(4.2)

Oh dear.

Well personally when i heard it was another chapter on a side pair, i was like "oh for the love of god" then i saw it was an end of volume extra so i was like " oh ok. That's nice".I'm not really invest in the pair (or the side pair in this manga in general) but at least we had confirmation she isn't with Tsubaki just because of Nekozaki. That's said, nobody said she didn't make Tsubaki and Nekozaki roommates to have insiders.

Yeah for sure. I like that the side characters are getting more fleshed out here, and the author is definitely telling some creative and cool stories with them, but in the end we’re all here for the main pair. It feels like they’ve been put on hold, and I wonder if that’s just interrupting the flow because we’re getting a drip feed of chapters, or if it really is slamming the breaks on the train. I hope that we get back to the main pair in the next volume.

Like you say, it’s cool that this extra chapter makes the whole situation a little less skeevy—but there’s still a lot we don’t know, and it’s hard to tell if the teacher is calculating or just sloppy.

You two get along very well

Just normal

Omg omg GUISE they both said it together, this is DEVELOPMENT

Holy shit. Damn.

Rhea’s obviously done a lot of fukt shit (although one could make an argument about how the greatly-extended lifespan shifts things because we’re judging her by a human moral lens) but I think her central, like, personal issues and her relationship with Byleth is lovely. The whole trajectory of, “I created you as a soulless sacrifice to my trauma and inability to move on” to “oh shit your a person and I’m in love with you” is just. There’s so much potential.

Oh shit somehow I didn’t realize MC was the loli that made the gyaru become a teacher

What a setup lmao. That power play by Tanabata...

This is so fucking sweet.

I thought it would social anxiety trigger material but it’s really lovely.

“I’ve been studying up on Mira-sensei recently; here, you’re going to need these balloons. Now—”

aren’t romance manga essentially battle manga

Mm, indeed, indeed. Yes! It’s clear that Ejima Eri-sensei has a truly strong foundation! She has excellent insight into the way of things! What makes a good battle manga? Confrontations that are drawn with a strong sense of the fictional world’s rules, which are situated in a meaningful emotional context and drive the action of that emotion in exciting ways which develop things down the road. This is also true of romance manga, isn’t it?? Every time the leads connect, it must be with their background and current dynamic strongly in mind, and their engagement must be interesting and push their relationship into a new area. Indeed, I’ve said it for a long time—good battle manga and good yuri manga play by the same rules!!! To have an understanding that’s developed to this extent... isn’t this why the mangaka’s work is so good?

”Haaaaaleluja!”

last edited at Dec 6, 2020 1:28PM

I’m crying, you guys. They’re competitive former-delinquent wives U-Hauling and getting a dog. It’s too good.

Also can we take a moment for how handsome Takebe’s smile is? Like??

I’ve realized that I just invented catgirls

The faces in this are so cute.

Why is it that whenever people draw girls with an art style that would work for like anime cats it’s just naturally charming? Like triangle mouth, or really rounded with sharpness in certain features like the chin? I feel this way about Konbu Wakame’s art too, it has this cute/pretty/mischievous quality that’s also able to go into other tone and stuff, or even be lewd, and yet seem wholesome.

I’m also a fan how even though, as Pekoe said, our MC has issues, she’s also a more or less well-adjusted, kind person in other areas. She’s at least somewhat honest and not an asshole, handling that question about her change of position tactfully, and was already questioning her judgements when she talked to our love interest and saw she was more than plain.

Too often, MCs with Issues are also unrepentant assholes who get way too much leeway or sympathy for their bullshit. It’s refreshing that, so far, our adults seem... well, adult.

I’m very excited.

There's a neko for the tachi joke to be made here but it's too early in the morning for me to make it work lol

Same lmao

Neko-tachi no yokubo?

Alternatively, Neko-chan, tachiagare!

Ah yes, Japanese puns, the highest form of, “damn I’m never goin to fully appreciate this content.”

Catnip > cat > tops
There’s always a bigger fish

Okay but can we talk about how cute Asumi-chan is?? Like, one of the sub-themes of this story seems to be that she’s basically catnip for tops, and while that’s not exactly a unique premise, but what sets this apart is how well she carries that roles. She’s kind of sweet and innocent, but she’s also a horny; she’s emotionally open, brave, an enthusiastic participant, and really sensitive, which some characters have remarked is exciting because it makes topping her really satisfying.

Basically, unlike many manga with this premise, the writing (dialogue and body language) of the character actually justifies why she gets so much attention, above and beyond the whole brothel thing. It’s really cool!

...ah, my gay gushing has turned into literary analysis again. Oops.

