Up until now, I could still somewhat sympathise with Niji. But with this blackmail plot, she's actively villainous—and not in a fun way.

If we consider from Niji's perspective, we can realize she still likely cares about (her idealized) version of Remu. She knows almost nothing about Azuki and believes Azuki is taking advantage of Remu by grooming her to act differently. From what she's seen, Azuki looks very bad, so she wants to save Remu. In fact Azuki, has made morally questionable choices by getting involved with a student this way.

The very obvious info to readers is that Azuki is not particularly taking advantage of Remu and that Niji is the one holding Remu hostage in order to force her to act like a different person. Niji may feel very bad once she realizes this, but for now we need her to make more bad choices.

On mangadex, I joked that we needed Remu to become more traumatized to catch up to the older characters. Niji is helping us out.

last edited at Oct 3, 2025 8:31PM

I'm not in a rush as far as this goes, but I will say that it would be really weird if Komaki doesn't apologize to Wakaba before the story is over.

Rereading this, it's interesting rainbow8's interpretation in mind, it's interesting to the extent Io has been instigating the sexual situations. Misa is the one who tried to force herself on a drunk person twice. I realized that, later on, the author is always including something to which Misa is responding.

Sometimes it's Io's physical reactions, sometimes it's her general body language, and other times it's what she's saying in text that's often very small. With the small text, I'm not sure if it's supposed to represent Io speaking quietly, but I find it easy to miss.

This doesn't change the emotionally unbalanced nature of their relationship and lack of communication, but it's a large part of why this story doesn't feel like only other people doing things to Io. Io is pushing this Misa to make it more sexual and, in the process, making Misa open herself and connect with Io in a way Misa seems afraid to do with other people.

I also still think there a lot of parallels with how Io reacts to Hase and Misa. The main difference is the amount of flushing in Io's face with Misa, which happens much faster and with less stimulus than with Hase. Io also has more relaxed/dazed expression with Misa. With Hase, Io's expression is more guarded and she appears to be preparing herself for what comes next. That Hase/Marei groomed Io to act like a doll and not resist what other people do physically shouldn't be debatable at this point.

Edit: Also, the hostess club owner internally tells herself it was "love at first sight" when she found MIsa and outloud says that she knew Misa was a lesbian. Did Misa have some type of relationship with the hostess? Did she go Marei / mold apartment woman as a student ->Club hostess as an 18 year old runaway-> one night stands where she acts aggressively and vows never to get attached->Io? Whatever is between her and the hostess might have something to do with her present demeanor.

last edited at Sep 28, 2025 6:28PM

@RandomGuy

I was kinda hoping that Komaki would have the tables turned on her at some point and break down presented with the possibility of actually losing Wakaba for good. I enjoyed the bullying, pining, and toxicity, but I did want Wakaba to actually get a win and force Komaki to act in order to progress to a proper romantic relationship, rather than having her just roll over and accede to Komaki’s BS. For all I know, that might still happen, and Wakaba might pull off some shenanigans in order to force Komaki into confessing first, but this chapter does not make me feel confident.

That makes sense, thank you for explaining.

With anyone hoping for a post relationship story, I can see that. It's the type of story that will be over once they establish their relationship in a healthy way, but we don't know that at the start. I however thought it was clear from the beginning that there would be no "turning of the tables." From the beginning this was Wakaba trying to save Komaki, who she thinks has fallen into a destructive way of thinking.

In the chapter 1 flashback with Komaki we get: "Say, Wakaba, I'm a human being, right? When they talk about me, they say I'm "perfect and can do anything," but as a result, I get yelled at and disliked. I'm really a human being, right?"

Wakaba wants to free her from this burden, which is the real reason she's kept competing with Komaki.

As she says: "I want to knock Komaki down from the pedestal she looks down on me from, so that we stand on the same ground. I want to prove she's not prove she's not some perfect being. That's why... [Out loud] Umezono, I'll beat you. I'm sure of it."

Wakaba never wanted to establish dominance, make Komaki work for her approval, or anything like that.

