Sigh.

This arc continues to be annoyingly stupid and the worst part of the series thus far. The angst feels forced and stale already, I just want to move on as quickly as possible.

it does feel pretty forced with how madly in love with each other they are, and how they got over their major issue (mashiro being the reason nagisa missed the exam) really quickly. at this point in their relationship something like this driving them apart seems very silly.

however, they are teenagers and teenagers are very bad at communicating with each other (and so are adults honestly) so its not completely unrealistic.

the real problem is how randomly this girl popped up; there was no buildup or acknowledgement of this character's existence up until right now so from our perspective the mcs should have no reason to give a shit about her

The author must be held at gunpoint by a bad editor. I refuse to believe otherwise. Even so, the execution is something else. Drama is not their strong suit at the moment. Reminder that Glasses came out of nowhere and there is zero reason any of the two should care or realistically would care about what she says, or even allow her all this access.

Also Nagisa really did somehow act shocked that her GF would dislike this woman? Does she blackout whenever Glasses berates her GF and says incredibly mean things? She's barely comforted Mashiro after all these verbal attacks, or shown enough understanding. And Mashiro's emotions felt like whiplash at the end, suddenly so over dramatic. It seems they really are going to treat this like an "everyone is wrong" thing. Why are we proving anything to Glasses girl again?

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 8:21AM

Look at what you've done, wench! Where's my fluff? WHERE'S THE FLUFF!?

Nagisa watching her GF get verbally tounge lashed by this annoying creature everytime they meet and she has the gall to act shocked/annoyed that Mashiro doesn’t like her and wants Nagisa to stop hanging around her? Definitely not a good look for her.

Like we’re all the same page here yes? That Mashiro has done nothing wrong and her feelings are completely valid? But this hacky narrative wants us to think otherwise? Like bruh what is this entire arc lmao

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 7:46AM

Nagisa watching her GF get verbally tounge lashed by this annoying creature everytime they meet and she has the gall to act shocked/annoyed that Mashiro doesn’t like her and wants Nagisa to stop hanging around her? Definitely not a good look for her.

Like we’re all the same page here yes? That Mashiro has done nothing wrong and her feelings are completely valid? But this hacky narrative wants us to think otherwise? Like bruh what is this entire arc lmao

I was really hoping she went off on glasses girl at least a little harder lol.

Sigh.

This arc continues to be annoyingly stupid and the worst part of the series thus far. The angst feels forced and stale already, I just want to move on as quickly as possible.

I feel like calling this an "arc" is more melodramatic than the actual content. It's just one chapter split into two parts.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 8:26AM

Sigh.

This arc continues to be annoyingly stupid and the worst part of the series thus far. The angst feels forced and stale already, I just want to move on as quickly as possible.

I feel like calling this an "arc" is more melodramatic than the actual content. It's just one chapter split into two parts.

She arrived at the end of 41, and I imagine this (and it's ramifications) will be the focus of the whole volume which would get us to a minimum of 45. Is a volumes worth not an arc? It's definitely been presented as a shift in the story using all the typical hallmarks. If all this suddenly resolves next chapter (which would be abrupt and it's own issue), maybe I'll agree with you.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 10:24AM

This is reminding me of the recent race arc in Kase-san, in that it's one of my favorite series taking an abrupt nosedive in quality due to a dumb drama arc that makes very little sense. At least Nagisa finally told off the glasses girl this time, though it's kind of ridiculous that Nagisa immediately starts pressing Mashiro to answer her own question after brushing off Mashiro's question. Not a good look.

So far, this series has been really good at keeping up a brisk pace, so I'm still holding onto hope that this will be resolved swiftly and won't drag on for more than a couple chapters after this. Maybe the creator can stick the landing, but so far it's hard for me to see this arc as anything other than a misstep.

Okay, maybe it will be a whole thing. I just think it's kind of funny to freak out about this after how many chapters were devoted to the student x teacher love polygon drama. Unlike back then, here we have a reason to care about the couple's happiness, since we have already seen what their good times look like. Can you really call this an "abrupt nosedive in quality", considering what came before?

