I’ve always thought (and have said so several times) that the key point is that the author obviously intentionally created an age-gap yuri series where the younger girl is ten years old.

Not 15, not 13, not 12. In other words, by no stretch of any imagination were these two protagonists going get together any time soon. There’s no way the author was unaware of any possible “dangerous direction”— Mai was ten.

It was clearly just pushing the envelope on an older-than-she-looks/younger-than-she-looks pairing, and I never thought Mai was aware of her effect on Tae. There was no sense (to me anyway) that Mai had been inappropriately sexualized early, or was intentionally being vampish, just as Tae seemed to simply be undersized and rather behind her age in terms of romance.

IOW, Mai being 10 made this a simple “opposites attract” story turned up to 11.

Not 15, not 13, not 12. In other words, by no stretch of any imagination were these two protagonists going get together any time soon. There’s no way the author was unaware of any possible “dangerous direction”— Mai was ten.

You really have no clue what you're talking about, do you?

This is so boring. Why do I waste my time explaining things to people who blather endlessly, as if they were hot experts, on some subject they obviously don't know half a shit about? In theory, a yuri forum should be more fun than this. I must be writing in the wrong thread.

There are scores of mangas where an underage girl who is an early bloomer and looks like a stunning sexbomb falls for an adult man and decides to seduce him. Not hentai mangas, shoujo mangas. Cute mangas for little girls who are expected to identify themselves with the ten-year-old heroine. And there's always a happy end, of course, otherwise the readers wouldn't be satisfied. The plots change a lot, but some key points are always there, like the heroine slowly wearing down the male lead's resistance with her sexiness, and the climactic moment where the male lead comes to the realization that he loves the heroine and age doesn't matter. In one story, the climax came in the middle of the wedding of the male lead with another woman. The heroine crashed the ceremony (The Graduate much?) and made him realize that she was the only one for him, so he dumped his bride and chose the ten-year-old.

If this sort of plot happens in shoujo manga, why couldn't it happen in a yuri manga for adults? And the answer is: of course it could! It just takes a mangaka who wants to make it happen. Sadly, it wasn't the case here: the mangaka was tired of this story and had started another series she wanted to focus on. So she just gave this manga a whatever ending that left two thirds of the characters hanging and didn't properly end anything. That's all there is to this.

There are scores of mangas where an underage girl who is an early bloomer and looks like a stunning sexbomb falls for an adult man and decides to seduce him. Not hentai mangas, shoujo mangas. Cute mangas for little girls who are expected to identify themselves with the ten-year-old heroine.

If this sort of plot happens in shoujo manga, why couldn't it happen in a yuri manga for adults? And the answer is: of course it could!

Wtf are you talking about, these stories are mainly written by men for men and not directed at little girls.

Those "cute" shoujo mangas you are talking about are directed at adolescent girls and young adult women. The age gap also isn't as ridiculous as in this one, the heroines are often 14 upwards years old.

There's nothing cute about a manga where elementary kids "consciously" seduce an adult with their unnatural mature body. From the very beginning it was clear Mai did seduce tae unconsciously having no idea about her sexappeal so why did you think this would happen eventually in this Manga?

Don't lash out at people who find this ending reasonable instead of satisfying some fetish.

last edited at Jun 30, 2023 2:03AM

I must be writing in the wrong thread.

Self-awareness is a wonderful thing.

Hmm, can't say I agree. I don't think I ever felt that Mai was deliberately using her uncanny seductive charm at the start, or was even aware of it.
I'd chalk a lot of the reduction in that behavior up to her becoming at least partly aware of what she's doing, especially in the later progression. Though that might just be me retconning my headcanon.

No that's the way it went, I'd say. The story was pretty clear about that and that's a huge part of the joke of the manga (Tae being an unreliable narrator who took simple gestures and interpreted them romantically because of Mai's physical development), but I guess at least a few disagree, here. There's never a point where Mai ever says she's aware, implies she's aware or acts as though she's aware and what's most relevant is that it never happens outside of Tae's skewed POV. Tae interprets something sexually, and afterwards Mai is nearly always shown just being a kid again, like normal, to reinforce the contrast. Then, of course we do see when Mai does finally realize her feelings, and that's much after these events. Haven't heard this interpretation elsewhere, really, outside of earlier chapters, so I'm also a bit surprised. We could bring in the author and publisher's words (where Mai's actions are described as totally "innocent" etc.) but that shouldn't be necessary, since I do think the story makes that clear enough but who knows.

the mangaka was tired of this story and had started another series she wanted to focus on. So she just gave this manga a whatever ending that left two thirds of the characters hanging and didn't properly end anything. That's all there is to this.

