http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/our_journey_to_lesbian_motherhood_ch03#5

and thus the wonderful gift that cristianity gave to Japan has NEVER been forgiven

Still, only about 1% of the population there is actually Christian.

You also don't want to know what Imperial Japan did to Christian missionaries.

To be fair, only after they had tried to use converted houses to overthrow the emperor and government. Japan was very nonchalant about the whole missionary thing until then. After that they hanged the lords, gave the missionaries a few weeks to get off the island, and told the Portuguese to take a flying leap after they said their trading ships always come with missionaries. The Dutch traders then got the contracts. That some missionaries continued to insist on having to preach to the heathens was met with corresponding opposition.

After the slap, lets go and does not follow her. It is a sad state of affairs that it takes that much to make him realise he stepped over the line, but even in western culture it is not uncommon for it to go that far. This is problem with the way all too many societies see us women as something to be conquered, and is even more pronounced in many Asian cultures.

Not gonna disagree on any of this.

Actually one of the reasons why I am rather ambivalent about the whole "kabe-don" trend. It tends to be depicted as cute-and-all in many of the images here, but in real life it would certainly be prone to triggering my fight-or-flight response...

I am honestly a bit confused here... How and where do you see this story containing anything akin to rape? The guy was pushy and harassing, yes, but no more than that. The two main characters always respected each others wishes, never going farther than what was comfortable for both of them.

It seems a bit odd to call a guy who dragged a girl into a secluded area with her shouting "No" and "Let go of me" the entire way, threw her against a tree, and then tried to force himself on her as just "pushy and harassing" and no more than that. I mean, I guess we could be incredibly generous and assume that he wasn't going to actually do something, but generosity is typically something you don't want to give to someone who was clearly about to sexually assault someone.

Also, are we meant to believe that whoever took the photos just came straight to the company to hand them over? Because my first thought is that their boss has people following them around waiting to catch them if they dare slip up and engage in any activity that implies that they're not the property of their fans, who will also refuse to help someone who is clearly being forcefully dragged into a secluded area to be assaulted.

He is being pushy and harassing her. He fully deserves the slap and more, being a complete and utter douchebag. He fails to respect her "cut that out" and "stop - let go of me", which is deplorable and a real world issue that we see all too often. Still, those actions do not constitute rape. The distinction is important.

After the slap, lets go and does not follow her. It is a sad state of affairs that it takes that much to make him realise he stepped over the line, but even in western culture it is not uncommon for it to go that far. This is problem with the way all too many societies see us women as something to be conquered, and is even more pronounced in many Asian cultures.

As for the "idols being photographed" piece... That's an entirely different can of worms, one that is similarly infuriating. The whole "property of their fans" thing is pretty nasty, as the case of Minami Minegishi demonstrated. But that's a story for another day.

What? I wasn't sure so I tried my chance with a guy. If this wasn't dynasty that story would be rape. And what would happen if you liked it , would you do it with him. Natsukichi should dump her but I love this pairing so it's okay.

I am honestly a bit confused here... How and where do you see this story containing anything akin to rape? The guy was pushy and harassing, yes, but no more than that. The two main characters always respected each others wishes, never going farther than what was comfortable for both of them.

If you are willing to use goggles, "Saihate Nite: Yasashii Kaori to Machinagara” (“The Furthest End Awaits") might be a candidate. Basically the relationship is pretty strong toward the end, but there is no kiss or anything like that. Also be forwarned that it also contains het scenes; although they, and what they represent, also becomes obsolete in the last third of the movie.

Nezchan posted:

Ugh, I want to explain how this story works wonderfully from a literary point of view rather than a psychological one, but I can't seem to get the words to make sense. iFail.

I'd be interested though. Because (I think) I can pretty much understand everything about the psychology. But while I can feel how it's good from the a literary standpoint I can't really work it out

The problem with using psychology is you're basically second-guessing the author's understanding of psychology, rather than the mental state of actual people. So they likely don't map anywhere close to 1:1.

Methinks you're not alone in that interpretation, but some draw a different conclusion it seems... Let me quote Isaac Asimov from his book "Opus 100" here:

I once listened to a German philosopher (he was really German and he was a professor of philosophy) discuss one of my stories in detail, when he didn’t know I was in the audience. After his lecture, I came up to dispute the points he had made in his interpretation and presented him with what I felt was a blockbuster when I said, “After all, I happen to be the author of the story.”

