Hiiragi-chan to Tomikawa-chan - Ch. 35 - A Promise with Mama

[ElderSkyrim]

First I laughed, then I serioused

 

[Laparoscopic]

Dropped. This is just turning into a misery-fest.
Also, add the bloody tragedy tag to this.

 

[holicastral]

her mother is a lot more scary ngl...

 

[curvedbullet]

this isnt the usual yuri domestic violence im used too...

 

[Duck-]

You know shit's going down when the chapter is longer than 3 pages

 

[MURDERBEAR]

Yessss I have been waiting for this. Excellent job on this, TangerineTL. I remember the first time this was posted on Inuyama's Twitter and biting my nails at each successive episode drop.

Poor Hiiragi.... people have noted in prior chapters that her apartment seems covered in trash. By all indications she seems to be living alone, unfortunately this is where my own limited knowledge of Japanese and Kanji failed me because this page has a LOT of complex kanji.

I adore the subtle color and artstyle shift when Tomikawa catches up to Hiiragi. She absolutely knows how to root Hiiragi in the moment and keep her from spiraling. Pay attention to both the color changes and the way pupils are drawn - there's a lot of hidden meaning in that going forward.

 

[k1rumaaa]

what the fyck,,.. this is just

 

[you-watanabe]

man that escalated quickly

 

[MURDERBEAR]

Now I wonder if Oosaki/Komori will have some sort of dark backstory too

Thankfully Oosaki and Komori seem safe from the trauma zone. Inuyama-sensei seems to have cherry picked them for wholesome fluff while Hiiragi and Tomikawa are the trauma duo. Further separated by the author actually making a second twitter account just for Oosaki and Komori shenanigans (and to keep the more erotic content away from Hiiragi and Tomikawa).

 

[Yuri_Enjoyer_Deluxe]

Nevermind, only God could save these disasters, golly 🥲

 

[suburbanerrorist_]

Yessss I have been waiting for this. Excellent job on this, TangerineTL. I remember the first time this was posted on Inuyama's Twitter and biting my nails at each successive episode drop.

Poor Hiiragi.... people have noted in prior chapters that her apartment seems covered in trash. By all indications she seems to be living alone, unfortunately this is where my own limited knowledge of Japanese and Kanji failed me because this page has a LOT of complex kanji.

I adore the subtle color and artstyle shift when Tomikawa catches up to Hiiragi. She absolutely knows how to root Hiiragi in the moment and keep her from spiraling. Pay attention to both the color changes and the way pupils are drawn - there's a lot of hidden meaning in that going forward.

I did wonder what her finances are like, because the idea of eating out seems like such a foreign concept to her that she is unfamiliar with promotional discounts.

 

[jrocker]

So one girl has an abusive mother that basically pretends she doesn't exist and is like a ghost in her world, while the other has a mother that hated her child, beat her, attempted murder, and possibly was trying to raise them as a son to be their partner but was so disgusted they couldn't accept that option either.

The girls need therapy from a professional not another broken person

 

[Ta123]

When single page 4koma suddenly has 10+ page, you know the author is cooking

 

[MURDERBEAR]

I did wonder what her finances are like, because the idea of eating out seems like such a foreign concept to her that she is unfamiliar with promotional discounts.

Yep, and her favorite food being microwaved Okayu with grocery store fixings on top. If - IF - my theory is correct regarding Hiiragi's circumstances, I think she probably gets a stipend that she has to make last. So she's used to onigiri and low-maintenance microwave foods, and can cook for herself, but doesn't often go out to eat. Both because of her severe social anxiety and her finances.

A little thing I love in this chapter (and by love I mean it hurts me) is the double-meaning to Hiiragi's last line. It can be read as "I should stop here (I shouldn't think about this anymore)" but can also be read as "Maybe this is as far as I go (I don't know if I can keep on living)."

I kind of have this working theory that the art style changes imply the presence of and intentional ignorance of the "real world" as the characters see it. So the more cutesy chibi art is Hiiragi and Tomikawa living in a measure of intentional ignorance to their circumstances/enjoying each other's company, and the more realistic art with filtered photo backgrounds represent the actual world they inhabit and the more pressing/dire circumstances around it. If there are any Project Moon fans in the thread, think of it like the Lobotomy Corp Cognition Filter. The world appears as a series of chibis and low-detail backgrounds so you don't have to think about the reality of this girl living amidst mountains of trash.

If you can't tell, I love this series, and I cannot wait for more people to experience it.

Edit: Side note, the pages of Hiiragi's mom going "juuuuuuuuust kidding" and then kicking her weren't in the original twitter release and I kind of prefer it without them. It's a lot more effective IMO if we see less of the physical abuse she suffered, and just see the way it affected her.

 

[EnFiveFour]

Even though it shows only from time to time, this is dark, heavy trauma stuff. This stuff is not for me, so I'm outta here.

 

[soccerstar403]

 

[Luke_chase]

Another chapter of my fav yuri fluff, yay!

 

[yesido]

Dropped. This is just turning into a misery-fest.
Also, add the bloody tragedy tag to this.

tbh while there's a risk i'm hoping for a more positive note where they both work through it gradually, instead of descending into yet another exploitative manga. This is still the very beginning so we'll have to see.

 

[totallytotally]

I was waiting for the other shoe to drop, and jesus, it really did. Swapping from muppets to a more rendered style is fantastic too, even if the subject matter is pure /wrists.

 

[MURDERBEAR]

tbh while there's a risk i'm hoping for a more positive note where they both work through it gradually, instead of descending into yet another exploitative manga. This is still the very beginning so we'll have to see.

I will say that of what I've seen, nothing really trumps this in terms of sheer dark "wtf" factor. There are dark chapters and it continues to discuss darker subject matter, but nothing quite as dark as "wait did Hiiragi's mom attempt to murder her?"