What I find intriguing about Mimei is not just that she's clearly in love with Kasane, but also: (a) she knows Meguru is Kasane's type and (b) she looked (and apparently acted) almost exactly like Meguru in high school. Makes me wonder if Kasane perhaps confessed to Mimei in high school, got rejected, and now Mimei regrets it.

I'm fairly certain that she's aware of [Mai's feelings] to some degree, but is still stuck in the "is this a crime? am I a criminal? oh no she's hot; I'm going to jail!" phase to actually process anything

Tae acknowledging that she's attracted to Mai is one thing, she more or less made peace with that in volume 1; she may get flustered by Mai's teasing but she's still able to mostly keep her feelings in check and maintain the status quo, albeit always with the constantly-repeated refrain that her friendship with Mai has a strict time limit. Her potentially acknowledging that her feelings are reciprocal (and I agree it's hard to imagine she's not aware of that on some level) opens up a much different -- and scarier -- can of worms, and it'll probably take something major to force her to face it.

As for Yuki's role, while the jokes about Tae getting a loli harem are funny, this manga has pretty consistently taken typical forced drama starting points (marriage interview! new rival! misunderstandings!) in novel, relatively low-key directions. That's why I think Yuki making Tae into a surrogate big sister or mother -- in a hilariously over-the-top and possessive way, of course -- is more likely than the manga turning into a genuine love triangle. After all, she calls Tae "onee-sama," putting her on a pedestal, while Mai has always treated Tae as an equal (and often as an inferior lol).

the only think Morinaga Milk likes better than protagonists with the density of a black hole is sex jokes

...explore the consequences and implications of an adult dating a grade schooler...

That is one hell of a sentence, lawd almighty. This isn't me taking a dig at you, I'm simply amused.

Yeahhh I kind of hesitated in how to phrase it, but well, it is what it is lmao.

I agree it would be a rather tall task to actually do this, but it's precisely the fact that, as you say, "Mai is anything but a normal grade-schooler" that would make it kind of work. This manga's premise is practically speculative fiction, which is why it prompted a bunch of hilarious theories earlier in this thread, and while that premise has mainly been used for comedy there has been a steady increase in dramatic storylines too ever since the end of volume 1. Even the whole "grade schooler harem" thing this volume ended on, while seemingly straight comedy, could easily be used to prompt Tae to realize that Yuki's affections for her (respect, replacement mother figure, etc) are fundamentally different from how Mai likes her.

I'm blanking out on the name right now, but there's another story which is somewhat of a guilty pleasure of mine in which an older women unintentionally seduces three highschoolers thanks to her motherly nature

Ikenai Otona?

While this development was pretty quick, I think it was decently foreshadowed. I don't have a problem with Yuki's backstory, it was already established she's lonely and "Those two are all I have" can easily be taken as emotional exaggeration from a kid who doesn't seem to have any close friends (she mostly seems to hang around her two lackeys by default); I'm personally going to go with my headcanon that she was so attached to Mai precisely because Mai looks like an adult but is really a kid. And when all the adults she's ever known are pretentious pricks who can't be bothered to lower themselves to talking with a child, I can understand becoming quickly attached to the first adult who actually treats her as an equal. I do think this chapter could've used some tighter writing, maybe replaced some of the exposition with a few more pages showing Yuki's thought process, and it's certainly weaker than the last chapter of volume 1, but it's decent and I liked the Yuki arc overall because it demonstrated how much trust and mutual affection Tae and Mai have built for each other.

Anyway, now that the volume is over and we won't get new chapters for a while, I might as well say it: I'm one of the ones hoping for Mai and Tae to enter a genuine romantic relationship. I actually think this manga is in kind of a unique position to genuinely explore the consequences and implications of an adult dating a grade schooler. Unlike Kyoumi ga Arimasu, it's just grounded enough in reality for the characters to be taken seriously, while -- unlike Yuzumori-san -- it's still weird and absurd enough that I can suspend my disbelief and treat it as a fantasy world disconnected from real life. Plus, so far this hasn't been a "status quo" manga; Mai and Tae are gradually becoming closer in each chapter and if the manga doesn't get axed there's not much further for them to go while remaining friends.

