They're so weird and awful, I love it.

I think the situation is delicate in a way that therapy not being on the table is something I find easy to accept, at least this early. The thing about therapy is that -except when mandated by court order or you get committed/taken in by ambulance- it's voluntary and requires some level of willingness. And it can be hard to realize that you need it if nobody around you suggests it in an encouraging, non-judgmental way.

I'm just going to go there and say therapy isn't as good as people say it is.* The therapy techniques are not backed by science (ie the techniques perform similarly, even ones that are less scientific sounding like crystal energy healing). People subjectively liking how something feels isn't the same as improved clinical outcomes. See bath salts for an example**.

I'm not saying it -can't- help people, but people act like it's a miracle treatment suitable for all people if only they are willing to give it a try. This would make it unlike any other kind of treatment that has a failure rate, even among people who properly follow the treatment plan.

Not being able to talk about their relationship with anyone at all ends up being the root of a lot of challenges for them and so a therapist might help in that sense. I can't imagine most of the ones I've seen really understanding their situation or being able to respond in a helpful way, though. As a web novel reader, I just want them to talk with Maika... Okay, who am I kidding, I want more drama as they dig their hole deeper.

*I could say more about my personal situation, but I've had more success with non-therapy measures despite trying extensive therapy with different therapists over many years while doing my best to take it seriously. There's no one size fits all approach to healthcare.

** Yes, therapy is more likely to help than bath salts. It's just an example.

last edited at Mar 9, 2025 11:10AM

I think the situation is delicate in a way that therapy not being on the table is something I find easy to accept, at least this early. The thing about therapy is that -except when mandated by court order or you get committed/taken in by ambulance- it's voluntary and requires some level of willingness. And it can be hard to realize that you need it if nobody around you suggests it in an encouraging, non-judgmental way.

I'm just going to go there and say therapy isn't as good as people say it is.* The therapy techniques are not backed by science (ie the techniques perform similarly, even ones that are less scientific sounding like crystal energy healing). People subjectively liking how something feels isn't the same as improved clinical outcomes. See bath salts for an example**.

I'm not saying it -can't- help people, but people act like it's a miracle treatment suitable for all people if only they are willing to give it a try. This would make it unlike any other kind of treatment that has a failure rate, even among people who properly follow the treatment plan.

Not being able to talk about their relationship with anyone at all ends up being the root of a lot of challenges for them and so a therapist might help in that sense. I can't imagine most of the ones I've seen really understanding their situation or being able to respond in a helpful way, though. As a web novel reader, I just want them to talk with Maika... Okay, who am I kidding, I want more drama as they dig their hole deeper.

*I could say more about my personal situation, but I've had more success with non-therapy measures despite trying extensive therapy with different therapists over many years while doing my best to take it seriously. There's no one size fits all approach to healthcare.

** Yes, therapy is more likely to help than bath salts. It's just an example.

It's pretty rare to see people that understand that therapy is not the magic solution everyone says it is. It does help some people (and it did help me to be fair) but it also does harm to some people (mostly because there are a lot of bad therapists on the market, I must admit...).

But there are many ways of dealing with trauma/issues, and therapy is not really popular in Japan. That why is always make me laugh a bit when people are mentioning therapy for Japanese characters. Talking about therapy in Japan is seeing Japanese society with a western lens and it doesn't apply very well. I'm not saying that there are no therapist in Japan btw, just saying that is not common and therefore it's not something that we can expect to see in fiction as a way to resolve characters' issues.

I tend to view manga comments about the characters needing therapy more as the reader voicing their frustration with the characters' behavior.

"If only they would just talk to each other!"
"If only they would just talk to anyone!"

But there are many ways of dealing with trauma/issues, and therapy is not really popular in Japan. That why is always make me laugh a bit when people are mentioning therapy for Japanese characters. Talking about therapy in Japan is seeing Japanese society with a western lens and it doesn't apply very well. I'm not saying that there are no therapist in Japan btw, just saying that is not common and therefore it's not something that we can expect to see in fiction as a way to resolve characters' issues.

