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Had to reread it since I stopped following along with scanlations back when they slowed down around chapter 37, and I'd say it makes for a much better work when you can read it straight through, since the meandering and angst isn't nearly as frustrating when you're not waiting months between every chapter (perhaps the same can be said of all romance!). I certainly enjoyed it a lot, and also Ikeda Takashi draws some of the most expressive crying faces I've seen. I was honestly pretty surprised that there wasn't more drama regarding their future, since that seems to be almost mandatory in yuri manga, and it's not like the work is lacking in typical drama. Not that I'm complaining. Also I'm surprised and saddened that Takashi apparently hasn't done any other romance manga, and equally sad yet unsurprised that none of her other works are scanlated at all.
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Apr 28, 2013 15:37
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| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 05:29 |
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That makes sense, I've just gotten in the habit of associating the name Ikeda with women since pretty much every Japanese person with the name that I've heard of is female, even though it's a surname. E: Also, does anyone have recommendation for Shoujo/Josei manga that doesn't heavily feature romance? It hit me that pretty much every manga I've read in those categories has a ton of romance, even when it's not the focus of the work (well I guess Hourou Musuko doesn't have that much), so I'd be interested in checking out something with little/no romance. Insurrectionist fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Apr 28, 2013 |
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Apr 28, 2013 16:48
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Thanks for the recommendations, I'll check them out. Oresama Teacher looks pretty cool.
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Apr 29, 2013 09:21
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Cityinthesea posted:Aoi Hana is ending in July, apparently: http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news/2013-05-08/aoi-hana/sweet-blue-flowers-yuri-manga-to-end-in-july. and it got confusing with J-manga going out of business but apparently Fumi and Akira are broken up as of chapter 50? Huh, interesting. While I haven't read the last few chapters, spoilers made them sound more like mid-story drama than anything too close to an ending. It will be interesting to see where Shimura takes the story over the last couple of chapters, but I can't help but worry it'll be rushed - feels like there wouldn't be enough time toget them back together in a realistic or at least engaging manner. And if they don't get together, it still feels a bit fast - given that their friendship and relationship have been the focus of the entire story, I feel like the kind of huge changes it has been through during the past dozen or so chapters would need more than a couple of chapters to 'sort out' as it were, both from their characters' POV and structurally, story-wise. Oh well, guess we'll see how it goes.
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May 8, 2013 10:42
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Yeah, this latest AH chapter doesn't look too great. Don't read if you don't want to get spoiled: It feels like 9/10ths of the manga so far was spent on Fumi's characterization and development, as well as on the secondary characters - which I didn't mind at the time, since I liked them and assumed it wouldn't detract from the main story - and now that it was finally time to focus on Akira, it just sort of ends instead. Sure, Akira has gotten some attention throughout the previous chapters, but her obvious issues with love/attraction (which got a lot of readers speculating she was asexual) were obviously left mostly unexplored, with their relationship a seemingly obvious reason for that - it would, after all, make an ideal framing for that plot. Instead, we got another few chapters of pretty much no progress there, with Akira almost an unwilling participant in the whole thing, and then a bunch of stuff happening the past few chapters, with little to no explanation or introspection from her to be seen. Akira's confession wasn't exactly flattering for her, and regardless of whether chapter 52 goes with them getting back together, unrequited love from Akira's side, or both of them moving on, the ending will feel really underwhelming. Looking at how the story progresses the last few chapters (especially the past ~6 - 7) compared to the 45 before them, the clash in pacing is immense, and really really noticeable/detrimental - it honestly doesn't feel like the same manga at all, with so many of the small things and scenes that really draws me into Shimura's works missing and skipped over entirely. I've seen a lot of people complain about Akira being terrible after this chapter, and while again the confession wasn't pretty, I think it's just as much a reaction to the fact that she feels pretty alien and unknowable due to how little about her feelings and views are actually conveyed to the reader. Hell, most of what IS known is pretty old material at this point, and easily forgotten (while the reader is frequently reminded of Fumi's feelings and their development, even in this very chapter), and it all ends up feeling very unsatisfying. We'll see if Shimura can magic up something out of left-field for the final chapter, though I doubt it. I'd be very surprised if the ending was due to anything other than it getting cancelled, since an issue I and many others often have with Shimura's stories (including most of AH) is pretty much the opposite of this - excessive amount of time spent on the most minute details of the characters' relationships, including the huge casts of side-characters. Also, apparently chapters 50 - 52 make up the final volume, with previous volumes being 5+ (7 average) chapters, which makes me more inclined to believe it - especially since chapter 50 is really short, with 50+51 not even totaling 50 pages.
