...sat there for a few minutes, trying to recall the anime and its plot/ending and all that came to mind was the catchy intro song...
"Oooo-ver-driiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive~!!" ^^;;;

last edited at Feb 23, 2020 5:42PM

Just last week I went to the dentist for check-up and everything was good... but now I may have a case of sudden cavaties :3
This was short, but oh-so-very sweet <3

Just happily read vol.6 (Seven Seas' release is out!) and as spoiler-free as possible, it features:

• MORE SHADING!
• More DETAILED background, now with better continuity*!
• A few wholly RE-DRAWN pannels / pages <3
• Aaaaaand ...the chapter Kase-san and Birthday is a few pages LONGER than in the WINGS release :D [!no spoilers >.<]

So, go ahead and buy it and support Takashima, my fellow Kase-lovers~

.
((* ..tiny details, like in Kase's dorm room the bed-rails in the wings-release randomly changed from 2 bars to 3, which is fixed now. Not sure anyone really noticed that before, but personally I do appreciate the effort - authors that keep working to constantly better themselves are always appreciated ^.^ ))

last edited at Feb 13, 2020 7:03PM

Germany didn't censor this chapter, the publisher did.
Seeing the discussion and opposition here alone, it may not have even been the worst decision they made.

Please refrain from political and / or racist statements until getting your facts straight - or altogether.

As for this particular story:
Someone else already noted that this is less of a fantasy setting but a realistic one (current times, regular people, not even living in a bubble-verse, arguably even with a tongue-in-cheek side-mark to pre-adolescent girls being sexualized by wearing frilly underwear, that normally nobody should even get to see [albeit, by the character's pov in a much more positive light]) - I can see how such a story can be considered as "normalizing the issue" and therefore offend/trigger people.

Personally, for its entertainment value, I had no issues with the tale presented - till the girl was literally pressured and guilt-tripped by the adult into doing something she for once clearly didn't want to (changing into her bra in front of the other).
...that part sat somewhat wrong with me. (If it was an overall wtf-am-I-reading sorta story, I would have probably ignored it, but in the overall "realistic" tone it took me out of the story.)

It's still not a "how-to" guide or anything. It's fiction.

last edited at Feb 9, 2020 5:54PM

Anyway, it should be obvious Ayako doesn't need to learn "how to kiss" or "how to sex" from Asuka.

...You wrote a lot there on that .-. I kinda doubt, anyone got that from it, tho.
I found it merely interesting / fun in the kinda karma-sense of it. "You reap what you sow" and all :P
Asuka wanted her mother to open her mouth, when Ayako didn't want to.
Later Ayako told her Asuka to open up, when the latter got bad vibes from the situation and didn't want to herself now (even if her legs got all wobbly).

[...] age-gap between Asuka and Miyuki than senpai and kohai = a year or two) [...]

FYI Miyuki is four years older than Asuka - she was in fifth grade when Asuka was in first, and in final year high school (17 or 18) when she tried to seduce her (Asuka second year middle school, 14).

Thank you for correcting me :)
I wanted to confirm, so I finally re-read the whole thing, so far. And I can only recommend - it all makes so much more sense now .-.

During that re-read, a few things I noticed (not that I was taking notes >.>):

1) Ayako wasn't that much older than Atsushi when they married.
With her being 37 in the present, Asuka being 16 and Atsushi dying in a traffic accident not even a year into their marriage, without ever learning Ayako was pregnant, Ayako was 19-20 yo when the just-turned-18 Atsushi proposed to her. And they met when Atsushi was 16, and Ayako was 17-18. Ayako took a year off at uni when she had Asuka, then resumed her studies (she last saw some of her uni-friends 10 years ago).
- I think that's worth of note, so we can maybe agree Ayako's not a notorious pedo :P (in case some ppl got that impression)

2) Miyuki got separated from her younger (and sickly) sister Haruka when they were 9 and 8 yo respectively.
2.b) Asuka noticed Miyuki and Haruka didn't look a lot alike.
2.c) Miyuki's mother (rumoredly) committed suicide at some point before Miyuki and Asuka first met (at which point Miyuki was in 5th grade / 10-11yo)
...just in case anyone is still interested in Miyuki's story.

