I think that while Keine and Mokou are in some sort of relationship or have romantic feelings for each other here, they are not the real focus of this piece, so I'd suggest a tag change as well.

I liked this a lot! Though unfortunately the main story was a bit thin on the yuri.

I curse the shortness of the chapters each and every time.

Getting adorabetes over here... Someone call a doctor...!

Wow, this sure escalated quickly...

Yay more from Shako! I wouldn't mind seeing some sadomasochism featuring Alice being bound :3 huehuehue

Really? Because I totally would. Weirdo.

There's no need to be rude about somebody's tastes... People have the freedom to like what they want.

Ahaha the yonkoma was hilarious! I just kept cracking up!

Hahaha, this is lighter than I thought it would be! I've got this (probably misinformed) impression that Minakata's stuff is generally darker and more subdued, so it took me by surprise. That being said, I do know that their MeiSaku works tend to be fluffier than their other ones...

Poor boyfriend getting netorared

Lol that's what I was thinking too... It makes it all romantic and everything, but she's definitely cheating on her boyfriend.

Suffering from "Stretch" withdrawal, so I'm re-reading this... It's still a great series by itself, though.

Just re-read the whole thing, still as cute and hilarious as it was the first time round! It gives me a similar vibe to Shinozaki-san, probably because of the whole tsundere protag. liking a girl mainly for her looks... They're both great series!

I wonder to which extent the Japanese artists are actually ignorant about the fans outside the country?

There is - surprisingly - some degree of ignorance surrounding scanlations (referring to the final question), but I think it's safe to assume many artists are aware of their overseas fanbase, and to some degree the places they gather.

Of artists featured on this site, two that stand out in memory are Dowman Sayman, who's re-blogged numerous translations of his work on tumblr, and Ogu (loli warning) has re-tweeted translations of his work and also gave the scanlation group's logo a cameo appearance in one chapter. There are other pretty cool instances of this, but I can't think of them at the moment.

There are more than a few artists who display a decent grasp of English on twitter/pixiv, and they seem to at least know of sites like danbooru or MAL.

That's true, but you've got to admit that while they may be aware of the existence of scanlations to some extent, the idea that they would know this specific site - which, let's face it, is probably not all that well-known among people who aren't interested in yuri - is a bit unlikely to me. "Decent grasp of English" must also be qualified: I've seen people replying in English, but the responses are rarely long enough to display anything beyond a very basic knowledge of the language. And I can't think of any instances which involved slightly more complex ideas, either. Naturally, levels vary, but on the whole the Japanese education system has been rather poor at teaching people English.

I mean, yeah of course it's in English.. not to mention they are less likely to pay... but this could still be valuable feedback, interesting ideas, etc. So what are the odds Akili reads this thread? Is it really that close to 0 as we think?

It's still probably pretty close to 0. I'm sure he's a busy person!

You can probably guess what I'd say judging by my earlier comments, but I think it's next to zero. Even if he did know of this website, even if he did know of this thread, I really doubt he'd be reading through forty-five pages of messages written in a language he is likely to be fairly unfamiliar with. It would take too much time and effort to do so.

Is it just me or am I getting subtle Renko x Maribelover here? That is, if you subscribe to Yukari=Maribel and Reimu=Renko... Since I thought that was the only way to make proper sense of the echoing of the beginning and end; Yukari would get Reimu to pierce her ears, just as Renko offered to do for Merry. Or maybe it's just my inner RenMerry fangirl talking.

Oh wow, how awesome would it be for Takemiya Jin to do Stretch fanart?

Soft moaning here.
Ahem, sorry.

Anyway, for those who think Shou cares about what people on this forum want; it's the japanese readers that make his money, not us. But then, if you feed the comments on his webpage to google translate the words lesbian and lily pop up. So not only Takemiya is interested.

I bet comments there are similar to the ones here.

Just putting it out there that I wasn't talking about Shou caring about the fanbase on Dynasty, but in Japan. I'm not stupid enough to expect he'd even know this site exists.

Which web-page are you referring to, his blog? Because that doesn't even appear to have a commenting function...? If you're talking about the dedicated Yawaraka Spirits page, though, there are certainly some references to yuri in the comments, but only a very low proportion - less than twenty in one thousand entries (I was simply searching for the term itself, so more subtle allusions would have escaped me). Those who do refer to it generally mention it in the context of "this feels yuri", "this chapter was particularly yuri", "it'd be nice if there was more yuri", and "I thought it was yuri, but it wasn't"... So basically yes, the same as us. Interestingly, I did a search on Twitter, again looking for explicit mentions of yuri, and found a much higher proportion - around 10% (18 or 19 of about 145) of the tweets seemed to contain the term, despite the fact that a large number were "blank tweets" containing only the default tweet text, without any further commentary. The reference frame I used was from present back until November 8th, since that's as far back it would allow me to go.

