So this is what I understand so far:
- Detective Death is a demon from hell.
- Her sidekick is an artificial humanoid, a "wax doll" manufactured by demons. She isn't considered a "real person" by the demons.
- DD and Wax Doll somehow fell in love and began a torrid love affair.
- They were found out and all hell broke loose (pun intended).
- They ran together and now they live on Earth, and DD works as a hitman for hire: she kills "bad people" in exchange for a part of the lifeforce of her customers.
- She needs the lifeforce to keep Wax Doll alive. Well, "animated" may be a better word.

Did I got everything right?

"Wax doll" doesn't have to be literal. As it seems humans all have a metaphorical "wax" to represent lifeforce. The "wax doll" could just be a normal human, replenishing her "candle" with the "candles" of other humans.

Although minor, I believe Detective Death isn't a demon from Hell, but rather an Angel of Death.

Shinigami, right? I got the same vibe from her, a reaper of souls rather than a demon
In manga normally you tell them apart cos ones carry a scythe and the others have horns and bat wings, but >Detective Death for now looks like neither so we can't tell for sure
If she's ever forced to assume her true no-human form, we will know which it is

Without seeing the original text there is no way to know for sure, but I would put the safe money on her originally being described as a Shinigami which usually gets translated into English as Death God, Death Spirit, Grim Reaper, Angel of Death, etc. Something that has a divine connotation more so than a demonic one.

last edited at May 27, 2019 2:22AM

So this is what I understand so far:
- Detective Death is a demon from hell.
- Her sidekick is an artificial humanoid, a "wax doll" manufactured by demons. She isn't considered a "real person" by the demons.
- DD and Wax Doll somehow fell in love and began a torrid love affair.
- They were found out and all hell broke loose (pun intended).
- They ran together and now they live on Earth, and DD works as a hitman for hire: she kills "bad people" in exchange for a part of the lifeforce of her customers.
- She needs the lifeforce to keep Wax Doll alive. Well, "animated" may be a better word.

Did I got everything right?

"Wax doll" doesn't have to be literal. As it seems humans all have a metaphorical "wax" to represent lifeforce. The "wax doll" could just be a normal human, replenishing her "candle" with the "candles" of other humans.

Although minor, I believe Detective Death isn't a demon from Hell, but rather an Angel of Death. We don't know from where they came originally, but it is apparent Earth isn't the plane they are native to. It could be Heaven, Hell or some other plane of existence that is likely a part of the hereafter.

I mean come on, first of all I guess that at least it finished and they didn’t “misunderstand each other” (wow what big steps have been made) but also now it feels like we’re reaching a new era: the era of rushed endings. I swear I’m always double checking to see if the last chapter really is the last one it feels so out of left field when they finish.

This is one thing you can't blame on the mangaka. It's the industry as a whole that is to blame for the travesty of rushed ruined endings. Mangaka are rarely given much warning when their series is getting the ax. Generally they have between 1 and 3 chapters to take the story from where ever it was to its conclusion which is often not even enough to give the current story arc a proper resolution let alone the entire series.

It's one of the things that pisses me off most about this medium. It should be a standard part of any long running manga contract that the mangaka be given at least 4 or 5 chapters worth of warning before the ax drops so they can put together something that remotely looks like a real ending.

As many others have already attested, this is a very solid start to a the series.

It's nice to see this LN has generated quite a bit of interest. It's a cute story. This is probably as good a place to ask as any for suggestions for other fantasy or scifi books featuring lesbian characters. I'm not particular when it comes to country of origin so long as the end product can be found in English somewhere. It can be anything from LN, to visual novels, to young adult, to full blown traditional literature. Romance is fine, but I'm not looking for full blown smut where there is nothing else to the story. Bonus points if it can be found on Kindle Unlimited.

In Japan, it's not so much for intelligibility (though it is in some cases, since some dialects approach "different language" levels) as it is just a cultural thing. In formal contexts, it is simply proper to speak standard/Tokyo Japanese (even in other regions). Not doing so can make you seem disrespectful, or that you're not taking the situation seriously.

For a modern, international comparison, take how many American politicians speak with a southern accent. That would simply not fly in Japan, as it would give the impression that they don't take their job seriously, whereas in the US and many other places, it is simply a regional dialect (although stereotypes may of course apply).