3) Akira seems to avoid alcohol. Probably unrelated, Akira claimed "For me, not even a lifetime would be enough to earn the right to be in love with Ayako" and Ayako responded "What happened wasn't your fault" (panel showing Atsushi). Ayako also guilt-tripped Akira into taking care of her 1yo Asuka with "whose child ya think dis is?".
3b) When Akira teases Ayako about a threesome (with Asuka), Ayako gets angry, but "wouldn't mind" if it's just her, she's "already used to it".
3c) ...also "Handling girls is your area of expertise" Ayako said, leaving Akira with her child XD ((not sure if sassy or irresponsible))

4) Atsushi refered to Ayako's wedding ring as "pretty convenient" and "a protective charm"... (their student marriage had no wedding ceremony)

5) Ayako never knew her mother and "[lost] both of her parents so quickly", she once prays to "dear father and mother in heaven" (and Atsushi, too)

6) In chapter 09, during kissy-time, Asuka tells Ayako "if it's hard to breathe, you should open your mouth".
In chapter 15 Ayako said: "Hurry up and open your mouth already."
(Edit: ...oh, while I posted this, shialzsan also noted that .-. )

last edited at Jan 28, 2020 3:43PM

[...] Miyuki whom I think is Asuka's half sister... [...]

Wait-- what?
Where did idea that come from, if I may ask?
Would that mean Ayako having had a child before Asuka (possibly a result of her abuse when being younger / before university, since she was kinda a star there and all eyes laid on her, so her having been absent for some time - due to a secret pregnancy - would have raised some eyebrows and prolly would have been mentioned, tho that would have easily lead to a larger age-gap between Asuka and Miyuki than senpai and kohai = a year or two) or Atsuki would have fathered another child with Miyuki's mother before his 18 year old self proposed passionately to Ayako?

...I guess, it wouldn't be totally out of the realms of possibility with the author and the little we know, but... *scratches head* still seems a tad far fetched to me :P (Honestly, where did you get that vibe from?)

last edited at Jan 27, 2020 2:58AM

It very well might be milked to make her miss the deadline and build a little further tension to the resolution, but I don't get the sense this is going to be a long arc or tragedy around a car crash.

Is my take as well. Amongst the lines of her first missing the deadline and then, when Kurumi learns why she didn't call, Kurumi runs there but finds Jun at the hospital at her bedside, leading to all sorts of misunderstandings before they'll get resolved.

I am not a big fan of Kyo, thogh. She literally heard "I love XX so much, I just want them to be truely happy, even if that's not with me" and she still runs her ego-trip. I get where she's coming from, but that chapter was from her POV and I was missing a certain kind of self-reflection on her side there :|
Kinda a Judgment of Solomon vibe...

It mostly just took me forever to remember who was who because ALL THE DAMNED NAMES ARE "A" NAMES.

I KNOW, RIGHT!? @_@

I think if it was just Micchan walking in on them, Ayane wouldn't even bother stopping at that point. She'd continue as a display of dominance lol

..."Takagi-san no baka"?

...I really like Verdant's read on this.

There's a lot we don't know about Ayako's past, tho... Here's the little we do know:
Her mother died shortly after her birth. We can infer she was sexually abused as a child. We wouldn't know by whom (may have even been a relative) or for how long (not that once wasn't enough). Growing up, she was considered pretty, "something of a celebrity" even, and nicknamed "the never smiling goddess" at university. She met Akira at university, started tutoring Akira's little brother who proposed to her as soon he turned 18. He died less than a year later in an accident, never learning Ayako was pregnant.
Akira helped Ayako raise Asuka (infering she could or would not turn to her own relatives), to the point Asuka considered Akira a father-figure. Akira at least once tried to make her move on (a sleeping!) Ayako. Which Asuka witnessed and since then regarded Akira as an antagonist... While always being very attentive (while ingenuous) in her role as a mother, Ayako at some point a) overexposed Atsushi's image on Asuka (when Asuka gave her sleeping mother a kiss) and b) thought of Asuka as "delicious" and c) while all loving mothers eventually have to learn to let their child go, this one developed outright jealousy.