I don't know anything about the state of therapy in Japan, so I can't comment on that. I do know that, even in the US, many people have limited access to therapy. This can mean needing to choose from a smaller set of options (what will the parents approve if you're a minor, what's local and covered by insurance, who treats on a sliding scale, etc), possibly at random until you find someone appropriate.

Most of those options will be subject to the same general biases of your local and national culture. This is known to impact healthcare outcomes (eg, Black people being treated as being at a lower pain level than White people who make the same statements). I think it has a much larger impact where therapy is concerned. It's not like a situation where a skilled surgeon with a god complex could give you a good outcome. A therapist who's trying to stay professional but is secretly a bit weirded out by teenage gay stuff and secret BDSM coded transactional relationship will impact the whole process. For someone in an emotionally vulnerable situation, this could have long term repercussions.

I know I'm very seriously responding to an idea that was mentioned off handedly, so I hope everyone will forgive me for that.

last edited at Mar 9, 2025 4:09PM

Ah yes. The infamous popcorn chapter.

Even when Miyagi decides to go with this self-destructive big brain move, Sendai continues to be patient with her.

I am very confused lol

This got violent really quickly 0_0

Therapy is good (Assuming you have a good well understanding therapist that want to actually help and won't judge you like one comment said above) for people to have to understand and deal with their emotions and mental issues....TOO BAD IT COSTS SO MUCH MONEY AND ALCOHOL IS CHEAPER (+SOCIAL STIGMA of appearing unstable to people who don't understand much about therapy...Plus some people don't want to go to therapy since they think they can deal with their own emotional mental issues~) XD

[Newest chapter thoughts]

This is a sign/example of why power dynamics can be a bad thing in a relationship...Rude...Very very rude move by Miyagi...I understand she want to see the MC (Sendai)'s unique facial expression...but doing that just to see her get angry...You know you can find better ways to see her angry expression....Buy a game console and pwn her in games till she rage quits from your sick gamer insults/burns lol.

Sure MC(Sendai) is being paid but MC's main reasons for hanging out with Miyagi is not mainly for the money (Money is only about 10-20% of the reason) and is hanging out with Miyagi because she is interested in Miyagi in interacting and possibly becoming friends with Miyagi...And Miyagi is definitely very interested in MC (Wanting to see sides of MC that she can only witness and see herself.) Miyagi just step into the realm of trampling on another human's being's dignity...I guess some people can justify Miyagi actions by claiming that MC(Sendai) is being paid but eh Shrug...

I just hope that Miyagi apologize sincerely later...XD

last edited at Apr 5, 2025 5:36PM

Therapy is good (Assuming you have a good well understanding therapist that want to actually help and won't judge you like one comment said above) for people to have to understand and deal with their emotions and mental issues....TOO BAD IT COSTS SO MUCH MONEY AND ALCOHOL IS CHEAPER (+SOCIAL STIGMA of appearing unstable to people who don't understand much about therapy...Plus some people don't want to go to therapy since they think they can deal with their own emotional mental issues~) XD

You referred to the comment above, and I’m assuming you meant mine, since it's the one directly above yours. I’m fully aware of the concept of therapy and how it would benefit Miyagi, especially compared to what she did to Sendai. I was simply sharing what I observed and giving my opinion it wasn’t meant to come off as rude nor to judge them in any way.
When I said it got violent quickly, I meant that Miyagi intentionally used violence just to provoke a reaction from Sendai and she succeeded. It caught me off guard that she did something so serious just for the sake of getting a response. only to later dismiss the incident as if it never happened.

