Bloom Into You

A page from a Touhou Project doujinshi created by Nakatani, featuring characters Ran Yakumo and Yukari Yakumo sharing a same-sex kiss

Prior to creating the series, Nio Nakatani was known primarily through her work on doujinshi, especially those based on the Touhou Project series.[23] Because her works were primarily about relationships between girls (a fact which Nakatani attributed to the Touhou series' almost entirely female cast), she gained a reputation as an author of yuri manga.[24][25][23] This surprised Nakatani, as she had not intentionally set out to write yuri nor considered her works as such, saying that she primarily sought to depict complex human relationships that interested her.[24][25][23] However, as she nonetheless was interested in the yuri genre, she became interested in drawing an unambiguous love story between girls.[23][26]

When Tatsuya Kusunoki, an editor of the manga magazine Dengeki Daioh (in which Nakatani had professionally debuted with their publication of her previously self-published short story Farewell to My Alter)[27][28] approached Nakatani at a doujinshi convention, asking if she wanted to draw a yuri series for the magazine, Nakatani accepted the offer.[24][23] Kusunoki stated that he had always enjoyed yuri manga and had wanted to produce one.[25] He said that as Dengeki Daioh had not previously featured a similar girls' love story, such a proposal was not sure to be accepted.[25][29] The editor-in-chief ultimately approved of the idea, which Kusunoki attributed to the publication's "open-minded" culture, as well as the magazine's financial resources.[25][29]

In discussing her approach to the yuri genre, Nakatani expressed that while she liked romance stories, she was disappointed with narratives that paint a relationship as necessary to complete oneself emotionally, as it made her feel as if "something was wrong with me."[30] Nakatani felt that same-sex romances often avoided this dichotomy, and that as she struggled to write a convincing heterosexual romance, she was more drawn towards creating manga about same-sex couples. While Nakatani had also drawn boys' love manga previously, she ultimately said that yuri was more interesting to her, as she wanted to draw cute girls.[30] In one interview, she said that yuri was difficult to define, but that "once the reader thinks it is yuri, then at that moment it becomes yuri."[25] In a conversation with Riddle Story of Devil creators Yun Kōga and Sunao Minakata, she concurred with Kōga's statement that yuri is about "girls getting involved with other girls," adding the qualification that it is "feelings between girls."[31] She also cited the anime adaptation of Sound! Euphonium as an influence, saying it showed "everything I want to do in yuri."[25]

Nio Nakatani's early character designs for Touko and Yuu

Besides it being in the yuri genre, Nakatani had not decided on any story details before accepting Kusunoki's offer. She developed many ideas for different plots and characters, almost all of which were ultimately scrapped, except for Touko's character design.[23] The editor-in-chief suggested a "secret love," which Nakatani noticed was common to the yuri genre in stories where the characters had to keep their same-sex relationship secret due to both being girls.[23] Nakatani did not want to focus the narrative's attention on the social challenges of girl-girl relationships, as she felt it would be too simple and was more interested in exploring the characters' personal flaws.[26] Thus, she thought of a twist on the idea, wherein rather than keeping their love secret from others, the drama would come from two girls keeping their love secret from each other. This became the impetus for what would become Yuu and Touko's romance story.[23]

Kusunoki proposed a "light and dark" yuri story to Nakatani, where a "dark" lead character would be in some way redeemed by the "light" character, as this was a dynamic seen in other yuri manga he had previously enjoyed.[32] Touko was created first as the "dark" half of the pairing, while Yuu was made to fill the "light" role.[32][26] Nakatani wanted Touko to be attractive but "troublesome," and designed her to appear superficially perfect, while in reality being a difficult person with deep emotional insecurities and self-hatred,[23][26][30] who would confess her love but not wish to be reciprocated.[23] From there, Nakatani developed Yuu as the type of girl who she imagined would be able to help and eventually come to love Touko.[23][25][26][30][32]

Yuu was intended to visually and temperamentally contrast with Touko, as a deliberately cute girl with a deeper "cool" aspect.[25] Her personality was written to be someone who would not feel happy about Touko's love but also not reject her, which led to her being created as a girl who desired romantic feelings but did not understand them.[23][30] As they were planning the characters, Kusunoki and Nakatani asked others around them for stories about their experiences with romance.[25][29] One woman said that she did not understand romantic feelings, and Nakatani based the manga's depiction of Yuu's emotions on her story.[23][25][29] As Touko's role as the student council president was decided, Nakatani conceived Sayaka, Touko's friend in the student council, who would have an unrequited crush on Touko.[23][25] Nakatani wanted Sayaka to come off as "extremely cool,"[23] and she was designed to contrast Touko's "lovable" image when standing beside her as her student council vice president and academic rival.[25]

