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Long chapter, long post.

There's something so simple about the perception shift this chapter. Like a key unlocking and now DeLphi changed from a band of 3 struggling along in the aftermath of 1 loss to a family barely surviving in the wake of 2. Nagi was without a doubt the heart of DeLphi. She's been a specter hanging over the manga for longer than we knew to realize. And with that heart ripped out we begin unveiling the real tragedies behind the comedy. As Karasuma warned, the peace times are gone.

Tear
Some might miss how Tear's mom hanged herself. It's shown on p28 when she relates it to how blindsided she was by Nagi's death. Though unlike the past, there's a lot more crying now. Tear had a hard life and it didn't leave her unaffected. Time after time this chapter Tear is a little selfish, egotistical, and cynical. The moment she meets DeLphi she starts fearing they're going to disappoint her. Even when Nagi dies Tear makes it a little about herself, wondering if she's the one who's cursed. It seems like a coping mechanism from being so alone and having so many others fail her. Deep down Tear is struggling to open her heart and just when she finds a new family it's brutally ripped apart.

That doesn't mean Tear doesn't care. On a reread you might see how committed she is to keeping DeLphi going strong. But until she met Nagi, Tear saw life as a free for all. She wasn't invested in helping the group but in creating her own sanctuary. Nagi changed her. I said it in the credits but I'd like to re-emphasize Nagi is the bright star that shone through Tear's darkness, similar to what Honda is to Masaki. And yeah I ship it. Waiter, yes there's not enough doom in my yuri, make it extra doomed please!

Nagi
So Nagi likes Tear. That isn't my goggles speaking; it justifies why Tear is completely spared from Nagi's haunting. Ange has been repeatedly possessed by Nagi and is fading physically. Nagi has lashed out at Non several times, which I'll get to in a minute don't you worry. But she's so friendly with Tear, as if nothing's wrong or changed. It's that manic disconnection you see in Honami at her most unraveled. Honami repeatedly possesses Kasumi, the girl closest to Michi. Honami can't control her rage toward Masaki. These ghosts are unstable. Without an anchor they act on volatile impulses.

You can see why, reading this chapter, Nagi might have some issues with Non. I don't think they were intense grievances, just little annoyances. As Tear shared Nagi's dream, Nagi might have shared Tear's anxieties. Non and Ange not taking the group as seriously might have worn Nagi down, and she was genuinely grateful how far Tear went to patch the group up. That's why she invited Tear in on her and Honami's promise.

That promise spoils into a curse. Both Nagi and Honami have extreme reactions to being forgotten. But we don't know if that's a funny little quirk of theirs or one of the terms of their spiritual lingering. What happened to Nagi? How did someone so sweet and angelic turn into this seemingly psychotic monster? Or was she always that way, two-faced like Honami became? And why is she intent on fully killing Honami? It all combines into an unfulfilling portrait of an intriguing character taking center stage. We might be entering the answer half but for now all we get are more questions. Except one:

Honami
The big answer this chapter: the reason idol Honami and ghost Honami act so differently is because she was living in Nagi's memory. A simple explanation and one that continues to bring the tragedy home. Honami refused to let Nagi die. It's only in death Honami was freed from Nagi. And in death Nagi chases the undead Honami down. We don't know what their relationship was like because Tear hardly knows. But it's telling how strange the buildup to Nagi's death was. Suddenly Nagi can't be around Honami without yelling at her. Something broke between them long before the actual tragedy struck.

I think we ought to reiterate what we knew about Honami's death first: Honami died slowly. Her health took a turn for the worse, similar to what Ange is going through. Does that mean she was possessed by Nagi too? But was that how Nagi died? We're told she started doing worse, but honestly it's not even clear in the Japanese whether that's physical or mental. If it were physical it doesn't make sense the group would leave her alone. If Nagi was possessed too, were her outbursts something possessing her? Or was there a real conflict brewing between the two 'sisters'? And the event of Nagi's death is blatantly hinted as suspicious. There's more to it than a simple slip and fall. But the only witness was the dorky mute dead girl.

I'll get back to that point later but I just want to interrupt for how fun Honami is. Dorothy might as well be breaking the 4th wall saying Honami keeps everyone relaxed. She's had a long saga of carrying the tone of this manga on her back, burying her own tragedy under her silliness, and this flashback loves toying with it. Of course she doesn't get to talk still. But this character effortlessly conveys the pain of loss and resolve to keep going, to the point you hardly realize she's had literally 1 line in 34 chapters of being the main heroine.

Though with these developments I'm starting to wonder if that can continue. With Honami as the lone witness, the only protagonist who might understand Nagi's circumstances, how much longer can she stay helplessly silent? I know it's wishful thinking but I want Honami to break her vow of silence earlier than the very end. We already see it cracking, with her writing to Sayaka. Maybe she won't be able to talk to Michi just yet, but her silence is a mystery to be solved all of its own. We know Nagi can talk. I just don't think Nagi's in the right state of mind to be giving the same answers.

Answers & Questions
The chapter didn't end on the most eventful note. It feels very much like an intermission before ch35 continues the flashback. Dorothy's tweeted recently over how hard it is deciding where to cut off a chapter, which leads me to believe 34+35 might have been 1 chapter originally, like 17+18 were before running way too long.

But actually it tells you something huge: Honami was seemingly aware Nagi, or whatever killed her, was coming after her next. Honami, who doesn't have ghost eyes like Nagi does. Nagi, whose ghost eyes must have exposed her to spiritual danger. Because it's clear now DeLphi's haunting didn't start with DeLphi; it wasn't that Nagi died abruptly and her regrets turned her into a vengeful spirit. It started with Nagi bringing something in, something that at least wanted Honami too. That's what I believe drew a wedge between them while they were alive, and what Nagi must have warned Honami about before dying. Maybe that 'slip and fall' was an attempt to protect Honami at the cost of her own life. Or maybe Honami was there when the reaper visited. There's now an implication Honami knew for too long what kind of danger she was in.

Which is often where we assume she turned to Michi for help. These discussions operate a lot in the realm of speculation so we take a few things for granted, like the nature of Michi and Honami's past relationship. All we know for fact is they used to be close. We assume Honami was the one with Michi the night of the festival, we assume Michi was helping Honami with her haunting. But that requires Honami to be aware of her haunting. This is that first piece connecting a path through the puzzle, and while there's still plenty questions over what brought them together it shows we could be looking in the right direction.

Though something hasn't sat right with me since ch33, and it's not until now I realized what: Tear discovered Aizawa's body.

I'd been taking something else for granted: that Honami died at the Obon festival. The timeline added up with the announcement of her death being right around Obon. But that doesn't make sense if Tear discovered her. After all, Tear doesn't recognize Michi. Whatever happened at the festival, either Honami survived it, Honami wasn't there, or Honami was already dead. What happened up that mountain if Honami didn't die yet? Who was the other girl Michi went with if not Honami? Was Honami already a ghost? I don't think those last 2 are likely considering Michi dressed up like it was a special occasion. It's just something to make note of. This "answer half" is only going to raise more questions for now with every new answer, as our understanding of past events shifts.

And I mean it when I say I've never been more excited about this manga. The page is turning over and there's an entire backside to explore. The horrors have a face in Nagi and I can't wait to see her interactions with the rest of the cast. Tear confronting Nagi, knowing what she is. Nagi reuniting with Honami, now that her protections have broken down. And Michi. There's so many ways that could go. To shoot in the dark... what if we're wrong assuming Honami first found Michi to help with her haunting? What if Michi was already helping with Nagi's?

Overflow

• The silhouette on page 3 resembles Nagi. Of course Tear wouldn't know her then, but it further suggests Nagi is the embodiment of Tear's image of an idol.
• There's something fitting about Nagi possessing Ange, who was worried about overlapping with her. That page really made me a fan of Ange. She's always felt a little masked behind her persona but her real self is someone a little too serious for her own good, caught up in her own thoughts, and deeply concerned for others.
• I swear at one point it was implied Tear's feelings for Ange were more genuine while Ange kept her at a platonic distance. Maybe Dorothy tweeted it, or it was communicated to me in my dreams. Anyway after this chapter I'm not sure it's such a practical ship anymore. Aizawa-san is no stranger to girls having multiple attractions but it seems like Tear x Karasuma is more serious. At least on one side. Dorothy posted a panel-in-progress featuring Karasuma in what she wore to meet Tear in the diner. It seems like this flashback may extend all the way to their conversation there? And it might be my terminal yuribrain speaking but it gives off "meet cute" vibes, where Karasuma is the light at the end of this tunnel for Tear.
• Don't know how much to read into this, but the naming of this chapter reflects Karasuma's intro chapter. "Tear-ko, Idol Legend." "Neo, the Exorcist."
• I've always been an inordinate Non fan; I just like irreverent punk types (Satsuki x Akira, my beloved). And while she's not uhhh at her best this chapter, it's sweet to see Non's righteous fury over the cold businesslike treatment of Nagi's death. She has this misguided fire we saw back with Michi, frustration without outlet I'd love to see revisited now that we're digging into the pain. And of course she's one of the only people to know Michi and Honami were friends. I expect her to come back into play soon, but who knows how she's recovering from being strangled by Ange(Nagi). This family's really torn apart. Hopefully Tear, Non, and maybe or maybe not Ange get a chance to meet with Honami soon.
• The "conquer the world" bit goes all the way back to volume 1's extras. Maybe Dorothy had this in mind back then.
• It's so funny seeing chibi Nagi with chibi Aizawa. Like you can imagine ghost Nagi's out there being dorky too in between going sicko mode? I at least hope the volume extras give us more cute Nagis.
• Thank god this isn't Arisaku so I'm not legally required to write a credits page defending my blasphemy of translating 営業 as 'bait.'

