You see sex between high school girls pretty often in yuri though. 7u7

In fact it's pretty common in real life as well, y'know.

I didn't want to admit this.... blush

Maybe I should reread the series but since the beginning of the play arc I got lost on where the series is heading.

• flip table over* finally she confessed but for real nanami

I love the manga and all but Nio made a bit of an obvious misstep around the play IMO - namely the play went pretty much EXACTLY how we were specifically and explicitly told it would go in the chapters leading up to it.

That’s certainly a defensible position; I (like many readers I would guess) was initially surprised that there wasn’t some kind of twist or unanticipated complication in the presentation of play.

In fact, we were set up to believe there would be one when Sayaka explained to Yuu that it could be a good thing for Touko to fail publicly by freezing or forgetting her lines. But not only did the play itself go off without a hitch, the psychological effect it was designed to have on Touko also seemed to have worked out perfectly. So there was something anticlimactic about that whole sequence.

But there’s a sense in which I think I prefer it this way. The student-council play idea first appears in chapter 6, and is the main structural element for over two dozen subsequent chapters. It would have been a reasonable storytelling choice to just show us pieces of the play and then let us infer the rest, since we’ve been so steeped in the play and its themes.

But by the time we get to the play it’s really like the events onstage are allowing us to go inside Touko’s psyche at last, and to not show all the play feels like it would be shortchanging us. And then to throw in some plot complication just to liven things up would be a distraction from this event that has been invested with so much significance all along.

I’m actually pretty confident that this author could have presented the play ten other ways (including not showing any of it at all) and still made it effective for the overall story. But I still feel like there was something very solid and satisfying about seeing the play presented straight and in full, just like we expected it.

The fact this story consistently delivers on its promises is very refreshing. I feel the story mirrors Yuu's personality. Straightforward and reliable. It's like the anti-Citrus.

last edited at Aug 3, 2018 2:25PM

I love the manga and all but Nio made a bit of an obvious misstep around the play IMO - namely the play went pretty much EXACTLY how we were specifically and explicitly told it would go in the chapters leading up to it.

That’s certainly a defensible position; I (like many readers I would guess) was initially surprised that there wasn’t some kind of twist or unanticipated complication in the presentation of play.

In fact, we were set up to believe there would be one when Sayaka explained to Yuu that it could be a good thing for Touko to fail publicly by freezing or forgetting her lines. But not only did the play itself go off without a hitch, the psychological effect it was designed to have on Touko also seemed to have worked out perfectly. So there was something anticlimactic about that whole sequence.

But there’s a sense in which I think I prefer it this way. The student-council play idea first appears in chapter 6, and is the main structural element for over two dozen subsequent chapters. It would have been a reasonable storytelling choice to just show us pieces of the play and then let us infer the rest, since we’ve been so steeped in the play and its themes.

But by the time we get to the play it’s really like the events onstage are allowing us to go inside Touko’s psyche at last, and to not show all the play feels like it would be shortchanging us. And then to throw in some plot complication just to liven things up would be a distraction from this event that has been invested with so much significance all along.

I’m actually pretty confident that this author could have presented the play ten other ways (including not showing any of it at all) and still made it effective for the overall story. But I still feel like there was something very solid and satisfying about seeing the play presented straight and in full, just like we expected it.

What's more, I'm actually not sure the author could've shown the lead-up to the play in a clear and comprehensible way without giving us some context on what the play is about. it kinda feels like her hands were tied for the story she wanted to tell.

But by the time we get to the play it’s really like the events onstage are allowing us to go inside Touko’s psyche at last, and to not show all the play feels like it would be shortchanging us. And then to throw in some plot complication just to liven things up would be a distraction from this event that has been invested with so much significance all along.

I agree. It wouldn't have made much sense to me otherwise. I see the play as a metaphor, rather than an event itself. It's Touko's process of introspection and realization. It only went smoothly because she decided to take that step ("I want to believe in Yuu").

It could have been done differently. But it works well like this.

The fact this story consistently delivers on its promises is very refreshing. I feel the story mirrors Yuu's personality. Straightforward and reliable. It's like the anti-Citrus.

I wanna upvote this comment. Like a million times.

Yeah, to be clear I don't think the way the play was done was terrible or anything, there's totally a ton of value to seeing Touko and pals actually go through the motions and process the actual event even after having it explained to us in advance. I just think there was a bit of redundancy in there, too. Happens all the time.

Yeah, to be clear I don't think the way the play was done was terrible or anything, there's totally a ton of value to seeing Touko and pals actually go through the motions and process the actual event even after having it explained to us in advance. I just think there was a bit of redundancy in there, too. Happens all the time.

