I think it's a biological girl, but maybe it's someone who doesn't identify as either? Or as both?

Also, maybe it's a hit-man, seeing all the different phones laying around.

Anyway, Houjou is in for a ride.

Quite the mysterious premise.

last edited at Dec 1, 2024 6:08AM

In the first place, Mitsuki was never really interested in, or looking for, a record deal. It's just something that dropped in her lap without warning and people around her hyped up. Especially Aya, who wants to get Mitsuki's music "out there".

She might just turn back and go to the prom instead.She doesn't really care about that party with music people.

Or she might go, find the people there insufferable and then just leave and go to the prom, just at the end, where she'll find Aya and they'll dance (let's hope).

last edited at Dec 1, 2024 6:04AM

I re-read the whole thing from the start and I can say with certainty thal all four girls in this are bitches in their own way.

• Nanase consistently treats her girlfriend like dirt she has to hide. And then when she learns that she dared pierce the ear of another girl she starts ignoring her, before somehow learning that piercing the ear of a friend is normal. Words and acts have consequences and she's clearly been a bitch. She refuses to really acknowledge her own flaws, even when others put her nose in it. She perfunctorily apologize, but persists in her ways and treats Yuki like her real girlfriend. i can't wait for Nanase to actually physically cheat on Yuni with Yuki (she's already emotionally cheating with her). That'll be the cherry on top. I'll call her "Narcissistic Bitch #1"

• Yuni is a needy, high-maintenance girlfriend who find herself excuses for whatever wrong she does, because she's terrified of being alone. She wants her cake and eat it too. She was frustrated by her relationship with Nanase because it wasn't rewarding at all and she felt lonely. And feeling lonely has been a constant fear and trauma for her, so she hates it. Her venting account was a call for emotional help, which got answered by Fuuko. She got more than what she wished for. Her inability to reject Fuuko, convincing herself it was for the sake of Nanase, shows that she latched onto her because of her fear of abandonment, but also because she lusted after Fuuko. She was the one who initiated sex with Fuuko as a form of "revenge" against Nanase who refused to call her girlfriend "cute", but she was just making up an excuse. She was eyeing Fuuko's curves way before that. Everyone agrees that Yuni is a shitty person, selfish and cowardly. I'll call her "Lying Bitch #2"

• Fuuko is a highly intelligent girl who's been constantly belittled by her family. Betrayed by her parents, her brothers, the next door girl she loved. She has no friends because she doesn't trust anyone anymore. She approaches Yuni because she got hold of her secret account. In the end, what Fuuko wants is to be the one CHOSEN. She hatches a whole plan for Yuni to cheat, get caught and then break up with her girlfriend and ultimately chose her, but this plan failed a first time when Yuni came back to Nanase. I guess she wasn't expecting Nanase to "forgive" (in appearance) the cheating and for Yuni to keep on lying to herself. But in the end, stealing someone's girlfriend, while rewarding for your self-image, is still a shitty thing to do. She obviously looks down on everyone else. I'll call her the "Sociopathic Bitch #3".

• Yuki is, in appearances, the only innocent character in this, but she's actually the source of many of Nanase's troubles with Yuni. From dragging her around in the festival, indirectly kissing with her, constantly hovering around Nanase and meddling in her life, confronting Yuni about the cheating in Osaka, thanking Nanase loudly about the accessory, at every turn Yuki has been "innocently" breaking Nanase's relationship. I think it's been a while since she's been attracted to Nanase, but didn't acknowledge it to herself. In the guise of being the "best friend", she effectively participates in ruining Nanase's love life. I'll call her "Self-righteous Bitch #4".

So in the end, no one here is good, as intended by the author. It's a clusterfuck of relationships between girls with issues. All characters are indefensible in some ways, making bad and dumb decisions.

This train wreck is both ugly and beautiful and if you can't see it, then it's not for you.

Fireproof underwear smh

I mean, no one talks about how Nanase had promised Yuni she'd get them matching rings, which Yuni was looking forward to, and promised to be a better girlfriend. When Yuni sees the package, she's excited and thinks "this is it!".

Then it turns out it was a gift for ANOTHER girl. She spontaneously bought an accessory for her best friend instead, buying nothing for Yuni and she has to be REMINDED about her promise.

And when Yuni comes over to confront her, Nanase looks at the departing Yuki instead of looking at her girlfriend.

Nanase gives to Yuki all the attention and care she should be giving to her girlfriend and she doesn't even notice it. And then she's upset when her girlfriend gets jealous.

