Very cute art

Cute, I love it

Rereading in 2023 it's as good to me as I remember. I feel like the possibility that the serialization was simply cancelled with three months left to wrap up is overlooked when discussing this series. It doesn't strike me as "bait" so much as a slice of life series wherein the leads have explicit feelings for one another that simply never came to fruition due to the rushed nature of the ending. It's not a satisfying conclusion to be sure, but the criticism I see in this thread whenever I return to it seems way too harsh.

Sheesh!

HEY also has this weird art style where everyone’s faces aren’t very emotive. The main character modeled after Ali from encouragement of the climb is his favorite so he puts more effort into her. She has much broader expressions so it’s kinda difficult to tell if they are dating or if things are awkward now.

I dunno the latest chapter seems positive but this manga confuses me so much. I dunno if it’s the art or the quick conversations.

Strangely, the manga didn't start so difficult to read. The faces were a lot more expressive, and the art seemed cleaner and more inspired. Seeing the difference between the first few chapters and the last few chapters exhibits a stark contrast; most of the panels now are speech bubbles superimposed over 3D models or photos with line extraction applied or simply the characters freeflying against white backgrounds. It becomes difficult to follow the flow of the story and passage of time due to the lack of art direction between panels and it's sometimes difficult to tell who's speaking at all. This, coupled with the vague dialogue and incoherent expressions/reactions, I often have to read two, three times to comprehend the story now because the way information is relayed feels lacking.

Reminds me of that facebook comment that was like "I am now announcing that Samantha and I are no longer dating", followed by a comment of "Honey thats the WORST way to announce that we got married"

LOL this came to mind for me as well.

She's saying "hormone"... ?

I don't know the context but I think it's implied she's munching on horumonyaki and said that for the pun.

Ow

It has to be willful misinterpretation at this point to just evade the comments on colorism and examples therein.

No one suggested it was about racism.
No one is talking about the "she's black" translation.
The comparison of the freedom to tan and the freedom to venture beyond her childhood birdcage is not lost on anyone.
The fact that she's burning her skin in detriment to her health is right there in the text; no one is missing this and this chapter still exhibits colorism regardless.

Even saying this I'm sure someone will still say "you're taking it too literally" or "you're missing the point" as if interpretation of the story's message is at all related to the complaints.

last edited at Oct 17, 2022 12:17AM

I always roll my eyes whenever yuri manga characters praise having pale skin but this one made me feel kind of gross

Makes you think of race rather than class?

Not race in particular, but the blatant colorism. Though needless to say, readers of color would have ample reason to be uncomfortable with that aspect.

I always roll my eyes whenever yuri manga characters praise having pale skin but this one made me feel kind of gross

I can't believe Nirvana is on a Japanese highschool girls play list. Kurt Cobain passed away at least 10 years before she was even born. I could maybe buy Foo Fighters, but I'm not sure how big they are in the overseas market.

The entire point here is that she doesn’t listen to what others do, she says that. The other girls in her group don’t recognize the bands at all.

You think there can’t be one japanese schoolgirl in all the country with western music taste to make a doujin around?

I also had something else here but I deleted it, wooo

Your absolutely right. But it's weird. It would be like finding an American highschool kid who is into a Japanes rock band from the early 90's

My friends and I listened to early 90's J-rock bands all the time in high school due to anime influence and it's not even a fair comparison considering the likes of Nirvana and Foo Fighters are world-renowned bands with far more exposure in the global market.

As for Kanda's constant repetition of "we're both girls"... are y'all just forgetting that gay marriage still isn't legal in Japan?

Relationships don't need marriage to work out, and it's still annoying regardless. That said, this manga's enjoyable so far.

Did the artist forget to draw one of Mii-kun's fingers on p10?

Could go the rest of my life and be happy not seeing "If I was a guy..." in a yuri manga ever again

I never found funny the "you look and act like a perfect girl I'd totally date, but you're a guy so you're out of question" joke, doubly so when person in question is a actual trans woman, but it was played for laughs so many times, at this point it is just such boring cliche, I wish it died already.

I'm in agreement. The heteronormativity that inhibits this archetypal conflict is extremely stale.

