of mangas set in HS so it is curious that only a decade into, citrus is finally having it. Besides that, I wonder if this is part of a larger plan to have both Aihara Academy and Arata's school merge into a single, mixed institution. From previous chapters, it seems like funding has been a growing worry for both schools so combining them, does make sense.

I love this .... But I honestly wish It ends soon, not out of hate or anything.... I just think It stretched WAY too much already

Saburouta successfully captures the mind-numbing feeling of a boring school assembly speech. Well done?

My guess is she'll try to be friend with him, he'd start falling for her then Mei will get jealous and have a taste of how Yuzu feels

My guess is she'll try to be friend with him, he'd start falling for her then Mei will get jealous and have a taste of how Yuzu feels

I really hope that's what will happen

I wonder if Mei ever thinks about Arata is interested in Yuzu. The small amount of interaction between Arata and Yuzu clearly shows that Arata likes Yuzu. They are also both extroverts. Any crush that Arata has on Mei when they were kids is irrelevant now that they have grown up. I think that Arata probably considers Mei to be a future close friend, why Yuzu being a future girl friend.

As I wrote earlier, my school did exactly something similar. The school founder built two schools, one is for boys, the other for girls. Eventually for social and economical reasons, they merged. Now because of harsh economic situation, we ended up selling the original girl campus, but we survived. If the two school did not merge, both will go bankcrupt.

This proposed school cultural festival by Mei is a HUGE gamble and she better explains it carefully to the board. As Sayaka said before, the school is a bird cage, preventing any student from knowing the outside world. To be more specific, boys. Since many students are already engaged, most of them probably have never met any boys other than their own family circle (such as relatives) and the fiances. But now we have an opportunity for the students to meet with boys from a boy school, and work together, many (on both sides) may end up falling in love (puppy love, whatever you want to define it). This can potentially ruin many engagements. This will become the nightmare scenario that Sayaka fears. The unknown outside world. What will happen if Miyabi meets a boy from Arata's school and started having a crush? Miyabi has no obligation to tell Sayaka everything. What I am trying to point out is, Mei is playing a dangerous game. Engagements being canceled can mean business alliances being broken for the rich who has been inter-marrying for a couple hundred years. Even if Arata's classmates are all from the rich and the upper social class, wrong alliances can cause serious problems.

I hope the board knows what is going on, and I hope Mei has the answers ready.

The truth is also that if Mei does not do something like this, Aihara academy may not last long. It will be like a leak from a dam when the students see what the outside world is, and one by one their families start to send their kids to co-ed schools. Arata's school will also have the same problem, if not more, because boys surely love co-ed schools. Well, except a few..we don't even know if Arata is straight, bi, or gay at this point, all we know is he and Yuzu gets along very well just from what we see so far. But then again of course he himself may already have been engaged.

Oh, I am surprised that Matsuri seems to have a much better relationship with Sayaka. Although I am not surprised that Sayaka does not want to say anything about the festival regardless of whether Mei told her not to say a word about it, this is exactly the scenario she fears about, but has to go through with it, just as she has promised Miyabi (and Yuzu). My feeling is that she does not know the details, based on Himeko's expression, who seems to know a bit but not everything.

Sabu is too slow. I am sure she signed a contract with Yurihime to know how many volumes she would need to produce. Dragging the story will fulfill the contract, but that is a short sighted business strategy. Move quicker, create better arcs, HaruMatsu, etc. A longer sighted strategy will be not just doing that, but finish the manga good enough to have a new sequel (post marriage, College days) with no restrictions anymore. Namori is still drawing not just one, but two series of which one of them is a side story. IF she can do that, and still doing strong, there is no reason Sabu cannot do the same.

I really do think the main issue is the super long gaps in between chapter updates. Like yes it's best if Saburouta can work at a pace that is best for her health, but on the other hand, the amount of things that actually happen in the chapters are so, so agonizingly slow. I feel like this chapter was one of the worst offenders so far. While I liked the 2nd half of the chapter with Yuzu figuring out her shit (actual plot development), did we really need half the chapter for a 15 page update to be about a generic student assembly? It did not have to be dragged out for that many pages. Like come on, 3 months for a boring student assembly announcement??

last edited at Oct 22, 2023 5:09AM

Sabu is too slow. I am sure she signed a contract with Yurihime to know how many volumes she would need to produce. Dragging the story will fulfill the contract, but that is a short sighted business strategy. Move quicker, create better arcs, HaruMatsu, etc. A longer sighted strategy will be not just doing that, but finish the manga good enough to have a new sequel (post marriage, College days) with no restrictions anymore. Namori is still drawing not just one, but two series of which one of them is a side story. IF she can do that, and still doing strong, there is no reason Sabu cannot do the same.

I agree with what you say, but the reality of where saburouta is going is different, with the danger that the reader ends up "getting tired" of this story. It needs more interesting arcs and more rhythm in the story and not repeated dramas, an interesting one would be one dedicated to MEI's mother or another dedicated to Sara and Nina who are missing. Regarding continuing the story after marriage or at university, Saburouta already made it clear in an interview that no, this story ends at graduation, and finally as far as the harumatsu is concerned, both the harumatsu and the hard between yuzu and MEI are two elements that the author uses to keep the reader with expectations, but the hard is neither there nor expected and the harumatsu today is "dead", tomorrow who knows. Greetings

Regarding continuing the story after marriage or at university, Saburouta already made it clear in an interview that no, this story ends at graduation, and finally as far as the harumatsu is concerned, both the harumatsu and the hard between yuzu and MEI are two elements that the author uses to keep the reader with expectations, but the hard is neither there nor expected and the harumatsu today is "dead", tomorrow who knows. Greetings

Some almost 30 years ago I read CLAMP's (both in raw) Tokyo Babylon first, and then the sequel X which was actually better with many more interesting characters. I read Minami Ozaki's (both in raw) Zetsuai and then the sequel Bronze which was also actually better with more high drama. If these first class Yaoi doujinshi-generation artists knew what to do with sequels, how come Sabu does not? So what sort of artist Sabu is, making a sequel meaningless? A bad sequel can even ruin the joy of reading the original series...

Has evidence been presented anywhere that there are actually issues with the author’s health, or is that just speculation about the long waits between new chapters?

Some almost 30 years ago I read CLAMP's (both in raw) Tokyo Babylon first, and then the sequel X which was actually better with many more interesting characters. I read Minami Ozaki's (both in raw) Zetsuai and then the sequel Bronze which was also actually better with more high drama. If these first class Yaoi doujinshi-generation artists knew what to do with sequels, how come Sabu does not? So what sort of artist Sabu is, making a sequel meaningless? A bad sequel can even ruin the joy of reading the original series...

Maybe I'll change my mind. What is clear is that at the current publication rate she can get 5/6volumes Further or whatever Until the graduation. What I don't know is how She going to fill all that. what I have
Of course, if you don't have arcs that hook the reader, some readers will end up abandoning the story. Who knows, maybe She saving a harumatsu for last, or something from MEI's mother,It even gives more rhythm to the story or maybe nothing and Stay the same. I don't know .The future will say

last edited at Oct 22, 2023 12:45PM

More important, Yuzu look she was tapping Harumi on the table, xd

Has evidence been presented anywhere that there are actually issues with the author’s health, or is that just speculation about the long waits between new chapters?

My comment about health was just a general statement about the usual mangaka working conditions, but I don't know if she has announced any specific health issues. I just know she sometimes struggles with the deadlines since there's been several chapters where she had to release them incomplete.