Yeah, and if this were a series that often stretched out its sequences unnecessarily and did a lot of on-the-nose expository scenes, I’m sure I’d feel differently about how the play was presented.

But although it’s always been methodical and straightforward, the story has never been awkwardly blunt or felt padded (even in somewhat digressive parts, like Koyomi’s chapter, which just seemed to flesh out the world in useful ways).

I also have to admit that I always resist critiques of manga that anticipate problems with the adaptation into anime—I say let the manga do its own thing the way it thinks best, and let the anime worry about itself later. But that’s just how my prejudice runs. :-)

Straightfoward as it may be, no chapters so far have left me disappointed. On the contrary, I'm always eager to know what's next.

I don't think a story needs to be filled with twists and turns to be well-told; it just needs to execute itself well. I think this executes itself very well.

To be honest, I don't really like a lot of plot twists or whatever in fiction. I find they often end up being "how can we misdirect/mislead the reader/viewer" and turning everything into an arbitrarily complex jigsaw puzzle of vagueness instead of "how can we tell the best version of this story with the most emotional heart".

an arbitrarily complex jigsaw puzzle of vagueness

"Lost" in a nutshell.

Just had a nightmare that came with this thought...

what if https://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/bloom_into_you_ch34#31 is the final scene in the anime..

That would be a bit of a nightmare, especially since there wouldn't be nearly enough story left for "Season 2"...

So... two idiots.

Ooo can we have a scene were Saeki bangs both of their heads together.

When I first read this my brain didn't put it together quite right and thought you were suggesting a threesome for a moment... LOL!

Somehow I'm not sure I see Saeki helping Yuu out that much unless she can tell how broken Touko is because of the way things happened.

Interesting that even this still won't make Yuu cry, at least as far as was shown in this chapter. Perhaps she is not quite there yet to be that emotionally affected, even if she has taken strides since the beginning.

At any rate, this was a beautifully set up and executed chapter, praise be Nakatani-sensei.

I kind of looked as Yuu's running away as trying to get as far away from Touko as she could BEFORE the tears started. The last view we had of her face certainly looked like she was on the verge of tears to me...

I agree that this was one of the best chapters. Excellent work, as we have come to expect from Nakatani-sensei.

So... two idiots.

Ooo can we have a scene were Saeki bangs both of their heads together.

When I first read this my brain didn't put it together quite right and thought you were suggesting a threesome for a moment... LOL!

A scene where Saeki bangs both of them... WHOA! Do I smell doujishin?

Somehow I'm not sure I see Saeki helping Yuu out that much unless she can tell how broken Touko is because of the way things happened.

Touko's... broken? What do you mean by that?

I thought about this the other way around: Touko seeking Saeki's advice about Yuu's love for her, and what to do about it.

Interesting that even this still won't make Yuu cry, at least as far as was shown in this chapter. Perhaps she is not quite there yet to be that emotionally affected, even if she has taken strides since the beginning.

At any rate, this was a beautifully set up and executed chapter, praise be Nakatani-sensei.

I kind of looked as Yuu's running away as trying to get as far away from Touko as she could BEFORE the tears started. The last view we had of her face certainly looked like she was on the verge of tears to me...

I wonder about that... When it comes to Nakatani, even small details like that hold a lot of meaning to the story.

^
Personally, I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in predictions about what comes next—at this point pretty much any of the major characters talking to any of the others could potentially be Nakatani gold.

Yuu and Touko talking to each other.
Yuu OR Touko talking to Sayaka.
Yuu talking to her sister.
Yuu talking to Koyomi.
Hell, Touko talking to Yuu’s sister.

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

last edited at Aug 4, 2018 10:22PM

^
Personally, I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in predictions about what comes next—at this point pretty much any of the major characters talking to any of the others could potentially be Nakatani gold.

Yuu and Touko talking to each other.
Yuu OR Touko talking to Sayaka.
Yuu talking to her sister.
Yuu talking to Koyomi.
Hell, Touko talking to Yuu’s sister.

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

I mean, they mentioned that Touko's year has their class trip coming up, so I suspect that Yuu and Touko will be on their own for at least a bit...

It's really nice to see such thoughtful discussions on this forum, and I think it really reflects well not just on the people that are posting, but the quality of Nakatani Nio's work. It's a shame that slower paced and more serious dramatic manga aren't more popular, particularly in the yuri genre which I think lends itself to more challenging and complex love stories.

Well, this one turned out plenty popular. It runs on Dengeki Daioh and it's getting an anime adaptation, that's popular for you.

