Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I didn't find the angst in Girl Friends that overwhelming... there's some in the first part ("but... we''re both girls, you must find me disgusting" and all that jazz), but the rest is pretty fun and lighthearted.

If the angst makes the character grow and move forward, then it's a good kind.

last edited at Apr 16, 2015 4:41AM

guess its time for hard mode.

guess its time for hard mode.

Fuck yeah ultraman!! XD Ahaha that April Fools was awesome.

Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I had always felt that it was simmering under Kazama's surface and trying to ignore Sumika. Tis how I always felt about her. Either way, it's a great series and agree about the aangst in it, never felt forced.

last edited at Apr 16, 2015 5:19AM

Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I didn't find the angst in Girl Friends that overwhelming... there's some in the first part ("but... we''re both girls, you must find me disgusting" and all that jazz), but the rest is pretty fun and lighthearted.

If the angst makes the character grow and move forward, then it's a good kind.

about kazama i think you are right, i loved that manga and that character who seems shallow only at start,

but about girlfriends there are some parts i can't forget,: the reaction of mari when akko, doing her make up, says somethings like "if i was a boy i'd fall for you for sure", or when they meet after mari walks away from her "boyfriend", but the best is how the misunderstanding continues even after akko kiss her in the karaoke,
the feelings of mari were so great even i couldn't be untouched after reading those parts, all the close-up of mari's face, with her eyes out of the frames were so full of sadness...

I had always felt that it was simmering under Kazama's surface and trying to ignore Sumika. Tis how I always felt about her.

Just to be safe spoilering this: In the flashbacks to when they first became friends, Kazama seems to take Sumika's claims that she's not cute very seriously. I think that due to taking her claim so seriously she never really considered whether Sumika was cute or not until after she learned how Sumika felt about her.

She actually saw her cute side when Sumika was ill after Kazama made her cry.

Sumika was sleeping and Kazama, watching her, had a sudden realization that she indeed was very cute.

That's exactly when Kazama had the veil lifted from her eyes. Aaangst ensues because "if I tell her I love her, our friendship may end, but I need her by my side, so let's writhe in pain for a while".

guess its time for hard mode.

Fuck yeah ultraman!! XD Ahaha that April Fools was awesome.

Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I had always felt that it was simmering under Kazama's surface and trying to ignore Sumika. Tis how I always felt about her. Either way, it's a great series and agree about the aangst in it, never felt forced.

I seem to remember that there's also an implication that Kazama had a suicide attempt in her past, but I can't seem to easily find it. Something to do with the apartment balcony, I recall. I'll need to re-read to get it I think.

guess its time for hard mode.

Fuck yeah ultraman!! XD Ahaha that April Fools was awesome.

Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I had always felt that it was simmering under Kazama's surface and trying to ignore Sumika. Tis how I always felt about her. Either way, it's a great series and agree about the aangst in it, never felt forced.

I seem to remember that there's also an implication that Kazama had a suicide attempt in her past, but I can't seem to easily find it. Something to do with the apartment balcony, I recall. I'll need to re-read to get it I think.

You mean this?
Just glanced over it right now but I don't think there was any implication in there.

guess its time for hard mode.

Fuck yeah ultraman!! XD Ahaha that April Fools was awesome.

Angst in Sasameki is a good kind of angst, because it adds depth to Kazama's character (which she lacked a little beforehand). Up to then, she looked like an airhead fawning over cute girls right in front of the only one that truely loves her.

I had always felt that it was simmering under Kazama's surface and trying to ignore Sumika. Tis how I always felt about her. Either way, it's a great series and agree about the aangst in it, never felt forced.

I seem to remember that there's also an implication that Kazama had a suicide attempt in her past, but I can't seem to easily find it. Something to do with the apartment balcony, I recall. I'll need to re-read to get it I think.

You mean this?
Just glanced over it right now but I don't think there was any implication in there.

Her brother seemed to think there was a possibility in that scene, and I seem to remember an implication that they moved to that apartment after an event something like her later outburst/tantrum. Given the at least perceived prevalence of youth suicide in Japan it doesn't seem unlikely the possibility is implied there.

Her brother seemed to think there was a possibility in that scene, and I seem to remember an implication that they moved to that apartment after an event something like her later outburst/tantrum. Given the at least perceived prevalence of youth suicide in Japan it doesn't seem unlikely the possibility is implied there.

