On telamon's and HypocriticalLiar's conversation; I feel that is the center of the manga. Beyond Ran and Keiko's changing relationship, I feel it's about how people can have a lot of difficulty connecting to others. Especially because our unhappy past relationships can "teach" us to be extremely wary of strong relationships. In the latest chapter, I think that is reflected in joking that hits their weak-points.

(I would like to analyze stories that are not on this site, but hell, I have no idea of how to reach an audience with that. And it's not like I can start talking about Ernest Hemingway here, he's not even moe)

oh, and jnko, that was the poster that uploaded the bonus stuff. Thanks to 'em.
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Especially the last part, or why I like hanging at Dynasty forums

"Well, it wasn't world-shaking, but at least we discussed a lot of fictional kissing dynamics."

I disagree. I felt like a badass saying it whilst seated. I also wear glasses so you know I got those villain vibes as well.

Confession; when I typed "hands clasped together in front of your mouth," I was picturing Gendo Ikari monologuing on gayness. Frankly, mentioning glasses brings that image again.

last edited at Apr 9, 2015 2:40AM

The mere fact that this series gets 2200+ comments, even though there's no yuri (yet) in it, shows how good it is. Everything is near perfect.

I hope Shou definitely stops to write Hentai/Lolicon and writes more of this.

His storytelling and character building skills are too good. We got a nice preview in Prism, but here, it really shines.

last edited at Apr 9, 2015 5:15AM

I disagree. I felt like a badass saying it whilst seated. I also wear glasses so you know I got those villain vibes as well.

Confession; when I typed "hands clasped together in front of your mouth," I was picturing Gendo Ikari monologuing on gayness. Frankly, mentioning glasses brings that image again.

Lmao I had him in mind as well when I did it! XD ... of course, I'm much better looking than him, ya know. There ya go.

of course, I'm much better looking than him, ya know.

Calling bullshit on that

Really...?? I'm pretty sure your nose hair looks a helluva lot better than Gendo Ikari. And probably has a helluva lot of a better personality than him to boot!

The only way someone could possibly look better than Gendo is to have a respectable stache to complement the beard
And maybe comb your hair better
And find a darker sunglass
And be around 15 years older, the older the better
But not too old, anything beyond 80 gets a little weird
Unless you're Christopher Lee of course
I'm sure some stretch should help in that department YES I DIDN'T GO FULL OFF-TOPIC!

Look, I'm sure talking 'bout DILF qualities anywhere online is probably relevant on some level. Just give me enough time to bullshit a connection to manga, stretching, romance, or the author's body of work.
(Gendo might be the World's #1 Dad, but he's not the most charismatic acting or looking character)
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I hope Shou definitely stops to write Hentai/Lolicon and writes more of this.

His storytelling and character building skills are too good. We got a nice preview in Prism, but here, it really shines.

I still feel that this is a somewhat surprising manga; his previous works didn't really tell me that he could write and draw something compelling.
I'm curious if he will ever make a jump to more mainstream dramatic manga (I mean, something longer and more focused).

Stretch looks pretty mainstream to me. More josei than anything else he wrote. It's already quite long and it doesn't seem the story is about to end soon (though the chapter before the April 1st one sounded a bit ominous).

My personal hope is that the series doesn't end with the two of them getting together, although at this point that seems likely. The two of them are interesting enough that I'd like to see them navigate an entirely new sort of relationship. I mean it's not like their personal issues (especially Keiko's) will be suddenly solved by making it official.

My personal hope is that the series doesn't end with the two of them getting together, although at this point that seems likely. The two of them are interesting enough that I'd like to see them navigate an entirely new sort of relationship. I mean it's not like their personal issues (especially Keiko's) will be suddenly solved by making it official.

Maybe if they get together, they won't be 'healed' and the manga would show how they get healed in the end, and he ends it at that. If that happened, this would become my top, no question.

Stretch looks pretty mainstream to me. More josei than anything else he wrote. It's already quite long and it doesn't seem the story is about to end soon (though the chapter before the April 1st one sounded a bit ominous).

Yeah, I used the wrong term, too evocative of "style".

I guess I mean something that is serialized in longer chunks (or with a more frequent update schedule), and is less intended as an instructional comedy thing. I mean, Stretch becomes more focused on personal relationships and back-story as it goes on, but a lot of it is essentially amusing everyday occurrences.
It's a mixture of light comedy with serious elements (chiefly, things that happened in the main characters' pasts.)

