Welcome to Romance Roundtable: a feature where the editorial POME Crones gather together to discuss Romance Manga. We return today with yet another Romance that we would actually recommend! Our Teachers Are Dating, Volume 1 by Pikachi Ohi is a deeply horned up slice of life following two Hot Teachers, who are both very cute and also in love. Brace yourself for Tender Feelings, Sexy Moments, and all the meddling students and coworkers who put in the hard work to turn romance into reality.
Ashley: Anyone want to start with a better summary than me? Because mine is just “the teachers… Are dating”
That’s it’s, that’s the plot
CC: and how!!!!
they certainly are!
Rachel: i was not prepared for there to be absolutely no build up!!
they’re just…. dating!
immediately!
i thought i had maybe accidentally gotten vol 2
Jenny: oh yeah same!
like this is what i thought i’d signed up for:
Jenny: and it was like chapter 3!!
after they’d been dating for like 3 months!
CC: every couple is different and god bless these gals for getting to a first name basis and rounding all four bases in the same day, after like 3 months of dating
unless I remembered that wrong, in which case: my bad LOL
Jenny: yeah the pacing was not great
but the payoff was Great
back to the beginning though! it opens on the day after their confession, and their coworkers can tell immediately that they’re together
Rachel: this was so cute!!
i have been both the person in the new relationship and the friend/coworker who is like HMMM
SOMETHING HAS HAPPENED
Jenny: oh for sure — v relatable content over here
Jenny: love these matchmaking coworkers
trying to get them together for THREE YEARS!!
Ashley: THREE YEARS damn that’s such a long time to pine for someone else’s relationship
Jenny: lol yeah
i gotta say that i am honestly kind of glad that the writer started us here
like, i love a slow burn but i don’t want to go through 3 years worth of pining to get to this moment
Rachel: haha that’s true, although i did find it hard to get to know the individual gals with this kind of start?
Jenny: reasonable
Rachel: like i can’t help but compare it to the manga creation yuri we read that i can’t remember the title of right now
CC: still sick!
Rachel: yeah!!
Ashley: omg rachel i did the SAME THING in my head
Rachel: like those gals were very unique and had separate things that motivated them
it was hard to get that here because they started as a unit, not as individuals
Ashley: yes. i was like, i miss Still Sick where they both have a distinct personality and like, actual conflicts
Jenny: whereas this was just hot tender fucking
a time and a place for both
Ashley: this is true. someday maybe we will have it all!!!! maybe even in further volumes of either this or Still Sick, idk
Jenny: it could happen!
Ashley: but you could describe the PE teacher’s personality as “reserved” and the biology teacher’s personality as “bubbly” and you wouldn’t really be leaving anything out
Rachel: that’s true! it is nice to have a wlw where it’s like… 2 gals fall in love and nothing bad happens, the end. it does make for sparse storytelling though haha
Jenny: love this tender slice of life
no big drama
Ashley: hahaha yes. it did feel very just like, let’s all have a nice, occasionally horny time
Jenny: everyone at work is supportive even though it seems like it might be an hr issue
like the principal!!
i love her!
Rachel: the principle!!!
the number one character i would have liked to see more of
CC: Lesbian Academy For Young Lesbians
you love to see it
Jenny: This Crone Loves Love
Ashley: Crone of the Year TOP CONTENDER
Jenny: loved her, but also, again, loved the extent to which the “plot” is just flimsy justification for cute lesbians
Ashley: Hahaha yes
Jenny: this “go on a date by doing your jobs securing the campus on a saturday” leads immediately into:
softest lips competition!
Ashley: that is very Realistic
did anyone else wonder tho if the “school date” thing was like, remotely a real thing?
there was a cute author note at the back talking about how she spoke with her teacher cousin
But i was like…. Idk man sounds fake
Rachel: yes!! i did!! GO ON A REAL DATE
DON’T JUST GO ON A WALK AT WORK
lol i guess i could see two people whose lives only revolve around work to be like
yes this is a normal setting for romance time
we never leave here anyway
Jenny: yeah i’m not sure that the teach cousin went on dates at work
CC: it’s like all those shows where people get married at work!!!!
cute in the show, a nightmare irl
Jenny: tbh i assumed it was just like, “i only drew these backgrounds and I don’t want to draw more” and if so — i have INFINITE respect for that
Rachel: oh true, 100%
fuck backgrounds
CC: I feel like
if you translated this into latin, it’d be this school’s motto:
Rachel: LOL YES
Jenny: it’s TRUE
CC: somebody pls translate “the stronger the GF, the stronger we become” into latin for me
it can be the official RR motto if y’all agree L O L
Rachel: YAH
Ashley: omg literally going to email my boss about this lmao
(who i think learned latin in school)
Jenny: et fortius ad GF, erit et fortior nobis facti sunt
CC: LMAO JENNY
Rachel: JENNYYYYY!!!!
