omggg they might finally take their relationship to the pube plucking level soon!!!

I see you've read Yukiko's other doujins as well. XD

"I thought we're already married." Is the answer I'm expecting. XD yep.

I'm glad I'm not the only one.

"Say what? You want to date your wife?"

"But we've been sleeping together for seven years!"

"We're already saving money to buy together a house with a white picket fence!"

All perfectly likely answers.

Ps: Also it got a good chuckle out of me seeing the train being so empty. Not sure which fictional land is it but definitely not Japan.

For me, it was the warm and happy workplace where everyone is mellow and nice, there's plenty of free time and you can take it slow and easy.

Nothing like a hellish salt mine full of mean angry people where they grind you to the bone, bully you every day, force you to do six hours of unpaid overtime every day, until one morning you feel like you have had enough and decide to get your gf and throw away the suit together.

Not sure which fictional land they live in but it's definitely not any capitalist country in this world.

Relationship development? In my long running 4koma serialization?

More likely than you think

Did anyone else notice that the kiss in extra chapter two is directly the inverse of the original one shot

^ that’s cool

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/825890659747102722/990721035135500349/unknown.png

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/825890659747102722/990722525820506132/image0.jpg

https://media.discordapp.net/attachments/825890659747102722/990722398942789652/image0.jpg

Did anyone else notice that the kiss in extra chapter two is directly the inverse of the original one shot

As if I didn't already have enough of an urge to re-read the whole series again.

They're finally bringing this up, and it's in a special chapter rather than an actual numbered canonical chapter????

Ooh, now this is interesting. There is a strong case for Kasumi being asexual, but aromantic might be a whole other thing and certainly being with Sakurako as much as she is probably fulfills any desire she would have for a partner so she has never had to think about it. Will this move to them at least redefining their relationship, I doubt it, but it would be interesting to see how Kasumi thinks about their current quasi-romantic relationship.

They're finally bringing this up, and it's in a special chapter rather than an actual numbered canonical chapter????

To be fair it is usually the special chapters for this series that contain the drama and introspection with the main series usually just being fluff 4-koma SoL.

Honestly, this right here is why this hasn't been a particular favorite of mine. Sakurako has made her feelings clear like 100 times in the past, and the fact that she's only making a deal of it now is so weird to me. If they're ambiguously dating, then they probably aren't being physical either besides those occasional kisses. And Sakurako has made herself clear that she wants to be physical with Kasumi, so she's been holding back this entire time.

This is peak Heisei era nonsense.

Glad to see this translated; you guys are about 6 months late, lol.

They're finally bringing this up, and it's in a special chapter rather than an actual numbered canonical chapter????

Special/Side chapter merely refers to chapters that are not in the standard 4koma format; they're part of the regular narrative progression in every other way.

Honestly, this right here is why this hasn't been a particular favorite of mine. Sakurako has made her feelings clear like 100 times in the past, and the fact that she's only making a deal of it now is so weird to me. If they're ambiguously dating, then they probably aren't being physical either besides those occasional kisses. And Sakurako has made herself clear that she wants to be physical with Kasumi, so she's been holding back this entire time.

This is peak Heisei era nonsense.

As the poster above you mentioned, Kasumi has consistently been portrayed as mostly aromantic and/or asexual. She has made/permitted romantic gestures with Sakurako many times despite this. The explanation is, as Sakurako described in this chapter, that they have built their relationship on multiple implicit understandings -- Kasumi understands that Sakurako is in love with her, while Sakurako understands that Kasumi is not interested in sex/romantic relationships.

Sakurako's question/confession in this chapter does not really introduce anything new; both she and Kasumi are and have been aware of the differences in their physical drives/desires, and explicitly verbalizing the issue won't automatically resolve it. However, it does represent a more proactive approach than they have taken until now.

Regarding what triggered Sakurako to ask such questions now -- in the conversation regarding love and cheating, Kasumi made statements which appeared to dismiss the concept of (passionate) love entirely. In particular, on page 00117, Kasumi criticized "love at first sight" (the idea of confessing to somebody you hadn't even talked to; as Kae mentioned on the previous discussion page, the TL could certainly be improved on that page/bubble). Although Kasumi was only talking from her own perspective, stating that she didn't understand and had never experienced such passion, from Sakurako's point of view she likely felt that Kasumi was criticizing her because Kasumi's words also described Sakurako's immediate attraction to Kasumi herself.