This is reminding me of the recent race arc in Kase-san, in that it's one of my favorite series taking an abrupt nosedive in quality due to a dumb drama arc that makes very little sense. At least Nagisa finally told off the glasses girl this time, though it's kind of ridiculous that Nagisa immediately starts pressing Mashiro to answer her own question after brushing off Mashiro's question. Not a good look.

So far, this series has been really good at keeping up a brisk pace, so I'm still holding onto hope that this will be resolved swiftly and won't drag on for more than a couple chapters after this. Maybe the creator can stick the landing, but so far it's hard for me to see this arc as anything other than a misstep.

I made the same connection, the commonality being that there's a demand or set of expectations coming from a character who is, or should be, in no position to say anything at all about what the MC does, and then the whole previously established characterization getting thrown off-kilter as a result.

In both cases the response should have been, "Who the hell are you to even bring this up?" > end of storyline. And in Kase-san the final outcome was exactly what we knew it would be (indeed what it had to be), and if anything ends up being different here I'll be beyond shocked.

Can you really call this an "abrupt nosedive in quality", considering what came before?

Yeah because beyond the context, the execution is the main issue people are having. I agree with Blastaar--the Kase-san similarities are spot on. This one feels a bit worse than that to me because this person has even less of a relationship to anyone and her presence has now apparently triggered uncharacteristic issues within the main relationship. With Kase we could also try and explain away the illogical nature of it with the sports relationship, team synergy and pressure aspects, even if those were also a major stretch to me.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 1:05PM

I don't think this development feels very forced or unnecessary at all. It actually makes a lot of sense to me, honestly.

This is p much their first encounter with a couple of things, namely direct opposition to their relationship and the jealousy that's brought on by said opposition knowing a side of your lover that you don't.

Mashiro was already struggling with feeling like a burden bc of how Nagisa and her met. Now someone who knows her gf from a time "before her" comes along, tells her to her face that she's a bad influence on Nagisa and she beats herself up over feeling jealous of that person. A real hattrick of insecurity.

Meanwhile Nagisa reels from being ambushed by the pressure of someone idolizing her and having to put her foot down against their talking down on her gf. And then when she catches a glimpse of Mashiro's cracking facade she gets real concerned of course, the time when her gf broke down bc she found out about their first meeting prob still fresh in her mind.

But instead of talking to her about it Mashiro tries to play it off, which hits Nagisa with a double whammy of "Oh, I guess she doesn't trust me enough to confide in me" and "What if she runs away from me again?", making her feel hurt.

And thus is the volatile cocktail of hurt feelings and uncommunicated worries created. All in all i think this is a normal, and dare I say necessary, direction for their relationship. Working through conflict makes a bond stronger after all. And the chapter is even titled "Misunderstanding", smth like this was inevitable, really.

I don't think this development feels very forced or unnecessary at all. It actually makes a lot of sense to me, honestly.

This is p much their first encounter with a couple of things, namely direct opposition to their relationship and the jealousy that's brought on by said opposition knowing a side of your lover that you don't.

Mashiro was already struggling with feeling like a burden bc of how Nagisa and her met. Now someone who knows her gf from a time "before her" comes along, tells her to her face that she's a bad influence on Nagisa and she beats herself up over feeling jealous of that person. A real hattrick of insecurity.

Meanwhile Nagisa reels from being ambushed by the pressure of someone idolizing her and having to put her foot down against their talking down on her gf. And then when she catches a glimpse of Mashiro's cracking facade she gets real concerned of course, the time when her gf broke down bc she found out about their first meeting prob still fresh in her mind.

But instead of talking to her about it Mashiro tries to play it off, which hits Nagisa with a double whammy of "Oh, I guess she doesn't trust me enough to confide in me" and "What if she runs away from me again?", making her feel hurt.

And thus is the volatile cocktail of hurt feelings and uncommunicated worries created. All in all i think this is a normal, and dare I say necessary, direction for their relationship. Working through conflict makes a bond stronger after all. And the chapter is even titled "Misunderstanding", smth like this was inevitable, really.

