This is definitely a pretty gutsy move.

It cuts the rumor mill off at the head. Nobody's gonna gossip about something literally everybody in the office saw happen, which cuts the legs off of any malicious rumormongering or misunderstanding. If her coworkers react with homophobia, She's set it up as a one-sided love, which means she can just quit, leaving a job where she wouldn't have been comfortable and welcome anyway, and it shouldn't adversely effect Hiroko, who would just be seen as a victim. If they react positively, (which they did,) it actually removes a big swath of why Hiroko was afraid to come out in the first place. Either way, the only one outed here is Ayaka.

She's basically taken all the heat onto herself, which takes the pressure off of Hiroko and gives her the room to decide for herself what she actually wants.

I'm seeing a few people fearful that Shizuku will not get to say "I love you" before Kaori dies. Am I the naive one for believing that Kaori will live long enough to hear those words?

I'll tell you right now, when you have a loved one with a mortal illness, you should absolutely not put anything off. Because no matter how much you dread and expect the end, it will still find a way to surprise you.

It's certainly possible that Kaori will live long enough to hear it. But it's also possible that she won't. And the moment Shizuku starts taking tomorrow for granted, the opportunity will slip through her fingers.

Everytime a chapter for this series is posted, there is this welling of dread in the pit of my stomach. I understand why Shizuku hesitated, but girl, no. You can't. You can't wait. It is going to break my heart if Kaori dies before Shizuku gets to confess.

no,it's not lazy to classify those who aren't being prim n' proper,those who are actively going against the submissive and breedable stereotype imposed on them,as gyaru.

Dude, gyaru tag was removed, you were wrong, can it already.

I won't,since Wikipedia itself shows that she is in fact filling the requirement.

Dude, One sentence from a giant article about a fashion style is not "the requirement." Gyaru is a fashion genre, and this is distinctly different from everything in that genre. There is a whole giant article there, with tons of pictures. You can just look and see this is super different.

Being stubborn doesn't make you suddenly right, it just makes you look like you aren't capable of learning.

After this, it definitely feels like she wants Mitsuki to go to America so Joe might come too. Which begs the question, what is the situation with Mitsuki's parents?

They don't seem to be around, so either they've passed or they're deadbeats. The fact that Joe was considering leaving her behind at all suggests that she does have other family in Japan, though.

Well that escalated quickly.

Thank you to Sal Jiang for giving the new senpai character a mole so I can tell the characters apart, very nice of you.

Her haircut is also neater in the back than Hiroko's, that's how I told them apart.

Mhmmm ... the fact that Chinatsu ended up resigning along with "all the old guard" and then refusing any further contact kiiiiiinda makes me vaguely suspicious that the "rumors" might not have been entirely unfounded, but obviously that's neither here nor there.

Nah. We explicitly got her internal monologue where she dismisses them as unfounded rumors. It's only when the risk of Hiroko getting outed comes to the forefront that she resigns, explicitly because that WASN'T an unfounded rumor. She was fine weathering lies, she quit to protect Hiroko's truth.

This was huge news and all but I couldn't help but worry about mom saying "after those 2 movies I'll take a break", I hope my head is just too filled with other stories being way too dramatic, so nothing will go wrong and this time will pass smoothly and they're gonna live happily ever after amen 人(´∀｀)

Pretty sure that's specifically Youji deciding to spend more time with Youzi (and probably Ren.)

Anyway Hiroko has an angsty rejection backstory of her own woooo

I remember a guy, he once wrote that a certain girl from a certain manga, if she turned real, could seduce any man in the real world. Any man. They would all be powerless to resist her and simply had no chance against her. This made a lot of people very angry. Questions were asked: "What about married men, would they forget their love and break their commitment? What about gay men, would she convert them? Was this girl the cure for homosexuality? What about celibates by choice? What about Catholic priests? What about...?" The guy replied in a huff that when he said "all men in the world would" he of course meant "all men except those who wouldn't" and we were all stupid for not reading his mind and getting that. After several comparable gaffes, always blaming others for his mistakes, he was banned from the forum.

Write clearly. Reread before posting. Mind ambiguity. Remember implied is not the same as stated and context is not the same as text. Don't expect other people to intuit your meanings. Say exactly what you want to say, in no uncertain terms; no more, no less. And if you fail, accept your responsibility; don't throw the blame onto others.

. . . Wait, I'm sorry. That story started, and I earnestly thought it was an example of how absurdly pedantic people can be, but no, you're taking the side of the nitpicky literalist crowd?

When somebody says "They can have anyone they want" that never means literally anyone. There are always people who wouldn't be interested, because they're into someone else, they're not into their gender, they're ace, too old, too young, or they died in the 17th century, or whatever. "They can have anyone they want" is a common hyperbolic shorthand that refers to the fact that someone is attractive enough to have an abundance of options. It's an extremely common turn of phrase and this is the first time I have ever seen someone try to defend taking it literally.