That said, I completely agree with your point about therapy being important. However, it’s worth keeping in mind that this is a fictional story. I believe many people are reading it not just for the deeper themes, but also because it's a yuri story focused on the evolving relationship between the two main characters. as well as what the title suggests, "A Story About Buying a Classmate Once a Week ~ 5,000 Yen for an Excuse to Spend Time Together". I do apologize if my comment came across the wrong way.

last edited at Apr 5, 2025 6:10PM

To anyone seeing this, I highly, highly recommend the web novel. You can read a very high-quality, non-MTL translation by Ave Lillium here https://avelilium.com/story-about-buying-my-classmate-once-a-week/

Between the release of this chapter and the previous one, I have binged the entirety of the first 2 volumes and am halfway through the 3rd. It is easily one of the best yuri novels available right now, and this manga adaption, unfortunately, does not hold a candle to it. So much of this story is contained in the inner thoughts of the characters, which unfortunately is not very well represented in manga format. The tension the author manages to create between Miyagi and Sendai is so palpable, and when all that tension finally releases, the subsequent intimacy feels so well deserved and satisfying. Seriously, to anyone at all curious, give it a shot—you won't regret it.

To anyone seeing this, I highly, highly recommend the web novel. You can read a very high-quality, non-MTL translation by Ave Lillium here https://avelilium.com/story-about-buying-my-classmate-once-a-week/

Between the release of this chapter and the previous one, I have binged the entirety of the first 2 volumes and am halfway through the 3rd. It is easily one of the best yuri novels available right now, and this manga adaption, unfortunately, does not hold a candle to it. So much of this story is contained in the inner thoughts of the characters, which unfortunately is not very well represented in manga format. The tension the author manages to create between Miyagi and Sendai is so palpable, and when all that tension finally releases, the subsequent intimacy feels so well deserved and satisfying. Seriously, to anyone at all curious, give it a shot—you won't regret it.

Ha, was just about to comment that it is a shame the web novel translation is such a mess The different translations are scrambled on novel updates and the longest one the mtl on is all but unreadable. Unfortunately a browser crash caused me to lose my chapter I was on of the decent translation. Dunno if this is the same translation you linked. There is certainly a lot more to the novel than in the manga that might say cuts/changes to much.

Therapy is good (Assuming you have a good well understanding therapist that want to actually help and won't judge you like one comment said above) for people to have to understand and deal with their emotions and mental issues....TOO BAD IT COSTS SO MUCH MONEY AND ALCOHOL IS CHEAPER (+SOCIAL STIGMA of appearing unstable to people who don't understand much about therapy...Plus some people don't want to go to therapy since they think they can deal with their own emotional mental issues~) XD

You referred to the comment above, and I’m assuming you meant mine, since it's the one directly above yours. I’m fully aware of the concept of therapy and how it would benefit Miyagi, especially compared to what she did to Sendai. I was simply sharing what I observed and giving my opinion it wasn’t meant to come off as rude nor to judge them in any way.

...My bad...I didn't mean you, I was just giving my worthless 2 cents on the whole therapy topic above that many posters are chatting and talking about (Started on page 10 and till this page) XD

Probably should have been more especially when I said comment above, many comment above talking about therapy. Your comment was a short amusing funny type of comment type about the latest chapter to me though, good humor lol.

I apologize too for not being specific enough, no need to apologize to me since you have nothing to apologize for lol

P.S- I was making a minor joke about Therapy costing too much money and being drunk is the cheaper optional with the all caps. My humor is dark and weird.

last edited at Apr 5, 2025 11:48PM

Does Miyagi get any better or should I just drop this?

@RandomFanZ

...My bad...I didn't mean you, I was just giving my worthless 2 cents on the whole therapy topic above that many posters are chatting and talking about (Started on page 10 and till this page) XD

Probably should have been more especially when I said comment above, many comment above talking about therapy. Your comment was a short amusing funny type of comment type about the latest chapter to me though, good humor lol.

In addition to many people talking about it, there may have been one commenter who went on a long, unprovoked, multipost rant, but I wouldn't know anything about that.

@ Red K.

