It's a shame it ended like this, unlike some others I really enjoyed Haruka -- it's rare to have a love interest as flawed as her and I thought she was a really interesting character. Oh well. Maybe I'll use it as inspiration to write my own story with a similar character dynamic lol.

Regardless, thanks a lot for the translation!

Fwiw it does seem plausible to me that Aya would've gone back to Koto quickly without Erika's intervention. We can see from this chapter she doesn't even really view Koto's actions as abusive. And she still depends on Koto for housing and other expenses; she can't stay with Erika forever.

I'm so confused by the idea that Erika has been "on the attack," or is "letting their relationship deteriorate," she literally just helped Aya this chapter by giving her basically the only possible advice that could lead to their reconciling. They're both actively turning to her first thing when they need help throughout the series so far, more of a doormat than a third wheel at this point.

The first thing Erika says after Aya describes Koto's emotional abuse is "That one time in the library was your first time," dredging up a 7 year old grudge instead of addressing what Aya told her. She continues attacking Aya about it until Aya has her "deja vu" moment, at which point she appears to feel some guilt and stops. But she still doesn't actually address the main issue at question, and instead seems to be trying to convince her to just break up. I don't think this is bad advice in a vacuum, the problem is that Aya is currently in an abusive relationship and her only close friend in the world seems to have no interest in or desire to help(ing) her through it.

Honestly if anything I would criticize Erika for being too soft on Koto in not reacting more negatively to what she pulled. I hope Erika's planning on holding an intervention for Koto next chapter. Pull her aside and go "seriously you cannot lock up your girlfriend and keep her away from the world, that's absolutely not okay" and make sure she gets it before letting Aya see her again.

For the record, this is 100% what I'm criticizing Erika for and I frankly think it's the worst thing she's done in this manga (so far) by a significant margin. Even if she holds an intervention for Koto next chapter (and frankly I doubt she will, I think she's too blinded by her love), that won't make up for the fact that she learned how Aya was the victim of emotional abuse and she refused to provide any emotional support whatsoever and instead went on the attack.

I've been thinking a bit more about this and I'm wondering if Erika's intense self-loathing is actually becoming something of a self-fulfilling prophecy and is somewhat making her into a worse person. There may be a sort of sunk cost fallacy happening for her: Erika thinks she's awful for being self-interested in an ordinary way, but because of that she feels like she has nothing to lose by continuing to be so jealous and resentful of Aya because, after all, she's already an awful person and she can't get more awful, right?

I think both Erika and Koto have failed to deal with their trauma from Aya's disappearance, but in diametrically opposite ways. While Koto spent these past 7 years dwelling in the past, unable or unwilling to move on, Erika I think moved on too much. On a surface level it almost seems as if she didn't grieve at all for Aya, but I feel like that can't be true. I think she's been repressing both her grief over Aya's apparent death and the guilt for whatever part she seems to have played in it (that conversation she had with her is surely going to be very important). Perhaps she's put so much of herself into her love for Koto precisely because that's how she can avoid the reality of what happened. And these two diametrically opposed yet equally maladaptive coping mechanisms have led them to become the people they are today: Koto, so consumed by abandonment trauma that she wants to lock Aya in her apartment, and Erika, throwing herself into a doomed one-sided love in an attempt to ignore the self-loathing she feels is a permanent part of her.

It's very interesting! Compared to them, Aya seems like a saint, but I wonder if she has her own crippling flaws we just haven't had a chance to see yet...

Sorry Erika fans, I can't say she was at her best in this chapter. She hears Aya talk about some incredible emotional abuse and yet she still ends up being taken over by her jealousy until her guilt knocks her back into some semblance of rationality. While she asks Aya "Do you love the present Koto?", I feel like she should really be asking herself that. Does she have an actual reason to be in love with the present Koto aside from the toxic storm of obsession, jealousy, and guilt that's been driving her for the past 7 years? At least Aya has the excuse of being 14 lol.

As for Tsukuba, she seems like a nice person and her advice is, in the abstract, completely right. But I think she's missing some key context that neither Aya nor Erika were willing to provide her, Aya because she's immature and doesn't really understand how relationships are supposed to work, and Erika because she's still not really facing reality. That being said, it is true that Aya needed to internalize how traumatized Koto was at some point for them to be able to maintain a friendship, much less a romance -- which I still don't think is healthy for either of them, but I'm definitely curious to see both where Aya's new determination will lead her and what lessons Koto is taking from their fight.