In other words, Fukunaga's position is that Mitsuki needs to wait until Nanami's married so it'll be proper adultery.

The next step is sort things out with Jun-kun. I don't know how it will play out, but I think he's not completely unaware there's something wrong with their relationship, so it may not be as messy as we think. He may even accept Kashiwai's relationship with Tsuzuki and not be actually jealous, which would be an interesting twist.

If Akiyama is going to go the maximum drama route -- and it's Akiyama so there's a high chance of that -- then Jun will inwardly be upset and jealous but agree to some sort of poly relationship because he still loves Kashiwai and doesn't want to lose her.

God lesbians move so fast she's known her for like no time at all and barely had that much alone time with her yet she already loves her?

I think it's safe to say that, at least at this current point in time, Kashiwai doesn't so much love Tsuzuki as much as she loves the idea of Tsuzuki. Idealization is after all what her character is built on; the entire reason she loves being a wedding planner is so she can create her ideal brides that she then...lives vicariously through? We know she's loved weddings since she was a kid (chapter 4). The tension in her character from the beginning, before she even met Tsuzuki, is the contrast between the "ideal (in her mind) weddings" she constructs for others and the boring, ordinary mundanity she's experienced since her own engagement.

Tsuzuki is so fascinating to Kashiwai because the very qualities that (seemingly) make her her ideal bride -- beauty, confidence, sincerity, openness with her love -- also allow her to reject everything Kashiwai stands for. This fundamental contradiction is what's driving her insane and tempting her to throw away her life, but that too is a major part of Tsuzuki's appeal. In chapter 5, the one where they kiss, Kashiwai says: "The sensation of insecurity coming from being on water is both scary and enjoyable." Both Tsuzuki herself and the prospect of being with her terrify Kashiwai, but that is precisely why she's going through with this. From the very beginning she's wanted to take a wrecking ball to her own life, and Tsuzuki just happens to have given her an excuse to do so.

Thinking it through like this, the real mystery is actually why Tsuzuki fell in love with Kashiwai. Hoping we get another chapter from her PoV to shed some light on this.

Good luck Kurumada! May the childhood friend curse not get you!

The odds are against her...

So after rereading and thinking, I agree that "jealousy" is not quite the right word. What bothers Kurumi is that Ruriko seems much closer to Rio than she is to Kurumi despite only knowing her for a month; she lets herself banter/be annoyed with Rio while she always maintains a polite distance with Kurumi (recall this has caused issues in their relationship before). It's very notable too that Ruriko calls Rio "Rio," no honorific, while she still uses "-san" with Kurumi even though she's known her for far longer.

Combine this with the fact that Ruriko never mentioned Rio to her before now, and I think what Kurumi is feeling is the crushing realization that she isn't nearly as close with Ruriko as she thought she was.

If Kurumi is jealous of a girl, I think that means she knows Ruriko is a lesbian.

I don't think this chapter necessarily means Himawari has romantic feelings for Yurika. She could, but she could also just be upset that her best friend isn't there for her while she's evidently going through some major personal troubles (enough that she isn't even attending school regularly in the present day).

Age gap couples are one of those things that are interesting to read about in fiction precisely because they almost never work out in real life. But it's also good to see a manga willing to approach the subject more realistically -- especially since I don't think Reika is actually being portrayed as a purely evil predator, but as a lonely and socially awkward woman who doesn't have malicious intentions but still hurts Yurika deeply, which I think is a lot more interesting than someone who's just bad for no reason. Finally, this chapter has removed my one biggest concern with this series, that it might gloss over/justify Minamo's father getting involved with a high-schooler (his second wife, the mother of Minamo and Tsuki's half-sister); I wonder if hearing Yurika's story will cause Minamo to do some re-evaluation of that whole situation.

