Is this manga going to get more random? haha

Finally! Shimamura POV. This was a great start.

I was expecting to see a bit more commentary because it looks like we're moving out of the slow burn, one-sided stage. I don't think Shima's ready to announce anything yet, but she's aware of her mind drifting toward Adachi -- and the swimsuit call!

Thank you so much @sneikimmies. This is literally the update I was waiting to see when I took a quick break from work. It was a nice treat in the middle of my day.

Ito annoys me, Sumika is naive but I really like her. She's learning and trying, and I guess at least Ito is aware that she's being a terrible ...

Anyway, I'm optimistic because Sumika's going to try to fix her mistake. (ง ͠° ͟ل͜ ͡°)ง

Wow. Way to bring in the reality, @Cryssoberyl. Hah. (Glad it's not just me thinking it.)

I'm onboard too. Pretty cute, and the closing cover is encouraging.

In vol. 6, I hope 1) Adachi continues to take steps away from monomania, and 2) Shimamura has any development at all. More Shima POV please.

P.S. Thanks for translating volume 5 sneikkimies. I'm really enjoying reading this on my Kindle. ^^

Fastest resolution time for "Is she cheating on me?" (unnecessary) drama.

No bonus points, but no minus points from me. Whew...

I'm waiting for the story to circle back to Kurokawa. This trip is long. ha-ha

I hope Nanaki gets to conclude her thoughts, uninterrupted, next chap.

I honestly didn't notice the "groaning" scene until someone pointed it out here. The scenes like that are nice relief pointes between her long, anxiety-laden monologues. So thanks to whomever.

And thank you @sneikkimies!

Lilliwyt posted:

I feel like i don't quite understand.. Why Shima act like nothing happen ? DId she really not listen to the rant or was it too fast for to understand or did she really think it through after and understand the situation (which is frankly quite impossible given Shima normal behavior).Wish we had some Shima's POV to understand it in next chapter.

Shimamura didn't act like nothing happened. For her it wasn't a big deal, or at least not enough to keep in mind for long. Shimamura basically just let go of what she said.

I appreciate how this story is showing the common imbalance you find in real relationships. We're used to being fed stories where both the characters are falling for each other or there's some trope-y explanation for why one character doesn't like the other, but here one girl is head-over-heels (and not ignorant about it) and the other is squarely on the friend page. Neither perfectly understands the other's mental state, they're making bad assumptions but things are still working out in ways and not in others.

That said, Adachi's position hurts. The "ice water" and loneliness moments. I felt those. I've fallen for a person and felt that sort of disconnect. Some people really just go with the flow, drama and weight stuff just kind of bounces off of them.

For me, rejection is way less painful than dismissal or non-response. You can't blame the other person because they're not responsible for your feelings, and you can't force people to feel how much your words mean to you. With rejection, it hurts, but it marks an end, which is a gift in the form of marking a place from you can proceed to heal or whatever. In the other scenario, however, there's no one to blame and there's no resolution to your dilemma. And don't make the mistake of blaming yourself either. Either which way, it just feels terrible...

(And I received a non-response to a confession, not an ...emotional, word vomit explosion, hah...)

This chapter really hit home ...in an unpleasant way. I love the pacing though. I'm happy Adachi is finally showing some initiative. The bath situation sounded sketchy, but I'm just going to paper over that in my memory. (^.^ ;)

On a different note: Something in the pattern of Adachi's thoughts was making it hard for me to let go that the mangaka is a guy. The way Adachi's attraction is being described sounds alien to me. (Is it just me?)

My only real issue with this novel is the extras. They are distracting alongside this slow burn, especially when it is presently an unrequited love story. Shimamura's two friends in the main verse being super gay in the side show makes it harder for me as the reader to hold onto the belief the possibility of her female friends being attracted to her is not part of Shimamura's world view. So, yeah, not a fan of that dichotomy. I might just stop reading them.

last edited at Feb 21, 2020 9:46PM

I feel...anxiety... I feel like there's a missing "tragedy" tag. Hah...