In devising the setting, Nakatani opted to set Bloom Into You in a co-ed school environment, as opposed to other yuri manga which often opted for all-girls school settings.[30] This was because she felt that including male characters in whom Touko did not take any interest served to establish Touko's attraction to girls as a unique individual trait that set her apart from other girls shown in the story.[30][33] Nakatani accounted for readers potentially expecting that Yuu or Touko would later end up in a heterosexual relationship, and thus introduced the male characters in ways which clearly precluded this possibility (such as them already having girlfriends).[32]

Maki, a major supporting male character who takes interest in Yuu's relationship with Touko and offers her advice, is depicted as not being interested in relationships for himself.[23][32][29] He was intended as a foil to Yuu, as while he did not feel romantic feelings, he was happy despite not feeling them.[23] This aspect of his character also served to preclude him as a potential romantic interest for Yuu or Touko.[32][29] Nakatani included Maki to show that people could be fulfilled without romantic relationships.[23] The anime's character designer, Hiroaki Gōda, felt that while he could not directly relate to the story's female cast, he identified with Maki's desire to watch Yuu and Touko's relationship develop.[19] The adult lesbian couple of Riko and Miyako were introduced to suggest what Yuu and Touko's relationship would possibly become in the future.[23] The designs of many of the central characters were all decided upon before the manga started its serialization.[32]

Nakatani and Kusunoki wanted to make the characters' emotions understandable even to readers who may not be able to relate to them.[25][32][29] This was particularly important for the story's female characters to be enjoyable to Dengeki Daioh's shōnen demographic.[25] They tried to not shy away from emotionally complex characters, believing that if they were depicted successfully, it would lead to a more fulfilling story.[25][29][32] Kusunoki said that this was a challenge, but felt that Nakatani was capable of fulfilling it.[32]

In planning Bloom Into You's story, Nakatani paced the series such that there was always a significant dramatic plot twist at the end of each volume.[34][32] For instance, she deliberately avoided showing Touko's perspective until chapter 10 of the manga, which was placed at the end of the second tankōbon collection. She felt it served as an ideal climax for the end of that volume, being a critical point when the nature of her relationship with Yuu was solidified.[32][29] In response to Happy Sugar Life editor Katsuyuki Sasaki saying that this had "turned the story upside down," Kusunoki commented that it enabled readers to reread the previous chapters in a new light, and said that the series "really starts" from that point.[29] As Nakatani felt it important to not let the characters change too quickly, she tried to keep in mind what she felt that they were likely to do at the point to which she had developed them.[26]

The spinoff novels, which focused on Sayaka's character as a central protagonist, were written by Hitoma Iruma, whom Nakatani had previously collaborated with on his earlier novel Shoujo Mousouchuu.[32] Although she was initially apprehensive about someone else writing her characters, when it was decided that Iruma would be the writer, she agreed.[20][34] Nakatani provided Iruma with details about her planned ending for the series. Among these details, Nakatani wrote dialogue for a conversation where Yuu and Touko learn that Sayaka has a girlfriend, which would ultimately be included in the final chapter of the manga.[10] Iruma chose to begin the novel with Sayaka in elementary school, as he did not feel confident that her middle school experience would be enough to support a full novel, and thus imagined a history for her based on the few details given about her past in the manga.[34] He said that as Nakatani was the original creator, he felt that his role in the novels' creation was "the one who contributed the text."[20]

Following the release of the novels, Nakatani said that Iruma's writing had influenced how she wrote Sayaka, particularly her confession to Touko in the 37th chapter.[10][34] She said that she had not discarded her understanding of the character due to Iruma's influence, but rather that his characterization aligned with her own view.[34] Although it was planned early that Sayaka would eventually confess and be rejected, her character grew to be more detailed as the series went on, and she was ultimately much more involved in the narrative than Nakatani had initially planned.[23] In writing the conclusion of her subplot, Nakatani wanted to avoid implying that her rejection meant she had "failed", saying that Touko could have never accepted her confession even if she had confessed earlier in the story.[23][34] She rewrote the dialogue of Sayaka's confession scene several times.[34]