Don't forget to give the raws a like (I forgot to post that last chapter)

What a testament to Arisaku's quality that, as tightly written and artistic as it is, such a basic slice of life fanservice chapter feels like hidden treasure. I wouldn't want these too often but please Igarashi, spoil us with more.

I love the contrast between how obviously Mia over-rehearsed and the moment she went off script her cool celebrity persona crumbled for good. Meanwhile Yamabe also over-rehearsed but flowed a lot more naturally after getting past the first hurdle.

And what is there to say about the freaky duo but good for them.

Igarashi's comments:

When we have our meetings, the password will be: "The good times ended with Yamabe..."

The original plan for the Lily arc was a bittersweet ending where Yurika always had feelings for Aoyama and still does to this day. But around the time I was drafting it, there was a grooming scandal in the manga industry. I had to reflect on if it was wrong of me to glamorize this sort of relationship in a modern manga. I've never viewed age-gap relationships very positively to begin with, and wasn't sure I could proceed. By the time I'd written chapter 17 I couldn't stand making Yurika come across as a decent person. After a lot of thought I consulted my editor, who understood my perspective and helped change to the current ending. That's what happened behind the scenes.

Stories in the S genre often depict beautiful age-gap relationships and I was inspired to try my hand at it too. But as the times change so does culture. After weighing my respect for S against my moral values, I decided I lacked the capability to beautify such a relationship and gave up on the idea. It's nothing more than me being stubborn about not wanting to portray it sweetly, even bittersweetly. I still very much enjoy reading age-gap relationships from other authors. I simply didn't want to feel so conflicted toward my own writing.

I'm known for being stubborn, and as someone who works in the entertainment industry I'm always cursing my stubbornness for working against myself. But after hearing about that scandal it brought to mind students I used to teach in cram school, and hurt to think of it that way. I couldn't separate my personal feelings from the issue and couldn't bring myself to profit off glorifying that sort of relationship... So the story took a 180 turn to its ending. I deeply apologize to Aoyama and Yurika... With all that said, don't you think the writing was crazy good!? Wasn't the artwork on another level!?

It's hard to discuss the arc without addressing Igarashi's circumstances, but I think it plays well into the meta-narrative of the manga. Arisaku is a love letter to the past, carrying Class S into the future, without shying from the ugly nature of such a transformation. Sayori and Mizuki represented a tragic parting commonly seen in Class S up until boxcutting their way into a toxic yuri epilogue that wasn't shamed for being so. It was raw in the way romanticized feelings tend to be once dragged into reality, but reciprocal and fulfilling. That isn't the case here.

In days of yore this age gap relationship with an abrupt separation might have been treated bittersweetly. But in a modern lens it's a much uglier thing. Aoyama wasn't left meekly pining but abused and confused, frustrations twisting her into something she hated while Yurika suffered nothing. It did seem at first Yurika's perspective could change the tone in hindsight but plans changed, though Igarashi seems to have always had a bittersweet ending in mind. And with reflection she chose to make Yurika irredeemable.

As another stubborn creative, this was a challenging chapter to translate. It didn't feel right using such harsh language in an otherwise delicate manga but at the same time it was Aoyama's voice. Her roughness overcompensating for the pitiful softness welling up as Yurika threatened to give her another chance. Ultimately Yurika was and is a fucking child, irresponsible and careless and undeserving of her position looking after others, both then and now. I think we've all had that realization as part of growing up, that the adults around us aren't much more than kids in suits (especially with the world today). It leaves you aimless and wondering if you'll be any better. I hope it wasn't as traumatizing for you as it was for Aoyama, but unfortunately that's the truth for many. I respect Igarashi for not wanting to romanticize it even if it makes the manga that much bleaker.

At the start of chapter 18 Igarashi deliberately gave Aoyama no shadow to show she wasn't part of the same dimension as the lily field. At the end she has a faint shadow in the desolate field her old self is buried. You could interpret that as Aoyama starting to live again, finding new presence in the world after ridding herself of the past. Or the opposite, that she's become less attached to this world and a more spiritual presence. You never see this Aoyama's face in any of those panels. It's an expression of uncertainty in who she is. But in a way, her facial expressions would color our impression of who she's become. And as the purely unadorned ユリ she's left without meaning in both senses.

The rest of the symbolism at the end is more straightforward. Plants only flower once mature; flowers are their reproductive structure after all. Aoyama wishes they could have stayed in immature innocence. Pollen is how plants reproduce, and once Aoyama is stained by it there's no going back. The smell of lilies masks the rotten nature of what happened yet she can't let herself be seduced by it again. It's all buried in one grave.

If there's any hope to my analysis (I keep trying to turn this around into something less depressing sounding I swear) it's that ancient symbolism of lilies sprouting from graves. Aoyama is buried and a new Aoyama blooms. She's not as awful as Yurika, she recognizes her wrongs. We likely won't see it but I trust she has a brighter future in store.

I don't remember if we talked about it here, but with all the flower symbolism it has been talked about and on my mind: in a sense the passing down of Class S tradition is a form of reproduction. A reproduction via thought that still molds others in your likeness. If Kasumi and Haruyo are the descendants of Class S they're the descendants of Aoyama as well. While it was a painful experience for her, it still led to brighter times. And that encapsulates the relationship between Class S and Yuri. We can only hope Yamabe wasn't really the end of the good times.

Vote for Aizawa-san here.
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There goes the status quo. Dorothy wasn't kidding about this being a turning point in the manga.

After all the post-volume 5 talk of "beginning the answer part" I had 2 fears: that it would still be resistant to major changes until everything fell into place at the end, and that the answers would come rushing in unsatisfyingly all at once. Basically that it would feel both too slow and too fast. This chapter put both to rest. Dorothy has been uneasy over potentially not getting enough chapters to tell the story in full and not knowing how many chapters that's going to take, with how much is left to resolve. But that's normal for such a milestone. At this rate we might not leave Sayaka's room before volume 7.

Kasumi
While this feels monumental (after Michi spending half the manga beating herself up over doing nothing for Aizawa it damn well better) it might not change that much? It's clear even as pieces are moving there's plenty being reserved. Kasumi is kicked from the group, and though Sayaka's grandma will likely tell her something, she's not getting the same revelations just yet. There's a separate plan for her. And how kind of Kasumi to be worried more about Michi than herself when Michi didn't want Kasumi hearing what came next. She really might be the most empathetic character in the cast.

Tear
Dorothy said next chapter got out of hand with its page count yet its importance demanded that length. That it's funny, exciting, and painfully sad. It's implied to be the entire backstory of DeLphi from Tear's perspective. That's important to note because I doubt Tear has any answers to the big questions. Two things up front: she doesn't know Aizawa is a ghost and doesn't know Aizawa knew Michi. She didn't recognize Michi like Non did, so Aizawa never shared that with her. Her shock at Aizawa still being around is proof Karasuma didn't let her in on that.

It was hinted Tear saw someone die, but I suspected to be Nagi. I didn't think Aizawa might have died at work. If Nagi was responsible, I suppose it's more evidence Nagi is bound to DeLphi like Aizawa is bound to school. I don't think Tear will know anything about Nagi's connection to Aizawa - those 2 seemed to keep it secret - or much about the supernatural circumstances. But she saw something supernatural, enough to suspect Ange isn't really Ange and contact Karasuma. Still, we might get our first glimpse into Nagi's sudden disappearance.

Like I said, as significant as this development is, Tear shouldn't have the answers we're looking for. But she'll bring home the tragedy at the heart of it all. It's easy to forget, with Aizawa being silly in the background, the emptiness she left behind. It certainly explains Tear's behavior at the start of the manga. She was shaken the most by Aizawa's death.

Karasuma
What kind of rock and a hard place are you between?
None of this is particularly new: we'd already seen Sayaka's grandma barely tolerates her and Karasuma's overprotective of Michi in her own way. But it's expressions like this middle panel or top right that stand out to me more than maybe anything else this chapter. We've never seen the wacky exorcist lady like that before, so unsettled and reluctant. As much as she doesn't want Michi being part of this Karasuma recognizes she can't stop her.

And while Karasuma's being freaky about Tear she's clearly making Tear stay because Tear needs to hear this. Maybe as a last test of Michi's resolve, but it's not fair keeping those closest to Aizawa from knowing what's happened to her when Tear's already agonizing over DeLphi's haunting. As strange as she is, Karasuma has been highly considerate from the day we met her. And Michi really does mean a lot to her.

I'll repeat my patchwork theory: Karasuma possibly trained under Sayaka's grandma (Sayaka's grandma has the ghost eyes and teaches calligraphy, Karasuma's crows have an odd calligraphy brush style and she hangs around the Horimitsus, Karasuma taught Sayaka to mix her blood into calligraphy to form a barrier) but at some point she became the bad student. Perhaps by class-swapping into ghostpuncher. Karasuma may have been working with Michi's mom, who likely also had a deep connection to the spiritual side. Things went wrong again and Michi's mom died, which Karasuma blames herself for. But this introduced her to Michi and may have inspired Michi to take on Aizawa's ghost problem. You guessed it, things went wrong x3 and now Karasuma's picking up the pieces while trying to keep Sou's daughter out of it.

But while Karasuma surely has the most answers here, she's not going to tell us anything without being forced to.

Michi
It's always gratifying seeing how far she's come. Her growth has been slow and steady, from stuttering walking anxiety attack to someone capable of telling one of her idols that her dead friend is still with them. And at the heart of it all has always been Aizawa giving Michi the drive to keep going. I'll even make the bold claim it's the best yuri romance between two characters who have never spoken a single time*. I just hope it can work out for them, against all odds. I don't doubt Karasuma's warning that there's lots of pain ahead.

Speaking of Michi's burgeoning social skills, it was pretty slick of her to manipulate Sayaka into confirming Aizawa is at school before Tear could think she's crazy, while sidestepping Sayaka not knowing what the heck they're talking about. These 4 have a lot of ground to cover.

