Library girl doesn't even get a face. I wonder if this will go the typical route of having her be a catalyst of some sort. That'd be kind of disappointing.

I think that with the success of this work, the gay shenanigans had to take a backseat because the main sponsors of Sumiko have become the music industry (mainly Universal Music Japan) and not the manga industry or the yuri fandom.

She's been enrolled to promote Universal's catalog in Japan, not to promote the gay agenda.

For her sponsors, the gay is secondary. It's cute and it adds some appeal to the manga, but it's not the main theme anymore.

The first part focused on Aya and Mitsuki and the gender misunderstanding, but once it was out of the way, the second part focused mostly on music, because it's what pays the bills for Sumiko. So she toned down the romance (still keeping the rizz moments) and propped up the western music side.

So I wouldn't expect any actual onscreen kiss or definite gay thing, because it's become too big for that unfortunately, even if Sumiko has not shied away from the gay in the past.

I could maybe see this, but even recently, chapters 75 to 79 seem much more character focused than music industry focused.

We've come so far from people doubting whether this manga was even yuri, lol.

I dunno if you're reading the same comment section as me, but people were arguing about it not long ago saying it was yuribait. I'm sure it'll come up again.

To be fair, there's still a pretty good chance that we won't see anything definitive as far as confirmed romance goes. It all depends on how you define ''bait'' in the end.

Based on how she normally talks about the series, I'm expecting something like what Yukiko does with her pairs ("Futaribeya," also the recently posted "Cry for the Moon"). Both authors describe their character relationships and their intentions in similar ways. We'll see though.

Except that's not really how any of Sumiko's other works go. Like a lot of Yukiko's oneshots are subtext too. None of Sumiko's are.

That was fantastic. Adorable and sexy, which is a great combo.

Riri is so boring to me. This felt like a nothing chapter to me. I'm not feeling the chemistry either, it was just Mei checking out her boobs.

Mitsuki's fashion gets talked up a lot, and it is great, but as a femme I love Aya's looks so much. Those earrings are adorable!

It's a little vague, but I think this implies Chizuru hasn't picked up that Aya was talking about Mitsuki.

Unless I'm completely forgetting a scene, Aya only told some of her friends about '' Onii-san'' to begin with and she didn't tell anyone about finding out that it was Mitsuki all along. Narita might be the only other character who's been privy to the whole thing.

I was thinking there were some scenes that might imply she knows, but I reread through it and I think it's just the end of ch 52 that does. "The watching over MitsuAya Squad..." implies it's more than just Narita, which in this case should be Chizuru and Mao, but idk.

It's a little vague, but I think this implies Chizuru hasn't picked up that Aya was talking about Mitsuki.

For saying herself that she is not fit to be asked about love questions, Chizuru is very perceptive and gives good advice with actual explanations about why she thinks that way. You have won my respect, girl!

Seriously—two instances of solid, well-founded love advice there.

Now I want to see Aya giving Koga head pats.

Head pats would be nice. I want to see some hugs though. Some warm and tight hugs for all the feelings to seep through.

Well, pretty much what I expected, they discussed nothing and just made out a bunch.

Xiaoen taking care of her girlfriend physically and emotionally. Ugh, I love her.

Now that I'm thinking about it Natori and Lapis is toxic reciprocated and Natori and Diana is toxic unrequited.

The main thing supporting in the text right now is Natori doing dokidoki for both Diana and Lapis (obviously with the latter having far more emphasis). I just think that kind of unexpected plot development would go in line with the story's recurring theme of their lives being divergent from the otome game in surprising ways. Additionally, given all the emphasis on her and her feelings, her ending up as a third wheel would retroactively feel like a harem manga trope character, a pretty girl who falls for the mc without it going anywhere because that's just what pretty girls with a third place prominence in the plot do.

That's just a question of execution though. That harem manga often has a third or fourth place character that loses reflects the poor writing of the characters, not the idea that multiple people could be vying for the affection of one person. And also, having two people in love with one person is not a harem, that's just a love triangle.

By this logic, is Bloom Into You a shitty harem manga because Sayaka loses? Of course not because the manga does a great job of writing for characters like Sayaka who feel full.

Arai Sumiko just does body language so well. She's absolutely goated.

Hatori and Hirose's conversation just made me think "what a bunch of cute little brats". Hatori with her whole "everything is easier when I don't have to be vulnerable" nonsense. That sure is true Hatori. That's why you're poking the bear and asking why Hirose didn't choose you. Because you totally don't care and have 0 feelings involved.

