Do not use the translation as a way to judge the author’s wording and the characters’ speech pattern. There is a gap, and it is normal. Sara’s way to talk isn’t really strange in Japanese. More the contrary, she is very direct and pushy but stays polite (cause Japanese do not ask private questions directly) in her way to help Yuzu to open up or to enquire about Mei.

Edit : concerning Harumi, i am not surprised and i wonder why people are so disappointed by her behavior. Entire volume 5 shows Harumi to avoid conflict and complications about other’s affairs, including friends. All 4 chapters, she tries to convince Yuzu to stay discret, to fit in the mould at school and to tone down her desires of individuality. So she is very in character here... maybe before a change of mind.

last edited at May 21, 2018 11:44PM

The drama CD of volume 4 and 9 were indeed written by Saburouta. She also was present during the recording with the VA from what i gathered from some of’her tweets.

For the anime, i watched the english and french subs. I should try the dub too for all episodes.

last edited at May 21, 2018 4:27PM

Yuzu could be a device to empower Mei. Mei needs to believe she is allowed to choose what she wants. She’s prisoner of the rules and feel forced to follow them even if she doesn’t want to. Yuzu could be the one who triggers her belief in having the right to think about herself and to gain her free will, to be her destiny’s captain. So 50-50,Yuzu could push and place in front of Mei the options and Mei could be the one who will decide freely.

The previous chapters are a set up for this kind of progression. Being allowed, being forced to... are recurrent in Mei’s speech. So something will be probably done about it. Mei’s state of mind is the one of someone who doesn’t allow herself the right to make choices ... so she needs someone who pushes the good button.

She cannot choose out of the blue to make choices, cause it’s not how her mind works. Years of being aloof. It is pretty logical when we see how she functions since the begining, sticking to the notebook for example. I don’t see how the author would totally deprive Mei of some active role after all this set up and the way she built her character. Patience.

last edited at May 21, 2018 3:15PM

@Bolsilludo

Zero ... Even if the arrangement isn't stopped before Mei changes her mind in front of the aisle or Yuzu crashes the wedding (i really don't believe the author will use these plot devices, just joking), there are no chances that Udagawa is dating Mei before the wedding.
The fiancés don't date before an arranged marriage (Himeko doesn't date her fiancé either) so ... And there won't be het in Yuri Hime. At this pace, I wonder if we'll see Mei before the final chapter of this volume.

Haha, I so disagree; there are plenty of "bigger"/denser/multi-syllabic (beautiful, IMO) words many people are unfamiliar with (or simply scorn) that don't fare well as typical, casual dialogue--especially for 16yo students. Context is everything!

Indeed, I wanted to pinpoint something different and in fact, this sentence just came wrong. I should have erased it. More something like English translation sometimes simplifies Japanese when you have a large panel of English words to maintain the original text's deepness. But yeah, context, teenagers characters ... not easy.

Another thing about the dub/translation.
Here: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/citrus_ch08#11

The translation talks about "boobs" but in fact, there is double-meaning, almost a pun from Harumi. The word 乳 ("chichi") refers to breasts (milk) but it can also be written with ちち meaning "chichi", the breasts but also the word father.
When Harumi asks Yuzu if she's worried about "chichi", breasts, Yuzu answer "yes but not quite", she was thinking about "chichi" as Mei's father.

This scene is totally out of the blue (probably some people thought Saburouta was drunk) if the double meaning of the word is unknown. Funny, the English dub doesn't do the link, but the French one makes the pun. ("Paire" = pair "père" = father). Probably cause the joke was hard to do in English while trying to maintain a fluent translation.

last edited at May 21, 2018 1:12PM

No chance ... the Happy end is paved. Author's words, Yuri Hime flagship series yadda yadda yadda ... ;)

I think the capitalized Happy End was a reference to:

https://dynasty-scans.com/series/happy_end

Which surely earns its Bad End tag.

Ah my bad. didn't catch that. Thank you for the reference. What a terrible ending ... I understand the tag. Traumatizing.

last edited at May 21, 2018 12:22PM

No chance ... the Happy end is paved. Author's words, Yuri Hime flagship series yadda yadda yadda ... ;)

Edit: well, this answer debunks itself since I hadn't the reference.

