I wonder if in a society that places a lot of emphasis on relationships/your position in relation to society, there is more hesitation in disrupting the "social status quo"/relationship status quo. I agree with a lot of the comments here, that if someone just said SOMETHING, they wouldn't be stuck playing these games. But at the same time, I wonder if that's because I'm coming from American culture/a culture where our relationship to other people isn't as important as say our individuality.

I think it really shows how important the people to people relationship is when you look at the language. ex. in Japan they are always addressing someone by Sempai/Kouhai, as opposed to directly saying their name, where as in America you would just call a classmate by their name. I wonder if the trope of hesitating to reveal your true feelings is a common feeling in Japanese society, and if those feelings are brought about by the emphasis of the people to people relationship...

By the end of this manga, I think she'll eventually go out with the guy. Only to find out it's not what she imagined it would be.

And it'll have a harem ending. Setsu's harem.

lol I hope so...

Also we've spent so much time with the Female Oddmen it's hard to imagine Dowman Sayman writing Setsu with the guy... there wouldn't be any emotional payoff since we know almost next to nothing about him...

Also Number 7 is just too cute o(≧▽≦)o

Man, little kids in manga always make teary-eyed. They are just so innocent and cute and so easily amazed :D

... Kids in real life act like that too. I sometimes volunteer at an elementary school because my mom teaches there and I can tell you they're the sweetest (but no one is without their bad days). So every time I go they go "Oh look it's Isabel!" "Hi Isabel" "Hey Isabel guess what I learned today." "Isabel I drew a picture for you." and etc. They're 1st graders and they don't hate a soul.

Werd... I work as a store greeter and when the little kids get over being shy and wave back to you it's the cutest thing. They don't really know who you are but it's like they get excited just to see someone play/interact with them too. I totally get Onoda in this chapter and her interaction with the little kids. Sometimes I have to deal with some pretty crappy customers in retail, but seeing the occasional smiling kid can really brighten my day.

I just can't get over how the mangaka can have a great blend of comedy and serious stuff /character development that really hits home. I think s/he does a really good job of making the characters feelings come across and making them very sympathetic. Some of the stuff in here is so goofy, but at the same time some of it perfectly captures high school girls being silly. The Sports day pantsing chapter always cracks me up and reminds of how people used to pants each other in high school. Usually they were athletes so they had shorts on under their sweatpants and no one ended up flashing anyone lol. But yeah loving everything about Virgins' Empire.

Labhubhul posted:

Even another page or two would have been more concrete

You mean another page would've been more ROCK solid? (0u0)

You've really got stones to make a joke like that.

You guys hit rock bottom with those puns.

I feel the next page or so is going to be pretty rocky in terms of quality.

keep them going, rock it baby !! ....

you guys better stop....or I'm going to stone you all to death

These rock puns are a stone's throw away from getting out of hand

:D I can't wait for the other extras to get translated!!

Lol I'm glad this isn't dead. I wonder if we'll get to see the relationship from the point of view of other staff members haha.

Lol a jambox? This really is before my time. :p

lol! One of the translators "dated" themselves with that term. xD Haven't heard that one since I was a kid.

"Jambox" was in English in the original. But as far as I know, what's shown in this chapter are bluetooth speakers; the music itself is being played off her phone.

Isn't Jambox referring to the Jawbone wireless speakers?

I like Amano Shuninta's Adult Life stories... They are adult but still playful and funny.

Can anyone explain the difference between watashi and atashi? And what about anta and omae?

Lol that afterward

The way Amano Shuninta draws kids is too cute, her next work should should be about cute little preschool kids falling in love

heh... every single time... (TT^TT)

awwww yeah!! now we can get to the best parts!!!

hehe Shinobu is super cute with her long hair in a ponytail... now I'm really curious if there's a special reason as to why she cut her hair short...

"Chouko stop sounding like Facebook." lol

That and "Little Miss Godiva" ::chuckles::

Number 7 with her cute little tsundere side, I can't decide if I like her better with the bunny ears or with her headband... Actually both styles are adorable!

Kind of ironic how Number 7 is telling Setsu to stay away from Chouko, when before Setsu was warned to stay away from Number 7... Is Chouko perhaps number 11?

Pretty meta. But it would be cool if it were an alternate universe where everybody's panel is a different manga style. Like there would be a JoJo panel, and a Dragon Ball panel, and super-flowery shoujo panel. There could even be a yaoi panel where hands become magically gargantuan.

that would be so cool... I wonder if anyone's done that before... and if not someone should... if only I had drawing skills ... ::le sigh:: haha

So is this a oneshot? Or will it continue?

