When I read this one, I just imagined this series going on forever with every single chapter being this same format. Girl badgers clerk, clerk fucks with her, girl takes it seriously, clerk disabuses her, the end.

And you know what, that wouldn't be so bad.

Keep in mind that we, the readers, have seen a side of their friends that the MCs haven't. To Nanoha and Chidori, the impression of their friends' reactions is driven largely by them wanting to make fun of another couple. I think their friends would be upset at them for keeping it secret, and also feel bad for making them feel they had to.

On the other hand, the way some couples end up distancing themselves from their circle of friends once they pair up, I'm kind of glad to see the group of them still hanging out and doing stuff together.

I think they're mainly hiding it because they're so easily embarrassed. They can barely suppress their blushing from indirect kissing, there's no way they'd be able to handle whatever playful teasing they'd be subjected too (and their friends would certainly tease them, that's just what high school students do when they find out their buddy's got a new girlfriend/boyfriend/whatever).

But also there's probably an element of them being unwilling to disrupt the status quo. Whether they like it or not, it would probably change the dynamic of their friend group.

I had just assumed that it was very rare for masters to want to take their beastkin outside of the country, so they didn’t think to check. Now that Master and Mel ran off they might start being more careful though.

Also, this isn't exactly a police state. It'd be pretty difficult to enforce any kind of strict restrictions on freedom of movement in a turn of the century setting.

it would've been nice if they took collette too...

She wants to retire and be with her family rather than move to another country. Perfectly reasonable.

Yeah, as far back as chapter 10, it was made clear that Colette had been planning to retire for quite some time. That was the main reason she suggested Master adopt a beastkin in the first place (after Master had said it was impossible for her to make friends or get married). Colette wanted to be sure that Master had one person in her life she could trust so that when she retired Master wouldn't be completely alone.

Where are people getting the idea that Mel and Master are now fugitives? They're just moving to somewhere else in the country (a 3-day ride on two separate trains followed by a horse-drawn coach to the final destination) that is sparsely populated enough for them to be able to live in relative seclusion, thus minimizing the risk of anyone catching on to the fact that Master has a beastkin in tow and is suspiciously living alone with her with little contact with the outside world (which would likely invite a check-up visit from the nearest government office that handles beastkin affairs).

Judging by the line here, they're probably going to a foreign country.

I can't think of any fictional world with atrocities worse that the ones I've heard people have done in the real world.

Yeah, honestly the whole beastkin situation, as disgusting as it may be, is a state of utopian equality compared to the shit that was going on in our world during the same time period (looks to be early 20th Century, judging by the technology), and pales in comparison to the awful things that continue to this day in some places.

However, there are a few fictional series, such as Saishuu Heiki Kanojo (massive civilian bombing campaigns culminating in literally all life on earth being extinguished) or the Worldbreaker Saga (obscenely cruel slave societies plus multiworld medieval fantasy genocide) where the atrocities committed are indeed worse than what has happened in the real world.

Aren't lolis just any under age girl? I guess I'm not up to speed on the finer points of the various flavors of sexualised under aged girls.

Keep it that way. Assume that anyone who tries to explain in detail is a pedophile.

Brother thing really didn't bother me, even thought it was pretty fucked up, because anime manage to create believable circumstances for it to happen (it was actually even a ethical dilemma and meant to be controversial) and I can handle my yuri characters not being "pure". And ending was a great emotional payback for it, so it more than enough made up for it.

Yeah, it was a surprising twist and led to some very interesting changes in the characters. And however odd the setup, everything was taken seriously, and treated within the show like the really big deal that it was.

I don't think anything other than that incident could've caused the drastic reactions in both Ki and Aya. Taking it out or replacing it with something else would have completely destroyed the ending and compromised the integrity of the whole. In a sense, that's a major reason why the anime is a work of art and not just pornography, unlike most of these doujins (though they're all still very fun to read).

last edited at Dec 4, 2018 11:12AM

You guys seriously overreact. Anime was great, bad shit happens, just enjoy the damn doujin.

Agreed. It managed to contain both bizarre plot contrivances, and also some very moving character drama. There's really nothing else like it.

What are you guys talking about? The anime was great. Very... unique.

Also, these girls.... They're having soaking-wet sex on the couch while eating ice cream. That couch is fucking ruined.

I still don't understand who in their right mind hired this man to make a tourism promotion video.

Last page made me sure, Itou planned to troll us with never revealing Master's name from the start.

I very much enjoyed that final touch.

Kuttsukiboshi is something special, I always wish there were more of it.

last edited at Dec 4, 2018 2:52AM

Wait what happened to the other girl.

I'm tolerably certain y'all are putting way more thought into the setting than the author ever did.

I've said it before and I'll say it again, anything worth analyzing is worth overanalyzing to death.

But seriously, I did agree with you originally, but recent developments in the series have made clear that the author either did put a lot of thought into the social structures of the setting, or accidentally created a very disturbing (and interesting) world. Since the social structures ultimately play a major role in the actual plot of the story, I'd argue that it's intentional, and the setting is something readers are meant to engage with when addressing the themes expressed through this work.

last edited at Dec 1, 2018 11:09AM

From the way her sister and friend act, they might have been creeped out initially, but by this point their just resigned to her behavior.