That dismissal hurt. Truly.

But it's unreasonable to expect Shimamura to handle any of that. I don't know if it was respectful for Shimamura to have stayed on the call through to the end or if she was merely in shock (and we may not find out what was going on in her head at the time...with how this novel has been).

I love the pace of this LN. It took a while for me to get used to the quickly shifting POV (but I think my confusion was exacerbated by the mismatch in the numbering with the chapters).

I'm not a fan of lots of side characters, but I think I'm really just feeling a bit more annoyed by them than usual because of the lack of progress in how Adachi is dealing with things. Hopefully, this emotionally charged exchange is the catalyst for the next stage.

Shima is so good at buffering, I wonder.. -- Where is chapter five? (╯°□°）╯︵ ┻━┻

... ┬──┬ ノ( ゜-゜ノ)

I think it's unfair, but the ball is squarely in Shimamura's court. She clearly sees something in Adachi, I don't. Hah...

(I know it's a cultural difference, but wow these girls are indirect in verbal exchanges. The most direct comments have come in jest, when Shimamura is teasing Adachi; and boy am I thankful for those moments.)

I also didn't give due credit to the developments with the coworkers. For what I didn't like in the most recent chapter, I do like that the mangaka gave them some depth as humans. They're not completely oblivious or mean or anything.

That also resonates with my experiences as an adult finding confidence in myself. It's something realizing that more people care about you than you think, and learning how to reciprocate and give them a way to express their interest... Learning how to be a better acquaintance or friend as an adult. It's all very interesting ...and messy...

Hmmm... This chapter had its cute moments, but it's left me with some trepidation. I found the "dramatic" scenes with the sister and even the crossroad scene off putting. I hope the next chapter delivers a bit more...

YagaKimi is good, but it didn't move me much. I enjoyed it more in its earlier stages. I like this one more...so far.

last edited at Jan 26, 2020 11:06PM

This manga is going to be too short. I can feel it. ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡

shadesofgreymoon posted:
Ohhh, EFFFFFFFFFFFFF that incoming misunderstanding bullshit. I expected better of you, Still Sick.

Yeah... Waiting to see how they're going to subvert this rando stalker behavior. This is one of the few mangaka-themed manga I've really liked.

x(.__.)x

last edited at Jan 18, 2020 11:51PM

Thought dump after a pretty interesting chapter cause ¯\(ツ)_/¯ ..._

Risako is the most interesting character to me, but I though this chapter even brought some life to Kaoru.

Reichi is just an object in the story at this point. He's the dude who happens to be related to all these women, and he doesn't appear to have the will to detangle himself, not through direct action.

I do wonder what Uta is up to now... (She's the only one for whom we've seen significant mental growth.)

Back to Risako: She seems to be relatively out of touch with her emotions, and I think that's gotten her into trouble (socially). She does not feel guilt or consequences in the same way as the typical person -- but that doesn't make her bad or evil or a psychopath. There is a broad spectrum of neurodiversity that can lead to those links being weak. This chapter demonstrated the difference in the malintent Kaoru's been projecting onto Risako versus Risako's actual intentions.

(It's probably beyond the scope of this story, but I wish Risako would find someone who cared enough to understand her.)

I find Kaoru the most cowardly character. She takes relatively little responsibility for her own emotions. Her passive-aggressive actions go way beyond what I'd find acceptable in a relationship, friendly or otherwise. From her POV, Risako's behavior looks pretty spiteful, but I don't think Risako knew how much accepting Reichii's confession bothered her until she (finally) said something. Risako reacted first with surprise and confusion; but (according to Kaoru's memory) she later did the "normal" spiteful thing, talking to Reichi on the phone more at school, etc. On one hand, yeah, not a fan of that; on other hand, that's not a unique teenage drama scenario.