To anyone seeing this, I highly, highly recommend the web novel. You can read a very high-quality, non-MTL translation by Ave Lillium here https://avelilium.com/story-about-buying-my-classmate-once-a-week/

Between the release of this chapter and the previous one, I have binged the entirety of the first 2 volumes and am halfway through the 3rd. It is easily one of the best yuri novels available right now, and this manga adaption, unfortunately, does not hold a candle to it. So much of this story is contained in the inner thoughts of the characters, which unfortunately is not very well represented in manga format. The tension the author manages to create between Miyagi and Sendai is so palpable, and when all that tension finally releases, the subsequent intimacy feels so well deserved and satisfying. Seriously, to anyone at all curious, give it a shot—you won't regret it.

I know people always say to read the webnovel, but this is one instance where it's true, even as someone who doesn't generally read webnovels. This is indeed "the translation" as well. They recently changed names and added a second novel that's being translated by a different person, but one can read there or download the epubs and never lose their place.

The manga adaption seems like it's going to be enjoyable, so there's nothing wrong with sticking with it in that sense. A lot of 'the magic' is nonetheless lost, as the internal thoughts and perspective shifts between the two characters form the bulk of the story. This recent "I Know That Miyagi Doesn't Taste Good" webnovel arc is my personal favorite thus far, with the way it's written showing that the author understands what these situations are like to experience.

For example,

"It didn’t matter who it was, no one’s blood tasted good.

The sensation of licking blood off someone else’s finger was even worse than I expected.

Miyagi’s blood tasted exactly like mine when I licked my own blood – like rusty iron. That being said, I’d never licked rust or iron before, so I couldn’t say whether that was really true or not. Regardless, it tasted terrible. Even soda, which I wasn’t particularly a fan of, was way better than this.

「Lick it properly.」

She said as she pushed the finger further towards me. "

-https://avelilium.com/2023/07/20/i-know-that-miyagi-doesnt-taste-good-iii/

You can see from those 8 sentences that it was a much more intense experience for Sendai than what we could tell in the comic chapters. That's part of why she's not more mad about the popcorn-soda-ing than she is, despite feeling like Miyagi went too far this time.

Or like Sendai says to herself at the beginning of the arc:

"I didn’t like pain.

I also didn’t like being treated so rudely either.

But despite all of that, I felt more at ease being in Miyagi’s room than my own.

Maybe there was something messed up about me too.

Even if the things we did to each other had no deeper meaning to them, doing stuff like licking each other’s skin was >probably distorting our sense of distance. But now that we’ve come this far, I had no intention of going back; Miyagi most >likely wasn’t going to right herself either, after heading down the path of corruption."

-https://avelilium.com/2023/07/17/i-know-that-miyagi-doesnt-taste-good-i/

The story shifts between the two perspectives in roughly equal amounts, with Miyagi's thoughts being equally revealing. We get to see how they view the same situations differently, without it ever feeling repetitive since the story is always moving forward. Sendai does tend to be a favorite for her unhinged thoughts, which she usually avoids saying out loud. Miyagi's thought process and why she is making these choices is much clearer too.

last edited at Apr 6, 2025 7:11AM

Therapy is good (Assuming you have a good well understanding therapist that want to actually help and won't judge you like one comment said above) for people to have to understand and deal with their emotions and mental issues....TOO BAD IT COSTS SO MUCH MONEY AND ALCOHOL IS CHEAPER (+SOCIAL STIGMA of appearing unstable to people who don't understand much about therapy...Plus some people don't want to go to therapy since they think they can deal with their own emotional mental issues~) XD

You referred to the comment above, and I’m assuming you meant mine, since it's the one directly above yours. I’m fully aware of the concept of therapy and how it would benefit Miyagi, especially compared to what she did to Sendai. I was simply sharing what I observed and giving my opinion it wasn’t meant to come off as rude nor to judge them in any way.

...My bad...I didn't mean you, I was just giving my worthless 2 cents on the whole therapy topic above that many posters are chatting and talking about (Started on page 10 and till this page) XD

Probably should have been more especially when I said comment above, many comment above talking about therapy. Your comment was a short amusing funny type of comment type about the latest chapter to me though, good humor lol.

