The biggest question Mitsui should ask herself, is if she really wants to be a professional musician. She can be in a band, do music, and not aiming to be a professional.
She definitely needs to be working in a music related job to be fulfilled, but it could be running a music shop, working for a small indie bar/concert or any other job related to music. She would even enjoy being a guitar professor I think.

My reading of it so far is that she just want to enjoy her music. And she would be fine doing that as a hobby.

Mitsuki needs to follow a path of musical integrity. People gravitate towards that and respect it more than any trend-chasing nonsense. It is entirely possible to be a successful musician and not be known at all by a mainstream audience.

Mitsuki needs to follow a path of musical integrity. People gravitate towards that and respect it more than any trend-chasing nonsense. It is entirely possible to be a successful musician and not be known at all by a mainstream audience.

I'm glad someone is saying this, she can still have a successful career as a musician without going completely mainstream.

Calling trending music “chasing nonsense” is kind of rude I think

That isn't what I said.

Calling trending music “chasing nonsense” is kind of rude I think

That isn't what I said.

I see, sorry for misinterpreting you!
I hope this is just a dramatic cliff hanger and not them displacing Mitsuki for the sake of success.

little commentary on the tiktokification of music I see?

Well, the guitar part has to be in service of the song. That said, it's still rough to get told that your part will be cut. Been there, done that.

Maybe they could just shorten her solo? I mean, the song needs a break, right?

That is true and they do have a point about shortening the song. Part of the issue, though, is that it’s clear the other girls in the band all have a very “corporate” mindset. They’re not cutting the solo because they believe the song’s better without it, they’re cutting it because they think a shorter song will get more clicks, and the solo just so happens to be the most cuttable segment. It reinforces what the last couple chapters have been indicating, which is that the other three members of the band are in it for the fame. That’s not automatically a bad thing, and bands do often benefit from having at least one member with a more businesslike mindset, but it does heavily contrast with Mitsuki’s more artistic mindset.

On top of that, it’s probably a bit troubling for Mitsuki, who used to struggle with her unique sense of style and identity, to see how far these girls are willing to change both their music and themselves in order to go viral. Sure, they’re fine with how she looks now, but how many more comments will it take before they decide that the algorithm would be better served by having Mitsuki “match the vibe.”

By default I would assume they have a point - honestly, much as numbers don't always make you right, if three members of the group agree to a change, there's a decent chance they're at least partially right.

The two issues is that they're going at it a bit rudely and deciding on their own without involving Mistuki at all - very common when the majority of a team is in agreement, but still a bit soul crushing.

Second, you can see that they're doing their best to include Mitsuki as an integral part of the band... but that doesn't mean she necessarily "naturally" belongs there. If her style clashes with theirs, she will undoubtedly have to make concessions and adapt.

Mitsuki needs to follow a path of musical integrity. People gravitate towards that and respect it more than any trend-chasing nonsense. It is entirely possible to be a successful musician and not be known at all by a mainstream audience.

I'm glad someone is saying this, she can still have a successful career as a musician without going completely mainstream.

Yes, but when you're in a group that targets a mainstream audience and your style is niche, then either you convince them to change, you adapt, or you leave. Which, to be fair, I have no reason to believe isn't what will happen next.

(Also going to ignore the elitist and gatekeeping tone of the comment you quoted regarding mainstream music.)

last edited at Nov 19, 2025 11:05AM

(Also going to ignore the elitist and gatekeeping tone of the comment you quoted regarding mainstream music.)

Since this is the second person to somehow misunderstand what I was saying, I think I'll clarify. I have nothing against mainstream music. The first albums I ever owned were from New Kids on the Block and Kriss Kross for god's sake. I am not making any statements about mainstream music at all. These are the key points I wanted to convey:

1. Creating something genuine that happens to go viral or trend is not a negative thing. That's how a lot of great music spreads. Creating something according to a trend in order to go viral is harmful to music as a whole, because it commodifies what is supposed to be artistic expression.

2. The vast majority of people, who have no idea how being a musician or the music industry itself works, believe that in order to make a living making music, you have to have a mainstream audience. This is untrue, and prejudices many people against exploring and finding new music from artists that aren't on the charts. If I had only listened to the radio or looked at what was trending in order to find new music, I wouldn't have found most of the incredibly talented artists I currently listen to, most of which do this as a job.

All I was saying is that there's numerous ways to make a living from music, and I'm glad that "DumShork" is someone that also knows that. My focus was on their part about how "It is entirely possible to be a successful musician and not be known at all by a mainstream audience", I guess I should have quoted that and only that. I hope this clarifies things in a way that peacefully resolves the matter.

It's weird that they act like a guitar solo is weird. Japanese songs will put a guitar solo in songs that don't even have a guitar.

Looks like Mitsuki's brain isn't the only one bugging out xD

Eeehhhh, that's gotta be the punch line?

I'm probably missing something...

Aya has a latent NTR fetish.

LOVE the beautiful panel with the hug.
Not a fan of the conclusion she jumped to at the end. It's so tiring...

The hug was nice, but god fucking damn it, we can stop with the cheating conclusion? Your girlfriend obviously is crazy in love with you!

Aya...

It was okay the first time around, not particularly funny but it made somewhat sense, now, however, it makes me wonder how there can be such a thing as an insecure gyaru. Feels almost like an oxymoron.

last edited at Nov 23, 2025 10:07AM

Too much homework is bad for higher brain function.

I've been single (no relationship) for a long time so I'm not sure, but does that hug count as 'love-bombing'? Maybe that's where the wild jump in logic comes from?

Aya, you dilbo. Go hold your girlfriend!

I've been single (no relationship) for a long time so I'm not sure, but does that hug count as 'love-bombing'? Maybe that's where the wild jump in logic comes from?

I can’t say for sure, but love bombing is when someone constantly shows affection and attention to their partner for a period of time, say, a week, and then suddenly stops, leaving their partner confused. I doubt that’s the case here. It seems more like Mitsuki's personality and how she does things in her relationship with Aya.

It's weird that they act like a guitar solo is weird. Japanese songs will put a guitar solo in songs that don't even have a guitar.

it's commentary on how a lot of popular music nowadays has been "tiktokified" i.e 2min or under with the sole purpose of being on tiktok. So some catchy lyric, maybe a riff and thats it

Lol wtf Aya you're formula of cheating is quite not right how the hell she always jump with Mitsuki cheating on her. Lmao

I see looks like Aya still hasn't realize how big of a simp Mitsuki is to her.

I've been single (no relationship) for a long time so I'm not sure, but does that hug count as 'love-bombing'? Maybe that's where the wild jump in logic comes from?

Maybe in the world of yuri where a chaste kiss needs 200 chapters to happen. Aya is just weird in this case, I'm starting to dislike her. Her hairstyle doesn't help.

The hug was nice, but god fucking damn it, we can stop with the cheating conclusion? Your girlfriend obviously is crazy in love with you!

I don't think this though was meant to be taken as serious. It's just there to highlight Aya's overall anxiety and her worrying about everything. I think this will stop there, and there won't be other mention about cheating.

At least, this is what I hope. I'm already not a big fan of the overall narrative since the time jump. So if we go into the "I think my girlfriend is cheating for not reason" territory, I might take a break from the manga.