Overflow

• It's nice Honda and Masaki aren't completely kicked to the wayside after their arc is done. I expect their b-plot to tie back into the main story at some point.
• As for Mini Michi's non-interference this chapter, she only seems to act when Aizawa is directly involved. And she's so weakened at this point she doesn't have much to spare anyway. She also seems to stay at school and not with Michi.
• Going through silly Aizawa's for the credits page I realized they've been pretty rare lately. We either get chapters without Aizawa or with Aizawa suffering. And that doesn't seem likely to change.
• I'm sorry Ange I know you're going through a hard time but KarasuTear is kinda fun.

Next Manga 2026
Chapter 32 raw (leave a like)

Dorothy described this chapter as feeling "back to the basics of volume 1." I describe it as this.
It's pretty fun seeing Aizawa's usual antics from the perspective of someone who literally cannot comprehend them. But it's hard to shake the dread when the manga keeps implying everything's on a razor's edge and could go horribly wrong any day now wow look at the silly idols!

Since Kasumi can now see all ghosts, we know ghost trauma can awaken spiritual powers. There's likely different sources, such as the implication Sayaka's bloodline is special or Karasuma potentially having some ghostly power source that prevented her from entering the school's barrier. But what about Michi? Did she start seeing ghosts after a traumatic incident, or was it in her blood?

I love Kasumi's angling to take advantage of Michi's problem without breaking the ice that it's her problem too. She's always been one of the most socially intelligent characters yet this manga has an undercurrent of that sort of politeness blowing up in people's faces (see: Masaki). But as I said after ch30, Kasumi is maybe the best ally Michi could have in navigating the complex emotions she's trapped by. Things I really doubt Sayaka or Karasuma could help with. In case you're wondering, that "fairy" flashback is from chapter 11.

Sayaka's grandma's irises have some distinct fuzziness She's either remarking on that given the close-up of both girls' eyes or on another pair of visitors concerned with Sayaka's injuries. And speaking of the other pair, we last saw Karasuma meeting with Tear at the end of chapter 27. Maybe we'll finally learn the nature of that connection; it seems like they're on Nagi's trail.

Kasumi has definitely been to Sayaka's room a few times~

Chapter 33's raws are out; I've fallen behind. Whatever I say feels compromised so I don't want to say much.
We know volume 6 begins the 2nd half of the manga: the answer half. Dorothy's been wistful over this turning point.
So I can just say what she said the day before ch32 released, since surely that's no spoiler (yes Dorothy was working on chapter 34 before 32 was out).

Getting that anxious feeling again... What am I anxious about now?
Am I really okay drawing manga drifting along without a care in this world? I wanted to take time off after Vamp-sensei ended. But Aizawa-san is going through a really important phase, there's a lot of work to be done, and I can't let up. Will I have the chance to draw Aizawa-san as far as it needs to go? But how far does it need to go, how much work is that going to be? My PC's getting slower. My favorite plushie got a hole in it. I seriously need to take better care of myself.
...I'll try doing better! At least meeting a friend today'll take my mind off things.

Currently at work on Aizawa-san ch34.
Making progress while crying, suffering, agonizing, laughing at how many pages it is. I'll pay closer attention to the page count next time. But I had to give this part of the story as much room as it needs...
Someone told me chapter 32 should be going up soon!

Should I draw a light-reading, stress free, easy to understand manga? Or a sprawling intricate story? Hmm.
I wasn't so calculating when I first planned it out, but Aizawa-san could have gone either way.
Fortunately it was given the chance to go on a while so it's heading in the direction of a more expansive story, but it easily could have wrapped up after a short run of smaller SoL situations.

"Who could write something so horrible happening?" I think to myself as I draw ch34.

Give the raws a like.
I retract my previous assessment. Fuck Yurika, all my homies hate Yurika. Only Aoyama deserves a happy ending here.

I was pretty spot-on with this description however:

These snapshots could all be sweeter in another context but they have a deeper purpose: these are the moments Aoyama smoldered over for 6 years. She flips through them like old photographs as the rest fades away, an idyllic trauma she can't move past.
Aoyama's been trapped in the memory of something she couldn't emotionally grasp.

Sayori's arc led us to believe no matter how toxic, the pair could see eye to eye. Yamabe's arc led us to believe no matter how unlikely, the pair could reach a happy ending. But like the boxcutter, Igarashi may have twisted the rules again. This is not an arc headed for mutual healing. This is Aoyama facing disillusionment and the most painful truth.

It's ultimately a positive influence on their romance, on the romances of the 2 settled pairs too. If there's only one theme to this manga it's that. Class S was born from a painful time in history, but that pain paved the way to happiness. Yuri is the celebration of what Class S laid the groundwork for. By paying respects you take the good with the bad, exploring degrees of bittersweet to downright toxic before ultimately finding that brighter path together.

And while I'll cross out the "togethers" in this case I still hold to this being the core theme of the manga. To skip to my closing argument: there's a powerful inversion at play here. Yurika conspicuously represents lilies/yuri itself. Yet she fetishizes romance while acting as a proponent of the worst of Class S, wielding a system that once acted as limited liberation for the repressed to now repress emotional attachment and discard her partner once she's done.

Meanwhile Kasumi represents a perfected Class S relationship. One that shows all signs of lasting where the yuri one fell apart. Aoyama reconsiders her judgment that it was "kiddy shit," now seeing it as harmonious and mutually fulfilling. Do I think Igarashi is arguing we need to reject yuri and return to sisters? Not at all, and the tell lies in Aoyama exploring different types of lilies. Ones with gentler, less harmful fragrances.

It's undeniable Kasumi and Haruyo's relationship has outgrown the limitations of Class S. While they still shelter within their roleplay, they share a happy romance that's already discussed leaving sistership behind once they're ready. And as Aoyama wants to see what's real, part of me hopes that means reconciling with Kasumi. I don't think she can overcome this without opening up, maybe taking comfort in her letter's legacy leaving behind a more inspiring love.

Despite the lack of overt imagery it's horribly uncomfortable watching Aoyama come to terms with her abuse. Punctuated by that page of middle school Aoyama longing for what Kasumi has, what could have been in a better life. Giving a sense of the innocence she lost; one little memory unearthed and an avalanche of trauma coming down.

And while less immediately heavy, that revelation comes with the admission she trampled over Kasumi's feelings. Unlike the other arcs that happened outside our protagonists' knowledge, this one broke containment. Kasumi was personally affected and regularly interacts with Aoyama at the library. She owes Kasumi an apology. An apology that would come with some degree of explanation and maybe continued confiding over the secrets they share. I'm not sure where the overarching story goes from here - tracing older letters? Following new branches? Getting Yurika arrested? But Aoyama seems set to potentially play a larger role than Sayori or Yamabe have. Who knows, maybe Kasumi needs a friend exposed to trauma to begin addressing her own buried pain.

I can't end without dedicating a section to commenting on the imagery.

• The ghostly outline superimposed over a dead flower, symbolizing Aoyama's idyllic memory overwriting the death of her romance.
• The tattered white fabric billowing over the lily dimension, its texture indistinguishable between ribbon and lily and described as the paleness of death. So absurdly evocative despite coming from nowhere. I have no doubt Igarashi always based the white ribbons of the school uniform on lilies, waiting for a scene like this.
• A collage of the past bordered and blocked by simple abstract flowers, constructing a neat narrative of something much darker.
• Once again being consumed by a lily and one of its petals reaching where it really shouldn't.
• As Aoyama tears her memories apart we're given 3 panels of a lily dying like her romanticized love, leaving only its pistil as the flowers wilt away. This is followed by 3 panels of Yurika unfolding, leaving petals waiting open like a mouth around the stem and ovary. My reading of it at least, as tucked into the TL note, is a very symbolic admission Yurika was only ever interested in using Aoyama for sex. Now I admit I'm no flower doctor and that could be something else, say a newborn flower. But those don't look like closed petals; it too closely resembles the wilting flower of the previous page.
• The field of lilies Aoyama now stands on is dead, petals collapsed at her feet. All that's left before her is a barred frame containing one of the same flowers from her romanticized collage.

I touched on some more abstract metaphor in the TL note. As a flower uses its petals to lure in small animals to carry on its legacy, Yurika used the promise of romance to lure in a young girl to ultimately carry on the darker legacy of Class S.
Igarashi's really going all-out with the artistic abstractions and depictions of Aoyama's inner workings.

And so to close I'll translate some of Igarashi's comments this chapter:

I've always thought flowers are are a little grotesque. I do like them regardless and find them beautiful too, but from certain angles they look like monsters. I was glad to focus on that rawness to them this chapter.
In middle school I bought a photo book of flowers and the close-up pages of pistils and stamens freaked me out. "Are flowers actually gross...?" That might have been the core memory that started all this. And yet it might be why I like flowers so much.

I remember thinking, "Yuri is a genre about lilies, so you better learn all about lilies or else! It's a matter of courtesy!!" I drove myself crazy for a while reading books on lilies.
Once upon a time I drew a doujinshi themed around the language of flowers. But I found myself thinking, "Flower language is so useful to the point it makes it hard to look at the flowers themselves." So I write Arisaku without looking up anything to do with flower meanings in advance.* Flower language is a language and that makes it overpowering to writing. That language begins influencing the entire work. It's too invincible of a weapon.

(tl note: Igarashi does look up the flower meanings after an arc is completed. As a personal note, I consider the language of flowers to be cold reading. It's mostly generic sentiments or themes that can be applied to anything. Symbolism always finds a way to apply to works with profound meaning. Not to say they don't feel special when adorning a finished story, but letting symbolism be the foundation of a story can severely limit where you take it.)

