There's no other way to read this besides her beginning to let go of her old love and starting to develop feelings for Kurumi.

Tbh everything from Nika's side can be interpreted as her just getting really close to Kurumi as a friend. From the looks of it Nika doesn't really have many, if any, close female friends. Literally everything she's feeling can be explained by what you might feel towards a best friend.

Do you have a friend like that? Someone you say "I can't imagine being without you" and "I love you more than anything", just before you french kiss them, and yet you're still best buddies and not in love at all?

The author has seriously made an effort to show how strong Nika's feelings for Kurumi are (hence everything I pointed out), that's a lot more than you get in most yuri stories. Unless everything Nikaidou has said up to this point was a lie, I can't imagine her looking at Kurumi as just a friend.

But well, if that's how you wanna read the story, who am I to stop you.

What’s with this epidemic of anime high schoolers living alone

It’s a very common trope. Sometimes it serves to indicate something significant about the character (they’re exceptionally lonely, or neglected, or they’ve had to act grown-up prematurely, etc.), but sometimes it’s just a “clear the decks” plot device that avoids including extraneous characters and allows the character to go places and do things without reference to parental control (and in romance series allows couples to be alone together).

I remember one famous fantasy writer (I think it was Neil Gaiman, or maybe Diana Wynne Jones) who said the first thing you have to do in Teen/YA adventures is "kill the parents".

I can’t recall the titles at the moment, but this is at least the third or fourth “do mermaids actually exist, or is this person nuts?” yuri manga series I’ve seen.

Not that I mind, but the theme definitely seems to be a thing.

This and this.

(also a zillion Disney movies and TV shows, though those aren't yuri)

last edited at Jan 6, 2020 9:30AM

i also really don't like when there needs to be like two chapters of the "wait i like a girl. impossible. lesbians arent a thing. etc." trope. so i'm glad this one skipped that.

Same

Ohhh! So just because Nika made a scarf she's in love with that girl? Jesus! C'mon!
She was trying so hard to forget Jun and be Kurumi's gf. Though she's having feelings now, clearly they're not enough.

She should stay with Jun and see where things go between them. Also, Kurumi doesn't deserve any less. I believe that being in a relationship while loving someone else isn't anyone's goal here, right?

It's fiction, but I try to see the logic here and no the "yuri-ending-for-all-cost".

I understand where you're coming from, but this isn't really a "yuri at all cost" situation, there are several hints in the manga about Nikaidou's feelings changing.

At this scene, Nikaidou asks to sleep with Kurumi. Two pages later, you can see that she ignores a call from Jun because she's with Kurumi. Later, when she loses her old phone, along with the gift she got from Jun, she realizes that this is "for the best", and says that it's okay because she has Kurumi's gift. She's saying that it's okay to let go of the past (represented by Jun-kun's gift) because she's with Kurumi now.

After waking up beside Kurumi, Nika says "it was the first time I've felt this way". She's probably slept with other people before, given how many people she's dated. By putting it like that, Nikaidou's saying that there's something special about Kurumi that she never felt for anyone before. On the very next page, she says "that morning, something inside me started to change", then she kisses Kurumi's forehead. There's no other way to read this besides her beginning to let go of her old love and starting to develop feelings for Kurumi.

She literally says "I already can't imagine being without you," and "Kurumi-chan, I love you more than anything" during the ferris wheel ride. There wouldn't be a point in lying about this, since Kurumi knew that Nika was in love with someone else before. I can only assume she's being sincere. Then, once more, she indicates that her feelings are changing, by saying that each time they kiss, "something grows inside me". That's the most evident way you can write about someone's feelings changing.

When Nika talks about her dad being in the USA, and Kurumi asks if she's going to live abroad, Nika replies that she wants to stay with Kurumi, while snuggling up to her. In the next page, she smiles while saying that she'd like to live with Kurumi some day. Those aren't the kinds of things you say to someone you're not in love with, right? Sure, later she does say that she doesn't understand how taking a bath with a lover is different from doing it with a friend, but my guess is that Nika's just being a little naïve about her own feelings.

