It's quite interesting, Stan. Thank you. :)

Of all the works of Takemiya-sensei, this is the story I fell in love with. I can see how she puts her heart on Yamanaka. She is beautifully created. I could see as well how Takemiya-sensei evolved in her storytelling. She uses both, i.e., the rule-of-the-thumb, "show, don't tell" and the road-less-trodden, "tell, don't show". The latter created confusions from readers, I think. However, if you do like what Koveras did, you would appreciate the story, I think. Though, there were things I am not agreeable with, still, the post is still worth the read. With that said, I will not write an in-depth comment since the story is ongoing.

And this is why people only scanlate simple plot A stories that nobody can get confused by: Anything even remotely subtle flies right past many in the audience.

We saw the romantic development. We saw more than most couples in most manga ever get. It just wasn't in your face with a sledgehammer.

---

The story was perfectly fine, the time skip served its purpose and is a bizarre thing to take issue with when you complain about the story not being "concise" enough, and getting together was plenty climactic because it was cute as fuck.

Yes and more, the story tells that Yamanaka was in love with Taneda even before the time skip. The same way with Taneda, her admiration for Yamanaka turned into love even way before the boyfriend noticed to the point it was already that strong to break it off from him.

Edit: If I may, I encourage others to read Takemiya Jin's works. One of her strong points is her characters. She mostly uses straight-up narration to which I like as well. Girlish sweets has an interwoven individual/couple's stories but it is neatly done and I liked the concept of the ending. An Absurd Relationship and A Song About Missing You created a venue to establish herself as a mangaka who has a wider range of storytelling style.

last edited at Dec 25, 2017 2:04AM

After a "little" delay it is here.

Thank you. :)

light story with a heavy subject matter... :) The author's works, Un bouquet de fleurs pour vous, captures my fancy. :)

Is kohai-chan the same girl that got pregnant in the first chapter?

Probably not, I really doubt that she would go back to work at the same place where she messed up big time on her life...plus her hairstyle's different

Ok, but how do we know that the first chapter was in the past?

Taneda replaced her job position in chap. 2. :)

I was smiling since WDTFS keeps on popping on my head but of course, the ending here was neatly done. A straight-forward narrative. Damn... The author did it without a glitch! Waait.... Hmmm... Where is Sungji? LOL... Thank you for the uploads... :)

@Fenny

I was debating with myself whether to comment or not when the new chap was released. But you've saved me the effort. I agree to all your comments except for this:

TBH, he seems to be moving way too fast anyway. If I were straight, I'd be running as fast as I could if some guy was this fast with proposals... at least get to know her first, dude...)

For me, in love, time is irrelevant. Since, it is not the quantity of time but quality. That is why there is such thing as "love at first sight". Love for me is never a cognitive process not even emotional, it is just the whole me. That includes my spiritual, physical and desires. So, in the case of the boyfriend, he wanted to seal whatever they have together with Taneda, else, it would be taken away by the topic of discussion always, Yamanaka.

Some people may say, "Love bomb". But for me, there are people who knew what they wanted. I, included. However, in this story, I don't know if the boyfriend is. Little was established yet. So, I can't make an inference even a guess.

hmmm... I think Kuki did it. :)

n i'm not trying to shit on her or anything, i'd just lov to see her expand her artistic horizons & try out more distinctive character designs bc she's clearly very talented

It is a valid critique. I have the same feedback to her. Her style is unique however the lack of physical uniqueness disrupts the reading experience. Though, the hairstyle helps. But still, I have to give it to her that despite the "black and white" presentation, the story still can penetrate to one's psyche leaving a positive impression. Undeniably, it is a tedious work to do compared to a full-colour...

When you put in that way, their survival makes sense... The "old them" died and the "new them" was born to pursue and fight for love... It makes sense... But... I think the gap between their "death" and the revelation of their survival was so big that I was not able to make that connection (+ my methaforical mind set turned off)<

Well, the scene between those two were taken from Romeo and Juliet. One theory, actually, on those Shakespearean scenes was the sexual consumnation of their love.

I couldn't watch Akuma no Riddle in the same way I watched, for instance, Yuri Kuma Arashi, where I could make lots of that kind of connections.