During Yamabe's arc such outlandish compositions and psychological surrealism felt unfitting, so I held off. But letting it all surge back out during Aoyama's arc has been thrilling. These things just don't suit Yamabe. Please never become someone who feels at home with these things. I'm begging you. You don't belong on this side.

(tl note: As Yamabe's arc was calmly melancholic and Yamabe herself a very logically minded architecture student, Igarashi restricted the page composition to geometric and stable boxes with little to no deviations until Mia broke through to Yamabe, represented by a diagonal break in the page as she grabbed Yamabe across the desk.)

Q: Why was a middle schooler buying a photo book of flowers?
A: Well a shoujo mangaka has to be able to draw flowers! That's why I bought it, to copy from the real thing.
...Maybe I can still be one someday!? A shoujo mangaka!!?!?? It's not too late for me, is it!!!???

(I might need to go back and adjust Yurika's dialogue but page 13 is showing Yurika always had her annoying speech habits. It's another thing Aoyama glossed over.)

Give the raws a 'like.'
Hardly know where to begin besides whoa.

This chapter starts clouded by foreknowledge that Aoyama was taken advantage of. The flashback is presented in quick snapshots, jumping from scene to scene without transition. These snapshots could all be sweeter in another context (and it lends to the surreal imagery later) but they have a deeper purpose: these are the moments Aoyama smoldered over for 6 years. She flips through them like old photographs as the rest fades away, an idyllic trauma she can't move past. It wasn't meeting Yurika that hurt her, it was how casually she was cut off after being used.

Aoyama's been trapped in the memory of something she couldn't emotionally grasp. She stuck to the library when it must remind her of Yurika every day. She cut her hair, baring her "mean look" to the world because she must not care if she scares anyone off anymore. She's not reserving it for Yurika either. But maybe she's feeding off the confidence Yurika's compliment gave her. The one thing she knows for real is Yurika broke the rules out of desire for her. She checks her stowed letter with bitter satisfaction when no one took it. The letter existed as a reminder of her loneliness and a pathetic little rebellion against Yurika's words. So long as it remains they still had that thread binding them. The thread Aoyama now tears after Yurika's return.

And here we have the generational gap. When Aoyama says, "There's no one else for me," there's a double meaning. Both that she never wanted anyone else and that Class S is extinct. Aoyama is the last dinosaur, forced into perpetuating a system that forgot its purpose beyond putting tradition on a pedestal. A system Yurika seemingly* couldn't care less about but uses in such a mechanical way to detach herself from her little sister, a convenient excuse to abandon Aoyama and guilt her into growing up past this "childish" love. Packaging the disgusting bits of Class S into the hypocritical veneer of honoring its legacy.

As the in-setting rules for soeurship are codified, it's fascinating how only Kasumi and Haruyo have done it to tradition. Yurika circumvented the system to pick her partner (and while she called her by a nickname, Aoyama only called Yurika 'Senpai'). Yamabe and Mia were only glanced by the letters and never participated in roleplay. Sayori and Mizuki engaged with it as a distraction but their relationship clearly enveloped it rather than being defined by it.

That isn't to say none of them live up to Class S - this entire manga is a love letter to the old genre and a bridge into the new. Each arc could serve as a classic Class S story that twists into the modern standards of yuri, for all that means.

Everything Kasumi and Haruyo have done is under the umbrella of Class S. They met through anonymous letters; Kasumi fits the stereotypical little sister to a T (despite her fears otherwise) and Haruyo does her best to embody an Onee-sama. You could describe them as the purest and healthiest couple, without the major upheavals or gaps others suffered. Though they've gone through pain and bitterness with more to surely come, it's through the lens of Class S they take comfort in each other. Their roleplay allowing them to open up difficult topics and recognize their truer or idealized selves.

It's ultimately a positive influence on their romance, on the romances of the 2 settled pairs too. If there's only one theme to this manga it's that. Class S was born from a painful time in history, but that pain paved the way to happiness. Yuri is the celebration of what Class S laid the groundwork for. By paying respects you take the good with the bad, exploring degrees of bittersweet to downright toxic before ultimately finding that brighter path together. Breathing new life into the old genre.

Somehow I expect Aoyama and Yurika to find some happy ending too. Igarashi is excited to show off chapter 18. And it can't escape notice this arc's flower is the most significant of all: yuri. Whatever Igarashi means by that I'll hold judgment for now. The same goes for Yurika. I can only say Yurika clearly does value Hanamonogatari, if not the trappings of Class S. She became the classic literature teacher for a reason. And returned to this school for a reason too.

Link to like the raws.
I don't want to dwell on the situation in the credits page here; it's weighed on me plenty already. The last thing I want is to hurt an artist by doing this. I have to trust everyone can cooperate and keep the translations more private.

The theme this chapter is maturity.
It's well understood Kasumi wants to be protected and pampered - it's why she followed Haruyo's offer in chapter 1, as crazy as it sounded. She's had a traumatic experience and no outlet. She knows pain, which is why she's so determined in return to protect Haruyo. Outside their roles Haruyo is much more innocent and sheltered. And Kasumi values that over her own safety. If she'd known her meeting with Aoyama would end that way but still needed to make it, I don't doubt she'd go without Haruyo's knowledge a second time.

However part of valuing Haruyo is respecting the promise they made after Sayori and Mizuki's arc: Kasumi wouldn't hide anything from her anymore, and so she won't now. It's a little surprising, given how typically manga break that sort of honesty and trust between characters. But it's sweet that as much as she pains her to tell the truth Kasumi knows it would hurt Haruyo more to create distance between them. Maybe it's guilt weighing on her, maybe it's desire for what came next, but their relationship continues to grow nicely in the proximity of all these rotten flowers around them.

When I said they lapsed from their roleplay several times in the TL page, it was mostly Kasumi re-establishing authority over Haruyo. In Haruyo's case it was shock at what was happening. It's always been cloudy how conscious Haruyo is of how intimate they're being but there's little doubt over what Haruyo felt here. Haruyo likes to touch Kasumi, but this is the first time Kasumi has actively asked to be touched. And she knows Kasumi's feelings about it. Haruyo reverts to her middle school self because it's a level of maturity she can't roleplay through. It's that slow yet sudden exploration of each other done in innocence that epitomizes young romance. Where touching knees and tying ribbons turns up the sexual tension like nothing else.

And in stark contrast we have Aoyama. We don't know what happened yet, but it's safe to say it was way too fast and not at all innocent. Aoyama's maturity was forced on her, and the fallout has brought nothing but pain that she can't help but spread to others. As I commented last chapter, Kasumi is wrong. I don't think Aoyama ever planned on hurting Kasumi. But she couldn't control herself when Kasumi re-opened old wounds. And so she gave Kasumi some scratches that needed closing too. There's a mirror drawn between Kasumi trying to overwrite her painful memories with Aoyama and Aoyama being unable to bury her past with Yurika. Cycles of abuse and all.

It's very early to judge Yurika, and Igarashi likes to toy with impressions. It wouldn't surprise me if the story tries to paint Yurika in a better light, and I won't be surprised if Igarashi has the talent to do so. Igarashi is making a strong opening statement Aoyama and Yurika are quite opposite from Kasumi and Haruyo. I once worried over reassuring everyone the latter only had a 1 year age gap, which was very deliberate by Igarashi to refocus the difference between them. It would have come in titles and artificial seniority while their life experiences were roughly the same. It was Kasumi's buried trauma that was the true gap between them, something Haruyo still has no idea of.

Now Igarashi is going all the way with Aoyama being a 1st year in middle school and Yurika in her last year of high school when they met; I'll safely assume that's the maximum 6 year age gap. The relationship itself is the trauma. And Yurika is still here to haunt her in something potentially dark enough to make Sayori and Mizuki look like "kiddy shit."

I doubt there's anything happening between Aoyama and Yurika right now. It's entirely possible Yurika is lingering around because she regrets what happened. That she came back to teach here because she values the school in the same way she wanted the Class S letters to continue. After Mia and Yamabe I assumed every pairing would find a happy ending, no matter how unlikely. But this looks pretty damn unlikely. There's still the second half of 17, which is seemingly an uncomfortable flashback. Igarashi said she wanted to make sure she got these next few chapters right. Though that could mean a lot of things after the boxcutter chapter.

Give the raw chapters a like if you can.

The start of a new season!
The way I see things, with THAT girl's debut at the end of volume 5 we've reached the turning point... But the truth is I can't tell how many chapters are left until I draw them. All the characters have so many things left to explore... I have to at least try to keep the manga going until I cover what I have in mind—I'll do my best!
- Odoroo Dorothy

After half a year we're finally back. The delay can partially be explained by Dorothy's other manga, Banpu-sensei ending. She wanted to put extra focus on it so it ended well. But she's also been talking about Aizawa-san's return as a "new season" for a while. With that likely came a lot of planning. Interestingly if Aizawa-san were ever animated this is likely where a break in seasons would happen too.

Dorothy is a big planner. More than typical, these volumes are written to be read as complete stories rather than individual chapters. The old magazine, Comic Valkyrie was an... unusual fit for Aizawa-san (mostly publishing gratuitous ecchi and isekai with a handful of token yuri series that also leaned sexual, ie Hitozuma to JK) and there was likely an expectation volume releases reached a different and primary audience.

What that means is Dorothy has always been a strong adherent to the first chapter setting up all a volume's plotlines. Here we have

• Michi wanting to tell Sayaka about her powers
• Kasumi not knowing what's happening now that she sees Aizawa
• Sayaka going out of her way to protect everyone and starting to grapple with her powers
• Aizawa being scared of herself
• Mini Michi acting more independently but also weakening
• Karasuma being everyone's lifeline
• Nagi on the offensive

So starting at the bottom...

