Forum › Posts by adamatari

adamatari
Stretch discussion 14 Jan 20:37
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Bit of a bummer to get a set-up/filler chapter after a month break... Though I guess it's better than having to wait a month between chapters every time. Still, this is not exactly moving in the direction it seemed like it might - I expected Keiko's parent drama to come before the ex drama. But both are hanging there (the Checkov's gun thing), so really not a huge surprise?

I do wonder how this is going to play out. Keiko has been more open to Ran but it's still not exactly solidified. Ran only has eyes for Keiko, but throwing the ex in there is likely to at least shake things up a bit. Though how it shakes out... Ran knows what's going on, but neither Keiko nor her ex have any idea that Ran knows the other. A wise policy but one that could certianly lead to issues.

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Well, that was an unplaeasant take on the student-teacher thing

You misspelled "realistic." In any case, I can't help but feel there's something wrong (I just can't put my finger on it...) when people feel blindsided by an "unplesent" take on the "student-teacher thing."

Yeah, I kinda thought "woah, not the usual turn" and then "but much more realistic than most student-teacher stuff." I don't think every student-teacher relationship is exploitative but this sort of stuff is much more common in real life than the mushy stuff people write manga about for sure.

This manga has an interesting twist: Pedo-bear says, "TOO OLD!"

Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Do you have more context? If it's from a page an image would be ideal.

adamatari
Ayame 14 discussion 14 Dec 17:56
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

If things keep going at this pace Ayame is going to jump her friends!

Looks like the other way around so far. 3 on 1 isn't fair, is it?

I like this trend. 4 girls doing things together. Who needs couples?

adamatari
Stretch discussion 11 Dec 11:33
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Visting Keiko mother geh.. not a good idea. don't forget that guy is there!! Keiko did slept with her mother boyfriend.
anxious....

Different guy. Mom's boyfriend hits on her (I strongly suspect mom jumps from guy to guy), Keiko is disgusted and calls a guy friend and sleeps with him in a sort of attempt to control her own sexuality and shield herself from older guys who hang around the house.

The guy she sleeps with is part of the high school crew she hangs with. I'm pretty sure he appears in earlier scenes.

In any case Keiko's mom is a piece of work. Or at least has bad choice in men.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 10 Dec 15:18
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

"Kiss now" was the only thing I can think seeing this chapter.

I assume that's happening off-camera anyways. But it would be nice to get it on screen. Though knowing these two maybe they haven't.

Looks like they'll head back to their hometown next chapter. We should get some more detail on what happened between Keiko and her mom. Also, look at that handholding! When they were holding back so much before!

This series definitely has a rabid fan base now - lots of comments from today on the Yawaspi site.

adamatari
Online yuri manga 01 Dec 16:25
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

It seems that some series are available online for free. Stretch being the most obvious one, but the latest chapter of Kase-san too. I know there are at least a few people here who like to read in Japanese, so maybe we should put up a list of places with free yuri manga, or yuri webcomics?

Stretch is on やわスピ which is an online magazine so there are other comics there too (I haven't read any of the others except Kumacchau so I don't know if there is any other yuri):
http://yawaspi.com

Kase-san is on yahoo books:
http://bookstore.yahoo.co.jp
There are lots of free manga chapters in the "free corner" but finding yuri stuff may be hard. I only found Kase because it was linked from this forum (if you search 加瀬さん it also comes up).

If anyone else knows some good sites it would be great to know.

adamatari
Kase-san discussion 01 Dec 16:00
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

I didn't realize that the recent chapter is online for free!

Kase-san's got it tough, Yamada is TOO innocent! It's too bad Yamada doesn't get the hint and go "rest" with her. How long have they been dating again?

Can I buy the online tank overseas? I know Kindle ebooks can't be bought without a workaround but what about Yahoo? There seems to be some good stuff there.

last edited at Dec 1, 2014 4:03PM

adamatari
Stretch discussion 28 Nov 21:03
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

I re-read this today and it struck me how much Keiko seems attracted to Ran. She initiated contact when they were in school (Ran having been told to avoid the delinquent), tells Saki tha from the beginning she was drawn to Ran because she was "adorable", and when Ran gets a fever she fawns on her.

Although I was getting the feeling Ran was more into Keiko, I don't really think that's the case on a second reading. Ran is just very straightforward and I think more aware of her own feelings.

Also, plot points that are semi-open:
Keiko's ex
Keiko's mom
Ran's family

These are probably places the manga could go. Just speculation. (And the sleeping together thing which could be totally irrelevant or could be leading somewhere).

adamatari
Stretch discussion 26 Nov 20:20
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Was that not a confession? Serious question.

That was a confession. The translation is a bit roundabout so maybe it's less clear. Ran says her chocolates are "honmei", as in she meant it. I think that's a pretty clear confession. Ran may be a joker but in this context? That's a confession.

Seriously, there are more roundabout ways to propose marriage in Japan (the "I want your miso soup every day" thing). This is about as straightforward as you can get.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 26 Nov 19:29
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

This is yuri. You can't say it's not yuri. That's a confession (and an acceptance). This is canonically yuri. YURI.