I feel the story has finally reached a point where I need to re-read everything in one go (and it shall be worth the while)...

For now, and until I do, I only have one question that's bugging me:

WHY DO ALL THE NAMES START WITH AN A!?!?!?!

I think, we have to consider the context here. Ito being hurt/disappointed by a "real" person (a classmate, she looked up to / admired) would indeed be different than her later finding an idol to admire.

Idols in Japan are regarded very differently than the stars in the western culture (whilst they have that kind of stars as well).
An Idol is more of a fiction, a literal ideal (and a form of escapism). These people have to represent that ideal - and either keep their private lives very private or manage live up to these ideals in their day-to-day life. If they mess up in private, that deeply reflects on their perception as an idol - they easily fall from grace. Much much more so and for much much minor things than in western culture.
As some noted, some pop-idols (esp. group-members under the age of 21) are not allowed to have a romantic (or sexual) relationships - by contract. Because it's their job(!) to appear available to every fan('s fantasy). Like getting caught smoking or underage-drinking, any breaks from the "ideal" can result in these idols losing their jobs. If they are lucky, they just have to apologize publically for their bad judgement and sincerely promise to do better, but even then their image is tainted and their career suffers badly from it. (Aside: If Britney Spears was Japanese, her entire career would have plain and simple ended in 2007. Miley Cyrus would have long be a goner as well...)
Other than an actor playing a role, an idol can't ever drop the persona - it's 24/7-acting, occassionally with some acting jobs on top of that.

I don't think we have anything even close to something like that in the western cultures. What may get closest may be personal feelings one may have for a charming / relatable character on a TV show or movie and then hearing the actor/actress act like a bigotted a-h*le in an interview - which could in turn blemish ones enjoinment of the show/movies' character. But, unless they did commit a serious crime, there are hardly any career disrupting consequences for the actors or the show/character in the western world.
Japanese are in some regards even better than westerners in not mixing fiction with reality - at least when it comes to general media-consumption. But they also have this concept of "idols" or "untouchables". This may or may not trace back to Geisha or to some degree the worshipping of the Tennou.

Back to Ito, that means, up until meeting Sumika personally, she was on the safe-side admiring her, as by an unspoken law, idol-Sumika could not disappoint her.
This also may explain her so called "entitlement" - the real Sumika did not live up to the presented ideal. It's far more than just a mental image that Ito alone had, that got disrupted - it's a concept, an escapism of its own, that was thrown into dissonance for Ito. Especially since that ...basically "piece of art"... helped her overcome bad times and some self-consciouness issues; learning that the "artist" was ego-centric, spoiled and ignorant, threatened to turn all her hopes and dreams related to idol-Sumika into straight out lies, as they were now built on the same. ((Even if she to a degree knew, but wilfully ignored, that e.g. idol-Sumika's Q&A answers were written by editors. Because the desire to believe in the dream/ideal is very real. And ignorance is bliss. That's not necessarrily gullibe - that's actually rather human.)) She tried hard to separate her encounter with real-Sumika from her public image. Hence, her outburst when Sumika kept deepening that rift - so Ito could no longer "unsee" the real Sumika.
Lucky for her, and us yuri-fans, it seems the real Sumika is not a lost cause / bad person after-all (albeit much more flawed than her persona) and has some charm-points of her own to offer and for Ito to "admire"...

...So far I really enjoy this story ^^

^... that... might actually be it .-.
She's a "doofus" when it comes to war and destruction, but she's such a genius at peace and creation she didn't even have to be taught and does it subconsciously... (may it did get kick-started when she was healed herself, tho - or it's a yin-yang reaction to Mimi, now have her magics come to the surface)
Thank you for that read. Now I can't see how I missed that o.o

Also- I think it would be kinda bad to see the numbers if you got fixated on them.. seeing your friends or families numbers drop, wondering what you did that day that they didnt like, getting hung up on getting them to go up etc etc - but I think you'd want to ignore that kinda stuff if you made a cute manga series of this idea.