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May 30, 2013 21:52
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I'd completely forgotten Manga no Tsukurikata existed to be honest, I really do enjoy the artstyle (although I can't remember what was going on, so I guess I'll re-read it). Is it still ongoing and just now far ahead of translations, or did it end in the 2 years since last chapter? Mangaupdates claims it's ongoing at 7 volumes, but that's hardly the most reliable source of information.
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Jul 25, 2013 13:52
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Minor AH ending stuff: Yeah, I was fine with AH's meandering pace, intermittent focus on side-characters, and overall kind-of slice-of-life feel in some parts, back when it was still running and there seemed to be time for Shimura to keep progressing at a lazy pace until it reached a natural conclusion. But it ended up making the last few chapters feel out-of-place, because between lots of things happening, and time-skips, the pacing was just completely counter to every previous chapter and storyline. The ending in and of itself was merely 'standard', or 'safe', but seen in context with the rest of the work it put a bad taste in my mouth, not so much for what happened, but how it was done (or to put it differently, rather than being annoyed at the ending we saw unfold, I'm annoyed at all the stuff we DIDN'T get to see). I have the same problem with Wandering Son's ending, really, but it felt somewhat better executed and less jarring there for some reason (maybe because it felt like it had progressed further and done more before the ending rush set in).
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Aug 5, 2013 10:40
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Manga no Tsukurikata is basically Sasameki Koto with the humor and (admittedly often cliched) drama replaced with scenes of people drawing manga. Just sitting there drawing. And little else happening, certainly nothing romantic. It's pretty much the most frustrating manga in existence. E: It could be good too, since the art is generally great and the writing isn't really bad, except for having less happen than even most SoL series. Which makes it worse.
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Sep 12, 2013 16:56
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Sasameki Koto and Girl Friends definitely both suffer from the 'artificially prolong the MCs getting together through stereotypical shoujo romance misunderstandings' problem, though it was most noticeable when they were being released monthly or even rarer. Sasameki Koto is worth it for the crying faces alone though, while I find the art-style in general just nice and serviceable, the author really knows how to draw crying.
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Sep 21, 2013 22:56
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I dunno what the stretching bits are all about, I'd say 'excuse for fanservice' but lol at manga in general, and ones by this guy specifically, needing an excuse for that. Anyway, a good chapter.
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Nov 28, 2014 13:34
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I'd say it's pretty obvious on Ran's part at least, after this latest chapter especially. Keiko is a bit more ambiguous though there are definitely a fair few signs. Whether the author chooses to focus on it or just leaves it an open-ended thing is another question.
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Nov 30, 2014 03:29
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Another chapter of Stretch: http://dynasty-scans.com/chapters/stretch_ch30 Looks like we may have plot development soon.
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Dec 10, 2014 22:47
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Poil posted:"This is not stretching." Good thing they told us. Close enough, really.
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Dec 11, 2014 00:11
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Sakurazuka posted:I like Stretch but I do wish the author would stop messing about and go 'oh yeah, they're totally into each other'. Or not, depending (but they totally are). Eh, I don't mind the current pacing too much assuming it actually goes somewhere. It's mostly SoL after all. Though if it ends ambiguously that'd be pretty dumb yeah.
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Dec 11, 2014 14:08
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Nate RFB posted:New chapter of Stretch, with a few more pre-sleep moves and maybe a love triangle? I think it's more likely to be setting up something a bit different. Compare the guy to Keiko's ex here. Admittedly the comic does have a little bit of same-face, but even taking that into account it would be way too much of a coincidence if they're not the same dude, I'd say. If it IS the same guy, some kinda love triangle would be hackneyed. Also, Ran appears to have no interest in the guy either way, so it being Keiko's ex and them running into each-other because of his going to Ran's bar would seem a more natural source of drama.
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Jan 16, 2015 16:45
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Stretch updated with another flashback chapter. http://bato.to/read/_/305163/stretch_ch32b_by_boon-scanlation So now we know how they ended up as flatmates. That ending sure seemed to foreshadow some kinda drama coming up though.
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Feb 19, 2015 13:20
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Surprised at how mainstream most fanart by shoujo mangaka seems to be, or rather how much of it is for non-shoujo stuff. Don't have to consume what you make I suppose! Then again Takako Shimura did fanart of other yuri manga at least.
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Mar 14, 2015 16:50
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I'm not a fan of the pointy chins and wide eyes thing. The Mari/Asuka one is a good example of that, while the Sayaka/Kyoko one doesn't have that and is great. Much better than her usual style IMO.
