I can already tell we are gonna get into abuse and aaaaaangst territory.

I usually like my stuff pretty Fluffy, and I really don't think this author does Fluffy. If it's ANYTHING like Brides of Ibris, it's gonna make me anxious to read. Also if it's anything like Brides of Ibris, this forum thread is gonna be a toxic nightmare to navigate.

Well the forum thread was a toxic nightmare because Brides of Ibris had men in it and any series that has bisexuality in it becomes a toxic cesspool here unfortunately.

This new series seems to not have any men (yet) so we'll see. Akiyama Haru could always pull an Octave and have the dude be a one off plot point. I doubt this'll be as experimental as Brides of Ibris since it didn't sell well.

Yasss been looking forward to Akiyama Haru's next work. My body is prepared for whatever she has in mind. Loved all her works so far and I'm sure I'll enjoy this one too.

I mean, it's really not all that different from how our first couple started.

Yeah, the lines and sentiments are very close as well (Yori & Shiho's). There's been loose main couple parallels it's been pushing (i.e Yori to Shiho, Hima to Aki).

Yes, it's supposed to parallel HimaYori's relationship, with a key distinction. HimaYori's relationship doesn't have the messy history of one them already running out on the other one when her love did not pan out. Hima did not have the pressure knowing that could Yori potentially ghost her and act like an asshole again when she doesn't get her way. So while there are structural similarities, it's not the same dynamic in context.

She's not afraid of losing a friend. She's drawing a direct comparison between a potential romantic interest and her current closeness to Shiho, which she's still struggling to confidently label. She's not worried that Shiho would abandon her. She's worried that their current level of closeness and intimacy would not be the same.

I feel like this conclusion requires more reading between the lines than I'm comfortable with. The explanations in your comment feel like assumptions based on context that wasn't provided in text. The author could have completely left out page 25 and it would have been a fine confession that conveyed the same feelings. By including page 25, the author is bringing attention to a critical issue that Aki's worried about, which is that Shiho would abandon their friendship if things remain as they are. In your interpretation, you feel like that's not actually what Aki means. If that's the case, then this is poor writing on the author's part, because that leaves so much open to interpretation in a scene the readers meant to feel good about. This is a reoccurring problem with this series and that's why Shiho is such a polarizing character, because readers can easily interpret the scenes in drastically different ways. (Another scene that comes to mind was when Aki said "The one at fault is me" after finding out about Shiho's feelings.)

"I don't have romantic feelings towards you, but I don't want to be apart from you."

We can see it as something wholesome because of the gorgeous art and because we know that Aki is a great person with no bad intentions, but it's a dangerous game to play, especially when on the other side is such a mentally fragile person.

You left out the most important parts of that segment. She said "If I were to think about whether I have romantic feelings towards you right now..." and "I'd probably thinks it's not that kind of feeling just yet."

With the heavy emphasis she's putting on the "not yet", it's pretty clear that she isn't "just" asking her out bc she's desperate to keep her around as a friend. She absolutely goes into this confession with the expressed intention to come to love her romantically as well.

Even if it's not "just" because Aki is desperate to keep Shiho as a friend and Aki is expressing the desire to eventually love Shiho romantically, page 25 still leaves room for the interpretation that keeping Shiho in her life is one of Aki's main motivations for asking Shiho out. Shiho's reaction to the line, "If we were just to remain friends, and I found myself another lover, would you still stay with me as we are right now?," indicates that she hasn't completely grown out of the same mindset that caused her ghost in the first place. That's why I feel this confession happened too quickly. Yes, Aki didn't have the time to figure out her feelings yet, but she pulled the trigger before she was ready to prevent Shiho from running off again. I'd just feel better about this confession if the author had shown a time period where Shiho was friends Aki without expecting anything romantically out of her before Aki asked Shiho out. The time period doesn't even have to be that long. I'll even take a month (I know time is subjective), but it's only been like a few days (a week?) since everything happened.

To be clear, I like Shiho as a character and was rooting for AkiShiho to happen. I just wasn't happy with the way it happened. Not that I wanted the author to drag out this arc any further, but it would've been nice to see a few more chapters of the cast living their life (maybe start a new arc) while AkiShiho's repaired friendship simmered in the background before they got together.

I loveeee all the Ruka thirst trap horny shots. Ughhh they're so good

I have to disagree, a lot of relationships start from one side and the other person thinks "hey maybe I'll give it a chance, it might work and I'm comfortable with this person" of course just giving it a chance is not enough and Shino knows this so she ask "Can you kiss me too?" which implies things like "do you find me attractive in a romantic short of way?" and looks like she got her answer... I think they'll be fine, I mean surely they might fight and break up and then go back together again, but that's life and true love has friction from time to time.

