I'm in kind of an awkward position in these discussions. On the one hand I really don't want to spoil anything. But on the other hand, if I stay extremely vague about whatever might happen and people are still whining about it not being enough even when those things do happen, then I just look like a liar.

Though from my personal standpoint, it can be a bit painful to see some of the opinions and guesses some people are making about how yuri this series is and how much it actually needs to be, even though I fully expect some of those people will not change their stance pretty much no matter what actually ends up happening.

With how absurdly popular the series is, I doubt it will end anytime soon.

Although, in a way, the chapter WAS a finale. The finale to volume 3.

That still seems like an awful comparison.

I really don't know where people are getting this idea that she's got lots of friends. She's shown desperately avoiding anyone she once knew. She briefly got in touch with a single person, but immediately cut it off. And it never shows her being in contact with that person again.

But she's attractive! Which totally makes her life better, when she never leaves her house or talks to anyone but her family. And has major self esteem and anxiety issues making it all but impossible for her to actually take advantage of that fact in whatever way you might think she could. Also, she's a character in a fucking manga series. Pretty much all characters in manga series are depicted as being attractive. That's not actually anything special or out of the ordinary in her world. It's average, at best.

People who are so adamant that they have it worse than her to that extreme a degree really seem kind of delusional to me.

Considering that a number of her problems stem from actual medical issues, it's kind of like going up to a paraplegic struggling in a wheelchair and telling them to suck it up and that they don't really have it tough, not in the slightest. After all, they're pretty, and you have it much worse with leukemia. Even if it's true that you have it worse (which again, I really question), it just makes you a gigantic asshole.

Heck, I'm pretty sure I've seen some people claiming Neeko has it better than them while at the same time making statements denying the legitimacy of mental health issues. Which is completely absurd. And the latter is something I absolutely will not stand for.

Apparently if you're attractive and/or have friends that means you couldn't possibly have any problems I guess. Somehow. I guess that must make you immune to things like anxiety and societal expectations and such or something.

If you haven't eaten for two weeks it can be hard to empathize with someone who complains they've only had three cookies today instead of their usual four.

That's a completely nonsensical comparison.

I don't think there was a single cause; it built over time as she continually failed job interviews. Not even managing to find a part-time job, much less a career, gradually feeling more ashamed of herself and her position, seeing everyone else moving forward.

There were a lot of contributing factors.

Given that Kasumi has shown that she isn't really interested in romance and only wants friends, I feel like you're just reading into things you want to see and are going to be disappointed either way.

Especially with how obsessed you seem to be about the story's future and it demanding it play out in one particular way instead of just enjoying it as it happens.

Where are you seeing anything about her still having any friends? Or that any part of her anxiety is manufactured and not an actual disorder? Or confined to a single day? And what does being attractive have to do with it? Good-looking people can't be mentally unstable?

last edited at Apr 8, 2018 11:31PM

The fact that they're entirely unconcerned with labels and just do what they want without caring how others see it is one reason I think it's possible they might not actually agree to being defined as lovers. Maybe to them, what they have is something a bit different from what others might define a romantic relationship to be.

She'd also be aware just how stubborn the other three are, though, and so might know that she can't really do anything but let it play out.

Well, considering later chapters involve things like girls from entirely different schools and completely unrelated adults, among other developments, calling it "love games at an all girl school" is just factually inaccurate.

And considering Kyouko is the only one who really understands Kasumi's situation and is resolved to try and stay her normal friend and not actually fall for her, calling her the main couple and only one with any chance of going anywhere also seems really odd.

The other two seem to have a completely different set of values about their relationship, so it's tough to say if they actually see each other as lovers. It could just be an extension of the relationship they've always had, and they have never actually thought about actually becoming lovers, despite already being essentially a married couple.

I am trying very hard to stay out of this discussion, but some of you are making me really want to say something...

Volume 1 just came out; this is a tie-in with that.

The most recent chapter is also related to it.

It was announced on the cover of this month's cune, so it's official.

Tomekichi was commissioned to illustrate some characters for the Kirara phone game, so it seems they recognize her as a popular creator.

