>>4608839
Betteridge's Law of Headlines.

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Kisses, kisses, and more kisses.

>>4609225
It's not Lara's fault that the ending character-assassinated her due to being written apart.

Is the bd selling well?

>>4609272
さよならララ BOX 上巻』初動売上枚数
• Blu-ray: 692枚
• DVD: 101枚
• 合計: 793枚

lol

>>4609272
Decently but not anything to write home about.

Are the writer and director psychopaths?

I think my lukewarmest take is that Mari just shouldn't have existed if this is the story they wanted to tell. Lara gets taken in by a boy who looks like the prince, their developing relationship as she comes to realize how different he really is from the real prince gets plenty of focus episodes instead of being split between that and an ultimately meaningless love triangle. With those episodes, you gradually introduce the idea that "true love" itself is causing problems, rather than the problem being that Lara is looking for true love in the wrong person for 90% of the runtime; have Luca lose focus on his passions or family for her, have Lara become overprotective or willing to give up her dreams of exploring the human world. Then in the ending, it makes perfect sense that giving up on "true love" and developing as your own person first is what has to happen, because you ACTUALLY FUCKING SET THAT UP.

I'd be fascinated to learn just how Mari got her role in the show. She was a lot less prominent in the concept trailer, and it feels like her entire place is the story is to ask questions (nature of true love and who you should look for it in, etc) that simply are not what the writer was ever interested in in the first place.

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There's a new interview in a magazine that confirms something about Lara and Mari

>>4609295
Sure pal, whatever that is it will fix everything.

>>4609295
Literally nothing is confirmed; at this point, everything about this series is a disappointment.

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>>4609295
Confirms it's up to the interpretation at most.

>>4609319
The problem is that you can dress it up with "interpretation," but there’s only one reality: the ending sucks. It leaves me with no desire to know anything more about the series—let alone fill in plot holes that shouldn't exist in the first place.

>>4609293
Overall, Mari's role is incredibly minor and disappointing; she is truly relevant in only about three episodes. The rest of the time, she stays in the background, serving merely as a way to connect her family and circle to Lara—but little else. Instead of a relationship that evolves naturally over time, it feels forced whenever convenient, only to end with a role reversal handled in the worst possible way.

>>4609328
She is relevant in most episodes and is key to Lara's arc. Their relationship evolves very naturally and nothing about her is forced. Just because the ending is shit doesn't mean you need to just make shit up, assuming you aren't just concern trolling.

>>4609330
>concern trolling
a bit late to be concerned, most concerns materialized two weeks ago, this is just hindsight

>>4609330
I get that that happens in the fanfic playing out in your head, but reality is completely different; Mari is a very minor character. Just because she appears in every episode doesn't mean she's important take the bakery folks or the girl in love with her childhood friend, for example; for the most part, Mari is just there. Once the "light" moment passes, she fades into the background again. It feels like she’s only truly relevant at the very end, and that’s what’s annoying: the ending is bad, but the journey leading up to it wasn't spectacular enough to celebrate either. Most of the fan art stems from people's assumptions rather than actual content from the series.

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>>4609295
Sure confirms the ending is shit like always.

>>4609344
Two weeks and multiple interviews later, the question "Why the fuck did Lara leave?" remains unanswered.

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>>4609344
>>Sure confirms the ending is shit like always.

No, it makes it much worse; that statement just shows there’s nothing to interpret—this is total bullshit, and people are in denial.

>>4609338
>reality is completely different; Mari is a very minor character
It isn't and she's not. She's, at absolute worst, the central support character and second only to Lara.
>take the bakery folks
The ones that Lara was going to quit on before Mari said she thought she was doing good?
>or the girl in love with her childhood friend
The one whose episode culminates in Lara being happy that she and Mari are officially friends?
> It feels like she’s only truly relevant at the very end
No. She's extremely relevant in the start of the story when Lara is trying to find her footing and in the middle of the story when she's wavering and is the sole reason that Lara rallies before the climax and her central motivation through the entirety of the end. Nothing about Mari is "just there". She is a character with extreme intention.

Again, I don't know why you'd make this shit up. Just be mad that the ending is bad, you don't need to pretend plot points didn't happen.

>>4609344
Post the whole thing or fuck off.

>>4609344
>leave your loved ones behind, it's fine because you'll both have memories of that love or something
What a great message.

>>4609349
It’s not about making things up; it’s about looking at reality. This series—even ignoring the ending—isn't the damn masterpiece people try to claim it is; the ending simply wiped out any goodwill one might have had toward it.

>>4609347
The answer is both simpler and more pretentious—because that way it’s "deeper and more mature," since being a normal couple is a cliché, while being apart is more modern and youthful.

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>>4609344
>>True love means being apart and simply remembering things.

>>4609356
>pretentious
>masterpiece
>mature
Oh, you're anti-critic schizo. Why did I even bother?

>>4609361
How am I lying or exaggerating? This isn't something only a few people see; everyone can now see through the director's intentions.

>>4609344
>Lara ultimately chose to leave Mari
Okay but WHY

>>4609289
No, they just didn't talk to each other.

>it's a farewell
Where's the anon who posted novels of his fanfic about how Lara was only leaving to become independent and was set to return to Mari as a true equal or whatever?

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>>4609350
Bear in mind it's MTL from a Chinese translation

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>>4609367

>>4609361
You should know better than to reply to someone who uses that many em dashes and semicolons.

>>4609344
>Koide: homosexuality is just a phase you'll look back on fondly in adulthood
How quaint.

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Deserves to be posted again.

>>4609367
>>4609368
So basically, Lara left because the OG Little Mermaid did it, no deeper reason than that. Bravo.

