Ah the classic "everything gets resolved somehow in the end", ignoring the direction of the characters all throughout the story. It's weird how docile and even nice Sei is acting here, in contrast to all of the manga and even two chapters ago when she was being predatory and sick. It's kinda similar to the trope of "bad boy with rape tendencies gets cured by the mere power of love".

I don't think it's healing. It's Aya mindfucking the Yoru out of Sei. Still, she replaces a toxic mindset with another toxic mindset. But I guess these characters are broken and there is no cure for them. Just replacing an obsession with another.

First off: I really appreciate your style of writing.
I also agree with some of your observations, but not necessarily with your conclusions. I would have very much approved of more content about broken Sei, her turnaround came a bit easy indeed, even though it really was a predictable outcome.

Framing Aya as "mindfucking the Yoru out of Sei" (I love it!) as "not healing" is a bit off the mark, though. She's indeed replacing a downright toxic mindset with what could turn into a problematic obsession. On the other hand it stands to reason that clinging to Aya is way less problematic than clinging to Yoru. The former wants to be with Sei, stay with her and support her, while the latter has done her best to remove herself from Sei's life, understandably trying to live her own life rather than dedicate a lot of effort to fixing a broken ex-lover.

What I'd like to have seen from this manga would be Sei's background. I still don't understand why she was so obsessed with Yoru to the point of developing a predatory character towards minors because of that.

I'd have very much liked that, as well.

I don't really see you guys' problem. I'd come to terms with it ending soon after the previous chapter went an tied up quite a few plot strings rather quickly. Would have been cool if those strings had been played out a bit longer.

It's coming full circle in some ways, but not really.
Aya's actually become a forceful lover that has no qualms imposing upon others, so in that regard she has taken on traits we saw with Sei in the beginning. However, she's a strong person of her own, willing to do what it takes in order to get Sei out of her mind's prison. She's motivated by a desire to help someone else heal, not so much by covering up her own suffering and filling a void within her.
Sei wants to stay away from Yoru and move on, but can't bring herself to do that on her own, so Aya takes an appropriately forceful stand and "assists" her in that pursuit. Her hard, confident facade was thoroughly torn down after the encounter with Yoru.
I will say that I hadn't expected Sei to be so "intact" and composed, and obviously Aya was of the same opinion.

last edited at May 26, 2021 3:04PM

From what I've seen on imageboards and the like it seems to be an uber-edgy superhero-gorefest that tries way too hard.

last edited at May 26, 2021 12:46PM

This chapter reminded me a lot of chapters 41-44 of Bloom into You. Specifically the fact that they were kissing before being in a relationship and trying to define what changed between their relationship before and after they started dating, as well as the whole “going beyond just kissing” segment.

I'm currently re-reading YagaKimi and was at ch. 41 just yesterday, so I found the parallel rather striking as well. Didn't want to comment negatively on it, though. I mean, taking inspiration from great works isn't really a bad thing, and while I wasn't quite on board with how Kashikaze handled the start of the chapter (or rather, how closely it mirrored some of Yuu's internal monologue), it grew on me quite a bit as it progressed. [Also, YagaKimi's chapter 41 being named "Uncharted Territory" could be kinda seen as a commentary on romance, and particularly yuri romance, rarely if ever exploring how "the dating" really starts after the confession. And in the few representations I've seen, there hasn't been enough cuddling and making out. They should be all After School at this point, or at least Suddenly Suffocating (Bloom into You Ch. 22) without the negativity.]

last edited at May 23, 2021 9:09PM

@Linterdiction
Ok, I'm sold on that angle.

We need a "crazy characters" tag I think haha

There would be a lot more works with the tag than without it, though.

last edited at May 23, 2021 3:48PM

These questions need to be asked.
Top or bottom?

I could see this one go either way, but I think Sora may want Ayaka to take the initiative.

Anyway, I think they're forgetting two very important things that come after kissing:

Lots of cuddling and (spoiler because it's just so lewd) unprotected handholding.

This is fun. I'm more into the bondage part than the spanking, so I'd rather have more Sarasa/Mio instead of Momono/Rikka, but I'm still enjoying it well enough.

More Shimi Iriko always makes for a good day.

I've been wondering this about how people read manga lately.

I generally read (or at least try to read) manga "paced" and "voiced". It's not always easy to assign unique voices to each character that actually stick with them, and if I haven't read a manga in a while the voices might shift. Some voices are clearly based on voice actors I like and "return to true", others are just generic voices derived from several performances and voice actors that I just don't stood out to me as unique. If I've seen an anime adaptation the voices are set, basically.

I don't read many novels these days, but my narration isn't "voiced" unless I know that they're part of the universe, while characters sometimes are.

last edited at May 21, 2021 4:55PM

Tsukiko is so mean.

Also Moomin is best girl.

This thread is such a predictable goldmine.

"I'm not invalidating him, but he's not valid."

I don't see where you got that one from.

Look, your experience is yours, okay? Not anyone else's, real or fictional.

We are literally talking about a literary character. Literary characters are by definition open to interpretation, they even require it. Her interpretation of the character is quite well reasoned and grounded in the story (actions, words and circumstances), so I don't really see how it's any less valid than someone else's.

