Nice story with a very bittersweet ending. I agree this would have been a better way to insert Nagisa into the plot of Rebellion.

One last thing.... could we maybe correct the title to Raison d'être no Arika? The lack of accent kind of bugs me...

Sorry for being such a stickler for spelling.

The mere fact that Yamada can restore her MP without having to craft the flowers and herbs into Ethers is amazing.
KEK

duchia...?

Your guess is as good as mine. And the fact that she named it correctly in the next bubble makes it even more confusing. Being cutesy or just airheaded, maybe?

Wow. Codependence much?

There's a typo on page 6 btw. Yuzumori is saying the line "So you want to kiss Mimika?" when the Japanese line is 「ーーーみみか私とキスしたいんだ。」said by Yuzumori so it'd be something like "So you want to kiss me." and Mimika would respond with "Ack! Er.. Yes... Uhm..."

I think it could be fixed by a comma: "So you want to kiss, Mimika?" Correct me if I'm being too liberal with the punctuation.

EDIT: Apparently tapping 'o' twice is too difficult.

last edited at Jan 27, 2017 11:14PM

I feel compelled to ask, even though I'm sure patience might give me the response I'm looking for: Yuri ? I didn't see a whole lot. Yet?

Will it become more blatant?

last edited at Jan 26, 2017 1:30AM

This is so damn good.

Today just got a whole lot better.

last edited at Jan 26, 2017 12:58AM

This style reminds me of Poor Poor Lips.

Sleepy Blake so adorable.

Well, based on this, the calls for "protagonist" to be struck from the tags in favor of "Mizuki" or "Moon" are going to grow louder. And I think I found a candidate panel for my avatar....

last edited at Jan 24, 2017 2:14AM

Call me crazy, but the power balance in this particular image seems to favor Kumiko based on Reina's expression. I like the deviation from the norm (if you can even call it such) of Reina being on top.

Marion Diabolito posted:

There were three series that led me to reading "yuri" manga: Girlfriends, Aoi Hana and Sasameki Koto. The literary quality of all three was just stunning. Later I found Octave and Watashi Sekai O... and some of Hakamada's and Jin's stuff and I decided this genre had the best writing I'd seen in ages.

Girl Friends is actually the manga that made me realize there was a lot more to this genre than just shitty story-less hentai.

And personally I think the complaints about cliched things in her works is kinda strange. It's always been cliched. And it being cliched doesn't make it bad. It's a cliche used badly that makes it bad. It being a cliche in the first place just means that it was used frequently enough to become commonplace in the genre, nothing more and nothing less than that. Morinaga Milk tends to use those cliched tropes pretty well though.

This.

Mari so assertive. I like it.

Having worked on this manga for over half a year, I must say that even if we are not the ones writing the actual manga, it is definitely disheartening to come to the forum when the majority of comments are negative. We'll finish what we started, of course, but damn am I glad we have other projects too... (Though people seem to hate on the Himitsu, Hitotsu anthology too...)

Don't get me wrong, I love Morinaga. I feel that he(?) is one of the best in the business. Some of my comments earlier in this thread may have made it seem like I hate this manga for the turn it took, but that really wasn't at all my intent. In fact, I wouldn't be here this far into it if I didn't like it. My execution in expressing that was terrible, but that's totally my fault. I truly do love it, and I intend to buy it when Seven Seas gets around to releasing it.

Clichés may be tiresome, but they do serve a purpose so it's hard to get too irritated at them. Maybe. :P It's true, though, I wasn't a fan of this latest usage, yet that's only because I felt the story was going to move beyond it with the characters overtly saying (to themselves, yes) that they loved the other (or close to it in Hana's case). That it took that step backward may reflect the unfortunately heteronormative reality we live in, as others have surely said in more eloquent terms than I, but it surprised the hell out of me.

To the point: I would hate even more to see you and your team shy away from doing more of Morinaga's work. If I in any way made you think that I didn't appreciate your work in bringing it to us, I apologize.

last edited at Jan 24, 2017 12:11AM

It's well done, but a bit unoriginal...

I just can't get into this drama because it's a déjà-vu...

TVtropes exists because nothing is original anymore.

