I find it sort of oddly refreshing that it’s all so cut and dried - Hanabi is utterly loathsome and Yukishiro is a veritable goddess.

My reaction exactly.

I can’t imagine that it was anything malicious - if anything, just judging by their current interactions, it was something kind and even possibly intimate. But there’s that still mysterious past looming over everything…

Aah… that was a great chapter.

Even though Tani and Suzuki seem like a comfy old couple compared to the rest, they still have their trials. And Taira appears to be right on the verge of figuring things out (if he can just fight his way out of his own head for a moment). And Nishi and Yamada are positively radiant, and Nishi herself has never looked more comfortable, or more beautiful.

I keep forgetting how awesome this manga is, then a new chapter will arrive and I’ll be reminded all over again.

Awesome clarification - thanks.

Looks to be pretty standard cute girls doing cute things. Between the art style and the setting, it most made me think of GochiUsa with a bit of Kin-iro Mosaic thrown in.

Though that word “lily” leaps right out, since that’s almost certainly a ham-handed localization of “yuri.”

I guess we’ll find out eventually…

I really like that this is so stubbornly wholesome when it could so easily not be.

And the first chapter went up yesterday, and…

It’s almost as if this author has set out to investigate all the different ways to do an ecchi dumpster fire.

There was even a moment in this chapter when it briefly seemed that it might be headed that way, but of course nothing came of it.

On another note - I started wondering what would happen if, now that Saotome has a skirt on, the author did an upskirt shot of him. Would he have that same lower body that every single girl in the series inexplicably shares?

I can’t tell if she’s a romantic or a realist either.

I’m thinking there’s a key to Chokki-chan’s appeal there. Somehow her world is both fantastical and mundane.

She’s not a chuunibyou - it’s not that she fantasizes about a fantastical life. It’s more that she recognizes her very mundane life for what it is, but sees wonder in it anyway.

There might be an existentialist lesson to be drawn there…

Good for them.

This is pretty much exactly the sort of thing I was hoping to see when they announced that it was ending - the two of them setting out to live happily ever after.

And the goldfish were a great touch.

It’s doubly a shame too, not just because I liked the series, but because a rushed ending, which is pretty much always a bad thing anyway, is just that much worse with a manga that was as slow and gentle as this one.

Ah.

I just found out why this series made such a sharp detour into sich an ugly, contrived drama - it got axed. There are only three chapters left.

So presumably the author decided they couldn’t just let things continue to coast and let Hiragi and Taiyou continue to slowly grow to recognize their feelings for each other, and instead a confession was going to have to be forced.

It’s doubly a shame too, since it could’ve been done pretty well.

Having Reona step in to handle the beatdown is actually a pretty good idea, since she’s been shown to be at worst only barely short of Kazuhana in ability, and she’s been so eager for an opportunity to prove herself, so it’s pretty much a perfect chance for her. And with a bit of narrative framing, that could’ve been made satisfying. But instead it just came out of nowhere.

And yeah - it really looked like they were setting up an opportunity for the stuco prez to shine, then just missed it entirely.

There’s another unfortunate missed opportunity in the chapter too, and again it seems as if the author went out of his way to introduce it, then just didn’t do anything with it - Kazuhana’s mom showing up just in time to hear those guys say the dojo is a yakuza front. There then should’ve been a scene of her confronting them. That would’ve been the final indignity - even getting dominated by, or better yet getting their asses whooped by, Kazuhana’s mom.

Broadly, I wonder what the deal is with this manga. It’s not just that it’s gotten lazy, which would almost be better. Instead it’s almost as if the author is trying and is setting up something interesting, then suddenly switches to lazy right at the last moment. Instead of just not going anywhere, it looks for all the world like it’s going to… then doesn’t.

I assume so, and I thought it was pretty funny in a meta sense, since it’s such a little and sort of vague thing, but to any long-time fan of the series, it’s as blatant as a boxed announcement saying, “And tune in next chapter for fanservice!”

This manga is so far gone that it was actually sort of a relief rhat this chapter was only mediocre, since that means that it could’ve been much worse.

On the other hand though, the credits page was epic! I’m still laughing to myself.

Glad to hear that.

I could’ve seen it going the other way too - manga means not western - which would’ve been disappointing but would narrowly make sense.

And yeah - left-to-right always trips me up too.

And with a dash of Made in Abyss too.

This mangaka did an earlier series called Kyoukai Senjou no Limbo that was very good but sort of flew under the radar and ended up prematurely axed. This one thankfully got enough interest to keep going.

He has an unusual talent for blending fluff and drama, so the story is sort of alternately cute and harrowing, and neatly balanced. And there are a bunch of intriguing mysteries surrounding this world and Yakone’s place in it that have slowly been revealed.

I actually thought the series was winding down over the last few months - there have been some momentous events and answers to some very central questions - but with this most recent chapter, it looks more like it’s going to instead go into another entire arc. Which is fine by me.

The biggest event for me last week, by far, was getting a new chapter of Food Court de, Mata Ashita (See You Tomorrow at the Food Court).

It was originally self-published, and then the author got a serialization deal but for whatever reason, it then went on a sort of hiatus. Now, apparently, it’s finally starting back up. And it’s easily in my top five all-time favorites, so I’m thrilled.

It’s a deceptively simple premise: Wada and Yamamoto came to be friends late in their time together in middle school, only to discover that they were going to different high schools. Wanting to keep their friendship going, they agree to meet at a centrally-located food court every day on the way home from school, where they talk and catch up.

It’s brought to life by their very unique personalities and the way they play off of each other.

Part of the reason they’re so dependent on each other is that they’re the only ones who really know that the other is entirely different from who the rest of the world thinks they are. Yamamoto looks like a gyaru and is very reserved, so people think she’s mean and scary. She’s actually extremely intelligent and observant and compassionate, and with a wonderfully dry sense of humor. And Wada looks like a quiet, studious, reserved ojou-sama, and she’s actually a loud, brash and moody self-proclaimed menhera. They keep up their deceptive appearances at school, and it’s only with each other that they can relax and really be themselves.

And their conversations and interactions are wonderful and hilarious. And I’m so happy that it’s back.

Sort of interesting that this chapter didn’t have any real comedy to speak of. It was just Daisuke worrying about Tanaka and Tanaka telling him why he didn’t need to worry, but that she appreciated it. Just two people sincerely communicating.

And I still think it’s significant that Tanaka wasn’t in the timeskip chapter…