Thanks a lot for the translation!

With art, the ridiculous premise, and an amazing translator(s) peopleperson this is prolly my favorite thing to follow right now.

Thanks so much!!

autism representation in yuri and yuri-adjacent anime/manga has been everywhere lately huh

The power of Tomoko Kuroki knows no bounds...

last edited at Jul 23, 2024 1:51PM

I really liked this oneshot! Very cute and fun, and both characters have strong and endearing personalities.

It's kind of interesting that Makita got told she doesn't have sex appeal even though the oneshot depicts that she absolutely does. Perhaps she was always uncomfortable with taking on the "submissive" role that women are expected to embody in traditional heterosexual relationships, and that caused her to be nervous/hesitant when it came to sexual matters until now?

Still a 10/10 every time I reread it, sad that the author seems to have retired/left the industry (even deleted their pixiv and twitter accounts). Oh well, at least they left behind this true gem of a story.

The comments thread here is more dramatic than the manga itself lmao.

I think there's a couple reasons I enjoyed this more than most people seemed to. First, I didn't love the original manga. It's cute and fun, but overall one of Morishima's weaker works imo. So my expectations for the sequel were a lot lower than many other people here's were. I do think it's probably a bit worse than the original overall but not significantly so.

Second, it does a pretty interesting thing where the characters are heavily flawed, but not in a malicious way. Ironically I think if it had been malicious people might have had an easier time connecting with them. But Youko, for example, doesn't hurt her boyfriend or Ayumi because she enjoys seeing them suffer, or even because she's selfish really. She's more thoughtless, and doesn't appear to truly understand how her actions impact other people.

This is actually very in line with her characterization in the first series. Not only did she reject Yae, but she went out of her way to encourage Yae to date boys instead. I think she legitimately didn't understand how doing this hurt Yae enough that Yae cut off contact with her until they coincidentally met again. Similarly, I think she legitimately didn't understand how her two-timing was hurting Ayumi and her boyfriend, not because she's dumb necessarily, but because she's a teenager who has yet to truly internalize that other people are different from her.

And that is, after all, the main theme of this manga titled "soft-boiled girls." All these girls are still immature, even Ran, still learning about other people and relationships and how to live as an adult human being. They make mistakes, sometimes very significant mistakes, because they're all heavily blinkered by their own worldviews and personalities. But at the end of the day, they're able to forgive each other because they love each other. While I can't call any of Morishima's writing "realistic," this is a very real and raw theme that contrasts interestingly with the extremely light and fluffy tone.

I just wish we got more of a sense of why these girls love each other beyond enjoying fucking each other. Oh well. That part has never been Morishima's strong suit, lol.

Aya is quickly shaping up to be one of my favorite yuri characters ever. Her coworker friend is absolutely right; despite being thrust into one of the shittiest situations imaginable, she's managed to pick herself up and keep moving forward. In just a few short months she has a job, a path to earning a high school degree, and has now even obtained something of a career trajectory with the theater troupe. That is insanely impressive for a 14-year-old with almost no support system. And then, as soon as her girlfriend -- whom she depends on for food and housing, mind you -- starts being abusive, she's self-confident enough to just up and leave immediately. I love her.

Putting it in these terms, I wonder if there's more to Koto's behavior here than just her abandonment trauma. One line that stood out to me is when she said, "That's how you've always been. Before I realize, you're moving forward. And then, just leave me behind." It feels like she's talking about more than just Aya disappearing. I think Koto, despite her love for Aya, has also always had an inferiority complex about her: the beautiful girl who can do anything. Aya says she wants to be "level with" Koto, but perhaps from Koto's point of view, their current arrangement, with Aya totally dependent on her, is the only way for them to actually be equal. As soon as Aya starts standing on her own again, Koto fears, she'll realize how much better she is than Koto and ditch her for someone she's more suited for.

That said, I disagree with the posters who say we can't blame her for this, and/or hope for them to get back together. I don't think there's any coming back from what Koto did here. I don't think she's irredeemable, but she has a lot of work to do before she's ready for another relationship.

This is unusually wholesome comming from Aweida...

Is this the most wholesome Aweida doujin ever?

