@Zexalfan: there's a few cute interactions (that do not differ by the MC's gender unlike those with Lillie in Sun and Moon) but the popularity likely stems mostly from it being seen as a successor to Chicken X Lillie.

Is the song big bro sang for her really a rap song? Or is it a "rabu song" written in kana which is supposed to mean "love song"? This brings me back a fan sub of YagaKimi first PV for the anime where the very same confusion happened...

https://twitter.com/satomi_sann/status/1197129159333404672/photo/3

You are correct, it's love song.

Nice, I hope this is only the beginning of a great flood. I love this pair.

Soon is an understatement given she is still in second year right now.

Koyuki just started her third year in the latest chapter while Konatsu started her second. Just about one year has passed since the beginning of the series.

Man, that would be some long-term planning.

Nah, that would require a massive turnabout for the characters and themes to even consider happening and I'm sure the author and editor have at least some awareness who the audience of the series is mostly made of. Maybe in a timeskip during the ending if the point of it was Konatsu and Koyuki accepting to grow apart to signify that one or both of them also eventually found someone else important enough to have that close a connection with, but if you asked me, that would feel half-assed no matter what and I don't think it's where the story is going anyway. And I see even less of a chance of it happening in the present since neither seems to be in the condition to sustain that kind of relationship (Koyuki because she has trouble understanding basic social cues and Konatsu because she's convinced nobody else could help her not feel lonely).

I'll show myself the door if I end up being wrong.

^
I feel bad for Kaede since she got herself involved for the good of both of them but couldn't really achieve anything and even indirectly led Konatsu down the path she's on now. I hope things get sorted out for her sake too.

I'd push that moment back a bit to Christmas when Konatsu encouraged Koyuki to keep changing and that she'd defend her from anyone who might not appreciate the real her, that's when she unknowingly shot herself in the foot, so to speak. And she did end up doing the latter when she came to bail Koyuki out of the awkward situation she put herself in at the karaoke party, though Konatsu's motive for doing so had become a lot more selfish than her stated one.

I must say that re-reading the earlier parts under this new lens really puts some of them in a different perspective.

last edited at Oct 27, 2019 8:33PM

EDIT: This was meant as a reply to a now-deleted post asking to try and explain why the characters feel so distant now.

I tried to in my posts over the last few pages. From how I see it, Konatsu is frustrated with herself for wanting to act against Koyuki's best interest and to keep the exclusive connection (initially based on their shared loneliness) she used to have with her and her only, despite the fact that it was Konatsu herself who pushed her towards opening up to other people. And she's also frustrated with Koyuki for not understanding where she's coming from since Koyuki thinks that other people will fill the void that her going away will leave inside Konatsu; it won't, and Konatsu's current feelings are telling her that only Koyuki's presence and attention can ease her loneliness.

As for Koyuki, she just seems to genuinely be incapable of analyzing the situation deeply enough due to her lack of social awareness and experience. She outright can't understand that Konatsu considers their connection special and that she'd think of her differently from how she'd think of any other friend she might make. This was evident from very early on, for instance when she told Konatsu there was no particular reason why she called out to her on the day she first came to school despite Konatsu wanting to hear her say she also considered their first meeting special.

If I had to fault one of the two over the other, it would have to be Konatsu. She's the one with the ability to start to try and sort things out by being straightforward, although she won't because she knows she's in the wrong.

last edited at Oct 27, 2019 8:18PM

Electroshocks are lethal to creatures who dwell in water, I'm worried now.

She is, she had a few other videos with halfway-done English subs and she also tries to reply in English on twitter when she gets English tweets. Well, she google translates her way through, but it's the thought that counts.

Oh, I woulda sworn the mangaka was a man for this one. That was only judging by their self-insert in the omakes tho.

Anyway, it's getting pretty gay again after like a 2-volume hiatus. Let's keep this homo-mentum going

She's a girl, you can see and hear her at the start of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmdliC3n_Y She tries to keep her face covered with a sticker on the video, but she accidentally slips out of the area it covers a couple times, heh.

Also, homo-mentum is an amazing word and I'll start using it myself from now on.

Oml, she seems super nice, thank you for sharing.

Oh, and she can straight-up be fully seen at the end of the video. Serves me right for not sticking around for the credits the first time I watched it.

I never really thought about that aspect, but I did end up feeling the same way recently when I found out Adachi and Shimamura is written by a guy. Then again, someone being able to write the opposite gender well (including same-sex sexuality) is something I find very commendable, it's a sign you're able to branch out of your natural comfort zone.

Oh, I woulda sworn the mangaka was a man for this one. That was only judging by their self-insert in the omakes tho.