“Oh,” said he, “are you Isaac Asimov? I’m pleased to meet you and I admire your work but tell me – What makes you think, just because you wrote the story that you know anything at all about it?”

I’ve tried never to forget that little lesson.

warm and fuzzy feelings

Last few days here have been full of bliss: first Mezashi, Takeshisu, Chisako, and Tamamusi; and now Matsumoto Tomoki (!) and Ootomo Megane... Loving all of it.

Basically, the pairing of Mami x Kyouko may make more sense than Mami x anyone else.

I don't think Mami x Kyouko make's more sense then Mami x Nagisa XD

Yikes. That's where my brain reminded me it's time to go to bed. Yes, forgot about that and hence have to agree there. XD

(and just to note that Takeshisu can pretty much make any pairing engaging and fun -- the art really makes it a pleasure to read)

last edited at Jan 25, 2017 9:43PM

Kyouko x Mami is canon.

Really? When was that confirmed?

Canon is a tough argument to get into, particularly since it's constantly changed by time travel and universal law rewriting. Official is a better word for it, since their pre-Homuloop backstory is highlighted in the the third drama CD, the PSP game, and The Different Story manga and is Urobuchi-approved. Granted no one pairing is actually considered "canon" apart from Hitomi x Kyosuke, Madoka's parents, and whatever's featured in the side story manga, but there's definitely more to support the ship than, say, Mami x OL.

Maybe more than Mami x OL, but... looks at her Official tote bag Kyouko x Sayaka potentially is on a bit more of a solid footing. This was also reflected in an event I happened to catch last time I was in Tokyo. Basically, the pairing of Mami x Kyouko may make more sense than Mami x anyone else, but paring Kyouko with Sayaka seems to have a somewhat stronger position.

All that being said, personally I couldn't care less who is being paired with whom, as long as the art and/or the story are engaging. So this one easily passes my threshold for something I like.

A bit surprised no one has mentioned Beloved. yet to be honest

jtt - Check with your tracking number on any package tracking site to see when it was shipped. Tracking numbers are here - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/17QThiWKekS5yacnNfIcGN_6vxA9IIqjuxhIcwXQgAgI/pubhtml?gid=1029505969&single=true

I'm also still waiting for mine in central Europe. Hope it comes soon :/ Fingers crossed :) Perhaps the New Year holidays caused the delays.

Hm. Shipped mid-October. :(
(and no tracking numbers for Germany)

@Alextasha: alas, yes, know of the fun that shipping can bring... Was just a tad surprised as the other two times I've ordered stuff from Ratana it went a lot faster. Could simply be stuck in customs, who may take their sweet time (and on occasion just return it back to sender as it didn't meet their criteria for some reason). I'll continue to keep an eye out.

Hm. Was wondering whether anyone else is still waiting for their Pulse pre-order? From various posts I gather that quite a few people already received their copies in the first half of December, hence unsure if they are still being shipped or if mine merely landed in dev-null for some reason.

Amazing! This collection is absolutely a blessing from Madokami herself...

By the way, does anyone know what the characters around Bebe's smirking face on P.28 mean? I'm confused as to why Sayaka was so startled.

According to the sound effect dictionary nitaa means: smirk / sneer / evil grin

So not entirely sure that suffices to decipher this one...

I wish people read the tags and took the story as it is. Perhaps it was the combination of rape and age gap that triggers people? For me, in dynasty-scans, I view rape as an element to speed relationships (usually end up in a everyone is happy ending).

Hm. The thing that is triggering many of us is that all too many people have that sort of attitude, "rape as an element to speed up relationships", outside of the dynasty-scan context as well. It is one of the premises behind a lot of date-rape, as well as the fun laws that used to state that there is no such thing as rape within a relationship / marriage. Married individuals always having to be at the beck and call of their partners when it came to sex was codified into law for a scarily long time. So no, depicting rape as a way of "speeding up a relationship" is not something that many of us think should be taken lightly. The lolicon aspect here simply compounds the issue.

For your first point the only ones that really comes to mind are Out of the Blue and Secret of the Princess.

Candy might also be a nice addition to that list.

I do prefer younger girls but a) not that much younger b) way more aggressive than me.

While I also have a tendency to prefer younger girls, there is that thing about consent that is rather important...

