Ahahahahahhaha. To be fair to kyoani, in the novel there's a lot of sexual tension between kumiko and reina, and so far they're doing a really really good job bringing that to anime. So as far as adapting a novel goes, kyoani is pretty great.
I'll still swallow whatever bait kyoani throw then be drown in my own tears afterwards.

u_u

On a brighter note, Mikagura Gakuen etc got very interesting and Eruna-chan is still gay as ever.

Yeah. If you all are desperately in the mood for someone who's hella lesbian with someone else then go to Mikagura.

Or I highly recommend Re-Kan!. Amazing story, fun and lighthearted half the time, and heartwarmingly tearful the other half. And the MC and this other girl are totally in love and everyone knows it.

Hey Eruna-chan is super cool!

Also Inoue and Amami from Re-kan! :3 they are so freaking cute,and next ep. is very promising. Can't keep myself from squealing a bit.

I rushed that so it came out wrong. I love Mikagura, and Eruna. I'm pleasantly surprised at how good it's gotten in the recent episodes (similar to how shockingly good Etotama has gotten as well).

So apparently things were too straight in episode 10 so KyoAni was like "Let's give 'em 50% more supercharged KumiRei and throw them for a loop with a totally other separate yuri pairing 80% of them never saw coming"

Yeah, that's been known for quite some time now, I think. There is a bit of confusion surrounding the state of the novel, most people say it's finished, ColonalCat says it isn't. ColonalCat has like, major smarts, so I'll go with their interpretation of the whole thing but I wouldn't get my hopes up too much.

Thanks for the compliment...I'm a bit bashful to respond to this now but alas...

I've heard mixed things too. But most of the "IT'S DONE SHUUICHIxKUMIKO CANON" is coming from the people who either 1) detest yuri for whatever the fucking reason or 2) are about as headstrong about that unhealthy relationship as we are about this. Most of the people saying it's continuing are people who are way more objective in that they have minimal attachment, and watch anime but are more laid back and happen to read the novels.

In my views, it is objectively smarter to continue the story and not have any sort of abrupt 4-volume length plot, so I'm giving the author the benefit of the doubt right now with regards to that.

Ahahahahahhaha. To be fair to kyoani, in the novel there's a lot of sexual tension between kumiko and reina, and so far they're doing a really really good job bringing that to anime. So as far as adapting a novel goes, kyoani is pretty great.
I'll still swallow whatever bait kyoani throw then be drown in my own tears afterwards.

u_u

On a brighter note, Mikagura Gakuen etc got very interesting and Eruna-chan is still gay as ever.

Yeah. If you all are desperately in the mood for someone who's hella lesbian with someone else then go to Mikagura.

Or I highly recommend Re-Kan!. Amazing story, fun and lighthearted half the time, and heartwarmingly tearful the other half. And the MC and this other girl are totally in love and everyone knows it.

I rather like the ending, in that it doesn't put love over ambition. I think it's more sad to give up on your dreams and goals for a relationship. The whole, "You mean more to me than anything else in my life" mindset is just annoying to me.

Of course, I never like Takemiya's style, so I wasn't much for this, but I at least approved of the message.

Well it depends. If it's with a long, stable relationship partner who you either are married to or are basically married to (laws and stuff preventing you), that's one thing. But I agree that it is naïve to give up on dreams and ambition over someone who is effectively only a girlfriend/boyfriend, even if things are going strong and well.

A long distance relationship "forever" is impossible, all right. But if you can overcome a temporary seperation without wavering, it can be ok.

That's exactly what the end of "Girl friends" is about if you remember. Re-read it.

The cop-out ending of Girl Friends aside, I do think you and Nez are pointing to the main issue with the story. They didn't even try to make it work. They just accepted that it wouldn't instead of fighting to try. Of course that might be reading more into it than what Jin wanted (my best guess is she just wanted to highlight a healthy and bittersweet breakup with a silver lining).

Look at Shoujo Holic, she makes such a big deal about being in a remote, rural location. But when she goes to Tokyo, it's only four hours by train. A day trip! It's like the time from Toronto to Ottawa by rail, not that much in the end. Now try being in Ontario and having a SO in Missouri, now that's a challenge.

I have the utmost respect for my sister (a professional contemporary dancer) who is holding out a long distance relationship with a boyfriend in Portland while she travels from Europe to Israel to LA to NY all within the span of a couple months; rinse, wash, repeat.

Granted she was going steady for 4 years until she joined a different company that tours all over rather than just staying in Portland.

...At this rate it'll take 5 more years for them to hold hands...

Holding hands is serious stuff, you don't wanna rush into that.

Heaven forbid they drink out of the same water bottle before then.

;-; this story ;-;

Long-distance relationships can be hella tough to maintain. My record is three years, and that's with someone I got along with extremely well and was committed to the relationship.

