I kind of get the feeling that people have been misunderstanding what this series is about from the very beginning. If you think of this as just a romance manga certainly it’s going to be frustrating to read.

I think of it as being like one of those art installations where someone rigs an existing type of machine to go through a pattern of surprising variations on its usual behavior.

So it’s really, really stupid—and I mean that in the best way possible.

Yeah I'm surprised by some of the reactions as well. Taking things a bit too seriously, I'd say but who knows. It's a romance buts it's having fun with variations and evolutions of a type of gag. It's tongue in cheek, with some heart to it. I actually like the evolution out of Kimura along the way. Should be a fun ending in a couple chapters.

Yeah, definitely feeling this too. Is it the most emotionally in-depth and gripping romances ever? Eh, nah. Is there some kinda fucked-up implications to the dynamics if you really think about it hard? (at least going a bit in both directions now lol) Probably, yeah. Do I care? Also nah. It's a fun and silly gag manga predicated on cringe comedy, and it knows it; going in expecting something else is just gonna result in a bad time. I'm liking it, personally.

last edited at Apr 28, 2023 8:54AM

Finally, we have all three

last edited at Apr 24, 2023 3:58AM

Though also, if she finds out Michi has been aware of and ignoring her this whole time, that might make for some initial hurt until they can sort stuff out.

If this goes a route of Aizawa staying a ghost, (IE not passing on while Michi ends up with Kasumi or someone, and no coma fakeout; resurrection seems unlikely with how officially established her death was, so popping back out of the ground and resuming her regular life would be hard) I wonder if her muteness will also remain? Part of me feels like the pointed lack of dialogue from her is building up to her speaking at a big moment, but part of me would really love to see the communication challenges of that having to be actively overcome.

I'm glad I read these two chapters back-to-back, because it really does work excellently as a two-parter. Chapter 6 established the original course of events, and then Chapter 7 shows the small but key differences; even if the destination is the same, the path there is distinctly not. It's interesting to me that while certainly incited to be angrier on Natori's behalf than her original self, after a certain point in the duel, Diana started to look like she was enjoying herself. Still angry, but kind of embracing it in a weird way.

At the same time, something else interesting to me is that other than Natori's presence, not a whole lot has actively changed leading up to this? If I recall correctly, what Natori said to Diana during that discussion of her magical strength was almost identical to what OG!Lapis said, just perhaps phrased a bit less eloquently outside of that one specific line? And like, being jelly of the prince instead of falling for him. On that note, the line near the end of Chapter 7, about how he has an active obligation to help problem students, gives me the vibe that that was his reason for tutoring Diana even in the OG timeline, even if it wasn't stated so explicitly there. In essence, while I do feel like yeah, she is most definitely more bloodthirsty-leaning in this timeline, she's still not actually as far off from her game version as one might think; it's as much a difference of framing as it is Natori's influence, particularly in the choice of showing the destruction to the courtyard that got glossed over in (Natori's recollections of) the game. Again, I really enjoy how this is putting that Might Makes Right attitude under the microscope, even as it furthers the possibility of a heroine/villainess role reversal.

Though I don't know if this is just poly bias on my part, but I'm not entirely sure this will be going for something that straightforward. It's interesting to me that the ending of chapter 7 made a point of showing Diana's response to Lapis wasn't envy, but almost regret? That, plus what she said to the prince about how despite her power, she couldn't meaningfully protect Natori. Like, yes, the manga is making a point to show her in a darker light than her original self, and this can further snowball into a full Corruption arc, given enough time, but they're also taking care to show the attributes that made her a good heroine in the first place. That, in combination with the still-extreme nature of what little of Lapis's plan has been revealed to us, makes me wonder if they won't actually go for a full reversal, but rather a much more muddied and grey take on the original course of events where neither party is fully in the right or wrong.

The brief direct interaction between Lapis and Diana toward the end of the chapter was also interesting. Partially from Lapis once again taking an opportunity to foist Natori off on the Prince, (this time more successfully than her first attempt, it would seem) which makes me suspicious there's a specific goal in that beyond just putting distance between them, but mostly in how she responded to Diana's frustrations. In pointing out how protection magic is more complicated than offensive, she shifts away most of the blame Diana's putting on herself, along with encouraging her to take this chance to fix that gap. It honestly doesn't feel that far off from how she then talks to Natori about her self-esteem issues. I think that rather than singling out Natori specifically, she's trying to get both of them to grow into better versions of themselves, which is interesting. However, this being Lapis, there is still a certain level of necessary questioning about if this is genuinely done for its own sake, or as a part of her big-picture plans. Still, it makes me feel like, from her perspective at least, both are equally important. Here's how Poly can still wi- shot

last edited at May 9, 2023 10:37PM

It's not that I mind Zanka having a type, or focusing on a single topic. All their work and art can be about maids, sure, that's no problem. Make a million different maid manga, hell yea that slaps. Nagori Yu is one of my favorite artists, and they have a one track mind too (small young girl and big scary older woman)

The problem is when Zanka keeps one of the series going, it just feels like the same 5 pages over and over. Nothing seems to really change. It even explains to us the premise every single time.

