Thing is, we know absolutely nothing at all about the off-screen relationships these women have with their respective girlfriends.

Maybe Azusa's girlfriend cheats on her, too. Maybe Midori's relationship is essentially over already and she just hasn't pulled the trigger yet (she was pretty quick to say "Let's dump our girlfriends and start dating each other" after all). Maybe Azusa really does love her girlfriend and they have a fantastic relationship but she can't resist the thrill of infidelity. Maybe her girlfriend knows and puts up with it.

There are so many possibilities of what could be taking place off-screen in these relationships, and the text of the comic itself gives absolutely no hints about it whatsoever. So casting the whole thing as "horrible people engaged in betrayal" is pretty reductive.

And that's not even getting into the whole "people who cheat are automatically horrible people" bit. In my experience, that's not necessarily true. People are complicated and messy, and normal everyday people cheat all the time. Sometimes they feel regret and remorse, sometimes they don't. Doesn't make them horrible. Just flawed.

For me, I find the story intriguing because of the central conceit: That there is such a powerful chemistry between these two women that they can't help themselves. That's an interesting theme to explore, and this story does it well.

ITT: People mentally pencilling themselves into the story in the role of the off-screen girlfriends.

I liked it. Not in the same way that I like, say, Kase-san, but I liked it.

^^ Damn near killed 'im!

Whoa, holy shit, it's one of the subs! Been hoping for KanColle sub yuri for ages. Let's get some of the Japanese subs in here next! I-8, I'm lookin' at you!

Wow, two Akaga pics in one day! Christmas came early this year!

I love this pairing just because Musashi is the closest thing the KanColle girls have to a delinquent, while Yamato is such a girly girl.

And then afterwards:

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/honeymoon_baby

Still my fave LL ship, though.

Hasn't really been THAT long, honestly.

Strategically-placed knee.

Wildly assertive Bag-chan, meekly submissive Serval.

Dat telephoto lens tho

I always like it when Kitakami isn't being an oblivious noodge.

Butts

That is, in fact, exactly what they did in the official English tank.

That is exactly the matter under discussion—which one works better?

Maybe I misunderstood you. I thought you were suggesting "This is what they should do with that particular section", and I was saying "Well! AS IT JUST SO HAPPENS, that is exactly what they did!" But your subsequent response leaves me with the impression that you didn't parse it that way.

In any case, I still prefer "love" over "like". It's romantic and fluffy. I wouldn't even call it confusion on Yamada's part. She's a teenager. When I was a teenager in high school, I wanted a girlfriend. I wanted to be loved, and I certainly had fantasies about having cute girls in class being in love with me. So I can absolutely get my head around the notion that Yamada, a girl with only one real friend, fantasizes about being loved (not "liked") by the coolest, most popular girl in her grade.

As for Kase-san, yeah she straight up has the hots for Yamada and has for a while. But she also makes it clear that she admires Yamada. She truly does think Yamada is amazing, and it's so obvious to her that it never occurs to her that it's not that obvious to Yamada. So when she says she's "in love" with Yamada and has been for a long time, I'm cool with that too.

Maybe Yamada’s very first, “Please let Kase-san be in love with me!” in Chapter 1 could be ratcheted back to a “like,”

That is, in fact, exactly what they did in the official English tank.

Picked up the 2nd and 3rd books this week. Interesting translation changes from the scanlations. In the scanlations, Kase-san and Yamada use the word "love". In the scanlated Kase-san and Bento chapter, when they're on the roof, Kase-san tells Yamada "I love you. I've been in love with you for the longest time." In the official tank, though, she says "I really like you. I've liked you so much, for so long."

Personally I like the "love" instead of the "like", but eh. Still happy to throw my money at them. Can't wait for February 28th.

For me, a lot of it is that I like super fluffy romance like Kase-san, and you are more likely to get that in yuri than elsewhere in my experience.

Another thing is that with het romance, one of the principals is a dude. And I'm a dude. So that gives me a point of self-insertion, and changes the mental dynamic for me. It becomes less "I am watching two people have a romance" and more "This guy is a twit because he's not doing what I would do in the same situation." My enjoyment of yuri doesn't really depend on how much either of the main romantic leads are like me, but my enjoyment of het romance does to some degree. Probably why I like Yandere Kanojo so much, because Manabu Tanaka is like a younger Japanese version of me.

last edited at Nov 11, 2017 9:09AM

"This is going to sound odd, but can you dress up like my co-worker before we have sex?"

As a straight dude who likes yuri, I thought it was hysterical. Kinda reminds me of I Can't Understand What My Husband Is Saying.

Ah so desu ka.

@Nez

Same tbh.

Are we sure that's D.va? Got red hair like Emily.

Grudgefuck in 3...2...1...