Personally I think is going to be a frustrating return to the status quo, but I would be delighted to be proved wrong.

Based on past performance, that would actually be a pretty good bet.

But for the last chapter, even for this series, I dunno what to say . . .

I think this is the most yuri thing that's been in the entire manga.

Personally, I think the tit-groping chapter was pretty yuri.

As such chapters between two women are wont to be.

I can't be the only one smelling a flash forward ending.

What else could it possibly be?

The previous chapter already ended with “we both love each other, but in different ways,” so we either get a repeat of that in more detail (not out of the question, of course) or a flash-forward to some time when the age gap has become “safe” (Uta out of college and working, maybe?) and Kaoru has snapped gay.

It's the biggest troll ever if the author decides to write that Shino isn't into Nozomi at this point...

Shino is into Nozomi.

Once again, a chapter of this series turns a not-great day into a very good day.

So is it me, or page 27 dialogue reads weird? Like it doesn't flow well. I dunno how to explain it.

our translator had a bit of a confusion there. Saburouta has been pretty vague with her dialogues lately and she has some hard time guessing what's going on (at least that's what she tells me cause I don't understand Japanese)
I thought she was talking about Mei first,but Harumi is imagining how Matsuri would respond if she was confronted about her absence only to finally realize that Matsuri is avoiding everyone so she wont get hurt instead of playing her usual mind games

It's those damn Japanese pronouns (or lack thereof). On the previous page Harumin says:

"All Prez does is magically solve things from afar. Of course she wouldn't understand."

But then on page 27, Harumin continues: "If she responds with something like . . ." But the referent for the pronoun "she" has changed--now it's Matsuri, who we see in the first panel.

English grammar demands that the name precede the pronoun, and the referent doesn't change until we get a new name. (Modernist writers like Faulkner violate that rule all the time, but they're just being bastards when they do.)

Saburuta isn't very strong with chemistry developing, like we can see with Mei and Yuzu, but Harumin and Matsuri don't just have zero chemistry, but negative. At least in my eyes.

Certainly the recent Mei-Yuzu chemistry has been non-existent, but to me the crackling initial sexual chemistry between the two of them was the strongest thing the series ever had going for it (along with some pretty decent, although inconsistent, art/visual storytelling).

Once Mei transformed from Volatile Sexy Mei to Repressed Sincere Mei, all that went away, of course.

I'd be tempted to say that Sabu doesn't know what to do when sexual tension gets resolved, but the Harumin/Matsuri pairing seems like Matsuri trying to create sexual tension and Harumin declining to participate.

Has Harumin (or anyone else for that matter) ever been drawn as such a hottie before?

I mean, I know she's supposed to be quite cute all along (they all are, basically), and Yuzu sports a sexy-gyaru look from time to time, but has anybody ever gotten the equivalent of that tiny-shorts-and-tank-top quasi-ecchi visual treatment before?

Tell me your secrets

This image speaks to me

She has more chemistry with that burger than Yuzu these days

Well, she knows she's going to eat the burger--she's just not sure how yet.

And coming sooner than you think https://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2020-09-19/tmnr-if-i-could-reach-you-manga-reaches-climax-in-october/.164237 Next month is last chapter apparently.

They're rushing the end.. and here I thought it would be longer... They're just starting to build up the feelings of the main characters and they're gonna end it... I hope it's long... looks like it will be ambiguous or one sided love until the end..

They had plenty of time throughout the series to build to a Kaoru-Uta ending—more than enough.

They just didn’t do it. They did a bunch of other stuff instead.

euthanized

Was that ever clear? I'd taken it more as experimental treatment that failed, or just operating at all when there was a personal connection (thus violating ethics).

Some stories make it clear that real-world medical ethics are operative while in others it’s obviously manga/anime-world logic about stuff like radical new procedures, etc. (and it often seems like the more medically focused the series the more outlandish the logic, in order to add drama I suppose).

In this case it’s never clear whether there’s some revelation to come or if the author once had something in mind and then just forgot about it.

(I must say that the longer the Kaoru-angst gets dragged out the more I start to wonder what our madcap high-school lesbians are getting up to.)