Indeed, it won't be like "Happy End", I think many hints point toward a really good ending, it has been talked above.

last edited at May 21, 2018 12:24PM

@sadhomu82 : in the chapter, the team translated Sara's sentence about a "citrus event". She uses ゅずぽっちのイべントに当たって so it's related to Yuzubocchi's event. (ゅずぽっち). I guess the correction was made.

the chapter is posted and the change has been made ;)

I saw that. Thank you for your hard work as always. ;)

@AozTkM

I don't have a great knowledge, probably less than some posters here. But, I am surprised how some readers here misread Yuzu's character since she has a very serious way to name her love for Mei. When she said I love you to Mei, she used "Suki Da yo" in chapters 16 and 33. The romantic way to express love between two lovers.

In chapter 36, the Japanese title has 愛してる, Ai shiteru. Here, it's serious business, you never say that except when you're very seriously involved and picture yourself in a kind of love that is forever.

So, Yuzu's Japanese way to express her love increases in seriousness, it's not a teenage crush in the wording.

Mei never uses suki, she's abstract in her letter, she uses omoi ("my feeling for you" but Mei always uses a deflected way to express things, she's not direct), the noun to talk about the feeling but never explicitly talk about the feeling of love directed toward Yuzu. "I was allowed to honestly love you" she just uses a word about honest feelings, feeling honestly (without restraint).

Interesting, she mentions the way she thought she was allowed ... the same word than in chapter 38 when Sara talks about it ("i am not allowed to ask anything", so what can be seen as a redundant conversation points toward something in Mei's mind). The sentence " I fell for you to a point in no return" has でいっぱい. Here again, the love word isn't here, it's more "to be full of someone".

In fact, the author is very subtle and the wording she uses for each character is very enlightening and show a real degree of mastery. Much more than people here give her account. She has a bigger picture in her writing than we can think. She also uses many echoes, some words resonate from one chapter to another one separated sometimes by a volume. And indeed, characters' complexity is lost in translation.

Talking about context, you are right. In fact, there is a great number of speeches, in the manga, that can have different interpretations.

Last but not least, let's take the grandfather's words in volume 1.

Japanese: それから芽衣お前もしばらくの間は自分の意思で行動しなさい
(You can do as you please/forget about me for a short while, for some time)
English translation by Yuri Project: You should do what you want to do and not worry about me"
Official one: it's time for you and you alone to decide how to live your life

But しばらくの間 means for a short while. That's why the author left a note saying reading in retrospect the manga allowed to see new things. I don't think it was just an awkward way to explain things people missed because Japanese perfectly understood the "for a short time" implication of the grandfather's words.

And here, many readers just thought the grandfather forgot about his promise when he never said to Mei she could do what she wanted forever. And Mei knew about that ... so it can shade a new light on some previous volumes. How a simple word ("for a short time"), forgotten cause it seemed, some years ago, a detail, is important with what happened in volume 9.

To conclude, I think the manga is subtler than we can say without of course making it a masterpiece in the writing and the plot department, there are flaws.

But, it's clear, as good as translations are, this subtlety is lost because, as you said, there are so many different ways to express something in Japanese for which English has only one or two words.

It's always interesting to try to have the original meaning in mind and dig a little to see beyond appearance.

@sadhomu82 : in the chapter, the team translated Sara's sentence about a "citrus event". She uses ゅずぽっちのイべントに当たって so it's related to Yuzubocchi's event. (ゅずぽっち). I guess the correction was made.

last edited at May 21, 2018 9:06AM

Not really. Yuzu believed Mei’s resolve to inherit the school superior to her love for her. She always puts Mei on a pedestal and saw her as a strong individual focused on her goal. The reader knows Mei is weak but the reader saw what Yuzu didn’t (Mei crying in chapter 35, Mei distraught in chapter 32, Mei hesitation in volume 4 with Sara). And Yuzu always believed that her love for Mei was stronger than Mei’s one. She almost said that her time with Mei was counted in volume 5 cause of Mei’s brillant future awaiting her. She had to treasure it.

