For me this chapter had a massive AWWWWW!!!!!! factor. Matsuri comforting Miss Sunflower and supporting her . . . mmm!

Yup, this is the stuff . . . so cute and sweet.
And I thought the book/confession was a lovely touch.

I'm pretty sure cosplayers anywhere in the world don't wear their outfits to or from the events. Those things take a lot of work and and I would feel so sick if something happened to it because I wore it to the event instead of putting it on in the hotel room.

I'm pretty sure you're mistaken. I'm not a huge event cosplayer, but in the SCA medievalist society it's considered almost de rigueur to wander around the normal world in medieval garb in between the event. It's known as "freaking the mundanes". Aside from being amusing, it also seems to operate as a way of letting potentially interested people know such things exist.
That was the only one of the rules that made me wonder a bit. Are the Japanese really so straitlaced that they'd be roused to get upset about an event because some people were seen wandering around in odd costumes? Surely odd fashion and costumes are a thing in Japan independent of convention events.
It actually seemed as if the rules in general, while quite sensible, were to some extent trying to set up or emphasize a distinct culture among yuri lovers from the general otaku-con-culture. Something a bit more refined and less frantic. I've noticed in otaku-oriented manga like Genshiken, there's a whole mythology surrounding the massive, chaotic lineups and the surging hordes and the flaking out anywhere to check out your loot and in general a certain ethos of throwing dignity to the winds in the pursuit of true fandom. It's about the frenzy and the hubbub. This little guide seems to be working a "We're different from that. We're yuri, which is all about lovely flowers. We do elegant and civilized instead of crazy." kind of angle. So I wonder if rules like "No cosplaying outside" are actually specific to this event and drawing a distinction from other otaku events?

Pretty impressed. I do find myself wishing that they'd ease up a bit about suicide this, suicide that. Not to mention the guilt. I'm sure killing someone is very traumatic, and yes it was a stupid and kind of bad thing to do. But the mofo deserved it, so try to get past it a bit eh?

And I don't see why it should end their lives. It's a bit late to just brazen it out and not get caught now that they've been on the run for days. But les-san is rich. I've never heard that the justice system in Japan is unusually punitive, and I have always gotten the impression that it skews to favor the well-heeled as much as anyone else's. They should both turn themselves in, get a good lawyer, say the husband was massively abusive and claim les-san confronted the husband on megane-san's behalf and then he raped les-san and she killed him in self defence. First offence, not likely to reoffend. Maybe get a few years, les-san would get time off for good behavior (I dunno about Megane-san, she's not really the good behavior type), they'd be out on parole in maybe three depending how much time they served before the trial and whether that counts double in Japan. I have this feeling, though, that in the end the manga will undermine its realism in an opposite way to the typical--where most manga are more fluffy and cheerful than real, ones that go gritty have a tendency to make things more harsh and dramatic than the real world.

last edited at Oct 14, 2014 7:39PM

I don't know for sure what Satus meant, and I don't myself think the tag should be removed, but . . .
I'm thinking Satus meant, not because the tutor looked androgynous, but because the other girl wasn't a lesbian. I mean, you have a story where girl A falls for girl B because of a subjective feeling that girl B is kind of like a cool guy, and then as soon as she kisses her soft lips and realizes in her gut that girl B is . . . a girl, she backs off quickly because it feels wrong. One might argue that there isn't actually a yuri relationship there.

It is a very well done story. My mind respects it while my gut is frustrated and screams at me "To heck with this thoughtful tale, give me the soppy ending!"

last edited at Sep 23, 2014 9:22PM

I actually liked "Kodomo no Jikan". At the beginning it was funny, and as it went on it was . . . pretty good. But this is just turning me off, not gonna follow.

I started tearing up and ran to my girlfriend, she looks at me and says " what did you read now ?" lol shes cute when she knows I got flustered from reading . Now she's a bit upset and says she's going to re-teach me about her love all over hehehe she's so cute. This was an excellent short story as I said it made me tear up and a little flustered so thanks to reading this now I am about to be dragged into our bedroom lol I guess this is good night <3

Now that's a lovely thing to hear; hope it's a very good night.
By the way, speaking as a lover of most things purple, that's a gorgeous rose.

Most subtext heavy SoL are not tagged yuri.

I'm sorry, what's SoL?

In this case, Shit out of Luck. ;) :(
As in, we're SoL, this isn't yuri and even if it sort of has some it will be stupid "written for shounen" yuri which generally sucks anyway.

last edited at Sep 13, 2014 3:54PM

Time to go re-read Girl Friends.

Does anyone else think Takemiya Jin's stuff is getting a bit less hard-edged lately?
Not that that's necessarily a bad thing. But I mean, the black-cat-white-cat thing was so cute it could have been Morinaga Milk!

I have to admit though, Ran really rocks that outfit.

Ran looks great in just about anything :3

I'm sure she also looks great in nothing.

Hmp. Odd combination of cliche, nuts, and use of cliches that are nuts. The "handed over to rich people for debts" cliche. The "uberposh girls' school with ludicrous customs" standard setting (which is my least favourite setting for yuri stuff). Generally, complete and utter artificiality and lack of plausibility and almost complete lack of characterization. It's rare I find a yuri series I just don't want to read more of, but this managed it.
Sure, the weird "family" thing is unusual in specific, but it's a gimmick, part of a general class of gimmicks that this kind of story uses to try to make something that sets it apart from the other ones (since they can't use, say, character). Basically this reads like a shounen, not like a yuri.

