What it really comes down to is that the expression, "You'll catch a cold", is just a general shorthand for "That's not healthy for you." It's not about not understanding germ theory — really, Japan learned that in the Meiji period, not very long after Europe did — it's about expressing concern.

(And I'd mention that in English, we still call the upper respiratory infection by any of a number of rhinoviruses, influenza viruses, or human coronaviruses a "cold", on the same reasoning as Japan uses— and that there's scientific evidence that hypothermia can make you more susceptible to such an infection.)

Very cute story — I particularly enjoyed Kanan's bit about waking the other two. Adorable.

Maybe it's just that there's been nearly a decade of contradictory information — when this doujin was released, the Cinderella Girls game wasn't even a year old — but while I can see this version of Rin if I squint, this Uzuki seems wildly over-assertive. It's a little ironic that all the characterizations are more accurate in Cinderella Girls Love 2, even though the central conceit of that one is Rika convincing her big sister to have sex with her.

Really, Maki's dad is just upset she isn't dating that Sonoda girl he was so impressed with.

Now, now, if Shizuku and Rina are also planning, there's a fair chance of things not going horribly wrong. Maybe even down to a 40% chance of disaster.

(God, ShioPomu is adorable.)

Yeah, that (S2 V4 Ch4) has moved from subtext straight into text. Nicely done.

It's a very sweet story, even beyond my squeeing little shipper heart. I like particularly that even though we're hitting the unwarranted jealousy trope, it's not what triggers the confession, just what moves it up.

(It's also nice to see Nico actually having fans, and doing a good job at senpai-ing; her KayoRin-fan classmate repeatedly deflating her keeps the cosmic scales balanced.)

The only sour note is the weird heteronormative riff at the ramen shop. I mean, we can maybe play off Rin's concern about girls giving her chocolate as her believing that confessors are seeing her as a boy substitute, which is congruent to her established body image problems, but Maki's "Oh, they can't be serious because it's not hetero" is a bit grating. (And Umi knows damn well that at least some of the girls confessing are serious about dating, at least; that's what V1 Ch13 was about.) Maybe it's just another case of Maki talking out her ass and the older girls letting it slide because Rin seems to feel better?

I'm reading this one as slightly more complicated than others seem to be. The setup seems to be that Kana is trying, with decreasing levels of subtlety, to seduce her little sister ("Whoops, you overheard me masturbating!" "Here, sis, have an assortment of sex toys!"), while Hana is crushing on Touri, with about the same scale of blatancy. Meanwhile, Touri is seriously checking out Kana as soon as they meet — hence the triangle, which Kana then proceeds to collapse. But Hana seems pretty used to masturbating at her sister's noises, so I'm kind of onboard for the implied eventual threesome.

That said, I'm a little annoyed by the violation of the old storytelling principle of Chekhov's Dildo: if there's a sex toy in the first act, somebody should be getting off on it by the third act

What with the sticking together being triggered by Nico mussing up Maki's hair, I suspect that it's not magnetism per se, but static cling.

While kisama is often translated "bastard", there's a really good reason not to use it that way here:

Momo doesn't have parents, or indeed any family. At best, she's an orphan, but there's a very good chance she's a literal bastard. Using that translation would make Shamiko seem to be making personal insults that she never would use.

I'm not sure "asshole" is the best choice, but if the intent is to convey "you jerk" with an extra emphasis on the disrespect, to the level of vulgarity, it does fit.

Just binged through this in the last two days, where I'd previously read maybe 1.5 volumes and watched half the anime of that, and been quite charmed by it. I figured I could use a sweet and light comedy to read just now.

Ha HA ha ha ha.

Good lord, things have gotten deep and dark. And very, very good. Random thoughts:

The fact that the power and scope of the wishes that demon defeating tickets can grant seem to be limited only by how many demons you seal/kill and how powerful (or at least, how emphatically targeted by the light clan) those "targets" were makes Suika (or, for that matter, any dedicated magical girl with a sure sense of her own righteousness) very scary indeed.

My theory of the incident that led to Momo's return as just shown, based on what we have and haven't seen: Sakura discovered what Suika was doing, and sent Momo away to keep her out of the crossfire, using Joshua's abilities to heal/edit her memories. The subsequent confrontation with Suika went very badly, leading to Joshua volunteering to be sealed in order to get Sakura enough "tickets" to be able to stop Suika; she buried the reward and gave box!Joshua to Shamiko's mom, only to be ambushed and reduced to her core, in which form she could only limp to the hospital and implant herself into Shamiko. Suika then manipulated Momo back to town, to try to finish up.

With any luck, I'm terribly wrong in a number of key elements.

