LETS GOOOOOOOOOO

Gods Arai Sumiko's writing can pack such a punch sometimes. This latest chapter was so good.

Man I love the art in this. When she decided to kill the ex, she's shown going a different path on the escalator from other people. And she crosses through train tracks to emphasise how she doesn't want to live either.

And the "I should let you get married" page. Damn. "It only takes one day to die by my hand. It'll take sixty years to die in this place."

AHHHHHH >/////<

last edited at Feb 8, 2025 2:13AM

Huh. I really like this. Dark-haired girl has a backbone but is a tad oblivious. The other actually does humble brag and act superior but is miserable. Feels like a nice exploration of their flaws and strengths.

I don't get the ending and even though it's an open one so whatever.
The only interrogation I have is why did she slap her ? She was already trying to kill herself, did she have to hit her ?

You know when someone's acting crazy or delusional and you have to slap some sense back into them?

Honestly I just find the plot fundamentally unbelievable. You're telling me someone who can whip up an intelligent, human-passing synthetic with full sapience couldn't get funding from corps? Techbro investors would be dumping money on her faster than you can say "cheap labor." And that's not even getting into the idea that someone smart enough to make a sapient robot would go "oh you're just a robot, let me edit your mind now that you're obsolete."

Just incredibly contrived for the sake of the "disturbing" ending.

Hell yeah corpos will want something like this but do you know what corpos don't want? A messy legal issue because of a too risky investment. That'd be a drain on money and hassle, especially when right now they have cheap labour from third world countries. You want them to invest money in something that's a high risk, especially when pitched by someone who seemingly lacks confidence? Note that she didn't bother to bring her "intelligent, human-passing synthetic with full sapience" as a sample in her pitch. Even with techbros you still have to make a good pitch, even if said pitch is a lie.

And honestly not sure why it's unbelievable that someone who made a robot to love them unconditionally would be potentially narcissistic or have a god complex enough for them to think they can just edit their creation's mind. In fact, humans have been doing this for so long. Inventions meant to serve one purpose gets repurposed when they become obsolete (e.g., military vehicles repurposed to be public transportation). She never thought of her as a real person, she has always been just a thing for her. And that's why the rip bozo moment is pretty satisfying.

last edited at Jan 10, 2025 3:34PM

I've never understood the "parent(s) had debt and ran away so suddenly the child is responsible for it" bullshit that's shown in stuff like this and Hayate no Gotoku. That's not how any of that works at all. It would actually be an interesting story if this could happen in real life.

As someone who recently helped a friend in this situation (the debt not the pay-for-gay), I can definitely say it happens in real life. Scummy lenders don't care about the law or how it should work. My friend had a legal case to not pay the debt of someone else but wouldn't pursue it due to fear and harassment (did what I could but they wouldn't budge). It's not usually as dramatic as portrayed in manga but yep, definitely happens in real life.

Edit: Finished reading it and I feel like it should have wrapped up earlier. The bits with the friend and everything seemed kind of shoehorned in and unnecessary.

last edited at Jan 9, 2025 2:46PM

I think you guys are taking the het the wrong way. The point of mentioning it to show more of her lost humanity. Yuri is great but it's not as common het therefore it makes more sense as a reference in the story. I mean could you imagine if it said ' the woman I loved'?

An old favourite but this is the first time I'm reading the forum on it I think. Didn't know the statement about the 'man' became such a hotly contested topic when I've always read it like the above interpretation. It's meant to show that she lost her humanity and a sense of normalcy. It points towards why she later thinks about how she resents the original witch along with mentions of other hardships she encounters.

Anyway I always loved this story and the metaphors. I always assumed being a witch is an allegory to being gay here, being different making you feel alone. The whole bit about the forest not being acknowledged by other people linking with how people often try to turn a blind eye to being gay or pretending it doesn't exist. The wounds and frostbite from being out in the world healed in your safe place with your lover. Before and even now, being gay or bi can estrange you from family and brings a ton of hardships on its own. Some slight feelings of resentment could crop up, just human nature, but at the end of it all you have each other.

Khazumin posted:

she's pretty F-in gorgeous

If you think she's gorgeous, why would you give her an F in it?

they said F-in as in "Fucking gorgeous" not the grade F

Yeah, i'm pretty sure that's called a joke.

