More comments! Yes I'm obsessed, but I think the work deserves it. Even reading just 3 chapters a year, basically "the MC love story and some vague sea of side characters", it was good enough for me to download the chapters. But now that I'm really paying attention, I keep finding more signs of craft, even on the Nth re-read. There's a lot going on in the art that doesn't get verbal attention: where characters are sitting, what they're paying attention too, small details of facial expression.

Ch 5, cooking club fight. Umi sweeps Ibu up by the waist like a smooth ladykiller, already mentioned. Then she keeps holding on, and there's a shot of Ibu looking down at the hand holding her, clearly Having Feelings. I'm not sure what feelings, but she's aware, without protesting.

Ch 8, Umi is at lunch moping about her botched confession. Sitting between Nae and Ibu, naturally. Nae's chatting with Makki, Ibu is on the end just looking at Umi.

• note, Ibu is always on the edge of these groups, never the center. Usually next to Umi or Yosshi, or else looking down at her her phone. -

Then Umi moans, and Nae whips around to ask what's wrong. Ibu just asks "constipated?" Also Ibu has stolen Umi's juice.

• another thing, Ibu is a taker. She demands things from Umi (not others), she receives things, she never says thank you, or gives Umi something, or reaches out to be supportive. Contrast with Shou, who scrambled to reciprocate once she realized there was something to reciprocate. Insofar as Ibu reaches out, it's for more attention; the most she gives back is that she actually looks happy when alone with Umi, or when showing off the sunglasses Umi gave her. -

Ch 12, Zumi talking about going to Tokyo for summer vacation. Ibu doesn't say much, but her face goes from surprised to disgusted as Zumi talks.

Ch 16, bath. Umi sitting next to Nae, Ibu beyond; Ibu glares as Umi and Shou wave to each other.

Fuki playing guitar on stage in the culture festival surprised people; I realized that we see her practicing with the guitar in the dorm room in earlier chapters.

Zumi mentions having known Shou in grade school; later she cheers at finally leaving Ametatsu, so oh right, they live in the same city, went to school together. We also see Zumi biking past, making me wonder if she actually still lives at home and not in the dorm room; I don't think we ever clearly see her there. But that would mean Shou either lives further away, or preferred living with hostile girls to living with her slovenly father.

Umi has a pattern of not paying attention to her phone when with other people. Ibu comes to scold her while she was helping Shou with the aquariums; later Umi misses Shou's tests when she's carrying a sick Ibu around. (Symmetry!) It does make me wonder how Umi got her phone confiscated, kicking off the whole plot...

I don't think the work is outright perfect; it's got various flaws or potential flaws. The teacher slapping Shou on the butt in chapter 3 is rather odd (and no one here seems to have commented on it.) Some things feel like plot convenience, like the phone thing above, or Shou changing rooms after that for unexplained reasons. (Though, if Shou started asking about Umi and set Ibu off, that could explain something -- including why neither tells Umi clearly about it.) I'm not sure why Umi asked Shou out (ch 6) in the middle of a classroom, rather than more privately. Lots of interesting conversations just get cut off, like Umi asking Ibu if she would look at a cute girl who was changing. (Maybe Ibu just went "Hah?" in confusion, but still.)

Nonetheless: once you've sorted out the characters, and really pay attention to the art, there's a lot going on, tantalizingly. The author has clearly thought out at least many of the side characters, and used them consistently even when they're not the focus of attention.

Some people can be really insensitive.

Ibu is such a little gremlin XD

The way that Eisa concert was drawn made me immediately "hear" them and want to dance.

Man, how did it take me this long to clock Shou as autistic

Well, looks like someone really loves Okinawa and was looking for an excuse to draw locations from there. I simply have to visit the place now!

3rd day in Oki

Umi didn't sleep again.