And I'm not even sure Yuki is that innocent with her "Thanks for this!" while running away.

And at last, I have to remind you that the author said in an afterword that Yuni encapsulates what she pictures when she thinks "women are a pain in the ass". So the fact that Yuni is high-maintenance and a pain is on PURPOSE.

So yeah, every girl in this manga is shitty in their own way and it's written like that to anger the readers and keep them hooked.

Don't act like surprised Pikachus.

Nanase, still the worst girlfriend ever.

With her looks, there's 99% chance the "black" witch is actually of Brazilian origin.

Japan has a large immigrant population from Brazil, a lot of them being halfs. And conversely, the largest amount of Japanese people living outside Japan are in Brazil.

Tbh, the cards have been in Mitsuki's hands for a while. She hardly gave any signal to Aya that she was interested in being more than music friends with her.

I can envision a future chapter where Mitsuki finally goes to the prom, near the end or something, and sweeps Aya off of her feet in a glamorous dance as Narita acts as the DJ.

But it doesn't solve anything.

In case people didn't notice, she's humping her leg.

Basically, masturbating on her.

Blastaar posted:
Aya has in fact given Erika no indication that she isn’t as “fine” as she appears to be, so for Erika to say otherwise to Koto would be stating an untruth.

The thing is, Erika knows that Aya isn't fine. In the beginning of the last chapter, she recalls the time Aya was crying when Koto presented her as "the daughter of a relative" or something like that. She takes a guess that Aya isn't as fine as she pretends to be. She guesses that the breakup has left Aya in pain and distress.

While she doesn't lie to Koto, she omits to mention it. Lie by omission is a thing. By not mentioning it, she suggests to Koto that Aya, "surprisingly", wasn't much affected by the breakup.

So, while she doesn't lie, she still orients the flow in the way that'll advance her own agenda. I wouldn't call it "manipulation", but she clearly says (or doesn't say) what fits her goal, which is to peel Aya off of Koto, definitively.

The only thing I'd reproach to Erika is that she doesn't seem to take Aya seriously, and even treats her like a stranger, like a troublesome child that's in the way of her relationship with Koto. She doesn't hinder her, but it's like she can't wait to be rid of her.

She lacks empathy. She notices Aya hides her pain behind a smile, but she doesn't really care and immediately thinks about how to exploit the opportunity. She comes off as calculative and cold, even though she's racked with guilt. She admits to herself that the breakup made her happy.

It's like the fact that Aya is a 14 year old without any family, who's struggling to survive after losing everything is totally abstract to her. It's like she never considered Aya as a friend, even in middle school. Only as an obstacle she can finally push aside and forget.

I can understand why people would dislike Erika. Ultimately, she's selfish and egocentric.

Not to say Koto isn't guilty of the same thing. They both come across as insincere. Only Aya has always been genuine with both of them, never trying to burden them with her problems.

Maybe it's the overall theme of the manga: becoming an adult means becoming more fake and selfish.

The cup was the friend we made along the way.

Koto has always sounded immature to me. The author made it conspicuous because she still calls Aya and Erika with the -chan suffix, even as an adult.

Erika calls them "Aya" and "Koto".
Aya calls them "Erika" and "Koto"
Only Koto adds the childish suffix.

Koto never grew up. Her mental universe stopped 7 years ago. She tried (by dating), but failed.

Also, the reasons Aya and Erika love Koto are different, but explainable.

Koto and Erika are childhood friends. So, Erika has always known that Koto is someone actually affectionate, kind, considerate, doesn't judge her bad character and will stick by her side.

Aya has abandonment and trust issues that she hides behind a tough facade. Her pillars of support, her grandparents, were eventually gone too and yet, she toughened up and forced herself to move forward. I can't see how anyone could hate Aya. At 14 yo, she's admirable, even if a bit naive concerning the grown up Koto and Erika. She's fragile emotionally, but she didn't let that stop her and bottled it all up.

She loved Koto because Koto showed signs of not letting go, even after not having an answer to her confession and Aya believed (and still believes deep down?) that Koto would never abandon her.

But that doesn't keep her from breaking up and moving forward so she can be level with Koto and not depend on anyone. It's been her own obsession for a while (even before the disappearance): to be self-reliant and not depend on others, whether emotionally or financially.

So, if Koto and Erika get together, I think Aya would be hurt, but would still move on. Because she's stronger than both of them.

Now, the supernatural makes a comeback and I'm curious which direction it's going to take the story.

