Haru seems more mature than Midori and oftentimes she is the one taking the parent role despite being the kid and on top of that having to deal with her mom's death. Midori has still not out matured her high school self. Not sure if a relationship like that that would work irl, since 14 year olds are not as mature as Haru, especially when they have no parents left to take care of them. It just seems more like a wishful thinking but whatever.

I'm not sure if the author ships them? Or just wants to tell a story about a loss of a person and how they help each other heal. With manga you can't really tell since they never shy away from stuff like underage age gap, incest etc. I'd like seeing Haru doing more stuff with people of her age though. That Rika girl seems to have an interest in her, so if we're gonna have yuri here, hope it's these two.

the cover page of chapter 9 is exactly a "distracted boyfriend" meme lol

I thought the same thing xD

It's so uncanny to the point I'm sure that's what the mangka was aiming for

Haru seems more mature than Midori and oftentimes she is the one taking the parent role despite being the kid and on top of that having to deal with her mom's death. Midori has still not out matured her high school self. Not sure if a relationship like that that would work irl, since 14 year olds are not as mature as Haru, especially when they have no parents left to take care of them. It just seems more like a wishful thinking but whatever.

I'm not sure if the author ships them? Or just wants to tell a story about a loss of a person and how they help each other heal. With manga you can't really tell since they never shy away from stuff like underage age gap, incest etc. I'd like seeing Haru doing more stuff with people of her age though. That Rika girl seems to have an interest in her, so if we're gonna have yuri here, hope it's these two.

......... Did you not see them h#*d h@!ds earlier? bumping donuts by next chapter

last edited at Sep 20, 2019 10:46AM

Murkier?! Why murkier? They are doin' just fine.

This kinda reminds me of "All You" in a some ways. It's a lot more complicated because of the mother/daughter issue but it has that same vibe of a younger girl supporting an adult who is stuck in the past. I'm not sure if this will end romantically but it should be interesting either way.

I rarely comment on anything here. I also rarely read comments here because they can be quite numerous. However I feel compelled to put my opinion out there with the rest. First, I loved this from Chapter 1. It really is a heart wrenching story of loss and the journey moving on. I love the characters and the way they interact. The biggest thing I have noticed after reading the comments (all of them) is the issue of labeling things. I am not here to criticize anyone. I just find it fascinating how a majority of the comments are focused on labels. The biggest is the debate on the Yuri tag and Age Gap tag. What is so important about what something is tagged or labeled. Wouldn't it be easier just to read with an open mind and heart? I love discussions. Everyone sees things differently and that is amazing! I enjoyed reading the comments almost as much as the story this far. So many passionate and opinionated people in one place. I'm truly in awe of it. The one thing that makes me sad is the judgment. I steel myself here for the possible backlash. Still it is my opinion that I wish to share. I do not condone adults and minors being involved. Take that however you wish. That being said there are a lot of negative comments about Haru and Midori and a possible romantic relationship. All of it is just mere speculation at this point in time. Also a lot of what people want or don't want to see happen. I think one of the hardest things to do is create art. Whether it is music, language, drawings, etc. The author is clearly a talented person. I think most people would agree. It saddens me to hear their work being talked about in such a way. If you want write your own story however you wish it to be. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am simply stating how I feel. Personally I cannot wait to see where this goes, with an open mind and heart. I admire all of you who comment on this story and value your words.

That felt like the exactly the same scene from 1 x 1/2 but with Haru witnessing a feverish Midori. What is it about fevers and the subconscious state?

That classmate of Haru's is going to cause some trouble. Probably put a wedge between Haru and Midori's precarious relationship.

last edited at Sep 21, 2019 5:34AM

Ressey posted:

That felt like the exactly the same scene from 1 x 1/2 but with Haru witnessing a feverish Midori. What is it about fevers and the subconscious state?

When you're half asleep it's pretty common to feel like you're still sleeping.

That classmate of Haru's is going to cause some trouble. Probably put a wedge between Haru and Midori's precarious relationship.

Well she was interested in Haru and was asking her about her family situation, so maybe she will be a love interest her age? Or at least supporting cast. I don't think she has bad intentions.

That felt like the exactly the same scene from 1 x 1/2 but with Haru witnessing a feverish Midori. What is it about fevers and the subconscious state?