Yeah, even internally it's an issue. I just binged these five chapters and it struck me how repetitive and shallow they were. Idk, maybe I was expecting too much, but it struck me how we know nothing of what the mistress actually does during the day that she needs to relax from, anything about the maids aside from their vague rivalry or personality difference that feels like set dressing more than anything meaningful, or why they both love their boss so much. The first couple chapters were a decent hook, but by 5 it just felt artificial, and like it's stuck on a loop.

Love how genuinely considerate she is. Especially in contrast to the treatment from the prince... poor heroine really needs some therapy. She did what she had to, yeah, but it's still unfortunate that her sense of consent is so skewed.

Wouldn't be an Isekai without a love triangle where one girl is inevitably going to get hurt. Especially since most of these writers never have the balls to go with the polyamory ending

Right... It takes balls to fizzle drama and tension...

I mean I can't remember the last love triangle I read that actually had either of those things. It's almost always transparently obvious what the endgame will be or it all amounts to vague status-quo-is-god waffling in the end.

No kidding

Pardon me for jumping in, but I feel there may be a miscommunication here. While it may be true that some of us simply want an ending where everyone is happy and would take whatever leads to that result, I think many people who ask for a poly ending to a story are looking for something deeper than a typical harem ending. We aren't looking for dozens/hundreds of chapters of potential romantic partners fighting over the protagonist just to end it abruptly with "well, why can't we all share her together?" A proper polyamorous story involves all partners coming to love each other, not just multiple people all loving the same one person. It takes work to do that properly.

Seconding this

Exactly that, with a small caveat: I don't agree with the last sentence.
A polycule doesn't have to have everyone involved with everyone to be "proper". And a polyam story that handles the relation between the metamours who have mutual partners but a platonic relationship with each other can be just as great and takes just as much work to be done properly as one where everyone gets with everyone.

DIfferent flavors of polyamory but all delicious.

Seconding this as well

They're talking about harem endings. And they're correct. If you count harem as poly, which we seem to be considering we're calling one girl having two girlfriends who have absolutely zero interest in one another "poly", harems are far more common in the isekai genre and adjacent genres than monogamous relationships. The "wishy-washy ambiguity" part comes from the fact that the protagonist doesn't usually officially end up with any of the countless characters in love with them, so that the reader self-inserting can fantasise about the protagonist ending up with their particular favourite love interest.

And that's why this is such a point of contention. I think poly-enjoyers might have the wrong idea that poly itself is hated, but in this thread harems and poly are being fully conflated. Harems are, narratively speaking, disgusting. They're Mary Sue bullshit, bad writing that objectifies women for the purpose of fulfilling people's gross self-insert fantasies. I get that there's a market for self-insert fiction, a massive one at that, but harem fantasies in particular reduce women to being property. Every girl in a harem story exists for the sole purpose of falling heads over heels for the self-insert, usually as soon as they meet and for no discernible reason other than "they were nice to me once". I loathe it. Absolutely, positively hate it. It is literally the single biggest problem with the ACG fiction bubble. But it fucking sells. It sells incredibly well, and for bigger series it sells figurines and merch as people chase their waifus. So it just continues proliferating and my hatred of it continues growing.

All of that to say, this is why I desperately hope this manga doesn't go down that path. I'm not opposed to reading about open relationships. But you will never see any of the non-MC characters in these stories having their own relationships. Not with each other, and not with third parties who aren't involved with the MC either. In my eyes, that is absolutely not poly. Because all of the characters exist only to serve the MC's desires, and have no desires of their own. There's nothing romantic about that, and it's certainly not a progressive depiction of relationships.

I feel like the issue here is partially of definition, yeah.

---

Setting aside like, connotative implications and typical tropes, I would say a Harem is a setup where multiple characters are interested in a monogamous relationship with a singular focal character, and compete with one another for the focal character's interest. (A Love Triangle in the typical sense, is merely a very small harem of two.)

