^ uhhhh... does upper slant mean that the outer side of the eyes slants up when compared to the inner side, or the other way around (inner when compared to outer)?

^ uhhhh... does upper slant mean that the outer side of the eyes slants up when compared to the inner side, or the other way around (inner when compared to outer)?

The former~

Look at this: The left is an example of Tsurime (slant up), the right one of Tareme (slant down)

^ uhhhh... does upper slant mean that the outer side of the eyes slants up when compared to the inner side, or the other way around (inner when compared to outer)?

The former~

Look at this: The left is an example of Tsurime (slant up), the right one of Tareme (slant down)

thank

I can't fathom folks showing up to a new work from one of vanishingly few mangaka (or published authors in general) repping committed aro/ace relationships to say "gosh, I hope this one is more like everything else I read!"

I'll be eager to see how Usui develops the story either way, but that's because I trust her not to feel beholden to every romance trope.

I'm personally interested in finding out more about Asako's sister, since that hairpin seems to be a keepsake from her (the panel focuses on the hairpin when she thinks about her sister).

I'd also like to know a bit more about Yachiyo, since Asako's relaxed enough to be on a first-name basis with her (albeit with "-chan" rather than yobisute like with Asako and Nagi), but at the same time, Yachiyo doesn't know about Asako's reading manga, since she assumed Asako went to the office to work.

I can't fathom folks showing up to a new work from one of vanishingly few mangaka (or published authors in general) repping committed aro/ace relationships to say "gosh, I hope this one is more like everything else I read!"

I'll be eager to see how Usui develops the story either way, but that's because I trust her not to feel beholden to every romance trope.

I really hope that there will be more ace-aro narratives in the future. So much good stuff to explore! Confusion, tender feelings, independence, societal pressure, friendship/romance distinctions, more confusion, platonic affection, deciding your own relationship rules, cuddling without lewdness... I mean, I would consume tons of that if it were more available.

So, from what Asako san's monologue, may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18? Is it something to do with arranged marriage?
But I have to agree on something: you'll want to kiss someone when it's time, and naturally.
You'll know when to kiss..
I wonder why there is no research about this. Like, when is the right time to kiss?
Does your body just know if it's the right time to kiss?
And hopefully, there is a research about it and the starting line it goes with this:"Apparently, your body does know when the right time is for kissing!.."

may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18? Is it something to do with arranged marriage?

Based on the content of the chapter, mostly likely she's just trying to "catch up" to her sister. Her sister ran away for love at 18, Asako wants to at least understand love by 18.

may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18? Is it something to do with arranged marriage?

Based on the content of the chapter, mostly likely she's just trying to "catch up" to her sister. Her sister ran away for love at 18, Asako wants to at least understand love by 18.

Maybe she'll burst into flames if she's not married by next Friday. The gods are truly cruel.

may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18? Is it something to do with arranged marriage?

Based on the content of the chapter, mostly likely she's just trying to "catch up" to her sister. Her sister ran away for love at 18, Asako wants to at least understand love by 18.

Maybe she'll burst into flames if she's not married by next Friday. The gods are truly cruel.

The gods are just fed up with useless lesbians and have decided to intervene

So, from what Asako san's monologue, may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18?

She'll turn back into a pumpkin

It's interesting to hear about Asako's sister eloping, but it seems a bit too simple of an explanation. I personally think there will be a flashback of some sort to elaborate on this.

The 18th birthday deadline seems to be rather early on in the series, not to mention the school year- I assume that it's April/May given the winter uniforms(long sleeves and blazers) and that Asako hasn't retired from student council to focus on exams. As such, while I'm tempted to predict that Asako's grandfather will set her up with an arranged marriage(which may be why her sister eloped at such a young age), I doubt that anything that drastic will happen this early on. It's possible that they may cover a day at most for each chapter, but 12 days doesn't seem to be enough in-universe time to develop Asako and Nagi's relationship.

may I assume that something is going to happen to her life once she turns 18? Is it something to do with arranged marriage?

Based on the content of the chapter, mostly likely she's just trying to "catch up" to her sister. Her sister ran away for love at 18, Asako wants to at least understand love by 18.

It may seem odd, but there really are people who set arbitrary deadlines for themselves or assign a lot of meaning to anniversaries and dates from their past. Especially when it concerns family members, and especially when they're obsessed with / unfulfilled in their relationship with that person. It wouldn't seem strange to me that Asako, who doesn't seem to spend a lot of time allowing herself to experience emotions, has those kinds of symbolic dates in her mental and emotional landscape.

Don't get hit by a dump truck, everyone.

I really like the way Asako is portrayed
Very thought driven and all that
She's just like me frfr

Maybe she'll burst into flames if she's not married by next Friday. The gods are truly cruel.