Incidentally, it seems that whatever issues Himawari is having in her personal life are still ongoing as of the "present day" since she's not attending school. I'm really looking forward to seeing more of her, since despite being described as having a "terrible personality" in the character introductions it does look like she'll be portrayed sympathetically.

I'm going to be a centrist and say that the pessimistic and optimistic interpretations of the ending are both right. This is certainly a codependent relationship full of mutual resentment, selfishness, and obsession. But I don't think that's all it is. There's plenty of evidence that Emi has real feelings of love that she just doesn't understand. Yuu is murkier because she's such a stoic person, but I don't think the similar phrasings here are coincidental:

Chapter 2 page 3: "**I don't remember how it happened**, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her to the center of class" --> page 5: "There's absolutely no reason why I [fall in love]."

Then there's her comment that Emi is "good at spoiling people, not only men." Not to mention her strange response when the two girls in the bathroom ask if Emi's taken someone from her: "Yeah... in a way." I don't think she's referring to her crushes there, since that's not "in a way," Emi very deliberately took all of them from her. Finally, her internal dialogue on pages 13-14 reads to me like she's legitimately trying to understand Emi, not just using her for self-satisfaction.

(This kind of thing makes me understand more what Kayako meant in her author's note when she said this is like a poem.)

I don't see Kanade using her stage name as her being "dishonest", rather it seems like after that first kiss she retreated into her role as a professional as a way to deal with her emotions. She still told Izumi the truth when she asked why she became a sex worker.

Dishonest was perhaps the wrong word, what I was trying to get at is that they were still dancing around the truth in their speech even though they both very well understood the situation. Still using the fake names is just one piece of that. Rather than have a fully real conversation as (former) friends, they stuck to the pro/client framework in order to avoid having to reveal too much about themselves. That's why "closure" feels off to me as a descriptor.

That said, I do think it's ultimately an optimistic story -- obviously for Kanade and Saki, but even for Izumi too, who was using her old love as an excuse to stick with the status quo of her failing marriage. Now that she knows both that Kanade actually did return her feelings but also that she'll never see her again, now that she no longer has her fantasies for emotional support, she (hopefully!) will be forced to re-enter the real world.

In other words, while I really like your interpretation of the title, I think Kanade and Izumi are both Cinderella and the prince (with Saki as the fairy godmother), as naturally befits a yuri story. They wake each other up with true love's kiss, and then go their separate ways.

last edited at Aug 12, 2022 7:25PM

Nice story since I've never read something similar before but... I wonder if miya and saki quitted to start dating or did saki quitted because she had a thing for izumi but after seeing her kissing miya she decided to quit? It's kinda an open ending. Sad it's only a one shot but I feel like saki and miya are now together(?) Idk don't mind me

Saki and Miya were already dating by the time the two of them saw Izumi.

To be clear, there will be more in this series; Arai wrote a series of Twitter shorts about this couple that the scanlators have already said they'll be translating. I think you all will be satisfied by them.

If this is Katakura Ako's idea of what "pure love" is, I worry about her lol.

Seriously though, it's an interesting one. Two women (old friends?) chasing after the other's memory through sex are finally able to fall out of love when they actually fuck each other. Well, as Saki says, prostitution is often a form of therapy. Despite the melancholy tone I do read the ending as hopeful, even for Izumi.

Fall out of love sounds kinda sad, more like “get closure”

I don't know if I'd really call it "closure" to be honest, that implies a more neat and tidy ending than I get from this oneshot. Even at the end "Miya" and "Izumi" weren't being honest with each other, not even using the other's real name, despite them both clearly understanding what was going on at that point. (Not to mention Miya/Kanade very deliberately cuts contact with Izumi completely.) To put it another way, I think they're both just beginning to move on, they still have a long way to go. As Temp says, what saves this oneshot from being completely depressing isn't either of them; it's Saki who demonstrates that a real relationship can be built on the ruins of heartbreak.