If you get a high enough fever your brain stops working right, sort of like you're dreaming. So a lower fever + normal dreaming is probably pretty weird too. I had a dangerously high fever once and being awake was extremely strange.

I've never really caught a cold myself

Tell me your secrets. Tell me NOW...

here comes the gay feelings
lets go haru x midori endgame

I rarely comment on anything here. I also rarely read comments here because they can be quite numerous. However I feel compelled to put my opinion out there with the rest. First, I loved this from Chapter 1. It really is a heart wrenching story of loss and the journey moving on. I love the characters and the way they interact. The biggest thing I have noticed after reading the comments (all of them) is the issue of labeling things. I am not here to criticize anyone. I just find it fascinating how a majority of the comments are focused on labels. The biggest is the debate on the Yuri tag and Age Gap tag. What is so important about what something is tagged or labeled. Wouldn't it be easier just to read with an open mind and heart? I love discussions. Everyone sees things differently and that is amazing! I enjoyed reading the comments almost as much as the story this far. So many passionate and opinionated people in one place. I'm truly in awe of it. The one thing that makes me sad is the judgment. I steel myself here for the possible backlash. Still it is my opinion that I wish to share. I do not condone adults and minors being involved. Take that however you wish. That being said there are a lot of negative comments about Haru and Midori and a possible romantic relationship. All of it is just mere speculation at this point in time. Also a lot of what people want or don't want to see happen. I think one of the hardest things to do is create art. Whether it is music, language, drawings, etc. The author is clearly a talented person. I think most people would agree. It saddens me to hear their work being talked about in such a way. If you want write your own story however you wish it to be. I am not trying to offend anyone. I am simply stating how I feel. Personally I cannot wait to see where this goes, with an open mind and heart. I admire all of you who comment on this story and value your words.

This. is. what. I. wanna. say. too.

17 years age gap is not the same when both are adults versus when one is a kid.

17 years age gap is not the same when both are adults versus when one is a kid.

Of course that’s true. What of it?

This is the story of the developing relationship between two people. Outside of the wish-fulfillment fantasies of yuri readers, as of yet there’s almost nothing to suggest a romantic relationship between those two people.

There’s Midori’s overlay of memories of her love for Tsugumi, which is all but inevitable, given that Haru looks, acts, and sometimes dresses exactly like Tsugumi, but Midori is hardly someone who is likely to be aggressive or reckless with projecting her feelings onto a child.

It’s certainly theoretically possible that the story will turn romantic between the two at some point, but given the storytelling pace so far it seems likely that, if it is done, it will be done carefully and logically (i.e., with an enormous time skip, among other things).

But at this point it looks like some readers are either celebrating or lamenting the implications of their own predictions.

I'm specifically referring to the possibility of the story getting romantic now, not making any assumptions that it actually will be, because we can't know. I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of someone raising a kid, and then dating them when they get legal though. (there's a term for that but I'm not going to mention it) If there's a time skip, I just hope it's after years or Haru being on her own and maturing without Midori around.
I normally don't say anything about stories like this and skip them, but since this right now is just a story with nothing romantic, I'm reading it because I liked the part with Midori and Haru's mom.

Well, wish for whatever you want, or whatever will make you comfortable.

But I like this story because of Haru and Midori—two lonely people who need someone and who are in the process of connecting with one another. I think it’s been an exceptionally well-told story so far, and I have no reason to think it will be anything else going forward.

MacySan posted:

I'm still uncomfortable with the idea of someone raising a kid, and then dating them when they get legal though.

Can you really call Midori raising Haru though? She is already like 16 and Midori mostly act as her guardian and give her place to sleep. As was mentioned few times, they're basically strangers to each other. It's not like Midori picked her when she was a baby or very young like in Usagi Drop. All the actual parenting was already done by Haru's mom. If anything, Haru is more like a parent to Midori.

(there's a term for that but I'm not going to mention it)

It's pretty different from that though. It's not like Midori took Haru in with intention of raising her to be her wife or replacement for Tsugumi or something. Idea of Midori even attempting to teach Haru about sex is laughable at this point. And as I said above, you can barely say Midori is rising Haru in the first place.

