Man, how I wish Emiri were the main character instead of that personality black hole Asa.

I don't see anything serious going on between any of the girls, so I don't know whether the "love triangle" tag makes any sense (unless sharing a drink is somehow a euphemism for sex).

That said, I mostly like this because of all the shots in and around Chichibu (and some Kawagoe). I've been there a few times while I was in Japan, so it's fun to point out all the locations I recognize

So what started out as a cute shoujo-ai ditty has now turned into some convoluted story about revolution shenanigans....

Nope, not interested. Dropped.

Tbh, the slowburn is amazing

Actually, it's more like a strategy to stretch out the story and churn out as many chapters as possible before readers finally drop the work out of sheer frustration, leading to the the publisher canceling the whole thing. Really, I have seen enough works like this meeting the exact same fate, and it's never a pretty sight.

Well, time will tell whether I'm right or not. I, for one, am getting thoroughly bored with this.

A shield? That's called a cable. Looks like the translator (or maybe even the original author) doesn't know anything about guitars.

There is progress. Both Shino and Nozomi are growing as people.

They have been doing the same song and dance for at least 80 chapters now, so I'm not really seeing it. They get closer, then talk about the dead guy, get upset and move apart again. Rinse & repeat.

I still can't believe we're almost 6 years with this manga. The art improved so much since chap 1

Yeah, but there is still zero progress.

Is it just me. or are their feet getting bigger with every new series?

What, it's over already?

I seriously suspect that this manga is mainly used as an excuse by the artist to draw train stations. Not that I'm complaining...

Ah, Marimite. After all this time I am still in awe how Konno managed to string her audience along for years, constantly hinting at actual romance between the girls throughout dozens of novels, only to end the series without even one couple arising. That has to count for something.

Really, even this doujin goes much further than Konno was ever prepared to go. Well, I still love Marirmite though. My crush was not on Shimako though, but on Yumi. Yup, I like my waifus goofy.

last edited at Nov 8, 2021 12:53PM

Ah, Enoshima. So many memories. I don't remember there were quite that many bunny rabbits there though.

Could anybody explain what is going on in this one? I would highly appreciate it, because I have no clue.

Holy schlamoly, Yokoe... those are some self-esteem issuee you've got there. Therapy, anyone?

Well... the phrase "It is I" instead of "It is me"

Saying "It is I" is still wrong, and it only ever done to parody someone who is overly dramatic (like Leclerc in 'Allo 'Allo). The flub appears to have been fixed now though, but I would suggest they get someone to proofread the text before release.

"She is living with just I, her maid"

Oh, grammer hard being!

Why is the heck this still tagged as "yuri?"

Well, I managed to endure this up to chapter 19, but the combination of terrible artwork and dull storytelling with no progress between the main characters made me decide it's not worth it.

Dropped. On to bigger and better things.

This would have made so much sense, but unfortunately that's not how it went.

I completely lost the plot in chapter 9. What lie are they talking about? And did 2 years really pass already? Also, did they just kiss?

yuri-baiting manga like this one

This manga wasn't advertised by the author or by the publisher as yuri.

I don't see how that is in any way relevant. The manga clearly presents a two girls who obviously have deeper feelings for each other, only for the author introduce an artificial relationship ceiling that makes little sense within the story itself.

It was the story of two girls.

One of which clearly enjoys seeing the other in her swimsuit, while the other girl enjoys the view of the first girl's legs in the water while she is swimming. Hmmm.. now what could be going on there?

I don't see that every story about two girls has to be yuri

You might have a point if this this was a story about two girls talking about homework, but it clearly went beyond that. Now I admit that stories like these tend to introduce massive amounts of plausible deniability, but that's simply a way for the author to wriggle out of committing to an actual romance. It would be much harder to do if the author simply had the girls openly confess their feeling for each other (although not even that is a guarantee).

last edited at Jun 27, 2021 10:08AM

Well, that was stupid.

Is it just me, or is has there been an an increase in yuri-baiting manga like this one over the last few years? I really wonder what causes this. Is it authors getting cold feet? Editorial meddling? Or maybe just plain-old cynicism, reeling readers in with some romantic premise, only to bail out in the end? There could even be some deeper sociological factors at play here. Heck, I would like someone more knowledgeable than me about Japanese culture to figure out this odd phenomenon.

What the hell, Kanade. Do you think it's necessary to rip out Nanaki's heart and trample all over it like that? Nanaki really didn't deserve any of that crap.

So my advise to Nanaki would be: RUN! Get away as far as you can from that headcase. No amount of love of devotion you give her will help her. What Kanade needs is some serious therapy, and it's not up to you to provide it.

I still hope that something positive will come out of this. Actually, I'd like Nanaki to give Izumi a chance. Failing that I will label this work as simply another example of egregious yuri-baiting and call it a day.

a lot of the hate is simply because it depicts a relationship that isn’t what that reader wanted

Ah, the good ol' "you're only mad because you didn't get what you wanted" shtick, used to defend every example of gay-baiting since... well, ever.

The fact is that this story follows all the beats of a romance, then makes a sharp turn and starts being about something completely different, leading to a confusing mess. The author spends chapter after chapter clearly depicting the two female characters as being in love, only to go "Whoops. Sorry about leading you on. This story is about unspecified existential dread instead. Enjoy!"

And if this were only this one work in which this happens then I would shrug it off and contribute it to either executive meddling or the author's own repressed homosexual desires. As it stands though, this kind of attitude is pervasive in Japanese popular media, and it frankly sucks.

last edited at Mar 2, 2021 10:06AM

This manga was never meant to be yuri. Author and editor said that from the start. I don't know why anyone expected anything.

That's what we're told, but it just doesn't jive with what we're presented with. The manga, when taken at face value, starts out as a fragile love story between two awkward teenagers, and either the author did not consciously do this and tried to weasel her way of out this by changing direction, or she got told off by her editor to cut it out in order not to hurt sales. Of course this could also have been a deliberate decision from the start, which would make it even worse.

It's a shame how this charming tale of teenage love gets dropped half-way and veers off into a vague narrative about depression because one girl feels lonely because she doesn't see the other as much anymore, or whatever that nonsense was supposed to be. Unfortunately this type of development is not uncommon in Japanese media, which seems to be fascinated by same-sex romance but can't seem to get over the hurdle of institutionalized homophobia.

last edited at Mar 2, 2021 5:35AM