The anime and manga filled in each other's lacking. Since the plot has a lot of assassins and one target, a manga would be inadequate to bring these action-packed scenes to the captured clientele. Thus, the anime failed to deliver the beauty of the underlying story of Akuma no Riddle. To which the manga successfully revealed this but failed to hand-in the excitement of the skilled combat between assassins and instinctual will of the target to survive.
For Yurikuma Arashi, I haven't watched nor read it.So, I couldn't make a comparison. :)

Why should I?.... LOL!!!...

hehe... Tamamusi...
Any question though for the precocious elementary pupil, Yumena?... XD

She wanted to spare her the grief of losing her to a slow, debilitating illness. Better, she thought, if she remembers me fondly, or even hates me and moves on now than if we stay together as I lose everything that makes us happy together.

---

She wanted her girlfriend to move on, even if it meant resenting her. Depending on the nature of the illness, watching a loved one fight a losing battle and slowly waste away can be painful for both of them.

---

I can not decide if it was the very pinnacle of consideration, or of stupidity.

I would call it selfishness.

The dead person made a choice. Whatever form it is, I couldn't see it in any other way but selfishness. HOWEVER, selfishness is never good or bad for me. It depends on what is in the heart. In this story, both understand each other's circumstance. The ending just capsulized a peaceful death and a sweet memory of the dead and of the living, respectively. Was this a so-so story? For me, no. The author successfully presented the story that you need to put your heart in it. Arching stories can be drawn out from this one-shot. If you observed, the second page exactly drawn what was in the MC's mind after attending the funeral. Thus, metaphorically speaking, the visit can be taken as a dream. The MC dialogue can be her hurt that she was able to release through the visit/dream paving way to acceptance(in the balcony, looking at the sky) leaving a memory that is worth keeping and can be replayed over and over again. Is this a sign that the MC is moving on in the story? To me, yes.

Edit: I wonder what was the song about missing you... I was thinking of Ghost movie OST, Unchained Melody. (The choice comes with age... hahaha)

last edited at Dec 15, 2017 8:24PM

While reading, at the back of my mind, Dexter, Criminal Minds, Blacklist, and Lethal Weapon kept on dancing in my memory.

I was dumbstruck a year ago with this, "the first two characters introduced will end up", mentality in manga. True, most of them are! Tbh, I didn't read this manga since I had watched enough movies already with this kind of plot. Though, it has its twist but nonetheless, never strike a tune with me. However, with the comments, I've read a few chapters but dropped it. On the contrary, with the author not ending with the usual mindset, kudos!

Just finished the anime after reading the manga. Good translation helps in understanding this. Thank you. I will not go into detail but just capsulized. Haru represents love and the good things that comes with it - happiness, joy, freedom, trust, determination and the sheer power of charisma. But it has also its downside, to which Hanabusa represents - manipulative, selfish and controlling. A queen bee gives life to the colony. A weak queen means the death of a colony. ( can I just leave the details to whoever is interested on this?) Moving on, the students in black class is humanity. Each has a capacity to kill "love" if we give in to our darker side, thus, an assassin. Each has its own reason/s.

The story is pretty stupid for me because I don't know what Haru, the assassins, administrator Yuri, the two professors and as such represents. But when I ironed this out, it redeems the shallowness of the plot by the heaviness of the underlying story (a riddle story on love told by the devil). The devil is the dark, sad, cruel, unfair, abused stories of each assassin. Noteworthy is Chitaru and Hitsugi. They didn't kill Haru but themselves... They didn't kill the love but they didn't also pursue it. So, what's the point of living? The dying only signify that the "old them" must die to give way to a "new them" that pursue and fight for love. Since, the story is heavily-ladened with metaphor, almost all characters represent something.

I spoiler tagged my interpretation. Others may read the story and doesn't like pre-hand opinion. :)

last edited at Dec 13, 2017 11:59PM

But they didn't die. They were fine at the end
(SPOILERS)

But they did since the death is a symbolism. And I have an idea why the author did it. I am now in chap. 22 and within these chapters, other assassins only failed but survived. Chitaru has no reason to kill Haru, right?So, why?... I will continue reading to find out if my reason/s is/are correct and validate my hypotheses on this story. Heads up, I won't be commenting in here until I'd finished reading. :)

@komugi
I'm still at chapter 5. Long way to go for me. :) But thank you for the heads up. I am not reading this literally. For if I will, the plot itself is pretty stupid for me. However, I do not. It is obvious for me that everything is a metaphor as indicated by the "fill-in-the-blank or finish-the-sentence" game. Forgiveness, hatred, hurt, anger, revenge, cruelness,injustice and analogous terms interplay in this story. Each character has a story to tell and how forgiveness is vital in the healing process. You talked about the two girls who died. I guess I had an idea why the author let them die. :) But anyway, I will continue to read this.

Had a hard laugh reading this... XDDD..

