Holy shit, what a chapter. I wasn't expecting them to actually show Shiho's perspective right away. Now we know that Miwa almost sorta confessed, and Shiho was also attracted to her. That's not a huge surprise, but again, I am kinda surprised that they're showing it right away. I stick by what I said about it being to early to tell if Miwa would have a better relationship with Shiho, but they have made her character interesting and endearing in just these few chapters. Also, I like how bold and brutally honest Miwa is being. She's really grown.

I wonder if we'll wind up seeing a sort of reversal of what happened in the one-shot; instead of Miwa seeing Saeko with another girl, Saeko will realize how well Miwa and Shiho are getting along and straight-up ask if Miwa likes her more, then say they should break up. Speaking of the one-shot, I wonder if that weird stalker girl will ever show up in some form.

I mean, what we have on Shiho right now is two flashback chapters showing that she grew up with a really strict family and probably has a lot of emotional baggage as a result. I'm not going to root for Miwa to be with Shiho any more than I would've rooted for her to be with Saeko back in the first chapter, though I think it's becoming clear who Miwa was/is more into.

They're gonna have weird sex...

[Evil Dead flashbacks]

The longer this series go on, the more I feel like it's some big puzzle that's impossible to solve. Like, it's been absurd from the start, but it keeps adding layers to its absurdity and giving it a sense of internal logic.

Does this mean there isn't a new full chapter this month?

I kinda want to see Tsubaki and Fuji interact now.

I think we know where Tsubaki gets her low self-esteem from. Though, with how severely Hiiragi reacted to a common question, I'm wondering if she might be pushing Tsubaki away because she also has feelings towards her. But with how Hiiragi acts around the nurse, I'm probably wrong.

Welp, they've got a month. Saeko should have that random coworker divine their future. BTW, were Miwa and Saeko's surnames ever previously mentioned?

This might be my favorite chapter so far. The shame Saeko feels in trying to be vulnerable is terribly relatable. Especially the separate-self thing. If they break up, I hope they come out better equipped to communicate with their future partners, and not just more emotionally scarred.

If Miwa discovers that her former senpai likes girls and/or is dating someone, I can imagine that would spark some regret, though I'm pretty sure she wouldn't cheat. But, if Saeko ends up freaking out about the event, she could end up losing Miwa's trust.

Tsubaki is far more precious than a siscon has any right to be.

I was waiting for this because I had read in the Japanese reviews for Yuri Yuri 2 that Namori had parodied the fourth story herself in Yuru Yuri. Apparently they were printed together in the same issue.

I love this series and Namori's lighter one-shots are pretty good, but I'd be interested if she wanted to continue writing darker stuff like that story.

I'm gonna guess that Saeko had a pseudo-harem in middle school, then she got serious with someone, and that girl got jealous of all the others hanging around Saeko. Maybe her jealousy then led to her openly monopolizing Saeko, leading to people understanding what relationship they had. That would also explain why "they said even worse stuff about her" (the girlfriend), with "her" being the clingy one. If so, maybe something similar will happen in the present.

I wonder to what extent Miwa might have been having sex with Saeko to make Saeko feel better, or to make herself feel needed. It's clear that the characters are more emotionally involved than suggested by the original one-shot, but it's still easy to see how they could reach the point where sex is the only thing holding them together. I feel like Saeko's sexual attraction to Miwa is still her main reason for liking her. I wonder if Miwa will try to hide everything about her old crush for as long as she can. Right now, their insecurities are magnifying each other.

In the one-shot they broke up sometime after their five-month anniversary. If the series maintains this pace (chapter 5, 1 month; chapter 12, 2 months; chapter 15, over 3 months) and it follows the timeline of the one-shot, they should break up around chapters 25-30.

Between telling Miwa that Saeko might leave if she doesn't sleep with her, calling Miwa a pain in the ass, taking naked photos of Miwa, and now this; Rika is a huge shit-stirrer and a bad friend, even though she sorta helped them out once. I hope there will eventually be some falling out, even if it's just temporary. Meanwhile, Tsuruta continues to be a perfect friend.

It's interesting how jealousy has been a major theme this arc, with Saeko being jealous of people around Miwa, Kan being jealous of Miwa's upbringing, and Usshi maybe being jealous of 'normal' people having relationships. People are saying that they don't care about Kan's backstory, but I don't think the author was necessarily trying to make us sympathize with him. For now, I'd say he's there as a foil character to Miwa, to drive her to be more honest and assertive. It also shows how different people can end up just because of their circumstances. Saeko is still really guarded about her past, especially with Miwa, so Kan could eventually end up helping Miwa to understand where Saeko's coming from.

As much as some of the characters think that Miwa worries too much, it was reasonable for her to worry here. Sure, she jumped to the wrong conclusion, but it's not like she hadn't asked Saeko several times whether there was anything wrong. Here's hoping they actually discuss it honestly and that Saeko's jealousy doesn't lead Miwa back to being submissive and dependent.

As someone married over 10 years: neither yourself nor your partner will ever be perfect. Your partner will always have faults and insecurities that are dumb, and annoying, that they should just fix/get over (and you will have the same). The key to a happy relationship is to not focus on their minor faults (now abusive behavior is different), treat those like a trick knee, something you just have to work around and you can get along fine. Obsess about how your partner always leaves a mess in the kitchen/leaves socks on the floor, and you won't have a happy relationship.

Oh yeah, by no means am I saying that they need to be perfect for each other. I just mean that their lack of open, honest communication makes it hard for them to connect in a meaningful way and help each other. Miwa clearly thinks she can change for the better and she wants to, but Saeko might be somewhat inhibiting her growth by being dishonest about how she feels and encouraging Miwa to remain as dependent as she has been. So if your partner (using the generic "you" here) has a flaw that's tolerable or that you even find endearing, that's fine. The problem is when that flaw is highly problematic yet you keep it to yourself all the time and pretend everything's fine, or you encourage them to stay the same when they want to improve.

So is "We're Not Dating, But We Did It Anyway" a non-canon sequel?

it's a sequel to the one-shot, not to the series

It seems consistent with the events of the one-shot, but the characters feel closer to the ones in the series; especially Miwa, who comes across as aloof in the original one-shot, but rather needy in the series and the hentai. So even if it's not canon, I wonder if we might see similar things happen here.

It's funny how they both sort of have the same core problem: trying to hide their insecurities and never resolve them (and I see myself in both of them, fuck). Saeko is just better at hiding them usually, even from herself. As long as they just treat each other's flaws as "cute," it won't be possible for them to make a deep, honest connection. It sorta feels like the author is deconstructing the common yuri (or really, romance manga in general) relationship dynamics of 'shy, needy bottom x bold, possessive top,' pointing out how unhealthy that can be, regardless of how nice it feels in the moment. Usshi was onto something when she guessed that people want relationships because they like to feel needed. Regardless of where the relationship ends up, I think the characters are going to grow a lot from it. Happy for Miwa taking her first steps this chapter.

And we're at over three months already. Was that mentioned before? Guess it's time to prepare for the downward spiral.