You're a hero, I'd probably not have endured a month.

I think this is a common sentiment.

A lot of people don't seem to understand how I handle being in a long-term (nearly five years!), long-distance relationship at all. And I'd certainly say it's not for everyone... you need a lot of commitment, strong communication lines, and also the maturity to talk seriously about your future together (and not just a wishy-washy "Someday we'll be together!" kind of line).

It's the double-edged sword of what all our modern technology advancements gives us with respect to how it is possible to maintain one. Now people who can handle one, will, and it's great for them. Unfortunately it's not for everyone. Not everyone can handle one, which makes the reality of not being able to weigh down like a brick of responsibility all the more on those who can't. Especially when one half of the pair absolutely can handle a long-dist, and the other can't.

I don't know how to feel about this one. The romantic in me is like "ITS FUCKING CLEAR YOU BOTH LOVE EACH OTHER SOPLSDNTLEVEKTHNXBYE"...but that half-page Jin dedicated to her saying her farewells to her mother just illuminated the fact that she was sacrificing everything to follow her dreams all to clearly for me to ignore. And that just boils down to the fact that the girl put...whatever "dreams" is (not clear if it's a career or a school or a specific job or what) in front of her steady relationship with her girlfriend. And you can't fault her for that.

But I can say for certain that they both brought closure to the relationship properly and well. They will carry each other on in their hearts for the rest of their lives, and find happiness within someone else in honor of each other. It's a very sweet and moving way to go about it.

Making judgments? Stereotyping? Huh, okay. I apologize for my original post. Just please do not label me or my post as a stepping stone for an argument. We do not know one another...at all. However, I do appreciate being educated about how well-rounded and broad the yuri genre is. And again, I apologize for my original post.

Oh no, I was afeared that I would be misunderstood. Your post was nothing to apologize for, and I was not criticizing you in particular. I was merely musing out loud about a funny thing I noticed.

Heavens, you are not the first to make the mistake, nor will you be the last. Shoot, when I'm overtired I might make that mistake.

MANNNN I musta left my contacts in too long today.

So refreshing for yuri. Some may not be open to this but I like it!!! Yuri stories is more than unoriginal all-girls school life. There should be choices and different scenarios..it's called diversity. Yuri is far behind in that respect.

I won't say anything about yuri in general since I only have access to the small part that gets translated, but even among these, there are different scenarios, many of which are quite interesting (there is also interesting school life stuff). The same applies even more to the stuff we've recently been getting here (thai, chinese, korean...): it's just too few stuff to make these kind of judgements.

Need I post my cliche argument here too? (I think not, I get where the OP is coming from). A little funny that yuri, a topic surrounding people who are terribly misjudged by stereotypes, is being misjudged by stereotypes.

Important to remember that yuri isn't all cookie-cutter, all-girls, sempai-kouhai, gay-until-grad, sex-after-one-date-and-sometimes-less kinda thing. I mean even the bland stuff out there (not saying the above is bland by definition) I'll read because hey. 'S yuri. But if you wanna find good stuff just browse a tag that suits your interests and find authors you like a lot. Whether here on DS or anywhere else.

Lastly, I'm disappointed none of you uncultured bastards have posted this yet

Hahaha, I'm not even going to watch this one ;_;

Gonna take this comment and pin it on a billboard for a moment.

If you're in this person's boat (meaning, you're deterred from watching because it feels like yuribaiting), it'd probably be best to hold off on the show for some time, at least until, like I said, we get a clear picture in a year or so where the novel/show will go.

Because if we think about it and the show has another season or two-cour in it, and it does commit to KumiRei, it'll likely go down as one of the best yuri shows we've ever had. Because sovereign of the romance, the show is amazing, and if KumiRei were to happen, it'd mean a super well-developed romantic relationship.

So pass it for now, but at least send your wishes to Godoka and Homucifer to bestow their yuri blessing on the series.

Tumblr will definitely have melt down over this. I know people like to take their shipping seriously (me too!) but this ship sunking is now overshadowed the real MVP of this EP that is natsuki senpai. She is a gem.

Actually tho. A lot of frustrated feelings toward the anime because of where it has to go for now, but the episode was amazing in so many ways.

Even if Reika and Kumiko just stay friends, I'm fine with that. They can just move in together, adopt a child and share a bed and some showers. Like all close female friends do.

Dare I mention HAND-HOLDING?!?!?!

...nah probs 5lewd3jap

Wow. It's been a long time since a LL! work made me tear up, but that was straight beautiful at the end.

I also love how Nico's put in a more guiding, mature sort of catalyst. I've always figured that's who she is underneath all the cute-infested tsundere idol aspect of her, considering she takes care of so many siblings and how much they all love and look up to her.