Yeah, yuri doesn't need to go all Black Mirror .-.

...I'm a bit against everybody calling the MC "dense". She's just uninformed (on that particular symbol). She has one reference to the symbol, though, and while it leads her to the wrong one, it gives her a - to her - satisfying conclusion (a buggy 8) that negates her need to do further research.
Her ability is a mystery, to herself as well it seems; she may be used to figuring things out on her own (like the scaling system).
The fact she never came across the infinity symbol any other way, depends on the japanese schooling system and her interest in educating herself beyond school / what hobbies she has / had or even parental influences.

Either way, I would like this premise as a full series. Not sure it would work on this chapter, though... but might as well .-.
It was short, but entertaining to read :)

HIno: "You're prepared for what's about to happen, right?"
DR forum community: "Yes, yes, we are, pretty please! ö.ö "

think i prefer this over the og version

I, as me personally, wouldn't go that far (yet).
It does have a different feel to it, though. One that implies to me, that the author realized the original intent either shifted as she thought up more of the progression of the story, or that the intent early on wasn't set up clearly enough to match her vision.
Either way, I really don't mind the changes.

I like(d) the earlier chapters of the OG version. But I would also say, that this "new beginning" fits the OG later chapters (Ren's character in particular) much better than the original one...
Hnn... so, to me (so far) neither is better or worse, overall. They are very similar superficially, but on closer inspection just so different that I would not be able to compare them properly. There are many things I like in both versions.

I think, it's nice to see that the author did not only take this opportunity to polish up her art-design (visually) but also to adjust some of the narrative presentation. Even on this scale that certainly took a lot of effort...

I wonder if she did that on her own accord or if there were some legal issues that had her redo the whole thing (for it now being published somewhere else). If it was voluntary, then kudos. If it was not, then... well, still kudos. XD

last edited at Jan 4, 2020 12:16PM

Soo, yeah, now I read both first chapters side-by-side and gotta say:

1) I don't care it's a reboot - it's Arata Iri.
2) The things "missing" and the new things added equal out overall.
3) ...somehow, it's much prettier. Was pretty before, but Arata-sama really managed to up herself one.
4) There's still slapstick, but imo the timing is now much better.
5) Ren is love <3

Reading them side-by-side actually made me double-happy, because some dialogue, framing and circumstance changes (some more subtle than others) kinda shift some motives and themes from the previous version now (further) into a direction that delights me very much.
The hug gave me pause, before concluding the hug from behind instead of the "fake-out-kiss" was much more... intimate / telling in its own way .-.

Overall: So far, it's a really good reboot. It has the same beats as the previous edition, but (to me) it has a better flow now. If author-sama keeps up with redrawing entire pages, I am sure there will be a lot more character- and plot surprises / details even for those who read the previous version.
I'm sold.

last edited at Jan 2, 2020 5:32PM

All You Zombies for people of culture.
Predestination for those going "I'll watch the movie instead".
Now, this as the loli-version, in only 4 pages.

(I feel it took longer for me to read the tags, than the actual 'story'...)

[...] the "chicken/egg" problem... in this case, the answer appears to be that they both came first...

...such an underappreciated comment XD

@Blastaar
Realizing others can't read one's mind, is just one half of it... IMO, realizing that everybody lives within their own reality, their very own universe of emotions, experiences and perception is equally as important.
Learning that others can't read one's mind is just as important as acknowledging that one can't read theirs.
That sometimes, it's unfathomable to person A that a thing is upsetting to person B. And, yeah, how would they know, unless they are told - and even if they are told, they might know, but still not understand...

That doesn't mean we should blindly accept or bend ourselves to others' views or their attitudes towards (or against) our own. But maybe we can respect that fact. Just being aware of it, may make one's life quite a lot easier... (and in any case or degree, help us reach the appropriate conclusions / consequences.)