They can make it work

While it's true plenty of people start dating with a "why not, I'll try it out" mentality, I think my issue with how this situation played out is how Aki made it seem like she only asked Shiho out because she knew Shiho would continue to avoid her if they were just friends. I think it's purely this part that makes me a little uncomfortable because it makes it seem like Aki primarily asked Shiho out out of fear of losing a friendship over genuine interest in her as a girlfriend.

So out of the gate, in this relationship we have this weird unhealthy cycle where one person is waiting for the other person to return her feelings and one person feeling pressured to return those feelings out of fear of losing that person.

(Which, again, usually I'm all for this toxic dynamic in stories, but the way it's portrayed as wholesome without acknowledging those issues is weird for me)

I'm kinda disappointed that Aki asked her out so fast, but I do like that she's up front about the current state of her feelings. Dunno why they couldn't just stay as friends while Aki figured out her feelings. I mean, I know why they did it this way because they acknowledged that Shiho would most likely run away again if Aki got into a relationship with someone else, but ugh I really don't like this ball chain situation they got going on. Which is funny since I normally really enjoy toxic codependent relationships like this, but I think since this story always inserts some realistic, healthy portrayals of relationships, it's a bit harder to turn the brain off.

I think I just have to accept that they won't ever address everything that's wrong with Shiho in a way I'd like and just enjoy whatever fluff the author has for the couple going forward.

Nanase really is doing her best and I don't really have any complaints about how she's handling the relationship. First I did kinda side eye her bringing along Yuki to their "date" but she did ask Yuni how she was currently feeling which Yuni again lied about and you really can't blame her for wanting her gf and BFF to get along.

I didn't like how Nanase forgave Yuni and got back together with her at first, but you know I'm glad they showed that sometimes it just won't work out no matter what you do.

I'll check out the live action even if it most likely won't be a fraction of how good the manga is. I really hope we can get an English license for this story though.

Erika-sama my beloved!!!

Erika and Aya interactions are so much fun. Rivalries ftw! Ugh I ship them, but alas they're both so focused on Koto.

Hope to see more of what's going on in Koto's mind since it always feels like looking into a dark foggy night watching her. She's almost like a blank slate so it's hard to find her interesting as a character right now.

Edit: well I went back to reread chapter 5 and forgot we did get a look from her perspective, but I still want to see more of Koto that isn't about her feelings for Aya. She feels pretty one note and maybe that is the point: her will to live is constantly influenced by Aya and the story is telling us about how unhealthy her fixation on Aya is...but yeah hope we see more from her soon.

last edited at Dec 20, 2023 6:27PM

Leaders being down bad the chapter

So good to see Makino make progress in her life even if her main motivation is because she's horny.

Awww Junko's upset that Kayo isn't a cutthroat bitch like her. It really feels like she thought she finally found someone she could compete on equal terms with, but had her hopes shattered witnessing Kayo being a lovestruck normie lol.

Because things go so fast nothing actually feels impactful. We got a kiss, but I don't really care because they shoved a hundred other things in this chapter that it feels unearned. Like lol a random summons for an arranged marriage and then MC just randomly stumbling upon the Princess's diary conveniently changed her mind about the relationship.

I kind of agree in general, but the "conveniently changed her mind" thing is I think a tad unfair. She didn't change her mind. She was already sweet on the girl. It was fairly clear that she was only saying "Whoa, slow down" because she was finding everything a bit too fast and overwhelming, not because she had any intention of saying "no" in the end. So then suddenly the thing she was trying to ease into is taken away, of course she's going to be reacting like "Hang on, you can't take that away, I was just getting ready to eat it!" Sure, they do the diary thing to sort of crystallize her resolve a bit more, but the direction of her thoughts and feelings was clearly already there.

I admit my wording about her changing her mind was unfair. I think my frustration came about how ham-fisted it was to progress the story. All other plotlines aside, I thought the story was already doing an alright job progressing their relationship. Like you said, MC was already feeling sweet towards Ciel. It didn't feel like it needed a sudden arranged marriage to be the catalyst that pushes the MC into doing anything. I know arranged marriages are a very common trope to push relationships along, but I also just hate how they handled the arranged marriage here. How is Ciel supposed to do her duties as the crown prince AND appear as the wife of a duke? It doesn't make sense with the world shown to us and doesn't offer any explanations as to how it could and that's because it was only brought up to be a plot device with no further thought put into it. Then they haphazardly throw the secret diary bit in to make it extra clear to the audience lol.

