Sheesh! Thought this was going to have a sad ending, glad I powered through.

Anyways, really great story. I rarely find dialogue in manga impressive, but the part with the train's rail road metaphor was pretty good, specially the counter argument in the end.

last edited at Nov 15, 2013 11:17PM

Annngggstt.

God, those last few pages nearly killed me ...

Good ending tho. But how about her mom?

last edited at May 17, 2014 4:01PM

Well, actually the smoke turns black when the engine is under heavy load, so it's not something so unusual...

last edited at May 17, 2014 10:02PM

Oh gosh I almost cried. This is a masterpiece imo. If this were a sad ending I'd definitely drown myself. Yes, I can't take sad endings:'( but weird thing is I like reading angst.

The actual premise for the story had me like *meh
But the ending and stuff, ahh the romance ^_^

I can hear "Stand By Me" while reading the last page.

last edited at Aug 3, 2016 1:04AM

God, those last few pages nearly killed me ...

And them.

Good thing they passed their Dex save.

i really want this to be turned into an OVA. that last scene with the train, the author does it great justice but it would be amazing animated. the intensity of the scene......im shivering just thinking about it

This is so bittersweet and at the same time, so beautiful, it's a great story and the last few pages almost killed me, but the ending was so.... so... Epic!

last edited at Nov 17, 2016 5:05PM

The feelings were too real. Being born as a lesbian in an unacceptable society is really hard. They really pulled those society stuffs here clearly even though this is a oneshot. I almost cried reading this. It's bittersweet yet beautiful.

last edited at Jun 7, 2020 10:30AM

Mm. I came upon this author before with Aoishiro stuff, but since I never read the Aoishiro prequels, never checked out the rest of their works either. The 2009 NSFW one is whatever, but this one is much more masterful and thoughtful. You can feel the tension as the story pulls you in the next direction the characters are planning on taking.

The age of this story was immediately obvious even before I looked up what year Yuri Hime 13 was published in, because of the specific arguments being used in the opening. I appreciated it though. The biology/reproduction angle isn't one I've seen so explicitly stated in manga. I mean of course you get all of the "woman has to marry a guy for children" thing, but that's treated as a social norm or family pressure thing. Not as it is specifically presented here, the idea that humans are biologically programmed for heterosexuality because of a need for reproduction. So I really appreciated that subtle detail. It makes me think of all of the different arguments against homosexuality I've heard and all of the counter arguments that I've had to make. That one little detail would have been enough to give this work the touch of realism needed to touch my heart.

But of course the rest of the work was great too. When Asashi and Komachi say their parts, their words feel real. They're not acting just because that's what the story dictates, but because that's what they truly believe. Komachi is afraid of the societal retaliation, while willing to work hard for her own goals, and just wants Asashi to be happy. Asashi refuses to accept her fate and accepts the risks of her actions. As it is shown throughout, she is genuinely strong-willed without being completely naive. Even when she's acting in what would usually be a bratty way (the name-calling, tantrum, hiding), it somehow makes sense. Because we can see how Asashi could be braver.

... Anyway, this story has been favorited. Hmm actually maybe I'll check back in on it in a while.