You know, you people shipping Natsuki and Sayaka are being kind of stereotyping by assuming that every short-haired, sporty girl in YagaKimi is a lesbian . . . wait, I’ll come in again . . .

Actually, there's a speculation that Natsuki probably had a crush on Yuu based on how their convo in ch 19 went. Natsuki expressed how she's happy for Yuu that she's able to get worked up over something now. Then in the back of her mind, she thought "I wish it could've been softball though." Nothing is spelled out but there's a sense that she didn't just mean softball there. The animation director & chara designer, Hiroaki Gouda, was drawing a bunch of their softball arts on Twitter, including this one where you can see the light blush on Natsuki's face. Do note that his Twitter arts aren't canon or anything (a lot of them are just his headcanons on the chara interactions like Maki and Koyomi meeting up at Comiket and all of his "Maki is everywhere" memes), but taking into account that he worked on the anime and still stays in close contact with the series and Kusunoki, he could have some insights.

last edited at Aug 30, 2019 5:18PM

PV for the stage play is out.

It's a stupid question bUt I felt this need to ask... How on earth did Yuu get so good with the "deed"???

Yuu is well read. Her family runs a bookstore after all. Very likely she has come across a few erotica. Also she's super gentle and considerate of others' needs so it's probably in her blood to be a natural at pleasing her partner.

I admit, that was beautifully done.

They are not kids and the author doesn't treat them as such.

Spoiler: it looks like Touko doesn't like bell-peppers.

The bell pepper is a reference to one of the stage readings from the fan event back in May. Those scripts are pretty fun, so do check them out.

This chapter is all eggs in one basket, guys. The ultimate YagaKimi chap, I would say. Not just because of the sex scene (which was great), but all the major themes as well as minor subplots (cheesecake ftw) really came together here. The overarching conflicts of ch 41-43 are also resolved with them discussing the label of the their relationship, where they see themselves going in the future, Touko expressing why she's been trying to hold back which helps ease Yuu's insecurities completely, & Yuu really going in for the kill. The dialogues are really great. It's almost everything I'd hoped for for this chap and for the series' ending. Thanks Nakatani and Kusunoki.

Anyway, with how much the point of them living together has been brought up since ch 41 and with it being even more prominent in this chap, we might get a glimpse of that in a timeskip next chap, maybe. Although we did actually get 1 panel of that this chap.

Note that the poll was only available for Japanese fans so their tastes and what they see as yuri are a bit different from overseas fans'

last edited at Aug 15, 2019 1:43PM

Here's the official announcement for the French localization of YagaKimi since I remember some members here were waiting/hoping for it: https://twitter.com/EditionsKana/status/1161948186774294528?s=20

Yuri Navi ran its third yuri manga ranking poll recently & YagaKimi got 1st for the third consecutive time with 1,816 votes, beating out 2nd place (Citrus) by 1,314 votes. The poll was not available for overseas fans this time around. In total, there were about 3,300 votes this year while last year it was around 1,900 votes. So yes, it was a complete landslide with YagaKimi took more than half the total votes. Direct sauce to 10th-1st places here.

Another event that is happening only for Japanese fans: Trifle Entertainment, who is responsible for producing YagaKimi's stage play, announced a crowdfunding project last week called YagaKimi Stage's Aquarium Date Project where they will film the actresses who played Touko and Yuu (it is noted that they won't be dressing up or playing the roles of Touko and Yuu in this shoot) hanging out at the aquarium where the YagaKimi date was based on (yes, it's a real location which has become a rather famous pilgrimage spot for YagaKimi fans in Japan). For those who don't know, the stage play was 2-hour long, covering the story from the beginning to the student council's play. Due to time restraint, it was basically a diet version of the story and a lot of contents were cut out, including the iconic aquarium date scene from ch 24. Trifle producer expressed that they wanted to include the aquarium date somehow, so they decided to create this special bonus that will be included in the stage play BD & DVD (scheduled to be released some time around the end of Oct and there will be screening events to commemorate the release on Nov 17th and 24th). The cost of renting the venue for the shoot is 2 million yen (~$18.9k) and the crowdfunding's goal is to raise 2 million yen to help cover that cost and they stated that if the funds exceed the goal, they will be used to help with covering production costs for the shoot, the screening events, the BD/DVD, etc. They stated that it is an all-in project, meaning the shoot is guaranteed to happen and fans are guaranteed to get their return goods for donating whether or not they reach the goal. This project is running from Aug 14th-28th.

