Miwa and Saeko
Miwa Inuzuka is just starting her first year at college, and she hopes that unlike with high school she can finally be open with her sexuality. Shy, overly serious, and with no experience though Miwa fears that she probably won't be able to actually find a special girl to be with. By pure chance at a party, Miwa finds out that Saeko, a girl she became friends with on the first day is also a lesbian after coming out to each other Saeko asks Miwa out, and Miwa lacking any other options decides to say yes. But can a relationship based on such a flimsy start survive the turmoil of college life?
How Do We Relationship? also known as So, Do You Want to Go Out, Or? (Tsukiatte Agetemo Ī Kana- 付き合ってあげてもいいかな) is a Yuri romantic comedy with a bit of angst and drama to spice things up on occasion. Written and illustrated by Tamifull the series is ongoing with 7 volumes published by Shogakukan on their MangaOne and Ura Sunday web platforms. Viz Media has picked up the series for English translation, with 10 volumes currently out.
Tropes
- Alone Among the Couples: One chapter is seen from Usshi's perspective, who has never had a boyfriend and so far has not been shown to have any interest in anyone or in romance in general. Usshi isn't particularly bothered by it, but when her female classmates ask her if she feels lonely, she draws up a mind map of pros and cons of being in a relationship, which doesn't really clear anything up for her.
- All Take and No Give: Miwa has fears that she's the one who's taking everything in the relationship and giving nothing. Sadly, this ends up being true to an extent: eventually Saeko comes to a point where she feels like she's the only one in the relationship putting in any love, and that causes her to want to break up.
- Almost Kiss: Volume 3 reveals that during one of the last times they saw each other before graduating, Shiho nearly kissed Miwa.
- Awkward Kiss: Miwa and Saeko's first kiss seems pretty good, but it turns out Miwa has reservations about kissing in the clubroom, causing it to turn sour. Then Saeko asks if that was Miwa's first kiss overall, and Miwa instead tries to change the subject by throwing herself back into kissing— almost literally, causing the two to end up banging their teeth together. Then Miwa tries taking the lead, which Saeko notes she's notably bad at. And then Mikkun ends up walking in on them. To top it all off, in a bonus comic Miwa reveals that Saeko ate a sandwich before this moment, making the kiss taste like mayonnaise.
- Big Fun: Lucha is described in the cast page as "a refreshing and lovable character with an outsized body."
- Bonding Through Shared Earbuds: When Miwa thinks of Shiho, her First Love from high school, this was one of the things they were shown doing.
- Butch Lesbian: Saeko is on the softer side of butch, but definitely qualifies when compared to the more Femme-presenting Miwa and Yuria.
- Clingy Jealous Girl:
- Saeko surprises even herself, as she never wanted to have "icky" feelings like that and wanted her relationship to just be fun, but slowly she realizes that she really does not like how everyone is always hitting on Miwa or getting close to her.
- Mikkun's new girlfriend Arisa is an extreme example, to the point where she gets Mikkun to delete Saeko's contact info from his phone.
- Crazy Jealous Guy: A very subdued, more realistic version of this trope than most, but Mikkun admits to Saeko that he hates seeing other guys getting close to the girls he dates. He even admits that this has caused more than one girl to break up with him. Saeko expresses surprise at this, since Mikkun is normally so laidback, it's very difficult to imagine him getting angry and picking fights.
- Dark and Troubled Past:
- Saeko was outed in middle school, she and the girl she was dating both received a lot of hate and bullying, to the point that Saeko is generally weary of coming out to others when her bandmates readily accept her and only express curiosity instead of hate it actually drives the usually carefree Saeko to tears.
- During High School Shiho was ostracized and constantly belittled by her parents, while they heaped praise upon her sister, they also tried to control every aspect of her life up to who she was friends with. It got to the point that until she met Miwa, Shiho had begun to seriously contemplate suicide.
- Double Standard: Invoked by Rika when she stops seeing someone after he criticized her for having a lot of casual sex:Rika: If I were a dude, my body count would be something to be proud of. Why do people think that just because I'm a woman, it's got to have some kind of deeper meaning? Or that they can talk smack about me? I don't let people treat me like that!!
