This chapter made Riri seem less likely to be a winner, given that even as Mei is thinking of her "sexually" she's still mostly thinking about Maria

I don't think that means much. There is too much going on at that moment and no real emphasis. If anything (and considering the end-chapter quote), the focus is on them both reluctantly starting to think of each other sexually, with a dash of "What does Sensei mean!?" The fact that we're continuing to put off her situation with Riri, even this late into the series, seems purposeful to me. "Slow and steady" or "saving the best for last" tends to win out, but we'll see.

last edited at Oct 1, 2024 3:01PM

Diana is still on the outside looking in and she shows this chapter that she's aware of that. She understands who Natori is actually looking at and realizes that Lapis shares those feelings.

Unfortunately, Lapis has her long held goals and seems to fear getting close to Natori in the process--probably worried about what she'll have to do and therefore can't fully commit, though it clearly eats at her.

As a result Diana intends to keep her unrequited feelings but I feel as though that's a losing battle and she seems aware of that. She's stuck between a rock and a hard place, so that's no fun for her either. I'm not sure how long she'll be able to keep this up, though because I doubt Natori will react well to Lapis distancing herself. I'm also glad things are getting moving because this plan of Lapis has been very slow going.

last edited at Oct 1, 2024 8:54AM

Damn okay that happened faster than I thought it would. Lot of interesting directions this could go. The barely restrained slap from Hase sure is some dark foreshadowing though. I imagine Io will immediately cave and hook up with Misa again as soon as Misa is able to get them alone together and Io will get stuck in a loop trying to appease both of them until someone (likely Hase let's be real) does something extreme enough for her to make a hard choice and commit to one of them. I also expect them all to destroy their livelihoods in the process because how could they not with their careers and reputation on the line.

Hase is already doing something extreme. Io doesn't want this and doesn't seem interested in Hase whatsoever. Hase's on her way to assaulting her or worse in this very scene. This was a very uncomfortable move from her.

last edited at Sep 29, 2024 10:52PM

Is she, though?

She is but of course, she is not trustworthy, and you wouldn't want to depend on her keeping her word for long, considering how antagonistic she had been and was until that moment. I think the natural fear, apprehension, and uncertainty they would feel in these moments is being very underestimated. But it's not a big deal. I'm sure Neko understood, once she realized what happened.

last edited at Sep 29, 2024 5:34PM

I mean, they could just tell her instead of doing the cryptic notes bullshit? I'm not sure what's the point of being in a hurry like that, it's not like they had to fake that drowning right on the spot, since no one apart from Nekomori and Hana saw the farewell note. And Nekomori seems like that the last person that would tell family the truth.

It isn't understandable that they'd be in a rush to leave and would rather not put anything to chance, considering the family, impending arranged marriage, sister, and what they've already been through? I don't think that would be unreasonable. Why wouldn't they be in a hurry to create distance between them and that house?

last edited at Sep 29, 2024 4:51PM

So they left Nekomori guessing, but they straight up told it to that old guy? I'm mildly confused about that sequence at the end, and I'm not really sure I understand why wouldn't they just tell her straight up, even before going through that whole charade.

Maybe because they thought she might tell the parents, and they wanted time to run away so they only left her with a clue. I agree though, it would have been nice if they told Nekomori, she deserved to know...hell she should have run away with them honestly lol

It's not all too clear since Nekomori understandably looks like an absolute wreck, but I think her "It can't be" reaction to finding the farewell letter on page 154 is meant to show her realizing they ran away together.

That's the only logical explanation really, bc if Lily had died, there would've been no reason for Hana to return that wet note. so whether Hana left or died together with Lily, the note would be lost either way.

Lily and Hana talk about being sure Neko would have realized by now. So they left that as their way of communicating with her. As for why it's not a direct note, they likely don't want the family to find out.

If they sent a more direct message and someone from the family found it they could be exposed. Neko is the only one who would understand the importance of that seemingly innocuous note reappearing. I'm assuming that's part of why they revealed it to her that way.

last edited at Sep 29, 2024 4:34PM

She's right. Despite the circumstances, they built up a meaningful relationship throughout their time together. Now they can continue to progress their relationship without the pressures of her family and situation hovering over them. Most importantly: she's free!

Perfect final page, showing them blushing with each other and promising their future together. Doesn't invalidate the feelings she had for the brother but also cements what she's built and will continue to build with the sister. Good ending.

last edited at Sep 29, 2024 2:47PM

If it's an American author with a foreign audience, maybe she should just be making a webcomic in English...

This is like asking why a musician doesn't just upload to soundcloud for free instead of signing with an actual label, lol. The international audience didn't even exist more than two weeks ago, it only blew up because big Western twitter accounts caught wind of it, liked it, and shared it after the few international fans started promoting it hard. All it needs is a similar event to happen on the Japanese side to get a bigger audience there; that's called exposure. That's also the exact place where marketing from the publisher is supposed to come in but as we know the publisher hasn't done anything (yet).

