Personally I ship Mizuki with the highschool teacher.

...did they even interact once?

Incest aside... that would be a horrible fate for Mizuki.

Lol. Let's hope you're right.
Although, if this forum is any indication, the bulk of the followers will be people who actually have a real interest in the series. We have in this thread about a hundred commenters who love Taiyaki's work, and only two worthies who claim they read it out of morbid curiosity... and one of them hasn't been heard of since they slapped a ban on him for bad etiquette. I'm certain that most of the Japanese readers will be real fans who sincerely appreciate the basic premise and the serious, original way the story is being handled.

I already count 4 people who said they read it out of morbid curiosity and I think that's low-balling it. Most people who do that just don't comment lol

Taking a story seriously and not liking the basic premise are not contradictory anyway.

It's not that Nene is inconsistent, it's that she is contradictory. Intentionally I assume, but still.
At best she has mood swings, at worst she is bipolar.

^90% of the game is gameplay. The story is always fairly short compared to the quests, grinding and trophies. Anyone who plays these games seriously, as ya know, games, will spend 20 hours not even seeing a dialogue box overall. Using CGs and sprites does not a VN make. The style is reminiscent, but it is really common in JRPGs. It's not a VN with gameplay. It's just a game. The creators, the publishers and the fanbase are all clear on this. You're the odd one out, sorry.

Anyway, Kindred Spirits is a true VN without gameplay and it is easy to get for free, so nobody has an excuse not to read it.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 2:22PM

And here I still find more things to be confused about!
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch07#29

Everyone had a similar surface gut reaction to this page, but there is just so much off about it. First of all was Nene jealous or just annoyed?
If she was jealous... of whom and what? No seriously, hear me out.

1. She could be jealous of Kou "flirting" with another girl and not paying attention to her after this big power play (especially bad because its Amane)
2. But maybe... she is actually irritated that Kou would pay more attention to Amane for the opposite reason. What if she can't stand the thought that Amane and Kou get along better than she and Amane do? This could be the tiniest flash of jealousy for her ex.
3. The word "cute" has literally been cut off. Nene might have been jealous of the fact that Kou would call Amane cute on their date. That she would dare to look at anyone else. Not because they're going out, but because of her complex.

In a way, it almost felt like her attempt to hurt Amane here backfired.

I don't think she was pretending in her relationship with Amane because Kou doesn't think so. Kou sees through her picture that there is a bond between Nene and Amane which is alive even to this day, and Kou is the protagonist so her point of view carries some weight.

I'm absolutely aware that narratively its implied and desired that Kou solves this issue and that they are actually compatible and were both in love.

I'm just wondering how this contradictory evidence fits the narrative direction. If we take what we've seen at face value, Nene's intentions can be questioned from dozens of angles. I'm not saying she didn't love Amane, I believe she truly did. It's more that she might have told herself that it was all make-believe. Most likely after the breaking point.

^The Neptunia series games are not Visual Novels. They are 100% standard RPGs. Just becaus the story mode is in a similar style to a visual novel doesnt mean it is one.
Though you aren't wrong, there actually are VNs with gameplay interspersed between story segments.

It's just ironic that she is jealous of someone who loves her so much and sees all her good points better than anyone.

Well, it's a fact that Nene is jealous of Amane's cuteness. The manga doesn't even hide it:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch04#29

This entire thing is just really strange when put into juxtaposition with this page:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/luminousblue_ch05#7

This would imply that at some point Nene was happy about Amane being the cutest (which would make sense for your girlfriend). But the contrast is so stark that I'm starting to wonder if Amane's memories are even reliable.
It truly seems like girlfriend Nene and present Nene are two different people. Which suggests there was a breaking point.

She told Amane at the beach that she has no interest in romance right now (possibly because she wants to focus on modeling).
And during the graduation where she broke up she said things like "It's not about love or hate, I'm not a kid anymore. I can't do this anymore." or "I can't keep pretedning to be going out with you during high school."

Was she pretedning the entire time? Does she really not have an interest in romance? It almost seems like the reason is something typical like "We are both girls, so this is just playing around and has no future", but then why would she go out with Kou? Then would that mean she truly only used Kou for this nonsense?

I thought a re-read would make it clearer, but it only made it worse.

It's quite the menagerie of messed-up people isn't it? Kodama Naoko would be proud.

Not sure if you missed Blastaar's sarcasm.

Not sure if you missed the sardonic meta.

I assume you were refering to the characters, while Blastaar was refering to the other menagerie... the readers.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 9:20AM

It's quite the menagerie of messed-up people isn't it? Kodama Naoko would be proud.

Not sure if you missed Blastaar's sarcasm.

For what we know, Aoyama may even be non-binary.

As I always say when non-binary and trans stuff comes up... always assume the more likely case, which is that they are cis binary and probably straight until proven otherwise. There is no reason to jump to extremes unless the tagging or genre enables it. It's not unexpected for people to see lesbians everywhere in a yuri manga, but it makes little sense to assume they are around in most straight shows.

The same applies for non-binary people. There is really no good reason to think they would be relevant here.
With the only argument as usual being "you can't proof they aren't one" for now.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 8:54AM

Dunno, Nene still give Kou till fall for a real answer so it's not like she really cornered her by giving her no choice.

She didn't corner her by making an ulitmatum, quite the opposite. Instead of telling her she has to choose, she instead pressured her with a "trial period". Kou is soft and gives in fast, but she really wanted to reject her. By making it just a test to see how it works out, she inadvertently made Kou unable to refuse.

@BugDevil The other theory is that Nene will start to live overseas at fall and so she does that because she know she won't see them anymore after. That or she know she will die at fall cause of severe disease and she doesn't care anymore.