My guess for the ending is that Wakaba finally wins a bet, which connects with and resolves that narrative thread. Then, instead of getting Komaki to cut contact with her, she'll tell Komaki that they're getting married or whatever. Komaki wouldn't be able to keep up her act of being perfect and shaming Wakaba for being inferior, it would help Komaki's self image that she's not some type of freak or disgusting mix of perfect flavors (soda chapter) that's inherently unlovable no matter what she does, and Komaki would have to talk honestly once the bet framework is out of the way. Who confesses first will matter less at that point, as they'll finally be able to have a conversation.

last edited at Sep 28, 2025 3:19PM

In US terms, I think it just depends on where you are. Never heard of them going for apartment dwellers, but if you have an apartment of higher income people with a nice buzzer system maybe you would try going through the different units to see if anyone would talk to you.

I can't remember the last time I heard about someone going door to door to sell their knife kits and doorknob cleaners, but you could still get requests for donations or boyscouts or girlscouts selling their wares. In a couple different localities, I used to get Spanish language Jehova witnesses, who would still give their fliers and tell me to scan the QR code.

There's also two different ways of handling utility companies. One the companies can establish a defacto monopoly by controlling the infrastructure and who provides your utilities is determined by where you live. The other is more of a free market system where different utility companies compete for you to buy through them, who then pay the owner of the infrastructure. This is similar to how you can get a cheaper cell phone plan from a third party company that uses the towers of one of the big three. In the second systems, the companies do employ solicitors to try to get people to switch.

Fewer people than in the past will answer their door if they weren't expecting anyone, but I wouldn't say there are no solicitors in the US.

last edited at Sep 27, 2025 9:03PM

Ehhhh I feel like this is either gonna go nowhere or the most predictable route possible
I like the premise and the weird distance the two have for now, but after 9 chapters of nothing but buildup and tease, the eventual payoff had better be at least satisfactory. Maybe I'm being a bit impatient idk

I appreciate Miyagi's motive behind teasing Sendai, and that's the one thing that has been developed relatively the furthest, but it moreso drags things rather than intrigue me

The payoff is great, but very slow. What you're seeing with this arc is typical. There was a huge buildup, then all they accomplished was that they will still see each other despite them being in new classes and in a different year. The small achievements add up over time.

Since no one can explain how they made it through almost 3 complete volumes while not liking Komaki or the manga's premise, I'm going to choose to believe you all are being forced to read this by a hot girl who wants to watch you suffer through reading comics you dislike.

I find everyone's feelings perfectly valid as a preference. I can't help wondering what you all were doing this whole time while Komaki has been telling Wakaba she's stupid and gross while attempting to coerce her into sexual situations.

In some ways this series is very tame, but it's been all in on shaming Wakaba and making her cry from the beginning. It's a tailor made series for people with very specific preferences.

I know they drew it like it was an act of pure evil, but stealing and destroying the lip balm from an open love rival is far from the worst thing Komaki has done to Wakaba. Komaki believes she's basically been forcing herself on Wakaba for most of this story.

She was attempting to do something unforgivable here, though. We need some dramatic framing for Komaki's last stand, or the last stand of her insecurities at least. I think she saw at as her last ditch effort to make Wakaba hate her before Wakaba pairs up with Matsuri, which Komaki is expecting to happen eventually regardless of what she does. Being more hateable is one thing she's got going over Matsuri, in her mind.

I appreciate how Matsuri is quite clear-eyed regarding Wakaba. I wasn't sure about her for most of the story because it felt like she knew Wakaba's real feelings were towards Komaki, but still tried to take that "special" place. Maybe it's true, but looking back after this chapter, it's clear that she's truly willing to be as close as possible to Wakaba, without being her special one.

Also, making Wakaba confront her feelings directly. Thank goddesses for wingwoman Matsuri.

On some level it seems like she's hoping for Komaki/Wakaba to implode and then for her to be the one there for Wakaba instead. She's not trying to break them up or anything, but she's wanting to push them to resolve the situation one way or another. This is likely why she came off as pushy or calculated at various points, as she wanted them to move past relationship limbo so she could either take her shot or move on as well.

