Well, that didn't go well... Then again, this probably was the expected result for most girls, more and more so the farther back we go in time. We've been very lucky to instead have only seen more or less happy couples so far.

So that was how it all started? Was that the first letter?

Theres a very interesting meta-commentary going on between Aoyama and Kasumi here (although when hasn't there been one for this series), where I feel like Aoyama represents the sort of "yuri realists" who think that the only true yuri is stuff that has explicit sexual intimacy, vs Kasumi who represents the class-S/subtext side of yuri that doesn't need to be explicit but is more about the hidden emotional depths of a relationship.

Kasumi's surface level descriptions of her and Haruyo seem childish and shallow to Aoyama, and she belittles her over it, but then is surprised to see how hurt Haruyo is by it, which just emphasizes how much her own character is a bunch of contradictions.

While Aoyama obviously treated Kasumi like shit, I do feel sympathetic to her circumstances. She seems caught in a catch-22 where she was forced into a physical relationship with an upperclassman when she was not at all ready for it, and at the same time she caught feelings and then got unceremoniously left behind. We don't even know if the senpai she had a relationship with was ever in love with her or just used it as an elaborate hazing ritual.

I'm very interested in where this arc is going to go, each time I've been impressed with how Igarashi Jun plays with the idea of the class-S relationship, and all the different ways the concept is constructed and deconstructed through these different relationship vignettes.

So that was how it all started? Was that the first letter?

definitely not, The senpai herself told Aoyama to write it so that the tradition can keep going

So that was how it all started? Was that the first letter?

definitely not, The senpai herself told Aoyama to write it so that the tradition can keep going

So basically "I took advantage of you and your feelings and molested you! So find yourself your own underclassman to do the exact same thing with" Ugh gross. And it seems Aoyama is disappointed that never happened for her.

I miss this series when it was just two cute girls learning about each other and having fun together lol.

Oof, yeah, definitely read that as Aoyama got statutory'd by an upperclassman she at least admired and trusted, but probably also had started developing feelings for. A lot of unpleasant emotional scabs have suddenly been pulled open for her, ones she might not have even known she had, and it's understandable but not excusable that she'd lash out at Kasumi about it. As someone said before, I don't think Aoyama really knew what she wanted to get out of talking to Kasumi, but also felt like something needed to be done.

In a way, I guess I was right with my prediction. She's been waiting for some kind of response, but it also seems like she's been dreading one. Really interested to see how this one keeps developing.

Probably wouldn't be statutory, both girls would have been underage under local statutes.

I was pretty conflicted on "That really is some kiddy shit!" It is the 2nd time I've swore in this translation. A more literal TL would be, "You're like a couple of kids playing house!" But Aoyama's language is messy in general (she's a -ssu type) and the abrupt tonal shift demanded something heavy.

It hit like a hammer! Good stuff.

I miss this series when it was just two cute girls learning about each other and having fun together lol.

Have we all forgotten that Kasumi's friend killed herself after not getting into her school of choice and that was a big reason why Kasumi ended up at this school in the first place? The story has never actually been just cute fluffy fun. Even the reveal of Haruyo was really dramatic and messy haha, I think there's a long term happy end down the line for both of them, but both Kasumi and Haruyo are gonna have to go through the wringer first.

And that's just the way I like it lmao (sickos.jpeg)

Between boxcutters and sunflowers I think this is a point for boxcutters

I miss this series when it was just two cute girls learning about each other and having fun together lol.

Have we all forgotten that Kasumi's friend killed herself after not getting into her school of choice and that was a big reason why Kasumi ended up at this school in the first place? The story has never actually been just cute fluffy fun. Even the reveal of Haruyo was really dramatic and messy haha, I think there's a long term happy end down the line for both of them, but both Kasumi and Haruyo are gonna have to go through the wringer first.

And that's just the way I like it lmao (sickos.jpeg)

Yeah, and even without the events themselves, there is a recurring theme of ominous imagerie since the beginning. Nothing surprising there.

I do hope those two will not end up losing there innocence though, even if it already seems already too late for Kasumi....

Adding to what Cornonthekopp said about the theme of "S vs Yuri", I think there's another important theme: can an artificial relationship work? Can a relationship where both people are pretending come to any good, or will it only result in harm?

Every relationship in this story started by patterning on fictional relationships: Hanamonogatari for everyone except Yamabe and Mia, who made up their own Desk Ghost story. Of the four relationships so far, we can divide them into two categories (using the jargon developed in this thread):

Sunflowers: Kasumi & Haruyo, Yamabe & Mia
Box cutters: Sayori & Mizuki, Aoyama & Yurika

What I've noticed is that the happier relationships have aspects that explicitly marked the role play aspects as such. Kasumi and Haruyo switch ribbons and speaking styles when engaging in the "S" relationship. Yamabe and Mia converse in letters to and from a ghost. There's no mistaking where the pretend relationship ends and the real relationship begins. The aquarium date has both Kasumi and Haruyo out of character and out of costume, so they can speak to each other as themselves and know this isn't part of the game. Haruyo even talks about why she plays the Onee-san role. It also helps that Haruyo is actually the younger one, so the Older/Younger Sister dynamic is consciously manufactured by both of them.

This is similar to how actors in a play can have fake emotions and fake relationships night after night and not be hurt when the play ends. What happens onstage is not real, so the emotions and relationships can be left behind when offstage.

