My New Friend Wasn't What I Expected - Ch. 36

[jonnywarlock]

wow .. and they were friends

Not even roommates. Just normal ass friends. 😭

 

[shittycoolusername69]

I think I'm going to start avoiding "Yuri" where the women aren't incredibly upfront about wanting to date the other woman. That seems to be the biggest "tell" for Yuri bait nowadays, is everything is just "subtext" and "you're important to me" and using extremely ambiguous "I like you" with an unsaid "(as a friend)". If they're aren't upfront about wanting to date, kiss, or bone other women, then it's probably bait. By this criteria, it's not looking good for "The Guy She Was Interested in Wasn't a Guy at All".

Just pointing out for everyone else's sake: this is a really blunt method that would filter out some of the most interesting and popular yuri series releasing today. Some examples:

Sci-fi novel series 'Twinstar Cyclone Runaway' introduces the potential for romance in an oblique way: through a pair activity only a husband and wife is supposed to do (fishing in space), in a far future setting where same-sex marriage is an unknown concept. Horror series 'Normality and Monsters' and 'A Monster Wants to Eat Me' where the overt expression of desire is cannibalism at first. The protagonist of 'The Fed Up Office Lady Wants to Serve the Villainess' still doesn't know that she is in the middle of a love triangle, and her love interests are not fully explicit about their feelings. In the supernatural drama 'Love Bullet' the protagonist cannot fall in love until she gets resurrected. In the bloody violent 'Sugar Girl Drip' two girls help each other heal after surviving an awful situation, but have yet to admit their feelings to themselves.

Then there are some excellent ongoing series that are now 100% locked in for lesbian romance but would not have passed this filter of being upfront when they started out. The protagonist of 'The Moon on a Rainy Night' took the whole first volume to admit to herself that she's gay (also a roundabout way), while the protagonist of 'Otherside Picnic' took more than a full volume of the novel to realize what her partner meant by kissing her hand and saying "I love you". The beloved 'Girl Friends' series from the 2000s also started with clueless leads who took a while until they could be honest about what they wanted.

Disavowal and denial of non-heterosexual desire -at least initially- is a very common theme of queer romance, and yuri leads are frequently inexperienced and unaware of their sexual orientation, so they often need a while to be honest with themselves. This is why recognizing an intentional yuri narrative often takes at least a bit of patience, familiarity with tropes, and willingness to connect dots. The presence of the yuri tag on official sources is also a reliable indicator of yuri most of the time, which is why I'm not at all worried about the green yuri ending like this one did. (I have read a lot of yuri and I could count on one hand the series with a truly pointless ending.)

 

[Kurro]

can you fuck off? literally you won’t say the same shit for Yaoi or the fact we have FRIENDSHIP in many stories but there is no yuri tag! also you are really pissing on GAY AUTHORS trying their hardest to be taken serious when they tag their manga as YURI!!!

because japan has a HABIT of not taking Lesbians serious! they take Gay men serious, but not lesbians…

🤣 And of you go again. I'm pretty sure you didn't read the wiki page and I'm positive you completely missed my intensions.

I'm just saying that the category yuri in Japan doesn't only deal with lesbian relationship.

But I know typing this here is pointless because you always respond in the same manner most of the time, shouting and screaming waving your hands around spreading spittle from your digital mouth. 😑 I think I'll finally put you on the ignore list because I don't think I ever seen a positive post from you ever. It's only complaining and calling people names or just being rude.

 

[Lowfyie]

Heh, guess you could really say her new Friend wasnt what she expected

 

[AirKat]

Well that's a depressing ending. Not only did they not end up with each other, but apparently they don't even see each other that often anymore.

Truly the My Hero Academia ending of Yuri

 

[Cable_TV]

Of course nothing happened at the end, why am i even surprised at this point

 

[Cable_TV]

can you fuck off? literally you won’t say the same shit for Yaoi or the fact we have FRIENDSHIP in many stories but there is no yuri tag! also you are really pissing on GAY AUTHORS trying their hardest to be taken serious when they tag their manga as YURI!!!

because japan has a HABIT of not taking Lesbians serious! they take Gay men serious, but not lesbians…

Actually, LGBTQ+ is not taken seriously in japan at all, is just that yaoi is a LOT of popular and that's why you can find more stories with gay men that are upfront about their feelings

 

[Themosh]

some bait till the end

 

[spiffinn]

Sad at this ending, but thanks for scanlating the series, it's been fun!

 

[vixawi1793]

It is an ending I guess.

Thanks for working on this until the end! The ending left me wanting but I definitely enjoyed the journey and seeing their friendship develop.

 

[splatsoni]

uh....

 

[Manchura]

my yuri allies, I have an important question. Sure it was fluffy, sure it was a good story ssuuuuuree they are still in contact after how many years but... can we categorize this one as yuri bait?

no because, unlike yuri bait, something happened

it just so happened that that something was a cooling to a platonic relationship

ah well, at least we know they are in the same universe as smoker idol x idol manager as adults so I'd expect to see them as background characters

 

[Hyacyon]

nooooooo

 

[waldo220]

Unresolved Yuri Bait is worse than no Yuri at all.

Either go full pussy or none. There is no in between.

 

[Flymonster0953]

The Yuri bait is CRAZY

 

[Valkyria-Edge]

oh joy another non commital cop out ending i am SHOCKED this artist can join the shit list