That she's planning to stay friends in the second case is significant, of course. The chapter establishes Matsuri actually is that nice.

last edited at Sep 25, 2025 10:16AM

The main question I have on this subject is if there are going to be an gay male relationships. We hardly ever get them in yuri series, even the ones that include straight side characters, and if they do it's often relegated to an extremely minor or joke character.

This author seems like they would be willing to ignore such conventions if they wanted, but we haven't had any such hints yet. Not that I blame them if they're more comfortable writing relationships that involve women.

I should make it clear that I don't see story criticisms as being critical of any real world group. I have seen (and I'm also thinking of other threads) bisexual characters being treated as heterosexual or otherwise inappropriate if they pursue a male love interest, but this is entirely different from what one considers good writing.

@SrNevik

Yeah, others have mentioned this potential parallel. I'm interested in finding out whether that's intentional on the author's part. It could lead to an interesting resolution to the problem between these students. Right now, they are mixed in a really thick web of feelings. I'm hoping Nozaki doesn't do anything rash, though she is a high school student with an apparently long-held crush being threatened, so maybe I'm asking for too much. I also teach, so some of these issues are a bit funny to read about.

Nozaki is something of a shit stirrer who was being won over by Kuritani being nice, so having Kuritani approach Nozaki's greatest insecurity will result in some type of drama. I kept expecting Kaizuka to see the condom Kuritani practically had displayed on the bag under her arm, but he was too flustered to notice. Establishing Kuritani as promiscuous was her original goal, so I'm expecting something along those lines.

Now that you mention it, I think that was the type of thing people liked to say to discredit female student's reputation when I was a student. I pretty much withdrew from school social life and focused on my books instead of student drama, so I never paid much attention to this type of thing.

@LilyBlueCat

I think it’s partly a coping mechanism. Speaking for myself, it’s a fairly common trope in Yuri manga that when a male character is introduced, he often turns out to be a "scumbag". While this trope seems to be fading a bit, it still happens quite frequently.
As you mentioned, there’s often a situation where the main character or love interest has both a female and a male character pursuing them. Since it’s a Yuri story, it feels natural to root for the female character rather than the male. Because of that, I sometimes dismiss or belittle the male love interest, assuming he’ll turn out badly. But if I see signs that he’s actually not a bad person, I tend to ease up on that judgment.

I've found it to generally not be the case that the men are auto scumbags, at least in the stories I read. Usually they're portrayed in a more complex way, even if they have issues, and their scumbaggery is on the same level as the female characters who are largely excused by readers for equally problematic behavior. I still wouldn't like it if a yuri advertised story ended with the male pursuer interest being selected over the female love interest, or even if Kaede left Nami for the male teacher, but it doesn't make the male pursuer pure evil.

This is outside of "Everyone is a lesbian" style stories, where the men are either villains or yuri knights. One I'm reading now like this is "My Intern Bullied Me Again!". It was lamp shaded at one point that everyone at the company the characters work at turned out to be lesbian or pursuing women. Usually authors make it clear whether or not it's going to be this type of story from the beginning. Subverting that with an established character would be something of a betrayal.

last edited at Sep 24, 2025 4:58PM

This isn't a response to anyone, but I find the absolute double standard toward male characters on here funny. There are other series where the MC or love interest has both a female character and male character interested in them who is possessive and manipulative, but people will act like the man is absolute scumbag in relation to the female love interest. If the male character ends up doing anything kind or sympathetic, the readers are shocked.

There's also a less funny bias toward bisexual characters, who will be in this story at some point. I get this to some extent because "bisexual who gives up on a lesbian, who often dies or similar, and then marries a man so she can have a legitimate relationship" was common in media for decades. When we have a series like this with a celebrated wlw relationship at the forefront, I find this sentiment less sympathetic. It's like readers think a character being bisexual invalidates their attraction to women.

I don't mean to get political on here, but there should be room for stories with bisexual or even straight characters. Not everyone needs to read them if they prefer otherwise, but it mirrors real world dynamics much more. That's important to a story like this about how people resolve messy situations involving love.

@SrNevik

Kaede has her hands full for sure. I wonder if her GF will also inadvertently help again. Each issue has needed some reminiscing to help find the solution. She's a love detective at this point.