The other advantage of having explicit boundaries around the pretend part is that it allows for renegotiating the relationship, as in Yamabe and Mia's relationship once they meet again. Even if Mia was annoyed that they never met in school, their reconnection was still a happy occasion because neither of them were hurt when the pretend relationship ended.

The box cutter pairs had no such boundaries. Well, Sayori and Mizuki, certainly didn't. I'm predicting this will also be the case for Aoyama and Yurika.

Though, Sayori and Mizuki may have started by explicitly calling their relationship "S", it didn't stay that way. They acted like lovers all the time, from secret waves at school to more physical intimacy. There was no separation between "onstage" and "offstage" behavior. When Mizuki said she was looking for 2-person apartments, Sayori was surprised since she expected this game to end at graduation. It wasn't supposed to be a real relationship, and she wasn't going to let a game stop her from going to the college she wanted to go to. Mizuki thought it was a real relationship, and put up with her hardships at college on the expectation that her girlfriend would join her. This mismatch caused expectations to be unmet, which led to the violence.

The danger of a pretend relationship is that, without explicit boundaries, pretend feelings can quickly become real. If that doesn't happen for both people at the same time, somebody's going to get hurt.

I do want to point that Sayori and Mizuki do seem happy in their relationship now, even if it started in a very unnhealthy place. It may not be "wholesome", but they are happily together.

The danger of a pretend relationship is that, without explicit boundaries, pretend feelings can quickly become real. If that doesn't happen for both people at the same time, somebody's going to get hurt.

I wouldn't say that Haruyo and Kasumi are pretending or playing a role, as much as they are allowing themselves to be something else than what they are. I know it's semantics, but they actually want to be like that. Haruyo want to be more dependable and Kasumi want to depend more on others. The play let them take those roles easily, compare to changing who they are themselves, but they are not detached from that version of themselves as if they were playing a completely different character. So in a way, they are still "true to themselves" when acting they S relationship. That's why it's easy for them to connect and to show their more "normal" persona.

Not sure my rambling makes much sense lol

I wouldn't say that Haruyo and Kasumi are pretending or playing a role, as much as they are allowing themselves to be something else than what they are.

I do agree in Haruyo's case but not entirely in Kasumi's. I think the way both engage with their "roles" is a bit different. Haruyo is able to be the person she wishes she were when playing the "onee-sama's" persona. And it is through "onee-sama" that she might become that person, a person who's words are being taken seriously.
With Kasumi though, her role as the "imouto" feels more like the real Kasumi. Haruyo has to make an effort to become "onee-sama", while Kasumi hasn't. She has always harbored those feelings of wanting to be pampered and being told everything will be okay, but that's all repressed and closed off inside of her.
The S kankei allows Kasumi to be live closer to the person she is, while it allows Haruyo to live closer to the person she wishes she were. It still may be just semantics, but I've always had this thought nagging me about how there was a missmatch in the perception they had about each other, and how Kasumi wanted "onee-sama" more than she wanted "Haruyo" but Haruyo wanted "Sumi-chan" which is pretty much just "Kasumi".
Since Kasumi now knows more about "real" Haruyo their dynamic has changed quite a bit, so it doesn't really apply anymore. Slowly, their "personas" and "true selves" are starting to blur more and more, which makes it difficult for them to dismiss any kind of affection as just playing pretend, and they surely are aware of that.

I wouldn't say that Haruyo and Kasumi are pretending or playing a role, as much as they are allowing themselves to be something else than what they are.

The S kankei allows Kasumi to be live closer to the person she is, while it allows Haruyo to live closer to the person she wishes she were.

Indeed, I think you are right. That's a good way to summarize it.

You know, I was wondering why some of Yamabe’s friends call her Yamabey for a while now and I finally remembered to actually ask why they call her. I guess it’s an affectionate nickname but yeah, does it have a deeper meaning?

was pretty conflicted on "That really is some kiddy shit!" It is the 2nd time I've swore in this translation. A more literal TL would be, "You're like a couple of kids playing house!" But Aoyama's language is messy in general (she's a -ssu type) and the abrupt tonal shift demanded something heavy.

What does being a -ssu type mean? I would assume it means she speaks in an impolite way, but not sure. I found stuff about ossu and uissu when I looked it up, but not exactly sure about the meaning of that way. Anyway, I think adding some swearing there was definitely effective.

Also, the new Bluesky doodles are very interesting. I wonder if she’ll ever find out about the darker parts of their story too, but probably not. I was surprised Aoyama was the one bullying Kasumi… I assumed that Aoyama was bullied in the past when I saw that tag and was so lonely she left that letter and then was depressed since Yamabe said no. What actually happened was unexpected for sure.

I’m also surprised that Mizuki is from a rich family. Since Sayori said they were both people who won’t make it, I thought she was also from a middle-class family. It seems Sayori is. I think there was a part before about how she’s from a middle-class family whereas a lot of the other girls there are from rich family members. I mean, that line still makes sense though since Mizuki was clearly an outcast too who everyone apparently laughed at… on a completely unrelated unrelated note, I remember hearing that Sayori wasn’t a real name and that Dan Salvato just made it up for DDLC. Clearly, I was misinformed. Looking at her Wikipedia page, it does say that he intended her name to be a fusion of Sayuri and Saori even though Sayori is a real name, so I guess that was what they were talking about.

last edited at Apr 20, 2026 3:14PM