Honestly at this point what is Michi still worried about when it comes to actually interacting with her? She had that one kinda scary moment a few chapters back where she was kinda acting off? But god damn I couldn't ignore something so cute. It's gonna be very interesting when she finally acknowledges her. I'm really interested to see if she can speak because I don't think she's actually said a word yet right?

Michi says in Chapter 1, "After dealing with this for over a decade, what I've learned is you do not want to be involved with any of these things." And in chapter 3, we see an incident where she interacts with a ghost and it goes poorly. While Honami appears to be different from all the other ghosts she's seen so far -- and you're right she has yet to say a word, even in flashbacks -- it's understandable that Michi would be wary. But I do agree that Michi is going to have to interact with her before too much longer.

I really like the little gestures and body language, the animation is just right, very pretty but I like how they take care to show the emotions without telling it to your face, we know very well the current emotional state of Euphylia and why she can't accept kindness right away and how the princess understood that it's going to take some time to break that wall.

Feels like, it will be better than the manga... That's rare these days!

I skimmed over the chapters of the manga that episode 3 covers, and I confirmed they're really cutting down the exposition as much as they possibly can. Anis's speech about spirit stones was far more elaborate in the manga, chapter 5 has long monologues by Euphilia where she explains how she's feeling that are mostly cut, etc. Personally I prefer the anime's storytelling style far more. For example, I think the added scene where Euphilia visits her old servants is far more effective at communicating how she's feeling than her just stating it to the audience directly.

I can't compare to the LN since I haven't read it, but just comparing the adaptations I think the anime is significantly better than the manga so far.

It's worth noting that some people have very flexible gender identities or don't see it as a core part of their identity. See: the concept of gender casual.

I feel like it could be argued that "not having a specific gender identity" is, in itself, a kind of gender identity (in the way that zero both is and is not a number), but that's also super in the weeds and not something I'm personally super familiar, with, so I don't want to put my foot in my mouth any more than I already have. :)

Speaking as someone who could be fairly accurately described as "gender casual," I think it's legitimate to call it a gender identity. To me, "gender identity" is how you answer the question "what gender are you?", and "nothing in particular" is just one possible answer to that question.

I just fail to see a meaningful connection between a deliberate action that comes with a plethora of emotional and psychological foundations, and a magical story device thrust upon a character by pure chance that more often than not comes with none of said foundations.

Magic/supernatural stuff is very often used as a metaphor for real-life issues, such as in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, where (as just one example) the magic curse that turns Angel into Angelus is a metaphor for the very common teenage girl experience of "my boyfriend suddenly became a jerk after we had sex." Obviously genderbending and transitioning aren't exactly the same, but they are very similar, and so to declare any comparison between the two inherently off-limits is very strange to me.

I would actually be interested to see a genderbending manga that discusses and uses the similarity between its concept and the experiences of trans people. So far I have not read a single one which did that, thus the claim that "many" do it seems dubious at best from my perspective.

Aside from the aforementioned Ore Ga Watashi Ni Naru Made (which might even have a literal trans character), there's multiple genderbending manga where the MC is revealed to have had dysphoria all along, including Kashimashi Girl Meets Girl and this one.

And the reason we have to resort to pretending in your example is because the manga does not address the issue of gender identity at all.

Everyone has a gender identity. The fact that Takkun completely accepts her new gender -- with her main concern being that her girlfriend won't want to stay with her -- implies that she sees herself as a woman. That's not pretending, it's in the text. The speculation lies in whether her condition changed her gender identity too, or if she was comfortable with (or even preferred) being a woman from the beginning.

To be honest, I think it's kind of obtuse to argue that genderbending -- someone's body changing to the other sex due to magic or fake science -- and transitioning -- someone deliberately changing their body's sex with real science -- are totally different and incomparable. These concepts are very similar, a similarity that many genderbending manga themselves discuss and use.

Now, I don't agree with the argument that manga like this are inherently cisnormative. This is fake science, we can pretend that (for example) the "genderbend disease" also changed Takkun's gender identity because it's all made up. I actually think the genderbending trope can potentially be used for some interesting and nuanced explorations of gender identity, like in the excellent Ore Ga Watashi Ni Naru Made. But saying that the comparison itself is invalid seems clearly wrong to me. The mangaka will survive a couple English-language comments criticizing them, don't worry.

I don't know if I'd say it's a "big cliche," it's just that IRL a lot of women -- regardless of sexuality -- like yaoi/BL. There's even an autobiographical manga here that mentions it.

my longest, exasperate sigh ever.... why can't these ever be about trans women? Not well oops ive magically become a woman and now that my bodies physically like this I guess it'd be wrong to not be a woman! Transition back?? Nonsense!!

god, it always winds up so cisnormative.

If you haven't already, be sure to check out Mermaid Line

The fish are a metaphor for social anxiety

Violetta totes has a thing for Luce yet she's too Tsun to realize it right? Especially the way she reacted when Luce said she never hated her lol

100%. I can't support the ship right now though, hopefully Violetta gets some serious character development.

