^ Well said. It made me want to re-read too

It felt a bit rushed but the sex scene was surprisingly good

BTW is there any update on hagino sensei, how is she doing and what she's up to?, I'm kinda worried

A new Twitter account was started for her @hagino_m_info that only posts updates. I assume it's not run by her personally.

Late 2023 she started a series called 'Linoa by the Window' at Aoi Kishi (the oddball magazine that might be familiar to some here as the home of the edgy yuri isekai series 'My Sister and Giant'). It appears to follow the journey of a mysterious trio -a man, a talking cat, and a girl- as they search for their "place to belong" (in Germany, for some reason). It looks interesting.

The ball is now in Hana's court, to tell Lily that she didn't act out of compassion only. But beyond a heart to heart, there is still the issue of (financial) independence. They're both young and have no leverage over Lily's parents that we know of (and no powerful allies either), so they have to convince them to call off the arranged marriage out of kindness/love, scramble to find some kind of leverage, or elope. The parents are very strict with Suzu as well, so a change of heart seems unlikely, leverage dropping in their lap could feel a bit too magical, and escaping seems like an even longer shot. It's a lot of ground to cover with little more than half a volume left.

It's somehow disappointing to me that the most obvious plot twist happened, but I guess there is a small twist to the twist still, since she seems to be somehow regretful that the real Kaoru never actually pat her head, implying that the ruse was too good :P

Is it really a plot twist if Lily having absolutely no clue was extremely unlikely? I just see this as the story reaching its final stage and revealing all the cards in play. But I do like that Hana's cover was immediately blown by the head pats. I think it's hinted that it seemed natural to her because her brother used to pat her head. This also gives a bittersweet tone to Lily's adorable reactions when Hana touched and stroked her hair.

last edited at Aug 11, 2024 4:36PM

These foodie slice of life manga have a reputation that they are relaxing... Well, chapter 3 features the annoying brother (no personality other than "I am a heterosexual man") and cuts away to focus on a random het couple's fight for like five pages... That bit didn't even have anything to do with the MC's epiphany, since it was only showed to the reader.

What makes it worse is that the dynamic of the two leads was pretty good in the first two chapters. But as soon as the MC's new friend is not around, the MC immediately gets surrounded by the miasma of clichéd (put presented as cute and wholesome) heterosexuality, which is quite the whiplash.

Edit: well, the series is already complete at 3 volumes, so it's best not to get your hopes up about the "subtext" going anywhere

last edited at Aug 11, 2024 2:40PM

I was waiting for the first "she's cute" moment and it's here!

i dont know why but this chapter felt so tonally different from the rest of the series its like it was written by someone else

Yeah, where's the sex!

There have been chapters without sex before, but they were usually about Asumi hanging out with someone she will sleep with or has slept with. And this time of all things she and Senpai hung out at one of the least sexy locations (horse race track), then boom! Two new girls are parachuted in again. It's a pretty chaotic chapter

This is like a summary of the plot of The Demon Girl Next Door

Mayuko seems to enjoy learning about the different sides of Ruri, so I think the relationship quickly left the parasocial stage. Since this seems to be a coming-of-age tale, the real question is what Mayuko can learn about herself through theater and this new crush

last edited at Jul 27, 2024 9:54PM

There is a sweet atmosphere developing, but I wonder if there will come a point where Butterfly Dream will no longer accept an arrangement where Yuetao has to sacrifice herself. That's not to say I don't want the possession to happen at all, but it would be kind of sad if that's how it ended

New updates from Hanamonogatari by Schwinn = the world is healing

ah why did the teacher have to come back before she could beat him up kangaroo style

Teachers do not spawn in the area as long the bullying is in progress, but they are immediately summoned if someone stands up to the bullies

Calm down Nina, have some yogurt

Okay, maybe it will be a whole thing. I just think it's kind of funny to freak out about this after how many chapters were devoted to the student x teacher love polygon drama. Unlike back then, here we have a reason to care about the couple's happiness, since we have already seen what their good times look like. Can you really call this an "abrupt nosedive in quality", considering what came before?

You're so right, the shorts that barely reach below their asses just scream "masc"

Men can wear booty shorts too /shrugs.

Besides, the thing that caught my eye onto that is their hair and general body type. Idk, I just read them as masc, but unless it becomes a critical plot point it doesn't really matter beyond "this is a prison with female sex (and so far just sex) robots being tested on the prisoners"

Male = "masc", booty shorts are masculine, and everyone in a dystopian max security prison who doesn't have massive tits or long hair is automatically a man. Much to think about...

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 9:41AM

Sigh.

This arc continues to be annoyingly stupid and the worst part of the series thus far. The angst feels forced and stale already, I just want to move on as quickly as possible.

I feel like calling this an "arc" is more melodramatic than the actual content. It's just one chapter split into two parts.

last edited at Jul 24, 2024 8:26AM

And as my “world without yuri stories” crack was intended to imply, there’s a curiously old-fashioned tone about this one, with “but we’re both sisters” taking the place of “but we’re both girls.”

I think I actually and finally get what you mean now.
It's like before same-sex union exists, in order to have the same-sex couple to be together, since they couldn't marry each other, therefore the only way to do so is to have one of them as their 'family', so that one of them could inherit property, or to take care of the other person etc.. if the other is unavailable or passed away.

One of the founding mothers of yuri, Nobuko Yoshiya, legally adopted her partner Chiyo Monma for that very reason. And since Yoshiya was the older of the two, Monma addressed her as onee-sama (older sister) in their letters. (The same way the younger girl would address the older girl in the Class S literature where Yoshiya did most of her writing.) You could say metaphorical sisterhood is part of the DNA of the genre.

Which anthology?

Yuri Anthology Dolce Due.

