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.

I basically feel the same way, a large part of why I like this author is the general pacing, character interactions, certain sense of humour etc. This would still all work regardless if Doughnuts ended with a passionate kiss at the end or not (and considering the story it's as valid of a choice as what actually happened, at least in my opinion), but I really wouldn't mind if this time things go a bit more spicy.

... and they already are! Looking forward to whatever's next.

hehehe this chapter got me giggling like a little girl- it's so cute! ^_^

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 think pigeonholing Shio as an "aro/ace author" is kind of reductive in and of itself. For starters, in my opinion Crescent Moon and Doughnuts is her only real aro/ace story. Trying Out Marriage is most certainly a slow burn, but I did not get the impression the heroines didn't want a physical relationship by the end. It just took a very long time for them to work out their feelings. It's true this story story is a bit more "traditional" (school setting, the characters have a much more standard view on physical contact etc), but it still has the kind of writing that makes Shio unique.

In any case, I really liked this chapter. Probably my favorite so far.

I think Usui Shio's works are interesting because they sort of break down traditional romantic narratives, instead putting the characters into a strong relationship or situation that would normally come after the romance, and then seeing how they kind of work backwards from there to a confession/relationship. "Doughnuts" definitely reads as aro/ace of some shade, while "Marriage" kind of starts at the traditional "end" of a courtship and then has them grow into what that might actually mean for them.

Oh right, that's true though!
I just realize that Usui sensei's work would depict in a manner where two characters would first establish a relationship, like girlfriend or wives.
Then from there, they will start progressing their relationship into 'girlfriend' or 'wives'.

Like instead of the usual crush-confession, Usui sensei quickly establish the two as a main couple.

last edited at Aug 10, 2024 10:40PM

Oh right, that's true though!
I just realize that Usui sensei's work would depict in a manner where two characters would first establish a relationship, like girlfriend or wives.
Then from there, they will start progressing their relationship into 'girlfriend' or 'wives'.

Like instead of the usual crush-confession, Usui sensei quickly establish the two as a main couple.

Yeah I think part of what's interesting about her recent work (and why the setups happen as they do; "marriage," "girlfriend") is she focuses a lot on how relationships are sustained and tended to, rather than just how to get into relationships. That's the consistent focus shared by all her stories so far. "Ok, we're technically together...now what?" is basically the question of these stories.

last edited at Aug 10, 2024 11:08PM

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 think pigeonholing Shio as an "aro/ace author" is kind of reductive in and of itself. For starters, in my opinion Crescent Moon and Doughnuts is her only real aro/ace story. Trying Out Marriage is most certainly a slow burn, but I did not get the impression the heroines didn't want a physical relationship by the end. It just took a very long time for them to work out their feelings. It's true this story story is a bit more "traditional" (school setting, the characters have a much more standard view on physical contact etc), but it still has the kind of writing that makes Shio unique.

In any case, I really liked this chapter. Probably my favorite so far.

I agree. The protagonists in each series are fundamentally different from each other in many ways- their age, their personalities, their life experience and their relationships with each other- so it thus isn't necessarily to assume that just because Hinako and Asahi are asexual that Kurumi and Ruriko or Asako and Nagi are. For example, Hinako desperately wanted to be "normal" at first, including feeling attracted to her partner, while Kurumi wasn't uninterested in romance per se, but didn't think anyone would put up with her.

It's interesting to see more about Asako's feelings about her sister. She sounds rather bitter when recalling her sister apparently choosing her lover over Asako and the other people close to her, but at the same time, she still seems to want to understand why her sister did what she did. I hope we can eventually see Asako's sister's perspective, since it's likely that Asako is missing some key information.

Incidentally, I notice that Usui is using the black borders to denote flashbacks in this series(which is typical of manga), rather than scenes at night like in her other series. I was a bit confused when I saw the black backgrounds in the other two series, and thought the night scenes were flashbacks at first.

Yay kissy!

What the heck chapter 5 was so cute WHAT THE HECK