If you genuinely thought it was literal, you had a very glaring gap in your linguistic knowledge. If you knew what they meant and were nitpicking the literal meaning of their phrase despite that, you were being intentionally dishonest.

Same thing with "like". "like" is very commonly used as an expression to refer to romantic interest. Words have more than one definition, (in fact, "like" has, like, several,) and you have to read the context of the situation to understand which usage applies.

In a romance comic, talking about a character who explicitly turned down another character's romantic confession, "She doesn't like her" is extremely obviously intended in the romantic context. I find it very difficult to believe anyone on this forum is unaware of the romantic connotation behind "like."

If you were unaware of the romantic sense of "like" then welcome to Dynasty, you must be very new. If you were aware of the romantic sense of like, and it did not occur to you that that might be how they meant it, that's just pretty poor reading comprehension. If you knew what they meant and are nitpicking anyway, that is intentionally dishonest.

Sorry to everyone else for the rant, I'm gonna drop this now, because it's mostly off topic at this point, but nah, man, people have a responsibility to try and make their language clear, but the reader ALSO has a responsibility to try and take what they said in context in good faith, to seek understanding, not pelt them with nitpicks. Language isn't a competitive sport, you don't get points for dishonestly picking apart somebody's phrasing.

I wish I had a dime for every romance story I’ve read or watched where one of the main characters is pursued by the other one, but Main Character #1 is problematic in one or more ways (you know, conflict) and meanwhile there’s a third, more accessible, character who seems much more suitable for Main Character #2, except Main Character #2 is attracted to Main Character #1. Because then I’d have a lot of dimes.

And then if I had a dime for every audience member who desperately wants Main Character #2 to get together with the third and obviously much nicer person, I’d have more dimes than I’d know what to do with.

But as it is, I only have a moderate number of dimes. They’re in a jar.

Honestly, dimes? Not worth much these days anyway.

There's a difference between considering your position and comfort and deciding you're going to stay in the closet in a private conversation with the gay girl who saw you at the lesbian bar and pushed through her vulnerability to come out to (and onto) you and reflexively lying to her face later.

The latter is what I take issue with. The reflex.

That's pretty judgemental.

She's not just "a gay girl at the lesbian bar." She's her coworker, and more importantly, her subordinate. Of all the people you might not want to know about your secret private life, that's kind of a bigun. The reflex is reasonable. The fact that it's a reflex and that after she thought things through she backtracked on it makes it all the more forgivable.

Poor peanut. Go find another girl to treasure you; no one needs a liar. Sure love a gal in a business suit.

Lying to stay in the closet because you're not ready to come out is not the same thing as general dishonesty. This is super unfair and actually pretty goddamned rude.

The problem isn't that she's a liar. The problem is that she's a dumbass. ;p

Is it just me, or is this series getting kind of ... dumb?

The mini chapters are goofy extras that dig into characters that are often minor supporting characters in the main story, but also, this particular story is about Midori intentionally fucking with Hibiki's expectations, as friends do, so of course it's stupid. That's the point, and it's why Hibiki gets pissed off.

I am fairly certain that was a deliberate attempt to wave Watanabe off from confessing to her, rather than a thing she actually earnestly believes.

Possible chance but it also possible Mika actually believe it...we can never be certain and only theorize....

It's possible, but honestly it seems like she's definitely picking up on Fuyu's vibe and is panicking for a way to shut it down. I'll point out why I feel this way below in my reply to Licentious Lantern's comments.

She asked if it was A) and Watanabe said that wasn't it. She did the math, and because she's not interested, she moved to head her off with "I'm not into this in real life."

Lol if that is the case then she is just a coward that didn't want to deal with anything difficult....

Yes, this is specifically what I am getting at. It was a selfish act, and at least at the time she doesn't seem to have realized how hurtful it was.

Honestly if that was Mika's intention then that was way too subtle and hurtful....she could have gone:

"Wow...I can't imagine a girl confessing to me, even though I like reading about Yuri I rather date a guy to be honest~~ Though no offense to anyone like that but I can't see myself actually dating a girl"--> basically subtle enough to cut off Watanabe feelings instead of saying [Yuri doesn't exist IRL XD]...it would still be a coward way out of dealing with MC's feeling but at least it wasn't as damaging as what she said {+hinting the suggestion to avoid a awkward confession situation} -_-"

Your idea basically means Mika is a selfish coward with no remorse for hurting MC/avoiding MC's feeling...there is no sign of pity, apologetic expression on Mika face [either she is the best actor ever...or she doesn't care that she just rejected MC's feelings without actually confronting them in the most subtle and yet damaging way possible XD]

Well, I think it's presumptuous to say "no remorse". We haven't really seen anything from her at this point. We know she's tried to reconnect through Lime, but we don't know if that's driven by regret or just obliviousness.

