Volume 8 cover is out!

https://twitter.com/haginomakoto/status/1334462717168549889?s=21

I’d been wondering what it would be, and it’s totally perfect.

Kaede’s eyes are now purple lol

last edited at Dec 3, 2020 9:13AM

Three more pages of Konatsu and Koyuki putting their hands together in 28.5, three more of Aoshima's cats in 29 and three more of Konatsu platonically stroking Koyuki's hair in 30.

I’d agree that there are probably a few that go in ch 30, but it’s pretty long, so she might add something in 29.1 or 28.1. A few pages may not seem like much, but in a manga like this, small things tend to have a big meaning later on. There’s probably nothing that is monumental to the plot, but important enough for her to want to have it drawn. I’m thinking some Kohai stuff in 28.5. Though, since she did mention that it was drawn how she wanted to, it may be more like those artistic and abstract paneling that we see sometimes (i.e Konatsu drowning for 5 panels straight). Sucks that we probably won’t see until vol 8 comes out in English and we buy it ourselves.

https://twitter.com/haginomakoto/status/1332279344949956613?s=21

If I’m reading correctly, it looks like vol. 8 had some omitted stuff ( 9 pages across the chapters) that are going to be included in the release next month. I wonder where they’ll go?

casually includes kiss scene at the end of 28.5

This is VERY similar to what happened in another Doujin manga series that revolved around a stickier theme.

...you mean, knee-jerk forums dramas?

I actually meant the plot of the manga, but now that I think about it... yes.

Would you look at this bulldozing home wrecker.

It's Kaori who is "the homewrecker".

She's the one whining about having a pretty young girlfriend to an outsider and wallowing in her terrible self-esteem.

Of course she gets hit on. Who the hell wouldn't try to bag her? She's signaling that she's available and "I'm telling you these intimate details, so could you maybe... Fuck me and console me"? That's how anyone who would be interested in her would take a situation like this.

Whether her friend is serious about this or not doesn't particularly matter. It's Kaori's own behavior that is the problem.

In this particular situation I would have to disagree with you. It just seems like Yukawa is likely insecure about dating a younger woman and also thinking about how bad it would hurt her if her and Mizuki were to break up. I didn’t get the impression that she was signaling her friend that she wanted relations with her. My impression is that she’s insecure and was trying to get reassurance or perhaps a different perspective/advice from her friend. Though, she should be talking to Mizuki about something like this in my opinion. But while reading this chapter I never felt that she was implicating “let’s have sex so I feel better”.

I agree with you.

yah it didn't feel like that at all

if this is how someone reads a signal... yo that's bad. HAHAHA i mean assuming it that way naaah

I actually didn't feel any signals at all. But i guess signals on the friend that she is quite interested with her???

anyways

i guess she's just kidding but half meant

You know that trope where all this time she likes her trope. Right that one.

or she's just flat out testing her or joking around

This is VERY similar to what happened in another Doujin manga series that revolved around a stickier theme.

What if this final arc where everything connects actually turns this manga into a yaoi :0

Hagino: Welcome to the official How to Establish that Nettaigyo is Absolutely not a Yuri series Meeting.
Editor: Literally nobody was informed about this.
Hagino: So I'm thinking that we'll put a heterosexual relationship into the manga to convey that it isn't about lesbians.
Editor: But het relationships have girls. That's, like, 50% of a yuri ship right there.
Hagino: Damn it. Okay, forget about the girls. Remove them entirely. Let's make the manga about BL.
Editor: But that shows that you're willing to explore gay relationships. Just like yuri.
Hagino: Screams incomprehensibly

Forget page long theories, this is so accurate we can just archive this thread at this point lol

EDIT: though I really do wonder what role the editor plays in the story. Like do they just go “we need to add some more anxiety here, so how about 6 pages of monologuing, and end it with them gazing into each other’s eyes in the most heterosexual way possible”

last edited at Oct 29, 2020 3:58PM

EDIT: you forgot the hot and thoughtful dads

We honestly need a spinoff based on the dads. I'm thinking something like- A Tropical Chad Yearns for Bros.

