I enjoyed this chapter, particularly Touko coming to realize that loving someone can still allow them to change, Sayaka being able to move on from her love for Touko, and Touko taking the first steps to reach out to Yuu again. Of course, the latter will also probably require some thought and character development on Yuu's end, since she still has a somewhat romanticized view of love (her belief that she didn't cry after Touko's "rejection" like Akari did after she realized her senpai would never reciprocate her feelings means that she may not have loved Touko).

While it was unfair of Touko to assume that Sayaka's feelings were as shallow as all her other suitors, Sayaka did admit that she'd been in love with Touko's "perfect" persona at first. As such, it's good that the discussion on the boat helps Touko realize that Sayaka knew about her vulnerability and imperfection but loved her anyway.

All in all, it's good that Sayaka's love for Touko was taken seriously and her (inevitable) rejection ended up helping move the plot forward, rather than being a way to tie up loose ends.

By the way, Special 6 should be moved to "Volum" 7(add an "e"), between Chapter 36 and Chapter 37. Otherwise, new readers will probably get confused when it references s a scene that hasn't happened yet.

I wonder if Sayaka's confession will lead Touko to a personal epiphany- if Sayaka's loved Touko all this time and still remained a loyal friend, as well as loving her both when she was "perfect" and after learning of her vulnerabilities* might it be possible that being loved isn't such a bad thing? Perhaps she won't necessarily get together with Sayaka (the same goes for Yuu), but it's likely that she'll learn that lesson anyway. Alternatively, maybe having some time apart to talk to their other friends will help Yuu and Touko work out their issues.

*While I still hope Yuu and Touko ultimately get together, Yuu never saw Touko as perfect. Perhaps the fact that Sayaka once did, but her feelings never changed even as her perception of Touko did may prove significant.

One thing I like about this series, similar to what other people have said is that Sayaka's love for Touko is presented sympathetically, and she actually has a chance at winning Touko over. Rather than being just another member of Touko's harem, Sayaka's a well-written character in her own right.

Personally, I enjoyed the anime adaptation, even if I did find the aquarium date to be a fairly abrupt cutoff point for the first season. At this point, the only alternative would be ending it at the play, which would require rushing the story too much for a 1cour anime. Besides, it may be possible that by leaving some plot threads not fully resolved, viewers who haven't read the manga will get interested in a second season.

Does anyone know if Chapter 36 is the end of the volume 6?

Volume 6 ended with chapter 34. Someone should fix that. Also, chapter 23 and special 5 are part of volume 5.

Cool, I was thinking there was going to be a month hiatus if that was the end of the volume.

I mentioned this earlier, but no one seems to have made the change yet.

Speaking of volumes, I personally predict that this series will probably go on for at least 8 volumes, and probably reach Christmas in in-universe time. Of course, while it's good that the romance is a slow burn, it would probably be nice if Touko and Yuu actually start talking again by the end of Volume 7.

I wonder what sort of ending the anime will have, since we're already up to episode 5 and only up to Chapter 9. At least Citrus had a clear ending point when Yuzu and Mei started going out, even if it was less than halfway through the manga.

That was an interesting look at Sayaka's perspective on how things are between Touko and Yuu. I personally have to wonder how Touko possibly learning that Sayaka has loved her all this time will affect their relationship. Perhaps it might even help Touko to realize that being loved might not be such a bad thing, and help convince her to talk things out with Yuu.

Of course, I personally thought that someone on the student council would probably sit Yuu and Touko down and say "You two have barely said a word to each other (for however long has passed since Yuu's confession). Could you please say what's going on, because things are really awkward right now?" People noticed when Yuu and Sayaka weren't getting along in Chapter 14, so I suspect it'll only be a matter of time before someone says something.

So far, I have a fairly positive opinion of the anime. The performances seem fairly good so far, and while the color palette has taken a little while to get used to, I don't have too many complaints about the animation. It's quite unfortunate that it isn't available on Crunchyroll, though.

I think we discussed this before, but I'm also concerned about the fact that this anime is only 13 episodes long, which doesn't seem to be nearly enough to adapt even the 35 chapters thus far without rushing through things or abruptly concluding the series.

Speaking of translation mistakes, I noticed a fairly significant difference between two translations of one of Ichigaya's lines in Chapter 21(Page 11), in response to Touko protesting that Mio wasn't like the person she remembers. In the translation on this site, Ichigaya says "Maybe (Mio) was just putting on an act to look cool in front of her little sister," but in the localization, he says "In a way, you may have surpassed your sister because of that." The latter is fairly consistent with Ichigaya's point that Touko is a better student council president than Mio, but if the former's true, it could paint Touko's relationship with Mio in a new light- we don't know much about that apart from that Touko admires Mio.