Maybe if they get together, they won't be 'healed' and the manga would show how they get healed in the end, and he ends it at that. If that happened, this would become my top, no question.

I think it would be more interesting if the characters got together and that change is explored as part of the larger story. I think a lot of stories end with the start of a relationship, or completely lose inertia after they no longer have the will-they-won't-they dynamic to fall back on.
I mean, it doesn't have to become Octave, but I don't feel there is enough out there that skillfully explores long term relationships (I mean, both in manga, and in a more general sense).

last edited at Apr 10, 2015 9:03PM

Maybe if they get together, they won't be 'healed' and the manga would show how they get healed in the end, and he ends it at that. If that happened, this would become my top, no question.

I think it would be more interesting if the characters got together and that change is explored as part of the larger story. I think a lot of stories end with the start of a relationship, or completely lose inertia after they no longer have the will-they-won't-they dynamic to fall back on.

Of course it helps to remember that Shou's other yuri series had the couple getting together pretty much right away, and following their relationship together. But it seems to me that it's typical of Japanese stuff at least to have the story be all about the lead-up, and then end on the beginning of a relationship. But if Shou's intention is to have a long series rather than have a definite ending, then he may continue. I hope so, because there's a lot worth exploring there.

But it seems to me that it's typical of Japanese stuff at least to have the story be all about the lead-up, and then end on the beginning of a relationship.

this is like... the bane of my existence, The development of a relationship and all it may entail is what I find the most interesting.

Prism is one of the very few ones that was doing something interesting with it... Unfortunately, it did not get very far.

Got Octave, as mentioned by notveryoften, but the development of the relationship there is drama-only-fueled, does not feel as natural as real relationships, tho it gets points for depicting very realistic quarrels (MC being all deflective whenever she gets into a fight fits in perfectly into her character)

On-going we have Kase-san, tho it is so unrealistically adorable and innocent that it kinda distracts you from the slow development of their relationship xD

Usually in some where characters get into a relationship (early/midway or sometimes already in one) the relationship itself goes nowhere... Not saying these are bad, a lot of my top favorites are like this, would just like something more to them.

Gokujo Drops and Hanjuku Joshi are other good exceptions, as is the last volume of Girl Friends.

You both are completely forgetting about Collectors. It only has a few flashback moments to the time before they went out but the entire story is them when they are well into their relationship and done with college (possibly by a year or two). But, I completely agree with everyone wanting to see stories go beyond the usual, "I love you" and "I love you too" (kiss, smooching, sex) and END.

Exactly. It's kind of funny; the two non-cancelled yuri examples you mentioned are on the opposite ends of the spectrum from one another. One is a telenovela, one is sugar.

The only other manga that were leaping to mind are Inio Asano's Goodnight PunPun and Aki Eda's Bonnouji. PunPun's central romantic relationship is an adorable bullet of misery plowing into the spine, while Bonnouji is a cheerful comedy about deepening relationships and how your best friend can be your romantic partner. It's reminding me of earlier examples.

Asano's is generally blackest comedy about modern life, while Eda's other works are like her Touhou and yuri stuff, very sedate and introspective. I haven't read of much of Asano's other works, but I would recommend anything by either of them.
_

Nez replied while I was writing the reply, so:
I forgot about those three. Especially Girl Friends, as I haven't read it in a while.

Girl Friends has an interesting structure, now that I think about it. Beyond how it shifts between the two main characters' perspectives, it has clear arcs of friendship, conflict/confusion, and reconciliation/dating. It's much more well rounded than most romance mangas.

My personal hope is that the series doesn't end with the two of them getting together, although at this point that seems likely. The two of them are interesting enough that I'd like to see them navigate an entirely new sort of relationship. I mean it's not like their personal issues (especially Keiko's) will be suddenly solved by making it official.

Did this mean not get together at all, or just before the end? I'm fairly certain not at all, my confusion stems entirely from my not brain not being able to compute an ending where they aren't together. What sort of relationship could you have meant I wonder? To me, I feel if they don't end together, that leaves the door open for future partners, and I can't see anything other than a partner being the most significant relationship in someones life, and to me, these two have to be the others most significant relationship.