What if this final arc where everything connects actually turns this manga into a yaoi :0

Man, this is so much more than a friendship

It’s super-friendship.

This summer, witness the beginning of an exciting new story! Confused teenage girls by day, and even more confused teenage girls by night, Konatsu Amano and Koyuki Honami star as Captain Frog and Admiral Salamander in a tale of heroism, friendship, growth, friendship, and also friendship! Watch as they defend their cozy coastal Japanese town from dastardly rogues like Social Anxiety, Mixed Feelings, Obligatory Last-Minute Male Love Interests and the occasional angry Dynasty poster demanding more yuri! Prepare for Feelings, Conversations (Or a Lack Thereof), Vague Amphibian Metaphors, Emotional Swashbuckling and Derring-Do! Coming soon to a bookstore near you (placed under the Shoujo, Aye Section).

Best post in this thread.
EDIT: you forgot the hot and thoughtful dads

last edited at Oct 28, 2020 11:55PM

Manga gay, IMO

Anyway if the boys were meant to serve any purpose beyond a cameo and/or visual proof that Konatsu has kouhai to look after, we probably would have gotten at least a name by now - especially if we're really heading into the final arc. I'm not sure the taller guy's even had a line yet.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch27#7

He’s literally had one lol.

I wouldn’t denote these guys as kouhai extras just yet, the mangaka puts everything in here for a reason. Remember the girls who were talking about all you can eat in ch 2? They actually show up later, always serving the purpose as a contrast to Koyuki, a representation of who she wants to be:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch02#5
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch21#20
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch23#19

Looking at the last panel, Koyuki standing up to her means so much more, because this girl has been littered through the manga as that representation of her ideal self (socially). The fact that the author thought out this little extra thing makes the scene in ch 23 much more special, as it makes Koyuki look THAT much side of the person she actually wants to be. I’m expecting something similar with the kouhai, probably not like a confession or whatever (although Koyuki is popular with guys) but something about them might come back later.

This feels like the start of a beautiful [insert gender here]ship between you two.

Yeah, no, one of the things I like a lot about the Dynasty forums is that there really is a critical mass of people (along with lots of others) who are truly interested in exchanging ideas about the stories and learning from each others' thoughts.

Literally the reason why I stay away from the mangadex comment section. Btw, they removed both the Yuri and Shoujo-ai tag recently, I'm happy, but I wonder what caused that to happen.

This feels like the start of a beautiful [insert gender here]ship between you two.

Blaastar is always taking my page long dissertations and shortening them to a sentence and I’m over here like :0 How

Also, Do you like Salamanders? lol

Otherwise the question is simple is what do you imagine one second that koyuki accepts that konatsu goes out with a boy and vice versa? the answer is clearly no, they would be desperate both of them, it's more than friendship then... Will they assume their feelings or have eternal regrets by repressing their feelings as from the beginning...

Que aquarium boy asking Konatsu out next ch and Koyuki going ballistic

The author has yet to do the biggest yuri cop out which is the “boy talk” with the intention of proving the main characters aren’t gay. Even if it doesn’t end in romance, I’ll give it to her that she never tried to actively make it not one.

last edited at Oct 28, 2020 8:38AM

Man these two are just too intense for friendship, if they liked each other romantically then this series makes sense otherwise it's just kinda weird

Honestly, if the author is trying to tell us about toxic co dependent relationships instead of yuri ones, everything kinda checks out

I'd say: not yet it doesn't. There's part of codependency going on--the reliance on another person for approval and sense of identity--but there's not really much controlling behavior or enabling of negative behaviors, nor is there self-sacrifice or self-denial in favor of the other person's needs.

I would agree with this if it weren’t for Konatsu’s behavior during chapters 21-24, where she literally doesn’t want Koyuki to do what she wants to do (make new friends, change for the better) because then Koyuki wouldn’t depend on her, and their relationship would lose their special-ness. Stuff like that happens when people choose to latch onto one person, instead of branching out and making more friends, and having healthier relationships. Maybe toxic is too strong of a word, but to me it seems like she doesn’t really know how close she’s supposed to get to Koyuki, which is why she is actively making sure she isn’t being “selfish” if we use her words, while us as readers know that she wishes to be.