Despise lesbian lolicon as much as lesbian rape. It ruined Kanamemo, almost ruined Strawberry Panic! and made Tokikago Yuri from Mawaru Penguindrum into a thoroughly dis-likable villain. Always vile. This is just hentai made for males anyway.

You'd be amazed what some girls are into.

Seriously not a fan of the whole lolicon setup here, and would have felt quite a bit less “brain bleach ready” if it had at least been the younger girl who initiated the proceedings in a potentially pushy, but not over-the-top way. The older one going down the full blown psycho rape route is pretty darn horrifying to be honest. A pity, as I actually enjoy Ogino Jun's other stuff, even though it contains a massive amount of fanservice.

Am I the only one who, toward the end, expected to see a panel with a very red-faced Nozomi standing just outside the door?

Gah it always ruins it for me when they stuff sugary stuff into the vag >_<

Same. All I can think of is "Yeast infection".

Glad I'm not the only one. I looked at that and went "You really shouldn't do that."

^^^^ THIS.

Seriously, I NOPE TF OUT whenever I see this kinda stuff.

I sort of compensated by simply assuming that the food item in question is unsweetened whipped cream, and not some sugar-laced yeast-party nightmare...

Almost forgot the slightly lewder version of things: Minase Ruruu's mini-series of Touch Me and Told Me

Korea must be the hand-holdenest country in the world

From my trip there, and some of the stuff I read up on before and after it, pretty much yes. Using the Dynasty lewdness metre, they are pretty extreme. Both women holding hands with each other and men holding hands with each other all over the place. Scary really!

Then again, they are also of the opinion that homosexuality exists in other countries, but not in theirs of course. :p The irony is that it results in stuff like this being seen as perfectly normal and clearly no-homo. Yup. Sure...

Surprised no one has mentioned it yet: http://dynasty-scans.com/series/20_year_old_girl_x_30_year_old_maiden

I think this is the most satisfying of the stories so far. It's got just the right amount of story for its length, and we get a kiss on top of that. Absolutely, unambiguously sweet.

Couldn't agree more. Loved the way it progressed as well: from mere friendship, to something a bit more, and then via a light yuri scenario all the way to the full blown version. Not bad for just eight pages, not bad at all...

I have no idea who that is but I'd still disagree with the sentiment. The overwhelming majority of male main characters are someone who has a generic look and a generic personality in order to try and appeal to the main viewerbase/readership of the series. This is why you get completely terrible characters such as the protagonist in Muv-luv who seemingly has no actual redeeming traits and is constantly a dim-witted asshole yet has hordes of girls fighting over him. (To the detriment of the story might I add. I couldn't continue playing because he was so terrible.)

Your comment made me think, but I indeed found it surprisingly hard to come up with a decent anime where the main protagonist is male without falling into the “generic template” trap. Even in something like Black Lagoon, where Rock is a decent and relatively well fleshed-out character, it is Revy who, at least in my opinion, defines the series*. Mononoke Hime falls into a similar category, with Ashitaka very much coming up short without San and Eboshi. One character I did come up with would be Ichise from Texhnolyze, but then again, it is very hard to argue one would want to identify with anyone in that “…long, violent spiral into utter hopelessness” (Carl Kimlinger in his review). The only “proper” protagonist that came to mind is Ginko, from Mushishi.

As for the story in Good Girl & Bad Teacher, I like it, although I am personally slightly bothered by the way in which smoking is portrayed as this cool and romantic thing. This being a collection of older one-shots though, it is not too unexpected. If it is not too much to hope for, I would also love to see a fully canon yuri couple in one of the stories. Miss Sunflower is very enjoyable, but it is staying firmly on the side of fluff at this stage, so would be great to have Sugano Manami craft a story with an unabashed and unapologetic, openly lesbian couple.

* as a woman, I do tend to find it easier to identify with a female character anyway though, so my perspective here is not entirely unbiased. Also: Revy!!!

Agree, looks interesting. Also always nice to have more adult yuri.

I am thinking of watching kiddy-grade. Does it have any yuri/subtext? wanted to confirm to avoid any disappointment.

Only very slightly tinted goggles required, so I'd give it a pretty strong "yes" on the subtext side. It's not a bad anime imho, but neither is it all that memorable I find (which is not a prerequisite in order to enjoy it, of course, and to be clear: it is fun to watch; but it stays in the "popcorn binge watching material" space, rather than on the "classic favourites" side of things).