patience patience!

stretch stretch! xD

2 more days and we have new chapter???

yes, at least the one in Japanese - it's published on the official site at 0:00 of the official release date, which is 16:00 CET of the previous day and whatever the time is in Americas.

They heard you.

Two more days and we get our dose too ^__^

Wow! This has totally turned my dull Saturday to Fabulous Max!
Although I can't deny I'm a little annoyed with the voice cast overall, that Gao Gao for sure is incredibly cute.

UPD:
The moving text says, "Revolving around extinct lovers, this is a legend of nowadays. Learn more without getting caught in that transparent storm."
It's not entirely clear and is up to our interpretation whether Ikuhara means extinct love (as in a feeling between the two), or extinct type of love (as in yuri vs het)

last edited at Dec 6, 2014 2:22PM

Could start with Ran wearing a wedding dress, walking toward Keiko waiting at the alter wearing a tuxedo. Then the ceremony starts, and the priest ask her if she want to take Keiko as her eternal partner, and then Ran answer "I do" (in English)...

...then a cut scene to the end of last chapter with Ran still sleeping, mumbling and drooling on her senpai (nonexistent) boobs.

HNNG! Now I want to see it badly... That would make it a fantastic next chapter...

Any predictions for the next chapter?
It could be just another cute stretching one, some time in between the white day and valentine's.
It could be the cuddling one, next morning of where the last chapter left off.
It could be the anniversary of them living together, which is supposedly very close to the white day. And that might imply such topics as anniversary of Ran's tragedy, anniversary of the two girls living together, and the white day itself of course.
That could be something about Keiko's past again. For instance, another dream of hers, where Ran appears as a saviour. Or maybe Keiko's ex will find the courage to contact her?
My best personal preference is to see Ran's dreaming as she is sleeping next to her precious senpai. That could make a good transition to her problem, bring some drama, and prepare the time line for the anniversary. That would however mean reusing the plot device from chapter 14, so probably won't happen...

last edited at Dec 3, 2014 4:14AM

Think of it as a liberal interpretation and you can go back to enjoying the read. I personally think the same thing (have posted about it a few times in this thread actually) and don't get to worked up over the minor details.

hahaha, no worries, I'm not blaming the author at all. And I'm treating it liberally as you say. It's just that I haven't realised this up till now and was trying to get more unspoken info from the dates. I probably missed your comments on that too, sorry - 56 pages of text is quite a lot to digest ;) And looks like we'll beat the Citrus thread with the next chapter or two!

Dynasty is the place to go for your hot and heated yuri discussions >:)

wow, that sounds somewhat lewd, in a good way xD

She didn't wake up with an alarm, so very likely a weekend.

True, although Keiko's mobile phone next to the futon really annoys me. Yes-yes, I know I have it by my side on weekends too, but it could be easily not drawn if it had no meaning. So I'd rather believe that she woke up earlier than it rang. Ok, I'm overthinking...

Worth noting that Valentine's Day this year fell on a Friday. Undoubtedly a coincidence, but kinda cool.

Akili's totally messed up with the calendar. If we believe in the full moon for jugoya 6 years ago, then it is likely that "today for chapter 18" is in 2014, because the the full moon on the 15th of September really happened in 2008. The September 15th of 2014 however had no full moon, although it does work well for Valentine's 2015 - Saturday.
But up till now I was convinced that the events of the manga are taking place three year earlier, in 2011-2012, assuming this really is a reference to the Tohoku earthquake, which has its "proof" with Ran going to her family for the 49th day during the golden week.
So one thing is clear, translating RL calendar to Stretch calendar doesn't work too well and we have to keep this in mind.

Let's not overthink this. She woke up, saw it was morning so time to get up. But seeing Ran so cute and comfortable and realizing that it felt kinda nice, she decided to stay like that a bit.

But you see, there's that subtext in what you've written, that you can't simply ignore with Akili - Keiko enjoyed the situation, potentially to the extent of being late for work. And she was quite stressed last night about it. So it's either a weekend or she's doing a lot for Ran's cuteness.

I actually interpreted that "whoa" as a response to the fact that there were a bunch of delinquents sitting outside the convenience store? I'd probably find it a mildly worrying sight, myself... She follows up with 'My first impression of her couldn't have been worse' on the next page, too.

Yeah, that's also how I interpreted that, "Whoa, that's gross!" But then everyone around Ran started to bring Keiko to her attention. And before she knew it, Ran had totally fell for the senpai. So cute.
By the way, after rereading those pages, I just realised that Ran also has an older sis of the same age as Keiko. I wonder if she will ever play a role in the manga again.