>>4609372
But also finding love and dedicating you life to doing good deeds had religious implications that made him uncomfortable so it was necessary to portray Lara as a sociopath.

>>4609361
>anti-critic
>is critcizing and being a critic
What do you think "anti" means, you utter retard?
Do you think Hitler is anti-nazi?

>>4609374
That's not what sociopath means.

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>>4609396
>hey, you're that supremacist, Adolf Hitler
>ummmm how can I be a supremacist if I literally just said Japanese people are equal to Aryans??????? Do you know what supremacist means???

>>4609403
Nika didn't say that.

>>4609403
You pointed at 3 random words to say someone's stance is anti-critic
Where's the "anti-crticism" in criticising the show, you braindead retard?. Funny how you went after the Hitler example because you can't explain how criticism can ever be anti-criticism
You can't claim someone is "anti" something they're doing It's you being anti-critic and seething when people trash on thids worthless shit for some reason. Probably because you don't like to admit you wasted your time on this trash. It's OK. I also wasted it and it felt awful, but this denial isn't healthy

>>4609344
Somebody needs to prevent this hack from getting another director/writer job.

>>4609344
>we decided that what Lara truly wanted was to live in this world with Mari
>so how to wrap up the final episode gradually became clear: she would leave Mari
I can't even be mad anymore, there's no way I can ever take this guy seriously again.

>>4609405
Out loud.

>>4609428
She whispered it in some haughty spacian girl's ear while fingerblasting her in prison.

>>4609365
I HATE anime committees so fucking much.

>>4609370
Koide-san is a fucking retard, what else is new?

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https://note.com/joyous_beetle542/n/nbb1a38662e69
Review of this season's yuri anime, including Lara, by a Japanese essayist. Most of the comments I've seen from Japan have been tweets and short forum posts, so this was pretty interesting. It's pretty critical, and seems to suggest that in trying to avoid pinning down what "true love" actually meant, the work suffered. With so many definitions of true love, the audience is forced to view it as something mechanical: anything that makes mermaid magic work is true love, which is the same as it meaning nothing at all.

>>4609505
That's a Taiwanese essayist that used to post incomprehensible ESL essays on reddit. I'm glad his Japanese is readable.

>>4609409
>someone's stance
No one said anything about stance you sperg. A nickname doesn't just go away because it's not pertinent every second of a person's existence.

>>4609505
>seems to suggest that in trying to avoid pinning down what "true love" actually meant, the work suffered.
This was almost all of thematic frustration was coming from by the mid-way point. It doesn't say anything about the nature of love or family or independence. Hell, it doesn't even really get me interested in Shiga. Ultimately it's a work that doesn't say anything about anything.

And hey, maybe that's fine for a late night anime with high production values. But it's kind of obvious the staff wanted to say something and it failed to land.

>>4608839
The novel and the manga are probably only going to be about the old Lara before the dagger incident judging by the promo art, which I think is something people don't really want anymore.

>>4609367
>but why does Lara leave, what was she feeling?
>curiosity was certainly part of it, then there was the fact that the original story had something like that, though i didn't like it, so i didn't include that at all
So that's it, straight out of the horse's mouth, ultimately she leaves for literally no reason other than "curiosity".
All it took was a few months for her to get bored of the amazing true love the whole story revolved around fighting for, character development of the decade right there.

>>4609367
>>4609368
>>4609621
The development process of this anime is really interesting, first he established that it would end with Lara leaving to mimic the original, then they came up with a story that was supposed to lead to that but actually had nothing to do with it, in fact it made it contradictory.
But instead of changing the ending to something actually coherent, he went:
>you know what? screw it, she leaves anyway because she's really, really curious! there, we're done

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Well I, for one, was really tired of having to come up with interpretations to vague nonsense, so I'm glad I can finally voice the internal conflict that's afflicting Lara in the picture, so painful she couldn't even let out an answer for her True Love™ who's helplessly crying beside her:
>I'm so sorry Mari, I wish I could stay, I really do, but it can't be helped, I'm just so damn curious...!

>>4609626
Can't she just travel with Mari if she's so curious about the rest of the world?. Just organize some plans to go see other parts of Japan or even other countries. This is retarded

>>4609621
>>4609623
At least it's funny that all those people online, like the leaker himself, who were trying to justify the shit ending with gaslighting like "b-but the story was about becoming independent all along, y-you just didn't get it!" were just put in their place by the same guys they were struggling to defend.

>>4609635
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy6wryJMwVU

>>4609635
Separation and time skips are the biggest pet peeve of mine in all stories but are especially grating in anything romantic. Phones and cheap and effective public transit exist. Getting totally ghosted by a friend or hell even a close work colleague is fucked up in my opinion, let alone a romantic interest. Whenever stories try to do this shit to be deep I just think how that character in real life would be looking back with regret at their stupidity years later because everyone learns that finding people gets harder and messier the older you get.

>>4609367
>>4609368
Oh hey, they just confirm my theory >>4605375 that they created the ending first, then made the rest of the story later, and then tried to justify why the story has the ending that they created first instead of creating a new ending that actually fit the story they end up making.
What a dumb decision.
I hope the other adaptation have enough freedom to make their own ending. Not that I count on it.

>>4609367
>>4609368
I don't understand what Maris purpose was in the story? the entire set up works with Luca.
It just feels like they wanted to traumatize a little girl
>>4609366
probably dead

>>4610029
>the entire set up works with a whiny, crybaby faggot who pays no actual attention to Lara as a person, fails to support her in any meaningful way, and doubles down on the fairytale aspects she's trying to step away from
It doesn't, at all.