At this point the reader knows much more about Mei than Yuzu, same with Yuzu since it’s her PoV, but it is not always the case. So it is easy to blame the characters when they have less informations than the reader and does mistakes or misinterpret things cause well they don’t have the big picture when we have a larger one thanks to the external focus the author uses.

last edited at May 20, 2018 10:38PM

In fact, we learn Yuzu’s side and why she stayed far away from Mei. Translation will show that. We learn where is Mei and Sara explains to Yuzu what happened during the date with Mei (we know that they didn’t kiss and also Mei’s state of mind).
And final page, Yuzu asks Ume if she can talk about something important with her. A build up chapter. Indeed, 37 and 38 should have been one chapter cleaned with unecessary pages. But i won’t say the chapter is uninteresting.
All is in the characters’ speeches.

I am curious. What does this mean for you? Saburouta indeed was at the border of the burn out last year, unfinished short chapter in October because she had to release her volume 8 the same month, a thing she never did before. A hiatus in December (and she tweeted the delay 6 days before the magazine was released), another hiatus in March (indeed expected, cause she does that all the time when a volume is published), and a short chapter this month.

We don't know what she did or didn't try. So it just assumption before they are cleared probably in the next two chapters. But your view on Yuzu "full protection mode" is not in the second half of the manga. 9 volumes aren't 4 volumes, you can read them one after another on a short time or indeed, read them since 2013, but the fact is that you cannot just play this card about Yuzu's love and states it's like that for all the manga when more volumes show that she did grow out of that. What happened to the characters yesterday afternoon as you say is the entire half of the manga lol.

I could say that some months before chapter 35 (cause there had been 8 months between chapter 35 and 36), Mei was in full molesting mode too ... so. And Mei has been very childish too in her way to deal with Yuzu... so no, i don't see any difference of love. You clearly put Mei above Yuzu here, personally, i don't. They are on equal grounds.

last edited at Apr 23, 2018 11:06AM

Yuzu, on the other hand, I know people are not going to agree with me but I think she lusts after Mei and wants to protect Mei from pain, but she doesn't love her (yet). What she has is more like limerence, an obsession. I say this because we are shown Yuzu's thoughts and in no moment she tries to understand Mei beyond stuff that has immediate impact on her, and she also doesn't say anything about admiring her qualities. She is just shown wanting to be in Mei's company and obsessing over getting Mei's approval. If anything Yuzu is more in love with the idea of protecting Mei from pain than with Mei herself.

I don't agree. There are plenty panels that show Yuzu genuinely admires Mei. I just think you are projecting your own view of love on the characters. Yeah, yuzu lust after Mei but also Mei, which she tries to repress so hard (chapter 29).

And her obsession is gone in volume 6. She's clearly in a pure romantic-love state, wanting to create a shared future for her and Mei. We don't have the "I protect Mei from pain" anymore since 4 volumes. So it seems to me you are stuck with the Yuzu pre-volume 6.

The fact she's writing the notebook is her way to show she tries to understand Mei, the way she decided to study for university shows that too. And very strangely, your argument contradicts what you said about Yuzu's lack of fighting spirit about Mei's decision and her apparent (because we don't know what she did) passivity.

Indeed, if she decided to respect Mei's wish, beyond her own happiness since it shatters her, this is a great proof of selfless love. And last, her internal speech before going to the onsen, in volume 8 is a clear way to see that she understood Mei's conflict (partially cause she doesn't have every info), Mei's way to take a step forward and two step down. So Yuzu being in love more with the idea of protecting Mei than with Mei herself is long forgotten since volume 5. Yuzu resolved her "sisterly" complex by buying the rings and envisioning a real future as Mei's "wife", "significant other" whatever word you can use to label it.

I also think like Blastaar said, that you depict in fact the state of love in Yuzu like the usual way the authors does in the manga for MC characters like. Since Mei isn't the MC, she has an aura of mystery that enables your interpretation. I will add that Yuzu's and Mei's personalities are different, so of course, they don't express their love the same way. Yuzu is motherly by nature and a very sensory individual, Mei is cerebral and analytic. What you take as a love less self-centered (for Mei) is just another way for the character to feel accordingly to her personality traits. Nothing more.

Yuzu's feelings are as deep as Mei's ones in the serious love department. The Aishiteru used by the author for the chapter 36, on the cover, is Yuzu's way to express her love. And this Japanese word is used for a very serious and adult love.

last edited at Apr 23, 2018 10:48AM

Yuzu has flaws indeed, but seriously, you totally put her in a role she doesn’t have anymore. Mei is written inconsistently, as the author herself admitted because she has difficulties to write her. To all your examples of Mei pushing forward i can give you opposite one with Mei being childish , imature and rejecting Yuzu’s attempts to deepen the relationship. You just decided to put Yuzu’s character in the imature place and strenghtens Mei’s position as the matured and serious one.

