Oh my God! Thanks for the clarification Kirin-kun.
This chapter!!! I hate seeing Oosawa sad, but knew it was inevitable. That's why I read these. Hopefully Mitsuki can find her and help her feel better ;~;
I think next chapter will be more sadness as Oosawa thinks about this alone, but after that maybe? I'm hopeful these gays will figure things out together.

God lesbians move so fast she's known her for like no time at all and barely had that much alone time with her yet she already loves her?

I think it's safe to say that, at least at this current point in time, Kashiwai doesn't so much love Tsuzuki as much as she loves the idea of Tsuzuki. Idealization is after all what her character is built on; the entire reason she loves being a wedding planner is so she can create her ideal brides that she then...lives vicariously through? We know she's loved weddings since she was a kid (chapter 4). The tension in her character from the beginning, before she even met Tsuzuki, is the contrast between the "ideal (in her mind) weddings" she constructs for others and the boring, ordinary mundanity she's experienced since her own engagement.

Tsuzuki is so fascinating to Kashiwai because the very qualities that (seemingly) make her her ideal bride -- beauty, confidence, sincerity, openness with her love -- also allow her to reject everything Kashiwai stands for. This fundamental contradiction is what's driving her insane and tempting her to throw away her life, but that too is a major part of Tsuzuki's appeal. In chapter 5, the one where they kiss, Kashiwai says: "The sensation of insecurity coming from being on water is both scary and enjoyable." Both Tsuzuki herself and the prospect of being with her terrify Kashiwai, but that is precisely why she's going through with this. From the very beginning she's wanted to take a wrecking ball to her own life, and Tsuzuki just happens to have given her an excuse to do so.

Thinking it through like this, the real mystery is actually why Tsuzuki fell in love with Kashiwai. Hoping we get another chapter from her PoV to shed some light on this.

Mmm, yes. There's the letter she gets from her former client who lived out an ideal resolution to pre-wedding troubles, then there's Kashiwai and her fiance. Will she see a similar resolution in her mundane life? The thought doesn't even cross her mind. Just like her disinterest in making venue plans for her wedding earlier, Kashiwai either doesn't want to or can't follow that ideal. However much she can see its beauty in her professional life, it's the counter-ideal that Tsuzuki represents that enthralls Kashiwai. Tsuzuki acts an incursion of ideals into a mundane, material personal life of comphet that hasn't worked out. Work and personal matters first stopped being separate when Tsuzuki broke that barrier. And Kashiwai fell for her, of course.

last edited at Aug 16, 2022 3:07AM

Yeah this feels very forced lol. Ruriko clearly finds her annoying and only knew her for like a month. Well, i guess if it leads to Kurumi realizing her feelings then sure ┐(´ー｀)┌

I agree with it being forced. What kind of person sees a "friend" and meets their spouse and so immediately plops their butt down at the table begs for them to buy them stuff. I know of people that are that rude, but not many. Even in Japan, no matter how polite and hospitable the people are, that behavior is grounds to tell them to bugger off.

Being essentially homeless, unemployed, and probably close to penniless mitigates that a great deal, I would expect.

Also, it's the spouse that invites them to sit at the table, she didn't invite herself.

last edited at Aug 14, 2022 10:45AM

This manga has just made me even more firm in my stance of "if I win a million dollars, I'll give it away." Ignoring my ideological principals, having someone entirely in your care is a scary thought, because they might end up feeling trapped by their financial dependence upon you. I'd buy a house though, won't be able to do that otherwise...

last edited at Aug 12, 2022 1:20AM

This is now one of my top 5 favorite manga!
The absurd world after the change is a magnification of the absurd world before, which itself was just a reflection of the absurd world we live in.
This is probably the most satisfying post-scarcity story I've seen. Other narratives I've seen deal with it too shallowly ("oh wow, everything is so nice!" or "without COMPETITION all action is WITHOUT MEANING, as the point of life is WINNING"), or it's not the focus (star trek).
This manga also has this ever-present feeling of frankness. The world is strange, but people and relationships are genuine and real. On two back-to-back occasions though, we see characters fail at this: chapter 30 page 178 where Shimeji's sis was treated poorly because she's different and a few pages before that when the Gardener and Sis' opposing beliefs butt heads. I think those two moments contrast with the tone of the rest of the manga the most. It's late now though, so I'll leave my thoughts till later, after some more chapters have come out probably. I'll be pondering and considering until then.