So looking back on what I wrote I guess I meant convenient in the sense that I didn't like how everything was conveniently plotted to force the relationship forward at this point in time. Maybe if it was paced just a liiiittle slower, I wouldn't really think much about this plot convenience, but as it is now it's like ok what's on the menu for the trope of the day today?

Lol I like how Ruka immediately knows that Suuna didn't get the point. Ruka understands Suuna so well now compared to when they first met. Progress!

Also wow there were a lot of crotch shots this chapter xD

Yukino must be one of my most disliked protagonists in all yuri manga that I have read. Her lies are completely out of control. I do not see why anyone would be interested in her. If you decide to stay inside the closet, you can do so without lying by simply not talking about certain subjects. She could not even tell her mom the truth about moving in with Setsuko, when the mom clearly is not homophobic. Notice that there is only ONE homophobe inside the story, and that was Yukino's best friend in high school, and even she ended up not being a homophobe towards the end of the story. Everyone else seems to "gets it" when it comes to the relationship between Yukino and Setsuko, even though they were told that the two of them are just "friends".

She also lies to Shiori, a lesbian, and frankly Shiori should ask for a new manager.

I do understand the problem of Homophobia, the manga was drawn around early 2010s. This was drawn some 13 years ago, so Yukino does have a legitimate reason to avoid coming out of the closet. It is the way she stays in the closet that makes me dislike her. I wonder what sort of persona Yukino will have if the manga would be re-drawn, now being 2020s.

Iberis is a much better manga.

I think you fail to understand the trauma Yukino went through as an idol where she was constantly judged by everyone. Then when she came back from her failed idol career she had to constantly live being judged by all her peers. She has such a deep fear of being judged that of course she'd feel the need to lie to avoid people judging her relationship.

Even if the mom did not seem homophobic, she did not necessarily say anything that proves she would have accepted them as a couple. All she said was that she liked Iwai and for Yukino to treat her friends well. She could just be saying this to support Yukino through the rumors like (I don't believe the rumors so don't worry about it). The last thing we see the mom say is "I have faith in you". This is an incredibly vague statement and just puts pressure on Yukino to not be a disappointment to her family. For example I read that as "I don't believe the rumors because I have faith in you that you're a good daughter and you're not gay." Of course it could mean something else but that's how I understood it.

Kamo was homophobic til the end. Sure she was starting to change her views, but only after talking to her boyfriend about it. She was so bothered by Yukino being gay that she chose her feelings about it rather than respecting Yukino's and outted her to her boyfriend. And then because she didn't keep Yukino's secret, her boyfriend outted her to everyone in their town (which again shows a blatant lack of respect for Yukino's feelings). Then when they met up Kamo spent most of the time defending her boyfriend instead of supporting Yukino. Kamo was also immediately happy to hear that Yukino got into a het relationship and was way more supportive about it when Yukino lied about it. I don’t think you know how traumatizing it is to be rejected by the first person you trusted enough to come out of the closet to (she didnt even come out to Kamo on her own and was pressured to admit it). How Kamo initially reacted is why Yukino continuously stays in the closet and always feels the need to lie about it first.

There's no indication that her classmates "get it". They might not say anything to her face, but they definitely talk about it (that's how the rumors spread so fast) and that's what Yukino is afraid of. She knows that no matter what she does, no one will see her relationship as "normal" and since it's Japan, will constantly be pressured to conform.

She lies to Shiori because she was afraid of being seen through immediately. Shiori made her self conscious about the way she was acting because up to this point Yukino thought she was doing a good job blending in. Yukino was still trying to figure herself out and be comfortable with herself, but here comes a stranger saying "I know what you are". During their convo she even does the thing you said she should: lie about her relationship by omission but Shiori is relentless about making her come out before she felt ready to. Plus Shiori was just being plain creepy and sexually harassing her even after Yukino kept rejecting her advances and was obviously uncomfortable.

Again the whole point of Yukino is that she's afraid of being judged and was doing her best to appear "normal" only for everyone to tell her she isn't. The story is about her overcoming this fear and being more confident about who she as a person is because the world will never be as perfect and understanding as she wants it to be

last edited at Dec 8, 2023 2:09PM

I smell axing

I dont even think it's really a case of axing because every chapter has had this horribly fast pacing. Problems are introduced and immediately solved in the same chapter. Characters' backstories and motives come out of nowhere and also immediately solved. Then we never hear from them again. I didn't think too much of it in the beginning, but by chapter 3 it was getting ridiculous.

Because things go so fast nothing actually feels impactful. We got a kiss, but I don't really care because they shoved a hundred other things in this chapter that it feels unearned. Like lol a random summons for an arranged marriage and then MC just randomly stumbling upon the Princess's diary conveniently changed her mind about the relationship. The author really is speed running through every western fantasy/villianess trope.

