The idea of "closure" these series propose has always been selfish to me but maybe that's my hangup.

I think that was precisely what Mona was getting at.
Her whole point is that being selfish and doing selfish things is just something people do. That being in love with someone (and thus projecting their feelings onto them) is inherently selfish to some extent.

She also never says that it doing so isn't wrong, or that she shouldn't feel bad at all, which i feel is important. Just that nobody is a saint and Shion shouldn't wallow in self-hatred like she's the worst person ever just bc she's, y'know, acting like people do.

The impression I got was that Mona now wants Shion to vent her frustrations, how she felt and how she still feels to Haruma and to do so for closure. So they would be continuing that selfish act, rather than avoiding it. That's what my response was focused on.

That kind of thing is unnecessary to me and serves mostly to make the venter feel better at the expense of someone they claim to care for, yet many series treat the act like a good thing. I'd rather (and still hope) that she continues talking with Mona (who is trying her best to show her worth to Shion), comes to terms with her feelings together, and then meets Haruma after she's overcome her issues. She doesn't need to trauma dump on Haruma, for "closure."

last edited at Apr 11, 2024 9:51AM

How about we don't dump all this stuff on Haruma and you just move on, on your own without burdening her too? She's not a stress release ball and you know she doesn't feel the same way. The idea of "closure" these series propose has always been selfish to me but maybe that's my hangup.

Beyond that, Haruma is indeed finding out what it feels like to miss Michiru. "Absence makes the heart grow fonder" or "Absence reveals what the heart was fond of all along."

last edited at Apr 11, 2024 8:27AM

Purple Library Guy posted:

And while she did disappear suddenly, unless I'm misinterpreting what is being said they still seem to be saying that she gave a farewell concert the first time.

It's said in the very first chapter. She announced she was retiring in the middle of a concert, without informing the staff and without giving any explanation. So it was not a proper retirement concert.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/maitsuki_niwatsuki_ooyatsuki_ch01#4

Yes, plus this is pretty normal crisis management. It's really not that our there. At the end of the day, there is a crisis coming and they need all their "pieces" in order to be moved around as necessary.

last edited at Apr 11, 2024 7:05AM

Yeah, the only way this chapter makes ANY sense at all is if the director is her mom.

Not her mom. Why would she need to be her mom anyway?

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 11:55PM

Hello....anyone knows about this one? ;_; Is there any new chp?

There's a chapter 15 and 16 (both happier than the last). 15 is entirely of our couple and really touching. 16 is from the perspective of our glasses friend and also lighthearted. Beyond that it's released whenever. It's a relaxed series though, so it's not in the middle of anything dire.

Speaking of: I don't get those who worried about something nefarious from this series or who saw something potentially romantic in Ayane's scenes with Micchan.

The series answered Ayane's background rather early: she's been alone, depressed after a bad breakup and hasn't gone to school in a year. As a result she's become a bit awkward and jaded but works through that with Sana. Ayane loves Sana dearly and has shown that many, many times.

As for Micchan, Ayane was teasing her because she suspected Micchan might have feelings for her girlfriend. She wanted to figure that out for defensive purposes. At times she was blunt about her jealousy of Micchan's closeness to Sana (sometimes showing off in front of her) but most of the time Ayane chose to be subtle. She was never interested in sharing and Micchan was never interested either. The story is rather straightforward and fluffy. Speaking of--time for a reread.

last edited at May 14, 2024 9:35PM

I think a big part of it is she was the leader of the group and she left suddenly under mysterious circumstances though the group tried to frame it as friendly. We know they are friendly...but she did leave suddenly, she is hiding things related to her real image, and didn't leave in good terms with the director.

They are at this moment in a transition period trying to rebrand the group with a new leader and new album. And just as they were doing that (tho in reality the new leader is stressed out and has unfinished feelings about the old one and iirc contributed to her being sucked back in a bit) she's spotted with the group again. Drama.

In their kind of media sensitive universe they'd see that as spoiling their transition plans as she's able to suck the oxygen out of their crafted media space just by fans getting a glimpse of her with them and the rumors from that.

If she "rejoins" the firm they could just spend a few months scripting her fake life again, make a story out of it, have some scripted appearances, and smooth it out on both sides. If she doesn't she'll just get hounded more since there is red meat out there about her potential return or invented member drama...only without their help with scripting and potential damage to her real life with her gf.

And keep in mind her entire public persona is fake and she's hidden her real self this whole time and she's a big softy who is just trying to restart her life as herself. It seems ridiculous, but if you follow headlines from Japan and Korea real life is way weirder than fiction when it comes to idol stuff.

Exactly. They want more control over the narrative and for that they need her close and listening. They don't like unpredictability and they won't support her for "free."

