Volume 4 cover.
http://img.bato.to/forums/uploads/6def9f097fed888da4d6186f7795a000.jpg

^ Or else, she's gonna be there to give us the look of an outsider on Ayaka and Yurine's relationship, as she sort of did (though not enough I would say) in chapter 18… But yeah, there's no way she's gonna be a serious romantic contenter. She and Yurine are clearly not on an equal footing.

last edited at Feb 15, 2016 3:46PM

I don't think there's much meaning behind the title. It's yuri, so white lily… Ayaka actually offers white lilies to Yurine for her birthday in chapter 5.

^ After reading the old chapter previews, I demand that these two get a yonkoma spin-off! Moe's deadpan delivery is always comedy gold, seriously.

From the little I've read, Kanna is much more hyper than Ayaka. >.> And Yuu doesn't seem particularly trollish. But she seems a bit more "out there".

…I should read the rest of ST, actually. =[ But only half of the chaps are translated…

last edited at Feb 14, 2016 4:48PM

Thanks. =3 It's mostly chapter "previews". It's too bad they don't do it anymore.

…Speaking of that, when I look through the old illustrations, and even some of the early chapters' covers, it seems like Canno had originally planned Ai and Chiharu to be the third couple, but then changed their mind and made Ai just a best friend…

Wooow that's… old. XD The series was barely starting. Hum… I could try to tl them. =O

last edited at Feb 14, 2016 11:24AM

@Tiger: I… Don't remember those, actually. ò.Ô Was that really long ago, or does Canno have a third blog I don't know of?

Huh… The way I see it, Ayaka's obsession with competition is precisely what prevents her from accepting Yurine. There's a good example of this in chapter 15 (yeah, don't forget that one): they start by playing with hoses, then Yurine asks Ayaka to join her in the club "because she just wants to be with her". At that moment, Ayaka's resistance has pretty much collapsed… It's only when Yukina points out that Ayaka is gonna be "number 2" in the club that she goes back in tsun mode.

Which means Ayaka has no problem accepting Yurine's presence when her obsession with defeating her doesn't get in the way. Then, as Tiger said, it's partly Yurine's fault, as she gave Ayaka the impression that she only mattered to her as a rival; but Yurine's started to realize that it's not the sole reason she fell for her − her crush started when Ayaka smiled to her and helped her open up, not when she knew she was just behind her in the ranking. Again, this is illustrated in chapter 15.

In the end there's a good part of mutual obliviousness regarding what they really want from each other. Now what role Kaoru's presence is gonna play in that, I don't know. Going by their Twitter, Canno had planned to introduce this character from the start, so I guess they did it for a reason.

Otherwise…

Never change, Moe. You're awesome.

last edited at Feb 13, 2016 12:21PM

Kinda, yeah. So far, that would be >
Ayaka and Yurine: 1, 2, 5, the extras, 11, 12, 15.
Mizuki and Moe: 3, 4, 16, 17, 20.
Chiharu/Maya and Chiharu/Izumi: 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.
Yukina and Towako: 12, 13, 14, 15.
Kaoru & co.: omake 6, 18, 19.

last edited at Feb 11, 2016 12:13PM

By the way, for those who missed it...
http://img15.hostingpics.net/pics/296357img000015.jpg

You're mean folks, Yurine is clearly the character who has gotten the most focus and development so far. =[ She's not nearly as unsociable and unmotivated as in the early chaps, chapter 18 shows it again. I'm waiting the same kind of development for Ayaka, now − but for that, she would need to, I don't know, have more than 5 pages of screentime in the same chapter.

Should add NSFW to the chapter. Jeez.

At least Canno was tasteful enough to not add a ton of saliva to the kiss (yes, I'm talking to you, Saburouta >.>) And these LOOKS, god. You don't need words when the eyes already say so much.

Huh... Peole really liked this chapter. Not that I'm surprised. What happened in the last two pages though? Was there a time skip? The two look a bit older... Or maybe it's just Moe's haircut change.

last edited at Feb 11, 2016 8:46AM

Yurine isn't an asshole. =[ She's just a troll who knows how to press Ayaka's right/wrong buttons, and that's also why I like her.

@EvilDevil: Yeah, that… I wonder if Canno will release a special doujin or AnoKiss short for it. =O

last edited at Feb 10, 2016 3:48AM

Chapter 20 is up, concluding volume 4. Many thanks to Faust for the proofreading. =3 Chapter 21 isn't out yet in Japan, so we're all caught up now.

There are similarities but they have more differences. I am talking about this series between Comprehensive Tovarish... They are unique in their own way.

…I haven't read it, but the premise does sound similar. =O

last edited at Feb 9, 2016 5:59PM

That question is addressed in chapter 12 if I recall, though not completely answered yet. =O

Oh, Québécoise? \o/

…I don't know how to send private messages on this forum… Do you have a Batoto account?