Now connotatively, as you said, that usually entails a self-insert wish-fulfillment slant with a bland protagonist, an open-ended ending (though every once in a while there has been the option for First Girl Wins), and a general lack of development or respect for the love interest characters outside of their direct (and often rather shallow) relationship with the focal character.

I do not care for Harem stories as a rule, but Hamefura, (the first season, anyway) along with having a rare bisexual harem, did show it could be done well without most of the above bad tropes. The characters all had decently-established lives and interests outside of their dynamic with Katarina, while Katarina herself, being a decidedly eccentric sort, easily averted the typical Cardboard Cutout Protagonist pitfall. Most importantly to me, at least, one of the things I liked was that even as the characters treated one another as rivals competing for Katarina's attention, they also still generally felt like genuine friends who still cared about and respected each other first and foremost. (Except for everyone ganging up on Geordo, but that was okay because Geordo's the worst.) The first season did wind up in that open-ended state, admittedly, but it still managed to do so in a way that felt satisfying rather than frustrating, since who Katarina wound up with wasn't really the core focus of hers or any of the other characters' arcs. (And besides... in hindsight, that's a much better place than the second season left off.)

I would still define it as a harem because it was still fundamentally monogamous in its framing, and the characters were actually friendly rivals, but still rivals. But at least, it is proof that despite the typical trashy tropes that plague the vast majority, the genre concept isn't inherently terrible and can be done well. That being said, with how Season 2 poured all that goodwill down the drain, and with how I have seen no sign of any other shows or manga breaking that trend, yeah I'm still with you on not caring for the genre as a whole.

---

Meanwhile, Polyamory can take a variety of shapes, not always with a clear focal point individual. Sometimes it's a perfect lattice where everyone involved is in a relationship with everyone else, or sometimes, as Giftnova pointed out, there can be metamours, people who aren't directly romantic with each other but are still friends or at least on friendly terms and happy with sharing their mutual partner or partners. My step-brother is in a poly relationship that resembles a line more than anything else, with metamours a few times removed. I myself am in a relationship that is probably more akin to a "harem" structure, with my girlfriend also dating my two best friends. The key difference, IMO, is in the distinction between metamours or rivals. We're all cool with the situation.

(And one can have a plot where the focal point is in a relationship with more than one of the other characters, but it is still a harem rather than being polyamorous... that would just be cheating.)

---

Bringing this all back around to the original topic, I would currently define this manga as a love triangle, or basically a small harem, yeah. I think it has the potential to be a good one, yes, since both Diana and Lapis both have their own conflicts outside of their dynamic with Natori. (Diana and her relationship with her Might Makes Right attitude, and Lapis's whole brewing scheme, even if the exact details and motive are yet unclear.) Natori herself currently rides the line between being a self-insert and a distinct character, kinda underdeveloped like a typical bland harem/isekai protagonist, but still some distinctive traits and a solid motivation in her anxiety and need for validation. It's still too early to really say if this will improve further, but at least at the level it's currently at, I would rate it above a typical schlock harem handling, but still needing room to grow to match or possibly surpass the small handful of actually good harem/love triangle plots out there.

I guess the big thing is, when we poly enjoyers say we hope this turns into a poly relationship, on the most surface level it's hoping that Natori can be in a relationship with Diana and Lapis both, yes, but on a deeper level, it is hoping that the dynamic between Diana and Lapis will also be explored and shifted in a positive direction, whether that be a full romantic relationship as well to close the triangle, or simply as metamours. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that that is the direction this is going, so I certainly understand your reservations, but that's still what I'd like to see.

Because this forum is exclusively for people who are extremely fun at parties.

Yeah ^^;

last edited at Apr 5, 2023 7:08PM

Very, VERY intrigued by the maid

last edited at Apr 3, 2023 7:41AM

I love characters who are absolute cinnamon rolls but also Will Not Hesitate To Cut A Bitch
Still rooting for Poly, but with the Prince turning out to be a relatively decent sort, and Diana acting more violent this chapter, kinda wondering if this is headed toward her being turned into the new antagonist over time... Would be an interesting direction to turn the tables like that.

Wouldn't be an Isekai without a love triangle where one girl is inevitably going to get hurt. Especially since most of these writers never have the balls to go with the polyamory ending

More writers have the balls to go poly than to have a clear-cut ending where one love interest is picked and the rest are cleanly kept away without wishy washy ambiguity.

Please tell me where this supposed trove of poly stories is, because I'd love to read that.

