(And we need to be precise here—that was not just a kiss, but a good full pair, with at least one more interrupted by the bell.)

I actually had the impression their lips didn't touch during the first "kiss" − Yurine backed off slightly and changed to a more "comfortable" position for the big smooch. Whatever the case, she's still trying to be the "dominant" partner, probably because she's afraid of being on the receiving side (as seen in chap 35-36).

This is a fairly trivial point (they definitely kissed! And it was mutual!), but a speed flip through the chapters suggests that Canno stages real kisses (i.e., not pecks on the cheek or almost-kisses) in several ways, including first from the back followed by a post-kiss shot with lips not quit touching (I should have bookmarked the one scene that’s almost exactly like page 27).

In any case, Shiramine sees herself as having done exactly what Kurosawa (the “serial kisser”) has been doing to her, so I think the evidence is that our girl has earned full credit for Romantic Kiss, Initiated & Executed.

PS: Page 25, am I the only one who thinks Ayaka's slight cross-eyedness adds to her cuteness?

You are by no means alone. (There’s a reason people close their eyes when making out—more than one reason, actually, but the lack of a distinct focal point is certainly an important one.)

I’m not sure extended drama is in the offing between these two—for all the ups and downs in their relationship to their own feelings, they’ve both been totally into each other almost from the very start. In fact, on re-reading I was surprised at how early Shiramine was completely gone on Kurosawa, all unbeknownst to herself.

F@CKING FINALLY. THAT KISS. WAS. SO. SATISFYING. I NEED MORE. ALSO HELLO TO THE UPCOMING ANGSTY HOW DO I CONFESS ROAD AHEAD OF US.

It's Izumi (and Chiharu behind her). I'm always surprised at how much trouble some people have remembering the couples, honestly. >.> Speaking of the chart, we can update it I guess? Or is it too early yet?

More like not early enough!

Now I wonder how the end of this arc will connect to the end of the Mikaze/Asuka arc (if they do connect). There are some parallels there − on one side two girls who used to date but feel like they might not be made for each other, on the other two girls who realize they are made for each other but are still afraid to take that next step.

This is what I'm wondering about. The only real connecting point between the two couples is the interaction between Ayaka and Mikaze in the library, discussing the special people in their lives. This seems more like a chance encounter attachment to the main story than any proper connection to one of the characters, much like the polyamory arc (where we have Amane appearing to Izumi out of the blue), so unless there is some deeper connecting point I'm missing, the Mikaze-Asuka arc is going to be a fairly lonely out-of-left-field affair.

While I'm pretty sure Canno will come up with some awesome way to get them back together, I'm kind of rooting for a break-up between them. Not because it would change things up a bit, or because of the overwhelming antagonism towards Asuka (which is certainly reasonable), but because after reading and re-reading their chapters together, I've come to the conclusion that Mikaze and Asuka have no chemistry together. Romantic or otherwise.

GIRLFRIENDS

^^ A fair point… The volume 6 example felt more organic actually, as Amane's intervention influenced the developments between Izumi and Chiharu, to an extent. Doesn't seem to be the case here.

I'm thinking of the volume 9 cover though. On all the covers you have the side couple smiling and happy together, so it's hard to imagine a cover where it's… not the case. Or maybe the cover will show Mikaze and Asuka smiling and happy together, but they'll still break up in the story. That'd be a nice bit of trolling.

PS: Page 25, am I the only one who thinks Ayaka's slight cross-eyedness adds to her cuteness?

You are by no means alone. (There’s a reason people close their eyes when making out—more than one reason, actually, but the lack of a distinct focal point is certainly an important one.)

Ah I see, there's that too. I feel like it's not specific to that panel though. Canno generally draws Ayaka's eyes in a very distinct and strangely adorable way, especially in the last few volumes. It was mentionned at some point that she had bad eyesight, so it might be to represent that.

last edited at Jul 16, 2018 3:34PM

who the hell are all these people? I've completely forgotten almost all of the side characters. Again.

^ my reaction to every new chapter of this

It was fun when you got to read about unrelated people for chapters upon chapters because the author couldn't figure out what was going on with their own series.

Hi, hello. Just wanted to join in with everyone losing their $#!t.

yayyyyyyy

who the hell are all these people? I've completely forgotten almost all of the side characters. Again.

I dont even read the chapters about the side pairings anymore. I couldn't care less about them.