>>4610031
Except it does? at the end of the day Mari only serves the same purpose Luca already did which is to show her that true love is toxic and meaningless.
What is the point of having Lara triumph over both the monster of the siren and the fatality of the fairy tail because of her love for Mari if she loses that love on a whim and then seeks out a new "light" somewhere else after maybe 3 months of time?
If Koide wanted to tell a story about how true love is not forever and the mermaid does not need to constantly achieve a religious "good" to walk alongside humans as a human why not just cute Mari and have Lara just realize what she already seemed to understand?
She doesn't love Luca at all and her love for the prince was unrequited, yet she still lives.
The story works fine without Mari because Lara already doesn't have feelings for Luca you retard.

>>4609371
This one always makes me chuckle. It's so perfect for CPK whose whole point is to undoom impossible yuri to make fun of a show that doomed completely viable and unopposed yuri. I don't have to tell you which of these two is an unstoppable phenomenon in Japan and which one will be forgotten by next year.

>>4610116
>Mari only serves the same purpose Luca already did
How dumb are you? Mari's purpose is showing Lara how to woman up when times are tough instead of crying and giving up, to be someone who treated her like a normal person (what she ends up being), and to show her what actual love is. Luca is a sobbing little avoidant bitch and also treats Lara like a storybook and his purpose is displaying that the prince isn't representative and that love can't be forced. They are fundamentally opposites and Luca would have taught Lara the exact opposite lesson that Mari did and not facilitated her integration into the human world at all.
>The story works fine without Mari because Lara already doesn't have feelings for Luca you retard.
No, you subhuman brainlet, the story does not work without Mari because without Mari Lara would have immediately collapsed in on herself in despair and being overwhelmed. An autist who can barely talk to his own classmates and is borderline non-functional in society despite being a human is not a valid replacement no matter how much you wish that were the case. Without Mari's down to earth, tough attitude at her side, Lara would have run around for days, attempted to return to the ocean like she did at the end of episode 2, and fucking drowned. Without Mari she would have given up on her job. Without Mari she would have gone quietly with Lisa and all the mermaids would have died. Without Mari to imitate, Lara would have just died at the end instead of learning to stand her ground, because she learned that from Mari, the person who has, from childhood, stood her ground.

>>4610221
The story works fine without Mari based on what the directors stated goals are which is to critique the idea of true love being forever.
None of the cope shit you wrote requires Mari to exist because they could have surrogates in the people at her job or otherwise.
This is because Koides vision strictly at its core is a critique on "true love" which we already get from her feeling nothing for Luca and being curious about the human world.
No amount of knuckle dragging cope you write will change the fact that Koides own desire for the ending contradicts the entire meaning of the rest of the show, which is that true love does matter, and that the choice of love is important.
Which is obviously not Koides stated goal.

>>4610244
>they could have surrogates in the people at her job or otherwise.
>You could totally just remove Mari from the story!!!!!
>...i-if you had a bunch of characters to do all the things she did and act like her to minimize the obvious and necessary role she has
>...and you pretend that the entire narrative doesn't exist and that a show is only the most central message
You are legit dumb. Not like memetic, internet "you are retarded". You are a real life fucking moron.

>>4610269
When said centrai message is the most important thing to the staff and contradicts everything else, and the staff atre more comfortable showing het over yuri and break up the yuri, yes, don't include Mari. There 100000000000000000 het anime. One of them ending in rejection and separation is fine. There are almost none yuri originals. Wating people's time thinking they're going to get girl x girl only for girl to leave girl and true love bad and girl x boy to be explicit while girl x girl is only symbolism shit, is retarded and a waste of time
You either commit to girl x girl or don't include it

>>4610269
Why are you using exclamation points and stuttering like a shaky faggot?
Actually acknowledge what I'm saying instead of losing your shit because you think I ship Luca with Lara.
The director of the show stated that it was meant to be a critique of "true love" that showed Lara did not need it or needed to strive towards it in order to be human or gain a noble soul.
I am saying if that was his purpose Mari is totally pointless when Luca already exist within the story as an example of failed "true love".
Mari completely contradicts his stated goal because her relationship with Lara is both never considered until the final episode outside of very strong and obvious subtext
because Lara fights for a love that is already atypical from the true love he is trying to critique and is both clearly healthy and not co-dependent like he a separation ending would imply.
The story literally contradicts itself by placing negative "true love" which is forcing yourself to love someone that you do not love i.e. Lara towards Luca
next to positive "true love" which is a healthy blooming relationship built on mutual understanding outside of the confines of "true love" i.e. Lara towards Mari

yet in the ending and with the context of the directors words, both of these "true loves" are weighted the same. The merit of abandoning both is seen as valuable, despite the opposite being highlighted 5 minutes before hand.
so yes, if he wanted to make this story Mari is completely superfluous. Having a positive "true love" that is already critiquing the negative example be subject to the same critique is contradictory.
if he actually meant something like "true love doesn't mean we spend every single day together" then it completely invalidates his statement anyway.
as an example and as a critique, yes the negative "true love" of Luca and Lara serve the purpose he wants. Not the positive "true love" between Lara and Mari.

I for one am glad that Mari exists even if she is ultimately a pointless character that seems to just exist to be tortured by the writers.

>>4609344
Lara learning how to be more human by being on her phone while Mari expresses her loneliness is fucking hilarious in hindsight.

>>4610290
I'm glad she exists, wish she and lara were free of their retarded contradictory director though

Was it ever revealed what the bonus illustration was for buying the BD?

>>4610289
>Why are you using exclamation points and stuttering like a shaky faggot?
>so fucking new you don't understand greentext
Lurk 10 years.
>The story literally contradicts itself by placing negative "true love" which is forcing yourself to love someone
If you are too fucking stupid to understand that Luca ISN'T "true love", there is zero reason to even have this conversation.

