^ Interesting, hadn't seen that video before! It's nice that major Japanese IPs now seem comfortable to include Yuri subtext in their official stuff, hopefully this is but a stepping stone to actual unabashedly queer characters in the future. Part of me feels like we see some early signs of this with Japan's cultural industry tentatively exploring same-sex couplings and hopefully realising that they aren't bad for business.

last edited at Dec 31, 2023 8:53AM

I love everything about this picture. Also we see that open eye Lysithea!

The web novel is one of the best stories I've ever read. Not just one of the best yuri stories, one of the best stories period. It's like 'The Count of Monte Cristo'-level good. Sadly, the English translations are not very far along (because translating novels takes forever and is a pain in the ass). But if you are thinking about machine translating it, don't do it. This is a story worth waiting for.

Can absolutely echo that statement, I read the novel in a completely terrible machine translation and it was STILL extremely good and moved me to tears, even though the translation made it hard to understand what's going on half the time. Reading it in a competent translation or even in Chinese is only going to be 10 times better than that.

If you're still in school and think you will be a lifelong yuri fan, go learn Chinese. It's a very hard language to pick up, but the next 50 years there's going to be so much more high quality content coming out of China. This series alone has a manhua putting out weekly full color chapters with insanely high art quality, a 36-episode audio drama, a hardcover book published, merch on Taobao, and an 50k fan community on Weibo that is putting out fan art constantly. There's already so much talent, investment, and fan support for yuri in a market 10x as big as Japan, and it's growing every year. Yes, the best content may get translated, but there's nothing comparable to consuming it in the original language because so much gets lost in translation.

A girl only has so much time in the day T_T Also Chinese really is fcking hard and frustrating that knowing Japanese helps exactly nothing since the languages are so different despite sharing a script (and I struggle matching the simplified characters with their Japanese counterparts)

Author just really wanted to write a ghost mystery story but without starting a new series lol

While I don't hate this, I kinda still prefer a scenario where Yuzu is just oblivious about her feelings for Minami and pretty much completely aloof/in denial until Kamiya comes along and forces her to face those feelings. Honestly, I was expecting that sort of thing even when reading the chapter up to the "confession". It would've just fit so well with Yuzu's character and behaviour so far, this, on the other hand, feels kind of artificial. It's not terrible and that trope is a trope for a reason, as it just integrates quite easily into almost any story frame, but it definitely downgrades this story for me, which is sad.

Both the repetition of the rules and the lack of intimacy make for a strange ending though. What is the conclusion ? That being married is the same as living together with a friend except you also promise to stay together ? The question isn't so much about us knowing they are in love (we know that) and more about why their love takes that particular shape.

Also, there is a pretty thin line, maybe even just a matter of point of view, between intimacy being unnecessary to show your characters are in love, and having to show your characters are in love within the constraint of not showing intimacy. Which I guess is why this kind of resolution reminds people of works from 30 years ago.

In the end, we know they are married, in love with each other, and they don't mind kissing - their relationship is not just for show and there is nothing inconclusive. I don't think there is an argument that the story didn't go all to way to its conclusion, or that their relationship isn't as genuine as any other you could think of. At the same time the last chapter, in which they make their wedding "official" in front of others, emphasizes physical distance (repeat of separate bedrooms and wedding without a kiss), which is a deliberate choice which, at least to me, feels a bit off-putting.

While I'd usually agree, I feel like Usui Shio's characters seem to generally all be somewhat asexual and averse to physical closeness. Cresent Moon and Donuts was even more explicitly so, but in this series I still felt that same sort of vibe. Of course it is perfectly possible to like or dislike this sort of thing, what I want to say is just that the ending feels very "on-brand" for this author, so for me at least, nothing could disappoint because this is exactly how I'd imagine things turning out.

While I agree that intellectually, it makes perfect sense for Kamiya to give up at that point . . . nobody ever does that. Not high schoolers, anyway. So it still feels kind of weird to me.