It's kinda cute. Slow character development but what can you expect from two chapters? I don't see anything wrong from the reasoning of both. They are teenagers. You don't expect a Mahatma Gandhi's kind of philosophical life view. But the mainstream of raw human emotions are there. They just knew each other so much that they knew what each other wants. Like Nao doesn't like going with others but only with Chitose. Is that monopoly or toxic? No. Chitose has other close friend. Nao has basketball which she excels and not much of a mingler since childhood. Is it wrong? No. That is her personality. She matured pretty much by that personality, so, why change it?If anything in this story that is very solid, they complement each other.

Love how Fumi describes a writer...

Can't really see Sasha and Mikasa together.

Really? You're missing a lot! Meh, not really... It depends... Then can you imagine Annie X Mikasa? Just found it a little bit weird but good nevertheless..

Well...is that Mikasa has eye only for Eren and seems like she wouldn't go for any other except Eren. She even blushed when they told her to save her "boyfriend" and she replied with "he's family" while blushing.

As for Annie and Mikasa...well, I just can say they are AWESOME and the STRONGEST. Well, Mikasa is the Chuck Norris of the story. lol

Agree. There are a lot of instances to back this up but I don't think this is the right venue. Anyhow, this really made me laugh... Goes to my fave list...

Monica might have been lying to make Fine feel better, though. She did fake-cry to win Fine's sympathy (not in a mean way, of course), and unlike Fine, leaving the school destroyed Monica.

I read again the two chapters. Since, I wrote the comment after reading chap. 2 and edited it after reading the comments here. I didn't comment after reading chap. 1 because of the afterword that the essence of this story is in chap. 2. True to what the author said it metaphored the Catholic faith about heaven, hell, purgatory and wandering souls. As much as possible, I don't touch about religion.

So, going back, I've read the two chapters again for I might have missed something. I'm sorry I can't see the fake cry. What I saw is a child who was happy to finally have a room mate/playmate and was suddenly saddened when Finè signify she won't sing during graduation. The singing symbolizes your joy and happiness for the graduate. But when Finè explained, Monica suddenly smiled and was happy again.

To me, Monica's heart is a heart of a child. A heart that genuinely showed their feelings, doesn't hold grudges, easily forgives, easily trusts, doesn't judge, always sees the possibility because they live in the moment. When you make a promise to a child, make it happen for they will always remember. Monica was not destroyed by Finè leaving. She finally understood when they were running and her flesh was withering that she was "physically dying" and it was too late for her unlike Finè. So, the bidding of goodbyes was not to destroy but to reaffirm a promise - a hope was build to look forward to.

From all the names to choose, why Finè? Hmmm.... Yeah, fiiine...

Edit: I've read the comments just now. I will take the liberty to give my version. The gymnasium is an educational place where you are:

1. making a wreath. It is a symbol for reflections/ponderings. The full circle means realization.
2. to keep the wreath from withering. It is a symbol for your detachment from the world. Since, the withering means you don't belong to the gymnasium.
3. children preparing themselves for higher learning or the next phase of the journey.

Also:

• The mention of Monica that her wreath withers many times means she is in coma or brain dead as the story never suggests she had a memory of her past. You have to remember that they forgot their memories but Finè had vague ones. The withering means you have to go back.That means you are not ready. The flower symbolizes your acceptance of your physical death. Monica maybe too young to grasp the meaning of death that is why she had a hard time making the wreath and if she did make one, it withers. It may also suggests that her family is keeping her physically alive through medical machines.

• Out of their ignorance, Finè, with the consent of Monica, burned the wreath without knowing that by doing so, they killed the "physical Monica".

• When they are outside the gymnasium, Finè can hear somebody calling her. That was her mother whose devotion keeps Finè from graduating from the gymnasium. For Monica, she was dying for no one keeps her alive except for the machines. There was no strong attachment.

• Monica was well again inside the gymnasium. As Finè returned to the world, Monica remained but she could not make the wreath for she is waiting for Finè. It was long, and I agree to some post here, that Finè lived her life.

• Finè was in here usual form when Monica and her met to signify that the promise was fulfilled as evident by the ring on her finger.

Insights:

1. Gymnasium is not a purgatory since in a Catholic faith, souls of the dead who can't go either to heaven and hell stay there.
2. We, the living, are, most of the times, hindrance to the continuation of the journey of our loved ones. We cling to them. We have to let go.
3. Euthanasia, for me, should be allowed after a sincere meditation and utmost empathy/communication to the concerned.

last edited at Dec 10, 2017 10:02PM

clichè but cute...