so used to thinking about "our love is disgusting" that I was really confused for a second. The downsides of getting multiple scanlations from the same mangaka lmao.

The contrast between these two series is fascinating. Usui Shio has some incredible range when it comes to tone.

I'm beginning to get a hiiiiiiiiint of why Haneul might have left Korea...

"Awesome lesbian couple." -> "Evil and intimidating dog."

It's sorta funny that as Ema's mental health improves, Takara's deteriorates. Maybe they'll eventually meet in the middle like some kind of psychological Benjamin Button romance.

what a terrible place for the manga to end lmao. just directly in the middle of the drama

Well... at least we do have an original version to check out.

Wait, this is the end? Haha, goddamn, that's a weird place to break end the adaptation, even if it is just an ad for the show.

Would anyone who's familiar with it be willing to post a spoilered summary of what happens afterward for the curious? Or point me to where I could read one. I'm unlikely to watch the actual show, but I'd like to know how this crazy stuff resolves.

Proving once more that the real horrors of this world are humans~

Humans horrifying monsters is always one of my favorite variants of horror. I've always felt very skeptical of the "horrors beyond human comprehension" thing; we are quite capable of comprehending a lot of horror all by ourselves.

clicked on this thinking it was the start of a series I might actually cry now

It's not!? I assumed the 1.0 meant it was a chapter 1, but I do see it's from an anthology so... dang, I really liked this. The art is super good, and the emotions were really well done. I'm a big sucker for the "why are you staring at me?" "You stared at me first" trope, seen it a couple times and I love it.

It's a good day when a random piece of fanart leads me to find a new GL visual novel to play!

I know there's tons to say about this, but I'm just over here enjoying Haruyo's outfit. It's really cute!

I feel like normally Kon's demand would be a bit of a red flag, but in the context here I kind of get it. She knows Ai isn't over Kaede, even if Ai is denying it to herself. Nothing says "I'm over you!" like hallucinating your ex.

I think we might at least be getting some catharsis (just in time for new different kinds of angst), if both Takara and Ema end up at the lesbian event and run into each other then it'll at least expose to each of them that the other one is a lesbian

This was my assumption as soon as the friend brought up the same event Takara's attending. Ema's gonna somehow end up there and it'll blow the lid off things, because neither one is willing to make the first move. Whether it actually solves anything...

@Temp - I think it's funny that you accuse me of creating a strawman, and then spend a few thousand words repeatedly putting words into my mouth and likening me to some sinister group of Western lesbians who are trying to "police" queerness, and then acting like you're brilliant for trashing your shadow-puppet foe. Someone said you're a grad student, and you certainly talk like it.

You're the one who brought up the LGBTQ+ community and queer identity, not me. I just pushed back against what I perceived to be problematic language that was unnecessarily included in your otherwise decent analysis of Class S yuri. You deliberately took shots at groups of queer people that you clearly feel aggrieved about. Maybe you have a point! I don't really know, or care.

And your response wasn't to explain yourself or acknowledge that maybe you expressed your ideas in way that could come across badly- you just went straight into insulting me and outright implying that somehow I'm queerphobic because I had the gall to call you out. And also imperialist? I guess?

But I'm not some debate bro in one of your classes that will just sit here and take your shit. It's clear that rather than have an actual discussion, you just want to write an essay and rely on your eloquence to seem like you're not just being petty and rude. So I'm just gonna say, we probably shouldn't spam this comment section with what's clearly just going to be pointless back-and-forth. This work is too good to ruin it with this kind of pointless B.S.

There's a very common sentiment among the more amateurish parts of the yuri fandom that Class S is an outdated genre driven by historical compromises and editorial restrictions, rendering it unable to express a 'true' lesbianism because of its focus on symbolism and subtlety. ...

"Damned lesbians! They ruined yuri!"

This is an interesting analysis of why Class S as a genre still has something to offer, but I strongly disagree with its dismissiveness toward queer identity, the desire to see queerness represented in art, and indeed the idea you seem to have that no art can include "boorish" and "vulgar" modern LGBTQ+ identity and still qualify as art.

It frankly comes across as shadowing the tired old argument that yuri is supposed to be "pure" in a way that putting actual queer identity into somehow sullies, as if someone bringing up pronouns or the dreaded "L" word will break the spell and turn precious subtle beauty into something dirty and common.