Right. The Japanese publisher saw her work on Twitter, and thought she was a Japanese mangaka with a lot of talent. She didn't reach out on her own. Besides, it makes no difference where she's from.

The series just wasn't being marketed right, based on what YuriNavi itself has said. They didn't even know it was a yuri work, since according to YuriNavi's Japanese review, it was apparently being primarily pushed for it's action (if it was pushed at all).

last edited at Sep 28, 2024 9:41PM

I didn´t understand that much but they kiss and that is a relive for don´t end in status quo

They've been dating for half the series, have kissed before and were talking about their long term relationship, though. It was a nice ending, agreed there.

last edited at Sep 28, 2024 3:48PM

Please note that there's been no indication of a reprint (which would mean all the volumes sold out) from the author yet, so there's no confirmation that the series is out of the woods yet. We can't celebrate too early, especially after we found out that the publisher did have a bunch of books sitting in their their warehouse following the first out of stock notices on online retailers - they only just connected that stock to the online retailers two days ago.

It'll be important to support the series while the author's doing her promotions on Twitter! So please consider supporting the manga if you've been enjoying the scanlations and want the story to continue! Our Buying Guide is here: https://bit.ly/lovebullet

Has Comic Flapper started to play ball yet with promoting Love Bullet? Or even just retweeted any of the promos from the author? Cuz so far I'm glad for the outpouring of love for the series but feel bitter that it's resulting in these bastards getting paid for work they've refused to do.

Short answer: No. The point of inee's promotional push on Twitter is to prove that the manga is worth it for Flapper to 1) continue the story, and 2) put actual effort into the marketing. The latter should've been given to the manga from the beginning, but that's not the case for a lot of mid-tier magazines or publications that are iffy at marketing in general. The former is easiest to prove with undenaibly good sales volume sales, as Flapper would be shooting themselves in the foot by not marketing it more at that poiint.

Something interesting that a JP user on twitter noticed was that the Yuri Navi article was a sponsored one, meaning that inee/Kadokawa paid for it to be uploaded. However, the article says "PR (inee)", instead of what should be "PR (Kadokawa)". The user was questioning why the author was given the responsibility to arrange the PR article when the publisher/editor is supposed to. I don't like peddling conspiracy theories or anything, but all signs during this last month of sudden daily posting and new content from the author (with no retweets from Comic Flapper, though the parent company Kadokawa at least posted the interview article) heavily suggest that it's the author doing everything she can to increase sales while the publisher is more waiting to see the results before investing any more time/money into Love Bullet.

I wonder if her distance from Japan might influence their decision making? Since they apparently help translate chapters into Japanese and for correspondence. Maybe they consider that when deciding what resources are required? Either way, I hope it works out for her and they start putting in more effort.

last edited at Sep 28, 2024 12:13PM

Love this series and it's ending! Thanks for your work.

last edited at Sep 28, 2024 10:29AM

Has Comic Flapper started to play ball yet with promoting Love Bullet? Or even just retweeted any of the promos from the author? Cuz so far I'm glad for the outpouring of love for the series but feel bitter that it's resulting in these bastards getting paid for work they've refused to do.

An interview with the author on yahoo news: https://news.yahoo.co.jp/expert/articles/d2c34fc9582742c2534433d56914f67a42b91abb

And a volume review on yurinavi: https://yurinavi.com/2024/09/27/love-bullet-pr/

Thanks for that. I had no idea she was (and still is) living in America (likely an American) and studying Japanese when an editor from Japan approached her based on her twitter oneshot. Is that common knowledge? That's surprising. So it's being translated into Japanese with the help of professional translators and then translated back by TL teams for us. That's a bit funny.

Good on the editor for sticking with that kind of international outreach. I wonder if the non-Japanese audience felt some unconscious familiarity with Inee's work and themes and if that helped the series resonate with a non-Japanese audience. So glad for her success and I hope we get more mangaka stories like this one. There's so much talent all over the world.

When this work was first announced, the yuri elements were not explicitly stated, and it seems that it was somewhat unrecognized in the yuri industry, but I hope that this review will help more people, even if just a little, become aware of the work's existence.

That line from Yurinavi is also interesting. The idea that this series was not strongly promoted as yuri in Japan, and therefore may have missed a lot of its potential audience is unfortunate. YuriNavi seems to feel that they also missed this. That's exactly the kind of thing that kills a series and has nothing to do with its quality. Seems like they focused on its action more than anything else. Glad it's on the radar now and got a glowing review from Yurinavi. Hoping for the best.

last edited at Sep 28, 2024 9:34AM

Ok, so on page 19 when she says "I don't think so" I'm confused at what she's responding to? I can only guess it was initially her saying no before changing her mind after Adachi's questions, but it doesn't really seem to me like that's what it is?

I think she was responding to her own thoughts? This part is confusing to me too. Maybe it's finally time to read the Light Novel...