Is Risako manipulative? Sure, but more so than any other human...? I don't know. All humans try to influence. Some are better at it than others; and some have a weak moral compass that lets them breach societally acceptable boundaries. Kaoru's emotionally manipulated all the other main-ish characters. I can believe she was more ignorant of it to start, but is having head-in-the-sand more excusable? The one time Risako burned her isn't enough of an explanation. A low trust person will trust other people less. I'm highly skeptical of how Kaoru views others.

The author has presented sympathetic and unsympathetic qualities for each of the characters. Risako has a number of qualities that are stereotypically found in antagonists and she's in an antagonistic relationship with the MC -- but only from the MC's view (others are neutral and Risako's on perspective on the relationship ranges from hurt to cool but is intentionally?? ambiguous). Reichii was presented as an okay guy at the start. Uta's been setup as a "good" but flawed throughout the story.

I'm probably most sympathetic to Risako if only because Uta's plot is a bit run of the mill, but I'm in the minority either way. :D

Nobody here is evil, but they've put little effort into understanding one another. (I don't have much sympathy for that.) I guess they're all motivated strongly by their "unrequited love".

It's a collage of tragedies.

P.S. I think the author's been on a roll with these flashback chapters. I'm really curious to see how Kaoru's responds.

P.P.S. Is Uta a major character? (I don't necessarily mind, but it feels like the level of gay dropped when the story pivoted away from her...)

I'm also here for the art I think. Oh, right, and that they're in college and not preteens.

The humor is definitely not my cup of tea. If only my reading list were longer... *sighs*

It looks to me less like falling in love is a magic bullet so much as having someone accept and encourage her will be therapeutic.

Part of her problem seems to be a lack of people accepting her for who she is.

I was just saying I hope it doesn't follow that pattern, as it's a common one I've seen in many stories (not just manga). I have no clue if it's gonna go that way or not at this point.

Otek posted:
Man that last Chapter hit me hard. Cleaning your room can be a really big thing for people with depression (I think that she has depression, based on her actions and thoughts). It's one of those things that look really strange from the outside. Most people probably think something along the lines of "just get it over with!", but it can be so hard to get up and do even the most basic things. The author probably has experience with depression him-/herselfe or knows someone who does. He/she does a really great job of portraying some common parts of the illness.

I feel this. It's already one of those stories for which I'll have to check in with myself before I read. (And I really appreciate that you said "some parts of the illness". We can't really diagnose, especially not with so little exposure.)

Temporary or not, the MC seems to me to be depressed in many of the moments the author chose to capture in chapter three, alone and with others present. To me she's suffering anxiety around her to identity and purpose that has rendered her vulnerable to depressive episodes.

It would be cool (albeit more painful) if "falling (mutually) in love" didn't serve as a magic bullet to resolve whatever is leading her to feeling low and troubled, but I do want to see a happy ending for her. (It would lift my spirits, ha-ha.)

last edited at Jan 17, 2020 7:50PM

@arch99 posted:
I think setting up Satou-san purely on how she can help the MC isn't quite right, she has some of those same issues as the MC.

Ah, yeah, I was just focused on Satou-san's perspective and potential developmental direction. I agree with you.

@mei is waifu posted

The MCs of your romance story are too passive/shy/closeted/whatever so that there’s no progress. Solution: introduce another character.
The bad way: introduce a nuisance rival to create a love triangle.
The good way: introduce a relative/friend that ships them.

I wish more and more stories would do that, actually. Sick and tired of the love rival plot. Nowadays I don't have the patience and instantly drop a story if it introduces love triangle bullshit.

Love triangles are also one of the things that lead me to drop or immediately like a manga less. (Bloom for You, Useless Princes -- all of them are dinged for that in my head.)