@Nevri
...you somehow just reminded me of this golden bit XD

XD See? We all had a silly misunderstanding and it blew out of proportions.
But eventually we talked it out, made our points clear and hopefully we all learned something :)

(Note to self: Read comments more properly before responding to a particular point, in case another point made your perception biased.)

last edited at Dec 18, 2019 3:38PM

Okay, let me circle back...

I don't really like the "it's realistic" argument.

Since it seems that came up from you reading others claiming the kids behaviour was "realistic" in the ways of story-telling, this infers your opinion being this argument not being true, therefore (in short-hand) in your opinion "unrealistic".
(At least, that's how seemingly most of us understood it and reacted to it - me included, albeit, me personally, I was admitably rather peeved at you shoting at my fun-times with another commenter, within that same post. Mea culpa.)

how 2 peoples talking about something that upset them is unrealistic ?

You're right. It's not unrealistic that two people, no matter the age or situation, would talk things out. But it's also not unrealistic that they wouldn't.
However, there's a reason, that I keep preaching to literally everyone around me that "communication is key" - because, silly as it is, a helluva lot of the times people don't do the rational and 'mature' thing / step outside their own perspective and perception and try to figure things out, rationally. It's - at least in my experience - rather realistic that two people do not talk about something that upsets them.

When was the last time we had a comedy yuri with 2 characters being at least a bit mature ?

A bit mature? Quite often. But immature behaviour will lead to more plot-shennanigans. Especially in SOL. It happens so there's a story - not exclusively, of cos. It does remind me, however, of the question as of why the protagonist of a super-hero story always ends up in the center of events - because if that wasn't the case, then we wouldn't have their tale. Some light-hearted conflict, especially one caused by behaviour the audience can chuckle at (no matter how un- or realistic it is) - can be a very good source of comedy, or at the very least lead to character-development without producing heavy-drama.

So far Kovachi steered away from Nanoha and Chidori getting into an actual fight (a sole shin-kicking and some awkward tension notwithstanding). Learning how to recover from things blowing up / getting heated, even if it's for no good reason - or especially when it was for no good reason - is something adolescents must learn as well, and in a partnership it's its own skill to master; as in a relationship we tend to assume the other will surely know what we mean/think/need, that they will "get us", even if we rationally know mind-reading is not a thing, not even between lovey-dovey all-over-each-other couples. Kovachi wants to show us this particular learning curve - so something needed to happen to trigger it - something that wouldn't harm their relationship in the long-run, so something silly, something immature. So they can learn to be more mature about things like that in the future... (Feel free to check out the 4th link I posted earlier - maturity is not not a thing that comes on its own, we learn it, and have to constantly re-learn / remind ourselves us of it...)

Again, how acting mature is that unrealistic for teenagers ?

...have you met a teenager? If you want a super-mature teenager (or "normally mature teenager", however that would be defined o.O ) in your manga, you might want to look somewhere else (usually more drama/angst/trauma heavy stories; because that's where these characters would most likely benefit the story being told).

it is less realistic to think they could have done that the mature way [...]

In theory, no. But hammering home a point that has nothing to do with an entertaining story being told, will not make people agree with you.
In practice, yes. Because all of the above.

last edited at Dec 18, 2019 3:31PM

What wiki says about age and maturity...
Some tl;dr memes on the topic
and a full reddit expanding on it.
Here's a link explaining the psychology behind it, to learn and self-reflect on the matter.

...adults (or adolescents) acting immature is far from a rare occurance. Sometimes even grown people pout or throw a hissy-fit. Nothing to be proud of, but... sometimes it may even give one some (short-lived) sense of relief, just reacting without thinking things through properly. It happens to the best of us.

Nothing unrealistic about that.

(Expecting teens to act mature and to know how to properly communicate 100% of the time on the other hand.......)

last edited at Dec 18, 2019 2:11PM

...*once again frantically searches for a "like post" option*

They turn to Chidori because Nanoha switch to upset after the bus ride and since Nanoha was with Chidori during it, you don't need a 200 IQ to understand that Nanoha is upset because of Chidori or at least she might now why.

