My main thing about arioto I didn't like was the child predator bartender lady. Same reason I don't like wataten.

That's fair.

I guess I should be clear that it's not the wager per se that annoys me about arioto (I mean, that would be more like a laundry list of complaints) but that the nature of the wager seems based on the idea that Marika isn't gay and the story (at least in the manga) doesn't do a good job of establishing otherwise up until that point, so the whole thing feels off. Here, though, I can come up with no other reason for actually initiating such a wager rather than just, like, studying harder and getting better scores and then bragging about them against her; none of this makes sense unless both of our main characters are gay as heck.

Well, I guess we'll disagree but Marika was was in denial of her feelings as early as chapter 2-3. She pretty much outright thinks it. Then there's blushes, hearts, "heat" and "heart thumps" galore. Her whole character was about facades and it didn't seem that subtle. So, while the setups aren't exactly the same, I don't see these as being all that different, premise wise.

last edited at Feb 27, 2024 8:01PM

Arioto also had a 'wager', and it's not like Marika was desperate enough to be called coerced. She wanted a nice bag, not food or rent or tuition money.

That, plus I don't understand the idea that she was coerced into being gay? She's just gay. They're similar because neither girl actually needs to continue the "game." They both continue to "play" for other underlying reasons (or feelings) but there isn't any real threat to "losing," beyond pride and a handbag.

last edited at Feb 27, 2024 5:46PM

Omegaverse is wild. When they talk about glands and stuff it feels like a scifi story.

Question at the ABO experts. Alphas can impregnate Omegas, right? Do Alphas always have a penis or how does it work in this universe? Wondering how the girl can just the bulge while wearing a bikini.

Depends on the story. It's not always specified because some of this stuff is implied and it can be assumed that the reader understands the basics. Plus it's just the background setup and not the focus.

Most stories won't put much emphasis on explaining this stuff. You'll figure it out through the normal pace of the story. In this story they already discussed it's "Two Test" system, one of which is to check for outside external sex organs (mentioned a few chapters ago).

So you can assume why that kind of test would be useful for differentiating between Alphas, Omegas and Betas and what that might say about whether this story maintains common Alpha traits.

As for the bulge thing (and to put it crudely) the idea is often that the female Alpha can present how they want to when needed, so no bulge or anything because nothing is there.

last edited at Feb 27, 2024 9:43AM

Uhh, so I'm no expert on ABO stuff, but isn't marking in these stories usually something permanent? I recall it being super serious (more permanent than marriage), so Tang Chao suggesting it here in a casual way here is wild.

Depends on the story. This one hasn't specified yet (unless I've forgotten). Sometimes it is more permanent than marriage because you're marked for life, but not always (for example, in some stories the marking is temporary). Each story will normally specify these things through the narrative or other clues. I think someone said it's not much different than vampires. There's common vampire traits and rules. Some stories will follow the basics, others will have them sparkle.

last edited at Feb 26, 2024 10:05PM

Glad this is here. Really love the whole series with these two. This one and "I Live with my Boss" are all the sweeter knowing what they went through to get here.

last edited at Feb 26, 2024 9:22PM

How is this YuruYuri? Yes there are some elements of the relationships being used for comedy but YuruYuri as far as the anime went just had the gay element only for the sake of comedy and beating around the bush. This series has actual couples and even sex. There might be some pairings that excused the kiss as part of the trend, but there are very clearly canon couples here that have been progressing forward.

I think the short chapters are skewing their perception of the rest of the series. The chapters with development still come with regularity, but there's a lot of little gags and snippets that have been thrown in the mix that give the feeling that there's a lot more silly fluff than there used to be. Especially since the translators did a big catch-up on those at one point, so there were a lot of content dumps of short chapters for awhile.

They're just taking these lighthearted chapters far too seriously and running away with wild assumptions.

last edited at Feb 26, 2024 7:22PM

Yeah, as many people is saying I too felt like this chapter was kind of a deus ex machina device, I don't know how to solve the tension or don't want to step on the definitive line (yeap, this or that character is a lesbian) so I make them kiss as a joke to keep my readers happy and not bother the higher-ups. I know Kishi is a yuri author but this isn't serialized in a yuri magazine, hence, there's some stuff you can't show entirely so, welp.