There are two chapters in this collection called My Actual Beloved and My Beloved respectively. I assume those are sequels.

It's a ten chapter series (of sorts), spanning KiLa KiLa, Steps and Game. I'll probably put up an announcement about our plans with this series tomorrow.

awwwwwwwww yeah!!! I can't wait!!! The later chapters are some of my favorites!!! Thanks and looking forward to it all!!

Yes maybe? I'm not too familiar with exactly what collection (?) they are a part of; I read the Chinese translation. The one I was thinking of was originally a three shot, with the first two parts being about a love triangle between Girl A, Girl B, and Girl B's sister

This thee-part appears in KiLa KiLa, which we are currently working on; the follow-up is in Steps, which we will working on after that.

the story about the bread shop owner and the rice shop owner (also on Dynasty)

Interesting. I'd assumed that one was a stand-alone, but I still need to double-check that.

Otherwise, the chapters you mentioned span Love Flicker, Perfume of Love and Steps. At some point we will probably arrange for Dynasty to have them all listed together so they can be read in order.

I can't remember exactly how they were connected... Maybe something like a friend of the bread baker was on the volleyball team or they were a customer... Or I could totally be mixing my stories up

But awesome to hear that Takemiya Jin's other stuff will get translated. I will be patiently looking forward to it! Many Thanks!!!

Some of other Takemiya Jin's works start off with one couple and then the side characters get their own short and kinda branch off into their own backgrounds and stories (the one I'm thinking about hasn't been translated in English yet, here's to hoping some scanlation group will pick it up though)...

Are you thinking of 愛しい人 in KiLa KiLa and めかくしのこい in Steps?

Yes maybe? I'm not too familiar with exactly what collection (?) they are a part of; I read the Chinese translation. The one I was thinking of was originally a three shot, with the first two parts being about a love triangle between Girl A, Girl B, and Girl B's sister, and then the last part flashed forward to college and was mostly about Girl A, and her college classmate. And subsequent stories were about Girl A and her classmate, and the classmate's background .... But the story about the bread shop owner and the rice shop owner (also on Dynasty) was == also interconnected with another story as well (about a volleyball player maybe?) and I think maybe indirectly interconnected with the Girl A, Girl B love triangle... And maybe indirectly connected with the story about the teacher with perfume and the story about the teacher/childhood friend... All I remember seeing is the character relationship map on Yamibo and it just kept on getting bigger and bigger lol

plot twist..I want a sequel though...I wonder if she actually did two timing or just made up stories/rumors..just to get her attention

Although she said she was spotted by a third party at a health clinic, she could have gone just to make an appearance (although that would kind of clash with the end page, as it seemed the light haired one was falling to her knees in desperation) That'd be a crazy twist (and really manipulative)... I want a sequel AND a prequel lol.

Some of other Takemiya Jin's works start off with one couple and then the side characters get their own short and kinda branch off into their own backgrounds and stories (the one I'm thinking about hasn't been translated in English yet, here's to hoping some scanlation group will pick it up though)... Maybe Takemiya Jin will also do that with this short...

It kinda makes you wonder about the events leading up to this short. Like who was first in love with whom? But maybe more importantly, who first realized that the other person was also in love/returned their feelings? Also, sounds like Emi knew that Mihashi (light haired girl) liked her as well, but didn't do anything about it. Not saying it's right, but it's no wonder Mihashi did something as drastic like sleep around to get attention.

One person playing hard to get, another sleeping around for attention, both people avoiding feelings results in one hot ass mess... Guess that's what you get when you play games

common guys, just because someone stumbles, it doesn't mean they are lost forever.
Well, i didnt say that blonde hair girl is right all the way but the black one is kinda cruel. Well, I'm sorry for both of them.

Werd... It's tragic for both of them

As a lesbian myself...I find this quite disturbing...cause I have trouble understanding..why would they do this to themselves. Why be married and have sex for the sake of it...like really. I'm in shock. Maybe I dislike men so frikin much...that I sunk myself in my sweet happy ending of a manga. But seeing men most don't give a flying fuck wether their wife's kiss a girl. As long as their part of it...well guess this made up for it...I'm sorry I'm confused...and I'm really gay. Walks away.

Some people find out only later in life that they prefer women to men. Then there are others for whom both genders are fine, and the actual choice of partner comes down to the individual. I'm guessing that's what happened with these two. I don't think it's that surprising that they're choosing to stay married, divorcing your husband to be with another woman in Japan is hard enough without the additional complication of having three children to raise. Not only is it likely to put the children through a lot of difficult times, it's also very likely that they'd both be refused custody of their kids.