(Ch. 62) Lmao, poor Hino-san wanted to basically make love to Koguma’s foot and turn her into a blushing melty mess, but instead she started laughing! Disappointed much?

Kogutop.

It’s . . it’s . . . it’s . . the interesting Mei!

Oh, how you have been missed . . .

It was more that since the OP mentioned morality and "good endings" I thought I would raise the flag for the camp that do support it in that context. (I suppose it depends a bit on what the "this" is in "trying to excuse this" - the story or the actions in it).

Your post clarified for me something specific about why this series appeals to a broader audience than the "incest is always wincest" niche, so thanks for that. I've always been fascinated by the question of how Taiyaki is going to resolve this story in terms of the wider social world--at this point my wild guess is that somehow Akira ends up running interference for the happy familial couple.

We can enjoy this show as it is but to try and pretend like what went down was even remotely morally or legally excusable is just insane..

Anyway, still thoroughly enjoyed, despite what looked like a "this is all okay" message at the end. 7/10.

In addition to the "wrong, but ok in fiction camp" who have already spoken up, I'll point out there are those of us who, like Akira, think the specific situation as described would actually be ethically "ok" irl (that said a real situation that well justified is extremely unlikely).

I’ve snipped most of this really excellent post for space, but it does the best job possible in explaining why this particular series has earned a positive response as an interesting set of characters in a compelling situation rather than as just a titillating spectacle of taboo-breaking.

I still think the “it’s fiction” is a stronger counteragument against the “can’t you depraved fools see this is WRONG?!?” position than the “this situation is as OK as it gets” argument, because even though you’ve shown that the latter is true, even under the best circumstances any incestuous relationship obviously is still inherently immensely fraught.

At minimum, it seems inevitable that in the long run a relationship combining the parental and erotic roles in the same person is going to be confusing at best for both parties (as for instance, it might be far less so with sibling incest), and the social consequences of the relationship being revealed (the list of people who already know about their feelings continues to increase) would be catastrophic. (Like everyone else, of course, I eagerly await the consummation of the Asuka/Ayako relationship nonetheless.)

So for me, the strongest analogy is to say that most rational people would agree that in real life the world would be better off if there were no such thing as assassins-for-hire, but that has nothing at all to do with the ethics of getting absorbed in the adventures of John Wick or Ogami Itto, and that enjoying the Fast & Furious movies does not constitute an endorsement of car theft, and that only a fool would think otherwise.

last edited at Sep 6, 2020 9:27AM

It's 2020 not medieval times, they know right from wrong just like we do and they have the same responsibilities.

The amateur historian in me takes issue with this sentence on multiple levels. ( ͡ಠ ʖ̯ ͡ಠ)

Given that the discussion about the apparent contradiction of how stories give audiences pleasure by depicting behavior that people would find repugnant in real life is literally the oldest recorded discussion about stories in history (see: Plato; Aristotle), I can only concur.

The fact that some people are trying to excuse this is disgusting tbh.

Look, I don't have a problem with the portrayal of immortality and criminality in fictional medium. To do so would be absurdly hypocritical.

That said.. that said. This is not a happy story or a good ending. Let's not get it twisted guys. A happy ending would be both the MC's guardians struck off their medical licenses, a conviction for child abuse and handed a sexual offender registry because that's what this is yo. It's 2020 not medieval times, they know right from wrong just like we do and they have the same responsibilities.
We can enjoy this show as it is but to try and pretend like what went down was even remotely morally or legally excusable is just insane..

Anyway, still thoroughly enjoyed, despite what looked like a "this is all okay" message at the end. 7/10.

Good thing we both seem to agree that nobody but a fucking moron would think that because a fictional story presents a certain behavior as a positive thing, that makes the same behavior excusable or morally acceptable in real life.

Because otherwise that would mean we were unaware of the difference between real life and fiction, where all sorts of behavior, ranging from bopping children on the head to stealing cars and racing dangerously around in them to setting people on fire with flamethrowers (all of which in real life are Not OK, to be sure), is depicted as being desirable, morally acceptable, and even hilarious in the context of the fiction.

