Which I think regardless of there being real magic or not, this girl is having sex with someone that she believes can not consent to her. She is by her own definition and logic a rapist. I think the whole chapter and situation is really creepy and gross, it's deeply uncomfortable.

Yes, that is what I meant. Sometimes these stories gloss over what intent means and how a magical "oh I wasn't actually under mind control, so it's ok!?" doesn't absolve the original intent of the characters. She's very aware of what she thinks she's doing and did. That's more than enough.

Exactly, it's really strange and uncomfortable how media doesn't seem to properly grasp what consent is in various cases like this.

one of the main problems this series has is how little gravity it gives to really extreme stuff, like this girl literally using mind control to rape another girl. like she's pretty distraught over it sure but also not .. really? it all feels kind of glossed over. there"s a lot you can do with visual presentation to depict how awful the situation is, with panel layouts, shading, perspective, etc but none of that is used effectively. anyway it'll be interesting to see how this all gets wrapped up

Yuuup, the tone is very weird here. The rape element is definitely glossed over, and not well handled.

Honestly, the main issue here is less how it handles the topic, and more the pacing as a whole. Like, Maki very clearly is in not the best headspace, to the point that, while she's not overtly suicidal yet, it's pretty apparent that her thoughts are pointed in that direction.

...But since the author is trying to fit that alongside a lot of other plot into this one chapter, less time is spent dwelling on the topic than would be good for the story, I think.

Honestly, the main issue here is less how it handles the topic, and more the pacing as a whole. Like, Maki very clearly is in not the best headspace, to the point that, while she's not overtly suicidal yet, it's pretty apparent that her thoughts are pointed in that direction.

...But since the author is trying to fit that alongside a lot of other plot into this one chapter, less time is spent dwelling on the topic than would be good for the story, I think.

Yeah pacing is definitely part of the problem, DrJamesFox mentioned that in their last post as well. I agree with both of you in that regard.

Chapter 5 has been reuploaded to fix some typos

Right up to the end, I could never follow exactly what was happening.

bruh I don't understand shit

not gonnae lie i think this one might just be bad

I'll reread it later but after the first read I'm not sure "rushed" is enough to explain why it makes no sense.

the most frustrating thing about this manga is how the title is translated. うたかた is written in hiragana and typically means like, seafoam, things ephemeral (like the ending of (original) the little mermaid). i agree that reading it as "how to sing", the method of improving, makes a lot of sense too. but then you really have to read it as a play on words. as-is, literally all of that is lost. it's a fun story though, and my only complaint there would be that maika isn't the love interest, but that's just personal taste

It feels like in the end the story concept was too large for the amount of chapters the author had to work with, it probably would have worked better if Maika was cut entirely and instead just focused down on the drama between the main two girls.

Yeah, still no clue. It all feels pointless.

ehem... what?

Well, that's that, whatever that was

"Th-Th-The, Th-Th-The, Th-Th... That's all, folks!"

I don't even think it was a lack of chapters, this could have fit in a oneshot. The mangaka just needs to work on their paneling and sequential illustration technique. Like, really bad, I deadass had no idea what was happening at any time.

Also Maika inexplicably being a ghost at the end would even fly better in a oneshot, it could be rationalized with not having pages to explain it. Sob

Huh?! What!? Wait, why???

How do you just move on from that? After trying to unalive herself she instead murdered someone else? And, I mean, I’m glad it turned out that the other girl already liked her but that’s still an incredible violation of her autonomy and free will. She just takes it like “well, I was into it, anyway so I guess it’s fine”???

I don’t know! I don’t hate the premise but everything about this ending really bothers me! What happens to Maika now??

Huh?! What!? Wait, why???

How do you just move on from that? After trying to unalive herself she instead murdered someone else? And, I mean, I’m glad it turned out that the other girl already liked her but that’s still an incredible violation of her autonomy and free will. She just takes it like “well, I was into it, anyway so I guess it’s fine”???

I don’t know! I don’t hate the premise but everything about this ending really bothers me! What happens to Maika now??

yeah, the whole chapter on getting over how she casted an love spell and just A FEW LINES of exploring the outcome of that was JARRING AS HELL!

the second part of the chapter DEALING SO EASY with the fact Maika is now a BLOODY GHOST?!?!?!?!? WTF??????????

everything about this feels like maika just, like, lost. not just her literal life but the two leads are way more concerned with each other too? and she just completely loses any relevance and becomes a plot device. and i could go for that if the writing showed any empathy toward her, like... Sad Yearning stuff, i enjoy that! but it's presented like the problem is fixed(tm) and she's fine with just being a ghost now. it winds up feeling, funnily, really egocentric for the main girl. the world still revolves around her and no one else has feelings that matter. i wonder how old the author is?

i was here for it too up til the final chapter but wow that was extremely messy, i can't defend any of that lol. unfortunate

I don't think Maika is actually dead, or if she's a ghost then she knows there's a way to come back.

It felt very rushed, but I enjoyed it

After trying to unalive herself she instead murdered someone else?

No, I think Maika sacrificed herself to undo MC's spell.

Bruh ending

Bruh ending

Truly a bruh moment

I was confused the whole discussion about the mind control to make people fall in love with someone.
I thought she cast a love spell onto her instead.
Am I.. not right?

The whole having sexual intercourse without consent thing reminded me of the movie Midsommar.
Now I pitied the guy who got picked by the girl.
She puts her p**ic hair into his pie and made him drank some kind of medicine for him to have intercourse with her.
And he ends up as a sacrifice at the end

last edited at Jul 20, 2024 11:11AM

I'm glad I'm not the only one who is kinda confused by the ending. I really liked the first few chapters of this; it felt like exactly my preferred flavor of angst. But unfortunately I felt it kinda fell apart by the end.

A very "?" inducing story if I've ever seen one