Aoyama and Kasumi here reminds me a bit of A Streetcar Named Desire, mostly in the antagonistic framing between realism (yuri?) vs fantasy (Class S?). Where Aoyama does come off as the cruel and brutish Stanley, deriving a gross pleasure from trying to break what she sees as a fantasy relationship rather than her narrow box of what she's labeled as real romance. Though Aoyama is much more sympathetic than Stanley. I don't think Igurashi is going to go full Blanche with Kasumi, but I hope this encounter doesn't scar her too much. This stranger was very much not just a friend you haven't met.
I will never get enough of Igurashi's framing and shading work, which always does such a good job invoking the sense dread and terror I often feel for Kasumi in this rather dark world. It's a bleak ending to this chapter and I figure the next chapter will revolve around Aoyama's own S journey, but I am hoping that soon Haruyo can bring back the light in Kasumi's world.
Thank you for the continued translations! I was really looking forward to this one though I figured it would be a harder one to translate with Aoyama's speech style.
last edited at Apr 16, 2026 1:39PM