Minutoh posted:

I’m sure people have said what I’m gonna say over and over again by this point, so I wanted to start by asking if anyone knows where the PV that’s mentioned in Chapter 25.5 is. If not, it’s all good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvqZf5KJsTg

Also, MangaDex says this is award-winning and I had no idea. I’m surprised, but it’s well-deserved since this is actually very well-written. What did it win?

It won a global award in the "Tsugi manga" contest 2024

https://x.com/okome103/status/1828777188457611515

last edited at Nov 2, 2024 4:16AM

johnb posted:

Can girls, in Japan, just choose to wear school uniforms with pants?

Depends on the school, really.

Some schools may just say "you need to wear our uniform".

Up until now, their school looks pretty chill.

But there's probably the usual double standard that if a boy came wearing the girls' uniform, that wouldn't last long (cf Hourou Musuko).

Reminder:

The tags on the publisher's site are:

Josei
Battle/Action
Yuri
Female Protagonist(s)
Modern
Friendship/Comrades
Adventure

So, don't expect any sappy romance. It's Sal Jiang we're talking about.

Yeah, looking back at chapter 14, everything stemmed from the fact Nanase was adamant their relationship shouldn't be made public. So, when Fuuko discovered who the girlfriend was, Yuni found herself wanting to fulfill that wish at all costs, even going as far as cheating so that Nanase wouldn't be outed.

Afterwards, things get messier, but at this point in the story, Yuni's action still have a reasonable explanation (not justification) and it's Nanase that rendered all her actions meaningless.

rainbow8 posted:

Forks were indeed late. Spoons, not so much. I've never heard of the Church having an opinion on how you eat, unless maybe they had an anti-knife thing for "please stop killing each other at dinner".

The mention of spoons as some kind of "sneakily" used thing is indeed false. There was no significant religious restriction on spoons. The author made that up.

Forks were more controversial. Some religious figures criticized the use of forks in the early Middle Ages as a symbol of decadence, but this wasn't an official Church position.

Using hands to eat was normal, but there was no strict religious requirement to do so. Same thing for the spoon facing down. It wasn't really a thing required by the Church (maybe some local superstition?)

So, I think the author just made stuff up (or read urban legends) and charged the Church as guilty.

17hunter00 posted:

Edit: what chapter even is this, I'm reading the first uploading that's only gotten to chapter 14 so if that's from further apart, then I haven't seen it

It's in the latest chapter 27. The scanlator is redoing properly the chapters that were MTL'd on mangadex and fills them in here.

There's only chapter 15 missing here as of now.

XadarxBlack posted:

XadarxBlack posted:

no romance tag so no relationship??? :(

It's chapter 1.

No one knows which direction it's going to take, unless you're in the author's head.

aren’t the tags decided before that? like you can’t say a manga is shoujo and suddenly is not half way through! so that’s way i was ??? if there will be no romance since there is no romance tag, tho i do expect actual yuri any way :3 since i do trust the author

Some tags are set at post time, but they can evolve.

If you want to suggest the tag "romance" for the series, you can.

But, a manga like Black & White, by the same author, had the tag "Yuri", but not "Romance", for obvious reasons.

So, it's better to err on the side of "wait and see".

XadarxBlack posted:

no romance tag so no relationship??? :(

It's chapter 1.

No one knows which direction it's going to take, unless you're in the author's head.

Funny how both "adults" are stuck in the past, even though they lived those seven years, but Aya is always trying to move forward.

She was abandoned by everyone, but she's still forging ahead and taking rational decisions. Aya is admirable. Erika and Koto, not so much: they're consumed by their failed teenage romance and both don't actually look at the present Aya but at the light of a star from 7 years ago.

There's an elephant in the room that's never addressed by any character: how did Aya get transported 7 years later?

Either it'll be part of the resolution of the triangle, or it'll stay something that happened without explanation. Both are fine for me, because we don't NEED to have an explanation for the story to move on.

The last panel makes me think Erika is also stuck in the past.

And no one mentioned Aya's line about the stars. Which ties up with the Summer triangle theme, but also the very first lines of the manga, "I've heard that the starlight we can see now comes from the past."

In which she "can't see the stars very well", meaning the past has become blurry and is fading away.

It's very good writing, because it feels like everything was planned from chapter 1. I like when an author knows in advance where they're going.

Mugino posted:

So, she was dating that woman since school but this one married and stuff.
Apparently now she is in poly route

No? She was dating a woman, that's all. She probably always has been a lesbian.

She met Kaede much later, as she was working in a restaurant.

Mugino posted:

Phew,i thought it will be a tragedy
but end in reversal end
and more important, they will bang!

Will they though?