It seems likely. A big part of the story is Kaede processing emotionally unprocessed issues through her advice to the students. Nami was stated to be popular, so Kaede would have had to spend time watching her interest be pursued by other people after being rejected. This may relate to the continuation of the first love conversation.

It's interesting because Nozaki, who looks and acts more like Nami, is paralleling Kaede's situation more in this way, but Kuritani is more like Kaede in appearance, personality, and confidence levels. She should be able to relate with both of them.

last edited at Sep 24, 2025 12:53PM

Kuritani at least is clearly attracted to men from this chapter, so Kuritani as a lesbian is out.

I haven't written of Kuritani / Nozaki, but they will have to resolve the Kaizuka situation. It's not clear what Kuritani will do if she has to choose between her new friend (who approached her due to Kaizuka) and Kaizuka, but I don't think she'll want to sell Nozaki out unless Nozaki makes an enemy of her first. Kaede may help bride the gap in understanding between Kuritani and Nozaki when that happens.

last edited at Sep 24, 2025 9:33AM

It looks like my prediction of Misa keeping a completely isolated Io at her apartment has panned out, except Misa is almost in the same situation, and Io is refusing to sell her out. The agency may still try to blame Misa, but they won't be getting a statement from Io unless it's under heavy coercion, like something on the level of physically threatening her.

Waka went pretty fast from being worried about the implications of releasing photo to "It would have come out eventually, so I did nothing wrong." Like Io and Misa, she has demasked herself, but in her case it's that she's accepted she's okay doing things like this to get an advantage.

Hase and Marei having a breakdown powerlessly is somewhat funny, given how much they've been played up as a threat. It shows us that their relationship is a lot more than the professional one and that they likely both care about each other. At the very least Hase cares about Marei, but Marei must know she couldn't easily replicate her relation with Hase.

@rainbow8

IIRC Misa doesn't have prior BDSM experience, and Io certainly doesn't, so they're making it up as they go. You can't forget something you never knew.

I also occasionally see claims that safewords aren't as big a part of Japan's BDSM culture. A source I lost said they relied on "just pay attention"; this one is more negative: "Never have I ever heard Japanese people in the scene talk about considerations related to BDSM best practices in the States, such as negotiation or safewords."

Thanks for sharing that.

Strictly speaking "just pay attention" is enough outside of CNC. You only need an understanding of what it would look like if one of you needed to stop, which I increasingly think should be explicit conversation for any couple (even though it isn't always a conversation even in US BDSM). "No means no" is a good default, but some people shut down when they feel threatened or think they're being clear when they're not by the other's standards. Similarly, having a safe word doesn't establish the person will be able to use it if they need it.

From the referenced paragraph, I thought this was interesting:

I mean, there was one occasion where I was about to pass out and I said, in Japanese, it's choto kimochigawarui, which means, I think I'm going to faint or I feel odd.

Because it's roughly how I would phrase this. If I know the person isn't trying to make me pass out, I don't need to safe word or tell them to stop. All they need is this information about what's happening. I think this can generally be a good system.

The safe word would of course very much be necessary if someone wanted to replicate the comic IRL without Extremely Bad stuff happening, given they went deeply into CNC while barely knowing each other. Thankfully manga characters like Misa can reliably intuit the "subconscious consent" during dramatic scenes accurately enough that things mostly work out while skipping conversations, unlike people in real life.

last edited at Sep 21, 2025 4:05PM

This is going a lot better than I expected, with Yuni still being happy about the matching outfits, Yuni impressing Nanase's mom with her cooking skills and bonding over how Nanase only cares about volleyball, and the campsite being more of a comfortable rural house than what I think of as camping. Yuni angrily grilling to perfection was funny. Nanase's mom seems like she would back Yuni becoming Nanase's wife at this point.

I'm thinking that Nanase not bothering to invite Yuni for a seperate trip with just Nanase and her parents will mess this up somehow. We even have Nanase's unrequited lover being openly hostile to Yuni. Given that both Nanase and the volley ball team have very different personalities and boundaries than Yuni, Yuni ending up in an uncomfortable situation where she feels vulnerable is very possible. The campground setting means it's not easy for her to get away if that happens.

last edited at Sep 19, 2025 9:00PM

@ Cornonthekopp

How did you end up turning into a fox news segment by the end of this??

