kamihoshi

[kamihoshi]

Uwahh-- Hope you still activate! I'm just new to this manga. I knew it 3 days before I HAVE DONE READING IT OMG. This manga is awesome!!! I love it, it's specific in many way I can't tell. I just want more story about Chihiro and Yugami, but it ends... Anyway, I just want to ask about the author. Did he/she quit drawing manga??? I hurt someone say that, and the fact that he/she hasn't activated on Twitter make me worry... Do you know anything? Please tell me, and sorry for my bad English.

No worries, my mailbox is always open. Sorry for the late reply.

I'm glad you enjoyed the manga, anon!

I have no idea what Sakura Jun has been up to. They last tweeted on Jan. 1, 2020 and said that they were working on a new series and making revisions to it everyday. But we're closing in on two years since that tweet and there haven't been any updates.

We can only hope we see a new work from Sakura. Fingers crossed.

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A while ago you said you imagined 君はともだち by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN as your song for Yugami/Chihiro - do you know if there's anywhere online to listen to the song?

It's on Spotify.

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Yugami and Chihiro spending the new year together; from Sakura Jun’s Twitter.

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cool new ask meme

send me a fandom and i will tell you

character i’d like to see in a flower crown

character i’d like to see have an emotional breakdown

character i’d like to see get punched in the face

character most likely to sing along to journey songs in the car

character who refuses to pull over and ask for directions on roadtrips

character who always stubs their toes on the washing machine

character who changes their starbucks order ten times

character who shows up late for everything

character who is the worst kisser

character who takes 45 minutes showers

character who gets most bent out of shape over the pronunciation of gif

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Who's your favourite side character in the Yugami-kun series? I personally enjoyed my little Yaegashi cameos, some of Momose after the school trip and even Komai. Kido is definitely my favourite of the bunch though.

Kido is definitely the best of the bunch so she's my favourite side character too.

I actually like Nitaku, especially after he drops the facade, but he was an entertaining two-faced madman before that. I like Nogami too but wish she had more interactions with characters outside of Chihiro because she was actually kind of hilarious those few times with Komai and Nitaku.

Yugami's cousin Suzune was also great. She's such a busybody but she was hilariously entertaining because of it.

I also appreciate how real Watanabe was. Kind of shallow and self-centred but not actually a bad person. That said, he's kind of wishy-washy and sometimes only does things halfway (see: chapter 78).

I'm also surprised at how little Zaizen appeared and wish he got more panel time. He had like two or three noteworthy appearances, tops.

Honestly, there were so many great side characters in this manga. 

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Thoughts on Kadota and Kido's relationship together? I'm a bit sad that we didn't see KadoKido one last time, even in the extras. When Kido first appeared, I thought she was going to be one of those typical fat girls people make fun of. But man, Kido was such a great character and she had this nice tandem with Kadota.

Apologies for the late reply to this question.

Anon, I’ve liked KadoKido ever since chapter 22 so just like you, I’m a bit disappointed that Sakura dropped hints FROM KADOTA only for the subplot to go nowhere. I can see exactly why Kadota would like Kido and I love their dynamic. She’s levelheaded and no-nonsense compared to all the zany people in his life that give him neverending trouble. Chihiro is pretty down to earth herself, but she has a certain naivete about her that brings about its own share of difficulties and is perceived as too lenient on Yugami at times, which doesn’t resonate well with Kadota.

Kido, though, is mature, insightful, and never allows herself to be swayed by the crazy antics of others. She’s able to guide Kadota when he feels lost and she never adds to his burdens, but rather helps to lighten them. Kido is also very aware of his importance and contributions to the team. Kadota also feels he’s able to relate to her.

Thinking back on it, Kido had a fun introduction. We’re lead to believe she accepts the manager position because she has a crush on Kadota…only that turns out to be wrong. It’s even funnier when the script gets flipped and Kadota starts showing signs of crushing on Kido but she’s unaware and all too happy to play matchmaker for him and Shimizu. Even in the extras, he seems to express jealousy or just general dissatisfaction at Kido wearing Yugami’s hat and saying she respects him.

Being Kadota really is suffering.

Also I find it cute that Sakura keeps their “pairs” close to each other on the class register. There’s obviously Yugami and Chihiro (Watanuki), Kadota and Kido, and Nitaku (Nidou) and Nogami (yes, I know Komai has a crush on Nogami but I think her dynamic with Nitaku would be so much more entertaining. Fight me).

[kamihoshi]

In ch 39 after the rakugo performance when Yugami meets Chihiro's dad, the translation says he calls him 'father'. Is that really what he said??

Yes, he calls him お父さん otousan just like Chihiro, but contextually it’s actually not considered out of the ordinary for Yugami to call him that.

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My image song for Yugami/Chihiro is 君はともだち Kimi wa Tomodachi by UNISON SQUARE GARDEN. It just fits.