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Mar 15, 2015 01:40
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Yes_Cantaloupe posted:I'm OK with what they've got going on as long as the series doesn't end as soon as they finally get together. That would be lame. It's the law of manga. I'm sorry.
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Apr 16, 2015 11:38
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Yeah it's pretty cute if somewhat formulaic. Similar to Their Story in that way, just fairly well executed without any notable points. Still, non-Japanese LGBT comics is pretty rare to see translated (hell, probably pretty rare full stop) so no reason to look a gift horse in the mouth.
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Apr 18, 2015 01:43
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Looked like a nice date. Ending heralding more drama perhaps. Or maybe just a reminder.
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May 7, 2015 01:55
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Sakurazuka posted:Drama potential but I've thought that about this series before and it hasn't happened, so. Well it's had flashback-drama. And it's gotta happen SOME day given that. Probably. One day I'll be right goddammit.
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May 7, 2015 02:05
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I see it's the requisite fanservice chapter! A natural progression from the date-chapter no doubt.
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May 13, 2015 23:08
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It's Chinese I think.
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May 15, 2015 22:36
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Sylphid posted:So some new group is translating a comic called Magan&Danai, an adorable comic about two women living together, calling themselves wives. Very slice of life (as of the first chapter), but still good. It's p. cute yeah. How often are new comics released?
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May 16, 2015 20:44
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With Stretch's pacing you better prepare for another 40+ chapters before that could happen.
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May 18, 2015 14:31
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Sakurazuka posted:I'm fully expecting it to never actually happen and the whole thing left ambiguous to be honest. Eh I doubt that, at this point it's obvious the author isn't being/playing dumb about the fact that they've got something going on between them. Even if they don't end up together I'd still expect that to be addressed in some way rather than have the story play out as though it isn't a thing.
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May 18, 2015 15:03
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Yeah it pretty much set up slow-growing romance between the female leads interspersed with manga-drawing SoL antics, but then it turned out that rather than slow-growing it was 'entirely stagnant' if you're charitable or 'nonexistent' if you're not, and the author only had about 10 or 15 chapters of mildly interesting SoL antics worth of material. So you end up with a series that can best be described as frustrating blandness at this point, going nowhere and without much charm or wit or humor at all. It's a pity because that art IS good and I thought the author set up some potentially fun character-dynamics.
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May 18, 2015 16:21
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a kitten posted:Stretch 038 straight from the translator's website. Ruthless stuff E: Also Ran's coworker and Keiko's friend have almost exactly the same hair which makes them look like twins and it's v. disconcerting.
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Jun 18, 2015 07:03
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Yes_Cantaloupe posted:Speaking of Shinozaki, new chapter! Schubalts posted:Come out, Shinozaki-san.
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Jun 18, 2015 19:19
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Kaelan Zero posted:It's cute how this dumb manga is turning into a three stage acceptance story: Accepting that her friends can have gross hobbies, accepting that she might actually like their gross hobbies, and accepting that she is gay as hell. As is only right
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Jun 19, 2015 12:19
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Scary movie date shut down. How will Ran get cuddles now?
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Jul 2, 2015 12:34
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The blonde is even taller this time what do you want from her gosh
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Jul 2, 2015 15:43
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Everything Burrito posted:Three new chapters of Tonari no Robot! Liberec-san so cool~ Crudeness was amusing but thank god it's a one-shot cause it'd wear thin so fast with that kinda formulaic approach. Unless it mixes things up for the end I guess.
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Jul 13, 2015 13:36
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UP AND ADAM posted:I wanted to have a few posts to make sure this is separate from the award-winning josei drama, but this is the best thing Morinaga Milk's done since Girl Friends (that I've noticed). Only two chapters so far, but it's becoming monthly after this one, aw yeah baby. It's pretty cute. For some reason I agree about it being better than her other fare, despite the fact that it's really just familiar tropes and characters at this point...I guess it's got some kinda X-factor.
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Jul 27, 2015 00:53
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Clearly this is the story's natural evolution into an action-thriller.
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Jul 27, 2015 17:01
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Feels like ages since the last chapter. Not much happening this time around though, but it was cute.
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Jul 30, 2015 12:16
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Lol what scrub doesn't read all their manga in Turkish? Hana and Hina was cute but I hope things start going somewhere a bit faster than right now.
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Aug 4, 2015 00:20
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Sakurazuka posted:It's now getting published in a monthly so I expect things to slow down to drag everything out as long as possible. Noooooooooo
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Aug 4, 2015 00:25
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That chapter felt a little all over the place. Looks like it's inching towards romance, though.
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Aug 6, 2015 00:34
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