I have to conclude that either Nae has a killer poker face, or she has utterly failed to connect Umi's dots, namely "Umi likes someone she won't tell me about" and "Umi has gotten really close with Shou".

Heteronormativity is one hell of a drug

Shou's useless-lesbianess reached peak levels this chapter

Also the nurse seems sensitive to the possibility of escapades. "Why are the two of you out here by yourselves."

Maybe not escapades, but she’s certainly on the lookout for shenanigans.

Little does she know that it was actually canoodling that was about to turn into hanky-panky.

Shou's useless-lesbianess reached peak levels this chapter

Hey, she's been good.

"That's fine. I don't want you to ever stop liking me."

"Kiss me, now, before you change your mind."

So, my yuri goggles say the two teachers planning a weekend sleepover are an item. Any disagreement?

Yea, I also see it. Those are some pretty knowing squints, too.

I'm just worried someone official will cotton on and make them stop sharing a room.

Shou's useless-lesbianess reached peak levels this chapter

Hey, she's been good.

"That's fine. I don't want you to ever stop liking me."

"Kiss me, now, before you change your mind."

Yes, I legit don't know how anyone can call Shou "useless". Considering the walls she had to build around her heart to protect herself, she has been making a lot of progress since befriending Umi. She didn't fumble any opportunity here; even if she were ready to get physical with Umi, doing it in private would be better than in a room with other girls sleeping.

So, my yuri goggles say the two teachers planning a weekend sleepover are an item. Any disagreement?

That's exactly what I was thinking.

Nice to see Umi is willing to hear her out on keeping their relationship secret as well. It is kind of painful seeing them hide it, but not in an unrealistic way. Just a bit too real, I suppose.

Also Shou suddenly realizing she could be horny in a realistic way is kind of funny.

My puberty was long ago, I have no idea what 'realistic' sexual awakening is, apart from a research websearch on same.

Two lesbian ships passing in the night…

Ugh, aren't they just the cutest, what a wonderful day to be alive.

Wow what a wonderful series.
Pretty sure I'd been avoiding it because updates are so few and far between. Guess I'll just reread it whenever there's an update 3 or so times a year.

I wonder about Shou not wanting Umi to tell Nae, seeing as how Shou doesn't seem to care much about what others think of her.
Maybe she's more worried about it causing trouble for Umi?
Or maybe I'm misreading Shou and she does care what people think and that's why she keeps to herself so much.
She doesn't like sticking out and is afraid of bullying for being "weird", like what happened in elementary school.

Yeah, re-read or bookmark my notes. :p

I wonder about Shou's reluctance too, but don't think we know enough to really guess. Fear of homophobia, fear of standing out, some idea of wanting to keep Umi to herself (doesn't really make sense but feels plausible in a hazy way), fear of the school separating them... maybe having a more negative impression of Nae given the latter "coming on" to her the first sleepover night. :)

I'm constantly waiting for the other shoe to drop with this manga.

It's full of fluffy moments, but you can feel the drama lurking at the edge.

Hmm. Mostly I haven't felt incipient drama, just bumbling teen fluff. A few things do worry, though. Most obvious is the "moderate luck" fortune that Umi drew. Not that I believe in fortune-telling but the author seemed to be putting her thumb on things there. Umi seems very lucky so far, so what's the downside...?

I can also imagine some problems. Umi seems to be Shou's first friend, ever, as well as first girlfriend. Um has been lusting after Shou more, but Shou needs Umi emotionally more than the reverse. That could go some bad places; maybe the "don't tell your friend" is shuffling toward that.

And while I've liked to imagine Nae as a latent bisexual who happens to have arranged her own perfect marriage, there's no real evidence of that; maybe she would turn out to be homophobic and Umi be pulled between best friend/friend group and girlfriend.

Her face while looking out the window is so cute, love the blush(?) details Aoikani draws on their faces

Umi nursing Ibu, as usual.

Nae wanting to come back to Okinawa with just Umi. I'm not saying she's bi for Umi but she ain't squelching the allegations.

I'd comment on blushes but like almost everyone is blushing, maybe it's just Okinawan heat.

Zumiko, study goddess, isn't thrilled about going back to school. I think that fits what we learned recently: she studies hard because she feels she has to, to escape, not because she's so naturally bookish.

Komatsu is friendly enough and/or bored enough to talk to Shou.

Shou gives a beautiful smile. Heck, even Umi doesn't get that smile in person most of the time.

Fuki sleep. Umi sleep. (Yeah, you need that, girl.) Nae sleep -- on Umi. I'm not saying Nae is bi for Umi, but...

Man, it'd be nice to know more about their histories. Do Nae and Umi know each other from like 1st grade, or did they bond a year ago in high school? I think the only ones we know are Ibu and Yoshi having known each other a long time, and Zumi and Shou having gone to school together before.

Thanks for the translation!

last edited at May 3, 2024 12:17AM

This manga is soooo slow burn but soooo good. It makes me kinda sad that the artist is self-publishing since they're clearly talented enough to put out a proper serialization and make better money off it.