There's still a lot we don't know. It's very possible that she was voicing her actual (wrongheaded) understanding of the world, or it could be that she thought she was communicating that her interest in yuri was strictly fictional, and she didn't think how it would hit somebody who is actually gay. Or it could be that she thought she was being subtle and sparing Watanabe the heartbreak of an actual rejection.

I mean, they're kids. Kids do stupid things and hurt each other sometimes. WE know the damage it's caused, because we've seen it. But just because something is damaging doesn't mean it was intentionally or knowingly so. I'm pretty sure if she shows up again, it'll become pretty clear pretty quick which of all these possibilities is an actuality.

(and in response to Lantern:)

If it were as innocuous and sane as just saying that she is not interested this would not have left such a long lasting scar. She in no uncertain terms denied that lesbian relationships or love are real and only has a vague concept of fictionality of yuri as a genre to fall back on to dodge that bigotry stigma now.

I'm not saying she said she wasn't interested. She clearly said lesbians aren't real, or at least that she implies they should only exist in fiction. My point is that this may not be a thing she actually believes is true, but rather something she said explicitly to scare Watanabe off so she won't confess. At that age, many kids don't really know how to deal with uncomfortable emotional situations.

The least damning possbility would be that she is indeed a lesbian or bi herself and just got burned in a similar scenario, so she coped by putting it entirely into the world of fiction for herself. "Yuri is just fiction" could well be a reflection of her thinking that fantastical scenarios where two girls could find each other and be happy are just not possible, because she made a bad experience.

Maybe, but I tend to doubt it.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/yuri_is_taboo_to_a_yuri_otaku_ch18#4

Panel 3 is a clear "Wait, crap, why is she asking?" pause, and I feel like the stammer in panel 5 is somebody stepping into full no-wait-I'm-straight panic mode.

It's not the only explanation, but the vibe I get is definitely that this is somebody who ships yuri couples in fiction but isn't actually into it for herself, who is then realizing that "Oh shit, this girl is about to ask me out and I don't want her to."

It is not good, but her own cynicsm affecting her response would be more relatable. The fact that Watanabe clearly broke their promise to go to the same school and broke off all contact implies that maybe some things were left unspoken. I will give the author the benefit of the doubt there, because this feels like a loose thread for now.

I mean, I'd be surprised if there isn't SOMETHING coming on this front. We know that Mika is trying to stay in contact, and it definitely seems like Watanabe is going to need some kind of closure there. There are a lot of shapes that could take. It could turn out that Mika just panicked and regretted it later, or it could be that she's awful and thinks she did Watanabe a favor.

She might come back as an honest to god love rival, having realized how much "Fuyu-chan" means to her in her absence, or maybe she'll be an obstacle who tries to convince Watanabe that going out with a girl is a bad idea, (or just continue to be casually obliviously hurtful,) essentially making her the face of bigotry to be overcome. Or it might just be that she realized after the fact that her words were more hurtful than she knew, bringing Watanabe closure through an apology.

At the very least, I'd be surprised if we don't see her show up in person at least once before the series ends.

last edited at Jun 11, 2023 8:50PM

"Gay people don't exist IRL haha."

That blondie wasn't very well informed about the things in life.

I am fairly certain that was a deliberate attempt to wave Watanabe off from confessing to her, rather than a thing she actually earnestly believes.

Watanabe randomly asks out of nowhere how she'd react if a girl confessed to her. There are really only two reasons somebody would ask you that question. A) It happened to them, or someone they know, and they're trying to sus out how they should react, looking for advice, or B) they want to confess, and are trying to test the waters.

She asked if it was A) and Watanabe said that wasn't it. She did the math, and because she's not interested, she moved to head her off with "I'm not into this in real life."

generic white t shirt with a logo for 8900 wtf

Well, not that it isn't still overpriced, but they were sold in pairs for 8900. That's about 40$ US per shirt at the 2018 exchange rate.

(I also have no idea what kind of fabric they used for those shirts, which might also influence how overpriced they actually are.)

last edited at Jun 5, 2023 5:01PM

And here is finally an explanation for how Elsa's concept of "bullying" (at least by Evie) got warped so badly. Effectively, Elsa has imprinted on Smol!Evie as the first real caretaker she has had, so, like every abused child, she perceives any kind of attention from her caretaker, no matter how abusive, as loving and validating. Yes, I do think this story is dark AF behind all the cuteness.