But man this chapter is exactly what I've been waiting for! Shiramine is so damn adorable... c:

As I said, I too have trouble keeping the side characters straight and remembering which arc comes where, and I freely admit to being a bit annoyed whenever we switch away from a meaty AyaYuri segment to some pair of people we’ve never seen before.

On the other hand, there’s a (strong) case to be made that the work as a whole is much better and more substantial (in more than just bulk) than it would have been with the usual exclusive focus on the main two characters. But I’m not going to make that case right now.

I just want to ask if there have been any other manga (yuri or otherwise) with a similar structure, centering on a romantic couple but including significant but limited arcs on a variety of other couples.

(I know there are plenty of works with an A and a B couple, and sometimes even more than a few more, but I mean with so many other couples that get developed at some length and then perhaps dropped entirely, so they’re not really subplots, and they’re too extended to be digressions.)

It’s certainly an unusual story structure, but I’m wondering if it’s actually unique, at least in manga.

(Again, there’s a part of my brain that wants AyaYuri and nothing else, but that’s never been what this series is. And I like this series.)

I can't stop re-reading the pages ftom 25 to 29. I want to sleep. Somebody help me.

HOLY SHIT AYAKA ASBFHJDVSVFAHHHHHHHH

As I said, I too have trouble keeping the side characters straight and remembering which arc comes where, and I freely admit to being a bit annoyed whenever we switch away from a meaty AyaYuri segment to some pair of people we’ve never seen before.

On the other hand, there’s a (strong) case to be made that the work as a whole is much better and more substantial (in more than just bulk) than it would have been with the usual exclusive focus on the main two characters. But I’m not going to make that case right now.

I just want to ask if there have been any other manga (yuri or otherwise) with a similar structure, centering on a romantic couple but including significant but limited arcs on a variety of other couples.

(I know there are plenty of works with an A and a B couple, and sometimes even more than a few more, but I mean with so many other couples that get developed at some length and then perhaps dropped entirely, so they’re not really subplots, and they’re too extended to be digressions.)

It’s certainly an unusual story structure, but I’m wondering if it’s actually unique, at least in manga.

(Again, there’s a part of my brain that wants AyaYuri and nothing else, but that’s never been what this series is. And I like this series.)

Personally, I'm happy to read the side stories. I can at least remember them while they're going on, and they're nice little short stories that develop different kinds of relationships but touch similar themes. I think I prefer the series the way it is now over some hypothetical version where it was just the main two. My only problem is when they're brought up again many chapters later.

As for other manga like this... the only things that come to mind are things like Virgins Empire, and Tsurezure Children, romance/comedy manga with a large cast of recurring characters. But I think those are much different, since they're comedy gag manga and don't have anywhere near the same depth as the different stories here. Maybe 14-sai no Koi? But I think the difference is that in Kiss and a White Lily the side couples have their own arcs that fully develop over a few chapters and then are basically never really brought up again (except in very brief interactions with the main characters). In similar series, newly introduced characters are integrated into the ongoing plot and appear again and again.

In some ways, this feels like a collection of short stories that connect mainly through the setting and themes, like The Martian Chronicles.

last edited at Jul 17, 2018 2:24AM

By the way, the presence of the “Little Theater” feature from the very beginning gives the lie to the idea that the multiplicity of characters in the series is a function of the author padding the story or being unable to decide what to do with the central plotline.

Though I understand why some people wish it were otherwise, this series was always going to be chock-full of minor and one-off characters.

It was in the goddamn synopsis of the series right off the bat, so yeah.

Though I understand why some people wish it were otherwise, this series was always going to be chock-full of minor and one-off characters.

I understand it as an attempt to make as episodic a romance series as possible. The appeal of episodic stories is that you can start reading them from any point and they still make sense, which makes newer stories easier for magazine owners to sell and TV networks to air. Series like Archie, Spongebob, and Pokemon achieve the episodic format by having the characters and their relationships never change at all; characters and relationships changing, however, is the core appeal of the romance genre. AnoKiss finds a middle ground: a main couple with an exaggerated, unchanging relationship (at least, until recently) and a series of relationships which develop rapidly enough that new magazine readers can jump in without having missed much.

It's similar to the Hallmark channel's solution--Hallmark movies are basically a long-running TV series where they start from scratch every hour-long episode--except it maintains a narrative throughline. Also, it's gay.

P.S. This is why I feel those asking "last volume?" are mistaken. With a lucrative magazine-focused format and Seiran University looming in the wings, this series can last as long as Canno wants.