Looking at the whole Karaoke event as an example: she couldn’t even have fun with other people because Koyuki wasn’t around (we’ve actually seen this numerous times, even in this chapter). It became to the point where she pulled Koyuki out of her own event. Although her actions in the end were fine, it very much mirrored the salamander trapping the frog. Koyuki doesn’t do this emotionally, she seems to be fine with making other friends, and just needed that push to do so.

Looking even at the career survey, Konatsu doesn’t care about what she does as long as it’s with Koyuki (I mean, we all know she didn’t join the aquarium club because she liked fish .-.). If we are looking at the story from a darker, less yuri point of view, Konatsu seems to be someone who latches on to the things that bring her comfort (I’d like to bring up what her dad said in ch 7 as a point, he mentioned that he was so glad that she could get herself engrossed in something over there as well, implying she’s done so in the past). This could simply be because she felt like Koyuki could be someone to save her from her loneliness, or some angst filled backstory, which led her to developing abandonment issues. All in all, I wouldn’t necessarily denote her behavior as healthy.

Although after 26, their relationship has become healthier, Konatsu still has to understand that she can’t be emotionally reliant on Koyuki, which it appears she is trying not to be. I’ll rephrase my original post: if not a romance, the story appears to be depicting an unbalanced relationship, rather than Co-dependent, since it’s mostly Konatsu actively acting like a salamander, and Koyuki is mostly just socially awkward.

Edit: looking back on it I just realized that I agree with you lol

last edited at Oct 28, 2020 8:34AM

Man these two are just too intense for friendship, if they liked each other romantically then this series makes sense otherwise it's just kinda weird

Honestly, if the author is trying to tell us about toxic co dependent relationships instead of yuri ones, everything kinda checks out

https://twitter.com/haginomakoto/status/1321316247217209344

(per google translate) "Finally, the story of Konatsu and Koyuki goes to the final chapter. Everything is connected."

That's clearly not a literal final chapter since volume 8's dropping in december so we've got at least one more volume to fill out, but I wonder if this means volume 9's our last? At any rate, seems meaningful that Hagino-sensei's starting to signal the off-ramp for us after pointedly declining to do so after Konatsu and Koyuki reconciled before.

Been a wonderful run, however long we have left ahead of us.

I'm gonna guess volume ten, so maybe about 8 chapters? nine volumes seems a bit too little since we still have to solve Kaede's problems and there needs to be AT LEAST 3-4 chapters of internal monologuing about whether someone should do x y and z

I'm guessing she's saying that the final arc is up next, which is basically them conveying that they always want to be together. Honestly, can't see how you can continue on from something like that anyway lol. It would make sense since we thought that 28.5 would be an end, but chapter 30 has introduced a new conflict that needs to be resolved.

last edited at Oct 28, 2020 1:51AM

This time, she has become the president of the club and not being dependent means taking on the burden that was Koyuki's by herself (if not a larger one since there are more junior club members compared to when she was the only one). As opposed to the previous time, Kaede and then Konatsu herself put into question whether this selflessness is ideal or if she should be more selfish and dependent.

I think this is a good point to make. Konatsu has cause a lot of problems for herself and for others (Specifically Koyuki) because she was't being outright with how she felt. Looking back at all of their progress, she's gotten far, but there are still things that she withholds from Koyuki (Specifically the "I want us to always be together" that comes with wanting to be a frog) An interesting thing about her is that she seems to be super dependent but also someone who does not want to become a burden on others. I really think that this is something the author may address with the next arc. Konatsu's words are essentially contradicting her actions (Standard in any romance manga ever) where she tells Koyuki she needs to focus on herself, she can do things on her own, yet she speaks about how lonely she is without Koyuki, and how much she wants to spend time with her, to the point where she can't even have fun without her (This happens both during the culture festival, and in this chapter)

Another thing that really has been catching my eye is the fact that they keep stating that they don't understand each other. Like THEY DO, but they're just talking about everything but that. They both have a pretty long way to better communication in their relationship. if we use what Koyuki has been thinking internally this chapter (granted that we get some chapters from her perspective starting December) It looks like she might go on towards the route of trying to understand Konatsu:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#32

I love that this chapter is basically saying that you can meet someone on a whim and still be the closest person to them. They acknowledge that their relationship isn't one of childhood friends and was strictly situational, yet it had the ability to grow into what it is because they wanted it to.