And now I'm noticing that it came out 11 years ago... That's a blunder on my part, but I'm also blaming Dynasty for not providing basic context like release year

You're so right, the shorts that barely reach below their asses just scream "masc"

I don't know about the sexual minority part, as there is straight men it seems (or I think is implied?)

What is it that implied to you the existence of male prisoners?

Very cute, but shouldn't it have the subtext tag? There's nothing really explicitly romantic here.

I thought the whole thing was very obviously romantic. It was a classic falling in love scenario.

Yeah, I guess you can say it's technically unstated, but the relationship is the sole focus of the piece, and feeling comes through very strongly, so to me it makes sense to tag it as yuri.

Both of them are just a little too eager to get closer. Remi got pretty flustered when Sayaka was taking her measurements, and the fact that she had to tell herself "nothing strange is happening" means something was definitely happening there. The last we see of the picnic isn't really Sayaka asking Remi out, but it's close enough; as they're lying next to each other, Sayaka asks Remi to stay with her while cupping Remi's face with her hand, and Remi says yes with her hand on Sayaka's hand.

So I don't know if they're going out by the end, but I think it's obvious how they feel about each other, even if they haven't admitted it to themselves yet.

It's interesting to hear about Asako's sister eloping, but it seems a bit too simple of an explanation. I personally think there will be a flashback of some sort to elaborate on this.

From the way Asako talks about it her sister's departure ("she left me"), I think gaining experience is not just about catching up, but to understand why her sister would give her up for the sake of "love". If she can confirm that "love" really is so amazing that it's worth burning bridges with your family, including an innocent younger sibling, then maybe she can make peace with being left behind. But it's possible that she will fall for Nagi anyway, and it still won't fill the void left by her sister.

I'm not judging her sis or anything; we really don't know anything specific about the situation yet. Just speculating about Asako's inner logic.

Bro literally fell ass-backwards into the plot

There's a lot to process and think about here, and I think you provide interesting view points. I want to clarify at least that I wasn't saying anything against this story, or against what you're saying. I was mainly referring to page 2, where she says she gets dumped and told she doesn't have enough sexual appeal.

The focus of my initial comment is on that I believe this relationship is genuine, and that she's responding positively and strongly to someone that does view her as attractive with sincerity. I think regardless of gender it's important to find people that genuinely see you, value you, and respect you. A partner in that regard might open up new doors for sexuality, a person might realize that they're bi or something else, that they can have a partner that they didn't think was possible before. Though also don't disagree with you that there's an importance on women with the story, and the lesbian nature of it.

I don't think we really disagree here, we might have slightly different focuses and that's okay I think. I hope what I said didn't offend or anything though? I was not trying to be rude or anything like that, I was mostly aiming to make a simple comment in agreement with Rusi, and how I do think this relationship is sincere.

No offense at all, and I appreciate that you replied; I was a bit worried that I came across as too aggressive. I don't disagree with your assessment of the relationship as sincere, I just felt like complicating it a little based on the little information we got.

I have read through the work a few times, but I somehow forgot about that line on page 2, how embarrassing... Feeling desirable in the general sense definitely plays a role here then, yeah.

Suddenly turn gay..... Until she gets a new boyfriend. At least she gets the chance to "play" and "experiment" lol

Satomi being the narrator means that we don't get to read Makita's thoughts, but even without that I thought it was obvious that some switch in Makita's brain was flipped as soon as she realized Satomi was into her. Like, immediately taken over by the urge to touch her, to the extent that she only stopped to ask for permission when her hand was baring down on Satomi's crotch. It didn't look playful at all; she said "it's normal for two girls to play around" to give herself and Satomi permission to not think and just keep going.

If Makita hasn't realized it yet that she's bi and likes to take the initiative when it comes to women, Satomi is perfect to draw out that side of her. Even if we look at this as an experiment, her reactions indicate that she's super into it, meaning the result of the experiment is that she probably likes women.

Hey, this may be the experience that finally gets her a long-term partner. Like she said, it feels nice when someone recognizes your sex appeal and actually values you.

Yeah she's experiencing something new, that might be better for her in the long run. Seeing someone that is really and genuinely attracted to her. I also feel like part of the tone of this was people can do their own thing, and don't have to follow societal "norms".

While Makita does say she is happy to learn that Satomi is attracted to her, I think Satomi being a woman in this scenario is crucial. On its own, a man being attracted to a woman while being 'respectful' is not really that special (even if way too many men can't clear this bar). What makes this situation different is that even though they're both women, Makita's sex appeal makes Satomi incredibly (and adorably) flustered.

Satomi being so nervous and afraid to get close to and be alone with Makita is not about respect, but about protecting her own heart from rejection, being made aware of her own attraction, and an understandable safety measure (being outed could be very dangerous). And I think Makita can sense this on some level. Though that's not to say Satomi doesn't respect Makita, since even when she chides her about taking her pants off, her tone remains gentle and never calls her gross or anything like that.

If Makita acted like this while being alone with a male coworker instead, even if he initially seems respectful, she would be taking on a much greater risk. A lot of men's respect for women is flimsy and conditional, evaporating when one acts sexually forward, so even if he accepts her advances, he could internally write her off as "a slut", and later spread rumors about her, without risking his own reputation. Satomi being a woman means that she has an incentive to keep their encounter a secret.

I think what makes Satomi irresistible to Makita in this situation is that Satomi is very obviously attracted to her, she's adorably shy, and she's a woman. Rather than just treating Satomi to an orgasm for being such a good girl, Makita seems intoxicated by having such an effect on Satomi and getting to touch her. There's also probably something exciting about celebrating Christmas Eve not with a guy, but with her hand between the thighs of a cute female coworker.

Well, maybe I'm just yapping about something obvious, or reading too much into it, I don't know...

last edited at Jul 9, 2024 3:36PM