You're thinking too hard about it to make it dark. We have chapters in which Elsa first reacted to Evie's bullying. She knew full well what bullying was and was more baffled than anything at the turn it took. In my hazy memory of the chapter, she didn't even really like it at first.

I'm not sure if there are more flashbacks to it, but go back and read chapter 14 for some of Elsa's thoughts about bullying.

Yeah, in both the present and the past, Elsa immediately clocks that Evie's "bullying" isn't anything of the kind. Because apart from a handful of situations where the villainess system gave an impossible choice, Evie does actually manage to twist the wording of the request into actual affection. She just calls it bullying. It comes off as tsundere to Elsa.

The only exceptions I can think of that actually come off as abuse, really, are the bathroom incident and the scissors incident. And don't get me wrong, those are bad, but it's not exactly a pattern.

^I didnt even know they still existed- or did they recently reform? I can't recall hearing them mentioned bar this story in 10+ years..
(Not that I listen to the radio of follow popular music)

They have existed fairly continuously for 30 years, I don't think they've had a span much longer than two years between singles. There have certainly been times when they were more active and times when they were less, but they've been putting out albums pretty much annually since 2020. The album Mitsuki gives to Aya at the beginning of the series, Dream Widow, is FF.

"I love you!"
"(Hm. She's lying. She doesn't love me, she loves boobs! I'll make her admit it!)"

The idiot couple to end all idiot couples.

She never suggests or implies that she's lying about liking her, she's just (accurately) recognized that she clearly likes boobs, even though she's denying it. They're not mutually exclusive.

There's been a hint already that baby Elsa isn't acting like she would be if the time travel didn't happen, with that scene of her looking out the window saying "it feels like someone's calling my name". She also cast that eye gouging spell and for Evie the only reason she was using real magic at this age was due to her future memories of education coming back in time with her.

I think we can safely assume on the timeline portrayed in the game, Elsa did not pick a fight with the slaver and lived for them all to make it to the orphanage some other way. This Elsa we're seeing is externally influenced in some way that breaks from that plot.

It's also possible that if Yvonne hadn't gone back in time to save her in this moment, one of the other love interests would have instead. Or, alternately, it's possible that if Evie didn't come by, someone else would have intervened.

Either way, it's not really worth fussing over.

I feel like I'm missing something here: Is being gay still like a big taboo in Japan? Is there a reason Kase is THIS cagey over admitting to having a girlfriend? I was rereading, and they've never been completely open to anyone but Mikawa and Kase's senpai about their relationship (which may be why Kase is so possessive). But still, it never gets directly addressed, so this arc feels more like padding runtime than anything else.

Japan is a very conformist culture with a lot of weight behind family position and continuity. People are expected to marry, have children, and take care of their parents as they get older. A lot of people have very traditional ideas about gender roles. People who aren't married by a certain age face a lot of pressure from their parents to get married, to the point of setting up "marriage dates" (omiai) to try and herd reluctant people into marriage. A lot of LGBT folk there face significant backlash from their parents if they come out as gay.

Like, it's getting better, from what I understand, but it's still not great. Hell, even here in the states, being out as gay stands a fairly reasonable chance of impacting job opportunities, getting you in conflict with your parents, costing you friendships, and courting harassment, and it's worse there than it is here in many ways.

Also I know she's a dope but its kinda nuts to see Kase both misread the confession and immediately begin flirting with Fukami. Is her gaydar that bad?

Kase isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, but yeah, I'm not sure if she realizes it, but that is definitely flirting at the end there. I'd like to think she's trying to laugh off the confession in a panic, but I don't know if she's perceptive enough.

I do agree with the earlier post, though, that this conversation, while a bit subtle, is definitely Kase staking out the terms of the race. She recognizes that Fukami doesn't want her to leave, but she definitely isn't willing to stay. It is certainly the case that "If you win, I'll tell you why I'm leaving" presupposes that "If you win, I'm still moving out." Kase is hoping to use this race to leave on good terms, but I don't believe for a second that if she loses she'll stay in the dorm. Not only would that ruin her friendship with Fukami ANYWAY, it would basically be a huge wound to her relationship with Yamada.

Is her gaydar that bad?

Well she did get repeatedly shot down by other girls before she asked Yamada to go out with her.

When did this happen?

She did say she's had friends become distant when she thought they were getting close. I get where they're pulling it from, but she never said she was romantically after anybody, or that she confessed or anything.

Seems like this entire plot would be over pretty quickly if Kase just told Fukami she was moving in with her girlfriend.

People in the states perpetually underestimate the social stigma in Japan over coming out as gay. It is not an easy thing to do there. It's not easy most places, and there are certainly places worse than Japan, but it's still harder there than it is here.

It could cause all kinds of problems for her and Yamada if Fukami turned out to be loose lipped about it.