I've mentioned this already, but Konatsu's hands have begun to tell a lot about her thoughts:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#31
Taking a look here, both her and Koyuki are holding the fireworks the same way

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#35

In the top left panel, we can see that she completely forgot about the fireworks and is probably thinking "A pretty girl is looking at me" This very much parallels their first meeting:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch01#11

It's kind of confirmed when Konatsu says "You were trying to distract me!" the next panel. If I put on the Yuri goggles, this would be confirmation that Konatsu is physically attracted to Koyuki, is aware of it, and tries to bury it away by not actually mentioning it.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#11

Here in the bottom right panel, her hands (and her overall body language) reflects how she feels. You can see in the next page, as she gets less reserved with her thoughts and becomes more assertive, she starts to physically open up:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#12

I actually kind of feel bad for Kaede here. It's the first time that she hears Konatsu refer to Koyuki by her first name. After that, she immediately retracts her bath offer and leaves to go take one by herself. Knowing her, she's probably hiding how she actually feels. Hopefully we will get a chapter where we can see how she feels about her place in their relationship. This all could be part of her grand shipping scheme lol

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#16

Looking at the top right panel here, we see her asking if it okay to depend on her, she looks like a little kid who has lost a parent at a store. We have really yet to hear about Konatsu's life before she moved here, there have been a couple of drops, but unlike with Koyuki, where Kaede and her dad have filled us in on it, we don't have anything regarding Konatsu other than "She tends to get lonely very easily".

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#26

More hands on this page when she's talking about her dad not coming back.

Just to close off this weird hand commentary/analysis, I'll go back to what I said after the first half of 28 came out. I really think that Konatsu wants to properly define her relationship with Koyuki. I see a lot of parallels between this story and "Watashi no Shounen" where the characters first have their relationship, they know what it is, and despite defining what it consists of, that definition doesn't really fit into any conventional category. Theres even a chapter where the two main characters ask each other how would their relationship be like if they were co-workers, Mother and son, or classmates. I really like where we are headed, I think there are plenty of amazing scenes that will be referred back to in this next arc, (hopefully we will get a callback to the whole moon thing) and that the author keeps up her amazing storytelling.

Alright, so I'm dedicating an entire post to callbacks because there are so many that the author is basically plagiarizing herself lol
First we have this one, pretty easy to spot

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch09#28
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#33

Then we have this one here, which may be a little bit of a stretch, but it really just shows a marker of Koyuki becoming a newer person:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch28_5#15
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#34

Not really a callback, but its obvious that Konatsu's texting her dad
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch01#35
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#38

If we evaluate character actions as development, it appears Konatsu is around where Koyuki was here:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch19#39
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#13

I thought that this was a cute callback. I think its pretty cool how Konatsu was presented as the one who had her life together and was totally level-headed, only to devolve into this:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch13#27
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#19

I'll note here that its even nighttime in both instances she says "morning"

It looks like Koyuki has a resting wake position whenever she has a dream about Konatsu:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch10#3
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#20

Here, it actually appears that Koyuki had been wanting to bring up the festival with the intention of apologizing for a while. Also, Konatsu seems to be really embarrassed from getting lost:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch28_5#3
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#22

Another OBVIOUS callback here:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch08#36
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#28
EDIT: This also happens here:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch14#31

Konatsu has done this one 162738494 times, so I'm only putting the most recent one here:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch26#6
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#47

Once again, this one is a little vague, but I'm sure Konatsu has mentioned this so many times, because its engrained in my memory. If someone can find a better panel on it, plz do
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch28#19
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#47
EDIT: Koyuki has said this too. I'm not even sure what they talk about Their hot and thoughtful dads?
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch15#43

This page is what Koyuki is presumably referring to, when she says "This always happens"
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch13#10
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#8
EDIT: and here too:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch15#37

EDIT: These people need to finally finish that sentence omg:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch14#32
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#48

EDIT: More parallels between the two characters here:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch13#39
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/nettaigyo_wa_yuki_ni_kogareru_ch30#43

I think that's all for now, I'll probably go back and look over it to see if I missed anything

last edited at Oct 27, 2020 9:50PM

Unlike another serialization, Hanigare takes a different approach in this aspect.

