I feel inclined to kill for my lord Cthulhu long live the master.

Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah-nagl fhtagn.

Wow it's like everything's getting an anime all of a sudden. In only like an year we had citrus, NTR, centaur, the camping one, the ramen one, and now it's comic girls and the ecchi love triangle one, and then even more with bocchi, kase, sugar life, and this.

Plus the full voice acted DLC for kindred spirits.

I'm going to have a huge backlog when summer comes around :)

Praise the Yuri Goddess, for she has delivered unto us the promised time!

But seriously, its nice to see more yuri anime getting made. =)

You're most likely right. I was saying it before that editor is the more likely reason for changes in story. Editor is important and can improve the story, but more times than not they sadly actually ruin it or make it less interesting/unique, forcing author to go more mainstream and do things that are proven to work, so they can prolong their series and get all the money they can from it. Sadly nowadays, entertainment business is business first and entertainment second. Trying to write a good story is becoming less and less main focus over making something that will sell well and earn a lot of money. Trying to being safe ruined a lot good stories.

I'm new to this forum so I didn't see your early posts on the subject, but I definitely agree with you that this smacks of editorial interference which is a shame.

I am quite fond of this story and despite a couple of missteps I still consider it one of the better yuri manga I am currently following. I'm just crossing my fingers that the higher ups realize their mistake and leave the mangaka alone and let her do her own thing before they cause irreparable damage. Although slow paced and more complex stories might not be as popular as something like Citrus they do have an audience, and it's better to just let the story be and please that smaller audience than it is to try and force it to be something its not and alienate the original fans while trying to lure in new ones.

Anyway, I hope the mangaka and the story find their footing again and we get an end to the story that is on par with the quality of the beginning. =)

last edited at Aug 8, 2018 4:23AM

(So Sayaka will go with you to the police station and stand by you when you turn yourself in; Matsuri knows how to get rid of the body.)

I'd definitely prefer to have a friend like Matsuri in that situation.

Do....do you expect to BE in that situation? ;;;¬_¬

Do you mean breaking into a rich person's house to rescue your lover, or do you mean killing someone? Those may or may not be connected lol

Wait a second. When did we start plotting to murder somebody?

I have dibs on the crowbar.

Something original. Neat.

This series is pretty cute.

This remains consistently surreal and hilarious with even a bit of twisted social commentary thrown in for added dark laughs.

Strangely, I don't find it hilarious.

It makes its points in a surreal manner as you said, but I think it's a really serious manga.

Humor is very subjective but this manga is full of visual puns like the dick in a turtle neck sweater etc. so I'm quite certain the author intended for this to have a humorous tone although I can certainly see there is some deeper social commentary woven into the humor.

Ever read Fuuka?

Spoiler Warning:

Yuu getting splattered by a bus is just the traumatic set up for the real story of how Touko becomes an idol which will conclude over a hundred chapters from now.

Yeah, but we aren't talking about another series, we're talking about this one, and that kind of twist is rare in the most favorable conditions, and doesn't really seem like Nakatani-sensei's style.

Fussing about the fact that a thing has happened once somewhere is not a great way to go through life.

I'm just saying we should keep our minds open to all the glorious possibilities.

My money is on the ninja pirate robot zombie apocalypse blind siding everyone leaving Yuu as the sole grizzled survivor. She tirelessly roams the post apocalyptic wasteland in an endless quest to avenge her fallen love.

Fast forward to the final battle where Yuu discovers that the terrible enemy she has been hunting is really what remains of Touko who has been rebuilt into a soulless cyborg killing machine by the ninja pirate robot zombie overlords.

Try as she might, even the battle hardened Yuu is unable to maintain her composure as she stands before the twisted mockery of her former love. She is struck down mercilessly as her mind overflows with emotion and the memories of the only person she ever loved. As the coming darkness closes in she desperately embraces Touko one last time before triggering the detonator on her explosive vest and putting an end to both of their suffering once and for all.

last edited at Aug 6, 2018 6:22PM

Sorry, I didn't mean to point us down even a facetious path of dark speculation. lol

Remain in light, folks . . .

Hopefully we're all aware enough to recognize that there isn't actually any danger of this stuff happening.

Ever read Fuuka?

Spoiler Warning:

Yuu getting splattered by a bus is just the traumatic set up for the real story of how Touko becomes an idol which will conclude over a hundred chapters from now.

last edited at Aug 6, 2018 3:28PM

Thanks for the replies peeps. So deep the reading between the lines, but like Nevri and Blastaar just recently said, the author is making me lose interest. He/she should go back to Eli/Umi doujins, or get some story editors fast.