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 7:29PM

Dang, all the predictions that Komachi were the villain were completely wrong. We fell into the same trap her relatives and everyone else did.
With no villain in sight, it seems like we're speeding into the endgame. I loved the series overall. I'm glad I could experience it with the rest of you

I think the author mentioned it's winding down as well.

Does anyone know what happened in chapter 56 and 57? Why did Yanyan answer yes, and why was she called childish?

The friend, Ningwei, makes a fan fic that ends with our MC, Youyan, saying the quote that opens this chapter. A'xiu, Youyan's lover, refuses to read the fan fic but later changes her mind. Once she reads the quote, A'xiu then privately asks Ningwei if Youyan would really say those things about "no longer caring what others think" and "wanting someone to shine a light."

In this chapter, Youyan gives A'xiu the answer to that question, "Yes [that quote does represent my real thoughts]." Youyan is letting A'xiu know that she saw A'xiu's text and that the fanfic quote is how Youyan really feels. Youyan is saying, "yes, I really have changed, baby." A'xiu calls her childish because she's a bit embarrassed and Youyan wrote "yes," in her palm like a child might.

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 12:03PM

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.

It's tagged as Yuri by Bookwalker and the author has mentioned Yuri while discussing this work. So, it seems fine until something changes.

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 9:26AM

that felt like it could have been an actual chapter lol

It would fit right in.

last edited at Apr 10, 2024 6:23AM

Nah Kiwi supports Utena's magical girl play. She'd probably want to join in and tag team, like they did in the recent chapters. Lol.

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 5:29PM

I somehow missed the last 5 uploads, so I got to read 6 chapters (35-40) at once. What a ride! But I can't help but wonder how different it would have been to read some of that in Japanese, where the language is less gendered. (Edit: not intended as criticism of the translation, merely an observation on the linguistic challenges.)

P.S., it was supervised handholding. She made Ralaire stay with them.

oh Inori was super explicit about this arc in the LN, because she knows cis/het/cishet people and how willfully blind to inference when it comes to queer themes. She stops just short of explicitly calling Yu trans, except she DOES call Rei's deceased friend trans, and has Rei directly compare the two, saying she cares to much about Yu's situation because she's afraid she'll also end up dead like her other trans friend. Everything else about this arc has been incredibly specific, even to the point of making sure we know who's an exclusive lesbian and who's bi lol. I don't think the gendered inference of language from things like pronouns would change how this arc reads one way or another when Inori's working so hard to make sure everybody gets it.... of course I've seen people argue on twitter claiming Yu can't be trans ANYWAY, because "biology," which at this point is less misunderstanding the text and more just arguing with the author over her understanding of transness. IMO the fact that Yu "was always a woman" but "assigned male by her mother" is a very deliberate point Inori's making about the validity of trans women's womanhood: to deny Yu is a woman is to deny the factual reality about her, rather than making any sort of subjective or "political" claim. The same is true about non-magical trans girls IRL. If a woman tells you she's a woman then she's a woman, period, regardless of how you might have interpreted her before.

PS: One of the only changes from the LN I noticed with this arc is that the manga implies the Crosswise Curse physically changed Yu's body, whereas the LN says it's a semi-permanent illusion causing people to see her a certain way, not causing her to BE a certain way. But that might have been more complicated to communicate with a smaller text budget, idk.

Yes, the LN is very blunt about this topic. The person who "warns" Rei about the poisoned food is Misaki, her friend who she talks a lot about in the LNs (and who you saw in the manga from Rei's real life). He's the one she couldn't save and the reason why she wants to save Yu so badly this time.

He says: “Thank you for saving someone who knows what it’s like. Now don’t be an idiot. Make sure you check your food.” It's very straightforward on that front and there's a lot more discussion like that in the LNs during this arc. Its what we miss by not having Rei's thoughts in the manga. Misaki is always on her mind throughout it. Yu's situation is a very clear allusion.

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 3:07PM

Yodokawa says the story is coming to its conclusion. Should be done by the end of the year--which means a few more chapters. This should be the final arc/push. I figured as much but nice to get some confirmation and to set proper expectations.

