Yeah, I think Kaede's helped out as much as she could, just bringing Konatsu to the karaoke place and pointing out Koyuki was there was exactly what she needed to do, without interfering further. Something that hasn't been really addressed so far is how Koyuki seemingly lacks the social awareness to understand how Konatsu might feel about the situation. Kaede also tried to make her realize it on her own, but she couldn't do it. I wonder if the awkward situation Koyuki got herself in with her classmates during the karaoke party might help her realize Konatsu's point of view of not wanting her to fit in with others and leave her behind, but I feel like Koyuki just won't get it until Konatsu flat-out admits it to her because she's just that socially stunted.

last edited at Sep 28, 2019 10:40PM

You can see from Konatsu's reaction to Koyuki's text (and from all her reactions beforehand) that she feels very guilty about bringing her back to her now that she's been breaking out, that's going to be difficult to bring up and properly talk about although she will have to sooner or later. And in the short term, they weren't alone so they weren't going to have such a private talk with Kaede and Fuyuki around. But I get what you mean, I always try not to think of how much time it takes in the real world for manga chapters to come out, it can be grueling and deflate your enthusiasm, especially in monthly series. I like to think that once all of it is out, reading it again all at once will feel much better and reflect the work's actual pacing.

Lovely chapter, it's quite a struggle for Konatsu.

@Senjougahara_sama: I'm interested in Konatsu's comment on page 9 about how she's been searching for that "something" that has been gradually changing around her. Right now she herself cannot define it and I want to see how she will figure it out. Not that it has to be romantic interest, but as of now, it would be the best bet as to how she'd realize something like that about herself.

@Star Light: I was just joking. Ultimately I don't think there's a huge correlation between marketing a series for tourism and what happens between the characters in it. Most people will just take an interest if the locations themselves are memorable.

Konatsu's issue right now is that she feels ashamed of herself for not being entirely happy about Koyuki managing to open up and find new friends and for desiring for Koyuki to stay the same so that she'll remain the only person Koyuki will open up with. This stems from her own loneliness and desire to be considered special by someone (either as a friend or romantically, this is what the author will likely never clarify and leave up to the reader's interpretation). Of course this is a contradiction since Konatsu herself was the one who pushed Koyuki to break out of her shell, so she thinks it would be wrong to talk to her about this, that the issue lies entirely with herself and she should bottle it up and pretend she's okay with the current situation for Koyuki's sake. There is no simple solution since Konatsu would have to admit to her selfishness and Koyuki might not respond positively to it. I think Konatsu will definitely have to learn to accept that Koyuki will have other people she can rely on from now on, but at the same time Koyuki will come to realize that she and Konatsu still need each other and that their bond and mutual understanding will always be deeper than what she could have with anybody else.

Kaede got herself into a real mess, but her method of indirectly prodding both of them is the most appropriate.

No because this series got trademark as tourism symbol so no homo.

Dunno, if I knew this was the town where cute 2D lesbians got together, I'd just be more inclined to visit.

@Star Light: Yeah, I get it, the monologue can feel like it drags, but I'm fine with it because there's always a point to it, in this case it's about Konatsu being in denial and thinking she has to bottle her feelings up while slowly realizing (and being made to realize by Kaede) that doing so makes her suffer. I think it's more of an issue of the chapter taking two months to release and only setting up a development in the next one (though it was originally meant to be a longer chapter). I'm sure that reading this part in the volume release all at once will feel just right and not too slow.

^ It's because she had stomach problems and couldn't release a chapter in July.

From Hachimitsu Scans: "According to her Twitter account, this chapter was originally a single, 91-page chapter, but this was split in two for size concerns, with the next chapter coming next month."

That would've been something. And I guess a big development will happen at the karaoke since it was meant to be the same chapter.

I also want to add that it's great having Konatsu back full time as the POV character, I really missed her.

@Star Light: Regarding the discussion on mangadex, I don't think the story is set to end soon, it's been set up to last at least until Koyuki graduates for a long time now. As for Konatsu's issues, I understand some people being annoyed at having a full chapter of her monologuing and failing to move forward, but I think that's the whole point. I loved the twist of Konatsu ultimately turning out to be the salamander equivalent after she seemed like she would be the frog and her sorting out her feelings will be the key for her and Koyuki's relationship not to end up like the one from the short story, which is basically where it's at right now.

last edited at Aug 31, 2019 5:45AM

The magazine releases around the 26th of the month.