That's the part I agree with. I think what creates issue(s) for some people and partially me as well is that it all happened so suddenly. But even then, it's a heated argument so maybe it's just how it's visually represented that creates this odd dramatic overblown effect.
There's a chance I'll eat my words, but till I see the next chapter I wouldn't go as far as compare it to that awful Kase-san arc.

I think it's jarring because continuation of Riri and Uda's story felt inevitable, and whatever this particular plotline is going to lead to, I can't see it being nearly as satisfying. We already had a plotline about overcoming insecurities between the main pair and shit, it's not really interesting to see it again no matter how much "logical sense" it makes.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 1:03PM

I mean, the last arc was already pretty annoying... But this?!
This takes the cake. Nothing that's happening between our mains makes any kind of sense.
And it's so abrupt as well...
Anyways, I'll trust the author, since it's still one of the cutest yuri, but it is getting a bit difficult to enjoy.
Thanks for the chapter!

Run away with me mashiroo~ ╰⁠(⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠´⁠꒳⁠`⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠⸝⁠)⁠╯

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 1:25PM

What the hell is going on with this series?

Ah, jealousy...

Kase-san vibes yeah, but Nagisa avoided the trap. No stupid competition.

As for the last page's "I'll just cause her pain, I don't want to be with her right now", I think those are Mashiro's thoughts. She's picked up the idiot ball, but somewhat justified given her past insecurities.

But on reading the comments and re-reading the pages... I'd say it's unclear whose thoughts they are. But, the closeup on Mashiro's face (last page) is after Nagisa has moved behind her (previous page), so it's not a Nagisa-POV view of Mashiro, just us.

yeah Mashiro is just having an anxiety ball panic. Considering how fast they move through drama, I assume it'll be over soon

Mashiro being anxious and Nagisa being upset over dishonesty are in character, but... This whole bout of drama is still an idiot plot.

Having glasses girl give Mashiro shit right in front of Nagisa is a huge writing fumble, because it's forcing Nagisa to act like an oblivious moron. If the confrontation happened somewhere else, then there could've been a more plausible miscommunication between the two. But this?

Nagisa has all of the information - irrefutable, because it happened right in front of her eyes - that Mashiro has every right to ask her to stop hanging out with glasses. The girl that just tore into her over a load of bullshit.

Combine that with this chapter having a whopping three new pages of new-ish material and the rest being rehashed and, well, this is very frustrating...

Nagisa may be unused to drama of any kind. These are teenagers. Could have been going "??? DOES NOT COMPUTE, OUT OF CHEESE ERROR" at what Glasses was doing.

I just want to know why the heck the art style has changed so much. I could handle this dumb ass plot line if the art was still gorgeous and romantic but it feels so stiff and odd lately?? Anyone else notice that??

Sigh.

This arc continues to be annoyingly stupid and the worst part of the series thus far. The angst feels forced and stale already, I just want to move on as quickly as possible.

I feel like calling this an "arc" is more melodramatic than the actual content. It's just one chapter split into two parts.

She arrived at the end of 41, and I imagine this (and it's ramifications) will be the focus of the whole volume which would get us to a minimum of 45. Is a volumes worth not an arc? It's definitely been presented as a shift in the story using all the typical hallmarks. If all this suddenly resolves next chapter (which would be abrupt and it's own issue), maybe I'll agree with you.

Thanks for this, the introduction of glasses and the way the drama is going definitely feels like this is an arc that started a bit ago and will continue for at least a few more chapters. So I don't think calling this an arc is me being melodramatic at all, even if it ends up being a shorter arc, which I hope it is.

Can you really call this an "abrupt nosedive in quality", considering what came before?

Yeah because beyond the context, the execution is the main issue people are having. I agree with Blastaar--the Kase-san similarities are spot on. This one feels a bit worse than that to me because this person has even less of a relationship to anyone and her presence has now apparently triggered uncharacteristic issues within the main relationship. With Kase we could also try and explain away the illogical nature of it with the sports relationship, team synergy and pressure aspects, even if those were also a major stretch to me.

This as well, I personally don't mind the teacher romance drama in this series. For me the sudden introduction of glasses and the way the drama is unfolding here is the series driving into a brick wall, but until now I was enjoying the series in general. So I'm just hoping we move past this quickly and onto things I enjoy more.