Nagi
Nagi out of nowhere is somehow one of the most unsettling pages. Why is she at school? Come to test the barrier? Or to be near Aizawa. Either way, she recognizes Sayaka. Sayaka's the whole reason she was kicked out last time. If Sayaka didn't refresh the AAA mark now Nagi might have been able to break in. Remember how I said Nagi might do irredeemable things? I've been worried for Sayaka ever since we learned she has powerful blood but only if she bleeds. Her nature leads her to self-sacrifice—something Mini Michi commented on. There's a few flags this chapter that don't bode well: Michi worrying she's putting Sayaka in danger, being the messenger for Mini Michi's call for help, and wondering about the nature of what she sees only to get confronted by one of the worst.

But most major is Michi wanting to tell Sayaka about Aizawa. Ch30 strongly suggested it's Kasumi Michi will talk to instead. The narrative is looking to accomplish 3 things: establish Nagi as a threat, confront Sayaka with the otherworldly, and give reason for Michi to confide in Kasumi. You get all 3 by taking Sayaka out. Now I'm not saying she's going to die (c'mon you can't kill someone at the start of a new season) but the strangleghost is in stranglerange.

Sayaka + Mini Michi
Dorothy called this the beginning of the & arc and it's a safe assumption it's theirs. I really thought Sayaka was just pretending not to know about ghosts, like the inverse of Michi. If you treat ghosts like normal, maybe they don't freak out. But nope, the supernatural world is so pervasive in her eyes she can't tell it from grounded reality. And maybe hanging around those who share her sight helps normalize it, like Karasuma or her grandmother potentially. But she clearly suspects something's wrong and simply decided to grin and bear it like she usually does. She's not that dense, even if she's really really really dense.

Then there's Mini Michi casually dropping she's not a ghost. I don't know why that caught me by surprise; maybe it's that this manga is never so direct. But it's another teasing bit of supernatural worldbuilding if she's some other form of guardian spirit. She's working directly against Michi's goals too, and acting more independent than ever made me realize she deserves a spot on the recent character chart.

We know the barrier around school keeps harmful ghosts out, which Mini Michi is here to maintain. Karasuma cleansed the school and Michi later noted ghosts were returning. But it's interesting how we're seeing genuinely benign ghosts. From Michi's perspective they're all dangerous, yet to Sayaka they can be helpers. Regardless, it's more surreal than ever how normal Aizawa looks compared to every other ghost.

Mini Michi struggled to say 霊能者 which I translated as spiritualist last time, so it's spirity-list here. I'm deliberately making her dialogue a little more childlike now.

Aizawa
She gets her first speech bubble and it's "..." What is there to say about "I'm scared of me" beyond my heart hurts? Her Japanese handwriting was awful too, like she was struggling to write. And either the emotion was overwhelming or speaking broke the rules but it made her shoggothify again. That previously only happened when someone important either seemingly forgot or stopped caring about her but it looks like the trigger's a looser than I thought. I like how it becoming a little routine by now is played from Sayaka's perspective where her recovery is as natural as the rest of the ghosts floating around school.

"Someone who means a lot to her" is likely Michi but could also be Nagi.

Everyone Else
Dorothy did say Karasuma would be key this volume. When we last saw her she was talking business with Tear. She's certainly on Nagi's trail and we're headed for a confrontation. But maybe that's waiting at the volume climax. We have to see the end of that meeting first, along with how the rest of DeLphi's holding up.

While Michi's more determined than ever, I don't expect her to get very far this volume. I predict things will move behind her back for a while before she and Kasumi get on the same page, setting us up for vol7.

I doubt Michi's mom will be a focus either but she might be touched on if we delve into Mini Michi. Maybe she'll even be the end of volume teaser, since those are always major reveals that advance the mystery.

Hey it's that guy again. Guess he's not one of the bad ones?

That AAA sure looks like an MA again.

I apologize to Mrs. Kurotori for this hit piece. I'm sure she's a lovely lady.

So it's back. Like actually, not a drill. I have typeset ch31 though I wanted to upload this recap a day in advance as a refresher, otherwise I'm sure the comment section would look like an alzheimers support group.

Chapter 32 is ready according to Dorothy and waiting for release next month. These post-volume hiatuses have been standard for Aizawa-san but this one dragged much longer for 2 reasons:

1. Banpu-sensei is ending. Or rather it's ended, the final chapter finished recently. It was Dorothy's 2nd serialized manga and she seems to have taken its axing hard. She wanted to put as much effort as she could into ending it satisfyingly.
2. Dorothy considers ch31 onward to be the "2nd season" of Aizawa-san. She normally plans the entire volume in advance but it's likely she went farther with preparations this time.

In the recap I described Aizawa-san as entering part 2 of the 3 act mystery structure (discovery, investigation, solution). But that's a western perspective. Japanese mystery writing uses a 2 act structure (question, answer) which Dorothy later referenced instead. Which is to say, Dorothy also calls Nagi's introduction the halfway point of the manga, with a reassurance we're nowhere near the end. In fact she says she really doesn't know how many chapters are left because there's so many details to explore. We're just along for the ride.

If there's any confusion on that tiny discrepancy (on top of the ever-present general confusion) I wrote this script months ago and didn't want to update it. I like these being snapshots of the time, that years from now a late reader might get to still feel a part of the speculation.

There were however 2 changes I made after reading ch31:
Added a ? to Sayaka knowing ghosts are ghosts.
Added Mini Michi to the character chart.
Dorothy calls 31 the start of the & character arc, and you may be able to guess the names from that.

Some off-topic trivia about Dorothy's other manga:
In my note I was going to write the MC's names but hit a stumbling block. And since I'm not translating it (though it has been licensed under Vamp-sensei) I can play with their names a little. Banpu-sensei is a comedy about an ancient vampire posing as a teacher. Soon another vampire who's like a little brother to him starts hanging around and they're shipped. It's a BL manga. Anyway their names are something like Andros and Gyunor. Dorothy said she took the word "Androgynous" and split it between them, sounding vaguely eastern European. What she didn't realize at first was this cemented the "male" and "female" roles in the relationship, given the root andros means masculine and gyne means feminine. Someday I'll have to check how the official TL handles that.

Anyway read Poroth Farm if you can find it. One of my favorite works of weird fiction.

This chapter may need extra tags so tell me. Bullying sounds appropriate at least.

Aoyama's an odd character. She's desperate to talk to Kasumi about the letter, yet doesn't seem too happy to have it back. Of course we know in fuller context she never wanted to write the letter. Indeed she probably didn't want to find anyone using it, which is why 16.1 pointed out how direct its offer was and how it set itself up for failure. But after 3+ years of waiting the thought must have weighed on her.

I think we can establish straightaway she never intercepted any letters left in Hanamonogatari. She both doesn't know anything about Kasumi and acts embarrassed at the thought of eavesdropping on a letter, in contrast to her disrespectful punkish nature. And her tearing up the letter at the end makes you wonder what she was so desperate for in the first place. I have no doubt she would have always torn up the letter even if this meeting had gone better.

Frankly I don't think Aoyama knew what she wanted. She doesn't come across as calculated as Sayori, for example, but a more reactionary and volatile individual. And she's had years of emptiness, bitterness, and resentment to color her. But I don't think her desperation on the first page adds up with her wanting to ruin Kasumi's day either. She overreacted to 3 things:

1st, being told "Sorry." Kasumi was right—returning the letter only re-opened old wounds of being rejected twice. 2nd, I think she was honestly jealous of Kasumi being in a happy relationship with Haruyo. But she kept it down and indulged her kouhai at first. The 3rd straw was the juvenile/sanitized way Kasumi described her relationship. Aoyama suffered in part because perhaps her S relationship was a lot more physical than she could handle. And she convinced herself, if mine didn't work out there's no way yours will.

Aoyama was surprised at how poorly Kasumi took it, but that's not in her defense. There's no reasonable expectation Kasumi wouldn't be hurt here. And it was one of the more uncomfortable chapters I've translated in any series. We all know how fragile Kasumi is. Yet you can see how excited she was at a chance to actually talk about her girlfriend to someone both private and in-the-know. But she's still too reserved to talk about the emotional depth of what she has with Haruyo, how it's quickly grown beyond the structure of Class S, and how some very physical feelings are developing.

It's a horrible miscommunication that immediately puts Aoyama in the worst light. While the boxcutter senpais kept their evilry to themselves (Sayori tactfully sparing Kasumi any damage from their meeting as she guided her reconciliation with Haruyo) this is Kasumi's first exposure in a long while to the darkness of the world.

最初のネームでは階段落ちの時顔から突っ込ませていたが、危なくてさすがに青山も心配するからしりもちくらいにしよって担当さんに言われて今の形になった。という裏話。

In the original draft, Kasumi was going to fall headfirst down the stairs. Igarashi's editor told her it was too much and Aoyama would show more concern, so they changed it to Kasumi falling on her butt. She still bumped her head though.

Doesn't really help Igarashi's case but as an author, pain's what sweetens relief. Or in other words, in the chemistry of writing, every action requires an equal and opposite reaction. Igarashi's confronting Kasumi with the supposition lots of readers might have had, diminishing her relationship with Haruyo because it's "only class S, not real romance." In a sense Igarashi is inviting the conversation of Class S vs yuri here.

I'm very interested where this arc takes us. It's so fundamentally different from the last two, directly involving Kasumi in the drama and the relationship being long buried. Is there even a chance to rekindle it? Would Aoyama want to? The focus is instead on Kasumi. As I suggested above I'm sure this will lead to a deeper bond with Haruyo. Their relationship trajectory has been so stable and positive, with Haruyo frequently thinking about the future, that Aoyama's warning is meaningless. But that doesn't mean Kasumi isn't badly hurt by it.

I really like the subtleties here too. Kasumi only didn't bring Haruyo because she didn't want to keep Aoyama waiting. She still had what Haruyo said on the mind, how lonely and desperate the letter sender must feel. It's tragic she only hurts herself further with how considerate she is (again something she fails to appraise herself for).