>>4610409
The story making a distinction between Luca and Mari is ultimately meaningless because Lara rejects true love anyway. The ending would in fact make a lot more sense if Lara simply came to the conclusion she doesn't need true love upon not finding it with Luca as opposed to not finding it with Luca, finding it with Mari yet rejecting it anyway.

>>4610409
>Lurk 10 years.
Typing and stuttering like a shaky faggot is not a personality you retard.
>If you are too fucking stupid to understand that Luca ISN'T "true love"
Oh my god you really are so fucking stupid you think I ship Lara with Luca/

Luca is the critique of "true love" his relationship with Lara is meant to represent a negative "true love" how are you even denying this?
like how do I explain overt fucking narrative implications to you? the entire script screams at you that he is meant to be a subversion of both the soulmate trope and the destined lovers trope because Lara does not love him holy shit.
you're either retarded or baiting me.

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>>4611025

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>>4611026

>>4610462
>Typing and stuttering like a shaky faggot is not a personality
Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure out how greentext works eventually. Give it a few dozen months more.
>you think I ship Lara with Luca/
No, you underage invalid. I think you're unironically borderline retarded and do not understand that Luca is not "a negative true love" he simply ISN'T true love at all. You are under the retarded and objectively wrong, made up impression that the show has a positive true love and a negative true love, when in reality there is just "true love" (Mari) and anything else that isn't, a concept openly fucking stated in episode one. Probably don't worry about "overt narrative implications" when you're apparently too dumb to grasp shit that is literally written on the fucking screen.

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New official poster that will be coming out with the next PASH! issue.
https://x.com/magazine_pash/status/2107040602290266211

Also the LN released some sample chapters and it revealed that Mari went to look for Lara's ring in episode 2, which is how she witnessed her drowning in the water. Still don't recommend reading it. It has other characters POV focus like the prince.

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>>4611597

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>>4611678

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>Spending the Four Seasons with Lara and Mari Part 4: Winter Visual Revealed

>A captured moment of Mari wrapping a muffler around Lara indoors is also depicted, conveying the gentle warmth of the two as their hearts race with anticipation for winter's arrival.

>A single image depicting memories of the two joyfully enjoying a "busy winter"

https://youtu.be/5jwk2bUJojA?is=f5liHbwGr-lLTSeu

>>4611038
>Don't worry, I'm sure you'll figure out how greentext works eventually
Not an explanation for why you're typing like a shaky stuttering faggot.
>No, you underage invalid.
Wrong. You actually do think I ship Lara with Luca because you can't comprehend basic themes of the show.
>you're unironically borderline retarded and do not understand that Luca is not "a
negative true love"
Wrong and retarded. I guess I really do have to explain to you the basic narrative themes that the show sets up like you're a mentally retarded 5 year old.

So the show uses several examples and definitions for "True love" and the aspects of "True love" but I'll cut it down to 2
the first is the typical narrative definition of the trope of "true love" or "destined lovers" this is an overarching umbrella theme that they use to directly define romantic consensual love between two partners.
The clearest example in this story would be Mari and Lara.
The second definition of "true love" touches on the same "destined lovers" trope but reaches at it from a communal perspective, this is directly in relationship to the mermaid princesses and their lovers. The princesses under this definition of "true love" are expected to find a prince/object of affection and produce a light for the kingdom.

The second definition is what fuels the "negative true love" that Luca represents. This type of love represents and is a critique of the expectation that Luca is Laras destined partner or "True love" because of his resemblance to Nikolai and because he is a man. The narrative and the story drives the point over and over again that Lara does not love Luca and her forcing herself to fill this role of "True love" for the sake of saving her family is toxic, negative and counterproductive. They do this by emphasizing that Luca does not stir her light, and her constantly mentioning how he is nothing like Nikolai and making it clear she is doing this out of duty.

>>4611714
cont
This directly contrast with the copious amount of natural scenes where Lara and Mari are slowly growing learning and evolving together and because of each other.
Lara and Mari's "true love" despite not being "destined", as in not having the hall markers of a retread of a previous one with Nikolai.
Is obviously the one preferred by the narrative and the one supported by the narrative and scenes and the one that is the healthiest for Lara, and it is done this way in order to highlight three major things.
1. Lara cannot choose who she loves
2. Her love for Mari is an extension of her love for humans
3. Her inability to recognize this love is not her fault
Lara is herself a victim of the second "True love" the "Negative true love" because again, it is obvious to the audience that Mari is Laras true love.
Yet she herself does not fully realize this until Rowan tells her to kill Mari.
This is very clearly the major thematic reading of the "Negative true love" which is Luca represents.
Lucas "negative true love" is not healthy for Lara, it is destructive and goes against who she is as a person and most of all she just doesn't love him.
You can get hung up on the usage of the word "true love" but in this context yes, Luca is meant to be an example of a negative forced and unhappy interpretation of the true love trope.
Meanwhile Mari is a positive and healthy interpretation that Lara is locked out of because of preconceived and toxic biases.
This is why Koide trying to do some bullshit "True love" isn't forever thing is retarded because the show spends the majority of its time telling and showing you how much Mari and Lara mean to each other as friends and romantic partners.