Anyways I think that the concept of Takahashi needing to kill people to survive is a hard one to swallow, and in all likelihood there will be times in the future where she kills innocent people. Itou adheres to her own principles above all else, so I wonder what conclusion she will come to?

She doesn't strictly need to kill people, given we now know all she needs is the skin. It seems to have been the safest way to do things. Otherwise, even a recently deceased elderly person would be an option if you could figure out how to skip medical appointments without scrutiny. Whoever left just the skin is likely still in the area and Itou doesn't mind "bad" people being killed, as well.

I'll be surprised if they go there with murder of the innocents. We only need Takahashi to care enough about Itou's feelings to be willing to put herself at risk of capture in order for Takashi to want to seek an alternative. This could easily be the case in a couple years. If this backfires, causing Takashi to be captured or at risk of it, and Itou has to save Takashi then there would even be room for some engaging plot points around that.

last edited at Sep 19, 2025 1:04PM

It happened in her other short (the one I'm assuming you were alluding to in your earlier comment called "Their Secret Time?").

Yeah, that's the one. A lot of people did think it was unclear.

And yeah, I could see them having an issue that they overcome later but I could also see them just being a more or less established relationship with an interesting history that oversees all this school drama while they have sex at every opportunity and gossip about stuff. I feel like the smoking gun has to reappear at some point though, so maybe you're right; it really could be an obstacle they deal with towards the end.

Kaede considers herself inexperienced. I am thinking she will be learning from the students and her interactions with them, then taking that into her own relationship. They are relatively established, but it's not clear exactly how long they've been together romantically. I noticed now in 5, after Kaede tells the student (Nakanishi) that Kaede is a relationship with a woman, Kaede explicitly says "Nami's gonna throw a fit if I tell her." Even Kaede seems to expect an argument at the minimum.

I also commented earlier on how strongly the author telegraphed a coming Nozaki / Kuritani relationship by setting them up as a parallel. I am expecting the author not to subvert this, given the amount of details that went into it, as well as other similar implied plot points. The specifics are unclear, but I take this as a general direction being implied.

@SrNevik

Thanks! That comment you quoted is what got me thinking about this. Back then, I didn't understand why the author would see the scenes that way. Rereading it with more story information and also with certain life issues on my mind, I found their interactions moving and wanted to write more about it.

My expectation is that a future conflict between them is being set up where Kaede leads to other people finding out about their relationship. In addition to Kaede finding multiple students attractive, we had the break up threat and Nami telling Kaede not to let a student confess to her, a female student confessing to Kaede, and then Kaede telling the student that Kaede is dating another woman, which led to the student saying she was waiting for Nami to mess up.

It would make sense if the story developed more in that direction. Nami could be angry that Kaede didn't prioritize their relationship and could distance herself from Kaede to protect their careers. I also think this wouldn't be a permanent fallout. I would see it more as a growth opportunity for Kaede.

Maybe it won't happen exactly like that, and I may reevaluate more during my reread, but I'm expecting at minimum an argument between them.

last edited at Sep 18, 2025 5:34PM

I'm rereading. I don't think the author intended "the ultimatum" the way people are thinking, but I could be wrong here.

The way I'm seeing this that Kaede was interested in Nami as a child, but thought Nami was not interested in her. She then stayed interested in Nami for around a decade. This led to her developing a strong sense of shame around her interest in Nami and her attraction to women in general. Even if Nami is now reciprocating, it's difficult for someone to feel secure in this situation. Even if it was some person other than Nami, Kaede would still feel a sense of shame, just not as much.

The interactions that seem creepy to many are part of how Nami reassures Kaede. She does this by giving a Kaede a sense that Kaede isn't in control and isn't responsible for what's happening. This is why the author sees it as a loving relationship, even though Kaede is crying during sex and similar. Given the author's previous short with identical looking characters where they have a similar dynamic, it's safe to say that the author doesn't see this kind of dynamic as something to fix. Although they can't undo their history, they use it to connect with each other and feel close to each other.