It's certainly not enough to say that a majority of the readers are looking for yuri in it, but we know at least that there are Japanese fans out there seeing the same things we are, and that those tweeting about it are more interested in the yuri than those on the site for whatever reason.

Also, yuri manga-ka and active doujinshi-ka Kitao Taki tweeted about the mildly infamous chapter 25, jokingly calling it a 'special for those who like yuri (?) lol', so Takemiya's definitely not the first yuri creator who's interested...

last edited at Nov 4, 2014 7:06PM

Really random, but that little statement at the bottom saying not to worry because the name isn't actually announced is a bit of a bucket of cold water, isn't it? Despite the unrealistic, happy content, the disclaimer basically implies that there are people who would be uncomfortable with the name being announced, and that'd probably be because they would be ashamed if people found out...

As opposed to this manga (Stretch), I think the story came out as some flat story, into something very dynamic and complex story. One thing that I didn't like about this manga is that it didn't continue to the Keiko and her ex fiance arc.. After Ran and the ex fiance talked and kinda drank together, that was it. I didn't see any follow up story after that. I didn't see what happened next after that. I wanted to see more... Maybe they're gonna bring that back up. I hope.

I'm pretty sure it's going to come up again; it's probably just that it's still trying to masquerade as a normal slice-of-life series where nothing happens at the moment. The serious drama always comes between long stretches (haha) of nothing in particular happening... And seeing as we saw that Ran's father did actually die, which was subtly hinted at earlier, I think Shou's not going to drop this plot point so quickly - especially since it is highly relevant to the yuri subtext.

And another thing,, THE FREAKING QUEER BAIT... WE'RE BEING QUEER BAITED AND MANY OF US TOOK THE BAIT ESPECIALLY ME...

Yep, I'm being happily strung along... Thankfully, we know that Shou did at least write "Prism", so it's not like he's necessarily against serving up any actual yuri, though I guess it really depends on the editorial department in this case. I really hope they cave in and give us what the majority (I'm guessing - this ain't backed up with statistics) want!

It's so blatant teasing right now, that i suspect more than 99% of following readers must be yuri fans... (I heard that it was not published in a yuri comic?).

As far as I know, it's released in Big Spirits Comics (Yawaraka Supiritsu). I don't know if Big Spirits has ever released any gay(yaoi)/lesbian(yuri) themed series or one shots before (can someone confirm or deny this statement please?).

No idea about this - but I did take a look at the currently running series, and none of them seem to be yuri, or yaoi. Genre-wise, they all seem to be on the gag, slightly weird, or slice-of-life side of things, so there isn't really romance so far as I can see, though I think one centres on a housewife...?

Also, look at this: TAKEMIYA JIN TWEETED ABOUT STRETCH, GUYS! SHE CALLS IT WONDERFUL, HAS THAT SLIGHT BLUSHING THING GOING ON, AND RECOMMENDS IT!!

...Sorry for the all caps, but it's great to see that it's making the rounds in the right quarters. >:)
And if people who follow her start reading it, then the yuri fanbase for it is simply gonna grow!

Edit: Not to mention the difference is rankings is pretty obvious this month as well - here's the top three:

last edited at Nov 3, 2014 3:32PM

She explained who is her partner, or how she defines their relationship on her blog (ameba).
I personally don't understand, but WELL...as long as she feeds us with yuri, i'm fine with everything.

I don't read that blog. Didn't know there was one. So, might I ask you to summarize?? oO

Here is what she says about her partner:
http://ameblo.jp/yuricomic/theme-10044945443.html

For those who can't read Japanese, she explains that she and her partner are not family, nor friends, nor lovers, but share a relationship which she can only refer to as a partnership. Her pen-name is Horii Kisuke, and she draws manga and yuri - and sometimes BL? - doujiinshi. They met at vocational school and eventually became room-mates after graduating, drawing manga (as in drawing separate things, but together) and taking on part-time jobs together while supporting each other.

Is her partner a woman?

I think so...
Belief based on one of her posts : http://ameblo.jp/yuricomic/entry-11924145543.html
And as she also gives her partner pen name in this post, if you check on Ameba, you should find out that her partner may have an account there too.

