Adachi to Shimamura

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This was a ridiculously long read, and I honestly only skimmed most of it. I agree with some parts and disagree with others. The big thing that I agree with is that fiction is fiction and does not have to accurately represent the real world or real world relationships. The point is to make the reader think or have fun, not to simulate reality exactly.

My major criticism is that the author ignores almost entirely that many of the narrative choices that underpin the genre have been done historically with the intention to minimize homosexual relationships. These choices weren't even often the author's intention but something forced by editors and publishers to "make it sell".

As an easy example, the reason for the extremely common Yuri trope of "we can't put a label on our relationship" is because using labels like "girlfriends", "lovers" (between women), or even "lesbian" is something frowned on in Asian society.

It's fine to like the Yuri genre the way it is. I know a few people who like how vague a lot of Yuri is and how many series don't feature sexual interest (arousal/lust), mostly because they are ace.

But the criticism of 'Yuri bait' in those cases can feel valid because of the history of the industry and Asian society pushing against the true desires behind the genre. Frankly, I think it's time to trash the genre descriptor 'Yuri' altogether and move towards a world where we call the series with romantic/sexual interaction "Girls' Love" and the ones without that just "Slice of Life with female protagonists".

To return to the topic of this series briefly, I'll say that it is not Yuri bait, not even in terms of sexual interest. I'll spoil a bit in the text after this if people are curious.
Shimamura asks Adachi if she's sexually interested in her Volume 11 Chapter 4 of the Light Novel. Adachi manages to respond that she is ("Shimamura... sexy."). Shimamura says that she's okay with having sex with Adachi but that she's never really thought about it before now. Adachi manages to tell her that it's fine and that she will wait for Shimamura to want her too. Shimamura apologizes for being slow, and Adachi begs her off, saying it's fine and that she's not slow. Shimamura summarizes the conversation as "Adachee-chee hornee-nee", which renders Adachi practically catatonic.
 
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honestly I don't understand why this is so highly rated. I tried reading the novel but I the author's writing style turned me off, so I tried reading the manga, and after 5 years of following the manga, I can say with confidence that the series fucking suck to me, especially since I don't relate to or like any of the character.
It seems like the author tries to develop deep character with complicated personality and problems, but all of that just feel flat and utterly nonsense/whimsical/dumb to me.

(I've read many things over the years, and I can say with confidence that there are many novels/manga better than this. Hell, even the CN manhua/novels are better than this, which say a lot tbh.)

anw, for any new readers who skim the comments to check the story before reading it, my advice to you is: if you don't like/relate to the two MCs within the first 5 chapters, this probably won't be your thing and it's best to skip it.
 
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is there a point in the manga I can skip to where they are actually in a relationship? like is there actually a relationship here or am I wasting my time?
 
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is there a point in the manga I can skip to where they are actually in a relationship? like is there actually a relationship here or am I wasting my time?
That point just released in the volume that came out today in Japan and it hasn’t been translated yet
 
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That point just released in the volume that came out today in Japan and it hasn’t been translated yet
I hate these kinda things, I want a romance manga about the actual relationship. not the awful awkward period before hand. a nice slice of life romance where they are a couple and do couple things. but they never are.
 
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Yeaaah... This ain't gonna work out. Shimamura is totally not getting it. I mean at least she's trying to understand Adachi, but stepping into a relationship half-heartedly like that never works. Adachi has her own problems, but at least she wears everything she thinks on her sleeves.
 
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I hate these kinda things, I want a romance manga about the actual relationship. not the awful awkward period before hand. a nice slice of life romance where they are a couple and do couple things. but they never are.
You’re asking for a lot. There’s a ton of manga out there that already do this, how do you as a writer make it different. Blud seems to think being an author is that easy.
 
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I hate these kinda things, I want a romance manga about the actual relationship. not the awful awkward period before hand. a nice slice of life romance where they are a couple and do couple things. but they never are.
Nah, I like this way more. First the relationship before and now we will get the relationship after confessing
 
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This is actually gonna be the thing that makes me transition to even bigger of a nerd by starting to read LNs, I cant wait even more than TWO MONTHS I am CRESTFALLEN!
 
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i personally think this one has great art. However, i’m still struggling trying to understand shimamura characteristic, is she the kind of person who doesn’t want a romantic relationship with someone? I genuinely can’t understand what was in her mind throughout the whole manga series.
 
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Man, it's really amazing how the number of volumes and story progression match between the light novel and the manga adaptation. You can imagine just how much was left out of the manga, considering how it's more common for there to be something like 3 manga volumes per 1 light novel volume.

...or, from another point of view, one can see all of that light novel content as unnecessary extras, since the manga adaptation hit most of the important beats without feeling too watered-down.

Personally, I dropped off somewhere in the middle of volume 9, where there's a big, contiguous chunk dedicated just to the side characters. I kinda just got tired of it and left it for later, but ended up not returning to it for years.

Now, I feel like reading it from the start, but in Japanese, so I'm gonna order the 15 light novel set from Amazon.co.jp.

Slight tangent, but importing Japanese books is expensive. To reduce the shipping cost as much as possible, you really gotta order at least 20 books at a time to get it to around a third of the total cost.

To make it simple to understand what I mean, here's how much it costs to order a single book. 80% spent on shipping is basically wallet rape.

Screenshot_2025-01-22-01-08-21-91_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg

Compared to ordering the whole set of 15 books in bulk, which brings it down to 40%.

Screenshot_2025-01-22-00-17-11-42_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg

Technically, buying the same amount of books but of the bigger format is relatively "cheaper" in terms of shipping, at 32%. This is just 15 copies of the same 1399 yen book. The bigger format goes for around 1400 yen compared to the small format, at around 700 yen.

Screenshot_2025-01-22-00-40-08-15_40deb401b9ffe8e1df2f1cc5ba480b12.jpg

Anyway, it is what it is, for us physical book collectors. I started a few months back, but already bought 104 books and spent almost a thousand euros across three bulk purchases. My bookshelf still feels empty, though.

Bookshelf after bulk orders 1, 2 and 3.jpg

Also, just look at how much better the bigger books look. Except for Silent Witch, which has a boring spine even though the illustrations are wonderful... Sad.
 

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