"Pale blue-green color saudade" is a mouthful. Wouldn't "Turquoise-colored saudade" work better?

This is how the author (or editor) subtitled it in English.

You should apply and show them how it's done.

Twas just a suggestion, because I thought it was a scanlation decision. No need for the sarcasm.

I guess this is one of those cases where the author's own translation of a title is kinda terrible

ughh the oblivious ignorance of casual bigotry. They hound Ren the moment she has one foot in the door and wonder why she hasn't been back for years.

An ex-con is a pretty novel character to have in this kind of manga, no others really come to mind. The whole "without a mean bone in her body" kinda suggests it was a violent offense, but I don't think her sentence was much longer than a decade at most depending on the timings. Idk anything about Japanese law but that probably rules out murder?

Wow they really are hinting strongly that ren is trans masc, huh.

It's clear that whatever Ren has going on, it's been on her mind for a very long time. The extremely nosy town she grew up in did not help matters, either. She was likely suffering in silence the entire time she was a kid. :(

last edited at Aug 20, 2025 6:27PM

I love when characters have baggage I love when characters are drifting aimlessly I love when people feel stifled by their family and the hometown gossip lets goooooo

As much as she's been helping Ren with her troubles, looks like Matsuri has more of her own still hidden...

And rather big ones, as we've now seen...

I guess that's why she got divorced and lost custody of her child, and can't go back home because her family disowned her. And maybe her needing a lot of money is related to that.
I was thinking whether or not the author could make Matsuri mostly innocent, though made a scapegoat by someone else... But it wouldn't really fit the story, would it? A big theme I'm seeing is unconditional acceptance, it's the main reason Ren feels comfortable around Matsuri (and nobody else) and while they offered it back, the news might make them at least demand an explanation (if anything, just to they can be on the same page about things). Matsuri being innocent or framed would work pretty strongly against that theme...

oof. poor ren

Wow they really are hinting strongly that ren is trans masc, huh.

I personally don't think that's what is going on. Some women, like myself, just feel more natural in men's clothing than women's.

Hence the term "Tomboy".

And, while it isn't something that has happened to me, it really bothers me that her mom is considering her childish because she isn't wearing cute clothing.

Like, let her wear what she wants.

last edited at Aug 20, 2025 11:44PM

Runnick posted:

As much as she's been helping Ren with her troubles, looks like Matsuri has more of her own still hidden...

And rather big ones, as we've now seen...

I guess that's why she got divorced and lost custody of her child, and can't go back home because her family disowned her. And maybe her needing a lot of money is related to that.
I was thinking whether or not the author could make Matsuri mostly innocent, though made a scapegoat by someone else... But it wouldn't really fit the story, would it? A big theme I'm seeing is unconditional acceptance, it's the main reason Ren feels comfortable around Matsuri (and nobody else) and while they offered it back, the news might make them at least demand an explanation (if anything, just to they can be on the same page about things). Matsuri being innocent or framed would work pretty strongly against that theme...

It'd be interesting if it was drugs, IMO

also lmao at the idea of "just food poisoning". there is no such thing as "*just* food poisoning"

I think the way her mother acts is such a perfect example of loving past someone.

Kinda like looking past them, you're loving past them when you ignore everything about them except what you want to believe, yet you still "care" about them.

Just not the them in front of you

Wow they really are hinting strongly that ren is trans masc, huh.

I personally don't think that's what is going on. Some women, like myself, just feel more natural in men's clothing than women's.

Hence the term "Tomboy".

Ren isn't just a tomboy though. Most of the character's agony comes from not wanting to be placed into neither the category of man or woman, which even at this point in the story, strongly points towards them being non-binary transmasc, even if it's not something directly stated by them or the work itself.
It's not just a matter of clothing and wanting to be seen as more masculine, but still comfortable as a woman. Again, I think those two pages are quite clear about that.

And yes, while some of their experiences is also something cis people can and do experience, it's hitting them a lot harder, just like how it would hit a trans person.

Spoilers from around 10 chapters from now
There's a scene where they're shown wearing a binder, and Matsuri accidentally says something inappropriate, making them run away, and later while in the shower, start punching their chest.
and well, if anybody after that insists they're not trans based solely on the character's aversion to giving themself a label, they're either ignorant on how it is being trans or transphobic. There's been a considerable amount of trans people, both transfem and transmasc, in the thread pointing out the trans tone to it, so I wish that wasn't just brushed aside or like we're doing the same as fictional characters by wondering if a character is trans.

last edited at Aug 21, 2025 5:14PM

Wow they really are hinting strongly that ren is trans masc, huh.

