Oh my...Now I'm wondering what role will that blue umbrella play here.

lol, my first thought, looking at that umbrella, was a bottle of shampoo, which left me totally confused for a while xD and its role's quite obvious - they're going to share it on their way back, when Seol-a will grab a taxi to find her beloved tiny lump of cuteness and fluffiness.. wonder if she calls more people into help before it will turn out that No-rae's completely safe

I'm just gonna brace myself for whatever drama

nah, Ssamba'a smarter than delivering Citrus-like twists

Apocalypse penultimate chapter.

sounds legit! I'm in!

....Brace yourself drama is......... comming?

yeah... first, a coma, then amnesia, then a deadly virus

OMG!!! Why is this SOOO CUUUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yeah... Cute accident... (about newest chap)

You think something really happened to her? I thought Seol-a just heard some news and got anxious that it might have been No-rae's bus, but I don't think it really is the case.. or may be... I'm.. erm.. too positive? But really so much drama out of nowhere? No-o... I think Seol-a just needed a clue how important No-rae became to her.

OMG!!! Why is this SOOO CUUUTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I like how the last chapter shows that Seol-a feels really lonely when she mentions that to her mother, and the whole marriage topic pops up. It felt a bit like foreshadowing the future relationship between Seol-a and No-rae. Will it really be her mum, who will hint the most about her feelings to No-rae?
On a side note, didn't realise Seol-a's such a narcissist.

it'll be fun watching her swoon and flirt with No-rae without realizing it and meanwhile... driving No-rae nuts! XD

And I'm sooo in for this ride!!! XDDD

Car?

That sure is the most logical thing to assume and probably the likeliest too, although somehow to me it first felt that there's more to his irritation.

Lots of cute moments in this chapter, we sure missed it after many previous "intense" chapters before this.
Poor mother of seol-a, teaching her how to cook, thinking it is for her future son-in law that seol-a asking her eagerly to learn new recipes, little she know hahaha

oh true! You just made me realise that Seol-a used that immediately to cook for No-rae!

sidenote:
unshaved brother - nice detail to give a family feeling to the scene.. wonder what he was complaining about

last edited at May 24, 2015 6:00PM

yay for the wedding mail flying to the rubbish bin
yay x2 for Seol-a in glasses!
yay x3 for kitten-like No-rae with her eyes closed - übercute
and... what cup size is Seol-a?.. that's probably something I can relate to her the least T__T

xyth
haha, join the club

Yuri Kuma Arashi's anime is about finding your someone special (the recurring "found you!") and about "true love" vs desire (eating). And also being true to your love, even in the face of the invisible storm.

True. But I think it's more encompassing and more about society than love - it's the theme of "defining the norm".
The quirks of the personality or other abnormalities in each one of us is what makes us stand out, makes us visible. On one hand that makes us vulnerable as the society (the invisible storm) starts to fear the unknown and decides to get rid of us. On the other hand, that's what makes others fall in love with us (finding someone visible).
In other words Ikuhara sends a message that it's OK to be and stay different, never give up on who you are, because no matter where you go, you'll always differ from the rest in one aspect or another. Therefore, no matter where you go there will be two worlds of love and hate around you, just accept it as part of your life. And if you do give up and becomes transparent, you risk to lose someone precious, someone who loves you.

After few exciting chapters were it was always ending in the middle of a transition that awaits more details, we are facing a new chapter today with totally new start ! I said it before in an older post that the last chapter was so much like the end of the series ! I can't see anyone else making similar comment so may be it was only me. But the way things were presented from no-rae's perspective gave me such feeling that no-rae reached the "peace of mind" and stopped running (which we all agreed she will), and that she will go on with her daily life, feeling happy just being by Seol-A side rather than suffering from leaving her, which is something she can't bear.
It was thus so much like a conclusion that we will live like this for now, "as friends", and whether this will stay this way or change, it is something for your imagination, dear readers, .........FIN/The end !.

Oh don't worry, it was in fact a conclusion, but a conclusion of the act 2. That's what Ssamba wrote herself at the end of the chapter. To me it felt exactly like the chapter 19. Act 1 was becoming friends. Act 2 is No-rae recognizing her feelings for Seol-a. Now act 3 will start and I expect it to be about Seol-a realising that her feelings for No-rae is something more than just a friendship. And I don't

Apart from this dreadful ending which would have killed us all if it is to happen. I don't know how the coming chapter will open a new progress to the story. Will it be a casual day out that we missed it between those two for a while. Or someone from the past will make an entrance this chapter, or at the end of it (no-rae's ex? or Seol-A old classmate? or a new love rival?

Take a look at chapter 20 for hints. It started with Min-jeong and Hee-jin - our MCs hung out with the good friends of theirs. Hee-jin has by now met Seol-a, so I'd say it's time for No-rae to meet Min-jeong or Seol-a's mum and/or brother. Which is pretty much the reason why we started talking about Min-jeong in the posts above in the first place.

