Well, I was expecting Masaki to be weird but not to be borderline insane. Why Michi keeps attracting the crazies?

This is a hilarious take given how much of a weirdo Michi herself is. Like jeez have you not seen our protagonist? And how she spends all day every day at school obsessively watching something nobody else in the room can see? Did you forget the time only a couple chapters back where she was found passed out and covered in blood at the school fair?

Anime Japan page. Series name and author name below.
見えてますよ！　愛沢さん
棘尾どろしー

[Good news] Seta has finally put on his winter uniform.

Aizawa's jealous of Masaki who's jealous of Kasumi who's jealousing Michi while Reona jealouses everybody and somewhere out there there's Sayaka. Come home soon.

Michi has finally been called out on her denseness. She obviously gets she's in love with Aizawa and is trying to bury it by denying Aizawa's feelings too, but at least she cracked the case of what happened in uh... chapter 5. At this rate she'll figure out the cultural festival by volume 8.

"女の子が好きでしょ？/You like girls, don't you?"
Japanese is one of those languages that can be difficult to parse the degree of expression as platonic or romantic, but y'know I'm pretty sure. A lot of Masaki's dialogue is like that.

There's a few noteworthy panels that feel like anchors for future plot points but have little context yet.
Michi recaps her assumption that Honda was only afraid of introducing her to Masaki because she'd tell Michi how Honda wanted to be an idol, which means it's almost certainly wrong. Sorry Michi you don't have a great record. And Honda later hints there's more she doesn't want Michi to know, going back to her strange warnings in chapter 20.

Meanwhile Aizawa has an uncharacteristically sympathetic reaction when Masaki defends herself getting close to Michi and coming to school. She then wants Honda and Masaki to stop fighting. Since it's practically guaranteed they met and Aizawa remembers her, she might have some empathy for whatever happened to Masaki to stop her from going to school.

And we have our setup for just Michi, Aizawa, and Masaki together for a few chapters. Next chapter should be on the long side and close off volume 4; Dorothy tends to end volumes with a bang. So while 4 has been a departure (like she promised back in the volume 3 extras) we're probably getting back to ghost shenanigans shortly. Ange's mystery has been building and Dorothy likes to write in broad strokes, sprinkling this photo across the last 3 chapters. So the question now is: is it the ghost in the mirror, or is that Ange while her body is possessed?

• Tear still has a group photo with Aizawa included on the back of her phone. Sentimental.
• More foreshadowing of Michi's strange athleticism.
• I appreciate how Aizawa is portrayed just as clueless as Michi. Viva idiot couples.
• Rikurou is probably Non's account.
• Return of Kittyzawa. The Ghost Trick theory holds.
• Pokerface Kasumi is my spirit animal.

I wonder when Michi's amnesia will be discovered. That one Delphi girl already knows she was friends with Aisawa, but Honda should know it too, possibly even Masaki. And are just keeping quiet about it because a death of a friend... You know?

The recent chapters feel like a mess to read

shoop ba zoop

Not the jinzo faiya because you know more people will recognize that lol

God Hanamura is so annoying. Hopefully she and Reona can kiss and make up and kiss and date and have a fulfilling life together.

This series keeps getting denser and wackier at the same time that I stopped trying to predict what will happen. Masaki is weirdly endearing by being so blunt and forceful about her interest in Aizawa (a crush?) and it was pretty nice to have her confront Michi about her feelings for girls.

Also, have I mentioned how much I love all the silly faces characters do?

This girl really knows how to be annoying, but I'm sure this is still leading to something important again...

wow new gal has So Much Energy

Interesting how the Aizawa kissing this chapter parallels the first chapter, with a big difference in how Michi responds to it: the first time by freezing up like a deer in headlights, the second time by somersaulting away lmao.
I think the point of sympathy with Misaki might be related to Michi's early comic theory that Aizawa is haunting the classroom because while alive she barely got to attend school and do school life things due to her job as an idol. Maybe there was an element of truth to that with Aizawa, which makes her sympathize with Misaki's story here

The recent chapters feel like a mess to read

Still a huge fan of the series but I agree that the new chapters just feel a bit messier. Maybe it's the more frequent sudden bursts of energy

i know it´s not gonna happen but i don´t care i´ll go down with the kasumicchi ship, they are just so cute together and kasumi is such a sweet cutie pie

When you realize DeLphi isn't 1/4 dead, it's 2.5/5 dead.