In the final volume, Nakatani wanted to write a complete ending to the story which would leave readers feeling that they had seen all that was needed to be seen, make the nature of Yuu and Touko's feelings unambiguously clear, and assure that their relationship would last.[10][34] She wanted to avoid giving the impression that Yuu and Touko were destined to be together, instead emphasizing that they had freely chosen a relationship after they both changed and were able to love each other.[23][10] The 44th chapter, in which Yuu and Touko have sex, was considered necessary, as Nakatani felt that it was best to not omit that aspect of their feelings for each other.[10] In the final epilogue chapter set three years after the previous chapter following a timeskip, their relationship is no longer a secret from most of their friends, which Nakatani thought was better as she wanted them to be happy at the story's conclusion.[10] Touko also continues pursuing her acting career, which Nakatani decided as she "didn't want to condemn" the time in Touko's life when she was emulating her sister.[10] Nakatani cited the works of Satoshi Mizukami, and in particular his manga Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer, as an influence on the final chapter.[10]

Before the anime adaptation was greenlit, Kadokawa sent director Makoto Kato several titles that they were publishing, asking if he would be interested in directing an anime version of any of them. Among these was Bloom Into You, which caught Kato's interest more than any of the others, and thus he asked that an anime be considered.[35][19] While Kato did not typically read manga except when required to in the course of his work, he was attracted to Nakatani's panel layouts, which he said were "very similar to how things are done in film".[19][35] Kato felt that an adaptation would be well served by his style as a director.[19] He admitted that he did not have any previous knowledge of the yuri genre, but nonetheless was intrigued by the story and saw potential in it for broad appeal, even to those who were not already fans of yuri.[35] Kato believed bringing his perspective as an outsider made the anime more interesting, as he imagined that someone more familiar with the genre would produce something with a more limited appeal.[35]

Kato had previously worked as an assistant director for Re:Creators, and debuted in the lead directorial role on the anime adaptation of Beautiful Bones: Sakurako's Investigation,[19][35] which Nakatani had seen prior.[19] As Beautiful Bones' source material was a novel series, Kato had not had to adhere to pre-existing visuals, and he described working on a manga adaptation as a challenge for this reason.[19][35] While Nakatani was confident in Kato's skill as a director, she was nervous about letting others handle her story, as she was not certain if she would be involved.[19][32] Kato assured Nakatani that he cared about the original manga and wanted to create a faithful adaptation, assuaging her concerns.[26][19] Nakatani was consulted extensively during the production of the anime, attending the recording sessions and script meetings, and supervising the visuals, character design, and storyboards.[19][26] Kato considered her opinion important, due to the story's complexity.[35] Nakatani explained her intentions with several scenes and characters in order to ensure that they were accurate, and provided her envisioned chronology of the story's events.[19][26] She also contributed new details not directly shown in the manga, such as the earlier draft of the Student Council play prior to Yuu's request that Koyomi revise it.[26][19] Nakatani felt that her input helped the anime more closely reflect her original work, which she regarded as remarkable.[26]

Series composition writer Jukki Hanada joined the project after being asked by a producer if he would be interested. In reading the manga, Hanada felt it would be difficult to adapt, but decided to accept the offer as he felt an anime would be worthwhile.[19] Nakatani was already a fan of Hanada's work, and quickly placed her trust in him.[26] Prior to writing the scripts, he discussed his interpretation of the story with Nakatani, saying he read it as "a simple love story" between women with a minimized focus on homoeroticism, and that it was not concerned with avoiding the "associations with 'immorality'" often found in other yuri works.[19] Hanada said that his reading "wasn't far off" from Nakatani's own opinion.[19] Hanada felt most connected to Touko, as he related to her feelings of self-hatred, while Kato identified with Yuu. Hanada felt that this contributed to the success of their collaboration, as they did not clash with one another over how to portray either character.[19]