On the question--guy here. I have no idea why yuri isn't more popular with men (well, I guess they're afraid of "feelings" and like that, whatever). But I mean, straight guys and lesbian girls have this fundamental thing in common: We both like girls. Right? So it stands to reason that romance between girls is better than some shounen romance with some drip of a male lead getting in the way. How do more guys not see this simple obvious point?
Lovely chapter. I knew from the beginning this would be great--Takashima Hiromi's previous manga wasn't yuri, but it was so cute and sweet that it was obvious she'd be a great fit for yuri manga.

last edited at Jul 28, 2014 10:14PM

I agree with Milk-sensei though . . . it's a terrible sad thing that Tsubomi stopped publication. That was such a great magazine thing--so many great stories got published in there. Where is the reading public's taste?!
It sometimes feels to me like with Tsubomi gone the golden age of yuri has passed . . . where have all the lilies gone?

As to the gory medical talk . . You know, I have lots of friends who talk like that. Apparently Japanese guys are easily shocked by girls with a smidge of unconventional. If I were at that goukon it would just get me interested in her.

Thinking of which--just for the record, I favour calling a goukon a goukon. "Group blind date" just sounds dumb. I know, matter of taste.

last edited at Apr 11, 2014 2:22AM

It's dealing with a, maybe the, classic problem with democracy: The tyranny of the majority, where a majority makes use of their dominance to vote democratically to abuse a minority. So for instance things like how North Americans (and Australians) have treated the people who got there first, or the way Canadians stuck the local population of Japanese descent in camps and took their property during WW II, or the way some Europeans have been dealing with the Moslem population. Even when rules are voted on which apply equally to all, they can be used to target particular groups--take the French laws about displaying religious symbols which in theory apply to Christian or Jewish ones and so don't target particular religions . . . except Christians and Jews aren't mandated to display anything, and everyone knows the real target is headscarves and turbans and such. Many have made the case that if the results of a decision primarily affect one group, they should have a bigger say in the proceedings than those who are not affected--but it's hard to come up with a procedure for arranging that.
In the long run as different groups get nailed by such actions, consensus usually builds for enshrining general rights that apply to all that protect people from that kind of thing. Everyone's a minority in some way.

The bit at the beginning about Communism and Fascism . . . their society definitely does not seem to be a utopia; there's a whiff of cold war about, with that kind of earnest propaganda and militarism around the edges of everything. I mean, we've got stacks of militarism and propaganda today, but it has a different feel to it in the absence of any serious enemies.

you know...I think that those oneshot are the one that authors make to "show the story " and then they get voted or something to become real series...something like koe no kotachi

I'd be pleased to see that happen to this one. Partly because I want to see the resolution. But also, the transformation to cheerful in the grim technically excellent girl was pretty sudden, seemed forced to happen that fast to finish the story. Redoing it as something a bit longer would allow that to happen at a more natural pace.

Assuming black magic babies follow normal genetics, they don't need to worry about it being a boy; they only have X chromosomes to give

Nah. They talk about semen on P6, so maybe they aren't using body fluids of their own?

they say is their own child, so I am assuming the semen is just part of the ritual, like the circle and the snake blood. otherwise it doesnt make sense...

Agreed. The semen is symbolic of fertility, they're not using it for genetic material. This isn't science. Now that also means the X chromosomes thing may be irrelevant, but I still would figure that symbolically, a girl and a girl should make a girl.
Also agree with everyone else--this is the cutest, sweetest Dowman Sayman ever.

Ootomo Megane's stuff, almost always good. Usually a bit of bitter or darkness mingled with the sweet. Simple but subtle.
I loved the little bottom right hand panel on page 4. Sensei has a look of such glee!
I like to think that although she has her old feelings she can't let go of, she actually loves her young student just as much, although maybe she hasn't realized it yet.

This is such an amazing manga. The story is mythic and the art is godlike.

Mmm, always good to see something new by Morishima Akiko.

Omega Deuse--Well, that was the part that didn't make sense to me, so you've actually helped me out. Um, I guess she just yanked the pen off her hand and it actually tore the skin? But beyond that--the blonde girl is just a really random kid. Artistically talented mangaka, but flaky as hell.

More generally, I loved this manga all the way up to the point where that woman the blonde girl is living with showed up, and from that point on I have found it seriously frustrating.
(OK let's see--I've forgotten the names but if I'm going to rant I'll need them. OK, blond girl is Morishita, but her pen name is Sachi. Main character is Kawaguchi. The woman living with Morishita is apparently Takeda; I hate her.)

I really, really dislike Takeda. I hate her personality, I hate her self-righteousness, I hate the way she's worked hard to break the relationship between the two leads although it was none of her business, I hate the way they let her get away with her crap, I hate her condescending attitude which lets her be selfish while imagining she's all that, I hated her attitude towards Morishita back when she didn't realize she was Sachi, hated it while she was in denial, and still hate it now that she's starting to feel whatever twisted emotion counts as "like" for her. I dislike her so much that anything she might add to the plot, any tension and conflict she might introduce that should in theory make the manga more interesting, is just overwhelmed the moment she gets on a page by my fervent wish for her to go away and not be in my face. She is ruining this manga for me which I otherwise like a whole lot.

I want to see cute stuff with Morishita and Kawaguchi. I want to see Morishita hanging on Kawaguchi, and Kawaguchi slowly realizing her feelings for Morishita. I DON'T WANT to see that creepy little asshole Takeda.

This is great! I love their attitude, and I love seeing them running cheerfully away from the scandalized teacher.
Tsubomi generally I think is my all-time favourite yuri publication. So many of the stories are topnotch.

Very cute. I do hope there's a sequel . . . it feels like the characters are just starting to come alive.

Yeah, I'm a Maka-Maka fan too. I would have loved to see a bit more--felt like it ended before it was done. I wanted to see the two in that really accept that each other was who they really had feelings for, dump the side boyfriends and move in together.

Kishi Torajirou is really good at doing ecchi scenes that concentrate on the erotic but still bring feelings in, or even, the feelings make it sexier.