luinthoron posted:

Goddammit, guys, jumped the gun and ruined it all...

Yeah, a confession is not a party, is something very delicate between TWO people

That’s why I prefer to see this as a bunch of tropes crashing around—if we were to judge this by the ethics of everyday life, the whole gang is behaving inexcusably badly.

The rest of Mei's response is a predictable part of her personality. I'm not surprised by her personality after all this time. She has her quirks but it's noticeable when she's making an attempt to be "softer." For someone else that might be dry but for her it reads a bit different. She'll always be like that.

Your lack of surprise at Mei’s personality is neither here nor there. Mei now reads as even colder and more distant when interacting with Yuzu than she has in the past, and certainly more so than in the original series. I see this as less a function of the supposed psychology of Mei the imaginary human and more about Saburouta’s current perfunctory approach to characterization—Yuzu shall be warm and bubbly while Mei is reserved and emotionally distant in order to show the contrast between them, and thus it shall ever be.

For every instance of Mei acting proactively affectionate toward Yuzu in Citrus+ we have had exponentially more scenes of Mei scolding Yuzu, putting her in her place, telling her that she should be doing or feeling something other than what she is doing or feeling (as happens here), or generally behaving as an authority figure (employer or strict older relative) rather than as a partner in a romantic relationship.

Readers desperate for some slight sign of actual intimacy between the MCs are free to read “softness” into Mei’s minimal and ambiguous facial expressions, of course.

For what's it's worth, I thought the phrase was inoffensive. The addition of "I would rather," and "feel as though you need to" did soften it enough. It's much different and less direct then the common "you don't need to concern yourself with [insert issue]." And even that phrase is all about it's delivery and context.

If anyone has said that the phrase was "offensive," it's news to me. But in idiomatic English, the phrase "don't concern yourself with" (as opposed to "don't worry about," say) almost always implies "butt out." As I said, I don't think that's what the scene is going for, though.

The fact is that Yuzu has been very explicit that her newfound academic diligence is all about equipping herself to help Mei in her work. Mei doesn't preface her reply with anything like, "I appreciate you wanting to help me but . . ," and her "Would it be all right to consider this matter resolved, then?" is perfect managerial-speak when dismissing an employee with an insignificant problem.

Yuzu trying to get any affection out of Mei is like squeezing blood from a stone.

I'm not sure the author quite realizes how Mei's statement "I would rather you not feel as though you need concern yourself with supporting my work" actually sounds in this context.

I'm guessing it's supposed to be something like, "I don't want you to worry about me," but it reads more like, "I don't need your help."

True, I skim this every now and then and I'm sick of Mei. I don't need to be reminded of real life in an unserious manga like this...

Maybe it’s just a quirk of the translation, but in English the formulation “you need not concern yourself with” has big “mind your own business” vibes.

That seems weirdly arbitrary and completely ignores the context in which the hug happened, but sure.

It seems "weirdly arbitrary" to me to interpret a transactional encounter like a request for and granting of permission like that one as somehow being a sign of a thriving romance, so I guess we're even.

ZZZZZZzzzzzz. We waited since October for this??????? It's done. I don't care about the academy, Mei or Yuzu. What a waste of our time waiting for this garbage! No hugs, no kiss, no romance. NO MORE!

I wish I could read the same manga all of you do. Sounds like a wild ride.

That would require being able to tell the difference between a "Thanks Mom for giving me permission to go to the amusement park!" glomp-hug on the one hand and a mutual physical-intimacy hug on the other.

last edited at May 20, 2024 12:52PM

Yuzu trying to get any affection out of Mei is like squeezing blood from a stone.

I'm not sure the author quite realizes how Mei's statement "I would rather you not feel as though you need concern yourself with supporting my work" actually sounds in this context.

I'm guessing it's supposed to be something like, "I don't want you to worry about me," but it reads more like, "I don't need your help."

Anyways... YagaKimi may have been finely engineered/crafted, introspective, even subversive... but I don't think it really made my simple monkey brain as happy as YoriHima does.

If I think of these characters not as imaginary human beings with plausible psychologies in a more-or-less realistic storyworld but more like counters in a game of love/friendship/heartbreak and confess/accept/reject, it becomes a lot more fun.

Like, "Ooh! They just played the siscon/incest card! Let's go!"

No it's more like it's on the back burner for right now.

It’s been on the back burner for years.

Saburouta is pretty random in dropping threads or picking up pieces of the past (does anyone in-text even remember the existence of Sara and Nina Tachibana or Shirapon?).

So who knows? The Harumin/Matsuri arc could erupt at any moment or never be heard of again.

The idea that things would "calm down" when the entire responsibility for running two different schools, including the integration of a boys' school and a girls' school into single academic organization, falls on Mei's shoulders alone is all the purest speculation, and in realistic terms is in fact quite preposterous.

Who says she'd be working alone? And the exact form of things is not yet clear. Regardless, she'll be in a better position once this transition is completed for the simple fact that a major undertaking and possible merging will be done.

So instead of being a high-school student council president and heir-apparent headmistress at one school, she’ll be the actual headmistress of that school and the head of an organization taking on an entirely different school, and said activities somehow will give her a chance to rest and potentially pay some attention to her relationship with Yuzu.

And all this is based on what evidence in the text?

