I did try to read that, and for me it had quite a different vibe than this one (but bear in mind I was only able to get a few chapters into it). This series is about dysfunctional people being dysfunctional, to be sure, but to me there's actually not a lot of outright malice--just people compelled by their weaknesses into some messed-up places.
Well, if it's not your cup of tea, that's fine. I can only speak for the anime, anyway, which probably has a very different pacing from the manga. (a manga that ended up having 60 chapters turned into 12 episodes, probably a different ending as the Manga was still ongoing)
I for one didn't think most characters had a lot of genuine malice - aside from the Minagawa, the female teacher. And even her malice ultimately felt similar to the way Sei acts to cover up her vulnerability. She was a snake for sure, but everyone else just tried to cope with their own shortcomings and struggles in their own way. They weren't exactly mindful of one another and paid little heed to others' feelings, but didn't go out of their way to hurt others. And when those characters did act deliberately malicious, it backfired somewhat spectacularly and was rather short-lived.
That's off topic, though.
@FluffyCow: as hilarious as that ending would be, I'm fine without a Gainax-Ending to my Yuri-Drama, thank you ;)
And in general I'm not too big a fan of timeskip-endings, there's always still quite a few things that I'd like to see play out live rather than learn through the status quo after a flash forward. But eh, it's only one more chapter and you can't stuff it too full anyway. Feels a bit like Ueda had a fifth volume planned but got the axe. Oh well, I'd rather be happy with what I did get than complain about what could have been.
last edited at May 26, 2021 10:01PM