It's so annoying... Last chapter had Diana with her eyes glued on Lapis, but then this chapter goes again down with her being obsessed with Natori. It's been going on forever - one chapter gives me hope by having various character interact, the next one goes back on it and has everyone act like some dumb harem romcom character with Lapis and Diana in love with the MC no matter what she does and putting her above their own life and wishes.

Diana standing up for the nobles was literally the perfect opportunity for her and Lapis to discuss and cross their opinions, and for Lapis to act kindly towards Diana, but no, Lapis decided to take a vacation out of the plot when it was most critical.

I wish the story would commit one way or the other, either towards poly or by kicking someone out of the triangle, but noooo - gotta have the isekai MC with several love interests competing, obviously.

I'm not really sure what you mean. Diana admires Lapis, but she's constantly talking about Natori with her. She doesn't have her eyes on Lapis in a romantic way, and nothing in the previous chapter indicated such.

Apropos of nothing, Nekotarou tweeted smth yesterday about the contrast in Natori's hugging scenes with Lapis and Diana respectively. A neat lil thing that~

https://twitter.com/nekotarou0721/status/1762430693962068255

Spoiler on that the second picture is from an untranslated chapter.

Maybe they're pulling ahead of My Yuri Started With Me Being Rejected in a Dream. That hit a bad roadblock. So it's possible that will crash next chapter while this soars. We shall see.

But the crash that one hit is one that will directly lead to them dating. We don't know how long the misunderstanding will last, but as it's resolved they are all speed ahead.

With this manga, there are no guarantees of anything.

I'm wondering if an alternative meaning to the not serious could be that they're not serious in that way. As in, they're not even really together right now, they're not dating with any kind of intention at the moment. It's like the difference between a situationship and a relationship. What they both want is a relationship, but because of circumstances they have to settle for a situationship at the moment, so they can't exactly call it serious, even if the feelings are serious.

It's not "VS".

It's a X, meaning it's a ship.

Aya's the perceptive one, ie, she can read the mood.
Mitsuki's the oblivious one, who can't read the mood.

My interpretation of this chapter is that Aya looked at the relationship of Joe and Kanna, thought it was nice they could talk so freely and made a parallel with her own relationship with "Onii-san", obviously wishing it would be the same.

And she blurted it out to Mitsuki, forgetting for a moment that Mitsuki=Onii-san. When she realized, she ran away, but it flew over Mitsuki's head completely.

This. The only thing I would add is that Joe and Kanna are not just talking so freely but being obviously intimate and at ease. Kanna can flirt with Joe without feeling self-conscious. Whereas Aya often struggles to look at Mitsuki without feeling self-conscious.

between these two and hinoka/tsukushi from rejected in a dream im not sure whos the bigger idiot couple lol

These two for sure. Hinoka and Tsukushi actually made moves. Not to mention Hinoka actually knows Tsukushi likes her.

Let's recap friend by friend.

Hinata - Oblivious as fuck. Can't read the room to save her life, made up for her by her sheer enthusiasm and the force with which she sets up events.
Hirose - Wingmanning. Knows what's up with Takamine and Sakura, doesn't know what's up with Hatori.
Hatori - Ambiguous and go-with-the-flow style. Seems fine no matter what happens, focused on Hirose.
Takamine - Dense and cowardly. This adorable little idiot probably hasn't crystalized her feelings yet but instinctively places herself everywhere Sakura is.
Sakura - Not dense, but cowardly. Knows exactly what's going on but isn't doing anything about it either. Sakura! Take charge you idiot!

The handholding scene makes me think that Sakura is self-conscious in a way I wasn't expecting. Like, she's so aware I'm wondering if she's got some gay anxiety, as in afraid of how Takamine may respond to her gay feelings. So far this manga hasn't really felt like it would delve into that kind of a topic, but it's always a possibility.

Is she tricking her though? That feels more ambiguous to me. In chapter 16 she told Asumi how she feels and that she wants to go out with her and Asumi said no. Then a few chapters later she says yes to being friends with benefits, but she asks Nanao if she's ok with that. Asumi knows Nanao's feelings.

From my perspective, if there's anyone who's not being honest about her intentions it's Asumi. She talks to the effect of saying she doesn't want a romantic relationship because she wants to pay to be with her childhood friend. However, I can't think of anyone who would then decide to go on a practice date in order to be sure that she treated the girl who just confessed to her, that she totally isn't interested in, well enough to have a good time. It's such a strange though process that I struggle to express it coherently in words!

If her thoughts on Mai really were "I have a lot of fondness for you, but my heart belongs to another. I'd still love to hang out (and even have sex...)" then she wouldn't agonize about leaving such a strong impression with an ideal date night out. They'd just...hang out. Asumi was definitely overthinking how she wanted to spend time with Nanao; while I wouldn't call that a romantic thing to do, it's an inevitable result of trying to rationalize away her own romantically-inclined feelings toward Nanao. If she could get over herself (which, to be honest, seems to be what's happening), I think they'd be very happy together. As nice as reconnecting with Mai might be, she is, in the words of Don Fagen, "A concept, more or less".