Shade? lol

Then, I don't think Konatsu tried to hide the frog had a hidden meaning, it's more like that she was surprised that Koyuki woke when she was touching Koyuki's private belonging. She also didn't bring the topic to Koyuki because... well we know what kind of person Konatsu is.

I'm bringing this point up primarily due to the sheer number of panels spent on this. I can't help but get the feeling that she doesn't want Koyuki to know she touched that specific item, not because it isn't her property, but because she knew that bringing it up would probably bring up more conflict she wanted to include herself in. (Basically what you said) If it was the dolphin or whatever, Konatsu wouldn't have too much of a problem, since she's spent literal hours in Koyuki's room before, she probably already knows what she has in there. It's the frog that's the only new thing, and it has a special meaning to Konatsu.

I forgot whether Koyuki wanted to give the frog one to Konatsu at first, but the current ownership of the paired plushies also have a meaning. Both of them will be separated soon, the plushies they are holding symbolized that they will always be together. Koyuki with the frog (Konatsu), and Konatsu with the salamander (Koyuki).

She wanted to give her the frog but she thought it would be too bold, since its essentially saying "I want to be with you forever", something they actually haven't discussed yet (They both know what the other is saying, but Konatsu doesn't know that Koyuki found out what it meant to be a frog.

Honestly, granted with what happened chapters 26-28, we can assume that Konatsu is actually the salamander, so their plushies actually match one another.

EDIT: removed the spoiler bars since the chapter is out.

last edited at Oct 28, 2020 12:12AM

Personally by reading the last raw chapter I am more optimistic for an good evolution of their relationship. We feel that they are asking questions about their emotions towards each other and not just as simple friends.Precisely for the story of the frog it may be that koyuki by this symbol would like to become the frog again with respect to konatsu and still not what was hidden in the koyuki drawer .. more on the flashback of the fairground and the fireworks at the beginning of the story , where konatsu asked if she was special for koyuki, she finally answers her ...
While waiting for the translation I think that the anguish of konatsu and koyuki is due to the fact that the departure for tokyo of koyuki is approaching and that they do not have much time to spend time and definitely discover what they are. feel towards each other.

The Mangaka really tried to tell us stuff with Konatsu's body language in this chapter, a lot of panels spent on her hand placement, and overall body expression through the chapter reveals a lot about how she's thinking... I might go back and do a re-read to see where else that happens, because it was as though she diliberatley wanted us to see her timidness and anger in some of those panels. Maybe she recently acquired an obsession with hand paneling lol

You can usually tell the latter is the case when one of the girls go "Wow her eyelashes are so long/pretty/any kind of obscure description of eyelashes lol. One thing thing that I find so interesting and novel about this manga is the lack of these rather tropey predictable physical descriptions. The most we get out of this manga is one calling the other "cute" and the other (Most of the time Koyuki) completely fizzing out. It's kind of a nod towards how "underdeveloped" or " innocent" their minds are in that aspect, where evaluation of physical characteristics are never in an sexual or creepily detailed way If you've read Urasekai Picnic you would know that about 30 percent of the text is spent on how beautiful Toriko's " " is

Looking at how these two characters started with zero earnest social skills or friendship knowledge, it'll probably be 20 more chapters before Koyuki realizes that Konatsu's ponytail hits different than Kaede's.