Yosshi birthday. Ken remembers, everyone says happy birthday but Ibu, in a corner next to Yosshi. Umi in center of wedge, next to Nae. Ibu still wearing the sunglasses Umi gave her.
"Finally 17"
Yosshi notices, Ibu claims she already wished.

scene cut to vipers. Baba says it'd be nice to have venomous fangs. unknown girls.

Eisa performance, Umi next to Nae. Baba next to Fuki, though they're not in the same travel group. Makki seems very impressed, Zumi smiling, Ibu... not frowning?
Yeah, Makki really is enthused. Ibu seems a bit amazed at her. Nae looking away and down, perhaps wistfully.

oh right, Shou exists. black-haired girl in her group with a camera is Komatsu. Tries to joke around with Shou, whoosh.

Love fortunes. Ibu is skeptical.
Nae: "get married"
Umi: "moderate luck, partner loves you". blush.
Nae: "I knew it, you're dating! Tell me, I can keep a secret!" maybe don't ask her right next to a big group

self-guided exploration! apparently including taxi rides.

Shou's group brunette lectures her on human customs like gifts. Of course, Shou only has dad (lame) and Umi (already here)

last edited at Jan 24, 2024 2:07PM

Nice. ^_^

Every chapter is just more and more evidence that Shou's group really sucks. I mean you could say that their energy levels are totally different and they don't vibe, but man are they pushy. They are not accommodating in the least.

i'm beginning to think that shou is neurodivergent. she has a special interest. she doesn't understand certain jokes. etc.

i'm beginning to think that shou is neurodivergent. she has a special interest. she doesn't understand certain jokes. etc.

She might be neurodivergent, but I don't think these last few chapters are good evidence, since last chapter when she was with Umi's group they vibed really well. It's just a bad group dynamic. Not understanding certain jokes feels like a thing that happens to most people. When my friend from the East Coast went to college in Ohio it took him a long time, I think maybe over a year, to find people who would understand his type of east coast sarcasm and not just look at him confused.

Every chapter is just more and more evidence that Shou's group really sucks. I mean you could say that their energy levels are totally different and they don't vibe, but man are they pushy. They are not accommodating in the least.

So! I just re-read from 15.1 on, paying particular attention to that group, and found more evidence that Aoikani really thinks about the characterization and personality even of these unnamed side characters.

15.2
Shou's unnamed group.
black ponytail calls out to Segawa
brown and short black glare at Shou and sweatdrop in the elevator.
brown is bold, shorthair whiny.
ponytail mocks Shou "you miss your mama that much".
brown "I can see it, Koumoto is caring"
short "I think Segawa is cool, no bully"
ponytail "You're too soft on her"

16
Shou gets dumped by her group
brown pushes back at Shou for wanting to go slow
ponytail plays peacemaker, suggests split
ponytail waves goodbye

17
cave
ponytail has camera and is Komatsu.
brown teases her.
ponytail tries to tease Shou.
shorthair whines about it being wet.
ponytail asks Segawa about the cave fish, kind of praises her, hits her in a "friendly" but painful way ("ow")

gift shop
brown lectures her on gifts. Of course, Shou only has dad (lame) and Umi (already here)
ponytail teases Shou about still being rebellious

Ponytail is a lot like Yosshi. Aggressively teasing to the point of bullying, and likely justifies it as policing proper behavior, but also tries to keep the group functioning and suggest compromise.

I kind of want to say brown is like Ibu, except Ibu is never as nice. Yeah, brown is being pushy about Shou getting gifts, but she's genuinely trying to be helpful. So maybe more like another Yosshi.

Shorthair is her own wet-noodle personality, no obvious equivalent. Nervous about Shou, also thinks she's cool, speaks up once, otherwise just whines in the background.

It's just a bad group dynamic

Yeah, they're not my favorite people, but not obviously terrible. Just bad for Shou.

she was with Umi's group they vibed really well.