And it's impressive how awkwardness and uncertainty underlines their meeting without being too overt. You probably immediately felt it was a mistake not to get Haruyo—it leaves Kasumi vulnerable. Aoyama takes her to a secluded location, similar to Sayori who was much more intimidating at first. It's on-the-edge of breaking the rules yet not quite, maybe a meta metaphor at play. Between Aoyama's glare (which is an uncharacteristically dark panel in a spree of light pages) and the goofy scene of her being embarrassed over the letter your expectations are in flux. And Kasumi's sweetness blinds you before Aoyama drops the other shoe.

I was pretty conflicted on "That really is some kiddy shit!" It is the 2nd time I've swore in this translation. A more literal TL would be, "You're like a couple of kids playing house!" But Aoyama's language is messy in general (she's a -ssu type) and the abrupt tonal shift demanded something heavy.

Oh and of course there's another letter. We're going all the way back to 1916 with this one.

Flashbacks to a certain Gundam Wing scene.

You can tell Igarashi's fond of the boxcutter lovers. And Seika + Etsurou. I don't think they're going away, so hopefully you remember or reread the start of the Dominant crossover.

As always I organized these in a superficial order where it felt the themes flowed. Some are missing context, for example Sayori and Mizuki being blinded by the purity of Mia x Yamabe when their arc concluded. But by placing that after the Dominant cast were smited by Yamabe (which was part of a mini April Fools crossover) I think it preserved the meaning? Basically I'm trying to be fancily nonchalant instead of inserting TL notes everywhere.

Yes Lucille is a Walking Dead reference.

Physical raw volume.
Digital raw volume.
Leave a like on the raw chapter 16.1.
Ganbare Mia. Become an Onee-sama who can break through the friendzone.
Interestingly the inner cover composition does confirm Mia's the Onee-sama in their relationship, despite Yamabe initiating.
The evil senpais are always a delight and I hope they never leave. They're already powerful enough to break the cover trend.

You just know Igarashi's giggling when she puts in lines like "All our senpais have been wonderful people!"
Even with her Onee-sama persona up, Haruyo's childish side shines through. And you can tell the difference in approach with how cautious Kasumi is towards the letter. While she's hard on herself for not considering the feelings of the 1st sender like Haruyo did, Kasumi took the letter in the first place because she was worried about Yamabe. She's always too hard on herself.

And with the classic "start of a new volume recap" out of the way, we go all the way back to volume 1 with the long awaited return of the friend gang, the library, and the assistant librarian. Seemingly the first half of a new pairing; I remember her being an early suspect for Haruyo too. I always wondered, if the letters started with someone else, have they been intercepting and eavesdropping Kasumi and Haruyo's exchanges? Nobody's in a better position than a bored girl hanging around the library.a

If I had a nickel for every time I translated a yuri manga about an awkward loner with weird eyes trying to get to the bottom of a ghost haunting her classroom without directly talking to her I'd have 2 nickels. Which isn't a lot but it's odd it happened twice.

We're certainly on the Hanamonogatari route; an anthology of bittersweet and wistful yuri. But I think Igarashi is determined to give every pair a happy ending. Now the real question: was SayoMizu the sickest it gets or is MiaBeh the sweetest it gets? Their flower is of course the Sunflower, but I've gone back and added a page at the end of chapter 12 for SayoMizu's less pronounced White Clover.

There's something to be said for how, even assuming there's no possibility of bad endings, the boxcutter leaves a looming shadow over the rest of the manga. Chapter 15 was unreasonably suspenseful at times. I hope Igarashi can maintain that unpredictable energy. In hindsight this is effectively a saccharine 58 page one-shot. The way they visually revert to their younger selves as Mia thanks Yamabe is a neat technique Igarashi was fond of in Dominant.

Igarashi described Yamabe as the kindest and most selfless character she'd ever written (trust me, nobody in Dominant is in the running) and felt emotionally overwhelmed drawing this chapter because good people deserve happiness. She told all those who had no faith in her to kneel and reflect on themselves (and said by that standard she'd need to kneel too). The world is at peace. I expect boxcutter dual wielding next arc.

Interesting that the volume should end here without returning to Kasumi and Haruyo. Though Yamabe and Mia's story is surely done. What's also interesting is the timeframe. Their reunion comes after Kasumi and Haruyo visited Yamabe, but then we get a 5 month timeskip. Which again doesn't mean anything; next chapter will surely be following Kasumi in the present. It's just something to think about, where Kasumi and Haruyo would be at by then.

And speaking of which, volume 3 released today.
Official chapter raws.

Official raw. There's currently a campaign going where extra chapters are free until the 19th.
Physical.
Digital.

Still no news on chapter 31. Dorothy plots out the entire next volume before starting which is why we get these gaps between volumes. And it at least sounds like 6 is mostly planned out. The last time Dorothy described a shift in tone was volume 3, toward the more SoL/human drama with Honda vs Masaki. This time things are getting less fun and Karasuma's getting heavily involved.

Dorothy also described 6 as "the start of a new season." Don't know where exactly that's partitioned, but if you divide a mystery into 3 phases (discovery, investigation, solution) I think we're just beginning the 2nd. It's time for the real pursuit of answers. And that means each stone turned over runs the risk of unleashing some creepy crawly. Horror is a steady climb and so the threat's finally great enough to justify putting Karasuma to work.
(also if you were adapting this to a 13 episode anime this would roughly be the end of season 1)

I'm so glad I had a clean template for that profile saved. Masaki's was even messier than it looked. Her favorite animal is a hamster, which is also Honda's favorite. And Honda used to have a pet hamster (which died but Sayaka can still see its ghost following her around.)
On a more meta note, "I have over 300 confirmed kills" is actually "刃牙しねかかってこいや/You're dead, Baki, come fight me bro!" which is a reference to a Japanese shitpost that's equivalent to the Navy Seal copypasta and yes it refers to that Baki.

I don't think I've ever seen a twist on Snow White where the witch wanted someone else to be prettiest? Seta can't stop getting dunked on. Michi's getting used to her gay dreams by now. Karasuma saved the day again (by doing nothing again).

I left the assistant's name in JP in case they ever hit it big and you can look back and say "oh my gosh she helped with Aizawa-san no wonder she makes such great yuri!" It definitely wasn't because I gave up on that last scribbled kanji and any Japanese name is a roll of the dice whether you read the kanji right.

Michi's hair just keeps getting longer. I should put a short compilation in the next recap.
Speaking of which I'm working on one - it might be out with the next chapter. I have an updated character chart and timeline mostly done, then the script for an insane tangent waiting. There's a detail that might end up like the Sailor Moon theory in importance though it's simultaneously more in your face, less evidently meaningful, and despite its simplicity impossible to convey in translation. Fun.

I've been sitting on ~150 of these sketches puzzling over how to release them. Igarashi draws a few every week; I could potentially upload them in small batches after each half chapter but it feels better to release in bulk each volume. Some come with behind the scenes insight or relate directly to specific chapters though I don't think they're very hard to figure out.

I organized these first two volumes together, meaning some of the cutesy art from the 1st one and dark art from the 2nd doesn't quite line up with when Igarashi posted them. But it felt right and I'm not looking up exact dates over this. This also meant I bundled all the pages with Igarashi jotting her thoughts down at the end of vol2 to keep a better flow when reading.

If there's more crossover art in the future I probably won't do a separate upload but Dominant needed its own introduction.

Link to the raw chapter 14.2.

The ending is so cinematic, turning from Mia's face popping up to her cover page in the present. Can't wait to see how Yamabe fumbled and unfumbles this.

I love that Igarashi's working the anonymous letters back in too. It's a fun device HaruSumi sadly had to graduate from but I hope it sticks around for a while. Maybe Yamabe never even worked up the courage to let Mia know who she was? That could be part of why she regrets not taking her hand back then. Interestingly, it doesn't seem like Mia had anything to do with the rejection letter Yamabe left either. That and the original letter are likely saved for future pairs. Hanamonogatari's influence grows.

Little bit of trivia, Igarashi apparently studied architecture in university. She's surely pulling from experience with Yamabe's engineering college, which she described as getting to draw messy while Kasumi's school needs to stay idealized and dreamlike. Igarashi also admitted to being nervous her depiction of Mia could come across as mean-spirited towards non-native speakers, and you can feel that in how friendly her classmates are. In Igarashi's words, "I don't want to make a manga that hurts anyone [reading it]."

SIDENOTE
Most of I See You, Aizawa-san's chapters are free to read (only for today) on the official site.
If you have the time, it would be cool if you gave it traffic. Like Arisaku, you can give each chapter 10 hearts at the end.
The magazine Aizawa-san was published in recently shut down and the mangaka's other manga just got an axe notice, so it always helps to offer a little support. I'll be adding a guide similar to Arisaku's next chapter but Aizawa-san has been on the usual post-volume break these past 2 months and they're doing a New Year's special offer. I'll delete this part of the post when it's over.

I’ll definitely heart all of these since they’re so great. It sucks that magazine was cancelled though. Does that mean there won’t be any more physical volumes or anything?

Physical volumes will still be releasing—volume 5 is out on February 6th. The manga has been on its usual post-volume break too while Dorothy plots out the next one.

Official chapter 14.1 raws.
It looks like we are taking the anthology route after all. Kasumi and Haruyo exploring different sets of older couples as they trace the letters back. It's fitting, given Hanamonogatari was an anthology itself.

Yamabe's seems to be a story of missed opportunities, working on a meta level as she encourages Kasumi through her past failings. It's far from enough to heal that wound but it's nice Kasumi has another senpai to relate to. Speaking of which, I hope the boxcutter senpais stick around. The one thing I don't want from an anthology approach is for characters to come and go after Igarashi did so well introducing them. But I trust she has good ideas in store.

