Your lewdness lacks story

I think that's the most brutal thing that's happened in this manga. Goddamn, there's no surviving that one

it hurts even more because she knows Utena is right lol

the climax of Makino's character arc will be when she finally realizes people genuinely like her when she isn't acting like a scumbag

Got the feeling it lacks of at least one important tag.

Maybe Bisexual?

Edit: Unless Aikawa Hibiki is one of those yuri girls who inexplicably teasing the girl she likes by blatantly flying her het flag in front of her.

I wouldn't apply the Bisexual tag yet because Hibiki shows no signs of liking Chihaya (yet)

But Really ! Beginning your yuri manga a het kiss ! Next step, beginning a yuri manga with the girl getting fuck by a guy ? Oh, sorry we already have that :/ ! That such a great way to turn you off from continuing your reading. At least for me

don't let the door hit ya

Edit: I really liked this first chapter, it set up a very interesting dynamic between the two girls.

last edited at May 25, 2023 6:36PM

Are there any villainess yuri stories where the villainess is actually fairly effed up? I mean someone like Fukiko Ichinomiya from Oniisama e. She was a seriously nasty person.

Maybe I’m weird for wanting it, but there’s nothing like the thrill of digging into the twisted psychology of a screwed up villainess. Most of these villainess stories are cute, but I abandon them ‘cuz they’re just tsunderes in fantasy settings. Not much real villainy.

Fed Up Office Lady features a villainess as a love interest whose plans are legitimately evil.

Of all the villainess yuri out there (I count this as villainess even though it's not isekai), this one is most similar to a het villainess work, and I don't just mean that the love interest crossdresses. The old fiance is over-the-top evil; almost everyone else, including the servants, hates the MC for no good reason; the love interest swoops in and saves the MC by proposing to her because she "intrigues" them. The only differentiating factor, aside from it being yuri, is that the old fiance's new girl doesn't appear to be an evil two-faced white lotus, I assume she's being blackmailed or something and will probably need to be rescued later.

All that being said, Ciel's "real" personality is a lot more fun than the shoujo love interest facade she puts on while crossdressing, so I'm hopeful that now that the obligatory setup is out of the way (and the over-the-top evil former fiance hopefully won't show up very often) the manga will become more fun. Thanks for the translation!

Miss company boss, with the huge ribbon in her hair? She's my new hero.

Make a new manga series for her.

She's way too interesting to just be a one-shot punchline character. I too demand more of her.

Thirded, that was one of the more brutal rejections I've seen and it ruled. CEO Ribbon Lady x Risa is my new OTP.

I'm really not seeing how people think Nanjou will reciprocate in any way to Riri. To me she is 100% fully devoted to the Nurse (forgot her name) and has shown zero interest in Riri romantically.

You can't say zero interest after this page -- not to mention the "doki" sound effect here. You can't even use the excuse that Nanjou is just surprised or embarrassed because this is like the 100th time Riri has confessed to her.

Now, is this definitive? Of course not, it's only three pages. I still think Nanjou/Nurse and Riri/Uda are the most likely side pairings. But those pages exist for a reason; they're setting up something.

While I love Anemone, it's been a very predictable manga up until this point. But the end of chapter 31 implying that Nanjou might be starting to reciprocate Riri's feelings legitimately stunned me and now I honestly have no idea how that subplot is going to end. Uda/Riri and Nanjou/Nurse still seems the most likely but Riri/Nanjou would lead to a bunch of interesting plot developments if the mangaka decides to take that route. To be honest the love triangle subplot had kind of bored me but now I'm really engaged with it lol.

I was just wondering when Flowerchild Ueda would write a new manga! Misa was characterized pretty interestingly, she kind of went as close as you can to the line of sexual assault without quite going over. Which does make her the most moral of Ueda's MCs so far lol. There's a lot of directions the plot can go from here so I'm curious to see what'll happen. Thanks for the translation!

super cute!!