In writing the scripts, several minor changes were made, such as changing certain lines of dialogue and the order in which some scenes were presented, in order to better pace the story as a television anime.[26][19] There were also some additions, such as the expanded dialogue of Yuu's student council speech, written by Hanada.[26][19][32] Nonetheless, no major alterations were made, as Hanada and Kato wished for the anime to fit within the manga's established continuity.[26][19] At one point Nakatani suggested an anime-original ending, but this was decided against to allow viewers to transition into the manga and leave the door open for a continuation.[26][19] The anime was initially planned to end with the events of the fourth volume.[19] Hanada and Kato considered ending it after the student council play, but felt that doing so would make the anime "only about Touko," and as such decided against this as they wanted both Yuu and Touko to be the focus.[35] At the time of writing the script, the chapter where Yuu and Touko visit an aquarium together had not yet been published, but Nakatani presented the plans for that chapter to Hanada, and they agreed to make it the ending of the anime.[19] The anime's version of the aquarium date scene was significantly expanded from its manga counterpart, featuring additional details contributed by Nakatani.[19]

Before the opening theme was commissioned, Kato had already clearly envisioned the opening and ending animation's visuals.[19][35] With the approval of producer Shinpei Yamashita, Kato began drawing the opening animation's storyboards before the song was received.[19] Kato intended the opening, which he described as reflecting the "dual nature" of the characters, to feel similar to a music video, particularly in how he confined its setting to a single location.[19][35] He chose the visuals of flowers blooming within the school as he felt this would make for impactful imagery, and provide for the opportunity to insert a significant amount of symbolism, particularly in the use of flower language.[19][35] The ending animation, which Kato described as simpler and more straightforward, was based on an illustration from a cell phone case that was sold as merchandise for the manga.[35][19] The upbeat tone of the ending theme "hectopascal" was chosen to "reset [the viewers'] feelings", thus leaving them happy and eager to see the next episode rather than anxious about the plot's development, and the more heavy and emotional tone of the opening was chosen to contrast this choice.[35][19]

In creating the anime's character designs, Hiroaki Gōda described evoking Nakatani's art as a significant challenge.[19] Kato advised him to "avoid a cookie-cutter look".[19] As he was not well-versed in "modern styles of art", he spent several months polishing his versions of the characters, but felt they still fell short of the detail seen in Nakatani's art. When drawing his cuts of the animation, he did not consult his own character design sheets, instead always referred to Nakatani's original drawings.[19] Gōda felt that while drawing Yuu was "straightforward", Touko's expressions were more challenging due to her being "two-faced". He commented that the scenes "when they are thinking something, but don't let that reflect on their face" were particularly difficult to draw as it was necessary to convey the desired emotion without using their expressions to plainly depict it.[19] Sayaka was considered difficult as well, as Gōda felt he would often "fail to draw her with the proper air of royalty".[19] However, he noted Sayaka's expressions in two specific scenes, when she confronts Yuu in the sixth episode, and when she dismisses her ex-girlfriend in the eighth episode, as being "really fun".[19]

The anime's musical score, composed by Michiru Ōshima, was written with the general intention of creating "something that should sparkle."[19] The musical arrangement was limited to the use of piano, string, and woodwind instruments, and as such, Ōshima opted to create a chamber music score. The score was recorded at a New York-based music studio, to produce a "fresh and sharp" sound. Although she wanted to elicit a "psychological response" in viewers, Ōshima did not want to project an overwhelming "gloomy" mood. 35 tracks were ordered for the score.[19]

There were several additions in the anime that Nakatani enjoyed, such as Yuu's student council election speech.[19][26][32] The anime features several instances of Yuu depicted underwater as a visual metaphor, including one specific sequence from the beginning of the first episode where she reaches out through the water. As Nakatani particularly liked this imagery, she drew a similar image as the opening page of the 34th chapter of the manga.[19][26][10][36] Additionally, the 39th chapter was influenced by the lyrics of the anime's ending theme.[10]

The manga is written and illustrated by Nio Nakatani. It began serialization in ASCII Media Works' monthly magazine Dengeki Daioh on April 27, 2015[6] and ended on September 27, 2019.[7] The eighth and final tankōbon volume of the manga was released in November 2019.[37] Describing the series as having “…Adorable artwork and [a] charming love story,” Seven Seas Entertainment announced its licensing of the manga for English release in North America on February 14, 2016.[38] The manga is currently published in Japanese, English, Korean, Traditional Chinese, Simplified Chinese, Thai, French, Italian, German, Spanish and Vietnamese.

The manga was relaunched as a full-color webtoon by Kadokawa Future Publishing's Tatesuku Comic imprint.[39] It began serialization on BookWalker August 11, 2021.