It is nice to have a sibling or close friend support you in your relationships. I prefer to say supportive rather than shipping. (I attribute a negative valence to the concept. ¯_(ツ)_/¯) And I do think this relationship brought some needed color to UnoSatou-san. Hopefully, the author will add more depth to her character; as much as I like what I've seen so far, she's still paper thin to me (mainly a person on whom the MC is fixated).

last edited at Jan 14, 2020 7:23PM

shadesofgreymoon posted:

arch99 posted:

Hoooly shit. This is incredibly relatable. Even beyond the yuri, this is like, such an excellent representation of executive dysfunction and the difficulties of interacting with society while being neurodivergent (I literally don't give the slightest fuck whether any of you think they're neurodivergent at not, please don't start an argument, it's that it rings true to my experiences with that). This is really hitting me different, I quite love it so far.

You need to get out of my head. ~_^

... Yep. (I called it painful for a reason...) The depiction of loneliness can be found in other stories, especially romance stories, but the feeling of being stuck in a role (that feels) forced upon you by society (which is actually largely self imposed and self policed). Even more so, not knowing how to move out of that mental entrapments. The cognitive dissonance and stress (pain) this character is holding... Being trapped in yourself in the worst.

--Ugh. Anyway, (I need to get off a depressing train of thought) Satou-san seems to represent balance. She's alone at work, but she has a warm relationship with her sister. Her work desk is neat, but she's a clumsy home keeper. She's a straight arrow that will break through the MC's mental cage. (I hope.) The MC needs to learn to reconcile her "self" and her role in the world. Seeing someone live and experiencing their seeming (surface-level) contradictions will help, but more valuable (and scarier) ... Here in chapter 3 she spoke aloud, "What should someone like me do?".

I'm so glad she felt comfortable enough to ask that, but I knew she was unaware at the time. (The question wasn't fully directed at Satou-san.) So it was painful (for me) but unsurprising when she criticized herself ("I really made myself look pathetic").

Whatever happens with Satou-san, Uno-san can cherish those moments of having a safe space to connect with herself.

last edited at Jan 13, 2020 10:31PM

shedsofgreymoon posted:

Just thought I'd share, lol. This is why I eat up these stories about adult yuri situations, because they are closer to me personally than the bulk of them that are about teens. And this story on particular hits me close to home because I too live alone, etc etc, hence my previous joking.

Thanks for sharing. (ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟ✧ ✧ﾟ･: *ヽ(◕ヮ◕ヽ)

This story is so real, ha-ha. The ending of chapter three, when the MC cleaned her room as one of the things "[she is] able to do", really hit. Life, man...

xxcindybeexx posted:

BugDevil posted:
I won't downplay your personal experience, I never denied it is possible. It should be mentioned though that you don't need to have someone from your strike zone among your peers to feel attraction. Just watching media with beautiful women in them can have just the same effect. I mean, someone posted an example of someone figuring it out from comics after all.
Porn is not really necessary to reach that conclusion, but I think it's a weird stereotype that girls these days don't watch porn. You know that porn is also a taboo among boys? Adults always try to keep it from all younger people. It doesn't work for either sex. Not with the internet so readily available to most countries these days. And seeing other naked women is actually not very uncommon in Asian countries, so even if porn is highly regulated, there are still lots of opportunities.

I guess what I am getting at is that my original statement still stands: It's unlikely to never experience an episode of attraction until the 20s. Not impossible, not even super rare, but unlikely. At least in this day and age.

edit: And that doesn't mean one figures out what that attraction means or that you are a lesbian.

j/w but how old are you? i mean, maybe for kids just figuring things out TODAY it's just as you say, but--and not to sound old or anything--when i was still in middle school/highschool things definitely weren't this way. back then yes porn was tabboo. and when i was in middle school if you wanted to see anything pornographic on the computer you'd have to wait an hr just for one picture to show up lol. after waiting an hr just to connect online. hell even in HS scanlations were still becoming something new. i had been used to translations that were getting posted online, like reading play scripts, and was absolutely blown away when i first discovered that you could SEE A WHOLE MANGA ONLINE. and saying asians seeing other naked women isn't uncommon is making YOUR own stereotype. not ALL of them visit bath houses. which is i assume largely where they would see other non family member naked women. and it's becoming even less common as time goes on.