Your insinuation that this is also a difference between Western and Japanese sensibilities is troubling. The LGBTQ+ movement exists in Japan too, and they are just as much a part of the conversations about identity and awareness. They have the same flags and the same labels. And Japanese lesbians are just as interested in exploring their own experiences through art - including yuri.

One needs only look at the works of creators like Amano Shinunta, Morinaga Milk, Usui Shio, Takemiya Jin, and so on to see that there's plenty of "art" to be seen in the modern Japanese woman's experiences as a lesbian. Give me some time, and I could come up with many more. This idea that Japanese lesbians aren't part of the queer community is...quaint at best, condescending and Orientalist at worst.

And what's funny is, I'd actually argue that part of what makes this particular work great is how it's an examination of Class S tropes, not just slavishly repeating them. It's about the meeting of Class S with the messiness of actual adolescent emotions and existence. Kasumi and Haruyo try to consciously take on these roles, but it's mixed with real-world issues and longing. They're Class S Onee-sama and Sumi-chan, but they're also two young queer women who clearly have feelings for each other that don't map perfectly onto that roadmap. And them navigating those different dynamics is what I feel like the story is about. It's a celebration of Class S, but also of young love in the messiness of the real world.

last edited at Aug 5, 2025 12:23PM

Meguru: "Oh no, the consequences of my actions!"

It occurred to me today that this manga is very similar to the Korean GL comic "Love Thy Neighbor" by Willow, except that's a longer, much more fucked up and pornographic story lmao. You know a story of juicy when the main characters have multiple nightmares about each other. I'd honestly be shocked if the author wasn't a Kodama Naoko fan, although in Love Thy Neighbor the characters actually do talk things out, mostly resulting in them realizing they're dealing with an even more broken person than they thought before.

I love that one, haha. I feel like it manages to be serious and dark, but without getting into full on bleakness. At least up to the part I've read.

This one I also get. They're both struggling with societal expectations, one shackled by traditional views of women as babymakers and caretakers (servants) for their husband, and the other one a lesbian who feels like she has no place in, and no way to effect, traditional society.

Cute.
Pretty good premise for an actual series.
"After I graduated I started dating my teacher I've been in love with for three years"

I'm trying to think of any series that actually have that premise. I know of a few that some continuation after the graduation, but they usually ends fairly quickly. I guess authors just like skirting the line of the taboo. I'm pretty sure I've seen at least one that has a former student coming back into a teacher's life years later, after having had a crush on them as a child.

A series that began with them starting to date, with the teacher still working and the younger one in college, could be interesting if it focused on the difficulties such a couple would face. Even if the technical power balance is gone, there is still the danger of the appearance of (intended or not) grooming. It's easy for us, the audience, to know things were on the up-and-up, but harder for other characters in the story. So facing increased scrutiny and doubt, and reasonable people being put off, wouldn't be a bad thing for the story to examine.

Say it loud and there's music playing~
Say it soft and it's almost like praying~
Maria ... I'll never stop saying~
Maria!

Not sure how much of the husband's story I can believe here. He might be as delusional as Ai is when it comes to his wife. That's assuming he's not abusive and manipulative.

Kaede sending the same picture to both Ai and her husband is very strange. I have no idea what she's trying to accomplish here.

That's the part that makes me question her motives the most. If she's genuinely trying to get away from an unhappy/bad/dangerous marriage, then why would she symbolically put her husband and lover on the same level by sending them both the photo? Has she sent him all the same photos as she sent Ai? Is she playing a game to see how they both react, or is this a cry for help that even she doesn't understand?

We're getting tiny glimpses through the keyhole, and everyone involved has only one small part of the story. Ai sees it one way, the husband sees it another, and Kon is just on the outside trying to deal with her feelings.

What a great illustration of societal sexism passed down from one generation to the next, in just a few quick pages. It feels like this mangaka really gets it on a genuine level and it's a pretty rare thing IMO. Thank god for her granddaughter, there's some hope yet in this world. You go granny, take all the dang classes you want !

I was thinking the exact same thing. The idea of the "dismissive laugh" is such an elegant way of describing a lot of complex issues.

It's such a great way of explaining it! And the son's casual dismissal of his mom's abilities is heartbreaking

Thank you so much for translating this series! It has very quickly become one of my favorites, and one that makes my day when I see there's a new chapter out. It has this...refreshingly retro sci-fi feel, like a really creative paperback from the mid 1900's. Where the sci-fi setting starts from a simple premise (gas giant settlers, clay that can be molded by thought) and is allowed to just get really weird. The planet is as much a main character as Diode and Terra, and that's neat!