Man, I was so hyped up to see a doujin that had a happy lesbian couple with a happy family, because that's pretty rare to find. But I guess it all sunk down the drain at the end. I just... sigh

Here you go: http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/sweet_guilty_love_bites_ch02
And it's by the same author. Funny, huh?

I wonder if that follow up short will ever get translated... one where they all go to a summer festival and wear yukata....

Could everyone please stop immediately freaking out over stuff like this?
Yes, the way it was presented was kind of shocking, but the actual backstory was intentionally left open. The husband thing could have been a joke for all we know. Or it could be one of the rather common scenarios where people only realize they're not straight after having married, de facto ending the romantic involvement with their spouse (and eventually find someone new) without getting a divorce for various reasons. Yes, could also be that they cheated, but we are not told. And, mind you, I think that was the entire point of the story: To make you think of these things. They definitely happen, heck, it could even be a criticism of the shitty discrimination that results in people finding it so hard to come out and not "accidentally" marry in the first place.

yeah, to me that line about the husbands was a little ambiguous, especially with that laugh at the end . It kind of made it seem like it was a common greeting/expression? Like in America when we say "What's up?" it's not like you're actually asking the person what they are actually doing, it's more like a greeting. Or like "say hi to blah blah for me." I don't think the person saying that actually expects the other person to say it. "send my regards to your husband" seems like a common enough line two mothers would give to be polite/conversational.

As to the backstory since it's so open, I thought maybe both husbands might be dead. Haha I don't know why, but that was my first reaction when I read that line... Does anyone know how Japanese society views widows and remarrying? Or even divorcees remarrying? At the very least the line "this sure is easy with the both of us" implies that for both mothers a lot of what they normally do is on their own (married or not). I think it's less sad that they may (or may not) be married, and more sad that whatever they are "normally" doing is not making them happy.

I understand the wish for happy yuri, I love that, too. But I think you can't have yuri without also now and then writing critical stories (critical about all the shit lesbians and the LGBT community in general) get. Please don't always assume the worst when something is not diabetic-level WAFF. :)

The ending wasn't happily ever after, but that doesn't mean it wasn't enjoyable. And actually I could see this set up working with a heterosexual couple too (a boy and girl both in two separate unhappy relationships)... so it's kind of nice to see a short portraying a homosexual couple having the same problems that a heterosexual couple might.

Gotta say though, Amano Shuninta draws really cute kids, like the boy who had trouble buttoning up his shirt, and Ryuna from Guilty Love. I hope she(?) draws more couples with cute kids in the future. I kind of like the domestic feeling you get from her(?) works.

that is so stupid, well better hope you never find someone who is jealous of you and your partner or you are out of that relationship right there!

I got the impression that it isn't like that. All couples fight now and then, right? I think Bond severing represents that. But eventually the couple makes up and forms stronger bond than before.

Not only that, but imagine if you're in a "stuck" relationship. A and B are unhappy in the current relationship, yet neither one of them is willing to break up because they're afraid of starting over again. In that case it's not necessarily bad if C (who likes B, and B and C are happy together) wants the couple to break up right?

This is so much more enjoyable if you stop looking at it like it's a "yuri love story" and treat it as "a story about friendship and bonds, that also happens to have a yuri couple".

Totally. I'm looking forward to what the story has to say about friends and lovers, especially since the thread that Kotori reconnected between Satoka and Shiori in Chapter 1 was a green thread of friendship. In Kotori's dream we saw that she was couldn't connect to two red threads (with Chika and Satori) at the same time. It hasn't been clearly established what is meant by love in this story. If Hiwa saw fit to act on Chika's subliminal wishes and sever the bond of friendship between Shio and Satoka, is it because Chika has romantic feelings for Shio, or does it mean that a relationship between friends, can't coexist with relationships of love?

Another interesting point, is that in the first Chapter, Kotori basically said that she can't make a bond, if the bondees (?) the people in the bond, don't take the initiative. Kotori's just the helper. Does that mean Hiwa operates the same way; she can't sever something unless there is a desire to sever it? Although the current bond severing situation is a little different. Whereas Kotori was acting on behalf of the people in the relationship, Hiwa is on the behalf of a third party.

Hmmm........

Sploooosh.....

Subtle... very subtle.

lol I didn't catch that the first time, clever very clever. Kind of reminds me of that pearl diving scene in Encore hehe

I like how Takemiya Jin writes stories that have characters that are all indirectly linked to each other. Looking forward to the rest!

Lol I don't think I've read such an energetic author's afterword before. I could just feel the excitement rolling off of Morishima. And the editor, haha she seemed so lost at the end.