It seems that these two really are close. And that their interest in women is not for a gag.
And that Laplus is a mothercon.

It is both incest and selfcest. The same soul and genes, but different minds.

Even in the Wonderland dream Adachi still considers herself a dog. Some of the previous one-shot must have permeated through. This anthology is quite something, though sadly seems to be settled around the anime's level of progression. I look forward to another Anthology set after Volume 6 when they finally date.

How was she being "thoughtful" at all??
She just went and cancelled their plans just because she happened to hear that her senpai is having a match? And I guess I would've been fine with it if she at least explained why, but honestly from her message I doubt she was even planning to.

Pardon me, but is cancelling a meeting way ahead of time a major issue in your friend circle? If it had been done last minute that would certainly have been a social fauxpas, but I think pretty much anyone has cancelled things for personal or selfish reasons before. If she really didnt care about her friends she would have not even thought of telling them immediately, maybe only told them on the promised day or in the worst case even stood them up.

You may not care about her reason, but to Koyuki this is the rare match of the senpai she very obviously has a crush on, while going to the theme park with a friend is just a fun thing that can happen any weekend. Nobody has an obligation to come to a date and no hard feelings were involved from her side. Her reason could literally have been "I dont feel like it" and that would have been equally acceptable.

Hmm, a lot of people have been asking for enemies/rivals to lovers yuri lately and here it comes. Implied anyway.

"Two equal sides of a trianlge" as in equally disconnected from their target. I very much enjoyed the debate over why Koyuki is closer to them, as it compared a lot of general romance tropes and also showed their flaws. Ame knew a lot about Koyuki, but there are also many aspects they dont show each other exactly because they are so aware of each other's comfort zones. I especially love that Ame's reaction implies she was aware of the sport club senpai in middle-school but never connected the dots that Koyuki liked her. She was too confident about her position as childhood friend. The new girl was just projecting her attraction on Koyuki's actions and assumed her kindess meant romantic interest. Though she had more in common with Koyuki she never considered that this just made it easier to become friends.

Koyuki's kind of a bad friend, ngl. Being uninterested in her friends' squabbles and sticking to her phone bc she's focused on senpai is one thing but just ditching them without even asking if it's okay and no explanation at all is just kind of a dick move

They see each other every day, so she most likely assumed if they want an explanation they can just ask her directly. She went out of her way to cancel the plans as soon as she made a promise with her senpai, which is actually pretty thoughtful. She could have just told them the next day, but the more time they have to change plans the better. Koyuki couldnt have known that the new girl secretly booked a hotel due to overwhelming thirst.

Heimer is indeed the grandfatherly type who lives for science and understands very little about relationships.

Strange as it may seem, I have a feeling Caitlyn is the more forward one in Arcane. She had far more moments of seeking out Vi. I hope to see this more strongly expressed in season 2.

Finana has made clear she has an interest in Selen at some points, particularily during Millie's birthday stream where she was quite drunk. There is not much going on between them, though.

A simple premise, a beautiful execution, the most wonderful feeling in the world.
Deep down all we truly need is vanilla love. Spice can make a meal more interesting, but pure joy and love put into the dish is what nurtures the heart and sates more than just the appetite.

Are you sure she's truly resetting her expectations between every chapter?

Hiyama has been shown to be rather ... extra. She tends to go well beyond what is reasonable, in both her reactions and her attempts to woo Kimura. Even if Kimura understands that Hiyama is, ultimately, harmless and that she only wants to get closer to her, it's still understandable that she'd meet declarations like "Be ready tomorrow. I won't let you get away with this." with some dread. She may not need to worry about getting hurt, but the same cannot be said about Hiyama hurting herself or accidentally embarrassing her. Case in point: Having your desk covered in lavish gifts as a public tribute is pretty embarrassing and having Hiyama spend that kind of money on her isn't good for either of them.

Your reading would align with what I mentioned before hoping this would become. Specifically that the reason she dreads Hiyama's actions is not out of fear for bullying, but because of her excessive affection. I think you could see it that way if you really tried... but I still have my doubts.

If her trying to ignore Hiyama's attraction to her and constantly positioning her in the rival position for her boy crush is simply a defense mechanism, I would even say that is quite subtle writing... which feels very out of place compared to the very straightforward running gag.

^It would depend on the size of your breasts and the height difference, but it's nothing unusual.

Clownpiece chose wisely.

I would prefer if artists kept Vi's hairstyle accurate. It is quite unique and I like it. This version is definitely too short. Perhaps she traded hair length for height.

That's rather different than invoking "suspension of disbelief" or locating the problem in the character's psychology (or cognition, or whatever you want to call her failure to understand what's going on)--comedy protagonists in serial stories are often characterized by what would be repetition-compulsion or dysfunctional perseverant behaviors in real life.

Suspension of disbelief is essential for comedy or rather fictional stories in general. If an aspect of the story is so amiss that the reader feels a dissonance, it is most likely due to the broken suspension of disbelief. I will not critisize Scooby Doo characters for being unable to tell at first glance who the disguised criminal will be. They are portrayed just that dense.
The issue is connected to something you mention here...

But the writing problem here is that the MC is entirely passive and reactive

Our protagonist here is not portrayed as a completely naieve fool. At the end of each chapter she does either slightly reciprocate or give a disgruntled reaction, completely unlike the unaffected Shoujo protagonist she is made out to be. I cannot suspend my disbelief that someone with these reactions will reset her expectations every chapter. In the first chapter she implied that this has been going on for a while and that it bothers her. Her inner monologue nearly completely avoids ever addressing her relationship with the "rival", instead forcing the focus on her crush and his relation to the rival.