In terms of the statement about leaving Kaede, that was very blunt. We know Kaede has a tendency to go along with what other people are doing, even when it's not good for her. This likely is an area Kaede will grow in during the story. In the mean time, Nami is saying something Kaede will remember so that Kaede prioritizes both of them. While it wasn't clear to the viewers yet, Nami knows Kaede's limitations very well. Kaede is more likely to do it for Nami than for Kaede herself.

Their texts are about meeting for sex, but we see them talking to each other during breaks. They don't need to conversationally text if they see each other daily. They still are very busy with their responsibilities as teachers, especially during the week, while Kaede herself made the infamous statement about wanting to do it every day. The night meetings are a way Nami is accommodating Kaede by meeting later at night, after they've finished everything. Kaede even thinks of the statement about Nami leaving her next time while they're doing sexual acts. In retrospect, Kaede is clearly getting off to even that comment, but also with the whole dynamic of being summoned to Nami's apartment. Nami may have known what she was doing better than the viewers.

I expect development in their relationship, with Kaede becoming more independent and therefore more trusted by Nami. Still, interpretation their dynamic as many readers have will confuse readers. The scenes feel very different to me upon reread with this mindset. It might make less sense to people who can't relate to why this has felt desirable to Kaede, but the author writes from their own perspective.

last edited at Sep 18, 2025 12:15PM

It's not clear how serious that was beyond wanting to keep it private, but we may find out later. My guess is that two female teachers who work in the same school being in a relationship openly could be career killing. Someone more familiar with Japan can comment on that if they want, but it could have been Nami's way of emphasizing to be careful instead of a literal threat about what she plans to do.

I saw people on mangadex were getting the two adults (Kaede/Nami, not sure what their full names are) mixed up, which confused me since I thought it was clear they were separate characters. One person was saying it's bad writing to set it up like a flashback and then abruptly switch to two similar looking characters.

Rereading it, they're right that it's set up similarly to a flashback in chapter 7 ("When did you first fall in love?", transition to Kuritani) and that they do look somewhat similar. Nami and Nozaki both have somewhat over the top, dominant style personalities toward Kaede and Kuritani. Now that I write that, I notice their names start with the same letter as well. The difference is that Nami likes and values Kaede now (given the author's twitter allegedly shows the author saw the Nami/Kaede scenes as loving), despite still saying mean things to trip up Kaede for (I assume) fun.

This makes me think the reading of Kuritani and Nozaki being future lovers is being telegraphed more strongly than I realized, to the point readers who forgot about the earlier chapters are getting them confused with Nami and Kaede. Rather than the teachers breaking up, I will expect Kuritani and Nozaki to pair up instead.

last edited at Sep 17, 2025 11:54AM

From the comments, I thought something extreme happened, but it's just that Nozaki approached Kuritani due to jealousy and doesn't actually like her. She hasn't acted as if she likes Kuritani and has been low key negging her constantly in between the exaggerated compliments and body language. Disliking Kuritani means Nozaki's feelings are in line with her actions.

In another series, this would be a good set up for them to develop a genuine friendship or romantic relationship as they learn more about each other. There's so many plot threads going on this one that I'm not sure they'll follow that setup or not, but I'm enjoying their dynamic. I'd like to see more of them together in future chapters.

last edited at Sep 17, 2025 11:03AM

Starting the day with fluff yuri is a cute behavior. Send anyone who doesn't approve to me so I can glare at them condescendingly.

I do go through periods where I'm more or less interested in a genre. The tropes tend to get repetitive if you overdose on one genre. I'll keep reading my favorite ongoing series from the genre regardless, though, as those don't get boring.

Currently I'm mainly reading yuri comics and Terry Prachett novels, but in the past I went through periods where I was more interested in male demographic isekai and regression stories, where I was more interested in straight female demographic otome game series, and similar. The commonality is that I tend to like fantasy and drama the most.

@Chocolate Cake

Not consciously for sure.
And either way, it may be on standby but I can't actually turn off the "yuri mode" in my brain. Could be a side effect of being gay.

I was going to say it was a side effect of me being chronically single for a number of years, but maybe I will also go with this explanation to maintain what's left of my internet dignity.

last edited at Sep 15, 2025 12:57PM