It's good for Mei to close this chapter of her life before fully starting her life with Yuzu.

How does adding the running of an entirely different school to her current business agenda (you know, the one that's already so full that she is unable to celebrate Yuzu's birthday despite being in the next room from her) constitute Mei "closing this chapter of her life"?

If now, without being the president of the Aihara academy, she doesn't have time for Yuzu, when be president, imagine

Most of her recent busy schedule (including in previous chapters) has been because of this transition period and the preparation required. These periods can be uniquely busy, uncertain and most importantly, stressful.

She's also apparently been in conversations with boards throughout the area, likely constructing proposals, lobbying etc. Shes even gotten a name for herself because of her work. This seems to have been a long running project with some mentions of the transition earlier in the manga. She's also been doubling as the student council leader, which we see she is now moving away from. Things will calm down when this huge undertaking is over with. Once that's done, she will certainly be able to breathe a sigh of relief (like everyone does when a major project is finished).

The idea that things would "calm down" when the entire responsibility for running two different schools, including the integration of a boys' school and a girls' school into single academic organization, falls on Mei's shoulders alone is all the purest speculation, and in realistic terms is in fact quite preposterous.

Of course, given that it's Saburouta we're talking about here, all that certainly could be handwaved away--that's how this one rolls. But assertions now that it will happen are based on nothing.

It's good for Mei to close this chapter of her life before fully starting her life with Yuzu.

How does adding the running of an entirely different school to her current business agenda (you know, the one that's already so full that she is unable to celebrate Yuzu's birthday despite being in the next room from her) constitute Mei "closing this chapter of her life"?

this is probably the yuri manga i've reread the most atp. it just feels like such a short and beautiful encapsulation of a first sapphic love. it's a shame it had to be cancelled but it honestly adds to the appeal for me by being so short, it feels like the first steps of a lesbian relationship. (and it also reminds me of my first love that ended too suddenly lol)

The MCs are great, but the wingwoman sensei is just the best ever.

The character action until now so brainless you shouldn't even have hopes for a justice ending.

Assuming you're someone who cares about that . . .

Thank you for the quality translation, I very much appreciate it!

What does she mean by "I want to be your mama"? Fuuko has mommy issues but Yuni has a good relationship with her mom from what we have seen. I doubt she will be into this.

The ambiguity is what makes it so great.

The author could have played it as, “I thought what I felt for you was lust, but seeing the baby made me realize it was love.”

But it comes off as, “Sex with you was great, but I really want to change your diapers.”

OMG, that last panel is like the greatest ever.

The teacher makes me so mad she approaches Rei just to tell her Ami can't truly fall in love with someone, maybe she can't fall in love with you fucking hag

That's simply not what happens. The teacher "approaches" Rei to comfort her when she sees a student in emotional distress, in the course of which she discovers that they're both being jerked around by the same person.

Sorry to have asked but why the 'public transportation' tag? o.o?

See literally the first page of the manga? They meet on the train.

What did you think? o.o

As I understand it, some tags are guides to genre, some are content warnings, and some are just pattern recognition (like Not Lizard).

I still think it’s a scandal that there’s no Aquarium tag. (I don’t really think it’s a scandal, but . . .)

Tags are also there to help you find stories using the advanced search function when you only remember a few details about them. In this case, school girls, one with glasses, mostly meeting on the train. (And I agree, Aquarium tag would be useful.) Half the time I respond to posts in What's that manga called?, it's from a tag search just based on the clues they give.

Great point—I hadn’t even thought about the combined-tag search function, since I rarely use it.

I just (half-seriously) think that when a given trope puts in enough work and pays its dues over time it deserves its own tag, sorta like a sports team getting promoted to a higher division.

And Aquarium has been a rock-solid yuri performer for many, many years.

I dunno, that blush at the end was really something, actually surprised me how intense it was...

My first thought was "blush-sex!"

Sorry to have asked but why the 'public transportation' tag? o.o?

See literally the first page of the manga? They meet on the train.

What did you think? o.o

As I understand it, some tags are guides to genre, some are content warnings, and some are just pattern recognition (like Not Lizard).

I still think it’s a scandal that there’s no Aquarium tag. (I don’t really think it’s a scandal, but . . .)

Some notable tactile moments here.

I don’t really care which imaginary human is a good person/bad person/less bad person, and I really don’t care how it ends, in the sense of the good/bad/less bad persons getting what they “deserve,” for good or ill.

But I really do want to see the process of all this working itself out.

Well, this just got a lot more interesting.

Even though I've only read up to chapter 38, I have got to say that.. the little imp is really good at winning over someone's heart. In fact, too good to be true, and luckily she only exists in the manhwa series.

For me this series pretty much embodies perfect gorgeous fluff—it’s hard to imagine anything doing what this does any better than this.

Except that for some reason the repetition of the phrase “little imp” always bugs me a bit. It’s not the phrase itself, which is kind of cute, it’s the over-use of it, and maybe that, while you might tease someone by calling them that, it doesn’t seem like a phrase you’d always use when thinking to yourself.

I still really like this, but for me every time the phrase “little imp” comes up it’s like an off-note in a sumptuous (albeit somewhat schmaltzy) symphony.

On the one hand, I’m delighted that Toxic Newbie has already been taken well in hand.

On the other, any chapter without our idiot MCs interacting is a bitter disappointment.