I read the raw of chapter 5 and, without discussing spoilers, I think it's mostly consistent with my interpretation.

Could you please spoil it for me, if possible? (with spoiler tags ofc)

Chapter 5 is...sort of a pseudo flashback chapter? It's framed around Fuyuki talking to the blonde senpai about Eri. According to Fuyuki, Eri is a little "selfish" and bad at "reading the mood" (basically means she has bad social manners) and so had trouble making friends. This came to a head in middle school, when Eri was confessed to by a female friend she finally managed to make; Eri turned her down, and apparently a (false, according to Fuyuki) rumor spread that Eri said something homophobic in the process, leading to her getting bullied. Later, in high school, Eri had a breakdown, asked if Fuyuki "likes" her (as you may know, "suki" in Japanese can mean both "like" and "love"), then begged Fuyuki not to betray her and to "always be my friend." Fuyuki says that she used to rely on Eri when they were kids, but now Eri is the one who relies on her.

So the major issue in using this chapter to draw conclusions about Eri is that it's all from Fuyuki's point of view, cobbled together from stuff Eri told her years later and Fuyuki's own speculations (which are almost certainly colored by the pride she feels at being Eri's only friend whom she relies on). While we do get to see certain scenes from Eri's past visualized, several key moments are not shown -- most notably, we don't actually see Eri rejecting her friend, so we don't actually know if Eri really did (inadvertently?) say something homophobic or not. We never once see inside Eri's head. The major upshot of the chapter, to me, is actually about Fuyuki; the lesson she took from Eri's past is that if she confesses her feelings, she'd destroy their friendship. But we don't know if that's how Eri sees things. That's why I think the chapter is consistent with a number of different interpretations of Eri's character.

Edit: I wrote this before I saw Kazu-kun's post. My only disagreement with their post is I don't necessarily think that Eri is using Fuyuki as an "emotional crutch." There's probably some codependency there for sure, but we can't completely trust Fuyuki's view of the situation because she clearly takes a lot of pride in viewing Eri as relying on her; in other words, she has a bias toward viewing Eri as this sort of weak damsel who needs protection and coddling. We can't know the full story until we get a chapter from Eri's point of view.

Thank you for spoiling this lol. Up until this chapter, I was a little ambivalent about this series. Now seeing the reaction to the senpai, I'm like, MUST KNOW MORE

This is the kind of quality angst story that I am so here for. The first two chapters were good, but I love when the protagonist is also at least a little toxic instead of just being a victim wallowing in their own suffering.

Thisssss. Don't just wallow, girl. Hook up with senpai. She cute.

I gotta say, Eri is my favorite character in this manga. It's fascinating to me how she hasn't really done anything wrong, but the story is framed to encourage the audience to hate her because Fuyuki is the protagonist and everything Eri's done -- perhaps most especially the nice things she's done -- have hurt Fuyuki deeply.

Ughhhh you make a great point here. I've been reading this manga so far with the mindset of "Eri can take a long walk off a short dock", but she hasn't actually done anything intentionally hurtful. In fact, she has shown she's worried about Fuyuki's reaction to her having a boyfriend (at least recently--seems like in the flashbacks in previous chapters, she had no qualms sharing about her boyfriends). But the author does a great job of making me hate her anyway lol.

What I find most interesting about Eri, though, is how emotionally intuitive she is in (seemingly) almost all areas. She knew Fuyuki liked the movie the other club member was trashing; she instantly noticed that Kurosawa was more than just Fuyuki's senpai; and I'm pretty sure she also knows Kyou's in love with Fuyuki and not her. Which all raises the question...does she really not know that Fuyuki's been in love with her since forever? Does she really not see how much she's been hurting Fuyuki?

What makes you think Kyou really likes Fuyuki and that Eri knows it? I've only seen a couple small things (Eri saying he's soft with her, him inviting Fuyuki to join the film club), and ultimately, he asked out Eri. Just curious.

Here's my guess. The story is structured to make you think Eri is some evil manipulator -- even Kurosawa seems to believe this -- but I don't think so. I think the fundamental irony of Eri is that she understands others very well but she understands herself not at all. She's terrified to face the prospect that Fuyuki loves her because it would mean she'd have to admit to her own love too. So she lies to herself, pretends like she doesn't see it, forces herself to take Fuyuki's words at face value, because admitting to the truth would result in a flood of guilt, shame, and fear she's not able to hold up against.