Still think that while Keiko might be attracted to Ran, it's not certain whether those feelings are romantic, and like adamatari says, even she doesn't seem very aware of them, so it's very difficult to say whether they'll actually get together at this point.

I believe that she's very conscious about her feelings for Ran. Too conscious and too embarrassed to the extent of going in denial. Ran really has to play smoothly to maintain the balance between pushing and restraining. It feels that Keiko's pretty much accepted the fact that's she's in love with Ran but has not accepted the fact that it makes her a lesbian or a bi. She really needs to get drunk together with Ran, and with a proper drink, the one that will make her playful enough. So that the flirt level could grow and she'd accept at least a peck from Ran. Once it lands in the right place and in the right time, the excitement will keep them busy the whole night, hehe. Ah, wishful thinking, wishful thinking...

I wonder why Keiko didn't get up in the last chapter? Won't she be late for work or is it a weekend morning?
(A) It's too early anyway
(B) Keiko didn't want to wake up Ran because she doesn't like bringing discomfort to people around her
(C) Keiko didn't want to wake up Ran because she looked so cute asleep
(D) Keiko wanted to enjoy the spooning more, while she can

Or likewise, why did Keiko try to wake up Ran?
(A) It's time to get up and go to work
(B) She had a funny arm/let/whatever because of spooned Ran
(C) She was embarrassed to find Ran so close and cute sleeping to her, that she freaked out for a sec and decided to return her the zone of comfort

just found this poster on MAL. It's really lewd...

oh, and the ANN did a little update news. No interview translations unfortunately, but Kaoru's really... Looks like we'll have a lot of yuri service in the show.

last edited at Nov 29, 2014 11:52AM

Jin said it was great YURI? i just hope it keeps that way... ;~;

well, technically you could say she said it was great lily xD

site update:
- new key visual: http://yurikuma.jp/index.html
- three new characters: http://yurikuma.jp/chara.html (the bottom, 4th row)
- cast's talking about their characters: http://yurikuma.jp/special_01.html

The translations will most likely appear soon in the ANN news

sometimes I wonder if Shou is a real person... could be just another nickname... could be even a girl...

she just said "Stretch is a really great yuri! Love it!"

If anything, I think Keiko might possibly make a more... errr... serious statement about how she feels about Ran down the line somewhere because most of what we know about them comes through what they say to each other and their friends.

Oh my... just imagined Keiko confessing... you know, getting all very serious, shy, embarrassed, looking for words, averting her gaze from Ran, getting blushed... and with a voice of Sawashiro Miyuki. Ahahaha ^^' Now I can't get it out of my head... I want Stretch anime...

Ran is so pretty in that shot, and there's no question that she's in love with Keiko.

oh so true... she's such a girl in love on that frame...

kiriactor,
such a great avatar you have now!!! I'm jealous xD and I really agree with so many points you raised up there

last edited at Nov 27, 2014 10:38PM

I'm not looking foward to the ex at all...maybe they get back together and adopt ran....That's what I can expect from this author...nothing more.

yes, because stretching is more exciting when there are more people involved! Why not add Saki to their happy family too btw?

oh... come to think about it, Saki x Keiko's ex could be a nice match!

last edited at Nov 27, 2014 11:10AM

The thing about Ran's gayness before this chapter is that she had no interest in men and she was attached to Keiko, am i the only one that thinks this is not enough to say she wants a piece of that Keiko? She could very well not feel like committing to a relationship at all
What i wanted was just one chapter, one simple chapter before this one that was being more honest with itself instead of baiting, hell, we kinda got that with Keiko admitting that Ran was probably her first love, i just wanted a little moment of Ran thinking more dearly about Keiko without it being fanservice for us readers

Well, there was 'jealousy' back in high school, there were phrases like "you're way cooler, senpai" during a mixer, there was that "doesn't matter now that I'm here" phrase in Prologue, there was intentional erotic teasing during stretching, there was that phone conversation between the two during the earthquake.
This gradually has grown in the recent chapters to an indirect kiss, indirect confession (when calling mum before the New Year) and an instant bullet train to her worried beloved one. These last two were already a very clear message to the readers that Ran's gay for Keiko. I think they count fairly well for Ran thinking dearly about Keiko without any fan service at all.
You could say it's nothing but yuri goggling. To me, however, Ran's genuine happiness for getting chocolate in return, regardless honmei or giri, said more about her feelings towards Keiko than her 'confession' in the last two pages.

And nobody believed me back in August when I said Ran had conscious feelings for Keiko. So now wait, the bait seems to be accepted, and it's time for the drama to come! LOL

Joking aside, I think the point of the story up till now was that Keiko wanted something she couldn't have so she tried to fill the void with something else. I think that what she's been trying to replace all the time, be it with her teen sex or a child from her ex, is a parental love she's lacking so much from her mother.