I apologize too for not being specific enough, no need to apologize to me since you have nothing to apologize for lol

P.S- I was making a minor joke about Therapy costing too much money and being drunk is the cheaper optional with the all caps. My humor is dark and weird.

I see, no worries at all, I appreciate the clarification It can be easy to misread things in long threads like this, especially when there are so many overlapping conversations. Thanks for taking the time to explain, and no offense taken whatsoever. I just got a bit worried that what I said earlier might have come across as offensive.
Your humor came through just fine, and I totally get the joke now, dark humor definitely has its place, and sometimes it hits just right. All good on my end, and I’m glad we cleared it up. :)

having read the (translation of the) novel (so far), this scene https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/a_story_about_buying_a_classmate_once_a_week_5000_yen_for_an_excuse_to_spend_time_together_ch06#26 where Sendai puts her hand on her abdomen after swallowing Miyagi's blood is such a powerful image, you can almost feel her thinking that she feels Miyagi has become a part of her, and she doesn't know how to feel about that

Does Miyagi get any better or should I just drop this?

Probably not the first time this has been asked here... I'll try to answer with only general spoilers from the web novel, without giving away any specific plot points.

Miyagi remains deeper in denial compared to Sendai; but as she falls for Sendai her attitude gets warmer too. But Miyagi does not completely stop being a "tsundere" and it usually falls on Sendai to push their relationship forward.

A general overview of the story, as it stands in volume 2:

Miyagi and Sendai start to hang out on a whim during the Summer of their junior year, but eventually (sometime around the Summer of their senior year) they hit a point of no return where it becomes impossible for them to just casually stop seeing each other, or to ignore the sexual tension between them. Miyagi is convinced that Sendai will want to stop seeing her after they graduate high school, and is afraid of getting her hopes up. Sendai does want to keep seeing Miyagi even after graduation, but she does not know how to convince Miyagi to trust her.

I'm sure some people just don't have the patience for a "high maintenance" character like Miyagi, but for everyone else the web novel should be a much more seamless experience. The translation by Ave Lilium (i.e. the good one) recently completed volume 3, so if you grab the epub files now, you can read in maximum comfort up to the Winter of the couple's third year (where graduation is just 3 months away).

It's like watching Himawari x Sakurako, except without the childhood relationship to make things easier between them...

This manga is pretty weird

Does Miyagi get any better or should I just drop this?

The soda/popcorn thing is pretty much the meanest thing she does, though she does keep up the tsun pretty hard.

This manga is pretty weird

It definitely looks a lot weirder than it reads. I think the hard part of adapting this novel into a manga format as opposed to, say, Adachi and Shimamura, is that, in the latter, the characters very much wear their hearts on their sleeves. Adachi is clearly very obsessive and that can be easily gleemed from her actions. The manga/anime may not fully convey the severity of her obsession present in the novel, but you're not necessarily missing a part of her character if you just read the manga or watch the anime. Similarly for Shimamura being very aloof and sort of coasting through life. Both her thoughts and actions can convey this. Not to say the manga or anime adaption are perfect, they definitely leave a lot of things out, but you can at least understand where the characters are coming from.

In this story, on the other hand, the two leads are much more guarded, and rarely say what they're truly feeling. Most of the story (and romance) is contained in the characters' inner thoughts. In that way, you miss out on 90% of the story and characters by only experiencing it through a visual medium. Without knowing what either of them are thinking while doing these things, you're kinda just watching too people doing a bunch of weird stuff to each other. You're put more in the position of a fly on the wall rather than an active participant in the story, who can empathize with and understand the reasons behind the characters actions, which (for most novels but this one especially) is very important.

last edited at Apr 6, 2025 1:21PM

This manga is pretty weird

It definitely looks a lot weirder than it reads. I think the hard part of adapting this novel into a manga format as opposed to, say, Adachi and Shimamura, is that, in the latter, the characters very much wear their hearts on their sleeves. Adachi is clearly very obsessive and that can be easily gleemed from her actions. The manga/anime may not fully convey the severity of her obsession present in the novel, but you're not necessarily missing a part of her character if you just read the manga or watch the anime. Similarly for Shimamura being very aloof and sort of coasting through life. Both her thoughts and actions can convey this. Not to say the manga or anime adaption are perfect, they definitely leave a lot of things out, but you can at least understand where the characters are coming from.