Fun fact: In older times, the formal version of the Kansai dialect was frequently used by prostitutes and geisha, as it sounded "high class" and "sexy". Incidentally, prostitutes weren't viewed as "whores" in any derogatory sense; they were viewed as women of culture and beauty, whereas the "common woman" was simply there to make kids and take care of the home. :p

If I remember correctly you're the one translating this. Thanks for sticking with it despite the ungrateful whining. It's one of the better ongoing yuri series involving adult protagonists.

last edited at May 18, 2019 3:49AM

The sense of loss from being immortal isn't just restricted to all the personal loss of watching everyone you have or will know wither and die before you. It's the fact that the entire world you were born into and which is a part of you has moved on. You watch as the cultures, societies and civilizations you once fit into all slip away into the mists of time. You become a living anachronism.

Also, those arguing that the elderly aren't really effected by watching everyone around them die before them are likely very young and don't really know that many old people. There is a reason that the elderly have the highest suicide rate of any demographic. It's the angsty teens that get all the press, but statistically it's old people who put and end to themselves most often.

last edited at May 18, 2019 12:00AM

I just thought I would add another solid suggestion for a dark fantasy series with yuri elements that you can read for free with the kindle unlimited trial. The Sting of Victory (Fallen Gods Series) was a compelling read once it got going.

Although the first book gets off to a slightly wobbly start, once the author finds her rhythm in her prose it is a great character driven dark fantasy story with inhuman characters and a compelling and unusual romantic pairing. This series is on about par with "The One Who Eats Monsters" when it comes to how graphic and dark the story can get which is to say its not for those people who are looking for slice of life romantic fluff. It is a mature title.

last edited at May 16, 2019 3:26PM

to the immortal thing. Doesn't she just say that sucking blood is for not aging? She doesn't say anything about dieing from stopping to drink blood. She says vamps can fundamentally not die. So I just took it as her body will start to age if she doesn't drink blood anymore, she'll get older, but she still will not be able to die.

There are few greater curses than immortality without agelessness. My guess is without blood she would slowly starve, her body wasting away and degenerating over the course of decades or centuries as her age catches up to her without ever truly dying.

last edited at May 16, 2019 1:07AM

i read this bc i saw the bdsm tag. not familiar with the original work, but oh boy was this not for me.

is it possible to get some tags for suicide or suicide attempt? this is the kind of thing that needs a content warning, more than just aaaaaangst and drama.

not trying to be dramatic. this isn't triggering for me specifically, but it's probably something to consider. i know there are userscripts to hide stuff with certain tags so having some tags for like major character death might be useful for folks who really can't handle that kind of stuff...

I think the aaaaaangst and drama tags do a pretty good job of warning people without getting so specific that they can spoil the the story. Generally, I think if people see those sorts of tags on here they know they are in for some seriously choppy seas. The major character death tag in particular seems like it would be an absolutely massive spoiler in any applicable story.

I'm saying this as somebody with a lot of ugly personal experience with the subject. I think tags for suicide are just a bit too specific and will spoil the story to some degree. Admittedly, in this particular manga it wouldn't be a huge spoiler, but I can think of some others where it certainly would be.

last edited at May 15, 2019 3:05AM

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/virgins_empire_ch98#12

unless the cut went all the way down her arm, it should be millimeters XD

Yeah, I noticed that too. 30cm is like a foot where as 30mm is a bit over an inch.

wow, you really gotta hand it to this author. it's not everyday you see a story whose characters are almost all gay that still manages to be so annoyingly heteronormative

and from the comedy framing, it doesn't look likely that the protagonist's idea of "normal" will be challenged, either... eugh.

I'm confused. No matter how I do the math I can't make a yuri story where literally everyone in the world is gay = heteronormative.

It just doesn't add up.

Friendly reminder, kids, if your in a room full of people and one guy is frothing at the mouth and yelling angry hateful things about gay people then the safe money on who in the room is closeted is on the one making the scene.

The same applies to pedophiles.

it's like I've become the main character of a romance manga

Of a trashy romcom LN, I'd say. This manga went to the shitter sooner than expected. Dropped.

It's ok, not everyone can have good taste. Have some cocoa. You'll feel better.

You're all too stupid to accept opinions from other people, and you're offended and insulting them,

An example of a self-enacting statement.

Although ironic and hypocritical, it doesn't change the underlying truth in the statement.

@ Bugdevil

You're twist my words and say I'm ignorant, even though I said, "I'm not saying that's impossible for Kasumi to have romantic feelings for Sakurako, but it could also be platonic." Who can not accept that it may be possible that she has platonic feelings for Sakurako !? You and not me!

And no, there does not have to be a sexual act, but I just do not feel like Kasumi is in love with Sakurako!
But I understand now, your opinions are facts for you, just like the kiss on the CHEEK.

I agree that Kasumi's feelings for Sakurako could be platonic, but that doesn't preclude her loving her. There is a mountain of evidence pointing to the fact that Kasumi does deeply care for Sakurako even if she isn't attracted to her sexually.