last edited at Aug 10, 2022 1:45AM

Recency bias and all that, but that's gotta be some of the best flirting writing I've read. I think it captures an intimate experience of exploring one's queer feelings well, an experience marked with unsureness (as in seen primarily in Satou, but still present on Shioya) but also enamored with "figuring it out," as it were. And the art! It's the middle of summer here and I could feel the winter oozing from the scenes. This was a good piece!

My first instinct was: more! If I don't get a part 2 I will personally commission the artist a year's salary to continue! My more measured reaction right after that was: even if this is all we get, this is literally the best so all can be forgiven, and I can appreciate it as a stand-alone piece.

I'm sorry, but these highschool girls being real into Aerosmith brings me out of it lol. But at the same time, for these weirdos? I can see it.
cute chapter, only wish I had more...

where the hell are you people going to high school that suddenly your high school girls stopped listening to rock? (i graduated in 2021, the grunge freaks are Everywhere)

girls into rock for sure, but the people I knew that were real into rock were more RHCP or Nirvana or maybe The Doors. Aerosmith occupies the "lame dad band" section of my music categorization brain (as opposed to a "cool dad band" like Pink Floyd), and I think that was to some degree the consensus in that crowd.

I highschool I always thought of my self as "positive" and "optimistic"... this has beautifully put into paper those feelings that I was never able to fully express. Love the art, love the story.

fuck, the author got the suicidal tone and feel of talking uncomfortably accurate. translators did good too ofc

streamers, idols, anyone hates feeling disposable. Having to sell yourself to people you can't get close to, to make them like you, your personality and all it encompasses, that's horrible. It's like permanently being on the edge of some sort of connection, like a kid that never really gets fully included.
I can't seem to put my thoughts into words about it, but this connects with me on a more fundamental level than "oh, a parasocial relationship, those suck" because it's not just about changing idol interests. She talks about it herself: she met these people, did stuff with them, even let them fuck her, but in the end got mentally disposed of just the same as any graduated idol. Parasocial relationships aren't a real connection, and neither were those. What she wants in the end isn't more parasocial relationships, it's that real connection. Moving on without a thought for her is just a symptom of the problem, not the problem itself.

Really good, made me think about things. Kept from being a total favorite bc the ending could've been a little bit better, but definitely worth the read. Dunno if you can say the same about my rambles, lol.

last edited at Jul 25, 2022 1:47AM

christmas in july, whoo!

This story was OK

I'm sorry, but these highschool girls being real into Aerosmith brings me out of it lol. But at the same time, for these weirdos? I can see it.
cute chapter, only wish I had more...

Ah, so she does have two moms! I was confused earlier and thought "oh surely it's just a continuity error," pleasant surprise that the commenters who guessed it was two moms got it right. Maybe I shouldn't be as surprised lol

This is honestly one of my favorites. I read it a couple years ago and it's stuck with me ever since. I think I can just relate a lot to the comfort of solitude being replaced by the comfort of another person when that solitude is broken. This gets everything that one manga/LN that's about skipping class in the 2nd story of a gym is about, and does it better (and with an order of magnitude fewer pages).
You could also make a comparison to Hino-san no Baka, but honestly that doesn't feel more than superficially accurate. This has that lonely atmosphere where just "having friends" doesn't satisfy the need for social connection, where maybe one wants to be alone because one actually wants to be with someone.

I disagree with people saying the ending felt rushed. I think as others said, that just had to do with the upload schedule (maybe chapter structure too). Having just read the series, start-to-finish, tonight, it seemed fine to me. The progression from having to pay rent to realizing her love made sense to me, especially since that genuine love was already built up through many chapters beforehand. All it took was framing the question as "how would I feel if they left me?" for her to understand her feelings. In my life, I've experienced that type of epiphany a number of times.