The only overarching issue that hasnt been solved is the whole thing with the brother and because of how poorly it's been handled it's a damn weak plot (and also not what most of us came to this series to read).

It really feels like it could end in 1 volume. I'd be surprised (and a bit horrified) if it went past 2 volumes. Even if the author intended to write a short series, it was still done poorly. They need to work on their pacing for longer series or stick to one shots for now.

last edited at Dec 8, 2023 2:27AM

This story goes way too fast

Her feelings for sister exist. She could have decided to move on, to accept, to calm down, you name it. However, it doesn’t change the fact that she loves another person, while “starting to have feelings for Kiku”. That is bad storytelling. Because her feelings for sister are now absolutely useless information, not telling anything and not helping anyhow. They only explain her depression, which could be explained by more realistic things like injury or social issues. In other words, she had a problem. She didn’t solve it. She accepted it and moved on to having romantic life. Two almost unrelated story parts, one not influencing another.

You speak as if it's impossible to move on from an unrequited love. If Yuuna was not her sister and just another straight girl she had a crush on would you still read the story the same way? There is no way to "solve" an unrequited love besides accepting nothing will come from those feelings and moving on which is what Sena is doing.

Moving on is a process and you can still have feelings your crush while starting to love another. You can love more than one person. Plenty of people with deceased partners "move on" and love another while still holding feelings of love for their previous partners. People still hold fond feelings for their exes when they break up and start new relationships.

Her feelings for her sister is not useless information. Could she have been depressed for another reason? Yes, but Sena's whole issue (and the story) is about her warped understanding of love. Her whole life she only had her sister to depend on and her feelings for her sister were the only examples of "love" she had. Kiku's introduction expanded Sena's knowledge about love beyond just what her sister showed her. Sena's world now doesn't only consist of Yuuna and herself. It's now opened to Kiku, Yuria, her editor....she realizes that there are other people who care for her.

The way I see it - the theme of incest became uncomfortable and the author decided to give Sena another love interest. The way she is now, she will always have silent unrequited love inside. Which is sad, really. Because it seems no one will be happy in this series. I feel tragedy, not romance, and it’s confusing.

I really feel like we're not reading the same story. Kiku has been there since chapter one and is in all the promotional material with Sena. How could you think that the author threw Kiku in there as a secondary love interest?....

I honestly don't know how you want the story to go for it to be satisfying for you. What would you have liked Sena to do? From the sounds of it, it would only be good storytelling if it went the incest end?

last edited at Dec 6, 2023 2:39AM

Soooo Sena’s feelings for her sister are now just… ignored?
That’s the only problem I have with this series. This question, these untold words flying in the air of each chapter.

You need to reread chapter 10. Sena clearly says that she needs to move on and she is finally able to do so after getting support from Kiku.

She was afraid of facing Yuuna while having these feelings which was why she kept avoiding her, but after Yuuna's visit and getting back into contact with her sister, she realized that it wasn't as bad as she thought it would be and now has the courage to move on. I also think having someone know about your "deepest, darkest secret" and still accepting you helps a ton with your mental health which is what Kiku did for Sena after finding out about her feelings.

She also mentions the current state of her feelings for Yuuna in chapter 17. So yeah her whole thing with Yuuna is very far from being ignored by the storyline.

last edited at Dec 4, 2023 6:39PM

Lol I love this stupid silly series and the stupid hijinks the crazy duo get themselves in. Seeing their relationship progress is satisfying too

Agughdjskkasa I just continue to love the stupid manipulative office politics game they've got going on. I've also been waiting for ages for the next licensed volumes to be coming out (even resorted to spoiling myself on the raws) so these updates will help tide me over until I can finally purchase them. I seriously don't get the release schedule for it. I kinda understood early on because it seemed to have been licensed when there weren't too many chapters out? But now it's fully complete and volume 2 is still coming out 1.5 years after the first one did D;

Dang this was so damn good. This is canon in my book.

The author's note made so much sense. You could really feel the love and thought they put into this pairing. There was so much depth and it all wrapped up so nicely by the end. One of the best btr doujin I've read so far.

God this gets better and better every chapter. It captures the helplessness and heavy burden of Mary being Colin's only source of support so so well. Throwing in Riko's whole deal into the mix has added even more layers to Mary's messed up life. I really do hope all these children get the help they need by the end of the series though.

last edited at Dec 2, 2023 8:02PM

Lil sis blush! The ship of crazies is beginning to sail!

It's baaaack! Bless you Gouma Den for picking up these unfinished stories.

That Kirara past scene got dark so suddenly. Glad to see her finally get her happy ending ;_;

last edited at Dec 2, 2023 6:03PM