Is this really an issue of higher ups not allowing yuri to be show? I mean mio and shizuka literally slept together in a very dramatic chapter showcasing the development of their relationship not too long ago

That's what I'm saying. It feels a bit like we're forgetting how upfront some of these couples are (that silent chapter was amazing, btw). This manga hasn't been at all coy about this stuff. Just depends on the current progress of the relationships. This was just a fun little thing in their daily lives, like normal.

last edited at Feb 26, 2024 2:35PM

This looks like Takemiya but I don't remember this. Where is it from?

You would be correct! It is from this One Shot

Also sorry for the wait. I basically posted and then immediately went to work.

Thanks! And no worries, I do the same all the time.

last edited at Feb 26, 2024 12:21PM

Cute chapter! Don't know what some of the worry is about?

This looks like Takemiya but I don't remember this. Where is it from?

last edited at Feb 25, 2024 11:26AM

Well hook line and sinker for me. This is quite interesting, I just want to see Miss Perfect fall head over heel and get desperate for love from our girl. She'll realize then she ain't perfect.

Tbh I think she did already
This entire thing feels like a desperate attempt to get our mc to catch on to miss perfects feelings / develop feelings for them.
Kinda like A Yuri Story About a Girl Who Insists "It's Impossible for Two Girls to Get Together" Completely Falling Within 100 Days

Yeah, that's pretty much it. Good shout. I hadn't thought about that series for a while.

last edited at Feb 24, 2024 1:53PM

SrNevik posted:

Asano

Asako.

Thanks.

I'm not quite sure what Miyako means when she says it's her fault though.

She's referring to the reason Asako wanted the car: to allow Miyako to travel without being seen. It's another reminder that she might not be able to provide Asako with the typical carefree life because she's still hiding from the spotlight. In her mind, Asako is already making changes based on this "difficult" lifestyle that their relationship creates and she seems to feel guilt about that being Asako's new normal. That's the central issue that's been building up, and also what this situation seems like it will bring to a head.

As for the director, I am assuming Miyako negotiated on her way out and that there may have been some casual understanding about what her leaving would look like. She might have broken some promise by being caught in public, or something similar.

last edited at Feb 23, 2024 6:31PM

Nope, I almost fell for it with that other series. They're both very similar too. Not falling for it again but hoping for the best.

last edited at Feb 23, 2024 8:49AM

You've missed some subtext, and maybe some text there. I'm absolutely sure Tianli liked Xingyuan, not Wang. That "Why couldn't it be me" isn't about the guy, it's about her. She's sitting there thinking about how Xingyuan explicitly told her she wasn't interested in her romantically, and literally almost texted her "Why don't you care about me?" The girl has it bad, and not only is Xingyuan saying she isn't interested, she's becoming steadily more distant and distracted.

Xingyuan's getting more popular as she gets more successful, and it's distracting her from Tianli, who she takes for granted. Meanwhile Tianli is realizing that she likes Xingyuan and is hurt that she's becoming more distant while also taking opportunities away from her. All of that pain and jealousy and unrequited love overflowed until she did something she regretted.

Not saying it makes her okay, but it's not the kind of jealous spite you seem to think it is.

I wouldn't call it text, there's some stuff we can interpret as potentially a romantic interest, but it could also be wanting to keep the attention of the cool popular girl who used to be very close to her and has left her behind. And those types of motivations can't explain all the elements in the chapter, like Xingyuan pulling ahead of her in the competition to get the study abroad scholarship Tianli's family was pushing her to get, and Wang, the guy she introduced to us as her crush, wanting Xiangyuan's contact info. She doesn't seem interested in him anymore, but that certainly doesn't mean she can't feel bitter about the thought of her best friend succeeding in yet another area where Tianli did not. And when she remembers Xiangyuan talking about not liking every girl, the image is not from that scene but rather Xiangyuan being popular with girls at school.