Maybe the time skip epilogue isn't to many people's tastes as well. I'm alright with it. It's got a certain charm to it when it's done like this... Now, a time skip leading to the conclusion! Those I'm more weary of.

Low-key gonna start making my hair into cat ears like Takahashi now.

It is not even attempted rape. Being pushy but ultimately stopping when someone says no is, like, the opposite of rape. Can we stop misusing the word? We don't need to go around branding people who stop when told to stop as rapists.

You don't have to say "no" or "stop" for it to be rape! Rape is consensual sex, consent has to be given. You need explicit, specific, enthusiastic (uncoerced) consent. All types of media portray this poorly, and sadly that's had an effect on how people understand it (and vice versa ofc, media isn't made in a vacuum). I mean this less as an attack on the manga, and more an expression of my frustration with people not understanding what real world consent is.

Now, since that wasn't sex, nor did it seem like it was going toward sex (bc MC doesn't know what lesbian sex entails), so I would categorize it under the more broad "sexual assault." I think the way this manga handled it wasn't too bad though, but I agree with saltyslug, shador, and the immaculate. The characters seem to be resolving the issue; I'm happy they're both coming out of it alright (in a believable way), and I'm excited to see how this story ends.

last edited at Aug 3, 2022 12:34AM

I feel as emotionally teased as the couple with how many times their forays into sexuality have been blocked! I don't need it depicted explicitly, just let them do it! Aside from that, I really like this story. I think I had read the first chapter or two years ago, and I'm glad the author made it a full series. Hopefully there's another volume to come

The way Ayane encourages Micchan! At that point if I was Micchan, I'd be seriously wondering if Ayane's hinting at a potentially open relationship. Might have to write some fanfic to explore that, since I doubt that's where the author is going (despite that being the clear conclusion imo). I did think it was odd when the author wrote that Micchan "dislikes" Ayane in one of the pre-chapter relationship diagrams, since that's not how I saw it as early as the public bath chapter.

solidarity with my fellow pathetic catgirl senpai

Considering both the genre and the "5 girls 5 senses!" thing, I don't have much hope for my dual Karen+Riri endgame.
ASMR girl is alright, but Karen and Riri seem like the best matches. Opposites in a lot of ways, very similar in others. And they both get along well, sharing Mei's affection! Since it won't be both, I hope one of them (Karin plz, I can hope...) is the real endgame.

Uda is a treasure, favorite side character in a long time. UdaxRiri is wonderful, I think they're great for each other. I think it'll be interesting when Riri has the situation flipped back on her: now she's the one choosing an impossible one-sided love over someone close that cares about her. A fun story to read :)

I'm always glad when stories progress past the characters figuring out what love is, and that they share it. I think this'll be end up a longtime favorite.

Christ! I was upset by the rapey shit in this chapter, it gets that much worse?

This story could've gone in so many other directions. Directions that are sexual too! When Aya laid out how she wouldn't force MC into anything she wasn't comfortable with, I was reassured things would progress in a nice direction despite the premise's inherent danger. I continued after the groping stuff she clearly wasn't comfortable with because I enjoyed the conclusion "eh, I'm tired of all this porn. It's a product to be sold, what good is it for opening my mind about how people feel" and how it was received by Aya, but I should've taken that as a sign the series wasn't gonna turn out how I'd hoped.

The way MC adapted to the lesbian bar so as not to offend them was cute tho; what a polite girl.

last edited at Aug 3, 2022 12:45AM

Second read, appreciate it just as much as my first time. Kinda wanna bookmark this one for the future; maybe as I age it'll age too, like wine

Guess tropes never change that much, haha. 2 decades on and we still see this same story.

this is nice. even just from this short one-shot i can tell that these characters are very sensible and communicate well and have healthy relationships, even if their relationships aren't all unicorns and rainbows all the time. a breath of fresh air from the rest of the yuri genre

Ditto. It's a more relaxed story than many others, and I like it for that.

This is a really good magazine. Guess I like the older stuff; wish there was more of it and more of it was translated.

last edited at Jul 16, 2022 2:56AM