Now that I think about it, Nettaigyo works quite well as a demisexual romance. The girls think of each other as special, but don't experience overwhelming, clear-cut sexual urges (even the moments where they get flustered are sporadic and situational). They feel a sense of longing, but it isn't easy to classify- the more they think about it, the harder it gets to figure out, and the less they think about it, the more it builds up. To top it off, they're both rather cynical and don't believe in love at first sight, so it's doubly confusing when one out of one out of a hundred sights stirs something inside them, but the next ninety-nine don't. The closest terminology to describe this would be a squish- not quite a full-blown, giddy, fantasy-filled crush, but definitely not apathy either. Koyuki and Konatsu fundamentally just want to hug each other and go, "This is my person!", but it sounds so odd that they can't even say it out loud. Basically, it's like Bloom Into You if both parties were Yuu, gravitating towards each other precisely because they both feel excluded and different from society, and then getting even more confused when they start developing feelings for each other. Even the spoilers from 31 tie into this- the attraction that Koyuki feels is so ambiguous and unclear that a literal vision from her subconscious is required for her to understand it. At this point, I'm not sure if knowing that her angst is explicitly of the gay kind would give Koyuki a clearer idea of what to do, or if it'd just spark a new cycle of agonizing uncertainty, but I definitely can't wait to find out.

"the more they think about it, the harder it gets to figure out, and the less they think about it, the more it builds up."

This really encapsulates conflicts in this manga completely. Everything is so internal.Looking at how Konatsu was being dubbed as a worrywart for trying to figure out how Koyuki felt during their first meeting, she then choses to for get about it but looking at ch 30, it all comes back. There is no escapism in this manga, all of the characters must confront their conflicts whether it is sooner or later.

I think I've said this before, but I think there needs to be a catalyst in the manga, not only to see the potential Yuri goodness, but just in general. in the past there always has been something that caused a big event to occur, whether its Kaede dragging Konatsu to karaoke to make Honami realize that there really is something wrong, Koyuki's hot and thoughtful dad telling Konatsu to invite her to festival, leading to the events of chapter 8 and 9, there are so many instances of this happening that I'm sure the author knows that there could be one in the "omg I'm gay" aspect.

Of course, this could not be what the story is about, and that would be perfectly fine, but if she were to go into that direction, I feel like there would be something that causes a character to fall into a Bloom into You-esque ponder about love looking at ch 30 spoilers, though I don't want to go into depth because it isn't translated yet, Konatsu hides the frog from Koyuki when she sees it, obviously implying that there are some things left to be resolved. I'm not sure if we are still a chapter behind regarding releases due to the author having to take a two month break, but we must be left with something to set up this next character arc, maybe that's it?

Edit: Random, baseless theory here but: What if we don't get introduced into the romance aspect until after Koyuki leaves? Maybe I'm still salty about MUL, but what if we get to see the two's independent development for a while, and then that serves as buildup for a confession? It makes about the same amount of sense as squeezing in a romance in these last few months of high school. However, this is only plausible if the story becomes a romance, there is obviously the chance that it never will.

last edited at Oct 26, 2020 5:17PM

There is that issue of the thematic boundary between "girls who discover that they like another girl in a very, very special way" and "girls who discover that they want to kiss and get naked together."

You can usually tell the latter is the case when one of the girls go "Wow her eyelashes are so long/pretty/any kind of obscure description of eyelashes lol. One thing thing that I find so interesting and novel about this manga is the lack of these rather tropey predictable physical descriptions. The most we get out of this manga is one calling the other "cute" and the other (Most of the time Koyuki) completely fizzing out. It's kind of a nod towards how "underdeveloped" or " innocent" their minds are in that aspect, where evaluation of physical characteristics are never in an sexual or creepily detailed way If you've read Urasekai Picnic you would know that about 30 percent of the text is spent on how beautiful Toriko's " " is

Looking at how these two characters started with zero earnest social skills or friendship knowledge, it'll probably be 20 more chapters before Koyuki realizes that Konatsu's ponytail hits different than Kaede's.

I mean, it's not said in words as often, but especially earlier on there's plenty of cases of the girls being very aware of each other's physical presence - especially Koyuki. The first chapter ends on her freaking out over an indirect kiss - which is one of the oldest yuri subtext tropes there is -, there's the moment when she realizes how close their faces are like they're about to kiss when she's helping Konatsu catch a fish, etc.