Those guesses don't really fit in well with the narrative, unless Nene is so in need of attention that even if she dies soon she still needs to drag someone into it. But that would just mean she is using Kou, which is no better really.

I have already brought this up 2 chapters ago, but in the first place Nene's need for attention and breaking up with Amane seem contradictory. Amane has been calling Nene cute every single chapter until the recent one. She has said her smile is pretty too, both things that allegedly made Nene fall for Kou.

Amane doesn't seem the type to be sparse with her display of affection either, so why is Nene acting like Kou is the first one to ever do these things for her? Clearly Kou is a replacement... but why? Why would she need a replacement?

Sure most people will say because of outward circumstances or because she was forced to break up... but isn't it just jealousy? Amane is certainly cuter and praised for her cuteness. She would easily make a great model (and was apparently used as one by senpai repeatedly). So being with Amane might just fuel her complex to the point that she turned blind to the good points.

It's just ironic that she is jealous of someone who loves her so much and sees all her good points better than anyone.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 7:50AM

On that subject i had a question: Is Aoyama a girl or a boy ? Can't really put my finger on it.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/a_room_for_two_ch44#10
Him? Totally a dude. Hence why he later wishes they had more guys in the club.

Yukiko has no interest in showing straight relationships

If i was nitpicky i said we've seen Saku's parents.

I mean that's the good thing about Futaribeya... it doesn't ignore the existence of men. They just don't play any important roles.
But did you really see any of the relationship between Saku's parents? Not really. They sure were in the same house I guess. :P

Neither did the dorm girl or Saku's other siblings.

If you talk about Yukari, i think she pull off a Maki so i don't think she will be in a relation of any sort and for Saku's siblings, they don't have that much screentime anyway to get a focus on their relation.

I'd say everyone who doesn't get into a relationship here can be stamped off as straight and clearly Yukiko has no interest in showing straight relationships play out. So most side-characters just fade into the background and seem to stay single.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 6:30AM

It's not that I'm totally against it, but the syndrome of romance comics have everyone pair up ... including the grandmother's dog ... is kinda trite ^^

Well, I would like to add that the couples are being set up fairly early and strongly telegraphed. It's not like everyone gets into relationships. Most of Saku's and Kasumi's friends didn't for example. Neither did the dorm girl or Saku's other siblings.

If a pairing is going to happen, Yukiko doesn't obfuscate that intention for long. Hina and Fujiho are actually the least build up until now and there is no real change in sight, but it still seems blatant that she intends to go there eventually.

[Also, err, since when are you only allowed to break-up with people after giving mountains of reasons`? Sometimes people don't work out. Saying so is not a crime. Holy Maria-sama Watching Tie Adjustments, people.]

So you read that part of the comments (wrongly), but not the actual context?
Nobody is saying Nene has to keep being in a relationship with Amane. The point is that she was clearly hiding something/lying. And that just breaking up without giving reasons (especially when it's an obvious excuse) is just shitty in general.

Uh... I have no idea what is happening here anymore. Something about a spiritual vodoo cult? I'll just try and focus on the stuff I was actually involved with.

I don't think "repression" is a good (narrative) answer for what's going on with Ayako. That might or might not be plausible irl, but in fiction I expect certain internal logic to be upheld, and if the mother is first shown to be oblivious, and then later shown to be not-oblivious earlier, than that's a problem the narration needs to explain ...

Assuming you were replying to my statement there.

I understand why this seems like lazy writing or a shoddy retcon. The best way to look at it is that Ayako stopped exploring that feeling before she could fully register what she was even thinking. LIke "Did I think of my daughter as attractive? Naaaah, that`s crazy. Makes me feel sick." And that's where the topic died for her.

Now in the early chapters she seemed oblivious, but is there any reason for her to figure out those feelings just because of one stray thought years ago? It would also not help her realize Asuka's attraction to her. So as far as I'm concerned this didn't contradict the context (yet).

^I think you're really cutting Atlus too much slack. Those easy demands will barely challenge their limited budget and time at all! Like this they will only have to crunch 20 hours a day. We can squeeze out 4 more hours.

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 2:53AM

^I usually equate VNs to choose-your-own-adventure books with pictures while you listen to music on your phone.
Either way, it's not like there aren't ways to get VNs for free if money was actually tight...

Yaoi glasses are still more powerful than yuri goggles with most girls. We need to mass produce these goggles already to make it even!

That aside, good to see where Mikage's idea for becoming a gyaru came from. A closet Otaku. How fitting(?).

last edited at Jun 26, 2019 1:12AM

Well if Amane cheated I wouldn't say that but, I'm guilty, I know I will still hate Nene even after it is explained why she is a bitch to Amane.

Although we have seen the way Amane thinks about her and I wouldn't say that's how a person who cheated would think about their ex, but this is fiction and real life so anything could happen

I'm not discounting the possibility, although it seems a little out there. But that would still not justify Nene's behaviour. It would only explain it.

It's not like I can't see Nene being misunderstood or pitiable. I may even grow to like her by the end of the manga, who knows? After all, many well written characters have done contemptible stuff.
All I am trying to say is that you don't need to know a character's backstory or be "manipulated" by the author to see that these were cruel actions. There is no need to revise that statement or those impressions, because they are unrelated to the future information.

This is not a case where we see a character kill someone and then later find out it was actually self-defense or something. Unless there was a literal threat on Nene or Amane's life if she didn't act like a collossal bitch there, I don't believe we have to reconsider.

^I don't believe you.
Also I'm not sure how to break it to you, but a visual novel is more like a book than a game.