I'd like to make a corrective statement for a previous post.

As you mentioned, Min-jeong doesn't go to the same university, so Seol-a only sees her occasionally. And it seems that when they meet, at least sometimes, it's to hang out with guys -- probably guys that they barely know or even just met -- to drink, flirt, so on, like in chapter 20.

As an aside, Min-jeong is probably the kind of girl that everybody thinks Seol-a is: a party girl who is really flirty with guys. [...]

Actually, turns out, in chapter 20, when Seol-a and Min-jeong met up with two guys, one of the two was likely Min-jeong's boyfriend.

From chapter 10, Seol-a and Min-jeong had a conversation and Seol-a said, "That's because you weren't in Seoul. (small text: ) You went on a 'honeymoon trip' with your boyfriend. How was the sunrise?" Blink and you would've missed it, lol.

So I can't really say or assume Min-jeong is a party girl or a flirt or anything. So basically... we really don't know much of anything about Min-jeong right now. Let's see if she shows up more in the next act.

Yes, anon, yes, there's something "fishy" about her!
The fact that Seol-a and Min-jeong are friends means that there's trust between the two. Min-jeong's well aware of girls with ulterior motives approaching Seol-a as fake friends. And Seol-a, despite having experienced the pain from Yu-ji's betrayal, still found a friend in Min-jeong. This is why I raised the question, why Seol-a is so concerned about having a female friend - doesn't she already have a good friend?
But I think my own answer is, having reread all of your comments as well as chapters 10, 11, 20, even though they are good friends and understand each other really well, they're too much alike and have faced the same or similar problems. Unlike Min-jeong, No-rae complements Seol-a and gives her what Min-jeong can't. In that sense, my bet is that Min-jeong will really like No-rae herself if they happen to meet. I don't mean any love triangles, of course, more like the seal of approval. And of course, another reason for Seol-a's concerns is simply feeling lonely in the university since Min-jeong doesn't attend it.
So I think Min-jeong actually isn't that a dark horse of a character.

PS:

Winter is back, baby!

Embrace yourselves. hahaha
Really glad winter's back! Great art!!

PPS:
Can't wait for the new chapter...

last edited at May 24, 2015 10:08AM

Today I had a fantastic birthday.. and now that I'm finally home and is about to fall asleep... I just wanted to say thx for to all the people in this thread and to Ssamba, although she probably will never read it. Every day, FF gives me courage and strength and hope for my personal private happiness to come once upon a time!!! And you guys are so awesome with all your comments and pics!! Now I really want a BD chapter in FF xDDD Just imagine, Seol-a giving a present to No-rae and a kiss on a cheek!!

takachi:

allow me a stupid question... Min-Jeong is Seol-a's friend, right? If that's the case... I'm just... why would Seol-a suddenly be so frustrated about having friends among girls? Or is it that she's lonely in the uni?

Allow me to give a stupid answer. :3
...
Essay over./Q.E.D.

Have I said, I love you, anon? No? Then I do it, now! :3

No-Rae's mind was occupied by the thoughts of Seol-A that she accidentally sat on Seol-A's lap xD and that back hug!!! Now, since No-Rae already got her feelings sorted, at least for now, will the story start to focus on Seol-A next? I wonder...

every time I reread that part... I imagine myself as Seol-a grabbing that cute and tiny fluffy kitten called No-rae... this hug is so... SO... hnnnnngggg.... I just can't... but I think I've already said that earlier...

I do the same damn thing.
Do you use an open palm to the forehead or a closed fist straight to the face?

I suggest you to use Ran's V figure from my picture and apply it to the eyes - very efficient

Only my therapist understands me.

And I don't have a therapist.

good you didn't add an extra space after the...

btw next stretch's in a week, right?

Good her rapist doesn't understand her or good she doesn't have a rapist?

I'll leave that to the stretch of your imagination

Only my therapist understands me.

And I don't have a therapist.

good you didn't add an extra space after the...

btw next stretch's in a week, right?

Loooooool, girls, you totally lost me! kau-gau stretch-stretch

allow me a stupid question... Min-Jeong is Seol-a's friend, right? If that's the case... I'm just... why would Seol-a suddenly be so frustrated about having friends among girls? Or is it that she's lonely in the uni?

Wait so is it a bear world or not o.O

it doesn't really matter. What matters is that Kureha is NOT invisible/transparent, i.e. differs from the crowd

I don't think they meant 'crap' in the literal sense.

yeah, it's a crêpe lol
reminds me I should try to watch it again.. My first attempt years ago failed miserably with episode 1, a lot due-to a failing PC of mine... I usually like weird stuff, so I'm curious how am I gonna react to it now... especially after experiencing Lynch, Ikuhara, and Eva...

last edited at May 19, 2015 9:29AM

I don't understand people who think the ex is an option. The guy seems completely over Keiko and even when he was whining over her he didn't seems to try to recontact her or do anything... I don't see how it can be good for her to go back to him, the guy just gave up.