Hear that? YOU CAN TAG IT NOW.

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

If this and Sakura Trick are what "mainstream" yuri looks like, BOY does it move fast! A lot of the stuff in the actual yuri magazines doesn't move this fast (heck, MOST of it, probably). And no messing around with "off screen" kisses either. I can't complain in that department!

It may be cliche but it's a fun ride so far.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 30 Oct 23:10
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Also, re: "relapse" was "rebound" in Japanese, I think perhaps it has to do with her diet as Ran was worried about her weight earlier (since she's a little rounder for sure and has to watch it). They are hanging out at izakaya and eating a lot, plus the other girls seem to like to feed her.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 30 Oct 23:05
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Ran was fishing pretty obviously there. But I think she'll have to be more agressive if she wants to take it to another level. I'm not sure if Keiko is still oblivous or if she's just acting coy at this point, but in any case she's not gonna make the first move (at least not unless strongly prompted).

And THAT is why this manga could go on forever and never have any actual yuri in it. Ran could hardly get more obvious but she doesn't seem like she knows how to make a move.

Does anyone know how far Yawaraka Spirits is likely to allow things to go? Because this could go on like this for a while. Since it's so popular, it's very unlikely that they'll wrap it up anytime soon...

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Sometimes I get the feeling that I'm the only one reading this? Anyways, I'm really glad to see chapters come out. It's one thing to read a summary and another to read the chapter.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 16 Oct 03:57
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

I think the significance of Ran staying with Keiko over New Year and going with her for Hatsumoude is not minor. It's one of the few mostly serious chapters, the air between them is more "dating" than "roommates". Earlier chapters had lots of teasing but not very serious... Keiko overhearing Ran's conversation does make me wonder whether Shou plans for Keiko to take the lead, actually. The way she's talking to her mother it sounds very much like "I'm spending the New Year with my lover" and I doubt Keiko can be entirely oblivious to the situation.

Ran has been dropping so many hints it's not funny. The things she says to Keiko are obvious enough, and I agree with ciega that she's probably been in love with Keiko since high school, but saying she doesn't want to be popular among guys (in particular) really begs the question (so you want to be popular with girls, then?). She's closeted, sure, but she's got the door half open.

Really, I feel like it can only go so many ways from here. Keiko can decide to lead, Ran can spill her guts, or it can fall apart. The question is more of what particular event is going to trigger the change to a new state. The old standby of "misunderstandings" and jealousy could drag this on while still pointing to the end, of course, but I don't know whether that would work or be likely considering the style of this manga.

Seriously, the only logical way this can proceed is with Ran being outed to Keiko. At that point, the only possible direction is toward or away from romance.

Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

I have a friend who got married this year, in England. It's nice to see things change for the better. I was in Hawaii when it was legalized (again, kinda) there, and working on a dinner cruise that did weddings. Within the week we had a lesbian couple have a wedding - they had been together for a long time, if I remember, and she was just like, "well, I kinda felt like it was time, and they just made it legal so why not have a Hawaiian wedding?"

As for why it's not legal everywhere yet... I can't really accept the "Jesus" explanation, although I'm not a believer I have read the gospels and he was much more concerned with worldly materialism, greed, and what he saw as corruption of the (Jewish) church. It's not Jesus so much as how these people have taken a twisted view on the things in the bible. But that can be said about all fundamentalists.

Japan hasn't legalized either. Most people are not religious there, but they still manage to find excuses to be upset about something that ain't no business of theirs. Of course, the standard bearers are the same people who revere Mishima (who was bisexual, really leaning heavily toward the male-male side). Hypocrisy is a universal language.

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

I didn't even notice this until I looked at the forum today. Reminds me of my spells of unemployment (well, technically I'm unemployed now but I'm a student so it doesn't count). Being unemployed has one big negative, you have no money. Because you have no money, you don't go out, so you get less motivated and less in contact with the world... It's refreshing for a month but after that it gets worse and worse.

Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

On the topic of yuri and the mainstream, I just have to ask:

Would it be bad if yuri got integrated into the mainstream?

I think the assumption is that the result would be the sidelineing of yuri, but that's not the only possible outcome. If characters had lesbian relationships in mainstream media, I doubt we would be really worried about it so much. Heck, if someone came along and picked up Morinaga Milk's series for publication (as-is) in something like Hana to Yume, I think we'd be pretty happy with that. It would get published more often, that's for sure!

What we're worried about is the disappearance of actual yuri and the replacement of it with subtext crap, the fall of yuri into the realm of doujinshi and fanfiction. I don't think we have to worry about that, really, as Yuri Hime is doing well, but nonetheless the disappearance of small publications is distressing. It seems that the market can only handle so much. Hirari and Tsubomi being gone is not a good thing for us... but we should think about why they are disappearing, too.

The market for small niche publications is always a tight one. Magazines come and go all the time. Hirari and Tsubomi were fairly tighly focused magazined, and had a big competitor in Yuri Hime. Yuri Hime itself has had ups and downs, they folded Yuri Hime S - but really, they just folded Yuri Hime S into Yuri Hime. YuruYuri is still running... in Yuri Hime.