Two volumes of an official manga anthology were published by Kadokawa and released between December 2018 and March 2020. Seven Seas announced its licensing of the manga anthology for English release in North America on December 4, 2020.[56]

A side-story novel, Bloom Into You: Regarding Saeki Sayaka (やがて君になる 佐伯沙弥香について, Yagate Kimi ni Naru: Saeki Sayaka ni Tsuite), is written by Hitoma Iruma and published through Kadokawa's Dengeki Bunko imprint since November 10, 2018.[59] The second volume was released on May 10, 2019,[60] and the third volume was released on March 10, 2020.[61] Seven Seas Entertainment announced in July 2019 that they had licensed the series for release in English in North America.[62]

A 13-episode anime television series adaptation was announced in the June issue of the Dengeki Daioh magazine on April 27, 2018. It was animated by Troyca, produced by Kadokawa, Docomo Anime Store, AT-X, Sony Music Solutions and Kadokawa Media House and directed by Makoto Katō, with Jukki Hanada handling series composition, Hiroaki Gōda designing the characters and Michiru Ōshima composing the music.[15] The opening theme is "Kimi ni Furete" (君にふれて, Touched By You) by Riko Azuna,[64] while the ending theme is "hectopascal" by Yūki Takada and Minako Kotobuki.[15] The series aired in Japan from October 5 to December 28, 2018.[65][66] Sentai Filmworks licensed the series outside of Asia and streamed it on Hidive in both subtitled and English dubbed formats.[67][68] Sentai also released the series on DVD and Blu-ray in September 2019,[69] while MVM Films published the series on home video in the UK.[70][71][72] KSM Anime released the series on DVD and Blu-ray with a German dub.[73][74]

A stage play adaptation of the manga ran in Japan in May 2019. A second stage play, adapting events in the Regarding Saeki Sayaka light novels, ran from October to November 2020.[77] An encore performance of the stage play, with a script revised to include the events of the manga's conclusion, was announced in October 2019 as part of the "Curtain Call" project following the end of the manga's serialization.[78] It was planned for the fall of 2020, however, it was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In July 2022, the encore was rescheduled to be performed between November 25 and December 4, 2022, with the previous main cast slated to reprise their roles.[79]

Erica Friedman, reviewing Bloom Into You on a per-volume basis, was initially critical of the series.[88] Friedman praised its artwork, gender diversity in the cast, and lack of reliance on fanservice, but expressed discomfort with Touko's forward expression of her feelings, and the perceived dubious consensuality of the kissing scenes.[89][90][91] Friedman also disliked the straightforward romance plot, feeling that the possibility of Yuu being asexual or aromantic was not considered.[88][89][92][93] However, Friedman praised Sayaka's character and her subplot within the manga, and the inclusion of Riko and Miyako as positive role models of a functioning relationship.[90][94][95][96] She described it as "intriguing, rather than entertaining" and hoped for later plot turns to address her criticisms.[91][97][93][94] Friedman later praised a scene in the fifth volume for seeing Yuu become "an active participant in the narrative" in a scene wherein Yuu urges Touko to not depend on her for fulfillment.[98] Despite remaining disappointed that Yuu was not "a rare aromantic manga protagonist," she ultimately praised the series' character development and ending.[99][100][101]

Michelle Smith of Manga Bookshelf wrote that she initially considered Touko's early confession to be "unearned" but that later developments in the remainder of the first volume captured her intrigue.[102] Sean Gaffney felt that Yuu's portrayal was a "nice reversal" and credited her character with the manga's popularity, but also praised the narrative and cast generally, saying he "was surprised several times throughout."[103]

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network gave a generally positive review to the manga's first volume, saying that the potential of Yuu being asexual made the story more interesting, as "it offers something by way of representation that could be recognizable to an underrepresented group and set this title apart in its genre." Silverman speculated that Yuu's sexual experimentation with Touko throughout the story was reflective of Nakatani writing her first yuri series as well as her debut series after her history of primarily authoring doujinshi, saying, "What we could be seeing is an author experimenting with a genre she's not entirely comfortable with yet". She also complimented the choice to set the story in a co-ed school as a "nice change" from other yuri stories, and said that it had "no 'forceful' tropes" (such as in Citrus or NTR: Netsuzou Trap). However, Silverman called Nakatani's art and character designs simple and "slightly generic", though she praised it for being "easy to read".[104]