Serenata said:

I think we should be grateful that Mikan is on the good side, that mentality is not appropiate for Kirara lo/ a shot through the brain... Use the ultimate magic GUN!

It's probably worth remembering that even though she's a magical girl, she's a sniper. Her arrows work on the same sort of distance as high-powered rifles.

This is terribly cute, but the photo to the group chat is priceless. Okay, matching reactions to characters — "Yu-chan!?" is obviously Ayumu. "How wonderful ❤️" sounds like Karin, and "Wow, looks great on [you]" is presumably our guileless Setsuna. "rofl" is probably Ai. I'm not sure who had a complete typing failure — maybe Emma, still unused to non-Latin cellphone IMEs?

(It could be Karin, which would shift "How wonderful ❤️" to Emma, with a corresponding shift in sincerity level.)

last edited at May 3, 2021 6:11PM

Wonderful moment from our drama queen.

(Reminder: if you're gonna go this route, "zounds" is pronounced /zoondz/; it's a contraction of "God's wounds", and thus rhymes with wounds, not bounds.)

Yu has to be a dense harem MC; it's in her contract.

Setsuna has such presence that you completely forget that she's itty. She and Shioriko would be great as a couple — their game story is pretty rich.

(Also, in one of Shioriko's bond episodes, she's having trouble figuring out her themes and musical styles as a new school idol, and the other girls are offering suggestions, like mixtapes that remind them of her; Setsuna — completely guilelessly — gives her a copy of the Imperial March and says Shioriko reminds her of Darth Vader, and you can tell she means it in a good way, but....)

In the world altered by Devil Homura, Mami-san and OL-san are going out

Good job, Devil Homura.

I enjoy this one, but I've become a little conflicted on the whole "Oh, I can tell you're really awake, let me mess with you because you'd stop me if you really didn't like it" bit, largely because I've had some sleep paralysis lately — y'know, when you've just awoken but you can't move, because the brain switch that keeps you from moving during dreams gets stuck. Just makes the prospect a little sour.

(Sleep paralysis is also the physiological effect that's been considered to be behind such experiences as alien abductions, shadow people, hauntings, and succubi/night hags — there's some fascinating literature on it.)

But what did she WISH FOR TnT

I mean, you know that as soon as she gets back from the restroom and is reminded that she gets to make a wish, Akari is gonna say, "I wish that we can all stay this close forever!", or words to that effect, with that bright smile of hers.

Oh, god, I'm going to cry now.

That makes a lot of sense — the Japanese transliteration would have to be something like スモルガスボヅル(sumorugasuborudu), which verges on the ridiculous.

All that aside, seeing Aoki Ume draw the Azumanga cast is wonderful, and she got some great gags in there — Tomo declaring herself the Bi-King is marvelous.

I've always been unsure if they feel they have to hide it, or if they're just feeling private, or if it's something to do with Nanoha's ninja upbringing — but the fact that everyone keeps being surprised at Vivio having two mothers doesn't speak well for the heteronormativity of Midchildan society.

(I also wonder sometimes how skewed a view of Mid and the TSAB we all have from being introduced to them by a child archeologist and a very particular portion of the Navy.)

Also, I can only come up with two things Hanamaru's whispered line could be to get Dia to blush like that. The milder one — which is maybe too mild for that level of blush — would be "Ruby showed me your baby pictures."

The more likely one, of course, is "Can I see your birthday suit?"

I realize that this is a reference that nobody is going to get, but — Yuri's eyes, throughout but especially at the bottom of page 16, make her look like an Excrucian.

(To explain somewhat, in a series of TTRPGs by Jenna Moran — Nobilis, Chuubo's Marvelous Wish-Granting Engine, and Glitch — Excrucians are a kind of people who look like humans but who don't have eyes; when you look at where their eyes should be, you see only night and falling stars. They are enemies of the world, but not necessarily bad people, and even those who want to destroy the world may be philosophically justified.)

A ton of very cute mini-stories here. Wonderful. My favorites might be the mom bits.

Also, thanks, hidekins, for linking to the Umi SID! I'd read the manga version of the Maki-forced-to-quit chapters, but hadn't seen the others.

(Boy, the School Idol Diaries sure are shippy, aren't they? Besides Umi's obvious adoration of Honoka — and Umi's mom apparently being ready for Honoka to marry into the family — and Kotori, they managed to fit in some EliUmi, MakiUmi, and NicoUmi.)

I'm expecting a sequel for September 19, now.

Kotori, why are you denying us the glory of a drag μ's cover group?

It's a very cute and sweet story, but the bonus strips at the end just killed me.