That was a surprisingly smart move. Since this won't discourage Yu Dingdang, I'm curious what she will do now that she has an "explanation".

Ming Wei's eyes look so dead in the presence of the empress dowager, oof. Who's a lot more evil that she looked at first mostly because she doesn't recognize that the current pairings are best.

P.S.: that blush from the "emperor" is adorable. One more victory for her wife.

last edited at Dec 18, 2023 7:48AM

Is that a new cover ? It's criminally cute.

Well, future mother-in-law definitely gives a lot of mad scientist vibes. Either way, mad or not, that's good science.

It's long gone beyond the superficial crush she had, there's some real commitment on her mind. And Mitsuki finally starts getting that into her head.

I guess it is somewhat funny that we went from a crush from shared interest to aiming for true commitment and just skipped the "getting together" part between the two. But it also shows that they both are looking into a possible relationship and how it writes into the other parts of their lives, making efforts to make things work from the get-go (with Joe and Kanna being examples of why figuring those things out matters).

Don't tell me it's going to be foursome thing...

Unlikely, I'm counting six women.

Ah, yes, Rutou caught on Wamura's dastardly plan to be called by her first name... and counter-attacked with a little sister act. Truly, a battle of the minds for the ages.

If it wasn't for the fact that it came as such a surprise, Miho and Seo turning into psychopaths and watching Satsuki from afar in a kind of battle between villains would be quite exciting.

I mean, this looks awesome.

I don't think it should even seem remotely tolerable at all. Making the guy this completely disgusting conveys the message that what is expected of Ciel is completely disgusting.

If things had gone otherwise and someone reading it arrives at the conclusion "it's not as bad as if the guy was disgusting", that would have been a failure from both the author and the reader. It doesn't matter that the guy is nice or not, she should equally not be required to go through this.

Arguably the guy could be less cartoonishly evil (the MagiRevo example of handling this situation comes to mind), but I don't think it would make a meaningful difference, because this isn't cartoonish enough to be unrealistic.

If the line "Like we'd ever fight" turns out to be a jinx, that might not be a bad thing. Kase's behavior has been calling for a fight for a while and she's taking many things for granted, while Yamada's consistent refusal to voice her thoughts is also a source of problems. So them fighting for those things once and for all and setting things right might be a good way to clean things up.

This arc was a good example. The issue isn't "just" with Kase and Fukami' behavior, it's how everyone accepted and normalized their actions and didn't take a step back, look at things in a new light, then go talk to them and tell them their actions aren't right.

Of course, the alternative is to pretend the drama didn't happen, Kase and Yamada would never fight, and they'll live together and everything will be fluffy in the future. I'm not gonna pretend I would mind that.

So that makes both daughters who have left the house and are living on their own (or rather, with their girlfriends) for good, thus giving the middle finger to their toxic parents. Excellent.

I understand much better now what you and I are feeling.

X Doubt

I think Matataki understands better than Yuu.

Fukami, realizing that Kase was willing to bet her moving in with her girlfriend on their race, realizes that she dodged a bullet. She'll find someone else.

Or something. Not much self-reflection over the events of this arc, at least Kase telling someone that Yamada is her girlfriend is a nice step. Now she'd better be extra cute and caring to reward Yamada's patience >:-)

Definitely that, but for me also that, even though I’m by no means shy about commenting on stories, I don’t really have much to say about this except, “It’s good, I’m enjoying it, and I’m interested in what’s going to happen. And I like the art, too.”

Also "those end of chapters fluffy chibi are adorable".

The duke's been rather inflexible before, so things might be easier with this kid.

Oof. Might have been true if Yvonne had actually been a kid... but here, they managed to get blasted with wind powers instead. As least that does count as "different", I guess.

Not that those assholes didn't deserve that or worse.

TIL that the author is the same as for Childhood Sweetheart Liaoliao. I should pay more attention.

So, why was Ming Wei there ? Looks like those two are plenty ready to keep an eye on each other.

Love it, two couple's worth of comedy to look forward to, plus the shenanigans between Qi Nian / Tan Tailan and Yu Dingdang / Ming Wei.

My guess is that "FINE, I'll marry somebody, now stop bothering me about it!" was the entire extent of the plan.

She didn't even think of how to get through the first night, and had to improvise. I wonder how long that girl will manage to keep her crafty empress in the dark.

I'm quite happy with the pacing, heck, I wouldn't even mind a bit more. I hate these kind of story arcs -- I understand their relevance and importance, and the conclusion of this kind of plot is a satisfaction, but that doesn't mean I don't feel like shit after every chapter until we reach said conclusion.

Introducing an issue and solving it quickly, preferably in the same chapter, is something I often find valuable. Doubly so when the outcome is predictable.

Also, I love that final page and Ciel's mix of blushing, tears and relief.

Dunno how it will end but I'm greatly enjoying the closeness Lapis and Diana are showing now. Far cry from the frustrating earlier chapters where they were both obsessing over Natori.

The pair's moral bar lowers. Little sis' IQ lowers. Yanagi's self-respect lowers. Comedy soars.

Meanwhile, Momo keeps blindly scoring critical hits.

Guess that ending connects well to the comment above about how Mu Xiaoen is waiting and taking her chance, not solving problems for others. Since this story doesn't really do pulled-out-of-a-hat resolutions handed on a silver platter, Shi Xingyuan will have to solve her past issues by herself.

Wait, what does Ren Xing has to do with this ? Looks like Gu Yi got a few wrong ideas.

Not that Liaoliao has made things clear so far, though.

Also agree with the other comments that this arc feels weird and a very forced attempt to make us sympathize with Prez despite there being no justification at all, in addition to Seo's turn being literally out of nowhere apparently just to give them a justification which was never present in the manga so far.

It's also completely ignoring the content of volume 6 and going in a completely different direction with no acknowledgement of it whatsoever.

Maybe the author is planning to pull a reversal of the recent events. Or they didn't know where to go in terms of content and wanted to change and spice things up, even though it made no sense with what had happened before. Anyway, this volume has been fairly disappointing. We'll see what the remaining chapters have to offer...

Ho, hey vice prez. Thanks for reminding me that the other half of the stupid murderous duo is still around, I'd actually forgotten.

Both the repetition of the rules and the lack of intimacy make for a strange ending though. What is the conclusion ? That being married is the same as living together with a friend except you also promise to stay together ? The question isn't so much about us knowing they are in love (we know that) and more about why their love takes that particular shape.

Also, there is a pretty thin line, maybe even just a matter of point of view, between intimacy being unnecessary to show your characters are in love, and having to show your characters are in love within the constraint of not showing intimacy. Which I guess is why this kind of resolution reminds people of works from 30 years ago.

In the end, we know they are married, in love with each other, and they don't mind kissing - their relationship is not just for show and there is nothing inconclusive. I don't think there is an argument that the story didn't go all to way to its conclusion, or that their relationship isn't as genuine as any other you could think of. At the same time the last chapter, in which they make their wedding "official" in front of others, emphasizes physical distance (repeat of separate bedrooms and wedding without a kiss), which is a deliberate choice which, at least to me, feels a bit off-putting.

Although not kissing at your own wedding seems kinda strange, and would probably leave the attendees (and the readers) quite puzzled, it's not like they haven't kissed, they did in chapter 30.