Eeh, I don't agree that Ayaka and Yurine's relationship was "unchanging" until now. It's always been evolving a little with each chapter. So I don't think this can last for much longer, unless Canno starts focusing much more on side couples after this volume… or continues Ayaka and Yurine's story long after they officially hook up, like Citrus did. Which I would be all for. But this series is rapidly approaching volume 10, which is already a lot for a yuri manga.

On a side note, I couldn't help but think of Ayaka a little reading this…

last edited at Jul 18, 2018 9:10PM

Eeh, I don't agree that Ayaka and Yurine's relationship was "unchanging" until now. It's always been evolving a little with each chapter. So I don't think this can last for much longer, unless Canno starts focusing much more on side couples after this volume… or continues Ayaka and Yurine's story long after they officially hook up, like Citrus did. Which I would be all for. But this series is rapidly approaching volume 10, which is already a lot for a yuri manga.

On a side note, I couldn't help but think of Ayaka a little reading this…

Could you tell me what manga this image is from?

^ "Kaguya Wants to Be Confessed to - Official Doujin" (chapter 4). Sadly not a yuri manga. >.>

If all we had to go on were the public interactions between the two main characters, it might indeed seem like the AyaYuri relationship has been pretty static until somewhat recently (although the “Interlude by the Sea” arc at least would seem to be pretty definitive change in the status quo).

But in tracking the interior lives of the two characters, the development has been regular and considerable—Ayaka has needed Yurine to motivate her to change her attitude about herself, and the previously asocial (anti would be a little strong) Yurine has been almost completely transformed by Ayaka, even if it has often looked on the surface like the same old dynamic.

I really don’t think the story structure has much to do with making the series accessible to readers starting in the middle—although not all the characters in the side arcs recur, some do so pretty regularly, sometimes at long intervals, and that can be confusing to longtime readers let alone new ones. I think this series really is an attempt at building an overall story using many short limited-arc stories within a single longer (but still not open-ended) romance arc.

That’s why I agree with Lyendith—unless Canno decides to go with the “let’s watch the happily-ever-after part” as a sequel, I think this train is not very far from the end of the line.

I just hope we get a teacher arc before the end… Canno mentionned a while ago that she'd like to draw an adult yuri, that would be the perfect chance to try it out.

I just hope we get a teacher arc before the end… Canno mentionned a while ago that she'd like to draw an adult yuri, that would be the perfect chance to try it out.

While it’s a decent idea in theory, as far as I can tell on a quick skim the sum total of the explicitly depicted, on-panel contributions of the entire Seiran faculty to our story amounts to:

• Throws an eraser at Yurine and hits her (two panels)
• Makes Yurine read English (off panel)
• Praises Izumi for not being late as often as usual
• Chats with Izumi’s sister about the upcoming tests (not at Seiran, I believe)
• Hands Maya her diploma
• Asks Shiramine to collect the workbooks
• Passes back the tests in the latest chapter

Even if I’ve missed half of the depicted faculty workload, it still seems as if a sudden burst of attention to teachers at this point would almost be intrusive. xd

I really don’t think the story structure has much to do with making the series accessible to readers starting in the middle—although not all the characters in the side arcs recur, some do so pretty regularly, sometimes at long intervals, and that can be confusing to longtime readers let alone new ones. I think this series really is an attempt at building an overall story using many short limited-arc stories within a single longer (but still not open-ended) romance arc.

I think you're probably right. This definitely isn't "episodic" in the sense that you can start at any chapter and still enjoy it. For one thing, if you picked a chapter at random, you'd probably only have a 1-in-4 chance of being at the start of any one little arc, and if you guess wrong you'll be lost in a short story that is itself lost in a longer story. And if you luck out and start at the beginning of an arc, or if you for some reason just keep reading anyways, you'd quickly realize that the main characters of the larger story have a history that you've completely missed. And as bewildering the tangled mess of characters is to me, at least I can recognize pretty quickly if someone is important to the current story. I don't even want to imagine how crazy it would drive me to start this in the middle and try to sort out who's who.

Plus, all the little arcs do have something in common. It seems that every character is lying to herself, and she realizes the lie through interactions with a foil, who is herself hiding something. Then they become romantic partners. This isn't an uncommon structure for a romance, but the fact that basically all of the stories fit together like this lends a sort thematic resonance.

It certainly feels like we're approaching the ending, or at least the resolution of the central conflict. In the pattern of all the smaller arcs, Ayaka is reaching the point of self-acceptance, so all's left to wrap up is her relationship with Yurine, which is making fast progress.