In the most recent chapters we have even started to see evidence that Kasumi's complete lack of interest in a romantic or sexual dimension to her life with Sakurako may be starting to change with her even going so far as to give her a light surprise kiss after spending the day thinking about their relationship.

It is true that one light kiss and a handful of other much more subtle and ambiguous recent examples of Kasumi becoming more interested in romantic aspects of their relationship doesn't really undo the countless instances we have seen Kasumi completely ignore or shut down Sakurako when she starts to push things in an amorous direction, but it does suggest that maybe Kasumi has started to become capable of experiencing at least a mild desire for romance if not more.

last edited at May 7, 2019 3:44PM

Recently, I have noticed a couple of light novels that have been uploaded here which is always nice to see, but when I went to look around the forums for our section on books I was a bit surprised to find there wasn't one. As we have seen from all the screeching and howling from some people about the fact that books are getting uploaded on Dynasty at all, I think it indicates that there might be reason to set aside a space for people who are into novels that is separate from the manga/anime forums. I know we have a catch all "other media" category, but there doesn't seem to be much going on there when it comes to discussions about books and you have to sift through all kinds of other stuff to find those topics.

What do you guys think? Is there just not enough interest in books to be worth setting aside a separate space to discuss them?

Thanks for the heads up. It was a fun read, and I hope the author makes good on her intentions to write part 2. Incidentally, do you have any more recommendations for other books along these lines?

Edit: After reading a few more similar titles that were suggested by Amazon using the kindle unlimited trial, it's made me realize just how much of a cut above this book is compared to its peers. I actually didn't realize this was done by an independent author. It really is a solid little novel.

last edited at May 16, 2019 10:17AM

its incredible how the author managed to make 3 couples with an amount of 0 chemistry EVEN the supposedly yuri ones. kuroe gives clearly aroace vibes, her relationship with miyabi is just depressing bc she shows no sign of romantic feelings AND 90% of their interactions is miyabi cleaning/making stuff for her.

I would say all of the "couples" in this series have some sort of interesting chemistry going on, it just isn't the smooth, lovey dovey flawless pure romance type of chemistry normally depicted in shoujo romances.

not yuri anymore

Kumiko going out with Shuuichi in the source material was known since S1. I don't know that the anime was ever explicit enough to override that and call it actual yuri.

On the other hand, per this tweet from the anime thread a while back:
https://twitter.com/ultimatemegax/status/1115692715772141576
In the latest volume of the novels, Kumiko and Shuuichi break up. So it's still up in the air whether Kumiko's really hetero.

Although I do agree with the notion that the series (Kyoani in general) isn't really worth getting invested in. Even Liz and the Blue Bird wasn't particularly interesting on the characterization front, it's only noteworthy yuri-wise due to the production values. Basically, I'd say keep expectations low but wait for stuff to actually come out before deciding if Kyoani shit is "yuri"/"not yuri".

I always find it very strange that whenever you get some silly debate like this about "yuri bait" that everyone seems to assume bisexuals don't exist particularly in cases where there is some evidence of attraction to both sexes. People act likes it's impossible that a girl would appear to be interested in another girl romantically and then end up dating a guy. This happens all the time in real life so I'm not sure why it needs to be a rule that it can't happen in fiction.

Although my experiences may not be indicative of the larger picture, in my many years on this planet I have known far more bisexual people than strait out gay people, so it seems very strange to me when people just assume somebody has to be one or the other in a story. Some of my most painful romantic memories actually involved bisexual love triangles so they definitely are a thing.

last edited at May 5, 2019 12:40PM

It lives, and I will try my hardest to see it though to the end (hopefully by the end of the summer)! Please excuse my release schedule sometimes though; I swear these naps are 100% necessary to the quality of my work!

Many thanks!

(✿◠‿◠)

Also the MC is horny as fuck... She's gonna rape one of her friends any time now...

Nah, although the MC is thirsty enough to drink a glass full sand she doesn't seem the rapey type.

Argh! Smacked in the face with an evil cliffhanger!

Even as a work of fiction, cheating raises my hackles. They both agreed at the restaurant they were in a relationship, so munching another chick is off-limits. I was otherwise enjoying this story and art.

That depends on the people involved. There are outright married couples that have open relationships so dating certainly doesn't preclude such things in and of itself. Given her partner's response this wasn't breaking the rules of their relationship whatever those might be.

This season has been a rough one. I've kind of given up on looking for yuri, but are there any other hidden gems in other genres this season. I tend to like mature scifi, fantasy and iyashikei series, but there doesn't seem to be any stand out series in these genre either at the moment.