>>4611714
>Not an explanation
It is, but you're too new to understand it and it sorta gets funnier with each post where you don't.
>define romantic consensual love between two partners
>The princesses under this definition of "true love" are expected to find a prince/object of affection and produce a light for the kingdom.
Yes. Mari, you fucking retard. Mari is both of these things. There is only one definition. The whole point of the story is that Lara was trying to make something that isn't true love into true love. There is no "negative true love" there is no second form of true love that is distinct from the first. This is stated explicitly in episode fucking one, when Grace explains, out loud, that there is a difference between a simple infatuation that is not true love (read: the Prince and Luca) and true love. The guys are not some secondary bad form of true love, they AREN'T true love. Luca is not an example of anything but a misunderstanding because Lara simply didn't get what true love was.
>This is why Koide trying to do some bullshit "True love" isn't forever thing
Please stop making retarded shit up. >>4609344
>that "true love" would still remain in their hearts

You've invented a bizarre and illogical misinterpretation of the material, ignoring the explicit statements of the director and the explicit statements made by the characters themselves in the show. The point of the story is never "true love is actually bad and doesn't last". It is the opposite and Lara's struggles are chiefly from being a moron because even her sisters, firmly in the camp of "find the light to help the kingdom" explain to her what true love is in terms that directly parallel Mari and have fuck all to do with Luca.

>>4611696
Mari does not need to be on her tip toes to accomplish that. Also I feel the art quality is lower on this one. They probably rushed it out to get it out of the way.

>>4611812
>It is, but you're too new to understand it and it sorta gets funnier with each post where you don't.
no it's not, there is no explanation for why you type like a shaky faggot.
>Mari is both of these things. There is only one definition.
no it's not you fucking low IQ ape, in episode 3 Lisa tells Lara to "Find us, Find your true love" and further expands on this when she has Lara pray in order to find her true love for the mermaids to spark her light. The narrative obviously separates "true love"s and distinguishes Lara and Maris "true love" as the healthiest and actual consensual romantic love.
episode 9 literally spells it out for you that the "true love" Lara is trying to form with Luca is bad and it is that type of "true love" that is negative because it is inherently fake and restrictive.
you want another example? episode 4 explicitly critiques these themes with Hime and Ouji. Hime truly did love Ouji but the narrative deals with the implication of love being guaranteed because of preconceived notions and expectations being bad.
Hime accepts her rejection and comes to the conclusion that her "true love" must still be out there. Hime is clearly meant to parallel Lara here, someone blinded by a "negative true love" represented by a "prince" or "destiny" all of these themes feed into each other.
>The point of the story is never "true love is actually bad and doesn't last"
I never said that was the point of the story sped, my initial response was to Koides desire to critique the idea of needing to be pure(moral, ethical) to obtain a human or "immortal" soul as defined in the original little mermaid along with his obvious desire to critique restrictive "true love" as a trope/moral purity "I don't want to suggest that falling in love leads to an immortal soul"

Of course you won't rebute any of what I've said or my examples because you have a shallow understanding of the themes set up by the show and will continue sperging like a trust fundbaby.

>>4611837
>there is no explanation
There is, you are just too autistic to understand when you are being made fun of.
>episode 9 literally spells it out for you that the "true love" Lara is trying to form with Luca is bad
No, moron. Episode 9 spells out that Luca was not at any point any sort of true love and that she's just awkwardly trying to turn him into one. What's fake and restrictive, is, as already explained by Grace, a crush: Not true love.
>Hime accepts her rejection and comes to the conclusion that her "true love" must still be out there
Wow, you mean she was wrong about what true love was and then finds it?
>"negative true love" represented by a "prince"
There is no negative true love, you retard, and the narrative is open about Mari being more princely than Luca and also is open about Mari being her destiny, again, from episode fucking one where her light initial sparks seeing a doll that looks vaguely like Mari. It's astounding how you've just ignored the entire show to feed your misunderstanding about how the show is a critique on true love and destiny, when the show couldn't be more clear that true love and destiny are both good, Lara is just an idiot and ignoring both.

>I never said that was the point of the story
>This is very clearly the major thematic reading of the "Negative true love
>>4610244
>>4610116
>This is because Koides vision strictly at its core is a critique on "true love"
>Koide wanted to tell a story about how true love is not forever
Did your mother drink paint when you were in utero?

>>4611839
>There is, you are just too autistic to understand when you are being made fun of.
Why would you typing like a stuttering shaky faggot be mocking to me?
>No, moron. Episode 9 spells out that Luca was not at any point any sort of true love
Yeah like I said you have no actual rebuttal besides being disingenuous and trying to pretend that I'm stating that mari and laras true love are one to one with the "negative true love" defines by lara and luca. You can't even actually engage with the subject matter besides pretending I ship Luca with Lara it's so pathetic.
>Wow, you mean she was wrong about what true love was and then finds it?
What a stupid reductive way to try and summarize the theme of the episode. You do understand that the writers emphasized that the entire school including Lara and Hime assuming that they belonged together only for that to be subverted is done expressly to contrast Laras own idea of "True love"?
it's almost as if the writers treat "True love" as a narrative device and concept to be critiqued unlike a chimp like you.
>There is no negative true love, you retard, and the narrative is open about Mari being more princely than Luca and also is open about Mari being her destiny
Again just because you keep repeating this and trying to pretend like "True love" as defined by the show is not separated into a toxic trope and a positive consensual relationship won't make it true.
negative "True love" is almost always highlighted in reference to the dichotomy between "prince and princess" in fact Mari exists to juxtapose the fact that Luca is not very princely and further critique the preconceived notion of negative "True love" so thanks for admitting that.

>>4611839
>This is because Koides vision strictly at its core is a critique on "true love"
Yes, this is what Koides intentions were if you actually read and understand what I'm writing I am saying Koides goal is achieved with Luca and Laras relationship. Nowhere did I state what
>Koide wanted to tell a story about how true love is not forever
You understand I'm saying that the narrative expressly does not try to tell that story right? the entire reason I mock Koide is because everything he is saying to justify Lara leaving has nothing to do with Lara and Maris relationship you sped.