I think part of the problem is that the magazines often aim for too small a niche, and yuri in particular bleeds over into other genres. The folding of Yuri Hime S into Yuri Hime was symtomatic of one artificial division - the male reader/female reader division, which is unncessary for Yuri Hime. Though no doubt there were some people who only were interested in one or the other, the tastes of yuri readers can't be simply categorized as "male readers vs female readers". In fact, that division is stupid - the male readers and female readers are reading the same things, or want to read the same things, much more than they want different things. Morishima Akiko has lots of sex, lots of romance, lots of cute girls - would anyone say that she is only interesting to women, or only to men? That's just absurd.

I think Hirari and Tsubomi both fell partly because of being in a small niche, and not being "wide" enough in an era where yuri is actually somewhat less marginal. Sakura Trick is not published in a yuri magazine. There may not be as much of a need for specialty magazine. Maybe yuri romance stuff needs to be published in magazines that publish a lot of romance. Maybe yuri magazines need to aim for broader stories. The most recent big successes from yuri into the mainstream are YuruYuri and Sakura Trick. YuruYuri is basically a comedy and works perfectly as a comedy - that it was published in Yuri Hime is fortunate, but it would work elsewhere. Sakura Trick is actually yuri enough that you would almost think it should be in a yuri magazine, but it isn't.

I think there is still a need for a specialty publication (Yuri Hime), but also there is a need for more overt yuri in more mainstream publications. And to the extent a specialty publication can make it, it needs to appeal across demographics and publish in a wide variety of genres. There is a need to see beyond the division of shoujo vs shounen vs josei vs seinen - magazines that hope to live on yuri should focus on YURI, but yuri across as wide a range as possible.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 04 Oct 16:21
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

From my admittedly brief reading on the subject, it appears New Year's soba is a common thing for families. Perhaps someone with a bit more knowledge of Japanese culture could weigh in?

It's quite possible, but Isn't really relevant to all families.

Thanksgiving all about the turkey for millions upon millions of Canadians/Americans. But in my family this is not the case.
Reason is pretty simple, why would you eat inferior dry meat that you need a bucket full of gravy to even eat the thing?

"New Year's Foods" are an entire cuisine of their own in Japan. I am not joking.

As for the turkey... One side of my family is a traditional turkey type, the other side is salmon. I didn't really think about it as a kid, but it's because my family on that side is a bit native (Lummi). I'll take salmon over turkey any day, even well made turkey that isn't dry.

adamatari
Ayame 14 discussion 03 Oct 04:06
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

i didn't understand... why she say her name is claudia ? what's the real name, claudia or mankovitch ?

She has two complete names. Or in American convention, 4 names. Shinobu Claudia Kazamatsuri-Mankovitch. Not sure the exact legal implications in Japan or whether that sort of name is offical or not, but yeah. If she were to move to wherever her "foreign" side was from she could go under the other name, presumably, which would make it somewhat easier in some ways. Being Claudia is a bit weird in Japan, and Shinobu is a bit odd in the US or Europe.

adamatari
Stretch discussion 03 Oct 02:31
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

The hatsumoude thing is actually pretty romantic... They're living together anyway but New Year's together seems really "couple-ish". This struck me as more yuri than the last chapter. It's like they're standing on the brink.

I am not sure where this is going, but I sure hope it goes somewhere with this.

adamatari
Ayame 14 discussion 03 Oct 02:14
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Ayame really needs to get that steaming problem under control. Isn't there some kind of medication, like a patch or something?

I hear there are various forms of therapy, involving lotions, massaging showerheads, and various home massaging devices. For people in that age range, treatment usually requires therapy a couple times a day. ;)

On a more serious note, yeah, there is a bit of a translation issue with "bitch" which the Japanese use to mean "promiscuous woman". Mankovitch would seriously be nearly the worst possible name to have in Japan. "Pussy slut". But LOL at her best friends being exactly like 14 year olds... Your best friends can be your worst enemies. And nobody even noticed she's named Claudia too.

Also LOL at google searching "Mankovitch" and getting "Randy Mankovitch" as one of the top hits.

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Locodol was the best. Yukari is really gay in the best possible way, all the girls are cute, and somehow it all came together very naturally. I seriously looked forward to that more than any other anime.

Hanayamata was a bit overdramatic and seemed... cliche? Stiff? It didn't work for me. I wanted to like it but it just wasn't for me.

adamatari
Hino-san
joined Sep 4, 2014

Nobody wants to talk about Morishima's bible which was written by some AV director? lol

I actually looked that up - it's called 「すべてはモテるためである」(Everything is for being popular), and the illustrations are by Aoki Mitsue! I'm actually tempted to order it myself. It's a self-help book about how to be popular, obviously, but it seems to be somewhat unorthodox from what I've read on the web about it. Though I don't know how much it's helped Morishima - I hope she's got someone, if just a hug from a pretty girl can get her to freeze up...

Though I would probably do the same.

No matter how I look at it, it's you guy's fault that I'm not popular!