(sigh) Oh, fine, I'll give it the full Sherlock.

I feel sorry that you wasted your time, seeing as our conclusions ended up exactly the same...
1. She is at least 17, quite likely nearing 18 (if not basically 18 already).
2. According to even the highest age of consent law everything past 18 with consent goes.

Nothing you said by going through the timeline of events changed these core points, sorry.

(Yoshioka based this on her being a high schooler because anybody that is a high schooler is likely to be a minor, and Misumi explicitly is.)

Again, I'm not saying that Ai is going to go to jail, or that she's breaking the law, I'm saying her behavior is bordering on risky, In an explicit, objective sense, both by the standards of the real world and by the standards set within the context of the fiction itself.

Hmm, you did quite obviously imply that she can be legally held accountable. That is what breaking the law means. And if you werent getting at that your entire approach would be meaningless and I have no earthly idea what the point of this conversation is.
I can only reiterate what I said from the beginning: Soon there can be no legal ramifications for their relationship and nobody can actually prove anything happened between them. With consent, even the worst outcome of their physical interactions somehow being exposed is barely a misdemeanor according to Japanese law anywhere as far as I can tell.

So really at worst the parents can press her to break up with their daughter (as long as both deny having crossed any lines) until she turns 18, after which they can simply do what they want. I believe there is no way you can contradict this assessment and that's the only thing I have actually asserted. To avoid this becoming too repetitive, let us just drop it, shall we?

This may just be my lacking reading of the situation, but Mumei has expressed quite a few times a desire to be dominated by Kronii. One of her earlist interactions with her was "Make me your hostage" and in the recent reenactment of Reine's fanfic she wanted to be pinned down by Kronii on the bed.
She is most likely what we refer to as a powerbottom.

I have no real feelings to express towards the teacher being an ex-mangaka. Assuming Ai-san is as predictable as she seems and would only follow BL artists, that means sensei is also a fujoshi. I am not surprised. Her concerns towards turning a hobby into a job is indeed not unwarranted. This can happen a lot. I have seen it with writers and video-game enthusiasts and even chefs. A profession requires stricter guidelines, deadlines and someone who judges your effort commercially, which is always harsher than judging a hobbyist.

I dont believe this chapter had any narrative reason to appear at this point in the timeline however. It did add nothing to the current arc. Misumi was already certain of her path and the teacher was convinced in the same chapter she even created the conflict. I suppose there is not much reason for her and Ai-san to ever meet otherwise, so the author was forced to work it in here.

Misumi is 16 as of the start of the series, and I believe it has been far less than a year since then. At best she's 17, she may actually still be 16.

Also, Yoshioka has raised concern about criminal charges at least twice, and Aizawa expressed the same concern after Misumi slept in the futon with her.back in chapter 5. If the characters in-universe are raising the concern, I don't think it's too far-fetched.

I am sorry, but the previous chapter established they are third years about to graduate. There is no argument for your side. Even the youngest third years are 17 and I doubt she is that far away from her next birthday. The circumstances would have to be incredibly unfavorable for this to be a concern even in the nearest future.

Yoshioka also doesn't know Misumi's age I believe and based this entirely on her being a high schooler. Ai-san is also the type to be always anxious. Regardless of legality, socially it is still hardly accepted.

last edited at Dec 21, 2021 1:05AM

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.