I personally don't think that's what is going on. Some women, like myself, just feel more natural in men's clothing than women's.

Hence the term "Tomboy".

Ren isn't just a tomboy though. Most of the character's agony comes from not wanting to be placed into neither the category of man or woman, which even at this point in the story, strongly points towards them being non-binary transmasc, even if it's not something directly stated by them or the work itself.
It's not just a matter of clothing and wanting to be seen as more masculine, but still comfortable as a woman. Again, I think those two pages are quite clear about that.

And yes, while some of their experiences is also something cis people can and do experience, it's hitting them a lot harder, just like how it would hit a trans person.

Spoilers from around 10 chapters from now
There's a scene where they're shown wearing a binder, and Matsuri accidentally says something inappropriate, making them run away, and later while in the shower, start punching their chest.
and well, if anybody after that insists they're not trans based solely on the character's aversion to giving themself a label, they're either ignorant on how it is being trans or transphobic. There's been a considerable amount of trans people, both transfem and transmasc, in the thread pointing out the trans tone to it, so I wish that wasn't just brushed aside or like we're doing the same as fictional characters by wondering if a character is trans.

THANK YOU

I wasn't denying that she could be trans, I was just going off of the information I had. If she is, that's fine.

I don't read ahead, so I assumed she was simply dressing in what was comfortable to her. This manga wasn't tagged as "Transgender", and only listed her as a tomboy. Hence, my earlier statement.

My apologies if I have come off as rude.

I read ahead and I'd say that Ren's problem is that they just don't fit in any definition acceptable to the Japanese society and it stresses them out immensely. They don't want to be a man, but they don't accept the woman identity either, though they don't hate being a woman in itself, just the signs of being a woman (Cf Chapter 16).

Something like a demigirl maybe? But even that, I'm not sure.

As for the relationship with Matsuri, I think they like each other, but at this point, they're still far away from an actual romance.

last edited at Aug 21, 2025 10:14AM

Without having read ahead, as of rn i think "gender-nonconforming" might be close enough a descriptor if pressed for one

So Matsuri was a gangster all along? O__o

Without having read ahead, as of rn i think "gender-nonconforming" might be close enough a descriptor if pressed for one

As someone who identifies in a gender-nonconforming / gender-neutral way it's interesting to me how the story and discussion is going. For myself I try to generally avoid labels and I don't view myself as fitting Cis or Trans, more so a 3rd slice of the pie I guess. Also for my own experience I find that generally society and social wrapped up gender roles and norms are oppressive and not to my liking. So it's interesting to see how I relate to the character and story, and to also see how Cis and Trans people here also relate in their ways as well.

Families, eh...?

And then for some interesting new information...

Can we please let people make theories about gender identity plots without treating it like an immediate attack on transness and then rush ahead to throw spoilers around? (Or at least spoiler the entirety of the paragraph?)

I understand the concurrently running transyurisekai ... "debatte" might have heated the conversation's baseline, but sheesh.

My apologies if I have come off as rude.

It's okay, you haven't, I think you've just missed some of the subtext so far that makes it so Ren isn't just a tomboy.

Can we please let people make theories about gender identity plots without treating it like an immediate attack on transness and then rush ahead to throw spoilers around? (Or at least spoiler the entirety of the paragraph?)

I didn't treat it as an attack and did my best to respectfully respond to the other poster on why I disagreed.
If sounded like I was being aggressive, then I'm sorry. it wasn't my intention to.

I'm really appreciating the layouts of this manga. In some manga, the panels will hug their subjects tightly because the mangaka is compensating for their lack of background skills. Or the page looks barren or otherwise nondescript. Here though, every page is filled with just the right amount of background detail. I'm never momentarily wondering where the characters are located because at least one panel will establish this.

In this particular chapter, I like how Ren is always subtly running away. She'll take off her jacket and walk up to her room, or put on her helmet and ride away. She doesn't face the other person when she's trying to leave the conversation, either. Really hammers home how unhomely her hometown feels. However, once Shimizu is mentioned, she doesn't run away lol. I love these fun little continuity tools that keep the page in motion.

What a fantastic first volume!