"But I can't be with a ///guy///!!!!1"
Like yeah you could mate if you weren't such a fucking coward

On a side note it's pretty exhausting that these stories so rarely have any genuine concept of the trans experience. And even if we validate the cliche of characters rejecting the idea of romance with cisgendered crossdressers like their tendencies are just a deviant hobby, translations could stand to stop using "drag" as though it has the same connotation.

I find the word “coward,” in this situation, to be a bit much. Calling someone that wouldn’t help a real life situation and probably not here, either. You can help guide them to a solution that may make them happy, and hope they’ll do it if it’s beneficial to the issue they’re dealing with. However, insulting them would make them even more defensive. And it makes you look bad, as well.

It was clearly tongue-in-cheek

A Fragtime adaptation would definitely need half-length episodes to fill the runtime with only two sparse volumes' worth of content, unless they add a lot.

I love this manga so much. My friend and I were going to translate it if no one else did, so I'm glad to see it finally being uploaded here.

TransHomura posted:

Oh btw I'll link you this but for a genderfluid lesbian here https://mangarock.com/manga/mrs-serie-100105040

Eh...I started to read that one recently and I'm not sure what to make of it. It just looks like an ecchi gender bender, with the MC just wanting to be a girl part time, in order to have fun. Genderfluid is putting it mildly. More like a wish fulfilling fantasy for horny boys... the ability to turn back is just too convenient.

I don't see how it could be interpreted as a genderfluid story at all really but the point in having that ability is most assuredly because the main character has the specific option of turning back but prefers not to; intensified as the story progresses. For the most part it's just a silly comedy with some mostly inoffensive transgressive elements but it's definitely meant to be a trans story, albeit one in a more convenient package.

As for the previous comment stated elsewhere about "most" stories about trans women being about trans lesbians... definitely going to disagree pretty hard on that one. Both inside and outside the animanga sphere, trans girl characters that also happen to be wlw are exceedingly rare. There's room for this one to still be a yuri manga though - if Akira turns out bisexual - but the story hardly seems to be going in that direction. Rather, Hime exploring her own gender identity over the course of the story seems far more likely.

All the same, I appreciate some things this manga handles well, such as properly addressing the idea that Hime's affections were that of a variance in orientation rather than a displacement due to the subject's gender (one of the few things crossdressing stories tend to confront in a more positive way) or the ways in which being supportive can prove harmful. Admittedly, as a reader personally jaded to the violence of the trans experience, it becomes cynically difficult to feel the growing happiness of the trans girl in question while witnessing all the aggressive alienation around her, but I don't consider this is a reflection of the story's quality. A social dissemination is going to come with the inherent drawback of being inspired by reality, and exactly that is what makes it difficult to embrace in narrative sometimes.

last edited at Mar 16, 2019 6:17PM

I love that cover for ch16

That fang is too adorable~
Tomboy tag definitely doesn't belong though

Liking this one~

Oh, a Citrus spinoff that isn't actually HaruYuzu, guess I'll just die then

does this author draw over 3d models? the art is weirding me out a bit

I'm guessing they're classically trained. It really stands out when mangaka distort their art in a way so respective of reality.

I never found funny the "you look and act like a perfect girl I'd totally date, but you're a guy so you're out of question" joke, doubly so when person in question is a actual trans woman, but it was played for laughs so many times, at this point it is just such boring cliche, I wish it died already.

I'm in agreement. The heteronormativity that inhibits this archetypal conflict is extremely stale.

"But I can't be with a ///guy///!!!!1"
Like yeah you could mate if you weren't such a fucking coward

On a side note it's pretty exhausting that these stories so rarely have any genuine concept of the trans experience. And even if we validate the cliche of characters rejecting the idea of romance with cisgendered crossdressers like their tendencies are just a deviant hobby, translations could stand to stop using "drag" as though it has the same connotation.

last edited at Dec 7, 2018 2:53PM

The lot of you can relax; there's no power dynamic here. It's two girls of the same age in love exploring their first time, and there was a clear line establishing boundaries in case the "lesser-experienced" one didn't like what was happening. Consent is frequently requested and there isn't any deceit involved in the act. Ironically, this one-shot involving a character initially unacquainted with the concept of sexual activity has a healthier portrayal of lovemaking than almost all erotic material I've seen out of manga in general.

If you think this is manipulative or creepy, you might want to consider why you associate sex with being inherently harmful on a base level and probably brush up on how abuse actually plays out.