Anyway, it's getting pretty gay again after like a 2-volume hiatus. Let's keep this homo-mentum going

She's a girl, you can see and hear her at the start of this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzmdliC3n_Y She tries to keep her face covered with a sticker on the video, but she accidentally slips out of the area it covers a couple times, heh.

Also, homo-mentum is an amazing word and I'll start using it myself from now on.

When making friends is hard, one real friend is worth a lot and you get attached. There's no guarantee that you'll find more friends after that, so instead you invest a lot into your actual friend.

But I never got the impression that Konatsu had nearly as much trouble making friends and being social in general as Koyuki did. She pretty much made friends with Kaede at the same time she did with Koyuki right after entering the new school. She herself acknowledges in her imagination this chapter that even without her, she can see herself surrounded by other people. The way I see it, for Konatsu it absolutely has to be Koyuki because she built this image in her mind of the two of them being the only ones able to understand each other due to their loneliness, even though it might or might not be the case.

Well, Konatsu actually snapped at Koyuki in this chapter so it's unlikely they'll just be able to restore the status quo without talking to sort things out. Though that in itself might take a while with them not acting friendly with each other in the meantime.

I must admit I'm starting to get suspicious of Konatsu's almost morbid attachment to Koyuki. Last chapter she stated their connection was formed out of shared loneliness, but now she's arguing that even if she was to be surrounded by other people and not feel lonely, it would still amount to nothing without Koyuki there. Kinda getting harder to see it as mere friendship, so I want to see where the author takes things.

I have a bit of dumb question will this series have a happy ending?

The short story it's based on arguably didn't, it ended with the salamander keeping the frog trapped in its cave with both being incapable of either admitting they enjoy each other's company or agreeing to break things off and letting the frog go. You could say we're currently at that same stage in this manga, but I don't think it can end like that simply because Konatsu has no means of stopping Koyuki from leaving once she graduates. They'll be forced to come to a conclusion.

last edited at Oct 27, 2019 8:33AM

How is this not gay?

Maybe Konatsu said 'no homo' offscreen.

Man, Konatsu is a mess. And she seemed to be the relatively well-adjusted one until a while back.

Thank you Lala, I mean Zexalfan. I signed up to Dynasty specifically to talk about Nettaigyo, so I better make it count. I find it to be a series where going a little deeper to analyze the characters' thoughts, feelings and actions is interesting and rewarding since just taking it all at face value can understandably lead to frustration as I've seen lately. I don't mean you have to like whatever happens (let alone the uncertainty/non-commitment over whether it's yuri), but if any of my posts helped anyone become less frustrated, then to me they were worth writing.

I've been a massive Layton fan since the franchise started, so I usually use profile pics of its characters. Definitely go back to watch Mystery Detective Agency when you've got time, everything comes together at the end and it's really satisfying.

last edited at Oct 3, 2019 2:34PM

That's the point though, Konatsu is being selfish. She's not acting the way she is out of a need for Koyuki's companionship caused by her own loneliness, she has Kaede and other friends to avoid feeling lonely. The issue is that she subconsciously grew fond of being Koyuki's only friend and confidant and once Koyuki managed to start making other friends (spurred on by Konatsu herself at that), Konatsu lost that special placement and is now trying to get her back under her "control" even though she knows she shouldn't.

It's pretty obvious when you consider the Salamander short story and see how the author keeps placing the frog and salamander metaphorically around the two girls. The frog is the character who initially lives freely, ends up entering the salamander's cave and gets trapped there by it because its presence eases the salamander's loneliness, even though the salamander knows that keeping the frog trapped will make it lonely as well. The initial setup of the story likened Konatsu to the frog and Koyuki to the salamander since the former was the one who ended up involved with the latter's aquarium club and stuck around to ease her loneliness. Now the metaphor has been flipped (ever since Konatsu saw Koyuki and Kaede walking around) so that Koyuki is the frog who would normally be free with her new friends and Konatsu is the salamander who wants to keep her trapped against her best interests.

Of course I'm oversimplifying things and it's only a partial analysis based on the current point in the story, but that's the gist of it and I don't think I'm off the mark due to all the visual metaphors.

To be fair to Koyuki, it was her first time ever out with "friends". She wasn't going to know how to behave socially.

Hagino-sensei drew Konatsu singing karaoke on her twitter since she was too gloomy to do it in the actual chapter.

^
If I recall correctly, Konatsu originally thought about that in regards to finding out that Koyuki doesn't seem to consider their first encounter special like she does. I also agree that knowing everything is better, but that's not true for every person, for some it can be tough to deal with it. "Ignorance is bliss" and all that.

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.