Agreed, though I tend not to sympathize with characters like this. Just be gay lol.

I haven't read chapter 18 yet but I'm HERE TO SCREAM IN ANTICIPATION AHHHHHHH

[inhales]

[screams]

Yuu and I, who you observed being really gay with each other, are dating.

*shocked pikachu*

Right, I was like, "Is this news?"

Accept the gay intrusive thoughts, they are here to help you

No matter whether the girl was actually creppy or not, I think we can all agree that it's great that they celebrated the anniversary with three cakes rather than one cup.

Stop that lmao

Before I read this last chapter, just want to say this manga has been a blast. So refreshing and fun, and I also love the tidbits of real life places added in. There is just something really comforting about this series, and we don't even know the protagonists names. Thank you, knight heron! I'll miss this!

Edit after reading:
That "no" to the stay at home wife comment hurt so badly ahaha... ha... But the author has confirmed it was yuri, so yuri it is! That was a nice ending, and I look forward to the bonus chapter, any future content with these two, and my English copy of the first volume arriving this week so I can relive it from the beginning.

last edited at Jan 2, 2023 12:38AM

Aa, seishun~

Gotta say, I love a letterman jacket. Go off, Aya. See you in that flannel, too, Mitsuki ;)

GOOD CHAPTER

I'm seeing in the comments that Aya doesn't quite use the word 'crush', but her behavior is pretty gay anyway. Here for it

Also here for an idiot couple tag

last edited at Nov 13, 2022 12:36PM

Has the author mentioned at all how long they expect the series to be? I could actually see it ending soonish with them being friends and not getting into a full romance.

I would personally find that an extremely unsatisfying ending.

I wouldn't worry about it. The author's twitter art is riddled with unambiguous lesbianism.

That's what we like to hear

Has the author mentioned at all how long they expect the series to be? I could actually see it ending soonish with them being friends and not getting into a full romance.

So wholesome... Surprising shout-out to that real museum, too! It was fun learning about ammonites. Maybe one day I'll emulate their trip.

Best chapter yet

The sweetest girls together, I can't. Thank you coming back, Ena

The title is far more entertaining than the content itself, unfortunately. That felt like a slog to read.

Especially the way they squished it into the top of every odd-numbered page. Mad respect to ogey rrat for the effort. Not my thing though.

Oh god, I didn't even notice that. That's hilarious.

Cursed

Might be seeing this wrong, but are Koga's fingertips bandaged up? Maybe like a trying to sow an apology gift or something?

HOTTIE-SENSEI, PLEASE

I WILL REACH OUT TO YOU

Been rooting for Sensei since the beginning!! I'm okay with ex-idol, too. There's a lot of emphasis on her annoying roommate tho. Guessing that's endgame. More Sensei for me then!!

Nanao's gay panic is truly masterfully done

Anyone know why the author switched this series to mini chapters like the main one? Or was it just the way the chapters were initially uploaded here?

The author has another yuri series running in another magazine (Link here) and they might have trouble maintaining long chapter for this one.

Priorities I guess.

That other series, although yuri, is primarily a food manga, and I'm not fond of that, so I won't pick it up.

Ahh, thanks for the link and upload! It's nice the author is getting into other things, even if the characters' faces all look the same in them too lol.

Anyone know why the author switched this series to mini chapters like the main one? Or was it just the way the chapters were initially uploaded here?

The faces in this KILL ME. Just that dead, blank stare the main character does. Perfection

Inb4
Asumi-chan Is Interested In Lesbian Brothels! Chapter 10: Asumi-chan Is Interested In Butt Stuff!

So I’m confused on the timeline compared to the “side stories.” Are the manga-gamer couple together at this point like they are in the side stories?

I think so, now that they're meeting face to face. Im sure both were aware "living together with someone I love" meant with each other.

Woohoo more content of the best couple

I think in this series, they're not together yet. Or at least, they'd been meeting face to face but didn't know that they were gaming buddies. I'm not super sure how this fits in with Side Stories though.

RIP sepia filter

I don't know how to post images on here. Can someone crop out that "I'm your daddy now?" and put it in here so I can quote it? Lmao. Gold.