It’s time for a good， old-fashioned throwdown as testing turns into an excuse to pitch several of the cast against one another。 Then it’s time to hunt ghosts and do the school festival， while Rae drools over Claire in the traditional fashion。The big match-up between various students， and especially Claire and Rae， was one of the more energetic sections of the light novels and， for the most part， that’s given a solid interpretation here with some strong action， but starts digging into some things It’s time for a good， old-fashioned throwdown as testing turns into an excuse to pitch several of the cast against one another。 Then it’s time to hunt ghosts and do the school festival， while Rae drools over Claire in the traditional fashion。The big match-up between various students， and especially Claire and Rae， was one of the more energetic sections of the light novels and， for the most part， that’s given a solid interpretation here with some strong action， but starts digging into some things I was less enthused with。Rae wins against Claire because she knows， from the game， exactly what Claire will do。 And that winds up raising a very iffy question about， well， everything， that you’re 100% not supposed to be thinking about and I’m sure nobody considered and you should ignore me for a couple paragraphs， but so it goes。Even taking away whether Rae is predatory or merely… enthusiastic… it kind of raises an odd question of consent for me。 If Rae knows exactly what Claire thinks and does， isn’t she essentially manipulating her would-be lover into that scenario？ I mean， she does use it for good as well， but… anyway， best not think about that one。I’m at odds with the manga adaptation anyway， as it deliberately veers off the light novel here and there and seems to skim over things， giving it more of a ‘highlight reel’ feeling than a complete work。 I certainly enjoy it， this does breathe life into parts of the story， but I wouldn’t recommend it over the original work at all。Sometimes things just… are… like the bizarre cafe training， which was weird in the novel and feels weird here too， joke or no。 The resulting festival does get some good work in， however， with a great shot of Rae in her butler outfit in what is clearly Claire-vision and a good excuse to tackle fragile masculinity。The developing relationship of our leads is good， mostly because of Claire， who I’m starting to think is the real heroine of this story。 Her learning to be a better person and coming to accept Rae is just good narrative。 The festival ends on such a melancholy note and earlier she admits that she’s not the easiest person in the world to get along with。 Even with barely a shift in her facade， you can recognize the small changes。And when Rae isn’t being totally doting she has her own moments。 All the skulking in the background， the ghost hunting adventure， her desire for Claire to be happy， even if it isn’t with her， just because she loves her so much。 I mean， it doesn’t necessarily address a lot of Rae being a lot of Rae， but it helps。Many of the bonus pages at the end of the various chapters are nearly worth the price of admission on their own。 Rae attempting to give Claire a variety of hairstyles and a hilarious ghost haunting story （this one is so stupid/good at being a massive treat for series fans） are particular highlights。This has always been a story that took big swings， going in a few directions that were， well， eyebrow raising， to say the least。 At the time， it felt like that made it stand out amongst yuri series， but as North American releases continue to broaden the genre， I do think the flaws stand out more。4 stars - I still really love a lot of what this series does - it tries to tackle things on a higher level than a lot to yuri manga - but I do recognize that it’s not without its faults and revisiting it in manga format only enhances that impression somewhat， rather than ameliorates it。 。。。more