I'm guessing there's a reason Yamabe got a react panel to the model on the 4th page.
In case you were worried or want to be worried, Igarashi has teasingly hinted Yamabe's story might not be as innocent as it seems.

last edited at Jan 21, 2026 4:09PM

I wrote this as a 2nd page to my post-credits talk on maturity, but didn't feel like it was worth attaching right to the chapter since it's mostly opinions:

Chapter 13 stands out to me as a rare case of Kasumi sticking to the leading role. She's nearly always allowed or depended on Haruyo taking the lead, but here the roles are reversed from start to finish. We can draw some obvious-yet-nondescript conclusions on Kasumi's trauma prompting this, fearing Haruyo hurting herself in trying to become someone she's not. Expressed pointedly in the dream sequence.

Kasumi's dream is beautiful and sad. An endless warm sea, sheltering them from the need to come up for air. Something that could have gone on forever. But as Haruyo touches on, it's unrealistic. Change comes regardless of if you're ready. And change is never without growing pains.

Both are making somewhat naive attempts at being the mature one. Haruyo's ineffectual longing to replace herself with the role she plays, Kasumi's vain wish to protect Haruyo's childish innocence. And it reminds me of the first lines of chapter 1. "Who I once was." Kasumi's failed attempt at remaining unchanged? "Who you are yet to be." Haruyo's failed attempt at becoming someone else? "Are both still waiting there?" Contained in letters left behind in the library.

Though that's only one interpretation, and it's not all ill omens. They're discovering each other in a much more comfortable way so far than SayoMizu's "who is this" moment. Besides, if those two can work it out there's no reason the fluffballs can't.

Still, even as Kasumi and Haruyo reach for each other, they aren't fully there yet. This chapter's headlined with imagery of them being close yet disconnected. Haruyo's insecurities becoming clearer opens the door to drama exploiting them. Kasumi is nowhere near being open with Haruyo, let alone herself and the audience. Their needs in their relationship aren't mirrored. And Kasumi contradicts herself, wanting "Onee-sama" to guide her escapism while wanting to protect Haruyo from reality.

But more than the maturity to handle whatever comes, they share a strong attachment that keeps them steady. Making these little strides towards each other. They might stumble but I can't imagine they'll fall backwards. Even if their future is mutual failure, growth through pain, I think they already have all they need.

does anyone else occasionally see the title as

Dear Flowers That Bloom in Days of Gore

especially after the box cutter

My brain autocorrected to dead flowers for a bit.

This was Odoroo Dorothy's first published work, submitted in December 2019, though she's made several twitter one-shots in this vein. One of those was about a girl who could see a ghost and pretended not to. Which was a lot more light hearted and less gruesome than the rest, at least before it was picked up into serialization. Dorothy's old twitter one-shots always felt a little Junji Ito inspired to me, only much sillier but often with a dark twist at the end.

Anyway, Happy Halloween.

Apologies in advance for the wall of text but my stream of consciousness had a lot of consciousness to stream.
Definitely need to work on an updated recap for vol5. However Aizawa-san should be going on another 2-3 month break.

You put a name to the monster and suddenly she's sympathetic.

It goes without saying this is a tragedy. Aizawa's dead, and every line like "Honami-chan died," hits heavy. All ghosts are presumably people who suffered sad fates. But with Nagi's formal introduction I strongly get the feeling those sad undertones previously drowned out by the silliness are about to get loud.

Michi can't hide Aizawa anymore and doesn't want to, the alternative becoming more painful. Nagi seriously cared about Aizawa despite now being manic about killing her. And there's some family-ish connection? Whatever the hell Nagi meant by that. Which means the mourning's about to get much more personal when we dig deeper. With volume 6 it feels like we'll be crossing the line into the mystery's 2nd act: from fallout of the incident to actively putting pieces together.

MIZUSHIRO NAGI

Did you notice Nagi's fuzzy pupils? While Masaki's star-seeing eyes were strange, there's no mistaking Nagi could see ghosts in life. It's consistent and shown twice, hammered in with the final panel of the volume. I've pushed the theory Nagi and Aizawa were killed by some greater ghost, and if Nagi could see ghosts it credits the idea her death wasn't just an accident.

Given our understanding of the timeline, Nagi died ~a year ago (just before DeLphi was official) and Aizawa around 6 months ago. We know Michi got involved somewhere in there. The question isn't if Nagi knows her but whether Michi met Nagi while alive or dead. It seems very likely Michi met Aizawa either to protect her from Nagi or from whatever killed them both. Even at the festival Nagi has never directly interacted with either of them. But unlike Aizawa, Nagi can talk. Ange can hear her. And she can start dropping us hints.

While family is a distant theme, don't forget Michi's mom is definitely playing some part here.

The slow clarification of Nagi across volumes — from distorted wraith to human ghost — is similar to Kasumi becoming able to see Aizawa. This likely mirrored Ange's perspective, who reacted as if first seeing Nagi at the concert. No guesses as to why Nagi is possessing Ange, but if it's anything like Kasumi it doesn't necessarily indicate a strong personal reason. Both are taking what's available.

KASUMI

On that segue, I doubt anyone predicted this but the buildup was fantastic. And Kasumi perfect for Michi to confide in: level-headed, considerate, perceptive. She already suspected Michi and Sayaka saw a "fairy." Not to mention it immediately jumpstarts Kasumi back to relevance after falling by the wayside post-vol2, easily dragging Sayaka into usefulness as well. And we can start addressing Michi's memory loss, given Kasumi remembers conversations with Michi they never had. Kasumi can also stop experiencing horrors beyond comprehension every time Aizawa gets jealous; only somewhat comprehensible horrors now.

My sole gripe is losing an aspect I loved to Kasumi — her faithful support of Sayaka despite being unable to understand her. It was really sweet. But I'll take that sacrifice for this new direction pulling all the elements together.

It also opens a new door if ghost exposure leads to ghost vision. Is Kasumi's power limited to Aizawa, or can she see them all? Will her eyes get fuzzy too? Did anyone we know get their powers this way? Sayaka seemed to have some bloodline thing going, but Michi's alluded to a bad encounter as a kid.

But back to NAGIZAWA

There's a tone of artificiality to Aizawa. We know her true(?) nature of course and it's always been called into consideration why ghost Aizawa acts differently from idol Aizawa. Michi thought it was her dorky real self she'd buried, and that's not a bad guess. Idol Aizawa is described as "perfecting a formula, down to a science, textbook, made to be an idol." There's another reference to her being an angel. And it's all summed up as a curse.

A curse on her fans, but maybe on Aizawa herself too? Pushed into losing her human nature, metaphorically then literally. Again Dorothy commits to Aizawa staying voiceless in flashbacks, but Nagi effectively speaks for her. Nagi's seemingly the one who pushed Aizawa to be an idol, Nagi's the one covering for her. I'm not blaming Nagi but was it really what Aizawa wanted? Aizawa relates to Masaki at times. Did Aizawa only want to be an idol because of Nagi too? I don't doubt for a second Aizawa loves the rest of DeLphi and her fans, but there's always been the subtext of questioning whether Aizawa really wanted that life, ever since Michi guessed Aizawa was haunting school because she wished she could have been there more.

HONDA VS MASAKI
(can't believe I wrote all this without touching on the focal duo yet send help)

Dorothy said she normally plans arcs in sets of 3 chapters, but that, in deliberately slowing the pace of the manga, Honda vs Masaki became 11 long. In a microcosm I think this arc reflects the entire manga: confusing and chaotic at first, but in hindsight it all comes together (hopefully). Masaki's not inherently a bad person, just warped by trauma that never healed right. Even while hating Honda's attachment to Aizawa she never has anything but sympathy for Aizawa herself. And Honda's so fractured by guilt she's allowed it to damage every part of her life. Her "penance" was so self-serving it only hurt her friends further. Maybe in the future we can look back and draw stronger parallels to Aizawa and Michi there.

Both took advantage of Michi. Neither are completely forgiven for what they've done (Masaki much more so). Honda's broken confidence and Masaki's toxicity might be permanent parts of them now. But all they needed was communication to pull each other through.

MICHI

Speaking of which I'm so proud of Michi's growth. There was a time I worried she was the manga's weak link; a passive amnesiac protagonist can be tough to write. But watching her learn from failures and get proactive to the point of giving guidance to the girl with the max charisma stat has me gaijin 4koma-ing. It's sadly rare for MCs to learn to cut through the bullshit and force out misunderstandings, but Michi's taking that lesson to heart. And it's happened so naturally in response to what she's faced.

I'm not only hyped for where the story's about to go but for who Michi's going to become by the end. This is a girl who can protect her ghost.

• Love this page. The implications and themes, how it touches on the yin-yang that idolization can be a curse. And how easily that reflects on the slow torture Michi's putting herself through being unable to let go of Aizawa.
• Dorothy's expressions are super underrated. She's great at hinting subtle emotions, all those pained looks between Honda and Masaki. Of course, you'd have to be for a manga with a mute love interest.
• Wonder if there's foreshadowing on Masaki wanting to see Nagi again. Honda and Masaki's subplot clearly has room to continue, and it's pretty conspicuous how DeLphi's agency is suddenly recruiting a new group as DeLphi implodes. Does Masaki's star vision let her see idol ghosts? It hasn't worked on Aizawa. But after Kasumi I get the feeling everyone will be in on the ghosts by the end. You can't not have Honda reunite with Aizawa in this goofy manga.
• No I have no idea what Nagi meant by her being kinda-not-really sisters with Aizawa either.
• I feel like I should have more to say on Honda vs Masaki, but I just think it was very satisfying and rounded off. It's not as conspiracy-theory-crazy as the ghost stuff, though it served as a light distraction that helped Michi explore herself the same as Kasumi & Sayaka's arc way back when. I really liked this arc even if it might have run a little long. My one complaint is I am fiending for the yuri to get more explicit and was hoping it would resolve with Michi having more of a "well fuck my attempt at making friends just made me more convinced things are super gay here." Thankfully Kasumi should very quickly understand Aizawa and Michi's chemistry.
• Nice to have background gremlin Aizawa back at least.

last edited at Oct 30, 2025 4:49PM

To quote Dorothy on this chapter, "Solve your problems with yelling and violence!"