This was really good. What a well-written piece.

Pretty sure she killed herself. I really dislike it when someone kill themselves over a break up. They don't think about their family or the friends they leave behind. News break? Dating is not the only thing you can do in this world, there are plenty of people out there who's waiting for the future you to be with them.

I know it's old but this is kind of a bad way of thinking cus you're dismissing someone's feelings, something that was enough for them to go off the deep end. If you use this argument on anything else: it's only a job, it's only friends, it's only family, it's only money... All of them are replaceable technically but they could mean so much to someone that the loss of them throws their life off kilter or it could have compounded on top of a lot of different things.

Have a little bit more empathy and compassion.

Blastaar's right...

If the genders were switched...

I have had bad experiences with bringing up this double standard around here... I just try not to let it get to me too much, but yeah, this stuff is bad no matter what gender is involved.
I think the actual reason people are not too critical with it in Mochi's works is that she always gives the characters a happy end and ignores the bad implications for a more fantastic version of it.

I think it's also important to have a healthy amount of fiction =/= reality. Not every depiction of taboo, unethical or morally grey concepts need to be serious. Sometimes it's fine enough to just accept that they're plot devices.

Man it's such a shame that this is dead. I really enjoyed what chapters were available. The character designs are just top notch and it's always fun to have something ala futari monologue.

This is pretty nice. I really like the fact that the opening and ending shows both of them struggling with the end of humanity. I feel like that would be a very realistic outcome - it would feel like a dream half of the time but then the crippling feae and loneliness would set in during the other half.

Rereading this and other older manga... the discussion forums really have not changed at all lmao. It sometimes feels like twitter but worse.

Anyway, the art is still so cute. I always felt like this was just the right length. It's a bit rushed but that's fine enough.

The note about yen to iranian rial lmao

Daaang this might be my favourite from this anthology. It feels the most 'fleshed out' out of all of them.

I'll be utterly honest, I totally did not like the beginning, and moreso the end. I seen "age-gap", but this is literally a PEDO GAP! Mid-Forties, are ye mad woman! But anyways, there were alot of explicit scenes, which i'm not particularly common with in mangas...so...yea

There's a reason why "a work of fiction" was repeated three times in the author's notes. It's not that deep lmao

This was really good. I wish we saw more of Saki and Miya's relationship but tbh this oneshot wasn't really about them. Still, I enjoyed the drama and the story.

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/goodbye_snow_white#16 might be my favourite page. The clenching of Saki's hold and then how she has to let go. You might say she helped set up the meeting to get closure for Miya but this was still lowkey terrifying for her to potentially lose her lover and I feel like this page really sold that.

last edited at Dec 25, 2024 3:31AM

It's hard to accept Sena ending up with Kiku after that scene in the cherry blossoms. Overall, Sena x Kiku felt way too sudden. But I liked the pacing up until the last 2 chapters.

I really liked this part

https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/my_sisters_best_friend_my_lover_ch10#23

Hmm I don't know. The cherry blossoms scene was very clearly a finalisation of Sena's feelings and a way for her to move forward. They're family and they'll always be family. It's not meant to be romantic. And the Sena x Kiku romance build up was the entire manga. Heck, I'd call this a slow burn with how it's paced.

Man what a rollercoaster. I love that there's no pretense - it's a sad and toxic relationship. And the harsh realities about the idol industry. Dang. The art is great too, I loved Nico's dead eyes in the end.

Did Maki burst through the wall in that final page or? XD either way, very cute.

Man this is great. The facial expressions are wacky and interesting, you don't often see that in characters. Makes me think of a more tame version of futari monologue.

It's also pretty nice to see her really get into the relationship. Looking forward to see how it progresses.

Having a crush is a fun, positive thing in itself, especially at that age. People tend to forget that sometimes.

i had a crush when i was that age and it was neither a positive nor a fun experience. and if i could go back i would do everything to prevent myself from having this crush. This is just not that easy and pleasant in real life. and i would NEVER describe that as fun or even positive.

Idk about you but looking back, I liked my crushes in high school and college. They were fun and exciting. It was painful too of course but I wouldnt change it. Helped make school interesting at the very least.

Plus, it's a crush. It's not some tragic relationship. The fact that it's a crush means you dont really know the other person, it's not yet that deep. At that point, you're not in love with them but just the idea of them.