Well, it's a theory. I (and others too) keep pointing out things that fit said theory. It keeps accumulating. It may not be the author's intent that they know and it may eventually be revealed that they never knew. But there have been far more outlandish (and harmful) theories here. I'll stick with it and will keep getting excited over 'yet another' sign that may feed this theory until I've been proven otherwise. Because it's harmless fun!

I don't really like the "it's realistic" argument. Is talking about problems that unrealisitc for teenagers ? They are not really what i can call kids anymore, they are 2nd year of highschools. Meaning they are nearly adults, i get some people can have some communications problems but how 2 peoples talking about something that upset them is unrealistic ?

Lucky you, I keep running into adults that often have petty arguments over nothing and forget how to adult properly every so often. Wittnessed countless break-ups and picket-fences fights over the simplest misunderstandings, lack of communication in general or biased / self-centered views, that to any outsider were just dumbfounding. Not to mention the teenagers...
I guess I am surrounded by the wrong people when it seems realistic to me that two 16 yo's, in the middle of puberty, who have never had a romantic relationship before, get overwhelmed by their emotions and fail to communicate properly. o.O

If the topic of public bathing really has you curious (for good or bad), here are some links that might interest you.

Funfacts:
Onsen (by definition using naturally hot water from geothermally heated springs) are as different to indoor baths as the ocean is to a lake - still water is always more susceptible to dirt and bacteria, filth and disease. Partly because of the oxigen whirled in doing a nice job to equalize things, as well as active living (nice) organisms doing the same, and of course constant fresh-water upkeep.
There's an actual downside to chlorine, btw, that includes rashes, skin damage (especially in combination with too much sun) and inflamations to the respiratory system and mucous membranes, because more often than not pool keepers use way too much chlorine, either out of ingorance or to make up for lacking other maintenances. E.g. keeping the ph value in check... (if it's too high, chlorine can't do it's supposed job!) Rule of thumb: If the chlorine smell makes your nose achey, something's wrong. Enjoy at your own discretion.
...oh, and bathing clothes don't do nothing to protect one (cept for one's modesty?) - if anything they get soaked and offer hollows, keeping potentially contaminated water close to ones 'sensitive parts', where body temp warms it up and helps bacteria become really lively, increasing their chances to enter and harm the body. Even when one exits the water in question, until they change or are completely dried up again. It's usually neglectable increased risks from just that, but I thought I'd mention it, since it came up... Going commando may indeed be better for your health in any such scenario. The constant flush of water making it harder for ..stuff to get inside you, compared to bascially trapping it right there.
Additionally, there's a difference between drinking water and clean water. Even if a water pool isn't so "clean" one should drink it, a body will get sufficiently clean from it. (Also, don't forget your skin is naturally rather good at keeping bacteria at bay; too much scrubbing can do more harm than good, as well as using too many chemicals - everything in good measure.)
That said, 'cept for some cultures being the expected exception from the rule ...don't we usually declare our butts "clean" when the sheet remains white? ^^;;

And as others already said in other words: There's usually an (historically and culturally established) etiquette preceeding and surrounding the usage of public baths; to wash oneself properly before entering the pool. Since that happens not in solitary either, we can assume that people follow this rule much more attentively than, let's say, washing one's hands after using the restroom - all across the world.
If we really want to get that paranoid, we should all stop shaking hands first before judging public bathing.

I hope, that answers that. And that we can now all return to pretend to be reasonable and academics with some fancy literature degree, and return to the usual bashing of the author for daring to bring in "drama" or "tropes" or handholding or have us just over-analyze the sh*t out of a singular panel or non-text assumptions... *sigh*

...speaking of which:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/hana_ni_arashi_ch69#3

The friends face there makes me think they know

I know, right? They're blushing and all! And getting all invested in getting them back together! And their immediate reaction "someone" - *heads whip around to Chidori* XD

last edited at Dec 16, 2019 12:03PM