Reading this second chapter, IDK if this is the intention, but just my interpretation at least, is it reads as a little bit like being in a cult, and the isolation and control tactics used to keep one in it. (Mainly based off that significant shot of the shrine during the talk with the parents in this chapter.) First chapter was an outsider being brought in, initially uncertain, but turned against the outside world; the second is someone of wavering faith trying to get out, only to be foiled in the end.

Or it might just be about how small towns kinda suck lol

Or it's about how small towns are like cults

Yeah, I slowly changed my opinion of Kakei too, she's still taking it out on everyone, but she's not two-dimensional! I'm happy you're liking it! I hope it stays a story that delves in the subjects and doesn't just cruise on the surface.

It feels like the major theme of the manga is the damage adults cause children by treating them without respect, as if the child is just an object. Miki is shaping up to be the character where this most hits home because she's been literally treated as an object, but it's true for all the kids. Asako is the only adult who's actually trying to meet the children on their level -- whether it be by giving Masashi a friend (though the flirting is probably not wise lol), getting Yukako some self-confidence, or shaming Sayaka's parents into taking her seriously. Miki is a cruel girl, but I'm positive her rant in chapter 10 is not the only time she's tried to cry for help under the guise of insults, and it seems like Asako is the first person who's actually attempted to understand her. The irony and tragedy, of course, is that Asako is only able to do this because she's even more broken than the children she's trying to help -- she's trying to show them a road she herself is unable to take, as it were.

I don't get why people want Sakura to be part-succubus, it's much funnier if she is really human and all the girls are getting horny all on their own.

I gotta say, this is one of the rare manga that, whenever I have a concern as to writing quality, that concern always gets resolved in future chapters. In the first chapter, I was really annoyed how Masashi's parents brushed off that the other boys literally almost caused him to die, but their conflict with Sayaka established that the parents are kind of just shits who care more about not rocking the boat than they actually love their children. I was initially worried that Kakei was just going to be a stock mean girl, but chapter 10 revealed that she is the way she is because a series of adults have (at least statutorily) raped her, and she's reacted to that by trying desperately to reassert power wherever she can. (So I disagree with Daphie's commentary that she's just an asshole; if anything she's the biggest victim in the manga after Asako herself -- after all, (ch12 spoilers) a kid only uses a threat of suicide for manipulation if they've had someone do it to them.) And the implication that Asako as a kid was much like Kakei suggests that her weird flirting with Masashi is less the manipulations of a pedophile and more her repeating what she herself once went through.

It's a very dark manga and so there's always potential for it to drop the ball with any of the very serious issues it's discussing, but the chapters so far give me faith that the mangaka knows what she's doing and is trying to write real human drama, not stock character archetypes. Thanks for picking up the translation and I'm really looking forward to future updates!

this manga is moving at an impressively brisk pace

really loving this manga. the first chapter was pitch-perfect as a oneshot, which can sometime mean trouble when expanding on it into a serialization since Ichika's character arc has more or less concluded. switching PoVs was a great move because it introduces us to a new character who's just at the beginning of her own arc, while also hammering home the tragedy of chapter 1. really curious to see where the manga goes from here.

and Chitose has potential to be a truly terrifying villain, if that is indeed the role she ends up playing.

The priest saying he'd rather kill himself than let his daughter bear the burden of guilt feels like an obvious death flag, but this manga has maintained a fairly lighthearted tone despite the extremely brutal subject matter so far, so it's hard to know for sure.

Transcript (based on Youtube's auto-captions and my ears where it seemed off):

でも、百合漫画なんでちゃんとこの男子は恋愛にこは絡んでないです。
見ての通り険悪な関係性なんで安心してもらって。
今回の絵で百合漫画っていうのなんかすごい信じてもらえないからすごいですね。
なんかちょっと…この契約な感じとか…なんならこう男女物の恋愛漫画でこういう雰囲気の剣カップルみたいのもいるじゃいないですか。
こんなこと言うとすごいダイアナちゃんに怒られそうだけど…
ダイアナちゃんにもグランくんにも怒られそうだけど、あの、こういう雰囲気の剣カップル…男女、恋愛漫画っぽさも、例「？」はある。
全然そんなことないんで、ちょっと安心していただければ。

Rough translation:

"But it's a yuri manga, so this boy isn't involved in any romance. As you can see, it's a hostile relationship so please be at ease. You can't believe its a yuri manga based on this drawing, right? Somehow it feels a bit...like a contract...sort of like, a het romance manga might have a sword couple with this sort of vibe. Though Diana-chan would get pissed at me for saying this... Both Diana-chan and Gran-kun would be angry, but um, there's precedence to have a sword couple with this of vibe, like a het romance manga. But it's not like that at all, please be assured."