Well, that might be true, actually. Mostly, I thought Kazama's brother wouldn't react like he did if there was a previous suicide attempt (just smiling and asking her if she wants to move) but he might just be relieved.that he didn't have anything to worry about.
I read the manga like 5 times now and didn't catch any suicide implications but I'm really prone to missing details so you're probably right.

Aww, now I want to reread it.

Aww, now I want to reread it.

Haha that's what I'm doing right now actually. And it really does seem to me that there is some sort of undercurrent of feelings with Ushio in regards to Sumika from what I can tell. I'm not close to the flashbacks yet but I feel like Ushio accepted Sumika's friendship over a possible love interest since she seems to have always been ostracized. (How it seems to me.) Anyhoo, I had forgotten how much fun of a read this one is... almost like a School Rumble for yuri....almost (and with a much more satisfying conclusion lol).

its less about being ostracized and more traumatized. ushio confessed to her former best friend when she was younger and ended up getting rejected and called disgusting by her.

last edited at Apr 19, 2015 2:37AM

That would be Kazama... >.>

(see avatar :P)

Dear God, my eyes are terrible. I can't believe I didn't get this...

Her brother seemed to think there was a possibility in that scene, and I seem to remember an implication that they moved to that apartment after an event something like her later outburst/tantrum. Given the at least perceived prevalence of youth suicide in Japan it doesn't seem unlikely the possibility is implied there.

Well, that might be true, actually. Mostly, I thought Kazama's brother wouldn't react like he did if there was a previous suicide attempt (just smiling and asking her if she wants to move) but he might just be relieved.that he didn't have anything to worry about.
I read the manga like 5 times now and didn't catch any suicide implications but I'm really prone to missing details so you're probably right.

I was flipping through the licensed copy I bought today (ok well I only bought Volume 2 because that's all they had) and one of the early chapters shows Kazama crying loudly on the balcony and then her brother runs over to grab her because he "was afraid she would fall"

so it's chapter 20 "Her Stumbling Block"

the scanlated version and the licensed version do have some differences in the text so that might explain the ambiguity here.

its less about being ostracized and more traumatized. ushio confessed to her former best friend when she was younger and ended up getting rejected and called disgusting by her.

Just made my way through the flashbacks and she said that she'd always been alone so probably a mix of both.

I've got the point now,thx guys

Really overrated and overused genre.

99% of authors relies on it to make yuri. It's like no one thinks that it's possible to make good yuri without aaangst.

Manga like 'Real Her' is free of this genre and is far better than 99% of yuri manga ever drawn.

I thought the tag applies to series with a bunch of extra chapters to get more sales. I’m surprised at the number of one shots which have this tag.

A real high risk, high reward sort of tag.
Sometimes you get relatable emotional suffering that ends with a wonderfully cathartic happy ending made all the more sweet by the bitterness that led up to it, and the feeling of hope that someday you too will find that light at the end of the tunnel...
And sometimes you just get something depressing for the sake of being depressing, which concludes with a total non-ending for artificial deepness, or the incredibly lame "woman I liked suddenly got married to a man because only straight people deserve to be happy" trope. The kind of thing that completely goes against the entire purpose of reading manga for escapism.

I always thought the differentiation for this tag was to include the character in its consideration. i.e. the story takes a dark turn and we get to see the character suffering from emotional overload, which we often call angst. Sasameki Koto and Octave are pretty great examples of the tag being earned, by this definition. But nowadays I read a lot of stories where Aaaaaangst is just used like an upgraded version of Drama. Seems that it doesn't really matter if the characters suffer at all or not, so long as the audience [seems] meant to.

So, which is the correct form of use, if there is one?

last edited at Feb 22, 2021 2:36PM

I always understood this tag as refering to a more melodramatic turn of events, as opposed to the usually more subdued and realistic Drama.

I find myself ignoring this tag due to the Insane amounts of As. I'm never sure whether or not it's supposed to be taken seriously...

I find myself ignoring this tag due to the Insane amounts of As. I'm never sure whether or not it's supposed to be taken seriously...

Which sorta plays into the first one! The sheer amount of angst a character might feel in a manga is worthy of a bit of fun...

fuck angst