Can you really call Midori raising Haru though? She is already like 16 and Midori mostly act as her guardian and give her place to sleep. As was mentioned few times, they're basically strangers to each other. It's not like Midori picked her when she was a baby or very young like in Usagi Drop. All the actual parenting was already done by Haru's mom. If anything, Haru is more like a parent to Midori.

No she hasn't raised her. I was talking about the possibility of them starting dating after Haru has turned 18 plus the fact that Haru living these four years with Midori (Haru is 14 now). Because Blaastar mentioned them dating after a timeskip.
Also yes, intention matters too but the results matter as well.

MacySan posted:

No she hasn't raised her. I was talking about the possibility of them starting dating after Haru has turned 18 plus the fact that Haru living these four years with Midori (Haru is 14 now). Because Blaastar mentioned them dating after a timeskip.

Yes. I was replying to that. I misremembered Haru as being in high school, not middle school though.

Romantic developments aside (it may happen, it may not—whatever), this is always an interesting setup with lots of possibilities for development: an older person in a state of arrested development and a young person who has had to be mature beyond her years. Each of them can make progress/regress in a variety of ways while staying true to their characters.

(And Midori’s mom is one of my favorite manga moms ever.)

In an odd way I read this as less a romance, rooting for Haru and Midori to get together (in fact, I hope they don't), so much as an emotional mystery, where both of them are trying to figure each other out. Haru knows there was some connection between Midori and her mom that she doesn't understand, but doesn't know it was one-sided love (although we really don't know what her mom felt). She's starting to figure things out, but there's still a ways to go.

On Midori's part, to some extent I don't think she realizes that she was in love with Tsugumi either. So that's part of the mystery from her point of view, processing and understanding just how she felt since she doesn't really understand her own emotions.

Plus the real need for both of them to become family and move forward in their lives of course.

Mhm. It's a bit like Ani no Yome. It could be yuri. It could be yuri with the main protagonists, or either or both of them figuring out they are into secondary characters. Or it could not be. It's all possible and plausible and my ultimate satisfaction will depend on how it's done, not on which option the author picks.

I'll just preemptively reject any "it's open to the readers' interpretation" bullshit. ^^

Mhm. It's a bit like Ani no Yome.

Even more like Ikoku Nikki. In Ani no Yome the MCs had been living together previously; in these two it starts with a funeral-meet between two strangers, the elder of whom was friends with the younger one’s dead mother.

Do Japanese families really just divvy up orphans at funerals like giving away the deceased’s cats to whoever is willing to buy a new litter box?

Even more like Ikoku Nikki.

That's true. Basically the same story.

Do Japanese families really just divvy up orphans at funerals like giving away the deceased’s cats to whoever is willing to buy a new litter box?

You gotta see the flipside; familial obligation is still seen as important. So although we tend to see the shitty examples here, in the West the kids would have likely ended up in the dreaded "system". While in Japan at least the family in general takes care.

Although I can't say how the process actually works. But adoption laws in Japan seems to be weirdly lax (see that adult adoption stuff, although I guess that doesn't say anything about how this type of adoption here works).

Do Japanese families really just divvy up orphans at funerals like giving away the deceased’s cats to whoever is willing to buy a new litter box?

You gotta see the flipside; familial obligation is still seen as important. So although we tend to see the shitty examples here, in the West the kids would have likely ended up in the dreaded "system". While in Japan at least the family in general takes care.

You’re right—manga tend to set up situations with some really horrifying families (3-Gatsu no Lion is another example, where the blood relatives are all either avaricious or uncaring, in contrast to the loving family-of-choice the protagonist eventually finds).

The one consistent trope is the unrelated family friend who takes in the orphan post-tragedy to save them from a nest of familial vipers or people who, at best, are trying to shirk responsibility.

Truth be told, I have a real soft spot for stories about families of choice, having fallen into a wonderful one myself.

Truth be told, I have a real soft spot for stories about families of choice, having fallen into a wonderful one myself.

That's fitting, 'cause one of my pet peeves in stories is when protagonists are unable to let go of their families and no matter what must somehow forgive them; ie in LGBT novels heroine that were sexually abused by their father or kicked out of the family after coming out and then somehow reconciling while (for example) one party is one the death bed.

Not saying that can't or shouldn't happen, but I'd like to see more "I got a new family, piss off" moments. cough