Once again, Yuzu can shoulder the burden, the girl already proved she could be well adjusted after losing her father and living with a mother who works her ass off. But yeah, Mei’s background for you is the real deal it seems and obliterate from your point of view any chance to give to Yuzu’s character the right to have her own burden to shoulder. Neither Mei nor Yuzu are perfect, but i strongly disagree with you by simply putting only Mei in the situation of the only one having to support a terrible hardship.

Yuzu is in the same situation and proved she can be stronger and more solid than Mei. Just because Yuzu is (was) bubbly and outgoing doesn’t erase her own burden to shoulder, her own demons to fight and her right to be seen as someone reliable on serious matters like the ones Mei has to confront. Volume 8 and 9 Yuzu isn’t volume 6 one. But you uses older volumes to support you interpretation of the actual one.

You said that nothing would have changed if Mei would have talked, sure, depriving Yuzu the right to be a support because you knowingly consider that her behavior says otherwise is totally normal.

But i see dark and mysterious character deserves to be taken more seriously in your agenda. So i will let here all discussion about that and this thread that becames during one week a pure off topic dialog.

last edited at Apr 6, 2018 4:24PM

Sure, sure, how could Yuzu have supported Mei through this "wedding drama" since she was left in the dark and learned Mei's reasons too late? Yuzu already supported Mei through everything and clearly told her many times she would shoulder her suffering, in chapter 2 per se she began to be a solid support.

I don't think we are reading the same manga, you have a very strange interpretation of Yuzu's character, and her devotion to Mei, consistently posting about her need to chase Mei to prove her love. She has been totally cut off from Mei, Mei probably made sure of that and deprived her of any chances to try to fight back her. At this pace, Yuzu doesn't need to prove everything now. She's the only person who understood that Mei had always been pressured to go along with other's wishes. Yuzu doesn't want to be another person to pressure Mei, she made sure of that in volume 9. Mei has to do her own choice, and this time, I strongly disagree with you, Yuzu has nothing to do, she's here waiting for Mei, hence the fact she's still religiously wearing the ring and studying seriously to honor the promise she made.

Sigh, as if she hasn't done enough. I hope you haven't been dumped like Yuzu, I had been in Yuzu's shoes and believe me, reading your posts about Yuzu's lack of fighting spirit really makes me angry. You have to be two to fight for a relationship, the one who let down it, even though she did it out of love too, is Mei. Not Yuzu. And when the other one deprives you of any chances to win her/him back, you don't need to have a lesson giver who tells you weren't enough supportive. You're already crushed. Seriously. Stop to intellectualize the characters here, by having a very strange way to interpret things and transform Mei's actions as an eternal testing challenge of yuzu's love. Mei doesn't test Yuzu here, because she didn't give her an opening like she did in volume 4 for example.

At this point she either acts like the mature person someone in Mei's situation needs her to be, and try to work things out together, or just quit because there is no way Mei will be with her if she doesn't show she has a backbone.

Yuzu is mature and has already proved she feels an adult love. Your way to say that Mei is serious and Yuzu doesn't have a backbone is really baffling. Uter bull***t. So the dumped one have to be more adult to support the dumper and prove she deserves the other's love more than the one who broke up (whatever are her reasons). Strange way to see relationship dynamic.

last edited at Apr 6, 2018 1:48PM

Seriously, Yuzu has been clear about her feelings and her confession. She confessed her love clearly. Or, we don't read the same manga and you forgot the "daisuki" she told in different chapters. That is the best comment I read lol. "Yuzu lacked expressing her feelings to Mei". Don't confuse episode 11 from the anime (chapter 15) and the actual state of the manga. People mention Yuzu didn't deserve to be dumped by Mei in chapter 36.

But you really cannot blame Yuzu for anything in the last two volumes about her determination to commit to a shared future with Mei and Mei is perfectly aware of Yuzu's strong feelings for her. That's why she left in fact.

last edited at Mar 22, 2018 2:34PM

People are jumping to conclusions without being aware of each volume's contents. And people seem unable to read the thread since many members here already answered that chapter 36 wasn't the last one.