Now that I got the information for the CF project out of the way, this could be good news for those who are hoping for S2 because the project reached the 2M goal within 2 minutes after the donation was made available. Currently, it is sitting at 4M yen (~$37.8k) from a total of 468 patrons so far. While Trifle Entertainment isn't responsible for the anime production, the feat is still a clear proof that YagaKimi fans are passionate and willing to fund what they love (& yes, Japanese fans are all expecting S2). On top of that, YagaKimi is getting quite a bit of merchs and from what I've seen so far, they all have done very well. I'd say expect S2 announcement eventually and even if you don't care for the anime, I think this is just good news for the YagaKimi franchise as a whole.

last edited at Aug 14, 2019 2:36PM

Sayaka LN is getting licensed. Vol 1 is set for Feb 2020. https://twitter.com/gomanga/status/1147335322985992193?s=19

I never thought the day would come when Yagakimi would get an NSFW doujin. That day has come and far sooner than I thought.

There's another one coming by a pretty good artist for CC Fukuoka 49. Hopefully, we can get access to it somehow along with all the other YagaKimi doujins that'll be on sale at C96.

Yuu the hard bottom

Yuu's fantasy was to touch Touko and Touko's was to get ravaged by Yuu. I think they're both agreeing on who's topping at least for their first time.

^ Even Yuu herself addressed that point in the chapter. She pointed out that they've been doing couple things since forever now so nothing really changed much in the romantic nature of their relationship. Both of them didn't think of defining what they are to each other till it is brought up to them very much because their relationship has always been unambiguously romantic, just not official.

& If anyone thinks Touko just becomes restraint out of nowhere this chapter should reread 32. That chapter gave a good glimpse to how their healthier dynamic plays out after Touko gets over her emotional baggage even before they "got together." It is no longer some pushy obsession over Yuu, jumping onto her at every waking minute, but an appreciation for her as an equal. That's how long-term relationship gonna play out.

last edited at May 30, 2019 11:33AM

^I think you should revisit the first 4 pages of the chapter if you think that their interactions aren't nuanced and poetic at all. The lingering intertwining fingertips as they're about to say goodbye, how they both turned to give each other one last look at the same time, & them being too excited about everything to sleep. All done through just sheer great visual storytelling is poetic and nuanced af if you ask me.

Not to say how you feel about the chapter is invalid but claiming there are no nuances is a bit much.

Emphasis on her feet lifting off the ground, anyone?

I believe it implies that Yuu is finally the one who initiates the kiss

I actually meant that the page was referencing the fact that her feet have finally lifted off the ground (callback to chap 1 as with the rest of this chap). & like she said in this chapter, it's not some unknown force that sweeps her off, just her own effort.

last edited at May 1, 2019 8:53PM

Emphasis on her feet lifting off the ground, anyone?
Also it's cute af. Yuu on her tiptoes because of the height difference.

Folks, the Yagate Kimi ni Naru facebook group is currently saying that volume 8 will be the last one for this story. Has anyone else seen any verification of this fact from an official source?

They're correct. The information is official since it was the preview page for vol 8 included in vol 7's tank release that just came out: https://m.weibo.cn/detail/4364646397717223#comment

While Bloom Into You is so consistently good that there's nothing to talk about really, except waiting for the logical step in the plot, which will be reliably delivered as expected and with quality :P

Sure, if you think that discussing plot is the only thing people can talk about when discussing a character drama or any works of fiction at all.

Folks, you overthink this manga so much. It's cute.

It's better than overthinking Citrus

All those pent-up frustrations have to go somewhere.

You mean they're going to h-hold hands?! :O

This reminds me. Someone explain to me how they haven't gotten each other pregnant yet after all these shameless unprotected hand-holding activities.

Horniness where it's due, but this isn't that type of story. I have a hard time believing that Nakatani will even imply that they did anything sexual. If they both fall on a bed together and we skip to a black panel that would already be genuinly surprising. Maybe an off-hand mention during a conversation to it having happened off-panel.

I disagree. I think that Nakatani had never shied away from showing their sexual attraction towards each other. No one expected ch 16, it happened. No one expected ch 20, it happened. & according to some reports from the open talk event from 2/26, ch 22 was originally supposed to have more underlying implications than what we got though the anime did make up for it with the melting popsicle symbolism. Not to say that sex will definitely happen, but I personally wouldn't be surprised if it does.