Yeah I'm pretty sure it's responding to her own thoughts, and it doesn't look like Adachi even heard it based on what she says right after.

That cracked me up. Textbook Adachi.

That's the "oh shit what did I say," then "maybe I can play it cool off as a joke?" then "nah, I'm fucked. Time to bail!"

last edited at Sep 27, 2024 11:43AM

Yaaaaaah. OMG like I can't waiit for the next chapter

Same. It's all coming together now.

For everyone's information, I'm dropping the scanlation of this manga, for various reasons:

• This is redraw heavy, with floating text over art everywhere, so it takes me days just to redraw a chapter.
• This has been licensed and the 1st volume is already out, so there's little point in continuing
• This is actually not easy to give the translation justice, because the characters are speaking a really colloquial/slangy Japanese.
• And last but not least, people just couldn't get into this manga because the co-MC kissed a guy.

So, if you want to read it, just buy Tokyo Pop's release.

Thanks for the effort and for trying to bring this popular series to people, regardless of how it was received here. Guess I'll lurk around the official release even more, though those are behind, behind.

last edited at Sep 27, 2024 8:31AM

"Learning to love someone isn't a gradual process. It's a sudden realization".

Does that mean that you're with someone and then, one day, bam, you think "I love them"? But in the time you spent with them, that's when your love grew, so it's still a buildup.

It's a weird sentence I can't process right.

What they're saying is that while it might build up slowly, for many, the realization feels sudden. People aren't always accessing their feelings that closely. Plus love is hard to define a lot of the time.

Ok, so on page 19 when she says "I don't think so" I'm confused at what she's responding to? I can only guess it was initially her saying no before changing her mind after Adachi's questions, but it doesn't really seem to me like that's what it is?

I think she was responding to her own thoughts? This part is confusing to me too. Maybe it's finally time to read the Light Novel...

Yeah I believe she was deep in thought and talking to herself.

last edited at Sep 27, 2024 8:00AM

Yeah, I...think this series is going a bit off track. I wanna get back to AkiShi and HimaYori soon...

Used to be that people would say "I'm tired of this AkiShiho, let's get back to just YoriHima." I'm also not as fond of the sudden incest inclusion but I wonder how things will be viewed down the line. It seems like it's transitioning into something with more substance, at least. All depends on how this "double date" goes.

last edited at Sep 26, 2024 11:13PM

LET'S FUCKING GOOO

Also "Sure, why not?" is so Shimamura.

Shima is great. Love this chapter.

Ada tries to fix things; breaks things in a weird way. Rather than leaning into being a villain, she should just say she was a stupid kid before.

That said, I wonder if it would be more convincing to claim she had a prophetic vision of the ruin that will come to them if things stay the way they are? He seems gullible enough for that.

Probably better to be straightforward and not open up the possibility he doesn't take the "no" firmly enough. Better not to make it seem like she would be with him, if not for some complication.

last edited at Sep 26, 2024 8:04PM

I miss this

100%. It ends with 3 volumes but it seems like no one is willing to pick it back up. It's a great series.

I think this one started off fine, but the 'sleepover' has wrecked the pacing.

Just go to sleep and it'll be over when you wake up...maybe.

These characters are very interesting. Their backgrounds and opposed viewpoints mean their interactions are always full of energy. Very good and unconventional setup. The fact that some people are put off is expected and par for the course when you make something with its own distinct personality--something Usui is familiar with. Swings like this can't please everyone and if they do, that typically signals something a bit bland. Like in many good stories, these characters aren't my "friends" but I can't wait to see how they navigate their situations. So many places this can go. Very nice from Usui.

last edited at Sep 26, 2024 7:58AM

Sometimes I wonder if they truly expect the audience to be able to empathize being in love with your sister. I at least am fully incapable of that. I've got a big sister, I've got a little sister, I've got a step sister, and I've got childhood friends as close as sisters, and absolutely none of them are remotely on the table for considering attraction. Even as a sexual minority there's still hundreds of millions of fish in the sea so there's not even any temptation, it's a concept that never would have occurred to me to think about without it happening in fiction. I could sorta get it in VC Andrews's "Flowers in the Attic" since they were locked up together and didn't see literally any other people, but that's not the case here or in the vast majority of cases, so why? Does the author just think it's a universal emotion we can relate to or what?

Sometimes it feels more nefarious than that. Sometimes it feels as though there are yuri authors who think "I'm writing about taboo/"abnormal" subjects anyway, so why not?" And the potential for that has always rubbed me the wrong way. Then when I hear the way certain authors talk about their series it also puts me off from time to time.

last edited at Sep 25, 2024 12:24PM

I'm just here to find out what the author is planning in the end

I hope it completely derails and they introduce something crazy, like an alien invasion.

Great. Now, I'll be disappointed if that doesn't happen. Thanks.

I'll skip and come back at chapter 60, hopefully they left the room by then.

You're an optimistic person.