- Dude Magnet: Miwa despite being 100% gay, has men falling over themselves trying to get her attention, luckily for her she tends not to notice most of the time.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: The series first started as a one-shot with a later prequel and sequel follow-up. In the one-shot, Miwa is a lot less of a pushover and not very innocent, while Saeko is the one who comes across as the romantic. Both girls also have no problem expressing their feelings, unlike in the main series where the two tend to walk on eggshells around each other.
- Expository Hairstyle Change: Near the end of Volume 5 Saeko notes that Miwa's hair has started to grow long, to which Miwa replies that she keeps forgetting to cut it. It's one sign of how badly Miwa has taken Shiho's rejection, neglecting her health and appearance.
- First Love: Shiho is this for Miwa, and despite being ghosted for a year it's clear when they meet again that Miwa's feelings are still as strong as ever. Miwa ends up with a lot of internalized guilt and shame, feeling that meeting with Shiho was tantamount to cheating.
- Foreshadowing: In Volume 1 an unnamed upperclassman asks why Miwa and Saeko are holding hands. That upperclassman, Kan, later returns in Volume 2 as a minor antagonist.
- Hates Being Touched: Saeko has a case of this in the sense that she is uneasy with being on the receiving end of sex, which causes some friction with Miwa. This comes up again when she starts dating Yuria, who as it happens has a similar issue with intimacy, and unlike with Miwa, they actually talk it out and find a rythm that suits them both.
- Headphones Equal Isolation: Tsuruta's flashback to his days in high school as a cynical, romance-hating otaku shows him placing his headphones on in order to disengage from his "normie" classmates being lovey-dovey around him.
- I Just Want to Be Loved: After breaking up with Miwa in Volume 4, Saeko outright says this to her coworker. After being forced to break up with her girlfriend in middle school to protect her from bullying and trying to force herself to be with guys, it makes sense that this is Saeko's motivation, and why it hurt her so badly that Miwa clearly didn't love her as much as she loved Miwa, and in fact was still feeling lingering feelings for another woman.
- The "I Love You" Stigma: This is nonverbally invoked when Saeko points out that Miwa has never said "I love you" in Volume 4, several months into their relationship. Miwa then subverts this by hastily blurting out that she loves Saeko, but also inadvertently causes Saeko to realize that Miwa's feelings for her aren't nearly as strong as her feelings for Miwa. Combined with Miwa's recent confession that she realized she still had lingering feelings for Shiho and basically felt like she was committing infidelity, Saeko tells Miwa she wants to break up a few chapters later.
- Incompatible Orientation: While this is certainly true of all the guys who fall for Miwa, Tsuruta has the hardest time coming to terms with it.
- Insecure Love Interest: Miwa frequently feels like she's showing her worst qualities to Saeko and that she's being a pain not just to her girlfriend but all of their friends.
- LGBT Awakening: Miwa notes that while she started to develop feelings for Shiho in high school, what really opened her eyes to her sexuality and what her feelings were was happening to see an American TV show where two girls kissed.
- Lipstick Lesbian: Miwa's style of dress solidly places her in the femme category.
- The Load: Early in their relationship Miwa tended to be very sensitive as it was her very first relationship and had to come to grips with the fact that real life isn't like movies and books. This meant it was usually up to Saeko to push the relationship forward while also being cautious of overwhelming Miwa.
- Love at First Sight: Tsuruta confesses to liking Miwa a few minutes after meeting her, to Miwa's great shock. Despite how seemingly shallow his feelings seem, it actually takes Tsuruta a while to get over Miwa.
- Marriage of Convenience: Well, more dating for convenience instead but in large part, Miwa and Saeko begin dating not because they are in love but because they are both in their own way desperate to start a college romance, and they are the only lesbians either one knows. It also helps that while they may not be in love the two do find each other extremely attractive physically.
- The Missus and the Ex: Saeko somewhat panics at the sight of Yuria (the missus) getting along with Miwa (the ex).
- Non-Standard Character Design: Kan is drawn with both irises and pupils, as well as without highlights in his eyes.
- Platonic Life-Partners: Saeko and Mikkun end up becoming really close friends after Mikkun accidentally discovers she's gay and in a relationship with Miwa. Mikkun is the first real friend Saeko has ever had and the only person not a lover to accept she is gay and not judge her for it in any way.
