Yamada and Kase-san. - Ch. 38 - Curry rice and Kase-san (part 1)

[seseagain]

@Thrembs I've read an article somewhere that criticized yuri as often "being queer with no queer identity". And honestly this perfectly discribes settings like the school in Whisper me a Love Song where every single character is gay (even the "died for the sake of Shiho's backstory"-girl). Luckily GL like How Do We Relationship, Even Though We're Adults or A Joyful Life also exist. Or something like My Girlfriend's Not Here Today, like the whole cheating plot happens because queer couples can't be as openly affectionate as straight couples. I do think Yuri is also getting less tropey and moves away from "b-but we're both girls" to "I think I'm gay", like the MC in She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat taking to google and reading articles about same-sex attraction and starting to watch movies with lesbian romance after she realizes that she is falling in love with another woman feels real in a way that a highschool where every single girl is gay just does not. And on some level yuri like this has always existed. Like Hanjuku Joshi by Morishima Akiko which came out in 2008 where the main couple both were previously in love with other girls, so they are explicitly not their first but their second loves, which not only helps flesh out their backstories but also cements their identies.

Like don't get me wrong, I do also like to read about perfect fantasy worlds where no one has even heard of homophobia sometimes but ultimately they are often kind of shallow.

Kase not just coming out to her college roommate to explain to her about her "boyfriend" in the previous arc is perfectly realistic, so I would say that Yamada to Kase-san does have queer identity. Even if the whole race thing was kind of dumb 😂 but overall this is really far from the most annoying yuri manga. And everyone who is calling Kase the worst girlfriend in yuri history clearly has never read any toxic yuri, just saying 🙃

Tbh I completely lost the thread and have no idea where I was even going with this comment 😂 read Our Dreams At Dusk if you want to read a truly great LGBTQ manga. Imo one of the best queer coming of age stories in any medium.

 

[MathMols]

I would say it wasn't so much prioritizing the race itself over her relationship with Yui as much as trying hard not to burn bridges with her track team who she has to work with for the rest of her college track star career and balancing that with her relationship with Yui. If moving in with Yui ruined her relationship with the track team, it would have probably ended up ruining their relationship too. And I'm pretty sure she flat out told Fukami she was going to move in with Yui regardless of the race results anyway.
Now I will grant that she messed up not talking it through with Yui before making the race deal and ruined Yui's plans for a bit, but they're past it now and so am I.

Dude, she literally ended up costing them their Dream home, because she basically told Yamada that the race was more important than moving in together🤦🏼‍♂️

Also no. If she had rejected the race, no bridges would have been burned. The whole race was just her roommate being a bitch, that wouldnt want her crush to move out… like she literally told her, if Kase lost she wasnt allowed to move out and we all know Kase would have stayed in the dorm if she lost…

No matter how you look at it, Kase chose the race over her future with Yamada and for some reason author thought that it was perfectly okay for her to do it🤦🏼‍♂️ Yamada deserves a way better GF than someone that is willing to chose something so stupid over their future.

 

[MathMols]

she loves Yui more than anything.

Clearly not, when she literally had no problem costing them, their Dream home because of the stupid race, that her retarded roommate wanted🤦🏼‍♂️

 

[Thrembs]

@Thrembs I've read an article somewhere that criticized yuri as often "being queer with no queer identity". And honestly this perfectly discribes settings like the school in Whisper me a Love Song where every single character is gay (even the "died for the sake of Shiho's backstory"-girl). Luckily GL like How Do We Relationship, Even Though We're Adults or A Joyful Life also exist. Or something like My Girlfriend's Not Here Today, like the whole cheating plot happens because queer couples can't be as openly affectionate as straight couples. I do think Yuri is also getting less tropey and moves away from "b-but we're both girls" to "I think I'm gay", like the MC in She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat taking to google and reading articles about same-sex attraction and starting to watch movies with lesbian romance after she realizes that she is falling in love with another woman feels real in a way that a highschool where every single girl is gay just does not. And on some level yuri like this has always existed. Like Hanjuku Joshi by Morishima Akiko which came out in 2008 where the main couple both were previously in love with other girls, so they are explicitly not their first but their second loves, which not only helps flesh out their backstories but also cements their identies.

Like don't get me wrong, I do also like to read about perfect fantasy worlds where no one has even heard of homophobia sometimes but ultimately they are often kind of shallow.