What if someone started saying that you're a coward and a weakling who stopped transition because you're afraid to face the consequences?
If that's not true, that would offend you horribly right? But how could you get through to someone else that transition really wasn't right for you if that someone else did transition and it was right for them? Because if they act as solipsistic as you're being now, they'd assume that there was no way you were being honest with yourself.

They'd also be a real person dealing with a real person, not interpreting a fictional character.

Honestly I'll be happy if the story keeps the drama down and doesn't rely on Nao trying to avoid the temptation of Haraka's advances for comedy. I'm pretty tired of the sexually naive adult flustered by the precocious teen trope.

I don't mind drama (Warikan and YagaKimi are kinda my favourite Manga ever, after all), but I'm 100% down with avoiding the "sexually naive adult flustered by the precocious teen trope", although I expect at least some of it, at least initially, and Haruka being more horny than Nao can sometimes handle would also be a fine starter for comedy in my book, as long as Haruka's horny wins more often than not.

last edited at May 19, 2021 6:48PM

[EDIT]: Oh no it's totally going be about Nao becoming a suuogate mother figure for Haraka while fighting off Haraka's misguided sexual advances isn't it.

I don't think we need to go quite so far, but I have a strong feeling that there will be some drama to resolve with the family (art and plot strongly hint at it) and I don't see Nao successfully fending off Haruka's advances.

I mean, if you're gonna play the drama buildup card this hard in the first chapter, you gotta follow through with it and make it a relevent point of plot and character development at least. I haven't read the original release but my guess would be: Haruka convinces/blackmails Nao into letting her stay as a runaway from home, comedy ensues as their living habits clash and they struggle to maintain their elder-junior-relationship while slowly (?) falling in love with one another. Ultimately they'll be a good influence on each other and whether they end up together or go their separate ways after growing as persons is entirely up to the author.

[Edit: doesn't have to be a really big plot point, though. A bit of initial drama about her running away, her "family" finding out and settling for her living with a "responsible person" (teacher) instead would do for a while. One less mouth to feed, and the personal conflicts of that dynamic can flare up occasionally.]

last edited at May 19, 2021 5:50PM

Also curious how much of a double meaning was intended to Haruka's "Help me!", because I'm not entirely sure she was just referring to helping her sell Manga...

It all seems rather predictable, but that's fine, I'm game anyway. [edit: Maybe "well foreshadowed" rather than "predictable"?]

last edited at May 19, 2021 4:40PM

I like the art and the premise sounds nice enough. Will be following this.

PraiseYuri posted:

I hate how easily I fall out of mangaland nowadays lol. I'm just thinking when reading the first chapter that it's totally weird for siblings to be fulfilling each other's BDSM fetishes and how is the MC girl just completely unfazed by seeing that. Curse you real world logic.

That kind of thing is totally normal between sisters tho.

Can confirm, siblings tormenting each other is completely normal. These two are actually even being nice about it since they both enjoy it...

So I guess that means raws are out? Nice, looking forward to the release.

Then I guess AdaShima from the start is on the menu after I finish re-reading YagaKimi. Thanks.

So I'm fresh off watching the anime and was wondering if I should jump in directly at the start of volume 5 (maybe reading the last chapter of 4) or if it'd be better to read it all from the start? How faithful is the adaptation? Going by the titles, it seems to follow closely.

Small happy rant, just to get it off my chest: I'm so glad I stuck with it beyond episode 3, Yashiro almost turned me off the show entirely at that point. It's an incredibly slow burn, but Adachi is just so cute, utterly crazy in love but too timid and insecure to really push it explicitly, fumbling every chance she gets. Which might actually not be the worst thing in the world, because in this case I'm not even sure Shimamura would be on board with a confession. Speaking of which, Shimamura ranks among the densest characters I've seen. Kinda feels like she's never even given a thought to the fact that two girls can be together. It seems apparent that Adachi is the most special friend she's been able to make since Tarumi, even though she can't realize it as romantic love yet. Normally this combination and insanely slow burn would have been infuriating for me, but thanks to spoiling myself on the forum a bit I knew what to expect and sublimely enjoyed what I got.

TL;DR: * squee *

Edit: Just saw that Marissa Lenti and David Wald directed the dub, so I'm not surprised that I enjoyed it as much as I did.

last edited at May 16, 2021 6:18PM

@Linterdiction
Well said. I may have taken too much for granted my interpretation of Mio having control literally because she's the sub. It's my "default assumption" I guess.

last edited at May 15, 2021 4:46PM

That fact makes me feel old, despite me being 19yo.

(dead eyed stare)

I was serious.

last edited at May 14, 2021 5:19PM

So I've finally decided to re-watch the anime, but once I'm done (probably tomorrow) I'm faced with a dilemma:
Do I re-read the 4s version on here or the official Seven Seas release?

Do both

That's certainly one way to solve that dilemma, but the two downsides that I'll still have to choose one to start with and I'll probably not read both right one after the other ;)
I don't think I've binge-read the official version yet, so I guess I'll go with that this time.

So I've finally decided to re-watch the anime, but once I'm done (probably tomorrow) I'm faced with a dilemma:
Do I re-read the 4s version on here or the official Seven Seas release?

Yashiro barging between them at the bowling date was the only time she does something like that. I can understand why people are upset about that part but that's like a one-time annoyance.

Thanks. That was precisely the instance that made me consider dropping it, I found it incredibly frustrating.
I'll keep at it, then.