• each chapter is published monthly in Comic Yuri Hime.
• each volume has 4 chapters + an exclusive bonus short chapter
• when a volume is published, the author likes to do a hiatus for the chapter publication because there are corrections to do for the volume, benefit to draw for shops and a booklet of additional stories to do (or a drama CD to write) for the collector edition.

Chapter 36 closes volume 9 that will be released the 23rd of March.
Chapter 37 was announced in Yuri Hime May (published the 17th of March) for Yuri Hime June released the 18th of April.

At least, we have 4 more chapters (and one more volume) to go and probably more to come. All depend on the author's will to solve the plot in 4 chapters or 8 chapters or 12 chapters. There will never be a volume of 2 chapters. People should at least read dynasty-scan Citrus' chapters list. It's clear about the chapters/volumes distribution. So we can have one volume tp 3 volumes to come. Volumes are usually paired, so more probably 10 or 12 volumes.

last edited at Mar 18, 2018 5:21AM

I tried to stay away from this comment section for a while....

I'm kinda glad to see it's still as toxic as Chernobyl's contingency site...

Yeah that's what happens when a character's schizophrenic behaviour turns the MC and readers into blue-balled neurotics xD Only solution at this point is aggressive Yuzutop or Mei being run over by a truck before the wedding.

Funny for you to say that. On Chinese forum, readers already made a special thread about nuking the wedding car with the manager and Mei on board. Or other way to nuke Mei... let's wait smoothly the resolution, good vibes will happen after all the drama, that the author's style.

last edited at Mar 5, 2018 1:16PM

The simplest solution I can think for the situation is for Yuzu to grow up as a character and have the confidence to ask Mei to marry her before time runs out.

Nope. Yuzu done enough for this relationship. Its Mei turn.

Indeed. Yuzu is perfectly in tune with her feelings and she keeps cherishing them while suffering. Mei has to grow now, emotionally speaking and let down her "noble idiocy" behavior as Blastaar perfectly worded it. Mei act out of chivalry, she seriously believed that it was better for Yuzu, but at the same time, she offers what Yuzu always wanted, her own love confession (even though a face to face one will be needed). Yuzu knows Mei didn't play with her, but she suffers nonetheless.
Let's see how the author will make Mei choose.

But yeah, one thing is certain, Mei has to fix things, to be at Yuzu's level. And after that, to allow these two to progress together.

We can all agree its time for Mei to take a action and fix all of this. But... but what can kick Mei ass to start all of it?

I think the more we try to make theories, the more the author will surprise us once again. Mei will need a trigger, the question is what trigger: her own self, after the same 6 months of suffering than Yuzu? Someone else like the manager, her father, Himeko? An unexpected meeting with Yuzu? Something more dramatic involving someone's health? Who knows. Or Ume will reveal her the real reasons why she married Shou.

Well, although I think your overall point is correct, it is worthwhile remembering how terrifying and borderline rapey Mei’s behavior toward Yuzu initially is. As we’ve gotten to know her and see her through Yuzu’s military-grade yuri goggles, she seems (to those of us who don’t just hate her) to be an emotionally fragile broken bird in need of, and fully deserving of, a large dose of Onee-san Yuzu’s Lovey-Dovey Rehab Sauce. But she starts out every bit as sexually inappropriate as the rapist fiancé (although not as maliciously motivated, to be sure).

A well-deserved smack in the chops from Yuzu seems to have permanently recalibrated her internal moral compass, and I have no doubt about the sincerity of her recent feelings (anguished and self-destructive though they be). But “toxic and abusive” comes pretty close to the mark in describing the Mei we see early on in the story.

Yes, I agree on the fact Mei was abusive in the first part, and as you said, Yuzu fixed her and her moral compass because Mei had for the first time someone who really cared no matter what were her flaws. And someone who didn't try to use her, but genuinely wanted her to be happy and safe.