With the actual chapter, it's nice to see an MC thinking proactively after finding out their love interest had already dated a girl. Usually you get MCs in despair for not being their SO's first. Hana didn't really seem to care that Hina had already dated someone else, like a real person would usually act, to her it just meant that she had a chance. Now after being lied to all that optimism comes crashing down. Now this being a Morinaga Milk manga we know the MCs are going to get together at the end so the question remains of who is going to overcome their anxiety about homosexuality and confess first?

For some reason, I feel like it needs to be the one who seems to overcome the largest or most pronounced hang-up(s) about it, and I'm not sure who that is at the moment. Based on what we just witnessed, it might be Hina. That's open for debate though, I think.

last edited at Jan 21, 2017 4:55PM

"I'm normal."

GODDAMNIT. This is why we can't have nice things. I really wonder if she means that or if the trope of "doesn't realize her feelings for her friend are romantic" is in play.

UGH.

Casual reminder
Go reread lmao

You got me. I forgot. DERP. In my defense, though, there seems to be a cognitive disconnect when she says she's in love with her but would never date a girl. So, in a way, she really doesn't realize it.

That being said, why would she say that? And unless I am really losing my mind, it wasn't Maiko saying that. Is Morinaga just trying to manufacture drama?

It is called lying. You know when you say something while knowing it is not true. (Edit:Damn ninjas!) The implication isn't that she isn't aware she is into woman but that she is either worried about the reaction to her being a lesbian or that she has really internalized attitudes against homosexuality. But the second one is a bit heavy for this manga so I would assume the first.

Seriously though I hoped the ex thing would lead to her actively trying to get in a relationship with her. Low odds sure, but some MC being proactive for once would have been nice.

Forgive me for feeling defensive here, but I understand that. I'm not completely idiotic. I suppose I was just taken aback by how such a recycled trope was used here.

Thank you for making me feel that way with the condescension, though, everyone, whether it was intended or not.

Moving on...

last edited at Jan 21, 2017 4:33PM

"I'm normal."

GODDAMNIT. This is why we can't have nice things. I really wonder if she means that or if the trope of "doesn't realize her feelings for her friend are romantic" is in play.

UGH.

Casual reminder
Go reread lmao

You got me. I forgot. DERP. In my defense, though, there seems to be a cognitive disconnect when she says she's in love with her but would never date a girl. So, in a way, she really doesn't realize it.

That being said, why would she say that? And unless I am really losing my mind, it wasn't Maiko saying that. Is Morinaga just trying to manufacture drama?

last edited at Jan 21, 2017 3:35PM

The thing about Futaribeya is, while the author always visions the mains as being in a relationship, Editor-san comes in and said "Nope, please turn down the yuri."

So what we got in the end is a weird compromise. Kasumi and Sakurako actualy did comtemplating the possibilities of being in a relationship (in previous chapter or so I think, or maybe that one hasn't been translated?), but realize that it would make absolutely no difference from what they are already having so they just move on and assume their lives as normal. Thus they have no problem admit their attractions to the other girl to themselves or do things like kissing, but we'll never see anything coined "explicit" like a love confession.

The latest chapter have them trying to get to uni and looking for an apartment to live together after they graduate from high school. It's refreshing to see a sloth like Kasumi actually trying to work to save money for their future together. Also one has Kasumi kissed Sakurako to pass her medicine.

So I would say this can still be passed as yuri for those just want to read comfy SOL between two girls and don't ask for stuff like smooching.

Also the kiss in this chapter was lewd. It would probably involve a lot of tongue though.

Seriously? If that's the case, why can't Yukiko-sensei publish in a more yuri-friendly magazine? That's sort of depressing to know.

last edited at Jan 21, 2017 3:02AM

sigh

Hiei x Kongou? Yes, please. And that ring Hiei is wearing as a necklace is a nice touch.

last edited at Jan 20, 2017 1:42AM

I can't get enough of this ship.

That's some next-level SM, I think.

I agree, gorgeous colors. Also, how can Reina be so goddamned smooth?

This is gorgeous. More of these two please.

Uexkull still best animal in the show.

H-hand-holding? How LEWD. Needs NSFW tag. huehuehue