On the flip side, that's not great evidence for Shou not being neurodivergent. Umi's group is a bunch of sweethearts, especially Nae, who is either a really nice person or is out to be really welcoming to Umi's friend. (A bit too nice, practically hitting on her.) You would have to be as prickly as Ibu to not vibe with that group, especially while waiting for your AWOL girlfriend.

Other things I noticed:

right off the plane, Ibu has a headache. Who does she cling to? Umi, of course.

15.2, Nae is attentive to Umi at dinner, both noticing her not eating and watching when she does.

16, Nae and Fuki literally sparkle (along with 'kira kira' SFX) when telling Shou it's okay that she wants to go slow through the aquarium. Umi and Nae share a drink straw with no self-consciousness. At the beach, Nae calls out to Shou to come see fish.

Also the not so sneaky handholding right in front of Nae.

https://mangadex.org/chapter/a42cbd3b-a364-4a9f-9e8c-7313e92fd0d4/20

But girls do things like hold hands to run downhill all the time. Looks like a couple of their friends are doing it on this page, too: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/the_blue_star_on_that_day_ano_koro_no_aoi_hoshi_ch16#16

I feel that the one at the tank would be harder to explain away.

i'm beginning to think that shou is neurodivergent. she has a special interest. she doesn't understand certain jokes. etc.

Shou's a mermaid ( or at least part mermaid, that might explain it)

last edited at Jan 26, 2024 8:31AM

Also the not so sneaky handholding right in front of Nae.

https://mangadex.org/chapter/a42cbd3b-a364-4a9f-9e8c-7313e92fd0d4/20

But girls do things like hold hands to run downhill all the time. Looks like a couple of their friends are doing it on this page, too: https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/the_blue_star_on_that_day_ano_koro_no_aoi_hoshi_ch16#16

Huh. I hadn't noticed, and would have taken that as separate hands just overlapping in perspective. But if I zoom in to pixelbitch, it does kind of look like Nae's fingers in Ken's hand.

Granted I have bisexual suspicions about Nae, but hadn't noticed her and Ken being that close. Though Nae does sleep between Umi and Ken. But Ken is part of the giant friend group, while Fuki is just Umi's roommate.

Also, zooming in on three identical grins makes them look creepy. :P

Also, zooming in on three identical grins makes them look creepy. :P

Oh my god, you're right.

I finally caught up with this manga, god it's good.

One thing I'd like to add to @rainbow8's analysis: when Shou's old bullies show up, one of them mentions that she saw Zumi, and another one says "we don't really talk anymore so it'd be awkward to meet again." In other words, it seems Zumi uses to be friends with Shou's bullies -- and, perhaps, used to be one herself? I feel like this is likely to come up if Shou ever actually meets Zumi on-panel. (For an extremely minor character, Zumi is pretty interesting to me -- she supposedly has a boyfriend we know literally nothing about; she's confused when Yosshi calls the tour guide hot; she's so desperate to leave the town she's killing herself studying; add being a potential ex-bully on top of all that...)

Ooh, interesting! I dimly recall that about the bullies but hadn't thought much about it, will have to look tomorrow.

You also just made me wonder where her alleged boyfriend lives - if she escapes Ametatsu, will she be leaving him behind? But she got "good luck" in the plot-convenient fortunes, even better than Umi's alarming Moderate luck. Though we didn't get Zumi's fortune details...

Thanks for having read my analyses, and giving me more to think about!

You also just made me wonder where her alleged boyfriend lives - if she escapes Ametatsu, will she be leaving him behind? But she got "good luck" in the plot-convenient fortunes, even better than Umi's alarming Moderate luck. Though we didn't get Zumi's fortune details...

I guess it's possible Zumi is in a long-distance relationship and wants to move to where her boyfriend is, but that seems unlikely to me. So either he's moving with her, or she's leaving him behind. Or -- maybe the reason we've never seen her boyfriend and know literally nothing about him is because she actually has a girlfriend? While there are plenty of reasons to want to get out of a rural area, "I'm in a gay relationship I need to keep secret from everyone here" is certainly up there, right?