In a feature for Neo, Alex Jones praised the anime adaptation as a "far broader" exploration of its subject matter, in contrast with the fan service-focused approach of Citrus (whose anime adaptation had aired the same year as Bloom Into You's). Jones further praised Sayaka's inclusion and how the series explored her backstory, saying that it elevated her character beyond the common trope of the "unrequited best friend crush", and also praised the role of Riko and Miyako in helping her be confident in her identity.[105] Reviewing the anime in the same issue, Jones felt that the topic of aromanticism was never "fetishized," and praised the story's themes of self-introspection as well as the quality of the production and character expressions, saying the anime "never relies on trying to be 'cute' in the conventional sense". Jones' singular note of criticism was the anime only offering an "incomplete story" as a consequence of it not adapting the remainder of the manga.[70]

Writers for the site Anime Feminist also reviewed the anime adaptation. In a review of the first episode, Vrai Kaiser said the premiere has "all the makings of a solid romantic melodrama", described as a "quiet slow burn", and praised the color filters "emphasizing the florals and changing of seasons." However, they said that those who see Yuu as on the asexual/aromantic spectrum would be "disappointed or even hurt", but praised the series for visual appeal, and hoped it would open the door to "additional yuri anime made for queer female audiences."[106] In a later review, they described the anime adaptation as "quite beautiful", despite expressing an overall preference for the manga.[107] Alex Henderson, another writer for the site, was more positive, saying that the series interrogates common tropes in yuri, providing "important queer representation" in fiction, and described the series as having "representation of adult queer couples" unlike other yuri titles.[108]

Numerous English-language critics reviewing both the manga and the anime interpreted the character of Yuu Koito, and her expressed lack of attraction to Touko early in the story, as suggesting that she was asexual or aromantic (or some variation thereof).[88][109][105][110][106] Reviews either praised the series for perceived representation of aroace identities,[105][109] or criticized it as an inadequate or disappointing depiction.[88][110][107] Natasha H., in a piece for Crunchyroll, said that the story avoided depicting Yuu as "broken" and showed her as an asexual individual who was nonetheless capable of a fulfilling relationship with Touko.[109] In Neo, Alex Jones wrote that while Yuu's feelings may at first appear aromantic, further developments in the narrative rather suggested that she was demisexual. Jones acknowledged that this could be "disheartening" to asexual readers, but said that with Maki's inclusion, the series avoided implying aromantic individuals to be "late bloomers".[105]

Bauman attributed the spread of this reading to the anime adaptation, which did not cover later plot developments in which Yuu develops explicit sexual attractions towards Touko. While Bauman said it was "a valid and understandable argument" if based only off of the anime, she nonetheless denied this reading, citing the advertising of the work as a conventional love story and the explicit depiction of romantic and sexual attraction on both sides. Bauman felt that Yuu's early failure to reciprocate Touko's attraction was attributed to a "character fault" rather than an expression of any non-standard romantic orientation. Additionally, she criticized the character of Maki as a poor example of asexual representation, saying that the series did not acknowledge the reality of aromantic and asexual individuals who "can have meaningful lives and stories of their own that do not necessarily involve courtship."[110]

Writing for Anime News Network, Nicki "YuriMother" Bauman called Bloom Into You "one of the most successful yuri works," noting its commercial success and popularity with readers, of which she said it "deserves every bit". In spite of this acknowledgement, Bauman was nonetheless critical of the series.[110] While she said it broke away from many tropes commonly associated with yuri, she said it nonetheless featured numerous common yuri tropes, describing it as "a near-textbook example of the 'girl-meets-girl' structure". Bauman pointed to many narrative elements, such as the school play plotline and Sayaka's attraction to Touko, as imitative of other series such as Maria-sama ga Miteru and Strawberry Panic!.[110] Another point of criticism was Touko's forceful expression of her affection for Yuu, described as an example of the "predatory lesbian" trope, which Bauman called "one of yuri's most harmful".[110]

In spite of this, she praised how Nakatani broke from the tradition of "transitory same-sex love" established by Class S stories in depicting Yuu and Touko having sex and becoming a couple in adulthood (although she noted that Kisses, Sighs, and Cherry Blossom Pink and Kase-san had already similarly broken from this convention).[110] In a piece for Anime Feminist, Alex Henderson also praised Sayaka's character arc, the depiction of Riko and Miyako's relationship, and their role in her story, as upending the "just a phase" framing of Class S tropes.[108] Bauman agreed with Henderson, additionally praising Sayaka's story in the light novel spinoff series, and describing Riko and Miyako as "queer adult figures guiding the next generation".[110]