If we look at the sort of missteps the story has made I think it is actually the editor that is the most likely culprit. The mangaka seems intent on telling a very slow paced and introspective drama and each time the story has gone somewhat off course its been for a quick hype boosting and attention grabbing cliff hanger that then has to be partially back peddled right afterwards to avoid a complete derail of the otherwise slow burning plot.

Asking for the the author to boost hype and tension by injecting drama and adding monthly cliff hangers to keep the reader hooked is exactly the sort of thing an editor will ask for. If you look at where this is being published and the niche it is intended to fill it adds further context.

This a story is being printed in Yuri Hime along side Citrus which is about to end. Thematically these two stories are extremely similar, but what sets them apart is the writing style. Citrus is their most popular series and its pulpy and drama filled with moody plot twists and cliff hangers where as My Unrequited Love is incredibly slow paced and introspective series that until recently did not employ cheap cliff hangers and plot twists .

The point where it started picking up this pattern in the writing was only as Citrus has started to reach its end. I think it is quite likely the mangaka is getting pressure from her editors and higher ups to make her series more like Citrus in order to try and hold onto that audience now that their flagship manga is ending. The problem is that the writing style of this mangaka really does not work well with the whole frequent cliffhanger and pulpy plot twist recipe that made Citrus so successful. This leads to this annoying pattern of lamely back peddling from each forced cliffhanger to keep the story that has been written up to this point from imploding.

last edited at Aug 6, 2018 5:26AM

This remains consistently surreal and hilarious with even a bit of twisted social commentary thrown in for added dark laughs.

The most common interpretation is that Kasen is an oni posing as a hermit for some reason.

It makes sense, but it seems too easy. I'm hoping there's more to it than that.

I know this is so three years ago, but I am a bit late to the party. One of my favorite moments while reading this series was the point where all the pieces fell into place and I realized Kasen was an Oni. They actually foreshadow it long before the actual big reveal during the drinking contest in chapter 32.

For me the Ahaa! moment was at the start of chapter 21 when they first mention the practice of bean throwing. Kasen's reaction was just so odd and then all of a sudden the broken chain on her wrist, her godly tolerance to booze, the way she always avoids the other oni, the title of the manga and the fact that she never appears without the two buns in her hair suddenly made sense.

I felt like an idiot for not noticing in sooner. It's hilarious the way the author hid it in plain sight starting from the very first chapter and how it doesn't reach an actual reveal until 32 chapters in. After you realize she's an Oni bent on taking over the shrine all of sudden all sorts of weird little things she said and did since the start of the story are recontextualized in a totally new light and you realize she's really a 4 dimensional chess master whose been subtly playing people the whole time.

I wonder how many other fun little Easter eggs and secrets are hiding in plain site like this. I am sure this series is packed full of them.

This sucks

Saying it blows would have been a better pun. =)

I hadn't seen this before. What a neat little series. =)

It's really nice to see such thoughtful discussions on this forum, and I think it really reflects well not just on the people that are posting, but the quality of Nakatani Nio's work. It's a shame that slower paced and more serious dramatic manga aren't more popular, particularly in the yuri genre which I think lends itself to more challenging and complex love stories.

Well, this one turned out plenty popular. It runs on Dengeki Daioh and it's getting an anime adaptation, that's popular for you.

But I see what you mean, particularly after both Tsubomi and Hirari ceased publication.

Yeah, I suppose this is a pretty silly place to be complaining about how the slower paced and more serious yuri dramas don't tend to be very popular since Bloom Into You is actually one of the most successful of this genre.

Still, as a whole I think serious yuri stories like Bloom Into You becoming popular enough to be made into proper anime are the exception rather than the rule. Yuri is not commonly made into anime and when it is its generally as casual subtext in a cute girls doing cute things type anime or it's played for laughs in a rom/com.

There is hope, though. Just in these last few years I have seen a huge uptick in the amount of yuri that is being made and some of them have even been quite successful in the ratings department. Recently, both Citrus and Dragon Maid did quite well. I'm crossing my fingers that Bloom Into You is at least a modest success. It really needs to be in order for us to see studios taking a future interest in producing these types of stories.

last edited at Aug 5, 2018 2:22AM

So tl;dr: the confession didn't happen?

Also it's anyone else not bothering to read this until that's addressed? Like I don't care about advancing plot right now with that scene cut off. I guess I'm being pouty.

Nevri has made the case that the confession did take place, but if you want to know what that case is, you’ve got to read it.

I can imagine a story that was complex and intriguing enough that needing to read between the lines and to sift nuances of translation in order to understand key events was actually a rewarding part of the reading experience.

So far, this one isn’t that story.