Actually it's going to be a real tour now: https://www.ozujc.info/%E7%89%B9%E8%A8%AD%E3%83%9A%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B8/

This is cute.

I took a tour of the town from the manga with StreetView a few months ago, it looks like a pretty cozy place. Its manga depiction is also extremely accurate, the school and the seaside road are identical.

Not really. She said she doesn't label her work as yuri, but that people are free to see it however they want, so I stand by my point of view that the author isn't outright saying "no homo" and that it's more of an "I'll leave that up to your imagination" non-answer.

We really just don't know (yet). I don't even think the author is technically saying "no homo", it's more that she chooses not to focus on the romantic side of the relationship either way since it's not what she wants to highlight. That's how I see it right now.

^
There's plenty of works where the nature of the relationship between a male and a female character is left ambiguous. I'd also rather not judge Nettaigyo on this yet because it's still unclear what exactly the author means by not personally classifying her work as yuri. She also keeps saying people are free to see it however they want, so it's possible it will indeed fall into certain romantic yuri tropes and that the author sees those differently in the context of her own story. And of course she's vague to avoid potentially giving out spoilers either way.

EDIT: By the way, I'd better clarify I'm not suggesting your complaint as a whole isn't valid, I'm sure many here have been burned by Hibike and the like. I'm just saying I wouldn't apply it to this particular manga.

last edited at Jul 7, 2019 6:53AM

I respect the author's stance on this but it's something that naturally ends up turning people with certain (reasonable enough) expectations off and it can be seen as wishy-washy and non-committal.

I doubt Konatsu will remain in Ehime after graduation, she already said she'll probably go back to Tokyo. I'll be a little sad for her aunt if that happens.

^
I'd like to add that the way Koyuki's two classmates were faceless through the scene at the café and in the classroom up to the point when they invited her to the party, when their faces were finally drawn, was really poignant and reminded me of the deal with the crossed-out faces in A Silent Voice (which the author explicitly mentioned as an inspiration for her artstyle).

last edited at Jun 28, 2019 8:16PM

^
That's unfair to Kaede, she's really trying her best to make the two of them grow closer without inserting herself into the equation. The irony is that her being seen as an interference will be necessary for Konatsu's development.

oh so konatsu is the salamander all along?

What a tweeeest!

I'm glad we're getting the payoff to all the time Konatsu spent out of focus, it finally feels like there was a clear point to it all and to Kaede's increased importance.

While we wait for the chapter, here's the cover art for volume 5.

June 27th, as you can see on the last page of the latest chapter. Hang in there.

This isn't really related, but the author uploaded a vlog and she added English subtitles herself so that foreign fans could follow along, so I thought I would share: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yY918zKK_P8

Thanks. Honestly I don't think you guys' posts necessarily had to be removed since it was still a very civil discussion with some very light banter that got quickly recognized as such, but you do you.

I'm not sure that analogy makes 100% sense. If we were to pinpoint the main narrative focus of Nettaigyo, it would be "the relationship between two girls who bond over their shared loneliness and gradually open up to each other by overcoming the hardships of communication", which is pretty much the same thing as the Salamander short story the whole idea for the manga comes from. Something like the relationship possibly being romantic is rather incidental to that and despite there having been tons of scenes that can be interpreted romantically, there hasn't been a single time so far where any character explicitly said or thought anything about the possibility of being in love, which is the line that would need to be crossed for the subtext to become main text (the 'passing through objects' that would definitely be a supernatural element). I still understand if someone is upset that the series will apparently never go that direction since it could be considered a waste of potential and of things that were set up, but I feel it has more to do with personal expectations than with the author writing a certain way and wanting a different meaning to come through. My personal take on it has always been that from the way it was written, the series could eventually go either the route of explicit romance or to leave things implicit and that as long as it was written well, I'd be fine with either.

There's definitely some teasing here and there although I wouldn't say it's ever crossed into dishonesty. It would be dishonest if it was baiting and it ended with Konatsu and/or Koyuki finding a boyfriend, but that's 100% not going to happen. It's the kind of teasing that makes for subtext (a tag the series does have on here, rightfully so) and I guess it will end as subtext in a 'the nature and future developments of their relationship are left to the reader's interpretation' kind of way. I do understand if some people decide not to read it or to drop it if they can't get actual romance, but saying it's about friendship first and foremost isn't dishonest in my opinion.