Well, "nobody" is definitely an overstatement, I personally did the exact same thing when I learned that my crush was in love with somebody else in high school. In general, individuals react different to such things and I don't think that it is emotionally strange for a high schooler to become overwhelmed by what feels like an utterly hopeless situation and just give up quietly. To be fair, not sure if this kind of reaction entirely fits Kamiya's character though

Guess she realized she couldn't win, she'd already lost before she started playing.

Ultimately, that's the point. Kamiya was of course well aware of Minami's feelings for Yuzu, but if Yuzu didn't reciprocate those feelings, Minami's crush would ultimately be hopeless and thus leave a window of opportunity for Kamiya. However, seeing Yuzu's reaction and thus realising clearly that she's also got romantic feelings towards Minami, Kamiya can do nothing but give up, there's just no angle for her here.

Of course, one can criticise this as being just an expression of the trope where a convenient rival appears just at the right time of the story and then disappears again quickly, but in character it actually makes perfect sense for Kamiya to give up at this point, the more unrealistic part being her not being present as a love rival from the start.
Ultimately, I think that this series doesn't take itself too seriously and clearly follows tried and tested romcom patterns, so being a bit tropy is honestly par for the course.

Somehow I expected this to happen throughout the entire chapter and it still hit me like a rock when it did

It's love, for music, of course.

I strongly suspect this is actually going to happen, but hoping to be positively surprised. Still a very nice chapter in any case though.

Probably my favourite ship of all time

Bocchi x everyone is true superior ship

This really gave a lot of important context. Also, I am depressed now, thank you Murasakino-sensei.

i find funny how dynasty scans comments complain more about the plot that any other website XD

It's just the universe balancing itself out, looking at sites like WebToon etc. people seem to fall over themselves to praise every amateurishly drawn, badly executed, meandering gay plot as if it is the greatest work of art ever produced, so to maintain balance in all things, Dynasty has to shit on many average and sometimes even perfectly good manga.

When Sakura asked if the room was too cold, it dawned on me that Haruki wasn't heating the room. She wasn't planning for there to be an "After The Tenth Year."

I am so glad Kaede showed up.

I'm not sure, I interpreted it more as part of Haruki's general struggle to function as a human being after having lost Sakura, something we also see in her not eating properly. It feels more like a general loss of the will and ability to live than a real plan of proactively ending her own life.

I think it's important to note that Senpai drew Micchi and Aizawa holding hands as well as saying that its nice to see girls "all over each other" so that strongly indicates that something romantic was going on between them at the festival.

However I agree with what others have said that Aizawa's behaviour from the beginning of the manga does not indicate any particular romantic interest or even just special attention towards Micchi. I wonder if that means that Aizawa too has suffered some sort of amnesia?

I love this dynamic between the two main characters and the senpai's younger sister might be an interesting addition to it. Also, Suuna's Bocchi vibes are absolutely off the charts

Is this relationship health? Probably not. Should you act like either of this characters IRL? Definitely not. Is this story mega enjoyable regardless and am I cheering for Ayaka and Hiroko just by virtue of Ayaka's gigachad energy? Abso-fucking-lutely.

"We'll bang, ok?" - Commander Hitori Gotoh

It just occurred to me but Ruriko is pretty much quintessential "I don't know, I never thought I'd get this far"

It's a nice series but I do wish there was a bit more plot per chapter

Of all the couples I would like to at any point see happen in YuruYuri, they are number 1. Not that anything will ever happen, but hey

Dunno if the actual characters are the same at all, but the fact that one of the credited assistants is named as Sixi just makes me read every oblivious Sixi scene as a small instance of the author roasting their friend

I love how pleased with herself she is :D

A lot of the comments here really reflect my feelings on this manga, it started out as a silly gag manga that was sort of enjoyable even without expecting any serious progress, but by this point it is just painful to read. The constant state of emotional limbo makes Hishikawa look increasingly pathetic to the point that it just feels mean to laugh at her antics. On the flipside, Komaki just feels cold and honestly cruel.

I think the comedic dynamic has just been overplayed by this point and there would need to be some sort of shake-up in their relationship. Even if they don't get together (which judging by everything they never will), there needs to be a new joke besides Hishikawa makes an advance and is shut down. This is particularly aggravated by some of her advances being not at all ridiculous and over the top, which makes me wonder what the author is even thinking.