Oh God this is muddled, but I can't multitask well enough that I can both type coherently AND listen to 'And Then There Was Silence' at the same time.

My personal hope is that the series doesn't end with the two of them getting together, although at this point that seems likely. The two of them are interesting enough that I'd like to see them navigate an entirely new sort of relationship. I mean it's not like their personal issues (especially Keiko's) will be suddenly solved by making it official.

Did this mean not get together at all, or just before the end? I'm fairly certain not at all, my confusion stems entirely from my not brain not being able to compute an ending where they aren't together. What sort of relationship could you have meant I wonder? To me, I feel if they don't end together, that leaves the door open for future partners, and I can't see anything other than a partner being the most significant relationship in someones life, and to me, these two have to be the others most significant relationship.

Oh, I absolutely believe they'll get together. The question is, will them doing so be the series finale, or the beginning of a new story arc? I'd prefer the latter, but I'm afraid the flow of the story seems to be headed down the other path.

last edited at Apr 11, 2015 12:25AM

My personal hope is that the series doesn't end with the two of them getting together, although at this point that seems likely. The two of them are interesting enough that I'd like to see them navigate an entirely new sort of relationship. I mean it's not like their personal issues (especially Keiko's) will be suddenly solved by making it official.

Did this mean not get together at all, or just before the end? I'm fairly certain not at all, my confusion stems entirely from my not brain not being able to compute an ending where they aren't together. What sort of relationship could you have meant I wonder? To me, I feel if they don't end together, that leaves the door open for future partners, and I can't see anything other than a partner being the most significant relationship in someones life, and to me, these two have to be the others most significant relationship.

Oh, I absolutely believe they'll get together. The question is, will them doing so be the series finale, or the beginning of a new story arc? I'd prefer the latter, but I'm afraid the flow of the story seems to be headed down the other path.

*Stops self fanboying over Nezchan replying to me again.

Thanks for clearing that up, I thought you were saying you wanted them to have a relationship that wasn't friends or together rather something new, and the concept was giving me a headache.

Gokujo Drops and Hanjuku Joshi are other good exceptions, as is the last volume of Girl Friends.

Gokujo Drops, Don't really remember much of it, just that I found the bizarre lack of respect for personal space, rapey behavior of some of those characters towards the MC, and her general attitude in such situations was a bit too... stupid... Hanjuku Joshi, the main couple had absolutely no idea of what they were doing throughout most of it, the development consisted just on setting down the relationship through a pair of arcs, relationship-wise it was something at least. When they finally got together in Girl Friends it didn't really do much with the relationship itself, did not get any further than Prism's.

Possible Spoilers for those who haven't read Sasameki Koto

Don't forget the disaster that was Sasameki Koto either. They got together in their 2nd year I believe and dated for an entire school year before sharing their first kiss. I was upset that we never got to even see a few chapters of that time period =(

I think the author of SK made a timeslip to graduation day for its emotionnal value (last days of school together, separation to come). Once the pair had confessed, he dealt with a few consequences (coming out to family and friends, what are you doing to do next...) but the story was essentialy over.

Anyway, in 5 days maybe we will know where Shou want to go. I hope he keeps on writing about Keiko and Ran and that this relationship gets deeper.

I think the author of SK made a timeslip to graduation day for its emotional value (last days of school together, separation to come). Once the pair had confessed, he dealt with a few consequences (coming out to family and friends, what are you doing to do next...) but the story was essentially over.

No, if I remember correctly he was forced to end it (I think... or I'm confusing him and his manga with another...). But it's just frustrating to have yet another long running yuri series end without seeing them in a relationship. I, like many others have stated, hope that if Keiko and Ran get together, that we see them in their relationship.

Anyway, in 5 days maybe we will know where Shou want to go. I hope he keeps on writing about Keiko and Ran and that this relationship gets deeper.

Come again?? A new chapter being released or a translated one being put up here??

On yawaspi, there's the date of the next chapter. April 16. It will take a day or two to get translated probably.

On yawaspi, there's the date of the next chapter. April 16. It will take a day or two to get translated probably.

If I was in the market for a TARDIS, what kind of bait would I put out for a timelord?

edit: grammar failure. Proposing something hypothetical, then putting should rather than would was incorrect I think.

last edited at Apr 11, 2015 4:16AM