I stepped way out of my comfort zone! 

I teach twelve-year-olds and I just can't deal with stories like these at all...Especially as a teacher, I really can't imagine looking at these kids and thinking, "Yeah, I think I'd like to write a romance manga about someone my age falling in love with one of these." They're fantastic people and I love watching them grow, but they're so, so small. I can't imagine people who write these kinds of stories actually have much experience with kids. The alternative is...not great. Anyway, this kind of age gap (adult woman with middle schooler or even younger) has been a trend in yuri manga for a little while. It's what makes me laugh when people talk about how much "less problematic" yuri is than BL. Like no, it's just that we get less of it in English than we do BL, so what we do get is heavily curated and usually similar to what has already sold well (Girlfriends, Kase-san etc). I do like that by bringing over doujinshi in a digital format, Lilyka and Irodori Sakura are bringing us a much wider variety of what's actually available in Japan.

PLUG 👏🏾THE 👏🏾YAOI 👏🏾SHELF 👏🏾PODCAST!

Age gaps like that basically come off as abuse apologism. That's my main hang-up with them. If people wanna read that stuff that's fine, just so long as they don't start grooming little kids or assume that the stuff in the story is "okay" to do.

I absolutely, sincerely appreciate your honesty in your review here. Age gaps like the one in this book make me pause. Not my cup of tea. *clutching my auntie pearls* And I know there’s been lots of discourse about grooming and ages of relationships on Twitter and all. The art from the cover looks beautiful (thanks for the editing!) I’ll check out their website as I want to read more yuri. 👍🏾

I think there is a type of maturity or awareness that needs to be had when reading things like age gap stories. Like understanding that these types are relationships are 100% not okay IRL. I absolutely adore Cardcaptor Sakura, but it has numerous Student/Teacher relationships (a whole ass 3 of them which is too much), which makes it super problematic but I still love the series as a whole. I know I wouldn't read a series where that type of relationship was the main focus. I guess its okay to like problematic things as long as we recognize they are not okay IRL? I think this is kind of a complex issue (as in what is okay in art. Pursuing actual relationships with kids is 100% not okay) and these are surface level thoughts at 4am so it might not make any sense.

Now that I think I about it I personally end up reading like that and pushing my boundaries like that with a lot of stuff depending on my mood/ mental health. Does this mean I don't always make the best choices? Sure! However: Fiction has ways of affecting people that they do need to respect and be aware of, though! I think if people ignore that they end up hurting people around them, or themselves. Exploring different themes and ideologies etc through fiction is a start to understanding new viewpoints (sometimes for example, yuri/ yaoi-- mlm/ wlw manga are sometimes people's first access to non-hetero relationships in media) and while it doesn't always have to be happy, cheerful, educational or healthy, there is something both scary and exciting about coming to terms with that 🤔😥 Love this video!

I'm proud of you for making a video!! I did this with Caste Heaven recently. It has a noncon story, and I found it compelling in certain ways. I share my thoughts in a new video, I'll upload it soon.

The cover art you showed is so beautiful! I really appreciated your candid discussion on your discomfort with certain elements, like the one in this manga you read! You stepped outside your comfort zone & I loved hearing your thoughts overall! Always a pleasure seeing your vids Aisha 💗💗💗

Really enjoyed your frank discussion and tackling the subject. Age gaps give me pause now, though they didn't as much when I was younger.

That cover is so pretty 😊 I wish the story was different lol 😂

I think it’s good to step out of your comfort zone and try things that you wouldn’t normally read or watch. I had the same reservations about After The Rain until I finally watched it and it ended up going in a direction that I enjoyed. Of course not every story goes the way you hope but you never know until you try it. Also yes please PLUG THE YAOI SHELF!!

Hey just found your channel, and so glad I found you. I love your personality and that you talk about different genres of manga. 💕

Always good to get out of your comfort zone; you only really grow from experiences you're uncomfortable with. :) About to check out The Mermaid's Garden from Lilyka; hoping I'm going to enjoy it. :D

This was an awesome video! I want to check out this website because I need more yuri.

Yeah, I know that people have different tastes and that being honest to what you like is a great thing, but I don't know... I think that if some of my friends told me that he really liked a romance about a teacher with a thirtheen year old student, I would think that this is at least a bit... doubtious... idk if im being too much judgemental or not 😅 And thanks for the video 💞, I know that's probably not very easy to quit the comfort zone, but it's good to do it sometimes, I think

I’m really not interested in reading age gap romance feat. an underage character these days. When I was in my teens I didn’t mind seeing it in CCS or Suki (because you bet I had a crush on a teacher or two), but the 30 year old woman I am today just can’t. But at the same time, I’m not into censorship either...as you said, it’s a slippery slope of a topic and people are free to make an active choice with what to read. I realize it has to be tough for a content creator, as you can risk alienating part of your audience if you take a strong stance either way.

When I read age gaps I can muster through, but it still makes me a little uncomfortable. Then when I see it in TV shows or live action I can’t.🤷‍♀️

Hmm does sound a bit like my boy, I actually just sold that, idk it's easier when they start out and you know it's going happen because the love is built in already, but in my boy it goes from mother son relationship to hey I think we're in love and it messed with my mind, I thought it was going to be a genuinely sweet manga.