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God damn it I need proper closure. I at least want to see them dating and not just watching Rakugo :( I think the worst part is that him wanting to be an astronaut just means he'll slowly spend less and less time with her aaaa

Eh, I actually prefer what Sakura did by having them spending time together but without either one being explicitly in love with the other person. Coming off of the last arc, it feels kind of shallow and disingenuous to jump so suddenly from “he’s my friend” / ”she’s not my friend; she just sits beside me in class” to sudden romantic epiphanies.

Do they like each other? Yes. Romantically? Maybe? Probably? Does it truly matter when all is said and done? The thing about Yugami and Chihiro’s relationship is that Sakura uses the “show-don’t-tell” approach with them so even if neither one ever has explicitly said they really like and enjoy being with the other, their actions really speak for themselves.

Even if Yugami goes to space one day, I think he’ll always end up coming back to Chihiro, some way, somehow. The final chapter is basically telling us exactly that. They enjoy each other’s company too much and they’re simply not meant to be out of each other’s lives for too long. I mean, the 4koma at the end says they even end up hanging out more. Together. Apparently outside of going to rakugo shows. They’re voluntarily spending more time together, which is practically a miracle coming from Yugami.

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Do you think there's any particular reason Sakura made Yugami left handed?

There’s no official reason, but I’d guess it’s probably to accentuate his individuality. As far as I can tell, he’s the only character in the series shown to be left-handed. About 90% of the world is right-handed so Yugami being part of that 10% is likely to emphasize another difference between him and everyone else.

Side note: the 90-10 righty-lefty split isn’t true in baseball (when it comes to batting/pitching) where it’s much less lopsided but still in favour of right-handed hitters and right-handed pitchers. It’s not uncommon for, say, someone to bat left-handed but throw (or pitch) right-handed.

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I JUST GOT TO THE END AND THE EXTRAS OMG HE WAS FUCKING WAITING FOR HER AND SMILED and omg the russian "you mean a lot to me" AAAAAAAA

I unironically love that Yugami is a tsundere but as a downplayed version of the trope. He just can’t be upfront about his feelings with Chihiro.

He’s finally able to admit aloud that she’s important to him but then he makes sure to do it in a language that he knows she won’t understand.

[kamihoshi]

Damn. We're finally in the end. The site I use to read it translated got to 80. It's been a wild ride, such an amazing manga. I love how deep down inside they both have a thing for eachother. I love how Yuuji told Chihiro all the things he tought about her via the speech. It was so fucking sweet.

If you think that was sweet, get on chapter 81 and the extras, anon. They are cavity-inducing.

One of my favourite things about the ending stretch of the manga is that after Chihiro has her outburst at Yugami and says he’ll just forget about her once they graduate, the story shows, again and again, that he will never forget her. This was something that was building for a long time because Chihiro was lamenting this as early as chapter 31.

They've carved a spot in each other’s lives that no one else can replicate.

[kamihoshi]

Hiii first off, thank you so much for all the Yugami info, and I was also wondering if you read the volume 16 extras and could summarize a bit for us :DD

Sure.

Spoilers for the ending and beyond below.

Kamihoshi Thereafter

Kadota tries to do his best as captain but Nitaku is the type that won’t heed the advice of people he believes are inferior to him in skill. Kido wears Yugami’s old baseball hat now because Yugami had planned to just throw it out. Kadota is devastated by this! It’s super effective! But then he’s like, “Whatever, like I care. I’m still gonna do my best regardless” as he kicks a stray rock.

Kadota sulking and being vaguely jealous (?) is cute.

Nogami is now president of the Handicraft Club and as always, they can see the baseball team passing by from their clubroom. She takes one look out the window at the extremely happy Nitaku and tells her underclassmen to steer clear of the baseball team because they have a negative energy around them. Nitaku + Nogami spinoff when? I would love to see their antics.

Komai also goes back to the Handicraft Club whenever he starts to loathe being on the baseball team. It appears Kadota has to fetch him. Kadota has it rough.

Kadota and Yukko

Yuuko tells Kadota about how Yugami is doing from time to time and while it’s amusing to hear about how Yugami is fighting with his catcher on-and-off, Kadota is shaken when Yuuko says Yugami has quit the college baseball team. Kadota laments how it’s because he’s not Yugami’s catcher anymore that things have gone south for the guy, to the point he’s quit baseball. Yuuko denies it but Kadota ain’t listening and she’s just very entertained by his reactions.

Kadota and Yugami

Just as Kadota’s wondering why Yugami quit the team, the man himself shows up on his delivery scooter. Kadota makes small talk with Yugami and completely misses his chance to ask WHY’D YOU QUIT THE TEAM because Yugami peaces out after the pleasantries are over. Turns out he just wanted to show off on the scooter.