All of that being a set of facts so obvious that it’s a bit of a puzzle why anybody except a fucking moron—which we agree neither of us are—would feel the need to bring it up.

I came here ready to endure several pages of preachiness on how drunken sex is equal to rape and Kanda should go to jail for being a sex offender.

Turns out there are only 3 messages, and one of 'em is obviously a joke.

Color me amazed. This forum is actually evolving. We are on our way to civilization! d(´∀`)b

inb4 the Moral Guardians were just busy with other stuff and haven't dropped by yet

Oh, ye of little faith.

I wonder how many drinks it would take to get Kanda-kun into the bear costume. (And then out of it.)

By Sakurako's own words "We're not exactly dating" Sakurako and Kasumi are a quasi-couple. A proto-couple if you will. It's analogous to a protostar. The feelings are swirling in and the pressure at the core is building. However critical mass has not been achieved, in order to ignite a full fledged relationship. That won't happen until Kasumi has her all in moment. That's the moment where the person realises they are willing to make a comment to their relationship. Kasumi seems to be close to making the leap, but her musings on the park bench told me she isn't quite there yet.

These gals have been not just living together but making their life plans around each other for, what, five-six years in-universe and give no hints of stopping any time soon (read as "before the grave"). But because they have failed to conveniently label themselves to your satisfaction they're still apparently not a "real" couple or in "a full fledged relationship."

okay.jpg

Now excuse me while I go find my eyes, I think they rolled over to the kitchen.

Why do people get so damn insulting when other people don't agree with their opinion. Like I'm obviously some idiot because I don't share your interpratation.
My point isn't just a labeling issue.(which you conviently ignored when you went on your little pc anti label rant) I don't think Kasumi has fully commited to Sakurako yet. For most of the series I've felt that Kasumi has pretty much just gone with Sakurako's flow. Letting Sakurako handle life's day to day minutiae, so she could indulge her lazy streak. Pretty much treating her relationship with Sakurako as a marriage of covience. Only recently have I've seen any actual though into the actual nature of her future with Sakurako.

I can't agree more with what you said, people here seems to think that one expects them to talk about their relationship just because one wants to read the word girlfriend and that's it, if it was that then you can argue the kiss they had has the same effect, it's not like that, what I think most of the people wants is confirmation that Kasumi is with Sakurako not just because is the easiest way of living but because she really wants to be with Sakurako. In some chapters Kasumi calls things Sakurako does "creepy" and seems to be really bothered by some of her actions but seems to put up with it just because Sakurako takes care of almost everything in their lives.

Here's the "Kasumi is insincere" thesis once again.

When Kasumi has been shown, again and again and again, to have 0% patience with anything or anyone who is actually bothering her. (Many of Sakurako's ideas are weird--Kasumi just makes note of it.)

Just believe whatever you want--the actual evidence of the text never seems to make much difference.

last edited at Sep 2, 2020 10:59AM

I hate the "drunk after one beer" trope, because no one gets like that after one beer, but hey ho.

You can't be serious. I've known several people who get drunk that easily, including my first college roommate.

Aaaand it’s an excuse to behave badly as they can later blame it on the booze. It’s all psychosomatic, so pass the placebo!

No, it's not--some people can't metabolize alcohol properly and can get shit-faced, lost-memory drunk on a drink or two. I've known at least three people like that--one who could nurse a beer for hours and be mostly OK except for some slurred speech.

On-panel fisting or it's just Subtext 4 evah!

Or just kissing each other on the lips, or calling each other girlfriend/couple without walking it back, or... there's a rather wide middle ground.

Nuance is a thing.

Not a fan of this general inability to grasp meanings that aren't ostentatiously labeled with neon letters six feet tall.

There’s always been a significant “I wish this series were something else” contingent on Dynasty.

On-panel fisting or it's just Subtext 4 evah!

Also, Hino is already a delinquent. Going into an arcade would actually be a step up from her usual depravity.

But it's a wholesome depravity.

Chinatsu’s drawings are always a party . . .

Reading this chapter made me think that we really don’t need to worry about this series, either where the story is going or what the art and storytelling might ultimately look like.

It won’t get here fast enough, but then it never did.

last edited at Aug 29, 2020 2:55PM