Even though you say knitting a scarf isn't exactly a proof of love (and sure, it isn't), the fact that Nikaidou's so invested in giving Kurumi a special gift, and how happy she looks while doing that, does suggest that she's thinking about Kurumi in a special way.

There's also plenty of sweet and caring moments between the two of them. Those don't necessarily mean being in love, but they do hint at that. For instance, taking a commemorative photo of a one-month anniversary. Saying that the food tastes good because you made it together. The line "as long as I'm with Kurumi-chan, I'll be okay", and blushing while thinking that she wants to fill her phone with memories of her and Kurumi.

So, like I said before, of course Nika still has feelings for Jun-kun, because of how long she'd been in love with him. This is why she still reacts strongly when hearing that Jun might have feelings for her, or even just by hearing someone call his name. But her love for Kurumi is also very real, and it shows up in several ways all through the story. So an ending with Kurumi and Nikaidou being together doesn't feel forced at all.

last edited at Jan 5, 2020 10:30AM

The end of this chapter is very similar to Muted in Webtoons, if anyone knows about it.

Fortunately, there's no Athalie in this manga. She's scarier than any demon.

I think Alice is developing feelings a bit too fast, especially for someone as cold as her.

That's not unheard of, though.

Okay, but like, don't you think at least ONCE some sort of discussion like "are you even into girls?" would happen? Why is this all focused on her feelings for her childhood friend when that's kinda not really the main issue to get to first?

I guess that IS the main issue for them. Which is nice, really, I like reading stories where people don't constantly question a bisexual character's orientation.

Kurumi wants Nika to make sure she's with her because she truly loves her and not because she tries to forget her feelings for Jun, because that option would make them both miserable in the long run.

I think it's a bit different from that. Because based on what we've seen of Kurumi, she doesn't mind Nikaidou being in love with someone else, if it's one sided. She was perfectly fine with dating Nikaidou before she found out about Jun's feelings.

The issue here is that there's a chance Nika's love for Jun might be mutual, and Kurumi said a couple of times that this sort of thing is miraculous, and that she was doing a terrible thing to Nika by not allowing that to happen.

In essence, Kurumi loves Nikaidou, and because of that she wants her to be happy. If there's a chance Nika would be happier with Jun, Kurumi's willing to let go.

Isn't sacrificing soul to banish your classmates to the netherworld a bit too much for high school bulies ?

Maybe they're talking about animal souls (or human souls, since they hate humans). But then they got scared because they feared the demon might ask for their own souls instead.

Besides, people can sometimes go to extremes if they think they're justified in their actions. They think she's a human pretending to be a witch. Their hatred of humans might be enough to warrant banishing her to the underworld.

last edited at Jan 3, 2020 9:47PM

So, it sounds like the hearts of witches are destroyed or dead in some way, and Mari's AoE Revive spell from Chapter 2 accidentally revived Alice's heart

That's a good point. Witches having dead hearts would explain why all the side girls are such dickheads.

That's poetic, I guess, but it makes zero sense for biology. On the other hand, we're assuming magic exists, so screw biology, right?

So that happened I guess. The whole "love negates magic" still seems pretty dumb.

It's folklore. You'll find several stories where falling in love makes a witch lose her powers.

last edited at Jan 3, 2020 8:05PM

Really brave of Kurumi to decide that once for all.
And, in the end, I do hope Nika stay with Jun. Seriously, she's not that into Kurumi, she's just a rebound, that's why Jun is the healthier and reasonable choice. If these girls get together in the end, depends how they make this story happens, it will be too unconvincing.

You should probably go back and re-read the whole story. You'll see that Nikaidou starts to develop real feelings for Kurumi after that scene where Kurumi says she'll stay with Nika so that she can forget Jun.

Pay attention to the narration. Probably the first sign of her feelings changing is how Nika feels after she wakes up beside Kurumi. Then on their date together, she says that something inside her changes every time they kiss. She's also very sweet with Kurumi in several scenes.