I'm not saying that it's impossible that something like a confession occurred off screen, but I see no reason why there would be a need for it. All of the puzzle pieces were in place for Kaoru to have had this realization on her own, and the end of chapter 15 was strongly eluded to be the moment of that epiphany.

We had a scene where Kaoru was idly thinking about how grown and mature Uta seems lately and she wondered if maybe it was in part due to the fact that person she was in love with was older.

As she pondered this Kaoru walked up to the same couch where Kaoru had kissed her while she was sleeping, and she reached out and touched the couch softly as if remembering. Three panels and an entire page are dedicated to this silent moment of reflection as she touches the couch, emphasizing just how important it is to the story.

Then we turn the page and there is dramatic panel that is slashed down the middle between before and after. The top of the panel depicted Kaoru literally still lost in the dark about what's going on and then the bottom of the panel is illuminated in bright light as she reaches up and gently touches her lips recalling her half asleep memory of where Kaoru had kissed her.

Then we flip to the final scene of the chapter. It's a single full page panel that is illuminated in shades of grey that simply reads "I'm living with a girl that fell in love with me."

To me this scene is pretty clearly depicting Kaoru's epiphany about Uta's feelings. It is one continuous scene the splits the story into a before and after. At the start of this scene Kaoru is still in the dark about what's going on but she is actively reflecting upon the various bits and pieces of what she has seen. At the end of the scene after the dramatic light and dark split panel where Kaoru touches her lips and remembers the kiss we see that she has grasped the truth. She plainly understands what is going on at this point and if the lighting is any indication of her feelings, she is conflicted about it.

It is possible that at some point after this scene Uta confesses off screen, but I just don't see any reason why she would need to do so from a story point of view since Kaoru already knows at this point. It's also impossible for Uta's confession to have come before this scene since we can plainly see that Kaoru starts this scene still unaware of who it is Uta has fallen in love with.

last edited at Aug 4, 2018 7:20PM

It's really nice to see such thoughtful discussions on this forum, and I think it really reflects well not just on the people that are posting, but the quality of Nakatani Nio's work. It's a shame that slower paced and more serious dramatic manga aren't more popular, particularly in the yuri genre which I think lends itself to more challenging and complex love stories.

That would be one serious clusterfuck of an anime.

Probably still better than most of the harem rubbish, though. Takes a while to get into and impossible to keep track of all 7.905 characters, but at least you never know what'll happen next ...

Don't get me started on a harem trope rant. Grrrrrr, why is that pandering trash so popular? There are so many good shows and manga out there that would have been something truly special if they just hadn't shot themselves in the foot and crapped their pants by adding a harem to the dynamic.

last edited at Aug 2, 2018 10:10PM

Ten bucks says this girl really is a Succubus but has grown up unaware of the fact.

I’m wondering what you guys think about two fundamental things Touko repeatedly says that have never quite made complete sense to me, and that are linked in the latest chapter:

1) Yuu’s “kindness.” Specific quote: “I thought Yuu was the kindest girl in the world. Because she couldn’t love me.”

This is one of the more ambiguous things Touko has repeatedly stated. I interpreted it as meaning Touko believes the fact that Yuu is willing treat her with the same sort of care and thoughtfulness that a lover would without actually being motivated by that emotion is proof of just what a kind person she is.

It's relatively normal for a person to be willing to go out of their way to help a lover. It takes a truly kind soul to do that same thing for somebody who is a stranger or who they feel nothing for.

last edited at Aug 2, 2018 7:59PM

could it be that Asami was in love with Minato's dad and maybe she is trying to get back at the mother by taking away Minato?

at least that's the vibe I am getting so far

I'm not sure if she was in love with Minato's dad, but I am definitely getting a vengeance vibe from all of this. There is some serious bad blood between Asami and Minato's mom. There may have even been bad blood between Asami and Minato's dad. I think poor Minato is going to end up being the one to pay the price.

last edited at Aug 2, 2018 7:19PM

Ouch, so that really was the end? It was slow paced but good.

Looking East posted:

That brings up an interesting question. If you have two people in a relationship and one views it as a romantic relationship and the other views it as platonic, would they be considered a couple? Are they dating?

Well, if they are in a relationship then yes? Platonic love is still love, just not physical.

Yes, but we already have a word for platonic love. It is friendship or in special cases family. Basically what makes it confusing is that from one partners perspective their relationship is a deep friendship and from the others it is romantic.

last edited at Aug 2, 2018 3:18PM

I already catched up. Nuuuuuuuu.
Maybe I should find something else before sleeping.

If you haven't read it yet. Bloom into You is another well written story.

I love how we spend so much time debating about the personalities of fictional characters. It's at the very least proof of how skillful Nakatani is at storytelling. <3

She really is quite good. =)