My thoughts upon reading the forum for this after such a soft and moving story:

Veebu is perf.

I think we should all just take a breath and recognize that the ship hasn't sunk. As far as I'm concerned it works better this way, because Reina had bad blood with Kumiko up until they finally came to terms with everything a few eps back. You don't just fall out of love with someone suddenly.

Just humor me, and picture this:

Kumiko will probably have to date Shuuichi at some point in the future, that's a fact. Another fact, Reina will not end up with Taki-sensei. The whole plot would be completely derailed and butchered if that were to happen at this point, and the writing is too good to see that trainwreck through. But think about the three endings and see how the story would have to play out for each one.

1) Kumiko x Shuuichi
-Shuuchi would have to resolve the relationship and issues he's created and start at step one, and this would be in spite of Kumiko's close friend liking him. Reina loses some focus due to the necessary component of allocating a significant amount of time to Shuuichi.
2) No relationships.
-As expected, Shuuichi and Kumiko have no chemistry and just cannot resolve differences. Reina continues to be Kumiko's closest friend and they continue to live their lives.
3) Kumiko x Reina
-Reina realizes her liking Taki is more of idolization and admiration, and notices herself falling for Kumiko. Kumiko figures out about this, or at least finally seriously considers it, so she also realizes herself that she reciprocates.

Now finally, genderbend either Reina or Kumiko and their respective love interest. Go back and consider each option once more.

No matter which way you swing it, number 3 comes out on top.

What does this mean? Basically, yuri isn't dead. The rest is up to the writers and director at this point. I don't think we'll see Hibike revisited for at least a year depending on sales (especially since KyoAni has much more attractive options to make another season out of). So at that point we'll have a much better grasp on how the source content transpired and what KyoAni will be able to do with it. Considering that the show's romances are not even secondary focus on paper but that it also is what binds multiple people to it, they'd be much more inclined to commit. Because the only reason they wouldn't is if they were seriously opposed to anything and everything homosexual (which as I've said before, they're not)

This is speaking from a purely objective, economical standpoint projected on an objective, plot-focused standpoint.

So fume now while the passion runs high, but in a couple months when things have cooled down make sure to breath and think about this.

/essay

Nothing new here.

That goes for literally everything, ever.

I'm going to gander this little diddy will be much like many of the other series this author puts out. Potential to be drawn out into longer series with deeper plot, but instead opted in for a decently well done story in a shorter period of time. For whatever the reason.

"Their Story" hasn't disappointed me one tiny bit so far.
And I'm pretty stoked about "Fluttering Feelings" too.
Still enjoying "Miss Sunflower" although it's admittedly taking an awfully long time to get anywhere.
There's non-disappointing series IMO.
Oh, and of course "Stretch" assuming it counts as a yuri series . . .

Murcielago hasn't disappointed me yet.

Um . . . true enough, and I guess it's technically yuri, isn't it? The concept weirds me out because I think of it as an ultra-violence manga and I think of yuri as involving sweetness and lilies or else angst and bittersweet drama.
Kase-san is also going strong and shows no signs of betraying the vanilla.

And for a more comedic taste, Inu to Neko also does a great job. And recently Sakura Trick has also started to ramp up and realize its potential, and I don't see any signs of it falling apart at the hinges.

I sometimes forget that Miss Sunflower is a thing. Not a complaint but I think it's been updated maybe thrice since I figured out about this site in late 2013.

last edited at Jun 8, 2015 4:42AM

I love how open people are becoming to the concept of love and cyborgs/robots/A.I.s lately. Of course it depends on your philosophical standpoint on both intelligence and romantic love, but 15 years ago people'd look at you funny about this sort of thing. I might be misled on the actual number of people accepting it because I have a hand in many more liberal/accepting environments, but regardless I've always felt akin to this sort of thing.

Brings to the forefront a lot of deep questions about longevity and love itself.

This might actually be one of the greatest series ever created in the history of time.

Dearest sister sitting not five feet away, I apologize for the ungodly noises I made whilst reading this. One day, you too may understand the joy of investing emotional energy into fictional characters. One day.

For something that sounds so dumb on the surface I never realized how freaking consuming it was. Not until I was 12 feet under of course.

Kaga, if you're planning on waiting for Jun'you to sober up, you might wanna get a hurry on retiring because that's never gonna happen.

Also, I love how smooth and caring Akagi is. Sometimes people get lost in how head over heels the serious and stoic Kaga is for Akagi, and how much of an unaware dork Akagi can be sometimes. So they end up making it seem more like an unrequited love for an unaware "best friend" type instead of a healthy reciprocated love.

Can anyone tell me why this ship blew up all of a sudden? I've loved it since their focus episode but all of a sudden recently they're showing up everywhere way after the show's first half is over.