I don't think this can last for much longer, unless Canno starts focusing much more on side couples after this volume… or continues Ayaka and Yurine's story long after they officially hook up, like Citrus did. Which I would be all for. But this series is rapidly approaching volume 10, which is already a lot for a yuri manga.

I half agree, and half disagree on this point. Now that we've finally concluded the "I must beat you for reasons even I don't quite understand" and "it- it's not like I'm in love with you or anything!" arcs (the ends of both were explored in volume 5, but only really finished off now, in my opinion), Canno has a number of ways forward with both the AyaYuri relationship and the manga as a whole:

1. Worst case scenario: finish it off within another 1-2 volumes. Unless Canno wants to do the exploration of their romance through another year (yes, please!), this series could end (a bit abruptly) with a big confession and the general happily ever after. Or, even worse, the ambiguous "where do we go from here?"

2. Devolve the whole plot into something reminiscent of a shoujo manga. Just because we as the readers are well-aware of their feelings for each other hardly means that they are; Yurine wants to become someone worthy of Ayaka, who, in turn, might still be under the impression that Yurine is only a "serial kisser" rather than actually interested in her. As I'm typing this, this option becomes less and less likely, mostly because of the events in chapter 40. But maybe Canno will put a different spin on it.

3. Loads and loads more side-characters. Alternatively, continuations of the stories of the side characters. I think just about everyone here would like some more MoeMizuki content, especially since they're graduating soon. I feel that this would probably be detrimental to the storyline, though, since it hinges so heavily on the two main characters (contrary to popular belief).

4. Another 10 volumes, because who doesn't want that?

I must admit, I don't quite see the end yet. With an average of only 2 chapters per volume dedicated to the developing AyaYuri relationship, I'm counting on at least another 3 (if not more) volumes after the current Asuka and Mikaze one to finish the story off properly.

On a very random side-note: I'm actually sort of hoping that we see Sumire paired off with someone other than Ayaka, who, let's face it, is madly in love with her sister. Chances of this are zero to none, of course, unless she somehow entered Seiran for high school. (I just re-read her chapters, and it might be possible, but is rather improbable).

Also, I really like that Ai hasn't been paired off with anyone. Mainstream media nowadays always seems to have the "token gay/not-straight/non-conforming/other, please describe:" character; here, Ai is the inversion. Although, for all we know, she's as into girls as the rest of Seiran, the only school that's more yuritopia than the original was.

True, I almost forgot that they still had a full year of high school left. I'm actually pretty sure the current arc will end will Ayaka tearfully saying goodbye to Mizuki or something. It might play a big part in the next volumes − with Mizuki gone, Yurine will become Ayaka's only confidant. She might even move to the dorms and become her roommate, although that would be a bit too easy.

As for Ai, I can't even imagine her paired off with anyone, she just works too well as "everyone's buddy". Hell, if you look at the early chaps it seems obvious that Canno had inially planned to hook her up with Chiharu, but dropped that to introduce Izumi instead.

I hadn't even considered the consequences of Mizuki graduating, other than that she wouldn't be there. Now that you mention it, I can definitely see how alone Ayaka would truly be - and how dangerous that is at this stage, certainly for the development of her relationship with Yurine. With only her love interest left as someone to confide in, we loop back to the possibility that the two of them will become awkward and stilted around each other rather than confronting their feelings head-on (as usual), which is either good (more volumes as we explore this hurdle in their relationship) or bad (just when we'd gotten into the budding romantic feelings, the whole thing becomes unresolved sexual tension instead), depending on your viewpoint.

Back to the other point: the opposite theme naming thing Canno has going on for her partnering characters makes it very clear who was/is supposed to be together in the long run, other than Moe and Mizuki, of course. She mentioned somewhere that she'd made their names up before starting on AnoKiss.

I was actually going to ask about that. With Ayaka and Yurine we have Shiramine and Kurosawa (white and black), Ai and Chiharu are Uehara and Kusa kabe (up and down), and with some research I assume Sawa and Itsuki are I tou and Nishikawa (east and west), the polyamory trio is Asakura, Yuunagi and Hiruma (morning, evening and daytime), and Hikari and Nagisa become the legendary tiger and dragon rivalry with Torayama and Tatsumi.

Where does that leave the rest of the side pairings, name-wise? Yukina and Towako, Haine and Aika, and Mikaze and Asuka - do you know where their opposites lie?