Such criticism would seem to defy the unspoken understandings their relationship had been built on up until this point -- Kasumi's acceptance and occasional reciprocation of Sakurako's romantic feelings, so long as Sakurako respected Kasumi's boundaries -- which is why she was driven to explicitly bring it up.

Ultimately, the fact that Sakurako and Kasumi have different levels of physical desire is actually COMPLETELY FINE and an excellent foundation for a compelling yuri story. The fluffy 4koma format more or less guarantees a happy ending, while the initial developments made it clear early on that the story was indeed about romantic feelings. In the same way that Sakurako's chat with Moka about being happy with an unlabelled relationship made perfect sense at the time, the present developments are also a completely natural extension of Sakurako and Kasumi's romantic dynamic/relationship.

last edited at Jun 26, 2022 10:12PM

They're finally bringing this up, and it's in a special chapter rather than an actual numbered canonical chapter????

weirdly, pretty much all the progress chapters have been in specials

not sure why

As the poster above you mentioned, Kasumi has consistently been portrayed as mostly aromantic and/or asexual. She has made/permitted romantic gestures with Sakurako many times despite this. The explanation is, as Sakurako described in this chapter, that they have built their relationship on multiple implicit understandings -- Kasumi understands that Sakurako is in love with her, while Sakurako understands that Kasumi is not interested in sex/romantic relationships.

I think my issue is that implicit understandings at some point need to be made explicit, and 9 years into a relationship, whatever kind of relationships, is pretty late. It's hard to take it seriously.

Ultimately, the fact that Sakurako and Kasumi have different levels of physical desire is actually COMPLETELY FINE and an excellent foundation for a compelling yuri story. The fluffy 4koma format more or less guarantees a happy ending, while the initial developments made it clear early on that the story was indeed about romantic feelings. In the same way that Sakurako's chat with Moka about being happy with an unlabelled relationship made perfect sense at the time, the present developments are also a completely natural extension of Sakurako and Kasumi's romantic dynamic/relationship.

Different levels of desire would be fine in a relationship that is just starting out. That's something you figure out at the beginning. And even if we account for their relationship being kind of nebulous on terms and exactly what they want out of it, 9 years is a long time to go without figuring that stuff out. Like, Sakurako has made a number of references to wanting actual sex from Kasumi.

It's just difficult to buy into this. I get that it's a 4koma, and thus there might not be a point to taking it so seriously. But that's also what puts me off. I don't find the relationship believable.

!!!

"The truth is, Sakurako, I only want your cooking. But I do want to bang your mother. Can you get me her number?"

Different levels of desire would be fine in a relationship that is just starting out. That's something you figure out at the beginning. And even if we account for their relationship being kind of nebulous on terms and exactly what they want out of it, 9 years is a long time to go without figuring that stuff out. Like, Sakurako has made a number of references to wanting actual sex from Kasumi.

Yeah but Sakurako sacrificing what she wants for others is a pretty established aspect of her character at this point as well. She's tried to make passes for sure, but Kasumi has never been receptive so she didn't push it. That falls well within her character of being willing to do anything for others and in particular Kasumi.

It may not be perfect, but I also see where the other poster was coming from about the explicit understanding Sakurako thought they had between them being kind of broken making her start to worry.

Hey, Yukiko? This is not how you resolve a cliffhanger.

At least Sakurako is aware of herself being a pervert xD

Cute.

lol

At least Sakurako is aware of herself being a pervert xD

Points for self-awareness

I think Kasumi and Sakurako need a good beta couple to show them how it's done.

I don't think they need it.

"This is probably fine, right...?" The food and snacks are vying with her sense of self-preservation.

"This is probably fine, right...?" The food and snacks are vying with her sense of self-preservation.

Kinda makes me think of Hana from Wataten.

I think Kasumi and Sakurako need a good beta couple to show them how it's done.

I think they ended up unintentionally showing every other couple in the series how it's done already? Unless we're talking about a different "it" here.

last edited at Aug 15, 2022 11:20AM