This is also not what happened. The author has already talked about this. There's nothing to suggest that this ending wasn't what was always planned. There are other reasons for why it had to end earlier (which they've implied they wish to discuss later and seem more a result of changed management after the closure last year).

last edited at Jun 30, 2023 6:27PM

Be careful onee-san or I'll break your legs capeche

There are scores of mangas where an underage girl who is an early bloomer and looks like a stunning sexbomb falls for an adult man and decides to seduce him. Not hentai mangas, shoujo mangas. Cute mangas for little girls who are expected to identify themselves with the ten-year-old heroine. And there's always a happy end, of course, otherwise the readers wouldn't be satisfied. The plots change a lot, but some key points are always there, like the heroine slowly wearing down the male lead's resistance with her sexiness, and the climactic moment where the male lead comes to the realization that he loves the heroine and age doesn't matter. In one story, the climax came in the middle of the wedding of the male lead with another woman. The heroine crashed the ceremony (The Graduate much?) and made him realize that she was the only one for him, so he dumped his bride and chose the ten-year-old.

I remember a few of those, from the time I was into shoujo manga magazines. "Mc is in grade school but looks like a 20-year-old babe" is a classic plot device. And then there's all the stories where the mc is a little kid who finds a magic gimmick that turns her into a grown-up woman; that's a classic too. And when these girls realize their looks can trick adults into believing they're sexy beauties of college age, what do they do? No hesitation: they go get themselves an adult boyfriend!! A guy in 3rd year high school, or a university student, or even a sarariman. Lmao, these poor guys never stand a chance: by the end of the manga, when the truth is revealed, they're heads over heels for the loli and don't care anymore about her real age. And in the final page they celebrate with a k-i-s-s. <3 I think some of these stories have been translated, I'm sure I read in English the one where the 12-year-old mc stops a wedding and steals the groom.

You know... in my opinion, making a character like Mai suddenly act like she doesn't understand love and romance is silly, never mind whether there was retcon or not. All these magazines for grade schoolers aged 9 to 12 have one big theme: LOVE. All the stories are about romantic experiences. Falling in love with a boy (older or not), becoming close to him, confessing, dating, that's what you buy in these mags. (Some series like OneeJoshi pretend it's the same thing even in periodicals for younger girls, not sure if it's artistic license or not.) It's unthinkable that Mai doesn't get the idea of falling in love and going out with someone. Yuki and her two gal pals are much more realistic characters from that angle.

Wtf are you talking about, these stories are mainly written by men for men and not directed at little girls.

Those "cute" shoujo mangas you are talking about are directed at adolescent girls and young adult women. The age gap also isn't as ridiculous as in this one, the heroines are often 14 upwards years old.

Dude... I'm speechless. How can someone be so ignorant of a subject and yet pretend they're knowledgeable about it? This isn't a debate club. You get your kicks from talking random bs and trying to trick others?
I assume you never were subscribed to shoujo manga magazines and have no clue what kind of stories they publish. That's fine. Nobody can be expected to have universal knowledge. But then, when somebody teaches you about this stuff you know zilch about, show some respect; don't be rude to people who are educating you.

last edited at Jul 7, 2023 11:26PM

all right and good but won't it mean tae would be 30 by the time mai is 18?
I remember reading this as a oneshot years ago and not seeing a full story but still seems kinda weird to me not because of tae but because of the other adults in that world.

i’m not really sure how i expected this to end but somehow i’m still disappointed

Cop-out ending is cop-ouuuuuutttt.

Also, I'm pissed I never got to see Hitomi smoking in bed while a freshly-defiled/deflowered Azuma wept, turned away and on her side. If there was an onee-san that ever needed to be careful, it was her.

last edited at Jul 7, 2023 2:00AM

Three volumes is the standard length for axed series so I fear that's what's happening.

Right, no one ends their manga this way unless they are forced. Like with Throw Away the Suit Together, which was in the thickest of the plot nearing the end of volume 3 - but got cancelled and next chapter will be the last. There were lots of characters with many unresolved issues in BCO too... but we'll never know what was to happen with them.

all right and good but won't it mean tae would be 30 by the time mai is 18?

probably around there. If you agree with those of us who think Mai has a huge crush on Tae and that's why she was always all over her, always teasing, always flirting, then maybe she'll wait. Tae could look 20 then, though. She's aging slowly and well.

I remember reading this as a oneshot years ago and not seeing a full story but still seems kinda weird to me not because of tae but because of the other adults in that world.

The main adults besides Tae and admittedly creepy work-friend are grade school friend and Mai's mom, both of whom are pretty sensible and not pushing an adult/grade schooler romance.

I think Mai's flirting is deliberate but innocent. She's never thought of any ramifications to the "girlfriend" talk, and it's only her jealousy (which she denied at first) that made her wake up and look at the situation.

Even with Mimika and Yuzumori-san I didn't. root as hard for the MC. Mai-Tae is basically a marriage made in heaven. They have chemistry, mutual respect, and feel completely comfortable with each other.