So like did they just not talk about it and just kinda chilled out and immediately go to bed? Lol

They didn't immediately go to bed. She took care of her, calmed her down and is giving her space. It's not always best to jump right into those discussions, especially after your loved one is breaking down crying and clearly in distress. She's more focused on comforting her for now.

last edited at Apr 11, 2024 9:54AM

So like did they just not talk about it and just kinda chilled out and immediately go to bed? Lol

They didn't immediately go to bed. She took care of her, calmed her down and is giving her space. It's not always best to jump right into those discussions, especially after your loved one is breaking down crying and clearly in distress. She's more focused on comforting her for now.

This. While emotional decompression before bed can improve sleep quality, there is also a high potential to spiral if you talk about heavy stuff while you are tired. If you can fall asleep, it's much more productive to do damage control once you're well-rested, and Asako's actions were on point.

I friggin love these panels. The emotions, the feels, I love it so much.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/maitsuki_niwatsuki_ooyatsuki_ch27#18
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/maitsuki_niwatsuki_ooyatsuki_ch27#20

Well, let's see where they decide to go from here...

I was so worried Miyako would break up with Ayako to "protect" her. I'm so glad they didn't go down that route.

Also what stage is their relationship right now. They've dated for months now, are sharing a bed, and taking baths together. But I don't think I've seen them kiss once yet. Is it implied to have happened off screen?

last edited at Apr 11, 2024 4:17PM

That is why paparazzi are hated.

I was so worried Miyako would break up with Ayako to "protect" her. I'm so glad they didn't go down that route.

Also what stage is their relationship right now. They've dated for months now, are sharing a bed, and taking baths together. But I don't think I've seen them kiss once yet. Is it implied to have happened off screen?

They're a couple, that's all.

There's no need for more.

I was so worried Miyako would break up with Ayako to "protect" her. I'm so glad they didn't go down that route.

Also what stage is their relationship right now. They've dated for months now, are sharing a bed, and taking baths together. But I don't think I've seen them kiss once yet. Is it implied to have happened off screen?

They're a couple, that's all.

There's no need for more.

Yeah, I'm confused too lol. I mean sure, they're a couple but after a while you'd start wondering if you haven't kissed like, does this person even like me? are they asexual? what's going on? I'm here waiting for the kiss like o__O

I was so worried Miyako would break up with Ayako to "protect" her. I'm so glad they didn't go down that route.

Also what stage is their relationship right now. They've dated for months now, are sharing a bed, and taking baths together. But I don't think I've seen them kiss once yet. Is it implied to have happened off screen?

They're a couple, that's all.

There's no need for more.

Yeah, I'm confused too lol. I mean sure, they're a couple but after a while you'd start wondering if you haven't kissed like, does this person even like me? are they asexual? what's going on? I'm here waiting for the kiss like o__O

There's a lot they do we don't see. Still, we know they're a happy couple. I think that's what Kirin was saying. As you said, they've been dating for months, are living together, are sharing the same bed, taking baths together, planning to meet each other's families, and discussing permanent life decisions. Isn't that more than enough?

last edited at Apr 12, 2024 4:56PM

Faylicia posted:

I was so worried Miyako would break up with Ayako to "protect" her. I'm so glad they didn't go down that route.

Also what stage is their relationship right now. They've dated for months now, are sharing a bed, and taking baths together. But I don't think I've seen them kiss once yet. Is it implied to have happened off screen?

They're a couple, that's all.

There's no need for more.

Yeah, I'm confused too lol. I mean sure, they're a couple but after a while you'd start wondering if you haven't kissed like, does this person even like me? are they asexual? what's going on? I'm here waiting for the kiss like o__O

In all the Yodokawa works I've read, I don't think there ever was a kiss.

This one is the most explicitly yuri of her works. Most of the time, it's just suggested.

But here, we have an actual established couple. Their love is made of little attentions, being comfortable around each other and sharing warmth with hugs and cuddling.

Kisses are not a mandatory part of a couple's life. Maybe they do kiss off-screen, or even have sex. But this is not the kind of stuff Yodokawa draws.

I love this manga with all my heart and soul but this story line is going to give me an aneurysm. The premise seems to be that Miyako is somehow the first top idol ever to quit her group and as a result her management company is all at sea. AKB48 somehow manages to run a conveyor belt with members joining and quitting all the time, but somehow that's all Dark Magicks to ELM's management..

It is established in the story that Miyako negotiated her exit from the group, which means that the management had plenty of time to promote someone from their trainee program or come up with a good story on day 1 of how the group would go forward with just the four members. They could have done some press availability with Miyako where she give a happy story about how she wanted to focus on her new career in real estate management, and then give her a proper graduation concert. This would have avoided all the problems they're trying to deal with now.

I accepted the whole quit-the-band-suddenly premise as a maguffin to set up the story and why she's trying to be anonymous and all. But now that the maguffin has become the "A" plot line it's shown up for how ridiculous it is. No professional idol management company would screw up something this basic so badly.

Yeah, the only way this chapter makes ANY sense at all is if the director is her mom.

No, that makes even less sense. When Miyako disappears you'd expect her mom to think to check out the vacant property her family owns on the outskirts of town, that she herself was living in until recently. Or ask Granny, who knew where Miyako was the whole time.

It is established in the story that Miyako negotiated her exit from the group, which means that the management had plenty of time to promote someone from their trainee program or come up with a good story on day 1 of how the group would go forward with just the four members. They could have done some press availability with Miyako where she give a happy story about how she wanted to focus on her new career in real estate management, and then give her a proper graduation concert. This would have avoided all the problems they're trying to deal with now.

I reread chapter 9 recently since it's in print and it seems like the exit she chose was more of an "escape plan" vs the typical graduation from a group like you mapped out and there's reasons for that. I don't think she had it in her to fake it anymore. Not a moment more even if it'd have served herself.

She had it drilled into her that her real self couldn't be seen. Down to policing emotions and mannerisms. Once she reached her breaking point on that her ability to assume the fake persona again for media would have felt impossible. It was the key conflict.

If I remember right her first/last/only public word on the subject was said on stage and then she was gone. She didn't let herself be further scripted more than the absolute minimum to get out even if the consequence was the non-contact rule and contributed to the rumors. She's aware of what's being gossiped about and feels guilty about some of it unfairly reflecting bad on the other group members, but if she was in a good mental state a whole lot of things would have been done differently or not necessary at all. She didn't hate her coworkers, the fans, or even the work. It was what the director did to her.

In a way it feels more like getting out of a cult. She was under the thumb of a controlling adult as a teenager, under the eye of the public and living in a restrained way beyond what the others dealt with, and eventually she got herself out. But she still is living by many of the rules of a confined world. She's come a long way, but the director just has to appear and she starts to slip back into the old mindset. By the time she got back home she was like a kid again and the world was ending over something that shouldn't feel that big.

Of course it seems silly to people who didn't grow up like that, but to her this is what she knows. At least she has someone from the outside with her now who will have a different perspective. Someone who has been with her long enough to understand her lived in anxieties too. And while we haven't seen them talk in detail about it yet her already thinking about the car purchase and the importance of making big decisions together makes me think whatever they do will be based on what they decide together. Both sides of the story are coming together which feels nice to me.

Coming back after I forgot I posted, about my thinking the Director is her mom was because of the use of the endearment "Honey". I forgot about the Kansai parents thing, and I'll chalk it up to not understanding the culture or maybe a translation issue, it just sits real weird for the Director to say that.

An appropriated blank-leaving is just fit this manga to a tee. Love it.

So, Miyako can't tell that manager to take a hike, because ... ?