I don't think the response of the friends would be extremely negative but I also don't think things would go smoothly. Asumi may not have a strong response, I think she accept it rather quickly, while Kumako would likely be shocked but eventually accommodating. My concern would be Rei as in the Extra she appears to show a level of dismissive arrogance. Right before her there is a lesbian couple holding hands yet she still dismisses the relationship as a pop-culture global thing that isn't something truly part of being Japanese. A short Extra but I do think it gave a lot of insight into the friends and their respective views on homosexuality in a Japanese context.

To that end, I don't think the friends know for the time being. Only the Nanoha's cheeky little sister.

I agree with you that the extra indicates that the three of them are unaware of Nanoha and Chidori's relationship as of that moment (if all three of them had known, then it'd probably have naturally come up during that conversation). However, I disagree with you about Rei's "dismissive" response to homosexuality. I'm pretty sure her response is not an indication of her belief that two girls dating is inherently wrong or meaningless, but just a comment on Asumi's statement "either would be fine" for her personally. After all, all three of them (including Rei) seemed pretty excited when they found out Abe and Yoshida started dating.

I think she's just commenting on something Asumi says that she finds unusual or surprising. Perhaps equivalent to "oh, you have a very cosmopolitan attitude, maybe because of your exposure to foreign culture."

But to be honest, I'm not completely sure what the point of that line was, which is why I tried to translate it very "neutrally". 洋ドラ seems usually to refer to Western, and particularly to American, television, but is literally an abbreviation of "foreign drama". I don't know what the implications of グロバール are in this specific situation, so I just left it as-is. Maybe she's commenting that popular American TV tends to have a lot more bisexuals, or more sexually-liberated characters than Japanese TV (though I have no idea of whether that's true). Maybe she's being dismissive of Asumi sudden apparent transformation (a girl who often talks about how much she wants a boyfriend suddenly says she'd be fine with a girlfriend), and not homosexuality/bisexuality in general. Or maybe she is showing an arrogant dismissal of homosexuality in general.

Anyways, here's the line: あすみは　洋ドラ　観まくってるから　その辺グローバル　だよねー。
If anyone wants to correct me.

Seira,

My one problem with the ending is that Tamaki's motives are confusing. Did she try dating Yuu because she actually liked her, only to dump her after discovering how fucking creepy she was? Did she try to like Yuu but realized her lingering affection for Misaki made that impossible? Did her perception of Nagi's affection for Yuu (and Yuu's for Nagi) affect her decision? What she says to her about being to Yuu what Misaki was to her almost makes it seem like she thinks she was doing her a favor. I just don't understand who she is and why she does what she does.

I can't help thinking, it is what it is so I won't bother looking for an in-universe explanation, but it seems funny to me the way they really zero in on the human/beastkin divide as the sole hurdle to the relationship. Like, to the point where it's pretty conspicuous the way they all avoid the elephant in the room. Based on the way the publisher character (forgot her name :p) reacted, this isn't some alt-universe where adult/child couples are considered the norm or even culturally acceptable, but nobody else even bats an eye. The same-sex taboo doesn't even register at this point, but even then, I wonder if that's seen as okay? If this story shares a universe with the other beastkin series, the beastkin nation is said to be unique in treating it as normal. Of course the meta reason is that the narrative would be weighed down by dealing with too many taboos, but the mangaka still wanted to tailor the relationship to their, uh, very particular taste.

If we assume that all beastkin are female and never age in appearance past age 10 or so, then it sort of makes sense. All the other potential hurdles (same-sex, pedophilia) are subsumed into her race. If that's the case, then if you're going after a beastkin, the other two implied. So that's why they all focus so much on the human-beastkin relationship rather than the other aspects.

On the other hand, maybe that's not the case, and it's just one of those things that isn't addressed.

Smart little sis, but big brother gave her the tickets so has he guessed too I wonder?

My assumption is that he received 4 tickets and gave two to each of his sisters. But we really don't know anything about him yet.

This is the same dynamic as "Feelings We All Must Endure" by Amano Shuninta. One of the MCs was the neko to her boyfriend (here it's her tachi tomboy girlfriend) and in the end, that wasn't where she wanted to be. Once she was in the tachi position - though still femme - she was happy. And Anna wanted her, so I think she'll stay devoted. A lot of people thought the ending of "Watashi Sekai o Kouseisuru Chiri no You na Nani ka" was a bad one, but they both got what they wanted. Same thing here. People thought Sachi was too mean and teasing to Ruki, too. I think - as with most of her work - Kodama-sensei is being rather subtle here.

Except in that piece of garbage all the characters cheated on eachother for no fucking reason.

I've also seen Canada and Netherlands. Honestly more than US.

...or their legal status is basically "pets" and age is irrelevant for such purposes.

There's also the fact that these supposed 12-year-olds appear as if they were 6 or 7. Plus the only other beastkin we've seen look to be the same age. Add in some other minor details and to me, the sum of all available evidence suggests that they're about as grown-up as they're gonna get. But unless the author said something for sure, we'll probably be left to wonder what's true.

I wonder if the beastkin can grow up? How they look like? I want to see!

I don't think they do grow up. Or at least they don't grow up the way humans do. The train tickets for humans come in "adult" and "child", but for "beastkin" the ticket doesn't distinguish between adult and child. They're just "beastkin".

Given the way society is organized, it's highly likely that Mel and Marie are fully-grown. (And from an extratextual perspective, I'd say that the author's tastes auger that direction as well).

There's just one more chapter.