Relatively subdued volume finale but not unusual given the manga's settling into a long run. Only so many times you can reinvent the rules without stealing twists from the endgame. And this volume was said to be more laid back before we take a steep turn next time.

The big takeaway of course is confirmation there was a 5th member of De:Lphinus. There's been subtle hints beyond Masaki plain asking where the 5th girl went, Delphinus being a 5 star constellation for example. And the Sailor Moon theory (each member follows the same naming pattern as the 5 main sailor senshi: Tsuki/moon, Ai/love, Hi/fire, Ki/tree, Mizu/water is missing. Dorothy being a massive Sailor Moon fangirl and referencing this way back with Kidou Ange wearing a Jupiter shirt.) So 5-chan is almost certainly Mizu-something.

Unless there's an insane twist in the works 5-chan is the ghost haunting DeLphi. Which raises questions. Why was her death even quieter than Aizawa's? Tear never referenced it aside from potentially at the start of ch18, where she may have linked herself to it ("I should know better than anyone [something supernatural is happening]" coupled with a panel of her standing in blood(?)). But she's been trying to deny DeLphi's haunted for a while now, so it makes sense she'd bury it. If so though, why isn't 5-chan targeting her? Why Aizawa and then Ange? Why does she need Aizawa to be fully dead? Why does she need to possess Ange to do it? It's not like Aizawa needs possession to get things done. Why is 5-chan seemingly bound to DeLphi when we know Aizawa has some pretty strict and unique rules binding her to school? And if Karasuma is investigating the source of this mess, why isn't she going after DeLphi? It's just a hunch but I don't think 5-chan is the final boss here.

There's a lot less insight on Masaki than I expected but it was a very humanizing chapter for her nonetheless. And now we get the fun implication Aizawa could accidentally kill her the same way 5-chan is killing Ange. That's a fairly deliberate transition from Masaki coughing to Ange coughing. This also seemingly confirms 5-chan did not die of ghostly illness, otherwise Tear would have mentioned it back when she said that's how Aizawa died. And finally we have wild ghosts returning (after 2 volumes post-exorcism) which means a return to the spooky stuff.

And now for the chapter title.
Lying Mii-kun and Broken Maa-chan is a light novel series by Hitoma Iruma, the author of Adachi and Shimamura. I haven't read all 12 volumes - only the 1st - so it's hard to tell exactly what connection Dorothy is drawing here. Far from the first time an Aizawa chapter title has referenced another work, and there's always meaning to it. To sum up Mii-kun and Maa-chan's relationship (spoilers for volume 1):

'Mii-kun' and Maa-chan were victims of a kidnapping when they were kids. The kidnapper forced Maa-chan to murder her own parents, traumatizing her and permanently derailing her memories and sense of reason. 'Mii-kun' is not the real Mii-kun, but the son of the kidnapper who was victimized as well. Maa-chan mentally replaced the real Mii-kun with him as a coping mechanism. 'Mii-kun' has his own trauma including being a pathological liar (even to himself) incapable of accepting the word love after his mother died protecting him during the kidnapping. The two were separated for a while, but after reuniting Maa-chan is utterly obsessed with 'Mii-kun', immediately treating him like they're a married couple which 'Mii-kun' passively goes along with. Maa-chan also has dark tendencies like kidnapping children herself, and 'Mii-kun' is driven by a desire to protect her and set everything right.

It's kind of a classic of the yandere genre, with a complex protagonist and melancholic monologues like Iruma's known for. Again, I'm no expert on it. And I can only guess what Michi or Masaki's deal is. But there's connections in that summary which should jump out at you. So are we getting a yandere arc out of Masaki? Is there more than meets the eye to her infatuation with Michi? Or is she just ghost sick and the title extends no further than the events of this chapter? Who knows!