Of course Nika still has lingering feelings for Jun, she's loved him for years. But after all that's happened, I think the one she's currently in love with is Kurumi.

last edited at Jan 3, 2020 12:39PM

Hm, at this point, the relationship feels very sour to me...I'm rooting for Kyou, even if it won't happen.

Someone said here that it seemed like Kyouko was sabotaging Kurumi's relationships. And sure enough, she shows up and reveals her secret just as Nika was about to arrive. If that's true, I say Kyouko be damned, I'm rooting for nika/kurumi

Nika then goes back to Kurumi, they're happy for a bit, on the surface, but Kurumi can't really get over being Nika's second choice and in the end they break up as well.

I don't think this will happen, because it contradicts some bits of story from before, like how Nika narrates that every time they kissed, something inside her changed. Based on that, I honestly think Nika's in love with Kurumi.

My guess would be (I haven't read 11 or 12 yet, so it's not a spoiler) that Nika does begin dating friend-kun, but she eventually goes back to Kurumi once she realizes that's where her feelings truly lie

I'm dying to know what happens, someone spoil it for me

Schuyguy has posted the script for chapter 11 on YP. I usually download the script and raws from there and read them like that, since I'm too impatient to wait for the release.

If you think the cliff hangers hurt now, wait till you realize that we're only 2 chapters behind the raws and the magazine it's in is quarterly.

I hadn't realized it was still being serialized. This is gonna be tough.

So, no comments on the three new chapters yet? I'm kind of surprised

So I see through you, story, there shall be no love tetrahedrons here, story.

I had read the scripts in yuri-project before this, I was just dying to spoil the story ehehe

last edited at Jan 1, 2020 8:40PM

From the first chapter to now, poor Akari.

At last something we can all agree on hehe

last edited at Jan 1, 2020 4:00PM

His family is about secrets and power. Growing up with his mom, he's learned that the way to handle things is to tightly control them so no one finds out the ways things have gone wrong. A big part of him is trying to suck Aya away from her more open family and into his, where shame will keep her quiet.

Of course, the other interesting layer is that he hates his family, too. He knows that whole deal sucks, even as he's acting it out now... that's why he's usually so passive (he rightfully resents his awful mom, but he knows it does no good to pick a fight, so he just lies down).

Are we even reading the same story?

Because I have no idea how you reached any of these conclusions.

Althought that doesn't really trigger my definition of cheating. I mean, as far as i remember they just kiss no ?They didn't have sex so for me, it doesn't fully count as cheating for me.

So you're like Aya's mother in law, who said kissing is a "yellow card", but also "feels like a false alarm"

It really just depends on what sort of agreement you have with your partner. If you two decide that you can kiss other people so long as you don't have sex, then that's fine, right? But I guess for most people, kissing is already considered cheating.

Also, Aya seemed pretty interested in taking things further when she stayed over at Akari's.

Probably what bothers me the most is that what he did was a low key ejecting Ayano from the closet to her sister

Rereading chapter 6 now, I guess he did push Ayano in a corner about admitting she had an affair with a woman to her mother-in-law.

But as for Kaede, I think it's a bit different. First off because Ayano herself was the one who told about the affair. Then Kaede gets confused, and asks "how could my sister do that?" and I think the husband's trying to offer an explanation about why Aya would cheat on him. Rather than wanting to get revenge on Aya or something, it's more like he's admitting he can't win against that, something like "Aya didn't cheat on me because she wanted another guy, she cheated because she found out she's gay, and I guess there's nothing either of us can do about that"

(of course, she may be bi, but I guess that's not how her husband sees it)

the fact that we have so much to discuss about this is one of the reasons I love this title, and I like to get in on the character's motives and reasons.

Last time this happened to me in a manga was in YagaKimi. Goes to show how talented this mangaka is as a storyteller.

last edited at Dec 31, 2019 10:55AM

The husband is being a passive-aggressive shit. Instead of just letting it end at there was an affair, he goes out of his way to sick his wife's sister after the "homewrecker", when he could have just left it alone now that he believes they wouldn't be meeting again. It comes across as him being petty, and wanting to punish his wife as much as possible by bringing her family into it.