As for this chapter, as heartbreaking as it is, it does tie back to the characters themselves. Not only does Yuu not know what it's like to really be in love, but she's also not entirely sure what it means to have that love rejected, whereas Touko's forced to come to terms with the consequences of her insistence that Yuu not love her.

Of course, while Touko's insistence on loving Yuu while not being loved herself is an obstacle that must be overcome, I don't think either of them necessarily thinks of it as "emotional blackmail." To Touko, anyone who claims to love her present self merely loves the version of her that is a replica of her sister, while anyone who loves her "real" self loves a part of her that Touko wants to cast aside, and it logically follows that they won't necessarily continue to love her once she changes. As for Touko's love for Yuu, Touko seems to see it as something she freely gives for her own sake (as seen in Chapter 28, when she says it's the only part of her she knows belongs to her), rather than something she can choose to withhold if Yuu doesn't do what she says. Perhaps the solution(or at least part of it) may be for Touko to consider Yuu's perspective- that just as Touko chose to love Yuu, Yuu chose to do the same for Touko- and accept Yuu's choice.

While the story does have some pacing issues, I personally think it's to be expected of a one-shot. Most of the romance one-shots I've seen capture a small moment in time, and at the very least, you see a sense of development here.

At the start, Torii more or less took it as a given that Kai would simply agree to hang out with her, and got bitter when her offer was refused. When they do become closer, it's because Kai was there for Torii for several difficult months, having put in the effort to develop a relationship.

As for Kai, she admits later on that she'd probably gotten a bit too invested in the piano, and didn't originally understand her teacher's advice to go to a non-music school until after spending a few months without being able to play.

It might have been nice if this had been a short series, maybe a single manga volume worth of chapters, but the one-shot gets its point across fairly well.

As for the accident, the previous two cases of Torii imagining Kai's hands being injured immediately snapped back to reality, clearly showing that they're fantasies. When Kai's hand hits the side mirror, the next scene shows that it really is happening, and Torii realizes she didn't want it to happen.

Judging from my very limited knowledge of Japanese, the next chapter's release date is September 27 (I can see a "9" and a "27" on the bottom of the last page of Chapter 34). In any case, I don't foresee the series as having more than a few more chapters now that the play's over- probably enough for a seventh volume, though.

Chapter 23 and Special 4 are actually in Volume 5, not Volume 4. This probably only affects where they're listed on the chapter list, but I thought I should point this out.

Personally, I can remember most characters' names, although I don't remember if they ever revealed Maki's first name.

I can see Yuu and Sayaka becoming friends, but probably not lovers as long as Touko's in the picture, considering that most of their conversations involve Touko in some way or another.

I didn't "miss" the first name basis, but it was confirmed on Hisa's end in Chapter 119, and on Mihoko's end in Chapter 123, so it's not exactly new, and I didn't feel the need to comment on it. That's a good point about Saki, though.

Now we're up to 156. I'm honestly surprised by Mrs. Haramura's personality, since I'd always imagined her to be somewhat strict and at least willing to tacitly agree with her husband (if not all the time), although the size of her breasts is to be expected. Still, it's an interesting look at Nodoka's family situation, and the fact that her parents don't see eye to eye may become relevant later.

As for Mr. Haramura, I hope that the reasoning behind "If you keep moving and have to make new friends at each new school, you end up with more friends in the end" is not the kind of logic he uses in court, since that means that Nodoka will likely not be that close to any of them. It's a nice development that Nodoka's taking umbrage at his suggestion that she wasn't very close with her friends in Nara (long-distance correspondence is difficult to maintain over time), so I wonder if that might mean that Nodoka is taking more of an assertive stance when it comes to having to move.

last edited at Mar 23, 2016 8:45PM by Nezchan

Chapter 155 has been translated.

1)The information seems to suggest that the Miyanaga family broke apart when Teru was in 5th grade, which is a bit longer ago than I thought (although I'd heard that the Drama CD scene with Saki and Teru, which includes Saki's fond memory of Teru when they were young, was not long before Teru and her mother left home). Perhaps it also means that it'll be that much harder for Saki to reconcile with Teru, let alone get her parents to reconcile with each other.

2)I wonder why Nodoka said she didn't know whether Saki and Teru were related, especially since Nishida immediately sees through it.

3)It's nice to see Nishida consider the possible ethical implications of this as a journalist, but her comments suggest she's only scratched the surface. I hope we get to see more about this fairly soon.

Saki manga is dragging on it's feet. Soooo slow. Plot doesn't move forward.... Reminds me of watching Dragon Ball Z anime on TV. >_<

On the other hand Shinohayu is progressing nicely. ^_^

Sometimes I just think Ritz-sensei don't really know how to end Saki and is taking her time. But yeah, if the reason for the conflict beteween the Miyanaga sisters is something silly the fans will rage.