Basically the upshot is "it's a yuri manga so Diana x Gran isn't happening don't worry" lmao.

(Also Diana sticking her tongue out is super cute.)

last edited at May 12, 2023 9:27PM

when Ayaka is happy i'm happy :)

Reread this in honor of Stella Record ending, and I still really like it. I think a lot of the hate this manga got is due to misplaced expectations -- basically people expecting this to be a yuri romance manga. Lemonade is a yuri manga in the sense that Youko is in love with another girl, but it's not a romance manga. Rather it's a coming of age story, focusing mainly on Youko's character growth. Her crush is an important part of her growth, but it's important inasmuch as it creates in her new emotions that she doesn't know how to deal with. While the plot is largely about Maki's unrequited love for Keita, the story is about Youko learning to deal with her jealousy and resentment to support Maki and at least to understand Keita, even though she never stops hating him. I think this manga does an excellent job depicting subtle growth and maturity for all of its middle school characters; it feels very real and grounded to me, which I very much appreciate because romance manga, particularly ones that take place in elementary or middle school, are so often highly idealized.

I also, honestly, quite like how the manga uses Keita. Like @MegaWallflower says, it has the setup of a typical "male lead is a jerk to the MC and she claims to hate him but really likes him" -- Pikari and Naomi even accuse Youko of this directly -- except Youko legitimately does hate Keita and never really warms up to him. Keita's teasing of her isn't a meet cute, it permanently ruins any hope of him building a positive relationship with her, romantic or otherwise. I think that's really interesting! Youko eventually coming to recognize that Keita isn't actively malicious and has positive qualities, yet never making up with him or becoming friendly, is a real rarity when love rivals are almost always either pure evil or future friends. Even a lot of adults are unable to admit the humanity of those they hate and Youko developing the ability to do this is one of my favorite parts of her character arc.

The last chapter admittedly is pretty out of place with the rest of the manga -- thematically it probably would've been more appropriate for Youko's first love to be unrequited and for her to try out dating her kouhai instead -- but as an epilogue that rewards its characters with a happy end I think it serves its purpose well enough.

Anyway, that's my opinion of Lemonade. If you happen to be reading this comment and haven't read the manga, give it a chance! Just don't expect it to be something it's not.

last edited at May 12, 2023 2:49AM

Shioya Teruko is a very interesting author; her three yuri serializations -- this, Lemonade, and Atashi no Senpai -- are all extremely different from each other. Stella Record is my least favorite of the three (Lemonade is controversial here but I think it's great if you don't go into it expecting traditional yuri) just because it's the least grounded in reality; it's basically a screwball comedy with side dishes of melodrama and slice-of-life romance, with a blazing fast pacing that hurt each aspect. Makoto kissing Ritsu in particular feels pretty inconsistent with the light and breezy tone of the manga as a whole, with even Kyouko more or less forgiving Makoto immediately for her scummy behavior. Still I do like both MCs, particularly Kyouko and her ridiculous overreactions to everything, so I don't think the manga is bad or anything. Overall it's a fun, fairly enjoyable yuri comedy.

Thanks a lot for the translation! For what it's worth I think the oneshot prequel is genuinely excellent, and Shioya's work is interesting enough that I'm looking forward to her next serialization whenever she gets one.

I'm really enjoying this manga! It has a unique tone, talking about very serious moral and political issues with a sort of light, almost comedic framing.

Also, I have a problem with the girlfriend asking her to quit her job so they can hang out more.