Though based on you saying wishy washy ambiguity, I think you're talking about something completely different.

last edited at Mar 31, 2023 5:47PM

This seems like a fun start! I hope we get more soon ^^

This seems shallow, but fun.

I was ready to throw this in the trash and just write it off as a dumb decision, and keep this in my reading list for those junk food days.

Then I realized what they're doing and what direction this is going in and now I'm even more on board.

ALEXA. PLAY "HOLDING OUT FOR A HERO." MAX. VOLUME.

Same here

This is perfection

Reading this: "Ahh, this is lovely and well-written, I can't wait for more!"

Reading the comments: "...How are you people calling this boring?"

Just caught up, and wow there's a whole lot to unpack here that I wouldn't even know where to begin with.

But I definitely feel like this is one of my favorites now. I liked the first few chapters, but now I feel extra confident that this is heading somewhere really good.

Also, the eyes! I really love the way the artist draws Aizawa's eyes, particularly the bit in Chapter 5 with her jealousy, and the end of the most recent chapter when the roll was left on her desk. I really can't wait for more of this! Hopefully we get to meet Kasumi's senpai and learn her deal soon.

Having caught up on the past dozen or so chapters all in one go, I'm legitimately conflicted on this. On one hand, the time travel has been kinda hinted toward for a while now, so it's not like it's completely out of the blue, and it does make sense as a way to try to both expand on previously glossed-over worldbuilding and more directly tackle some of the overall issues that have been around from the start, that their confession alone clearly couldn't. Plus, like, after a while of sitting around in this town being even more useless lesbians than usual, this is at least an interesting change of pace as well.

On the other hand, it does still not feel great to me to have it A: Come basically immediately after that confession and basically temporarily undo that progress for anywhere between the next arc to like, a solid chunk of the overall story, and B: tied to this one specific event that DID come out of nowhere and feels just kinda arbitrary and forced. Like I said above, I can assume this is probably going to lead into dealing with bigger stuff than just that? But without knowing for sure, it does come across a little bit like another, increasingly hackneyed way to dodge certain stuff in the relationship development itself and extend the conflict with another tangent, when this whole past arc has itself felt like a huge tangent.

Ultimately, I don't wanna be too critical, especially since we are just starting this new arc/phase, so it's hard to accurately tell where this is going in the long run. I'll still be reading, at any rate, but with lowered expectations until the shape of things comes into better focus.

All that aside...
The grey-haired maid gal, Linda? She's really really pretty, and I hope we see more of her, both in the past and possibly the present. The amount of panels focusing on her reactions to Evie's behavior makes me hopeful.

last edited at Mar 13, 2023 11:06AM

I thought this felt familiar... But yeah, like everyone's said, I'm really enjoying this so far, both keeping the borderline-shitpost spirit of the original version alive, while still imbuing it with more emotional heft. Can't wait for more!

I wish there was an easier way to distinguish between hyper fetishized futa content and stuff like this, where it’s extremely easy to just imagine that Takina is a trans woman

Same here. I generally avoid the NSFW tag in general on here because it usually winds up feeling too shallow and pornographic, (and like, if I want to see porn, there's other places for that) and that goes double for futa content, despite conceptually that being something I really enjoy. But these two doujins really did it right, where the intimacy of the sex and their relationship is the focus, rather than the graphicness, and I really appreciate that.

I actually liked the epilogue. It was a good way of addressing the natural awkwardness that would arise from the sudden shift in dynamics. Wish we could have a full sequel series about the two navigating their new roles and getting together properly, but if this has to be where it ends, it at least reads to me as a solid enough "They'll get there, don't worry" where something more 'substantial' might have felt too rushed instead. I feel like people are so burned by baiting that this comes across badly, and I can understand that and sympathize, but it felt like, about as clear cut-and-dry as it gets, even despite the lack of them officially starting to date. Again, would love more! I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed this was where it leaves off. But at the same time, as a place to leave off, it does feel like a decent enough closure.

Honestly, rooting for Diana, Lapis, and Natori to be poly. Not expecting it, but hoping for it.

Her cookies :(

Interesting turn with the Mom. Lots of characters being introduced all at once, but at least they're doing a decent enough job of it compared to some others I've read.

I adore this. Please tell me there's more?

I really like Kana and Aoi together, they seem the most wholesome duo of the four

I think the beauty of this is that I can understand and sympathize with both sides of this. Is Aya being a little unfair? Sure, but so was Mistuki. Ultimately, they're dumb teenagers making mistakes and dealing with the consequences, but it's nice to have a certain assurance from these flash-forwards that it'll work itself out eventually, so I can have fun seeing how that happens.