Chihiro’s lifestyle

Chihiro writes to her mom about how she’s doing; going to school, working part time, and just getting used to living alone. She still feels a little lonely in the evening though, so she tends to leave the TV on. Chihiro’s gotten into the habit of watching baseball games and she wonders, while watching, what Yugami is up to.

Yuuji’s lifestyle

Yugami spends what extra living expenses he has on, you guessed it, tickets to Heiraku’s rakugo. His busy life has made him forget all about Chihiro… Oooooor not. He walks by a felting flyer and recalls how she was someone who loved wool felts and makes a lame pun about her last name (綿wata, the same kanji used in Watanuki 綿貫 is means “cotton”). Yugami then makes another lame pun when he’s at home by himself as he says Chihiro is like a tanuki because she’s Watanuki. The narration says Yugami still thinks of Chihiro in his own way – which I guess means fondly, but with absolutely terrible puns.

So Yugami is a dork who makes lame jokes about the girl he’s fond of when he’s by himself. OK. This is reinforced canon.

Back to Chihiro. A year into living alone, she’s finally picked up all the rules of baseball and now she’s become a huge fan of the sport. Rio would be so proud.

Coloured 4koma from the inside cover

Kuzumi and co.: Shigehara finally got accepted into a national university but it puts him faaar away from Kuzumi. Kuzumi is exasperated at the dolt. Kaori, meanwhile, is onto dating her third boyfriend.

Rio is trucking along with her dream of becoming a diplomat. Unfortunately, her immense popularity with dudes has led her to become extremely distrusting of them.

Unlike Chihiro who took her turtle Raphael with her, Yugami’s turtles are left at the Yugami household. Toyoko has practically held them “hostage” so that Yugami will visit home more frequently.

As for Yugami and Chihiro, the frequency of their meetups has increased. Chihiro gets all fired up watching the baseball game while Yugami is like “Huh, did you always like baseball this much?” THE ANSWER IS NO, NO SHE DID NOT. SHE ONLY GOT SO INTO IT IN THE LAST YEAR BECAUSE SHE’D ALWAYS THINK OF YOU WHILE WATCHING AFTER YOU WERE OUT OF HER LIFE FOR THAT STRETCH.

And the last omake is the moment before Yugami gives Chihiro the rakugo ticket in front of her apartment, except it’s from Yugami’s POV. He was smirking like a maniac waiting to give her that ticket. We all knew it was bullshit when Yugami said it was a coincidence but now it’s undeniable that he waited for her just to hand her that ticket. Tsundere much?

I didn’t mean to make the post so long. It just kind of…happened.

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This is bothering me so much because UNTIL CH 73 i still didn't know who Oda Miha (from ch 52) is. Who is she? Why is she look like chihiro? Is she gonna show up? Also, i hope this series continue with extra chapter :") i love yugami and chihiro so kuch

She’s not important, just an extremely minor character from a flashback that never gets brought up ever again. I think the translation also got her name wrong. Should be 美穂 Miho rather than Miha.

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AAAAA WHAT YA MEAN THIS ALREADY ENDED I TOUGHT THERE WAS GONNA BE MORE AAAAA

Enjoy the last eight chapters, anon.

[kamihoshi]

(69 anon, now at 70 lol) now i wanna see a spinoff or sequel ala takagi san, showing their college lives and wether yuuji ever gets to be an astronaut or not. and yea reading it again the ending does seem really fitting and, well, doesn't seem forced at all. ALSO WHAT KADOTA DOESN'T SHOW UP? daaaamn rip. i wonder if kido and him ever hung out and developed into something.

Vague spoilers for the ending below.

As much as I love Yugami, I think it’s best to just leave it be after the series ended on such a high note. I guess Sakura could prove me wrong since their writing is pretty great but I’m more than satisfied with the ending we got. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

I’d be lying though if I said a spinoff about Nidou and Nogami didn’t interest me. They both have such quirky personalities, imagine the utter madness that would ensue. It’d be a different kind of chaos from Yugami’s antics as well as a different dynamic from Yugami and Chihiro.

Kadota doesn’t show up in the final chapter but he does appear in chapter 80 and the volume 16 extras. Kido sadly doesn’t show up in the extras so her last appearance is also chapter 80. KadoKido is underrated! I wish they had more interactions but I’m sure Kido is there to support him in her role of manager when he’s captain of the baseball team.

[kamihoshi]

ah shit im at chapter 69 (the most recent one) and i was expecting a romance ending so hard till i saw your synopsis, now i'm sad

It’s really nothing to be sad about once you read it, anon. It’s actually rather cute and I believe it’s for the best that Sakura didn’t throw in a sudden official romantic ending, especially because of how the last five or so chapters before the epilogue play out. I never felt like Sakura’s writing let me down.