Ashley: Omfggggggffff
Rachel: when we get our POME letterman jackets, we can put this on the back
CC: 100% absolutely
coming to a POME shop near you in 2022
Ashley: OH NO i need it right now!!!
CC: so speaking of yuri, specifically
what a career goal LOL
Jenny: lol yes!!
CC: turning in her job application like
Jenny: lolololololololol
also re: these coworkers
CC: good for them
that stable couple that loves to matchmake others
Jenny: love this author
ONLY LESBIANS
Ashley: i mean, extremely relatable
i am always trying to do this but i suck at it
CC: I LOVE TO MATCHMAKE
I AM NOT THAT BAD AT IT
side note: I have only set people up who already liked each other by saying YALL SHOULD DATE at the end of a party
Ashley: HAHAHAHA
CC: 50% of the time it works every time (do not tell me about your secret crush)
Ashley: i mean, i’m happy to give you the credit on that
Jenny: almost certainly resulted in exactly this scene:
Jenny: but also i feel like so far all my screenshots have just been the cute parts
Ashley: omg there are so many cute parts tho! this one is the cutest
Jenny: but this manga does NOT SKIMP on the actually kissing!
case in point:
Jenny: jason derulo sax solo^
CC: open mouth kissing in this book!!! and more!!!
I assume we’re not showing some of the spicy hashtag content here but I was v surprised
Ashley: At least 3 chili pepper spice level!!!
CC: ok so before we wade into the spicy content in the most SFW way we can
I just am dying to ask
how old do y’all think these two are
bc I’m just gonna go out on a limb and say…………22
Rachel: i think early twenties for sure
Jenny: i’m going 27
CC: I mean this is my take: you have to be pretty early into your 20s to say stuff like this:
Ashley: lolololol
yes, there was a very Baby’s First Adult Romance vibe about all of this
Jenny: say they get out of college at 22 and get these jobs right away. there still had to be enough time for them to meet, pine after each other, and then be assigned teacher and assistant of the same homeroom 3 years ago
CC: YOU’RE RIGHT
Rachel: oh TRUE
i forgot about the three years of pining!!
CC: ok i’m gonna say oldest possible age imo is 25
at 25 you can still live laugh love your way through 3 years of pining
Jenny: i think maybe the pe teacher is 25, but the bio teacher is 26 or 27
Ashley: jenny coming through with the math as usual
Jenny: math and latin – my two best subjects in highschool
(not true)
CC: late 20s you don’t have time for 3 years of pining. you have too many weird shoulder pains that remind you of your own mortality by late 20s imo
that may just be me tho i pined through my whole 20s and don’t event want to stand in a long line at the ripe old age of 32 LOL
Ashley: i mean, i was doing hit and runs by 22 but i was already full crone jaded at that point lol
before tinder even!!!!! old at heart and just, actually old
Jenny: kids today know how to play the game!
point:
Jenny: the youths!
Ashley: so emotionally intelligent!!
Jenny: they have the energy for thinking three months definitely means you’ve said “i love you”
CC: this lesbian school has AP classes in emotional intelligence
Jenny: LOL yes
Rachel: i mean i wish i had had that!
and i wish all the boys i’ve ever dated had had that!
CC: truly: i am paying for it now (in therapy)
Jenny: would’ve been WAY more useful than theology class
CC: public schools come thru!!!!!
like:
I do LOVE that these gals are at this stage after consummating their relationship
after reading this page I shook my spouse’s hand and told him i would do my best to make him happy. he nodded very supportively.
Jenny: lol no i think that was a flashback to the night before chapter 1
CC: OH
LOL
OK
LOLLLLLLL
Rachel: ahahahahahahahahah
Ashley: HAHAHAHA
Jenny: i mean — always nice to do your best to make your SO happy
but yeah i think this was a flashback confession scene
Rachel: yeah! this is like right after they agree to date
CC: OKAY BUT STILL, I DO love that the confession included a handshake!!!!!
Jenny: SAME — it’s a partnership! an agreement!
Ashley: Yeah, it was a flashback. but also just like, shaking hands after agreeing to one (1) date SO VERY SAPPHIC
Rachel: i like that it’s also not the kind of game that a lot of (straight) couples do where it’s like “I LIKE THIS PERSON SO MUCH BUT I CAN’T LET THEM KNOW”
“BE COOL”
instead they’re just like, “i want you to be happy! i want to be the person who makes you happy!”
what a good way to start off a relationship imo
Jenny: SO NICE!!
also!
Jenny: anticipating boundaries
i love to see it
going to be forward but also going to give you an out
CC: love to give and have an out!
Jenny: re: these gals not having super distinct personalities, i think one of the things i liked about the pe teacher (moving in the direction of having a distinct personality) is that, y’know, everyone is complicated and sometimes contradictory
Ashley: i am coming on to you Respectfully
Jenny: YES!
and we see her do this a lot where she’ll be cool but also cute and shy!
i don’t have much of a point beyond: it’s cute and i like it
Rachel: it’s really lovely!!