Loved this when I read the raw during my "let's read every Arai Sumiko work" phase a while ago, super happy to see it getting translated. These two are probably my favorite pair of Arai protagonists. Falling in love despite (but also because of) being so different it's almost (but not quite) impossible to see the relationship working out has a very strong appeal to me and I wish we saw it more often.

If this is Katakura Ako's idea of what "pure love" is, I worry about her lol.

Seriously though, it's an interesting one. Two women (old friends?) chasing after the other's memory through sex are finally able to fall out of love when they actually fuck each other. Well, as Saki says, prostitution is often a form of therapy. Despite the melancholy tone I do read the ending as hopeful, even for Izumi.

This chapter was really good. We get to see why Houjou exists, to demonstrate both Tae and Mai's growth since volume 1. (And also for the hilarity of the antagonist making the entirely valid point that it's weird for an adult to become friends with a 5th grader.)

Anyway. Were it not for Houjou, Tae -- or more realistically Mai let's be real -- could bullshit a story about her being Mai's aunt or something. With her there it becomes more complicated, but I'm sure she doesn't want the teacher to know why she's hanging around at school at night either.

By the way, Houjou's "you [presumably adults] are all the same" line, along with the fact that she is definitely the one playing the piano by herself, fooling around with anatomical models, and looking inside students' desks at night, strongly imply that she has severe family issues and is extremely lonely. I am curious why she latched onto Mai specifically, though. Maybe as a child who looks like an adult, she's a "safe" replacement for the actual adults in her life who are neglecting her?

Finally got around to reading through this manga for the first time, and it is legitimately excellent. It exists in perhaps my favorite genre of fiction, utterly ridiculous premise that's taken completely seriously and explored with full sincerity. That a character like Kiwi, who would be a one-note joke character in most manga, is given enough attention and development to become my favorite is just one example of this.

I do understand why people don't like the Shio-chans, and they definitely could've been introduced better, but I understand their purpose. I actually don't think it's because the mangaka wanted to end at volume 7 but was "forced" to keep going due to popularity; I suspect it's the reverse -- the mangaka doesn't know in advance how many volumes they'll be able to write, so they had to set up the previous arc as potentially being the final one, and when they got enough sales to keep going they were able to extend the series further. It is the nature of shonen manga to extend themselves by introducing new enemies, and this series is a (very unique) shonen manga at the end of the day.

To the author's credit, we saw a similar dynamic with the Lord arc (who received very similar complaints to the Shio-chans at the time), and while Lord is certainly a less compelling antagonist than Tres Magia that arc did ultimately contribute to the manga both in terms of character development and increased thematic depth. The author has earned enough faith from me that I'm willing to give them the benefit of the doubt here too. Plus Berserga has the best character design in the entire manga and it's not close.

Edit: Chapter 40 confirms that Utena/Kiwi/Sayo (aka dom/switch/sub) is endgame

last edited at Aug 24, 2022 8:56PM

Kaori was a homophobe for years, including at least one year after Lina confessed to her -- check out her college friend group. She hurt Lina deeply. Yes, she repented it later (and got a better group of friends), I don't hate her, but it wasn't just a single mistake. As I suggested before, the entire point of miracles is that people don't deserve them.

This is a pretty unique oneshot precisely because we never get to see inside Mayu's head. There are actually ways to interpret her character to make her at least somewhat sympathetic -- for instance, it seems to me that she thought Emi wasn't invested in their relationship, which is why she never understood just how much pain she caused her until the end. But because this oneshot is locked so securely in Emi's PoV and ends right as they're about to have their first real conversation, the reader is encouraged to view Mayu precisely as Emi does, which makes the hate for her unsurprising.

Just because Kosuzume says writing the manga "feels like just a hobby" doesn't actually make it one; it is, in fact, a full-time job with deadlines and everything. I understand being put off when people focus on the author instead of the manga but this backlash is going to some pretty strange places.