A nice positive ending to this trip with that happy look on her face. ^_^

This manga is soooo slow burn but soooo good. It makes me kinda sad that the artist is self-publishing since they're clearly talented enough to put out a proper serialization and make better money off it.

Per chapter, the story isn't that slow burn. Confession and reciprocation by chapter 7-8. Ecchi thoughts (skirt lift) by chapter 10. First kiss 14. By some standards it's rather brisk!

But she does around 3 chapters a year, so it's been 5.5 years, going by translations. Slow burn if you just read the updates as they come.

Holy diabeetus, Batman.

Geez, gosh, I so adore this series. I'm so thankful to Aoikani (and knight heron!) for keeping at it for so long. There's soo much care and intentionality to so much of the storytelling, this is one of the very rare series I can read and almost instantly feel peace. I was super excited to see the "Special Thanks" page grow so much with Volume 6, too. Maybe it's wrong to think this way, but this series just doesn't seem like it'd work in a serialized format. I'm really happy kani can keep going, writing the story they want to at a healthy pace, while being compensated for it and releasing the whole thing for free, too! All of it just feels like a great, big special achievement.

That said, I wonder where Volume 7 is heading? There's no shortage of threads that have been left dangling, but Shou's "Please don't tell anyone" is a bit too serious to be left alone, I think? Volume 5 was Shou communicating her problems and discovering Umi would be there for her no matter. Volume 6 is Shou starting to confront those problems - or maybe lucking into having them confronted. Does that mean Volume 7 is about her having to manage competing social desires (Umi vs friends?), or is it that she's thinking of Umi, here? Maybe it's something else - like a more concrete reason for Zumiko's ever-watchful eye around her.

I do really appreciate that most heavy scenes are followed up with something nice - the returned confession, the tickling, or that peaceful moment after Shou's breakdown. Maybe the next heavy scene will let them finally live out some of those topless fantasies they've been having?

Hot_Soup43 posted:

WOOOOOO BABY THATS WHAT IVE BEEN WAITIN FOR THATS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT WOOOOO

Also I really enjoyed that post, it's how I feel with every update!

Hmm, your three "dangling threads" links don't seem like they're dangling to me? Shou accepted Umi (first one), I'm not sure what's dangling with Zumiko (third), and as for the aquarium club (second)... Well the senpais almost all bailed, it's Shou and the third year who has to repeat, I guess we could get into recruiting members and whether Umi would feel jealousy for Shou getting new people in her life.

Possible threads like Ibu or Nae's feelings for Umi.

rainbow8 posted:

Hmm, your three "dangling threads" links don't seem like they're dangling to me? Shou accepted Umi (first one), I'm not sure what's dangling with Zumiko (third), and as for the aquarium club (second)... Well the senpais almost all bailed, it's Shou and the third year who has to repeat, I guess we could get into recruiting members and whether Umi would feel jealousy for Shou getting new people in her life.

Oh, whoops. That should've been past tense, and "dangling" isn't really the right word either - threads tend to be teased long before they come to a head. As for my examples.

1. Shou's lack of self-worth, "Are you perhaps forcing yourself to be together with me" took 9 chapters to really bubble over with Shou's breakdown.

2. "Everyone started arguing and eventually stopped coming to the club..." was the setup for the sendoff chapter, two volumes later.

3. There are 2 here. Zumiko recounts the fish eyes story, which is the catalyst for this really sweet scene between Shou and Umi 3 chapters later. The thread is picked up again 3 chapters later when the bullies show up and it's revealed that Zumi was one of them. I feel like it'll come back around eventually, but I'm not too confident.

Possible threads like Ibu or Nae's feelings for Umi.

I've been waiting on some concrete Ibu development for 4 years! I guess true to her desires, she's just been kind of...static? I've become so used to her, I guess I stopped expecting anything at one point.

last edited at May 8, 2024 1:11PM

Oh, whoops. That should've been past tense, and "dangling" isn't really the right word either - threads tend to be teased long before they come to a head. As for my examples.

Got it, thanks.

1. There are 2 here. Zumiko recounts the fish eyes story, which is the catalyst for this really sweet scene between Shou and Umi 3 chapters later. The thread is picked up again 3 chapters later when the bullies show up and it's revealed that Zumi was one of them. I feel like it'll come back around eventually, but I'm not too confident.

Ooh! I recall speculation that Zumiko had been one of the bullies, but I don't recall anyone having spotted her before. Hard to be certain, since so many girls look similar especially in that hair color, but yeah "Here she comes" girl looks like a young Zumi. She doesn't directly taunt Shou, but is at least adjacent to the bullying.

(And the other bullies do keep similar hair styles across ages, though I think one grew a ponytail. So yeah, probably Zumi.)

Possible threads like Ibu or Nae's feelings for Umi.

I've been waiting on some concrete Ibu development for 4 years! I guess true to her desires, she's just been kind of...static? I've become so used to her, I guess I stopped expecting anything at one point.

Yeah, she doesn't do much that we see, just lurks, tending to make scenes a bit worse. :p But lurks so often, vs. it taking me forever to be sure that the 7th girl even had a name (Makki).

last edited at May 8, 2024 8:22PM