Their stuff is normally cute no? Their longer series aren't really posted here but I can't think of a non-wholesome ending to any of those. Even what's posted here is just fun stuff. Am I missing some of their series?

Aweida doesn't usually focus on romance/love like this.

Is this the most wholesome Aweida doujin ever?

It's tough to be around someone who values and likes you.

This line hit me like a truck to the face, and perfectly captures Aikawa as a character. Good lord.

Thanks a lot for the translation!! This manga seriously deserves to get a lot more attention than it currently is, at least among the English-speaking audience (it appears to be doing quite well in Japan, thankfully).

I think people here are being too harsh on this manga. It's clearly wearing its influences on its sleeve, but what's important is execution, not originality. I think both protagonists are fun, their dynamic is very entertaining, and we're getting some hints of complexity that can be explored more later. It's also already way more sensual than Usui Shio has ever been before, so I don't think we can just assume it'll be like her past works were.

What exactly should Aya do now that her old life has been completely taken away from her?

All these are extremely relevant questions to actual people, no supernatural bullshit required,

I’m really not seeing how these two statements have any logical connection. Under what circumstances does an actual person “have their whole life taken away from them” and reunite with their schoolmates apparently 7 years younger and with their domestic situation eradicated apparently overnight?

This seems to be arguing that as long as we ignore the entire premise of the series, the issues it raises are very down-to-earth and realistic.

Add enough details and no work of fiction is applicable to real life. Probably nobody IRL had exactly the same backstory and issues as Touko from Bloom Into You, but the character's themes of loss and trying to live up to an impossible ideal are universal, or close to it. Obviously nobody IRL has ever been through exactly what Aya has. But the more general feeling of being unmoored, having no idea what to do with your life, being dependent on your loved ones and so alternately being grateful to them and feeling a certain amount of guilty resentment? Those are 100% realistic issues. I think you're approaching this story too literally.

I don’t disagree with the points you make, but judging the “morality” of the characters’ actions is ultimately subject to the extreme artificiality of the “spirited away” situation—what exactly should a person do when they or their crush or their rival disappears one day and then reappears seven years later physically unchanged and with no memory of time passing?

And you certainly could be right—that situation may in some sense have been triggered by all the characters’ wishes, but that’s basically irrelevant to judging the morality of the characters, because, at least so far, the story hasn’t shown the slightest inclination to make that premise explicit or to otherwise explore the mechanics of how the “supernatural” works here.

I kinda disagree with how you interpret the story. Yeah the literal premise is supernatural events that never happen IRL (as far as we know), but it's not like they have no analogue whatsoever to realistic situations. That is, in fact, precisely why the morality debates on this forum get so heated. Is maintaining an unrequited love for years a moral failing? How much of Koto's treatment of Aya is justified because (a) Aya legitimately does need her help and (b) Koto still has severe PTSD from Aya's disappearance? What exactly should Aya do now that her old life has been completely taken away from her? All these are extremely relevant questions to actual people, no supernatural bullshit required, and for that reason this manga is managing to call forth a lot of passion in its readership. I think that's a sign of its high quality.

I feel similar to this oneshot as I do to Haruhana Aya's serialization A Kiss for the Girl's Scars. Both this oneshot and that manga have some plot, pacing, and character issues, but the author puts a ton of heart, passion, and sincerity into each that make them compelling anyway. I honestly have a lot of optimism in Haruhana's potential, I think if she can gain experience as a writer while holding onto her clear love for the genre and the characters she writes, she might be able to create a true masterpiece someday.

I really don't get the impulse to rank these characters on some "optimal behavior" scale. The preceding conversations have done a thorough job of showing how Aya, Koto, and Erika are each in their own individual "damned if she does and damned if she doesn't" dilemma.

It seems to me that the whole point of Aya's "spirited away" time-shift (indeed, so far the only point that I can see) was to put all three of them into a "no win" situation and then see how it plays out.

I'm not interested in ranking the characters by morality, but I do think the manga is designed to prompt these sorts of discussions. It's a character drama where each of the three hurts the other two due to her own flaws and limitations, and I do think analyzing the morality of a character's actions is one way to reveal their personality and motivations.

In this case, it's particularly relevant because I still believe Aya's jump through time happened because each of the three, in her own way, wished for it. Aya wanted to escape from her shitty home situation; Erika wanted to drive a permanent stake through Koto and Aya's relationship; and Koto, as we're learning, wanted Aya to be dependent on her. What they're all learning now is something Slavoj Zizek once said, that the term for a dream becoming real is "nightmare."

