Heh, Yukari is precognitively quoting Spider Robinson.

It's interesting that only the "Summer" story isn't about clutching at human warmth despite asynchronous lifespans. Immortality is a bitch.

(Yuyuko and Yukari have a terribly tragic backstory, but Moukou and Kaguya have the most terribly tragic inevitable future story. When humanity dies out, they'll still be here. When the sun swallows the earth, they'll still be here. When entropy inexorably grinds all things to the heat death of the universe, the whole of the cosmos a flat near-vacuum at 5°K, they'll still be here.)

I can justify the jolt apart by simple surprise — Vivio really did make a lot of sudden noise in coming in. Really, though, for this reading, they're both kind of reserved, and put a certain amount of effort into seeming in control. It's the same sort of thing as the Vivid Life chapter in which they've been lazing around all day in their pajamas, but when Vivio comes home they're suddenly in Barrier Jackets and playing mock battle, to keep up the adult facade.

(They're still quite young to have a tween. Vivio has Kris, so it's Vivid era, so they're, what, 23?)

I have seen some honest Nanoha/Yuuno shipping, though I think there's a degree of denial to it. I've also seen some Fate/Nanoha/Yuuno OT3 stuff that I'm fond of, though the poly ship to back has always been Hayate X Wolkenritter.

At any rate, I love NanoFate, but I am always a little tickled by this comic's (and a few others') portrayal of Fate as desperately in love, and Nanoha as ace and clueless. I don't think it's really supportable — Nanoha clings to Fate at least as often in canon as vice versa — but it's funny.

I like this portrayal of Suzuka as lesbian puppet master. Just a (vampire?) queen and her (robot?) maids.

I'm a little unclear in Azusa's part whether she's thinking of Yui because Mio and Ritsu are together, or if she's thinking of all three of them. Japanese's lack of plurals can be troublesome, sometimes.

Eh, when you're that deep in petplay, the metaphors get strained.

The whole class of background characters have names; some names made it into the anime but they're all in the fanbooks and such.

It's a trackball. Back in the Elder Times, before tiny lasers and sensors were a thing, a computer mouse worked by having a little ball inside, with rollers to tell where the whole thing went. A trackball was basically that, but flipped upside down, so you have a stationary box with a billiard-sized ball that you roll around with your hand to move the pointer around. They're still made, but it's very much a specialty product anymore.

last edited at Jan 31, 2020 11:28PM

Very nice, but it always bothers me a little when Suigintou has an abdomen. (That's probably an anime-only plot point or something.)

Eeeh... I can see the parallels you see, sure, but it takes a lot of squinting. I don't think the similarities are more than the names and free-floating anime tropes.

It does amuse me to remember that Taiga actually did run for student council president, albeit as a threat; the possibility of her winning was widely considered the school's death knell.

Found this randomly today — and I'm a huge fan of Prunus Girl, so it was a greatly pleasant surprise. It's probably paced too slowly for its three volume length, but the vagaries of publication will do that to you. The only thing nagging at me is Yuu's reactions to the idea of immortality, and why she's living in a big house all alone — she's had to watch someone die before, hasn't she? It seems her dad is still alive, if next-door-guy's comments are to be taken at face value. So her mom? Beloved grandparents? Hmm. (Not wanting spoilers, just speculating.)

From the position, I almost wonder if Kotori is less blocking the kiss than blocking the camera. "Give them some privacy, you voyeur!"

Sexidorable? I'm a big fan of Randou House's squishy girls, and good lord is there some squishy here.

I'm also particularly fond of the group shot of the rest of the girls at the end. Chirp chirp indeed, Kotori.

Only when love is a reflective solid; if love is instead a transmissive solid, it won't reflect any colors, letting them all shine through.

Sometimes love is a light source instead, containing all colors.

(Source: Mizuno A. "The Optical Properties of Tangible Love", 1995. Nakayoshi Journal of Applied Physics 27(2), 234-247.)

last edited at Jan 30, 2020 7:26PM

I've never seen it outside Love Live stuff featuring or referencing the Kurosawa sisters — it's pretty much Ruby's trademark squeal that Dia used to make (and still does, in extremis). That said, Japanese speakers seem a lot more comfortable with onomatopoetic utterances in general — actually saying things like "doki doki" or "nyoro" or whatever. It's not formally correct, and it's usually (in a character) meant to be idiosyncratic, but it's not exactly rare.

GlassesPana is best Hanayo. (I also appreciate the running gag of "Do you want rice? No? I'll eat it.")

Yeah, I'm always a little more in favor of magical girl series that don't have an explicit magic-goes-away puberty metaphor. (Momentary pause while I grumble about Lloyd Alexander.) Nanoha, even in the first series, showed that there was a role on the good guy side for magical women (and that role was starship captain, so booya).

My wife hit her adult height — 5'7" — by the time she was 12; she was taller than both her parents. It happens, sometimes. When, and how hard, puberty hits is yet another of the myriad aspects of humanity that are broad spectra without being specific disorders

Or something. Still, I like these two, and am encouraged by the increase, in this manga of pervy girls, of ones who actually fuck.

(Actually, genderflipping Toradora's Takasu Ryuuji would give you — an overly sweet housewife-type who looks like a delinquent. That plus Taiga's porcelain doll who acts like a delinquent would give you something, but it wouldn't be much like this chapter )

I did laugh aloud at "Piranha plant".

"Picked up at a thrift shop"... Is there something you'd like to tell the class, Mr. Morichika? (Though admittedly, he's not the only second-hand store in Gensokyo; she could have bought it from Marisa's dad. Is that better or worse?)

I think the other obvious joke here is something like, "Oh, yeah, the strapless dildo crossed the border into fantasy so quickly because dildo-obsessed lesbians was mostly a fantasy to start with," but that's a little mean. Plenty of non-forgotten objects do make it into Gensokyo — Rinnosuke has stocked items like iPods and handheld game consoles without too much time lag.

Really, that's a good look for Youmu, though I half-think she's a missing Jougasaki sister.

I'm never quite sure how to react to books that seem like it's supposed to be character X and/or character Y, but it's actually randos cosplaying.

Hah, nice callback to Dateless Bar Old Adam.

(To clarify, the Sealing Club story which accompanies this album says that in Renko and Maribel's future Japan, most drinking is done with "new-style" alcohol; if you imagine Star Trek TNG's synthahol you're not far wrong. It gets you to buzzed and tipsy, but not past that, and lacks a hangover. The titular bar, however, serves "old-style" drinks, with the usual effects of current alcoholic beverages.)

I love these meandering, philosophical Touhou stories — they're very, well, ZUN-ish. I look forward to random shoe-coveting village girl's future danmaku patterns.