I think this is very much a possibility, but just one possibility of many. I think it's pretty reasonable that as someone as kind and sensitive as Asumi would want to show Nanao a good time after rejecting her because she feels bad for doing so.

I know what I've been arguing in these comments. To be clear, I'm not saying Asumi cannot have feelings for Nanao or that she won't, I just think people are making premature evaluations based on flimsy evidence. Maybe this is Asumi not being able to face her feelings. Or maybe this is Asumi enjoying sex in which she doesn't have to overwork herself to be able to pay for it. I could see it going either way.

From the pov of manga ethics, Nanao has wronged Asumi real bad by not telling Asumi her feelings.

This is something I have seen in a zillion mangas. It's always an important plot point. Eg in the After School series (that I have been rereading because a new chapter just came out) Shiine and Ichika are "kiss friends" who meet every day after school to kiss and kiss; but Shiine is secretly in love with Ichika and doesn't tell her. When she finally admits it, she bows and apologizes a hundred times, calls herself a wretch and a scumbag, says she knows she has betrayed Ichika's trust by kissing her while hiding her real feelings, runs away crying and vows never to appear in front of Ichika again. Then Ichika must go looking for her to tell Shiine she loves her too, happy end.

I'm bringing this up because it seems a lot of posters here don't realize something that for Japanese readers is pretty obvious: that Nanao is kinda playing the role of the bad guy rn as she's tricking Asumi and wronging her (again, from a manga pov) by telling her she just wants friendly sex when in reality she wants much more.

Is she tricking her though? That feels more ambiguous to me. In chapter 16 she told Asumi how she feels and that she wants to go out with her and Asumi said no. Then a few chapters later she says yes to being friends with benefits, but she asks Nanao if she's ok with that. Asumi knows Nanao's feelings.

I'm not sure why everyone here is on the Nanao train. Asumi liking sex and it being readily available with Nanao is like giving an addict her fix, but there was no indication of feelings from Asumi's side here.

There are definitely indications of feelings from Asumi's side, but she's hung up on her old crush. If she wasn't, she almost certainly would have made things official with Nanao by now, and that's why people are on the Nanao train. Embracing a healthy relationship directly in front of you is way, WAY healthier than continually dragging yourself to brothels in hopes of hunting down a rumor that a girl you once had a crush on might be one of the girls there.

Like the line, "at this point I'll go from having a friends with benefits to having a sugar mama" still implies that Nanao isn't really being seen as a partner, and more importantly Asumi isn't thinking about her feelings towards Nanao at all. Nothing has changed from chapter 16. If anything, the date chapter was at least more romantic than the context sex they're having.

Sure, but the point isn't that they are more romantically entangled, the point is that they should be, and they aren't because Asumi is so hung up on a fantasy of someone she knew years ago that she's ignoring a golden opportunity directly in front of her face. It's amusing, fairly human, leads to lots of sexy situations, and makes for a fun story, but it's definitely granite levels of stupidity on Asumi's part.

I don't disagree that Asumi has an unhealthy mindset towards Mai and finding her, but that's not what I'm talking about. I fundamentally disagree with this line:

Embracing a healthy relationship directly in front of you is way, WAY healthier than continually dragging yourself to brothels in hopes of hunting down a rumor that a girl you once had a crush on might be one of the girls there.

The implication seems to be that it's healthier because Nanao has feelings for her and their relationship isn't based on paying for sex, which sure, that is healthier. But the idea that because Nanao loves Asumi therefore Asumi should get into a relationship with Nanao, that feels toxic to me. Asumi doesn't owe Nanao feelings. And that's kind of my point, even if it is just because of an emotional hangup, that still means Asumi doesn't have feelings for Nanao. Being in a relationship with Nanao wouldn't be fair to either of them.

At the end of the day, even if Mai didn't exist, there is no indication that Asumi would choose Nanao. Of course, feelings could develop later, adults don't get into relationships with each other having equal feelings at the start necessarily, but that also means there is no guarantee that feelings will develop. They're being really intimate, and Asumi is still thinking brothels would indicate, if anything, that she has not become more emotionally vulnerable with Nanao.

To use a different manga as an example, Sorry but I'm Not Into Yuri, the main character in that is intimate with a number of different girls, but only two of them feel like she could have feelings for (one at the moment) whereas the others are purely sexual. Nanao is still in the purely sexual category for Asumi.