Also, abuse or no abuse, chapter 8 made me intensely dislike the middle schooler. I guess I get ticked off by people being/trying to be controlling of others.

I feel the same way. Although, in my case I disliked the girl's attitude since the very beginning.

You know, putting aside the abuse aspect, I would like to see more stories where the aggressive/assertive younger girl comes on too strong and gets turned down flat, making her reevaluate her approach.

But the implications here are not even discussed. In 40 years, Elizabeth will be old, but Meg won't have changed.

It's like the "immortality" in this story is just a device to justify sex with an "older than she looks".

Like if Araragi was sleeping with Shinobu: "she's 500 years old, so it's ok".

Dunno what to tell you, the whole "older than she looks" thing (and the character is nearly always female) has become so deeply established at this point that I don't think any amount of rational thought could dislodge the notion of "it's all right, she only has the body of a ten year old."

I like the page where Meg essentially goes "I'm not who you remember ... ah, never mind, I actually am ."

I guess when Elizabeth didn't immediately give up and walk away Meg decided it wasn't worth the effort to dissuade her.

I wonder if Namori had this kind of story in mind when she first introduced the younger versions of the protagonists.

Probly not, back then Yuru Yuri was a temp placeholder name if I remember correctly.

I'm not sure we're on the same page here. I'm referring to this chapter, and wondering if Namori always intended to add more childhood backstory this way.

I wonder if Namori had this kind of story in mind when she first introduced the younger versions of the protagonists.

Ayane-sama delivering the goods as usual, I can't wait until the new Mami x Office Lady doujinshi is translated as well (although the translation here was way off)

What do you mean when you say the translation was off? Are you referring to the original The Christmas Witch oneshot?

You know, maybe I'm just being unreasonably bitchy, but the whole "ominous foreshadowing" (to steal someone else's words) schtick has been wearing thin for me lately. In a lot of works that use it, I feel like too much narrative space is spent repeatedly telling or showing the reader that some dark backstory/subplot exists compared to how much space would be required to actually explain it. When I keep seeing such blatant presaging, I start taking it for granted and lose my anticipation for the dramatic reveal. Unsubtle foreshadowing isn't always a problem on its own, but when it's used too much it starts interfering with actual story progression. Not that this manga has gotten to that point yet, but I can see it going in that direction and that bothers me.

i cant place it but this feel wrong... almost creepy to me.

I agree. There's something a little off about the characters in a slightly threatening way. Not just the president, but Sayuri too. It feels like the MC is being inducted into a cult or something.

Besides that, I'm getting a sense that if our hapless protagonist takes a single misstep one or more of these girls will be running a knife against her throat. Seriously, every character besides the MC just intimidates me in the worst way possible.

i cant place it but this feel wrong... almost creepy to me.

Yeah, I'm getting that same vibe. Hopefully it's just our imaginations.

Wow, this is bittersweet right from the first chapter. Although I'm not sure whether that will continue while Bronya isn't the focus. I guess this is a good way to learn about the other important characters, anyway.

Guys, do remember how Ayumu and Tsubomi broke up.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/met_my_sister_on_a_dating_site_ch09#1

I don't know about you, but back then it seemed like Ayumu's relationship with Tsubomi was a rather casual form of dating, given that she simply leaves in a huff rather than, say, scream in Ayumu's face about stringing her along so callously and cruelly. It makes the current arc look kinda weird in how seriously Tsubomi is taking the relationship.

Well, not to ruffle any feathers here, but I kinda suspect Mochi has forgotten writing that and is on the verge of contradicting her own narrative. Or maybe it counts as a retcon.
Boy, I sure do love when characters are retconned into being complete assholes.

Also, I'm wondering what she'll do after this. It seems obvious she hasn't resigned herself to always using ice magic, but there's no reason to believe that she'll be any more capable of using fire magic than before.

Goes back to being bad at fire magic on principle, I'd imagine. Not like her preferences seem to have changed any. Only now the others know she has this up her (HUEG) sleeve in a tight spot. In case of emergency GET NAKED

The thing is, it's been established that her problem now goes beyond simply being bad at fire magic, to being physically incapable of using fire magic stably. And as it's been described, it doesn't seem like this is something she can overcome just through training and guts.