Oh my...
If that's the case, we'll assume the mangaka to have a one whole page of Asako's drawing getting burnt in live .
Time to suggest the Tragedy tag here..

The gods are just fed up with useless lesbians and have decided to intervene

May I ask the gods, what should lesbians do so that they are not useless?

She'll turn back into a pumpkin

Great! At least the useless lesbian becomes productivity simply by turning into a product...

It may seem odd, but there really are people who set arbitrary deadlines for themselves or assign a lot of meaning to anniversaries and dates from their past. Especially when it concerns family members, and especially when they're obsessed with / unfulfilled in their relationship with that person. It wouldn't seem strange to me that Asako, who doesn't seem to spend a lot of time allowing herself to experience emotions, has those kinds of symbolic dates in her mental and emotional landscape.

Oh, I understand this. I used to not understand about people talking about how they want to achieve something by 30, or in their mid 20s..
Actually, I still don't quite understand now.
Because I was taught that, we have our own pace. Somewhere, somehow, definitely, slowly but surely, we will get to a point where we understand what we want and we will pursue it according to our own timeline..

last edited at Jul 9, 2024 11:16PM

i can't help but think that running away for love at 18 as a mental goal is wild since you're still basically a child, maybe it's cause I'm older but all 18-year-olds feel like babies. You're super fresh into the world and I doubt her sister knew enough about love besides the superficial attraction to the person. I can't imagine an 18-year-old running away for love being a good goal for someone who's supposedly the student council prez. Someone who's supposedly smart, demonstrated to be a leader and should know that it's not logical to think that way lol

I don't think her goal is to run away at 18, it's to get a clue about love by 18. If her sister ran away, she can at least do that much, right? (Her thoughts, not mine.)

The Gon Freecs of yuri trying to find out whats so good about cigarettes

It's interesting to hear about Asako's sister eloping, but it seems a bit too simple of an explanation. I personally think there will be a flashback of some sort to elaborate on this.

From the way Asako talks about it her sister's departure ("she left me"), I think gaining experience is not just about catching up, but to understand why her sister would give her up for the sake of "love". If she can confirm that "love" really is so amazing that it's worth burning bridges with your family, including an innocent younger sibling, then maybe she can make peace with being left behind. But it's possible that she will fall for Nagi anyway, and it still won't fill the void left by her sister.

I'm not judging her sis or anything; we really don't know anything specific about the situation yet. Just speculating about Asako's inner logic.

I shouldn't have this much sugar so early in the morning. I'm thinking she'll understand her sister's thought process very soon.

last edited at Aug 10, 2024 9:53AM

Oooooo it's gettin good now lads

I can't fathom folks showing up to a new work from one of vanishingly few mangaka (or published authors in general) repping committed aro/ace relationships to say "gosh, I hope this one is more like everything else I read!"

I understand what you're saying and why, and in no way am I trying to dismiss or belittle your point, but I'd like to offer a perspective on this. To me, one of the reasons Usui Shio's works have not been "like everything else I read", is a lot about the way they present the story, the way they construct and develop the characters and the plotline and the depth in them, and other nuances in their style and writing, and I really want to see these qualities that I adored in both "Donuts" and in "Marriage" (this is a terrible shortening lol) in a more, for lack of a better term, "traditional" romance story. In other words, I'll share that the reason Donuts, in particular, resonated so deeply with me wasn't the (a)romantic aspect of it, if that makes any sense lol. Like, different people are looking for different things, and there's nothing wrong with that.

As another example, I feel similarly about Fukaumi Kon - "Haru and Midori" is one of my favorite manga of all time, and a large part of it was the author's character-building and the atmosphere/vibe/pacing. Seeing those aspects that I really, really like in their writing play out in "A Love Yet to Bloom" which has a wholly different flavor has been an absolute joy.

Also, I saw a few comments that mentioned it'd be boring or disappointing if despite everything, Asako "overcomes" her being ace, and again I understand what they mean, but to me, it isn't "overcoming", since Asako, in particular, is genuinely going through a pretty serious introspective process, which would be the shaping of her character, and regardless of what she realizes she is at the end of it, so long as the execution is good enough, and I have a lot of trust in the author, it'll feel appropriate. I really do hope whoever reads this gets what I'm saying here lol.

In any case, about chapter 5 itself, I really like how things are going. I find that the questions Asako asks herself are genuinely interesting and really important and I'm looking forward to seeing her making sense of her own world. Also big fan of the two's dynamic, it feels a lot more fluid and organic than in many other stories I've read. I hope that Asako has a chance to talk to her sister at some point if nothing else because it's kinda weird to me that she'd cut her off just because she "ran away" with someone.

last edited at Aug 10, 2024 10:55AM

SO MUCH PROGRESS AND SO CUTE, GOATED CHAPTER

A spontaneous kiss! More progress than many entire Usui series!