- Playful Cat Smile: Rika has a cat-like smile to show her flirty and mischievous nature.
- Pointy Ears: Oddly, Yuria has these combined with Cute Little Fangs as part of her design, a trait she has in common with her twin sister Erina.
- Poor Communication Kills: Saeko and Miwa... aren't the best at talking things out, with Saeko keeping her guard up and not letting herself be honest, and Miwa being afraid to rock the boat and cause conflict. This changes after they split up, which significantly takes the pressure off.
- Really Gets Around: In her very first appearance Rika is teased by Usshi about her "harem" and openly admits to having sex with guys with no intentions of dating. In Volume 5 this is explored a little more with a scene between her and one of her hookups, who's convinced she must have some sort of trauma that causes her to seek sex, which she loudly denies— she says that she simply loves sex and sees it as a sort of "hobby."
- Running Gag: Several times, Saeko's coworker Kameido shows a near-psychic ability to tell what's going on with Saeko just by looking at her blank expressions.
- Sad Clown: Saeko likes to deflect from any discomfort or sadness she's feeling by joking. She even acknowledges this in Volume 5.Saeko: So funny... acting a fool like this is really so perfect for my personality, it's almost shocking.
- Second Love: More like third love, but in the context of the story Tamaki is this for Miwa, while Yuria is this to Saeko.
- Secret Relationship: At first Saeko and Miwa keep their relationship a secret from their bandmates, but after Mikkun walks in on them kissing in the club room, they decide to tell the others. In later volumes, it's noted that the two of them do keep their relationship on the down low in front of people they don't know very well. When watching the two flirt and kiss from afar, Kan genuinely wonders how the two manage to hide anything.
- Sex with the Ex: After being rejected by Shiho, Miwa is so depressed that she hooks up with Saeko despite having been broken up for months.
- Slut-Shaming: When Saeko keeps pushing the idea of going to a Love Hotel on their first anniversary, Miwa eventually snaps and says she's not as "slutty" as Saeko. Miwa immediately regrets it and stews in guilt and feels worse when Rika makes her realize that Saeko wants to have sex with her as a sign of love.
- In Volume 5, Rika stops seeing a guy after he calls her a "total slut" for having casual sex with a lot of guys for fun. She notes that this happens to her from time to time, even noting that most people wouldn't have any problem with that behavior if she were a man.
- Stepford Smiler: Saeko likes to outwardly show that she is a happy and carefree girl but on the inside, she is wracked with angst and insecurities that sometimes manage to wiggle through the cracks. A lot of this stems from her traumatic experience during middle school, as well as an extremely unhealthy amount of self-deprecation.
- Miwa tends to hide her doubts by smiling as well. In Volume 2 Kan even tells her that he's sick of her "forced smiles."
- There Is Only One Bed: Upon visiting her old senpai Shiho, Miwa is shocked to discover she doesn't have a spare futon and is planning on having both of them sleep in her bed. Eventually, Miwa feels so guilty and uncomfortable that she tells Shiho she's a lesbian... only for Shiho to shrug it off and say it's fine: just because Miwa likes girls doesn't mean she has feelings for Shiho, after all. Except, oops, she does, and Miwa's guilty reaction to her words is the first thing that tips Shiho off about the other woman's feelings for her.
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Miwa's only experience with romance comes from books and movies, this leads her to have some high expectations to what dating is like, often coming out a bit disappointed, not helped that Saeko isn't very big on the showy romance thing.
- Two-Timer Date: Yuria's girlfriend Anri turns out to be five-timing her, with the situation collapsing when she tried to see all girls at different times on Christmas Day, only for all five girls to show up at the same place at once.
- Wanted a Gender-Conforming Child: Invoked with Saeko's mom, who initially had certain preconceived ideas of what raising a little girl would entail, but ended up with Saeko.
- What Did I Do Last Night?: After getting drunk celebrating the end of finals, Miwa goes home with Usshi, and wakes up the next morning with no bra, an unfamiliar shirt, and a half-naked Rika next to her. It turns out Rika decided to head to Usshi's place while very drunk and ended up spilling beer all over Miwa, and she and Usshi had to get her clothes off to be washed before they could stain.
