There's just something that's been bugging me since the fireworks: Kanon has been pretty obvious that she was starting then kept crushing harder and harder for Saki romantically. But Saki didn't seem to notice any of those times, which is a bit jarring. Lately, it's been much more interesting to reframe the problem from her point of view as the possibility of romance might threaten the friendship they both value very much.
Rinne clocked Saki early then noticed Kanon next, the new photographer gal did it from afar, so I hope there will be the excuse that Saki had to lock away for her time her feelings when she had trouble even looking Kanon in the eye (but see, she didn't react when Kanon had the exact same reaction when she found her this pretty in her recital dress!)
Then again, I think the fact the jig is up might explain Saki's anger and frustration. From her point of view, she can't confess anything without risking too much, so it's true that it's more than time that Kanon asks Miura-sensei the definition of homosexuality because it might get hold to hear wonder wonder why the both of them keep getting this flustered.
This is just a mild criticism (mostly because I binged this and I'm pissed there's no confession when I'm done) but mostly about pacing. Otherwise, this story really translate well The Struggle of never knowing if you want/should risk a friendship for romance that so many (if not all?!) queer folks go through.
I don't think that's quite fair about how obvious any of this is. You've read Saki and Miura-sensei perfectly, I think, I'm just emphasizing how there isn't evidence for many folks seeing through the confusion.
The art isn't shared reality. Just in a sense of how Kuzushiro's method of using art: The author has depicted different facial expressions in alternate flashbacks of the same scenes, so rather than a depiction of obvious blushing we're seeing exaggerations of ground truth that are the most expressively true for the viewpoint character. The POV subtly reshapes scenes because the art serves the POV story. It's not uncommon but it feels pronounced here. The tradeoff is we learn more about the POV character by emphasis, but less about what others know about the POV character.
So from Saki's perspective we do not canonically know how much of Kanon's affectionate discombobulation is obvious. It's less obvious in her POV scenes and vice versa. And Saki's got a lot on her mind, her cognitive load from masking and holding her tension would limit her thinking clearly about Kanon. With the art direction here, there's a bit of extra importance on the photos as ground truth and not just POV-truth.
Subtext > Realism. One thing that I haven't gotten used to in East Asian queer media is the degree emphasis on subtext and leaving things unsaid, in comparison to contemporary queer media from the 'west' or even South Asia. Coded communication as art is part of our history, it's safer and poetic, but it doesn't have as much utility when there's nothing illegal or widely scorned... but if subtext artfulness is already emphasized by a culture apparently we get even
more of it in queer media despite acceptance rising to relatively safe and neutral levels. We can't rely on characters to catch others nuances and body language.
Miura-sensei, Saki, Saki-mom, and the hairdresser friend are the only people to have demonstrated clear awareness of the lesbians being lesbians. For now I'm forgiving this manga for this since it bifurcates the approach with having some people in the know and everyone else unclear ... which is honestly accurate to the main character POVs even if it's unrealistic.
So a lot of people
clocked the couple
for a moment but we don't know how many people that truly registered to. Probably
most? But it's not proven. Rinne knows something is up, childhood friends and some new friends know something is up, but words and ideas that would be top of mind for them are hidden from us.
Not that things need to be PSA-carrying subtext-is-for-cowards like I Favor The Villainess; Realistic is more or less shown in the balance of early on lacking words to later clearly understanding and using words in She Likes To Cook, She Likes To Eat. Stories don't need to be real-world-style with their prose but it does bother me when half the cast may have figured out the romance here yet the info is obscured far more than necessary. Amayo no Tsuki handling the transition from half-subtext to open romance will probably determine if it's a masterpiece or trying to add depth with narrative tools that confuse and can annoy readers.