Kase not just coming out to her college roommate to explain to her about her "boyfriend" in the previous arc is perfectly realistic, so I would say that Yamada to Kase-san does have queer identity. Even if the whole race thing was kind of dumb 😂 but overall this is really far from the most annoying yuri manga. And everyone who is calling Kase the worst girlfriend in yuri history clearly has never read any toxic yuri, just saying 🙃

Tbh I completely lost the thread and have no idea where I was even going with this comment 😂 read Our Dreams At Dusk if you want to read a truly great LGBTQ manga. Imo one of the best queer coming of age stories in any medium.

Two things:
A. thank you for a list of gay shit with girls that might not make me roll my eyes.
B. Talking about 2008 like it was a long time ago has made me feel very, very old.
I been reading manga since 1998. Wanna talk about problematic BL? That’s all we had! It was the worst! Semes were all sexually-aggressive Chads, ukes were basically all girl-proxies. No one had ever been gay before these two.

Yuri was basically unheard of in the states, so when it first got here no one noticed that MariMite is self-parody. It is Class S nonsense, but also a send-up of it at the same time. I am ambivalent about that whole thing.

 

[Rogirrim13]

Clearly not, when she literally had no problem costing them, their Dream home because of the stupid race, that her retarded roommate wanted🤦🏼‍♂️

Her retarded roommate who had her point because she had a debt with her for not having done anything in the room for an entire year and for having found out from third parties, all her roommates put social pressure on her and an authority figure ordered that . They literally coerced Kase (already an adult woman, not a teen) with EVERYTHING that is crucial to a Japanese's daily life. Debt, responsibility, respect for authority and the implicit obligation not to cause problems. The arc seemed stupid to me too, but I blame the author for forcing that situation. But as far as Kase was concerned she was literally between a rock and a hard place.
In "moving with Kase-san 2" she is very sorry and she try to compensate Yamada in all the ways she can.
Besides, Yamada didn't told her that her contract expires in one month, and nothing about her jealousy. Kase loves her so much that she is unable to conceive of being with another person, that added to Yamada's lack of communication makes it so difficult for them to understand each other sometimes. This could have been fixed if Yamada had talked to her in chapter 17, instead of keeping it to herself.

I mean, Kase did a fuckup? Yes, of course. Her first in 3 years of relationship.
And in a situation very hard to her.


Now it's time for Kase to show that she's learned something from that horrible arc.

 

[T-sama]

People keep mentioning the race with Fukami, I would argue the race in itself wasn't the issue, but the lack of communication from all sides.

Also, for us the whole race was stupid, but I feel it's a case of cultural differences, I imagine japanese readers didn't care as much as western readers, because unfortunately in Japan it's common to bend backwards to accommodate others for the sake of group "harmony".

Everything would have been avoided if author wasn't abusing lack of communication, although I guess that was always a issue from the beginning, especially from Kase side, so there's precedent.

 

[KamoDoge]

@Thrembs I've read an article somewhere that criticized yuri as often "being queer with no queer identity". And honestly this perfectly discribes settings like the school in Whisper me a Love Song where every single character is gay (even the "died for the sake of Shiho's backstory"-girl). Luckily GL like How Do We Relationship, Even Though We're Adults or A Joyful Life also exist. Or something like My Girlfriend's Not Here Today, like the whole cheating plot happens because queer couples can't be as openly affectionate as straight couples. I do think Yuri is also getting less tropey and moves away from "b-but we're both girls" to "I think I'm gay", like the MC in She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat taking to google and reading articles about same-sex attraction and starting to watch movies with lesbian romance after she realizes that she is falling in love with another woman feels real in a way that a highschool where every single girl is gay just does not. And on some level yuri like this has always existed. Like Hanjuku Joshi by Morishima Akiko which came out in 2008 where the main couple both were previously in love with other girls, so they are explicitly not their first but their second loves, which not only helps flesh out their backstories but also cements their identies.

Like don't get me wrong, I do also like to read about perfect fantasy worlds where no one has even heard of homophobia sometimes but ultimately they are often kind of shallow.