But I see what you mean, particularly after both Tsubomi and Hirari ceased publication.

Yeah, I suppose this is a pretty silly place to be complaining about how the slower paced and more serious yuri dramas don't tend to be very popular since Bloom Into You is actually one of the most successful of this genre.

Still, as a whole I think serious yuri stories like Bloom Into You becoming popular enough to be made into proper anime are the exception rather than the rule. Yuri is not commonly made into anime and when it is its generally as casual subtext in a cute girls doing cute things type anime or it's played for laughs in a rom/com.

There is hope, though. Just in these last few years I have seen a huge uptick in the amount of yuri that is being made and some of them have even been quite successful in the ratings department. Recently, both Citrus and Dragon Maid did quite well. I'm crossing my fingers that Bloom Into You is at least a modest success. It really needs to be in order for us to see studios taking a future interest in producing these types of stories.

last edited at Aug 5, 2018 2:22AM

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

I mean, they mentioned that Touko's year has their class trip coming up, so I suspect that Yuu and Touko will be on their own for at least a bit...

Right, I meant of the “Touko stops going to school for a month” or “Yuu’s family suddenly moves to the US” or even “Yuu runs away any time there’s a chance to see Touko” type of bullshit.

And I’ve seen worse than that—life-threatening illness, amnesia . . .

^
Personally, I’m trying not to get too wrapped up in predictions about what comes next—at this point pretty much any of the major characters talking to any of the others could potentially be Nakatani gold.

Yuu and Touko talking to each other.
Yuu OR Touko talking to Sayaka.
Yuu talking to her sister.
Yuu talking to Koyomi.
Hell, Touko talking to Yuu’s sister.

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

I think there's a good chance they're not back together before Touko leaves for Kyoto. That probably wasn't dropped in for no reason. We probably get Sayaka either making a move or properly abdicating her chances for Touko's sake (maybe both), depending on how things go down. In the meantime, we'll get Yuu receiving comfort from her sister and friends.

The next month is going to be an agonizing wait.

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

I mean, they mentioned that Touko's year has their class trip coming up, so I suspect that Yuu and Touko will be on their own for at least a bit...

Right, I meant of the “Touko stops going to school for a month” or “Yuu’s family suddenly moves to the US” or even “Yuu runs away any time there’s a chance to see Touko” type of bullshit.

And I’ve seen worse than that—life-threatening illness, amnesia . . .

Yuu gets hit by a car while running home and falls into a coma, both keeping them seperate AND repeating Touko's trauma. THEN she wakes up and has amnesia. Also her parents introduce an arranged marriage and Touko's dad becomes a an anti-gay-rights politician.

Sayaka makes a surprise heel-turn and introduces magic love potions and Yuu decides post-coma to go out with the guy from the first volume after all.

Am I missing anything?

last edited at Aug 5, 2018 7:06AM

What I absolutely don’t want is artificial bullshit keeping Yuu and Touko apart for the sake of mere drama. That happens a lot at this point in this kind of story, and I don’t know of any author/creator/director, etc. in any medium who I think is less likely to do it than this one.

I mean, they mentioned that Touko's year has their class trip coming up, so I suspect that Yuu and Touko will be on their own for at least a bit...

Right, I meant of the “Touko stops going to school for a month” or “Yuu’s family suddenly moves to the US” or even “Yuu runs away any time there’s a chance to see Touko” type of bullshit.

And I’ve seen worse than that—life-threatening illness, amnesia . . .

Yuu gets hit by a car while running home and falls into a coma, both keeping them seperate AND repeating Touko's trauma. THEN she wakes up and has amnesia. Also her parents introduce an arranged marriage and Touko's dad becomes a an anti-gay-rights politician.

Sayaka makes a surprise heel-turn and introduces magic love potions and Yuu decides post-coma to go out with the guy from the first volume after all.

Am I missing anything?

You’re good. In a really horrible way. But good.

Honestly, I had completely forgotten about the "guy from the first chapter" until I read Dynasty's description for this series. At this point that almost feels like a different story.

Honestly, I had completely forgotten about the "guy from the first chapter" until I read Dynasty's description for this series. At this point that almost feels like a different story.

...I forget, does that guy even go to the same high school?

Honestly, I had completely forgotten about the "guy from the first chapter" until I read Dynasty's description for this series. At this point that almost feels like a different story.

...I forget, does that guy even go to the same high school?

It was only mentioned that he was a friend from middle school. Considering Yuu and him never saw each other again in high school and that he kept calling her instead of talking to her in person, it's safe to say he doesn't go to the same high school.

Not that we've been told, IIRC.