Yeah, I don't think any of that actually came across to Yuu. Yuu just said in this chapter that "Nanami-senpai liked me because I couldn't fall in love with anyone," which is why Touko does need to properly confess and clear things up to Yuu.

It just isn't right that she needs to properly confess considering that every time she said "I love you" (more times than I can count) she actually genuinly meant it. So it's not so much a proper confession as just clearing up a misunderstanding.

Now if she will put it in the form of a clean slate re-confession, I won't mind.

How I view it is that their proper confession or, the way you put it, reaffirmation will be them expressing all their thoughts and feelings to each other. It's not just a simple "I love you" and done. I do think that's the idea that Nakatani is going for. There are more things to say and convey than just "I love you" (which is honestly why Sayaka's confession is the most powerful so far).

This aspect is actually something I am very happy about! Because this establishes that Yuu has decided to confront Touko with her feelings despite thinking she will be rejected this time.

I don't know if she actually thinks that she'll be rejected this time. But I do think that what's on her mind is to just go and express her feelings for Touko no matter the result. Same goes for Touko as well. I mean they're both probably hoping that it will work out somehow, but they also don't know for sure if it will (Touko doesn't know if Yuu is willing to hear her out yet and Yuu doesn't know if Touko will accept her). What's important now for them is to express themselves clearly to the other & the rest is faith.

So, how do we feel about a relationship where first sex is make-up sex?

I don't think they'll fuck first thing next chapter, but I sure hope they will at some point in vol 8. All those pent-up frustrations have to go somewhere.

She actually established fairly early on that she loves Yuu because she is kind and accepting (which you can of course associate with staying with her despite not falling in love), but that the "not being able to love" aspect was just the initial attraction. She thinks Yuu is cute, funny, kind, just patient enough, but also able to make her flustered. Herein lies the issue. Touko has already acknowledged that she loves Yuu for who she is, but her fear of being loved is still there.

That's what her rejection is about. That's why she needed to be slapped taught by Sayaka that change is not a bad thing and that the love she feels for Yuu is more important than fearing that it might vanish. So no, the arc wasn't about Touko being unable to clear up her own feelings for Yuu, it was about her accepting Yuu's feelings.

Yeah, I don't think any of that actually came across to Yuu. Yuu just said in this chapter that "Nanami-senpai liked me because I couldn't fall in love with anyone," which is why Touko does need to properly confess and clear things up to Yuu.

EDIT: Chapter's theme (& probably next chapter's too)

What should I do?
What can I say?
With words other than "love."

last edited at Mar 3, 2019 4:15PM

Ehh... I see the symbolism of not being able to look her into the eyes, but Touko clearly expressed already that she loves Yuu for who she is rather than just being someone who stays with her despite never being able to love her.

When? Didn't this whole arc happen because Touko didn't know how to clear things up with Yuu? All because she was confused as to whether she could still love Yuu or not now that she had changed?

Maybe because everyone praises this manga as being subversive and really well written. So you can't criticize parts of the story, if they are not relevant and/or don't play major role? Then why it's in the story in the first place if it's pointless? It isn't about them being relevant or not, but idea itself.

They are relevant thematically as showing another side of romantic relationship in juxtaposition to Touko & Yuu's relationship. Akari's love story has always been portrayed in parallel to Yuu's in the form of Yuu looking to Akari's love life to reflect back on her own (ch 4 with the idea that love grows over time & you can keep loving someone till they return your feelings, ch 27 with the rejection and heartbreak, & now with the idea of being able to move on from your heartbreak/crush to find a new love). What I meant by their relevancy is their focus. I didn't discourage the other member from their criticism on the idea behind the couple, but because they mentioned how they hoped Nakatani would handle Akari & Doujima's dynamic better if she was gonna have them together, to which I think isn't really a concern because I don't think those two will actually get any major focus other than these sorts of background developments.

^ I dunno why you're getting hung up over a side couple that will just be developed in the background and never take center stage. It was kinda obvious that they would be paired up from ch 27 as well as hints from ch 30 and Nakatani anthology commentary page. I'm glad this is how she approached it actually, just casually referencing their possible growing relationship in the background instead of dedicating any major focus on them. I hope it stays that way because who cares about those two really. it's ok that you don't like Doujima or the idea of him and Akari together, but meh, I wouldn't get too worked up over those two's relevancy.

https://macadate.wordpress.com/2019/02/27/bloom-into-you-talk-event-beyond-the-last-stop-report/

Partial translation of a report on the 2/26 open talk event with Nakatani, Kusunoki, & 4 other major anime staffs and producers.