Hopefully (hopefully) the manga doesn't go on another 2 month hiatus like the other volumes. Volume 1's happened because Dorothy was graduating college, 2's came because she missed deadlines, 3 had no reason given. But she's hired an assistant now so maybe I'll see you again next month.

• It's a little suspicious how fast Honda jumped on Masaki coughing. Does Masaki have a history of illness?
• The promise Ange refers to was in chapter 14 when she reassured Tear DeLphi wouldn't give up.
• With Michi getting interrupted asking about what Aizawa was like in life it's looking increasingly like there's an answer we need to hear there.
• Michi continues her deduction streak of being horribly wrong about everything.
• "I never thought about who I want to be with for Christmas. Oh anyway, how's Aizawa-san?" is like a colorblindness test for subtext.
• Enter the Michi/Aizawa/Masaki/Honda poly route.

I think the point of sympathy with Misaki might be related to Michi's early comic theory that Aizawa is haunting the classroom because while alive she barely got to attend school and do school life things due to her job as an idol. Maybe there was an element of truth to that with Aizawa, which makes her sympathize with Misaki's story here

Very true and I kind of lost that detail for the trees.

last edited at Dec 21, 2024 3:14PM

How cute the first page is a Christmas special art :)

holy hell that aizawa face. i think that one's gonna haunt me.

is the idol group cursed or something?

I have never seen a detailed and analyzed observation as this uploader here about a yuri manga in my whole life

I wasn't ready for page 26 at all, holy shit.

And once again, it felt like this chapter was setting the end game, I wonder how long Dorothy can keep the mystery going.

Kina sad Micchy's love interest is the dead girl. Kasumi has her senpai and I'm pretty sure Reona has a thing for Masaki. Masaki is also giving Yandere vibes. That one shot where looked at reona walking chichi home with the crazy eyes. She's probably jealous as well, after seeing the selfy pic of them. She was also really pissed at Reona self deprecating.

Micchi is playing a kinda passive role getting caught up in the dynamics of her friends relationships. Unless aizawa comes back to life she won't have a real a love interest.

Well I hope I'm wrong. Masaki getting involved is interesting but her just ending together with Reona would be too obvious and cliché.

For the title reference, I guess the implication might be that Misaki's feelings for Michi are her projecting her feelings for another person. The point that Michi is lying to herself, seemingly in some supernatural self-protective way, seems obvious

Kina sad Micchy's love interest is the dead girl. Kasumi has her senpai and I'm pretty sure Reona has a thing for Masaki. Masaki is also giving Yandere vibes. That one shot where looked at reona walking chichi home with the crazy eyes. She's probably jealous as well, after seeing the selfy pic of them. She was also really pissed at Reona self deprecating.

Micchi is playing a kinda passive role getting caught up in the dynamics of her friends relationships. Unless aizawa comes back to life she won't have a real a love interest.

Well I hope I'm wrong. Masaki getting involved is interesting but her just ending together with Reona would be too obvious and cliché.

I think the saving grace of this manga is that IS supernatural, meaning something might happen that can let the 2 main girls be together.

I can imagine a happy ending for Michi and Honami without sudden resurrection. For example, Honami could possess Michi, in the classic sense of possession, "a ghost has attached itself to a person and is taking from their energy," rather than the modern relatively simple "a ghost is sitting inside a person and controlling them like they're a flesh suit". Honami could stablize connecting to Michi's seemingly extra spirit energy, and they can have a Happily Ever After. Sure other people might not understand, but I think there's like a "being happy while disabled" angle you can take there. Honami can't talk or be seen by most people, but it's still possible for her to live a happy unlife.

Things are really starting to progress on all sides now...

A happy ending for a ghost is to go to heaven or reincarnation of course :)
Well I do hope we get a little bit of fluff before that. I hope the line "I see you Aizawa-san" isn't said too close to the ending. That would be very very sad.