Chapter 30 is out and I plan to have it translated by tomorrow.
I'll be translating a one-shot by Dorothy for Halloween as well.
Because I'm not up to date, I'll try not to spoil anything. But I will say the Honda vs Masaki arc has ended.
I did jot down some thoughts before 30's release so I'll try expanding on those without hinting whether I'm right or wrong:

I think this is the first clear view Michi's had of Mini Michi? It's her first appearance since the festival too. Kinda foreboding how MM is easily exhausted and fades out. She's probably not dead-ish again but it seems the festival only gave her a short-term burst of power rather than returning her to full strength. And without MM the barriers are gone and nothing can return Aizawa to normal.

Except a well-timed slap apparently. Michi's seriously lost it and who can blame her. Both Masaki and Honda are being pretty damn inconsiderate as she's caught in the crossfire. Honda would never want to hurt Michi but she's gone haywire with Masaki involved, lashing out with misguided concern last chapter and quickly forgetting the whole reason she came to the nurse's office: instead of helping Michi she's yelling in circles with Masaki again. And Masaki is self-destructing not caring who's in harms way. That's not even getting into the existential crisis they're giving the invisible ghost in the room.

Aizawa has seriously lost it. The interesting part is Aizawa temporarily forgetting what happened. When she's overcome with emotion, Aizawa almost behaves as if possessed herself, acting singlemindedly and losing short-term memories. Not that I'm saying it's literal possession - more akin to her ghostly id jacking her consciousness and acting on her uninhibited desires. It's something to keep note of as ghosts get fleshed out. And to compare to "Mizu" who similarly strangled Ange in ch26.

When Aizawa "comes apart" (I have a hard time picking a phrase for that given how indescribably lovecraftian it is) there's further reinforcement it's a response to being forgotten, becoming literally formless/undefined. The thought of one of her biggest fans forgetting her is enough to kill(?) her, especially in Aizawa's emotionally frayed state given all that's worn her down lately.

There should only be enough pages in volume 5 for 1 more chapter. Dorothy promised DeLphi backstory this volume so I expect ch30 to swap back to Karasuma and Tear and give us details there. Every volume consistently ends on a few major twists/reveals - last time it was the existence of DeLphi's deceased 5th member, "Mizu". This time I'm sure we'll find out who she really is.

Anyway the composition went crazy on p18. Funny how Michi is so frustrated she doesn't even have the capacity to freak out over Aizawa melting this time. Important to note she gets another nosebleed there - not really sure what that means yet, likely Michi's powers straining, but to defend herself? To hold Aizawa together? It happens every time Michi suffers heavy Aizawa exposure but it's almost certainly a response on Michi's end and not a direct effect from Aizawa.

• Free-space praise for the tonal shifts when that spread gives way to the goofiest spread in the manga.
• And it looks like that's it for the theory Masaki can see ghosts. No way you wouldn't react to a girl going full eldritch on you. But she's not 100% normal given the "idol star vision" she's got going.

Here's your Aizawa Crossing cheat sheet:
Ange: goat
Tear: rabbit
Non: cat
Kasumi: sheep
Sayaka: wolf
Aizawa: dog
Michi: cat
Masaki: rabbit
Honda: bear
Seta: dog
Karasuma: bird

Raw chapter 12.

Back-to-back lethal doses of fluffy and toxic yuri? Chapter 12 didn't come in halves so it's likely intended as a simple breather. But it's nice to be back to private time between Kasumi and Haruyo, along with returning the written exchanges. There's a lot of power in that little "I love you."

Speaking of power in little gestures, we get more hints of Kasumi's trauma that likely go over Haruyo's head. Her surprise at how easy it is for Haruyo to hug her, her hesitance towards committing to the future, her shifting feelings towards studying that were likely rooted in guilt. Though of course Haruyo's being almost too respectful now of Kasumi's space, even as she shocks Kasumi by slipping under her coat this time. Not that she seemed to mind. Haruyo might be a dork but she's gentle and considerate enough to take Kasumi's pain when the time comes.

There's a lot of winks given that Kasumi/Haruyo won't be just like Sayori/Mizuki, but we see their worth as role models. That classic fear of transient relationships common to Class S and old yuri dispelled with an exchange sounding suspiciously like a proposal. Though, with Kasumi turning more gay gremlin than ever, you know you need to bask in this happiness while it lasts.

The mangaka has made statements recently stressing over fan translations and asking everyone to read on the official site.

I won't seek her out, but does she know that most of us cannot read Japanese?

I think she realized it was irrational, since she apologized several times for being narrow minded, but was mostly uncomfortable with anyone reading a pirated version at all. It's not like I really expect everyone to give the raw chapter views and likes either but it would help to get some traffic up.

Digital.
Physical.
Official raws.
The mangaka has made statements recently stressing over fan translations and asking everyone to read on the official site.

I don't want to get into it, largely because I don't want anyone trying to argue with Igarashi about piracy. Igarashi doesn't speak English and no matter how well-intentioned you are it's likely to come across as harassment. I don't think Igarashi was being especially condemning, it was more of an emotional appeal, but with volume 2 coming out in a week it's a stressful time for sales and Igarashi hasn't had the easiest time lately.

If you are ever going to speak to a mangaka saying you're a foreigner and huge fan, please for the love of god say you MTL it on your own and don't bring up piracy. It's good to be passionate, I'm sure many appreciate the praise, but be mindful about that kind of thing. Japan does not take piracy lightly and it stresses authors out worldwide.

Igarashi on the chapter: "I'm so delighted to finally put this chapter out. After I drew it, I'd either spent all I had or suffered divine retribution because I wound up in bed with an awful fever for a week straight."

Oh good I was worried Sayori was trapped in a crazy relationship. Instead she's thriving in one.
What a ride between the first half of chapter 10 and the second of 11. Sweet, to psycho, to confusingly lovey dovey, then settling into psycho sweet.

In 2 chapters we've effectively speedrun the male MC, Etsurou's arc from Igarashi's previous manga, Dominant. And Igarashi openly considers him and Sayori similar archetypes. To parse this:
Miu who gaslit Etsurou into being her loveslave with emotional and physical abuse is cheering Mizuki-senpai on while Etsurou looks concernedly at Sayori-senpai (Kasumi has reserved seating in this group for whatever Igarashi's planning) meanwhile Seika (female MC) who didn't know about her manga's drama until it literally punched her in the face halfway through worries for the innocent Haruyo.
Both are abused by their partner after misunderstandings that corrupt an innocent love and ultimately snap, turning them into the dominant one in their relationship and giving into the darker side of themselves. Though it remains to be seen if this is such a bad end for Sayori. She ultimately gives into her bitterness, now treating Mizuki a little derisively. But clearly it works for them?

I said last time it felt like Mizuki was projecting some when she decided Yamabe wanted to expose the secret of the 2nd letter. That, of the 4, Mizuki's approach to secrets showed the most excitement towards revealing them. Well wearing a top that exposes her upper back touched by scars, hidden only by her hair, definitely lines up with a risk-taker.

Mizuki seems to recognize her lack of artistic talent and would have quit at one point if she didn't think it's the only thing keeping her and Sayori together. She might have had better college prospects if she hadn't pursued art, which makes it even more tragic. A pile of misunderstandings that unraveled their relationship (Mizuki not realizing in her paranoia that Sayori wasn't even trying to leave her). It's a scenario that evokes a lot of the bitter parting into adulthood you see in Class S — but this one has a sickly sweet conclusion that's much more modern menhera.

I'm very curious how the senpais will be involved from here, since they do seem genuinely supportive of Kasumi and Haruyo. Or if we're headed down an anthology route of crazy side couples continually nudging the mains back on the wholesome road. It's hard to say yet what exactly this reflects onto the main pair, but it certainly colors the tone going forward. At the least it cements themes of hidden sides, secrets and lies, and ultimately acceptance. In a twisted way that rotting flower imagery from the start of chapter 11 represented "healthy" communication and openness between the two.

I didn't feel it was worth the post-credits essay but I've deliberately avoided swearing in this manga. It's something I always give extra caution to (I went back and toned down Michi's swearing in early Aizawa-san) because it can easily be tonally jarring. But it can also make certain characters' dialogue more natural or accentuate a moment. In this case, AriSaku's first swear goes to Mizuki stabbing Sayori in the back, that piercingly vulgar break feeling very fitting to me.
(If you're interested and have 15 minutes here's a video essay on the topic of swearing in JP to EN translations I always think back to. With ongoing manga it's especially challenging because I can't tell how future chapters will go, to pepper swearing in evenly.)

A Japanese comment described the senpais relationship as a mad dog and her indulgent owner. I think that works.

EDIT:
Taking it one step further, flowers are intrinsic to Class S. Hanamonogatari, the novels these girls rightfully treat as the Class S bible, titles each chapter of its anthology format (and every pair of girls) after a flower. Beautiful, delicate, pristine. Untouched when the girls go their separate ways.

When you pick a flower it rots. In the very modern context, yuri has become somewhat removed from its old taboos. It freely indulges in sex and abuse, examining them as many facets of romance without shame. The roots of Class S remain but it's bloomed wholly anew to be almost unrecognizable at times. If you want to view AriSaku as a bridge across time, a love letter to Class S respectfully carrying it into the modern age, the rotten flower isn't something ugly but a transformation of its beauty. I would not be surprised if this symbolism sticks around.

last edited at Sep 26, 2025 4:05PM