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New book excerpt just dropped

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>>4611953

>>4611850
>>4611851
I'm amazed there's still people willing to waste time arguing about this obvious trainwreck.

>>4611955
>>trainwreck.
This series doesn't fall into that category, since, even with the nonsense along the way, it was a competent show right up until the finale; that ending destroyed any goodwill the project might have had, making it seem like the people in charge didn't have a fucking clue what the audience wanted and no, it wasn't the director's "revolutionary vision."

>>4611987
The finale marks the show as a complete worthless waste of time and fully incompetent
Nothing about this show (except the art and animation. I hate that talented staff was wasted on this shit) deserves any defense. Accept you wasted your time on a turd

>>4611993
>>turd
I wouldn't put it there either, since that season had some real pieces of shit, including one that was deliberately offensive toward the yuri, with idiots (thankfully not here) pretending that was yuri.

>>(except the art and animation. I hate that talented staff was wasted on this shit)
Ironically, that’s the part I care about the least; having nice animation is a good thing, but it doesn't stop something from being trash, like with KnY, JJK, or SnK.

>>4611829
Huh? It looks about the same quality to me. But they did post the same pic with errors the first time so maybe you're right that it's rushed

>>4611987
>it was a competent show right up until the finale
The trainwreck was just as it was pulling into the station but it was a trainwreck nonetheless.

>>4611998
JJK and Kny are better than Lara. They promise fights and give fights. Lara promises yuri true love and gives you jackshit
The betrayal and refusal to commit outside of symbolisms (while het gets to be explicit) marks Lara as the worst kind of show. A real insult to yuri that wastes your time and no one should watch. It's worse than all the isekai slop. Those don't betray their audience. They promise cheap haremshit power fantasy and give that. Lara gives you jackshit. Lara is trash of the worst kind. And no one will convince me otherwise
Mari shouldn't have existed. Because a rejection of het true love doesn't matter when there's so much het. A rejection of yuri true love when there's no yuri originals that aren't subtext is an insult.
Or keep Mari but don't do the "leaving and rejecting true love" shit. Or remove Luca so there's no double standard with het being explicit and yuri being symbolic subtext and broken
But as it is, the show is one of the worst anime ever made and I regret the 11 episodes I watched. I found out about the ending and never wanted to watch the finale. Fuck this trash

>>4612067
Based anon with principles.

>>4612067
>one of the worst anime ever made
lmao

>>4612073
If you can't even deliver on what you promise, what's the point?. If even a show where MC seeks true love can't deliver explcit yuri without breaking up the couple and separating them, that's bad. Incomplete adaptations still have the source material. You know those adaptations only give you a piece of a whole and you can always seek manga/LN to get the whole story. This has nothing else. It ends with the couple broken. It's literally about nothing. Just pointless yapping and drama that goes nowhere. It's empty.

>>4611955
episodes 1-12 minus the last 5 minutes were amazing. Episode 3 is still my favorite episode of any anime I watched this season.
unlike the retard I was talking to I can love 1-12 without pretending the director shits gold and is perfect.

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MariLara SEXO

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Finally.

>>4612073
I can't really disagree, there's no point to watching this anime. It was building a yuri story but decided to throw everything in the trash right at the finish line. It's a complete waste of time and the director shouldn't be given another chance for failing at something so basic. He single-handedly ruined the work of hundreds of people.

Was it true love but Lara was not looking for one?

>>4612339
It's not like directors have the last word these days. They're glorified secretaries to the production committee. Also the main writer is a huge Lara/Luca shipper

>>4612227
Good

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>>4612226

>>4612587
i love that they're kissing when she's getting on the train, but i hate that all the mermaids have legs and the dumb prince and luca kissing

>>4612707
>>4612854
I like it when lara looks twenty.

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It's so funny that they created one of the most awesome yuri protagonists of all time seemingly by accident. Everyone who watched this anime became a Marifag except the ones making it.

>devoted, kindhearted, stoic boxer who kicks ass and is handsome as fuck
>takes in a sea witch and shows her unconditional love
>cutely falls in love with the princess but is too selfless to act on these new gay feelings, also she thinks the princess is straight and it hurts her, but she's a boxer who already lost her mom so she can tank it, right?
>when it comes down to her to save her, she never gives up
>learns the truth about Grace Lara never even does, is told that her love is powerful and worth fighting for, so she does, even though she's told she'll die
>LITERALLY DIES FOR LARA BECAUSE SHE LOVES HER THAT MUCH
>gets revived and brushes off dying because she's that awesome (ironically confirms Christianity isn't real because she experienced no afterlife)
>her reward for all of this is to watch the girl she fell in love with leave after killing her beloved pet and bankrupting her
>fans suppose Lara leaves to flesh out her life before returning to Mari later when they're grown up to pursue the relationship
>staff and director say their "true love" was that of college roomies and they'll never see each other again or experience anything meaningful because independent Lara is just so heckin based

The main reason the ending sucks is because this badass, innocent gay girl lost everything falling for the protagonist all on her own volition. Mari has no ending, she's just an accessory to Lara's independence, despite, again, LITERALLY LOVING HER SO MUCH SHE DIED FOR HER. The staff would rather wank over how badly they want to wreck L*ca's boipussy than write or even elaborate Mari's future, and yet the Goodbye Lara fandom (or what remains of it) are mostly women who want Mari to plow them (and by Christ, can you blame them?), most of whom hate or are at least annoyed by Lara.

>>4613153
Mari deserves so much better than this shit. They had gold and wasted it. Fucking retards

>>4613173
my fingers are still crossed for the manga, do we know when that's coming out?
i also haven't seen much talk about the novel, did it add anything to the ending or that missing six months?

