Recycling settings and/or stories is something that is present on every form of media regardless the genre. For me, what makes a story standout is the sum of its parts: the characterization, the dynamics, the setting, the plot, the art/acting/voice acting, animation and more.
Of course it would be nice to have authors willing to take risks and try new things but at the same time I won't hold up against them if they're trying to find a place in an increasingly difficult market, making a manga is a job after all.
That said, I don't know why people continues to rag on Citrus as if Saburota would've lied to them about the nature of this series. From page one it was clear what kind of story was this meant to be and if you don't like it then, why continue to waste effort and getting upset about it now?
I'm also not counting valkyrie drive mermaid. i didn't watch it because it looked like a male-gaze fanservice nightmare
I honestly find pretty contradictory the way you claim to want more yuri that goes beyond the regular norms of the genre when you're so quick to dismiss something that did exactly that simply because it didn't fit your preconceptions about what an innovative yuri had to be.
VDM is not perfect by any means but is pretty earnest on what it is and what it wants to do and does't shy away from the yuri elements, making it a pretty memorable experience whether your liked it or not.
Anyways, the ghost chapter was a great read. I will never get tired of Mei deadpanning all of Yuzu's antics.