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 7:23AM

This series is about to get an anime, so let's discuss AkiShiho couple a bit
1/ Shiho in my country doesn't seem to have any antis, on Facebook or websites reading yuri manga, there are only comments praising her for being cute, tsundere or feeling sorry for her, but no one scolds her at all. On foreign forums, I see that almost every chapter with Shiho has people saying this and that. Many people threaten to drop the story if it focuses on Shiho anymore (I don't know if it will really be dropped, but every chapter sees it). I don't know if my taste in my country is different than in foreign countries or what.
2/ Is Aki making a hasty decision when Yori (ex-crush) has just had a girlfriend for a few months and has already decided to date (to test her feeling) with Shiho. What I mean is that Aki had just fallen in love, then found out about her ex-friend's feelings, and just after becoming friends again, she decided to go on a date. So if Aki still can't fall in love after dating, Shiho will be twice as hurt. I don't know if the author plans to continue writing AkoShiho's arc, because right now I don't see Aki having any romantic feelings for Shiho. The time Shiho left, Aki only felt angry because she was betrayed, upset because she didn't know the real reason why Shiho left. After that, Aki learned about Shiho's feelings, plus Yori had a girlfriend (Aki still had to test to see if he had ended his love with Yori or not) before deciding to date (to test her feeling) with Shiho. I think if Yori didn't have a girlfriend, Aki would probably refuse when she found out that Shiho had feelings for her. Therefore, there should be one more arc for the AkiShiho couple to develop their relationship, stopping here would seem too awkward.

Your first point is something I've discussed before to varying success. As for your second point: I don't agree with a lot of it but the author has AkiShiho and YoriHima as her two main couples and will continue developing them both as she's already been doing. She reiterated this again in one of her recent afterwards. So, no worries there.

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 7:47AM

Has Loretta always been this shredded? I don't remember it being mentioned in the LN...

Not that I mind, she's HOT!

It's mentioned more in "She's So Cheeky for A Commoner." There's a lot more focus on the two of them there, since Claire's perspective would naturally feature them more.

last edited at Apr 9, 2024 6:14AM

The girl is overheating, give her some room.

What does isn't there somebody here mean?

Think it's Narita saying he'll take the last free ticket. Why is he getting hate? He's always been chill, no? Seems like he wants to go to a music festival with friends too. He'll probably end up helping them again.

last edited at Apr 7, 2024 3:10PM

I am not sure this should be classified as Yuri. Just two very close friends, not a couple.

Is that a joke?

Yes she is and very much so. Anime hasn't gotten there yet. First season doesn't get into many of the relationships. As for where to continue from: chapter 25.

last edited at Apr 6, 2024 3:44PM

Mu posted:

….. to be totally honest, I’m not 1000% sure what’s happening here. XD

What the heck happened with that boy that apparently ruined their friendship? Especially considering how very not-present he is now, and how Komaki is trying to very literally get into Wakaba’s pants at the arcade. O_o I can only assume it was some totally wild misunderstanding? Komaki taking a joke too far, not realizing she’d actually hurt Wakaba’s feelings?

I have a hunch that Wakaba had a crush on that guy and Komaki struck preemptively and "dated" him (middle school dating, so hand-holding at most) to prevent Wakaba from straying too far from her.

"Better be hated than forgotten" I guess.

That's why Wakaba resented her.

Yeah, just look at Komaki's eyes during that flashback as she stares back at Wakaba. She was definitely challenging Wabaka there, the same way she's challenging her now. That wasn't a real relationship and that guy is unimportant. Doubt he'll ever show up or be meaningfully mentioned.

last edited at Apr 6, 2024 7:13AM

Having your body powered up through one person's alcohol alone is simultaneously the most yuri thing ever, and also such a shounen cheese move lmao.

"Heh, you've only seen a fraction of my power! Wait until my bartender arrives and I drink the special sake mixed with her hands!!"

The ultimate power up. The power of love and alcohol.

last edited at Apr 6, 2024 7:08AM

She also has the ability to contact Asumi but is being very lax about the whole thing.

Does she? How?

Mai knows that Asumi has been seeing the girls at her job. In one chapter she follows them and sees Asumi right before her but hides, remembering her friend's advice: "If you just wait she'll book you eventually."

She has the means to find her or let her know that she's there, with the help of the girls, but chooses to wait for Asumi to find her instead. Plus, Mai is friends with the girls, who know she's looking for Asumi (based on their conversations). Rather than wait to be booked, she could ask them to let Asumi know that Mai is looking for her. None of the girls seem like that would be an issue for them and she knows Asumi is in the area.

last edited at Apr 5, 2024 5:51PM

but other than the flimsy gender-reveal blackmail, childhood trauma triggers, and the filial piety angle, she does not have a lot of levers over the Emperor (at least that we know of).

I agree with your sentiment but to be fair, for a child, those can be some major levers.

last edited at Apr 5, 2024 12:51PM

aaaaaa it's been too long! I missed Riri. I never expected her to be the one we see the least, considering.... how she is

Just one of the many ways this is a deconstruction I guess. But also, show Riri more >:(

Sometimes being seen the least is a good thing: the author might be deliberately separating the "serious" romance from all the other shenanigans.

last edited at Apr 4, 2024 12:49PM

It adorable how hard Tsukushi wants this to work, even though she's kind of a dumb-dumb and it's all a bit over her head :P The wingwomen couple are once again the freaking MVPs, the main girls are so lucky to have them.

They're their mothers at this point.

last edited at Apr 4, 2024 8:59AM