And the citation of Her Mountain, Her Ocean as a supposedly similar romance-free story makes me wonder what the minimum requirement for “romance” might be.

"i-i don't know why... but when i'm with her, my heart goes doki doki doki"

this is clearly hyperbole (or is it), but i'd think there's no denying the trajectory of the story when that sort of line is introduced. everything else besides full on yuri scenes can arguably be interpreted as friendship between girls.

look at the art titles here:

https://mangadex.org/title/4a89da3a-ebf9-467b-94a1-beeb7d1bd3e8/koi-yori-aoku?tab=art

all volumes are translated to "Bluer than Love," im gonna take a wild guess and assume that friendship is what the title is referring to.

But appealing to real life is not the most immediately relevant evidence when talking about genre fiction tropes, and I read those tropes in both of these series as strongly signaling an endgame that is considerably more than “socially awkward teens discover friendship.”

Granted, we have yet to see the kind of events that yuri-skeptic readers often demand—kisses, hearts in eyes, sexual fantasies—so it’s theoretically possible that this series could end up being solely about “friendship.” But I, among others here, strongly doubt it.

fair point. let's agree to disagree.

and going by the authors prior work, if there is a hint of romance involved, it's going to be so subtle you'll have to read between every line several times over, in order to come to that conclusion.

im currently 60 chapters in into another manwha that has pretty much same vibes as this but there is no indication of romance, just an insane amount of closeness and lots of blushing. if you're curious what manwha im referring to, it's Her Mountain, Her Ocean.

That's not the best example, for your point. Those two are not just friends. I'd keep reading. Still, I'm not sure how you'd characterize their relationship like that. The series isn't subtle about their feelings even by chapter 60. "No indication of romance?" is definitely not true. If that's the case, I think you're not reading romantic clues well. Good series though.

i'll admit, the way that they look at each other sometimes can appear to be an indication of something more than friendship, but people who are socially awkward and or inexperienced tend to do stuff like that, especially teenagers.

last edited at Jan 7, 2025 7:32AM

disregarding the extras, are you two implying that there are more than 59 chapters translated in english of Her mountain, Her ocean? if so, please direct me to the appropriate place because again, im not opposed to a loving romance story, but im not entirely a fan of when authors string people along, giving their readers the impression of romance when in fact, there is none.

hmmm, so romance probably wouldnt be fitting for this one. it seems more like a budding friendship between two (one's slightly bashful, the other's entirely stoic) teenage girls. even going by the undertones (best friends also talk daily and seek each other out in a crowd of people), it doesnt seem like this will develop into some sort romance, sadly.

great way to end the volume, im definitely interested in buying the next one and continuing to support the author.

I'm thinking the love hasn't bloomed yet, but we'll see.

An awful lot of blushing just for “budding friendship,” I’d say.

Sakura blushes quite a bit, even when she's conversing with people she's hardly familiar with, like Hinata, for instance. and i feel Takamine blushes when she gets embarrassed, which happens quite often as her relationship with Sakura has revealed, even to herself, that she's inexperienced with many social cues and interactions, which isn't hard to believe coming from teenagers, because again, they're teenagers.

if it weren't for the one-shot (where Takamine lit up like a christmas tree), id write this off as another 'best friend' manga. im currently 60 chapters in into another manwha that has pretty much same vibes as this but there is no indication of romance, just an insane amount of closeness and lots of blushing. if you're curious what manwha im referring to, it's Her Mountain, Her Ocean.

The idea of Sakura writing for/about Takamine was something I was drooling for from the moment it became a possible option, so please and fucking thank you!

That would be a great cherry on top, even if this doesn't turn out to become a genuine romance story.

hmmm, so romance probably wouldnt be fitting for this one. it seems more like a budding friendship between two (one's slightly bashful, the other's entirely stoic) teenage girls. even going by the undertones (best friends also talk daily and seek each other out in a crowd of people), it doesnt seem like this will develop into some sort romance, sadly.

great way to end the volume, im definitely interested in buying the next one and continuing to support the author.

last edited at Jan 6, 2025 6:09PM

amazing... i wonder what's the likelihood of a sequel with a happy ending?