The story for this one moves at a snails pace

This chapter was the first low-key one in the entire manga

I'm trying my best to hope that this isn't one of those "they were never really your friends" instances. Mao definitely does not seem like a bad person, just caught between a rock and a hard place and caved to pressure.

Mao has definitely been set up to be a sympathetic character, so I expect her to mend fences soon. Chizuru is the question mark.

So I've seen the two episodes of the anime that exists now and comparing the two... I think the manga tells the story better, honestly. The anime spends half the first episode on establishing things that we understand just fine from implication, for example, and it feels like it's downplaying Euphie's viewpoint that provides us a useful lens to understand Anise (why did they forget the "e" in the subs, ohgod).

Not that the anime is bad! It's definitely got the right energy and every single voice performance is on point. I especially appreciate Senbogi Sayaka giving me Yuuki Aoi vibes with her rendition of Anne-Sophia!

Just, structurally, the comic is generally tighter and smarter about how it spends its time IMO.

It's always interesting to compare takes; I actually prefer the anime because I think it does a better job of making the extended exposition that makes up much of the dialogue entertaining. I haven't paid close enough attention to see if it's because of judicious cuts/additions or because the voice acting and animation gives the dialogue an energy and momentum that it doesn't have in a comics medium, but the difference was palpable to me.

Tae is getting less and less careful with each passing chapter

Damn... I do like that we get to see this from the perspective of Camellia who is the mirror spirit.

Agreed, that made this manga so much more unique

I think Kimura really did have a crush on Mizushima; she did get nervous whenever the two of them were alone together, not to mention this page. That said, when I reread the manga recently, I noticed that she's also always looked at Hiyama in a positive light. Even at the beginning, she admired her and wanted to be friends. For example, when her friend said she was Hiyama's rival, Kimura's response was "That's way too presumptuous!"; when Mizushima said he was surprised they were friends, Kimura thought "Does that mean it's strange for someone perfect like Hiyama-san to hang out with a plain person like me?"

To sum up, it's definitely possible Kimura was crushing on both Hiyama and Mizushima from the beginning, and was just focusing on Mizushima due to some combination of comphet and Hiyama's various antics scaring her. Now that she's gotten to know Hiyama better (and also gotten used to her...*unique* personality lol) she's starting to realize it more. It's been building since the ice cream "date," too; see here and here.

This raises a very important question: will Shino be into Mai's mother?

At this pace I expect the stalker to try to kill Shun within the next one or two chapters.

You called this one, we escalated to straight up shoving her down a flight of stairs within the chapter xD

I legitimately respect this manga for taking every cliche yuri dramatic trope and just turning every dial up to 11.

Good catch on the bully being Uchida. I do wonder how the manga's going to treat her; normally characters like her are given some degree of sympathy but "attempted murder" (or close to it) is kind of a hard thing to overlook lol. But I think we can be assured that, whatever happens, it will be almost comically exaggerated and melodramatic. Can't wait tbh.

When thinking about both Mai and Hitomi, they both have their own little schtick that helps define them, the former being the seductress and the latter the mute wildcard, these ideas have been in place from the get-go. It doesn't exactly feel that way with Yuki, she doesn't exactly have that schtick unless hating grown-ups or being rich count as such, and I think right now the series is trying to figure out how to fit her in or what exactly her place is.

I see your point. I think the main difference with Yuki though is not that she wasn't planned, but that her attitude and behavior toward Tae went through a major shift at the end of volume 2. So her shtick in volume 2 of being loli Draco Malfoy no longer applies, and this volume is establishing a new baseline for her -- mostly being awkward and bumbling, lol.

Definitely possible, but for some reason, it feels like a really weird development for me. It feels too definitive, I think. I do think that Yuki's involvement will help Mai figure out what Tae actually means to her, but I can't really see Tae being confessed to by anyone at this point. Unless the series goes full Ikenai Otona in which case, by all means, please do.

It all depends on how far the mangaka wants (or is willing) to go. If they're willing to actually let Mai and Tae date, we could see developments soon. If not, we'll probably just have slice-of-life hijinks until the manga ends. I'll enjoy it either way, but I won't front -- I think the former would be more interesting.

In any case and about the recent chapters themselves. I'm not too sure what this series wants to do with itself both in general and specifically regarding Yuki. I don't know how I feel about these developments - do I want any payoff, what would be a good payoff in my book here, was having Yuki as a "rival" even necessary? I'm actually rather fond of her as a character, but in truth, I don't think Yuki was originally planned as part of the series, and I do not think she was ever needed. With all that said, what I do know is that I am very entertained and that I still think this series is surprisingly well-written, all things considered. I want to say fuck it, go big or go home, but I do not know that this is what I want.

