Status Updates From She Wasn't a Guy T03

ending this volume with the italicized "oh" moment feels like a targeted attack bc wdym i now have to wait several months if not an entire year for volume 4 to come out in english???? i mean i've read plenty of the upcoming chapters so at least i know what happens but having them in my hands, officially translated, is a whole other thing and my heart can't fucking take it. i need the kiss NOW. evil

prom being positioned as the "go" option of "should i stay or should i go" is really interesting too. like choosing prom (aya) is the riskier, more emotional choice, the one that is undoubtedly going to result in a massive shift in their relationship bc they NEED to talk it out at this point. it would be safer in every way to just avoid that hard convo and focus on securing potential career opportunities instead

"should i stay or should i go" on the pavement under mitsuki's feet as she's realizing that the industry party is to the left (stay) and prom is to the right (go) is so fucking good. i love how the music is embedded into the story beats like this bc it really mirrors how we tend to use songs as motivation or inspiration or signs to act one way or another

layering young kanna and joe under present day kanna and aya is BRILLIANT visual storytelling!!! both mitsuki/aya and kanna/joe are at a crossroads where they can either be bold and honest about the depth of their feelings or shove them down and create some real distance. i love kanna being an imperfect and biased mentor in that way. she's right in urging aya to value independence but also projecting for sure

i LOVE how much of a nonissue aya's queerness is with chizuru!! bare minimum i know but it's refreshing to get to skip over any dramatic convo whatsoever. even if it's ultimately a positive outcome it can still be exhausting and like it's more for the straight friend to show off their allyship than to ensure the queer main character's comfort. so for chizuru to only be shocked in that it's MITSUKI is a sigh of relief

mitsuki's artist name being "me to her" is so adorable oh my GOD. these songs really are all for aya, even the ones that aren't love songs, bc it was aya that gave her the self-confidence and inspiration to write and publish them at all. every lyric is in conversation with her

that expression on aya's face is BRUTAL. it portrays such stark betrayal to me, like she can't believe that mitsuki would be fine with inviting hime and the underclassmen to a place that is THEIRS. she hasn't gotten the chance to feel any embarrassment over the sense of ownership and possessiveness she feels for the space (and for mitsuki) yet, so the raw emotion shines through

and i am once again fighting back tears!!!! their relationship is so gorgeous and built on a foundation of pure, unbridled understanding and acceptance and it feels so revolutionary to see between two complex female characters. i keep feeling like eventually something will have to be compromised but the other shoe never drops!!! it's just that good and that important and that unabashedly and lovingly queer

no she's so real for that, i too am fighting to stay calm when mitsuki is looking THAT good

LETS FUCKING GOOOOOO SHE LOOKS SO GOOD OH MY GOD i almost completely forgot about this reveal so this is as close as i can get to reliving the raw emotions from my first read and WOW. i'm fucking buzzing. she really just snapped and said fuck it i'm way hotter and cooler than any of you losers. here's my song. oh and my almost-sorta-gf is hot too and her courage brought this boldness out of me. choke <3

AYA YOU ARE A BAD BITCH I LOVE YOU SO MUCH
i think she should've gotten to punch nakajima. as a treat. i'd take it even just as a non-canon omake.
i couldn't really tell if the lyrics were outing her but even just the POTENTIAL makes my blood boil. what kind of a person publicizes someone's private art like that???????

i love how mitsuki and aya constantly take turns being protective of the other and how they have totally different styles of doing it. aya is more loud and aggressive about it while mitsuki is more gentle and subtle. they're exactly what each other needs

GOD i love this manga and everything it has to say about music and queerness and the intersection of those communities. queer art saves fucking lives!!!!!!! i can't wait to see how mitsuki eventually becomes one of those artists and inspires other people with her music

WAIT I LITERALLY JUST NOTICED NARITA'S CUPID HOODIE
is that a hint or just a coincidence......i feel like the band and song references have always been pretty pointed so i'm inclined to take it more seriously than random costume design. maybe he really is aroace and was about to tell joe that he prefers matchmaking. or he's just insecure and that's why he focuses more on other people's love lives. i still vote queer

i keep going back and forth on this cause i know that mao canonically has a crush on narita so that could be a potential endgame, but i'm personally hoping that he's gay or aroace. he's one of those characters who could be the token straight friend but idk i've always gotten more queer vibes from him. mao seems more like the token straight to me. time will tell but there's clearly SOMETHING being seeded here

the way that this manga connects music culture and queer culture is so beautiful. aya feels out of place at the music store bc of how she looks, but she understands the references other customers make, and she's just as passionate about rock music as they are. that struggle perfectly mirrors that of a femme lesbian in queer culture. but she is embraced and welcomed and never questioned. she belongs in this space

narita peeling up the panel to make sure we remember that he also knows about mitsuki's piercings and tattoo is so fucking adorable kahskdhada i love when this manga gets all meta like that, and i feel like it usually happens with narita. as the number 1 mitsuaya shipper, he is the audience's insert at times so of course he's gonna take opportunities to address us directly

it's taking me a second to readjust to the style cause it's SO unlike anything else i've read and it really has been a year since i've been with these characters but even with that adjustment period, i'm so immediately charmed and comforted by the humor and attention to detail and the expertly balanced absurdity and realism. i missed my disaster sapphics!!!!!!!

obligatory disclaimer for future sof who may or may not care about these date semantics: i read fan translations of the chapters in this volume sometime last year. not sure about the exact date bc i don't think bri and i were reading chapters weekly when the last one in this volume was initially released and fan translated (feb 23). so maybe march?