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.

I am happy to report that the manhwa you're reading gets a stamp of approval from the Yuri gods. As someone who's read the novel, albeit through an unreliable probably MTL translation, the ending is definitely romantic and super sweet! Warning, don't read the last like 3 extras tho.

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.

Warning, don't read the last like 3 extras tho.

What's up with the last 3 extras of the novels? I've only read the adaption, the Manhua. I don't think that had extras.

last edited at Jan 7, 2025 7:05AM

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

No English but the series has been done for a long while in Chinese. Other person seems to have also read the novel it's adapting. The English TL will get there.

last edited at Jan 7, 2025 8:14AM

The title literally is '' a love yet to bloom'' , it seems to me like the author is taking a pretty obvious step in the romance direction . We'll see I guess.

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.

Where did the title "A love yet to bloom" come from? In addition to the Japanese title the volume also lists the English title "Bluer than love" which is a direct translation of the Japanese. "A love yet to bloom" doesn't seem like it's intended to be a translation of the Japanese title at all. And this hasn't been officially localized, so it's not as if it was a localization team's decision. So all of the usual reasons for a title change I can think of seem to be out. Did whoever translated this just invent a title or am I missing something?

You have a good point about looking at the Japanese, "Koi yori aoku", but aoku means

青い, 蒼い, 碧い [あおい]
(1) (adj-i) blue; azure
(2) (adj-i) green (mostly archaic or in ref. to fruits, vegetables and traffic lights)
(3) (adj-i) pale (facial color); gray; grey
(4) (adj-i) unripe; inexperienced

So "an unripe love" seems like a valid candidate. My grammar isn't good enough to be confident about translating 'yori'.

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.