Is Tianli thinking "why couldn't it be me?" supposed to be her jealous of Xiangyuan being popular and successful and happy, or is it her being jealous of those other girls getting attention from Xiangyuan, or is it "why couldn't I be the girl she likes"? I think that's deliberately ambiguous. I don't think there's any one cut and dry "it's just this and not that" explanation for her actions, because I doubt she could fully tell you. Teenagers are stupid and impulsive like that. But spite or bitterness clearly seemed to be at least part of it. The framing makes it clear that no matter why she wanted to do it, she was doing it in the moment to hurt Xingyuan on purpose, and while she immediately regrets it she can't take it back. That's some real big heavy shit to deal with for them both. Xianyuan might tell her she's forgiven, but will the guilt go away? Will they be friends again? It doesn't seem likely right now.

Well put. Pretty much my feelings on her as well. At least for now. I'm leaning in the romantic direction though.

It's always cute/funny seeing that everyone around them considers them a couple already. Hinata's "family," their friends, and even people who don't know them well (maybe even the whole campus at this point), all know not to interfere with the couple. They live together, sleep together, have nearly died for each other, fight for each other, and are tied at the hip constantly. They're essentially married already. Just have to get Naori over her understandable personal hangups, and they're set.

Damn so Tianli deliberately outed her out of spite, yeesh. "She did better than me in school and the guy I liked wanted her contact info" is a pretty goddamn petty reason to betray a supposed best friend, yeah no shit Xingyuan isn't comfortable around her.

I think it's a bit more than that. She also seemed to desire attention from Xingyuan and was envious of the affection she was giving to others, more than anything. She seemed to feel abandoned in the way she felt abandoned by her family. I'm not sure that the guy really had much to do with it.

yeah it's pretty clear that had Tianli had the courage to send the "why don't you care about me message" that all of this would have gone very different, but ultimately the message she did end up sending to the guy while voicing the exact same frustration was sent to someone she should not have voiced it to.

Like not to say that she didn't do anything wrong, but pretty clearly her goal whether she realized it or not was to get Xingyuan to look HER way again to be HER best friend again, to be HER.....

But then of course she didn't manage to voice those feelings and her frustration with it all got her to write a very bad message to the exact wrong person and now it IS her fault that Xingyuan had to drop out of highschool, has her entire famliy breathing down her neck, and feels like she'll never get to be happy again. And yeah Tianli seems to realize that at least.

Especially since Tianli brought back up Xingyuan's line about "don't worry just because I like girls, doesn't mean I like any girl" while she was remembering Xingyuan with these new girls. I personally think Tianli resented it when Xingyuan said that line earlier. Then add on your "why don't you care about me" line and it feels more like Tianli was resentful of the attention Xingyuan was giving others. It reads to me like Tianli liked Xingyuan romantically back then and didn't handle her feelings well.

last edited at Feb 22, 2024 10:55AM

Damn so Tianli deliberately outed her out of spite, yeesh. "She did better than me in school and the guy I liked wanted her contact info" is a pretty goddamn petty reason to betray a supposed best friend, yeah no shit Xingyuan isn't comfortable around her.

I think it's a bit more than that. She also seemed to desire attention from Xingyuan and seemed envious of the affection Xingyuan was giving to others, more than anything. She seemed to feel abandoned in the way she felt abandoned by her family, wanted to separate Xingyuan from those people and wanted to harm Xingyuan for neglecting her (they were now asking for Xingyuan's contact info) and all of that led to a reflexive bad decision. I feel like she weaponized Xingyuan's sexuality as a method of getting those girls and others to leave Xingyuan alone. I'm not sure that the guy really had much to do with it, but I haven't done a close reading yet.

last edited at Feb 22, 2024 10:54AM

anyone who has read 99 and SS, are both of these side stories/future stories compared to the main LN? Last I read was volume 11 and want to know if adashima 99 comes right after it or just a collection of short stories in the universe.

99 is the collection of DVD short stories but with 2 new additional stories. SS is a collection of short stories as well. All in universe, for both.

last edited at Feb 22, 2024 5:57AM

What it isn't a cliché at this point ? Everything you read is a cliché of some sort and it's not even like this one is particularly common.