If she truly did not understand that her "rival" is trying to get her affections I could see it as the Garfield-esque one-gag comedy it portrays itself as and never question the status quo. It is indeed the glance at something more that destabilizes this construct. If it changes along the lines I will be more invested. If it does not, then the "dissonance" will grow and my patience for the running gag will wane.

last edited at Dec 13, 2021 2:15PM

I'm amazed at how often people insist on realism in manga that are obviously cases of mangaka having fun fiddling around with the dials on the trope equipment, as the title announces in no uncertain terms that's what this one is doing.

Like Jimi Hendrix said at Woodstock, "We're just jammin' . . . "

You mistake my exasperation at the repetitiveness of this story with criticism against creative story telling itself. I enjoy humor and I enjoy exploring out there concepts. This manga is fine for what it is trying to be I suppose. But it is not executed in an awfully interesting way. Every chapter has the same punchline. "Protagonist" wants to get close to her male crush, the "rival" does something that appears like bullying to her at first, but turns out to be going after protagonist's affection instead. Rinse and repeat ad infinitum. The core of this story does not work unless the "protagonist" exists in a vacuum or is bound by some mind-bending force that shackles her to the genre she is originally trapped in (a potential plot that reminds me of "The fourth heroine" and would be much more fascinating in my opinion).

If you throw things at the wall until something is going to stick you will have to accept that the floor will become a mess. Can we not ask for good humor and character writing?

....also I am fully aware that this is a really early point to critisize it too much and I merely expressed how my suspension of disbelief and patience for this running gag will deteriorate with time.

Perhaps this is for the sake of keeping the running gag alive, but I find it highly suspect that the "protagonist" keeps resetting her brain between each chapter and somehow forgets that the "rival" is after her alone and always does nice things for her instead of bullying her. It defies my suspension of disbelief after this many chapters and will only get harder to swallow as the manga progresses.

If this were a more grounded work the author may instead transition it into the protagonist dreading what new stunt the rival will pull for her attention or affection instead. But that would basically drop the useless boy out of the equation.

last edited at Dec 13, 2021 2:17PM

An ending as shallow as its premise.

Rope marks...

DDLC in its essence is a subversion of gal game tropes. It uses shock factor (I would hardly call it horror) to elicit a reaction, but it is most effective as a parody of the genre. For what it is, it is fairly well executed. But I don't derive much value out of it. The yuri fanworks on the other hand are a pleasant side-effect.

^It is not mentioned in her bio. This is information that was revealed in Legends of Runeterra (the card game) and confirmed by devs. The bios are generally lacking in details other than the most basic motivation. Her lovers names are Loto and Tama and they both have cards if you want to look them up.

last edited at Dec 7, 2021 3:24PM

^Nami is canonically in a polyamorous relationship with a man and a woman. So even though she is not a lesbian, she is definitely bisexual and has a female lover.

^Perhaps but Rei using strength enhancement magic to princess carry Claire to bed for their first night is by far the most in-character thing that I can imagine. That outweighs the gap effect of bottom Rei.

If I recall correctly in the Star Guardian universe they are childhood friends and the description is less than ambiguous about Jinx's affection for Lux. It should not come unexpected that the magical girl AU increases the levels of homosexual tension.
That being said, they are not officially gay in any capacity. I believe the only official sapphic characters in League of Legends are Leona, Diana and Nami (EDIT: Neeko is also a confirmed lesbian). I can't see Vi as anything but a butch lesbian of course and she has always been shipped with Caitlyn. Arcane did only fuel that fire.

last edited at Dec 20, 2021 3:04AM

The end of a story is not a negative. All that matters is that it sticks its landing.

With the mention of the festival we truly have come full circle. Arata Iri really wishes to do that phenomenal chapter again? I cannot fathom why... it cannot be replicated, the circumstances have already changed. Miko's sickness being paired with the emotional clearing of their feelings mirrors Nekozaki's sickness and acceptance of her feelings during the original manga already. Then the repetition must serve a different purpose. To retrace the steps and move beyond the line that the last timeline could not pass. Perhaps this time they will go to the festival together. Maybe this time they will not merely hug, but kiss in the night. Although we already had their kiss, even though we already know their love is true and reciprocated, if they declare it at that spot it will be like a send-off for both iterations of this story combined.

This finale could gain more meaning from the fact that this is a remake. I am intrigued Arata Iri! Show us that you can stick this landing!

last edited at Dec 6, 2021 7:40PM

I was kinda interested in this comic until I saw the MC attack someone for "pitying" her.

Violence aside, announcing to the class, "She's so pitiful!" is not the same as actually demonstrating sympathy for her.

To add to that, it completely fails as a defense and as an empathetic response. He did not defend her from being bullied because he thought they were wrong about what they said, he merely had an averse reaction to her immediate show of suffering. Of course we have no way to look into that random boy's head, but there are far more negative reasons to pity someone than there are positive ones, especially in this situation.

Being treated as a defenselss child who doesnt know better hurts, but it is worse that most of the time this is done in order to get browny points for 'protecting' an outcast. It's quite common in this world. By putting the victim down even further he can prop himself up as a savior all the more with no detriment to his own standing as he didn't object to the core reason for the bullying.

The violent reaction was uncalled for, but it is understandable. Maybe she (and me) interpreted that boy's meaning wrong, but in such a volatile situation any negative reinforcement will cause backlash.