Benika didn't ask Rose to quit her job: "I mean, it doesn't have to be that extreme, and I don't know much as a student, but don't you have options? Like a transfer or extended leave?" It's neither selfish nor controlling to ask your partner to adjust their work schedule so you can interact with them more often.

100%. It's just that in those other instances you've shown, she uses clear language to distinctly differentiate her old feelings from her new feelings ("but," "but" etc.). Here, yes she noticed a difference but it's a positive difference, an enhancing difference. She liked their game representation and is initially shocked that they're now "arguing." Then she realizes: essentially, "in the game they were close but here they're seem even closer!" Since they wed in the game, being even closer now might have meaning. That's all I was pointing out. A part of all these types of Isekai villainess game stories is this idea that the game world shifts and stories change and you're right that, that's definitely a major part of this story.

Right, but what I find interesting is that, as she interacts with the other characters, Natori seems to be questioning the underlying ideological assumptions of the game she loved so much as a player. As she says, "this world exists for the protagonist and the main characters"; Diana is the protagonist so "anyone she injures with her power must be 'evil'", while Lapis as the villain is a mere stepping stone for Diana and Gran's character arcs. But in this chapter we see Natori, not just reevaluating her opinions of Lapis and Diana as real people and not fictional characters, but also implicitly criticizing the game's ending by telling Gran he doesn't need to become King. So while I agree that your interpretation of that scene is plausible, I think "Diana and Gran never had much romantic chemistry to begin with" is also a plausible route the story may go from here.

The only issue I see is that because Lapis has to be sidelined so much to start, it leaves her character in the position of needing to "catch up" to the familiarity other characters have already garnered. But as long as the author knows this and has prepared for that, it's fine.

In fairness Lapis got most of the page time in volume 1, so it makes sense for volume 2 to focus more on Diana and Gran. I just hope Nekotarou isn't going to wait too much longer before revealing what Lapis's real plans and motivations are, since it would make the central romance less compelling if we know little about Lapis until the climax.

Yeah it's possible. We'll have to see more. However I'd contest the idea that Natori views their relationship in game as "bland and lifeless." She never says this or thinks this. The only thoughts about their game interactions she has are positive. She thinks of their scene from the game as a "lovingly calming scene," and says no more about it. She just recognized that in this new interaction the "players" seem even more close and enjoying themselves even greater than before. That "bland and lifeless" I think is maybe your own feelings on the issue, but I don't see the character suggesting that same feeling verbally or through actions. Beyond that I agree that the possibilities are still varied at the moment.

I see your point, but Natori re-evaluating her opinions of the game when she meets the characters "IRL" is a consistent theme of the manga. "In the game, Lady Lapis seemed so scary, thinking only of the rules of nobility, but, here, the sight of her wanting to protect the place she admires so much seems so grown-up...or rather, so noble..." "From across the screen of my phone, [Diana] was an earnest, strong-hearted girl whose sense of justice never got in the way of her kindness. . . . But, here, right next to me, is a girl who's scared of her future." You're right that I was exaggerating when I said Natori is coming to view their game relationship as bland and lifeless, but I also don't think that Natori's feelings on the game while it was still a game can ever be assumed to remain the same now that the game is her real life.

As for the chapter's purpose: I think this chapter was more focused on introducing this idea of people chained to their destiny, especially Lapis (and Natori's potential to be the breaker of those chains, as she does a bit for Gran). Gran was/is chained and he seems to suggest that Natori might be the one to show Lapis that there is another path. This implies that Lapis also views herself as having no other path but whatever one she is on. So from my perspective, the story is setting up/foreshadowing Natori and Lapis here, more than just contrasting the game.

This I 100% agree with. I think Nekotarou is using the otome isekai premise to make a thematic point. The characters in "Fairy Tale of Jewels" were obviously chained to their destinies because they were fictional. But even now that it's real life, the characters all feel obligated to follow their prescribed role because they lack the imagination and/or courage to see other paths they could take. Natori's status as an outsider is what enables her to see beyond these limited horizons.