I'm a bit torn on this. On one hand, there definitely seems to be an issue where some of the ideas and design choices in the manga are ... not great. You brought up the use of indigenous aesthetics for "savage, bad giants", but there was also the line in chapter 11 where she says "Those who hold no beliefs, have no dogma or creed to follow, are in capable of treating other people as human beings!" which is incredibly similar to lines used by some religious groups to demonize atheists and agnostics in the real world.

I read that more as Hinako saying “If you have no personal philosophies or moral standards that you hold yourself to, you can’t possibly treat other people with basic human respect.” She even states before that line that she’s not talking about any specific religion or anything. She’s saying that if you don’t have ethics or a conscience, then there’s nothing stopping you from doing horrible awful things to people and treating them like trash.

Atheists are more than capable of realizing that it’s immoral to murder people. They don’t need a religion to tell them that. Hinako recognizes this. Her wording is probably kinda confusing since she mentions “having a God”, but we’ve also seen her define “God” as less of an established, definitive deity and more like some nebulous force of the universe. So I don’t think we’re supposed to be taking Hinako’s words as some sort of Christian crusade there. Just her saying “if you have no sense of right and wrong, you cannot possibly treat people right”.

That's how I read it too. She basically just said "you need to have principles" and condemned opportunism.

mk blessing us one again

with all the social anxiety this manga gave me all along, and the way this chapter was going I was really afraid they were going to die,

for real, when i saw the page with the footprints at the beach i half expected the next panel to be just their shoes in the sand, the end D:

As Taguchi-sensei would say: "A well-trained yuri reader should be able to see yuri in any relationship"

With a positive spin one could at least see it as pansexual rep~ bc "the gender doesn't matter, i like them bc of the person they are" is what that is, essentially.
If you can block out the red-flagged way of how this trope has been used before.

does Takamine ever change her expression?

she has the perpetual ರ⁠_⁠ರ face

keyword: kuudere

So can we finally get Asumi x Ouka stuff? Chapter 8 left on a perfect note for their relationship to start to progress but then Nanao got introduced and took up way too much screen time and now I'm really scared that we'll never get a payoff to Ouka's stuff...

Ouka hearing about Asumi and Nanao becoming FWB might very well be the trigger for that to happen, I can totally see her being down and using that to get her foot in the door so to speak :D

Since Asumi has experience with threesomes but Ouka doesn't I will never be satisfied if Asumi doesn't have a threesome with Ouka and someone else (preferably Sayaka because Sayaka is best girl)

For sure! As for Nanao, i'm personally p happy about her suggesting the FWB route, bc it's a nice step towards a hopeful Polyam Happy end with Asumi, Mai and Nanao together~ Here's to hoping <3

A hopeful open polyam happy end with Mai still being a prostitute and Asumi continuing to be the brothel's favourite customer.

The Best Timeline.

So can we finally get Asumi x Ouka stuff? Chapter 8 left on a perfect note for their relationship to start to progress but then Nanao got introduced and took up way too much screen time and now I'm really scared that we'll never get a payoff to Ouka's stuff...

Ouka hearing about Asumi and Nanao becoming FWB might very well be the trigger for that to happen, I can totally see her being down and using that to get her foot in the door so to speak :D

Since Asumi has experience with threesomes but Ouka doesn't I will never be satisfied if Asumi doesn't have a threesome with Ouka and someone else (preferably Sayaka because Sayaka is best girl)

For sure! As for Nanao, i'm personally p happy about her suggesting the FWB route, bc it's a nice step towards a hopeful Polyam Happy end with Asumi, Mai and Nanao together~ Here's to hoping <3

So can we finally get Asumi x Ouka stuff? Chapter 8 left on a perfect note for their relationship to start to progress but then Nanao got introduced and took up way too much screen time and now I'm really scared that we'll never get a payoff to Ouka's stuff...

Ouka hearing about Asumi and Nanao becoming FWB might very well be the trigger for that to happen, I can totally see her being down and using that to get her foot in the door so to speak :D

it's a tall order but gosh hecking darn if that wasn't the hottest, sexiest, wholesomest chapter of the whole series up until now. oh me oh my

I legit don't remember if Rose is even supposed to know about the trinket or not

iirc she doesn't. he's just on her list of kill targets she was supposed to buy her freedom with

OH. UH OH. OH NO.

shit's going down now

Damn Magenta. Quiet waters are deep, as they say.

Mikawacchi has zero chill.

honestly i wouldn't want to live door to door with these two morons either xD

What the hell are their uniforms so damn fashionable for? I'm so mad rn

They really do have no business being that stylish, damn xD

Makino really has found her match in scumminess, she got nothing on her fucking parents. She might be self-serving, opportunistic and selfish but at least she doesn't harm anybody or destroy someone elses life with her scumminess~

"low key"

Zoomerisms are sometimes simultaneously hilarious, endearing, and infuriating.

It's not a "Zoomerism". it's AAVE and the term has been around for over 10 years.

new couple alert let'S go

I personally really enjoyed this arc for all it's worth. But i also don't see this resolution as them starting to date or anything (at least not right away).

To me it just feels like they finally reconnected on the premise that Aki knows and accepts Shiho's feelings for her and, while not reciprocating outright (yet), wants to give their relationship the opportunity to develop from here on out. And Shiho finally letting go of her "if I can't be together with her i won't be in her life at all" attitude and being willing to see where said development will take them.

FF14 lesbians in their natural environment

the Volume 8 extras are also out on Mangadex and i'm trying to remember who that other person in the second Omake with Miki is. Totally forgot about that character, who's that again?

Her senpai from swimming club, we've seen her just once in chapter 38, she doesn't even have a name yet.

Ohh gotcha, thanks!

the Volume 8 extras are also out on Mangadex and i'm trying to remember who that other person in the second Omake with Miki is. Totally forgot about that character, who's that again?

In the twitter, on the last panel Narita has "4649".

I am in no way questioning the translation, I'm just curious how that number equates to "pleased to join you"?

My guess it's about how the numbers are read.

4 = shi (on reading) / yon (kun reading)
6 = roku
9 = ku/kyuu

so 4649 can be pronounced as "yoroshiku" for which the translation is accurate.

my favorite 2 in 1 gfs~

The whole refugee uprising thing reminds me of the Independent Eleven Arc from Ghost in the Shell: Standalone Complex.

Next they'll make them declare the district an independent nation and acquire plutonium to put weight behind their demands