...Perhaps I'm investing too much thought into a character who's tertiary at best lol.

Haha, I've wondered something similar. Though that still leaves "so where is that girl and what happens next?"

And hey, the deeper level of this work's appeal is realizing there's consistency and mystery to the other characters, though I don't know if the author will ever cough up the details.

But Zumi is at least tertiary, I'd say. Where would you draw the line between secondary and tertiary? I'd say Ibu and Nae are secondary, probably Baba (don't see her as much now but had some key conversations). Makki and Fuki and Ken aren't. Zumi is in between in frequency and detail.

Or -- maybe the reason we've never seen her boyfriend and know literally nothing about him is because she actually has a girlfriend?

In a yuri manga, this tends to be true more likely than not, so...

Known WLW: Umi, Shou.
Strongly suspected closet case: Ibu.
Questionable: Nae, Zumi.

Ally: Baba.

And hey, the deeper level of this work's appeal is realizing there's consistency and mystery to the other characters, though I don't know if the author will ever cough up the details.

Quite true!

But Zumi is at least tertiary, I'd say. Where would you draw the line between secondary and tertiary? I'd say Ibu and Nae are secondary, probably Baba (don't see her as much now but had some key conversations). Makki and Fuki and Ken aren't. Zumi is in between in frequency and detail.

I'd say Zumi has gotten much less focus than Ibu and Nae. The recent scene where she expresses her stress at how not passing her exams will impact her life is the most we've ever gotten from her. I agree with the rest of your classification.

Or -- maybe the reason we've never seen her boyfriend and know literally nothing about him is because she actually has a girlfriend?

In a yuri manga, this tends to be true more likely than not, so...

Lol

Known WLW: Umi, Shou.
Strongly suspected closet case: Ibu.
Questionable: Nae, Zumi.
Ally: Baba.

Ibu's crush on Umi is so obvious that you might as well put her in the known category I think. :p Baba I think is also likely to be gay, not just an ally, given her "Every time I've liked someone, they haven't liked me back" line. By contrast, I don't know if I'd say Nae is "questionable"; she's quite touchy-feely but I don't really interpret that as romantic attraction. I think it's more she's kind of lonely; that's why she says she cries whenever she sees the lights of the city.

Incidentally, as I was looking for that Nae scene, I came across a page I had forgotten where Zumi sees Umi with Shou and seems to recognize the latter. So that's pretty interesting.

Huh, looks like chapter 12 was Zumi's big infodump chapter. I wonder if she was even named earlier. (I think no.) She spoke up in 7, surprised that Umi was getting along with Shou, and telling her about the "eyes".

Looking at 13.2, a black ponytail with camera talks to Shou during the culture festival. Seems somewhat friendly, and looks a lot like Komatsu from 17.1, but she's called Kosugi. Then joined by two girls who look a lot like the rest of Shou's group. But 'brown' calls ponytail 'Kosugi' in 13.2, 'Komatsu' in 17.1. Unless they've changed intimacy since then, suggests it's really two different yet similar groups. Pity, I would have liked more continuity.

Kosugi-chan (to Umi) again in 14.1, with the "you're like Segawa's mom" line.

Also in 13.2, Ken is running a candle stand or something, and Ibu is... sitting to the side, looking away angrily. Quel surprise. I dunno what she's mad about, other than that being her default state when Umi isn't paying attention to her.

Then the bully group, who look like Umi, a more stylish, Yosshi, and the lovechild of Nae and Zumi. I have to say, clear visual distinction is not a strength of this manga.

I wouldn't bet heavily on Nae being WLW. Maybe she is just more touchy-feely. But she really is (by comparison with everyone else), with Umi specifically, and then her rather aggressive "I'd like to get to know you better" scene with Shou.

I dunno about Baba; she's drawn less conventionally attractive than others, could easily have liked boys without it going anywhere.