Crushes work in mysterious ways. Just because the only thing he does now is whining doesn't mean he's given up on her at all. I don't think anyone sees how it can be good for Keiko to go back to him, but that's not necessarily the case for her herself. If she really had true feelings for him, and if he really tries his best, in her opinion, like, you know, melts her heart - it may happen and she may forgive him. At least they don't seem like they properly ended their relationship, as it felt more like Keiko ragequitting due-to the miscarriage.
That essentially doesn't mean it's a het ending either, of course, because they are likely to break up very soon again just as well, forever this time. Or Keiko may reject him from the get-go. Or the guy might not even get the courage to get close to her again. It all depends on how string will Shou decide to troll the audience. Because, come on, essentially the manga is about the two girls living and stretching together. So everything that breaks this flow for more than a chapter or two will break the manga itself.
In that sense, I agree with you that the guy isn't a real option for Keiko. It's just that I'm afraid she's blind to it yet. And I wouldn't be that confident about the ex approaching Keiko again. Even if he tries to go for Ran, once he learns that Ran and that Keiko are roommates, he might reconsider and try to approach Keiko.

Cynicism is the only way to save your soul.

amen.

Damn, I almost completely lost interest in the manga after I finished the anime... yeah sure the story differs a bit, but the message and key metaphors so far habe obviously been the same. I'll probably keep reading it for the sake of Morishima art. Really loved bare-feet Kureha in a one-piece dress.

Spent five minutes trying to remember my internet acronyms before In gave up and... oh.

if you are on Chrome, just get a Google Dictionary add-on - double-click a word in the text and it'll give you its meaning in a nice text bubble.

last edited at May 18, 2015 2:43PM

Takachi, did your face* change recently or am I getting you confused with someone? I don't approve, grr...

yes, it did. Used to be Seol-a in glasses, then Seol-a in pink last week. Now switch to finger-scissorred Ran
what's wrong with it? You like me more as Seol-a?

Denial I can buy more than homophobic but I'm not all that sold on it.

more or less same here. I'm not sold on denial myself, but I definitely can't exclude this scenario.

It also seems like she wants them to be more, I don't know but those words "I vowed to keep that promise that we made "as friends". That's right. Because for now, we're still friends." caught my attention and I can't fully understand what No-Rae was trying to say with that.

From my interpretation, the "I vowed to keep that promise that we made 'as friends'" meant that No-rae would keep the promise as long as they remained "friends", because it was promise that they made when they were friends. She was running away from Seol-a due to her unwanted romantic feelings, but then she realized that she didn't have any excuses to run away anymore. She didn't want to lose Seol-a. No-rae didn't have to act on her romantic feelings and distance herself from Seol-a. So No-rae decides to let things play out naturally, and see where their relationship goes.

As for the "Because for now, we're still friends", No-rae is acknowledging that they're just friends at the moment, but she knows that they won't be able to stay friends forever. The Korean says "as of yet", but it sounded slightly awkward so I changed it a bit. I'm assuming that this means that No-rae with either confess her feelings when she gets the balls to do so (and thus upgrade from friend to girlfriend), or she'll end her friendship with Seol-a when her feelings become too much of a burden to bear.

Woaaah! Thank you so much, our dear granny! For both, the translation and the clarification. I had a similar reading but was in doubt.
But I'm still somewhat lost how to respond to that. On one hand, No-rae decided to stop running away from Seol-a. On another, she didn't look like she decided to confess unless the situation would naturally ask for it. So yeah, I hope she'll at least open a little more to Seol-a from now on, people around will start talking, and Seol-a will start noticing things.

I think she's homophobic while her kouhai is a little bit more adventurous but is too apprehensive to act on her yuri tendencies because she knows her sempai is homophobic.

You think Keiko is homophobic?

While homophobic may be too strong a word, I had somewhat similar thoughts. The way Keiko reacted looked like she was extremely conscious and worried about the "kiss". She probably noticed her physical desire for Ran but she's still too scared to do the next step on her own, because "it's wrong" and will make her different to others, etc. It really looked like she wanted that kiss, and if it happened to be the real one, and if Ran put some physical pressure on her afterwards, she might've just finally accepted it. But... In other words, I think Keiko's just in denial.

Hahahaha! I can't believe ran opened keiko's blouse while she was supposedly knocked out! Hahahah who does that!

Anyone who passed the first-aid course and knows how to do the CPR. As I earlier posted in black bars, she also should have had the bra undone and removed. But that's the reason why she said 'so beautiful' - was another check that actually worked well..