After volume 4, when they became a couple, this side of Mei disappeared. Indeed, she wanted to test Yuzu's determination in the first volumes, but now, the letter and the last volumes show how much she doesn't need to be assured about Yuzu's level of love. She knows how much Yuzu loves her and already made projects for a shared future. And that's what ultimately broke her and decided her to cut Yuzu from her life, for Yuzu's safe (she thinks), and to convince herself that it was better for her familial goal. The brutal way she ended her story with Yuzu (for the moment) and her letter, plus all volume 8 and her conflicted faces showed how much it costed her to break-up. She doesn't try to test Yuzu, she doesn't need to, she already knows. She just assumed that Yuzu will recover sooner or later, but she's wrong. As some people said above, Mei hates herself and genuinely think she doesn't deserve Yuzu, Yuzu deserves better. More than a test, she wants to punish herself only but she failed because Yuzu didn't give up (she stills wears the ring, on the cover and in the chapter, she works hard, and the "I will always love you" is probably more her thought if we look at closely the way she stands) and Yuzu suffers a lot, even after 6/7/8 months hence Shiraho's look when she recognize the ring around Yuzu's neck.

But, she respects Mei's decision and probably wants to believe Mei will make her own definitive choice. We don't know when Yuzu had the letter, when she read it, if she tried to see Mei or not ...

Concerning this "shitty test" interpretation, the more we can think is that Mei's letter is an unconscious SOS call. She says four times she chose her goal with free will as if she tries to convince herself of that, but she debunks that by saying that if she sees Yuzu, her resolve will crumble. It's not a resolve if it's so weak.

Next chapter will probably show more insight into Mei's everyday life after the letter, and maybe some action will be taken by characters. But this time, Mei needs to make her final choice without any pressure or external influence, hence the reason Yuzu stepped back. To have our happy ending, Mei and Yuzu need to be on equal ground. If Yuzu was the one the pass "these test of determination", this relation would have really no reason to exist, because it would be still totally twisted, something Yuzu made sure to change by showing her constant support to Mei. That's why I totally disagree on matsuri-wins' second interpretation.

last edited at Mar 2, 2018 2:35AM

@Matsuri_wins : your second interpretation is too sarcastic and Mei already knows Yuzu was for the long run, that is why she broke drown. Being Mei defender doesn’t need to put everything on Yuzu’s shoulders once again. If it was a test, Mei would deserve to be forgotten by Yuzu. Let’s stay with the serious and most probable interpretation, the duty vs fulfillement.

Chapter 35 and Mei’s behavior (almost a full, third person chapter for once and not a pov Yuzu’s one) contradicts your second interpretation. And really, it really throw Mei under the bus with her being an ultimate toxic and abusive sadist.

last edited at Mar 2, 2018 12:10AM

Seriously, the "letter is a test" seems absurd. Mei wouldn't do that. She's indeed in love but convinced herself she made a good choice.
Seriously, why Yuzu should have to prove once again she has a backbone, the girl is broken after all she did? If it's that, Mei would be more pitiful than in volume 4 and 3 when she did test Yuzu and wanted her to pursue her. And I don't think it was intended like that. Mei's note is final for her, hence the sayonara ending it. Not a twisted way to call Yuzu back, especially seeing how she totally cut herself from school and from any chance to be meet by Yuzu before the wedding.

Nobody doubt she crazy is in love, but here, many expect that she does the job and choose by assuming this choice, whatever it is face to face with the persons involved.

last edited at Mar 1, 2018 10:25AM

4 chapters are not enough for me to end the story without feeling the ruching of the action. 12 would be ok.

That, or Saburouta could do a last big volume like Kodama with NTR who did 6 chapters. But yeah, I would prefer 12 volumes with a view on their life after the big drama resolution, and also a closure for the side characters too.

How many volumines Citrus will have? Someone knows? I saw on Twitter a picture with 50 chapters, but...

Mistake. the person who took the picture was on a manga site that counted the bonuses as chapters hence the number 50.

Since the volumes are paired with their regular cover, it will be 10 volumes or 12. The author tweeted for the new year that the manga was entering its turning point. Did she mean climax or just we were in the last part of the plot which could be expanded on numerous volumes? Who knows.

We'll have probably some idea with chapter 37's structure. If resolution begins in it, volume 10 could be the last. The fact that there is an anime can lead to thinking the same thing will happen than with NTR. When the anime ended, the last volume began. Ichijinsha uses animes to promote their top series when they are reaching their acme.

Let's hope the author doesn't rush the ending, that's all.