"I want to fuck a girl!"
"...What about me...?"
"No, I like you too much."

unfortunately, this is real lesbianism right here

LOL

I am still waiting for Kirin to launch a diatribe on the segregation of female sexuality and affection in Japanese culture. :3

I'll do you one better and link an entire academic article about it.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://brill.com/downloadpdf/book/edcoll/9789004344198/B9789004344198_012.xml&ved=2ahUKEwjZr-PXybHtAhUrwjgGHR-YAaYQFjABegQIARAB&usg=AOvVaw2bVpvAS6T2DnYl7Fv1LwPR

Sasuga, Kirin.

This series had such a great start but it went downhil since this Legion came into the picture. The idea was Dark fights Light from the Dark's perspective, not the other way around as usually does,

I don’t think that’s quite it. There was a lot of discussion around this a few chapters back, but I think it’s more about the difference between BDSM and abuse, play and violence. MC’s path is developing toward someone who challenges and strains the magical girls, but ultimately hones them into becoming better, stronger people. We can see how she used her powers to get the two defectors to let their walls down and love each other, the idol girl to accept herself through exhibitionism, how she helped Tres Magia blue to remember what her true purpose was.

There was a really cool theory that the magical girl vs. villainous queen thing in this manga that the mascots were setting up was supposed to be about kinky play, but Enorme misinterpreted the point of being a dominant to being about strength and taking from others. She rules with fear instead of with love, and the pain she inflicts is not loving sadism but cruel torture. I think it’s a fucking amazing and original premise, but we’re losing so much of it to the rushed pacing now.

[Shaggy voice] Like, what the fuck kind of plotline was that scoob?

It had big 10-minute-draft energy. Just piling weird shit on top of itself with no sense of consistency. It’s just a worse version of a scene we’ve seen a hundred times but now there’s a maid. Wild.

If you haven’t heard Ange’s voice go listen to it right now, you need that boost to your gay energies.

Hnnnnng. Sleepy helicopters! So precious!!

Dude holy shit what a throwback. I remember unknowingly crushing on Larxene back in the day looking for fan content like, “does everyone not see how amazing this character is??”

Turns out she was only a throwaway character and I just really want a pretty girl to be really mean to me. Lmao.

last edited at Dec 1, 2020 12:38AM

Reading this like,

“Oh a cute butch in Manga? That’s sick.”

“Oh she’s having her fated meeting—woah, this goth girl is something else. Oh, that quirky miscommunication because her handwriting is bad! That’s a really interesting and humanizing story beat to counteract the, “sudden perfect GF appearance” thing.

“Oh she’s a singer? Rock/metally something? YO THE BASSIST CAN I GET HER NUMBER??”

“Oh she just... left? That’s weird. Girl’s got issues.”

“Okay, not sure how I feel about the coincidence plot thing, kinda feels like my girl Maki is being strung along. But hey, I’ve also been getting some ‘still sick’ vibes! So I’mma ride it out.”

“Oh huh, I guess I’m a little disappointed she’s so different at home but hey, maybe they’re making a message about that. Oh shit she hit her! Did she do something judgy?”

“Backstory? .... okay, healing lesbians manga, that DV shit was kinda sus though.”

“Oh so she’s just never gonna explain what her deal is. Oh, she’s demanding weird shit from her, and Maki just... goes with it?”

“Is that bassist still around? She’s queer right, do we need Abusive Pixy Dreamgirl here?”

“... is that her highschool GF? Is she—”

[screaming sounds begin]

[screaming continues]
[recording ends]

All I’m gonna say is, justice for Maki. Let our butches be happy.

last edited at Dec 1, 2020 12:27AM

^^^ Just her expression twisting a little as she... y’know... does the do.

I’d argue that “easy cut-and-dry professionalism” doesn’t describe all therapists and especially not the kind that would be good for our MC here, but your point is well-taken.

I think MC doesn’t want sympathy or empathy. She wants someone who lives in the same world (hence the lovely, powerful images of her being deep underwater—what an excellent visual metaphor, because it do be like that) to show her kindness without empathy.

W/ r/ to methods, stories get to have things happen with unacceptably low success rates & pick the “success” roll. I agree this is not the way to go IRL, certainly not a manual for good mental health. But IDK if fish girl is supposed to be an emanation of MC’s mind; to me it seems more like she’s that to the author, and this somewhat ethereal story comes from them semi-abstractly representing their own pain. I can see in it the dream to have someone that can just help you move, and who knows that you want to die. I think that’s why there’s a certain romantic charge every time fish girl asks MC if/why she wants to die. Like the deep relief of someone just being where you’re at, mixed with gay. IDK.

“I’ve been wondering this for a while now,”

“Do you like your women covered in viscera?”

last edited at Nov 30, 2020 2:17AM