(Kirara is the magazine Swap runs in. And the characters are for a Sakura Trick event. How on the nose.)

Pretty amusing. This manga almost got axed due poor sales after first volume. And now look at it. Anime.

As stated in the afterwords of the following volumes, the author meant that as a bit of a joke, playing on his own worries. But people took it to heart and responded by buying a lot of copies.

To my knowledge, there's no public information on how well it was actually selling or how well-rated it actually was at the time, so it's tough to judge how founded those fears of his were.

While yagate IS one of the current main pillars of dengeki, I'm kind of expecting shachiku-chan to be ahead of it in dengeki anime.

last edited at Feb 27, 2018 11:12AM

Volume 2 also had a series of short strips re-introducing the characters. Volume 4 likely will, as well.

Bloom Into You has both explicit yuri and a story with some depth. I can't take the "I can only love you if you don't love me" thing seriously at all, but it's unique and might work in animation.

Every character in Bloom (with the possible exception of the main character) has an "I am in love with this person, but only as long as they fit this ideal that I am forcing onto them" thing going on, which I really can't stand. No one seems to actually care what the person they supposedly love wants.

I really can't stand the trope, but it seems to be popular and appears in more than a few of the other series on that list.

Nene with the milk mustache got a big snort of laughter from me.

Can someone explain why Naru's mother keeps calling her "Tsubame"? Did I completely miss something there?

鳴海 ツバメ Narumi Tsubame so Naru, Narucchi, etc. are nicknames based on her FAMILY name. The person that calls her Narumi-san is just doing the normal with names. Her personal name is, in fact, Tsubame, or "swallow (bird)" and, apparently, she's not fond of it.

And it would be really odd for family members to call each other by their family name. Since they all share the same one. No one would have any idea who anyone was talking to.

From what I gather, mainly because the author really liked France, picking it after going there on vacation.

Either way, she WILL be back. He's stated several times that she isn't leaving the story. Let other characters have a chance to shine for a bit and be self-sufficient.

Maybe when she comes back, the time she spent away will have changed her or the others in a way that causes even more yuri.

And besides I don't get why you are claiming she wasn't close with her other coworkers despite the fact that they all showed up to the airport and cried as she departed. That makes it seem that they were closer than just coworkers.

Excepting Rin, that was the first time any of them had ever interacted with her in any way outside of a work environment. And she didn't keep in touch with any of them. Making me doubtful she would have met up with any of them even had she left for a more local company. Especially given her lifestyle.

You can not be a fan of it all you like, but it's a real thing that really happens all the time, and it makes perfect sense in this situation, even if she hadn't moved to a different continent. Every character outside of Rin had a purely business relationship with Yagami, so it seems perfectly normal that Rin's the only one she'd keep in contact with. Even if she'd stayed local, it seems unlikely she'd actually meet up with anyone outside of work. Especially with how much of a workaholic she is. And because she never did that even when they worked together.

And I wouldn't be so quick to judge the plot, as it's still in the interval. The next part of the plot hasn't even started yet. It's entirely possible that the next part will be something that could never have even happened if Yagami had been around.

It's still been barely any time since she left, so it's tough to say what the author has in store. Maybe her being constantly present would have somehow impeded what he wanted to focus on next. Maybe her still being casually around would have subverted what he wanted to tell with her leaving.

People leave companies and never come back all the time, after all, and maybe he wanted to show the experience of the ones left behind, and how they deal with losing a close colleague, a role model, an instructor. There's already been a bit of that with Momiji seeking out Hotaru; that's something she wouldn't have been likely to do if Yagami was still around for her to learn from.

So I wouldn't be so quick to label it entirely subtractive. It would only be subtractive if the characters are static and unchanging, which has never been the case in New Game.

I miss Yagami :(

Biggest mistake I think the author has made. It's just not the same without her around.

It was for story reasons, though, and I much prefer the author feel they have the freedom to evolve the story instead of falling into the ever-so-common manga trap of not wanting to change anything about the formula for fear of losing popularity, leading to things starting to stagnate.