Rereading this arc, it's interesting to note that Granite's brief explanation of why she hates ice magic fits with an earlier comment about how she prefers things to be absolute; when she kills an enemy, she wants the satisfaction of seeing them cease to exist.

Also, I'm wondering what she'll do after this. It seems obvious she hasn't resigned herself to always using ice magic, but there's no reason to believe that she'll be any more capable of using fire magic than before.

I am finally no longer salty over that cliffhanger. It was totally worth it.

Parnifia the Bastard posted:

Wait, it's seriously going to end just like that?
We just can't have nice things, huh...

Yea. Even if it is good, as long as it isn't popular enough it will get axed. No question asked.

The flip side of that being total garbage (not mentioning any names) can be guaranteed continued serialization just because it hit the right audience. It's a cruel, cruel world.

Wait, it's seriously going to end just like that?
We just can't have nice things, huh...

I'm not sure if it was done on purpose, but not giving much detail on the friend is an interesting narrative choice. Like the narrator just takes all that for granted and is only concerned with their relationship. Though you could probably rephrase that as "The weak characterization is the only thing that stood out to me."
On the upside, this manga prompted me to finally read through the artist's works, which was fun.

This plot's getting so thick, you could cut it with a knife.

Serious question, and maybe I'm being a total killjoy here, but is anyone else bothered when a visual medium doesn't clearly establish the boundary between comedy and reality? What I mean is, so far we haven't really been given any reason to believe this story takes place anywhere but common reality. And in reality, humans can't actually look like that. So, what was Hinata seeing right then? I know it's comedy and I'm not supposed to read this much into it, but I get seriously worked up when I can't tell what's supposed to be real and what's just visual hyperbole.

Nice, so someone picked it up.

Well, less "someone" than the same scanlation group just returning to it after over a year.

it should be noted,
haru literally said that she didn't feel that lonely as she thought it would be.
see, she's surprisingly calm about it. in other words she's just fine by herself in general.

u know wut it means?
she subconsciously feels indifferent toward everybody including natsu,

No, that's completely wrong. I forget where exactly I read this (I want to say Monogatari?), but here's something to think about: "Just because someone is fine on their own doesn't mean they want to be alone." Just because it turns out she isn't feeling particularly lonely doesn't mean she isn't happier when she's with her friends.

A lot of Oneshots like these feel more like the first chapter to a full length series rather then a short self-contained story. Y'know, like a pilot episode of some sort.

From what I understand, a lot of them are that way. If they are well received then they will become serialized, if not it won't have to worry about getting axed.

There are a number of series I have seen that start with a zeroth chapter, from where they began as oneshots (Though the base concept often gets changed once serialized.)

A good example is Kase-san. In fact, that origin as a oneshot is why it has the silly chapter naming; the artist just decided to keep calling the subsequent installments "Kase-san and X" and it went from there.

I've never watched Hibike! Euphonium, and I don't ever intend to do so (partially because I just hate anime), so here's an example I'm more familiar with. In Ken Akamatsu's manga Negima!, when the character Setsuna is introduced it's quickly established that she has feelings for one of the main female characters, Konoka. As the story goes on, their relationship gradually progresses. HOWEVER. Even while that's happening, both girls are still being pushed as "romantic options" for the protagonist. As soon as the two became a thing, I lost all investment I had between either one of them and the protagonist, which makes me wonder why they couldn't just be together without the protagonist's involvement.

To be fair, he did make them straight up get married at the end, and apparently have science babies in the sequel.

I, uh... don't think it worked out that way. I'm not up to date with U.Q. Holder, but from what I've read so far, "science babies" isn't a safe assumption to make.

I thought they canonically didn’t have memories of when they were animals.

I think it's more that an animal's memories aren't as sophisticated as a human's. The Friends don't have specific memories of being animals, but they know how they lived as animals.

last edited at Apr 26, 2018 3:24PM