In this story, on the other hand, the two leads are much more guarded, and rarely say what they're truly feeling. Most of the story (and romance) is contained in the characters' inner thoughts. In that way, you miss out on 90% of the story and characters by only experiencing it through a visual medium. Without knowing what either of them are thinking while doing these things, you're kinda just watching too people doing a bunch of weird stuff to each other. You're put more in the position of a fly on the wall rather than an active participant in the story, who can empathize with and understand the reasons behind the characters actions, which (for most novels but this one especially) is very important.

That's an artistic choice, though, not a function of the difference between verbal and visual mediums. It's perfectly possible to depict a character's inner thoughts in manga/comics through the use of thought balloons and captions. Granted, when a lot of important information in a story happens inside a character's head, it can be a challenge to compose panels effectively without things getting cluttered visually, but it certainly can be done.

I recently read both the LN and manga versions of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries), and many of the important actions and character beats take place inside the head of the MC, Maomao, and scenes commonly depict two characters interacting while each is saying one thing out loud while thinking something else.

If we're not getting all the information of the LN, that's because, for whatever reason, the author has decided not to present it, not because of the limitations of the medium.

@meena

having read the (translation of the) novel (so far), this scene https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/a_story_about_buying_a_classmate_once_a_week_5000_yen_for_an_excuse_to_spend_time_together_ch06#26 where Sendai puts her hand on her abdomen after swallowing Miyagi's blood is such a powerful image, you can almost feel her thinking that she feels Miyagi has become a part of her, and she doesn't know how to feel about that

This is a good example of how the artist is trying to translate it to a visual medium. It's successful enough that an observant and thoughtful person could figure this out based on what was a much briefer description.

At the same time, it's possible to miss Sendai putting her hand on her stomach entirely. Someone who does notice might not know why Sendai is touching her stomach and then move on without thinking about it. There's only so much that can be condensed, even with images, so other details really will be left out.

The manga will likely feel like a complete work in its own right, while I myself have a number of stories I don't care about enough to read the source. I understand if not everyone needs to know details like exactly how Sendai felt about swallowing Miyagi's blood. Those of us who do will need to read the source, hopefully on Avelilum.

@Blastaar

That's an artistic choice, though, not a function of the difference between verbal and visual mediums. It's perfectly possible to depict a character's inner thoughts in manga/comics through the use of thought balloons and captions. Granted, when a lot of important information in a story happens inside a character's head, it can be a challenge to compose panels effectively without things getting cluttered visually, but it certainly can be done.

I recently read both the LN and manga versions of Kusuriya no Hitorigoto (The Apothecary Diaries), and many of the important actions and character beats take place inside the head of the MC, Maomao, and scenes commonly depict two characters interacting while each is saying one thing out loud while thinking something else.

If we're not getting all the information of the LN, that's because, for whatever reason, the author has decided not to present it, not because of the limitations of the medium.

I haven't read these, but I know what you mean about the thoughts since I've seen the anime. I sometimes do have trouble understanding everyone's statements and actions with the anime, though this is likely partially because I'm not watching in English.

I would say someone doing this successfully doesn't necessarily mean it's easy to do it successfully, that everyone has the ability to do it, or that everyone is given the artistic license they need to do it when the publisher has certain expectations for tone or genre.

There is a lot of non-thought content that must be depicted too in this case - there is not really any wasted visual space in this one. The arcs could be slowed down, but otherwise I think it would be difficult to include it all.

last edited at Apr 6, 2025 2:59PM

Most of the story (and romance) is contained in the characters' inner thoughts

And half the time they're lying to themselves.