Kase not just coming out to her college roommate to explain to her about her "boyfriend" in the previous arc is perfectly realistic, so I would say that Yamada to Kase-san does have queer identity. Even if the whole race thing was kind of dumb 😂 but overall this is really far from the most annoying yuri manga. And everyone who is calling Kase the worst girlfriend in yuri history clearly has never read any toxic yuri, just saying 🙃

Tbh I completely lost the thread and have no idea where I was even going with this comment 😂 read Our Dreams At Dusk if you want to read a truly great LGBTQ manga. Imo one of the best queer coming of age stories in any medium.

Just read volume 4 of "She Loves to Cook" and I love how it feels really fresh and realistic compared to other GL stuff.

 

[Thrembs]

Ooooh, How Do We Relationship had a very different unofficial title. Very different original title, too. At a certain point it was too angsty, I’d didn’t like any of the characters.
It’s not that they were badly written, I’d just leave their presence if they were around me. Infuriating to be in their presence.
They should have broken up almost immediately. “She’s there” is no reason to date. They want different things in bed, they want different things in their personal life, they’re different levels of closeted… like, GO AWAY.
And cheating happens because of a lack of communication, or not being willing to end a relationship. If there’s a problem that triggers it, that’s one thing, but you could also… not cheat when given the opportunity.
Sorry, I’m just over here in a relationship that’s been really rocky at times, had girls basically turning gay at me on and off during it, and I just blocked them, and showed my wife when they started flirting in texts.

 

[Thrembs]

People keep mentioning the race with Fukami, I would argue the race in itself wasn't the issue, but the lack of communication from all sides.

Also, for us the whole race was stupid, but I feel it's a case of cultural differences, I imagine japanese readers didn't care as much as western readers, because unfortunately in Japan it's common to bend backwards to accommodate others for the sake of group "harmony".

Everything would have been avoided if author wasn't abusing lack of communication, although I guess that was always an issue from the beginning, especially from Kase side, so there's precedent.

Having lived in japan for a little, and known various Japanese people on and off for years… no, this is ridiculous.
It’s dumb manga shenanigans, meant to be hilarious, infuriating or both.

 

[T-sama]

Having lived in japan for a little, and known various Japanese people on and off for years… no, this is ridiculous.
It’s dumb manga shenanigans, meant to be hilarious, infuriating or both.

No no, I know the drama is still stupid manga shenanigans, my point is that japanese readers might not see it as negatively as western readers.

 

[Thrembs]

@Thrembs I've read an article somewhere that criticized yuri as often "being queer with no queer identity". And honestly this perfectly discribes settings like the school in Whisper me a Love Song where every single character is gay (even the "died for the sake of Shiho's backstory"-girl). Luckily GL like How Do We Relationship, Even Though We're Adults or A Joyful Life also exist. Or something like My Girlfriend's Not Here Today, like the whole cheating plot happens because queer couples can't be as openly affectionate as straight couples. I do think Yuri is also getting less tropey and moves away from "b-but we're both girls" to "I think I'm gay", like the MC in She Loves To Cook, She Loves To Eat taking to google and reading articles about same-sex attraction and starting to watch movies with lesbian romance after she realizes that she is falling in love with another woman feels real in a way that a highschool where every single girl is gay just does not. And on some level yuri like this has always existed. Like Hanjuku Joshi by Morishima Akiko which came out in 2008 where the main couple both were previously in love with other girls, so they are explicitly not their first but their second loves, which not only helps flesh out their backstories but also cements their identies.

Like don't get me wrong, I do also like to read about perfect fantasy worlds where no one has even heard of homophobia sometimes but ultimately they are often kind of shallow.

Kase not just coming out to her college roommate to explain to her about her "boyfriend" in the previous arc is perfectly realistic, so I would say that Yamada to Kase-san does have queer identity. Even if the whole race thing was kind of dumb 😂 but overall this is really far from the most annoying yuri manga. And everyone who is calling Kase the worst girlfriend in yuri history clearly has never read any toxic yuri, just saying 🙃

Tbh I completely lost the thread and have no idea where I was even going with this comment 😂 read Our Dreams At Dusk if you want to read a truly great LGBTQ manga. Imo one of the best queer coming of age stories in any medium.

Oh, my. The second one is Shimura Takako.
Wandering Son was really, really important to me when I was young, but looking back it’s just pure angst and one of the main characters is a horrible coward, the representation is all over the place… Nitori is just a wad of depression and she’ll never be able to be open about her relationship, because her girlfriend is a model, AND she works a “night job”. In an ugly wig.
Then she did that yuri thing… Blue something? Anyway, it was just trope yuri but stark, blunt anngst instead of ethereal, fluttery butterflies.