Yuki was definitely not originally planned, but that's very common. Most mangaka have no idea how many volumes they'll get, so they generally start out with a small cast and straightforward plot that they can end in a volume or two if they have to. Then, if the series is popular enough for the serialization to continue, they can expand the world. Introducing new characters is one of the easiest ways to create new conflict/tension once the original inciting incident is resolved (in this manga's case, that would be Tae accepting her crush on Mai), which is why so many manga do it. This is not necessarily a problem as long as it's executed well, and I think Yuki has mostly added to the manga so far by showing how strong Mai and Tae's bond has gotten -- such as in the cold chapter where Mai was the only one who noticed Tae was putting up a front.

As for how her arc will end, I assume she will eventually get the courage to confess to Tae, who will then have to find a way to let her down gently. The question is how this will impact Mai; I can see that going a number of different ways depending on where the author wants to take the manga next. Maybe it'll even happen at the end of this volume?

^But like it says in this story, the same applies to HER now right? if she looses a duel the new winner would become the fiance and splits them up? And if she is challeneged regularly, its not like she can keep winning forever year after year.

Correct, essentially her father is marrying her off to whoever the "dueling champion" is, regardless of gender. At least as far as I've gotten (episode 2), it hasn't been clarified about whether there's some sort of marriage deadline or not. Of course Miorine herself is not happy with this system so that's probably not going to end up being a factor regardless.

And doesnt she have a kid already from her previous husband?

Huh? Neither of them have kids, I don't know where you're getting that from.

I am tempted to check it out tbh.

I definitely recommend it! Even aside from the yuri, the writing and animation are both excellent.

last edited at Jan 6, 2023 12:21AM

I do think Yuki's feelings are sort of mixed up with her gratitude for and admiration of Tae as the first adult who ever treated her with respect. She doesn't even really know Tae that well, after all. That does form a contrast with Mai who has a stronger connection to Tae as a person. Whether or not they both feel the same type of "romantic love" is just a matter of semantics.

Oh god, please let this be cute. I've been reading too much dark stuff lately and I'm worried this is gonna turn hyper toxic by the end.

Nah, it doesn't have that vibe to me. I've said this before but this manga really reminds me of Yatosaki Haru's work, and her manga are mostly low-key and light, albeit sometimes suffused with a sort of bittersweet longing. But her relationships are never close to toxic, and these two girls seem to be good for each other too.

^ No, it's literal marriage. Miorine's father (super rich and powerful guy) set up a rule that if you beat her fiance in battle, you become her new fiance.

You should watch the show, it's really good!

I can understand why people are upset by this turn of events, but I think it's fairly plausible given how the characters were set up (aside from the breakneck pacing, but this manga has had that from the beginning).

? It is the 4th chapter and Ritsu was completely changed as a character (not developed or set up), going from being a devoted lover to being okay with kissing an acquaintance (at best), flaming her lover for getting bullied by said acquaintance and possibly throwing away her relationship because she actively allows the random hottie to go for her.. all in TWO chapters, mind you. How is that ever plausible or comprehensible?

I wouldn't say Ritsu was ever characterized as a "devoted lover"; the conflict in the manga since serialization has been Kyouko's insecurities about Ritsu not having sex with her and hanging out with Makoto instead. I also wouldn't say she's "okay with" Makoto kissing her; she's just conflict avoidant so her reaction was to downplay and dismiss. And she didn't hear Makoto bullying Kyouko, she only woke up at Kyouko's response (which yes was author contrivance, I'm not claiming this manga is great literature).

To clarify, I'm not saying anyone is "wrong" for disliking any of this. I know a lot of people don't like melodrama. I just think it's inaccurate to claim that Ritsu's character has been changed/derailed. I think this is all very consistent with who she's been from the beginning -- an anxious and conflict-avoidant novice at love who, despite caring deeply for Kyouko, doesn't really understand her that well.

^ I think Mai gets it to a degree. At least at this point she seems to know how she feels about Tae is special, even if she can't verbalize it as "romantic love." And while I agree she's mostly just a natural flirt, she probably also enjoys making Tae blushy and flustered.

I guess this page wasn't enough for people to see that the knife was a visual metaphor. Mayu is not actually threatening to murder her girlfriend; the danger here is making her sad, which is being exaggerated for comedic effect.

She tracked down the baker. That is insane.

"Insane" is strong. She went above and beyond for a meaningful anniversary. And it's not like she harmed the baker at all.

I would not personally date someone like Mayu but I do think a lot of people in this thread took this silly comedy oneshot way too literally. Edit: It's like the people who think that an anime tsundere punching her love interest into the sky because he saw her panties represents literal domestic violence.

Edit 2:

And even with the knife being just in the girl's head, that her mental state defaults to that imagery points to a huge issue with the relationship. A crippling fear of disappointing your girlfriend based on it happening it before isn't good.

The visual metaphor is that her girlfriend being sad makes her feel so bad it's as if she might die.

last edited at Jan 4, 2023 3:28PM