Ah… peut-être. ^^" Well, if I have to be proofread, it's all the better if it's by a native English speaker. =O

@Salamandrake: It seems obvious that the last arc will be about Ayaka and Yurine, at least. If the author can properly relate that arc to the previous character arcs, then yeah it would make the story more meaningful as a whole. We'll see how they handle that... I'm still not sure if Canno is a guy or a chick… I think it's a she…

last edited at Feb 7, 2016 1:38PM

The other "couples" don't really feel like couples at all. It's been a while since I read any of their stories (just not interesting enough) so I could be wrong, but it felt a lot more like especially good straight girl friendships?

I agree for Chiharu and Izumi, who feel more like a boke-tsukkomi duo (that's why the second Drama CD felt… off to me). As for Towako and Yukina, I think Towako's romantic feelings were initially one-sided, but Yukina ended up accepting them so, yeah.

Ah, mais aussi, juste pour savoir. Si c'est un groupe français, pourquoi le traduis-tu aussi en anglais?
Est-ce que le groupe s'occupe généralement aussi de la traduction anglaise?

Un caprice ? Au départ je pensais seulement traduire le premier chapitre en anglais, puis on m'a appris que Kawai Scans le faisait déjà. Sauf qu'ils ont pas sorti de chapitre depuis des lustres, donc, beh, j'ai continué. Re-traduire en anglais va assez vite en fait, vu que j'ai déjà l'essentiel de la traduction en tête.

If you're good enough in English, I'll gladly ask you for help. :þ I'm gonna do Chapter 20 today.

MMT is a French team, yes. Exceptionally, I translate AnoKiss in both French and English.

Unfortunately, for the English chaps I'm often forced to proofread myself, which is not optimal. So if anyone wants to propose their help for that, they are very welcome. >.>

last edited at Feb 6, 2016 7:25PM

The completely opposite opinions people have on this series' structure and characters will never cease to amuse me. X)

On one side you have those who want Canno to stop with the side couples already and focus on the two protags; on the other you have those who don't care about the two protags and prefer the side couples.

…And those like me who like all the couples but would like to see more of the main one, I guess…

It'd probably work better, yeah… Now about the characters, the only ones who don't really feel "necessary" are Chiharu and Izumi, really (and I do like those two, mind you). MizuMoe, TowaYuki, and even Ai all served Yurine's development to an extent. Mizuki also serves as a necessary non-romantic interaction for Ayaka… and now Kaoru may play a role too.

For that matter, was I the only one to think "ouch" when Mizuki casually pointed out that Ayaka didn't have any real friend in chap 18?

(oh, and some pretty Twitter pic, just passing https://twitter.com/hasegawa_keisxx/status/692311055570108416 )

last edited at Feb 5, 2016 6:08PM

Personally, I've kind of come to terms with it. Once you see this manga as an ensemble story rather than just the main couple's story, it becomes more enjoyable I think. As for Kaoru, as Lifecharacter said I think the author introduced her for a reason… her having a crush on Yurine will inevitably have some influence on future events. I hope.

Still, if volume 5 doesn't go back on Ayaka and Yurine − especially Ayaka −, I may start to lose patience too…

If the manga said that it's about the love story of the girls of Seiran Gakuen

Actually, the first cover − as well as the brief descriptions on the author's Twitter and other official material − says exactly that. >.> http://bato.to/reader#fbcc84bd8b14ed3e_3

What misled people and sites like Mangaupdates is that the first couple of chapters were focused on Ayaka and Yurine. But Canno never said they would be the sole focus.

The problem is more that they seem to switch the focus randomly. Like, in volume 4 we have 2 chapters about Mizuki and Moe (16 and 17), 2 chaps to introduce Kaoru (18 and 19), and chap 20 wraps up Mizuki and Moe's arc… It's a bit all over the place.

last edited at Feb 5, 2016 4:53PM

Chapter 18 and 19 are up. Chapter 20 should follow soon.

Chapter 18 is up in French on Batoto, for those who can read it. =3

I know I've said that a lot already but… chapter 18 is almost done. I just don't know what's taking the goddamn proofreading so long. =___=

On a sidenote I bought Canno's story collection "Cider to Nakimushi" online. It's not hugely different from their style in AnoKiss, but… still a bit. There are 5 stories. And one of them has gasp A MALE CHARACTER IN IT. Ô.Ô I liked it at any rate, despite the generally vague endings. I was a bit surprised that the volume was published by Yuri Hime, considering AnoKiss runs in the Comic Alive.

They're translated and typeset, just waiting for check now.

Aaand, I've got the raw of chapter 20, that concludes volume 4. It wraps up Moe and Mizuki's arc for good, and with gusto − it might be my favorite chapter so far, actually.

Chap 21 will only come out next month.

last edited at Jan 19, 2016 7:58PM

Dunno, but Kaoru is admittedly adorable. =] But yeah… It would be nice if Canno did something to, I don't know, remind us that Ayaka is supposed to be a main character…?

I've gotten back Photoshop, as well as chapter 19, so I might be able to release 18 and 19 simultaneously during this month. Maybe.