Ashley: hahahaha this is fair
also someone who is good with animals is automatically a babe
Jenny: this is true
i kind of want to do a brief plot summary, insofar as we can when each section is really just a flimsy excuse for tender moments
but the first section is about their first “date” — walking around school on a saturday, securing the perimeter or whatever
the second was saying “i love you” and had a classic mixup with a student
CC: what a goofy plot contrivance lol
Jenny: and the third section was chaperoning an overnight field trip and going up to the location a day early so they can fuck
truly!!
in the second section, when the young lesbain students are demonstrating their AP EQ
they all rush to show the pe teacher candid photos of the bio teacher that all the students just seem to HAVE
so that the pe teacher can practice saying “i love you” to the photos
and then the ONLY man in the whole book shows up — and old guy, maybe a donor to the school
and he asks the bio teacher if the pe teacher’s homeroom is putting on a play!
truly absurd!
but all for this one moment:
Jenny: in the custodial closet
Rachel: this is the closest to conflict they get!!
but it resolves very sweetly
CC: good for them honestly
Jenny: that’s truly what i felt throughout this reading experience
just: good for them
when they go up early to fuck before the field trip
good for them
Jenny: enjoying themselves that night and the next morning ????
Ashley: omg that was the tensest chapter
like they were being so sweet but also… will it happen? actual sex????
Jenny: after three (off screen) years of pining!!
CC: god, three years of pining
i’m tired just thinking about it
Ashley: honestly… so powerful… the vibes…
Rachel: it feels like a very sapphic thing to do also haha
Ashley: lolol yes seriously
CC: ok yall if you are ready, I have a big question for y’all as my final thought
(but if not, like the main character, happy to give you an out & keep discussing LOL)
Rachel: i’m ready!
Jenny: same!
CC: ok mine is:
did they ever say why she couldn’t fall in love & have powerful gf in her youth?
CC: or is this just eternally that thing where people in their early 20s lament getting old?????
Jenny: ooh i want to say there was something from the beginning about her parents? but idk honestly
i’ve got no hard evidence
Ashley: yeah, i got the sense that she had really strict parents
Rachel: yeah that’s the vibe i got as well!
like she talks about being “on rails”
and doing what was expected of her
Ashley: yeah exactly
Rachel: which presumably doesn’t include wlw romance
Ashley: Lol
CC: I mean but
at Yuri High?
Rachel: LOL true!!
Ashley: HAHAHA
CC: look until proven otherwise i refuse to believe anybody in this world is not a lesbian
that grandpa who lives for drama and stirred up all the tension in the book included
the world of this book, to be clear
Ashley: HA
No for sure this is a lesbian fantasy bubble world and i love it
Rachel: i support this
ok i’m going to come in here with my final thought
which is, that while this book was cute and nice, it did two of my least favorite art things
SMALL HANDS
Rachel: SO TINY
TOO SMALL!!!!
Jenny: the opposite of yaoi hands?
yuri hands?
Rachel: lol YES
IT MUST BE
look i know hands are tough but it is important that they are proportionate
those hands couldn’t even grab a tit if they wanted to!!
little baby hands!
CC: LMAOOO
Rachel: ok number 2
Rachel: MOUTH ON THE SIDE
this is the gravest of manga sins
Ashley: ahhhhaaaahahaha
when u are trying to kiss but ur mouth just slips over
Rachel: LOL
Jenny: lolololol
Ashley: this is how we know it’s the Lesbian Matrix
by the mouth glitch
Rachel: hhaahahaha
other than these two things, the art was very cute
and it didn’t have any weird font things going on, which i always appreciate
CC: 0% papyrus!
a harder feat than you’d think!
Ashley: Women Lettering their Ws
CC: LOL
Rachel: HAHAHAHA
Jenny: i mean, i know that we didn’t really show here just how sexy this book gets but
my final thought it really just a congrats to this artist
Jenny: nailed it
congrats
Ashley: she really manifested this for herself
Jenny: love this for her love this for us
Rachel: yeah as much as i drag on the hands and mouths
the attention to detail in the LINGERIE is [chef’s kiss]
Ashley: omg okay that is leading me to my final thought tho
which is…
when did front clasp bras become a Horny thing???
Ashley: i have only one adult woman real bra, and it is front clasp for COMFORT and is like the least sexy thing on the planet
for special occasion femme dresses (aka weddings) only
CC: I thought the point of the front clasp was ease of unclasping!
Jenny: i mean, agree: i also assumed that the point of a front clasp was so the person taking it off of you could see what they’re doing
but honestly the only front close bras i’ve ever seen are like industrial strength sports bras
Rachel: hmm i mean i see the appeal!! easier boob access!
worth investigating for sure, hopefully more spicy comics can answer this for us
Jenny: yes! tell us what’s cool and hot, romance manga
we are crones and we need to know
Rachel: it’s for… science
All images in this article via Our Teachers Are Dating, Volume 1 by Pikachi Ohi, unless otherwise noted.