We've had some hints that something tragic happened that Saki doesn't really remember well, involving a third girl and a building on fire. Saki's story about Teru being angry when she tried to visit is probably tied to that, as is her insistence she has no sister.

...which, of course, Teru has retracted as of 128, but we haven't seen any follow-up on that. We also have hints that the third girl was or was becoming paraplegic, and might have enjoyed mahjong. It's interesting, but I'd like to see more concrete information about it.

Apparently, in the newest chapter, there's some interesting developments as far as the scores go. Nelly's finally making a comeback, Himematsu and Kiyosumi have switched places (which means Kiyosumi finally is in a position in which they can advance), and Usuzan is once again dangerously close to going bust (which might be interesting to see, and not just because it would make the semifinals end sooner; perhaps Saki could send Usuzan under zero to prevent Himematsu from rising to second, since Kiyosumi's hold on it is extremely tenuous).

Chapter 42's been translated for some time, and focuses on Mairu and Himeko returning to their hometown.

We also get another look at the mysterious girl we first saw in Chapters 102 and 104. It seems she, as well as Teru, plays a part in motivating Saki, but we have yet to see who she is or what impact she had on Saki.

It's also nice to see Saki making some headway against her opponents, even if her wins are small at the moment. I suspect that her victory will be the result of a direct hit on Kyouko, thereby dragging Himematsu out of second place.

Things are getting worse and worse for Kiyosumi. It's a bit depressing that Saki's only victory so far has been followed by a few other losses that essentially negate the small gains she made.

It's also somewhat depressing that Kiyosumi is the only school that hasn't been in the top two at any point in this half of the semi-finals. By comparison, in the quarterfinals, the first round ended with Miyamori and Eisui in the lead, and in the side A semifinals, Achiga took second place as early as the sergeant round.

Chapter 24 has been translated. Without spoiling anything, let's just say it's a fairly surprising development that potentially puts one character VERY close to reaching her goal. I wish the main series had more episodes like that, especially considering that Saki and Teru haven't seen each other since the nationals began.

last edited at Aug 30, 2015 1:16AM

Chapter 24 has been translated. Without spoiling anything, let's just say it's a fairly surprising development that potentially puts one character VERY close to reaching her goal.

Chapter 8 has been scanlated and is available on the AK scans wiki.

One of the best parts of this story is that the characters each get more attention and development. This is especially true of Maho, who comes off as a more interesting and likable character when you see more about her personality and relationship with Miho.

Incidentally, there is a sequel to this manga out, which apparently features Hitomi and Emi.

Chapter 39 has been translated, and Chapter 40 is out, at least as a raw.

I'm not sure why this site isn't hosting the first 104 chapters. Perhaps the people uploading to this site couldn't host them, for some reason, or this was the point at which they first started getting scanlations (which, being at the start of the Side B semifinals, is a decent place to start).

Chapter 145 has been translated. Essentially, Sawaya shows off more of her skills, which is a nice change of pace for Usuzan given their first three members' incompetence, but it does make me seriously wonder how Kiyosumi will pull through here. Perhaps another perfect hand at the last minute, like the prefectural finals, or Achiga's quarterfinals match, will be what they need here.

Nodoka has some interesting discussion about left-handed people in mahjong. I'm also curious as to who told her about it being better to use her right hand, since it seems to refer to when she first learned how to play mahjong, something that happened before she even came to Achiga. Perhaps a flashback will shed light on this.

Kinue seems to be taking the loss somewhat hard, as I expected. I'm curious as to how she'll feel when, as I suspect, Himematsu gets eliminated.

It's nice to hear more about Usuzan's plans for the future. It seems as though, even if they've accepted that they've all but lost already, the outcome is still within their plans.

It's interesting to see that Teru's attitude toward Saki may be shifting, however slightly, even if she's still not referring to her by name ("It might be tough for that girl, since it will be her second match against Suehara-san") and seems to be making excuses to avoid watching the match.

well i have not just been watching this for developing of the charaters but also the wining damn thing , and teru and her school dominated for too long. i like when the underdog knocks the world champion, if they lose i feel i've some years reading and waiting for these chapters ..... i know i sound really into it a little bit , but it comes from competive sports attiude that i have when i played volleyball my tea, made it all the way to the state championship only to lose in the last set by 2 points .

It should be pointed out that apparently, Shiraitodai hasn't had all that good of a record until winning the tournament two years before the start of the story, since it's said that West Tokyo did not produce many good players. It's not necessarily a bad thing for Kiyosumi to unseat them (or possibly Achiga, which is also an underdog), but perhaps there was a time when Shiraitodai could have been considered an underdog.