Yes, she is female - Takemiya says so in the linked post as well as another - and is on both Ameba and Twitter. (And if anybody else was wondering, yes, they both follow each other.)

Back on topic, I love the "Ye Olde Lust Gauge" and 'My yuri switch was broken long ago, so now it's always set to on.' The story itself is not one of her best ones, but those two things redeem it (though one is admittedly part of the afterword).

last edited at Oct 30, 2014 10:55AM

Just read it. It's too short... cries I mean, it's actually the same length as always, but it seemed really short because it felt like filler. I don't want to have to wait for filler... Good that Shou still managed to fit in a bit of subtext, though.

You have no idea how sick I am of the "gender doesn't matter as long as you're in love" approach, and how amazing it is to see an author boldly stand there and say "Hell YES, it matters!"

I'm always looking for characters in yuri who actually seem to be appreciating their partner as a woman, and not just for some apparently "genderless" qualities and going ahead despite being of the same sex.

Yeah! It's really frustrating to see that sort of thing because it ignores certain forms of sexuality. Gay people are attracted to others of the same sex because they're of the same sex, and conversely for straight people. And while I suppose some bi people might have the same view - that they are attracted only to the soul, and thus the body is irrelevant - there are many others who are just attracted to both men and women because they find them physically attractive as well. I think there's another good, if comedic, example in Strawberry Shake Sweet where the manager asks the hairdresser about her sexuality, and she starts talking all lofty about how it's the inside that matters, but winds up saying that she's attracted to girls because they're girls. I can't remember which chapter, unfortunately.

Workplace can be another improvement...

Heartily agreed! I cheer every time I see a yuri work with the OL tag... Which is not all that common.

Same. Although it's a pity that Japan is so regressive towards women in the workplace and relegates most of them to the OL role.

And sorry, yeah, "adult life" or "office" tags are good, yes. I don't support the way most Japanese females are stuck as OLs - I suppose Ebisu-san and Hotei-san is pretty good in how one of the main characters is shown to be an extremely capable and competent worker far above the level of menial tasks.

all the women are really strong willed and treated with respect

I'm sorry, I didn't know much about it, but I am glad to hear that.

Ahh, I can't wait for the next chapter to come out!

Well, I understand that people might be a bit annoyed about how the yuri is getting dragged out, but I think it's definitely more than subtext. Akina has obviously got more-than-friendly feelings for Kaede - how many people would try to imagine their friends naked and get a nosebleed from that? - and her continued denial means nothing because she has been set up as a character who's often in denial about various things anyway. Also, yuri does not necessarily have to refer to a mutual relationship - as long as one female character has romantic feelings for another, that's yuri to me. (That doesn't justify Lemonade, though... Ugh.)

Also, I love the comedy - it's one my favourite series out there! It's very relatable, too - I've never seen Comiket featured in anything before, and it's all made better by how Hikawa Shou used to draw doujin. "Otaku" (I don't generally like using that word) also tend to be portrayed either as fat, lazy and sometimes perverted people perpetually locked in their rooms or really shy, glasses-wearing fujoshi, so it's great to see something where people who like anime/manga/games are depicted in a more realistic and positive manner.

Ah, Ch. 00 sure made the feels about the Asuna/Fue breakup well up again... T-T
It was inevitable since they didn't compromise, but it's always sad to see people separate even though they do love each other.

Also, I feel bad for Ruki... Why is it that all the relationships in this series seem to be going downhill?

something felt.......off about that last chapter, i mean it was just as baity as usual but the yuri vibe i normally get off matsuri has kinda just vanished and i dont know why

I agree.
No yuri vide in this chapter at all.

Maybe it's because Matsuri's supportive, but says she'd rather become Miss Sunflower? It suggests that she loves her in an admiring/wishes-to-become-like-her way rather than in a romantic one. I really hope that's not true though, because while it would be wonderful even if it didn't become yuri, I would be disappointed on account of the tags.

Ahh, it was so cute~ I'm getting healed!

I dunno if you'd call the mc bi, so much as putting up with relationships with guys because that's expected. She doesn't really seem to enjoy it.

My thoughts as well.

Agreed. She seems to have just been trying to drown her longing for Rie in physical pleasure, but there was never an emotional connection with those relationships. You never see her in a relationship with a woman - naturally, since she wouldn't have wanted to go against the status quo - so she could actually have single-target sexuality though.