 

[Thrembs]

No no, I know the drama is still stupid manga shenanigans, my point is that japanese readers might not see it as negatively as western readers.

I repeat, it’s meant to be infuriating or hilarious.
It’s not THAT different over there, on a micro level.
Especially with young people. The “harmony” thing is like, public order, schools, offices etc.

The standing nail isn’t gonna be hammered between two people.

 

[T-sama]

I repeat, it’s meant to be infuriating or hilarious.
It’s not THAT different over there, on a micro level.
Especially with young people. The “harmony” thing is like, public order, schools, offices etc.

The standing nail isn’t gonna be hammered between two people.

But it wasn't between two people, due the the lack of communication all the other girls in the running club got involved, they all basically pushed for the race and pressured Kase into it.

 

[MathMols]

Now it's time for Kase to show that she's learned something from that horrible arc.

She 100% didnt learn shit from that arc, since she didnt get any punishment for being an extremely terrible GF… Hell had this been real life, most partners would have broken up with her.

 

[seseagain]

@Thrembs

Sweet Blue Flowers (Aoi Hana) is the manga by Shimura Takako you're thinking of. I think it's a bit deeper than just angst, like it is basically a link between S-Class stuff with that girl who marries a dude at the end (but like bisexual people exist, so why not) and characters like Fumi who explicitly say that they are lesbian. Anyways, it has been a while since I've read it. Even Though We're Adults is great imo. It deals with comphet, loveless marriage, people who mess up but most importantly since so much yuri is about teenagers I'm like always refreshed to see some women in their 30s (who aren't school nurses in a weird age gap relationship with a teenager, like come on that trope is basically slandering a whole profession with how common it is in yuri 🙈)

I do encourage you to keep reading How Do We Relationship - the characters change and grow up a lot throughout the manga. I do know couples that started out dating because they were like the only two queer women around, not wanting to feel lonely can be a powerful aphrodisiac, so I actually never really questioned them going out.

And finally... I know I know, I feel like 2008 can't have been that long ago, either, but it's been 16 years 😭😭😭 like whaaaat

but you could also… not cheat when given the opportunity.

Oh of course, I assume this is about My Girlfriend's Not Here Today since I've mentioned that. The cheating character is very immature and basically doesn't take responsibility for what she's doing at all, but a large part of what is fueling her insecurities definitely is that she and her girlfriend aren't out at school and basically barely interact in public to not arouse suspicions. And well, when a girl comes along who just takes her hand in public and gives her all this affection and attention she craves...

I mean it is 100% a toxic drama manga (the author Iwami Kiyoko calls it "disturbing trash yuri" in one of the volume afterwords herself lmao) but fundamentally the plot would not be possible without the characters being worried about homophobia. The cheating character also has two social media accounts, her official one and the secondary one where she vents about her relationship and being gay, stuff like that is all very common and I think relateable.

 

[seseagain]

Just read volume 4 of "She Loves to Cook" and I love how it feels really fresh and realistic compared to other GL stuff.

It really does, like it started out as just kind of cute, they get to know each other and start cooking and eating together but then it like got deep all of the sudden, I didn't even expect that. It's really good imo

 

[Rogirrim13]

@Thrembs I've read an article somewhere that criticized yuri as often "being queer with no queer identity". And honestly this perfectly discribes settings like the school in Whisper me a Love Song where every single character is gay (even the "died for the sake of Shiho's backstory"-girl).

Precisely I'm reading "Citrus" for the first time and damn, every single character is gay too

 

[Thrembs]

But it wasn't between two people, due the the lack of communication all the other girls in the running club got involved, they all basically pushed for the race and pressured Kase into it.

But that itself is absurd

 

[Thrembs]

Precisely I'm reading "Citrus" for the first time and damn, every single character is gay too

Not to mention “totally not incest”

 

[T-sama]

But that itself is absurd

And yet some people in real life are spineless enough to bend backwards and do what others want, if anything is absurd is the fact that Kase constantly screws up but suffers no consequences, although some people in real life are as spineless and as forgiving as Yamada, so I guess they match.