>>4613176
>i also haven't seen much talk about the novel, did it add anything to the ending or that missing six months?
Well, when Lara farewell Luca, the novel added an internal monologue of Lara gushing over Luca, being surprised of how her love for him bloosom or something and that his painting is a masterpiece. I could post the fragment but probably mod would erase it for being het

>>4613262
i think that's what was posted here, i'd prefer not to read it again to make sure>>4611953

>>4611953
>>4613265
What the actual fuck, please tell me the novel also expand on Lara and Mari farewell?

>>4613267
The novel author is a notorious lesbophobe. He made a ffm novel before about a relatable male lead seducing a lesbian couple

>>4613267
Why would they expand on a plot device for Lara?

>>4611953
I thought this was bait at first.

>There has bloomed a "true love" between Lara and Mari, but that doesn't mean they have to be together. They can share a "true love" even when they are apart.

Everything in 1-11 was really an accident or the animators locking in against the writers, huh.

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>>4613351
The epilogue was written before the rest of the show, and no one bothered to keep consistency.

>>4613425
>Lara smiles happily as Mari drowns
might have been better than the ending we got

Enough time has passed /u/, was it really that bad or should I stay away at all costs? I want to understand the fan art and feel like I would really like Mari.

>>4613601
It's utter shit, don't bother. In fact you'll enjoy fanart better if you don't watch it and make up your own context.

>>4613601
It's really bad, if you want to cope yourself just don't watch the final episode.
>Can the whole anime became bad just because of one episode?
Yes yes yes, if you end up putting shit on you well prepared food, then the whoole food is shit regardless of the process.

>>4613601
its great until the last five minutes.
but here's the thing you now will know that going into it. and what's even more important is to understand that the director came up with the ending first and then forced it upon a work that was made with other creative peoples input, so it doesn't fit at all. And because of that its easy to just dismiss it and interpret the ending however you want, they've even suggested as much in interviews.
also apparently because they never actually said 'sayonara' which is goodbye, it indicates they will meet again.

I'd almost say to watch it, feel your feels and once it gets to the time jump just stop there.

>>4613601
Bad. I have no idea why anons are even saying episodes 1-11 are great because they're absolutely not from a yuri perspective. It being worth putting up with the explicit het that dominated a good half of the run time and demoting Mari to plot device was contingent on there being a LaraMari ending.

>>4613351
That sentence sounds worse without the second part.
>It was a lonely farewell for Mari, but I'm sure their relationship will definitely keep continuing. That's why, I think, Mari was able to show that expression in that last moment.
Not that it makes it that much better.

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The Goodbye Lara manga will be in the Comic Yuri Hime. They just confirmed that it'll be full yuri

>>4613713
Yuri Danshi was also published there, so...

It's a shame that the profile of the person who posted the news makes it clear that they suffer from serious mental problems.

>>4613601
Absolutely wortnhless garbage about nothing
One of the worst anime ever made. Even the shitties slop give the power fantasy they promise. This show promises romance and gives you jackshit. Hetshit is explicit in the show but yuri is all symbolism subtext shit and then suffers from "true love is bad acshually" and the girls separating for themes and such. You don't get a kiss or anything, but Lara almost kisses a guy
Don't bother

>>4613643
People can't accept they wasted so much time on absolute 0/10 worthless garbage, so they go on copes "is OK if you ignore ending". No, it isn't. If you include one of the girls involved in hetshit, the yuri needs to be definitive and equivalent. Lara almost kissed Luca. She didn't kiss Mari or even come close to do so. Fucking trash

>>4613718
There were 3 het near kisses and one het kiss on screen. But nothing with Mari. I can't say it's a 0/10 for me, because I was enjoying it immensely even into episode 12. But while I try not to let endings ruin an anime for me, this one was one of the ones that did.

>>4613721
So you were enjoying explicit hetshit while yuri was shat on and only subtexts and symbolisms that go nowhere
Fuck off, you hetshitter yuri hater. The show is wrothles to any yuri fan and is only enjoyable as it is to yuri haters who love mocking yuri fans as delusional.
I am very tolerant. I can tolerate het couples and yuri subtext as long as the girls remain untouched by het (it's why I like Sunflower Circus). But, Lara is touched by het. She's allowed to almost kiss a boy, but nothing near that with Mari and then everything gets ruined by "true love bad ackshually". So, if you're actually a yuri fan and not a het shitter, stop coping and accept the show and all it's episodes are entirely worthless garbage

30 years ago this would have been consider a yuri classic, but it's fucking 2026 and we have so many better options now. Unless you're someone who doesn't read manga, light novels, or visual novels and sticks entirely to anime, I think it's an easy skip.

>>4613733
>>30 years ago this would have been consider a yuri classic,
Hey, I was also thinking about Mai-hime, which at least delivered a (rather overrated) couple in the end, compared to a bunch of Het that many pretend doesn't exist, despite being more relevant to the plot than yuri.

>>sticks entirely to anime
That makes no sense at all. Anime has plenty more and better options that have existed for over 20 years. Even the same season of Lara had those options. It's sad and pathetic that Nanoha Gunblaze did a better job.

>>4613734
>It's sad and pathetic that Nanoha Gunblaze did a better job.
It really didn't. It just has the benefit of not having any males in the main cast. Although the bad guys are a guy and a girl that may as well be a couple even though that's not explicit either.

>>4613601
It's pretty good beyond the ending.

>>4613739
If so, yuri remains happy and together in the end, while het ends with both dead; it's an improvement on the main couple never being together, because it's artistic.

