^I wasn't even considering the look of the characters in this story when making my point, i think even the boyish girls still look feminine enough for it to be obvious they're women and i've read enough yuri to be fine with tomboys in a yuri relationship. My problem is that the way the story, the characters and the unfolding events are written is as if this is a yaoi, the girls talk and act like yaoi boys, the themes are written in a yaoi perspective/style.

The key thing to remember about both yuri and yaoi is that it's not just the fact that they're girls or boys that make them whatever gender, they also have their own styles, characters and themes that are specific to each gender. When i'm reading this the only yuri that exists is the visual surface stuff beyond that the depth is all yaoi.

Still like you said it is interesting but i still stick by my original statement that it is also confusing and bizarre.

Every time i read this Manga i'm confused by it. It's clear that the Mangaka wants to write Yaoi, or only knows how to write Yaoi, so i'm always left wondering, by this Yuri Manga that's written as if it's Yaoi; why isn't this just Yaoi? Why is this presented to us as Yuri when it is really really not.

I also don't buy this world's setting, why the heck would you so religiously stick to gender division when it no longer exists? Why limit the possibilities for social growth by arbitrarily deciding that someone will take on one role or another without waiting to find out what sort of person they shall become upon reaching adulthood (seriously this would be a stupid idea in THIS day and age for crying out loud, let alone in one where physical and mental differences between genders no longer exist!).

It's clear that the Mangaka wanted to write a Yaoi about forbidden love but what confuses me is that they've created a world where everyone is female and therefore, logically, these two themes should not be valid. It's so bizarre.

last edited at Nov 20, 2014 4:59PM

Every few months i just come back and re-read this story, again and again and again. I love it so much, one of my all time favourites.

I really wish this hadn't been abandoned, it's such a brilliant series, i want more and more and mooooorrreeee!!!

I reckon it could've gone onto makin' a pretty damn awesome anime series as well had it continued on. = (

last edited at Oct 17, 2014 6:29PM

I thought this was very powerful, it really moved me and it's been quite awhile since i've felt that strongly about a manga.

Really nice little story. = )

BTW: Is it me or did the translator mess up a bit? She constantly refers to herself as a "freelancer" when it really should be "freeter".

To be fair whether it's a happy end or not is entirely subjective... altho clearly the Mangaka should have called this something else as (just by going thru the posts on here) there seem to be A LOT of people who feel betrayed by it.

Well that was kinda brutal. I seriously can't handle stories where you have two people who care for each other suffering just because they won't be open and honest and talk to each other. I know it's a common thing but seriously people it's not hard and a problem faced is far easier to deal with than one you close your eyes to and run away from.

^Fair enough, you're entirely right that we're both being speculative and it could go either way (altho i personally would say the change of a happy ending is actually far less than a bad one, but again that's just based upon my own personal experiences and observations which is by no means solid enough to be call absolute fact). I personally would prefer to believe in a happy ending as well but unfortunately with the way this story has been presented i just can't realistically accept it... but that's my problem.

What the heck?! O.o

I'm no idiot but i seriously don't know what the smeg that ending was! I even re-read it twice and i still don't get it. = / You know i really wasn't expecting a good ending, just by judging on how the story had gone so far, but i would have at least appreciated one that made some sense, one that didn't just suddenly change direction completely without any indication or revelation.

That end doesn't resolve anything and just leaves me going away unsatisfied and with the bad feelin' i've had from day one of this manga. Heck i can't even tell you what the Mangaka was trying to say with this series with an end like that, seriously what was the bloody point of this?

^I think that only really applies between the two childhood friends and what's more since Mitsumi is already suffering a lot from their current situation how much of an improvement would this relationship be to her emotional state? The fact of the matter is that the one she loves doesn't love her, she loves someone else, and she's going to be reminded of that every day, as are the other two. When she's already at breaking point just being friends i really don't see how this could be sustainable.

^While that is very true it does require a basis to build upon and if you don't feel that way about a person (particularly after knowing them so well, as the two childhood friends do) that's unlikely to change, particularly when your heart is occupied with another.

^But none of them love two people they all just love one person.

I don't know, while i don't think love is something that is easy to define nor understand i do not, however, see how their relationship could be sustainable. Every day they're together will be a reminder of how the one they each love doesn't love them but loves a person whom they spend every day with. Eventually those feelings are going to build up to the point where one of them snaps and not only will the resulting fallout destroy their current relationship but it could probably drive a wedge into any hope of them remaining friends as well.

last edited at Sep 4, 2014 3:01PM

Interesting... it really feels like it needs a third part to wrap everything up tho. If it doesn't have a third part in fact then this story will just forever feel unfinished to me, which would be a shame.

I absolutely love this couple, especially Tsune! I just want more and more and more and more!

God i absolutely adore this story, and it's continuation! What i would give for it to be turned into a series... my right arm, my whole right arm, take it, write more of this with it and if that ain't enough you can have my feet as well!

Great manga to read if you want to manipulate your friends... also really cute! (That first thing i said doesn't make me a bad person does it?)

I really liked this one and i also found the art quite appealing, it's good to see something different from the usual moe moe style.

^Because both students and teachers alike are, by large, unimaginative.

I would've liked a little bit more character depth first. Heck a little bit more on the confession would've been nice than "she confessed to me and i accepted".

I'm constantly re-reading this one. I can't even express properly how much i would have loved to have seen it turned into a series!

So to get back to A Divine Love Alone for a second, I was leaving it off to read all at once because I was getting confused at all the similar-looking characters. Should I actually bother with it, or go read Kase-san again?

I would read Kase-san again myself but then i did read A Divine Love Alone all the way thru... . I suppose that if you're up for reading a good set-up for a story that's only the beginning, skips past the middle and doesn't have a proper ending then go ahead. If not then don't bother.

last edited at Aug 12, 2014 5:51PM

All recent yuri anime have sold terribly.

Lets not lie, they sold terribly for a good reason. As great as Sakura Trick was for the starved Yuri community, in the end it did offer little but the kisses.

Too true! They can't blame us for not buying if they're going around picking the wrong Yuri. It's like they want to dip their toes into the Yuri pond and see what the water's like but we ain't gonna bite without proper commitment, and that means givin' us more than a half-series that doesn't deliver much in the way of relationship development and depth!

I feel sorry for Akuma no Riddle as well, that story had potential but the anime's ending feels so rushed that it was, ultimately, completely unsatisfying.

Yeah... i don't understand why it's been uploaded tbh??? It'd be all right if it went on for a good number of chapters before hitting the drop wall but it doesn't.

We spent 9 chapters building up a story and then suddenly all the threads are cut with no resolution what-so-ever. The way this manga was going i was prepared for at least another ten chapters to get more into each of the individual threads and ties between the characters that had already been established as well as to properly resolve the conflict of understanding between Kotori and Hiwa cause effectively we have just been showed the surface of these characters and their feelings for/relationships with each other with no real understanding of their depth and suddenly we're told "it's the final chapter" and we get this... it's so jarring, i feel so unfulfilled!

I kinda hope this was cancelled before the Mangaka could finish cause that's the only excuse i could accept for such a non-ending.