This is why despite being such a hard Keiko x Ran shipper, what I'm really afraid of is that Ran might be no different for Keiko too - merely filling the void. Ran just happens to be such a cute and spoiled brat, almost like a daughter whom Keiko can take care of, educate her as in "do the chores right", etc.
In contrast, Ran appears to love Keiko in a far more erotic and sexual way. And Keiko's clearly not yet honest with her sexual desires, if she has any at all... We had a number of hints that she does like Ran in that way too, but she's not ready to accept it now, I think. And we also know her ex was someone she loved from the bottom of her heart for the first time in her life. And he still loves her, after more than 6 months of their break-up. Somehow all this reminds me the Aoi Hana plot...

Anyway, if Akili is a good writer (and I have got no indication he's not up till now), these problematic areas have to be resolved and get a proper closure. How will Keiko's mother respond to her daughter coming out as gay? Will it help to make up the two or will separate them further? How would Keiko react to the latter? Is this where Keiko will try to experiment with her sexuality and try to meet her ex? And how would Ran's family react? So much good drama ahead...

So let's enjoy Ran and Keiko being so cute together for now ^__^ Besides their one-year anniversary and the white day are approaching!

No stretch.

No No No! DAME DESU!!
I want both, stretches an sex at the same time

and regarding this, "cute panties!"

upd:
How... just HOW could Keiko avoid hugging Ran in the morning... she's so cute... almost like a child... Admit it already, Keiko, you do want her!!

last edited at Nov 26, 2014 5:37PM

while the the scanlations are WIP, could anyone help me decipher the following page?
http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/stretch_ch22_5#12

I just realised I never properly understood why Keiko got mad there? Was it because the guy was undressing and suggesting sex? Or was it because he got home late despite her getting in the accident? Or was ot because she realised she never liked the guy at all and just used him to fill the void? But what was it that she wanted so badly that generated the void then? A proper family? A baby?

last edited at Nov 26, 2014 3:19PM

btw, in case someone missed it from Japanese... the chocolate was honmei from each side, although Ran was way more straight and open about it

last edited at Nov 26, 2014 10:34AM

OMG OMG OMG OMG OMG

Ehhh my only real fear at this point is that generally in anime, Couples that get together before the story begins almost NEVER last the full length of the show.

Fine with me as I ship Kureha x Ginko anyway GAAAR xDDD

In the end though with Ikuhara ANYTHING could happend and all anime worthy of hype garner a few reservations, we all pretty much have no choice but to wait and see.

You guys just read the chapter 4! I'm getting so trolled with it xDDDD

Otherwise why get Morishima Akiko involved in the manga side of the project in the first place?

And why deliver panties fan service in character design pics? Ikuhara's gathering the crowd. That of course means that yuri fanbase is part of the targeted audience. It doesn't however mean we gonna end up with yuri :)
Oh, and Morishima's also a great mangaka - it's a great reason to work with her!

It is neither a sequel nor a prequel. They were both 'supposed' to be the same story, with the anime being the adaptation of Morishima's manga version. But from what I know, the two versions are going to be completely different (though occasionally using the other for source).

My humble guess is that Ikuhara and Morishima agreed on a set of key facts of the story premise, theme, and character personalities. Then she started making an actual story while Ikuhara used it as a source material to play with to eventually produce what he wanted.

Take that as you will, but I'm going to be pissed if Ikuhara waters down the yuri content of the anime simply to pander to the audience. Cause sadly, yuri doesn't sell well... At least we can hope Morishima won't sell out and take the manga down that route.

I think this is a work of Ikuhara more than a work of yuri. I mean, it's not really about delivering to the yuri fan base, rather than raising the topics he really likes and has something to say about. I have good reasons to believe that YKA is a lot about the homosexuality and its acceptance by the society in the first case.

reading quotes from his wiki, he prefers yuri subtext to het romance simply because het romance tends to take over the story a lot. So, I'm expecting the yuri to take a backseat in the anime :/

I think what he says (or rather what's been translated) is not really his truth. I think he likes yuri a lot but doesn't what to be public about it, hence the yuri subtext in his shows. As for the romance, be it het, yaoi, or yuri - doesn't matter as it equally takes over a story. So yuri romance in a yuri setting is likelier to be broken. What kind of relationship ends up in the subtext - we'll see. But the Kureha-Ginko-LifeSexy triangle is pretty well established in the manga at least.

his last show was totally ruined in the second half because of it.

no! "What Ikuhara was trying to say is the 2nd half is actually where everything begins!" lol. It's where the main theme of the story is actually touched upon. It was great. But it's difficult to grasp if you're not ready to think a lot about it.