>>4613753
The problem is that the ending is not something that can be ignored; besides, it's silly to judge a series in parts. The ending is part of the whole package and cannot be omitted, so yes, the ending drags down the entire content, because it makes the whole journey useless and pointless.

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>>4613722
Meds please.

>>4613601
Like everyone else said, the ending isn't just bad, it ruins all the enjoyment of 1-11. I don't even mean just the yuri, which actually is among the LESS fucked plot points and symbolisms ruined by the last 5 minutes.

One of the big, consistent framings of Lara's life on the surface is how warm and caring the Otsus and the Shiga humans are compared to her father and her sisters. Rowan is revealed to have lied to Lara about reviving her, it was Grace's doing, and he is very open about not giving a shit about her aside from her ability to produce light. He even goes so far as to not love her should she have human legs. He's horrible, and worse, they set up a possible motivation for him in that his wife, Rigmor, died for her sister, choosing her over him. What if her light was born from her love for her sister and not her love for him? What if that's a reason why he's such a horrible person? Meanwhile, while he's spewing toxicity towards his daughter, Mari is met with love and acceptance from her family who want to help her. They welcome in Lara without care for who or what she is, and she feels accepted and wanted by them.

So in the finale, what do they do with all of this setup? Fucking nothing, Rowan goes back to sleep, no comeuppance or clarification, Mari never even sees him, and Lara just leaves the Otsus because you gotta leave your family or something. It's truly terrible.

"Live for love, not the law" was also set up as the series message in episode 11 and completely rejected in the next episode by Lara. It's gross.

>>4613713
This actually doesn't confirm jackshit. Yurihime has featured several het works in it before for the sake of "diversification" or to highlight authors. As long as there are heavy themes around girls they sometimes let that shit slide. A subtext work like Lara would not be out of place.

>>4613713
This is that column at the end of each issue called Yuri Delusion Corner where they talk about the yuri or potential yuri in works not advertised as such. It is not saying the manga will run in Yuri Hime unless you have another source and posted the wrong image. Ironically it's also the final time the column will be published, as if Lara finally caused the writer to have enough and quit.

>>4613713
That's the yuri delusions column, which Lara apparently mindbroke so hard the columnist doesn't even want to gamble anymore. Lara's manga is going to be published on KadoComi

>>4613815
He's not wrong you fucking shitposter.

>>4613865
It's yuri no matter how much you want to LARP, /a/-kun.

>>4613869
The only larping is you
If one of the girls gets explicit hetshit, the yuri needs to be equally explicit or more
Lara almost kissed Luca. She did nothing of the sort with Mari. Fuck off. The moment they made Lara's het explicit, her yuri romance should've also been but it wasn't and it was hidden in subtext and symbolisms, which only works if your main girl doesn't have explicit het. And of course yuri suffers from the "true love bad" shit. Yuri is rejected like het but het is allowed to be explicit before rejection, yuri isn't, Trash show

>>4613739
It really did and I hate GBV. Shiina and Towa had no male love interests, unlike Lara with Luca
Shiina and Towa weren't separated for an independence message and saying "love bad". NanoFate also, even with their utter lack of screentime and relevance. Hell, Rein Zwei being called Hayate's daughter is just more yuri than anything in Lara, as it reinforces Hayate/Reinforce Eins as tragic yuri and Zwei as their magic yuri daughter
Lara kills the yuri for "true love bad" and gives Lara a male love interest and his romance is far more explicit than the yuri. Lara could work if Luca didn't exist. But he does, so the show had obligations it needed to meet to not be worthless garbage below even Nanoha EXCEEDs, and the show failed to meet those.
Only a hetshitter thinks Lara is better than Nanoha EXCEEDs. Again, I hate EXCEEDs and think it's a incredible low point for the franchise and that the staff should stop if this is Nanoha's future, but Lara is still worse
EXCEEDs is a bunch of shitty cooks using good ingredients, fucking up hard and making a terrible dish. Lara is a bunch of monkeys with diarrhea shitting on your plate and having to eat the mountain of shit

LaraMari moments from the LN:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ait-XndDk20t-RaYFFQNdWsiM2ZdK-V3R7xUYzCAQ1c/edit?pli=1&tab=t.0
Pretty good considering nobody was expecting anything from this author.

>>4613878
The latest Nanoha anime was pretty disappointing from a production and direction perspective, but comparing it to Sayonara Lara seems pretty pointless to me.

>>4613922
The comparison is because they both aired on the same season. Nanoha airing a little bit less than 24 hours before Lara.

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Sorry for the shitty AI slop, but i had to get this out of my system.

>>4614592
nailed it

>>4614592
So do it in the shitty slop containment thread.

>>4614592
Vomit-inducing to look at.

>>4614592
Fuck off please.

>>4614821
>>4614822
>>4614828
I will accept your complaint (I didn't make the image) if you can pay or do something better, with a real artist or yourselves.

>>4614836
Just use actual frames from the show dingus.

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>>4614836

Has the novel been posted online yet? I want to read it, but I still need to wait a while for my physical copy to arrive.

>>4614906
Nice art, Anon.
I prefer the other text, though.

>>4614924
The other text is a stupider version of artist anon's text.

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Still mourning the waste of Mari. Anon is right everyone turned into a marifag after. The yuri fanart we still get have a special preference for Mari, I can just tell. I think Grace is the second most loved character too.
Let's kill this thread already.

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>>4615101

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>>4615108
Ok

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First chapter of the manga: https://comic-walker.com/detail/KC_021487_S?episodeType=first

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Prototype LaraMari

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>>4616463

>>4615882
They skip Lara backstory, that is good, right?

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>>4616709
>>4616709

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>>4616711

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>>4616712

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>>4616714

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>>4616716

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>>4616718