Oh, yeah I completely forgot about that. I kind of just wrote that off as "Someone is this close to me" instead of "She is this close to me" With Koyuki, stuff like that is hard to gauge because she's so new to everything, like when Kaede offered to feed her like Konatsu did, she kinda had the same reaction.

I was looking more in Konatsu's case, where she has more of an understanding regarding relationship boundaries (before the whole "we're going down together" mindset during the Karaoke event). Mostly, we haven't had one of those "Wow, Koyuki's x is x" type description, that is totally explicit. A lot of character's actions can have an alterior meaning than what we really think (Like how Konatsu called Koyuki on the phone during her school trip- we now know that it isn't really something to be happy about because she must have done it due to unbearable loneliness and not gay angst.)

I really can't wait until we go back into Koyuki's mind, though, she's had a lot of growth, like going over to Surprise Konatsu, and really acting like a senpai, but our understanding of her has become less than our understanding of Konatsu at this point in the story.

cue chapter 31 starting with "Yesterday I had a dream where I kissed Konatsu on the lips"

There is that issue of the thematic boundary between "girls who discover that they like another girl in a very, very special way" and "girls who discover that they want to kiss and get naked together."

You can usually tell the latter is the case when one of the girls go "Wow her eyelashes are so long/pretty/any kind of obscure description of eyelashes lol. One thing thing that I find so interesting and novel about this manga is the lack of these rather tropey predictable physical descriptions. The most we get out of this manga is one calling the other "cute" and the other (Most of the time Koyuki) completely fizzing out. It's kind of a nod towards how "underdeveloped" or " innocent" their minds are in that aspect, where evaluation of physical characteristics are never in an sexual or creepily detailed way If you've read Urasekai Picnic you would know that about 30 percent of the text is spent on how beautiful Toriko's " " is

Looking at how these two characters started with zero earnest social skills or friendship knowledge, it'll probably be 20 more chapters before Koyuki realizes that Konatsu's ponytail hits different than Kaede's.

Raws are out and looks like we were right about everything :)

Edit: ALMOST everything

Can I ask for a link or at least a hint where to find them? I had no idea they were available. Not that it's usually a concern given how lightning fast Hachimitsu Scans are.

I gotchu

https://www.facebook.com/LaDiosadelLirio3.0/photos/pcb.193356835633520/193355855633618/

I'm always contemplating reading the raws because the translation comes out so fast there really isn't a need to, but this time I REALLY couldn't help myself. In the process of google translating a few lines that caught my eye lol

While the author's online comments do invite speculation about their ultimate authorial intention, I myself don't particularly feel the need to read this in terms of inferences about the author's state of mind. And I certainly do perceive why this story could be frustrating to readers who are focusing on plot development, on romantic progress, or on clear yuri-genre signaling.

I personally value this series as a change of pace from standard yuri stories, where any number of self-insights that these characters gain could be the entire point of the endgame--Koyuki realizing how lonely she is and finding a friend who helps her to open up, for instance. But here the story really explores how such insights will lead to new situations (if not precisely "problems") that require the characters to figure out new ways of being in the world. And I do think one can infer the author's commitment to developing the story in their own particular way (as opposed to those stories that seem to wander around without a real sense of purpose).

I wouldn't want every genre series to take this approach, but this one has been interesting and (so far) satisfying.

I agree with you here. The authors state of mind probably doesn't play to much into a story like this, and often times we can completely ignore it (There are some cases, like with Evangelion for instance, that state of mind of the creator can reveal many new themes and aspects of a rather straightforward story, but I do not believe this is one of those cases). I really just think that this is a coming-of-age story at its finest; you can try to categorize specific chapter arcs or character motivations, but all of that lies within the bigger scope of taking a piece of these character's lives and presenting it to us. I'd like to reiterate that point that the previous poster made; you really can't label something that was never meant to or intended to have one.

We do seem to have this conversation every month, but every time someone brings up a new perspective that makes it never seem boring or redundant lol

Raws are out and looks like we were right about everything :)

Edit: ALMOST everything

last edited at Oct 26, 2020 1:25PM