I always found it confusing which country Tima is from. is it Japan or Korea? One of their works, Swallow Tail, is Korean and uses Korean honorifics, while their other one-shots use Japanese its like a mix. The same goes for the artist Whisky. Also Tima has two Twitter accounts, both promoting in Japanese and Korean.

Tima: "You merely adopted the Korean/Japanese fusion yuri! I was born in it, molded by it!"

But she went out of her way to make Miki's ex a guy.

Setting aside everything else, I do find this way of phrasing it a bit hilarious and I love it. Because you're right! In the vast majority of media, a girl having an ex who's a guy would be the default. But in this manga, where basically every single character is a girl who's in love with another girl, it's so jarringly out of place and unexpected that it's almost more shocking than the incest! Which is very funny to me for some reason.

Now that's normalization!

last edited at Aug 24, 2024 3:00PM

There are Yuri manga that do go into lesbian identity, though there are a good amount of straight forward romance stories, along with escapism. Which can be fine in theory? There's room for both hard hitting series that delve into identity, the complications of it, the difficult feelings, and for series that are just to the point romance that focus on two characters being in love and that's the point. I don't think it's good to simply dismiss any and all fluffier romance as not real lesbian media, or gay media as well for Yaoi, so fourth. Maybe that's a controversial opinion though.

Sure, I'm not advocating to dismiss them or saying they're lesser, just pointing out how a lot of Japanese yuri works just side-step the concept of LGBTQ existence entirely, which can be odd if you're used to it generally being a central part of the identity of characters. Either everyone is just kind of assumed to be into girls, or it's treated as a special one off-thing and then otherwise ignored ("I don't even know if I like girls, I just like you" is something I've seen in multiple variations).

Western comics almost always tends to bring up actual LGBTQ terms and communities, and in my experience a lot of Chinese and Korean comics will at least mention the idea that the characters are a minority, even if the focus isn't really on the struggle for acceptance or anything. Maybe that's the legacy of "class S" literature in Japan, I dunno, but it's not a value judgement. I'm not saying that works that explicitly name LGBTQ identities or issues are automatically better, thought I will say they usually feel more grounded and relatable to me.

I do kind of want to push back against the idea that bringing up queer identity makes a work less fluffy or about the characters being in love. I don't think it's what you're intending to say, but I do feel like that edges toward the idea that queer love is somehow less "pure" or fluffy if you use the L-word to describe the characters, and that it's somehow cleaner to just leave things undefined.

There's a manga that goes into lesbian identity that I love, the author celebrates pride and pushes for IRL acceptance in Japan, and the message I really appreciate from the series/author is that a person should enjoy whatever LGBTQ media they want and what matters at the end of the day is pushing for acceptance in real life. Not just accepting LGBTQ in stories, but also in real life, that's what actually matters. You can enjoy Yuri/WLW/GL, live action lesbian movies, gay movies, fluffy, serious, tragic, anything and that's fine. Just make sure you're also involved with achieving and celebrating better rights and acceptance in real life for real people as well.

I agree, but I'm also not sure what you're meaning here. Are you saying that pushing for representation in media isn't part of pushing for acceptance in real life? Because I'd disagree strongly with that.

There is exactly one time where the series has brought up sexual orientation so far:
https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/whispering_you_a_love_song_ch28#23

I do agree that ignoring it almost-entirely-but-not-quite feels a little off. There's this one time Yori thinks about it when it comes off as silly considering every single relationship involving the people close to her including herself is homosexual, and there's Miki being the token straight character which I found funny earlier on in the series, but now that she's been brought into the fray of all the lesbian relationships herself it feels like that detail of her character is something the author didn't really think through and is being carried over just to avoid contradicting it.

I once read a definition of yuri as "lesbian themes without lesbian identity," and I feel like that's very apt for a lot of yuri works, particularly "fluffier" ones. It's a little less common these days, but it's still around.

I'm generally willing to suspend disbelief and strong anti-royalist beliefs to enjoy some good palace drama yuri, because, hey, it's all just fiction and fun.

But I will admit to being a little uncomfortable at one of our protagonists ordering the deaths of people who are, and that she knows are, just pawns in the game of someone much more powerful than them.

I get the ruthless pragmatism and strategy of it, sending the message to the empress dowager and, more importantly, any potential future pawns, that the stakes of taking a shot at the empress are very high, but still.