If you wanted another term to use instead of "suggestive", "on the nose" is a term that means "very obvious/lacking in subtext".

Good point! That probably would be more accurate than my translation, so you can imagine her saying that instead lol.

After last chapter, I'm not so sure that she's being honest when she says she doesn't like anything or find anything cute. After all, if she didn't like anything, why would she have come out of the desert and what was that shining light she was walking towards?

If nothing else, it seems pretty clear that Takahashi likes her school uniform, given her expression while talking about it. So yeah, I agree, she's not being fully honest there.

I must express my most energic repulse to the translator's work. I mean, telling someone off while wearing cool shades should have, for quasi-religious reasons, translated as "...deal with it." The inferior line used is unaceptable.
Tsk, tsk. Kids today.

You are 100% correct and I am ashamed at my own incompetence.

last edited at Apr 25, 2024 4:09PM

god i'm so in love with this. i hope we can get at least a few volumes of it

Volume 2 is already out in Japan, which goes up to chapter 20, and it's still ongoing so we should get at least 30 (hopefully many more!). The most recently published chapter was #22.

Also this needs Philosophical tag imo, or I think it would paint a proper image for any interested potential reader. Anyway I love this, it's so eerie and profound, just fantastic.

I considered it, but I think Psychological is a more accurate descriptor; there is some social commentary, but the focus is largely on the characters' emotional states. That said, the social commentary is definitely there, so if you think a Philosophical tag is deserved please do suggest it and see what the mods think.

I'm really happy you're enjoying it so much!

in this thread we have Koto x Erika fans and Koto x Aya fans, but is anyone else an Aya x Erika fan?

I really appreciate the TL notes at the end Cogito, they're super interesting and helpful to someone learning Japanese (like myself).

I find it really interesting to see the rabbit-hole you sometimes have to go down to translate "slang".

Thank you! They're fun to write. I could probably talk for hours about translation choices since I find it fascinating. お砂糖関係/"sugary relationship" is the deepest rabbit hole I've gone down so far since I had to read through this entire Japanese article to understand it (or well, half understand it, my vocabulary isn't great and I wasn't going to look up every kanji in that article I didn't know lol), but you and @Zesc can be assured that more long TL notes are coming. :)

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 12:45PM

Neither of the artists has ever done Yuri before and the introduction of the work doesn't use the word Yur but the friendship so I wonder why is this work tagged as Yuri? Did at least one of the characters fall in love in the following chapter if not then I would suggest tagging it with subtext instead of Yuri.

The Bookwalker page does tag it as yuri, as well as romance. The Comicwalker page does not, admittedly (though it did have a "romance" tag before the website's redesign); looking at other sites that sell the volume, the tagging is actually pretty inconsistent in this regard. But the publication it's in, Comic Beam, publishes a number of yuri manga, as you can see from its page here, so I can't imagine there would be publisher pressure or anything to make it "not yuri."

In addition, I don't think it's true that neither mangaka has done yuri. The writer also did this oneshot, basically a comedy about a "yuri death game," as well as a previous series that at least on Twitter they claim to be yuri by the end (I haven't read it myself, maybe I should?).

Finally, while I understand the word "love" wasn't used, I really can't interpret Itou's reactions in chapter 2 in any other way lol. When you're having a meltdown over another girl getting close to you and thinking about how good she smells, that's not friendship. So while I do think it's kind of on the yuri/subtext borderline, there's enough there that I'm comfortable calling it yuri.

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 9:41AM

The anti-Koto people on this forum must have enjoyed this chapter lol.

To be clear, I don't hate Koto. I think her behavior is extremely understandable as someone clearly suffering from PTSD after the girl she loved suddenly disappeared (and presumably died), and that girl suddenly showing up again as a 14-year-old is literally unprecedented and would drive anyone a bit crazy. But that doesn't change the fact that she's not doing well right now and her extreme overprotectiveness and abandonment anxiety are the exact opposite of what Aya needs.

On the other hand, I really liked Aya in this chapter. Her situation is so shitty but she's trying to make the best of it and move forward. I don't know how many people in her circumstances could have done the same.

(Okay I'll admit it I'm kind of shipping Aya and Erika lol.)