Well, until that happens I will be a little disappointed with every chapter without her.

I'm just not following you. How is any of that suppose to make me sympathetic to Mei crushing Yuzus heart? I have said that excusing her actions being that of a selfish teen doesn't make any of it better in my eyes. She played with someone for her own self satisfaction when she knew the entire time what was going to happen. Getting caught up in the moment isnt an excuse, especially when after turning Yuzu down she went on the aggression after Matsuri entered the scene.

I also want to make a correction. Mei didn't want to always take over the school. She spent the last 5 years taking care of everything in hope that her father would return and take it over. Only after he told her he wasn't returning did she finally choose to do it herself. And he didn't necessarily abandon her, he offered for her to come with him but she refuses and stayed behind. Not exactly what you should do with a small child but he did give her a choice.

Excepting Rin, that was the first time any of them had ever interacted with her in any way outside of a work environment. And she didn't keep in touch with any of them. Making me doubtful she would have met up with any of them even had she left for a more local company. Especially given her lifestyle.

And that's one of those what-ifs I was talking about. We will never know because there is a planet between them now. Besides, if what you say is true then why would it matter if she worked at another Japanese company and not in France? At least then I could get me my dose of yuri.

last edited at Feb 22, 2018 1:05PM

But Mei is all about the long play. Even as a child she did everything she could to prepare for her father's return. Children are not suppose to plan that far ahead. And her dream to take over the school requires her to plan at least her next 5 years. And with her already having been engaged once before she had to have some idea what she would have to do sooner or later. I just don't see how she couldnt have known about future engagements.

Knowing all that, I just can't help but feel like Mei played Yuzu. Even though she actually loves her she did play her by not telling her the whole truth.

I really don't see how you can claim any of that. It's just not there in the story, at least not yet. Mei has been shown to be a smart capable woman. She has shown to have issues with relationships but not with school or taking over as headmaster while her grandpa was in the hospital. She has always had her future planned out and should have known that her engagement was right around the corner.

Even if she wanted to act selfishly and childish for once she still played with Yuzu knowing that it would eventually end with Yuzu being heartbroken. Maybe not that month or year or 5 years, but she knew it was coming eventually and did it anyways. Even if you want to excuse it as her being a selfish teenager it still doesn't make it right or make me any more sympathetic to her.

I never said it didn't make sense, I said the opposite in fact. I just said that I didn't like it and I think it detracts from the story by cutting out perfectly good characters. I liked Kou so I don't like the fact that she left. I don't have to see the end of a story to not like the parts leading up to it. If you like it and can justify it to yourself then that's good, but for me I wished it had been different. And once again I don't like how much it detracts from the yuri.

And besides I don't get why you are claiming she wasn't close with her other coworkers despite the fact that they all showed up to the airport and cried as she departed. That makes it seem that they were closer than just coworkers.

last edited at Feb 22, 2018 11:48AM

Sorry, didn't think we were talking about the same thing since you were asking where Mei went on the offensive.

Then I don't know what the issue here is. Mei is still on the offensive in chapter 12 and they are officially dating by chapter 16. Mei went on the offensive after shutting down Yuzu the first time and that makes it hard to forgive her in the long run.

last edited at Feb 22, 2018 10:43AM

After Mei witnesses Matsuri kissing Yuzu Mei hugs Yuzu from the back, feels her up and licks her neck. She then tells Matsuri to back off her future girlfriend. If that's not going on the offensive I don't know what is.

last edited at Feb 22, 2018 10:13AM

I have never been a fan of the idea that just because a classmate graduates, moves away or a colleague gets a different job that they all of the sudden cut ties with the characters left behind. It's a trope I personally am not fond of and is probably why I'm just not enjoying it happening to Kou despite it having an actual realistic reason, moving to a different continent.

Until I see where the author is going I can't help but feel it being a subtraction, especially on the yuri front, and when we do finally see the story unfold it's going to be hard not to think of what if Kou had been present the whole time.

To be fair, Mei resisted the relationship for a long while. It was Yuzu who aggressively and persistently pursued her, even though she should have known how unlikely it was to turn out well.

I know Im repeating myself from my first post but the most recent episode of the anime compliments the current manga events quite nicely. In the most recent episode Yuzu asks Mei if she can hope for their relationship to become anything more, of course Mei shuts her down with the classic "no, we are both women and sisters."(I would have liked to see her reveal her eventual engagement here since that would be a bigger barrier than their genders and legal family relation.) That should have been that, but then as soon as Mei sees Yuzu getting close to someone else she drops the excuses and goes on the offensive. I just can't forgive her for doing that to Yuzu. It would have been much easier for Yuzu to get over her then but Mei disregarded Yuzus eventual heartbreak because of her jealousy.

Enjoying the happy moments in the Anime is much harder knowing full well what comes next in the story. It just makes Mei look more and more like the bad guy.

last edited at Feb 22, 2018 9:38AM

It was for story reasons, though, and I much prefer the author feel they have the freedom to evolve the story instead of falling into the ever-so-common manga trap of not wanting to change anything about the formula for fear of losing popularity, leading to things starting to stagnate.

Personally it just feels like a subtraction than an evolution. I just feel like they could have had Kou go to a different developer in Japan so that the other characters can change as the work environment shifts but Kou could still show up and hang out from time to time. Would have liked to see her interact more with Momo and Naru before her derpature. And of course it cut the potential yuri content in half.

Supposedly that was released in a bonus booklet that came with buying one of the volumes in certain stores. It is drawn by the author. Beyond that your guess is as good as mine as to whether it is considered canon.

If I remember correctly it's suppose to be the author revealing the end game of the manga just in case it was cancelled before it actually gets there.

The fact that Mei decided to date Yuzu, give her hope for the future, while fully knowing that one day they would have to break up the entire time makes it very hard to be sympathetic to her. I can fully understand people hating her, not because of her duty to her grandfather and family but because of the way she played with Yuzus heart.

I miss Yagami :(

Biggest mistake I think the author has made. It's just not the same without her around.

Ive been reading up on it a little more. According to Wikipedia, even though Omiai isnt exactly a full arranged marriage and more like a job interview, only 6.2% of Japanese marriages in 2005 were arranged via Omiai. This is a significant decrease from a top estimate of 30% in 1998. If anything it seems times are changing, hopefully Yuzu can force this kind of change into the Aihara family.

The recent episode just made me wonder, when Yuzu asked Mei why she can't expect more from their relationship she said the classic because they are both women and sisters. Why did she not tell her that she will also have to marry a man if she wanted to become head of the school? Seems to be a bigger issue than their genders and legal relation.

Yes, what happened is tragic, its something that should not have happened, but Mei was just being the child of a traditional Japanese/Asian family; i.e. living under the pressure of a mountain load of traditions, duties and responsibilities. I doubt most of you bashing this chapter have ever experienced it (to that extent, that is), and most likely, you never will.

Most Japanese women don't seeing as how the average age for a Japanese woman to marry is 29. Seems to be just an excuse to repeat the plot from volume 1.

last edited at Feb 21, 2018 10:55AM