Yeah, there's nothing that hasn't been done. I think the execution is more important and the execution of this series has been pretty good. There's some nuance to how she reacted and what she has issues with. Just the subversion of the "jealous sabotaging friend" idea is worth some discussion. Looks like her advice/warning wasn't completely unwarranted.

last edited at Feb 21, 2024 1:37PM

"not serious enough" eh? Even he friend saw through your bullshit Xiaoen....
Could just be to protect herself. Maybe just to "act mature".
Or there might be some hidden meaning to it but... I sure didn't enjoy that.

A lot of you seem to have forgotten the last convo Xiaoen and Xingyuan had on the subject. Xiaoen said in very clear terms that she only wanted a summer fling!

The problem was that Xingyuan couldn't stay longer than a month or two; after that she would leave and be gone for good—she was going to go to college and stuff. Xiaoen said that it was fine bcs she was ok with a short romance and some fun sex that would last only a few weeks and then be over. (She even seemed proud of herself as if this way of thinking seemed really super adultlike and mature to her!) Xingyuan gave her an ambiguous answer iirc and Xiaoen said she would keep pushing to persuade Xingyuan to have a fun and meaningless summer fling.

And this is what Xiaoen meant when she said she was not serious about Xingyuan! Her "official" position is that she only wants a short affair and Xingyuan's not gonna make her call an u-haul.

Sure, all that’s a given, but my original question stands: short-term or long-term, what does Xiaoen achieve by saying that to a person she sees as—and who she is treating as—a potential immediate rival?

She's insecure about the situation and the nature of her relationship with Xingyuan and is also putting on a front. She's a bit conflicted and that leads her to speak out of both sides of her mouth at times, depending on her mood.

last edited at Feb 20, 2024 1:06PM

I really don't get what horrible crimes people are Fuuko committing, unless you take some kinda sin-based perspective. Oh no, the devil woman is tempting me to sin, it's all her fault! Lol. I don't even know why people think she doesn't actually love Yuni, we've had her inner monologue and seen her cry over her. Just because she's smart and resourceful in trying to make her dreams come true does not make those dreams false, that would be silly.
I really just want the best for Fuuko, but we probably can't have that so I'll have to settle for her getting the failgirl she wants with Yuni. And I actually do genuinely believe that Fuuko x Yuni (Fuuni? Hmm) could actually work out long term. Fuuko would make Yuni feel confidently loved while also being capable of materially keeping her useless ass alive, and Yuni obviously makes Fuuko feel like a superwoman. Their compatibility is really good. Even if Fuuko works out of the house while Yuni stays at home I bet they'd still work out, because Fuuko acts in exactly the way Yuni wants when they're together to keep her going when they're not. And the things Fuuko wants that Yuni can't give her, like someone to talk about her fungus book with, she can get online from Internet friends. Win/win, 100% compatibility.... as long as they don't fuck it up by adding a third in there lol

Yeah, I'm on the same page mostly. I feel like we're moving towards Yuni and Fuuko ending up back together but we'll see. Unless things change, Yuni continues to notice that as she and Nanase get closer, they seem less and less compatible. That could change but so far it's been a consistent trend. Add on the mother's quote, Yuni's comparing Fuuko to her dead cat whom she misses and wondering about her crying, etc. It seems like a picture is being painted but I'm not sure yet how it plans to follow through. I think we won't get a good hint as to where it's going until Yuni and Fuuko meet again. I want to see how they interact now.

last edited at Feb 19, 2024 4:50PM

i was kind of hoping the series would start turning into a direction i'd actually enjoy, but i guess we aren't off the "will they won't they" train just yet... i'll check back in a year and hope that there's some actual development by then

Their not being together seems to be the entire premise, so I'm starting to get the feeling that you'll be waiting for a bit or that it'll end soon after they get over it. Would be nice to be wrong though. They are sweet though, even if this recent thing is very, very, very contrived.

last edited at Feb 19, 2024 11:21AM

So this is the "promise" alluded to all the way back in chapter 57. Love the world building in this. Really intricate and clearly pre-planned. Will reread once it's all over to fully catch everything in motion.

last edited at Feb 18, 2024 3:06PM