Well, Ayano doesn't seem to wanna keep it a secret from anybody either way. The husband only spoke about it at all because Ayano had already told her sister about the affair. Ayano was the one to bring her family into it, so how is this punishing his wife?

He's not a bad guy, but if he actually wants to make the relationship work, that isn't the best approach.

Like I said, I don't think he's going for that. He said in a previous chapter that he had no idea what to do in this kind of situation. He's probably just confused about what's going on and whether his marriage will fall apart or not.

Of course I doubt either wants this relationship to continue, and I doubt they've even been having sex in the last few years.

Bit of a stretch, don't you think? Because honestly, though, Ayano did seem to care about her husband before meeting Akari.

Every chapter of this breathtakingly rendered slow-motion trainwreck leaves me needing more. This was definitely not a virtuous, or even smart, move by the husband, but you have to figure...he is probably desperate to talk about this to somebody, and - in typical male fashion - if he has any other male friends, he would probably not be comfortable admitting to any of them that his wife cheated on him, let alone with a woman.

And something else: he probably expects his sister-in-law to relish having something "over" a family member and would turn on Aya, because that's what would happen in HIS family. It doesn't occur to him that, push come to shove, she'll side with supporting her sister.

Why does everybody think the husband is a bad guy? Honestly, though, he seems like the most decent person out of the three. He loves Ayano and wants her to be happy, he's always talked to her and asked her what she wants, then Ayano fucked up bad and he's even trying to cope with it somehow. He hasn't given me one reason to dislike him.

I'm really not liking the husband. He's clearly trying to start shit by telling the sister about the affair and where to find her. I get it, you got cheated on. But when you're supposedly trying to make the relationship work, the less people that know the better. He's only gonna push her further away and then blame her when shit gets worse

I don't think he's trying to make the relationship work. Or at least, he's not actively fighting for her. It's more like he's trying to figure out what's going on, and he can't help telling some people about it because it just feels so surreal and unbelievable. But he seems like the type of person who would back out if Ayano ever said she would choose Akari over him.

will the continuation be translated too I wonder?

Arckuno said here that they'd like to do that, but we're not working on anything right now. Maybe in the future.

last edited at Dec 30, 2019 6:59AM

I'm don't think men are actually bad at yuri. I just feel all of their characters are second hand interpretations of lesbians. I know this is a bit unfair, but as a straight cis man I know it's true.

Well, considering a lot of BL stories are written by women (and some really good ones, even), I wouldn't say it's impossible for a cis guy to write good yuri, even without first hand experience. The problem is finding a guy that can write about les/bi women without resorting to stereotypes.

I'm not into BL, but strangely enough if I were to read it, I would read a woman writer. It would give me a glimpse into how women see men. Plus I think women write BL for the same reason I read yuri, A connection to a world we want to know but can't ever really understand.

I guess each person has their reasons. I dabble in both GL and BL fiction, myself, but it's not like I want to have a connection to the reality of gay men, it's just that I like love stories, really, and I enjoy exploring several possibilities. Besides, I'd say most people tend to prefer love stories that match their orientation (like how I read and write mostly gay stories, but my mother and sister always prefer straight romances).

But I get what you say about wanting to read stuff that we can't experience, because that's maybe the very reason why fiction exists. Even if you're a gay girl, the stories in yuri may have some small similarities to our experiences, but a lot of it is original. None of us will ever be in the exact same situation as, say, Yuu or Touko, but we still enjoyed reading YagaKimi. It's not too far off if you're a guy reading yuri or a gal reading BL.

It would give me a glimpse into how women see men.

Yeah well then it's the same things for mens writing yuris. Why womens can write BL and nobody bat an eye but if a man write a yuri, it's not ok ? It's contradictory.

Because 80% of the time, men who write yuri/GL fill the story with stereotypes and fetishes they get from lesbian porn. But if a guy does write good lesbian romance stories, I don't think most people would mind that.

last edited at Dec 29, 2019 1:18PM