and saying you could figure out you're gay just from watching tv is silly. the way you react to something on tv and someone right there is completely different. WAY too easy to pass someone you've only seen on the telly as a simple admiration. it's like...liking a dog cause it's cute, but you don't want to fuck it. hell if it was that easy i woulda figured it out when i was like 6, cause i was WAY more into xena than i knew lol. all i knew was i really really liked the show and liked her, i didn't know WHY.

all in all, we don't really know the time frame the author wants this manga to be, or even if they put much effort other than "modern." because all that old timey sounding situations i grew up in? really wasn't that long ago, i'm only 33. we don't know what her family life was like growing up, what kind of schools she went to, to have missed the signs as she grew up. so saying it's not realistic for her not to know already is being ignorant. i mean i doubt the author even thought beyond that they just wanted their character to have not known yet. i just think saying she should have is silly. maybe she is pansexual. maybe she has a low libido so never reacted strongly enough to someone to recognize it.

@xxcindybeexx: Thanks for sharing your experience. It made me happy and also made me laugh. I think my experience was similar (though it sounds like I discovered the manga a bit earlier, heh).

I was a child in the 90s, one of my peers was verbally harassed and the source of many rumors after announcing her crush on our 6th grade teacher, and I crushed on a number of smart, lanky boys as late as my 20th year.

In fact, the strong crush I experienced on a guy happened when I was 20, but then I was hit by the train that was my first noted female attraction (and crushed on a guy again).

If I hadn't gone to college, I don't know when I would've realized.

Sure, in the years after recognizing I was attracted to women, I could see some of my interest in (older) females earlier in life as crushes, but I didn't view them that way at all at the time. I respected and admired, but that was it. And I was close to people I knew were gay or queer in middle school and high school.

(My fanfiction reading history before and after "the realization" is night and day - romance - all hetero then all wlw.)

Your ability to frame your emotions and interactions is vital; so it is not at all unlikely for someone to reach early or even late adulthood depending on their environment and exposure.

Calling it weird or "out of the ordinary" can feel dismissive an hurt (however unintentional).

I get frustrated sometimes when I read comment with people lamenting how they read more stories treating homosexuality as "normal" or how they're tired of "coming out" stories. They forget (or don't seem to care) that homosexuality being unacceptable or really rare is still the reality for a lot of people. I can understand why people make such comments, but I really like those types of stories (when they're well done) and personally am happy to see any new content for wlw -- especially high visibility and high quality content. (I'm trying to distract myself from the whole month's worth of days between now and Portrait of a Lady On Fire's general release. ｡゜(｀Д´)゜｡)

Many people still don't have regular , high-bandwidth internet access. (Mind-blowing, right?)

Anyway, all I wanted to say was thank you, @xxcindybeexx, for sharing your experience, and I'm still really curious as to how this story will unfold. (It feels honest, raw and ...painful. I'm here for it. ..for now ^^ ;)

P.S. I'm not a porn fan, but how that is treated with respect to girls watching it versus boy is just one of the many still strong sex/gender-based double-standards. Progress feels as slow as ever some days. :D

P.P.S. I didn't have celebrity crushes until after "the realization". And it was a phase that came and went quickly, it seems. (Why hang up on someone so far removed from my life.) I think that just a part of accepting those "I went to see the movie because I'm attracted to them" moments/biases.

last edited at Jan 13, 2020 7:03PM

Great chapter (as much as I want to see more of the the main pairing).

I've like this story from chapter one, and it just keeps making a stronger impression.

This is a good one.

I'm glad we finally got a chapter to give Risako some more depth. Hopefully, there's a bit more. I never made the leap to assume she was a predator or forcing any cheating. Only the plot will tell. It would be nice if it actually builds her into a more interesting, flawed-human character.

On the other hand, the flashback also sured up Kaoru's complete lack of assertiveness. Maybe that one-sided confession killed whatever hope of her developing a backbone in her early years. Who knows... I have nothing against her, but she's so passive in this story pinned around her.

Another on-the-nose/straightforward chapter would bring me some more relief reading this. Heh.